Countdown to Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla as yachts and Rainbow Warrior set sail

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THE RAINBOW WARRIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY THE NUCLEAR-FREE SEAS FLOTILLA, DEPART DUBLIN, IRELAND

The countdown to the arrival in the uk of the two nuclear freighters carrying the falsified nuclear fuel into the Irish Sea has begun. The Rainbow Warrior and four small yachts left from Dublin and five yachts left from Arklow, County Wicklow this morning. They will rendezvous with up to eleven more yachts in Holyhead to form the Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla.

"This shipment represents an industry which is not only financially but morally bankrupt. We will make sure the ships see us and BNFL and the UK Government hear us loud and clear, the Irish Sea must not be a nuclear dumping ground nor a nuclear highway," said Paul Doody, skipper of the yacht Noble Warrior, which will leave Dublin today.

Greenpeace on Tuesday confirmed the location of the two plutonium ships, the Pacific Pintail and Teal off the West Coast of Madeira in international waters.

The Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, which will support the Flotilla out in the Irish Sea has spent three weeks in Ireland gathering support from politicians and the public. A civic reception was held for the participants of the Nuclear Free Irish Sea Flotilla by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Dermot Lacey; briefings were held with all the main Irish Political parties. Issues discussed included future plutonium transports from Sellafield, the current crisis in the Japanese and UK nuclear industries and strategies to stop BNFL's trade in bomb material.

Yesterday, Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, made an informal visit to the ship to congratulate Greenpeace on its work on the issues surrounding this nuclear shipment. The Irish Government is currently in two international leagl battles against the UK Government and its support for plutonium MOX production at Sellafield. The first case will be heard at the International Court of Justice in the Hague (ICJ) in October.

"After 100,000 kilometres, this global nuclear pariah and its cargo of rejected plutonium MOX will receive the welcome it deserves - the united voice from all the nations of the Irish Sea that this should be the last plutonium transport by BNFL," said Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner on board the Rainbow Warrior.