Report/pics from the Irish crew at Faslane Blockade

Friday April 25, 2003 02:35

by tina/darren - direct action against apathy

Weapons of Mass Destruction, like Trident, that threaten the murder of millions of people, as well as being immoral, are also illegal under international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice has ruled that nuclear weapons are illegal in any conceivable circumstances.

Weapons of Mass Destruction, like Trident, that threaten the murder of millions of people, as well as being immoral, are also illegal under international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice has ruled that nuclear weapons are illegal in any conceivable circumstances. There are four Trident submarines based at Faslane, Scotland (20 miles from Glasgow). Each carries 16 intercontinental missiles armed with nuclear warheads with a total destructive power greater than 300 Hiroshima bombs.

There have been 6 blockades of Faslane over the last 2½ years. Thousands of people from all walks of life have attended & hundreds have been arrested while peacefully blocking the entrances to the Faslane Base. Around 800 people from Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, Belgium took part in ‘The Really Big Blockade’ on the 22nd April 2003.

The Irish contingent comprised around 30 people (with a bus picking up folk in Limerick, Dublin, & Belfast). We arrived at ‘The Warehouse’ in Glasgow late on Easter Sunday after having being hassled by police at Stranraer ferry port for an hour and made to fill in forms under the Terrorism Act.

The Warehouse was a fantastic venue for workshops, sleeping, eating (fantastic food provided by Trident Ploughshares), meeting, & generally hanging out & shooting the breeze with a diverse bunch of activists from all over Europe. The crew from Ireland hooked up with some Swedes & formed 3 affinity groups (a small group of people who support each other during an action, making it easier to look after everyone’s welfare, safety & to keep track of arrests for legal support).

Easter Monday was spent attending legal briefings, non-violent direct action training workshops, tactical meetings, eating, chatting & frantically making banners/costumes/& lock-ons. We even found the time to spend an hour or two being lost in Glasgow.

On the big day we arose at 4am (with two hours sleep in the bag!). the Irish crew participated in the first of three waves blockading various entrances of the base at 7am in order to stop workers entering the base. The Irish/Swede contingent dressed up in white Jedi monk costumes in order to disguise our lock-ons and blocked off the two Oil Fuel Depot gate entrances. At the same time a few hundred people blocked the main entrance at the North Gate & another bunch sealed off the South Gate. Hundreds of police helped to blockade the main entrance of the base by lining up in front of the North Gate, while a colourful display of puppets, banners, drumming and street theatre stood in front of them. It was an inspiration to see so many spectacular lock-ons, involving wheelchairs, lock-on tubes, chains, bunny girls & flowerpot women (check out pics).

The daaa crew were in the ‘potato planter affinity group’ (so named as one of the other members had planted some spuds in Shannon Warport the week before, but that’s another story check out www.indymedia.ie) and blocked off the first of the Oil Fuel Depot gates. The lock-on team lay in front of the gate and traffic was prevented from entering but some workers entered on foot (for more info on lock-ons checkout www.geneticsaction.org.uk/delia.pdf). A chain locking team went into action locking all gate entrances with chains and locks but were later removed by the police bolt cutting team! The potato crew remained at the fuel gate until lunchtime and afterwards joined other lock-on teams at the South Gate.

It was an incredibly surreal sight to see the police lock-on swat team in action cutting out protestors from their lock-on tubes. The cops used hi-tech cutting devices (which allegedly will cut anything but skin, though some protestors complained they received minor burns) and provided protestors with safety goggles, ear protectors and a protective steel blanket while talking them through the whole cutting-out procedure. There was good humour between the police and protestors & Policewomen & men from others parts of the UK were in attendance to watch the Strathclyde police in operation (not sure if any PSNI were present – but they could certainly do with a few tips!).

5 of the Irish crew (4 from Belfast, 1 Limerick) were arrested, 4 from the South Gate lock-on and 1 from an earlier lock-on, adding to the amazing total of around 180 people. Protestors were taken to several police stations in the Glasgow area that were cleared specifically for the day. Those of us that didn’t get arrested had an opportunity to visit the Faslane Peace Camp that’s been on the go for almost 21 years.

Toward the end of the blockade 3 Finnish protestors managed to enter the base on a boat and got into the base. Later on in the night another 4 Finns entered the grounds of the base.

In all it was an educational & empowering trip for us, & the excellent organisation of the Really Big Blockade was a real inspiration. A trip to future blockades is thoroughly recommended…

In the four years of the Trident Ploughshares campaign there have been nearly 1,800 arrests, almost 1,700 days have been spent in jail, and fines totalling £50,000 have been imposed.

For further information check out these websites:

uk.indymedia.org
www.banthebomb.org/rbb
www.faslanepeacecamp.org
www.tridentploughshares.org