ON THE SHELBOURNE Hotel side of St Stephen’s Green, dozens of pigeons gathered inside a locked gate, unwitting crossers of today’s picket line. 

St Stephen’s Green, like most other gated parks in Ireland, is off-limits to the public as a result of today’s public sector strike, which encompasses roughly 300,000 workers from a wide range of professions, including healthcare professionals, primary and secondary school teachers and staff, third-level education lecturers and staff, prison officers, and more. As it is administered by the Office of Public Works (OPW), which is staffed by striking public sector workers, its gates remained closed throughout today’s industrial action. 

One woman, who works in the city centre, was seen by The Journal throwing seeds in over the gate at the pigeons and commented: “I feed the pigeons a few days a week. I’ve been wondering how they’ll be fed while the strike is going on.”

Pigeons, a portrait by Carl Kinsella

At the front entrance of the park, a family of US tourists looked through the bars.

Upon approach, they confirmed that they only heard about the strike this morning and that it had affected their plans for the day. However, they weren’t too put out. 

“We know they’re on strike, and we support them,” said the matriarch, a woman from Connecticut. When asked if she knew what was behind the strike, she confirmed that she did not. Now that’s solidarity. 

Mark Prouse, an OPW worker and a member of trade union Siptu, said this was broadly reflective of the mood of most tourists approaching the gates.

“It’s actually been a very quiet day. We’ve had fewer than a dozen people approach the gates, maybe eight or nine, but they’ve all been supportive. One of them asked for a photo holding up one of our placards.”

Standing just outside the park at around midday was a pair of couples from New York who were a little more bitter about the unexpected interruption to their itinerary. 

“What else are we going to do in Dublin?” asked one man among the party. “Go to the park? Nope. Go to Trinity College? Nope. Go to the museum? Nope.”

“This is our last day here so we’re pretty disappointed,” said one of the women in the group. “We’ve been here for a week and this was kind of our day off so we were looking forward to walking around the parks.”

At other locations, however, tourists were more understanding.

One travelling group, a mother and two daughters, said that they had been looking forward to walking through Trinity College, but upon receiving an explanation from those who had gathered to picket, moved on without any fuss or frustration. 

Speaking to The Journal, Irish Federation of University Teachers (Ifut) members picketing outside the university’s front gates said that most tourists seem to understand what’s going on, and that while there had been “disappointment”, there had been no issues.

“One woman from Taiwan told us she was part of a union back home and gave her support,” one Ifut rep said.

At all locations, the supportive honking of Dublin Bus could be heard. 

At the Botanic Gardens in north Dublin, a class of German children were turned away at the gates. One of the teachers could be heard saying: “Oh okay, I get it.”

Down at the National Gallery, the mood was similar. Over the course of 15 minutes, several would-be visitors to the gallery were turned away without stress.

Wayne Sugg, a museum attendant and Siptu rep, was clear about the stakes. 

“We feel the government has allowed this deal to expire deliberately. With the cost of living, many of us are just trying to keep our heads above water, and we’re underwater most of the time,” said Sugg.

Nevertheless, the energy at all locations was positive. 

One Frenchman standing outside the Kilkenny Shop on Nassau St with a suitcase was leaving Dublin today, so his plans had been unaffected by the strikes.

However, he did note that the strikes were “very peaceful” and that “in France, it is not like this”.