Shannon Demo report by Global Women's Strike, Ireland

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Tuesday June 24, 2003 14:52 by Global Women's Strike, Ireland womenstrike8m at server101 dot com 087 7838688

..Andrea Needham, one of a number of women who undertook a Ploughshares action to disarm a warplane in the UK bound for use by the Indonesian military in East Timor and who was acquitted in court, spoke in support of more direct actions in Ireland...When the march set off for the airport, however, it soon became clear that the Gardai intended to allow two lanes of traffic, coming from and going to the airport, to pass by protestors. This meant that vehicles were coming right up behind protestors within a few inches of us, some at great speed – a considerable danger....Once our path was blocked, we were told that Inspector Tom Kennedy, the commanding officer on the day, had lied to the spokespersons....Later, Gardai swooped on several of those in the blockade and began dragging them towards a police van...the children of the arrested parents were left unattended...

REPORT FROM ANTI-WAR MARCH AT SHANNON AIRPORT, IRELAND
21ST JUNE 2003
By Global Women's Strike, Ireland

Despite a sustained anti-war effort and the opposition of the majority of people in Ireland, (a majority of those women), to the breach of the Irish constitution, the government continues to allow US warplanes and troop carriers to refuel at a civilian airport at Shannon, on the west coast. Thus far, the Irish government has not even clarified its position on what the rest of the world knows: that the case for going to war was based on a hastily cooked dish of lies and half-truths, garnished with spin. So another demonstration took place on Saturday June
21st, called by a local anti-war campaign based in Cork. Well over 100 people took part, smaller than the demonstrations before war was declared but attended by a variety of sectors of the anti-war movement, including the Global Women's Strike. There were women, children and men, pensioners, students, people who support non-violent direct action and those who prefer other tactics. A party to celebrate the summer solstice was also planned. Hardly in evidence at all were the various political parties that had joined the anti-war movement in Ireland, many of which caved in all too readily once Bush announced 'victory', and voluntarily cleared themselves and their pickets and blockades off of streets. Some sectors of the anti-war movement followed suit. But grassroots people have refused to end our pickets and actions - people in Iraq don't accept this illegal occupation and continuing war against them as Normal, and neither do we.

A rally was held before the march to support the five people from the Catholic Worker Movement, who will stand trial later this year for disarming a US navy warplane at Shannon. Andrea Needham, one of a number of women who undertook a Ploughshares action to disarm a warplane in the UK bound for use by the Indonesian military in East Timor and who was acquitted in court, spoke in support of more direct actions in Ireland. When the march set off for the airport, however, it soon became clear that the Gardai intended to allow two lanes of traffic, coming from and going to the airport, to pass by protestors. This meant that vehicles were coming right up behind protestors within a few inches of us, some at great speed – a considerable danger. This had not happened on previous marches. The road-wide banner of the Global Women's Strike, expressing our demand, 'Women Say No War/Invest in Caring Not Killing', used without problems on many previous occasions at Shannon, now could not be carried without our being in the direct path of oncoming traffic. Before we knew what was happening, Maggie from the Strike was hit lightly by a car passing the march at speed, but she managed to stay upright. We were then told by Gardai that a spokesman for Cork Anti-War Campaign had agreed with them to confine the march to one lane and allow traffic to pass in both directions because Gardai said that 'the airport is busy this time of year'. We were astonished that not only had someone agreed to this dangerous arrangement but that none of us from the Strike, nor many others marching around us, had been consulted before this deal was struck.

After this, Maggie, the same woman, was continually harassed, pushed and shoved by one Garda, CL 129, every time a vehicle approached from behind. She was threatened with arrest; on one occasion this seemed to be because she presumed to 'talk back' to CL 129 in order to tell him to stop pushing her. This occurred on the march up to the airport and on the way back down. But despite his superior officer telling him to arrest her, CL 129 didn't do it. He did refuse to give her any information on what he thought about the war but spoke to her a couple of times about how the demonstration was not working. When she demanded that he stop pushing her and being so aggressive, he smirked and told her, 'I'm protecting you' and 'I'm saving your life' Other grassroots people from Galway stepped in to try to end this harassment or any further accidents. Despite people explaining that not everyone had agreed to the traffic arrangement and asking that the traffic behind us be stopped for our safety, we were told by Gardai that this was 'unrealistic' for business at the airport. CL 129 also refused to listen to a repeated request to just tell people that there was traffic approaching rather than physically pushing a woman continually.

As we marched we also discovered that spokespersons from the group that called the demonstration had agreed that we would all march up a different road to that normally taken. We found that once we got close to the site of the former peace camp, still a considerable way from the airport terminal itself, Gardai had corralled us into a narrow roadway. They then brought the march to a standstill by means of two rows of barricades across our path, flanked by a line of police and dogs. This also meant that the site of the solstice party had to be abandoned. People became angry, since it is our right to march to the terminal itself and we have always insisted on it from the very first demonstrations against war in Afghanistan at Shannon. We were told that Inspector Tom Kennedy, the commanding officer on the day, had lied to the spokespersons telling them that if they agreed to the new march route, he would 'allow' the demonstration to proceed to the airport but otherwise he would order his forces to stop us. While there was still a considerable police presence, it was obvious that the large numbers of uniformed and riot police drafted in on previous occasions were not present this time and that it had always been the police plan to halt the march.

The word spread through the crowd that we would march back down to the roundabouts on the road to the airport and block the traffic with banners and sitdowns because our protest and planned rally at the terminal had been illegitimately blocked. This we did with those not wishing to be part of the blockade remaining on the verge. Some women from the Global Women's Strike and others who marched with us remained on the verge holding the Strike banner while other Strike women joined those who stood or sat down on the road as part of the blockade. Suddenly the Gardai swooped on several of those in the blockade and began dragging them towards a police van. The grabbing of arrestees was fairly random and at least one person on the verge was also arrested (who later reported that a policeman in riot gear apologised for having to do this, while they were in the police van).

The Global Women's Strike used our megaphone to call for support for those being arrested and to publicise any Garda violence we could see. Eight [not ten as RTE reported] people were arrested, women and men, two children and the parents of children - one a very small child. So, the children of the arrested parents were left unattended. When we announced this on the megaphone, one officer replied, 'we don't care! You lot can look after them.' How dare the Gardai, paid handsomely in overtime and Aer Rianta food vouchers, decide for us and most likely women as usual, that we will pick up the pieces from their handiwork?! And of course we had to. Women later negotiated with Gardai to bring one child into the Station to see her mother. After the melee of the arrests, protestors proceeded to the town's police station where we held a picket with drumming until all arrestees had been released. People from Food Not Bombs fed everyone while we waited. No charges were pressed but files on the case have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, for someone 'higher up' to make the decision. A decision that obviously has little or nothing to do with legal matters and everything to do with whatever the US warmongers want from their lackeys in Dail Eireann.

The blockade at the end worked well and shows, together with the previous non-violent direct actions at the airport, that it really isn't about having to have large numbers of people in order to make opposition visible and effective. Apart from the disgusting behaviour of Gardai yet again - their continuing complicity in the illegal use of Shannon and in war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan - what also has to be taken from the day is the crying need for consultation during anti-war actions. If people insist on stepping forward and claiming to represent us to the State, then they must be accountable to all of us for any agreements they make, not just to their own organisation or group. This would have given people a choice about whether we wanted to put ourselves in harm's way. This has nothing to do with leadership and everything to do with using our movement for ends it has not agreed to. This is unacceptable on every count – we do not go to protest war and killing to make deals with the Gardai.