Brief report of IAWM steering committee meeting, 18 October.

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Tuesday October 21, 2003 20:48 by Fintan Lane - PRO, Irish Anti-War Movement corkantiwar at hotmail dot com 087 1258325

The newly elected steering committee of the Irish Anti-War Movement met for the first time in UCD on Saturday, 18 October. What follows is a brief report of the main decisions taken.

Present: Kieran Allen, Richard Boyd Barrett, Fintan Lane, Tim Hourigan, Mick O'Sullivan, Kirsten Foy, Glenda Cimino, Raymond Deane, Colm Stephens, Harry Browne, Colin Coulter, Laurence Vize, Aoife Ni Fhearghail.

DAY OF SOLIDARITY: It was decided to designate 3 November a 'Day of Solidarity' with the Pitstop Ploughshares (aka Catholic Worker Five) who will be before the courts that day to have a date set for their trial for decommissioning a US warplane at Shannon. Sections and affiliates will be asked to engage in a public act of solidarity on that day. The IAWM will also issue a press statement expressing its solidarity and indicating its full support for the action taken at Shannon by the Pitstop Ploughshares 5.

MARY KELLY: It was agreed to contact Mary Kelly, in advance of her court appearance on 21 July, expressing solidarity and offering whatever assistance is possible.

SHANNON: A date (Saturday, 6 December) was set for the demonstration in Shannon, taking into account that meetings of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and of the SWP are taking place on the 29 November.

Folowing a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the Shannon demonstration would be a mass blockade of the airport rather than a typical march. The objective of the blockade will be to shut the airport for the duration of this act of mass peaceful civil disobedience. More details on this will be posted in due course.

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM: Following the decision of the AGM to engage positively will the ESF in Paris in November, a delegation from the IAWM will attend. This delegation will work to deepen the IAWM's international links and will push for activists from other countries to travel to Ireland for demonstrations during Ireland's EU presidency in 2004.

STRUCTURES: Significant changes have been made to the internal structures of the steering committee. Work-groups have now been established to deal with important and pressing areas/issues. The list of of officers (previously restricted to a chairperson, secretary, and treasurer) has also been expanded to included a Finance Officer (fundraiser), PRO, and International Secretary. These positions were filled at the end of the meeting and are as follows: Richard Boyd Barrett (chairperson), Colm Stephens (secretary), Fintan Lane (PRO), Colin Coulter (treasurer), Kieran Allen (international secretary), Aoife Ni Fhearghail (finance, until Christmas or January). Laurence Vize will be in charge of the website. All officers will be active within workgroups and responsibilites will be widely spread.