British sought permission to base aircraft in Ireland for use in monitoring suspected drug smugglers
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The British authorities made several requests to the Irish government during the 1990s to base an aircraft in the south-west of the Republic to carry out anti-drug smuggling surveillance activity, newly released State papers have revealed.
Officials from HM Customs in Britain first requested permission to operate a “spotter” plane crewed by British customs officials from within the jurisdiction as part of operations to track vessels suspected of being involved in drugs trafficking in December 1989.
They also sought approval a short while later to use ports in Ireland for landing and refuelling boats involved in surveillance missions.
British officials later clarified that they envisaged they would only need landing and refuelling rights which would probably involve around one flight per month with Irish officials allowed to accompany the patrol.
They pointed out that drug traffickers were aware of the flying range limitations of UK Customs from bases in Britain and were adopting their smuggling routes accordingly.
A memo by an Irish civil servant said the request was able to be “deflected” after the Irish Air Corps signalled in 1990 that they would be in a position to carry out such surveillance operations.
However, the Air Corps later in the same year had to withdraw its offer because of “technical difficulties” with its own aircraft.
It led to the British authorities to renew their request for landing rights for aircraft and ships. Documents note that the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, was not inclined to grant permission for such measures, although they were supported by Revenue.
Officials noted that it was decided that the British should submit a request for landing facilities “on a case-by-case basis” in circumstances where the Air Corps were unable to carry out surveillance missions and that two such permissions were granted in 1991.
A meeting on the issue with an official from the British embassy in Dublin in January 1992 recorded that the British Customs were becoming “impatient” about reaching a more formal arrangement.
A note claimed the British diplomat had adopted a “patronising tone” about how the use of landing facilities in Ireland could have helped British Customs to enhance their operations in specific instances but he still was not “very convincing.”
The Department of the Marine also opposed a similar proposal by the British ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food to provide the “loan” of a spotter plane with a civilian crew to carry out surveillance on suspected illegal fishing in the Porcupine Bank.
The department was concerned that it could have a negative impact on its attempt to secure EU funding to improve its own surveillance capacity.
While the “case by case” system operated for several years, the British authorities contacted their Irish counterparts again in 1997 to try and place the issue on a more formal basis through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on air and sea surveillance against drug trafficking.
However, an official in the Department of Foreign Affairs advised there could be a problem with joint exercises involving exchanges of personnel because of jurisdictional and constitutional concerns but also that they “might be open to abuse by the British Crown forces in Northern Ireland who might abuse them as a cover for other covert operations unacceptable to us.”