Over 100 gardaí were drafted in yesterday to police 200 anti-war protesters at a peace rally held at Shannon Airport. The protest was to highlight the use of the airport by the US military.
The security operation was put in place following 10 protesters being arrested at a previous Shannon protest in October after 50 to 60 protesters breached airport security and broke through fencing to enter the airfield. However, yesterday's protest was largely good-humoured.
Along with gardaí inside the airfield, 50 gardaí, including plain-clothes members mingling with the protesters, were stationed around the entrance to the airport terminal, where the peace rally took place after a march from Shannon town.
Chief Supt Liam Quinn said he was happy the protest had passed off peacefully, saying that airport was working normally.
However, the Labour Party spokesman for foreign affairs, Mr Michael D Higgins, described the Garda presence as "over the top". He also called for a Dáil debate into what he called "the misuse of Shannon Airport".
He said: "There are people in uniform passing through Shannon Airport that are blatantly going to a war that is not sanctioned by the UN, nor is there any Government Act that facilitates this."
Two jets transporting US troops to Kuwait made stops at Shannon yesterday.