Man arrested over alleged damage to US military plane at Shannon Airport

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

A man in his 40s has been arrested over alleged criminal damage of a US military aircraft at Shannon Airport.

Gardaí said a man entered the “unauthorised area of Shannon Airport” in Co Clare on Saturday morning.

Footage on social media appeared to show a man climbing on the large military transport plane and striking a wing with an object.

A spokeswoman for Shannon Airport said it had resumed operations following the incident “which required gardai assistance”.

She said: “The airport suspended operations at approximately 9.50am and operations resumed at 10.15am.”

In a statement, An Garda Síochána said: “An adult male, aged in his 40s, was arrested for alleged criminal damage by gardai shortly before 11am and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 in a Garda Station in the Clare Tipperary Division.”

He can be detained for up to 24 hours, excluding breaks.