Fifteen years on from mass protests against the US military use of Shannon airport, determined activists continue to hold monthly peace vigils against this flagrant violation of Irish neutrality.

In 2011 it was revealed that the US were open to leaving Shannon in 2007, but did not at the behest of the Irish Government who were afraid of sending a signal that protestors had won. Add to this the obvious security concerns of having military personnel at a civilian airport and there’s been an estimated cost of at least €45million to the Irish taxpayer.

On a cold damp Sunday morning just gone, we headed down to find out why is the US military is still using Shannon Airport?

We talked to Ed Horgan and John Lannon of Shannonwatch who have been maintaining a continuous presence at the airport since 2002.

Archive footage courtesy of Eamonn Crudden. You can check out his fantastic documentary Route Irish here.

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