There was a ‘sinister fringe element’ at the Anti Water Charges March today in Dublin. The thing is that it was rather heavily represented not by those who were there to peacefully protest but by those who represent our government.
For me, that sadly includes members of the Garda. I say sadly because I have spent a lot of time trying to tell fellow protestors that the Garda are not our enemy, that we have to keep focused on who that enemy really is – our employees, those who are paid by us to represent our interests and yet who cannot engage with us in any meaningful way.
Those who have been reduced to sneaking in the back doors of hotels rather than confront their voters; those who speak down to us as if we were particularly dense children, unable to learn the valuable lessons that our masters wish to teach us; those who now have no legitimate mandate, given that they have reneged on every promise/lie made to us when they were voted in.
Yes, our corrupt government.
Today I witnessed at first hand a police force who appear to now have (perhaps unhappily for many of them) become an extension of the arm of this corrupt government that seems to see themselves as accountable to no one except their masters in Europe and their own pension schemes. And when a police force that in theory is there to protect the people allows that to happen to them then we are in a lot of trouble indeed.
Why were happy marchers who had come from all over the country in order to show their discontent with that government suddenly finding themselves being herded along cordoned-off streets and left floundering as barrages of misinformation were fired at them?
Why was it suddenly being put out that the meeting place had been changed from Merrion Square to the GPO? And that worked, by the way, as I witnessed many docilely turning aside and doing as was quietly ‘suggested’ to them. Thankfully I was with a group that simply ignored that. Also thankfully, word spread and many turned back again.
There is no doubt in my mind that with the blockade of Kildare Street and the Dail itself it was intended that we would react like animals and consequently storm through their barricades. Well, you pen people up and tell them where they can’t go – and where they can’t go is to the front gates of their own building—and you will have a reaction. Keep poking a dog and it will eventually bite you.
But then, those in the Dail not only know that but hope and pray to whatever swine gods our swine pray to, for exactly that reaction.
What a triumph that would have been for the bastards hiding in the Dail… if we had just crashed through. They would have been able to show to the world that this is what we were about. And how sad for them that it didn’t happen.
Everything was wrong with today. There were far too many political parties there with their own agendas. And this thing about shaking buckets in our faces: screw that. Many of us had worked an extra day last week in order to be there on a work day.
What the hell is wrong with you flunkies, doing the dirty work of your various parties? Look around and see how many of your party leaders have wholeheartedly stood behind the demonstrators. Trust me, it will not compare to the amount of eye-on-the-future toadies who are sitting on the fence, still waiting — even with all the evidence in front of them – to see how this utter fiasco will pan out.
What the hell happened today? At the first march in Dublin there was minimal police presence. At the march here in Galway I saw a grand total of one.
And everything went smoothly.
Don’t tell me that it was coincidence that today they were wall-to-wall. They were wired up for trouble because that is exactly what Kenny, Burton and every other one of our contemptible gougers wanted.
So now the right to peaceful protest outside our own Dail chambers, even to walk on Kildare Street has been taken from us.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. If we had ever been in any doubt as to your slimy motives, we are no longer.
You may think that you were laughing at us today as you pulled a fast one.
How short sighted – and ultimately, how unintelligent—you truly are.
Charley
Am really sorry to read you thought our right in a “democracy” to peaceful demonstration is being compromised ! Violent protest would not be something I could support – but my democratic rights I will always support ! Paula
Did I say ‘compromised’? I’m in a sour enough mood this morning to think that maybe they’re gone!
I doubt that we will see a protest as peaceful as yesterday’s again. Not on the water charges, which have become of course about much more now.
I’m not some twenty-year-old hothead but someone who would rather be at home with a movie or book than in Dublin in the cold — but I will never forget the feeling of betrayal I felt yesterday as we found taken from us our right to protest outside the Dail against the bastards that we pay; and that it was enforced by our friendly neighbourhood policemen.
And I’ll say this again: the government WANTED a riot, irrespective of potential injuries because they don’t give a toss about anyone’s life except their miserable own. I see that they got a minor scuffle and the chance to score a few arrests on O’Connell Bridge later. All in all I’d say that it was a disappointing day for them. What our despicable leaders wanted was blood on the street and a lot of it. And all of which would have been laid at our door.