IRELAND: Peace groups which had been divided over the recent anti-war protest at Shannon Airport have agreed a common strategy for action, including a call for a 10- minute work stoppage in the event of an outbreak of war in Iraq.
The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM), the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) and the Non-Governmental Organisation Peace Alliance previously organised the February 15th anti-war protest in Dublin which drew an estimated attendance of at least 100,000 people.
However, the groups parted company on the advisability of a protest at Shannon last Saturday against the use of airport facilities by the US military. PANA and the NGO Peace Alliance opposed the IAWM's plans for a protest because it coincided with a proposed "mass trespass" by a militant group called the Grassroots Network Against War. The IAWM went ahead with its march at Shannon, which drew a comparatively modest attendance of about 1200 people.
At a meeting in Dublin on Tuesday night, the three groups agreed on final plans for a three-pronged response to the formal beginning of war in Iraq.
The three elements are: 1) a protest at 6 p.m. that evening at the US embassy in Dublin as well as cities and towns throughout the State; 2) a countrywide stoppage of 10 minutes at noon the following day; 3) a protest march in Dublin and regional centres the following Saturday.
Commenting on the proposed stoppage, Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the IAWM said: "We are hoping to bring the whole country to a standstill for 10 minutes."
Mr Roger Cole of PANA said people were being asked to stop whatever they were doing to show their opposition to the war, and it would be like "a 10-minute version of the Angelus".
Mr Cole was chief steward on the February 15th march and will fulfil the same role in the Saturday protest after an outbreak of war.
He said the three groups were committed to "exclusively peaceful and democratic means of protest".
In the short term, protests are being planned for International Women's Day on Saturday.
The IAWM is holding demonstrations in a number of locations, including Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Galway, Dundalk, Mullingar, Dingle, Tullamore and Westport.
A group called Global Women's Strike is organising an anti-war protest at Shannon at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday.