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Peace March in Shannon national |
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news report
 Tuesday January 21, 2003 18:32 by Niall O Brolchain - Galway Green Party niallob at esatclear dot ie Cappagh Road, Galway 091 596680
 Personal account. Personal account of the peace march in Shannon on Saturday 18th January. Along with thousands of other people from around the country, my family and I travelled to Shannon on Saturday 18th January from Galway to take part in a peace march. As a veteran of many peace marches in the past I found the atmosphere at this one to be quite different. It was different because of the tangible sense of being part of the conflict itself. Marches to the Dáil from Parnell Square via O’Connell Street in Dublin always seem far removed from the field of combat and somewhat academic in nature. In Shannon we could almost smell the conflict. We could nearly reach out and touch the plane registered in Afghanistan with the American flag painted on it. We could actually reach out and touch the hundreds of stoney faced Gardaí who lined the route of the march. A group of students from Trinity College in Dublin shouted ‘one, two, three, four, we don’t want your bl#*@y war’ and ‘two, four, six, eight, we are not a US state’. Most of them would have been about seven or eight years old when I last heard that chant, marching through Dublin to protest at our Governments support for the previous conflict in Iraq all of twelve years ago. In Shannon last weekend there was a very sombre atmosphere. This was not just a token protest. There was a real sense of anger and frustration present as the Gardaí watched us with expressionless faces to the sound of an ever-present helicopter overhead and the beating of countless drums. There was a feeling that even Irelands pretence of genuine military neutrality was all but gone. On the way to the airport, we stopped at the ‘peace camp’, a collection of tents and a small caravan on a patch of grass beside the main road. Speeches were made but it was difficult to hear what was going on. A bedraggled looking Mary Banotti with a mobile phone attached to one ear asked me where John Gormley was. I was surprised to see her there. For the next twenty minutes or so I talked about women’s issues with a lady from Galway as my wife and three children marched beside me. When we reached the airport, politicians from various parties made speeches. These included John Gormley, Patricia McKenna, Michael D. Higgins and Joe Higgins, who all made brave attempts to be heard above the din. I was disappointed not to hear Mary Banotti speak. Tempers were getting frayed. A bunch of anarchists arrived and started trying to annoy the police. An Iraqi lady who now lives in Galway tried to get into the airport but the Gardaí barred her way. A group of Americans protesting against the war tried to help her out as did many other people but to no avail. Another lady from Galway commented on the Green Party placard I was holding suggesting I should write the slogan “we told you so” on the bottom. The anarchists tried to break through the wire fence around the airport and the police ran after them with truncheons raised. We left at that point and attempted to go for a cup of tea in the Great Southern Hotel. There was a heavy security presence at the door and they wouldn’t let us in. Instead we trudged back to Shannon town secure in the knowledge that we had at least made an effort to stand up for what we believe in. |
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8could you elaborate on the negative feeling that emanates from your description of my friends and i as a bunch of anarchists
"When we reached the airport, politicians from various parties made speeches. These included John Gormley, Patricia McKenna, Michael D. Higgins and Joe Higgins, who all made brave attempts to be heard above the din. I was disappointed not to hear Mary Banotti speak."
Aw, the poor politicians were drowned out by the people, what sort of a democracy is this? tsk, tsk, tsk, how could you be disappointed not to hear some carreerist politician jump on the bandwagon, at least the anarchists you seem to criticise were interested in stopping this situation, unlike mary and michael who were just out for a trip with the prol's for brownie points!
why do you still abuse anarchists?
why have you not chosen another political term?
why have you found yourself again and again following those people whom you despise through campaign and issue and explanation.
OK
you do not like the methodology.
ok
you do not like the baggage.
They were jedi.
you are and will be only careerists.
in those careers you have done much which was good, thank you, but you never did it alone.
You did it with the consent and ability of countless whom you thought you were leading.
Welcome again to the forum.
when this war is dealt with
we are going to have a forum.
you were given that message no?
so how will those interests you represent deal with that forum?
First off its good to see so many different reports and viewpoints posted to indymendia from the demo. They help form an overall picture not only of events but also how people reacted to them. Not everyone sees things the same way.
For instance I presume the sentence "A bunch of anarchists arrived and started trying to annoy the police" must refer to the cunning anarchist strategy of annoying the cops by getting their dogs to bite us!
More interesting though is the the reference to anarchists having a go at the fence and the cops drawing their batons. This sound like it might be a seperate incident to the attempt to storm the hanger described at http://struggle.ws/wsm/news/2003/shannonJAN.html Anyone know more about this?
I don't think that everyone who participated in the various actions at Shannon would consider themselves anarchists. The real troublemakers at Shannon airport are the US warplanes and the Irish goons who protect them and continue to harass people who are trying to monitor the situation (because our transparent* government lies and refuses to tell the real story).
When a bunch of people broke through the barriers beside a warehouse (incident that Andrew is referring to), I saw one of the security guards laying into one of the people, thumping him and kicking him without particular provocation (apart from running at the gap). I asked one of the indymedia reporters there to take his picture in case anyone wanted to complain.
* I meant transparent because it's so obvious what they're up to, not because they make public all their decisions, reasons for etc. which they obviously don't.
"I don't think that everyone who participated in the various actions at Shannon would consider themselves anarchists."
Aye Dan but now Labour Youth have gone radical you are going to be confused with anarchists again and again... take it as a compliment!!
Hello Room 101, I be an anachrist. I wuz just pointing oot de fact dat perhaps not everyone on the roof 'n participating in the roundabout direct actions would consider themselves anachrists. Ye don't have to be an anachrist to be direct in yer actions. Although it does help!
No dogs, no servants!