Actions of anti-war protestors described as reaching new low

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

A small group of anti-war protestors have been accused of reaching a new low by staging demonstrations at the family homes of two Galway West TDs on either side of the city on Sunday afternoon.

About a dozen members of the Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW) staged the first protest at the home of Derek Nolan TD (Labour) in Riverside at about 1.30pm, even though they had been informed that Deputy Nolan no longer lived there.

Later, the same group turned up at the home of Deputy Brian Walsh (FG) in Knocknacarra. Deputy Walsh was in his city centre office at the time, but his wife Fiona was distressed by the incident and had to call in their two young children, aged five and nine months, from the back garden after spotting the protestors gather outside. 

Both politicians yesterday condemned the actions of the group after pointing out that their extended families had no involvement in politics.Deputy Nolan said that Niall Farrell, a member of GAAW, had telephoned his mother early on Saturday morning and vowed to stage the protest at her Riverside home the following day – even though she explained that the TD did not live there anymore.

“After hearing of this call, I contacted Mr Farrell and asked him to please leave my parents out of it,” said Deputy Nolan. “I even told him where I lived before he hung up on me. Thankfully, we went out for lunch before they called. I think this is the lowest thing I have encountered in 11 years’ involvement in politics in Galway.

“Political issues have nothing to do with my parents and we were worried that my mam might have been home alone at the time. I won’t be bullied. If they wanted to raise issues with me they could have come to see me in my constituency office this morning.”

Deputy Nolan tweeted about the protest on Sunday evening, describing the protest at his parents’ home as “the lowest of the low”. He said he wanted to raise awareness of the kind of people he was dealing with, after they turned up at a private house in a city estate on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

“Niall Farrell was told at 8am on Saturday that I didn’t live there when he rang my home,” he said. “We are not a political family. This was despicable behaviour.”

Deputy Walsh said he was working at his constituency office in Bohermore when his wife, Fiona, noticed a group of protestors emerging from cars with placards. She immediately brought their children in from the garden and turned music up load so they would not hear the protests outside.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.