Galway anti-war movement gathers momentum

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday January 14, 2003 13:27 by John Cunningham - Galway Alliance Against War johnliamsheain at eircom dot net

Those who addressed a large Galway Alliance Against War public meeting on Monday night included Mary Kelly and Ed Horgan of the Shannon Peace Camp, Caoimhe Butterly (now also of the Shannon Peace Camp), Joe Murray of Afri, and Eoin Dubsky. Michael D. Higgins chaired the meeting.

The Atlanta Hotel in Dominick-street was filled to overflowing on Monday night for a public meeting under the auspices of the Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW). Following a lively and constructive discussion, plans were made for future activities.

There was an especially warm welcome for Mary Kelly from the Peace Camp at Shannon. Ms. Kelly, a founder of the camp, traced the background to the action, described its effectiveness, and appealed for support. She urged Galway people to join the camp, or at least to visit it. The camp, she believes, can have a major impact. If sufficient pressure is brought to bear on the government, and the passage of US troops and weaponry through ‘neutral’ Ireland halted by the efforts of anti-war activists, this would reverberate internationally.

GAAW gave a commitment to organise a roster of volunteers and to fundraise locally for the camp. It was pointed out that the national anti-war demonstration on next Saturday (18 Jan.) presented an early opportunity to act in solidarity with Mary Kelly and her fellow-activists. Buses will leave Galway on Saturday morning —places can be booked by ringing GAAW at 086-8343667 or by e-mailing .

Caoimhe Butterly, recently returned from volunteering in Palestine where she was injured by Israeli troops, also addressed the meeting. She recounted her experiences, and described the oppressive conditions endured by the men, women, and children of Palestine. Stressing the importance of acting as a ‘witness’ against oppression, she urged those present to join her at the Peace Camp. ‘Neutrality is not enough’, she insisted, ‘we must be active and partisan in the struggle against war and injustice’.

Joe Murray of Afri and Eoin Dubsky spoke on the growth in the manufacture of armaments in Ireland. From being negligible less than a decade ago, weapons production has grown into a major industry in Ireland -and is grant-aided by the IDA. Joe Murray traced the development of the Irish arms trade, which encompasses everything from leg-irons and other instruments of torture to software for nuclear weapons. Eoin Dubsky spoke about the immorality and illegality of the nuclear arms industry in particular and described his efforts to highlight the involvement of Galway’s Hewlett-Packard in the production of software for simulated nuclear testing. He pledged to continue working with GAAW, (and pressuring the Garda Siochana & the Department of Enterprise) to bring an end to this aspect of Hewlett-Packard’s work in Ireland.