To the rhythm of four oil drums, painted blood red and converted into drums of a musical kind by local artists, up to 1,000 people marched through the streets of Galway on Saturday to convey their opposition to a war in Iraq.
Poets, politicians, and musicians received a rousing response from the sun-drenched crowd when the rally ended in Eyre Square, where each of the speakers wished to make it clear to the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, that opposing war did not make them "anti-American".
Among the speakers was Mr Richard Kimbal, a US citizen who has lived in Ireland for the past 15 years. He said the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste needed to be aware that so many Irish people opposed the use of Shannon Airport by US military aircraft.
"I moved here because Ireland is a neutral country, which means we don't take part in a war against a country which has already been bombed into the Stone Age," he said.
"If there's anyone contravening UN resolutions, it is not the people of Iraq. If Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney really want to be friends with the US, they should counsel the US and say that anything is better than war."
The Labour Party spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Mr Michael D. Higgins, said it was a fundamental principle that the rights of children throughout the world were equal, irrespective of their culture or country of origin.
The demonstration was organised by the Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW) group, which also marched in Dublin the previous weekend.
Among the organisations taking part were the Labour Party, the Green Party, the Galway branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Sinn Féin, the Socialist Workers Party, and a Connemara anti-war group.
"We are absolutely thrilled with the turnout and I think it shows the strength of feeling in Galway about this issue, despite what some people have said about the protests being anti-American," said a spokesman for GAAW, Mr John Cunningham.
"While there were a number of parties represented here, I think the overwhelming majority are ordinary citizens, who are just concerned about what's being done in their name at Shannon Airport."
Musicians who took part included: Leo Moran of the Saw Doctors, former Saw Doctors Pádraic Stevens and Pearse Doherty, and Eoin Burke.