Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Two 80-year-old US military veterans, Mr. Ken Mayers and Mr. Tarak Kauff, were yesterday acquitted of criminal damage at Shannon Airport and acquitted of trespass, although some headlines read that they were convicted. They were convicted for interference with the workings of the airport, which was a broader and more catch-all allegation. They were acquitted by a jury on counts of criminal damage even though they admitted criminal damage because their defence was that it was justified to prevent a greater crime, namely, the crimes of the US military, of which the accused were former members. The men had friends who committed suicide because of the terrible things they were forced to do as members of the US military in wars around the world. Does the Taoiseach think that the jury has something to tell him about the need to condemn US military action and to stop using Shannon Airport as a site for US military aggression around the world?

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