The Minister for Foreign Affairs has issued a statement seeking to clarify the Government's position on the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.
Brian Cowen said Shannon is one of a number of European airports which has, for many years, been used by the United States for the transit of military personnel.
Anti-war activists have set up a peace camp at Shannon to protest against its use by military aircraft. They say the military traffic is breaching Ireland's traditional policy of neutrality and is making Shannon a potential terrorist target.
Minister Cowen said it was simply not the case that the airport was being used to transport large quantities of arms to the Gulf.
And he said that in the last year, the Government had received only one request for the landing of a US civilian aircraft carrying munitions.
