Over the course of the trial of peace activists Edward Horgan and Dan Dowling we will provide daily updates here. We encourage anyone who can attend in support to go to the court. 

See our pre-trial press release here.

Day 10: Jan 25th

Today the two peace activists, Edward Horgan and Dan Dowling, were acquitted on the charge of criminal damage.

The Jury of eight men and four women accepted their arguments that they acted with lawful excuse. In addition, Judge Martina Baxter gave the defendants the benefit of the Probation Act on the charge of trespass, on condition that they agree to be obund to the peace for 12 months and make a significant donation to a Co. Clare charity.

Both said they have no problem being “bound to the peace” and making the contribution to charity.

Peace activists Dr Edward Horgan, former army Commandant and United Nations peacekeeper, originally from Tralee Co Kerry, and Dan Dowling also a native of Tralee Co Kerry, are due to go on trial on 11th January 2023 at Dublin Circuit Court. This is as a result of an incident that occurred at Shannon Airport five years and nine months ago.  The date of this incident was 25th April 2017, and there are two charges. The first alleged offence is trespass at the airport contrary to Section 11 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 as amended by the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 2008. The second is criminal damage by writing graffiti to a US Navy aircraft contrary to Section 2(1) Criminal Damage Act, 1991.

Letter pubished in today's Belfast based Irish News.

In recent times our Irish government is doing all it can to end Irish neutrality against the wishes of the Irish people. The Fine Gael ard fheis passed a motion to effectively scrap the triple lock on sending Irish soldiers on overseas missions, by eliminating the need for a UN mandate. Our Defence Forces have become so run down due to lack of government support that it seems like our government wants to decommission our Defence Forces and invite Nato or a European Union defence alliance to defend our country thereby ending the sovereignty of the Irish people and the Irish state.

An executive jet owned by large weapons supplier General Dynamics Corp landed at Shannon Airport today at about 14.32. It took off again at about 15.44pm heading towards the USA.

Peace activists from around the country will gather at Shannon on Sunday 13^th November at 2pm to protest against the continuing US military use of the airport. The event takes place two days after Armistice Day which is intended to mark the end of fighting in World War I and to honour the war dead. It will draw attention to how little peace there is in the world today and how Ireland's increasing support for militarization is escalating global instability . 

Armed US troops pass through Shannon on a daily basis, despite the fact that the country claims to be neutral. 

In the short hour we spent at our peace vigil at Shannon Airport on Sunday (Sept 11th), three different US military aircraft used the airport.

An Omni Air International troop carrier (registration N234AX, call sign OY401/CMB401) sat at the terminal building, alongside an Aer Lingus passenger plane. It came in from Slovenia, and later in the day it took off heading towards the US.

Today at our peace vigil at Shannon Airport we read out the names of the 17 Palestinian children murdered by apartheid Israel in its last brutal attack on Gaza.

It's now over a week since the publication of Sabina Coyne Higgins' letter to the Irish Times saying that the war between Russia and Ukraine will continue until the leaders of both countries are persuaded to agree a ceasefire and enter negotiations. 

Ms Coyne Higgins said that concerned people anxious to live together in peace and sustainability must demand that the war be brought to an end so that lives are saved, there is a lessening of the suffering, and the reconstruction of lives and livelihoods can begin. She has been subjected to unreasonable criticism simply because she called for a negotiated ceasefire. And despite some commentary and reaction, she did not suggest that the Russian invasion was justified in any shape or form.

The trial of two more Shannon peace activists, Edward Horgan and Dan Dowling, begins at the Circuit Court in Parkgate Street, Dublin on Wednesday June 15th. 

Over 5 years ago on 25th April 2017, the two men were arrested at Shannon Airport for allegedly causing criminal damage by writing Graffiti on a US Navy aircraft, and allegedly trespassing on the curtilage of Shannon Airport. It has been reported that the words “DANGER DANAGER DO NOT FLY” were written on the engine of the warplane, which was on its way from a US naval base in Virginia to a US air base in the Persian Gulf.

On April 27th The Defence Post military journal reported that: “Australia will deliver six M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzers and ammunition to Ukraine as part of a 26.7 million Australian dollar ($19 million) package to bolster the country’s defenses against the Russian invasion." The assistance followed a request by the US and the Ukrainian ambassador to provide heavy artillery and ammunition to Kyiv.