GOI OPEN TO INFORMATION EXCHANGE ON SHANNON MILAIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001078

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015
TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL EAIR PTER EI
SUBJECT: GOI OPEN TO INFORMATION EXCHANGE ON SHANNON MILAIR
TRANSITS

REF: DUBLIN 1020

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Benton; Reasons 1.4 (B)
and (D).


1. (C) This is an action request. See para 5.


2. (C) As a follow-up to Post's September August 30 meeting
with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) regarding
emerging constraints on U.S. milair transits at Shannon
Airport (reftel),DATT, pol/econ chief, and poloff met with
Irish Department of Transport officials on September 13 to
discuss Ireland's expansive interpretation of munitions of
war and notification requirements for military materiel
shipments. DATT noted the history of bilateral cooperation
on U.S. military access to Shannon, and he observed that the
USG had taken quick corrective action when commercial
contract carriers had previously transshipped materiel
without adhering to Irish notification guidelines. He
observed, however, that recently more cumbersome notification
requirements might edge Shannon closer to a "tipping point"
in terms of the difficulty of processing U.S. milair
transits. He recognized Ireland's right to interpret
munitions of war in its own way, but pointed out that items
now under discussion as possibly requiring notification, such
as wheeled vehicles and machine components, would not fall
within the international norm. Citing Russian materiel
shipments to Venezuela, DATT also conveyed concerns as to
whether Irish notification requirements would apply uniformly
to all countries that transshipped military items.


3. (C) The Irish Government was open to information
exchanges with USG agencies as part of its review of military
transits at Shannon, responded Robin McKay, Department of
Transport Principal Officer for Aviation Regulations and
International Relations. McKay said that the Government had
undertaken the review largely because U.S. commercial
contract carriers had, without notification, shipped items
through Shannon in recent months that would normally count as
munitions of war, such as the February shipment of Apache
helicopters to Israel. The review aimed to flesh out the
full scope of military materiel passing through Shannon, and
Transport Department officials would, in the interim,
interpret munitions of war more broadly "to be on the safe
side." McKay stressed nonetheless that the long-standing
Irish policy of permitting U.S. access to Shannon was not
subject to reversal, even though public opposition to U.S.
actions in Iraq and the Middle East had made the political
context for the policy more sensitive. He added that Ireland
was generally more flexible in its notification guidelines
than other EU Member States, as seen in Ireland's relatively
short 48-hour notice requirement.


4. (C) McKay said that the Irish Government was willing to
work with the USG in the course of the review, and he asked
whether U.S. Defense Department officials could provide a
standard list of items that the USG would categorize as
munitions of war. This form of exchange would help to
determine the extent to which the two sides could agree on
items requiring notification and the exemptions needed for
non-agreed items. McKay also asked whether the U.S. side
could share the Ireland section of the U.S. Defense
Department's Foreign Clearance Guide, with a view to possible
Irish input into the instructions for contract carriers
regarding Shannon transits. He added that the review would
likely be completed by late October, though not necessarily
with re-published notification guidelines as an end result.
He noted that no final conclusions had been reached in this
regard and that current normal exemptions were being granted,
with the Transport Department not being more restrictive in
this regard. DATT replied that he would sound out TRANSCOM
and USG agencies on the possibility of an information
exchange.


5. (C) Action request: In the interests of ensuring
continued U.S. milair transits at Shannon on the basis of
reasonable and mutually acceptable notification requirements,
Post asks that TRANSCOM and other involved Defense agencies
consider positively McKay's suggestions for an information
exchange. DATT intends to forward these suggestions
separately through appropriate Defense Department channels.
KENNY