MACREPORT-According to CNN "MACBUSH" Drives George Outta Ireland!

by R Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:48

CNN news story link =

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/26/us.eu.protests.reut/index.html

by History Sun Jun 27, 2004 13:26

See also:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65726&condense_comments=false#comment80032

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker & Pitstop Ploughshares Sun Jun 27, 2004 13:38 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65620

by Marc Sun Jun 27, 2004 13:38

ciaron wrote:
"RBB has made a deal with the cops"

by Justin - Peace People Sun Jun 27, 2004 14:52

Another suitable quote:
"We are in blood
Stepp'd in so far that should we wade no more
Returning were as tedious as go o'er".

by Charles Boylan - Dublin Catholic Worker & Pitstop Ploughshares Sun Jun 27, 2004 15:07 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

I'm heading into speakers corner and would like to debate the issues raised by this article.

Would love to debate with members of the SWP...I'm sure the leadersship have come up with a party lin by now and have faxed it or emailed it to. Learn it and I'm sure y'all be able to recite it....come on down

I'll bring the MACBUSH banner if anyone wants to photograph it etc
One Love
Ciaron

by iosaf Sun Jun 27, 2004 15:58

RBB got a photo on RTE online.
Shakespeare got the International Herald Tribune european edition front page.

Exeunt-
hip hip horray.
caloo calay.

by Sharrow Sun Jun 27, 2004 17:04

Well done to all concerned who took part in the demos against this fascist warmonger shubbery..
Love to you all,
Sharrow.

by Sean Sun Jun 27, 2004 17:36

For all RBB's deals with the cops, all he got was restrictions on the IAWM Dromoland demo. Meanwhile down at the coalface (Shannon) the Anti-War Ireland crew refused to make any deals with the cops and had a great demo.

by Fr. Martin Mon Jun 28, 2004 18:01

http://ploughsharesireland.org

by Fr. Martin Mon Jun 28, 2004 18:03

http://PloughsharesIreland.org

by Fr. Martin Mon Jun 28, 2004 18:05

http://PloughsharesIreland.org

by redjade Mon Jun 28, 2004 18:41

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/international/worldspecial/27PREX.html?pagewanted=all&position=

by Br. Bill - C.B. in E.T. Mon Jun 28, 2004 21:13 Dili. Timor Leste (East)

From Timor Leste (East Timor):
Solidarity Vigil Demanding the Demilitarisation of Shannon

On Friday 25th June, 7 of us gathered at the Irish consul-general place, Carol .... Don't know her surname. I had gone to meet her the previous Monday to explain what we planned
We read of the action in Ireland, reflected on it, and said a prayer for peace and the cessation of actions to continue wars.
Present were some Australians, a NZealander ,an A merican and the East Timorese security guard was again our volunter photographer.
The security guard promised to give a copy of the MacBush email to Carol when she returned to the office.
keep up the effort, many are with you,
Regards,
bill Tynan

by Charles Boylan - Co-op Radio Mon Jun 28, 2004 21:24 Vancouver, Canada

25, 2004

Sixteen peace activists held a peace picket and vigil at the Irish Consulate in Vancouver, B.C. Canada Friday afternoon at 12 noon in response to the call from Irish Ploughshares activist, Ciaron O'Reilly. The demonstration was organized by four Vancouver South party candidates in the federal election: Charles Boylan (Marxist-Leninist Party), Joe Six Pack Horrocks (Canadian Action Party), Doug Perry (Green Party) and Stephen Von Sychowski (Communist Party). Other candidates and peace activists joined the action.
Signs read: US Troops Out of Shannon Airport, Troops Out of Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan, No to the Anti-Missile Defence Treaty, Canada Get Out of Nato and Norad, Support the Irish Ploughshares, Canadian-Irish Unity Against US Aggression among others.
Many people spoke. Charles Boylan outlined the history of the Irish Ploughshares action in disabling a US warplane at Shannon Airport, and how an Irish judge interpreted the Irish Constitution as a "policy objective." Joe Horrocks said the Missile Defence Treaty posed a grave danger to world peace. Stephen Von Sychowski called on Canada to get out of Nato and Norad, and supported the audacity of the Irish activists. Several people denounced George Bush and everyone chanted slogans demanding the US get out of Iraq and leave Shannon Airport.
Two RCMP officers attached to the security branch responsible for diplomats took photographs and recorded car license numbers. When asked why, they said they needed to keep records. All the activists booed them, and Boylan documented the sordid history of RCMP brutality against Indigenous peoples, against national minorities and workers in Canada calling for their disbandment.
There was no one in attendance from the Consular Office which is located in a local laywer's premise at 1385 W. 8th Avenue. Leaflets outlining the demonstrations in Ireland were handed to passerby, several of whom stopped and joined the action. A group of workers at an auto repair shop across the street gathered to listen to the speeches.
The event was reported inaccurately in the Vancouver Sun, which didn't even send a reporter, and in a Vancouver Chinese language daily newspaper, which did send one.

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker & Pitstop Ploughshares Mon Jun 28, 2004 21:30 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

Jimmy Fleming (the drummer boy in the shorts pictured above) & Friends in Galway originally constructed the trees (pictured above) for some local eco-theatre. he would like as many of them back, so he can use them again in more street theatre.

If you've still got one-you could text it's whereabouts to him in Galway 086 4017 331

..........or if you are closer to Ciaron in Dublin you could text Ciaron 087 918 4552 and we will tell you the closest friend you could drop the tree off to.

by Gary MacLennan - Socialist Alliance Tue Jun 29, 2004 05:41 g.maclennan at qut dot edu dot au

Well done Ciaron. Still smiting the anti-Christs. I heard you practised an exoricism on Bush. I hope it is successful, though I doubt it from the latest reports of the antics of the great Idiot.

take care

Gary

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker & Pitstop Ploughshares Tue Jun 29, 2004 09:37 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

No worries Dr. Gary.

...I learnt to smite "moderates", undermining serious resistance from you in the '70's,......Omagh's gift to the oppressed of sunny Queensland...ladies and gentleman I give you Gary MacLennan (and I knew him when he was cute!).

Followed Gary into many a kami kazi charge at the Queensland coppers when our civil liberties were suspended '77 -'82......campaign had a relatively happy ending with a bunch of the corrupt & authoritarian Calvinist Premirer's Govt. Minister going to jail and the corrupt and authoritarian Irish-Catholic police chief getting 14 years........

...and a sad ending the Labor Party got in and (well you know the story)...same shit different flies!

........Many fine people resisted that regime....many paid lots of prices- beatings, black listings, Special Branch raids, frame up, exiles, suicides....
good to hear from you Gary. We both survive and thrive!




Gary wrote a fine attack on Catholicism which I strategically located as the introduction to
my 2001 book on East Timor "Remembering Forgetting", (Otford Press, Australia). There's probably one lying unsold at Red Ink (Dublin's anarchist book shop), so do yourself a favour and go in there and read Dr. Gary's introduction, it will surely bring a smile and a tear

...good to hear from you Gary. We both survive and thrive!

by Willie WaggerDagger - Director Tue Jun 29, 2004 09:43 MACBUSH

The Black Pope as MacDuff - "not of yestereday born!"

by Ken Tue Jun 29, 2004 09:52

Good to hear you Ciaron...both on the phone and on amy goodman/democracy now and you sure got in some good cw plugs...thanks for the call. can you send us the macbeth curse? we need it a lot more than you do! and how can i call you...do you have a land line?

to go backwards, which is the way we sometimes appear to be going...
spent all last week trying to reach the honorary consul of ireland with no luck, so nanc and i went to his snazzy townhouse and left the attached letter. i'm leaving in am for dc and a job interview with witness for peace, so nanc is going to work on sending the photos...

back to may 19 and our halliburton action:
five of us made our way to the halliburton annual meeting, where shareholders had assembled to applaud the success of their company in profiting from the blood of their own employees, as well as that of iraqi citizens and us military. when we were within 15 feet of the meeting, we handcuffed ourselves to a railing, poured fake blood over us, and began to loudly question the shareholders of a corporation that has no compunction about sending it's own into a war zone where 35 of them have been killed and over a hundred injured. we remained cuffed for 35 minutes and were then arrested and charged with trespass and, in an obvious attempt to squash dissent, bail was set at $5,000 each. after 14 hours in the city jail, a filthy place unfit for any of the decent people we met there, friends outside bonded us out. while in prison we had a great opportunity to talk with many of the prisoners, who readily accepted our apologies for our white privilege and showed us something about acceptance and love. the bond, fines, and court costs were, to a large degree, covered by contributions from the community, which was a pleasant surprise. the protest and action received a significant amount of media coverage, including npr, cnn, houston chronicle, and others. so i think we offered something useful for the future to our sleepy, oily community. we pled guity to the charge, mainly because one of the 5 lives in san francisco, although, in fact, it didn't feel like the right time to go for more...we'll unfortunately have more opportunities.

by Ken Tue Jun 29, 2004 09:59 Houston, Texas

Ken Crowley
Houston, Texas


John B. Kane
Honorary Irish Consul

Houston, Texas

Fax 1-970-925-7900

THE NUREMBERG DEMAND
"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore [individuals] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring." The Nuremberg Tribunal 1945-1946.


Dear Mr. Kane:

The US and UK have committed terrible crimes against peace and crimes against humanity during their invasion and occupation of Iraq. The judgement of the Nuremberg Tribunal makes it clear that citizens have the right and duty to seek to prevent the crimes against peace and humanity that have clearly been committed against Iraq.

Six individuals are currently facing serious charges relating to the disabling of a US Navy plane at Shannon airport . Mary Kelly, Damian Moran, Ciaron O'Reilly, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon and Deirdre Clancy. Their actions were inspired by the vision of Isaiah 2:4 to "beat swords into ploughshares." In accordance with the principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, I demand that they not be criminalized for their actions.

We further demand that the long-standing policy of neutrality be respected and military flights through Shannon airport be immediately discontinued.


Ken Crowley

by Mike - founding member Dublin Catholic Worker Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:11 Chicago, USA

Sounds like MacBush was a great success.

Alas your posters came too late, but I did vigil outside the Irish consulate in
Chicago--alone, which is good in some ways and bad in others. Don't know if
anyone showed up the evening prior, as that was the original date I said to meet
(which it turned out I couldn't make!). Pretty uneventful. After about 2 minutes
I got scooted from the entry area by a tattooed guard with a generic Dublin
accent. Stood on the corner of the building where the propertyline ended and
talked with tourists about what was going on. My sign read "Demilitarize Shannon
Airport - Keep Ireland Free."

And that is that.

Peace,

Mike

by redjade Tue Jun 29, 2004 13:55

Democracy Now Clip of Ciaron reporting on Shannon Protests...
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/cairon-demnow.mp3

Full MP3...
http://www.archive.org/download/dn2004-0628/dn2004-0628-1_64kb.mp3

More info....
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/28/1456222

by Stato - Numerical Assoc Wed Jun 30, 2004 00:54 Maths City

Is this a record;
While doing a report ( A piss poor Jack Kerouac impersonation by Mr OReilly) on a anti Bush demo, you manage NOT to mention Bush at all, but retell your heroic confrontation with the SWP (mentioned 10 times) and the embodiment of all thats wrong with the world , (otherwise known as RBB;mentioned 9 times).
Is this a record?
Truely the "left" in this country is fucked.

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker & Pitstop Ploughshares Wed Jun 30, 2004 07:48 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

Stato Dear,

I find it offensive that you compare me with Kerouac......Jack travelled the world! I travel the world confronting the state and pissing off authoritarians like you and RBB! Jack drunk himself to death living off his mum.....well I won't speak to soon!

Stato dude....now nice and slow, go through the report and comments again....the main piece, the connections to the straight media, the reports from solidarity vigils across the globe we initiated, the Democracy Now interview, the photos of theatre (how much help do you need man...like spoonfeeding?)

...........maybe you were one of the pricks who kept chanting their slogans over and over and over through your megaphones trying to drown out the kids in our theatre.............maybe you are from the SWP school of repetition.....the more I chant the less I have to think....muppet is a great word uhhh? Or as a DC friend of mine chants when ever "The People United Never Get Defeated " is given one more outing by the authoritarian left (to the same beat) "A slogan exhausted, should never be repeated!"

You're right about one thing Stato dear "the authoritarian left in this country is fucked". They lost out to the libertarian left on May Day and they lost again (even to a bunch of catholic-anarchists) on the road to Dromoland Castle. They are irrelevant...making a 10,000 euro donation to the Bush campaign when they pulled out of the Point Gig.....whining about being censored and refusing to mention 1300 folks at Shannon on Friday night...the contradictions are to deep and to many....yep dude you got it in one they are fucked.

Stato baby, you're talking pretty tough here! You, RBB & the SWP know where to find me....standing on a soapbox in speakers corner in Temple Bar most Sunday afternoons. And mate, if you respect my rights to free expression and I respect yours....we might have an interesting interchange.

It's interesting that the authoriarian left are terrified of this forum...prefering press conferences with the capitalist press as a means of comunicating with the wo/man in the street! But Stato......Methinx you'll prefer to stick with your pseudonym and the anonymity of this medium as your (mediocre) cyncism is a thin veil for your cowardice.

Hey man, courage is an imprortant thang, without it the other important thangs never get expressed when the world is controlled by authoritarians and one has to watch one back from mediocrites such as your self. See you one fine Sunday afternoon in Temple Bar....Bring Your Own Kerouac!

by Dave Lordan - swp Wed Jun 30, 2004 13:10 dlordan at hotmail dot com

Ciaron you are a bully , a liar and a loony.
You try to romanticise the fact that you physically and verbally attacked other anti war protestors last saturday in shannon. This was witnessed by dozens of people and no amount of rant and cant will cover it up. You seem to be obsessed with RBB. I wonder is that jealousy. You had plenty of opportunity to attack him and the IAWM at the vicar street coincert in front of 2000 Pople and yopu didn't. Why's that you hypocrite, Lying again about the speakers corner as if you are the only one who ever spoke there, RBB has spoken there twice, at least one of those times you were there and said nothing. You're a big tough man when you're ripping banners out of teenage girls hands but you seem to get stagefright in front of the adults.
Ciaron. maybe you just need a rest, but it is pretty obvious you are raving mad at the moment. Please remember you have no right to belittle other peoples committment to the movement. Going on about the swp all the time is just paranoia and another sign youy're mentally unwell. And you are not trhe only person who ever got arrested either or the only person who has suffered at the hands of capitalism. Seems your catholicism is just like the one my primary teachers tried to beat in to me all about fear and illusion. In futuire keep your hands and your abuse to yourself, and see a doctor.

by Amused Wed Jun 30, 2004 13:33

Lordan calling anybody a loony. You just won't be able to top that.

by Dave Lordan Wed Jun 30, 2004 13:35

Just a few more thoughts before i go home and wash the muck from this pigsty off myself.

1- attacking the swp is the most conventional, orthodox and mind numbingly repetitive thing you can do on indymedia. Besides, people who attck us are only tring to advance their political believes in a negative and underhand way. The SWP is a voluntary organisation of revolutionary socialists. People join us and stay with us because they want to and they believe in what we are doing and trying to achieve. Saying that we are all brainwashed is simply echoing rightwing propaganda. That's what Franco, Hitler, Thatcher etc etc said about the far left.

2. The IAWM is the broadest political organisation in existence in ireland. That is simply a fact which cannot be buried under a mound of sectarian bullshit. It has affillites including SIPTU, ATGWU, the Green Party, the SP, the SWP, NGO's. local groups from all over the country and hundreds of individual members. We can all work together because we are mature about our differences.

3. Calling everyone who disagrees with you an 'agent of the state', a 'moderate', a 'middle class boy' is not politics. It's egomania, pure and simple. It just shows how great you think you are.

by Stato - Numerical Assoc Wed Jun 30, 2004 13:36 Maths City

Yeah, thats right Ciaron, I am all those things, your so clear sighted I will come clean.
Its true, along with all those other non believers in the IAWM group I laughted and shouted while the names of dead Iraqi childen where read out. And you know why, ?right again ;its because we are all evil.
(Its certainly not because we didnt hear what was happening..thats too simple)
Debate with you in Temple bar? no thanks, saw enought of your style in Dromoland (great impression of Jesus in the temple kicking out the money lenders!!) Besides , some of us who arent Catholic WORKERS, but just WORKERS have to work on Sundays.
Not a member of the SWP, or SP or SF, but I do find it depressing when an anti war site gives over most of its space to a rant, (and from what I witnessed a most unjustified one at that)
Authoritarian? you looked every inch the dictator yourself on Sat.

Look forward to you abusing the next anon contributor on this sight that supports what you say.!

by Insider Wed Jun 30, 2004 13:53

"Just a few more thoughts before i go home and wash the muck from this pigsty off myself."

Go on admit, it you love it in here. You are becoming a regular contributor now.

"1- attacking the swp is the most conventional, orthodox and mind numbingly repetitive thing you can do on indymedia."

Sorry to burst your bubble Lordan but everybody gets attacked in here. Don't take it personally.

"Besides, people who attck us are only tring to advance their political believes in a negative and underhand way. The SWP is a voluntary organisation of revolutionary socialists. People join us and stay with us because they want to and they believe in what we are doing and trying to achieve. "

No I think you will find that most join and then leave. How about being honest about the high turnover in the SWP. A lot of the time people attack you because of your dishonesty. Your positions on the bin tax and nvda during the war were similar to the soft left tactics of Labour and SF. You claim to represent areas in broad front campaigns when it is patently a lie. This is not negative. People pointing out this nonsense, hope that you might change your ways and be true about wanting to represent working class people. So criticism can be positive.

"Saying that we are all brainwashed is simply echoing rightwing propaganda. That's what Franco, Hitler, Thatcher etc etc said about the far left."

I don't believe that you are all brainwashed but when your comrades vote on behalf of groups which are non-existent it makes some of us believe that your members will do anything that they are told.

£2. The IAWM is the broadest political organisation in existence in ireland. That is simply a fact which cannot be buried under a mound of sectarian bullshit. It has affillites including SIPTU, ATGWU, the Green Party, the SP, the SWP, NGO's. local groups from all over the country and hundreds of individual members. We can all work together because we are mature about our differences. "

See more distortion, the IAWM is not the broadest political organisation in Ireland. Go through the steering committee. How broad and diverse is it. In fact name the steering committee. Show your open and honest democratic credentials. The GP is not affiliated as far as I know. One Green in Crumlin is not the Green Party. The IAWM has not at any stage been mature about their differences.

"3. Calling everyone who disagrees with you an 'agent of the state', a 'moderate', a 'middle class boy' is not politics. It's egomania, pure and simple. It just shows how great you think you are."

Agree with all of this but would be interested to know why you where you at a meeting in the Teachers club in January (I think) doing all of the above. Did Kieran say it was ok in this instance.

Think about your own actions before you criticise others.

by Marc Thomas Wed Jun 30, 2004 14:04

dont' address the issue, don't correct factual errors (if there are any), don't provide an alternative version of the story: just accuse your opponents of being mad, sectarians, jealous, cowards, loony. do they teach you this in those introduction to marxism classes?

it's no surprise that you guys are so unpopular. so, if ciaron is a liar, what's your version of the story? i wasn't there, so i'd like to know: is it true that richard boyd barrett tried to stop macbush? did he say that he had a "deal" with the police? did swp members used megaphones? dave, would you kindly write your version of the story, or are you just happy to insult in a cowardly fashion?

hate to break the news to you, but ciaron is one of many, many people who have had enough of you lot policing us at demos and of your sick sectarian way.

but you gave the game away dave: jealousy, that's why you wrote. macbush was on cnn and ruiters. that must not be allowed. the swp/iawm are the anti-war movement, richard is the leader of the movement, the iawm is the biggest anti-war organisation (though it was outnumbered on sunday), the other shall be led.

dave, we don't lobve big brother.

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker Wed Jun 30, 2004 15:03 087 918 4552 or 01- 492 6100

Well it's been four daze. since the ...

SWP/IAWM tried to block MACBUSH and failed!
SWP/IAWM tried to lead MACBUSH and failed!
SWP/IAWM tried to drown out MACBUSH and failed!

It's been 3 daze since MACBUSH hit CNN, New York Time, International Herald Tribune.

What explains the well kept silence from those movement bureaucrats who tried to stop MACBUSH on the road to Dromoland Castle?

My hunch was that we were meeting the same media fate as Saturday's spontaneous Ambush of the Press Pack that delayed the departure of Bush (in my opinion the most effective piece of nvda that went down...congrats lads & lasses!).

MacBush & AmBush werre so effective (not saying it was down to great planning, but definitely down to great spirit, growing trust and a sense of MUTUALITY-something that the ambulance chasers of the left will never grasp)

............that these events could not be airbrushed out of existence by the SWP/IAWM as was tried with the 1300 at Shannon on Friday night (not mentioned from either Dub/Fri or Dromo/Sat IAWM platform.)

There was a relatively successful attempt on Monday by the IAWM spin doctors to claim the AmBush as an IAWM event .

These people are on to the capitalist press 24/7..spinning and claiming actions as their own (we got the same kind of shit form moderate London based professional groups when we were doing nvda in Lancashire during the East Timor Campaign....no mutuality, no help, but when we pulled off some media sexy they would put out press releases claiming the actions as their own and hoping for a response n terms of donations to their brand name organisation).

The libertarian left are going to have to address this issue (relationship to the straight media) before the next big one.

Ironic/hypocritical - as Ahern ("RBB in Waiting", when the Golden Boy eventually jumps ship for a more mainstream political career - see Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett recent conversion to the Australian Labor Party and overnight acceptance of nuclear warship visits, US Bases on Oz Soil and the War on Terror !!!!)

.... as Ahern denounced AmBush as violent on several radio programs in the lead up to the weekend (whining that those violent folks (sic) from Dublin May Day risk getting all the attention)....and don'tforget it's all about capitalist media attention and brand marketting for these boyz!

So MACBUSH was so media successful internationally (NEVER A PRIORITY FOR US)
the SWP/IAWM leadership had to back off on their initial lies and line on MACBUSH and moi.

So yes they have gone silent on immediate lies of assaults and violence that the Garda inspector with RBB & me never saw and never happened. The deployment of teenagers & women to block our march reminds one of the hiringof aborigines as security guards at S11 WEF Melbourne 2000
& the later Pine Gap demonstration. Being middle class boys they thought male or white guilt would do the trick to stop a libertarian march. That we would surrender our right to march to these passive-aggressive manipulations, wrong again boyos. if you wanna to stop people marching after they've done 2 miles- you really need to deploy water cannon in this context.

IAWM/SWP have been the first line of policing in the anti-war movement in Ireland. They put most of there energy into controlling and milking the movement, NOT RESISTING IRISH COMPLICITY ITHIS WAR. They will only stop when the capitalist media spotlight goes elsewhere (that's why Afghanistan is rarely a priority for them...because the war goes on,US soliders pass through Shannon to it but the straight media spotlight is never shone in that direction).

VICAR STREET.- yep they looked pretty shocked when the Pit Stop Ploughshares rocked up with back stage passes. And yes we were well received by the Damien Rice fans and had a great time.

As a community we decided to act within the limitations of our hosts (who didn't know we were coming!). And out of respect we didn't use the chance to publicise the events that IAWM were obviously censoring the claim that "there are 2 demonstrations in Ireland on the Bush weekend Friday night in Dublin / Saturday Morning in Dromoland (sorry 1300 folks who made it to Shannon Friday night you didn't and don't exist in the IAWM world!)

So we had the choice knowing the nature of those hosting the event - DON'T GO (like a smoker into nonsmokers house or a meat eater into a vegan abode!) or work within certain limitations. So those self-imposed limitations as guests came outta respect. for our hosts.

But man don't ever try and restrict my universal right to free expression which I have been stuggling and been getting beaten up for and arrested and doing jail time since I was 17. Don't even think about it, don't go there....until you achieve your state power and have your water cannon. then come back and give me a try.

So it looks like our Trot Trolls couldn't contain themselves here and have come out with Saturday's line on Wednesday.....stay tuned for Thursday's line.

One of the problems is the brand name Irish Anti-War MOVEMENT (the most brilliant piece of capitalist marketting)....like the Borg in Star Trek it is all consuming. It is not an organisation or an alliance. These people really believe they run and speak for the whole MOVEMENT..for any one who is anti-war in Ireland and is not stationary. They rellay have convinced themselves of this....explains the deep shock in RBB's face when I wasn't following orders and the censorship of the 1300 at Shannon on Friday (you don't exist, I don't exist.....and if it was left to these boyos 10,000 troops passing through Shannon wouldn't exist in the public mind either.

We had a debrief at the end of MACBUSH and their didn't seem to be any other alternative but to take the nonviolent confrontational action we took to get through the IAWM lines blocking MACBUSH (where was Ya Basta when you need them?) We will continue to reflect together as a community and with others on improved ways tohandle such scenarios in the future.

The SWP's role in stunting, policing and exploiting dissent in Ireland was here along time before I and the CW landed 2 years ago. I didn't come here to take them on...I have bigger fish to fry. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours!

Here's a link from a County Jail in New York where I responded to the same humiliation and authoritarianism you guys tried to serve up to me on Saturday....and these guys had State power.

by Chekov Wed Jun 30, 2004 16:46

Could Dave please explain his version of events? All we have to go on so far is Ciaron's. I wasn't there so that is all I have to go on. Dave's contribution is just schoolyard name-calling.

Calling Ciaron "a bully, liar and looney" without even bothering to say why and how is beneath contempt. You really owe him and the rest of us an explanation as to why you think he is what you call him.

by Jim Morrison - The Doors Wed Jun 30, 2004 23:19 Pere La Chiase, Paris, France

Ciaron and MacBush cast had to break on through to the other side!

by sore ears Wed Jun 30, 2004 23:34

another thing I noticed was that I could hear the PA 4 Miles from where it was. It was parked along the side of the road facing across the road. It was so loud that my ears were literally hurting. Dead Soldiers names and a very organised black bag die in were happening at the same time. They were being drowned out. Certain IAWM SC Members intensely dislike Eoin Rice and on the FP of the IAWM Site the rob him and his mates visual icon and eliminate them and make it an IAWM icon.

by dave lordan - swp Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:49 dlordan at hotmail dot com

I don't know what ciaron is like normally, but last saturday he behaved like a christian brother in dreadlocks.
He physically attacked three people
He verbally abused and threatened a number of others
He forcefully ripped a banner out of the hands of a group of young women, frightening the life out of them in the process
Subsequently when an e-mail was sent to him complaining about this he threatened to take the iawm to court for libel. How's that for radical?

All because he wanted to be at the front of thre march. Well who gave him the right to be there- God?
Nobody in the IAWM was informed that the grassroots/ambush/antiwar-ireland/whatever you were calling yourselves last saturday/ wanted to perform street theatre or anything else. If we had been informed than of course we could have made room for it and i'm sure would have enjoyed it and taken part.

The tone of ciarans contributions indicate a high degree of hostility to the organised left. This is not untypical of radical catholics.

I think cioran also belittles the huge effort put in by thousands of activists across ireland into making last weeks demos the success that they were. Again going on about how you travel the world fighting the state and how you are always getting arrested is just egomania.

Cioran goes on about censorship. He seems well able to censor his own actions.
The SWP puts out a fortnightly newspaper. We have regularly included positive and supportive reports on people like Mary Kelly, the CWM etc. We have no other publications so unfortunately for ciorans paranoid fantasies have nothing to censor. We are delighted that so many people turned out at shannon last friday night as we are at the thousands who turned out in many other places. All of teh marched will be reported on in teh next issue of our paper. I would particularly like to congratulate dominic haugh who put in a huge ammount of work, at a degree of risk given the security situation, and got hundreds of shannon residents out.

So i called Cioron a bully a liar and a loony. That's not much compared to what he was calling us last saturday. I'd say he needs to go to confession after it. But chekov is right I shouldn't drag myself down to his level and i withdraw the loony remark and apologise for it. As for the comments of insider, amused etc, i don't reply to anonymous phonecalls so i don't reply to anonymous postings. Reveal yourselves my boys, come out of the closet, whoever you are.

I think last weekend was a big step forward for the anti war movement. The negativity displayed by cioran unfortunately blinds him to the fact that tens of thousands of people of all shapes and sizes now identify with the anti war movement. They may not all share his beliefs but none of them should be subjected to physical or verbal abuse by other activists, no matter what the excuse.

by Amused Thu Jul 01, 2004 12:11

"Nobody in the IAWM was informed that the grassroots/ambush/antiwar-ireland/whatever you were calling yourselves last saturday..."

Pure comedy David. Give up the day job. I'm sure the irony will be lost on you.

by Ray Thu Jul 01, 2004 12:20

"Nobody in the IAWM was informed that the grassroots/ambush/antiwar-ireland/whatever you were calling yourselves last saturday/ wanted to perform street theatre or anything else."

1. Its been advertised on indymedia for weeks now. What do you want, a personal letter?

2. Perhaps you don't read indymedia (yeah, right), and get your anti-war news from the IAWM site. If so, complain to the people who keep deleting news about other protests from that site.

3. Get a fucking grip. Just because you call yourselves the movement, doesn't mean everyone else has to seek your permission to demonstrate, and tell you about everything they're going to do.

by outa control Thu Jul 01, 2004 14:08

//He physically attacked three people
He verbally abused and threatened a number of others
He forcefully ripped a banner out of the hands of a group of young women, frightening the life out of them in the process//

i wasn't there - didn't see it, so I cannot say...

but there were thousands of Gardai, Troops all around, Indymedia and other photographers, videographers etc all around, not to mention many regular objective people standing around PRESUMABLY would have caught something about this 'violence'

So far I have read nothing here that tells me that these accusations are anything other than politically motivated exagerations to score political points.

by A Tree Thu Jul 01, 2004 17:43 On the Road to Dromoland Castle! Saturday Morning

The MACBUSH action was designed to start a good 30 mins before the IAWM decended. So we wouldn't be associated with IAWM.

It ended up starting more than 30 mins earlier than SWP arrival.

I remember Ciaran informing those in the car park that their would be a bigger group coming to do their own march from Clare Castle who had obviously been held up. He informed the car park crowd that MACBUSH had no deal with the police, unlike the IAWM. And that they could take the street with MACBUSh or wait for the other buses from Dublin.

Lordan and company did not get off at Clare Castle and do their advertised marched. They sped by us in their buses and blocked our march. We were never part of their march. As has been said they were denying our civil rights to march to Dromoland.

Ciaran and the Catholic Workers are facing serious charges and serious prison time for seriously disrupting the U.S. war effort at Shanon. Slander by the NGO spokesman when their action happened...the lie that Catholic Worker "assaulted and hospitalised a Garda" ...rejected by the Gardai themselves...may be cheap political point scoring for for the hobbyists of the left...but may mean serious prison time for these people.

The IAWM/SWP should lay off them.

A version of this recent slander concerning Saturday has been produced in the Phoenix today (page 5). I advise the Catholic Worker to take legal advice.

by Eagle Eye Thu Jul 01, 2004 18:07

Wow!

by Egomaniac watch Thu Jul 01, 2004 18:28

Lordan calls those who call other people agents, egomaniacs. Lordan did this in the Teachers club in January at an IAWM assembly.
LORDAN - YOU ARE AN EGOMANIAC!!

by Curious Thu Jul 01, 2004 18:29

How do you do that then? The picture in the comment, like?

by I saw it too - Anonymous coward Thu Jul 01, 2004 18:44

I was standing right at the front of the march and saw Cioran strike out at number of protesters. Surely he could have been a little more polite at least.

Lots of people go thru a lot to fight the system , just like Ciaran keeps telling us he does. Nobody has the right to physically assault other protestors. And if people are into peaceful protest and not into direct action they shouldn't be subjected to abuse.
Cioran was like a mad thing and thats the truth. the people from Ennis who had spent weeks building for the demo in dromoland were really sickened by it.

Next time there has to be co-operation or complete seperation.

by JJ - sp Thu Jul 01, 2004 18:47

Ha, ha, ha! I can already see the headline in the Socialist Worker: '1,300 residents march in Shannon on Friday night - Anti-War Ireland do NOT exist'

Get a grip Dave and stop trying to kiss Dominic Haugh and the Socialist Party's ass. The SP aren't that easily manipulated. Haugh wasn't the only SP person to attend the AWI demo - Cllr Mick Barry was there too, as were lots of rank-and-filers. And Jan O'Sullivan TD spoke for the Labour Party who came in big numbers from Limerick.

No doubt the SWP are trying to claim the Friday night demo too. Ha, ha, ha!

by supporter Thu Jul 01, 2004 19:01

im a supporter of Ciaron et cw5 but he can be a bit impulsive and aggressive, im sure he admit that himself, and he also an imposing presence, but I have to get a few more balanced desrciptions before I'd believe he struck out at numerous people that day.

by toby - cw, usa Thu Jul 01, 2004 19:12

i know ciaron when he was here before and after his jail time. if you don't want him, we'll have him back.

the guy gets his life threatened on friday night. his civil rights denied on saturday morning...of course he's going to be a mite upset.

check the photo - of course he's scary, he's a dead motherfucking soldier, with a death face and blood

if you have anything to do with australians you know they are direct and abrupt...i've known of ciaron for years and knew him when he was here,obnoxious pain in the ass yes, violent no. i've never known of any report where he has struck anyone

by Dave X Thu Jul 01, 2004 19:18

Note the same misspelling that Dave Lordan used for Ciaron's name. Now, it could be coincidence but I suspect that Monsieur Lordan is posting anonymous support of himself.

What _exactly_ happened with the "3 young women" having the "banner ripped out of their hands"?

Were they standing in the way of the MACBUSH people and physically stopping the MACBUSHies from passing them?

Come on, come clean with the details Dave Lordan. There's a good deal written here, but for an outsider it's hard to know what happened. (Same goes for your Ciaron).

Also Dave Lordan, is it true that the SWP/IAWM buses went to place themselves AHEAD of the Macbush march?

Was there a discussion about whether or not to do this? What was said at this discussion?

------------------------------------------------------

Dave is right
by I saw it too - Anonymous coward Thursday, Jul 1 2004, 5:44pm

I was standing right at the front of the march and saw Cioran strike out at number of protesters. Surely he could have been a little more polite at least.

Lots of people go thru a lot to fight the system , just like Ciaran keeps telling us he does. Nobody has the right to physically assault other protestors. And if people are into peaceful protest and not into direct action they shouldn't be subjected to abuse.
Cioran was like a mad thing and thats the truth. the people from Ennis who had spent weeks building for the demo in dromoland were really sickened by it.

Next time there has to be co-operation or complete seperation.

by FED UP! Thu Jul 01, 2004 21:25

The comment about Australians being abrupt is an immature generalization of an entire nation of people. I don't know Ciaron. However, most Australians I've met from a variety of ethinic/class backgrounds have not been abrupt. If anything (just to generalize) most have been been laid back. The comment about abrupt Australians is an unjust cultural opinion/ stereotype that is not based in fact. Could people present at the Mac Bush event provide some concrete facts of what took place? If a confrontation between Ciaron and the IAWM actually took place, could witnesses specify details (i.e. Who were the women with a banner supposedly ripped from their hands? What was on the banner? Who was suppossedly assaulted by whom? How? When? etc.) Only clear answers to these questions are relevant. So far this site sounds like 10 year old boys fighting on a playground. Most of us have more to do than stand in the middle of kiddie fights. State the facts or battle between yourselves. Dublin is full of playgrounds.

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker Fri Jul 02, 2004 03:31

Our legal advice has been to give this debate a rest on this medium until we settle the slander that appeared in the Phoenix today.

We have also received advice to steer clear of demonstrations while we await trial. So we take it as informed advice. As the war on Iraq and Irish complicity grinds on with minimal resistance from this Ireland.

The slanderous reference appears in the "Affairs of the Nation" section on Page 5 of The Phoenix July 2 2004.

An otherwise interesting analysis of IAWM ends with the following fiction......

"To add to the confusion, the IAWM organised another demo - at Dromoland Castle where Bush was staying - the day after, leading to demo fatigue by all concerned. At one point, PANA chairman Roger Cole, received a whack of a baton on the head; this chastisement was delivered , not by a red neck garda from Dame Street Blues but a member of the Catholic Worker Movement who became enraged at Cole's organisational approach to the demo"

This is slander of the Catholic Worker Movement and we'd like a retraction from The Phoenix.

*A phone call to Roger Cole today reveals there was NO "whack" NO baton and NO ASSAULT ON HIS HEAD.

**Although Saturday RTE radio & tv reports a 300 strong Catholic Worker march quite seperate from a larger IAWM march both heading in the direction of Dromoland Castle - it is doubtful that those identifying as Catholic Workers in this country would register in the double figures. The other ones that do identify were at the time of the MacBush procession to Dromoland Castle were either at the peace camp (2), completing an all night vigil at the U.S. Embassy (Dublin), away at a wedding.

There wer two of us Martin fomr the Sligo CW (of Shannon Good Friday potato planting fame) and my good self. I did not realise Roger Cole was on Drmoland Rd. until Iread it in The Phoenix today!

There is of course many more who consider themselves as friends of the Dublin & Sligo Catholic Worker communities or who identify with the tradition orwho have lived with CW communities in the U.S. in the past. Some of these were involved in the MacBush nonviolent action.

**We look forward to a retraction form The Phoenix.

***Such slander, predicted in the scriptures, is par for the course when one deciides to explore radical discipleship. However, such slander is significant as 5 Catholic Workers await trial on serious charges for serious nonviolent disarmament of the U.S. war machine at Shannon last year.

****Such slander is made more serious when it his has been preceeded by the moderate peace movements repition of the slander by 2 Government ministers who claimedf following the Feb 2003 Ploughshares action "that a member of the Garda was assaulted and hospitalised in the course of the action by members of the pacifist Catholic Worker movement".

Neither the slander by the two government ministers and the repition of it on broadcast radio by a spokesman of the NGO Peace Alliance has been publicly retracted. Even though these claims were rejected by the Garda Press Officer who issued a statement by 12 noon on the day of the disarmament that stated "no member of the Garda was assaulted or hospitalised during the events at Shannon this morning".

******It seems we have a case with the IAWM of an ability to not see things that DID happen (1300 people gathering at Shannon on the Friday night in protest at Bush's arrival) and see things that DIDN'T happen (physical assaults on the road to Dromoland Castle.

What happened on the road to Dromoland Castle was a failed attempt by the IAWM to stop the MacBush nonviolent direct action theatre.

They attempted this by abandoning their march from Clare Castle to Dromoland. Accelarating past the MacBush procession already underway and that had covered several miles already.

They then blocked the road so the MacBush theater & props (25 trees with names of slain Iraqi children, their ages & the menas the U.S. military employed to kill them) could not pass.

My repsonse as the facilitator of the theatre actiion was as follows...

- to work my way through the IAWM block and ask those in front holding a banner blocking the theatre group, trees and drummers "to show some respect and make way for the theatre and the people who had been walking 3 miles)". I received no verbal response from those trying to block the MacBush procession. Where I come from this is refered to as "blanking" (it is commonly a passive agressive preference of the middle classes pretending someone does not exist and is considered an effective means of humilition).

I then removed the inanimate object (the banner) blocking the MacBush procession and employed theatrical techniques (I was dressed as a dead U.S. soldier, white death face paint and fake blood) and ordered those blocking the MacBush procession & denying our civil rights to "Move, Now!" They seemed to begin to acknowledge my existence and moved, allowing the drums & trees to pass.

I then approached RBB who seemed to have organised the blocking of our procession and asked him if he wanted to negotiate. He replied that he wasn't going to talk to me (attempting to blank me) and tried to avoid eye contact something in my experience he often has trouble making. He started looking away and moving away and trying to get his march back in front of the MacBush procession.

I then got in his face and siad "Richard this is what we plan to do! We are going to continue our march up to police lines and do 10 minutes of street theatre!"

He replied, to effect, "We have made the arrangements with the Garda" - implying there was only one march on Dromoland Rd. that day and it was his (just as there had been only one significant demo in Ireland last night and it wasn't the one at Shaannon!).

I replied "Richard "We don't make deals with cops on issues of free speech. Free speech is a universal right that is only devalued when you make deals with cops!"

I said "Richard give us 10 minutes to do our theatre and you will control the rest of the day!"

He smugly replied "Our amplification equipment is set up and we are going to start immediately!" Implying (I felt) that he was going to blow us away with his superior audio equipment just has he had tried to do with his superior technological means of transportation (abandoning his march from Clare Castle and speeding past us in his buses)!

I replied, "I'd watch the plugs on your equipment Richy, there the first thiings that'll go!" Having experienced censorship through volume in the free speech campaign in Brisbane Mall in '82 (see related link) I have no problems pulling the plug on muzac and sound designed to drown out free speech!"

RBB started to look worried and confused. A good look on any bureaucrats face for a resister. (Ironically, really because the SWP usually thrives on confusion offering a one-size-fits -all solution in the midst of it all. They had hoped the MacBush procession would be confusded and dissipate into the bussed in crowd when we reached their block.

I then said to RBB "Your a pussycat Richy, your a fuckin'moderate!"
He replied "You're a Goddist!"
When dealling with the authoritarian left it is best to keep their leadership in a confused state, because self activity & initiative at the grassroots level is never a strong point.

Meanwhile members of the international straight press rushed up to record the conflict. This was Richy's weak point, his meda image and he went into retreat. (Ironic, as this would prove to be Ahern & Bush's weak point delaying the Bush departure as they could not abandon the press blockaded by the Ambush crew later in the day!) Further irony as MacBush was to capture the straight international media (we had never prioritised) as we marched past the SWP/IAWM sound truck (plugs left in tact) right up to Garda lines (the press were grouped there waiting for a ruck!")
and unleasehed MACBUSH.

Ahhhhh MacBush ...... our priority all along ....to put on a show!!!!!

Media was never a priority. We did not try to hijack 300 folks waiting in the Clare Castle car park who we had informed the bigger demo wa ni its way, we hadn't made an arrangement with the cops and the choice was there's to come with us or wait.

Other clarifications
The Middle Class thang....At the risk of sending like a liberal "Some of my best friends are middle clas!" Not a problem...it's just that there are cultural differnces.

Members of the Anglo-Irish middle class (the SWP is very much an English franchise taking their orders and cues from London HQ....Dublin definitely has the pronounced class thang a lot worse than Australia).view Australians as vulgar. They confuse our vulgarity with violence. There was no violence on the Dromoland..............the middle class bureaucrats had their sensibiliteis stressed was about the limit of it. I did not lay a hand on RBB or anyone else.

I debriefed with the MacBush crew at the end of the day and no-one had a problem with my behavior. No one could come up with any other way to assert our civil right being denied by SWP/IAWM. I will continue to debrief with my live in community and those who were there on the day and are serious about nonviolent reistance to irish complicity inthe U.S. war on Iraq. I will run the scenario past Star Hawk this weekend and see if she has any suggestion on overcoming the censorship of libertarians by the authoritarian and moderate left.

I will always defend everyone's right to free expression (as I did the following day defending a racist speaker at Speakers Corner form a Garda!).

I will use theatrical tactics to get out of oppressive and violent situations (as I did the previous day with the psycho guy on the motorbike and the folowing day when I was threatened by man in temple Bar "There are 2 cops behind you! and legging it on that occasion!).

I have been dealing with this kind of grief from the authoritarian left and moderate left during my 25 years of activism. The state stabs you in the front these people (the aspring state) will atways stab you in the back!

Congratulations toall who unleashed MACBUSH...it rocked. Solidarity with Kitty our original Lady MacBeth facing the courts. The show of support will go on with you in what lies ahead!

by moonwolf Fri Jul 02, 2004 04:40

On reading all this stuff some thoughts occur to me:

The SWP seem afraid to engage in open debate.

The SWP control the IAWP.

The State don't want hassle at Shannon U.S airbase.

The SWP don't want protest at Shannon.

Not unlike mothership in Britain our local SWP freedom fighters are operating to a State agenda because they are heavily infiltrated by State Security.

All those placards with SWP on them which are given out to NON SWP members at demos cost money.

Who supplies that money?

Finally at the end of the day the SWP are dependant on all those Brit organisers!
Listen out at any gathering of SWP's and it's all oh so very English sounding......sure I mean "Richard Boyd - Barret "now theres an Irish Working Class name if I ever Heard One!

by Ciaron (pre dread/afro daze!) - Brisbane Catholic Worker ('82-'89)n Now Dublin Catholic Worker Fri Jul 02, 2004 08:00 087 918 4552

The link is a pamphlet I wrote 20 years ago about the struggles for free speech and the righ to speak and march in my home town.

This might explain why these issues are near and dear to me, because I had to struggle for them.

It also indicates that I have been dealing with the machinations of the authoritarian left for over 2 decades - so the stunts pulled by the SWP on the Dromoland Rd. are nothing new to me.

The booklet and the campaign it describes is also a testament to the value of street theatre in political struggel. It should indicate why I think Speakers Corner in Temple Bar is worth maintaining and defending

by Ciaron Fri Jul 02, 2004 08:11

Check the link for the walkin', talkin', schemin' lyin' George W

by Ronan Fri Jul 02, 2004 09:08

I am used to the SWP, but this is sick. Richard Boyd Barrett & co. are arrogant bullies with an unquenchable thirst for power. I am sorry for the honest people in their organisations.

by Eoin Dubsky Fri Jul 02, 2004 14:56

It sounds and looks from the photos above and elsewhere on the internet like the MacBush and AmBush protests were great. The demo in Dublin was large enough too* (note: In the sense that I think size doesn't matter really at all if all you do is walk up and down as pre-arranged with police... It was colourful and noisy anyway and that's good for something surely).
Could anyone from the Stop Bus Campaign, the Irish Anti War Movement or the Socialist Workers Party who may know, please clarify a few things still puzzling me after 54 comments above:

1. Is it true that the SBC, IAWM or SWP made a deal with the police for the demonstration?

2. Is it true that the SBC, IAWM or SWP coach(es) drove on, positioning themselves ahead of the other protesters who were on foot?

3. Is it true that the SBC, IAWM or SWP tried to block the other protesters, so the protest could proceed as they had hoped it would?

I wasn't there myself, and I'm not a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, the SWP, the IAWM or the SBC. I recall RTE slandering the Pitstop Ploughshares with similar stuff about violence, and it was utter bullshit then as it appears to be again. The Pitstop crew would be facing assault charges if there were even the slightest hint of truth to the accusation. I think I was one of the earlier nvda protesters at Shannon to be slandered in that way by Cathy Halloran, Mid West Correspondent following my first arrest there back in December 2001. It can lessen or even neutralise the message of nonviolence which these actions embody, which is a bummer if you've put a lot of work into getting it right, and expect to go before a court to explain the action again. Cathy that time even took the trouble to rubbish even the protesters who didn't get arrested that day at Shannon by pretending that the US soldiers we were protesting against were on Christmas home leave from bases in Germany (wearing desert camouflage for Xmas parties I guess?).

In fairness to Ms Halloran though, she doesn't disguise the fact that she works for the state media. That's her job. I'm interested to discover the answers to my queries above from people who are privy to the decisions of the SBC, IAWM or SWP campaign organisers. It will make it easier then to understand what was going on when the stand-off occurred on Saturday last.

by R. Isible Fri Jul 02, 2004 19:54

and adding another for Dave Lordan:

* You claim that there was an assault committed by Ciaron O'Reilly on 3 people-- please supply further details.

This is a pretty serious allegation especially as it occurs in the context of the Catholic Worker 5 being on trial for praying in front of the US warplane.

They've already been accused once of "assaulting a Garda" ( a charge denied and contested by the Gardai themselves ) because the unfortunate wee fella had a panic attack when he saw them in the hanger.

This lie was promulgated by the newspapers, radio, television and the government and then denied by the Gardai.

Now we have you claiming that Ciarion assaulted three people and the Phoneix apparently claiming that Roger Cole was assaulted.

Consider what you are doing and what you have done very carefully.

It is now incumbent upon you, and the organisation under whose name you have posted to clarify these allegations:

QUOTE: "What I saw by dave lordan - swp Thursday, Jul 1 2004, 10:49am dlordan@hotmail.com

I don't know what ciaron is like normally, but last saturday he behaved like a christian brother in dreadlocks. He physically attacked three people"

by BlackPope - Cognitive 5th Column Mon Jul 05, 2004 23:10

On final approach to Dromoland @ 10am on the Sat in question in the PopeMobile with a few Cardinal Sinners for company I was stopped by a yellow-jacketed member of a lackey political army (Gardai) just south of Clarecastle and informed that "only the OFFICIAL PROTEST vehicles can proceed beyond this point."

My hurled commandment of "Get thee behind me, Satan!" was met with the blank look of satisfaction preferred by a pig in shit. So I tried to display some flexibility - "Right, I'm *officially* telling you now to 'get thee behind me, Satan!'"

Nothing. My Catholic mind tricks wern't working on this mummy - either he's a Mormon or a stinking deal had been struck, or he just had no mind to begin with! Hummm.

Thinking back to the previous Monday, at a public AntiWar / StopBush meeting in Mullingar, when the IAWM steering committee rep who spoke there (Mike O'Brien) announced the plan to enter negociations with the cops the next day he was asked what exactly the IAWM negociating position was, what tactics would be recommended to members to deal with Garda harassment (anyone remember to glorious episode of thumb-tack extraction from banners en route to SNN Dec 6th 2003?) etc, the answer delivered haltingly was "Eh, that we want to have a peaceful demonstration with no violence at all" - and swiftly on to the next question.

Some might call that not exactly a strong hand. In poker you can win by bluffing even with a crap hand - but you need a tight face - this option did not seem to have been explored. Other groups were invited to 'facilitation' meetings by the Pigs but unanimously told them to go take a flying fµ€k at the moon. Therefore their identities, plans and expected numerical strength were not gifted to the Bacon in advance.

Could the main subjects for discussion at the IAWM-Pork pow-wow possibly have been as follows:

Scenario - In a blast-proof bunker deep in the bowels of Portloise Prison, on Tuesday. A terrified figure is taped to a chair in the middle of the bare concrete floor. He whimpers softly as he strains to follow the momements of a burly uniformed thug (who wishes to remain nameless but is Superdisinfectant John Kerin) pacing threateningly just out of sight behind his back. A solitary shaded lightbulb swings gently above his head, throwing the odd photon or two on the electric cattle-prod lying on the table. A gong is solemnly bonged 3 times somewhere off-stage and THE NEGOCIATOR launches into his opening gambit ....

RBB: Ehm, we just want it totally peaceful and non-violent and therefore are willing to trade for petty privileges over mutual enemies. (If you think these two propositions are unrelated then Fµ€K OFF you subversive)

PIG: Great, because othewise we had planned to beat you and cut off your pocket-money for a fortnight. And nobody wants to see that happen, do they?

RBB: No! Please, stop this violence! Look, if you'll let us get our eardrum bustin' soundtruck up to the front we will do a 'Hillsborough Memorial' and wind it up after an hour of format-driven tranquility.

PIG: Not enough - we need information on the movements of certain practitioners of eviltude who would disrupt our cosy arrangement, and means to control them if they try anything!

RBB: Yes sir, look, these photos are the ones you want. You'll be doin' us all a favour if you fake these tuckers out! But don't worry, our own yellow-jackets (Securitatty) will save you the bother - they are tasked to ensure no drug-crazed anarcho fuhh-quit will get within throwing distance of our beautiful TV cameras.

PIG: Excellent. For being such a good little puppy I'm authorised to chuck you this bone of zero (in numerals, 0) value now, to fill the vacuum in your soul crying out for the FEELING (no matter how misguided) that you are important, loved and appreciated - you'se can drive your buses a bit past the place where others are stopped. Howdcha like that?

RBB: Yummy! Tee hee hee - that will go to prove how we are the biggest and the most importantest!! (creams his togs with excitement at the prospect)

---- Curtain of History falls ----


PS: As to the cracks later found in somebody's skull, I'd put that down to UFO's or low-flying monkey-cages.

by Scott - London Catholic Worker Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:59

London Catholic Worker in Support of Pitstop Plowshares
Irish Embassy - London

Noel (meaning Peace ironically enough) Kilkenny met me at the door to the Irish Embassy in London upon my arrival. I had noticed that the security measures at the embassy had far surpassed their necessity, unless of course global terrorism was also lurking at the door. This measure is, I commented, a direct result of Bush Policy.

Later others arrived to vigil, about six in all. Two of us, Zelda and I (Scott), were invited in to speak with Noel who was the deputy to the Ambassador, Two messages were conveyed on that occasion. The first was that the Irish Government was in breach of it's own constitution which promises that the government is to yield itself to the guidance of the Holy Trinity. We made it clear that the will of God is diametrically opposed to the aiding and abetting of U.S. Military personnel and equipment on transit to the destruction of Iraq and more importantly it's people. Secondly, we know that the Pitstop Plowshares disarmament of a U.S. transport plane at Shannon Airport is upholding the Irish constitution and that the Pitstop 5 should therefore be exonerated and acquitted.

Noel, very diplomatically, accepted our statements, had them recorded and said that they would be passed on to the Irish Government. But, not before trying to justify the government position, the Aviation Authority position and Shannon Airports position. Hence, what became clear to us both was that "money is indeed the root of all evil". Irish jobs depend on cooperation with American international policy. Even Shannon Airport, it was suggested by Noel, received only the "standard rate" for landing aircraft on it's premises. I'd like to see the evidence!

Ah, the last point we made was that George W. Bush was breaching international law and should not be allowed to enter Irish territory! For on that very weekend George W. and his multi-million dollar entourage entered that sacred land. May God's peace and not the likes of Noels be upon it. By the way if you would like to email Noel - Be Diplomatic -noel.kilkenny@iveagh.irlgov.ie


All at the London Catholic Worker

by From Todd - University of Berkely, California Mon Dec 31, 2007 15:00

An article entitled “George W. Bush’s ‘Three Shakespeares’: Macbeth, Macbush, and the Theater of War” will include photos from this demonstration and will appear in the journal The Shakespeare Bulletin in Fall ‘08. This article is part of a larger dissertation chapter.