An attack on Iraq would have no legitimacy, Irish peace activists said yesterday. The chairman of the Irish anti-war movement, Mr Richard Boyd Barrett, said any decision by the Government to allow the US military to use Shannon Airport during an attack would amount to "collaboration" in plans for mass murder, writes Arthur Beesley
Mr Boyd Barrett's group organised the peace march in Dublin last month, which was attended by 100,000 people.
A group of US citizens held an anti-war protest last evening outside the US embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, which was attended by about 100 people
One of the organisers, Ms Carol Fox, said: "I'm concerned about anti-Americanism. I believed that Bush is anti- American, I think he is endangering the American people."
Mr Boyd Barrett described the Azores summit as a "charade" and an attempt to convince the US public that its plans had international support.
"In reality Bush and Blair have convinced nobody," he said. Accusing the Government of lending deliberate support to the US in its war preparations, Mr Boyd Barrett said references to the importance of the United Nations were spurious.
"The Government can now no longer hide behind talk of the UN to justify their collaboration with US warmongering. They must now state clearly whether they stand with the majority of people in this country in opposing this war or with those in Washington and London who are planning the mass murder of thousands of innocent Iraqis.
"If they support war and allow Shannon to be used in this war, they will be doing so in defiance of democracy and the will of the people of this country. They can expect to feel the full fury of the public on the streets if they support the killing of innocents."
