GARDAÍ have arrested three pro-Palestine activists who tried to block US military planes at Shannon Airport.
Three individuals were arrested by An Garda Síochána at Shannon Airport for public order offences, they include two women in their thirties and a man aged in his twenties. They carried a banner reading ‘US military out of Shannon’.
They were later detained at Shannon Garda Station before appearing at Nenagh District Court on Saturday evening where they posted bail and are due back before the court on April 24th.
Two of the individuals, Áine Treanor and Aindriú de Buitléir serve as co-chair and co-treasurer respectively of the Galway Palestine Solidarity Campaign (GPSC). The third individual, Eimear Walsh is not a member of the GPSC.
Members of the GPSC have said two US military planes were on the runway at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning and that their group attempted to block the planes to mark Land Day.
Land Day is an annual commemoration of a protest held against Israeli plans to expropriate Palestinian land in 1976, during which six people were killed and more than 100 were injured.
A spokesperson for GPSC claimed, “For over two decades, Ireland has allowed its civilian airport at Shannon to be used by the US military. In 2023, Ireland allowed 258 US planes carrying weapons to land at or take off from Shannon Airport, with an increase in flights from Shannon since the start of Israel’s genocide. At least four US warplanes travelling from Lydd airport have landed at Shannon in recent months. The Irish anti-war movement has long opposed the US military’s use of Shannon Airport and has called for inspections of US aircrafts, demands ignored by the Irish government”.
Separately, Shannon Airport facilitated the emergency landing of a Jetblue flight JBU-2220 which was travelling from London’s Heathrow Airport to New York/JFK. The flight had an emergency landing following engine problems and had to diver to Shannon at approximately 10:48.
