Campaigners mark ninth anniversary of Iraq war

Security was tight at Shannon Airport yesterday where around 60 people gathered to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2003 US-…

Security was tight at Shannon Airport yesterday where around 60 people gathered to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

Members of the Irish Anti-War Movement, Galway Alliance Against War and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance travelled to Shannon to support local anti-war groups who gather at the midwest airport on the second Sunday of each month.

Some activists wore orange boiler suits to show “solidarity with former and current prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, some of whom may have stopped over at Shannon on rendition flights”.

There was a large Garda and airport police presence, and buses travelling to the airport were stopped and searched, while 78-year-old playwright and peace campaigner Margaretta D’Arcy had to be physically carried away by gardaí after she lay down on the road.