Dublin Grassroots welcome labour party annoucement

dublin | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Monday October 11, 2004 20:31

by rosie o dwyer - DGN

less lethal weapons

Dublin Grassroots warmly welcomed the joint statement by the four Dublin Labour Party Mayors Condemning the Less Lethal Weapons Conference.

Activists campaigning against the so-called “Less Lethal weapons Conference” in Jury’s Berkley Court on the 19th and 20th of October have warmly welcomed the statement by Dublin’s Lord Mayors.

The Labour mayors of Dublin's four local authorities are voicing opposition to a weapons conference that is due to be held in the capital later this month.

Dublin City Lord Mayor Michael Conaghan Councillor Michael Conaghan said:

“Dublin’s citizens will be horrified to discover that a conference dealing with so-called less lethal weapons is to be held in a Dublin hotel in the coming weeks. The term less lethal weapons should not seduce the general public, less lethal is actually a misnomer – we are talking about weapons which can inflict horrific damage or kill. In October 2002, a ‘less lethal’ gas was used to subdue terrorists in a Moscow theatre; however, the gas killed 117 people out of the 800 hostages.

There is nothingless lethal about these weapons"

The Dublin Grassroots Network calls Jury’s Doyle Hotels to reconsider their decision to host the Jane's “Less Lethal Weapons” conference. At a workshop at the Irish Social forum (http://www.irishsocialforum.org) this weekend participants heard of the use of these weapons in torture and to repress social protest.

Considering the 17 deaths caused by ‘less lethal’ plastic and rubber bullets on this Island the Dublin Grassroots Network is opposed to any promotion of these weapons. We are especially concerned at the presence of Irish Gardai and defence forces personnel at this event.
We remain committed to trying to shut down the conference.

As part of the campaign to stop this conference grassroots activists and sympathisers have called for an economic boycott of Jury’s Doyle in Ireland and the U.K. until the decision to hold the conference has been reversed.

Meanwhile protest actions have continued at several Jury’s Doyles hotels including Belfast (http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66957)
and Manchester (http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66905)

An accelerating series of actions targeting Jury’s hotels nationwide and internationally is being planned – culminating on the 19th at 5pm at the Berkley Court Hotel, Ballsbridge

More about the damage done by less lethal weapons can be found at
(http://indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66325)

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Comments (10 of 10)

its no failure

by pc

Thu Oct 14, 2004 13:53

we're not letting the conference go by without demonstrating our disgust at it... and if you've read this site you might have read some of the info on llw weapons and been educated, a sucess i think

And just as i predicted it looks

by Ruri

Thu Oct 14, 2004 13:07

Looks like this conference is going ahead despite all the bluster and usual vapid hot air on this site.

Another failure for DGN. That's quite a catalogue at this stage

Down with cooperation with other people!

by MeatIsDinner

Thu Oct 14, 2004 13:01

Bet the labour statement reaches more people than ther DGN one though....

anarcho

by ah

Thu Oct 14, 2004 07:46

since when is welcoming a statement... working with a party?

bemused

by no really yeah right

Thu Oct 14, 2004 03:57

as an anarchist
i dont work with political partys and esp those that are in state power

i think this is pretty uncontroversial stuff (the world over)

i never said i advocate a 'pure' form of anarchy im just anti state anti party and anti capitalist

these are basic principles ray

obviously not for u guys

Christ on a bike

by Socialist

Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:06

"shut down the conference for sure but not with help of the labour party"

shut down the conference with help of whoever!!!

yeah right

by Ray

Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:05

When the Friends of Durrutti proposed their 'revolutionary junta*' to take over from the state, they didn't limit it's membership to anarchists. The socialist unions would also send delegates to the junta.

What, exactly, do you think the DGN should do? If members of the Labour party want to issue a press release, or go to a protest, should they be told to fuck off? Do you think anarchists should only be involved in campaigns that are 'pure', and contain no non-anarchists? Were you dropped on your head as a child?

* for the loke of Bakunin, don't start jumping up and down about the word 'junta'. Their definition was different from yours, okay?

anyone remember mayday

by yeah right

Wed Oct 13, 2004 02:05

so what

the dgn welcoming a statement by the labour party, that is bullshit,

for one the labour party muppets didnt condemn the less than lethal multi million euro garda (read pig) operation during mayday

and neither of these statements mention that

does anyone remember the water cannon at mayday borrowed from the ruc

and really the dgn is meant to be a grassroots
network, bigging up the opportunistic statements of 4 political wankers is definitly not a grassroots thing to do........

ridiculous

short memories

and as for the wsm my concept of anarchy is not rooted in the 1930's like yours but what would durriti think of all this

shut down the conference for sure but not with help of the labour party

galway protest

by conor (wsm personal capacity)

Tue Oct 12, 2004 13:18

I see theers a protest planned for Galway on Saturday
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There will be a Galway Grassroots Network picket at Jury's Hotel,
Spanish Arch, Galway, this Saturday, October 16th, from 1pm to 3pm.

This is in protest at the hosting, by the Jurys Doyles Hotel Group,
of a conference on `less lethal' weapons being organised by defence
industry magazine Janes in the Berkley Court hotel in Dublin over
October 19th – 20th.

Protests against this have already taken place in Belfast, Dublin and
Manchester.

labour mayors press statement re llw

Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:22

LABOUR PRESS STATEMENT
Cllr Michael Conaghan, Dublin City Lord Mayor

Cllr Niamh Bhreathnach, Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co Co

Cllr Peter Coyle, Cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council

Cllr Robert Dowds, Mayor of South Dublin County Council

Friday, October 8, 2004

LESS LETHAL WEAPONS CONFERENCE NOT WELCOME IN DUBLIN

Speaking in a joint statement, the four Labour mayors of the four
Dublin local authorities have all voiced their opposition to a conference on
so-called ‘less lethal’ weapons that is to be held in the Berkeley
Court Hotel later this month.

Councillor Michael Conaghan said: “Dublin’s citizens will be horrified
to discover that a conference dealing with so-called less lethal
weapons is to be held in a Dublin hotel in the coming weeks. The term less
lethal weapons should not seduce the general public, less lethal is
actually a misnomer – we are talking about weapons which can inflict
horrific damage or kill. In October 2002, a ‘less lethal’ gas was used to
subdue terrorists in a Moscow theatre; however, the gas killed 117 people
out of the 800 hostages. There is nothing less lethal about these
weapons.

Councillor Niamh Bhreathnach said: “The types of weapons that will be
featured at presentations during the conference include plastic and
rubber bullet which killed 17 people in Northern Ireland and Pepper Spray
which according to the Los Angeles Times has resulted in 61 deaths
between 1990 and 1995. Or there is the taser, a handgun that fires two
barbed darts attached by a wire to the gun. The wires are capable of
delivering 50,000-volt electric shocks to the victim. Tasers are reported to
have killed 50 people in the States since 2001. Does this sound like a
less-lethal weapon? It certainly wasn’t for those 50 victims.”

Councillor Peter Coyle said: “Our Gardai has a fine tradition of not
using guns and has been more of a civilian force. This conference is
particularly unwelcome as according to the conference website it is aimed
at “today's police and military leaders who must apply force to manage
rapidly unfolding operational situations”. These weaponries have been
found in deplorable circumstances around the globe where according to
Amnesty International some Governments have used tasers for torture and
to extract confessions from political prisoners.”

Councillor Robert Dowds said: “The devices which will be paraded and
showcased at this conference have been used as tools of torture in
repressive regimes around the world. A recent study carried out by Amnesty
International showed that torture was reported in more than 150
countries. The director of the British Medical Foundation for the Treatment of
the Victims of Torture, Helen Bamber, called one such less lethal
weapon, electro shock batons as “the most universal modern tool of the
torturers”. We will not be welcoming this conference to Dublin and would
question the wisdom of the Jury’s Hotel group’s decision to host the
conference.”

ENDS

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Dublin Grassroots welcome labour party annoucement

Comments (10 of 10)