Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-22 ============================================================ Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Seanad. Before I came down to the Chamber, I saw footage of a small girl collecting water in Gaza from a recognised aid point. She was shot dead in front of her brother. These were two small children. He was sitting beside her body in the aftermath of that shooting. Where did those 5.56 mm high-velocity rounds come from? I will tell the House where they came from. Those rounds came from the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri and they got to Israel through our airspace. Now, we have known for quite some time that the United States has been supplying Israel with not just small round ammunition but much heavier calibre weapons, weapons systems and fighter jet parts that are not being used in a war but in a genocide. In the 365 days since the Government time-delayed this Bill from my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group - whom I commend on bringing this legislation forward - 17,155 women and girls have been murdered in Gaza, predominantly by weapons, munitions and explosive ordnance that has come through our airspace. I will talk about the ground element of this first. I have heard time and again Ministers and Government spokespersons say there are no weapons being brought through Shannon Airport, to their knowledge. Well, read all about it. I reported on it in The Irish Times in 2006. I went to Shannon Airport. I had to get permission as The Irish Times security analyst to go there, but not from the Shannon Airport authorities. I had to ring the mobile of a US army lieutenant colonel, who controls access to the US troops in Shannon Airport and is based there permanently. I can give the Minister of State his mobile number, if he wishes. He can give him a tinkle and ask him for permission to come down and look at the weapons. I went into Shannon Airport and saw the Omni aircraft and other civilian aircraft landing. I was allowed to go up the steps and enter the aircraft just as they opened the door. When I looked down the body of the aircraft, I saw hundreds of young marines sitting in their seats and, as you do when you land, standing up and getting into the overhead bin. The cabin announcement was, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Shannon Airport. Please leave your weapons on the aircraft. For small sidearms - automatic pistols and so on - put them in the overhead bin, and for larger weapons, put them under the seat in front of you.", and that is what they did. I wrote about that and it was published on the public record. Senator Higgins talked about the authorised officers. If I can discover weapons within 45 minutes of arriving in Shannon as a civilian, what could an authorised officer discover in our airport? I suspect it is rather a lot. It begs the question of why there is this reluctance or inhibition around trying to find out what is in those aircraft, either refueling on the ground in Shannon or transiting through our airspace. At the moment, we have hundreds of Irish troops in south Lebanon. They are 5 km from the town of Bint Jbeil, which has been absolutely destroyed. As part of their campaign of urbicide, they have levelled Bint Jbeil. I have been through Bint Jbeil hundreds of times, looking at all the children running after the Irish armoured personnel carriers. We would give them out our ration packs and dollars. That town is gone. Where do the explosive ordnance, the weapons, the weapons systems and the munitions come from? They come from Scranton in Pennsylvania. How do they get to Israel? Through our airspace. This Government has to ask itself a question. The weapons being used in Lebanon pose a direct threat to the lives of our troops. Our taxpayers are making a financial contribution to sending those weapons and munitions into that space. Under an international agreement, Ireland pays for the onward navigation and air traffic costs of US military aircraft transiting our airspace. If you want to count them, download the app Flightradar and have a look. You will see hundreds of US military aircraft transiting Irish airspace. They are being refunded those air navigation costs by Irish Government Departments to the tune of millions per year. Irish people might be queasy about making a financial and material contribution to a war like the invasion of Iraq, which we did, but I do not think Irish taxpayers or voters would be happy making a financial contribution to a genocide and to the femicide my colleagues here outlined. I bear no animus whatsoever toward my colleagues in Government but I am puzzled at this. I have a piece of shrapnel at home which was embedded in the Portakabin I slept in the village of Al Yatun. This time 30 years ago, the Israelis came in during Operation Grapes of Wrath. Last weekend, on the 30th anniversary, they slaughtered 106 men, women and children in our neighbouring UN compound at Qana. We had about 250 civilians in Al Yatun. Irish troops were sheltering the local civilians. It was during that period that that piece of shrapnel hit my Portakabin. I remember being unable to touch it because it was so hot. I have it mounted on a piece of timber in the downstairs toilet of my house. Where was it made? In the United States of America. How did it get to Israel and Gate 1-4 Alpha, from where it was fired? Through our airspace. Is it not ironic that we have troops in a peacekeeping role trying to save lives during massacres and breaches of international law, yet at the same time we permit the transit of these weapons and explosives through our airspace? I got subpoenaed to a trial in Shannon to give evidence about people trespassing on the airport perimeter and approaching US aircraft on the ground. On cross-examination, I was asked whether there were weapons on those aircraft and was able to give evidence to confirm there were. I also played audio in the court of the recording I made on that US aircraft. The judge asked me the effect those munitions would have on innocent civilians in Lebanon, Iraq or wherever they would be discharged. I said the soft tissue injuries from high-explosive weapons include the pulping of internal organs. The shock waves of these munitions causes the pulping of internal organs and shatters bones. You often see - I have seen it myself at first hand - small children and elderly people and there will not be a mark on the body because the shock wave has killed them by liquefying their internal organs. These are small children and grandparents. The soft tissue injuries are catastrophic from the blast, the heat and the shrapnel effect. Limb separation, decapitation - it is indescribable - and the burns. I do not have the words to describe that. In the court, the Garda superintendent who was conducting the prosecution for the State was completely silent. I said to him afterwards, "Do you have children?" He said, "I do." I have children. Why would we, the Irish people, accept the transit of this material? I have two more things to say about this because it is so important. We have a growing clamour in our public discourse for Ireland to grow up and be the adults in the room. I hear people say this, including economists, God help us, and academics who have never heard a shot fired in anger and have never seen it. They want us to grow up, be the adults and participate more in what are now illegal military operations internationally. I think the growing up and smelling the coffee, as it were----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-22/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-22