The Galway Alliance Against War will protest against the air display by the RAF’s Red Arrows, during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.
The GAAW welcomes the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Galway, but the group says it “deplores the invitation” to the Red Arrows and will protest with its 99 Red Balloons event at the Spanish Arch on Saturday May 30 as 12 noon.
“Their display is both a polluter of the environment and the international body politic,” said a spokesperson for the GAAW. “Tear away the ‘glamour’ that shrouds the planes and pilots and what you have is a recruiting sergeant for the British military and an apology for war, death and terror. Nearly every one of the pilots has seen combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
The group also hit out at Fianna Fáil councillor Michael J Crowe who has been bitterly critical of the GAAW’s stance on the Red Arrows.
“We have been accused of being ‘anti-Galway’,” said the spokesperson. “This is rich coming from a party that has brought not just Galway’s economy, but the economy of the entire Republic to its knees.” However the group has acknowledged the support of Labour TD Michael D Higgins, who has expressed his opposition to the Red Arrows’ display over Galway Bay.
The 99 Red Balloon event is just one of a number of events the GAAW is holding/supporting this month. On Thursday May 14 at 9pm, the James Connolly Forum will hold a meeting entitled A Marxist Analysis of the Economic Crisis, with Prof NUI, Galway’s Terry McDonough in Richardson’s, Eyre Square.
Caoimhe Butterly, who has worked with the ambulance service in Gaza, will give a first hand account of her experiences there on Tuesday May 19 at 8pm in Nuns Island.
On May 29 at 9pm in Monroe’s Tavern, David Rovics, an indie singer/songwriter and political activist from the USA, will perform a GAAW fundraising show entitled Songs of Social Significance. Admission is €5.
