SAOIRSE32

By Ed Carty
December 28, 2007
Belfast Telegraph

Jack Lynch’s Fianna Fail Government sanctioned British Army flights into Irish airspace, it emerged today.

A confidential Cabinet memo from July 1977 revealed that incursions and over-flights were formally agreed to by Mr Lynch’s ministerial team.

Even though it was the source of massive annoyance and aggravation for border communities, the Irish government decided to give the Army permission to enter the Republic.

The memo said the decision was simply continuing arrangements agreed by previous administrations.

Helicopters were allowed 2km (1.2 miles) over the border and “salient flights” were also permitted through Clonoony, the area of the Republic south-west of Clones which juts into the north.

Government papers marked “confidential” showed various types of over-flights were allowed.

By far the most controversial involved a 2km strip along the border which the British were given access to. Security flights were allowed into this stretch to take photographs of areas where terrorist incidents occurred most often.

The memo noted that the British wanted a comprehensive photographic record of the area and to identify any improvised bombs, devices or command wires not yet detected.

Units were also allowed over Irish territory to trace illegal crossing points used by terrorists and find firing points set up for IRA snipers.

Flights were supposed to last no more than 30 minutes, stay 2km away from Irish Army installations and no two flights were allowed over the same area in a 10-day period.

But it was later agreed to let the British Army fly back and forth over the border a number of times in the one flight. The British were also allowed ” normal” security checks, where units could go 500m (547 yards) into Irish airspace for photographic or infra-red reconnaissance of suspect devices or buildings.

The memo stated that the flights were permitted “in order to ensure that there are no command wires or other booby-trap devices awaiting the bomb disposal team which will tackle the suspect object”.

Requests for these were made on a case-by-case basis by the British Embassy and both Justice and Defence Departments were consulted before permission was granted.