Bush Protests: An Appraisal
by Dominic Carroll - Anti-War Ireland Sunday, Jun 27 2004, 5:36pm
national / anti-war / news report
The presidential re-election visit to Ireland of the world’s most hated man was a spectacular failure for Bush. As importantly, the extravaganza backfired on the Irish government. Bertie Ahern played the part of a lapdog to great affect, and nobody in Ireland liked it. Unusually, the media in Ireland refrained from assisting the government from putting a positive gloss on an unpopular action (given the depth of opposition to Bush, it couldn’t do anything else), and the Bush administration was made acutely aware of the deep-felt opposition to the US president and his “War on Terror”. The Carol Coleman interview with Bush allowed us all to witness the Texan cowboy squirm when confronted with his unpopularity amongst the Irish.
It is beyond doubt that Bush was unwelcome – opposed, even – by an overwhelming majority of people in Ireland. The demonstrations against Bush were a perfect expression of the popular view, and all those who participated are to be commended.
These demos should not be measured solely by the numbers in attendance. The quality of the various protests was heartening, and each was highly effective. The Anti-War Ireland demonstration in Shannon included a substantial contingent of Shannon residents, one of whose number spoke from the platform – something that augurs well for the future of the anti-war movement in its campaign to demilitarise Shannon Airport. The mood on every demo was upbeat, and the media was captivated. Consequently, people across the country approved of and applauded the demos.
Numbers, though not the be-all and end-all (at least, they shouldn’t be) are nevertheless important. Though the turnout never approached that of February 15th 2003 (AWI never expected anything approaching such a turnout), the various demonstrations were nevertheless well attended.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65776