330,000 troops from US used Shannon

An average of some 900 US troops passed through Shannon airport each day in 2005, more than double the number of the previous year.

A spokesman for the Shannon Airport Authority said yesterday a report detailing the total number of US troops to have passed through the airport last year would be delivered to the Department of Transport today. A spokesman for the department confirmed that the figure would be about 330,000.

This total - an average of 904 per day - would represent a doubling of the 158,549 troops that used the airport in 2004. In 2003, the total was 121,943.

Flights carrying US troops are a regular income generator for the airport. Provisional figures for last year show that, between January and November, the authority received an estimated €37 million generated from the 303,323 US troops that used the airport during that period.

The issue is expected to come before Clare County Council shortly because of concerns that Shannon's reputation is being undermined.

The Irish Human Rights Commission said last month that the State must inspect any US flights landing at Shannon suspected to be carrying prisoners in order to ensure these passengers are not being sent on for torture.

The body was responding to persistent media reports claiming that CIA-chartered aircraft have been using Shannon while carrying out "renditions", or the transfer of detainees from country to country without legal process. To date, however, there is no evidence that any of the CIA-linked planes spotted at Shannon were carrying torture victims or other detainees.