Pitstop Ploughshares ...

by Elaine Thu Jun 29, 2006 03:36

sleep.

Paul O'Toole With Nuin And Deirdre

Get Your Raffle Tickets Here

Thank You Very Much ...

Don't Mention It ...

Cheers!

by Fintan Lane - Anti-War Ireland (and Irish Socialist Network) Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:21

It was an excellent gig, with great music and performances.

Paul O'Toole was as good as ever - wonderful songs wonderfully sung - and he effectively acted as stage manager throughout. Over the past few years, Paul has made himself available on innumerable occasions for gigs like this from Dublin to Shannon. Genuine activist singer-songwriters are few and far between in this country, but those who do exist, such as Paul, are a real asset to the anti-war movement.

Well done Paul. Well done to everybody who performed! Excellent night.

by Pit Stop Ploughshares Thu Jun 29, 2006 17:13 At Large! 087 918 4552

Pit Stop Ploughshares 3rd. Trial July 5th 2006, Dublin Four Courts, Ireland

www.peaceontrial.com
ploughsharesireland@yahoo.ie
134 Phibsborough Rd. Phibsborough Dublin 7, Ireland
8 Ph.087 918 4552 (mobile) +353 87 918 4552 (international

CONTENTS
1) June 22nd. Public Meeting "Women Working for Peace & Justice-Women & Nonviolence"
2) Dail Vigils (Mon-Fri /12Noon-2pm)
3) Daily Routine of Trial Kicking Off Wed. July 5th.
4) Call for International Solidarity Vigils on Wed. July 5th
5) Wed July 5th. *Public Meeting -" Iraq War, Guantanemo & Ireland" - Dublin
6) Thurs July 13th. *Public Meeting "Iraq War on Trial"-Dublin
7) *Public Meetings "Iraq War on Trial" *Cork Fri. July 14th. *Galway Sat. July 15th. * Belfast Sun. July 16th.
8) International Support at Trial
9) Donation Details

1) THURSDAY JUNE 29TH.PUBLIC MEETING
"WOMEN WORKING FOR JUSTICE & PEACE WOMEN & NONVIOLENCE

More info 086 151 2013

Public meeting in association with Afri

Date: Thursday, June 29
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Venue: Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street

'Women Working for Justice and Peace: Non-violence and Women'

Speakers:

Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Laureate and founder of the Peace People in Northern Ireland, who has dedicated her life to pursuing peace by non-violent means. Her vision and her work has taken her to situations of conflict all over the world.

Nuin Dunlop, a US citizen with a long history with the Catholic Worker movement, is a member of the Pitstop Ploughshares and a long time activist, with a particular interest in the rights of indigenous peoples.

Chairperson:

Deirdre Clancy, anti-war activist and member of the Pitstop Ploughshares group, who have been on bail for three and a half years for disarming a US warplane at Shannon Airport.

2) MONDAY- FRIDAY 12 NOON-2PM *GPO *VIGIL AGAINST IRISH INVOLVEMENT IN THE WAR

There is a Mon-Fri 12noon-2pm anti-war vigil at the GPO in lead up to the July 5th. trial of the Pit Stop Ploughshares.

More info Ph. 087 918 4552

3) DAILY ROUTINE FOR EACH DAY OF TRIAL - KICKS OFF JULY 5TH.

*We will gather in anti-war vigil from 8.30 am at The Spire in O'Connel St. each morning of the trial.

*Around 9.15 am (dependng when the trial is slated to start that particular day) we will process in silence in single file carrying the names of the dead (Iraqi & U.S.) in memory of the dead to the Four Courts.

*We will have a circle at the Four Courts, some reflections and folks will be briefed with the logistics for the day.

*We hope to sustain a vigil with the Buddhist monks outside the Four Courts while the trial is in process...a roster will be created each morning.

*We hope to find a nearby church or other facility where people can gather for coffee, food & reflection at the end of each day.

4) AN INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY VIGILS ON JULY 5TH. AT IRISH EMBASSIES, CONSULS & SITES OF SIGNIFICANCE

At our past court appearances solidarity vigils against ongoing Irish complicity in the war on Iraq have been held at Irish Embassies & Consuls in Washington DC, New York City, Houston, Melbourne, Vancouver, London, Dili (East Timor), Brussels, Gotenburg,, Auckland. Also solidarity vigils were held at Bishop Romero's grave (El Salvador), the Berlin Gate, US Air Force Base at Christchurch Airport (New Zealand), Shannon Airport, Belfast, Scales of Justice statue Brisbane, statue in Budapest and an Irish theme bar in Amsterdam.

Before our first trial in march last year, a group of nonviolent activists staged a solidarity sit in at the Irish Embassy in London. This got a lot of media attention as it was such a "man bites dog story" after 30 years of Irish protests at British Embassies, we have a crew that stages a British protest at an Irish Embassy!

If you have friends travelling or living in other parts of the world. Approach them to stage a solidarity vigil on the first day of our trail at an Irish Embassy or Consul. Have them email us about their gathering'

The list of consuls & embassies, can be found on the link below.........
Related Link: http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/embassies/?m=e

Vigil Contact People

*Melbourne - Paul Dyson pwdyson@yahoo.com
*Brisbane - Adele Goldie goldieadele@hotmail.com
Perth - Jarrod McKenna
*London -Sr. Susan Clarkson srclarkson@yahoo.co.uk
*Washington DC -Art Laffin artlaffin@hotmail.com
*New YorkCity - Carmen Trotta trottacarmen@yahoo.com

5) WED JULY 5TH. *PUBLIC MEETING
"IRAQ, GUANTANAMO & IRELAND"

Wed July 5th. 7.30 pm
Teachers Club, 36 Parnell Square.

*Carmen Trotta U.S. citizen who walked to Guantanemo in December.
www.witnesstorture.org

*Teresa Grady, U.S. Anti-War Resister
www.stpatricksfour.org

& the Pit Stop Ploughshares Defendants
www.peaceontrial.com

Ph.087 918 4552

6) THURS. JULY 13TH. "IRAQ WAR ON TRIAL" - DUBLIN,

7..30 pm, Venue to be announced.
*Iraq War Veteran, U.S. Marine Sgt. Jimmy Massey
*Kathy Kelly "Voices in the Wilderness", present during the Shock & Awe bombing of Baghdad

7) PUBLIC MEETINGS
CORK JULY 14TH,
GALWAY JULY 15TH,
BELFAST JULY 16TH.

*Speakers
*Iraq War Veteran, U.S. Marine Sgt. Jimmy Massey
*Kathy Kelly "Voices in the Wilderness", present during the Shock & Awe bombing of Baghdad

Friday July 14th. Cork-Venue to be announced.
Saturday July 15th.Galway-Town Hall, time to be announced.
Sunday Belfast-Venue & time to be announced.

8) INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS COMING TO TRIAL & HOSPITALITY NEEDS

The folks we know who have indicating they are coming to trial in Dublin are Martin, Scott, Chris & 2 other LCW's & baby (London CW), Carmen (NYCW), Teresa (Ithaca, NY, CW) Kathy (Chicago), 3 Pax Chrsiti women (Manchester), Sr. Marta (Buddhist Peace Pagoda Milton Keynes)

If you are planning to come to trial and need help with accomodation please mail ploughsharesireland@yahoo.ie

We can't guarantee accomodation if you turn up spontaneously, email us first if you need help with accomodation.

*If you are based in Dublin and can offer a bed or floor space to an international peace activist please mail us and state for which dates you can offer accomodation
ploughsharesireland@yahoo.ie

9) TRIAL DONATION DETAILS

PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO TRIAL EXPENSES:

You can do so by donating in the following ways.......

"Ploughshares Defence Fund"
134 Phibsborough Rd.
Dublin 7
IRELAND

Donations can be lodged at any
Bank of Ireland branch:
"Ploughshares Defence Fund"
Account No. 80965573 Sort Code 900551

*If you are in the U.S. and wissh to donate, please make cheques payable to
"Kim Driscoll"
2400 Tuna Canyon Rd.
Topanga
CA. 90290

*If you are in Australia & wish to donate, please make cheques payable to
"Ciaron O'Reilly"
38 Elbury St.
Mitchelton
Brisbane
Q.40533

More information
www.peaceontrial.com
ploughsharesireland@yahoo.ieL

by Briz Thu Jun 29, 2006 17:18

5th of July
4pm - 6pm
speakers

Walk from St. Marys Church corner of Merivale and Peel St, South Brisbane, to the old court house, Cnr George St & Adelaide St in the City.

Post Vigil drinks at the Criterion Tavern, across the road from the old court house.

Contact Imagine for more information 0404 903 402

by London Calling - CW Thu Jun 29, 2006 17:26

SOLIDARITY WITH THE PITSTOP PLOUGHSHARES

Members the Oxford Catholic Worker will be vigilling at the Irish Embassy, at 17 Grosvenor Place, London SW1 on 5th, 6th, and 7th of July, 12noon-2pm.
Nearest tube is Hyde Park corner. 5 minutes walk from the Embassy, behind Buckingham Palace.

The will be handing in a letter to the Ambassador in support of the non-violent witness of the 'Pitstop Ploughshares 5', otherwise known as the 'Shannon 5', and will give out copies to passersby.

For more info call St Francis House (Oxford CW) on 01865 248 288

by Jonah Fri Jun 30, 2006 02:06 Baltimore, USA

WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION HERE PLOWSHARES
INDICTED ON TWO FEDERAL FELONY CHARGES

On June 20, 2006, a Roman Catholic priest and two veterans of military
service went onto the E-8 missile silo in North Dakota.

Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Carl Kabat, O.M.I.
- used hammers to disable the lock on the personnel entry hatch that
provides access to the warhead;
- hammered on the silo lid that covers the 300 kiloton nuclear warhead
that is targeted and ready to launch;
- painted "It's a sin to build a nuclear weapon" on the face of the
110-ton hardened silo cover and
- poured their blood on the missile lid.

Immediately upon arrest, the three were held on county charges. Today
the
Plowshares activists were charged under the following:
- 18 U.S. Code 1361 (Depredation of Government Property) and
- 18 U.S. Code 2155 (Sabotage).
Their next court date will be a bond hearing on July 5. They will
appear
before Federal Magistrate Judge Charles S. Miller at the Bismarck
Federal
Court, 220 E. Rosser Ave., Bismarck, N.D.

If convicted on both charges, Carl, Mike and Greg face up to 30 years
in
prison.

“It is our faith to uphold God’s laws, and our duty and responsibility
to
stop this government from threatening to use or using weapons of mass
destruction. We call for the conversion of each and every weapon,”
said
Carl Kabat in a phone call from prison.

The resisters said in their statement: “We have chosen to start the
process of transformation and disarmament by hammering on and pouring
our
blood on components of the Minuteman III nuclear missile system. We
believe that the concrete that goes into making missile silos would be
better used for building homes.”

The peace activists have been moved from the County Jail in Washburn to
Bismarck - proximate to the Federal District Court. It is most unlikely
that any of the three would be willing or able to pay bond and be
released. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, they can receive mail
at:
Burleigh County Jail
P.O. Box 1416
Bismarck, ND 5850
USA

--

by Pit Stop Ploughshares Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:05 Contact Paula in Galway 087 741 3741

Times & Venue for the he Public Meeting for the Saturady July 15th. Galway have been confirmed.

Date-Saturday July 15th.
Venue - Galway Town Hall
Time 3pm

Speakers
*Iraw War Veteran U.S. Marine Sgt. Jimmy Masey
*Kathy Kelly, founder of the sanctions busting "Voices in the Wilderness" & who experence the U.S. shock & awe bombing campaign while based in Baghdad.

For more info contact
Paula in Galway 087 741 3741

by Ciaron - Pit Stop Ploughshares (personal capacity) Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:13 At Large! 087 918 4552

This gig was the first time the 5 Pit Stops have been together since our last trial. It was a wonderful way to reunite with each other, old friends and new. As 5 people who have spent time in jail, been dragged through 2 trials and 3 1/2 years our spirit of community is good (as someone remarked "You've lasted longer together than most rock bands!" The nonviolent resistance we offered at Shannon Airport at the outset of this war was a gift of our liberty. The gift has been returned a hundred-fold with music, hospitality, transport, legal expertise, international solidarity, financial donations, celebrity endorsement, family support, accomodation. The spirit of gift & inspiration up against a culture of commodity & sedation-and the war that culture collaborates with.

Sincere thanks to Pat who is making his final move to Clare and has travelled extensively for about a dozen of our gigs and his sidekick Paul O'Toole who has been steadfast in song, word & amps from the point of our arrest.. Many thanx to Ruaidhri "Jailbreak" McAuliffe who we met while working with the homeless and who has perfected the acoustic version of ACDC's "Jailbreak". It was Ruaidhri who inspired me to visit Bon Scott's grave on a recent trip to Freemantle (Western Australia). Many thanx to the passion for justice of Laura. Thanx to Donal O'Kelly who we market as the movie star of "The Van" & "Spin the Bottle" but whose best work are the plays he writes & performs on issues of the arms trade, the "Catulpa" escape, immigration. If you hear of him doing a play, do yourself a favour and get along to it. Thanx to Sorcha & the Shannon Collens - a travesty of censorship that their single was censored on Irish radio in the build up & conduct of this war - there is such a thin line between "typical" & "outrageous" in modern Ireland. Thanx to Punk Paddy who did the door and all those like him who carried us this far.

We had a great crowd for this gig. Coming up to it, and being out of town with parents in Australia, I saw this as a litmus test to how politically isolated we are in Dublin heading in to this trial. Although a great night for our community & the new friends (lots of young Italians & Slovaks we met leafletting on the streets) there was little representation from the left, libertarian movement & moderate church scene in the makeup of the audience. This caused me a bit of concern initially in terms of litmus test of political isoaltion. This was alleviated the next day on the warship demo and the anarcho gig at the Lower Deck where lots of folks from different scenes assured us they would walk through the next 2 weeks of trial with us.

If free, see you next Wednesday and each morning at The Spire from 8.30 am anti-war vigil. We move off at approx 9.15 am in silent single file, wearing the names of the Iraqi & U.S. dead. Due to legal advice the defendants will supply all the visuals (Banners, placards etc), please respect this. Mucho solidarity
Ciaron

by OZ Catholic Worker Mon Jul 03, 2006 00:20 Outback

9 days have been set aside for trial of four faith based activists arrested for their December '05 inspection of NSA/CIA Pine Gap facility, located near Alice Springs.

The Prosecution have indicated they are prepared to call 33 witnesses. The four activsts have been charged under draconian legislation drawn up in the 1950's and never used before. The trial is set to start for October 3rd. Coincidently the 20th. anniversary of Pope John Paul 2nd.'s visit to Alice Springs. Many of the church hierarchy will be in this small outback town for commerations of that visit.

Check out their website,,,,
www.pinegap6.org

by Plowshares Mon Jul 03, 2006 09:16 in Jail!

The bond hearing for the WMD Plowshares charged with sabotage offenses has also been set for Wed July 5th. in North Dakota USA.

Background on defendants as follows. Oblate Fr. Carl Cabat, who served as a missonary priest in Brazil & the Philippines and has also served approx 20 years imprisonment for nonviolent resistance to the U.S. war machine. Carl was sentenced to 3-10 years for the original Plowshares 8 action (1980) & 18 years for the Silo Pruning Hooks (1984) while out on bail for the original. Michael is a Vietnam Veteran and has lived & worked at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House for homeless women & children in Washingotn DC for over a decade. Greg Boerje is also a military veteran, and a father of one, who has served many years in jail for nonvilent plowshares actions. He and family live and work at Catholic Worker hospitality house in Minnesotta.
Background on their previous
www.plowsharesactions.org

Background, photos, prison addresses & legal situation on
www.jonahhouse.org

by Paul Mon Jul 03, 2006 09:25 Melbourne, Australia

Vigil for the Pit Stop Ploughshares
Friday 7th July 2006, 5pm-6pm

Office of the Honourary Irish Consul
Cnr Queen & Little Lonsdale Sts, Melbourne
(same place as last time)