New aircraft screening system planned to prevent illegal weapons being transported through Ireland – The Irish Times

Plans to create a system to check flights that may be carrying military weapons through Ireland are due to be submitted to Cabinet next week.

The new system is designed to deter carriers from transporting ammunition through Irish airspace or through Irish airports in contravention of Irish law. This follows reports of a large number of commercial weapons flights through Irish airspace for the Israeli military over the past year.

Transport Secretary Eamon Ryan will brief Cabinet next Tuesday on a three-pronged approach developed by civil servants that would allow government agencies to “search, test and sanction” airlines traveling through or over Ireland, a government source said.

Currently, air carriers must obtain government approval before transporting ammunition through Irish airspace.

The new regime will allow Irish officials to carry out random physical searches of aircraft landing in Ireland to ensure they are not carrying unauthorized weapons. The move will have a major impact on flights from the US stopping at Shannon Airport for refueling.

The use of Shannon by US military aircraft has long been controversial, particularly at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the US was often accused of illegally transporting weapons through Ireland. The government has long argued that it does not have the power to inspect such flights.

The new system will also allow officials to randomly check the cargo manifests of aircraft flying over Ireland to ensure there is no ammunition on board.

This will be a paper-based exercise that could be conducted before or after the flight, sources said.

Finally, severe sanctions must be imposed on airlines found to be in breach of Irish arms transit laws. Current legislation makes it an offense to transport weapons through Ireland without permission, but it is unclear how this law should be enforced.

Sources said they hoped the new system would act as a deterrent to airlines attempting to travel through Ireland with ammunition without appropriate exemptions.

Mr. Ryan first committed to tackling the issue last May after Senator Alice Marie Higgins proposed legislation to restrict the transit of military weapons into Israel and establish an inspection system. He asked for a six-month pause to allow officials to draft workable legislation.

Officials believe current legislation, dating back to the 1970s, is outdated given world events and the expansion of the air cargo business.

If the proposal is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, it will allow officials to begin drafting a new air transport law that would codify the inspection regime.

However, the adoption of the law will be a matter for the next government and subject to its approval.

Meanwhile, the Department for Transport continues to investigate allegations first published on the Ditch website that commercial airliners are illegally carrying Israeli weapons over Ireland. The agency previously confirmed that nine such flights were carried out through Irish airspace.

Inspections of a number of other flights continue. Officials said one or more of the flights may have had a legitimate reason to fly over Irish territory, including being ordered by air traffic control to divert over Ireland for safety reasons. Others may have decided to travel illegally in Ireland to save fuel.