Report from arrestee from Shannon

by karen fallon Wed Apr 23, 2003 14:19

from talking with the peace campers the last three months whilst in prison i was informed of the systematic methods used by the guards and the airport authorities to get rid of the peace camp and the peace house not to forget the fact thet certain campers and others were undertaking direct action also.i do think that it was well on its way to eviction but deeply regret that it did not have the manpower or support to fight that threat.the level of intimidation encountered by the peace camp and the peace house residents appears to be unrecognised by people at this time. they all are a great bunch of people ! and i think they deserve massive amounts of respect for their commitment and courage.i also think that it is down but not out.

by The Holy Mugger Tue Apr 22, 2003 20:08

Ciaron, Real Green etc. Believe what you want regarding "Green Spinning". I have already stated that I am speaking for myself and no one else. In fact I dont even know Trevor Sargent.
Maybe you guys should drop this obsession with opposing and slagging off The Green Party. Try to work with other peace campaigners not fight against them. You are doing untold damage to the fledgling Irish peace movement.

Karen: I'm not convinced that the peace camp would have been closed down anyway. At least not in the short term. Do you think the peace camp would have been closed down had there not been direct action inside the perimiter fence ? Certainly not.

by Ciaron O'Reilly Tue Apr 22, 2003 16:06

Aircraft repairs completed 6 p.m. Feb 2nd. disabled/disarmed Deb 3rd. 3 a.m.
Green Party in a spin!!!!

Good Friday action - which part of "food not bombs" don't you ubderstand U.M????????

by karen fallon Tue Apr 22, 2003 13:54

also would like to thank jenny and martin for their inspirational action! you are great!

by karen Fallon Tue Apr 22, 2003 13:10

Open and accountable actions are exactly that. We are resposible to ourselves and not on some mad ego trip or in "martyr" mode. This childish level of bickering and personal attacks are something i thought I had left in prison. We are all working for the same cause!

Furthermore Shannon peace camp was going to be closed down regardless of whether we had our action or not! I know this because aer rianta cpt had ALREADY gained a high court injunction dated 3rd of febuary in dublin against the peace camp residents. I know this as they tried to serve this to me accusing me of being a shannon peace camp resident. I reckon you should get your facts straight before you attack! Or maybe just get off your arse and do something instead of sitting and passing judgement on people.

by Real Green Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:38

Maybe even one of the TD's (is that you Trevor)? Hence their really odd distinction between Mary Kellys 'good' smashing of the the US Nay Jet and the CW5 'bad' smashing of the same plane a few days later. The only thing that had changed between the two dates was Trevor's line.

by Abeer Majeed Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:31

Jenny and Martin, thank you for your inspiring action at Shannon!

A lot people have bought into the media coverage that the war's 'over' while Iraqis still die.
The humanitarian situation (esp. regarding water bourne illnesses)is deteriorating.
The rape of Iraqi resources has only just begun.
Iraqis are on the streets telling the US/Brits to get out.
There's huge instability with the creation of a foreign adminstration and opposition/religious/ethnic groups jockeying to fill the power vacuum.

Your actions now, to raise awareness of the reality of the situation in Iraq, are more important than ever.

by The Holy Mugger Mon Apr 21, 2003 22:35

Ciaron,
You could chill out too. Maybe now you have learnt your lesson. Your action at Shannon in disarming a plane which had already been disarmed was plain silly or simply a publicity seeking excercise for your group. It was criticised by others in the movement because it was seen as damaging to the cause. It achieved nothing. No matter what anyone sayes it diminished the power and symbolism of Mary Kellys action. Maybe it was plain selfish on your part. It certainly alienated alot of public opinion against the anti-war movement in general. It also led to the closure of the peace camp at Shannon, probably the worst thing to happen in the campaign. The peace camp was a focus for everyone. A centre of debate, an international symbol. It never reached it's full potential.

The new Irish peace movement is very split.
These fractured groups have all grappled for the moral high ground/ the leadership of the anti-war campaign. It's great though that we now have the basis for something strong, something united. We now need to come together and fight on common ground with no religion, no politics. That doesnt mean publicly slagging off the politicians who are on the same side, Ciaron. We need them.

The slagging from me is now over. The Holy Mugger will now go back to confession. Peace to you Ciaron and Deirdre.

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Dublin Catholic Worker Mon Apr 21, 2003 21:16

Really don't know about the ethics of publishing personal attacks by anonymous folks....until you exhibit some integrity by displaying an identity I can't relly dignify your drivel with a response.

And that;'s what it comes down to in this dis course doesn't it U.M...dignity, honesty, courage...that's whay we do what we do openly and honestly and you're reduced to doing what you do anonymously.

If on the other hand it's the boyz from the Branch, howzitgoin' lads....you had me goin' there dudes!!!!!!!

by Deirdre Clancy - Catholic Worker Mon Apr 21, 2003 17:09

If you took the time to actually listen or read anything said by Ciaron, myself, or anyone else in our group you would notice that there's a qualitative difference between "slagging off" and actually making suggestions to improve the way things are done. Perhaps nuances and complexity are lost on unholy mugger. My only suggestion was that the anti-war movement might provide more recognition to diverse forms of protest (not just ours, but in general) - it was meant as a suggestion rather an aggressive criticism, and was certainly not worded aggressively. I also pointed out that everyone and every group has flaws (which implicitly would include us, given the point I was making), and that it would be good to transcend cheap shots at other groups in the movement. Nobody in our group has descended to this in anything we've written or said; suggestions and criticisms are different from cheap shots. Maybe he/she just needs to learn to tell the difference.

We don't see ourselves as martyrs - anything but. And I have no desire to be one; I don't believe it's a helpful aspiration. I'm well aware that all of us in Western Europe (myself included) are unavoidably complicit in many forms of oppression and it's a lifetime's work to try to address this, and even then, it's never fully addressed by even the most committed activists. I regard maimed and dead Iraqis as the real martyrs in this whole mess, and not of their own choosing.

Still, I'm glad you got a good laugh out of the potatoes - it sounds like you're badly in need of one.

by Lenny Mon Apr 21, 2003 14:38

Another wanker more concerned with causing trouble than anything else. You dont have to agree with everything the Catholic Workers say to realise that they have done some of the best antiwar actions. Anyone who was at that protest outside the Dail knows that Ciaron was dead right to call that Green TD a bureaucrat. The TD was telling protestors to get out of the way because the poor TDs want to drive home to eat their dinner. Protestors not just Catholic Workers were shouting at him to get the bus home if he was in such a hurry or maybe even cycle.

by The Holy Mugger Mon Apr 21, 2003 12:20

Catholic Worker Potato Heads - Martyrs or Martians ?

I have no time for these spud weilding potato heads. These are the same group of vain idiots (Ciaron O'Reilly & Deirdre Clancy) who have been slagging off other sections of the peace movement. It's now time to slag them off. They just cant handle the fact that there are others besides them who hold a moral viewpoint towards the war. They would much prefer to be in their smug little minority box, preaching to the rest of us. Oh what a sense of importance we feel ! Martyrs even ! These are the same publicity seeking self-absorbed prats who attacked a US navy plane a week after Mary Kelly had already attacked it. How stupid. The horse had already bolted. Ciaron O'Reilly's aggressive behaviour at the Dail protest was dispicable the day the Dail voted to permit continued use of US military through Shannon. He used a megaphone to verbally abuse an anti-war TD. These are the sad deluded looney fringe of the peace movement. How could anyone take them seriously ? Planting spuds beside the runway. What a joke !
I've been in stitches all weekend. What next ?
Will Ciaron sacrifice himself on a cross at the top of Grafton St. ? Then he could get a whole RTE "Would you believe" programme made about him again.

by Lenny - Absolutely None Sun Apr 20, 2003 23:58

The fucking brass neck of you portraying your petty shit as a questioning attitude and anyone who doesn't appreciate it as a robot. Every time anybody puts anything on this site which mentions a left wing organisation no matter what its about the Socialist Party, the SWP, the anarchists, the Workers Party, Sinn Fein, whoever some wanker can be relied upon to start anonymously throwing abuse within about six comments and then someone responds and then the shite continues and the original message is long forgotten about. I dont give a shit about the wrongs of the Socialist Party or the anarchists or the Ballydehob Chess Society. I do care about a good anti-war action carried out by Jenny and Martin. Now get back under your rock and wait for the next opportunity to have a go at some other left wing organisation. Theyre the real enemy right.

by Hack Sun Apr 20, 2003 21:21

Well no, I don't believe in rah-rah cheerleading. If you don't want questions to be asked then for fucks sake, no-one is forcing you to come and put stuff on an OPEN forum.

Repeat after me

I will not question
I will not dissent
I will not think for myself
God save the regime!

by Lennie - Absolutely None Sun Apr 20, 2003 20:55

Well done to Jenny and Martin!

(and "Hack" should just fuck off back under whatever rock he crawled out from its fucking incredible that on any issue or about any event some wanker will appear and start bitching about some left wing group)

by denise Sun Apr 20, 2003 19:11

jenny ;)
just found out now what happened!!! wow well done, you're amazing and an inspiration.
it took a lot of guts girl. can i ask was the action individual or representing the dublin anti war catholic thing?? the reports i'm reading say you're a 'member' of the dublin catholic movement..?
anyway not too important, i'm thinking of you, will call you before may 8th, miss you,
proud to call you my friend,
cmon lads, lets all follow our gut instincts and show fatso emperor bertie what mass civil disobedience and NVDA looks like.
go jenny,
love and peace,
denise*

by Hack Sun Apr 20, 2003 16:48

Is this an SP attempt to make up for the stupid things General Higgins said about the GG action, or is Jenny acting away from the cult? (and will be brought into line soon...)

by another pathfinder Sun Apr 20, 2003 15:11

A brilliant, brilliant action! thank you!

by jm Sun Apr 20, 2003 14:21

hats off to you two.

by Caspian Sun Apr 20, 2003 13:21

Thanks for doing in my name what I haven't the guts to do! Well done. Respect.

by pathfinder Sun Apr 20, 2003 13:17

you kick supreme arse

by Kev - various Sat Apr 19, 2003 22:31

take care of urself