Irish join war protest

The New York demonstration was one of many protests around the world, which saw one million people rally in London, more than one million in Rome and perhaps 100,000 in Dublin.
More than 15,000 people rallied in Belfast and there were smaller rallies held all over Ireland.
The Irish were represented in New York by at least two contingents who gathered with tricolors and banners, one of which read “We will serve neither Bush nor Mobil,” referring to the oil company and the often-repeated argument at the various rallies that the war with Iraq is simply “about oil.”
The rallies were noted for the cross-section of society in attendance: many people said that they had never been to a protest before but had felt moved to come this time because of the state of world affairs.
There were veteran protestors too, but just as many young mothers with children, schoolteachers, lawyers, nurses and doctors.
“We were peaceful and we had fun,” said an excited Danny McGuire, an Irish-American student from Kansas.
The main Irish group was led by Daniel Berrigan, who has been a peace activist for most of his adult life and has spent time in jail for damaging U.S. military equipment in protests as part of the group he founded, the Ploughshares movement.
The rally was marked by several scuffles with the police, who maintained a powerful presence throughout the crowd. In the end, 257 people were arrested for mostly minor misdemeanors.
Many news outlets reported that thousands more protestors were prevented from reaching the main rally on First Avenue, claiming that they were thwarted by the police. It became a familiar story as protestors started to leave the area and ebb away by foot, bus and subway.
But mostly there was a happy, carnival atmosphere on the Upper East Side. Posters proclaimed “No Blood for Oil” and “No Iraq War.”
Other hand-made posters made jokes and puns: “Empty warheads found in White House,” portrayed President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld with the tops of their heads removed showing empty cavities. It was a reference to the current round of weapons inspections in Iraq, sanctioned by the UN and criticized by the White House for being ineffective.
A woman on First Avenue held a small and inexplicable sign, which read simply: “The Bushes are not your friends.”
There were barbed exchanges too. A small woman pushed past a tall, broad-shouldered police officer and muttered, “you stink” at him. He replied, “So do you, ma’am,” and grinned.
The protests and rallies elsewhere attracted similar crowds and messages, although not always the same police presence or actions.
In Belfast, journalist and civil rights activist Eamonn McCann received huge applause and laughter when he said: “We have come here in a great cause to deliver a simple message. Bush and Blair can say what they will but Ulster says no.”
In Dublin, several Irish Americans attended the protest march and later said they were appalled to see some Irish protestors attempt to burn an American flag.
“The only thing that saved me from saying something,” said one woman from New York, “was whatever kind of material the flag was made of, it wouldn’t burn properly, so they just looked pathetic.”
Speakers in New York included Bishop Desmond Tutu and actress Susan Sarandon. None of New York’s elected officials attended.
McGuire from Kansas, aged 19, said he was especially excited to hear Bishop Tutu.
The other Irish contingent, led by Daniel Berrigan, later said they had difficulty making their way to the First Avenue venue. Once more than a hundred had gathered at their muster location of 52nd Street and Second Avenue, the police moved them, saying they had to leave or be arrested.
“This meant many people who showed up later couldn’t find us,” said Sandy Boyer.
Union organizer Mike Phelan attended with an SEIU contingent, sporting their purple and yellow union jackets. He described difficulties as well, how his group had to snake across midtown, a block east, then a block north, as they were pushed farther north at each stage by the police presence at closed-off cross streets.
But Phelan said that in spite of that the day had been exhilarating, “incredible.”
So many people,” he said, “such a cross section. They may not listen to us, but we sent a loud message.”
Phelan also saw some violence between protestors and police, but said that it was mostly of the pushing and shoving variety. He saw several barriers give way from pressure from the crowds.
McGuire said he was shocked by some of the police activity.
“They were moving riot police into the area in U.S. postal vans,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Time for reflection
After the rally, it was time for reflection for many of the protestors.
Veterans of the Irish contingent recalled other protests and opined that this was one of the largest that the city had seen.
In contrast, McGuire said that the event was only his second after another march a few weeks ago in Washington, D.C.
He described how as a 15-year-old, he first been invited to help at a Catholic Workers’ soup kitchen in Kansas City, Mo.
“That was it,” he said, describing how his discovery of the organization founded by the Irish-American activist Dorothy Day had inspired him.
McGuire had firm words for President Bush, he said, if he were ever to meet him.
“I’d tell the president first that we have problems at home,” he said. “And that we assisted in arming Iraq with chemical weapons in the 1980s.
“Sure, if Iraq attacked the U.S. directly, then the U.S. should and would defend itself. But we should not be the aggressors.”
Bizarrely, the Irish Times reported that there was no Irish presence at the New York rally, explicitly stating: “There were church groups from numerous faiths, including a Jewish contingent, and the city’s countless ethnic groups — though not the Irish — were well represented.”