Current tensions across the globe prove nuclear escalation “is not a relic of the Cold War but an increasing, clear and present danger”, a commemoration event of the Hiroshima bombing has heard.
About 80 people attended an event in Merrion Square Park on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary since the first atomic bomb was used as a weapon.
More than 140,000 people died as a result of the US attack on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, up to 80,000 of whom perished instantly, towards the end of the second World War.
A further 70,000 people were killed in the city of Nagasaki, also Japan, after a another US bombing three days later. This was the last time an atomic bomb was used in warfare.
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Those vehemently opposed to nuclear weapons stood alongside diplomats from several countries such as Ukraine, Austria, Egypt and New Zealand to pay tribute to those affected by the bombings.
Speaking under a cherry blossom tree planted by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament 45 years ago, Norimasa Yoshida, charge d’affaires at the Japanese embassy in Ireland, said: “We are capable of both incredible unity and profound stupidity.
“Eighty years may seem to someone a very long time. Indeed, it is always with a great sense of relief that I say no nuclear weapons have been used in war since those fatal days in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Humanity must “never let that relief become complacency”, he said.
“In this time of unprecedented conflict, it remains as important as ever to continue the fight against nuclear proliferation and for world peace.”
[ ‘Such a cruel sight’: A visit to Hiroshima lives long in the memory ]
Testimonies of survivors detailing how loved ones, friends and their “beloved city was obliterated” were read out.
Among them was that of Thurlow Setsuko (93), who recalled her four-year-old nephew’s body being “transformed” in the immediate aftermath of the bomb on Hiroshima.
“He kept begging for water in a faint voice until his death released him from agony,” her testimony read.
Dr David Hutchinson-Edgar, chair of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which organised Wednesday’s commemoration, said it was a “sombre event every year”.
“I think this year in particular the testimony of the survivors is so much more meaningful in light of the events going on in the world today, with the innocent suffering of children and civilians in Gaza, in Sudan, in other parts of the world,” he said.
Adi Roche, vice-president of Irish CND and chief executive of Chernobyl Children International, who was the keynote speaker at the commemoration, said survivors in Hiroshima endured a “living hell” on August 6th, 1945.
While commemorative events such as this remembered the lives lost, these also acted as a warning, she said, citing recent attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities as an example of a “very real danger”.
“Current tensions around the globe show us that nuclear escalation is not a relic of the Cold War but an increasing, clear and present danger,” Ms Roche said.
“I see a real trivialisation of the use of nuclear weapons and it’s creeping into the language of world leaders today. We need to stop that and we need to take stock of where this is leading us.”
