WE'VE all seen their pictures in the paper. People with banners and placards, people in masks and costumes, people lying down in the middle of the road or chained to railings, people holding lighted candles.
These are the campaigners. They may seem impossibly earnest or glamorous, driven by an all consuming zeal we couldn't imagine possessing ourselves, but most campaigners are no different from anyone else. At the end of the day they still have to go home and cook the dinner. The only difference is that they can go to bed at night without feeling totally powerless and frustrated.
"This is certainly not a guide for those who want to talk about action - it is for people who want to get things done. Thus Adi Roche, herself a veteran campaigner (with the Chernobyl Children's Project), introduces a new guide, Campaigns And How To Win Them. Written by Clare Watson, Micheal O Cadhla and Cristiona Ni Dhurcain, the book is an easy to follow, step by step guide to how to mount your own campaign instead of railing against the injustice of it all and drowning your outrage in the pub.
It is illustrated with the successful strategies used by diverse campaigners, from a potholer activist in Cavan, Martin Hannigan, who painted fluorescent circles around the potholes to Compassion in World Farming, which used" Hetty, the life size battery hen, to good effect during its "Go Free Range" campaign in 1993. The authors interviewed a wide variety of campaigners as part of their research.
The idea, for the book came from Clare Watson, a native of Cork who now lives in Dublin and has been involved in many campaigns, from Condom Sense to the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Action Group. She felt there was a need for such a book and thought others could benefit from the lessons she had learned over the years. Cristiona Ni Dhurcain, from Mayo, notes that there were some slim manuals in circulation that had been produced in Britain and the US, but "they were aimed at a different audience and didn't cover enough ground".
The book covers, a range of issues, from running effective meetings, fund raising and working with the media, to public protests and political lobbying. It even lists the campaign hangers on who are not always the most helpful in the long run: the Arch Bore, the Anarchist, the Digresser and the Thief.
The three authors met when they were working with Greenpeace in 1991 and have kept in touch since: "I prefer working, in a team," says Clare. "We shared the research and the work load." The writing process was surprisingly amicable: "I think the end result is better than if it had been written by just one person," says Micheal O Cadhla from Waterford. "We were able to feed off each other and criticise each other, as well as having a bit of crack," adds Cristiona.
The book comes at a time when" there are more small campaign groups than ever before: "They are more organised than they used to be, but from our experience", they need as much advice as they can get," says Micheal. Clare points out that campaigns which start "with gusto" can end up "fading away" because "the structure isn't there to keep it going in the long term".
There is nothing like winning. But even if you don't win, there can be benefits from having run the campaign: "You might be unsuccessful in stopping a chemical company from setting up in your area but your campaign could discourage other, similar companies from coming along later," says Clare. Cristiona adds: "Even if it doesn't win, a campaign will always succeed in raising public awareness of an issue. People will be more likely to say You can't do that here the next time."
Politicians should be kept informed campaigns need their support. Clare recounts her experiences with the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Action Group in 1994/5, which was opposed to the development of Dun Laoghaire as a freight port: "Initially the local politicians saw us as a maverick group. But after we gathered 10,000 signatures, their attitude changed and doors began to open. It was amazing." Eventually Stena Sealink introduced its freight only ship to Dublin port: "We like to think we had a part in that decision."
Clare was also involved in Dublin Bay Action For Health, a campaign led by residents of Ringsend and Sandymount to oppose the proposed siting of a medical waste incinerator in Ringsend: "Politicians supported the locals from the start. They even came to the oral hearing with An Bord Pleanala and spoke in support of our aims." The incinerator did not get planning permission.
The authors make campaigning sound easy: "You just need good planning, a workable structure, some creative thinking and loads of energy." But they know from their own experience how campaigning can be arduous or boring; you can be sworn at, pelted with stones, embarrassed by celebrities who don't turn up for photocalls. Plans can go disastrously wrong and you might even end up in prison.
What keeps them going is a mixture, they say, of stamina, a thick skin, a sense of humour and a strong belief in the campaign. The "adrenalin rush" of a protest can also be very satisfying. Micheal's moment of glory came when he was landed by helicopter onto the Brent Spar oil rig, off the Donegal coast, which was being towed away by Shell to be dumped in deep water. Power hoses were directed at the four Greenpeace protesters on the rig to try to dislodge them, but by the end of the day Shell had changed its mind:
"Our action was only a small part of a campaign, but it was nice to be there when the rig was turned around," Micheal recalls.
Confidentiality is vital when campaigning, notes Clare, and was especially so when she was involved in the sensitive area of AIDS educational projects, and the Irish Quilt Tour (in 1991). During another campaign, copies of notes she took at a meeting somehow ended up on the desk of a politician who then sent out", copies to the media: "In the end the leak worked out well for us, but it could have gone badly."
Micheal remembers how Greenpeace confidentiality was maintained at Cherbourg by planning "a mock action" on the phone. He suspected the phones were bugged and he was proved right when he went to check the location which he and his colleague had designated for the hoax demonstration. It was swarming with police and journalists.
HAVE the authors any qualms about their book falling into the hands of campaigners whose aims they might disapprove of? Clare quotes Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend your right to say it." Whatever the cause, the campaign should spread its message clearly and truthfully, with non violent tactics, believes Micheal.
Nevertheless, the book does include an account of the Ploughshares Four, a group of women in Britain who did £1.5 million worth of damage to a Hawk aircraft which was part of a consignment of weaponry bound for Indonesia. At their court case they were able to argue successfully that they had used "reasonable force" to prevent a crime.
One novel sounding tactic that does not involve force is called "Culture Jamming", whereby a company's advertisement can be altered to reverse its message. The example the authors give is that of a cigarette company's billboard ad depicting galloping horses, with the question "Do horses smoke?" sprayed across it.
"Culture jamming has not been, used much in Ireland yet but it has the potential to be very powerful," says Micheal.
All the authors" earnings from Campaigns And How To Win Them go towards Ecolink, a new organisation which aims to provide support and networking services to people working on environmental and community issues. The three authors want to offer a "one stop shop for campaigners in these areas" by providing a database, a calendar of events, and a helpline.