Report on overnight Anti-War Ireland vigil at US embassy

dublin | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Sunday June 27, 2004 02:59

by Anti-War Ireland

info at antiwarireland dot org

Dublin's poster police tear down anti-Bush posters at vigil

An overnight vigil was held at the US embassy in Ballsbridge from Friday night by Anti-War Ireland activists Fintan Lane and Deirdre Clancy (who is also a member of the Dublin Catholic Worker and the Pitstop Ploughshares). Lane is banned from entering County Clare and Clancy from going within five miles of Shannon airport as a result of their anti-war activity in the area.

The vigil was undertaken as an act of solidarity with those suffering under the Bush regime, and in opposition to his presence in the country.

The reaction from people passing was great from the outset. Passing motorists, taxi drivers and bus drivers honked and waved in support, and many passers by stopped to agree with the reasons for the vigil. A Metallica gig in the nearby RDS provided some 20,000 passers-by around midnight with many expressing support. Quite a few people joined the vigil for brief periods and one man remained from 9pm to 1am.

The vigil included photographs of Iraqi men, women and children who have suffered as a result of the US invasion of that country, and Anti-War Ireland 'No to War, No to Bush' posters were placed on the bollards just in front of where people were sitting.

The posters were crucial, in the sense that these are what alerted passing motorists and, indeed, pedestrians to what was going on. At no stage did embassy staff or the gardai object to their presence. However, at roughly 6.30am a small white car screeched to a halt on double-yellow lines just in front of the vigil and a stocky choleric individual jumped out and immediately began to tear down the posters. He was challenged and asked to return those he'd already ripped from the bollards. He refused, explained he was from Dublin City Council (he handed over a card), and he proceeded to confiscate the remaining posters while muttering something about people being prosecuted later. He turned out to be one Liam Hendrick, who describes himself as 'co-ordinator of waste management services' with Dublin City Council.

He was again challenged about the inconsistency of the council's behaviour. The following conversation was had:

Fintan Lane: "This is ridiculous. Why aren't you tearing down election posters and instigating prosecutions against politicians?"

Liam Hendrick: "We are."

Fintan: "You are not. Clontarf Road is still covered in Gay Mitchell posters, but you went out there a few nights to tear down anti-war posters and not a single Mitchell poster was removed."

LH: "We need to get special equipment"

Fintan: "Will Gay Mitchell be prosecuted?"

LH (shiftily): "Um. Yes."

Fintan: "So he will be prosecuted?"

LH (with more vigour): "Yes."

Don't hold your breath.

At this stage a guard approached because Hendrick was double-parked, thus allowing him to rapidly exit the scene with posters.

It should be borne in mind that this little petty bureaucrat could hardly have been on the clock. It was 6.30am and he was clearly on his way to work. Obviously this 'gentleman' is under orders, but it's obvious that he takes a delight in tearing down other people's property, judging by the zest with which he perforormed his so-called 'duties'. He could have just driven by on the basis that he hadn't yet clocked in.

So, the vigil was wonderful, bar the brief presence of the poster police.

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Comments (12 of 12)

Down with the poster police!

by Anto

Sun Jun 27, 2004 21:07

Outrageous, outrageous, outrageous. Do Dublin City Council have nothing better to do with their time?

So much for freedom of speech

by Anthony - Dublin Grassroots

Mon Jun 28, 2004 00:33

Well done to Fintan and Deirdre on their vigil. I can't imagine that it was much fun standing out in the cold on Friday night.

I can empathise with their dismay at having their posters taken down. During the week, I put up about 25 to 30 double-sided Anti-war Ireland posters along some of the main thoroughfares leading into the city centre. The very next day, ALL of the posters had been taken down.

The city council is certainly hard at work taking down anti-war posters. A traditional means of disseminating ideas and information has now been taken away by the local authority. Even when the IAWM registered themselves as a political party in order to get around these new by-laws, they were still told that their posters would be taken down. One might think that freedom of speech now exists only for those who can afford to pay to advertise on commercial hoarding space but it's worse than that. If readers remember back to October 2002 and March 2003, the Dublin City Council also tried to prevent Mick Wallace from hanging anti-war banners from his own building site.

It seems that advertising commercial products or the personalities of political parties is OK but political ideas are banned. So if you're a grassroots group or a small organisation with few resources, you can say goodbye to the traditional means of informing the public of the times and places of public meetings or other organised events.

Hendrick, the worm

by Badman

Mon Jun 28, 2004 13:02

During the height of the bin tax struggle one council official earned a reputation for his arrogance and bullying attitiude towards protestors and bin workers alike. The man was Insepctor Hendrick. Lo and behold, the same man pops up again, now tearing down anti-war posters. He obviously enjoys the job to be up doing it at 6.30 in the morning. Hendrick, who one bin man described to me as 'a bully and a prick' is a nasty, nasty piece of work.

It is legal to Advertise a 'Public meeting'

by Spitfire Mk III

Mon Jun 28, 2004 15:20

See below: it is legal to advertise a public meeting (provided the posters are removed within 7 days of the event)

I assume that a peace vigil qualified as a public meeting, as all are welcome and there is no admittance charge.

Maybe specifically include the words 'PUBLIC MEETING' on the posters next time.

Litter Pollution Act 1997

Section 19 subsection (7)

A prosecution shall not be brought in a case in which an offence under this section is alleged to have been committed in relation to an advertisement if—

( a ) the advertisement is exempted development within the meaning of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, or is a notice displayed or erected in pursuance of a requirement by or under any enactment, or
( b ) the advertisement—
(i) advertises a public meeting, other than an auction, or
(ii) relates to a presidential election within the meaning of the Presidential Elections Act, 1993, a general election or a bye-election, within the meaning, in each case, of the Electoral Act, 1992, a local election within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1994, a referendum, within the meaning of the Referendum Act, 1994, or an election of representatives to the Assembly of the European Communities,
unless the advertisement has been in position for 7 days or longer after the day specified in the advertisement for the meeting or the latest day upon which the poll was taken for the election, bye-election or referendum concerned.

posters

by nial quayleroid - traleeantiwar

Mon Jun 28, 2004 23:00

traleeantiwar at hotmail dot com

All the no to bush posters advertising a march on friday night were removed by saturday morning. Even though we had told the litter warden we would take them down, the little jobsworth did it for us. He told us we had a week to take them down, magically they were gone. You were lucky it wasn't the protesters that wern't removed from the embassy. slan leat.

why are you complaining?

by Kev

Tue Jun 29, 2004 00:30

Nial, if he took down all the Tralee posters on Saturday morning AFTER the Friday protests in the town then why are you complaining? Seems to have saved you a lot of work. Anyway why weren't you lot up in Shannon at the Antiwar Ireland demo? What was the point exactly of your unreported waste of human resources down in Traaalee?

Wed Jun 30, 2004 02:28

Dear Kev, I wasn't complaining the point I should have made more clearly was that any poster in kerry that has the words Bush War stop or American written on them are taken down. We put up posters 3 times. I don't mind the warden taking them down but not BEFORE the event. We were at Shannon and Drumolland.

We gotta do summit

by Dang

Sat Jul 03, 2004 18:09

Somethings going have to be done about this poster bullshit. How are we supposed to advertise alternative political events in Dublin???

bullshit

by hobo

Mon Sep 06, 2004 03:12

how was he moved on by the guard for double parking if, as you say, he "screeched to a halt on double yellow lines"??
and how ignorant of you to resort to name calling...."a stocky choleric individual "
fintan lane u are just a mouth.
now move off them double yellow lines before i report you for double parking u gobshite

Alternative wording.

by R. Isible

Mon Sep 06, 2004 06:11

Well it's hard to see how "stocky" or "choleric" are name calling? Sounds like political-correctness gone wild on your part if you object to that.

Think of the alternatives: "a steatopygous rubicund individual" or "an endomorphic roseate individual"!

All helps to identify him.

And I really don't understand your objection about the double-yellow lines. Care to elaborate?

worm

by liam hendrick - dublin city council

Sat Sep 18, 2004 22:56

You are correct Badman,I do enjoy my job.
Where do you work? Badman, who one treehugger described to me as 'a bully and a prick' is a nasty, nasty piece of work.

So Hendrick, what now?

by Goodman

Sun Jun 18, 2006 21:16

So Hendrick, chief of the Dublin poster gestapo, now that Cllr Joan Collins has pushed through a policy change on postering, what are you going to do with your time? Follow kids to jump on them if they drop their lollipops?

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Report on overnight Anti-War Ireland vigil at US embassy

Comments (12 of 12)