Shannonwatch

Here is the court report from June 29th at Ennis Circuit Court, where Judge Gerald Keys ruled that the cases of Colm Roddy, Dave Donnellan, Dan Dowling and Edward Horgan should be transferred from Ennis Circuit Court to Dublin Circuit court. This means a trial by jury in Dublin. We have no doubt but that all these cases will eventually be dismissed, as they should be, either on grounds of justification of for technical legal reasons.

Our court reporter has been in many courtrooms over the last decade or so. It's not often that what's said and done in them surprises him. But this day's proceedings did. Here's his report from June 29th.

The four defendants, Ed Horgan, Dan Dowling, Dave Donnellan and Colm Roddy have been trying to have their cases transferred to Dublin from the moment they first set foot in the Circuit Court after the judge in the District Court refused jurisdiction.

Today was judgement day, with regard to that effort.

The defendants were in the courtroom for 10.30am and Judge Keys arrived shortly thereafter. They were the only defendants in the room.

On June 3^rd it was reported that a military aerial refuelling aircraft had made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport. It was a US Air Force McDonnell Douglas KC-10, and initial reports said it suffered a problem with one of its engines over the Atlantic.

Five fire brigade units were sent from Shannon Town and two more from Ennis in support of the airport's Fire and Rescue Service. The National Ambulance Service and Gardaí also sent resources to the airport.

According to local reports, an inspection of the aircraft afterwards discovered that a panel was missing from the jet's left engine.

The first citizen of Dublin, Lord Mayor Mícheál Mac Donncha joined us at Shannon for our June peace vigil calling for an end to the US military use of the airport. Around 25 peaceful demonstrators took part, with people from Clare, Limerick, Cork, Galway, Kildare and Dublin joining with locals from Shannon Town.

Approximately the same number of Gardai blocked our access to the airport, with approximately 10 vehicles, several airport police officers, and a line of crown control barriers to help them.

Meanwhile a US military aerial refuelling aircraft sat in plain sight of the terminal building. The KC-10 had made an emergency landing last weekend, after it developed a problem with one of its engines while refuelling fighter planes over the Atlantic. It isn’t clear if the refuelling was taking place inside or outside Irish airspace; if it was inside it would be in clear breach of even the lax guidelines that the Irish government have laid down for US military planes.

Shannonwatch are delighted that the Lord Mayor of Dublin Mícheál Mac Donncha will attend their regular monthly peace vigil at Shannon Airport on Sunday June 10^th. The peace vigils are part of the ongoing campaign to end the US military use of Shannon Airport that has been ongoing since 2002 despite claims that Ireland is a neutral country.

Since 2002 Shannon Airport has been used by the US military on their way to/from wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Close to 3 million US troops and their weapons have gone through the airport in that time, with over 60,000 transiting through the airport last year.  In the 12 months from January to December 2017, 334 applications were made for US troop carriers to land at Shannon and permits granted for a further 451 military aircraft to land at the airport. Hundreds more permits were granted for other US military flights to pass through Irish airspace.

Amnesty International and others have confirmed that Shannon Airport has also operated as a stopover point for CIA rendition planes involved in kidnapping and torture.

Photo shows some of the defendants making the RESISTANCE sign outside Ennis Court

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday (13th April), the Shannon Four, protesters against US military use of Shannon Airport, were once again before the courts. In the cases involving two of the four, Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan, it was their 18th court appearance with still no trial in sight.

On May 25th 2016, Colm and Dave entered Shannon Airport at the break of day to search and investigate two US military aircraft that were at the airport. Security at the airport was so effective that no one noticed them as they walked across the airport for over one mile, waving an Irish tricolor flag, 2016 being the centenary of Irish independence, and Colm and Dave wishing to help restore Irish sovereignty over Shannon Airport.

Joint Statement by Peace and Neutrality Alliance and by World Beyond War

The Peace and Neutrality Alliance along with World Beyond War condemns unreservedly the overnight attacks carried out by Western powers on the Syrian Arab Republic.

The pretext for this offensive is that a chemical weapons attack has allegedly been carried out by the Syrian Government and that international law banning prohibiting chemical weapons must be upheld. Given that the bombing of a sovereign state is itself a violation of international law, we are being asked to believe that international law must be broken in order that it be upheld -- a manifest absurdity.

Whether or not the Syrian Government has violated international law is a matter for appropriate authorities such as the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court to decide, based on the available evidence. The fact that the US, UK and France are not pursuing this course of action owes to the lack of any such evidence.