Irish protesters head for Genoa G8 summit

Hundreds of Irish protesters will leave Dublin today to join an estimated 100,000 anti-globalisation activists at the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy.

A convoy of buses will ferry them, via Britain and France, to the northern Italian city, where the summit is due to begin next Friday.

We are going to Genoa to tell the most powerful politicians in the world that change is necessary Ms Grace Lally

The Irish protesters - a disparate group of environmentalists, socialists, anarchists and trade unionists - will join other activists staying in improvised tent villages in parks and the Lagaccio football stadium on the edge of the city.

Ms Grace Lally, spokeswoman for Globalise Resistance, who are organising the Irish activities, said the group is part of an emerging worldwide force uniting people against the growth of global corporations.

"We are going to Genoa to tell the most powerful politicians in the world that change is necessary," she said.

Protesters from all over the world will be confronted with a huge security operation mounted by Italian police.

The Italian authorities are fearful of the repeat of scenes at recent economic summits in Prague, Davos and Barcelona, which have seriously disrupted the meetings.

Leaders attending the meeting include US President Mr George W Bush, the target of huge protests during his last visit to Europe.

Surface-to-air missiles at the airport, patrol boats in the harbour and at least 15,000 well-armed personnel are on stand-by in preparation.

Protesters have already begun arriving in Genoa and have warned the authorities they intend to disrupt the meetings.

Mr Luca Casarini, spokesman for the radical Italian Tute Bianchi group, said last month: "We will penetrate the security zones. We will use our bodies to stop the international delegations."

The environmentalist group Friends of the Earth said today it would not attend the summit because it fears the event will descend into violence.

Mr Martin Rocholl, director of FoE Europe, said there was a serious risk of anarchic demonstrations breaking out around the summit, meaning that any peaceful protest would be overshadowed.

"Both sides are gearing up for a fight...We don't see a chance in Genoa for peaceful protest."