Belfast action

international | anti-war / imperialism | event notice Monday May 16, 2005 14:01 by Justin Morahan - Peace People

Decommissioning of "Weapons of War"

Peace activists will symbolically decommission "Weapons of War" and hand in a letter to the Offices of Invest Northern Ireland asking why £900,000 of Peace money was given to a missile development Company called Thales.

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There will be a brief Weapons Decommissioning Ceremony by peace activists in front of the City Hall, Belfast, Tuesday 17 May, 11am, when weapons of war" will be broken and symbolically decommissioned.
A letter will also be handed in at the Offices of Invest Northern Ireland, 44-58 May Street Belfast, 11.30am on the same day, calling for a Public Inquiry into how £900,000 peace money was given to Thales, a company involved in the development of missiles.
Decommissioning/demilitarisation of paramilitaries and security forces are an integral part of the Good Friday Agreement.
Thales, Raytheon and other arms manufacturers in Northern Ireland are allowed to act contrary to the Good Friday Agreement by continuing their business of supporting the arms trade.


The Arms Trade…………

1 fuels violence and war around the world. Arms getting into the hands of corrupt regimes
2 deprives other groups of necessary funding.
Britain spends over £35 billion on the military, and has spent over £760 million of taxpayers' money on supporting the arms trade. The British Government spent £5billion on the recent Iraqi invasion. The price of a single Hawk fighter plane could provide 1.5 million people with clean drinking water.
£900,000 was recently given to Thales arms manufacturers in N. Ireland from E.U. Peace Initiative Funding, while small community groups in Belfast are struggling for survival
3 fuels violence against women. Women are most at risk from armed violence.
4 spending is rising as a result of the ‘War on Terror’
5 is supported by shareholders . Lists are available revealing the Universities, Councils, Local Authorities and Charities that have shares in the Arms Trade.
6 thrives in poor countries. ‘Make Poverty History’ is being thwarted by selling arms to the poorer countries
7 is even further corrupted by the "swinging-door" policy between the M.O.D and Arms manufacturers

Contacts: The Peace People & INNATE (Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and Education)

Kevin Cassidy Tel 078 1211 0153 (Mobile), 048-4173 8997

Mark Chapman Tel , 0771 511 0517 (Mobile), 048 9029 3623"