Two TDs arrested at Shannon Airport
Two TDs, understood to be Independent Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, have been arrested after trying to access US military aircraft at Shannon Airport.
Ed Horgan, an anti-war campaigner with the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and the Shannonwatch group, said he witnessed the incident, and the pair were “arrested by airport police quite close to the aircraft”.
The Two TDs were later released without charge. A file will be prepared for the DPP.
"Mick Wallace and Clare Daly went to Shannon Airport and went into the airport itself, went to the area, airside, where there was two US military aircraft parked, being guarded by the Irish Defence Forces," said Mr Horgan.
The Garda press office confirmed a man and a woman were arrested by airport police at 12.20pm after a security fence had been breached and they were subsequently handed over to local gardaí.
Shannonwatch said that the pair were attempting to search a US Hercules C130 cargo plane and a modified Boeing 737 for weapons.
The pair were stopped on the tarmac by airport police officers before being handed over the Gardaí.
It is understood both Deputies Daly and Wallace are now being detained at Shannon Garda Station.
The TDs have campaigned for US military planes landing and refuelling at Shannon Airport to be searched independently to verify that allowing military aircraft at Shannon does not interfere with Ireland’s status as a neutral country.
