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AP/Press Association Images

Sex, drugs and spies: the Profumo Affair had it all

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the lie that toppled Harold Macmillan’s government in 1963.

This piece was first published on 24 March 2013. We republish it here following the news of Mandy Rice-Davies death.

DALLIANCES WITH CALL girls, extramarital affairs and embarrassing misunderstandings with social networks are the norm of present-day political sex scandals.

They are far from sexy, mysterious or compelling.

Anthony Weiner is caught with his pants down. He resigns. Eliot Spitzer has a fondness for “high-end escorts”. He resigns. We all move on, slightly more fatigued by the old-boys’ club that politics continues to be despite our best protestations.

Although they’ve aired enough dirty linen in public, the likes of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Silvio Berlusconi, provide no intrigue with their antics. They are just another pair of ageing politicians caught out either by modern-day surveillance, their stupidity or an erroneous perception of their own infallibility.

Fifty-one years ago, another middle-aged politician believed he could lie to an entire nation about his private relationships. And what followed was a controversy that had it all: the Cold War, a powerful Minister, a Russian spy, two young working-class girls and a photo that defined a decade.

Eventually given the title ‘The Profumo Affair’, the political and intelligence scandal not only captured the imagination of the public for months – no, years – it also brought down a government and gave 20th century Britain some unlikely heroines.

The main players

Secretary of State, John Profumo

(Image: S&G/S&G Barratts/EMPICS Archive)

Harold MacMillan, Prime Minister

(Image: S&G/S&G Barratts/EMPICS Archive)

Christine Keeler, model, dancer and hostess

(Image: PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

Mandy Rice-Davies, model, dancer and hostess

Dr Stephen Ward, osteopath and socialite

With (clockwise from top right) Christine Keeler, Paula Hamilton-Marshall and Mandy Rice-Davies.

Yevgeny Ivanov, Russian attaché and Keeler’s friend/lover

(Image: Topham/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)

Lord Denning, master of the rolls

(Image: AP/AP/Press Association Images)

A Timeline

On 8 July 1961, British Secretary of State for War John Profumo was introduced to 19-year-old London model and dancer Christine Keeler by Dr Stephen Ward, an osteopath and man-about-town. Ward and Keeler had met at Murray’s Cabaret Club in Soho, where she worked and he socialised.

The summer’s day party, which was also attended by Russian military attaché Yevgeny Ivanov, was hosted by Ward at the Cliveden mansion of Lord Astor. According to a new book on the subject, the Minister was taken with the London teen once he saw her in the swimming pool (there are reports she was completely nude). He procured her number from Ward and their affair started.

Ivanov’s position in the threesome is less clear. Some called him Keeler’s friend, others her lover. But it is an established fact that they slept together.

MI5′s belief that the Russian attaché was double-jobbing as a spy set off alarm bells among authorities once they got a whiff of the love triangle. Even a rumour that two men – one on the Soviet side and one in the British government – shared a lover during the Cold War was enough to spark a major scandal. But more concrete evidence was required before anything would be made public.

In stepped another lover.

The bizarre events of 1963 were precipitated by a gunshot fired by drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe just before Christmas 1962.

Keeler had ended her relationship with Edgecombe in mid-December and he was not happy about it. She had sought out Ward and Mandy Rice-Davies for support and was in their Marylebone flat when Edgecombe sought her out one afternoon. When she refused to see him, he fired several shots at the locked door.

The incident gave the newspapers of the day an opportunity to dig deeper into Keeler’s affairs – in both senses of the word.

The relationship between Profumo and Keeler had ended on the advice of the head of MI5 but when she failed to turn up for Edgecombe’s trial for the gunshot incident, the details of the affair became public. Newspapers asked about her Russian connections and how she was allowed to disappear from a trial.

Her links to the nation’s Secretary of State for War were also uncovered.

In March 1963, when he could avoid the queries no longer, Profumo told Parliament that there was “no impropriety whatsoever” in his relationship with Keeler.

The lie didn’t last long. Evidence of the affair grew as the media’s interest in the story failed to abate (again, it had a minister, a spy, a pimp in Dr Ward and at the time, Keeler and Rice-Davies were referred to as ‘good time girls’ or call girls: not something Fleet Street was going to give up on). One-time friend Stephen Ward also challenged his denials as he fought off accusations that he lived off immoral earnings.

Just 10 weeks after his initial statement, Profumo offered his resignation, admitting with “deep remorse” that he had deceived the House of Commons.

But it didn’t end there – for anyone involved.

Christine Keeler

(Image: AP/Press Association Images)

Keeler was 22 years old when she became “the reason” (source: Press Association photo caption) Profumo had to resign on 5 June 1963. As well as giving evidence in the trial of Dr Stephen Ward – a man she maintained she had a brother/sister relationship with, rather than pimp/call girl allegiance as many claimed – she was herself tried and convicted of perjury and conspiracy.

She spent nine months in Holloway prison. On being released, her life spiralled somewhat. Keeping her distance from Rice-Davies, who was garnering much attention in the subsequent months for her wry answers to legal queries during court proceedings, Keeler didn’t immediately cash in on the fame.

She was divorced twice and lived a life of poverty in public housing projects.

However, there was one thing from her past that changed her life. The famous shot of her, as a young woman, straddling a chair naked was taken as a publicity shot for a planned film about the events of the early 1960s. But before the project got off the ground, one of the prints was stolen and published by the Sunday Mirror.

According to the National Portrait Gallery, which now owns the rights, the photograph has become one of the defining images of the 1960s.

A combination of pin-up and icon, suggestive both of sexual liberation and at the same time of the penalties of sexual exploitation, it occupies a morally ambiguous universe. It was taken in May 1963, when Christine Keeler came to Lewis Morley’s studio over the Establishment Club in Greek Street to be photographed to promote a film on the Profumo Affair.

In 2001, Keeler published an autobiography and, more recently, she released some daring images from her personal collection for exhibition. She is now 71 years old.

John Profumo

Profumo and his wife Valerie Robson in 1959. (Image: PA/PA Wire/Press Association Images)

In 1961 and at 46 years of age, Profumo was a rising star of the Macmillan administration. Just two years later, he withdrew from all aspects of political life because of the affair.

After his resignation in June 1963, he began to work as a volunteer cleaner at Toynbee Hall, a charity in London’s east end. That decision would eventually lead him down a path that would rectify his image in the eyes of all those who saw him as a ruined politician.

He remained with his wife Valerie Hobson and dedicated his life to philanthropy. According to his obituary in the Daily Telegraph, he became known, in the last 40 years of his life, as a “tireless worker for charity and as a man who bore his humiliations with enormous dignity and personal integrity”.

Profumo’s story is of a man who made one terrible mistake but sought his own redemption in a way which has no precedent in public life either before or since.

His dedication to the group earned him praise from Margaret Thatcher, who called him a “national hero”, and he continued his friendship with the Queen Mother and Clarence House. When the film Scandal came out in 1989, they were due to be guests at a dinner for the Queen Mother and they offered not to accept the invitation, but she insisted on their attendance.

Although friends said he never got over the shame of the affair, his life panned out better than others involved in the sordid episode. He was appointed CBE in 1975.

His wife Valerie died in 1998 and he passed away 9 March 2006, aged 91. They were survived by one son, David.

Dr Stephen Ward

(Image: General/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)

Dr Ward is often seen as the scape-goat to the whole sorry affair. It is understood the osteopath was cooperating with MI5 to entrap Ivanov but the Profumo connection confused matters.

When Profumo and Keeler’s liaison became public, he was embroiled in a trial, accused of living off the profits of prostitution or, put more eloquently, “immoral earnings”.

On the last day of the trial, knowing a guilty verdict would be returned, he overdosed on sleeping tablets and was taken to hospital where he died a few days later. As he lay in a coma, the jury delivered the expected result for the charge that he lived off earnings made by Keeler and Rice-Davies. However, he was acquitted of accusations of procuring (or being a pimp).

Lord Denning’s report into the Profumo affair also pointed the finger at Ward but insisted national security had not been compromised. People queued to buy a copy of the publication when it was released. The Guardian reported most were looking for “juicy bits”, such as the identity of a man who, naked except for a mask, served at Ward’s dinner parties.

Harold Macmillan

Less than a month after the publication of the Denning Report, which criticised the government’s handling of the affair, the prime minister resigned. He said it was because of ill health but the public and media decided on a different truth – that young Christine Keeler had brought down the long-standing Conservative government.

Mandy Rice-Davies

Mandy Rice-Davies in 1980. (Image: PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

For years after Ward’s trial, Rice-Davies made the most of her celebrity status. A Private Eye magazine cover from July 1963 sums up her attitude:

Peter Rachman, the man referenced on the front page, was her ex-lover. He became notorious in London for exploiting tenants in the Notting Hill area.

Shortly after Ward’s trial, Rice-Davies converted to Judaism and married an Israeli entrepreneur. They opened a number of nightclubs in Tel Aviv, calling them Mandy’s, Mandy’s Candies and Mandy’s Singing Bamboo.

She also became a semi-permanent feature on the British chat-show scene and has appeared a number of times on television shows, including Absolutely Fabulous.

“Slowly but surely. I’m changing notoriety into fame,” she told People magazine in 1986 on the release of her first novel.

The quotes

“I was the toothpaste.” – Keeler on how Peter Rachman saw sex as being as functional as cleaning one’s teeth.

“Surely there must be some way of concealing your penis.” – Profumo’s wife on his tight trousers.

“He would, wouldn’t he?” – Rice-Davies on Lord Astor’s denial that he had an affair with her.

“I was determined that no British government should be brought down by the action of two tarts.” – Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister

“‘Oh what have you done?’ said Christine. / You’ve disrupted the Party machine; / To lie in the nude is not very rude, / But to lie in the House is obscene.” – a popular limerick which did the rounds at the time of the scandal.

In pop culture

A composite image showing actress Joanna Whalley-Kilmer (left) portraying model Christine Keeler (right) in the film Scandal, about the controversial Profumo Affair of 1963. (Image: PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

Christine Keeler, left, and actress Bridget Fonda (who played Rice-Davies) pictured at Stringfellow’s for the New York premier of the film on 26 April 1989. Fonda  (Image: Mario Suriani/AP/Press Association Images)

The cast perform on stage during a photocall for ‘Keeler’, the inside story of the Profumo affair, based on ‘The Truth At Last’ by Christine Keeler at Upstairs At The Gatehouse, Highgate Village, 12 February 2007. (Image: Alma Robinson/EMPICS Entertainment)

That photo, recreated. (Image: Alma Robinson/EMPICS Entertainment)

Read: 7 sex scandals that shocked the political world

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24 Comments
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    Mute Colm Flaherty
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:26 AM

    TD climbs the fence, gets arrested.

    TD complains that having guards at fence is a Bad Thing.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:53 AM

    TD expertly highlights an infringement of our neutrality that was never debated where it should have been debated the dail chamber.

    Decisions made in dark rooms that effect us all are an erosion of our democracy.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:05 AM

    What neutrality? Last I checked we’ve always been deeply engrained in Western military circles and heavily rely on NATO for national security.

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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:10 AM

    Do we refuse to allow other militaries land at Shannon to refuel?
    US government has been using Shannon for decades. But even at the height of the Cold War Shannon had both US and Soviet aircraft using Shannon.

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    Mute The Throwaway
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:10 AM

    Exactly, people have this urban myth in their head that Ireland has neutrality. There is nothing in the constitution, nothing in law, and in practice it’s more a policy of keep the head down, don’t make waves, and stay on the good side of the western powers.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:10 AM

    That attitude @ Jason will ensure we never reach our goal of neutrality.

    If every country tried to be neutral or worked towards it we would eventually see an end to war.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:15 AM

    Brian, who ever said that neutrality is our goal? It’s just a convenient foreign policy that allows successive politicians to delude themselves that investment in the IDF isn’t necessary as our mythical neutrality will somehow protect us.

    Meanwhile during WW2 we struck deals with the British for security of our island should the Germans invade. Even now NATO handles our airspace security as we simply couldn’t be bothered paying to do it ourselves.

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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:15 AM

    ……….or get over-run by the country with the bows and arrows, one or other in any case.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:37 AM

    Ok Jason I believe we are neutral you don’t….let’s put it to a vote we can do it the same day we go to enshrine our water in our constitution.

    Imagine that referendums that are not just stunts and are about how our country should be lead.

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:51 AM

    We can pontificate how we like about neutrality (its not in the Constitution) but aggressors never give a monkey’s about niceties. And as always Ireland lives in the Shadow of much stronger neighbors, who will be called on to liberate. And again we think Shannon is the be-end all to US Military flights into Europe. Forgetting there’s three basis in the UK bigger than Shannon and Limerick combined. So indeed they could walk if they wanted and Shannon would close.

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:56 AM

    But Jason is right there is nothing in our Constitution about neutrality so a referendum would be pointless. It is a political stance. Basically as outlined above one to prevent us having to invest in the IDF.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:57 AM

    So foreign troops operating in our country is a business decision as opposed to a political one?

    If we are making money out of War we are not conducting ourselves in a neutral manner.

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    Mute Freebetcitydcom Mike
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:07 AM

    Besides the fact Colm’s comment is daft and itrelevant, there is also huge gaming of red thumbs and green thumbs on this thread. The numbers were well out of what with views after very early on.
    Thats the US war machine for you.
    And dont forget, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are employed in the US to manage opinion abroad in online fora.

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    Mute Colm Flaherty
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:17 AM

    Daft? Irrelevant? Way to play the man & not the ball. But then again what has fiscal prudence got to do with finding any stick to beat Shannon with & painting all military actions, from insertion to extraction, as “war”.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:48 AM

    @Brian Voru, did Belgium’s and The Netherlands’ neutrality stop the Nazis from invading the two countries?

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    Mute Lorem Ipsum
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:49 AM

    Brian you can “believe” we’re neutral all you want. It won’t make it true

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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:51 AM

    You’re deluded freedomcity

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    Mute Colm Greene
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:57 AM

    How about we just let the US use Shannon as a way of our saying thanks for helping Europe fight The Nazis in WW2 while we played the neutral card then too.

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    Mute Mer Curial
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:13 AM

    Martin the only significant power with the ability and proximity to invade us would be the UK, and they’re a friendly country.

    Our geographical remoteness and lack of any rare resources makes the chance of an asteroid strike higher than the likes of Russia or China invading us.

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    Mute Ronan Gallagher
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:35 AM

    We have always been told by the government that none of the planes landing have weapons onboard as it is against Irish law. So you believe them?

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:25 AM

    Mer would agree in part, but past efforts in maintaining a defensive block have served to quell any intentions, and much of that infrastructure will assist in dealing with any new threats of terrorism. Advertising a passive stance will do nothing other than irritate friendly nations, who have to stump up should anything untoward happen. Why be an ass with those how would help out.

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Apr 25th 2016, 12:24 PM

    @Jason…where is ‘deeply engrained” written in any official policy or national security agreement and when is the last time NATO forces had to come here to assist our national security!?!?!

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    Mute Tom Purcell
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    Apr 25th 2016, 1:09 PM

    There is no goal of neutrality.

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    Mute James Power
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    Apr 25th 2016, 4:51 PM

    Eh, everyone saying that neutrality is not in our constitution might want to have a wee look at article 29. The Lisbon treaty requires us to send humanitarian aid to any European country if they are invaded but we are exempted from military cooperation.

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    Mute James Power
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    Apr 25th 2016, 4:54 PM

    @Nigel O’Neill British fighter jets were invited in to track Russian bombers last year. We had nothing that could keep up.

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    Mute Lorem Ipsum
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:09 PM

    Right James so where is it in the constitution?

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    Mute Seán O'Ceallaghan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:19 PM

    Anyone remember that time we bought guns off the Germans.

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    Mute mickmc
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:51 AM

    We know how much it cost us but how much profit do we make out the refueling operation. I could be wrong but my guess it’s a lot more than €1.2 million.

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    Mute bings
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:12 AM

    The planes landing at Shannon are paying landing fees, etc. Do you really think Shannon airport can operate without this fee. These planes are just landing & refueling nothing else.

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    Mute mickmc
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:14 AM

    And I’m sure their passengers are going into the terminal and spending their dollar’s.

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    Mute Ciaran Coye
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:29 AM

    Oh yes and that’s what its all about. Making the moola. Nothing considered about our participation in the slaughter of innocence. We stand by our neutrality though. What a sham.

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    Mute Lorem Ipsum
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:33 AM

    How many times do you people have to be told that we aren’t neutral?

    And why is it only American planes you have a problem with?

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    Mute Stephen Duggan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:18 AM

    Totally worth it to have the biggest and best military force in the world as an ally, one things for sure if we ever need them, they’ll have our back, on land, sea or air.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:45 AM

    Unless it’s Europe America has a problem with…. Neutrality is not just something we say it should be something we do as well.

    Although I agree with supporting our American friends I would prefer to do it without effecting our neutrality.

    Was any attempt made to explain our neutrality when the request was made to stop here? Two TDs who have punched above their weight for highlighting dangerous actions of the state.

    Clear evidence why real ( I don’t include Lowry) independent TDs are never a wasted vote.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:08 AM

    Yes it was Brian, part of the conditions of using Shannon as a landing destination was that soldiers could not be armed while on Irish soil and aircraft landing here cannot be armed with any kind of weaponry.

    Officially we also allow military flights from other nations to land here under the same conditions and some do avail of this.

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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:13 AM

    We are a member of
    The UN
    The EC
    The OECD
    The IMF
    The Council of Europe
    The World Trade Organisation
    The International Criminal Court
    and any number of other bodies. We regularly send military forces into conflict zones. Guess what, we’re not actually neutral, we’re fairly militarily unaligned but that’s just a hang-over from the Second World War.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:13 AM

    And our are wishes being respected Jason are we sure there are no arms on board?

    What inspections take place and are the results of those inspections debated in the dail?

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:19 AM

    We send troops on peace keeping missions that are sanctioned by the UN.

    I personally would rather see us remain neutral and withdraw from these missions. Our vibrant not for profit and charities should be our representation on missions.

    Irish neutrality or our attempt to walk that road is what makes me proudest about being Irish.

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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:20 AM

    Hi Mr Obama, welcome to Aras an Uachtarain. Before you come in though we’re going to frisk you because, although you’ve told us you aren’t carrying a gun, and you’re from a friendly country and we think that even if you had it’s unlikely you’d pull it on Michael or Sabina, you just can’t be too careful!

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:28 AM

    Hi mr Obama,

    In ireland we pride ourself on being neutral. For this reason you won’t need a gun walking around our country. Do you mind if we check that you don’t carry a gun so our neutrality is not impeded.

    It’s how you phrase the question….

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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:53 AM

    No but diplomatically if you are told by a friendly nation that there are no arms on board, usually you take their word for it unless you think those arms are to be used against you.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:08 AM

    What arms I thought they said they had none?

    Trust is built on more then just words it involves actions. IF it is explained that we are attempting to operate a neutral policy and to keep with this stance we must enforce a no arms policy on our soil by foreign armies diplomatically it can be worked through.

    The problem is if our diplomats forget or don’t believe or agree with the policy.

    Neutrality is easy to explain if you believe in it.

    “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”

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    Mute Freebetcitydcom Mike
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:11 AM

    Stephen duggan on the paid tlt aswell. This is the most blatant comment ive seen in a while. U sound like one of those hollywood blockbusters…like that movie with Mark Wahlberg , shooter “dont you dare say that, donny knew exactly what he was doing enrolling in scout sniper training” with wahlberg smirking it was so uncomfortable.A 2 mil ad for the low paid of america to try emulate bob lee swaggert with.
    Managing perceptions is tough job eh ? Billions pumped into it every year

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    Mute Lorem Ipsum
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:52 AM

    If anything, requiring UN assent to send our troops overseas destroys any vestige of “neutrality” or even autonomy

    We’ve imposed on ourselves a need for the agreement of the US, UK, China, Russia and France to send our troops where we think they should go. Why is that something we should continue to do?

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    Mute Colm Greene
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:41 AM

    Brian, im curious what your policy would be if somehow ISIS made it to our shores or if back in WW2 Germany overran Britain and began conquering us.

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    Mute Peter Fechter
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:33 AM

    We have bought ammunition from Israel.

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    Mute brian boru
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:33 AM

    Hey Colm to be honest I think we are naive to think Isis are not operating here in ireland already. I think the more we have to change as a society to fight these ideologies the greater the lose our society suffers.Hopefully the good people who try to protect us from political extremists are on the ball and we catch these people and prevent any lose of life.

    As for hitler too distant a time for me to comprehend the decisions they had to make. Sure they didn’t even have iPhones back then….

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    Mute Tom Purcell
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    Apr 25th 2016, 12:16 PM

    @Joe
    and we are also members of:
    NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme
    &
    NATO’S Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC).

    Neutrality is a conceptual luxury that has no place in the modern world. We cannot defend ourselves from the real dangers of the 21st century – ideological terrorists, DOS attacks, dirty weapons technology etc. The niceties of international law are not recognised by our modern-day enemies.

    We need to get off our left-wing high-jorses which give us the automatic position of “if it infolves US or UK then it is the Capitalist overlords against the opressed masses” – YAWN

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    Mute James Onedin
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:07 AM

    TD climbs fence to make point……..aircraft due to land at Shannon are forced to circle or divert because of TD’s incursion………TD puts the lives of innocent passengers at risk.

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    Mute Marg murphy
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:38 AM

    The US is and has always been our friend. It is right and proper that we do what little we can in the fight against international terrorism. The irony of course is that the same people who complain about the cost are the same lunatic fringe who post the threat in t he the first place.

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    Mute gus sheridan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:22 AM

    Marge Murphy, the US has only been our “friend” when it suits them.

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    Mute Colman McGrath
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:44 AM

    Marg the real Irony is that it was the Americans who armed and the trained these so called terrorists. So I wouldn’t be booming the whole hey we’re friends with the Americans from the rooftops.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:47 AM

    Any proof to back that claim up Colman?

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    Mute Colman McGrath
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:55 AM

    How about the fact that Hilary Clinton admitted it in interview. Proof enough for you !!!

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    Mute Tom
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:56 AM

    Yeah Gus lets kick the yanks out and all their corporations and shut down Shannon , what about all the money wasted paying these idiot independents Wallace and Daly ?

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    Mute Niall Lonergan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:56 AM

    And how much do we make from the US activity at Shannon?

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    Mute Kate Kavanagh
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:20 AM

    Redundant article.

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    Mute Podge
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:59 AM

    Forgive me for asking Clare – but how about all that money your fence climbing pal owes? I’m sure instead of taxpayers footing the bill for it via bailout it could have been better used for schools, hospitals and guards

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:20 AM

    Ah sure you know the army and Gardai are needed there to protect the US Soldiers from a threat that wouldn’t exist if they weren’t there in the first place …. And of course the US needs Shannon so it can continue its policy of extra ordinary rendition, global terror and imperialism….. Another fine mess FG and FF getting us into!

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:32 AM

    Ibhar…how much does USA spend on protecting 26 county state backsides every day should be question. ..!!!!

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    Mute Marg murphy
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:44 AM

    @igbar. You think the gardai are there to protect American soldiers? Surely you’re having a laugh!! The gardai are there to keep out the socialist, ex teachers on a mission and also on massive pensions, with all the time in the world to be a nuisance with hatchets and scale fences and attack aircraft.
    Gardai protecting the US army…lol.

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:15 AM

    Protect from what or who? Please explain ? And if you say from ISIS well it’s well documented already that the US aided in the creation or ISIS… So who’s ‘wagging the dog’ here?

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:25 AM

    Well Marg, the US Soldiers aren’t supposed to be armed when at Shannon , and I’ve taken part in a fair few protests at Shannon and I’ve seen plenty of armed Gardai and army there , so if US backed ISIS or socialists TD’s that are defending the rule of international law decide they want to enter the secure part of airport I think the war mongers would be grateful that our guys are they’re to protect them with their weapons !

    Again if the US didn’t instigate the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or the undeclared drone wars Yemen or kidnap innocents around the world well Islamic extremism wouldn’t be so much of an issue … How about you learn some history on the issue from the last 20 years Marg ?

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    Mute Marg murphy
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:55 AM

    Islamic extremism is on the rise anyway. Has been for the last 20 years. Islam in general is more fundamental now than its has ever been. We can thank the Saudis for that and the west can be blamed only in so far as we pander to the Saudis and allow them to build the mosques and dictate the strand of Islam that will be embedded in Europe. The rise of Islamic extremism is a direct result of allowing Saudi financed radical imans call the shots on our soil and infect the young. Our PC thinking and leftist pandering along with governmental kow towing to Saudi princes are the factors behind the rise of radical Islam.

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    Mute whereisspace
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:10 AM

    Ibhar…you’ll find that the largest western massacre in the name of islam happened before those illegal wars so islamic extremism was alive and well before them…it’s not because of those wars…

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:08 PM

    Ibhar…islamic fundamentals have been slaughtering and killing shiite / kurds / christian/ Hindus / Sikhism / Bahai /buddists/ jews and many more minorities in the world including hard left socialists long before the war in Afghanistan and Iraq( bombing and killing from 1976
    lebanon christian population by Islamic extremists )..!!!!

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Apr 26th 2016, 8:38 AM

    Marg, the rise of Islamic extremism didn’t happen in a vacuum,whilst there’s always been an extreme element in Islam (just as in Christianity) since the end of WWII you’ve had the west interfering in the middle east, starting with partition with the Sykes-Picot Agreement into the puppet states we see now, and also the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 by the UK…….’forced regieme change’ has we now know causes a vacuum in which extremists love in inhabit!, We now see the same mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan , Syria, Libya …..etc etc

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Apr 26th 2016, 8:43 AM

    @ Bobby
    So has Christian fundamentalism has been slaughtering all types for centuries …..are you believing the Fox News hype?

    Don;t forget all those white extremists and african war lords that act in the name of that make believe guy in the sky!

    There’s no excuse for these wars. no excuse for continuous wars !

    http://www.salon.com/2015/04/07/6_modern_day_christian_terrorist_groups_our_media_conveniently_ignores_partner/

    http://heavy.com/news/2015/12/anti-balaka-christian-extremism-terrorism-central-african-republic-car-africa-mass-muslim-islam-execution-behead-murder-mass-grave-genocide-uncensored-youtube/

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    Mute Seamus Corcoran
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:43 AM

    They wouldn’t need the protection if the likes of Mick and Claire didn’t keep jumping the fence to try and “inspect” them.

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    Mute Michael Shannon
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:32 AM

    $1.2m, a drop in the ocean compared to supporting and re-electing some not all corrupt politicians!
    Lots of Irish jobs in return I am sure!

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    Mute Todd Hebert
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:11 AM

    The u.s. should be paying that bill, or they shouldn’t be using Shannon airport!

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    Mute Charliegrl80
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:29 AM

    Since when has Ireland been Neutral? As far as I am aware we have our Military in how many Countries? And as you are all well aware the powers that be this Country past and present do nothing for nothing, you can bet your a** that the USA are paying well more than €1.2 Million.

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    Mute von
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:53 AM

    Ah sure this is a great little Country to do business in.

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    Mute Jason O Neill
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:13 AM

    let them fly in and out but send them the bill for what it costs to have extra sercuity and then hire more guards to work the rest of the country. will create employment. Hold on scrap that idea no way the government could make a sensible decission.

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    Mute Black dynamite
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:30 AM

    If the US stops flying into shannon airport the airport will probably close. There is very little traffic in and out of the airport at all

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    Mute ..
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:59 AM

    If the US military are stopping in Shannon to refuel before blanket bombing every inch of Daesh territory then fair play. But why are they still flying troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, had they not pulled out of Afghanistan?

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    Mute OUTSIDR.ie
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:08 AM

    Oil.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 7:12 AM

    No, they planned on withdrawing from Afghanistan shortly after withdrawing from Iraq but the entire US Military command was repeatedly saying that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan were ready for an American withdrawal.

    Obama didn’t listen and pressed ahead with the Iraqi withdrawal. Only a few months later and Daesh had overrun a good chunk of the country and the Iraqi Military collapsed. That made the administration put the Afghanistan withdrawal ‘on hold’ for now.

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    Mute ..
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    Apr 25th 2016, 6:08 PM

    @ Jason Culligan, thanks for that your knowledge on these matters is always very insightful. Basically Obama’s electioneering and promises of a full withdrawal left the void that created IS.

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Apr 25th 2016, 11:14 AM

    The people causing the problems are complaining that the money spent keeping them away could be better spent elsewhere…

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Apr 25th 2016, 4:04 PM

    If Wallace , Daly and the rest of the loonies stayed away there would be no need to spend that money.

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    Mute Retired Fireman
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    Apr 25th 2016, 2:18 PM

    There are far more pressing issues than the usual shite that claire daly moans about

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    Mute Tommy Doran
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    Apr 25th 2016, 3:17 PM

    Why don’t the Irish Army protect the Airport, What else do they have to do, all 7500 of them!

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:53 AM

    The U.S. military use and exploitation of Shannon is that inconvenient truth most of us prefer to ignore. The use is not sufficiently monitored and we all suspect that extraordinary rendering has been taking place. We try to avoid knowing what is happening.

    Legally speaking, Ireland is in a sate of neutrality but it is a pro US and pro NATO neutrality.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:14 AM

    @Fiona, Ireland’s neutrality is in general a matter of government policy rather than a requirement of statute law

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:37 AM

    Exactly Larissa, it surprises me how many people think that Ireland is under some form of legal obligation to remain neutral. Many countries don’t even see Ireland as a neutral country, given our lack of legal obligation and non-existent military and supporting industry to enforce our neutrality.

    Austria, Switzerland and Sweden are all countries which had a policy or legal obligation to neutrality, had (or still have in the case of Switzerland) large military forces for self defence and have extensive military industries to provide arms and equipment without relying too much on outside suppliers.

    We lack all of that.

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    Mute Tom Purcell
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    Apr 25th 2016, 12:59 PM

    @ Fiona – Not sure where you are coming from, Yes the US military use Shannon, and subsequently a) pay for the service, 2) spend discretional moneys there – there has never been an accusation on exploitation of Shannon, so not sure where you make that claim from.

    Also your comment on Ireland been legally neutral is also inacurate – Ireland has no formal policy on neutrality other than McBride not being a member of any alliance involving Britain…

    and yes it is Pre US/pro NATO becase they are the people we need for support – for example when a Russian aircraft overflies Irish airspace it is the RAF which is scrambled to investigate (by internalional agreement) because we do not have the equipment to investigate, intercept or defend against such incursions.

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    Mute steve white
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    Apr 25th 2016, 5:25 PM

    Tom, no Russian military aircraft and flown over Irish airspace without permission.

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:17 PM

    Fiona… who whould you trust to protect 26 county state UNITED NATION or NATO if under attack from a hostile nation or large scale terrorists attack..!!!

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    Mute gus sheridan
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:19 AM

    Get the bloody Yanks to pay!

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    Mute TDV
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    Apr 25th 2016, 8:40 AM

    The US HAS BEEN USING SHANNON TO TRANSPORT THEIR CANNON FODDER, WEAPONS, RENDITITION FLIGHTS AND WHOMKNOWS WHAT ELSE SINCE WELL BEFORE 2012! THAT’S ONE HELL OF A DISGRACFUL TYPO!

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    Mute Tomás Ó Briain
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:57 AM

    The terror threat to this country is not from Isis or Daish or Islamic State or whatever you want to call it. When the chips are down the threat will come from Britain, which planned to re-invade in the 1940s, ‘to protect their interests; America, which will do so for the same reason when it suits and other, powerful countries who do not give a damn for our rights, whether we are neutral or allied. ‘Might is right’ has been the modus vivendi of the Western powers for centuries. The only reason that Britain did not invade in the 1940s was the threat of guerilla warfare from the Irish which was what got them out of here in the first place. The ‘War On Terror’ is just escalated war of terror on civilians.

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:24 PM

    Tomas…terror threat to the people in the 26 county state is from USA and BRITAIN and not desh or Islamic extremists..really. .!! Do you think thats what Irish people think too…!!!

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    Mute Fergus Moroney
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    Apr 25th 2016, 9:55 PM

    You forgot what it cost to open Limerick Jail on a Sunday to leg Sabina, who arrived in a state car, in to visit her friend who was there for defying court over her damage to a US plane. How much did all that cost? Out side of it being unconstitutional.

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    Mute Peter Fechter
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    Apr 25th 2016, 10:25 AM

    I read every story that contains a quote from minister of justice francis fitzpatrick…shes a fantastic woman and im a big admirer.i particularly like that shes standing up to the mobs behind the recent gang murders.

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