Bush not welcome in Belfast!

I went along to the Bush protest at Belfast City Hall yesterday, which was reasonably attended given that it was Monday lunchtime, armed with a load of placards and a large red banner- a trait I had in common with many in attendance. It was great to see such a variety of people turning out to oppose the decision to invite the War President to pose as a man of peace in Stormont; curious bystanders on their lunchbreak, anarcho-syndicalists, Eamonn McCann basking in his post-Raytheon trial glory, trade unionists, youth groups from the SDLP, SF, Socialist Party and ICTU, the SWP, large rubber statues with men inside, young children and elderly women to name a few.

The highlight was éirígí's brazen stunt which saw the Iraqi flag replace the Union Flag on the City Hall flagpole for the duration of the afternoon. Lynda Walker of the CPI entertained from the truck kindly provided by Unison with an impromptu burst of Tom Paxton's 'What Did You Learn In School?' (What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine? I learned that Washington never told a lie...) and the crowd heard speeches from various unions, McCann and, most movingly, an Iraqi trade unionist telling of the destruction the Bush administration has unleashed on his country.

The protest then moved via the 4A bus route to Stormont and the driver of our particular bus was none too pleased to see us board with placards and two giant banners. The Stormont gates were decorated by grim-faced PSNI officers who were soon reinforced by rather threatening Robocop-esque riot police. I have to admit I was rather comforted by their presence given the arrival across the street of a small group of fascistic UDA types attempting, pathetically, to burn some Socialist Party posters with a cigarette lighter.  I hope that they burned their thuggish fingers.

The 4As kept coming and the Stormont gates soon housed a curious mix of anarchists, Trots, éirígí activists, an ironic KKK figure, one boy with an Ogra Shinn Fein placard who nearly had his shoulder dislocated by the passing traffic, the Young Greens and the SDLP Youth. The Socialist Party, in an act of mind-bending logic had bottled water (think of the environment, guys!), Tayto crisps and Twix bars for sale. It seems that the entrepreneurial spirit pervades even the far left. I was tempted to justify my thirst by snatching a bottle of water saying, "So No to Water Charges, fellas" or "distribute me a Twix, comrade" but thought against the idea given their numbers.

Speakers from the Socialist Party, Young Greens and various other groups stuggled to be heard over the traffic through a mini public address system but, luckily, the crowd made plenty of noise with some imaginative chants. The news of Bush's arrival was greeted with more chants and speeches before the protest wound itself up following the arrest of one jaywalking anarchist. It may have been small but it was something.

Overall, the protests successfully achieved their objective. They provided an alternative view to the one propagated by the media and our MLAs that Bush was a great chap, welcome to drop in for tea with Martin and Peter any time and laden down with gifts of inward investment like an altruistic capitalist Santa Claus. It made a point that the people of Ireland did not support Bush's imperialism in Iraq in 2003 and do not support it now, and sent a message to the US President that he is not welcome in Belfast or even at home.