Mary dents a plane to protect Constitution
Anyone who thinks it’s a crime to damage a warplane should consider the violence about to be unleashed by the Pentagon. This is not only a moral but also a legal point: a person who disables a weapon in an effort to prevent murder is not a criminal.
Moreover, Mary was acting in defence of the Constitution in campaigning to prevent Ireland from being used as a US military base.
I was privileged to befriend Mary during the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem last Easter. My abiding memory is of her organising activists trapped in the Star Hotel to do the washing-up in order to give the staff a break.
Later I felt proud when I heard that she and others had got into the besieged Church of the Nativity to act as a brake on Israeli plans to storm the building. She is not a wayward eccentric seeking personal glory, but a clear-headed, practical and brave activist prepared to take risks when there is an over-riding reason to do so. I hope the people of Ireland are proud of her.
Jeremy Hardy,
13, Salford Road,
London SW2,
England.
