The US embassy in Dublin suspected in 2006 the Government introduced new conditions on the use of Shannon airport by US troops "to dampen public criticism" ahead of the 2007 general election.
In a diplomatic cable classified confidential, then US ambassador James C. Kenny detailed the "more cumbersome" notification requirements for equipment-related transits introduced following the Lebanon war in summer 2006.
"We suspect that the Government aims with tese [sic] new constraints to dampen public criticism ahead of the 2007 general elections, and we would apreciate [sic] Department gudance [sic] on a [US government] response, including on any next steps regarding the Shannon Five," he wrote in the cable that was sent to several US missions including Baghdad and Brussels as well as to the US State Department in Washington.
The "Shannon Five" is a reference to the five protesters who were acquitted of criminal charges for damaging a US plane at the airport in 2003.
Mr Kenny said the new rules were "designed to give the Irish government more latitude to decide on allowable transits", but he implied that privately the Government wished to maintain the "diplomatic benefits" and the "significant revenues for the airport and regional economy".
The Irish Government had, he wrote, "consistently [ . . . ] acted to ensure continued US military transits at Shannon in the face of public criticism".
Mr Kenny said the Irish public's "overwhelming opposition" to Israeli military actions in Lebanon that summer had "exacerbated the governing Fianna Fáil party's sensitivity to public criticism" ahead of the May 2007 general election.
"Any incident . . . that becomes the cause for a public debate about the US use of Shannon will likely add pressure on the Government," he wrote.
Later, he notes: "Against this political backdrop, US missteps at Shannon could easily become campaign grist, a Fianna Fáil concern that mid-level [Department of Foreign Affairs] officials have cited in informal discussions."
The cable outlined the US embassy's displeasure at the Shannon Five ruling, and Mr Kenny wrote about various options that might be considered including launching a civil case to pursue damages, or "[presenting] an itemized bill for aircraft damages to the Irish Government, either to seek compensation outright or, at least, to convey [US Government] dissatisfaction with the Shannon Five verdict."
Mr Kenny wrote the-then political director at the Department of Foreign Affairs had described the Shannon Five acquittal as "bizarre".
The cable was the first from the US embassy in Dublin to be released by WikiLeaks as part of the whistleblower organisation's "Cablegate" leaking of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic dispatches.