Resistance To Cutbacks Grows Across Ireland
The last three weeks have seen a dramatic escalation of street protests and other forms of opposition to the cutbacks that are being introduced by the Leinster House and Stormont regimes.
From Cork to Belfast and from Donegal to Dublin, people have taken to the streets in huge numbers to defend their public services. That this upsurge in resistance has taken place during a period of Arctic weather conditions makes it all the more remarkable. Below are summary reports on just a handful of the protests which have taken place over the last three weeks.
ICTU March, Dublin
On Saturday, November 27, up to 100,000 people braved the snow and sub-zero temperatures to attend an Irish Congress of Trade Unions protest in Dublin city centre. Scores of Éirígí activists were amongst the 700 people who marched behind the banner of the 1% Network from Wood Quay to O’Connell Street. The angry mood of the crowd was clear from the widespread heckling that greeted SIPTU’s Jack O’Connor when he took to the main ICTU platform outside of the GPO.
As soon as the main ICTU platform had concluded, an ‘alternative’ platform at the Daniel O’Connell monument was set up. Upwards of 5,000 people heard speakers from a variety of trade unions and left-wing political organisations repeatedly call for a general strike, whilst criticising the collective failures of the trade union leadership.
Éirígí’s Louise Minihan, representing the 1% Network, received particularly vocal support when she addressed the assembled crowds, asserting that “the working class could bring the elite of this country to their knees... Through a general strike, the working class can defeat the cutback agenda and force the Fianna Fáil-GreenParty coalition from office. But it shouldn’t stop there – a general election to put twiddle dumb or twiddle dee into government will change nothing for the workers of this state. It’s the system that’s at fault, not how it is managed!”
Anti-Budget Protest, Donegal
As the details of the 2011 Blood Budget were revealed on Tuesday, December 7, people from across Donegal were making their way to an Éirígí-organised protest outside of the Fianna Fáil office in Dungloe.
Up to 120 people heard Éirígí’s Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig urge people to remember that “every one of the elected TDs, MEPs and senators, whether here in Donegal or nationally, are all equally guilty for the state this country is in today due to the fact they backed the policies which led to this crisis. We cannot trust these politicians and a sustained campaign of street protest, civil disobedience and general strikes organised by ordinary people is the only way forward.”
Anti-Budget Protest, Dublin
Meanwhile, in Dublin, upwards of 350 people, including many Éirígí activists and supporters, joined the 1% Network’s assembly point at the Wolf Tone monument on St Stephen’s Green before marching to the gates of Leinster House. As the night drew in, upwards of 1,500 people, from a variety of organisations and none, registered their opposition to the cutbacks contained with the 2011 budget.
Éirígí’s Daithi Mac An Mháistir addressed the protesters: “These politicians and their masters in the IMF and EU represent the interests of those who will never know what it is to try and live on a worker’s wage or to be unemployed and in need of decent, accessible and sustainable social service provision... The only choice on offer from the establishment parties is the choice between different forms of capitalism; whether it is naked ‘neo-liberalism’ or the ‘capitalism with a conscience’ of social democracy… We will have to fight collectively for the establishment of a socialist republic. That is right. We will have to fight because the coming fight is inevitable.”
Anti-Budget Protest, Cork
On Wednesday, December 8, Éirígí activists in Cork were amongst the 600 people who took part in an Independent Workers’ Union organised protest against the 2011 Blood Budget. The colourful and noisy protest attracted support from a wide range of political and community organisations, as well as many non-aligned individuals. Setting out from the Opera House, the march made its way along Patrick Street before concluding at Daunt Square where a number of speakers addressed the crowd.
Anti-Student Fees Protest, Belfast
In Belfast on Thursday, December 9, up to 2,000 people took part in a protest opposing an increase in student’s fees in the Six Counties. Éirígí activists were amongst the second level and university students who formed the vast bulk of the protesters. As the numbers grew, an impromptu sit-down protest took place outside of City Hall, closing down Belfast city centre for two hours. True to form, the PSNI responded to the good-natured protest by unleashing baton-yielding goons in full riot gear.
Anti-Student Fees Protest, Derry
On Friday, December 10, 300 second and third level students took part in an anti-fees protest in Derry City. On this occasion, the protest included not only a march and speeches but also a spontaneous occupation of the landmark Guildhall building.
Anti-Budget Protest, Sligo
On Saturday, December 11, protestors gathered at the office of Fianna Fáil TD Jimmy Devins in Sligo town for a protest against the 2011 budget organised by the Sligo Workers Alliance. Speaking after the event, Éirígí Sligeach representative Gerry Casey said, “Today’s protest was the start of a campaign locally against these cuts. This budget made the rich richer and the poor poorer. No attempt was made to introduce a wealth tax on the 1% elite who control 34% of our wealth. No attempt was made to nationalise our natural resources which are worth a minimum of €400 billion, making any excuse for cuts redundant.”
