At a press conference today, representatives of anti-war groups and political parties announced a ‘For A People’s Europe - No to Genocide and War’ protest at the meeting of European political leaders on Thursday.
The protest will start at the Spire on O’Connell Street at 5pm on Thursday and march towards the meetings of European Political Leaders at the Convention Centre and the National Gallery. It is not clear what route will be taken or how close the protestors will be able to get.
Speakers at the press conference today included Richard Boyd Barrett TD, Fatin Al Tamimi - IPSC, Lynn Boylan MEP, and Sara O’Rourke - Irish Neutrality League.
Richard Boyd Barrett TD said:
“We are urging everyone who is opposed to militarisation and war, cares about our protecting our neutrality, and is horrified by the EU’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza to join the protest at the Spire at 5pm on Thursday and march towards the Convention Centre and the National Gallery where the political leaders are gathering.
“The EU’s war agenda will be central to the meeting of European and EU political leaders in Dublin on Thursday. The EU’s militarisation plan, originally called ReArm Europe before being hastily renamed to Readiness 2030, calls for a doubling of the EU’s military spending to €800 billion by 2030. This is the dangerous agenda that the EU and the Irish government is trying to condition the public to accept.
“The Irish Government has also said it will increase spending on weapons and military equipment to €1.7 billion by 2030, a 55% increase on its previous military spending plans. This demonstrates the Irish government’s priorities are fully aligned to the EU’s militarisation and war agenda.
“The more we spend on weapons and military equipment, and the more we involve ourselves in the military plans and infrastructure of the EU and NATO, the less we will have for cost-of-living pay increases and the homes and public services we urgently need.
“The Irish Government and the EU can always seem to find the money for vast increases in military spending but not to give workers the pay rise they need to protect their incomes. There is a clear connection between these two things. The war mongering of Trump and Israel, supported by many EU powers, is a key factor in the escalating cost-of-living crisis here and across Europe.
“The EU is up to its neck in the horrific genocide against the people of Gaza and EU countries continue to provide political impunity, economic aid and military support to Israel. This is unforgivable.
“There is no doubt the EU leaders and the Irish government will go further down this disastrous route if they are not stopped.
“There is a systematic undermining of our neutrality, and it is no coincidence that the legislation to end the Triple Lock is being pushed through at the same time as this meeting of Europe’s political leaders. The choreography is very clear, and we need to respond to defend our tradition of neutrality.”
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said:
“Ursula Von Der Leyen has presided over an EU that has seen an 80% growth in military expenditure while ordinary people struggle to get by.
“She openly calls for a common EU security and defence ignoring Ireland’s policy of neutrality.
“President Von Der Leyen has also deliberately blocked any accountability for Israel's war crimes while simultaneously failing to condemn the oppression of Palestine solidarity, both within her own institutions and in EU Member States.
“The Europe she represents is one of endless war, oppression and deregulation, that's not the Europe the Irish people want or deserve.”
Fatin Al Tamimi, Palestinian and Vice Chair of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign said:
“The EU leaders gathering here are not defenders of democracy, they are enablers of genocide.
“For years, European governments have chosen active complicity by funding, arming, and shielding an apartheid regime as it carries out mass starvation and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
“The EU’s refusal to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement—despite explicit human rights clauses—exposes the complete moral bankruptcy of its leadership.
“We take to the streets to demand binding sanctions, an immediate end to all EU military and diplomatic complicity, and an end to the crackdown on peaceful protest across Europe.”
Sara O’Rourke of the Irish Neutrality league said:
“The meeting of European leaders in Dublin this week represents a major drive to war. This makes the future less safe for all of us - for all the people across Europe.
“We do not need more weapons; we do not need to prepare for more wars. We need to work to avert and avoid war. Why are all these leaders not coming together to discuss peace and stability, an end to the war in Ukraine, an end to the genocide in Gaza and for sanctions against Israel?
“These leaders are out of step with what people in Europe want. We will be on the streets on Thursday to raise our voices for peace, for stability across the EU and beyond, to stand against war and all the hardship and destruction it brings.”