Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have been invited to speak at the Stop the War Coalition conference in London on Saturday about the US military use of Shannon Airport. I will be proud to share a platform with Jeremy Corbyn who has always been a friend to Ireland and a friend to the peace process in particular.

This week something very strange happened. Shannonwatch, which has done amazing work in detailing what is happening in Shannon Airport, had been planning a conference to mark 15 years of the US military occupation of the airport. Three hotels accepted the booking and then subsequently cancelled the booking, leaving it without a venue on Saturday. This speaks to the issue of silence regarding Shannon Airport. There is awkward silence. It is as if the Government knows it is complicit and completely wrong to support the US military adventures in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, which have caused so many deaths, but it just does not want to talk about it. We need to talk about it. It is an absolute disgrace that our neutrality has been shamed in this way for 15 years.