W To Arrive in Shannon: Protests Expected?

national | anti-war / imperialism | feature Thursday February 26, 2004 01:03 by David

Background from A Student History of the Irish Peace Movement

This is an extract from my final year thesis. Its an outline of my experiences regarding the peace movement over the last number of years.

"George W Bush, fresh from flattening and abandoning Afghanistan in search of one elusive man, had his eye on a substantial prize in the Middle East. Everybody knew that this was a war for every reason except those that were publicly stated. It was a war for revenge, Saddam had tried to kill his Daddy, it was a war for economic resources, it was a war for oil, (he had to pay back his buddies who funded his election theft.) The loudspeakers were shouting that this was an invasion that was patently wrong. It was under these circumstances that I became engaged in the peace movement in Ireland. I started out small, going to advertised marches against the invasion of Afghanistan and I opened my eyes to the political activity that was ongoing all around me. I was a fresh face in the crowd, I had only recently become aware that this world even existed and I had few preconceived ideas about how the left really worked. I would like to chart the events that took place over the last 3 years from my perspective looking back."

Statement From an Internal Exile

This is an extract from my final year thesis.
Its an outline of my experiences regarding the peace movement over the last number of years.

We face some of the biggest problems imaginable, global warming, world poverty, hunger, disease, starvation and war. Problems caused by some of the biggest enemies thinkable, the leviathan, corporations, Armies, Governments, proxy dictators, a whole system of society! And we have some of the most impossible targets to achieve, happiness, equality, peace, and justice. The Irish left, sometimes bitter, sometimes twisted, often misguided and, it seems, at all times distracted by the unbridgeable divide that separates the factions as they work side by side in opposite directions.

From my recent experience, there is a lot of history that has gone before and many lessons have been learned, different lessons by different people because there is a different history for everybody who has any ideology to justify.

The capitalists are indoctrinated to believe that they brought democracy to a world of war and savagery, that their democracy rescued Europe from the third Reich, and that their rising tide will one day flood the whole concept of poverty and everybody’s ship will sail into a utopian sunset.

Anti-Capitalists believe that a rising tide will indeed flood over poverty but it will leave people drowning in its wake as climate change makes the planet an inhospitable place for everybody who cannot afford to buy his way to the top of a well air-conditioned mountain. (The Greens believe that capitalism caused the impending storm but that we can invent and regulate our way out of it.)

The Marxists believe that communism is a really good idea and that everywhere it’s never been tried or implemented properly and there were always complications from unforeseen circumstances, but the next time everything will go beautifully, honest.

Anarchist’s version of history is that they haven’t had a proper go yet, and when they do, they’ve got everything sorted out in their heads. Spain in 1938 was going brilliantly until they made a few un-anarchist decisions. And anyway, they had to focus on fighting off the fascists and then the communists stabbed them in the back.

Of course the above relies heavily on mass generalisation, but not best described as prejudicial because it has been hard learned over the last number of years

Those who agree on some things always differ on others. Pacts are formed and swiftly broken based on how attached individuals and groups are to the ethics of their utopian society. Over the last 25 years certain patterns of behaviour have formed and groups can be trusted to always manoeuvre within certain predictable parameters.

In 2002 as the world readied itself for another inevitable war. The left propaganda machine was in full swing. George W Bush, fresh from flattening and abandoning Afghanistan in search of one elusive man, had his eye on a substantial prize in the Middle East. Everybody knew that this was a war for every reason except those that were publicly stated. It was a war for revenge, Saddam had tried to kill his Daddy, it was a war for economic resources, it was a war for oil, (he had to pay back his buddies who funded his election theft.) The loudspeakers were shouting that this was an invasion that was patently wrong. It was under these circumstances that I became engaged in the peace movement in Ireland. I started out small, going to advertised marches against the invasion of Afghanistan and I opened my eyes to the political activity that was ongoing all around me. I was a fresh face in the crowd, I had only recently become aware that this world even existed and I had few preconceived ideas about how the left really worked. I would like to chart the events that took place over the last 3 years from my perspective looking back.

“No War No War, No Blood For Oil, No US Warplanes On Our Soil”.

Because of some very dedicated individuals who had given up their lives to monitor our government’s activities at Shannon International (civilian) Airport, the public (including me) had become alerted to the reality that American troops, weapons and warplanes were being transported through Shannon Airport in secret and without the consent of the Irish people. We were apparently a neutral country.

Shannon Airport has been the focus of Irish peace activist attention since before December 2001 when U.S. marines were photographed in full uniform as they were transported through Ireland to Afghanistan. I attended a protest along with about 70 other people, which, I thought, compared well to the figure of 3000 that had marched in Dublin shortly before, considering that it was planned as a Direct Action event and there would be no speeches. The Irish Anti War Movement of course claimed all the credit for the demonstration despite the shortage of apparent SWP members present (there was only one paper seller) and although many who were present choose to follow other banners for example “Anarchists Against the War” At this stage I was fairly ignorant of what anarchism really was and I hadn’t yet grasped the significance of the SWP paper sellers but looking back this all fits into the pattern that has since become apparent.

This protest, was peaceful, there were some individual acts of courage, attempts to storm the airfield but in the end not much really happened though it was a very invigorating experience. (no offence to the two people who were arrested) In the aftermath there were different conclusions drawn by the Anarchists and the Marxists. It seemed clear to the libertarian section that actions at Shannon and especially targeting the centres of power were the best strategy to focus on, while the Marxists thought that the turnout at these action protests so far away from Dublin weren’t helpful for building a mass movement. This is a debate that will continue at least for the next 3 years. The Irish anti War Movement and Globalised Resistance continued to call marches around Dublin condemning the use of Shannon to facilitate the invasion of Afghanistan.

In August 2002 the IAWM had an AGM where they refused to elect a steering committee in a democratic sense, instead those in control had already decided on who the members of the committee would be based on their ability to gather support to the Movement and specifically to the S.W.P. party. Aoife Ni Fhearghail explained the mechanisms of how the organisation for the IAWM took place

“Roughly every 3-4 wks, between 5 and 20 of us have met to discuss the development of the war & how we should respond to it - organising demonstrations, website upkeep, leafleting, public meetings, media coverage, writing a newsletter with people taking on particular responsibilities - coordinating activities, designing the website, doing secretarial bits & pieces, fundraising, press releases etc.

The group is extremely broad-based (activists from the SWP (myself & another), Labour, US citizens for alternatives to war, the TCD anti war group, Maynooth anti war group, One World, the campaign to end the Iraq sanctions, some excellent anti war individuals working in many different areas & sometimes also the Socialist Party & Sinn Féin).”

This revelation was not particularly satisfactory to many people involved in peace activism in Ireland. The main point of contention as that such a structure did not seem to be representative of Ireland as a whole as it seemed to only represent Dublin based activists and that this might explain the IAWM’s apparent distain for actions that need to focus on areas outside the pale.

This discussion preceded another call for a mass protest at Shannon Airport on August 17, which the IAWM made no attempt to actively support. Again about 70 people turned up and Mary Kelly made her first public act of defiance (by climbing the perimeter fence and invading the airfield). The libertarians and various local anti war groups from around the country once again demonstrated Irelands opposition to the war leaving the SWP free to do TV and radio interviews claiming the credit for the peace movement in Ireland. It was about now that I started to view the constant sectarian bickering that was occurring on indymedia, the main forum for activist interaction in Ireland with a bit of sympathy because I began to understand the reasons why it existed. I could see how certain sections of the activist community had an apparent policy of hijacking popular movements and milking them dry in order to increase the membership of their particular party. Of course from a study of Marxist theory it seems that such a strategy is an integral part of how these parties operate.

On Wednesday the 4th of December, Eoin Dubsky, a libertarian peace campaigner Accompanied by Tim Hourigan, a member of the green party (widely respected and recognised for his plane spotting activities) broke into Shannon Airfield and entered a hanger containing a USAF Hercules plane. Eoin Dubsky spray painted the windshield with fluorescent orange paint and then called the police who arrived 30 minutes after they had finished. This was a brave action that was widely praised by almost everybody in the peace movement, however there were some dissenting voices universally amongst those who thought it would damage the image of the peace movement and drive people away. These voices came from members of the Vanguard parties, the S.P. and the S.W.P. and from some members of the labour party.

After this successful direct action, the S.W.P. (using their front, Globalised Resistance) tried to capitalise on the media attention by holding yet more meetings and marches in the Dublin area. They issued press releases announcing national demonstrations to be held on Dame Street on December 7th and despite their awareness of the libertarian mass action to be held in Shannon the day after, they made no mention of it. The Grassroots Network had officially voiced support for both the Demonstrations and had advertised both events on all their leaflets, something the IAWM failed to do.

I attended both and both marches took place without too much drama. About 1400 people marched in Dublin and close to 400 made the journey to Shannon (many of the activists took part in both actions but the Dublin contingent was decidedly in a minority at Shannon). The difference in numbers between a supposedly elitist action, and a broad based mass movement was apparently less than the S.W.P. might like to pretend. My personal view of that weekend was that taking part in the Shannon Demo, without the need for megaphones or stewards or Speeches from a podium led to an atmosphere afterwards of energy and a sense of achievement in contrast to the rain soaked forced enthusiasm apparent at the I.A.W.M. event.

“Felt like the start of something - such peace and quiet (no slogans and megaphones) and such a rabble of humanity as we headed into the heart of the deathport “

Running up to the event, there were attempts made by the Grassroots Network to co-ordinate activities with the I.A.W.M., but these were apparently repeatedly ignored by the I.A.W.M. who were apparently not interested in a co-operative relationship with competing peace organisations. (This is according to conversations with members of the Grassroots network that I had and from reading discussions on Indymedia) After the December 7/8 weekend there were many people predicting the death of the IAWM.

On January 4th 2003 the Shannon peace Camp was born, attracting attention locally and globally, making the front page of the observer newspaper, it sparked press coverage as far away as Iran and gave Peace activists their first access to the Late Late show (The IAWM SWP contingent appeared on that show to take credit for the peace camp) and invited comment from the labour party leader, Pat Rabbitte who declared that he and his party condemned the government support of Americas war of aggression.

"No information has been offered to the Dail as to the extent of the facilities being provided at Shannon. Facilities that might be made provided to a friendly nation in a time of peace should not automatically be available during war or the build up to war. It is essential that the Dail be now given a full report and allowed to debate the matter in full. Pending such a debate, these facilities should be withdrawn while the government makes a real effort to help avert this war." (Pat Rabbitte, 10 January 2003)

On January 18th the largest direct action protest took place at Shannon Airport. I could not personally attend but I kept in touch with the proceedings via the Internet. Up to 2000 people responded the advertisements of a March called by the Irish Anti War Movement and supported by the various other groups and it was all a pretty standard affair, speeches in front of the terminal, Michael D Higgins from the labour party was speaking from the podium when a crowd of activists spontaneously decided to take over the roof of a nearby Airport building and started an occupation. This was quickly followed by the occupation of another building (much to the annoyance of those making the speeches as it distracted attention away from them)

Indymedia the next day was full of people complaining about the childishness or the elitism of those who occupied the buildings suggesting instead that outside the terminal of Shannon Airport is an appropriate time and place to engage in angry rhetoric condemning the war, preaching to people who had already travelled for hours to protest against it.

These actions (and more) had helped lay the groundwork for the February 15th protest march. The peace camp made it impossible for the media to ignore the issue, for weeks there were radio debates, newspaper articles, opinion polls, Primetime discussions and in every bar and coffee shop the mythical ordinary person on the street was talking about the War and Shannon. On the morning of February 15 the IAWM were predicting a turnout of 20 to 30 thousand people. Nobody really expected 120000 people to march through the streets of Dublin but that’s exactly what happened.

The IAWM claimed all the credit (they had distributed about 250000 leaflets and put up 20000 posters around the country) but in reality it seems like the huge amounts of groundwork laid down by the plane spotters, the peace camp, Eoin Dubsky, Mary Kelly and the Catholic Worker 5 who had all performed disarming actions on the warplanes at great personal risk, the Grassroots Network and the local anti-war groups from around the country had at least as big a part to play in the success of the days actions. Almost immediately the focus was switched back to Shannon for the proposed March 1st actions and with almost everyone involved still flying high from the success of February 15 there was a huge air of anticipation for what could truly be a mass civil disobedience unlike anything ever seen before in Ireland.

Unfortunately circumstances conspired to turn it into a lost opportunity. Despite the success of previous direct actions at Shannon, there were still warnings from the moderate left and the vanguard parties that we were not yet ready for direct action, that we should concentrate on building up the movement further and this meant a few more peaceful marches that everybody could take part in. Those who were against the action warned of violence and mass arrests and gardaí brutality against all the protestors, they forecast that the media and public opinion would turn away from perceived hooligans and vandals. There were statements that mass action could never change our participation in the war and that we should concentrate our energy on more “democratic” means. Meanwhile, on February 25 news reports announced that 2 American military airlines had pulled out of Shannon citing security concerns (another one had withdrawn just a few days earlier).

The peace movement was working, the Americans were being driven out of Shannon and it was because they were afraid that the people would make such a huge stand against them that the world would be unable to ignore. None the less, the national discourse was largely biased against direct action. It can be speculated that this was a function of the ownership of the media and if it was, it worked. The Irish Anti War Movement decided to only arrange a march in Shannon while the Grassroots Network Against War pushed for people to take part in non-violent direct action to try to reclaim Shannon Airport for the Irish people. One by one, the major political parties spoke out against any “violent” direct actions that might take place in Shannon, the Labour party urged people not to attend, as did Sinn Fein and the Greens. The Socialist Workers party and the Socialist Party urged people to come to Shannon but to only take part in the planned march to the terminal and to essentially boycott the direct action. The GNAW’s response to this was to attempt to calmly outline their plans and to hold meetings and workshops around the country where people could learn about N.V.D.A. techniques and protect themselves from any possibilities. The Grassroots organisations also arranged the action so that there would be two distinct blocks, identified by White and Pink Flags. Those who wanted to engage in the direct action, i.e.: help tear down the fence and cross onto the airport property would assemble under the White Flag, and those who weren’t prepared to take the personal risk but still wanted to contribute could remain as observers under a pink flag to bear witness to the actions of the Gardai.
The GNAW also made it clear that they would like to participate in the IAWM event also if time allowed.

It turned out on the day that there were about 400 people taking part in the GNAW action and about 1100 people marching with the IAWM. Both activities suffered terribly as a result of the rhetoric in the media and the private conversations before the event. The result was that there were nowhere near enough people to successfully breach the fence. The state had put in place its largest single security operation to defend American warplanes from Irish people. Scare mongering which in hindsight was totally unrealistic was a large factor in discouraging people from travelling. Dozens of newspaper editorials warned ordinary people that they were risking their health and their liberty by taking part in the direct action, The IAWM agreed but said to come down for their march. The end result was that most people stayed at home.

On the day the event was characterised by frustration. The Grassroots contingent had tried everything they could and had been opposed at every turn. There was a poignant scene as the IAWM march passed the Grassroots direct action and the IAWM head steward (with the loudspeaker) tried to encourage the Grassroots activists to leave the fence and join their march, and the IAWM stewards actively discouraged people on the March from staying to watch or participate in the Grassroots action.

Since March 1st 2003 there have been more demos at Shannon, there was a summer solstice attempted blockade which didn’t go too well, there was an attempt to organise a mass blockade of Shannon Airport on December 6 led by Fintan Lane, at the time PRO of the IAWM, but he was arrested a few weeks before giving the SWP the time to change the objectives from a Blockade to a demonstration. This attracted howls of rage from all sections of the activist community but none of it was in any way unpredictable. The rise and fall of the IAWM (currently it is crumbling as members of the steering committee resign in protest at vote rigging by the SWP and local groups disaffiliate from the central organisation) appears like a microcosm of the victories and failures of the left. Each group acts within predictable boundaries as they seem to have acted in all other issues in the past and from this, lessons can be learned and projected into the future so that we might not repeat the mistakes we currently make.