Warships and warplanes

Protests will greet the largest warship in the British Navy when it arrives in Dublin on Thursday.

Protests will greet the largest warship in the British Navy when it arrives in Dublin on Thursday.

Anti war protests intend marching to the HMS Ocean, which was heavily involved in the invasion of Iraq, when she docks in Dublin on Thursday.

The Irish Anti War Movement (Iawm) will assemble at 6pm on Thursday at the famine memorial at the Irish Financial Services Centre, and then march to the warship.

This ship was involved in a war that led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of Iraqis, Richard Boyd Barrett of the IAWM.

We are encouraging all people who are against the Iraq invasion and occupation to come out in support of our protest.

Retired decorated Irish army commandant and anti war activist Ed Horgan said he was firmly opposed to the visit.

I have serious problems about this ship coming, it is all part of the militarisation of Ireland, he told Daily Ireland.

We should not be accepting ships that were involved directly or indirectly in the war in Iraq.

I think all of this is about softening the Irish people up, getting them used to seeing warships in their ports from Britain.”

Meanwhile, the last minute inclusion of two US Air Force F-15 aircraft in last weekends Salthill air show has caused anger among anti-war activists.

The F-15s appearance was announced on the morning of the show watched by an estimated 100,000 people in Galway on Sunday.

The aircraft is similar to those deployed by the United States in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The F-15 Eagle is also a favourite of the Israeli Air Force and has been used on Lebanese and Palestinian targets in recent decades.

Its inclusion just underlines the whole militaristic nature of the event, said Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW) spokesperson Niall Farrell.

In a bizarre sequence of events, garda on Sunday destroyed 97 red balloons that anti-war activists were distributing to the public before the Salthill airshow.

Among the stunned protestors was the new Mayor of Galway, Niall O Brolchain of the Green Party. The two balloons that were not destroyed were held aloft at the peace rally.

This was political policing at its most blatant, said Niall Farrell of GAAW. The act of destroying the balloons was an overt political act.”

Urgent Appeal