Tony Blair met with eggs and shoes

Home News | International | Letters | Editorial & Opinion

Citizen's arrest: Kate O'Sullivan

Eggs and shoes were thrown at former British prime minister Tony Blair yesterday as he arrived at Eason's on O'Connell Street to sign copies of his controversial autobiography.

Around 400 anti-war protestors gathered to protest at Blair's appearance but they were outnumbered by the 500 people who queued for a signed copy.

Four protestors were detained following clashes with gardaí, who were out in force from early morning. Blair was not hit by any of the missiles.

Protestor Kate O'Sullivan from Cork attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on the former Labour leader and was immediately confronted by security guards.

She said: "I told him I was there to make a citizen's arrest on him for war crimes committed in Iraq. Mr Blair looked down and I was immediately grabbed by five security men and dragged away. As I was being dragged I cried out that there is half a million people dead in Iraq, that he had broken the Fourth Geneva Convention and that he was a war criminal. Mr Blair refused to even look at me."

September 5, 2010

Comments

#1 knowtoomuch commented, on September 5, 2010 at 6:12 p.m.:

I dispise Blair as much as anyone - not because of what he done in some foreign land but the fact that he seen the murder of Catholics by PIRA criminals as internal-house-keeping....that said he is entitled to publish his book and he is entitled to be free from people in glass-houses......communists etc

#2 Ger commented, on September 5, 2010 at 7:12 p.m.:

I think throwing eggs at some one who is partly responsible for the deaths of one million people is justified.

#3 pigeonenglish....... commented, on September 5, 2010 at 8:29 p.m.:

@ #1...

'he done... he seen..'

aahh......the average semi illiterate Paddy....

can't speak English correctly and can't speak Irish correctly..

#4 owen commented, on September 5, 2010 at 9:57 p.m.:

Pity to be wasting good food on the greedy grabbing so and so.If we had guts or principal heed be facing a war crimes tribunal for genocide.SOME SOCIALIST

#5 dette mc loughlin commented, on September 5, 2010 at 11:58 p.m.:

to pigeonenglish: this is for comments on the Tony Blair article- not for your racist rant. if you have nothing more enlightening to remark- don't bother wasting our time.
900 protesters attended from 9 am- 1pm.
I honestly don't know how many people queued for Blair's book outside, but Eason only took in €7500 in blood money for a saturday morning's take- that was a huge loss in the tills for them I'm glad to say

#6 Jaker commented, on September 6, 2010 at 5:21 a.m.:

Isn't it strange these Anti war protestor's never march against the regimes that kill thousands/millions of their own people in the first place?

Like Iran, who's marching for the oppressed people in that country? & yet if a war happens to come about on the manic "Theocracy" because of their indulgence to annihilate Israel, these marcher's will be crawling out of the woodwork. Amazing!

To Mr Blair, Good luck in your attempt to broker a Middle East Peace deal. It won't at all be easy, but if anyone can achieve same, you are one of those that can.

#7 knowtoomuch commented, on September 6, 2010 at 8:47 a.m.:

pigeonenglish - So Trolls get out on a Sunday.....Brits paying the auld wages on a Monday....

#8 Fred Simpson commented, on September 6, 2010 at 9:31 a.m.:

Tony the Phony.

Tony's longest lasting legacy will not be Iraq or Norn Iron. It will be the bankruptcy of Britain as a result of putting Gordon Brown in charge of Britain's finances.

Basically, the damage done by Brown and Blair to the British economy will cause us problems, as Britain is our main trading partner, for the next three decades. This means that the Irish economy will be able to afford less. This impacts left wing protestors, because it means that they will get less money on the dole, and from various other schemes of redistribution of the proceeds of other people's work.

Now, there is something worth protesting about....

#9 Derrick Galway commented, on September 6, 2010 at 11:57 a.m.:

So Thatcher Mk2 is now a millionaire and is adding to his fortune by being allowed promote his book on RTE. Shame on RTE.
I, as a brit living in Ireland now for over 30 years, will always remember the death by suicide? of Dr David Kelly. A man who was put under such pressure for expressing the view that there were no 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iraq that he killed himself. I prefer to think that it was a Secret Service job.
It surely must register with some sensible people that the US of A has just sold Israel 20 Stealth fighters (for self defence). While at the same time Obama and Blair are saying that Iran is the next target. Anyone who does not believe that this is all about who controls the oil should look at their consience and remember, that T.E Lawrence was right about 90 years ago to warn the Arabs about British infidelity.

#10 Joe commented, on September 6, 2010 at 1:47 p.m.:

i have to say i cringed when i saw the news on saturday..Blair deserves better than this from us. No other British leader ever devoted so much time or resources for peace in Ireland than he did. He made peace here a priority and partly achieved it. while i think iraq was a big mistake i think there is a certainty irony that is lost on the fools that were protesting against a man who did more than any other foreign leader ever did to have peace on this island . where were the protesters when Saddam gassed 200'000 of his own people the kurds/ or Anglo Irish agreement signed north ? probably in their nappies if kate from cork is representative if the age profile of the protestors. being too young to remember doesn’t forgive one for ignorance they could at least now some of their history. this was an embarrassment for Ireland not too far behind 2005 riots in Dublin

#11 joe commented, on September 6, 2010 at 2:18 p.m.:

to dette mc loughlin :i like to add that the "blood money" Blair recievied for this book -a 4million advance payment for the book plus all royalties will be donated to charity.you should really even do the smallest bit of research before making these claims dette.
to answer your question on how many people queued for Blair's book outside ? far more than were outside throwing bottles and eggs at a man who is currently works as Middle East peace envoy for the United Nations

#12 Ger commented, on September 6, 2010 at 10:28 p.m.:

Good God Joe were do I start.First of all Blair did not bring peace to Ireland.Second who do you think put Saddam into power.Third who do you think gave Saddam the chemical weapons to gas the Kurds,and it was not 200,000.The man is responsible for over one million deaths and you want is to fall at his feet, no thanks some of us still have some pride left in us.

#13 Joe commented, on September 7, 2010 at 10:04 a.m.:

To Ger: firstly I never said he brought peace to Ireland. i merely said he did more than any other foreign leader to try and bring it about. that’s a fact .Blair was the first leader to meet with sinn fein and the first to give any kind of concession to the republicans. anyone with any kind of knowledge of the good friday agreement will tell you it wouldn’t have happened without him. so you can start by telling me how you think blair wasn’t key to the good Friday agreement, im all ears?.
who put saddam into power? The baath party.he came into power in the late 70s and had some American support for being anti-communist and anti -iran.who do you think put him in power ? Tony blair ??
who do i think gave saddam the chemical weapons ? mainly russia -the us provided them with bio samples to treat diseases. Who do you think provided him with them? Tony blair ??
lastly i never asked anyone to fall at his feet just some recognition of his part up north .
from your post it seems you have watched one too many Michael Moore films and somehow tie Blair into what happened to the kurds and saddam gaining power . Bizarre . finally Ger I’m not sure i understand how pride comes into this can you explain? But pride isn’t about being about being anti-British(seems to be the underlying reason for a lot of the morons hurling bottles last week).if you want some pride start by knowing some basic historical facts .I’m far from pro America or pro Britain on everything but its time a bit of balance was brought to this argument .to stop the crap mainly emanating from people like michael Moore and internet chat rooms and conspiracy theorists views based on convenient half truths and the need for a scandal or that everything is shrouded in some kind of evil scheme. Or maybe you think we’d be better off if America and Britain removed all their troops and closed their borders and left us to those great guys who represent all of our interest in the middle east, Russia and china ?

#14 Ger commented, on September 7, 2010 at 7:10 p.m.:

Joe the facts are that Saddam had the backing of Britain and America when he gassed the Kurds with chemical weapons some of which Britain supplied to him and to this day they still arm Turkey to kill the Kurds. Tony Blair lied about WMD which was the excuse himself and Bush used to invade Iraq for its oil which has resulted in an estimated one million deaths.

#15 Joe commented, on September 8, 2010 at 9:06 a.m.:

Wrong again... The facts are Ger that the US supported Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War to affront post-revolutionary Iran.The know-how and material for developing chemical weapons were obtained by Saddam's regime from foreign firms(not a single one form the UK) as I’ve already mentioned and not tony blair . I like they way you conveniently ignore my questions on how’s Blair is linked and morphed the argument form Tony Blair to the US military. Crazy!
Were talking about Blair here he has nothing to do with gassing the kurds( either has the US or the UK despite your ludicrous unsupported claims) or the us/ uk support for Iraq in the 80s. This all of took place nearly twenty years before Blair came into power and when his party were in opposition. As i said the US/UK invasion of Iraq was a mistake but if you/anti-war movement want to have any creditably your arguments should be at least based on fact . The conspiracy theories dreamt up on blogs only weaken your argument

#16 Ger commented, on September 8, 2010 at 11:30 p.m.:

Right lets stay with Blair then.

1.Did Blair lie about WMD.
2.Did Blair give permission for British citizens to be detained illegally and tortured.
3.Did Blair cause the deaths of nearly one million people in Iraq.

#17 Maire commented, on September 9, 2010 at 12:53 p.m.:

This lady should by law have been allowed make a citizen's arrest. This man is responsible for War crimes and I admire this lady for her efforts, she was very brave, it is a great pity that there is not more like her in the Country. Why was she not allowed carry out the citizen's arrest.

#18 JackD commented, on September 9, 2010 at 2:35 p.m.:

To Joe: You're about as believable as Santa Claus. Firstly you tell us that Saddam rose to power with American backing because he was anti-communist, and then you follow that up by stating that Saddam got his chemical weapons from Russia. Bravo Joe! What an enlightened individual you are.

#19 Joe commented, on September 10, 2010 at 12:04 p.m.:

yes students in their 20's from cork should definitely be allowed to arrest former foreign heads of state in easons. Tell you what lets scrap Unipol and the UN , nato now .. this sounds a great way to go...maybe if the mob overpowered the cops we could have stoned him to death?

as believable as a santa claus? hmmmm not sure about that one jack. But glad to hear you don’t believe in him..strangely im basing my argument on established facts unlike some posters here. i said saddam rose to power for two reasons : he was seen(by the CIA) as anti communist by the us(in the 60s he was part of the anti-Soviet Baghdad Pact for instance)and anti iran hence the yanky support in 70’s and early 80’s . when i said Russia i was referring to Russian firms/groups not the USSR as a the state . looking forward to some more pearls of wisdom from you jack
ger
1.Did Blair lie about WMD. no he was presented intelligence in the UN and along with most of the G8(france germany and spain concluded it was highly likely they had wmd. they were all horribly wrong but being wrong doesn’t make you a liar or a war criminal
2.Did Blair give permission for British citizens to be detained illegally and tortured. No when specifically did he ever give permission for brits to be tortured? please site an established news souce and not some internet crap
3.Did Blair cause the deaths of nearly one million people in Iraq.no he invaded(on incorrect intelligence) Irag along with the US, Italy, Spain ,Holland Australia, new zealand and 25 other nations . i dont see blair as single handed causing the deaths of all those people

Share this article

Search

This issue 5 years ago

RSS Feeds

Subscribe to The Sunday Tribune’s RSS feeds. Learn more.

Latest Articles
News, Business, Sport or Arts

Advertise here
Click to create

Website by Maithú™

Name	(Required, published)
Email address	(Required, not published)
URL	(Optional)
Comment
If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam