Government to approve powers to allow searches of foreign aircraft suspected of carrying weapons

It is understood the Government wants it to be known there would be serious sanctions if anybody is caught bringing unauthorised weapons of war through Irish airspace.

The matter is being examined at present by junior transport minister James Lawless, with a source familiar with his thinking saying that he wants to see a crackdown on weapons potentially passing through Ireland.

“This government is conscientious in this area and I believe Minister Lawless will be pushing fellow ministers at Cabinet to get the new powers agreed that will completely modernise the way we do inspections and checks of planes flying over our airspace that may contain weapons and equipment that could be used to wage war,” the source said.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan first pledged to introduce legislation to allow for random searches of aircraft in May.

However, last month Mr Ryan went further and said that provisions would be examined to allow for inspections of flight manifests on flights through Irish airspace. He confirmed that sanctions would be an option for airlines which breach rules around transporting munitions.

The new system of searches will be known under the acronym SSS — which stands for search, sanction and sample.

In recent months, there has been significant pressure on the government to deal with the issue of overflights carrying weaponry through Irish airspace.

A Department of Transport inquiry from September found that there were nine flights that passed over Ireland either destined for Israel, or were Israeli munitions companies that it believed carried weapons of war.

Under existing laws, it is illegal for flights to carry weaponry through Irish airspace unless prior consent is provided by the transport minister. None of the nine flights sought this permission.

These exemptions include situations where foreign VIPs, like members of a royal family, have armed bodyguards or close protection officers travelling with them.

In September, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that he was open to banning Israeli airlines that transport weapons through Irish airspace without seeking permission.

It is expected that Mr Ryan will bring the memo to Cabinet on Tuesday, on behalf of both ministers at the Department of Transport.

The latest statistics from the Department of Transport show that a total of 702 exemption applications have been sought to fly weaponry through Irish airspace as of July. Of these, a total of 681 have been approved, while just four were refused by the Government.

In recent days, the Government has also been threatened with legal action if it does not move to immediately stop the flow of weapons to Israel through Irish airspace.

The threat of High Court action has come from Phoenix Law and campaign group Uplift, alongside a call to end military trade with Israel.

Phoenix Law’s Darragh Mackin told reporters last week that they are formally notifying the Government of their incoming legal action, saying that they must take steps to comply with “international law and in particular, their obligations under the Genocide Convention”.