This is international human rights day and Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly were arrested last night and carted to Limerick at considerable expense to the taxpayer. Deputy Mick Wallace was released within 90 minutes and the whole thing was an absolute farce. I listened to "The Late Debate" where a collection of self-righteous political hypocrites condemned them in the most inflammatory language. I praise them. I support them. I regret that I was not there to protest against the involvement of this country in the aggressive war being waged by the United States against various countries in the Middle East. They were admirable to do it. Ed Horgan, a former senior army officer who was at the jail last night, and his group, supplied me with information as a result of which I was able to demonstrate an unbroken cycle of rendition involving this country. We were clearly implicated in it. Government after Government has lied about this. War crimes are being committed by the United States of America in the Middle East by the massive saturation bombing of people in Iraq and the use of white phosphorus in Fallujah. These unspeakable things were going on. These Deputies were 100% right to protest. All decent people should sympathise with them.

I am astonished at the decision of the judge in that case. There was no damage done. A ladder was used which I understand is now reposing in a local school.

We cannot discuss those judgments as the Senator well knows.

They were rotten. I also wish to point to the decision in Britain which was followed by an Irish court on the Greenham Common women. Those women disabled a plane because they felt they were saving lives. They were acting in a humanitarian way and supporting the civil and human rights of people in the Middle East. We cannot be surprised at the kind of attacks that are being perpetrated, regrettably, against people in the West when we put them into the context of the dreadful interventions of the United States and Britain, particularly in this area. I salute Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly and think they were right in their actions. I heard people saying last night on radio that they did the crime and should pay the fine. Why should they? This is an honourable and reasonable method of protest. It is a non-violent civil protest, for which I applaud them.