Well, for those who weren't there don't just take the headlines at face value.
Two arrested at Shannon Protest after assault on police.
Or the ridiculous line on Aertel that people were "protesting the use of the airport by American troops returning from bases in Germany".
Troops going home on leave do NOT wear uniforms.
When on leave they wear civilians clothes.
These guys were in khaki /desert camo uniforms, which is for wearing in deserts, not the fields in Germany.

I was there as an observer, taking photos inside the terminal but not waving banners or anything and for the most part the protest was peaceful even though it did slightly inconvenience people who had to use a different door to exit the airport.

The protests were mainly at the main door.
meanwhile inside the terminal, US military personnel in uniform were enjoying the hospitality of Shannon airport as they waited for their World Airways DC-10 to refuel.

When the protesters realised that the US military was actually at the airport they went around to the carpark at the side of the terminal to get sight of the boarding gates.
From here the US military personnel could be seen re-boarding their jet.
A lot of people were surprised to actually see this in daylight. Hundreds of US soldiers marching down to the boarding gate at Shannon airport is a bit of a shock.

The banners were waved and the chanting began in earnest to let them know that ordinary Irish people do not want Irish airports to be used as pit-stops on the way to an unjust war.
At first they were waving happily at us as if they assumed we were cheering them on. When they realised we were unhappy with their use of the airport we got a few rude hand signals from them.
This went on for quite some time as they boarded the plane in groups of 5-6.

People went further and further down along the perimiter fence to get a better view of the aircraft and continue to protest at the soldiers.
While airport secuirty scrambled on the inside of the fence, a couple of Gardai including one on a motor bike escorted the protestors.
For the most part they were content to observe things, although the motor bike cop was rather annoyed at being repeatedly filmed and photographed.

A little bit later things got a bit silly.
A few people started pulling at the fence in frustration, as the DC-10 started up its engines.
I'm not sure what they were trying to do, whether they just wanted to vent their anger or actually gain entry.
There were 10 police/security staff on the other side so they hadn't a hope of blocking the plane.
To say it was poor analysis of the situation is putting it mildly.
Other protestors called on them to stop trying to climb / pull the fence.
Things got a bit heated and from where I saw it, barbed wire was pulled down, security confiscated some banners and a the motor-bike Garda tried to restrain or arrest someone.
I was about 15ft away so I'm not sure what he was saying or doing, but he did get pushed back a foot or two by someone.
He was wearing his padded bike gear including the helmet so he was in no danger of being hurt. But it still looked like a silly thing to do as it only made the situation more heated.

After that re-inforcements were called for, and people started to disperse.
It was very quickly reported that two people were arrested. I don't know who they are, I actually heard it on the radio as the bus left Shannon.

Unfortunately the headlines will focus on the arrests of two people and not the peaceful protests of the others.
That much is to be expected, but to report that the protest was about soldiers returning on leave is completely untrue.
The amount of military personnel passing through Shannon is hardly consistent with 'Leave'. 1 DC-10 carries roughly 300 people, and to think that 9,000 soldiers a month go on leave through Shannon is stretching the imagination.
I'd also love to know who told RTE that these desert-cammo uniforms are what US soldiers wear on leave.

I was also speaking to someone from the terminal, who didn't tell me his name, but who informed me that
a) There are no military planes using the airport (I challenged him on this and informed him of the leaked memo from the DFA as well as my own observations)
b) Any future protests will not be allowed past the gate and that airport regulations will be strictly enforced.

He also implied that these protests 'would be seen as an attempt to close the airport' and therefore a risk to the jobs at the airport.

I informed him that
a) Shannon airport is hardly depending on blood money from illegal military flights,
and that
b) the same people protesting the military flights want to see Shannon continue as a civilian airport for a long time and many had expressed a willingness to protest against job losses.

He ended the conversation by saying that it's not his decision who lands at Shannon.

So the press will spin this very badly due to the hot-headedness of a few people, and it will no doubt remove the goodwill between local Gardai and other protestors at Shannon.
But it will at the very least give some publicity to the protest, and hopefully the videos and photographs of US soldiers using Shannon will cause some hard questions to be asked of Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.