Air show funding raises ideological questions

galway | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis

Friday July 02, 2004 16:32

by Douglas McDonnell

Sitting here in Galway today reading the newswire, i can hear military jets (presumably US) flying overhead in preparation for the Salthill Airshow. For some people in certain parts of our world that sound means imminent and indiscriminate injury or death. For us its just a fun day out down in Salthill, naked militarism? no its just Entertainment!.
Once more we are faced with the stark contrast between Reality and the life that we actually lead here ...in cloud cuckoo land.

Use the airshow to
imagine the terror

what follows is an article bty declan Varley of the galway advertiser:
and a related piece concerning Galway city councils continued funding of that event to the tune of €15,000 this year.

Not many of us have ever been in a war zone.Few of us have ever been chased down and hounded by a tank or a plane. Have never had to buy vegetables at the market with the fear we would be cut down by a sniper's bullet or have gone to bed worrying about the menacing rumble of military hardware. However as our city and country becomes a home for many cultures and races, the percentage of people who have experienced such conditions increases.
In Galway at the moment are people who have fled horrendous conditions and who have opted for a probable life of ill-treatment and racism in our country
instead of staying at home for certain death and terror. There are people for whom the vroom of a low flying plane has a different meaning and it is their feelings
that must be considered when we hear of protests against the Salthill air show. Next Sunday the show takes place again, providing a marvellous spectacle for the tens of thousands who view it from some angle or other on both sides of Galway Bay.

Much of the opposition towards it is pushed aside as the mindless rambling of the accented opposition. The so called Alliance against Everything. But this would be to simplify the matter. The concerns expressed by these people and by many others are indeed very valid, and are certain to be dealt with next year when the Galway City Council is to review its funding for the project. Indeed, the feeling from last week’s meeting of the council was that were it not for the relative newness of the council, the decision to fund the show to the tune of €15,000 might well have been reversed. The withdrawal of this funding would probably result in the cancellation of the event and result in aloss of revenue for the city at the height of the tourist season.
However would that be punishing the aviation fan of whom there are thousands in the region? Nobody who goes along to watch these shows does so with any sense of menace in his/her heart. There is none of the coarseness of coursing or cockfighting.

This is merely a spectacle in a country where showpiece aviation is not as frequent as in others. For many of us the sight of planes is a joy. We will sit and watch in awe next Sunday at the airstreams of these jets as they make pretty patterns above our city. To see them performing in this manner is a rare thrill indeed, even if they are the preserve of the air forces of the great warring nations of the earth.

However next Sunday when you are enjoying the show and wondering at the great noise being generated by these flying machines, spare a thought and imagine what it would feel like if these planes were hunting you down. Imagine if we lived in a city that was under attack from these weapons of war.
As we wonder at the spectacle of these highpowered instruments of engineering, imagine what it is like for the people for whom this noise represents nothing but terror. As a country we have not been terrified for almost a century, so we do not fully grasp the concept. We do not know what it is like to hear these planes in an aggressive mood. But on Sunday their performance is a sort of mechanical art. It is not the planes that are the problem, but the people and armies who control them.

We can learn from these shows. And by learning we can try to change hearts and minds. Banning planes and preventing air forces from participating will do nothing but push the problem under the mat. We should use the experience to imagine the terror, and for a short while, let us empathise with the nations in which the same noise represents a world far from the entertainment we will have on Sunday.

Use the airshow to imagine the terror

Air show funding raises ideological objections from councillors:

http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/dws/story.tpl?inc=2004/07/01/news/48076.html