This article is from page 2 of the 2008-01-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE Irish Government sanctioned searches of Cuban and Czech flights into Shannon in the 1960s on the re- quest of the USA, according to sealed Government documents released to the public yesterday.
At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the US am- bassador sought a meeting with the then-T’aoiseach Sean Lemass.
A US embassy counsellor visited the Department of External Affairs and said the ambassador would raise concerns about the Shannon stopover, involving Prague-Havana flights.
‘He made it clear Washington had been worried about the extent to which the traffic through Shannon
may have helped in the build-up in Cuba, and in particular in the trans- port of technical personnel and possi- ble arms,’ Con Cremin, Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, recorded in a November 2 memo.
The secretary also recorded a call from Lemass in which the Taoiseach told him that the aeroplanes would be searched.
If “warlike” material was found, Ireland would consider refusing the planes transit facilities – providing the Government could do so without violating the Convention on Interna- tional Civil Aviation.
Ireland also passed on details about aircraft cargo, weight, passengers and their nationalities and details of over-flights to the American Em-
bassy.
Regular searches only came to an end in 1966 when the Irish authori- ties were told that the US govern- ment “is now agreeable to a cessation of the regular inspections”.
Spot-checks continued until De- cember 1970 at which time the US Embassy told the Department of For- tse WUE: U RMN OOT-1mm 0 eloa’Mmen OOT-h VAN O\omm OUTS continued immediately”.
The release of these documents come as the present day Govern- ment refuses to allow searches of US planes at Shannon despite a recom- mendation to do so from its own hu- man rights watchdog.
The Government has rejected the recommendation of the Irish Hu- mans Rights Commission (IHRC) to
search the planes at Shannon if they are suspected rendition flights.
Following a study the statutory body recommended that the Gov- ernment introduce an effective and independent inspection regime as a matter of urgency.
Although there have been no re- corded incidents of rendition in Irish territories, planes used for the practice have stopped in Shannon, according to a report from the Euro- pean Parliament.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern claimed the IHRC was more willing “to give credence to a Self- appointed activist group” than the categorical assurances of the demo- cratically elected government of the US.