New bill seeks to ban US military landing in Shannon

The bill, tabled by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, comes after multiple reports of weapons and other aid being sent to Israel amid the Gaza genocide.

Since March, the number of US troops passing through Shannon has increased, coinciding with the war between the US and Iran. 

“This indicates that Shannon Airport is being used by the US to pursue its war on Iran,” Murphy said.

In February this year, a private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel.

The flights left the US on 21 January and 1 February. Both made refuelling stops at Shannon airport.

In 2024, The Ditch reported that Israeli-operated cargo plane flew across Ireland with explosives for use by the IDF onboard.

Murphy has accused the Government of having “no intention of stopping this” and is

 “facilitating the US war machine by feigning ignorance about what the US is doing”.

Murphy referred to the US military’s use of Shannon as a “long-running breach of our neutrality that must be ended”.

Earlier in April 2026, a few months after the start of the war in Iran, the Irish Government was called to follow Spain’s ban on US military flights.

Regarding a report from the Irish Times on US military flights using Irish airspace since last summer - excluding data from the US military use of Shannon due to an administrative error- Murphy said the report added “more evidence of US military use of Irish airspace to arm its war.”  

Since May 2025, Murphy has been asking the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade about his concern about flights through Irish airspace of aircraft carrying munitions to Israel and questioned the violation of Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris responded by saying that “Ireland’s policy of military neutrality means that Ireland does not participate in military alliances or common or mutual defence arrangements”, adding that “there are no plans to alter this policy.”

Simon Harris said that no applications had been received or exemptions granted to permit the carriage of munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory for a flight by a civil aircraft destined for a point in Israel.

It is likely Murphy’s bill will fail due to government majority numbers in the Dail.

For decades, Shannon Airport has permitted the entrance of the US military, especially in 2002, during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The State became a key transit hub for US troops.

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