The aircraft carrying the US President, George W Bush, to the United States from a trip to India and Pakistan made a refuelling stop at Shannon Airport in the early hours of this morning.
A small group of nine anti-war campaigners protested outside the perimeter of the airport.
The protestors say the use of Shannon by the US military has facilitated the killing of over 100,000 civilians, half of them children, during the war in Iraq.
The also claim dozens of prisoners have been brought through the airport on up to 100 CIA flights to torture prisoners in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Mr Bush's plane landed just after 2.30am and spent an hour and 20 minutes refuelling. The US President did not leave Airforce One during the stop over.
Mr Bush was returning from a state visit to India and Pakistan, seeking support from his ongoing war on terrorism.
A major security operation involving over 500 gardaí, army and airport personnel were on duty leading up to and during the stopover.
