Press Release From Residents Against Racism In Conjunction With Palmerstown Community School

Stop The Deportation Of Children

Demonstration 23/3/05 @ 12.30 Outside The Dáil

Residents Against Racism have called a demonstration for Wednesday 23rd March at 12.30 to protest at the governments continued policy of deporting children. Spokesperson Rosanna Flynn said: "Speaking in December the Justice Minister Michael McDowell stated that he recognised the moral force of allowing those asylum seekers who have children here in school for a lengthy period of time to stay. In March of this year his response has been to deport those very people. Many of these children and their families had integrated very well into their local communities, which is meant to be taken into account when casting judgement on their cases. A picture quickly emerges of a Justice Minister who says one thing and does the exact opposite. On the recent mass deportation there were several mothers who had been separated from their children, these children now remain in Ireland parentless. Also on the last deportation at least one of the passengers was sedated and a needle attached to them with a drip for the duration of the deportation. There was also a teenage boy due to sit his leaving cert deported leading to protests from his classmates in Palmerstown Community School. These cases are only the tip of the iceberg as there were many deported who we had no contact from before or after their deportations, many of these could have similar stories to tell".

Rosanna continued by saying "Many of the children who were deported could face the brutal practice of Female Genital Mutilation, a procedure which many young girls die from. Their education will be very different from that which they have been receiving for the last several years in Ireland, that is if they are lucky enough to get an education at all in Nigeria. The Irish government have a moral obligation to protect those who are most vulnerable, instead we have a system with no transparency or justice led by a Minster who lies. Residents Against Racism are calling on the government to stop deporting children, furthermore we are calling for an independent inquiry into the last deportation and for those people to be brought back"

Protests are also being held in Belfast, Derry, Liverpool, Glasgow, London and Amsterdam.
For further details call:

Rosanna Flynn 087 6662060
Mark Grehan 087 7974622
Jon Glackin 0774 327 5533

Original Indymedia Ireland Report On The Deportations

Joe Higgins TD Writes: Brazil is known as one of the countries with the greatest inequality in ownership of wealth on the face of the earth. It is one thing to read or hear this statistic. It is however quite a shocking experience to be confronted with the reality of what this means.

Mato Grosso do Sul is one of Brazil’s 26 states, situated in the southwest of the country. It is four times the size of the island of Ireland but has a population of only two million. It has millions of hectares of very fertile land, home at the moment to 24 million of the fattest cattle you will find. It has some of the richest ranchers on earth, some owning farms of up to 40,000 acres. Yet a report published in January 2005 by a state health organisation, FUNASA, found that children in some indigenous Indian villages were dying of malnutrition and related diseases.

Before going on to the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre this January 2005, I spent six days visiting remote Indian villages discussing with the inhabitants and seeing at first hand their conditions of life. My guides and interpreters were members of a small but very dedicated Indian support group, The Technical/ Juridical Educational Institute (ITJE). They work to assist the Indians reclaim their fundamental rights including advising the Indians on their land rights and assisting them in the process of trying to reclaim lands from which they or their ancestors were expelled.

Kelly Dougherty US Army National Guard, Co-founder Iraq Veterans Against the War Dublin 14 March 2005 Dear Taoiseach, Photo Series: Pitstop Ploughshares supporters March from the Four Courts to Dáil Éireann after trial collapses. Delivering Kelly's Letter to Bertie... ''You should be proud of where you're from. There's been a lot of damage to the idealism that the US is supposed to be all about: freedom and optimism and democracy. That image is really being ruined by the Bush administration.'' - An Interview with Kelly Dougherty... As an American citizen and a former US army sergeant, I implore you to withdraw the Republic of Ireland’s support for the US war on Iraq by no longer allowing US military planes to land or refuel in Ireland. During my year of service in Iraq I witnessed first-hand the destruction, poverty and violence that the US occupation is causing. The lies used to justify the invasion of Iraq have long been exposed, and yet the occupation continues and the casualties mount. A recent study conducted by The Lancet has estimated that close to 100,000 Iraqi citizens have been killed since the March 20, 2003 invasion of Iraq. More than 1,550 of my fellow American men and women, and dozens of foreign soldiers and civilians, have lost their lives in this illegal, immoral war. Added to these gruesome figures are the tens of thousands of people returning from Iraq physically wounded and emotionally shattered. More than 350,000 US troops have passed through Shannon Airport in recent years, including 158,000 just in 2004. Many of those soldiers were en route to Iraq, where they were being sent to fight, kill and die for a war based on lies. Taoiseach, I ask you to help end the US-led occupation of Iraq by no longer allowing the US military to use Shannon Airport as a stopping point on the way to Iraq. There has been a strong friendship and connection between Ireland and the United States. My own ancestors emigrated to the US from Ireland. As an Irish-American I ask you to demonstrate the Republic of Ireland’s commitment to peace and to its policy of neutrality by ending Irish participation in this illegal war. I also request that Ireland offer safe refuge to US service members seeking asylum as a means to avoid participating in the illegal occupation of Iraq....

Today (Monday) saw Nigerians from all over the country called in by the immigration police. It appears that they will be deported tonight.

UPDATE:Residents Against Racism have called a protest for 12.30pm on Wednesday March 16th at the Garda National Immigration Bureau on Burgh Quay. (Burgh Quay is the street between Tara Street DART station and O'Connell bridge on the south side of the river)

From a report by someone who was in the GNIB offices today: "Among those to be deported is a 19 year old who has been here for 5 years and is to sit his Leaving Cert in June. He has no family alive. His solicitor was with him so we were a bit optimistic but as we were leaving the guy was lifted and taken home to pack his luggage for deportation."

Follow the Feature Continued Link Below for More Detailed Information On The Deportations

On 3rd February 2003, as part of ongoing resistance at Shannon Airport, the Pitstop Ploughshares disarmed a US warplane. Within the month, three of the four companies contracted at the time to ferry US troops and weapons had left Ireland.

The trial began on Monday March 7th and is expected to last for just over a week. Watch this space for daily updates as things progress:

Day Six:The presiding judge discharged the jury for undisclosed reasons this morning and ordered a retrial. Defendants to appear in Four Courts Tuesday 10.30 am for new trial date
-Threre will be no peace walk from the spire. read more here

Day Five:I'm afraid this will be rather a short report as the trial thus far today has involved legal argument in the absense of the jury. Under these circumstances, it not possible to give details of the submissions put forward by the defence. Sub judice, and so on.Read more here

Day Four:
Defendant Ciaron O'Reilly took the stand and began to describe his backround, with special attention as to how it affected his belief that the actions on February 3rd were justified. He was repeatedly interrupted by the judge, who severely restricted his testimony. ...Read More

Day Three:"A legal controversy arose when the defense asked that a number of photographs of war-injured children and two documentaries about destruction in Iraq be admitted into evidence."

Day Two: The defense attorneys stated that the case revolved around "the reckless damage being wrought on a defenseless population," the prosecution made no effort to restrict this line of defense".

Day One: "That could really read 'Day Zero', because nothing much happened down there at the Four Courts..." Read the report and details of solidarity actions down under here and here.

Every (court) day:

• Supporters Gather at The Spire,O'Connell St. from 9am
• Peace Walk to Court, 10am
• Vigil to Remember The War Dead, Four Courts, 10.30am onwards

Flashback: Original Report of the CW5 Action