Green Party welcomes ‘Shannon Five’ acquittal
Green Party Chairman and Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs John Gormley TD welcomed the decision of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to find five anti-war protesters not guilty of criminally damaging an American warplane at Shannon Airport three years ago.
The TD for Dublin South East said: “I warmly welcome today’s acquittal of the five charged with criminal damage at Shannon airport and congratulate their legal team on a fine victory. The Green Party appeared at a press conference in their support a number of months ago and called on those who were branding these people as criminals to await the judgement of the courts.
“Ciaron O’Reilly, Nuin Dunlop, Damien Moran, Karen Fallon and Deirdre Clancy have now been totally vindicated. It is clear that, when carrying out their actions, they were at all times guided by the principle of protecting their fellow human beings. Those who accused them of common criminality were wrong, and their accusations displaced.
Deputy Gormley concluded: “It is now appropriate to focus on the real issue and the real crime, which is the government’s continued assistance to US armed forces in Iraq, who are taking part in a war which we strongly opposed and predicted would be counter productive. In light of this judgement it must now be time for the government to reconsider its position in relation to the military stopover at Shannon.”