An alliance of groups opposing the US-led war in Iraq has called on the electorate to vote the Government out of office and to vote against any European Parliament or local election candidate supporting the use of Shannon airport by US troops.
Activists and politicians from the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM), the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), the NGO Peace Alliance, the Labour Party, the Green Party, the Socialist Party and Sinn Fein were outlining their plans for protests against US president George W Bush's visit to Ireland next month.
Mr Roger Cole of PANA said his group specifically rejected the terrorist tactics of Osama bin Laden but also the "state terrorism" of Mr Bush. He urged people to vote next month for candidates who oppose "Irish collaboration" with the war.
Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement said he believed the location of president Bush's visit and the timeframe of the visit were a "deliberate attempt" to make protest difficult.
Mr Bush will arrive in Ireland late at night and will meet with the Taoiseach at Dromoland Castle early the following morning. A huge security operation is likely to be put in place to prevent protesters getting near Dromoland. However, the group plans to organise buses to bring protesters from all over Ireland to protest at the summit between Mr Bush and the Taoiseach on Saturday, June 26th.
Protesters will march to Shannon airport after the event to highlight the ongoing use of the airport by US troops. A large protest is also planned for Dublin on the evening of Friday, 25th June.
Mr Boyd Barrett said the group was determined the anti-Bush protests would be "enormous". He said "tens of thousands" of people, if not the 100,000 who came out to protest before the war, would be facilitated. The protesters will organise marshalls to ensure the protest is peaceful.
He and the other speakers called on citizens to remove the current government from power. Mr Boyd Barrett said he would like to see the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern ,removed from power in the same way the Spanish people removed PrimePresident Jose Maria Aznar for his "collaboration in a criminal and immoral war".
Mr Brendan Butler of the NGO Peace Alliance said he was "appalled" that the Taoiseach as our elected leader was not planning to take up the issue of Iraq with Mr Bush on his visit to Ireland. And he said the president's words of apology over human rights abuses by US troops in Iraq rang hollow.
There was a "culture of impunity" lying at the heart of the torture of Iraqis by US troops, underlined by the US's failure to recognise the International Criminal Court and the continuing operation of a CIA "torture school" in the US, he said.
Mr Butler said he had seen similar photographs to those recently published "going back to El Salvador" showing US soldiers using the same techniques to interrogate and humiliate prisoners.
The Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the charges against anti-war campaigners accused of damaging a US war plane should be dropped. She said the protesters were "right" to take action against the war planes at Shannon and they had done nothing other than to "batter a bit of metal" in order to protect human life.
She said the Taoiseach owed the Irish people a public apology for what she said was the Government's "appalling facilitation" of the war of aggression in Iraq.
Ms Ivana Bacik, Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College and a Labour Party candidate in the European elections, said she was disturbed to learn that the gardai in Shannon are calling to people's homes requesting personal information in advance of the Bush visit.
"There is no onus on a citizen to divulge this information and it is essential that people are aware of this fact," she said. She said she had also received reports that some firms in the Shannon area are collating personal details of employees.
"Unfortunately, there is a gap in the law which does not prohibit this practice and it reminds me of events that led to the suspension of three Telecom Eireann employees in advance of the Reagan visit in 1984."
The Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins said it was clear the majority of Irish people opposed the invasion of Iraq and that they were also opposed to the Taoiseach extending "this photo opportunity of an Irish visit" to President Bush.
"Despite the attempts of the Government to dissuade them from protesting, the Irish people will turn out in huge numbers and make their views known on June 25th."