A brief report of most recent Anti-War Ireland organising meeting

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Wednesday April 28, 2004 21:52 by Fintan Lane - Anti-War Ireland irishanti-war at excite dot com 087 1258325

Sub-groups established to co-ordinate work on Bush visit and Mary Kelly/Pitstop Ploughshares cases

A brief report of latest Anti-War Ireland organising meeting held on Saturday, 28 April

A meeting of the Anti-War Ireland organising group was held in the Conradh na Gaelige offices in Limerick last Saturday between 3pm and 6pm.

Those attending included anti-war activists from Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Clonakilty and Clare. Local attendees included a Labour Party councillor from Shannon and members of the Limerick branch of the Socialist Party who had earlier held an anti-Bush protest in Limerick city centre.

There were reports on activities from the various groups and a wide-ranging discussion on anti-war matters. The following decisions were taken:

1. The Anti-War Ireland formation conference will not now be held on May 15th because of the pressure of other ongoing work. Moreover, it may make more sense to hold it closer to the Bush visit (perhaps in early June?) with the intention of drawing in as many people as possible. The date will be set at the next meeting of the organising group.

2. A sub-group has been established to organise for the Bush visit, with a specific focus on mobilising for the Anti-War Ireland demonstration at Shannon airport on Friday evening, June 25th, to 'welcome' Bush as he arrives in Ireland. Dominic Carroll (Clonakilty) was appointed as coordinator of the Bush demonstration sub-group and he can be contacted at clonakiltyagainstthewar@eircom.net.

3. A sub-group was established to deal with, and coordinate, ongoing work around the upcoming trials of Mary Kelly and the Pitstop Ploughshares (aka Catholic Worker Five). Liz Tully (Dublin) took on the role of coordinator of this sub-group and she can be contacted at fairviewagainstwar@eircom.net.

4. It was agreed to hold the next meeting on Saturday, May 15th. Initially it was decided to hold this meeting in Limerick, but following later consultations by the convenor this will now be held in Dublin between 2pm and 5pm on the date given above. This will facilitate the attendance of members of the Dublin Anti-War Ireland organising group (which has begun meeting in recent weeks) and others who have expressed an interest in attending. A venue has yet to be booked, but all anti-war activists are welcome to participate. For details, phone Fintan at 087 1258325. Thus far, the three principal items on the agenda are the AWI conference; the Bush visit; and the Mary Kelly case.