Workers Solidarity Movement

It was one of those moments when you're certain that tens of thousands of other people are going through the same emotions at the same time as you. One of the rarer ones of late when the emotion is sheer joy. I wasn't really paying attention to the crackling radio as I was coming around with my cup of tea this morning, chit-chatting to my housemate. But the words 'cement truck', 'Leinster House', 'Dail Eireann', 'Gates' eventually got our attention. Oh the delight of it! 

Man takes concrete measures ahead of Anglo/Dail protest

What happened? According to news reports, at 7:30 this morning a 41 year old man drove a cement mixer truck onto which had been painted the words "Toxic Bank Anglo", along with the Anglo Irish Bank Logo, into the front gates of Leinster House. He then cut the hydrolic brake tubes and electric cables, making it difficult for An Garda Siochana to remove it. He was arrested and taken to Pearse Street Garda Station. It took the Guards  a further 2 hours to get the truck removed.

By the time I got to the scene, at about 9.40, the truck had apparently just been removed. There was a slight buzz with Gards, quite a few onlookers and journalists hanging around and chatting.

One of the most bizarre, but least surprising, aspects of the coverage of this on RTE's 'Morning Ireland' was the outright refutation by a commentator of Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd's remark that this action was motivated by discontentment with the way the government has been running the economy and the country. "It's too early to speculate what the man's motivations were" said the commentator, or words to that effect.  The political and media elite really need to smell the coffee in this country.

Today is the day that "our" "representatives" return to the business of mismanaging our country after their gargantuan summer recess at our expense. Today is the day that th Irish Congress of Trades Unions are leading a march from Anglo Irish to the Dail in protest at the savage cuts to communities and services to pay for their mess.  But the ruling elite are already trying to pass off this entrepreneurial individual's act of active citizenship as something unconnected to the nation-wide anger felt at the economic and social calamity that they have visited on this country. No doubt they will try to paint this hero as a nutter. But he isn't the only one feeling this anger, and there will be more actions like these in the weeks and months to come. That is just a concrete fact.

WORDS: Shane O'Curry

* - the original headline on this piece read Cement truck rams Dail gates.  In fact the driver just drove up the gates and parked there. For this parking offence he has spent the rest of the day in the cells

Video of truck at gate

TD's interviewed outside after the truck was removed - note the microphone