Ireland 's air facilities are regularly used by the United States military for the transit of military personnel overseas , mainly to the Middle East . The Irish government began supplying military and civilian air facilities in Ireland for use by the armed forces of the United States during the 1991 First Gulf War . Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 , the Irish government offered the use of Irish airspace and airports to the US military in support of the War in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq , on the condition that aircraft be unarmed , with no cargo of arms , ammunition or explosives , not engage in intelligence gathering , and that the flights in question do not form part of military exercises or operations at the time . Casement Aerodrome , Baldonnel ( military ) and Shannon Airport ( civil ) , used as stopover hubs , have seen more than 2.4 million American troops pass through from 2002 to 2014 . An average of more than 500 US troops pass through Shannon every day
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Ireland–NATO relations