The Ban Bus

The coordinator of CMC has just sent around an email re the various upcoming logistics for the conference and our first fear has been realised. There will largely be an NGO lock out of the proceedings. This is a disaster for the issue of transparency as the debates will be now held out of the public eye and behind closed doors. The opening and closing ceremonies will be open and there will be a video link so the meeting of the whole can be viewed from outside but the side meetings which is where the various texts of the treaties will be thrashed out will be closed. In each meeting they will only allow four representatives of the CMC to be present. This is a victory for countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany who were very uncomfortable with the physical presence of NGO’s actually being in the room and seeing how the process would unfold. They were very concerned with the transparency of the procedure in Wellington and we heard that a great deal of pressure was put on the Irish government to lock civil society out to a large degree.

This tactic was highly expected but we were hoping that the Irish government would have stood tough on such an important issue. The same pressure was put of the chairs and hosts of the previous meetings in Vienna and Wellington and those governments resisted NGO exclusion.

Are NGOs alarmed and should they now be requesting to be on their countries delegation in order to ensure civil society’s presence and a fully transparent procedure?

We drove into Galway and rang our local contact Sarah. She is a really bright spark of a person and explodes with great ideas and good energy. Nothing is a problem and she takes multitasking to new dimensions. As we were driving into town she gave us a series of lefts and rights until we nearly drove into her as she was walking her dog. Our first impressions of Sarah were wrong as a high energy person. She is twice as speedy as I first thought and lives every second in hyper drive. It’s dizzying to watch but I am always in awe of those who just keep powering on and getting things done. I wish I could muster 20% of what she has.

We dumped our gear in the hotel and went for a walk around the town in search of a cleansing pint of Guinness, for our health of course. Galway is a really vibrant west coast town of about 80,000 people. There is a really strong arts community here and as we sat and drank we met many people. Sarah seemed connected deeply into this community on so many levels. She seemed to have a few guiding rules like, don’t ask permission but just say sorry once the police arrive and complaining people are just background noise. These simple philosophies have buffered her well against the nay sayers to all her various enterprises.

Tomorrow nights talk was to be held at the city Museum and a meeting with the director was scheduled for the morning so we headed in our different directions till then.

The director was certainly under Sarah’s spell as she cheekily referred to the space as her Museum. He was pro active too and wanted all manner of events to be held at the museum. If it’s always changing and vibrant then the people will come. Every request that we had was met with a sure, why not, I can’t see a problem with that, whatever you need. I was now starting to think I’d stepped into a time machine and landed in a place where they keep all the exceptionally nice people. Galway is great.

We invaded the place with a temporary exhibition and our huge outdoor banners stretched along the outside of the museum and Mette and Raechel spun their charms and started talking to every pedestrian that passed by. The Ban Bus had arrived in Galway and was making its presence felt.

Tonight’s presentation was to be Aine Bonner and myself. Aine is a young Dublin journalist who got her teeth stuck into the issue of governmental ethical investment. In particular she started looking into the investment of the national pension fund and the arms industry. As she investigated her leads with the pain staking detail of a detective she found a mire of money woven deeply into the arms industry. As she dug deeper she discovered alarming fact after alarming fact that turned so much of the pensions fund into blood money. Cross checks between when wars were actively being fought and an increase in profits began to emerge. War was obviously good for business and positive for getting the best return from your investments in the arms industry.

She went deeper and began to dissect exactly where the funds were invested and into what weapon systems they were supporting till finally she found that 27 million euro was directly invested in the manufacture of cluster bombs. This was a national scandal as Ireland had put their hands up to be a leading country in a ban of these weapons. A major feature article was published and the lid was off these grubby little secrets. The government was caught out and embarrassed. This is the kind of journalism that takes passion and dedication to follow through. She had done it and her research now demanded answers.

This investigation is forcing the Irish government to look closely at their pensions fund and start paying attention to principals of ethical investment. This is not a first for governments and industry and there was a great precedent with the Norwegian pension fund. This is the national bank account from the Norwegian oil industry and like the Irish pension fund it’s invested all over the globe for maximum return on their money. Unlike the Irish fund the Norwegians have an ethical board of advisers and investigators who closely look to where this fund is invested. They simply scrutinise every transaction and make sure that there is no investment in blood industries.

This example and others is forcing the Irish government to re-examine their investments and pull funds out of the tainted companies. The power of a few and the focus of one had made a change in Irish history.

By the late afternoon we had the ground floor of the museum well and truly invaded with cluster bomb information and pictures and were ready to go. All we needed now was an audience. One or two wandered in and began chatting to each other. Aine was very nervous as she is a writer and not used to public speaking. I think she would have preferred a knife fight with a pack of drunks than doing this but here she was and soon the stage would be hers.

I stepped away from the non crowd and sorted out my computer and data projector and got a good image up and when I re-emerged there was a buzzing crowd and all the seats were full. This was a great start and it really does make your enthusiasm soar.

Aine and I took the stage and I launched into my talk. There was a little agitation at the start which is normal but as I got into the depth of the subject that soon died away. The enormity of the cluster bomb problem quickly sank in and a collective sense of outrage soon grew in the crowd. The history, the impact on normal lives, the different arguments both true and false, the legacy left behind that destroys any future for any community affected by these weapons was all laid bare till I’d began speaking of the political solution. This is the pass to Aine. I stepped aside and she was on. I got a flash of terror in her eyes as she stood to the microphone and I sat down then she was away.

A tiny quaver was in her voice as she began her talk. That lasted about five seconds and then she was away with talking about a subject that she was passionate about. Her nerves were gone and one fact after then next rolled off her tongue as she explained the depths that she had gone to investigate the investment issue. The audience was engrossed as this directly affected them and they wanted to know more.

We finally finished the talk with some simple asks. First, form an opinion and second, get involved. We then opened for questions. There were a few who wanted to soap box themselves so at that it was time to wind it up and on to the next location. We hit a pub in town for a relaxing pint or two. The road would lead us out of town in the morning and back to Dublin to pick up our new ordered gear till we then headed north for the whole of next week.

What is hard about coming to Ireland and doing an advocacy project like this is that everyone seems to be deeply political and no one trusts the government. As soon as I get to the part of the talk that addresses Ireland as a key player in this treaty process I am met with general disbelief. They all feel that Ireland will buckle at the end and allow for many of the concerns of governments that are hostile to the treaty to be heard. That is only speculation at this point and for now we must give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them to chair an open and inclusive process.

The next day took us across the country to Limerick and a talk at the University. Mette drove the bus and Raechel filmed while I write and sorted the talk. The organiser was a guy called Edward and he was a real civil society campaigner. He realised that the local airport was being used for US troop transporting to Iraq and Afghanistan and set about creating a local protest group that picketed the airport and other actions. Part of their reasoning was that Ireland was a neutral country so should not have been assisting the US in any way in their conduct of this war. Many of them had been arrested and they had even managed to get through the fences and damage some planes. These people were real activists with a huge social conscience and they weren’t just talkers but doers.

Edward organised a lecture room at the University and advertised broadly around the campus. We arrived and set up our banners and pictures and Mette worked the campus grounds talking to whoever she could collar for a conversation about cluster bombs. The hour for the talk arrived and a steady flow of people came in till we had a full house. I was as primed for this as I could be and launched into a fast and aggressive history of the international use of cluster bombs. The affect on the audience was immediate and people were incredulous that these weapons were not banned years before. As I bounced from one issue to the next the engagement completed with people wanting to get involved. We steered them to the Irish coalition and urged them to follow through on the campaign till the treaty was concluded in three weeks time. The clock was definitely ticking and people were coming to the issue. This is why outreach work is so important.

After the talk Edward wanted us to come with him to Shannon Airport which is the site used by the US military and their troop flights to Iraq and secret CIA movements. He had been barred, banned and arrested while being anywhere near the airport but still he was not intimidated by any of this. We dumped his car in an industrial carpark and drove him into the airport in the Ban Bus. Now one thing about the Ban Bus is that it is not exactly subtle with all of the very large signage. A stealth vehicle we are not and now we had the local super campaigner in the front seat navigating. What could possibly go wrong, besides arrest that is.

We cruised the perimeter looking at planes and looking to see if there were any military aircraft or secret unmarked ones. On this occasion there were none but if it wasn’t for the vigilance of people like Edward, then no one would have known about the secret CIA rendition flights. He and his group had spent many weeks watching every aircraft movement through Shannon and cross checking their information with an international network doing the same thing. This way they could cross check aircraft movements and build travel lists of many of these flights. It’s just one of the many ways to look into the secret way this so called war on terror was being conducted.

We took a photo outside of the airport terminal then it was time to load up and head north to Galway. We dropped Edward at his car and parted company at the freeway split.

The west of Ireland is beautiful and now it was bathed in warm afternoon sun. The flicker of the light through the trees has a slightly hypnotising strobe affect on the senses and makes you dream of other things. I was thinking about the upcoming treaty negotiations and what pressure that we as civil society could really put on the worlds governments. I knew one thing for sure, it was not going to be easy.

The logistics were coming together well and Mette went out to get the new signage for the Ban Bus. We waited for the transformation from blue mini bus to something more spectacular. The wait lasted all afternoon till Mette walked into the flat with a grin.

“What’s it like,” we asked?
“Oh, it’s ok I suppose,” said she.

We traipsed down stairs to the car park and found an absolute transformation. The bus looked fantastic with every panel covered in magnetic signage. There was absolutely no mistaking as to who we were and what we were to be doing. All of the design work of Mette’s had really paid off and despite the initial hic ups when the company made normal stickers, the end result on magnetic sheeting looked amazing. They even matched the colour of the van with the background of the magnetic sheets and you would swear the van had been spray painted. We were now fully fitted and ready to hit the road

Sunday came and we grabbed a few hours off to go for a bike ride in Phoenix Park. The park is huge and in the middle of Dublin. It’s so big you could seriously get lost there. The really special character of the park is it has herds of wild deer wandering free. We found a large herd and quietly stalked them. They were so used to being safe and not interfered with by people that they couldn’t care less about our presence. They grazed about and wandered from place to place happily while we took a few photographs.

Ireland is doing well economically and they have put a lot of effort into issues like bike paths and public transport. The bus lanes on most major roads are sacred to public transport while the car lanes are choked with the result of the boom. The boom has created an affluent middle class where now everyone has a car. This rapid boom has put so many cars into a road system that is struggling that the end result are some horror traffic jams.

Our friend Raechel arrived this night too from New Zealand. She will be working with us doing some filming of the whole Ban Bus and treaty process. The footage will be used in a variety of ways as pool for media but a prime outlet is You Tube.

She called from the airport that she had landed but her bags were lost. That is the ultimate drag after over 30 hours of travelling. It’s very cheesy to be in the same clothes after so long in a plane and then after a refreshing shower changing back into the same cheesy undies. The airline, BMI, was totally disinterested and said that they had lost many bags today and they would get them to her when they finally had time. On their website they promised all sorts of responsibilities but in practice delivered none. Finally after lots of calls they said the bag would arrive by 11 pm the next day. We stayed in with the phones on a waited. Nothing. We tried calling but no one there. Another day gone. The next morning Raechel rang again and got the same amazing customer service. She stuck to her guns and finally had them agree to find her bag and deliver it by mid day. We waited again. Mid day came and went and still no bags. She rang again to no avail till finally a courier dropped them off in the early afternoon. A happy girl emerged from the shower with clean clothes and feeling like new.

Dublin is definitely a city with its own character. It’s truly Irish in all ways and not a homogenised society. So many capital cities are no different from the next capital besides the language. Although there are many peoples from many nations here they all seems to soak a large amount of Irishness.

The River Liffey that flows through Dublin is tidal and rises and falls every few hours. It seems we are right at the point of equilibrium between tidal rise and the flow of the river and we get a great view of the ‘garbage wars’ that take place when the tide peaks. A heap of garbage is pushed up stream by the incoming tide while more garbage floating down stream collides with the tidal rubbish. It spins and swirls then all join the flow as once again the tide and river head for the sea as one. Its not that the Liffey has any more garbage than any other city river it’s just that it all gets compressed in front of our flat for an hour or two each day.

Rae rang and wants to meet us at a pub near Phoenix Park. We head out and trawl the streets looking for the pub. Finally we call him and his directions have been completely confused and we are at the wrong end of Dublin. He had meant to say near St Stephens Green and not Phoenix Park. Taxi time. The taxi driver was an older guy from Summer Hill and the whole way to the pub told us how much he liked to fight at the football or pub or anywhere.

“Jus dive on in an av a poke and dig at any ol’ skull. Oh I love it I love it I do” he says.

We pay him and ask for a receipt and he pulls all of his receipts off the roll and says, “Help ya selves to one a deez.”

We tear off the bottom one and Mette notices that the next one was from a month and a half before. He’s truly been working the Dublin untraceable cash society.

The pub is jumping and has been jumping since 1739. It’s called O’Donoughues and is quite a local institution. Small, packed and loads of Guinness passing across the bar and three musicians belting out some Irish music. The atmosphere is alive and soon we are slopping down a pint and yelling at each other over the music and crowd. The musicians are great and swap instruments between them. There is no shyness here as spontaneously the crowd breaks into chorus with them as they belt out another Irish folk gem. A couple of American tourists wander in and just don’t seem comfortable with the closeness and intensity of this place. It’s a place where you push and are pushed, all spilling Guinness over each other.

When the musicians took a break I went and had a chat with them and told them about The Ban Bus and the treaty negotiations coming up in a few weeks. Would they be interested in playing at something associated with the conference and the NGO’s? Andy played guitar and banjo and loved the idea of getting involved. Maybe we can network through these guys into the Dublin music scene and get a Cailly happening. A Cailly is basically an Irish jam session and they are so full of fun and life it would be a great party maker at the end of these negotiations. The network is building and if you want to campaign about anything then hit the streets and start talking to everyone. It’s amazing who will get involved with a cause like this.

After the nights chat with the Dublin Anti War Movement, it was time to head south to Kilkenny to do a public presentation. We had been in contact with a passionate campaigner called Guy who ran and organisation called the Irish Lebanese Cultural Foundation. He’s a Lebanese man married to an Irish woman called Christine and they had coordinated all sorts of cultural and aid projects to Lebanon. Kilkenny has a large Irish army base there and many a soldier had served in Lebanon as a peace keeper. I was amazed to hear that the Irish army had been in Lebanon for 23 years. That must be some kind of record for staying involved and engaged.

With such a close connection between these troops and Lebanon it made it an obvious choice for a talk on cluster bombs. Guy really worked his connections well and sent out over 300 personal invitations to teachers, the military and local politicians. Many a reply was given that they would come and it all was looking like a good audience would be in attendance.

We headed out of Dublin towards Kilkenny and discovered the nightmare of a badly programmed GPS. All the way this woman’s voice just gave us the worst directions, turn left, turn right, turn around, everywhere except to where we needed to go. It was driving us nuts so the most useful thing was the off button. We finally had another go at reprogramming it and found the original direction was to the middle of a field about 200 km away. Not very useful. The adventure ended with us arriving at the hotel we had booked and guy came over to meet us.

There are a few people who impress you at first meeting but Guy did. He was quietly motivated to create understanding between Lebanon and Ireland and this was his motivation to get us to come down and talk about cluster bombs. We headed to the location for the talk and set up our materials, data projector, bomb clearance gear, information, badges, stickers and some T-shirts. All was ready for the 7.30 start.

The allotted time came, and then it went and we found ourselves standing in an empty room. Not a good omen for the rest of the night. In a few minutes the two men arrived and then a woman. We all looked a little sheepishly at each other and there was a distinct discomfort at the lack of an audience. We waited 15 minutes and still no more people came so I broke into the talk. These few folk had come to find out more about cluster bombs and find out they would form me. I don’t care if its only one person who comes as they have shown the interest in the issue and they wanted more information.

It felt a little awkward to begin with but once we had all moved our chairs in together and introduced ourselves, the awkwardness disappeared. The talk works through the whole problem with cluster bombs from so called military utility to the catastrophic legacy that is left behind. It builds the nightmare that was inflicted on the people of Laos in the 1960’s and 1970’s and threads through all the major conflicts from then till now and ends in the madness of Lebanon two years ago. The one thing that binds all of these wars together is the terrible legacy that cluster bombs leave behind. Laos has that sad distinction of being the worlds most heavily bombed country and we finally ended up in Lebanon with 4 million cluster bombs being dropped in the last 3 days of the conflict.

The stories that have the most impact are the tales of Krouch Kin in Cambodia who had just lost her husband to a 40 year old cluster bomb and Tzanga Mana in Eritrea who was trying to hide them so that the children wouldn’t play with them. These are the stories that hit the ordinary humanity of the problem. Again, the few who were here were being deeply affected and were holding back tears.

As I was winding the talk down, in came two more guys who had been watching the football. They were laughing and joking at the match. It then ended up that this was our problem, the football final on TV between Chelsea and Liverpool. They were and hour late but as we talked they were interested in the problem of cluster bombs. Oh well, as they came and have shown the interest then find out they will. I launched into the whole discussion again.

At the end we sat and chatted as we packed up our gear. Our audience may have been small but is was quality. The late guy was the mayor of Kilkenny and his friend another counsellor. They were really inspired to get involved and were going to take the issue to council and try and have Kilkenny declared a cluster bomb free area. Another woman who came was ex army and she wanted to really push the issue through the ex service personnel associations. Our night in Kilkenny may have been small but it was definitely a quality crowd.

We drove back to Dublin the flowing day and completed the preparations for when The Ban Bus hit the road on a more permanent basis.

The following day Mette went to the company that was doing the printing of signage for the Bus. The designs were ok and she was leaving the Bus with them to fit the magnetic panels to the sides. The design was good and approved and the printer was heading for the car with the printing.

“Hey, you are going to put them onto magnetic sheets?” said Mette.
“What” said the printer?
“Because that’s what I ordered and without it being on magnetic sheet it will destroy the paint job and as it’s a hire vehicle I want my bond back!” said Mette.

The printer had blown it and was going to cover the vehicle with stickers. It was back to the drawing board for them and another delay.

A strange thing in Ireland is that this place is a cash economy. Its amazing how many big businesses do not except a credit card. This isn’t just corner store stuff but big things like the printing for the Bus. It has to be cash. When I bought a data projector the other day the business would only accept cash. This seemed crazy to me and it seemed it would lose them money but a taxi driver explained to me that it’s all a tax dodge. Ireland runs on cash so as to keep the tax man away. Everyone seems to be on quite a large fiddle with this from hotels to taxis to big businesses. This makes it harder for us as we are dealing with large amounts of euros and I’d much rather not be carrying all this cash with me.

Rae had now arrived in Dublin the morning we drove to Kilkenny and was working hard at getting more presentations lined up for us to do. He was also hitting the press hard and this was starting to pay off. Although our Kilkenny night was small, we got four key radio programs to do features on us. The message was now starting to get out to the wider audience.