The Minister for Justice, Mr Michael McDowell, was last night heckled by anti-war protestors at a public meeting of the Progressive Democrats in Dublin.
Shortly after his opening statement, one man stood up, raised a placard and began shouting anti-war slogans. Simultaneously, four other men stood up holding anti-war placards reading "PDs Took Away Our Neutrality" and "PDs Stand For US Bombers in Shannon".
The posters were ripped up by some people attending the meeting, who then removed the men from the hall. The Minister said he was sorry they felt they had to interrupt him and that they had to leave the way they did. "Democractic politics deserved better than that," he said.
Mr McDowell was speaking at a meeting entitled "The State of the Nation; What We Stand For in 2003" at the Marino Institute of Education. The meeting was part of the PDs' drive to elect councillors at local elections due next year.
In a wide-ranging speech, the Minister touched on Ireland's economic growth in the past 17 years, social justice, infrastructure, intellectual disability and crime. He also spoke about the failures of the health system and infrastructure.
"Our A&E rooms are crowded and unpleasant, with people waiting up to six hours for treatment. You don't do that in a hairdressers or a solicitors."