Divisons emerged yesterday in the Irish anti-war movement, with a number of groups pulling out of Saturday's planned protest at Shannon following a website declaration by "Grassroots Network Against War" that it was planning to pull down the airport's perimeter fence.
The Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) and the Midwest Alliance Against Military Aggression (MAAMA) have withdrawn from Saturday's planned protest, as also have AfrI and the NGO Alliance, whose members have participated in previous marches at Shannon.
Mr Ed Horgan, of PANA, said that violence would be inevitable on Saturday if an attempt was made to take down the fence. "We would condemn this planned inappropriate direct action," he said.
The leader of the Green Party, Mr Trevor Sargent TD, yesterday urged people who intended to participate in the march not to do anything which would "discredit" the anti-war movement. He pointed out that the Greens would not be represented at Saturday's march even though the party is holding its annual conference in Ennis this weekend.
