This article is from page 4 of the 2005-11-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE trial of five anti-war protesters accused of causing over $US 2.5 million damage to a US naval plane at Shannon airport over two-and- a-half years ago will enter its second week this (Tuesday) morning.
The accused — Ciaron O’Reilly (45), an Aus- tralian living in Rialto, Dublin; Damien Moran (25), of South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin; US citizen Nuin Dunlop (34), of Walkinstown Road, Dublin; Karen Fallon (34), a Scottish native liv- ing in Rialto, Dublin; and Deirdre Clancy (35), of Castle Avenue, Clontarf – are pleading not guilty to causing damage without lawful excuse to a na- val plane, the property of the US Government and to glass door panels, the property of Aer Rianta at Shannon Airport, on February 3, 2003.
Prosecuting barrister Conor Devally said, in opening the case, there was “no huge issue” on the facts of the case but rather whether the five felt they had “lawful excuse.”
The implements used to damage the C40 plane – which had earlier arrived from Fort Worth in Texas – were engraved with Celtic symbols and slogans such as, “the war ends here”.
Sergeant Michael O’Connell said he was on se- curity duty at Shannon Airport. At around 3.45 am, he heard glass breaking and saw five people entering the hangar.
He was “terrorised by their appearance” and heard them say words which might have included “God.”
He said Ciaron O’Reilly was “belting an axe into the front nose cone of the plane” and Damien Moran hit the side engine cover with a hammer.
The women were at the back of the plane hitting the exhaust pipe.
Sgt O’Connell took the weapons from the men and they offered no further resistance. All five knelt in a circle to recite the rosary.
Det Sgt Michael Houlihan was asked if he or his colleagues considered interviewing any of the 90,000 US troops who travelled through Shannon
Airport between May 2002 and March 2003, in relation to breaches of the articles of the Geneva Convention which related to attacks on civilians. Det Sgt Houlihan replied that no specific com- plaint of breaches of law outside the State, which could breach Irish law, had been passed to him. He agreed that a complaint regarding the move- ment of troops through Shannon had been made.