Irish Sellafield protesters in postal blitz on UK
Date: 24-Apr-02
Country: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Author: Alex Richardson
The campaign has been spearheaded by Ali Hewson, wife of U2 frontman Bono, supported by a string of well-known figures including pop group The Corrs, singers Ronan Keating and Samantha Mumba and Manchester United soccer captain Roy Keane.
Norman Askew, chairman of Sellafield's owner British Nuclear Fuels, is also being targeted by the postcard campaign, which is backed by the Irish government.
Sellafield, 110 miles (180 km) across the Irish Sea on England's northwest coast, has been a long-running source of friction between the two governments, and Irish fears have been heightened since the September 11 attacks on the United States.
"If an accident happens at the plant, or if there is a terrorist attack, depending on which way the wind blows... vast parts of Ireland would be uninhabitable, for ever," said Hewson.
Postcards have been delivered to homes throughout Ireland, urging people to sign and return them. The cards have also been on sale in shops and post offices.
A spokesman for Ireland's postal service, An Post, said 700,000 cards had been received by Monday evening. An Post is collecting all the cards and will send them to Britain on Thursday for delivery Friday, the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.
The postcard addressed to Blair shows a close up of a human eye, with the message: "Tony, look me in the eye and tell me I'm safe."
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne and known for his interest in environmental issues, will receive a card depicting Ireland ravaged by nuclear fallout with the messages: "Greetings from Ireland" and "Charles - wish you were here?"
The postcard addressed to Askew shows a pair of lips and the slogan: "Tell us the truth."
Irish opponents of Sellafield say it pollutes the Irish Sea and presents a serious risk from accidents or terrorist attack.
Last year Ireland unsuccessfully applied to the Hamburg based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for an injunction to block the start-up of a 472-million pound mixed oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing plant at Sellafield.
Britain first established nuclear facilities at Sellafield - formerly called Windscale - in the 1940s, and the world's first commercial nuclear power station opened there in 1956.