As people flee from countries ravaged by war and poverty and European governments shut their doors in their faces, we have responsibilities as human beings to act. We must demand that our governments do everything they can to end the cruel deaths we see happening in the backs of lorries, in the sea, in other parts of the long tortuous journeys that the people of Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, South Sudan, Eritrea and elsewhere undertake in order to stay alive.

People like 3 year old Aylan Kurdi and his 5 year old brother Galib should not have to die while European leaders argue over the number of refugees to allow into their country. If the European Union has any meaning or relevance it must be to protect the basic human rights of people who desperately need protection, who have reached a point where they are prepared to risk everything, even their lives, to survive. And while it is good to see a widespread public reaction internationally to the death of Aylan Kurdi, the tragedy is that thousands of other children have died by drowning or from thirst and starvation as they crossed deserts. Countless others have been trafficked for exploitation, and their suffering has been largely ignored. read full story / add a comment

The vintage Hawker Hunter fighter plane that crashed on to a busy roadway during an air show in Shoreham, Sussex on 22 August also performed at recent air shows in Ireland at Shannon, Bray and Foynes. Between them these were attended by up to 150,000 people. read full story / add a comment

As Shannon Airport prepares to stage an air show on July 18th to celebrate its achievements in the world of aviation, peace groups in Ireland issue a reminder that its recent history is not one to be proud of. Since 2001 the airport has been used by the US military as a gateway to wars in the Middle East. These wars have resulted in the death of innocent men, women and children, left millions of people homeless, and destroyed communities and entire countries. read full story / add a comment

Shannon Airport will host what they call an "air display extravaganza" on July 18th, to mark the 70th anniversary of the first commercial transatlantic flight at the airport. They say the airshow will provide a visual treat from leading aerobatics performers, parachutists, helicopters, jet fighters and stunt fliers. read full story / add a comment

RESOLUTION of SYRIZA - KAISARIANI District, on the WAR IN UKRAINE AND THE planed SANCTIONS of EU AGAINST THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Today, on 9 June 2015 SYRIZA Kaisarianis voted and adopted the following resolution:

"At the beginning of 2014 the legitimate president of Ukraine was toppled by a violent coup organised by far right and Nazi elements.
The inhabitants of the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine did not recognize the new regime and decided by referendums to become independent. In particular the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk they have experienced for the last year the barbarism of the bombing by the Kiev regime with heavy artillery in their cities with carnage of dead and infrastructure disasters read full story / add a comment

Various groups unite and conducted a peace march from Sandiganbayan to the House of Representatives in support of the immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and for lasting peace in Muslim Mindanao.

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Shannonwatch are appalled at today’s decision by a court in Ennis to convict TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly for their attempts to search a US military plane at Shannon. The two TDs were given maximum €1000 fines, despite the overwhelming evidence to support their case that they had no alternative but to do what they did.

“The court accepted without qualification the knowledge and expertise of the witnesses who outlined serious breaches of neutrality and other laws at Shannon.” said Clare Daly. “And let’s remember the details of this evidence as presented to the court. There was evidence of guns on military planes, of soldiers going to war through a country that claims to be neutral, of CIA rendition planes, and of ongoing refusals to inspect these planes. The judge accepted that Mick and I have been obstructed, sidetracked and ignored in our efforts to discover the truth about Shannon. Yet in sentencing us he took an extremely narrow of the law. He effectively admitted that his hands were tied, and he refused to deal with all the evidence presented to him.” read full story / add a comment

Edward Horgan of Veterans for Peace and Shannonwatch was detained at Shannon Airport last Saturday morning (April 18th) as a result of his attempt to search one of four US military Hercules C-130s at the airport. Speaking after being released by the Gardai, he said his action was a result of the failure of the Irish Government and the Gardaí to take steps to ensure that US military aircraft at Shannon are not acting in breach of international laws or Irish neutrality.

Dr Horgan was about to board a flight to London to attend the AGM of Veterans for Peace UK when he saw the Hercules aircraft nearby. He walked over towards the aircraft and he approached the first Hercules C130 he was stopped by an airport security officer. "I explained to him that I wished to search the four aircraft but he prevented me from doing so" said Dr Horgan. "He was then joined by other members of the airport police and I was taken to the terminal building where I was handed over to a Garda Immigration officer". read full story / add a comment

Veteran Brisbane peace activist Ciaron O'Reilly will stage an anti-war vigil today outside Gallipoli Barracks as 330 troops
deploy to Iraq. O'Reilly was imprisoned in the United States for disabling a B52 Bomber on the eve of the
1991 Gulf War. In 2003, he was among five activists charged in Ireland with $2.5 million criminal damage to a U.S.
war plane en route to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. read full story / add a comment

We are republishing this very interesting interview between 'The Saker' and Dr. Paul Craig Roberts a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Reagan and thereby someone with a key insider view and understanding and who writes compelling and hard hitting articles at his own site. The Saker is a blog that has grown in huge popularity because it has been providing very informative and insightful analysis of the situation in Ukraine and wider picture around it relating to the US empire and has accurately predicted the trajectory of this crisis and has helped counter the widespread propaganda that tries to hide the fact that the Kiev regime is a neo Nazi puppet regime used as a tool of Washington to try and destablize Russia and has explained and given context to how each of the European states and the EU are just vassel states of the US and how this crisis and the sanctions are hurting Europe and are essentially suicidal for its own well-being. The interview covers a number of wide ranging issues but what makes it great is the way it strips away all the pretensions that there is anything democractic at all in how the big game of geo politics is working and gets to the core issues and forces driving it
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A scenario that was thought to have ended with the Cold War seems set to return with vulnerable fishing communities in the front line. read full story / add a comment

TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly are back in court in Ennis at 2pm on Tuesday March 10th as a result of their attempt to inspect a US military aircraft at Shannon Airport.

This is the second day of a case that has already heard evidence from a number of witnesses who outlined the problematic nature of the US military presence at Shannon. These witnesses included Irish Times Security Analyst Dr Tom Clonan, former UN Deputy Secretary Denis Halliday, international lawyer and neutrality expert Roberto Zamora, and Dr Edward Horgan of Shannonwatch. read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch are urging their supporters to come to Ennis District Court on Tuesday February 24th to support TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace who attempted to inspect a US military plane at Shannon last July. Their alleged offence is illegal entrance into a restricted area of the airport, and their action was in response to the failure of the authorities to inspect US aircraft at Shannon.

Shannonwatch have repeatedly called for an end to the US military use of Shannon. They also call for inspection of all military and suspected CIA aircraft at the airport for as long as they are being allowed to pass through. read full story / add a comment

We Americans (conditioned in the Hebrew tradition) have learned to see enemies in Biblical terms as one-sidedly evil as Satan. It takes a mass media of some very sophisticated accomplishment to continually portray people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi, several Middle Eastern leaders as Satan. One needs to be somewhat steeped in the Biblical Literature to create such black and white conclusions. This is one legacy the Bible has bequeathed to modern politics—the absolutism of naming enemy in terms of good versus absolute evil. Israel plays a master game of such portrayal of their supposed enemies. The current leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad is the new version of Zionist Satan, but even this casting of totally evil Muslim figure is not good enough—we have a new entity that does the most obviously sensational sins—behead journalists and engage in egregious forms of violation—the ISIS/ ISIL phenomenon that America magically armed and some claim even trained (see in alternative media) and magically uses to create even more authoritarian war powers to an already criminal torture state that Barack Obama has no power to quell. read full story / add a comment

On the weekend of 23-25 January, Irish actors, musicians and activists descended on Wales for a weekend of solidarity with WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning) and her family.

The first Truthfest in January 2014 was the brainchild of Irish actor and activist Donal O'Kelly, an idea hatched after he met members of Manning's family during a visit to Dublin organised by Irish Australian activist Ciaron O'Reilly in collaboration with Afri (Action from Ireland) in November 2013. The links forged during that visit have been maintained and strengthened through a series of exchange visits since that time, most recently this 2nd Manning Truthfest.

Ciaron O'Reilly was one of five Pitstop Ploughshares activists who disabled a US Navy war plane at Shannon airport in 2003. Read about Chelsea Manning and Shannon Airport here: http://wp.me/P42I6Q-iF read full story / add a comment

Press Release - Feb 1st - The Irish Government and media appear to be in a panic about two Russian TU-95 bomber aircraft that flew down the west coast of Ireland at least 50 miles out to sea, and not through Irish sovereign airspace. A statement issued by the Irish Department of Defence said "non-controlled and non-notified flight activity by Russian aircraft is not acceptable". This same Department of Defence of a supposedly neutral Irish state has issued no such statements about the transit of almost two and half million US troops through Shannon airport since 2001, and provides Irish soldiers to guard US military aircraft at Shannon. read full story / add a comment

Comparative review of the role of the Irish Army in peace-keeping overthe past 50 years and the British Army's counter-insurgency role in the same period often waged ruthlessly and with brutal consequences. read full story / add a comment

The Taoiseach ,The arms dealers ,his money and the Gulf war.The arrival of an obscure millionaire to Massbrook Pontoon Co Mayo in the later part of the last century was cloaked in secrecy. Across the lake of Lough Conn the home town of Charles Haughey and Enda Kenny ,Castlebar was to be the recruiting ground for one of the largest arms controversies in modern times and the key issue that led to the Gulf War.

Here is that story. read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch are appalled at the shocking revelations about CIA torture of detainees in the US Senate intelligence committee report released on Tuesday Dec 9th. Details of the methods used, the extent of the torture and the scale of lies and deceit from a government agency are even worse than was already known. Ireland's complicity has already been documented by other reports, but given this new information it is now well past time for a full investigation of the role played by Shannon in the brutal and illegal interrogation undertaken by the CIA. read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch have expressed their disappointment that the State has decided to summons TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to appear before Ennis District Court on Wednesday December 3rd for peace actions, while at the same time failing to investigate complaints made about US military and other aircraft that may be in breach of international law. read full story / add a comment