The Mick Clifford Podcast revisited: No Country for Old Men with Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff
Ken Mayers (85) (L) and Tarak Kauff (R) (80), who are both Veterans For Peace activists, leaving Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, after they were both found guilty of interfering with the operation of Shannon Airport on St Patrick's Day, 2019. Picture: Collins Courts
Two US army veterans in their 80s have been convicted of interfering with the operation of Shannon Airport as part of an anti-war protest three years ago.
The jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court acquitted Ken Mayers (85) and Tarak Kauff (80) of criminal damage to an airport perimeter fence and of trespassing at the airport with the intent to commit an offence or interfere with property.
The jury returned a majority verdict of guilty on the charge of interfering with the operation, safety or management of an airport by entering the runway area and causing the airport to close. The majority verdict was 10 to two, the court heard.
In September of 2019, Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff spoke to the Mick Clifford podcast about lives of activism, their families back home and how they have survived since arriving in the country.
They arrived in Ireland from the USA in March of that year, intent on a brief visit to support friends protesting against the US military using Shannon Airport.
The two pensioners were arrested and spent 13 days in Limerick Prison in 2019, after bail was denied in the District Court amid garda fears they would flee the jurisdiction.
This was overturned in the High Court, but they remained in Ireland for a further nine months until their passports were returned. They returned from the US to stand trial in Dublin.
