Margaretta behind bars – at 79

Galway’s most renowned protester has ended up behind bars at the age of 79 and suffering from Parkinson’s Disease after refusing to sign a bail bond.

Margaretta D’Arcy was arrested at Shannon Airport alongside Niall Farrell, 60, from Oranmore, both members of the Galway Alliance Against War, for trespassing on the runway in protest at the use by the US Military of the facility.

The court was told the pair had endangered lives in blocking two flights from landing at Shannon in October of 2012.

At her hearing at Ennis District Court last December, Margaretta attempted to make a citizen’s arrest on Judge Patrick Durcan, claiming he was complicit in supporting “criminal acts” at Shannon Airport and was making Irish people “active allies and participants in illegal wars”.

Both protesters received a three-month sentence, which was suspended on condition they sign a bond to uphold the law and keep away from unauthorised zones at Shannon.

Margaretta refused to sign the bond and on Wednesday she was arrested at her home in Woodquay and taken to Limerick Prison to serve the three-month sentence.

Her arrest has sparked criticism among fellow campaigners and Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, who is to raise her case with the Justice Minister Alan Shatter. 

“I have been in contact with the family and friends of Margaretta who are very concerned for her welfare. She is 79 years old, is quite frail and has an on-going serious health condition,” he said.

This is not the first time the actress, playwright and member of Áosdána has been jailed.

In 1979 she, together with eleven other women from the campaigners Women Against Imperialism, were arrested on International Woman’s Day outside Armagh Gaol for protesting about the inhumane conditions in which women republicans were imprisoned.

D’Arcy refused to pay her fine and on May 14, 1980, she was imprisoned for three months in Armagh Gaol where she joined the republican women in their No-Wash and Dirty Protests for political status.

Margaretta is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. Her husband, the playwright John Arden, died from cancer in 2012. President Michael D Higgins orated at the funeral.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.