Everything you Need to Know about Obtaining an Irish Passport but were Afraid to ask!

Ignoring the debate surrounding the flotilla raid (the HD thinks both sides showed stupidity), comes some very interesting information from Fiachra Ó Luain’s press release. Apparently the Israelis took his passport from him… “This theft of Irish state documents by Israeli government agents is a grave matter of personal and national security, considering that it was only discovered in February that Irish passports were used by an Israeli hit squad to murder a Palestinian official in Dubai.”

MINISTER MUST SECURE THE RETURN OF STOLEN IRISH PASSPORTS AND SANCTION ISRAEL

Shannonwatch Press Release

8th June 2010

An Irish Peace activist had his passport stolen by the Israeli
authorities as he was forcefully ejected from Israel last week. This
theft of Irish state documents by Israeli government agents is a grave
matter of personal and national security, considering that it was only
discovered in January that Irish passports were used by an Israeli
hit squad to murder a Palestinian official in Dubai.

One of the activists on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, Mr. Fiachra Ó
Luain, has written to Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin to
demand that action be taken. Ó Luain was forced on to a flight to
Turkey despite his legal arraignment to take a case in the Israeli
Courts to contest his deportation order. His case was based on the
fact that he was abducted and brought illegally to Israel against his
will by Navy Commando assassins and could not therefore be legally
deported. “We were political hostages, used as pawns by the Israeli
government in a Public Relations war and we had all of our basic
rights denied.” claims Ó Luain.

Mr. O’Luain’s passport disappeared while in the hands of Israeli
officials in Ben Gurion airport after they beat him on the ground. As
a result he was left to make his way through a foreign country,
injured and with no identity documents. This was a potentially
dangerous situation for him. Travelling on a flight to Turkey without
a passport is a crime that is punishable by Turkish law. Luckily Ó
Luain managed to discuss this with Mr. Nabi Avu, Senior Advisor to the
Turkish Prime Minister, who was on the same flight. Mr. Avu guaranteed
that Turkey would not prosecute Ó Luain given the circumstances.

Shannonwatch, an Irish peace and human rights group with whom Ó Luain
has been actively involved, have expressed serious concern at this
precedent. “Fiachra’s basic right to travel and his right to an
identity as an Irish citizen were put in jeopardy by the action of the
Israeli forces. It’s a very dangerous precedent that Israel must not
be allowed to get away with. As Minister Martin himself said in the
Dáil, these people never chose to go to Israel. They were hijacked in
international waters and brought there against their will. For Israeli
agents to take his passport in those circumstances is an outrage”
stated Dr. Edward Horgan

Ó Luain said he is very angry at the treatment he received at the
hands of the Israeli security forces. “I am contacting the Minister to
demand that he take action on this, as it is my right as an Irish
citizen to hold my own passport and not have it removed by a
belligerent foreign government. I was kidnapped by Israel in
international waters, where I was travelling legally as part of a
peaceful and humanitarian mission to Gaza when we were attacked and
members of our party assassinated. Israel has yet to show any remorse
and in fact added insult to injury by allowing its armed agents to
violently attack me and others in Ben Gurion airport before stealing
my passport.”

Irish passports are the property of the Department of Foreign Affairs
and it is a serious offence to misuse them. For this reason Minister
Martin is already considering the action to be taken against an
Israeli embassy official suspected of being involved in forging Irish
passports. “The confiscation of important passport documents by a
foreign government is a serious act which should be addressed at the
highest levels of Irish and European government.” said Fiachra Ó
Luain.

———————————————————————————
To contact Shannonwatch email shannonwatch@gmail.com or phone John
Lannon on +353878225087.

Phone Fiachra Ó Luain on +353863193567, +353894185445 or email
fiachraoluain@ireland.com

Keep on Keeping On!

Ireland to Israel: Let new aid ship break Gaza blockade

“Passengers aboard it had heard about the attacks but decided not to turn back, he said.

‘After having a discussion among themselves about what to do, they decided to keep going,’ Daly said.”

Fiachra Ó Luain aboard Irish ship Rachel Corrie.

Remember the power of nonviolent civil disobedience.

“The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.” -Chinese proverb

A Brief Political Guide to Ireland

Ireland is an island to the west of Britain but Northern Ireland is just off the mainland – not the Irish mainland, the British mainland.

The capital of Ireland is Dublin . It has a population of a million people, all of whom will be shopping in Newry this afternoon. They travel to Newry because it is in the North, which is not part of Ireland , but still pay in Euros.

Under the Irish constitution, the North used to be in Ireland , but a successful 30-year campaign of violence for Irish unity ensured that it is now definitely in the UK . Had the campaign lasted longer the North might now be in France .

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland . It has a population of half a million, half of whom have houses in Donegal. Donegal is in the north but not in the North. It is in the South. No, not the south, the South.

There are two parliaments in Ireland . The Dublin parliament is called the Dáil, (pronounced “Doyle”), an Irish word meaning a place where banks receive taxpayers’ money. The one in Belfast is called Stormont, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning placebo, or deliberately ineffective drug.

Their respective jurisdictions are defined by the border, an imaginary line on the map to show fuel launderers where to dump chemical waste. 
Protestants are in favour of the border, which generates millions of pounds in smuggling for Catholics, who are opposed to it.

Travel between the two states is complicated because Ireland is the only country in the world with two M1 motorways. The one in the North goes west to avoid the south and the one in the South goes north to avoid the price of drink.

We have two types of democracy in Ireland . Dublin democracy works by holding a referendum and then allowing the government to judge the result. If the government thinks the result is wrong, the referendum is held again. Twice in recent years the government decided the people’s choice was wrong and ordered a new referendum.

Belfast democracy works differently. It has a parliament with no opposition, so the government is always right. This system generates envy in many world capitals, especially Dublin .

Ireland has three economies – northern, southern and black. Only the black economy is in the black. The other two are in the red.

All versions of the IRA claim to be the real IRA but only one of them is the Real IRA. The North’s biggest industry is the production of IRAs. Consequently, we now have the Provisional, Continuity and Real IRA. The Real IRA is by far the most popular among young graffiti writers simply because it is the easiest to spell.

“I’m the veteran, and today, I find my son — who never put the uniform on — is in combat”

Fiachra Ó Luain, a close friend of the HD, is currently in an Israeli jail after contesting his deportation. More here.

And via Glenn Greenwald: “I wonder what people would be saying if Iran had intercepted a humanitarian ship in int’l waters and killed 15 or so civilians on board.”

The HD’s solution: we use Israel’s crack commandos to fight the Somali pirates.