Shannon --- Long Term Resistance

by Fintan Lane - IAWM and Cork Anti-War Campaign Sun Oct 26, 2003 23:47 087 1258325

Hopefully, this will help in the badly needed effort to re-energise the anti-war movement in Ireland. In a more immediate sense, it could be extremely useful in building for the blockade of Shannon airport on Saturday, December 6th. Good stuff.

by Fintan Lane - IAWM and Cork Anti-War Campaign Sun Oct 26, 2003 23:59 corkantiwar at hotmail dot com 087 1258325

Adam: "This call is being made/supported by a number of peace activists and is aimed at filling a gap in the existing peace movement in Ireland"

One question, though, Adam: which "gap" is being filled? I'm genuinely curious as to what you mean by this and would be interested in greater detail. The IAWM has now shifted towards mass civil disobedience at Shannon and, hopefully, that will remain the tactical focus of that section of the anti-war movement. Is it an issue of structures or tactics, or both?

by Adam Mon Oct 27, 2003 01:41

Thanks for the support Fintan. I'll try to answer your question, from my personal perspective anyway.

The gap may well (indeed I hope it is) now smaller than it was when this meeting was originally called which was before the IAWM made any move towards civil disobediance. I would stress, in this context, the sentence following the one you quote: "It is intended this group would complement the existing structures within the peace movement, not compete with them." I would very much hope that this group would be able to work other organisations including the IAWM.

However, I believe there are two main reasons why this group is still needed:

Firstly The IAWM is "moving towards" mass civil disobediance. It is not primarily orientated towards NVDA and some of the suggestions circulating will probably be more direct/higher risk than may be possible for the IAWM. There are still individuals and organisations within the IAWM who are uncomfortable with direct action. For instance, there are various ideas circulating for some kind of Pledge of Resistance. This may be something the IAWM could take on but it may not. Given that signing such a pledge - or promoting it as an organisation - can lay one open to a conspiracy charge, etc and are usually organised by direct action groups, not by groups which are primarily lobbying/indirect campaigning groups, even if they do also use direct action. That's not to say it couldn't be but it'd be unusual. (NOTE: I'm not saying that the new group will organise such a pledge, just that it's one of the siuggestions so far)

Secondly, the IAWM is moving towards "mass" civil disobediance. Many of the people interested behind the invitation are interested not just in mass civil disobediance but in creating a support structure for smaller, affinity group based actions. Again, I don't want to prejudge the meeting but I personally would be pushing for both: mass actions are useful but so are affinity group actions and they require different support structures.

Finally I would say that we have to admit that the IAWM has lost the trust of sections of the peace movement in Ireland, especially among those more inclined towards direct action. I certainly welcome the new acceptence of direct action and the changes within the IAWM and will support the blockade in December and future actions and I'm sure so will the rest of the peace movement. But I also think that a group such as this could re-energise and inspire certain parts of the peace movement more easily than the IAWM can. I also hope that many people feel able to work with/be part of both this group and the IAWM. If the two groups (and the various others around the country) can work together when appropriate whilst allowing each other space to persue slightly different approaches when suitable then I believe the combination can be more effective than just the sum of it's parts and certainly more effective than any part could be on its own.

I hope that helps :) I'm fairly tired so may not be at my most coherent. if you have any further questions i'd be happy to continue this discussion, either here or in person/on email.

by Fintan Lane Mon Oct 27, 2003 02:22

Thanks for the clarification, Adam.

I agree entirely that we need to accept the diversity of the anti-war movement. No one group is THE anti-war movement, and we need to be respectful of those who have different approaches. In truth, the IAWM does not currently have a policy of instigating small-scale direct actions, so you're correct in that regard. However, that isn't to say that the IAWM has an antipathetic attitude towards such actions. In fact, it fully supports the actions of war resisters such as Mary Kelly and the Pitstop Ploughshares. Moreover, as you know, mass civil disobedience is now firmly on the IAWM agenda, and I expect it to remain there.

by Dominic Carroll - Clonakilty Against the War Mon Oct 27, 2003 13:53 clonakiltyagainstthewar at eircom dot net

I welcome the Limerick initiative – the more anti-war groups, the better, regardless of under whose auspices they operate. Anti-war groups choosing to operate ‘independently’ also seems perfectly understandable to me. As Adam says, the “IAWM has lost the trust of sections of the peace movement in Ireland”, and I am given to understand that the GNAW has effectively ceased to exist (which is a pity and possibly open to correction).

The situation, however, is fluid. The IAWM has recently undergone a degree of democratisation and also taken a “new” turn towards civil disobedience (I say “new” because, of course, the IAWM did call the blockade of the Dáil, but this seems to have been a “one-off” and did little to alter the antipathy towards civil disobedience on the part of leading members of the IAWM (and by extension, the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Socialist Party). Regarding the democratisation of the IAWM, very little has changed in terms of how the IAWM is structured, and this is something that needs to be remedied. However, the recent AGM saw an injection of new blood into the Steering Committee. Control has been wrested from the SWP (despite that organisation having 4 places on the Steering Committee along with I member from the Socialist Party), and currently lies with the the various “non-aligned” members of the Steering Committee. Their very first initiative has been to call for a blockade of Shannon Airport on 6th December, and I’m sure this is something many anti-war activists will welcome.

Despite my criticisms of the IAWM, I generally support its initiatives (an exception being March 1st at Shannon, when I joined the GNAW protest in “opposition” to the IAWM). I’m of the view that the IAWM is undergoing an overhaul and is already considerably improved. The significance of the Shannon blockade on 6th December is not just that it’s a worthwhile protest, but that the initiative has come from the “new, improved” IAWM. It might sound crude, but the fact that the SWP and SP no longer control the IAWM is something that will, in and of itself, allow the IAWM to reestablish trust with anti-war activists. Us activists, however, must now ensure a big presence in Shannon for the blockade, or else a lot of effort will have been wasted.

by Patrick Francis - Donabate Portrane Parish Council Tue Oct 28, 2003 02:06

Although I live in Dublin, I hope to get off work and go down on the 1st of November. It sounds like it might give the movement a fresh boost.
Is there a few from Dublin going west along the road?
Will there be a bit of ceol? You cant beat a good song to give people heart.

by Diabolo Tue Oct 28, 2003 04:05

NO MORE DOING WHAT WERE TOLD!!!

We have to close the place down before anybody will listen to us.

by mr jinks Wed Oct 29, 2003 18:03

im amazed that ye can use peace in any capacity when all ye talk about is blocking / disrupting / generally anything but peaceful means to get yere point across.. pathetic bunch of crusties..
no point writing any more cos anything opposing ye is taken off straight away.. very democratic of the site!!!

by pc Wed Oct 29, 2003 19:39

either you gert involved or you don't ?

by Ruairi Mon Nov 03, 2003 13:30

Mr. Jinks (I feel sick indulging the fantasy...), I was wondering what you would propose yourself?

Sincerely curious.