The Minister for Foreign Affairs, ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý ¬Ý 8 March 2007
Stephen,Äôs Green,
Dublin 2.
Dear Minister,
The Executive members of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament wish to convey their disappointment at this Government,Äôs yielding to pressure to facilitate stopovers for U.S. military flights and personnel at Shannon Airport.
While we hope that the alleged criminal abuse of this facility by the CIA will be investigated and stopped, we, however, wish to focus here on the issue of¬Ý the undermining of Irish neutrality by the use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. armed forces.
According to The Hague Convention V of 1907, troops crossing a neutral country on their way to a war is a breach of neutrality and the neutral country is obliged to keep them out to the best of its ability. This convention has yet to be signed and ratified by the Irish State.
The credibility of Irish neutrality in peace time ,Äì well maintained during the Korean and Vietnam wars ,Äì now needs to be bolstered in order to elevate our neutral status to a respected position where belligerents simply would not ask to be facilitated. This could be achieved by the signing of The Hague Convention V of 1907.
With a credible neutral status the Irish State would then be in a better position to urge reform of the United Nations and to nudge our European partners to give up their nuclear weapons in compliance with the Non-proliferation Treaty.
Yours faithfully,
Mary McCarrick
on behalf of the Executive