A SMALL CROWD has already gathered outside the Dáil this morning for a protest against austerity, as TDs get back to work.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, one of the organisers, former hunger striker Tony Rochford said the ultimate aim of the demonstration is to get TDs to step down.

A livestream of the protest shows about 50 people are already there this morning but larger crowds are expected later, to greet TDs as they return to the Dáil. Over five thousand people have joined the protest Facebook page. Originally, the plan was to form a human chain around the entrance but this is proving difficult as protesters have been moved away by gardaí.

“The main message is for them to look at the country and look at what’s going on,” he said. “They’re walking all over people, increasing our bills when they haven’t cut their own wages.”

He said protesters will not be using physical force to lock TDs out of the Dáil but added that left-wing politicians who walk by will “show their true colours”.

A garda spokesperson said there is a “sufficient presence” today to deal with the crowd which is expected to reach up to a thousand.

It is understood that an extra garda unit has been detailed to work. Rochford said that protesters have already been pushed back, off Kildare Street  onto Molesworth Street, and claimed gardaí had been heavy-handed with some people.

Read: Three thousand sign up to ‘lock the Government out of the Dáil’>

Read: Tony Rochford ends hunger strike>