Ireland 'prostituted' by the Government - Boyd Barrett

The Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, "has prostituted the country to the war-mongering colonialism of the US," by allowing it to use Shannon as a military stopover point the way to the gulf according to Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement.

"The reason behind the war in Iraq had little to do with weapons of mass destruction but more to do with installing a pro-US Iraqi government," he continued.

He was speaking at a joint press conference in Dublin today held by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), the NGO Peace Alliance, the Irish Anti War Movement, the Green Party, the Labour Party and Sinn Fein.

On September 27th the group is staging a demonstration calling for the end of the Occupation of Iraq and Palestine. The march will start at Parnell Square in Dublin at 2 p.m. and march to Government buildings in Merrion Street.

Ms Patricia McKenna of the Green Party was also at the conference. She criticised the Government's stance on the war in Iraq and said, "the Taoiseach and Foreign Minister, Mr Brian Cowen must be held accountable for supporting the 'Coalition of the Willing' who attacked Iraq on the assumption that the country 'could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes' and represented a threat to international peace and stability.

"Now half a year later, no weapons have been discovered by the occupation forces in Iraq. What has our government got to say about this," she asked.

Mr Roger Cole of the PANA urged people not to vote for the Government in the upcoming elections saying "the only real way for the Irish people to show their rejection of Ahern's policies is by not voting for him and his supporters."

He called upon all those who oppose the occupations "to vote in the EU and local elections in June 2004 only for those candidates who support the end of the occupations of Iraq and Palestine."

Meawhile, Mr Proinsias De Rossa urged the Government to use its upcoming presidency of the EU to unite the EU into a common stance for a US withdrawal from Iraq.

He called the current occupation "a waste of life for the Iraqi, American and British people."

All the representatives at the conference called a withdrawal of troops from Iraq with a total handover of control to the UN.

Next week's march has been organised by the same International Coalition that held demonstrations worldwide on the 15th of February this year.