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AFTER HALF A decade out of the Oireachtas, the Green Party are back.
Following a Dáil wipeout in 2011, the party put in a strong performance in February’s general election – securing seats for leader Eamon Ryan and deputy leader Catherine Martin.
Grace O’Sullivan became their third representative in Leinster House in the subsequent Seanad election – taking a seat in the upper house on the Agricultural Panel. It will be her first full-time job in politics, but the Tramore native is no stranger to activism…
The former surfing champion spent years on board Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior in the 1980s – and was a crew-member on the vessel on the night it was bombed by French agents.
In an interview with TheJournal.ie this week, O’Sullivan set out her reasons for joining up with the environmental campaign group – and gave us her account of what happened on the night of that tragedy, in July 1985.
“I was a crew-member – a deckhand on board,” O’Sullivan explained.
She had already spent several years on another activist ship in Europe, before linking up with the Rainbow Warrior crew in Florida in 1984.
We were sailing from Florida right through to Hawaii and we went to many many small island nations in the Pacific Ocean. We were talking about nuclear proliferation – the fact that nuclear weapons were growing, that countries were investing more in nuclear arsenals and we were very concerned about that because of the risk of mass extinction from using these weapons of mass destruction.
Encounters with warships
The above picture of the future senator shinning up the anchor chain of a Russian nuclear warship was taken later in the decade, she explained, but it’s indicative of the kind of work they were engaged in throughout the period.
“We wanted to highlight the fact that vessels carrying nuclear weapons were sailing very, very close to dense populations of people. In this case it was the Russians – but also the Americans were sailing very close to populations around the Mediterranean.
In that instance the Russian warship had anchored. We decided someone would climb the anchor chain with the nuclear symbol. [The plan was] we’ll get that photo and show around the world that these vessels are here – and that we oppose this.
The night of the bombing
O’Sullivan had been allowed ashore on leave on the night two French agents detonated limpet mines and sank the Rainbow Warrior as it sat in Auckland Harbour in 1985.
The vessel had been en route to the Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific, where France was planning a series of nuclear tests.
“I was one of the crew that had been allowed go off for that night,” she explained.
What happened that evening around midnight – there was two limpet mines… The French secret service had placed two limpet mines on the hull of the vessel – one midships, and one down at the propellor shaft.
A number of crew were on board when the first mine went off – and an immediate order was made to abandon ship.
“Fernando [Pereira] who was our photographer – he went back down to get his cameras which were in his cabin. The cabin was down below in the middle of the boat.
“As he went down the second bomb went off and the boat tilted further to the side – and the water started to come in from the top, from the deck area.
So Fernando was down in his cabin and he probably tried to get back up, and as he did the water started to flood down.
The photographer, who was from the Netherlands, drowned in the bombing.
The very sad thing is that Fernando was the only one of us crew-members who had children. He had two children.
The French Government later admitted its secret service had ordered the attack, and the defence minister, Charles Hernu, resigned.
France also paid some $8 million in damages to Greenpeace, and an undisclosed sum to the family of Fernando Pereira.
We’ll have more from our interview with Grace O’Sullivan tomorrow night.
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Still waiting to hear from her and the green party apologise to Waterford for forcing the Serial objector Brendan McCann on us and not forcing him out of the Party.
He single handedly almost destroyed Waterford City economically with his spurious objections, and the worst part was the fact that he wasn’t even a true blue.
There are an awful lot of waterfordians who will never ever vote for the Green Party after his antics.
Brendan is no longer a member of the party. But isn’t your unhappiness also with the planning authority who accepted many of his arguments.
Just reading up on him, it looks to me like he was highlighting planning irregularities which an Board Pleanala upheald. Is the problem really with the person pointing things out, or with the developers who were ignoring planning guidelines to start with? Seems strange to me that ire would directed at a person trying to prevent substandard development in the early and mid-00s, given everything we know about rampant over development of substandard projects.
Dan are you speaking on behalf of the Green Party ? If so can you wear the badge ?
Not everyone might be aware of who you are and how you have represented the greens. Fair play for engaging honestly but would be nice if you wore the badge if you are talking for a party.
There ha
Finbarr are you surprised with the Greens?
When in power with the FF’ers, The then Green Party leader claimed the FFers were a corrupt party, Bertie was hauled before the Tribunal. With the lies coming out, monies being moved from here to there, changing from sterling to dollars back to Irish pounds and finishing up in a safe as bertie claimed he had no bank account, the green party swallowed the lot. To cap it all Bertie claimed he won the money on the horses because he had no proper explanation, the Greens still backed the corrupt FFers. They then went on to prop them up in Government for 2.5 more year. A corrupt party being supported by another party knowing that their leader is corrupt. In my book that equals corruption and that also include the senators of that party who did not speak out and demand the Greens pull the plug.
What a wonderful and inspirational woman. She has actioned change and stood up firmly for a cause she believed in. I am sure she will be an intelligent and cogent member of the Seanad. Water? I wonder how many here would attempt to scale a Russian warship whilst ice cold water is being sprayed in their face?
He was a guy that NIMBYs would go to to find a loophole in a plan. He was practically a consultant by the end. It got to be that developers would go to him first to negotiate before submission, but then he’d object anyway. Everyone is in favour of good planning, but like any system, it can be abused. Ultimately, when some plans finally made it, the boom was over and the money was gone.
She’s not the only member of the Oireachtas that has a familiarity with boats and explosives, and a penchant for the colour green.
She failed in Waterford here to get elected in both the European and Irish governments,low and behold the one thing the electorate can’t vote on is the seanad and she gets her nose into the trough.this is what’s wrong with politics in Ireland.no matter how many times you failed to get elected there is always room for these people
She received very good votes in both elections. Proportionately there should be five to six Greens in the Oireachtas.
She received very good votes in both elections. Proportionately there should be five to six Greens in the Oireachtas.
I’m hoping we got a new electoral system soon. List preferably
Conviction politicians are lIke “hens’ teeth”. They are very rare. I am pleased to see this firmer activist now a Senator. We need that passion and commitment in politics.
I viewed Alan Kelly on the Late Show last night. I saw no vision, no passion, no idealism, no large plan for the future just 2 lukewarm and slightly awkward references to being a social democrat and that Labour was in the family blood, but no reference to what he sees as a better society, how society might be improved, what he hints is wrong with Irish society, just a suppressed obsession with water charges and Labiur having saved the country. Kelly will just be an expedient, passionless and vision less leader, proclaiming his youth, praising his own energy and indulging I his own personal self fulfilment.
One Grace O’Sullivan is worth a thousand Alan Kellys.
Great to see the Greens come back hopefully they have learned from past mistakes. Its thanks to the greens we have the monstrosity of corruption Irish Water.
Hopefully they will be a little more careful about mentioning policies around the likes of Noonan. We need political parties that care about the environment but please be careful this time we are still cleaning up the mess you left from last time.
At least they have attempted to undue the damage by promoting the concept of enshrining water in our constitution. The one thing that would make Irish water palatable but the Noonan and co will not allow it as it scupers plans to see off the assets of the state.
Bit simplistic there, Brian. Thanks to Fianna Fáil we have no rates, ergo we had to introduce Irish water
So now grace is cashing in
The Greens have had absolutely nothing to do with IrishWater. That is solely a Fine Gael creation.
FF/FG/Lab all had a hand in the creation of Irish water
That was made possible by the greens preaching to the masses about the importance of water.
There are a corrupt cohort in Leinster house that feel the only way to effect change in the country is to tax it and if possible privatise it. If Irish water had been led by a referendum on the ownership of it there would never been an issue and we would not have political policing in ireland.
The Greens did have a big hand in F***ing up the country and the austerity that that led to.
Wonder what she thinks of GreenPeace now who have advocated the hunting of Polar bears, an endangered species. Or the director of green peace who accepted the gift of a baby fur seal pelt!!! Sea Shepard who was set up by one of the founders of Green peace have been very vocal on how bad an organisation they have become!! Any views yourself there Dan O Boyle?
The Greens scuttled my 10 yr old car with a penal “regressive” car tax of €710 v €280 for well off who can afford new cars. No tax on aviation fuel taking €6 billion out of the country every yr in foreign trips but my old petrol car doing about 3000 miles a year as a pensioner scuttled by the Greens. Out Out Out … a gormless crew … get lost Greens!
See what 4000 others in the same boat say about this most regressive Motor Tax at https://www.change.org/p/unfair-car-tax-law/c
Dail & Seanad Drive-by Demonstration – July 2nd 2016 – https://www.facebook.com/irlunderground
Hang on there Neuville, I will get the violin and accompany your post with a little melancholy. Get over it! I was stung too. So what.
Fuel tax on international aviation is prohibited by international agreements, for example the EU-US Open Skies Agreement. Outrageous, but nothing something the Greens can change unilaterally.
(not)
@SteoG “…So what?.” … Gormless!
@AndrewM ..”Outrageous, but not something the Greens can change unilaterally.” … but the greens attack pensioners and those in lower socio economic groups who cant afford new cars with the most regressive tax! Greens Get Lost!
Te French eh.
What a duplicitous nation.
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