"As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular." The century-old words of Oscar Wilde might well apply to air shows - or "warshows" as one young critic of the annual Salthill event described them in Galway yesterday.
"I love it and I hate it," Shane Gogarty (10), of Malahide, Dublin, remarked as he watched British and German Tornadoes tearing up Galway Bay.
Only a week before, the aviation enthusiast had accompanied his parents on a "stop Bush" protest in Dublin city, but he wouldn't have missed yesterday's event for "the world- almost".
The young expert knew that the Luftwaffe Tornado appearing at Salthill was part of the Jagdbombergeschwader or "fighter bomber wing" (JBG31) from Norvenich, near Cologne in Germany, and had a maximum speed of 1,452 m.p.h. at 36,000 feet.
"And it can carry up to 18,000lbs of bombs," he exclaimed.
However, for the estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people who joined him on the Salthill "prom" in bright sunshine and a light northerly breeze, it wasn't all military might - though the scene had been set early on by the presence, close to shore, of the Naval Service's LE Róisín.
As the deputy lord mayor, Fine Gael's Mr Padraic Conneely, prepared to say his few words to open the event, a chartered accountant and a sales manager were donning little yellow numbers and steeling themselves for their own routine.
The Utterly Butterly "babes" are Europe's only professional wingwalkers, and it isn't a job that too many queue up to do. But "why sit on the inside of an aircraft when you can stand on the wing", say Kirsty (30) and Marie (25), who don't come with surnames but performed handstands from Knocknacarra to Salthill yesterday on the biplanes' wings.
The Dutch air force's PC-7, an Augusta Bell rescue helicopter, a US Blackhawk, an RAF Harrier jump-jet and RAF and German Tornadoes were among the participants during the three-hour programme planned by Mr Tony Gibson and Mr Brian McGrath.
The show opened with Aer Arann, and a rescue demonstration by the Irish Coast Guard's Sikorsky from Shannon. The Air Corps had signed up to display its new Pilatus PC- 9M.
However, the highlight, even for the conscientious objectors, was the arrival of the Red Arrows - the nine Hawk jets that flew in over the bay in their trademark "diamond" formation. For a full 20 minutes, they stretched aerobatics, and journalists' adjectives, to the very limit, stopping many hearts and creating several in the sky with their red, white and blue plumes.
The final image even had a cross through it, which would have been enough to melt even the hardest of vital organs. This year there were no protest demonstrations. The Galway Alliance Against War said that its focus was on "awareness raising" before the actual show. The Mayor of Galway, Alderman Catherine Connolly, didn't attend for personal reasons, but has said that she intends to seek a review of city council funding for the show.