An anti-war campaigner placed six US soldiers under citizen's arrest in Ennis on Thursday after he observed them walking along a busy roadway close to a hotel where they were staying while their aircraft underwent technical repairs at Shannon airport.
A total of 238 troops, who were en route to the US on Thursday morning, had to be accommodated in local hotels overnight after a technical difficulty grounded their aircraft at Shannon. The troops stayed at the West County Hotel in Ennis and the Clare Inn near Newmarket-on-Fergus before returning to the US at lunchtime yesterday.
Local peace activist Conor Cregan said he was driving through Ennis on Thursday. "I saw the soldiers in uniform on the road, in a public place, where they shouldn't have been.
"It is a breach of Irish neutrality and our Constitution that these troops are allowed to pass through Shannon in the first place but to see them in fatigues on the streets of Ennis is a disgrace."
Mr Cregan said he approached the six soldiers on the Limerick Road and said: "I am placing you all under citizen's arrest, do not move." He made a 999 call to Ennis Garda station. Mr Cregan sought to have a Garda van sent to the scene and have the soldiers detained.
A Garda spokesman said: "We are satisfied that no law was broken here and that there was no incident. Our members were on duty at the West County Hotel at the time and they are satisfied that there was no incident that warranted a Garda investigation."
US troops have been regularly accommodated in hotels if their aircraft has been grounded for technical reasons. Soldiers of a foreign army are permitted to appear in public while in Ireland but only with Department of Defence approval and with the authorisation of their senior officer. They must only wear civilian clothing.
Former commandant Edward Horgan praised Mr Cregan for his actions. "The Irish State and the gardaí are in gross breach of their duties under international law, in failing to arrest these US soldiers.
"Furthermore, they are in breach of Irish criminal law, in failing to investigate whether any of these US soldiers have been involved in crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan."