'Our legs are still working!' - 91-year-old woman brings protest for peace to Kildare

A 91-year-old woman walking from Shannon Airport all the way to Dáil in Dublin paid a special visit to Kildare over the weekend.

Lelia Doolan is an Irish film producer and activist from Cork who will turn 92 in May.

She has blazed a trail from Shannon Airport to Dáil Éireann where she will call on the Taoiseach and Government ministers to meet her on her arrival to answer questions about the use of Shannon Airport by US warplanes.

The Taoiseach has not yet responded to her request, according to the activist group.

On day 13 of the march on Monday, April 13, Lelia and her fellow campaigners gathered in Naas before heading off towards Rathcoole and eventually the Dail.

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"Joined by community groups and peace activists along the old road to Dublin, they will express the frustration, shame and anger felt by the many Irish stalwarts who have for over 30 years, (since 1981!), protested at Shannon at the use of the airport by US military planes - whose personnel and cargos the Irish government refuses to inspect," the group states.

Before Lelia left Naas Town, she told Leinster Leader: "The idea is we want to draw attention to the fact that after many years of protesting at Shannon, it is really time for the Government to pay attention.

"They have a long-standing arrangement with the United States. We just want to say 'you wouldn't let somebody with guns into your own house, so why should we allow military planes who are flying off to war zones to stop at Shannon."

Lelia said, as her trek across the country was coming to an end, "we're still alive and our legs are still working more or less, our heads are still working more or less! So on we go and we will hopefully be in the Dail soon and everybody is welcome."

Over 1,300 US military flights have passed through or flown over Shannon Airport since October 2023, over 45 of which were travelling to or from Israel.