Names of dead children read out at Shannon Airport peace rally

– Shannonwatch says Ireland “must not be complicit in the killing of more innocent civilians”

Speakers included Shannon campaigner Edward Horgan, civil rights campaigner and community worker (retired) Bernadette McAliskey, Catherine Connolly TD, and academics and activists.

Shanonwatch, which called the rally, said the gathering marked “more than two decades of weekly US military flights through the airport and Ireland’s involvement in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East without the knowledge or support of the majority of Irish people”.

Normally, monthly rallies are held and gardaí on duty remarked that this was the greatest number of people they had seen protesting there in some years.

Independent TD, Catherine Connolly, who serves as Leas-Cheann Comhairle in the Dáil, in her speech condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as “inhumane and against international law and unconscionable” and called attention to “the occupation and apartheid that Israel has carried out on the Palestinian people”.

“It’s essential to continue to protest and make our voices heard,” she said. “Today, there was a good turnout. Hopefully, it gets bigger. I believe people in Ireland understand what’s happening and we need to make our voices heard.”

“People don’t realise the power that they have. Their voices matter,” she added.

COMPLICIT

Shannonwatch said the peace rally had “one simple message for the Irish government – that Ireland cannot and must not be complicit in the killing of more innocent civilians.” It called on the Government to ensure the airport is “not being used to provide US support for the war crimes being committed by Israel.”

“Since repeated calls for inspections of US military planes have been ignored, the only way to be sure this is not happening is to stop the US military use of the airport as a matter of urgency,” it said.

At the rally, the names and ages of children killed due to wars in the Middle East over the past two decades were read out. This included Palestinian and Israeli children killed since 7th October 2023, and in particular those being killed indiscriminately in Gaza. Children killed in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria were also remembered.

Shannonwatch said, “US military use of Shannon Airport may have been a contributory factor in the deaths of some of these children.”

In that light, Bernadette McAliskey called on all present “to pledge ourselves to protect the children of the world as if we had given birth to them ourselves”.

CROMWELL

She linked “the punishment and The Nakba of the Palestinians” to what the Irish experienced under British rule, saying: “The attempt to drive Palestinians, as one Israeli minister said recently, to the desert or Ireland – reminded me of Oliver Cromwell inviting the people of this nation to flee to the barren lands of Connacht or go to hell.”

We have an historic link with oppression, she said. She urged people who have mixed feelings about campaigning for peace – including community and youth workers – to ask themselves what do they stand for.

The peace rally also called for the ending of human rights abuses and war crimes in all conflicts including in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Armenia, Sudan, Congo, Myanmar and elsewhere. It said the Irish Government is obliged by Article 29 of the constitution to work towards promoting international peace and justice.

The airport was the scene of large-scale protests during the US wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Civil society action in response to the attacks by Israel on Gaza and the West Bank, which many call “a genocidal war”, include an open letter calling for peace which you can read here. It has been signed by close to 200 groups and organisations.

Photos by Tony Grehan. Video by Allen Meagher.

If you’re afraid to speak out now, you will fail your community – Bernadette McAliskey