Republican News · Thursday 27 March 2002

Thousands protest across Ireland

BY JOANNE CORCORAN

Sinn Féin banners and placards were prominent on demonstrations in Dublin and around the country

Dublin

'Bertie Iscariot, you betrayed us all,' screamed one banner at Dublin's Anti-War protest on Saturday. The protest was just one of many that took place throughout Ireland last week, when thousands of people demonstrated and marched against the invasion of Iraq.

Protests kicked off in Dublin on Thursday, when hundreds of people waited outside Leinster House to hear the result of the Dáil debate on the use of Shannon Airport for US warplanes. As the government showed its lack of respect for the public, defending the airport's use, insults were thrown inside and outside Leinster House.

Emotions were running high and Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, bore the brunt of demonstrators' frustration when he tried to make a break for Buswell's hotel. The protestors blocked his way, repeatedly shouting 'shame' and one protestor daubed red paint on his suit.

Fianna Fáil Senator Terry Leyden also got the red paint treatment as tensions rose between the protestors and the Gardaí.

At 12 noon, a ten-minute work stoppage, backed by SIPTU, was observed at hundreds of workplaces across the country, including the Civic Offices in Dublin.

On Thursday night, over 2,000 Dubliners gathered outside the US Embassy at Ballsbridge. Along with the political party speakers, which included Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh, members of Americans Against War and a young Muslim girl addressed the crowd. Ó Snodaigh told the crowd that Seamus Brennan had been to Baghdad in 1988 to negotiate a beef deal, months after the Kurdish massacre. He criticised the government's decision to defend the use of Shannon Airport for US warplanes.

After an hour, the protest moved down to the British Embassy, where Gardaí in riot gear waited inside the gates. The protest remained peaceful, denying the Gardaí a chance to act, and those present sat on the road and listened to John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance.

Saturday's protest in Dublin was the largest of the week. Over 10,000 people gathered on Dame Street and marched to Leinster House. Red paint was thrown on government buildings as the march stopped outside to shout protests.

Roger Cole of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, using a parody of the US president's words, said he was 'shocked and awe-struck as the parents of Iraq sat huddled with their children as 3,000 missiles rained down on then for the purpose of liberating them".

Sinn Féin TDs protest the war

Belfast

Meánscoil Feirste make their point in Belfast

Up to 5,000 people marched to City Hall in Belfast on Saturday. An air-raid siren rang out as a reminder of the constant bombing raids on Baghdad. The crowd waved Palestinian flags, and placards denouncing President Bush and Tony Blair as 'international terrorists.

Unionist demands that such protests should be cancelled on 'patriotic grounds' were strongly rejected by the crowd.

Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said the citizens of Belfast, like others across the world, must become the voice of the Iraqi people, who had no voice. He added that nobody believed that this was a moral war or that the coalition was interested in the welfare of ordinary Iraqis.

Galway

Hundreds of protest letters over the government's position on Shannon Airport were posted to the offices of cabinet member Eamon Ó Cuiv, during a mile-long anti-war march through the city on Saturday.

Nuria Dunne, an Iraqi citizen living in Galway, spoke of her fears for her fellow Iraqis as they are bombarded by US and British weaponry. Daniel Callanan of Sinn Féin criticised the fact that 'none of the government backbench TDs had the bottle to disassociate themselves from the US war machine

On Monday morning, the Galway Alliance Against War held a two-hour funeral ceremony outside the constituency offices of local Fianna Fáil Minister Eamon Ó Cuív to mark, they said, the death of the de Valera and Frank Aiken tradition of Irish neutrality and independence.

A spokesperson for the Alliance said that the minister's office was the only focal point in the city to express people's deep shock and anger at the betrayal of Irish neutrality.

Cork

On Thursday, 4,000 students and staff turned out to display their abhorrence at the continued use of Shannon airport by the US military.

Minister for Health Micheál Martin had his Cork city centre constituency office occupied by anti-war protestors on Saturday in a 'peaceful act of civil disobedience'. A large protest march started at 1pm at Daunt Square and proceeded down Grand Parade, returning to Patrick Street, where the protesters staged a 20-minute sit-down, blocking traffic on the city's main thoroughfare.

The leader of the group that occupied Martin's office said that a heated exchange took place with the minister, but added "he is part of a cabinet that took a decision to allow US war planes refuel at Shannon, and that to us is not acceptable.

"This government has dragged Ireland into complicity in the slaughter of Iraqi people."

Shannon

On Sunday afternoon, 30 anti-war activists were refused access to Shannon Airport after walking 53 miles from Galway over two days. The Peace Camp was re-established over the weekend and Jimmy Brosnan of the Tralee Anti-War Group said: "We are doing this to re-focus the attention on Shannon being used as part of a massive war machine."

Sligo

Sligo's streets closed to traffic on Saturday, as over 1,000 people participated in a protest march throughout the town. Led by a samba band, the march ended at the Town Hall, where an open air protest was addressed by trade union members, Palestine Solidarity campaigners and activists from the Sligo Women's Movement.