The number of US military personnel who have passed through Shannon since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has topped the one million mark.
Up to the end of September this year, 1,059,382 US military personnel, on 8,698 flights, had used the midwest airport since the start of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" 4½ years ago.
Figures released by the Shannon Airport Authority have confirmed that since March 20th 2003 an average of 640 troops on five flights every day have stopped off at Shannon on their way to Iraq and to other US military bases in the Arabian Gulf.
Still a source of great controversy, the business of facilitating troop-carriers on their way to and from war zones in both Iraq and Afghanistan has been worth an estimated €7 million a year to the airport. This time last year the number of military personnel passing through Shannon since the terror attacks of September 11th 2001 in the US also broke the one million mark.
In 2003, the year "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was launched, 121,943 troops passed through Shannon - up almost 50,000 on 2002. In 2004, the number increased further to 158,549, and it more than doubled in 2005. That was a record year for troop activity at Shannon, with 340,600 personnel using the airport.
Last year, 280,785 personnel passed through Shannon. However, in the second half of the year, just 71,711 troops used the airport, compared to 187,207 in the same period of 2005. This drop of almost 62 per cent was a result of the departure from Shannon of World Airways, which moved its operations to Germany on July 1st 2006. World Airways is the largest carrier of US personnel for the Pentagon worldwide.
So far this year - up to the end of September - 184,462 US soldiers stopped off on 1,457 flights.
Retired army commandant and well-known anti-war campaigner Edward Horgan said: "Between March 2003 and September 2007, more than one million US troops have passed through Shannon, mainly on their way to and from the Iraq war. This unlawful war and occupation has cost almost one million Iraqi lives. Irish sovereignty and neutrality have been traded for a few doubtful dollars and it is likely that there will be 'blowback' costs and security implications in the years to come.
"While we know how many US troops have passed through Shannon," Mr Horgan added, "we have no real idea how many CIA personnel have passed through.
"The European Parliament and Council of Europe investigations into the rendition for torture programme estimated that CIA rendition planes landed at Shannon at least 147 times, but this is likely to be a significant underestimate. At least four aircraft known to be used by the CIA passed through Shannon during the month of September this year alone."
A peace demonstration is to be held at Shannon on Saturday October 27th as part of an international peace protest day.