A LARGE PROTEST demonstration in Shannon is being organised for this Sunday in solidarity with Margaretta D’Arcy.

The 79-year-old anti-war activist and a well-known writer from Galway was arrested and sentenced to jail for three months for trespassing on the runway at Shannon Airport.

She was protesting against the the use of the airport by US Military and also against western intervention in Syria.

Shannon Airport

Shannon Watch stated that D’Arcy has “taken a stand” against the ongoing participation of Shannon Airport in war.

“She normally attends monthly peace vigils at Shannon, but she has now been locked up by the State as a result of her principled stand against the unimpeded movement of US military aircraft and personnel through Shannon,” the group said in a statement.

The group urged people to attend the protest, stating that it would “send a strong message to the government” to end “Irish involvement in wars that continue to cause the loss of countless lives, worsening humanitarian crises and global insecurity”.

Protests against her imprisonment have already taken place and artists and writers have rallied behind the Aosdána member with musician Dylan Tighe and writer and actor Donal O’Kelly calling her sentence as “outrageous”.

Read: Protest being held condemning the jailing of Margaretta D’Arcy>

Read: “Nobody is above the rule of the law” – Shatter on Margaretta D’Arcy>