Peace activists in Galway have welcomed the new city mayor's decision not to attend this year's international air show in Salthill.
Labour Party mayor Tom Costello will speak at an alternative "99 Red Balloons" event at Spanish Arch tomorrow, which is being hosted by the Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW).
The US aerobatics team Thunderbirds is the highlight of this year's air show, comprising 14 acts flying over Galway Bay. The Irish Air Corps will be joined by the Army's parachute team, the Black Nights.
Britain's air force is represented by a number of different aircraft, ranging from the Eurofighter Typhoon to the basic training aircraft, the Grob Tutor.
"Static" displays include a British royal navy Westland Sea King helicopter, a royal Netherlands air force AB412 and one of Aer Arann's recently-purchased ATR-72-500 aircraft.
"Ground participants" include the Army, which will present its annual weapons display, and Civil Defence.
Both the GAAW and former mayor and Independent city councillor Catherine Connolly have criticised the decision to invite the Thunderbirds team.
The "99 Red Balloons" event is named after an anti-war song.Last year Galway gardaí burst balloons which the GAAW inflated at Claddagh before the air show. Gardaí claimed they posed a danger to aircraft. Ms Connolly has called on the Government to ban the Thunderbirds as their participation would be "another affront to Irish neutrality".
The GAAW said the presence of the Thunderbirds was part of a "propaganda exercise". It said several press reports claimed some of the pilots had seen active service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The website also mentions the fact that the F16s which will be on display over Galway Bay could in 72 hours be ready for active service," said Niall Farrell of GAAW. "The air show organisers would like to write off the GAAW as a small bunch of spoilsport protesters, but the reality is quite different," he said in a statement.
"Six city councillors have consistently opposed funding for the show. A survey commissioned by GAAW last winter showed that 46 per cent of households in Salthill and Claddagh were opposed to the show, either in its present militarised form or at all."
Air show organiser Brian McGrath has said the Salthill event did not support war. "Our only interest in this is a love of aviation."
Traffic and parking restrictions will be in place for tomorrow's event from 1pm to 7pm.
Also in Galway, the summer solstice is to be marked this evening by a "fire festival" at Brigit's Garden, Roscahill, Moycullen.
