Sinn Fein and the Labour Party bow to media hysteria

["John O'Neill" <johnfergaloneill@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Sinn Fein and the Labour Party bow to media hysteria.

Grassroots Gathering, an anarchist umbrella group (membership 30 to 50)
announced plans to organise some direct action for todays protest in
Shannon. (see http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=30422 for
details) The Irish Media saw this as an opportunity to create division
within the Anti War Movement and have run articles daily to scare people
into believing that people were planning an act of Terrorism in for the
shannon protest.

The response of Sinn Fein and the Labour Party has been to ask their members
to STAY AWAY from the demonstration! I don't think anyone was too surprised
about the LP's decision but Sinn Fein's was a shock to many on the Left. Is
this what we are to expect from the new squeaky clean SF striving for middle
class respectability?

In a related development
At Shannon airport, Army personnel erected a six-foot high razor wire fence
yesterday evening inside the existing perimeter fence as part of a massive
security operation to prevent protesters breaching security today.

Gardaí drafted in reinforcements in response to a declaration by the
Grassroots Network Against War that they would try to pull down part of the
perimeter fence. Political parties yesterday distanced themselves from the
protest.

The Garda spokesman said: "We are hoping that the march will pass off
peacefully and we will be co-operating with the protest organisers in every
possible way to ensure that there will be no trouble."






~~~~~~~
PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.