Friendship visits by British warships are still premature in the political circumstances

ON September 1, Cork Sinn Féin held a protest at the Cork harbour objecting to yet another visit by a British warship, this time the HMS Westminster.

These visits are now becoming so numerous, one wonders if the British navy now thinks of Cork as one of their home ports once again.

Clearly, such visits challenge the oft-cited concept of Irish neutrality, not to mention the notion of Irish sovereignty.

There are three main reasons why Sinn Féin believes these visits should stop.

Firstly, while most Irish people may be feeling positive about the recent movements on British demilitarisation in the North, Britain still maintains a garrison in that part of the country, much to the annoyance of many nationalist supporters of the peace process.

It is thus far too soon for ‘friendship’ visits by British naval or military forces to any part of Ireland. Many of us have still not got over the last time they paid us a ‘courtesy call’ in Cork! And we were really glad to see the back of them then.

The presence of British warships in Cork is also an affront to the overwhelming majority of the Irish people who have justifiably opposed the wars waged by Britain and the US in Iraq and Afghanistan and the deaths of tens of thousands of people in these conflicts .

In fact, by allowing a British warship the use of Irish dock facilities, the Government is sending out the wrong message that Ireland, despite its people’s assertion of opposition to the war in Iraq, is nonetheless offering logistical support to the British military engaged in it.

In effect, the Government, and by extension the Irish people, are seen to be siding with the western oppressors of people in the developing world.

By opposing these military visits to Cork we can show the world that Irish people dissociate themselves from British military conquest either here in Ireland or elsewhere.

The final reason why these visits should be stopped is the complete waste of garda resources used to ‘protect’ these warships. At one point during our peaceful protest on September 1 there were three squad cars, a paddywagon and even a garda patrol boat on the river. Rather than spending the weekend ‘babysitting’ a British battleship in Cork Harbour, would the gardaí not be better off tackling the real problems of crime and anti-social behaviour in the city?

Sinn Féin is now attempting to get Cork city council to join with us in demanding and end to these naval visits and we call on the people of the city to support us in this endeavour.

Cllr Fiona Kerins

Cork City Council

City Hall

Cork