Mayo 24-hour Palestinian vigil held in Mulranny

The organisers of a 24-hour vigil in a west Mayo village in solidarity with the Palestinian people said they felt they had to 'get out of their comfort zone' and do something.

A 24-hour vigil to highlight the killing of thousands of Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli armed forces took place in Mulranny on Tuesday and Wednesday. The vigil was organised by Miriam Byrne and Kevin Cunningham who live in Currane in Achill and were joined by up to 100 people during the course of the 24 hour vigil.

Miriam told The Mayo News that having seen the tragic events unfold in Gaza for over 600 days she felt that she had to do something to stand up for the people of Palestine.

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“Last week both of us ended up in tears at what was going on and we asked what we could do. Can we do anything? We felt we had to do something. We never did anything like this before so to be getting a 60 year old out of her comfort zone and out here shows that what is happening in Gaza cannot be allowed to continue.

“Listening to and seeing what is going on you have to ask when is enough enough and when do people stop and do something. We can all talk and talk but when do we stop and do something real about this. There are so many good people in Mayo who can do something by simply standing out and saying enough is enough. Hopefully the groundswell of people will help bring some change,” she explained.

People from all over Mayo travelled to Mulranny to take part in the vigil with up to 70 attending at the height of the vigil on Tuesday evening. Miriam added that both herself and Kevin will continue to hold a weekly vigil in Mulranny for an hour every Tuesday evening.

Miriam said that while there were some negative comments to the group, the public reaction was generally positive and she hopes that more people will start to come out to show their opposition to what is happening in Gaza.

“In general the reaction has been very good with people beeping horns. What else can people do except stand with the people of Palestine and say we hear you. There has been so much support with people even stopping to thank us for doing something they haven't done yet. Hopefully people will start to stand up and be seen,” she said.