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€7m spent securing Shannon from protesters

This article is from page 3 of the 2007-12-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG

Justice Minister, Brian Lenihan, has confirmed that over €7 million has been spent on preventing incursions by anti-war activists at Shannon Air- port over the past two years.

Mr Lenihan said that €4.69 million was spent on policing arrangements at Shannon last year and to the end of November this year, the costs for

2007 were put at €3.1 million.

With over one million US troops going through Shannon to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, Minister Lenihan said that “the con- tinuance of the ongoing policing ar- rangements at Shannon are essential for the integrity of the airport itself , its employees and clients”.

“Accordingly, I remain satisfied that Garda policing arrangements at

Shannon Airport continue to be both necessary and appropriate’, he said. However, a peace activist arrested at Shannon Airport last month, Ed Horgan, said that the policing ar- rangements at Shannon were “gross- ly inadequate and inappropriate”. Prior to his arrest Mr Horgan had telephoned gardai asking them to search an aircraft he suspected of be- ing involved in the US Government’s

rendition flights.

He was arrested for failing to leave the airport terminal.

“It is inappropriate that the policing arrangements at Shannon are direct- ed at the likes of myself who always uphold and abide by the law,” he said yesterday.

“It 1s open for any person with a malicious intent to either walk into the terminal or get through the

perimeter fence to cause mayhem. Frequently, the checkpoint at the en- trance to the airport 1s unmanned,’ he said.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said: “The antics of the anti-war movement through incursions into the airfield have ensured that funding that could Support a programme of searching suspected rendition flights at Shan- non has been diverted elsewhere.”

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