Approximately 10,000 people , young and old , protested in Dublin yesterday (Saturday 31st March 2012) in opposition to the IMF-enforced implementation of a household tax on houses that either have already been paid for or are in the process of being paid for. Republican Sinn Féin members were amongst those who assembled at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.30pm whilst a second group of RSF members took up position at the Spire monument in O'Connell Street : between both RSF teams , a total of 4,850 leaflets were distributed to the crowds , comprising 450 'packs' with five leaflets per pack and 650 'packs' with four leaflets per pack.
The political police ('Special Branch') made their presence known at the GOR assembly point and , indeed , photographed and recorded the names and addresses of the RSF protestors in O'Connell street , whilst their uniformed colleagues , on foot and on horseback , made it clear to the thousands of protestors outside the Fine Gael Ard Fheis venue that they were on the side , and in full support of , the suited political and business class that were inside the venue discussing future methods by which they could integrate themselves with their paymasters in Brussels and Washington - whenever one or more of those Blueshirted Fine Gael members wanted to access or exit the venue , strong-arm tactics were employed by the State Gardaí to ensure that they had ease of passage ie protestors in the vicinity , or considered to be in the vicinity, were pushed back with such force that some of them lost their balance and fell to the ground and , when those around them attempted to pick them up they , too , fell victim to the 'scrum' and were themselves placed in danger. It should be noted that this happened repeatedly in clear view of the Gardaí present but it was also made clear to all of us present just what their objective was - to ensure the 'comfort' of the Fine Gael politicians and their assorted hangers-on who , after all , pay the salaries and expenses of those same Gardaí members.
However , apart from the dangerous position that a section of the protestors were placed in by uniformed State operatives , the protest itself was a huge success : the 10,000 or so people that took part in it were , at the time , representative of about one million householders who had not paid the new tax (State deadline for paying same was Midnight Saturday 31st March 2012) and the absence of any official or unofficial representation at the protest from the 'Youth Wing' (ie 'radical' !) departments of Fine Gael , Labour or Fianna Fail was noticed by the crowd , as was the fact that Provisional Sinn Féin was present , despite having themselves imposed , via their elected representatives in the British 'Parliament' in Stormont, the Sterling equivalent of a €700 per household tax on family homes in the Occupied Six Counties ! Of such hypocrisies are political careers built......
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.
