Report on Shannon airport Protest, Sat 17th Aug
Saturday August 17th saw another protest at Shannon Airport against the continued use of this civilian airport to refuel US warplanes. According to Ireland on Sunday (Aug 18th) between September 2001 and July 2002 a total of 535 US warplanes have refuelled at the airport. A total of about 70 people turned up for the protest but the vast majority of us were prevented getting into the area of the airport by the police. They had set up a checkpoint at the airport gates and were stopping any cars they suspected contained protesters. Once stopped they were also carrying out petty harassment of the drivers by demanding to inspect insurance disks and driving licenses. A couple of drivers who happened not to have their license with them were told to report to their local Gardai station within the next ten days with their license.
When our driver asked why we were not being let into the airport he was told "we are not letting you in, it's as simple as that". Our traditional and ironic complaint that "I thought this was a free county" was met with the Gardai reply "I never said it was a free county"! The two Gardai also attempted to get the names of the passengers but we refused to give them.For the next 30 minutes or so we mounted a protest at the gate to give a chance for other protesters to arrive. We also heard that a C-130 Hercules had been seen landing at the airport as the first protesters arrived. Protesters who had managed to get through the police cordon reported that it was parked for a short time by the cargo area but that it took off soon after landing, too soon they believe for it to have been re-fuelled. If this was because of the protest then this was a very, very small but positive blow against the US war build up.
Meanwhile at the gate we were demanding to know under what power the Gardai were refusing us access to the airport. The senior guard (a red tabbed inspector) told us that he was "concerned that there will be some sort of protest that will make the airport unsafe" and that "I have information that there was to be an effort today by this protest to damage the airport". When asked if there was a warplane currently at the airport he said he didn't know, but when asked specifically about the Hercules he admitted, "there might well be".
Meanwhile the Aer Rianta duty manager who was observing the protest with another Aer Rianta staff member and a member of the airport police equipped with a digital camera was over heard issuing instructions regarding the Hercules by mobile phone. Inside the airport grounds where the Airport Police were also harassing protesters it appears they were simply making up byelaws to justify themselves. One protester, Tim Hourigan , reported that "Mr. Aer Rianta again told us we were violating an airport bye-law. When I asked him what byelaw he was referring to he couldn't name it, so the airport policeman with him told us it was 425. I walked over to the poster of byelaws and there is no such byelaw. There is a bye-law 4.2-5 referring to motor vehicles at the airport!"
Back at the entrance we had a quick meeting to decide what to do next. Everyone felt that we should try and move through the police lines. There was some disagreement over whether we should first promise to respect airport byelaws. Why should we ask the Gardai for permission to engage in protest?. In the end we just marched up and through the Gardai line. They made a fairly half hearted attempt to stop us and then settled down to simply walking in front and behind us as we marched up the road to the terminal. There was a sense of achievement in that we had defended our freedom to protest through taking direct action.
On reaching the terminal we met a much larger concentration of Gardai, airport police and more sinisterly members of the Irish secret/political police in their ill fitting suits (aka the Special Branch). They blocked the entrance to the terminal and we sat down blocking half the road outside it. Banners were unfurled, street theatre was enacted and various speeches were made. As well as as the 'No refuelling in our name' banner there were two other large banners on the themes of opposition to the Irish arms trade and the bombing of third world families. There were a range of placards, some of the texts were as follows "Depleted Uranium coming up"; "Mourn the slain children of Afghanistan"; "no refuelling of war planes at Shannon"; "Babies will die"; "keep Ireland neutral, no refuelling"; "Shannon US war port".
After the speeches some of the protesters lay on the road and took turns to dedicate the protest to various people who had suffered as a result of the war. The protest then moved back down to the gate. En route, Mary Kelly, climbed the Airport perimeter fence and made her way towards the runway where she was arrested. She was released a couple of hours later. Overall this was another successful Shannon protest. With war in Iraq looming to should be possible to organise major protests at Shannon that could shut the airport for a period of time.
This would push up the economic and political costs of allowing military refuelling to take place at Shannon. The Irish government would be faced with the choice or arresting hundreds or even thousands or withdrawing permission for US war planes to land at Shannon. Either way a real example in how to oppose the war would be set that others could take up across Europe. With the second Nice referendum the ongoing refuelling of US warplanes demonstrates how meaningless the appendix agreed at the Seville summit on Irish neutrality is. Irish airports are being used to refuel the warplanes of the country that is involved in one war and is openly preparing for a second in Iraq. Voting No to Nice is another minor chance to oppose this increased militarisation.
Start Date: 2002-08-20 01:00:00-04
End Date: 2002-09-19 01:00:00-04
Created By: Tom Lonergan
Comments
I wrote this report, the full vsion with pictures is at http://struggle.ws/wsm/news/2002/shannonAUG.html
But two sentences have been edited out. This version reads. "Overall this was another successful Shannon protest. With war in Iraq looming to should be possible to organise major protests at Shannon that could shut the airport for a period of time"
But my report had between these two sentences two other sentences which have been edited out. These read; "But it continues to be the case that most of the left and anti-war movement seems to prefer marching around Dublin then taking the bother to travel to and take action at the site where the Irish state is directly aiding the US war effort. This needs to change."
The IAWM can't be that thin skinned, can it?
Created By: Andrew Flood
Andrew, First please accept my apology, I see you points in terms of my editing your piece, and the small numbers of people travelling to Shannon to protest while the main focus was Dublin. My intent was to focus on the points that unite us rather than focus on our divisions. I agree we need to address the points that divide so that we can build solidarity and become more effective. I would hope that as the groups around the country can support each other in common cause against militarisation, war that in future we will be more effective in Shannon, Dublin, Galway or other locations. I am involved in the Galway Alliance Against War, we have had local protests here and I have been to Shannon on two different protests. I have also been to Dublin and Cork protests which I believe to be important to raise the issues in the cities. I hope that the Irish AntiWar Movement can be a mechanism for uniting groups across the country in common cause. All anti War groups are welcome to link to the IAWM. I often speak to Tim Hourigan and Ed Horgan from the Shannon peace Alliance and although they could not make it to the recent AGM meeting are very much in support of building better networking etc. I will certainly be protesting both in Dublin and Shannon in the next few weeks.
Regards Tom
Note on recent IAWM AGM
The AGM of the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) took place on Saturday Aug 31st. Approx 75 people attended from various groups around the country. I attended on behalf of the Galway Alliance Against War. This is a short summary of the main points discussed.Some of the groups (not a full list) that were represented at the meeting were: Foyle Ethical Investment Group (Derry), Cork Peace Alliance, Galway Alliance Against War, Pax Christi, Afri, The Green Party, US Citizens for Alternatives to War, Maynooth Anti War Movement, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Socialist Workers Party, Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), Anti Iraqi sanctions group (Dublin).
The main immediate decisions taken at the meeting were:
a) To hold 2 mass demonstrations against war, one in September, the other before the Nice vote in October as follows:
The first mass demo to be in Dublin on Sat' September 28th, starts at Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square at 3pm.
Theme: 'Stop Bush's War, Don't attack IRAQ'
- this coincides with a major anti-war demo in London where up to 250,000 people are expected to attend. All groups outside Dublin are asked to send as many people as possible, organise buses etc.
- The second mass demo is to be at Shannon Airport on Sat' October 19th, (3 weeks after Sept 28th), the date was set so as to be before the Nice vote. If Nice is set too close to this date the date of this demo will be brought forward so as to highlight Shannons militarisation in the run-up to Nice, erosion of neutrality etc. Dublin based groups will have a major push and hope to have up to 10 organised buses travelling to this event. Posters will be available closer to the date. Tim Hourigan and Ed Horgan of the Shannon Peace Alliance have expressed support .
b) To improve networking of all associated anti-war groups so that we can be more effective in organising opposition to war and militarisation.
contact email address for IAWM is info@irishantiwar.org, the website address is www.irishantiwar.org, - but it needs to be updated etc. Anti-war events and news can be posted on the site.
c) Election of a steering committee who will assist in coordination of the anti-war effort. All anti-war groups in Ireland are invited to have a representative on the committee.
Created By: Tom Lonergan