Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

On Saturday, 6th August, over 40 people gathered in Dublin's Merrion Square, despite heavy rain, to mark the 66th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Approximately 80,000 people were killed directly by the bomb blast, with the death toll rising to 140,000 within a year.

The commemoration was addressed by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Andrew Montague, Patrick Comerford, President of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and His Excellency Mr Chihiro Atsumi, the Japanese ambassador to Ireland.

The Lord Mayor, Cllr Montague, spoke of the Irish experience of overcoming violence and its consequences, and urged the Irish people to continue to show solidarity with those facing devastation in the world today, such as the people of Somalia.

Patrick Comerford highlighted the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, saying, "It appears we learn nothing from our past mistakes. Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Bradwell, Sellafield ... the list of disasters is endless, yet governments continue to build, to build and to build. And if they continue to build as if there were no tomorrow, we can be assured there will be no tomorrow.

"Nuclear waste never goes away. We may forget about it, we may bury it, we may think we have forgotten about it. But it remains, for thousands, and thousands, and thousands of years," he continued.

"With a new government in Ireland, the best commitment it can make to our future and the future of generations to come, the best hope it can offer, is to provide a renewed and a reinvigorated Irish leadership working proactively and taking initiatives for a world free of nuclear weapons. It is a challenge that I hope our government takes up so that once again we can restore the moral and ethical image of Ireland that had been lost in recent decades. Is that too much to hope for?" he concluded.

The Japanese ambassador, Mr Chihiro Atsumi, thanked Irish CND for organising the annual commemoration, and reiterated the paramount importance of working to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the horror of whose use was experienced sixty-six years ago by the people of Hiroshima. He also acknowledged the support of the irish people in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami which devastated north-east Japan earlier this year.

Japanese harpist Junchi Morikami and flautist Philip Horan performed at the ceremony. After the laying of a wreath at the memorial cherry tree planted by Irish CND in 1980, a minute's silence was observed by those present.

A commemoration also took place at the Memorial Park on the South Mall in Cork, organised by the Cork branch of Irish CND.

Read Patrick Comerford's speech in full: http://www.irishcnd.org/node/58