President George W Bush has arrived in the Irish Republic to hold talks on Saturday with European Union leaders.
A protest march against the arrival of US President George Bush at Ireland’s Shannon airport passed off peacefully tonight. A crowd of more than 1,200 people marched from Shannon town centre in Clare to a site 100 yards from the entrance to the airport. Hundreds of Gardai formed a line in front of the marchers to stop them proceeding any further.
The Garda riot squad were kept in reserve behind the police line but there were no incidents. The march was due to begin at 7pm but was delayed for 40 minutes due to the late arrival of a bus of protesters from Dublin.The protesters gathered in front of the lines of Gardai to listen to speakers who condemned the policies of US president George Bush, particularly the invasion of Iraq.
Margaret Roymane from the Global Women’s Strike said that the marchers had received letters of support from all over the world. “This is the biggest global anti-war movement ever,” she said. The number of marchers were far less than the 100,000 who took part in the protest march in Dublin last year before the invasion of Iraq. Protester Donal Finn from Barna in Galway, who arrived beating a drum, said: “I thought there would be more people here.” But the Socialist party councillor Mick Barry said: “Scare-mongering about potential trouble at the march had deterred many people.
“Overall I think the attendance is respectable, especially since there are protests taking place in other cities,” he said.Protesters travelled the mile long route to the outskirts of Shannon airport chanting slogans such as “No Bush, No War” and “No More Bush”. Others held posters which said: “You can bomb the world to pieces but you can’t bomb it to peace” and “End the criminal occupation of Iraq”.
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