To mark the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9 1945, a Peace event to commemorate the 200,000 men, women, and children who perished, will be held in Galway.
The Galway Alliance Against War will host the event, entitled the Hiroshima Nagasaki Russian Roulette Peace Event, after the Moving Hearts song, in Eyre Square this Sunday at 2pm. Eyre Square has been chosen as in May 1982, the Galway City Council, then the Galway Borough Council, declared the city a nuclear free zone and planted a cherry tree to mark the passing of this resolution.
The GAAW is asking people to go and bring paper lanterns to hang on the trees around Eyre Square. There will be music, songs, poetry and a reading from a Hiroshima survivor’s account. The group said the event is "to remember those who needlessly were killed in the bombings" and to "remember the dangers of nuclear weapons".
“Nuclear weapons haven’t gone away," GAAW spokesperson Niall Farrell said. "In the present climate of wars throughout the Middle East, and the simmering conflict in Eastern Europe, their use could so easily come into play. Throughout this year NATO will carry out 14 major military manoeuvres on land, air, and sea, either along the borders of Russia or directed at it. The result is Vladimir Putin announcing that 40 more intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles will be added to his country’s arsenal. These are dangerous times and Ireland is involved.
“US military transport planes regularly land in Shannon en route to Eastern Europe. Meanwhile US re-fuelling-tanker planes are based virtually permanently at Shannon to carry out refueling of US warplanes in Irish airspace destined for the wars in the Middle East or military operations in Eastern Europe."
