Dr Kevin Hargaden and Emmet Sheerin
Kevin Hargaden is Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice and its Social Theologian.
Emmet Sheerin is an Irish documentary maker, he traveled to the Middle East as a human rights observer where his work involved monitoring and reporting on violations of human rights and international law. His work includes the documentary, Who Would Jesus Bomb?
AN INTERVIEW WITH IRISH FILMMAKER, EMMET SHEERIN
Emmet Sheerin is an Irish filmmaker, who has a particular interest in the work involved in making peace. His documentary, Who Would Jesus Bomb?1 premiered at the 2023 Galway Film Fleadh. We spoke to him about the film, the longstanding protests at Shannon, and what that all means for Irish Neutrality.
Kevin Hargaden (KH):
Can you tell us the premise of Who Would Jesus Bomb?
Emmet Sheerin (ES):
[Laughing] I’m not always the most articulate, which is half the reason why I make documentaries: That way I can make the film as opposed to have to talk about it!
But the film examines Ireland’s complicity in the global War on Terror. It looks back over the 20 years since the invasion of Iraq. Specifically, it looks at how a number of Christians have tried to intervene and disarm the American War machine by getting into Shannon airport and damaging or searching the US military planes. So, for me, the film tries to raise awareness about – and raise questions about – Irish
neutrality. This is particularly in light of the Shannon issue, but also to raise questions and spark debate around forms of activism. And I think it also challenges what it means to be a Christian.
In a nutshell, that’s what the film is: It considers Ireland’s complicity in the global War on Terror and brings out those themes of Christian activism that tried to stop that.
KH: It might surprise some people that Ireland is complicit. We didn’t send any troops to
Afghanistan or Iraq. So, what were we doing?
ES: Well, we’ve facilitated 3 million US troops to go through Shannon Airport since 2003. And a large amount of them have gone to the Middle East. Especially at the time when the Iraq war was in full swing, America was a belligerent state that was going essentially to kill and destroy, partly for oil, partly to flex their muscles, on dodgy evidence presented to the world as to the legitimacy of what they were doing. And we were facilitating that as a cog in the wheel. We were part of that conveyor belt of death, and while we weren’t sending troops – thankfully – we were facilitating huge numbers of Americans to go and fight, to kill and to die.
KH: Right, and the movie focuses then, at least in its first half, on the “Pitstop Ploughshares”.2 Who are they? What did they do? And what happened to them?
ES: They were a group of Catholic Worker activists3 who decided to take action at Shannon Airport – to gain entry to Shannon and to try and disarm a US naval plane using hammers and a few other items.
They saw this as part of their Christian witness and their need to intervene and to try and save lives, to stop the American war machine. They managed to get in and they got to the plane and they managed to disarm that – to hit it and to do some damage to it. And they waited to be subsequently arrested.
And after three trials, they were acquitted of it because it was recognised that they had lawful excuse to do this, that they were doing this damage with the view that they were trying to save lives in Iraq.
KH: That’s a very interesting judgment because the Irish courts basically admitted that the war in Iraq wasn’t just. Would that be a correct understanding?
ES: Well, it was mainly that the jury felt that their actions could be justified – that they were legitimately trying to save lives. And that’s the key thing: they had a lawful excuse to do what they did.
KH: This Christian activism isn’t a once off thing. It has continued. Can you tell us about the other case the film covers, that of Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan?
ES: In 2016, two more Christian activists, Dave Donnellan and Colm Roddy went into Shannon Airport. They had heard that there were two US planes, military planes at the airport. And they gained entry to Shannon to try and inspect them, because the issue is that the US military planes should not be carrying arms or munitions or any weapons of war. But the problem is, we don’t know if that’s the case, because they’re not being inspected by the Government, despite numerous calls for that to happen. So, if the State wasn’t going to do it, Colm and Dave felt that they needed to do it, and for them it was part of their
Christian witness as well.
They gained entry through a fence and managed to get to a Lear jet, which was parked on the runway. They didn’t manage to get to the plane itself because they were stopped by the Irish military who were guarding the plane, and subsequently arrested.
They too were eventually acquitted because again, the judge allowed them lawful excuses to do what they did. The judge granted that it was their belief that they were trying to save lives.
KH: Right, so we have these two remarkably brave acts that are largely unknown, even among activist
circles. Especially in the case of the Pitstop Ploughshares, there was a high risk strategy because legally speaking, they didn’t have an awful lot of precedent to back them up. And Colm Roddy is a much older man and would be quite vulnerable if things turned rough. So, why are they so little known? Why are they celebrated so little?
ES: Yeah, it’s a good question. I mean, it’s partly one of the reasons why I wanted to make the documentary, because there’s so little awareness about them, about these immense acts, even within churches and faith-based communities here. Like, going to church, I’d never have heard of this. I regularly go to Church and I was educated by the Jesuits. I hadn’t heard about this at all, either of these.
Now that’s partly down to my own kind of growth as an activist. My own interest was only still emerging around the time. But I don’t think the media necessarily want to be promoting this kind of activism [Laughs] You know, best not to talk about these people damaging the planes. When they do get discussed, it is common that they get portrayed as strange and foolish and undermining the credibility of quote/unquote “moderate” activists.
But for me, I just saw an absolute purity in what they were doing, this pure love of one’s neighbour. And I think this is very special, to risk your freedom for your convictions like that. It kind of blew my mind a bit that people would do that. I decided this story had to be told a bit more. Like, you know, you can search for it; information is there online. It’s not like nothing has been written about it. But I just felt now 20 years on from the invasion of Iraq, this is a great time to bring these stories to the fore, particularly in Ireland and particularly for church communities, for universities, for students, for anyone who is likely to have an interest in how religion and politics and peace intersect. It’s just a fascinating story.
KH: It really is, and it is brilliantly told in the film. How has the response to the movie been?
ES: Yeah, really good. Firstly, to get it premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh was amazing. That was a significant achievement. I suppose that was a testament to the quality of the film. And there are always discussions after the film. The audiences have always been very positive.
In some ways, I’ve been preaching to the converted with it. A lot of people who come to screenings have an interest in anti-war activism. But I’ve had the experience of people who just came because they were interested in the title. They hadn’t known anything about the stories of Pitstop Ploughshares or Colm and
Dave. And we had fascinating discussions about Irish neutrality, about activism, and about the characters of these people. So yeah, it’s been received very well.
But really now what I’m trying to do is just get it out there, get people watching it. I’d love to see universities use it; screen it as part of their lectures, or for it to be used by Peace and Justice groups here in Ireland, for it to be a resource to watch, to tear it apart, to disagree with it, to let it spark a discussion, you know?
KH: In terms of the discussion it sparks, the movie raises this contemporary question of Ireland’s neutrality. With the alteration of the Triple Lock,4 sending soldiers to train Ukrainians,5 and the drumbeat calling on us to increase military expenditure,6 I think people like Colm Roddy would say that neutrality is
being eroded.
ES: There is an impact. The way I look at it is that the discussions of removing the Triple Lock have been preceded in a way – the ground has been prepared – by this allowance of the US military to have a de-facto operating based in Ireland. A lot of activists would warn us that we need to absolutely stop the Triple Lock being eroded because look what’s happened already. We’ve been involved essentially as this cog in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Any furthering of this erosion would be massively detrimental.
But I think the core thing which comes into focus in these discussions is just how connected we are to the US. We bend over backwards for them and the erosion of the Triple Lock would be another nod to that. What has gone on at Shannon has been, for me, this blight for the past 20 years, allowing troops to come here and then to go across the world for a belligerent nation. We sometimes think that the US is this benevolent friend with a benevolent kind of power. You see this, this binary where “US = Good” and “Russia = bad”. They’re both awful! Like, in terms of what they’re doing around the world in many respects. We must challenge this simplified idea that “US = good”. They can do good but we have to look at what they’re doing and have done in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places. The full facts are there for us to consider.
KH: Is there something to be said for this policy of, you know, looking the other way?
ES: Listen, I think it has been done with a kind of a slow creep. It’s a creeping erosion, you know? There’s no democratic deliberation. If there was democratic deliberation on it, would you not have a constitutional referendum on it? I think we know what the results would be! Instead, I think that a lot of this has been happening by degrees over time. It hasn’t really been being put to a democratic test, really.
Think even of how the conversation about the Triple Lock proceeds. It is creeping towards a conclusion, by degrees, without serious, open debate. It’s, “We need to change it now. We need to change it because the world has moved on.” But like, I don’t think that’s really fully being put to the test in terms of, well, “What’s changed from an Irish perspective here?” Do we want to see a closer military alignment with EU? Or with NATO? I don’t think so. And I would hazard that if it was put to a democratic test, the government wouldn’t be too happy with the outcome.
KH: After this very effective film, have you plans for your next project.
ES: I’m fascinated by the area of boycotting as a form of activism. So, I am working on something about that. It is still in the early development stage, and I hope to approach some production companies with the concept. I’m also fascinated by the idea of Jesus as a refugee, so I’d like to work on that as a documentary concept.
Who Would Jesus Bomb? is freely available to watch at:
Footnotes:
- Who Would Jesus Bomb?, Emmet Sheerin, 2023, https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=bUGOw o2uE&t. ↩︎
- Harry Browne, Hammered by the Irish: How the Pitstop Ploughshares Disabled a U.S. Warplane, with Ireland’s Blessing (Chcio, CA: AK Press, 2008). ↩︎
- A global movement of autonomous collectives inspired by the pacifist activism of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin: https://catholicworker.org/ ↩︎
- Paul Hosford, “Government to Begin Process of Changing ‘triple Lock’ Neutrality,” Irish Examiner, April 30, 2024, sec. IE-Main/POLITICS,
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41384833.html. ↩︎ - Paul Williams, “Irish Defence Forces Providing Vital Equipment and Training to Help Ukrainian Troops Clear Mines,” Irish Independent,
February 24, 2024, sec. Irish News, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-defence-forces-providing-vital-equipment-and-training-to-help-ukrainian-troops-clear-mines/a656377779.html. ↩︎ - Eoin Drea, “Ireland’s the Ultimate Defense Freeloader,” Politico, May 28, 2024,
https://www.politico.eu/article/ireland-defense-freeloader- ukraine-work-royal-air-force/. ↩︎
