The Government has raised with the US embassy the flying of a "skull and crossbones" on a US military aircraft that landed at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, 10 days ago.
The flag is flown in combat by special forces. It is seen as triumphalist and is often flown after battle victories.
Several politicians strongly criticised the flying of the flag, particularly in light of Ireland's neutral status. They also questioned why the US C-130 Hercules military aircraft was using Baldonnel instead of Shannon. C-130 planes are used for carrying cargo and also for midair refuelling of fighter jets and bombers.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, has confirmed the incident involving the flag has been "queried" with the US embassy in Dublin. He was responding to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD.
Mr Cowen described the flag as an "informal" one "with no particular status". The US embassy has told the Government that the hoisting of unauthorised flags on US military aircraft is not permitted. However, Mr Cowen added any further action would be a matter for the US authorities.
Mr Ó Snodaigh said the fact that the Government had not issued a strongly worded complaint to the embassy meant "we haven't even given them a slap on the wrist".
"It seems to me that when the Americans are involved, we don't want to upset them. It's disappointing to see that we're are happy to just leave it be and not even request the US embassy investigates the incident".
The crew of the plane unfurled the flag as the aircraft taxied along the runway shortly after landing at the Irish Air Corps base on March 30th. A spokesman for the Department of Defence said a 30-year protocol allowing US military planes to land at Baldonnel was the same as that allowing planes to use Shannon and Dublin airports.
He said the plane was not going to or from a war zone and was not carrying arms. The crew were flying between an air base in the US and an American air base in Sicily. The visit had complied with the Air Navigation Order of 1973, which means landing permission is normally only granted on condition a plane is unarmed and is not carrying arms, ammunition or explosives.
