Thousands of people have been taking part in protests in cities and towns around Ireland against the war in Iraq and against the visit to Ireland by US president George W Bush this evening.
Up to 20,000 people turned out for the anti-war march and protest organised by the Stop Bush campaign, a loose coalition of anti-war groups, trade unionists and NGOs against Mr Bush's visit for an EU-US summit in Dromoland, Co Clare, tomorrow.
Around 1,000 people marched in Shannon. The event passed off peacefully. Protests were also held in Galway, Sligo and Waterford. Anti-war groups also plan to protest near Dromoland Castle tomorrow as the summit takes place. Buses will travel from around the country. However, the protests will be kept up to a mile away and the gardai have riot gear and water cannon on standby.
On a warm and sunny Friday evening, the marchers gathered at Parnell Square in Dublin with colourful banners, posters and flags. After short speeches by the organisers, including Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement, the protest moved off slowly down O'Connell Street, led by Garda cars, gardai on foot and a Garda on a bicycle. There was no riot gear in evidence, in contrast to the recent protests on May 1st during the EU accession ceremonies.
Mr Barrett told the assembled crowd that they were lied to by the US administration and that 10,000 Iraqi civilians had died as a result of these lies.
Mr Boyd-Barrett went on to say the protesters' message was to say "No to War and No to George Bush."
He said the people were also protesting against the Irish Government which, he said, had gone against the people's wishes and had collaborated in what he called an "immoral war on the people of Iraq".
He added that the Government "has blood on its hands" and "we are here to say Not in our Name."
Mr Barrett said in the past month, the protest had also been about the group's right to protest - the Stop Bush Campaign's posters were banned from the streets of the capital, ostensibly due to the litter laws. Its radio adverts for an anti-war concert were also banned by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.
There were many families and people with young children among the crowd. Some told ireland.comthey would not normally come out to protest, but they felt it was important to do so tonight.
Ms Dorothy Kenny from Stillorgan was at the protest with her daughter Niamh (5). She said she had also been at the massive protest in Dublin a year and a half ago when people came out to protest against the invasion of Iraq.
She chatted to Mr Tom Cahill from Dublin who had brought his young daughter Willow. Mr Cahill said he cam to protest against Mr Bush's foreign policies and his war in Iraq.
Also at the event were Ms Emer Horgan and her husband Mr Ruben Ó Conlúain with their children, twins Naoise and Ruán (5) and Ceithleann (8).
Ms Horgan said: "We wanted to make our presence felt. Hopefully George Bush will get the message he can't just ride roughshod over people's opinions."
Mr Ó Conlúain said his family would not normally attend such protests. "He [Mr Bush] does not respect the majority of American voters' opinions and I don't think he realises the level of opposition out there. I think he's in denial and coming here and bringing children out might make him realise that he's not the hero he thinks he is."
One poster had the message "axis of evil" with pictures of the Taoiseach, Mr Bush, Mr Tony Blair and Mr Ariel Sharon and with the 'x' in the word axis replaced with a swastika.
There were banners from Derry, Ballymun, Westmeath and other areas of the country. There were also many political parties and groupings represented. The TDs Mr Joe Higgins, Mr Tony Gregory, Mr Finian McGrath and the Sinn Féin councillor Mr Larry O'Toole were at the front of the march holding a 'Stop Bush' banner.
Some marchers played drums and blew whistles and joined in with chants shouted through megaphones.
"One, two, three, four. We don't want your bloody war. Five, six, seven, eight. This is not a US state," they chanted. Other chants included "no blood for oil" and "George Bush, we know you - your daddy was a killer too."
Ms Joyce Ward from Beaumont carried a poster with the words: "Monica Lewinsky - the world needs you now." Ms Pat Morrissey from Ranelagh sat at railings on Merrion Street opposite Government Buildings as the front end of the protest arrived at around 8.45 p.m. With her, were her dogs Shadow and Pia. Shadow bore a sign around his neck with the words: "Even the dogs in the street know this war is wrong."
As the first marchers arrived at a stage erected on Merrion Street, the tail end of the protest was still coming across O'Connell Bridge. The protest was continuing with music and speeches outside Government Buildings.