Paddy Smyth and Dr Karen Devine to address Petitions Committee on US military use of Shannon airport

Paddy Smyth of the Irish Times and Dr Karen Devine of Dublin City University will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions as part of its ongoing consideration of US Military use of Shannon Airport.

14 July 2015

Paddy Smyth is currently Foreign Policy Editor with the Irish Times, while Dr Karen Devine is a Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Law and Government in DCU, specialising in teaching EU politics, Irish Foreign Policy and International Relations Theories and Methodologies.

Dr Edward Horgan, Margaretta D’Arcy and Dr John Lannon of the Shannonwatch organisation presented the Committee with a petition calling for an investigation into the US Military and CIA use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace. The Petitioners addressed the Committee last year and a delegation from the Committee visited Shannon in October to hear a range of perspectives on the issue.

The Committee also met with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Trade and for Transport, Tourism and Sport as part of its deliberations. The Committee also engaged with Niall Burgess, Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Chairman of the Committee Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD says: “In our consideration of this issue,  some consensus has emerged that Ireland’s traditional military neutrality is not a fundamental law or principle enshrined in our Constitution, but rather a foreign policy pursued by successive governments over the decades. Tomorrow’s meeting with the Mr Smyth and Dr Devine will be a welcome opportunity to engage with two prominent and respected voices in international affairs on this complex and often controversial policy area.”

The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 15 July at 4 pm in Committee Room 3, Leinster House 2000.

Public proceedings can be followed live here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.

Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie

Committee Membership
Deputies:
Richard Boyd-Barrett, Independent
Paul J Connaughton, Fine Gael
Pat Deering, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Seamus Kirk, Fianna Fáil
Michael P. Kitt, Fianna Fáil
Pádraig MacLochlainn (Chairman), Sinn Féin
Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Fine Gael
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan (Vice-Chair), Labour
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Sean Kenny, Labour
Anthony Lawlor, Fine Gael
John Halligan, Independent
Jack Wall, Labour

Senators:
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, Sinn Féin
Jimmy Harte, Labour
Tony Mulcahy, Fine Gael
Susan O’Keeffe, Labour
Ned O'Sullivan, Fianna Fáil