Grandmother, 79, jailed for Shannon Airport protests

A 79-year-old disabled grandmother who refused to enter into a court bond to stay out of any unauthorised zone at Shannon Airport has been sent to prison to serve a three-month sentence.

Margaretta D’Arcy, a grandmother of six from Bridget’s Place, Woodquay, Galway, had been given a three-month suspended sentence at Ennis Court last December after she was convicted of unlawfully entering the airport on Oct 7, 2012.

Evidence had been heard in that sitting that she and a co-defendant, Niall Farrell of Ballynacloghy, Maree, Oranmore, Co Galway, had put the lives of those onboard incoming Aer Lingus and Ryanair flights in danger by going onto the runway.