A 79-year old feminist, peace activist, film-maker and member of Aosdána has been jailed for three months in Limerick Prison in relation to protests over US military use of Shannon Airport. \tMargaretta D'Arcy, who is undergoing cancer treatment, was arrested at her Galway home yesterday morning after she refused to sign a bond to uphold the law and keep away from unauthorised zones at Shannon. \tMs D'Arcy and Niall Farrell (60) of Oranmore, Co Galway, were given three-month suspended sentences by Judge Patrick Durcan at Ennis District Court last December for illegal incursion of the runway at Shannon Airport on October 7th, 2012. \tThe sentence was activated for Ms D'Arcy when she declined to sign the bond. Her son Fin Arden told The Irish Times that he had spoken to his mother by phone after her arrest at 10am yesterday. \t ‘Serve the full three months' \t“I spoke to her again by phone from Limerick, and she said she understood she was going to have to serve the full three months,†he said. \tShannonwatch spokesman John Lannon said it was a “travesty of justice when the peace activists end up in prison, while there is no investigation of war criminals using the airportâ€. \t“While protesters at Shannon have been arrested before, and have been before the courts, all have been acquitted to date,†he pointed out. \t An activist \tMs D'Arcy, who was married to the late playwright John Arden, has been an activist since joining the anti-nuclear Committee of 100 led by Bertrand Russell in 1961. \tShe was a member of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, and spent time in Northern Ireland's H-block in the early 1980s. \tPresident Michael D Higgins referred to his close friendship with the couple when he spoke at Arden's funeral at Mount Jerome crematorium in April, 2012. \tMr Farrell, spokesman for the Galway Alliance Against War, said that discontinued use of Shannon by the US military was part of the programme for government, and Ms D'Arcy's arrest for trying to highlight the issue was an “absolute scandalâ€. \tHe called on Mr Higgins to visit Ms D'Arcy in prison. \tMs D'Arcy and Mr Farrell are both due at Ennis District Court next Wednesday following a separate arrest at Shannon on September 1st, 2013. \t\n\thttp://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/79-year-old-aosdana-member-jailed-for-three-months-over-shannon-protest-1.1656720 \t\n\tShe is awesome!
She certainly is. This is a major story here at the moment. I live within 3 miles of the prison she is being held in and have been at the ongoing vigil to show support for her stand. Sent from the back of a fat donkey....
Wow....sorry. I'm fucking ashamed of my governement guys. They are out of touch, and out of control. They are like a giant dog on a chain, so well fed, and so mean that you don't dare to stop feeding it in case it turns on you. Eventually what we feed it will not be enough and it will turn on us anyway. Maybe then we'll do the right thing and stop them from acting like the terrorists they claim to be fighting.
She is under treatment for cancer, yet is holding a cigarette in the news photo - not the kind image you would expect of a world renowned pacifist.
A young demonstrator in the West Bank shows solidarity with jailed Galway anti-war activist Margaretta D'arcy during the weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall in the village of Bil'in on Friday.
this is disgraceful the free state government bending the knee to imperialists as usual... bunch of lackies good man for taking part in opposing this.. this is a disgrace
Wait what? What does smoking have to do with pacifism? lol. Other than that I do not know what to say other than this is fucked up. We need to end the evil empire. Instead of tear down this wall it needs to be tear down these military bases. Who the fuck is going to invade Ireland?
She is smoking while under treatment for cancer. I don't know how much I'd trust the judgement of somebody who would do this.
There is no base here... The Irish government let US military aircraft stop and refuel in Shannon airport and this is what the protests are about and why this lady ended up being caged... Sent from the back of a fat donkey....
this has been a problem for a long time in irelandMount Gabriel, Cork in the 80s was another thing like this. Assisting imperialist war machines is not right and ireland should have no part in assisting imperialism.