Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The situation regarding these aircraft is historical. There is nothing we can do about it. They passed through our State and based on the assurances that we were given, no investigation was carried out into what might or might not have been on them. In recent times, nothing has been brought to our attention about the use of Shannon by similar planes.

It is a fact that CIA planes have been using airports throughout Europe for many decades for issues that have nothing to do with war, but to do with security in general or events that may be taking place. I have no doubt that intelligence services throughout the world are tick-tacking with each other to ensure that the forthcoming world cup is not sabotaged by terrorists. Airports around the world have been used by civilian aircraft on behalf of the US military to bring their personnel to various meetings on these issues. This must be put into the context of what is happening in the fight against what is a new form of war on this globe, as manifested in London, Madrid, New York and so on. Unfortunately, we are living in a changing world where situations must be dealt with in different ways.

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