Wednesday 22 May, 2013
THIS IS THE scene outside the Department of Finance on Merrion Row in Dublin this morning. The sit-down protest is highlighting the payout of €1.25bn today to senior, unsecured Anglo Irish bondholders.
If you have spotted a protest against today’s protest – or indeed, are part of one – send your pictures to us at tips[at]thejournal.ie.
The images below are from Laura Hutton in Photocall Ireland.
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Oh ffs. Why so many? Why not just one? Typical Irish. All over the gaff. I’m on my way in. I’ll send a few pics… :-)
Hi Susan. I’m a patriotic kinda girl so I couldn’t disgrace my country by sending in pics. I’m sorry. :( But I’ll give you a brief story of how bad it was.
We spent a while outside Anglo but there were only about 20 there so we headed off to An Dáil. There was a good crowd there from our western seaboard. (Thanks be to Jaysus someone’s awake.) They were protesting the septic tank charges and Household Charge. Met Joan Collins and saw Joe Higgins there too. I didn’t ask for autographs, wouldn’t like to embarrass myself in such esteemed company!
Decided to go round to Dept of Finance and there was a total of 5 there, so headed back to Anglo.
Abandoned and alone by this stage I got talking to a few of the “hippies”. They were truly lovely. While I was there a guy with his briefcase went to enter the building and the guy to whom I was talking said not to bother going in as the bank was broke. His curt reply was “No it’s not”. With the purse of the irish citizen at their disposal -how right he was! :-(
Réada
Well done to you . I had every good intention nof going in but alas a medical condition I suffer with prevented me….I am so disappointed that I couldn’t. You are so good to have made the effort . I am curious tho why people are not demonstrating more. Are we so brow beaten , defeatist, afraid ? and if so ,why?
Or do we just not care?
Well done again :)
Hi Reada. Were we, the rts substation action group invisible? There were 50 of us concerned citizens protesting against the “bully-boy” treatment that Eirgrid calls consultation. An independent report commissioned by minister Pat Rabitte, has been published re; the ongoing debate on Undergrounding power cables v Overhead power lines. This has come up with very interesting findings. Before the independent report, Eirgrid has been telling the media that undergrounding cables cost 3 to 5 times more than the traditional (same technology for 40 years) overhead power lines. The report states that the difference is about 2% more expensive. That sent Eirgrid scurrying to try and explain to TDs why they’ve been telling the irish people lies for the past how many years. What else have they been lying about??? Is this starting to sound like a very familiar pattern of behaviour we’ve seen from semi states in the last few years….FAS anyone? They’re planning on spending 4billion on our electrical infrastructure. None of the projects have been cut like schools, hospitals etc..No regulation. Full funding, and no accountability. Another fine irish mess and the taxpayer won’t even suspect a thing. Questions must be asked. They’ll hide behind the “we need these projects to protect jobs, investment etc blah blah…12m spent already in 8 years trying to get planning for north-south interconnector through meath..all wasted trying to bully ordinary people through the high courts..where are they now..back at square one …8 years…12m spent..suppose there’s one thing we know for certain in this country and that is…it’s very easy to spend taxpayers money.
Hi Dave. Were you outside the Dáil? I didn’t get in until lunchtime. Had I seen such a beautiful dog as you are I would remember. Fair play to you though for getting out. I thought apathy was dead in Ireland. Unfortunately it seems to be alive and well. Good message for our joke of our government. Plenty more purses to raid. :(
I was there, Reada. Suprised you didn’t hear me barking. Lucky for Ray Niland and the rest of the 600k a year Eirgrid fat cats they didn’t show their faces…i could have turned from my gentle natured great dane self into a frothing at the mouth attack doberman.!! 2 years we’ve been trying to draw the publics attention to Eirgrids shenanigans….meetings in community halls etc,etc…might be starting to get a bit of traction on the issue now though, the Dreadful treatment of Theresa Treacy at least alerted the media to what they are like. Long road ahead i suppose….’ould dog for it though!!
Meh. Nobody seems to care. Astonishing! How many operation theatres closed recently? Beds? Special needs facilities? House hold charge? Septic tank charge? USC? Meh. Meh meh. As long as we stand by, we deserve no better. Fair play to all taking a stand. I admire them.
Fair play to them. Everyone moans about the Gov then when some people actually try to do something they moan about that!!
As someone who has spent time at the camp and with them protesting u couldn’t find a bunch of nicer, geniune people who are very knowlegeable about what is going on in Ireland and the world and who love their country very much. Wish i could be there with them today but i am trying to keep a retail business going in these dark times. To the naysayers show a bit of compassion please, for these protests are for your benefit too.
At least some people are prepared to take a stand.
according to urself cormac ur a public servant, so its not like u can work umteen hours
to increase ur earnings. so, dont use that as an excuse.
if u dont believe in it, or can’t be arsed, then why not say so. stop hiding behind the
“im too busy being productive” BS
Your right. I don’t believe that sitting outside a building will do anything. And even if I did I dont have the time to go sitting outside a building. Iv better things to be doing with what little spare time I have than that. What will come of this protest. Feck all.
My criticism of the #occupy movement is that it’s not putting forward any solutions.
Oh and McGee. This is my fathers 4th recession and he got through the previous ones by working threw them. I plan to do the same. Me bitching bout it is going to solve my problems.
Bring on the revolution and the overturning of the combined D4/Gombeen elite that has ran us since independence.
The tone of your post suggests you think we’re in a better position now?
What happens in two years time when we have to pay back over 20 billion?
How do you think the budget that year is going to look?
You’re kidding yourself if you think you won’t have to take the pain, you just need to decide if you want to take all the pain, or push some of it back to the people who caused it to begin with.
We pay out 1.25billion to faceless parasites called ‘bondholders’ and as a result push the most vunerable in our society right to edge where their very lives are in jeopardy and what do we do to show our outrage yep We sit down. What are these superheros going to do next lie down?
tribal warfare – fighting amongst ourselves – that’s how we have always been, and the attitude of “I’m alright”.”I got me job”….”if you don’t like it here you can leave” – I left in late 80′s and came back in mid 90′s – the only difference now is we have social media to spread our begrudgery, back biting and doom around even more.
I am staying this time as there is no other choice, but will do my best to make a difference and keep positive.
fair play to anyone who makes a protest – I suggest getting email campaigning as they are noticing it – 32,000 emails sent over IrishSOPA, and there is now to be a proper debate. Very easy to contact all members of Oireachtas VIA http://contact.ie/ Also you can send emails about the debt.
Bombard them and stand up – if we all do it ,it will make a difference.
Why are those girls covering their faces?? Adds to the stereotype of “trouble-makers”.
The same tree-hugging, drum-beating rent-a-crowd that turn up at everything.
Encouraged by Rich Boy Barrett et al
Here’s a comment for all those people being accused of not doing anything by not being at the Occupy protest. If you work hard, care for people close to you, care for your community and are actively are trying to improve your personal economic situation,Then you are valuable, vital member of Irish society. Never mind the government, bondholders, greedy bankers, if you want to change the world, start with yourself.
what people need to learn is that the parties and their sucker uppers are the ones who are in collaboration with the moneychangers who are destroying our civilization. We can perfectly support ourselves without the parasites who call themselves bankers etc but of course are in this world to do nothing but suck the blood of the people who could be doing their own thing and supporting themselves without their bloodsucking royalty and those who crawl like slime to their masters and create absolutely nothing but words and wigs and high viz bullying
Lol It is funny to watch the hi viz people smiling and thinking they know more (in their ignorance) the time when the lie becomes the truth and the truth becomes the lie sounds familiar Charlie or his son bertie come to mind and of course this will be the most important thought when you hang up your hi viz jackets girls
When you’re on the dole you must be seeking and be available for full time work. How can you do that when you’re having a sit in at the Dept. of Finance? Take away thier dole.
These people didn’t protest when Bertie et al were making a mickey of everything. They only protest when their own lifestyle is affected.
Where were these lazy gobsheens when bad decisions were being made? In their 4×4′s happy to look the other way.
:)
Joseph,
FG membership might not suit me feiners like you, but after some contrition we might accept you.
Wrt jobs, I’m hiring and one contributor here even gave out that he had not seen the ad and why didn’t I go out of my way to get him. Right, just what a company needs to succeed, a cribber. lol.
tom, for the record im not a feiner.
re. joining FG. I’d rather shoot meself in the face
than being associated with ur party after seeing the ‘job’ they’re
makin of it. Fluckin deluded liars.
i saw that interaction weeks ago that u had with job thingy.
u’ve clearly got a short memory. what don’t u go back and look at what he said.
how much mileage will u try get from this “Look everybody,, i’ve got a job to offer, but look at all the gimps who think they’re fit to work for me”
tom, please….c’mon son!
nothing at all tom.
except u made such a big deal of it weeks ago,
and in ur typical egotistical way u misinterpreted another mans post,
u went to try rip into him, giving him a hard time,
only for him to point out to you that he wasnt looking for the job.
and here u are back again waving this job about.
why dont u put a link up to the article where u and him discussed this job.
Joseph, on the contrary I wasn’t making a big deal. I was showing that there are jobs out there, especially in sales and IT and that these jobs will go to those who want them most. If you really want a job get IT Development skills.
If you want a sales job development sales skills.
Can anyone answer the following
What are their politics ?
What solutions do they offer apart from aspirations towards a vague unattainable mediaeval utopia ?
Where do they get the money to fund their activities , where does it go, do they publish figures ?Are they a registered charity or political party ?
are they campaigning for financial transparency while being decidedly non transparent themselves ?
“have some compassion this protest is for your benefit”
Some people believe that paying the bondholders is “for our benefit ” too.
So should we also have compassion for them ?
Didn’t think so
Im sure they mean well but they are not representative
If these guys are the saviours of Ireland im afraid we are truly fucked
we’re not left with much of a choice I’ll admit but for my money I’ll always choose the democratically elected representatives over the guy sitting in the street with his hands glued into a barrel
holy jasus,
the #occupy movement don’t ‘own’ this protest.
im going in later and im not affiliated with them.
im going in because im totally opposed to us the public bailing out
private banks, and in particular this payment due to be paid, or already paid today.
u think its a fine idea for citizens to pay private banking debt??
Robert, if they are truly unemployed and therefore on benefits then they are “not available for work” and their benefits should be stopped. One rule for all as they say themselves.
Basically what you’re saying Alan is that if the government pursues a particular set of policies that maintain high levels of unemployment and drive down living standards, and if as a consequence the government’s policies make you unemployed, the government has the right to starve you if you decide to protest about it.
Or, to put it another way: you must obey the government at all times or suffer the consequences.
Here’s a proposal: why don’t you dump the authoritarian brain-bilge and start thinking what the duties of a citizen in a democracy really are?
Exactly.
To get Jobseeker’s benefit or Jobseekers allowance you must “Be available for and genuinely seeking work”.
“You must be available for work and actively looking for work to qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit (or Jobseekers allowance). You may be asked to show evidence that you are actively seeking work. For example, letters showing job applications or failure to get a job.”
I would encourage everyone to go to: https://www.welfare.ie/EN/Secure/Pages/ReportSuspectFraud.aspx and report those you suspect of committing welfare fraud.
If you want to protest do it on your own dime.
“does being available for work mean that everyone on the dole has to be sitting at home beside the phone”
No it means getting off your arse, and looking for work. On jobs.ie alone there are over 2351 jobs from 880 companies today.
The rules state you have to make an effort and if you’re not making an effort you should get your benefit/allowance taken off you. That’s why they call it Jobseeker’s, you have to be actively seeking a job.
Also, Dan, I think You’ll find plenty of kindred spirits here:
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