Landing Rights in Dublin: Relations between Ireland and the United States 1945–72

On 4 April 1947, the Irish Free State and the United States of America signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which was formulated in Chicago on 7 December 1944 and ratified on 5 March 1947. This specialised agency of the United Nations coordinates and regulates international air travel. Thirty years later, the two governments fell into a power struggle over American attempts to gain direct access for their airlines to Dublin Airport. Using recently declassified government documents and extensive research in newspaper archives, this article will offer analysis of the issue of landing rights in Dublin and how it challenged the governments of the United States and Ireland on both domestic and international fronts.