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STATE FOR EEB/TRA JOHN BYERLY AND WIN DAYTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2017 
TAGS: EAIR ECON EI
SUBJECT: SECRETARY CHERTOFF'S TRIP TO IRELAND 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Robert Faucher.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During his November 28 ) December 2 trip to 
Ireland, Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff met 
with Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and Defence 
Minister Willie O'Dea together and later with Justice 
Minister Brian Lenihan to discuss DHS's proposal to move to 
full pre-clearance operations (customs and immigration) at 
Shannon and Dublin airports.  The Secretary said that the 
screening of general aviation (GA) flights would be a 
critical part of the agreement.  Each Minister indicated 
their willingness to work constructively with the USG but 
also urged DHS to pass them a draft agreement as soon as 
possible.  Chertoff promised a draft by the week of December 
3 and agreed to a mid-January target for the initial round of 
negotiations in Dublin.  The Irish government wants to keep 
the negotiations as quiet as possible given domestic 
political sensitivities, and the Secretary indicated that the 
USG would follow the Irish lead on the public affairs side. 
Dempsey and Lenihan said that main legal concerns would 
center on the detention and search authorities of Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) officials at each airport.  Chertoff 
agreed but indicated that he felt these issues could be 
worked out and emphasized that the draft agreement the Irish 
would soon see was not a "final offer" but a starting point 
from which to negotiate.  End Summary. 
 
Ministers Dempsey and O'Dea 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On November 29, Secretary Chertoff met with Transport 
Minister Noel Dempsey and Defence Minister Willie O'Dea to 
discuss the proposal to move to full pre-clearance operations 
(customs and immigration) at Shannon and Dublin airports and 
the inclusion of the screening of GA flights into the 
proposal.  Participants: 
 
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey 
Defence Minister Willie O'Dea 
John Murphy, Asst. Sect. Aviation, Dept of Transport 
Tanya Harrington, Special Advisor to the Minister 
Ed O'Callaghan, Airports Division, Dept. of Transport 
Michael Dreelan, Legal Advisor, Dept. of Transport 
Martin Power, Dept. of Justice 
Joe Hackett, Head of Consular Section, Dept of Foreign 
Affairs 
Phonsey Croke, Principal Officer, Customs 
Ethna Brogan, Aviation Security, Dept of Transport 
 
Secretary Chertoff 
 
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Ambassador Foley 
Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary, DHS 
Adam Isles, Dep. Chief of Staff, DHS 
Andrew Levy, Dep. General Counsel, DHS 
Rob Faucher, DCM Embassy Dublin 
Juan Soltero, CBP Port Director, Dublin Airport 
Dwight Nystrom, Econ Officer, Embassy Dublin 
(notetaker) 
 
¶3. (C) Dempsey said that the Irish were willing to work with 
the USG to reach an agreement but he emphasized that they 
needed to see a draft text before they could begin serious 
discussions.  Chertoff promised a draft text to the Irish in 
the week beginning December 3.  Dempsey said that the initial 
round of negotiations could take place in mid-January in 
Dublin if they received the text in this time-frame. 
However, he said that his Department would (in all 
likelihood) need to introduce legislation in connection with 
the agreement.  The legislation would be introduced, at the 
earliest, only between Easter and July 2008, as it was 
important to move the negotiations swiftly. 
 
¶4. (C) Chertoff emphasized that the "real step forward" in 
this agreement was the inclusion of GA flights for full 
pre-clearance and pointed out the potential economic benefits 
to Shannon of including GA.  To this, O'Dea (almost to 
himself) added "Yes, that's definitely important."  (Note: 
O'Dea is not only Defence Minister but is also a member of 
the Dail (the Irish Parliament) from the Shannon area and has 
been particularly vocal in opposing Aer Lingus's recent 
decision to transfer its Shannon-Heathrow slots to Belfast. 
End Note). 
 
¶5. (C) Dempsey and O'Dea both counseled that the negotiations 
should be held quietly given the sensitivity among a small 
minority of Irish citizens over the U.S. military's use of 
Shannon airport for transit flights to the Middle East.  In 
addition, both Ministers pointed out that the U.S. "should 
not underestimate the ability of some to make mischief" and 
link the (inaccurate) perception that Shannon has been used 
for "extraordinary rendition flights" to discussions 
surrounding full pre-clearance negotiations.  Because of this 
and other sensitivities, Dempsey said that it "would be 
better to negotiate behind the scenes.  After all, when 
you're defending, you're losing."  Chertoff agreed to follow 
the Irish lead. 
 
¶6. (C) Dempsey laid out the main legal concerns that the 
Irish government could foresee: the powers of detention and 
the ability of U.S. officials to search.  He noted that the 
involvement of Irish officials would "make things easier." 
As well, he pointed out that customs policy is a competence 
of the EU, so Ireland may have to consult with Brussels on 
any part of the agreement that touched on customs.  He sought 
assurances from Chertoff that, if the facilities at the 
airports were put in place, DHS would commit the necessary 
resources to "provide an adequate level of service." 
Chertoff assured Dempsey that they could address the legal 
issues through negotiations.  He said that, since the move to 
pre-clearance involves adding in the customs component, the 
USG was not so much concerned with detention issues as with 
the ability to search passengers and their belongings. 
 
Justice Minister Lenihan 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) On November 30, Secretary Chertoff met with Irish 
Justice Minister Brian Lenihan.  Participants: 
 
Justice Minister Brian Lenihan 
Ed O'Callaghan, Airports Division, Dept. of Transport 
Martin Power, Dept. of Justice 
Joe Hackett, Head of Consular Section, Dept of Foreign 
Affairs 
Ken O'Leary, Asst Secretary of Security, Dept of 
Justice 
Paddy Forsyth, Dept. of Justice 
 
Secretary Chertoff 
 
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Ambassador Foley 
Paul Rosenzweig, Dep. Asst. Secretary, DHS 
Adam Isles, Dep. Chief of Staff, DHS 
Andrew Levy, Dep. General Counsel, DHS 
Dwight Nystrom, Econ Officer, Embassy Dublin 
(notetaker) 
 
¶8. (C) As in the November 29 meeting with Ministers Dempsey 
and O'Dea, Chertoff emphasized that the most important 
element of the agreement was the inclusion of GA flight 
screening.  He said that the USG would like to have access to 
the same Passenger Name Record information for GA flights as 
it currently has for commercial flights (passenger names, 
crew data, etc.) and to be able to scan planes for radiation 
well before they entered U.S. airspace.  In that regard, he 
said Shannon Airport was an ideal location. 
 
¶9. (C) Chertoff indicated that the Irish would receive the 
draft agreement next week but added that his department had 
to complete interagency negotiations first.  Chertoff said 
that Shannon would be the first European "hub" for the 
screening of GA flights.  Lenihan was quite interested in the 
economic benefits stemming from the proposal and welcomed 
this information. 
 
¶10. (C) Lenihan reiterated the Irish government's willingness 
to reach an understanding but said that they need to see the 
"details of the plan first."  He noted that both governments 
need to be mindful of the public relations aspect of any 
agreement and that they need to spend "some time talking 
about how the announcement could be sequenced."  Lenihan 
continued that it would be best to keep the negotiations 
quiet. 
 
¶11. (C) Lenihan said it appeared the chief U.S. concern was 
screening of GA planes.  Chertoff agreed but added that being 
able to search passengers was also a priority.  Chertoff said 
that he saw the USG's role at the two airports as being very 
simple -- "you're either allowed in or not allowed in."  He 
said, of course, that if a passenger were refused entry in 
Shannon or Dublin, CBP would inform the Garda (police) to 
enable them to take appropriate action.  He continued, saying 
that the real trick will be putting in place the mechanisms 
that will allow for this sort of open communication. 
Chertoff emphasized that the draft agreement the Irish would 
soon see was not a "final offer" but a starting point from 
which to negotiate. 
 
¶12. (C) In a later conversation with the Ambassador, Chertoff 
said that the draft agreement and the negotiations on 
Circular 175 authority would be discussed at the next 
Deputies meeting.  He also agreed with the Ambassador's 
suggestion to avoid -- as much as possible -- publicly 
discussing radiation screening at Shannon, for fear of 
alarming the Irish populace and creating further political 
difficulties for the Irish government early on in the 
negotiations. 
 
¶13. (U) Secretary Chertoff's staff cleared on this message. 
FOLEY