This article is from page 10 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
CLARE Green Party councillor Brian Meaney wasn’t winning any popularity contests at the party’s conference in Kilkenny this weekend when he came out in support of US military use of Shannon Airport.
The councillor made an impassioned plea at the conference that people would begin to look at increasing flights into Shannon rather than decreasing, or ending, them.
Speaking to The Clare People , Cllr Meaney said that his position was a practical one. There would be civil war in Iraq if the US military pulled its troops out now, he said.
He was concerned by protesters at the airport, who included some members of his party, demanding the US got “out of Shannon, out of Iraq”.
“The Americans have made their bed in Iraq and now they have to lie on it,” he said.
Cllr Meaney said he was never in favour of “the coalition of the willing” going into Iraq, but believed that the US must stay there to help prevent greater bloodshed.
“It is necessary to allow America to use the airport. . . It is to ensure that a bad position doesn’t get worse”.
He said “rendition” flights of terrorist suspects were a different matter that no right-thinking person could condone.
The councillor referred to the number of young, frightened soldiers he had seen passing through the airport, many of Irish descent.
He is also concerned that more pressure may come on the US government to pull out, as elections approach and the loss of American lives continues. Withdrawal must not be allowed happen, he said.
Cllr Meaney received only limited support from his party colleagues for his views at the conference.
However, it was not just Cllr Meaney that came under fire from fellow delegates when they met in the Newark hotel in Kilkenny.
The party also rejected a call led by the party’s deputy leader Mary White to allow corporate donations.
On this issue, Cllr Meaney told the conference that he believed the Green Party should accept donations from green industries that shared the party’s agenda.