éirígí to challenge Royal Marines presence at Belfast Tall Ships Challenge

by éirigí pro - éirigí Sat Aug 15, 2009 14:54

éirígí Activists Board British Warship in Belfast –
As part of an imaginative political protest two éirígí activists today boarded
the British Warship Mounts Bay, which was in Belfast as part of the festivities
surrounding the arrival of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. While temporarily
posing as loyal supporters of the Royal Marines the pair proceeded to distribute
éirígí DVD’s to members of the crew and other British military personnel.


The DVD’s entitled ‘Britain’s Royal Marines Facing the Music’, consisted of two
éirígí produced videos containing images of some of the civilians who have been
killed and maimed by the British military in Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. At
one point the DVD was actually played on an audio-visual display on the ship by
an unwitting member of the crew.

Copies of the two videos can be viewed at the two links below:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=432696239552750...eroes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8POHGBhFK7A&feature=chan..._page

While on board the warship the two activists also photographed members of the
British military encouraging children to handle automatic weapons. When
challenged by a senior member of the ships’ crew the two protesters explained
their objection to the presence of a British War ship at the Tall Ships event,
before being escorted off the Mounts Bay.

As the pair left the ship up to a dozen members of the paramilitary PSNI
arrived, apparently intent on carrying out arrests. They quickly withdrew,
however, as a number of journalists began to interview the éirígí activists.

Following the protest éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson said,

‘The presence of the British Military at the Tall Ships event is an absolute
disgrace. What should have been a great day for Belfast and Ireland has been
marred in a transparent attempt by the British military to normalise its
occupation of the Six Counties.’

‘éirígí announced a couple of days ago that we intended to challenge the Royal
Marine Band here today, but strangely enough they didn’t turn up – using the
excuse of bad weather to cover their fear of éirígí upsetting their planned
photo opportunity.’

‘When our activists boarded the Mounts Bay the last thing they expected to find
were young children being encouraged to handle weapons by the British military.
It is absolutely disgusting that the Tall Ships event was used to familiarise
children with the weapons of war. It seems that the British Navy is now happy
to encourage child soldiers in Ireland.’

‘It is a sad piece of irony that the DVD’s we distributed today contain many
images of similar children killed by similar weapons yielded by the British
military.’

Crioch

Note to editor 1: éirígí is an Ireland-wide, socialist republican political
party, formed in 2006 to provide a vehicle for the national, social and
economic liberation of the people of Ireland.

2;eirigi have continued to oppose Britain's war machine in Ireland and beyond
through our RIR protest, Nov 08 and British Armed Forces day protest in June 09.

by Celia S Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:11

Well done comrades. Great job

CS

éirígí Activists Board British Warship in Belfast

14/08/09

As part of an imaginative political protest two éirígí activists today boarded the British warship Mounts Bay, which was in Belfast as part of the festivities surrounding the arrival of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. While temporarily posing as loyal supporters of the Royal Marines the pair proceeded to distribute éirígí DVDs to members of the crew and other British military personnel.

For more: http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest140809.html

by Anna Sun Aug 16, 2009 13:02

Whether Eirigi like it or not Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and as a British citizen I was proud to welcome the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines to Belfast as part of the Tall Ships event.

by David Sun Aug 16, 2009 13:09

Good for you, but allowing a band of murderers to participate in what is allegedly a civilian event might strike some people as objectionable. Those, for example, who don't believe it's rational to be ruled over by queens or to slaughter people overseas because of lies.

by Info Sun Aug 16, 2009 21:34

From the BBC website. Fair play to eirigi.

"The MoD has said it cancelled a planned band parade by Royal Marines in Belfast because it did not want to antagonise dissident republican protestors. The band had been due to play at the Tall Ships festival on Friday. Four members of the republican group eirigi staged a protest at a Royal Navy vessel berthed at the docks as part of the Tall Ships event. Thousands of people have been attending the festival in the docks area, which will end on Sunday. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/820...9.stm

by Billy Mon Aug 17, 2009 14:58

I am saddened by reading the garbage that's being published on this website! The Royal Marines Band parade WAS cancelled due to bad weather! Do you really think a few protesters would really halt a parade by a military band? I don't think so somehow!! A quote from the article 'SDLP and Sinn Féin members were asleep at the wheel when they allowed the inclusion of the Royal Marines in the Tall Ships event to go ahead unopposed'. Breandan Mac Cionnaith, I don't know what planet your living on but SDLP or Sinn Fein do not decide whether the Royal Marines come to Belfast (or any part of Ireland to that matter) or not! However, I don't know if anyone agrees but I personally think this part just shows that a lot of nationalists have actually started to move with the times! This article justs confirms to me that the litlle minority of 'the Province' still want to cause trouble! It's really sad!! Just for your information, the Royal Marines Band did perform at the BELFAST MARITIME FESTIVAL which the event was also known by! They got an absolute fantastic reception from the people of Belfast, protestant and catholics alike (I know this because I personally knew a few catholics in the crowd)! This to me, however, makes me feel slightly better because this also shows that the majority of the population want peace and are fed up with sad biggots like yourselves! Breandan Mac Cionnaith also says that the event was being 'politicised' by the presence of a Royal Marines Band!! The band was there performing, as part of the BELFAST MARITIME FESTIVAL!! That speaks for itself, although if anyone does not understand that I will explain! He also explains that the Royal Marines track record in Ireland has been 'appalling'! Well, let's look at the IRA's track record! I'll give you one example, the Omagh bombing!! Do I need to say anymore?? I think if you actually watched a Royal Marines Band perform you would be pleasantly surprised! I doubt Breandan Mac Cionnaith would actually watch one because he's obviously got better things to do like talking garbage like he has done! Get with the times!! May there be peace in Ulster!

by Jade Mon Aug 17, 2009 20:38

Seems a bit strange to me. Dissident Republicans going on about the murderers in the Royal Marines. Pot-kettle. Remember Omagh? Or more recently, the latest latest "act of patriotism" where two soldiers were murdered and no worry was shown about who else got hurt - i.e. two innocent bystanders injured. And then they go on a rant-fest when the band of the Royal Marines show up for a leisure event. People in glass houses n all that.....

by CannonFodder Mon Aug 17, 2009 21:38

Sounds like eirigi exercised their democratic rights peacefully by handing out a few dvd's. And the only weapons visible were those being demonstrated to children by the marines. Personally I strongly object to military personnel indoctrinating children in this way on irish soil or anywhere else for that matter. They do it in video games too. Currently the US military have a whole wing to promote themselves through video games and films. If your game / film doesn't play ball with their ideologies then you get no technical information from them. If you do pay ball, you get the works. They will even loan you military equipment and personnel and give you detailed schematics of weaponry etc. Bono has investments in a video game called mercenaries2: world in flames. It details an invasion of venezuela to liberate it from an evil dictator cutting off oil supplies to the US. The kids who are playing this game should be coming on stream to recruiters just in time methinks.

I'd never let my kids near these kind of people. Anyone who joins the military is a fool. And these thinly veiled recruitment strategies are an insult to the dead and bereaved around the world. Fuck the military. Thanks for your peaceful protest eirigi,

(I'm assuming of course that none of your current members ever personally took part in active recruitment of young lads to military causes in the past of course. If they did then your protest is empty and hypocritical and I take it back )

by A Freeman Mon Aug 17, 2009 22:31

There is quite a contrast between the brave men and women of the Royal Marines and their service in warzones like afghanistan and the murdering gangsters of these dissident IRA groups that eirigi and their ilk support. It's also the 30th anniversary of the murder of Lord Mountbatten around now, he was a brave and noble man, unlike the cowardly IRA murderers who took his life.

by Jacqueline Fallon Tue Aug 18, 2009 00:42

'Lord' Mountbatten was not brave. Mountbatten was too cowardly to speak up and voice publicly his own personal views on the continuing imperialist occupation of his army in our six counties - for fear he would upset the rest of his British imperialist family.

According to the documentary on RTÉ 1 which aired this evening, Mountbatten believed a United Ireland was the only final solution for peace on this island. Why did he not speak up then and make a difference, if he did, maybe, he could have done something useful and saved some lives (including his own in the process) instead of pouncing about in all his imperialistic finery playing at being brave and noble yet, in reality, too cowardly to take a stand and express openly his own personal views about Irish independence!

There will never be a peaceful future for this country as long as the British imperialist army remains here, at least, Mountbatten realised that, why can't everyone else, for God's sake!

by RoyalMurderines Tue Aug 18, 2009 06:12

"There is quite a contrast between the brave men and women of the Royal Marines and their service in warzones like afghanistan and the murdering gangsters of these dissident IRA groups that eirigi and their ilk support."

There sure are differences.
(a) The "royal" marines kill a LOT more people
(b) The people they kill are mostly poor brown people
(c) The ratio of civilian deaths to "enemy combatants" is much higher for the marines.
(although their distorted press releases sycophantically spewed by corporate media would seem to indicate that nearly everyone they shoot is an "enemy combatant". Even the women and children you hear were actually killed and see the bloody corpses of, if you subsequently watch a decent news program like those on al jazeera)
(d) The marines kill for money, be it their pay or the natural resources / economic terms their actions eventually end up squeezing out of poor nations in turmoil
(f) Dissident groups don't park their huge threatening military vessels or bases full of armed troops in other peoples countries. Generally they stay at home.
(g) Dissident groups don't threaten the world with nuclear oblivion from their submarines
(h) Dissident groups don't train dictators in techniques to terrorise and repress their citizens (in places like SOAM etc)
(e) For some reason all the media seem to think any killings the rm perform are somehow acceptable. Funny that.

Should I continue?

The fact is all soldiers are nothing but hired killers, no matter how you dress it up in the media. The fact that they are labelled "royal" doesn't change a thing.

Oh, and have a look at the rape statistics in currently occupied areas. I'm sure it's not ALL done by the US soldiers either! I haven't heard of any rapes committed by dissident groups in NI. Have you?

by Me Fein. Tue Aug 18, 2009 08:15

"I haven't heard of any rapes committed by dissident groups in NI."

No rapes .....plenty of murders though.

by RoyalMurderines Tue Aug 18, 2009 09:14

Never denied that there have been murders in NI. And I'm not condoning these acts at all.
[ Eirigi didn't do any of them as far as I know though (but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!) ]

But in terms of numbers, dissident groups in NI don't hold a candle to the royal marines murder total.
The royal marines are far more efficient, better armed and prolific killers worldwide. They mostly kill poor brown people for money.
However the horrors of their atrocities are usually excused or attenuated by the corporate media
Wheras dissidents are villified as monsters. Which they may very well be to some extent.

But very tiny little monsters indeed compared to the "royal" marines.

Which was my point.

I'm not an apologist for anyone. I just really hate hypocrisy and the distortions spewed by little "squealer the pig, from animal farm" apologist types who frequent these forums!

by Billy Tue Aug 18, 2009 19:49

Well RoyalMurderines (love the name, it's original, take a reccommend). If you knew anything about warfare which you obviously don't, you would know that it is a fact that in any conflict, civilian casulties are inevitable! Which is sad!! However, if your not as hypocritical as you say you're not, give me an accurate amount of innocent civilians killed in battle by the Royal Marines in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan compared to the number of innocent civilians killed and maimed by the IRA during the time of the NI troulbles? If you've got accurate numbers you'l obviously need to back it up with proof?

by RoyalMurderines Tue Aug 18, 2009 21:48

Do I have to limit it to just those two conflicts. There are others Y'know!

I don't like people telling me what to do. It's like being in the military.

It might be easier to answer you accurately if people hadn't deliberately stopped counting casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan to prevent PR embarrassments like that caused by the publishing of the lancet report.

Anyway, here's a potted history from the horses mouth.
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/royalmarines/history-and-et...ines/

also here is another version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Royal_Marines

Pay particular attention to activities post 1945
(we'll make the rather dodgy assumption that every single thing they got up to pre and during WWII was totally kosher)

Popular Highlights include :
korean war
falklands
malayan emergency
borneo
indonesia
kosovo
sierra leone
east timor
congo
suez

and don't forget helmand or Iraq I and II of course

These guys have been busy little bees.

All you need to do now is look up each of those conflicts and cross reference with civilian and other casualties and then compare with total for the "troubles" (excluding murders by the british side) I'll leave it to you as an exercise since it is you who wants to prove me wrong. You can do a little work yourself to earn it! I'm not doing it all for you. I think you'll find it all adds up to quite a few deaths on their hands and NI was merely a drawn out scuffle in the scheme of things

there are a lot of "conflicts". involved. Quite a lot of reading if you decide to tease it all out. I'm not sure people bother counting the brown people they accidentally kill or rape in the congo, sierra leone (the setting for the film "blood diamond". Curious how there is usually something very valuable in most of the the places they turn up) and other parts of africa these days either so accurate numbers might be hard to get in a those cases (I'm ignoring rape here too!) . The annoying tendency of reporting civilian casualties as "enemy combatants" may also hamper progress. Even so, despite all these likely underestimation factors, I think you'll still find that the dissident groups in NI have a long way to go to match them

Happy reading

by Billy Tue Aug 18, 2009 23:15

'The highest-profile incident of the campaign was a company-strength amphibious assault by Lima Company of 42 Commando at the town of Limbang to rescue hostages.'
'The main element of 3 Commando Brigade was deployed to northern Iraq in the aftermath to provide aid to the Kurds, as part of Operation Safe Haven.'
Hardly the actions of ruthless murderers!! The difference you're not understanding is the fact that even if civilian casulties are a result of direct action by UK forces, which already stated, is inevitable, it's British policy to come to the aid of these casulties!! These casulties are injured accidently through crossfire or because they're close to bombing raids! Injured Taliban combatants have themselves, been treated for wounds etc.. Whereas, 'dissident groups' in NI didn't care who they killed and maimed in their 'campain'!! I seen a news report from 1979 the other day about IRA terrorists rushing to the aid of ten innocent civilians they'd just blown up in a bomb attack.....oh no, sorry....I didn't!! How can you justify calling the Royal Marines 'monsters'? I didn't see once in your two examples you gave me of Royal Marines injuring or killing innocent people?? Oh and by the way, (if you misread it or not) 3 Cdo Bgde weren't directly involved in Iraq 1!! I think you need to look more into your facts before you portray them like that!!

by Redundant Republican Wed Aug 19, 2009 13:39

No British army unit will ever be welcome in any part of Ireland. They have no right to be in Ireland, never had a right to be in Ireland and never will have a right to be in Ireland. The surrender of republican principles by PSF does not change this fact.

by RoyalMurderines Wed Aug 19, 2009 13:47

I only wanted to make the point that as an organisation, they were responsible for far more people's deaths than any dissident groups in NI
(for whatever reasons, thats not what I'm interested in here)

By a huge margin. I don't care if it was because they were cleaning up the dirty messes created by politicians worldwide or if they were " just following orders" or if one of them rescued a kitten whilst on duty once.

I was only interested in pointing out that purely in terms of numbers of dead humans that they were directly responsible for, they win hands down.

This is a very simple point. But one apologists always want you to lose sight of. But the fact remains a death is a death. Everybody is someone's dad, mum, son or daughter. Each and every death is traumatic.

I can see that no matter what I say you will try to muddy it. You are clearly an apologist for the military.

So before I waste my time engaging further with you, answer me one question, yes or no, have the royal marines killed more people altogether than dissident groups in NI or not?

If you are unwilling to answer that simple question then I see no hope for any fruitful discussion with you

by Redundant Republican Fri Aug 21, 2009 20:51

Billy, your armed forces can come here any time they want. The point that I was making is that their presence is not wanted, now or ever or lets face it, for the past hundreds of years of oppression and occupation. Please, please send more of your armed forces to other regions around the globe and cheer us all up in these recessionary times watching and counting the body bags come home .

by Damien Fri Aug 21, 2009 22:02

I think Billy might need to have a look at the poor Iraqi kids in today's Indo, who have undergone facial reconstructive surgery and multiple skin grafts, which they suffered while presumably being 'liberated'.
Oh and the words 'roadside bomb' do have a nice ring to them now. Especially when I see pictures like that.
Billy speaks of 'apologists', perhaps he can find an apology somewhere out there from his beloved armed forces of the 2 wars they started in the last decade, not to mention the previous (insert number). I can find an apology or two from the IRA, for their atrocities, but your precious armed forces seem determined to keep killing?

by Damien Sat Aug 22, 2009 13:08

Billy-Your armed forces are pretty much despised all over the world-as are your football hooligans, lager louts etc etc.
Your (relatively) right (although I wouldnt put it past MI's 5 & 6), YOUR armed forces dont plant bombs, they much prefer to fly over (insert Iraqi town), fire missiles, drop cluster bombs, blow up schools, market places, and a family saloon or two for good measure. All in the name of liberating them!

by Curious Sat Aug 22, 2009 13:34

Does anybody remember a certain incident in Iraq where two special forces guys in arab clothing with explosives were detained then rescued by a tank driving into the prison to rescue them. Can Billy tell me anything about that one and whether it was just a one off.

by Redundant Republican Sat Aug 22, 2009 13:45

Billy, your British armed forces have planted car bombs. The bombings in the border towns of Belturbet, Clones, Pettigo, Swadlinbar and Castleblaney have been documented. A serving member of your beloved UDR war jailed in 1975 for his part in these actions. I would be of the opinion that British forces also manufactured the bombs used in Dublin city and Monaghan town on 17th May 1974, time will reveal this truth.

by Legless Sat Aug 22, 2009 19:20

Are land mines considered bombs?
Your boys have certainly left a few of them around in their time in several countries

by Redundant Republican Sun Aug 23, 2009 18:38

Billy, if proof was required by you to confirm that your armed forces planted bombs- the Miami showband murders should be enough. The UDR hero jailed for the border bombings in the 1970s was George Samuel Farrell , a serving member of the armed forces at the time of the attacks. None as blind as those that can not see Billy.

by RoyalMurderines Mon Aug 24, 2009 13:34

which was the point I was making

The british army have killed many many more people than the dissident groups in NI

And they did it mainly for money. Be it their individual paychecks or financial gains for their puppet masters from stolen resources / fat contracts etc.

And here they were in belfast, trying to sell their evil profession to our kids as a viable career. Drumming up more cannon fodder for her majesty. Thats despicable.

by Redundant Republican Mon Aug 24, 2009 19:45

Forgive me "on the fence", but I must point out that the mighty and great mass murderers of the UDR were all members of the British army. They trained them,they armed them, they paid them and probably most important of all, they made the bombs which these bigots planted in our country. Throughout the war years, loyalists were not capable of manufacturing bombs. I would be of the opinion that I know my facts. By the way Granny Lizzie in every Christmas message praised the brave British army regiment- her UDR.