Gardaí destroy 97 Red Balloons at Galway Peace Rally

Political Policing Galway Style

There was a heavy Garda presence (approx 30 members of the force) as 500 people gathered to take part in a peace event organised by the Galway Alliance Against War to express their opposition to warplanes, helicopter gun-ships and four British pilots, who have fought in the illegal war in Iraq, participating in the Salthill Air Show. The 99 Red Balloon event, named after the antiwar pop song, was being held in the Claddagh, 2 miles to the east of Salthill.

The Gardaí had warned the organisers of the rally that the balloons should not be released into the atmosphere based on the rather dubious assertion that if a balloon was “to collide” (the words of Garda Inspector O’Donnell on Friday) with a warplane, the latter could crash. In response a representative of GAAW gave a commitment to the Gardaí that the red balloons would be distributed to those participating at the peace meeting, but people would be informed of the dangers.

However, at the peace rally as the balloons were going to be distributed a Gardaí Superintendent approached the van, which held the balloons, and began destroying them. In all 97 of the balloons were destroyed. The person contracted to provide the balloons had his name and address taken by the Gardaí.

The two balloons that were not destroyed were held aloft at the peace rally. While an alert member of the SWP produced a bag of balloons and people began blowing up their own balloons. At the outdoor public meeting that then ensued the Mayor of Galway, Niall Ó Brolchain of the Green Party, and his deputy, Labour councillor Billy Cameron , severely criticised the Gardaí for their heavy-handed actions.

Chairing the meeting was Niall Farrell of GAAW who condemned the Gardaí for destroying the balloons: “This was political policing at its most blatant. The act of destroying the balloons was an overt political act, because at the very same time in Salthill hundreds of helium-filled pink balloons were being distributed by the National Breast Cancer charity. There was no talk of destroying them; there was no talk of those balloons being a danger to the warplanes? It is also worth noting that the Navigation Law being quoted as justification for the bursting of the balloons is the very same law that could be activated to search the CIA torture jets that regularly land in Shannon. Why is there one law for the peace activists and none for warmongers, torturers and kidnappers? It must be stated clearly that the only act of aggression at this peaceful event came from the Gardaí.”

The peace rally concluded with the 500 people - including many people from around the world - walking behind a bi-lingual banner that read “War Free Skies” to the top of Nimmos Pier where the two surviving red blow balloons were set free into the sky as everyone sang “We shall Overcome”. There were no reports of any warplanes falling victim to the deadly balloons.

GAAW has since learnt that Gardaí interrupted a Green Party event at Ballyloughane Beach, miles away from Salthill, to inform the Greens that were not allowed to fly kites and that anyone who flew a kite could be arrested!

GAAW Platform: N.Farrell, Galway Mayor Niall Ó Brolochain, Deputy Mayor Billy Cameron

2 Deadly Red Balloons go in search of vunerable warplanes