The Labour Party has opened a campaign against the US-led war in Iraq and has urged people "in all parties and in none" to come out in protest during President George W. Bush's upcoming visit to Ireland.
Party leader Mr Pat Rabbitte said it was clear the war in Iraq, supported in "the most supine fashion" by the Government and the Taoiseach, has been "a disaster".
"Later this month, the principal author of that disaster, President Bush, will visit Ireland, and will be welcomed and hosted by the Taoiseach and presumably other members of the Government.
"We cannot remain silent during that visit. We have a democratic right to protest, and I believe we have a moral obligation, in this instance, to say that we profoundly disagree with the policies of the Bush administration, as, indeed, a growing majority of the American people do," Mr Rabbitte said.
Mr Rabbitte was speaking outside the GPO in Dublin, where the party asked members of the public to sign a petition.
He said the Labour Party wanted "the optimum number" of people to come out in a visible way to protest peacefully against the policies of the Bush government at the end of this month. He said no evidence had been found of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and that Mr Bush had been "determined to go into Iraq with the awful consequences we have seen".
But the Labour leader said he did not think the party should seek to establish proprietorship over any protest. There were a great number of people who held private views without wanting to express them politically, he said and asked those "in all parties and in none" to join protests.
"The message that I believe most Irish people want to send the President of the United States is "Don't Count Us In". Don't count us in as supporters for a war that has done so much damage. Don't count us in as supporters for a new world order based on might is right, democracy by force, pre-emptive strikes and propaganda replacing the collective action of the United Nations."
Mr Rabbitte was accompanied by Labour TDs, including Ms Liz McManus and Mr Michael D Higgins, and Labour's European election candidates, including Mr Proinsias De Rossa, Mr Peter Cassells and Ms Ivana Bacik. The party handed badges, leaflets and stickers bearing the message "Don't Count Us In" to passers-by. It has also set up a website for the petition.