The singer of the Cranberries has been arrested this morning after allegedly assaulting a female flight attendant on a transatlantic flight from New York City to Ireland.
Dolores O’Riordan, vocalist and founding member of the acclaimed Irish pop-rock band and current judge on Irish television program The Voice of Ireland, was detained at Shannon Airport around 5:30 a.m. local time after arriving from JFK Airport in NYC.
Details are still coming in, but RTE has reported that O’Riordan has also been hospitalized following her arrest.
Here’s early word on the incident from the Guardian:
Police drove to the landing area when the plane came to a halt, boarded the aircraft and arrested O’Riordan.
Gardaí confirmed a woman in her 40s had been arrested on the plane and had been taken to Shannon Garda station where she can be detained for up to 24 hours under section four of the Criminal Justice Act.
A Garda spokesman said: “Gardaí were called to meet the aircraft following an allegation of an assault on a female Aer Lingus air hostess. A Garda was also assaulted during the course of the arrest.”
It is understood the flight attendant suffered a foot injury and was taken to the Mid-West Regional hospital in Limerick for treatment. The Garda who was allegedly injured did not require hospital care.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus described the incident as a “security matter”.
He said: “An incident took place on board flight EI110 en route from New York to Shannon today. The matter is being investigated by An Garda Síochána. As this is a security matter we will not comment any further.”
The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1990 and have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. After huge success in the ’90s with albums like Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? and No Need to Argue, the band reformed in 2010 after a six-year hiatus.
The Cranberries released their sixth studio album, Roses, in February 2012.
More to come on this incident, surely…