A jury was sworn in today for the trial of five anti-war protesters who caused up to €2.5 million of damage to a US Navy plane at Shannon airport.
The protest, which was organised by the Pit Stop Ploughshares Catholic Workers, took place in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq two years ago.
At the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin this morning were Deirdre Clancy (34), from Clontarf in Dublin; Nuin Dunlop (33), from Dublin 7, Karen Fallon (32), Ciaran O'Reilly (44), and Damien Moran (24), all with addresses at South Circular Road, Dublin.
They are charged with causing criminal damage to the US Navy plane and to two glass door panels at Shannon Airport on February 3rd 2003. The five pleaded not guilty to two counts of criminal damage.
Judge Michael White warned prospective jurors they should not serve if they had strong views on the US invasion of Iraq, which would prevent them from delivering an impartial verdict. He excused two jurors who said they could not give an impartial verdict.
The court heard that Ms Dunlop was a trained counsellor, Ms Fallon was a marine biologist originally from Scotland, Ms Clancy was a copy editor and writer, and both Mr Moran and Mr O'Reilly worked with the homeless in Dublin. Mr Moran is also a student priest with the Holy Ghost Fathers in Dublin.
The five spent between four and 11 weeks in Limerick prison awaiting trial and are currently out on bail.
The court heard that among the witnesses called will be members of the gardaí at Shannon, US Navy aircraft commander James Nichols and Aer Rianta operations manager Niall Moloney.
Judge White told the jury of nine women and three men that the case was expected to last at least a week. It is scheduled to begin in the Circuit Criminal Court at 10.30am tomorrow.
The Pit Stop Ploughshares group held a large protest outside the court in support of the accused and to highlight the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.
PA