Workers Solidarity Movement

Several hundred people took part in "A Spectacle Of Defiance And Hope" in Dublin Friday night to protest the way the government have cut funding to vital community services. Janice Feighery a co-ordinator at an after school computer program for young people said “Community programmes are being devastated by the cuts. Our work with young people is strangled by lack of funds."  The spectacle draws to a close the week of protests against the austerity budget.

At just after 5 p.m. Wednesday evening, 600 angry marchers took to the streets of Cork city to demonstrate their opposition to the 2011 budget and the state's IMF- and EU-designed four-year plan. Marchers assembled on Patrick's Bridge for some time before 5, and when sufficient numbers had arrived, the crowd moved up-river to the nearby Emmet Place in front of the Opera House, from where the march departed, led by the banner of the Cork Social Welfare Defenders campaign.

Budget day 2011 saw vicious cuts being imposed on ordinary working people across Ireland to pay the massive costs of the bailout of Ireland’s banking system. A deeply unpopular government, in the service of the richest 1% of the population imposed cuts and tax hikes totalling 6 billion euro, cuts which will be supervised by the ECB and IMF. Around two thousands peopled gathered at at the Dáil that evening with the first protest taking place early that morning, when Gardai hastily tore the slogans off a cherry picker that had been placed outside the Dáil.

A campaign against social welfare cuts and the attack on the unemployed by the Government got underway in Cork earlier today with an occupation by 100 people of Anglo-Irish Bank. Arising from a march opposing the looming cuts, the Social Welfare Defence Campaign arrived at Anglo-Irish and proceeded to occupy the front reception of the Bank.

Despite freezing temperatures, an estimated one hundred thousand people were on the streets of Dublin today to take part in the ICTU demonstration against the draconian four year plan, which is raising taxes on low paid workers, slashing wages, social services and cutting social welfare.  The WSM took part in the demonstration with the 1% Network, highlighting the wealthy 1% of the population who own 34% of the wealth, and pointing out that only a general strike can force them to back down from making us pay the full costs of the crisis.

WSM reporters took part in the student march against Garda Brutality in Dublin called by Free Educations for Everyone and the Students in Solidarity networks. Over 600 people took part in the demonstration which marched from the Wolfe Tone statue to Pearse street police station.  It followed on from the previous Wednesdays Garda attacks on students protesting the planned increase in fees. We had provided live coverage from that protest as the Garda attacked the students with horses, dogs, vans and batons and we again provide live coverage from this protest which is archived here.

The WSM has released a press statement condemning the Garda attacks on student protesters in Dublin today during which many students were injured by Garda batons.  We say that we need to stand together in this period of attack on our quality of life and futures. What is clear today that like elsewhere around Europe and the rest of the world, police repression will be used by the state to try an make our movements for social justice and equality fearful and less open and effective.

For an account of the protests as they happened with videos see Riot police attack students after they storm Department of Finance in Dublin

Saturday 30th October saw the WSM take part in the latest 1% Network event, an after dark Halloween Treasure Hunt around Dublin's exclusive Shewsbury and Ailesbury roads taking in the mansions of multi millionare bankers, developers and financers as well as the HQ of Allied Irish Bank and the 32 million in tax avoidance of the luxury Four Seasons hotel. The tour was led off by a vampire capitalist accompanied by a contingent of Zombie bankers and developers and ghost estates with the vampire showing how much wealth was present at each stop and explaining the contacts between the 1%, the media and the government that enabled them to make hundreds of millions during the tiger.  The tour was accompanied by uniformed Gardai and a car of special branch political police.  The 1% network is a coalition of socialist groups including the WSM, eirigi, ISN and Semora Spraoi formed to highlight the fact that the richest 1% own 34% of the wealth.

A couple of hundred people took part in the 1% Network's tour of the Golden Circle in Dublin 2 and 4 on Saturday. The tour visited the townhouses of Dermot Desmond, Johnny Ronan & Tony O'Reilly as well as the HQ of IBEC, the new Anglo Irish Bank HQ, the HQ of Treasury Holdings and some of the the private banks and clubs in the area.

Video from the tour is also online

At 9:30 this morning, people gathered on O'Connell Street In Dublin to protest against the presence of war criminal and ex British prime-minister Tony Blair. Blair arrived at Easons at around 10am for the book-signing of his recent autobiography, escorted and protected by a sizable gardai presence. Despite the heavy rain, hundreds of protestors took part.  At least one protester managed to get past the heavy security to try to make a citizens arrest of Blair for his war crimes.