Report- Aviation Building Occupied on the Way to Court by Pitstop Ploughshares

It is our soul that brought us here. It is our soul that got us in trouble. It is our conception of man. But our moral passion is banished from this court. The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Daniel Berrigan.

As a Shannon defendant, it can be important continually to remind oneself that soul is at the heart of the nonviolent civil disobedience in which you have engaged: this is to prevent the court process from gradually stealing yours. It is easy to become demoralized by the conveyer belt nature of the legal process, not to mention the placid, utilitarian acceptance we are now witnessing within our mainstream media of the fact of the bombardment and ongoing occupation of Iraq (as displayed, for example, on RTEs Questions and Answers on Monday night by each and every panellist) . The consistent silencing of authentic and intelligent dissenting voices within our media, such as that of Harry Browne, in favour of banal analyses designed not to offend middle Ireland, can be another source of disillusionment. The hypocrisy of the Irish Times, which has silenced Browne because he is too political, while championing the bizarre and unfunny right-wing rants of Kevin Myers as somehow acceptable, is but one example of a wider malaise within the outlets that are supposed to inform and stimulate us.

Like many post-colonial countries, we have now become the two-tier society our ancestors once resisted, and we have lost sight of our own fine tradition of civil disobedience. What would the likes of Michael Davitt (to take one example) think of our planning tribunals and the persistence of corrupt landlordism in our cities? Indeed, even amongst those who in theory opposed the invasion of Iraq, there can be a dull disbelief that anyone would willingly engage in a course of action to resist the war, knowing that it will probably land them with a jail term. The question So, how far had you run before the Guards caught you? is a common one, and when you explain that you actually sat and waited to be arrested, the reaction can be one of incredulity. At this point, you generally decide you had better not explain how you invited the guards to join you in a beautiful act of disarmament, except to the converted.

It was in this climate that the Pitstop Ploughshares, or Catholic Worker five, were headed back to the Dublin Circuit Court on Monday November 3rd, nine months after their disarmament action, for another pre-trial hearing. Somehow, however, as the day unfolded, it became evident that the social and political malaise that we see through our official channels is not necessarily reflective of the popular mood. As a relatively large and diverse crowd of about 40 gathered at the Spire on OConnell Street, to vigil and then march to the Four Courts, there were murmurings that something unexpected was afoot. As Maruta, a Japanese Buddhist nun, beat her drums for peace, we diverted from our planned itinerary and proceeded to the Aviation Building on the quays, where several supporters of the Pitstop Ploughshares were conducting a sit-down occupation in the foyer of the building. Theologian John Robinson, who did a similar occupation of the same building previously, had decided that his conscience was calling him to do so once more. He was ultimately joined by six like-minded people, including Iraqi peace activist Nuria Mustafa (who will appear in Shannon District Court on November 20th along with several others on charges of obstructing traffic near the airport on June 21st). Nuria, who is currently fasting for Ramadan, prayed with John and others for the casualties of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, in what was a truly ecumenical act of civil disobedience. The seven constructed a shrine to the Iraqi dead, recited the Office of the Dead and chanted Muslim prayers, as they nonviolently confronted the Aviation Authority on its complicity in the ongoing war and occupation of Iraq. The others involved in the occupation were: Martin McGowan of the Potato Ploughshares and Sligo Catholic Worker; solidarity activist Deborah Bermingham; Dublin anti-sanctions and anti-war campaigner John Fitzgibbon; Bill Tynan, Australian Christian Brother who has been based in East Timor; and Ronan, a Spiritan seminarian from Kimmage Manor. The occupation continued for several hours, and although the guards were finally called in, they appeared extremely reluctant to arrest those assembled, who eventually left of their own accord.

Those bound for the Four Courts bade farewell to the protestors at the Aviation Building, and marched up the quays. Outside the Four Courts, Damien Moran of the Pitstop Ploughshares spoke of the Ramadan Protest still ongoing on the quays, and the fact that the system of exploitation that perpetrated the unjust war and occupation of Iraq is alive and well in our own city, as evidenced by the large homeless population of Dublin (amongst whom he works). Moran knows instinctively that it is important that the peace movement engages both cerebrally and in its praxis, with the question of how militarism connects with economic and social injustice at home as well as abroad: concretizing the abstract is an important part of the struggle against economic imperialism, of which militarism is a part.

Meanwhile, in Dublin Circuit Court 8, junior counsel Giollosa lideadha ably conducted the short hearing on behalf of the Pitstop Ploughshares five in front of Judge Hogan. Hogan assigned the case to Judge Matthews, in front of whom the five will be up for mention again on November 19th, this time hopefully to set a trial date for early next year.

Vigils in solidarity with the Pitstop Ploughshares five took place internationally: at Top Oil stations in Dublin and Galway; in Derry at Raytheon; at Shannon Airport; at the Irish Consuls in Sydney and in Melbourne Australia; in London at the Irish Embassy; in Washington DC at the Irish Embassy; at the Irish Consul in Auckland, New Zealand; at Christchurch, Harewood, USA; in Seattle, where the Office of the Dead was read in a Church; in South Wales; and at the Irish Embassies in Paris and Brussels. All in all, the day illustrated that although the legal system can be dehumanizing, with its lack of engagement with the moral thinking around nonviolent acts of disarmament, and its feverish rush to criminalize resisters instead of those perpetrating the genuine destruction and murder, it has not succeeded in preventing people from displaying their concern through acts of resistance. The Ramadan occupation of the Aviation Building, along with the other solidarity actions, again confirm for those on trial that the soul of civil disobedience against imperialism and militarism is alive and growing in Ireland, with or without the support of mainstream, establishment institutions such as our politicians and media.

Deirdre Clancy, 2003. (Pitstop Ploughshares)