Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In these matters ignorance is not bliss, nor is it an excuse. While President Obama may be more handsome and accommodating than president-elect Trump it is nonetheless the case that under President Obama, $115 billion worth of weaponry was sold to the Saudis. We know that aircraft refuelled mid-air at Shannon were en routeto Saudi Arabia. Shannon Airport in that sense had a role to play in the destruction of Yemen. The Minister of State did not in the context of his reference to our traditional neutrality mention that our traditional neutrality involved garrison troops in Cold War Germany who were not on their way to active combat or their holidays. This is not a two or three times a day occurrence through our airports. I would welcome a comment from the Minister of State on the spike in landings.

It went from about 19 in June to approximately 32 per month earlier in the year and around the time of the NATO exercises in Poland. It is clear that we are being used to facilitate the further militarisation of Europe.

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