23.6.04
Saoirse Online Newsroom
MARTIAL LAW IN CLARE
Des Long
Vice President Republican Sinn Féin
17 June 2004
The closing off of a large tract of County Clare in advance of the visit of US President George Bush is akin to the imposition of martial law and must be resisted by the people of Ireland, the vice-president of Republican Sinn Féin said today.
Des Long from Shannon Banks in Corbally said that the measures being taken by the police will disrupt the everyday business of most people in the county.
"It is tantamount to treating ordinary citizens of the 26 Counties as some how suspect at the behest of the American security services," said Mr. Long. "What the police are proposing is a perversion of democracy and a curtailment of free association guaranteed by and enshrined in the Constitution.
"We view such developments very seriously because they represent a further diminution of basic civil liberties and an erosion of fundamental rights of free association and free movement.
"We have always opposed the use of Shannon Airport for military purposes and we did so during the first Gulf War and in the war in Afghanistan and during the invasion of Iraq.
"We also object to the presence of armed American military services in Shannon and condemn the inhumane treatment of Iraqi prisoners by the American military using Shannon as a transit airport.
"The Irish politicians and police should cease pandering to the American paranoia about so called world terrorism and resist all these attempts to generate hysteria and havoc. Instead the visit should be treated as routinely as that of any other head of state."
MARTIAL LAW IN CLARE
Des Long
Vice President Republican Sinn Féin
17 June 2004
The closing off of a large tract of County Clare in advance of the visit of US President George Bush is akin to the imposition of martial law and must be resisted by the people of Ireland, the vice-president of Republican Sinn Féin said today.
Des Long from Shannon Banks in Corbally said that the measures being taken by the police will disrupt the everyday business of most people in the county.
"It is tantamount to treating ordinary citizens of the 26 Counties as some how suspect at the behest of the American security services," said Mr. Long. "What the police are proposing is a perversion of democracy and a curtailment of free association guaranteed by and enshrined in the Constitution.
"We view such developments very seriously because they represent a further diminution of basic civil liberties and an erosion of fundamental rights of free association and free movement.
"We have always opposed the use of Shannon Airport for military purposes and we did so during the first Gulf War and in the war in Afghanistan and during the invasion of Iraq.
"We also object to the presence of armed American military services in Shannon and condemn the inhumane treatment of Iraqi prisoners by the American military using Shannon as a transit airport.
"The Irish politicians and police should cease pandering to the American paranoia about so called world terrorism and resist all these attempts to generate hysteria and havoc. Instead the visit should be treated as routinely as that of any other head of state."
