Much material being published on Indymedia Ireland at present focuses on the buildup to a war on Iraq, the Peace Camp at Shannon Airport and various forms of anti-war organising in the leadup to a national demonstration on 15th Febuary in Dublin.

Anti-war meetings have been held or are planned at Galway, Sligo, Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Rathmines, Ballymun, Fairview, Maynooth and UCD while the anti-war film 'Paying the Price - Killing the Children' is being shown at Lahinch and Tuamgraney in Co. Clare. A Walk for Peace from Bunratty Castle to Shannon is also planned.

Opposition to the war and to the use of Shannon airport by American forces is also growing among politicians as Labour, the Green Party, and Republican Sinn Fein have come out strongly against American use of Shannon. A Dáil Private Members' Motion on on the use of Shannon Airport by US Military has also been tabled and unions have put forward their own anti-war motion from IAWM.

Meanwhile a Muslim leader in transit to the US has been jailed in Shannon, and the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has blockaded a UK military port.

Related news and analysis:
Legal analysis of Shannon situation from Eoin Dubsky
Violence abroad/Cutbacks at home | Bio-War supplement in the papers
Why this war is about oil | What's wrong with America?


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On Saturday February 1st a 24 hour vigil is planned in defense of the 90 or so trees in Eyre Square. The vigil is part of a campaign launched on 14th January to save the trees. One of the trees under threat was planted to celebrate Galway becoming a 'Nuclear Free Zone'.

The Galway Environmental Alliance have been raising awareness of the threat to the trees since 1999 and are involved in this latest initiative to secure a future for them.

Almost one thousand people have sent submissions to the City Council asking that the trees be incorporated into the Eyre Square enhancement plan. This has been ignored by the City Authorities. Popular disssatisfaction with the imposed plan to chop down the majority of the mature trees and replace them with saplings is reflected by the hundrds of coloured ribbons attached to them by objectors to the plans for their future.

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The increase to the bin tax in Dublin was passed last week in extremely unusual circumstances .

Three Labour party councillors were absent some with excuse; a Fine Gael councillor broke with his party whip and voted for the increase.
A tied vote was broken when the Labour Mayor used his vote to pass the increase, running against party policy. What followed was the now all too typical sight of several parties launching at each other to point fingers, and blame, at whose action and inaction was to blame for this. The Socialist Party attacked Sinn Féin, and Labour Youth condemned their own mayor; who now faces expulsion from his own party. The bin tax campaign has been the scene of acrimonious attacks, with bitter words exchanged repeatedly between the smaller left wing parties . The environment minister Martin Cullen has earlier threatened to shut down Dublin County Council if the increased charges had not been passed.

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Saturday January 18th saw around 2000 people protesting the Government's facilitation of US Military use of Shannon Airport in the buildup to a possible war with Iraq. A plethora of reports/opinions/photos and videos focusing on the protest have been published on Indymedia Ireland. Here is a selection:
Video Summary of the Day A Collection of International and Mainstream Reports
Reports from people present at the Protest (1) (2)
Photos (1) (2) (3) (4)
Opinion Pieces: Time to Widen the Campaign / The need for grassroots Anti War activity and not an Anti War Movement
Oddities: Who is the Snoop? / Belly of the Beast (1) (2) (3)

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On the coldest night of the year so far, the 4/5 January, a Peace Camp was established at Shannon Airport. The Peace Camp kicked off with a 24 hour Women’s Peace Camp and quickly began to draw a huge amount of attention from the National Media .

The Green Party and the Labour Party have put their shoulders to the wheel on the issue and both are calling for the suspension of US military use of Shannon Airport.

Debates on the legalities of US military use of Shannon broke out of the Indymedia ghetto, got an extensive airing on National TV and Radio, and ended up on the front pages of UK and Irish Sunday Newspapers.

It remains to be seen if the debate that has taken place will make an impact on the size of the upcoming protests at Shannon Airport (18th Jan) and in Dublin (15 Feb).
These protests have been arranged to coincide with global days of anti-war action.

Obviously feeling the pressure, Brian Cowen has released a statement to the media which characterises the extensive US military use of Shannon in the buildup to a possible war in Iraq as ‘business as usual’.

Meanwhile Tim Hourigan and others are maintaining their close watch on US Military use of the airport and they continue to inform the authorities of their findings.

Tim Hourigan appeared on Prime Time on Tue 14th Jan. The fact that he did not (as expected) appear in a live Debate with Brian Cowen has caused some controversy.

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