US Vice President Mike Pence met with US troops, as he made a stopover at Shannon on Saturday.
In a video posted on the Vice President’s Twitter account he poses for photographs with soldiers who were also making a stopover at Shannon and tells them, “I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get off Air Force Two and tell you how grateful we are to each and every one of you and your families that are going to keep the home fires burning during this deployment. We’re proud of you. Grateful for you. I know if your commander in chief was standing here he would say the very same thing.”
In a subsequent social media post, Mick Wallace wrote, “We put people in prison for stealing a pair of shoes in Ireland but when a war criminal like Mike Pence struts around Shannon organising the destruction of other countries, communities and people, we don’t even consider arresting him.”
Peace campaigner Edward Horgan also criticised the visit on Twitter. “It seems we are no longer a sovereign country and those that fought and died for Irish sovereignty and independence and justice fought and died in vain, Mike Pence, US Vice President, for the second time within the past six months has deliberately abused Irish sovereignty and neutrality by using Shannon Airport to greet US troops who are breaching Irish sovereignty by transiting through neutral Ireland to wage wars of aggression in Iraq.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.