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'We need to bring the country to a halt. We need to unite'

Nationwide outrage over the economic crisis manifested itself yesterday on the streets of Dublin in the form of 100,000 angry protestors, writes Ali Bracken

Anne Moran

Ciáran Armstrong

Gregor Kerr

Damien Buggy

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A national protest to demonstrate the impact of the recession on workers was attended by up to 100,000 people yesterday.

The march, organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), began at Parnell Square at 1.45pm, 15 minutes early to accommodate the numbers who turned out. It later finished at Merrion Square and stopped outside Bank of Ireland, College Green, briefly to chant "Bank of Ireland, shame".

Workers from the public and private sector alike were out in a spirited form of solidarity on a bright day. Gregor Kerr, a teacher from Dublin's inner city and member of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), said it was an important day for the general public to unite and become more politicised. "I am also a member of the Workers Solidarity Movement. I'm here because the public and private sector finally need to get together and hold the government and big business responsible because they have caused this crisis. What we need next is a national strike," he said. "We need to bring the country to a halt. We need to unite against the property developers and big businesses. We need to stand up together against all the attacks or it'll only get worse."

Leo Armstrong travelled from Naas, Co Kildare, to protest along with his son Ciarán (8) over the loss of his "special needs" teacher. Ciarán has attention deficit disorder and had attended Newtown national school until recently, where he was one of a number of pupils who benefited from a special needs teacher. "Because of the cutbacks, his teacher has now gone back into mainstream teaching so he has no teacher. I've had to take him out of school, I'm qualified to teach him. We're devastated; if Ciarán and other children like him don't get the education they need, they may well become the problem. I'm retired and I now have to teach my son at home, I've no choice. I left this country in the cattle boats in the 1950s, I can't believe things have gotten this bad again. The government are targeting the most vulnerable, the children."

Ann Moran and her colleague Collette Roche, who work for the semi-state Dublin Port company, felt compelled to take part in yesterday's proceedings. "We're not affected by the pension levy but we have been hit by the 1% income levy like everyone else. We feel strongly about how this recession has come about and the banks role in it and all the corruption," said Moran. "The builders and the developers need to be held accountable. We are hopeful there will now be change. We want the people to be listened to."

Damien Buggy, a construction worker at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and member of Siptu, said people had finally found their voices of protest. "I'm here to let the government know that people are hurting. I'm here to protest the unfairness of it all," he said. "I haven't lost my job but nobody is secure anymore. I would like to see this government fall. I'd like to see the Green Party pull the plug."