[van-announce] Fw: Any chance for a soildarity vigil at irish Embassy/Consul in Vancouver this Fri

Sun Jun 20 09:43:11 PDT 2004

Dear Friends,

    I have rec'd the following call (see below) from Ciaron O'Reilly of Pitstop Ploughshares. These are the anti-war activists who actually went into Shannon Airport and disabled a US warplane, and did it on the grounds of defending the Irish Constitution which spells out its neutrality as well as in the name of the world's peoples opposed to aggression and war . Shannon was a big US air leap off point to Iraq just as Gander Airport in Newfoundland  a fact not well known in the Canadian Peace Movement.
    I have told Ciaron as part of the Irish Diaspora I would be there at the Irish Consulate on Friday June 25th at 12 noon at 1385 West 8th Avenue (if they've moved I'll find out and let you know asap).
    This is a good opportunity for Canadian peace activists, anti-imperialists etc. to show concrete support for our brothers and sisters in Ireland who have undertaken an audacious, courageous and powerfully symbolic action to arouse the conscience of the Irish and world's peoples about the unacceptability of US imperialists using one's country as a staging base to launch brutal wars of aggression.
    Please join me in a Vigil to Support the Irish Ploughshares activists as they battle in the Irish Courts to defend their right to sabotage US warplanes violating the Irish Constitution, world peace, Iraqi sovereignty and Irish dignity!  

                        When:  Friday, June 25, 2004  12:00 noon
                        Where:  Irish Consulate, 1385 W. 8th Avenue

Bring your own hand made signs!  Let  me know by return e-mail if you think you can join with me!

Best wishes,

Charles Boylan

p.s. if organizations like Stopwar.ca, MAWO, Filipino Youth, any activist organization wants to join in or endorse the more the better!!
    I'm specifically asking the Stopwar.ca  steering committee to assist in this by endorsing a picket at the Consulate as Ciaron has requested, and forwarding the appeal to its membership list.  

pps.  For those in Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal who receive this notice perhaps something can be organized or is being organized at the Irish Embassy or Consulates in your area.  

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ciaron O'Reilly 
To: charles_boylan at telus.net 
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 6:13 AM
Subject: Any chance for a soildarity vigil at irish Embassy/Consul in Vancouver this Fri 

Dear Charles,

Do you know anyone that would consider doing a solidarity vigil at the Irish Embassy/Consulate in Vancouveron on June 25th(when Bush lands at AShannon) or Sat. June 26th. (when he meets at Dromoland Castle). We had one last year (see link below), but the woman is back in Ireland. 

A solo vigil for an hour would be fine confronting Ireland with it's role in the ongoing war on Iraq.

We have vigils confrimed for DC, London, Chicago at present. Send me a piostal address asap and I will post a Shannn poster thatcan be used.

One Love

A Call for International "Demiliatrise Shannon Airport" Vigils at Irish Embassies - June 25th./26th. 
by Ciaron - Pitstop Ploughshares 
pitstoploughshares at hotmail.com address: 83 Corrib Rd. Kimmage Dublin, Ireland D6

 phone: + 353 1 492 6100

Cut, Paste & Send to Your Friends Internationally! 

  REQUEST - 
  We are asking you to hold a peace vigil at the Irish Embassy, Consulate or a site of significance in your town or city on June 25th. or 26th.
VIGIL DEMAND 

The international vigils will be demanding the Irish Government withdraw Shannon Airport's provision of facilities to the U.S. military. The Irish government has transformed the civilian airport into the major pit stop for the U.S. war machine's invasion, occupation and plunder of Iraq. According to official figures, 125,855 U.S. troops have travelled via Shannn to the Middle East last year. For the last 18 months, an average of 10,000 U.S. troops have used Shannon as a transit centre to the Middle East.

WHY JUNE 25TH. OR 26TH.

On the evening of June 25th. George W Bush will be landing at Shannon Airport, County Clare. He is in Ireland for the latest EU (European Union) - U.S. summit to be held at Dromoland Castle on June 26th. Also present at Dromoland Castle will be the representatives of EU states involved in the war - Italy, the UK and Poland. On June 26th. Bush will leave through Shannon to fly to Turkey for a NATO summit.

NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE TO IRELAND'S ROLE IN THE U.S/U.K. WAR ON IRAQ

Also at Shannon on June 25th. & at the Dromoland Castle on the 26th. will be the activist Irish peace movement (www.antiwarireland.org www.ambush2004.org). In a recent public opinion poll, 67% of Irish people oppose Bush's visit to Ireland. Shannon Airport has been the site of effective nonviolent resistance to the U.S./U.K war on Iraq. 

Two nonviolent disarmament actions by Mary Kelly (www.freewebs.com/mary_kelly/) and the Catholic Worker Pit Stop Ploughshares (www.ploughsharesireland.org) in Jan/Feb 2003 led to 3 private U.S. companies transporting U.S. troops to vacate Ireland during the lead up to U.S. invasion of Iraq. The U.S. Navy war plane en route to the war had to turn around and head back to Ft. Worth, Texas. 

Other Irish peace activists arrested during nonviolent blockade and trespass actions at Shannn Airport have also been barred from Coutny Clare. Meanwhile, Donal Rumsfield has lead pro-war rallies of U.S troops within the confines of the airport. The trial of Mary Kelly begins on June 15th in Kilrush, County Clare. The Pit Stop Ploughshares await trial in Dublin, they all face a maximum of ten years imprisonment if convicted.

VIGILS AT IRISH EMBASSIES/ June 2003

Last June their were solidarity peace vigils at Irish Embassies/ Consulates & sites of significance in Houston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Vancouver, Bishop Romero's tomb/El salvador, Dili/East Timor, Sydney, Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Berlin, France, Amsterdam, Bulgaria, Brussels, Ghotenburg, London, Glasgow, rural Wales, Belfast, Dublin as the Pit Stop Ploughshares face court in County Clare. 

Check the following link for reports and photos of those vigils
http://www.geocities.com/pwdyson/july24/index.html

FEEDBACK

If you are going to do a vigil 
-Email pitstopploughshares at hotmail.com asap - we will link you up with others from your town who are considering a vigil on June 25th/26th. 

-Send a postal address asap and we will send you a Demilitarise Shannon poster that can be held at embassies etc. around the world. 

-Be sure to take a photo of the vigil and write a report which we can share with the peace movement here in Ireland. 

-Consider writing a letter of protest to hand in at your Irish Embassy or Consulate. International pressure will do the world of good for the Irish government.

http://www.geocities.com/pwdyson/july24/index.html

 Ciaron O'Reilly

www.ploughsharesireland.org

Mobile/cell +353 (0)87 918 4552

"The poor tells us who we are,
The prophets tell us who we could be,
So we hide the poor,
And kill the prophets" - Phil Berrigan

Ciaron O'Reilly

www.ploughsharesireland.org

Mobile/cell +353 (0)87 918 4552

"The poor tells us who we are,
The prophets tell us who we could be,
So we hide the poor,
And kill the prophets" - Phil Berrigan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protect your inbox from harmful viruses with new ninemsn Premium. Click here 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/van-announce/attachments/20040620/f988ee18/attachment.html>