Over 1,000 anti-war demonstrators marched through Dublin city centre on Saturday to protest against the continued bombing in Afghanistan.
The demonstration was organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement, a recently established umbrella body comprising non-governmental organisations, political parties, and individuals opposed to the bombing.
Mr Richard Boyd Barrett, a member of the steering committee, said the demonstration was organised to protest against the "barbaric war" in which innocent civilians in Afghanistan continued to suffer.
"We were all appalled by the attacks on New York," but the attitude of the world "must be consistent as regards the taking of innocent life".
Mr Boyd Barrett said the Government's support for the US and UK led alliance was countered by a significant portion of the State's population, many of whom voted No to the Nice Treaty on anti-militarisation grounds.
Green Party TD, Mr John Gormley, said the Irish Government "aided and abetted the war effort" by giving "our airports and our airspace".
This gave "two fingers to our neutrality", he said.
The lack of coverage of the anti-war position in the media amounted to censorship, he added. Those who were against the war should "call over and over again" for the bombing to stop.
"This war is unjustified, wrong and will not succeed," and would be counter-productive, acting as a recruiting agent for Islamic fundamentalism, he said.
Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, told the demonstration of the "vile and obscene drama that is being played out in Afghanistan where the most technologically-advanced nation poured death from the sky on some of the poorest and most oppressed people in the world".
He, too, criticised what he called the "cringing and servile" attitude of the Government which had been "shameful in the extreme". The Government should "carry a measure of guilt for the blood spilt in Afghanistan over the past number of weeks", he said.
He also warned about a "cynical agenda" in the European Union where September 11th was being used as an excuse to reduce civil liberties.
Labour TD, Mr Michael D Higgins, asked at the demonstration: "How can an act of retribution be an act of enduring freedom."
He also criticised militant fundamentalism and crimes against women in Afghanistan.
Ms Maggie Ronayne, of the International Women Count Network, said "woman and children were always the worst affected by armed conflict".
The demonstration gathered at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin, where there were speeches, before it marched through O'Connell Street, D'Olier Street, Westmorland Street, and back to O'Connell Street, finishing at the GPO.
Garda∅ said the protest was entirely peaceful.
Mr Boyd Barrett said the Irish Anti-War Movement had 12 to 14 local groups in Dublin and also at other locations throughout the State.
He said people came to the weekend's demonstration from Dundalk, Drogheda, Cork, Waterford, Galway, Derry and Belfast.