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A quiet corner of rural Ireland was encased in a steel cage tonight as military helicopters patrolled the skies above thousands of troops. The normally tranquil Dromoland Castle in Co Clare became a fort as US President George W Bush touched down at the nearby Shannon Airport. Anti-war protesters who gathered outside lines of more than 2,000 troops and heavy armour. All routes to Shannon Airport and the luxurious castle grounds were sealed off and police officers paced roadsides keeping a watchful eye that no-one strayed into unapproved areas, while camouflaged army vehicles waited in the bushes. Local people simply...

June 26, 2004 TEXT OF U.S.-EU DECLARATION SUPPORTING PEACE, PROGRESS, AND REFORM IN THE BROADER MIDDLE EAST AND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN Dromoland Castle Shannon, Ireland 26 June 2004 1. The United States and the European Union pledge our support to the governments and peoples of the countries concerned who have, in recent declarations and statements, expressed their determination to meet the challenges of modernisation; to advance political, social, and economic reforms; to build democracy; and to promote human rights. We believe that increased economic and political freedom can advance and change lives in the countries concerned. This task will require...

ENNIS, Ireland - The US administration confirmed it had axed an interview that US First Lady Laura Bush had been due to grant to Irish public television RTE, only two days after the broadcaster's exclusive interview with the US president himself. No explanation was given for the schedule change, but journalists travelling with the Bush entourage in Europe noted that the cancellation had come a day after George W. Bush's less-than-sunny showing in his RTE exclusive. During that interview, given on Thursday in Washington, Bush displayed annoyance and at one point lost his temper when he was contradicted by Irish...

  European Union Pledges Support to New Iraqi Government By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 26, 2004 – The 25-nation European Union today pledged its support for Iraq's new interim government, President Bush said in his weekly radio address. Bush has been attending a U.S.-European Union summit in Ireland, and then will take part in NATO's 17th summit in Istanbul, Turkey. "The international community has a responsibility to promote the rise of a free Iraq, and it is meeting that responsibility," the president said. "Today, the nations of the European Union pledged their support for the...

The United States and the European Union have put aside past differences and offered support for a greater Nato military role in Iraq. Both parties offered their full support to efforts to combat international terrorism and to rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq. In a joint statement the EU and US leaders said they would support Iraq's urgent request for Nato help in training security forces to deal with countrywide violence. The breakthrough was announced following talks between US President George W. Bush and the EU delegation led by Irish Premier Bertie Ahern at Dromoland Castle in County Clare, Ireland. The statement endorsed...

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, Ireland - The United States and the European Union (news - web sites) offered strong support for Iraq (news - web sites)'s urgent request for NATO (news - web sites) military help Saturday. "NATO has the capability and I believe the responsibility to help the Iraqi people defeat the terrorist threat that's facing their country," President Bush (news - web sites) said. "I think the bitter differences of the war are over," Bush said at the close of a U.S.-European Union summit. "There is a common interest and a common goal to help the Iraqi people." The United States...

The "bitter differences" which divided Europe and America at the time of last year's Iraq war are over, US President George Bush said today. Mr Bush was speaking after an EU-US summit in Ireland at which the transatlantic allies struck a series of agreements to mark the rebuilding of bridges following two years of quarrelling. At a joint press conference at Dromoland Castle, Mr Bush, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and EU President Romano Prodi made clear their determination to see Europe and America work together for global prosperity, growth and security. "I think the bitter differences over the war...

Coming up on Fox News...

Roger Cole (Chair) Peace & Neutrality Alliance, a long-time Labour Party activist

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, Ireland (AP) - Dromoland Castle's presidential suite in west Ireland offers luxurious accommodations for the rich and the powerful, but privacy sometimes is in short supply. President Bush, on an overnight stay in the $1,500-a-night suite, was spotted by television cameras as he was standing in a T-shirt at his window. He was visible from the waist up, apparently as he was changing clothes.An embarrassed Irish government quickly tried to prevent the release of the images.A notice to the news media said, ``The host broadcaster inadvertently transmitted pictures of President Bush at the window of Dromoland Castle. These pictures...

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, Ireland (AP) -- Five days before the transfer of power in Baghdad, President Bush opened a European trip Friday with growing confidence that NATO would take a bigger role in Iraq despite reservations from France and Germany. The administration expects NATO, at a summit in Turkey, will pledge military training and equipment, answering an urgent plea from Iyad Allawi, prime minister of Iraq's interim government, for NATO assistance "to defeat the terrorist threat and reduce reliance on foreign forces." Bush and his wife, Laura, made no public appearances on their arrival from Washington, settling in for the night at...

LISBON/ENNIS (Reuters) - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso was asked Friday to head the European Commission, and the EU's Irish presidency said it was confident a deal would be struck at a summit next Tuesday. Portugal said Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern had invited Durao Barroso to be a candidate, as EU diplomats said the conservative Portuguese leader was rapidly emerging by consensus after Spain and France dropped earlier reservations. Durao Barroso, 48, met Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio "about the efforts carried out ... for his designation as the future president of the European Commission," Sampaio's office said...

Today President Bush and First Lady Laura traveled to Shannon, Ireland for a meeting with the European Union members and later this weekend they will be traveling to Istanbul, Turkey for a NATO meeting ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO SANITY ISLAND

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Thousands of left-wing activists marched through the Irish capital Friday to protest the arrival of President Bush for a brief summit with European Union chiefs. Rallying under the "Stop Bush Campaign" banner, the crowd of about 10,000 waved signs denouncing Bush as a warmonger and calling for an end to American military flights though Shannon Airport, a strategic refueling point used by thousands of U.S. troops each month. The protesters marched from north Dublin to the south-side office of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose decision to keep Shannon available for Iraq-bound forces has angered many in this...

President Bush is interviewed by Carole Coleman of RTE. If you see this interview, you'll likely notice a hostility and rudeness toward the President. He apparently was interrupted a number of times. Reporters or interviewers who want answers, especially from heads of state, do not interrupt. Reporters who are smug, self-important and without class generally do interrupt.The Embassy of Ireland is not to blame for this person's rudeness...I merely used the embassy as the resource to find her attention. Irish FREEPers (or anyone else), if you're offended by this attitude, feel free to contact Ms. Coleman. Here is the...

<p>An Irish reporter threw courtesy aside and repeatedly interrupted President George W. Bush during a television interview at the White House.</p> <p>"Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish?" Bush said early in his interview with Radio and Television Ireland Thursday, according to a transcript released Friday.</p>

<p>WHEN President Bush visits Ireland he will be confronted by a gaggle of leftist loonies coalescing under the banner, "When Bush Comes to Shove." They're against the war in Iraq, you see.</p> <p>They held no demonstrations to protest the torture and murder conducted by Saddam Hussein over three decades; neither have they managed to get upset about human rights violations in China, the atrocities committed by various African dictators, or a host of other "evildoers," as Mr Bush likes to call them. In fact, memory fails to recall any protests against military actions taken by the Irish left against President Clinton in Bosnia, or his ineffective missile strikes on Iraq.</p>

FOR many of the demonstrators who will be out to greet President Bush to Ireland this evening and tomorrow, it will be equivalent to a visit from the Devil Incarnate. The language of their placards will be extreme. There will be no room for a debate on Iraq as far as they are concerned. But whatever one thinks of the initial US decision to invade (and there are many people here who did support the American action), reasoned debate is now more necessary than ever. The Taoiseach, in his EU presidency role, will make the general unhappiness of people in...

Bush Says Europe Supports U.S. on Iraq 43 minutes ago Add White House - AP to My Yahoo! By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer DUBLIN, Ireland - President Bush (news - web sites) defended his decision to invade Iraq (news - web sites) and insisted most of Europe backed the move during a tense interview Thursday on Irish television. AP Photo Iraq Tops Bush Agenda for Trip (AP Video) On several occasions during the 15-minute interview, Bush asked RTE correspondent Carol Coleman not to interrupt him. When Coleman said most Irish people thought the world was more dangerous today than...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In an interview with Irish television ahead of a U.S.-EU summit, U.S. President George W. Bush defended his stance on Iraq and said the war has not incited terrorists.