On February 15th, 2003, 100,000 people marched through Dublin city centre to demonstrate against the impending US and British invasion of Iraq. An infamous dossier produced by the Tony Blair-led British government claimed Iraq could launch WMDs within 45 minutes. The speeches at the Dublin protest were directed more against the Irish government than against the US and UK. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accused Taoiseach Micheál Martin of “soft-pedalling” his comments to avoid antagonising US president Donald Trump. Trump also belittled British prime minister Keir Starmer with a stinging putdown: “This is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with.”Martin faces a nerve-racking assignment in Washington.

Source: The Irish Times March 08, 2026 12:02 UTC