Keating to face protests in Ireland

Prime Minister Paul Keating was to begin a nostalgic visit to the land of his ancestors on September 19. It is believed that his forebears left the County Galway village of Tynagh around 1855, “probably as a result of evictions”, according to local historians.

The East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign and other human rights groups planned to raise parallels between Keating's ancestors leaving Ireland and the situation in East Timor today. The groups said they would call attention to the Australian government's extensive military and economic support for Indonesia's illegal occupation of East Timor.

Leading the protests was Australian journalist Shirley Shackleton, whose husband Greg was one of six Australian journalists murdered by Indonesian forces in East Timor during the 1975 invasion.

A candlelight vigil was to be held outside Dublin Castle during the state banquet for Keating.

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