Shannon
Anti-war rally
Up to 800 people are taking part in an anti-war demonstration at Shannon airport this afternoon.
Groups from Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Drogheda, Limerick and Tullamore are taking part in the march along a two-and-half mile stretch between Shannon Town Centre and the Airport Terminal building.
A number of Dáil deputies as well as representatives of the Socialist Workers Party are also taking part.
Richard Boyd Barrett of the Anti-Mar Movement said it was important to keep up the pressure on the Irish government about its complicity in what the movement described as the illegal war in Iraq.
He said the anti-war movement across the world, while it hadn't stopped the war, had prevented much greater casualties in Iraq.
The Limerick labour deputy Jan O' Sullivan said today's march was very important to highlight the need for a central role for the UN in the rebuilding of post-war Iraq, and to highlight how the Irish people will not allow its government to fudge on the use of Shannon Airport in the future.
There is a strong garda security presence at the airport, including riot gardaí and the mounted police unit and watercannon on standby inside the airport perimeter fence.
