'No to an EU Army' is the theme of this year’s Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Event, which will take place this Bank Holiday Monday [August 5] at 2pm in Eyre Square. The main speaker on the day will be former Green MEP Patricia McKenna.
The event is to commemorate the detonation of two nuclear bombs, by the US military over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. The bombings killed c129,000 and c226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.
Also speaking will be two members of US Veterans for Peace - Tarak Kauff (77 ) and Ken Mayers (82 ). They are being held on bail in Ireland by the State, after going airside at Shannon Airport on St Patrick’s Day to highlight the on-going use of the civilian airport by the US military en route to war.
The event is organised by the Galway Alliance Against War. While the commemoration deals with serious issues, the organisers stress it is family friendly and there will be music, song and dance. Among the performers will be singer-songwriter Sharon Murphy of The Voice UK.
