UPDATE - Dolores O'Riordan has been discharged from hospital and released without charge from police custody.
A file in relation to the incident is being sent to the DPP.
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The pop singer Dolores O’Riordan, front woman of the Cranberries, has been arrested for the alleged assault of a female flight attendant on board an Aer Lingus flight from New York to Shannon.
O’Riordan, from Limerick, was arrested at 5am on Monday morning. The alleged incident took place on Aer Lingus flight EI 110 from JFK to Shannon airport. O'Riordan is curently being medically assessed at University Hospital Limerick, escorted by Shannon Police. The air hostess is also being treated at University Hospital Limerick for a suspected fractured foot.
The incident allegedly began 20 minutes before landing in Shannon when the 43-year-old became disruptive and refused to take her seat for landing. She allegedly stamped on the air hostess’ foot during the incident.
An eye witness told the Irish Independent "I was in sitting in economy with my husband and heard the commotion in business class. There was a woman standing up and she was shouting. It was about 20 minutes before landing but to be honest, we didn't think much of it at first.
"It quietened down for a while and after landing it started again. We could see all this up along the aisle. We were told by the crew that there was a delay with the steps because ground staff weren't on duty yet. Our flight was nearly and hour and a half early," she said.
"When the front door was opened, some people in hi-vis jackets got on and the curtains between business and economy were closed. We could still hear the commotion.
"The curtains were opened a few times and at one stage we saw the woman thumping the ceiling of the plane. It was only after we got off the plane that we heard who it was. She was roaring at the cabin crew and at one stage I heard her say - 'I pay may taxes.'"
Another eyewitness told the Independent the passenger head butted a garda who was trying to arrest her.
O’Riordan was taken to Shannon police station immediately after disembarking the plane.
The airline released a statement which read “an incident took place on board flight EI 110 en route from New York to Shannon today, Monday 10th November. The matter is being investigated by An Garda Siochana [police]. As this is a security matter we will not comment any further.”
O'Riordan is married with three children. She was just 18 years old when she became lead singer of the Cranberries, who went on to become one of the biggest bands of the 1990s, selling tens of millions of records.
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