On 1 May 2004 there was a physical confrontation in the Dublin suburb of Ashtown between riot police and alter-globalisation activists. On that day there was a summit of EU leaders taking place at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park. Protestors affiliated with the Dublin Grassroots Network and other left-wing groups attempted to march to Farmleigh but were blocked by Gardaí at the Ashtown roundabout. A small number of protestors broke off from the main group and clashed with Gardaí at the roundabout. The Gardaí used water cannons against the protestors, eventually dispersing them. This was the first time that police had used water cannons in the Republic of Ireland.

Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisation, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport.