Court set alight in Ennis
national |
anti-war |
news report
Wednesday June 25, 2014 21:09
by Justin Morahan
Metaphorical fires of justice and truth set court room ablaze
SUMMARY: I arrived in Ennis without
pen or notebook to support the action of Margaretta D'Arcy and Niall
Farrell who protested on the runway of Shannon against the US military
use of the airport. The following is a colour story of happenings on the
day relying on memory only. I hope that someone else may provide a
fuller report and my apologies for any errors in this report which are
entirely my responsibility.
Margaretta
D'Arcy set the court on fire in Ennis yesterday in the defence of her
action of sitting on the runway at Shannon airport with Niall Farrell to
protest against US war planes using the Irish airport as a warport for
transporting US troops and weapons to war in Afghanistan, Syria or
elsewhere. Her witnesses Clare Daly, Tom Clonan, Mairead Maguire, Ed
Horgan and John Lannon lit similar fires in her defence. The courtroom
was alight with passion and truth. It was an historic day on which
Margaretta and her witnesses filled an Irish courtroom with palpable
joy. The day belonged to Margaretta and Niall. Their action in
non-violently opposing Irish participation in war was vindicated. The
court, the State, the prosecuting Gardaí were the big losers. The legal
jargon of the court was drowned in the passionate voices of Margaretta
and her witnesses.
There was applause in court. Not afterwards but during the proceedings.
The procedure allowed Margaretta who was defending herself to call her
witnesses in the latter part of the trial. One after another they took
their seats in the witness box, identified themselves and were
questioned by her. The list was impressive. Clare Daly, T.D. who had
tried on so many occasions without success to get the Irish parliament
to inspect flights at Shannon and stop US military from passing through
the civilian airport on their way to war. Dr Tom Clonan, retired Captain
of the Irish Army, now security correspondent for the Irish Times who
visited Guantanamo and gleaned there the usefulness of Shannon for the
US military projection of power. Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate
co-founder of the Peace People in Northern Ireland who had visited
countless war zones on peace missions including Iran, Syria and Iraq,
and who knows the situation on the ground there. Dr John Lannon, author,
lecturer in Knowledge Management at the University of Limerick, Systems
developer, Project manager and Software designer, chief organiser of
the Shannon monthly protest. Dr Edward Horgan, retired Army Commandant,
researcher and part-time lecturer in the University of the University of
Limerick, with experience on behalf of EU, UN, OSCE and Carter Group of
election monitoring in Bosnia, Croatia, Nigeria, Indonesia, East Timor,
Zimbabwe, Armenia, Ghana, Ukraine, Tunisia and Congo DRC., co-ordinator
of Shannonwatch.
All five of these these very different people declared their firm belief
to the court that what Margaretta D'Arcy and Niall Farrell had done at
Shannon was right and proper. Tom Clonan said it was spot on. He had
learned that payments for Shannon airport were included in the US
Defence budget. He mentioned how a leading member of Hizbollah had told
him how disappointed he was that an airport in Co Clare was being used
by US military. His knowledge of the location of Shannon made Dr Clonan
fear that the airport could easily be a soft target for a terrorist
attack. Clare Daly, John Lannon and Ed Horgan believed the protest of
Niall and Margaretta was in line with best international law. Mairead
Corrigan agreed but added that it it was in line also with the highest
law of all, the law of conscience. The judge did not like her perceived
inference that he should be lectured on how his conscience might direct
him and he told her so.
Looking around the courtroom, it was energizing to see so many people of
conscience there, themselves victims of legal and Garda injustice, -
including Maura Harrington with husband Naoise Ó Mongáin, Pat the Chief
O'Donnell and his son, other supporters from Shell to Sea and Rossport,
people who have endured long hours and days in courtrooms such as this
one with scant heed for their health and safety, let alone their human
or judicial rights. Tim Hourigan, recently found not guilty for Shannon
surveillance activities, was looking on. Support groups Shannonwatch,
PANA and CND were there in force. (Carol Fox of CND was Margaretta's
McKenzie friend). Long term human rights and peace activist, Colm Roddy,
travelled from Dublin. Ann Patterson had driven from Belfast. Tommy
Donnellan was there with his camera, as he is always there, wherever
right challenges might, wherever the weak confront the strong.
The prosecution wasted a lot of time getting Gardaí to "prove" the fact
that everyone knew, namely that Margaretta and Niall were on the runway
on the day in question. In the process, something emerged that very few
people knew, namely the arresting Garda had handcuffed both Margaretta
ad Niall although they were fully cooperative with Gardaí, and
Margaretta told the Garda that she had denied her request for water.
It should be recorded that Judge Durcan imposed sentences of two weeks
imprisonment on Niall and Margaretta, suspended, with conditions
attached including the signing of a bond. He admonished the Garda for
having used handcuffs on both defendants but did not let this influence
his judgement.
No-one was surprised. The law of the land, as perceived by the judiciary
and the Irish State, had superseded both international law and the law
of conscience in an Irish courthouse - as it always does in such cases
as these.
Two cultures - the cultures of Right and Might - clashed in an Ennis
courtroom on an historic day. Might was given the verdict and Right was
the winner.
[
Article first published in Indymedia Ireland 25/6/2014]
For fuller reports and comments see
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