Catholic Worker 5 sent foward to Kilrush Circuit Court, June 24th

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday May 17, 2003 17:02 by Damien Moran - Catholic Worker Movement pitstopploughshares at hotmail dot com +353-879184552

Report of events from yesterday's appearance at Ennis District court

Yesterday's appearance at Ennis Eire-Og G.A.A. Clubhouse/District Court marked our transition from the latter to the Circuit court.

Before entering the courtroom, the Pit-Stop ploughshares group (Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran, Ciaron O'Reilly) and some friends held a short prayer vigil in the car park, remembering the "Coalition of the Killing's" continuing onslaught against the Iraqi people and their resources. Prayers were also submitted reminding us that when criminal activity is legalised peacemaking is criminalised.

The book of evidence was served by the State Prosecutor, Martin Leenane, albeit after he rushed back down to the local Garda Station to rectify the opening charge sheet. Following three and a half months hard graft over the casebook, he seemed willing to charge us only with criminal damage to the SRS Hangar, totally forgetting our disarmament of the US Navy plane!! Bizarre incompetence - or symptoms of sleep deprivation due to massive overtime spent defending the interests of our Imperial Overlords; you decide ...

Nevertheless, it at least provided one humorous interlude during an otherwise educational insight into a renewed aggressive approach towards us by the State authorities.

This began with a slanderous Irish Times front page political report by embedded journo Arthur Beasley on Wednesday May 14th. According to someone he variously described as a "well-informed individual" and an "unattributable source", the combined cost of repair of the US Navy warplane will be 4 million Euros.

Furthermore, the two original libelous claims, that a Garda officer had been "assaulted" and "hospitalised", both refuted by a Guarda Press Office statement issued the same day, he now revives by means of the ambiguous euphemism that we "overpowered" a Garda.

His report also implies that the Irish Government or Aer Rianta are likely to pick up the bill - an unsubtle hint to the taxpayers that the Government may wish to have them subsidise Ireland's complicity in the US war-machine's belligerent crimes against peace and humanity.

Suspicion of this scheme is heightened by a title in today's Irish Independant - "Taxpayer's Bill for Jet Attack hits 4 Million Euros" - suggesting that Irish taxpayers will be held responsible for losses to the US-government.

Meanwhile, questions raised in the Dail regarding any legal basis for the taxpayer to foot this bill have been studiously and repeatedly avoided by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Brian Cowen.

An application to normalise our extreme bail conditions, specifically the daily signing-on obligation, was rejected out-of-hand by Inspector Tom Kennedy and Judge Joseph Mangan.

The pre-trial hearing has been set for June 24th in Kilrush Circuit Court, Co. Clare {Please refer to map of Ireland}.

We look forward to explaining our actions in court, and being acquitted while putting the war and the Irish government's complicity therein on trial.