Up to 2,000 people turned out in Dublin city centre this afternoon to voice their opposition to the ongoing war in Iraq and to mark the first anniversary of the US-led invasion.
Gardai put the numbers at around 1,100, a lower turnout than had been expected by the anti-war movement organisers. However, there may have been up to 2,000 people as the protest gathered numbers as it passed through the city.
Ms Maeve Geraghty and Finn from Maynooth, Co Kildare, at the protest
The low showing may have been partly due to the dreadful weather conditions prevailing in the capital. Heavy showers beat down on the city and walkers struggled to remain on their feet in fierce winds.
The Irish Anti-War Movement, the main body behind the event, had hoped up to 10,000 would turn up for the rally and march from Parnell Square, on the north side of the city, to the offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs on St Stephen's Green.
Small groups of protesters arrived from all over the State, however, and there were banners from Galway, Donegal and Cork.
By and large, the event passed peacefully. But there were words exchanged between some demonstrators after the Sinn Fein ard comhairle member and European election candidate, Ms Mary Lou McDonald, was heckled from the crowd. There was a tense moment as one protester with the Donegal group was in a 'stand-off' with a man who challenged him for heckling. Others present managed to defuse the situation and the men were parted.
Other speakers included the Labour Party TD for Galway West Mr Michael D. Higgins, the Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins and the composer Mr Raymond Dean.
Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins speaks at today's anti-war rally at Parnell Square in Dublin
The event started with anti-war speeches from a stand at Parnell Square. Some speakers voiced vehement opposition to the forthcoming visit of to Ireland by the US President, Mr George W Bush, to cheers from the crowd.
In words directed at the Taoiseach, Mr Higgins said the Irish Government could not hide from its responsibility for "the criminal invasion and the horror that was inflicted on the Iraqi people".
He said the Government had now begun to "collude" with the Bush administration to help Mr Bush in his effort to be re-elected to the White House in November.
"Because the Bush gang is coming to Ireland for one reason and one reason only, and that is to try and influence the votes of some of the 30 million people in the United States who claim Irish ancestry," Mr Higgins said. There were loud shouts of 'no way' from the crowd.
"They hope to use our lovely landscape and our coastlines and all of that as a soft backdrop to Bush to push off the American networks for a few nights the killing fields of Iraq in favour of the images from Ireland that will show this killer up in a more favourable light."
Mr Higgins also condemned last week's train bombings in Madrid, which killed 201 people and injured around 1,500, saying the "bloody slaughter" was perpetrated by "reactionary obscurantists". He said he saluted the people who turned out in Spain to condemn "this appalling act" and those who then turned out to "deal with" the Spanish government.
He urged those present to use the June 11th local and European Parliament elections to "do to Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney what the Spanish people did to Aznar".
The group moved off down Parnell Square and O'Connell Street towards St Stephen's Green, with a Garda car and two Garda motorcycles at the front of the demonstration for safety. The uniformed gardai maintained a low-key presence alongside the protest and there appeared not to be any trouble.