USI Protest

national | miscellaneous | news report

Wednesday February 05, 2003 17:53

by Justin Moran - Sinn Fein

maigh_nuad at yahoo dot com

8,000 students (RTE) march through Dublin

Attended the USI protest for a while this afternoon. Got to the platform at the top of Molesworth St about 10 minutes before they arrived. Young Fine Gael activists along with a couple of Labour activists and TDs Jan O'Sullivan and Kathleen Lynch were there before me in order to get their banners up front before the march arrived. Cynical, but effective.

The crowd could be heard some time before it arrived and it was a very impressive size and turnout as it came down Molesworth St. I saw banners from a great many colleges along with political organisations such as, Campaign for Free Education at the front, Labour Youth, Sinn Féin and the SWP (Whose NO to Fees, NO to War banner seemed to be putting two separate issues together in a mad manner)

The crowd were addressed by a couple of student union leaders who didn't do a bad job though they had to shout over the cries of CFE activists who were yelling 'Action, Not Words' (I think)

By this stage more TDs than you could shake a stick at had turned out to show support and I found myself surrounded by FG TDs. Unpleasant. The first politican to speak was Caoimhghin O'Caolain and, obviously I must be seen as biased, I thought he did very well and got the crowd going calling for a more militant attitude from USI.

Enda Kenny (Introduced as the leader of the party that abolished fees, a reference bitterly cursed by a nearby Labour activists) was next and, like a lot of people, I lost interest in the speech and wandered away round the back of the crowd.

The crowd, having listened to a lot of speeches, was trickling away rapidly at the rear. By the time I was in range of the platform again Joe Higgins was speaking and Joe, being Joe, did well.

I didn't hear Rabbitte speak and I don't know if Paul Gogarty of the Greens spoke but I suspect he might have done as he's their Education spokesperson. I wandered back to work at this point but certainly it was one of the best student protests I've seen in terms of turnout. The number of speakers was too much, far too much, and people lost interest but a good jumping off point, assuming there is a strategy to go further.

Latest reports indicate a sit-down protest is going on.

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Back to the point.....

by Donal OLiathain - Socialist Alternative

Thu Feb 06, 2003 12:22

zedonaldo at elvis dot com

As Justin rightly pointed out, there was indeed a sit down. The story follows.....

The demo had started off with a great atmosphere and as each college arrive the crowd got bigger and more entusiastic. We had been recieved well by passing motorists and bystanders were giving shouts of encouragement. The demo started at Mountjoy Sq. (just beside the D.I.T.) and made its way down to O'Connell Bridge. After blocking it for half an hour the demo resumed and made its way to the Dail. Thats when things started going downhill. Speaker after speaker rattled off the usual slogans and some of the TD's (esp. Enda Kenny) managed to patronise and piss-off the crowd. Some C.F.E. (Campaign for Free Education) activists did scream "more Action, less words", but it fell on the deaf ears of U.S.I. So after regrouping at the back of the demo the C.F.E. realised something had to be done. After the last speech the group (swollen by a U.L. contingent and a load of random students) ran down Molesworth place and towards the Dail.
Although the cops erected a barricade the group made very short work of it and managed to get to the front gates. There approx 150 - 200 students sat down and demanded that Fee-nna Fail (sorry, it had to be done) come out to answer our questions.
Shock, horror, nobody came out.
So we settled in for the long haul. There was a couple of drummers present and they managed to get a great beat going (while some of the U.L ppl danced) and after a while a football was produced. Between chants a megaphone was passed around to anyone who wanted to make a point, this went down a lot better then the U.S.I speechs.
The connection was made between the builders strike, cutbacks in the health and fees.
Despite what the Irish Times is saying the group was NOT 'made up of mostly Sinn Fein and the Socialist Workers', but mostly a collection of students not affiliated to any party. After two hours or so we were told we had to move or we'd be charged under the Public Offenses Act. It became fairly clear that not too many were bothered by this, and so we stayed. A chain was formed and it took maby 15 mins for the cops to break it up. A lot of protesters were carried off the road and then dropped onto the path. Some of the drums were broken and a lot of people have bruses but the atmosphere stayed good.
There was a quick meeting called by the C.F.E. after wards and contact details were swapped. This meeting basicly concerned the future of the campaign where it was going and what could be done.

But yet again the mainstream media didnt bother reporting this..... ah well

Interesting sidenote. With the exception of Eoin O'Broin (fair play for the drumming Eoin) there was no other Union officers involved in the sitdown...that tells you something doesnt it?

Misuse of handle

by Janus

Thu Feb 06, 2003 11:33

The person who posted first here using my name wasn't me, not in my name so to speak

Missed the Sectarian Swipe

by Intransigent

Thu Feb 06, 2003 01:29

First comment, trying to remember think it was Janus or something. Nice one on the sectarianism. I missed it first time round. But then I finally realised that the swp are in fact learning the way things should be done from the sp. How right you are seeing that the swp are so inferior in their politcal methods than the sp. Something to do with being an electoral base and upcoming council elections? Sectarianism breeds sectarianism. Socialist Youth march against the war today will show us that. SY and a couple of their friends march to the dail. Good idea!

Time To Make The Connections Justin

Thu Feb 06, 2003 01:05

War, Fees, Public Service Cuts, Inflation, Oil Prices. Everything is linked together. Everything has an impact on the other.

I think

by me

Wed Feb 05, 2003 23:58

There's an echo in here

Muppets

by Le Fish

Wed Feb 05, 2003 19:04

You are all complete muppet, pseudo, ass belunkers.

NO FEES NO WAR ARE LINKED

by depp

Wed Feb 05, 2003 18:34

everything is linked!

ONE GOVERNMENT, ONE group of elite schemers make decisions re - Fees / War support etc.

They make all the bleedin decisions.

Tackle the decision makers, not only the decision.

Tackle the system.

Tackle the fruitcakes not just the bananas.

I concur with Janus

by Hebe

Wed Feb 05, 2003 18:22

Justin needs to undergo re-education. Then he will appreciate the Trotskyist Theory Of Everything.

Seeing as everything is linked there will only be a need for one campaign. See, its Just So.

Wed Feb 05, 2003 18:16

Appalling Lack of Analysis

Wed Feb 05, 2003 18:02

Justin once again displays his inadequacies.

"and the SWP (Whose NO to Fees, NO to War banner seemed to be putting two separate issues together in a mad manner)"

If he approached this fom a Marxist perspective then he would see how the two are deeply inter-linked. His "Dialetic" prevents him from comphrehending the real truth of this manner.

This new adoption of the Transitional Methos by the SWP is to be hailed and shows the growing influence the SP are having on them.

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Comments (11 of 11)