A group of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Dublin last night to protest at the bombing of Iraq.
The protest, the first of a series to be held in response to the air strikes, was organised by the No To The War In The Gulf Campaign. Protests planned for tomorrow include Belfast, Cork, Waterford, Galway and Derry.
No Irish citizens are known to be in Iraq apart from Army officers acting as part of a UN observer mission. Only one of these, Comdt Michael Beary, is in Baghdad. The other four are serving in the demilitarised zone on the Iraq/Kuwait border.
A Defence Forces spokesman said all five were fine. "We have been in touch with them throughout the day." The Department of Foreign Affairs said it had been advising Irish citizens for some time not to travel to Iraq, and that advice still stood.