THERE’S been a lot of reaction this week to reports that it has cost in the region of €10 million to provide garda and army security for US troops passing through Shannon Airport between 2006 and 2008.

However, the need for security of another kind has also emerged as a big issue in the past week in response to the attempted bombing of a transatlantic flight into Detroit on Christmas Day and the unintentional importation of explosives through Dublin Airport last weekend.
Could both these incidents have unfolded at Shannon? Probably. General airport security to cover ordinary passengers rather than keeping an eye US troops should perhaps be of more immediate concern in any effort to limit the risk of terrorism striking at our own doorstep.
In response to the Detroit incident, all passengers travelling on US-bound flights from Ireland face heightened security checks including body pat-downs and searches of hand luggage. The additional security measures requested by US transport authorities will continue for as long as they are required, the Department of Transport has confirmed. However, there are no plans to introduce body-scanning equipment, which is being introduced at UK airports over the coming weeks.
Closer to home, it’s frightening to think that a man carried enough explosives to make two grenades on to a flight to Dublin as part of a security test at a Slovakian airport that went horribly wrong. The high-grade plastic explosives was one of eight batches hidden by security services in the luggage of passengers departing Poprad-Tatry airport on Saturday.
Sniffer dogs found seven but the explosives placed in the bag of a man travelling to Dublin went undetected and when he unpacked, he didn’t notice the mobile-phone-sized explosives.  It was only when Slovakian authorities contacted the gardaí that the story was unravelled.
According to Dublin Airport Authority no breach of security occurred because security checks at all international airports are conducted on departing passengers only. But is that good enough? Surely this policy needs to be reviewed, if only on the basis of the two incidents outlined.
Meanwhile, Clare TD Timmy Dooley has said that the €10 million figure for security at Shannon is less than accurate. He believes it covers the entire running of Shannon Garda Station and some of the airport-related activities unrelated to the US military.
Green Party councillor Brian Meaney suggests that anti-war campaigners are responsible for much of the spending. “There are other areas that the money could be spent on and where lives could be saved but for people who use Shannon as a focus for their own views on world order and who are deluding themselves.”
Shannonwatch member, John Lannon, says Minister Dermot Ahern’s assertion that the annual security bill at Shannon for US military traffic is justified shows scant regard for the lives or human rights of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“While the movement of troops is estimated to have been worth around €7 million to the airport in 2009, for this we have abandoned all traces of neutrality, international humanitarian law and respect for human rights.”
The bottom line is that Shannon Airport must, insofar as possible, be protected from any threat.  If it is felt that the current level of security at Shannon should be maintained to guard against threats, then there is a case to be made for the US government paying a portion of the security bill.

The big freeze

AS County Clare, like many other parts of the country, continues to experience deep freeze conditions, the nation’s inability to respond to emergencies has yet again been exposed.
At least there were some valid reasons for being caught off guard by the sheer volume of rain that swamped us in November but there had been a cold weather alert many weeks in advance of the latest national emergency. There was plenty of time for local authorities to have salt and grit stocked up to treat all public roads.
Statements from councils about normal grit supplies being used up don’t cut it. That’s little comfort for motorists trying to get to work or shops or for the many people frozen into their homes for days on end. 
The sight of trucks being loaded with imported grit at Cork harbour on Monday was welcome but was of little good to families living along regional and minor roads in several parts of County Clare. There are so many main roads in desperate need of attention at this stage that there isn’t a hope that any byroads or large housing estates will have as much as an ounce of salt or grit cast on them.
We live in a climate where we can expect to see temperatures range anywhere from double figures to minus degrees between October and March; some people even recall snow in May.
We must expect the unexpected and prepare accordingly. Gritting materials must be stored in larger quantities. If we’re blessed with a mild winter, the surplus material can be available for the following season.
What’s hard to understand and accept is why many local authorities didn’t heed the November warning of the Department of Transport to buy grit to prepare for the extreme weather that had been forecast? Each authority was told money was available through a discretionary fund and should be used.
The failure of local authorities to act on the advice of a government department has, in this instance, cost the country dearly in terms of traffic accidents, visits by people with varying degrees of injuries to A&E units and emergency services call-outs.
In the same way as the flooding crisis has been reviewed, so too must there be a comprehensive investigation and review into how the appropriate authorities have coped with the big freeze.
Meanwhile, with the freezing conditions expected to continue well into next week, all road users are reminded that they should avoid making any journeys, unless necessary, in the interests of road safety.