Press Release – Gardai want to restrict right to March on May Day

dublin | summit mobilisations | press release

Thursday April 22, 2004 19:29

by anothereuropeispossible - anothereuropeispossible

anothereuropeispossible at yahoo dot co dot uk

The organisers of the mayday march and carnival met today with representatives of the Gardai in Pear

The organisers of the mayday march and carnival met today with representatives of the Gardai in Pearse st.

The Another Europe is Possible delegation, which included Patricia McKenna (MEP Green Party), Mick O Reilly (ATGWU), Richard Boyd Barrett (Irish Anti War Movement) and Rory Hearne (Convenor Another Europe is Possible), outlined their plans to march from Dame St to Phoenix Pk where the carnival would take place.
However, the Gardai informed them that the Phoenix Pk would be closed on the day and that the march would be stopped at some point along the quays.

Press Release – Gardai want to restrict right to March on May Day

The organisers of the mayday march and carnival met today with representatives of the Gardai in Pearse st.

The Another Europe is Possible delegation, which included Patricia McKenna (MEP Green Party), Mick O Reilly (ATGWU), Richard Boyd Barrett (Irish Anti War Movement) and Rory Hearne (Convenor Another Europe is Possible), outlined their plans to march from Dame St to Phoenix Pk where the carnival would take place.
However, the Gardai informed them that the Phoenix Pk would be closed on the day and that the march would be stopped at some point along the quays.

“We feel that the closing of the public space of Phoenix Park on Mayday is an outrageous infringement of civil liberties and we are going to contact the assistant Garda Commissioner to demand our right to hold the carnival as planned and advertised, in Phoenix Park” said Rory Hearne. “We expressed our view that the police plans for the day are completely over the top. The reality is that there is no evidence what so ever of any violence.”

Mick O Reilly and Patricia Mc Kenna expressed their surprise and shock that the public space would be shut and they joined the appeal for resrictions on the carnival to be lifted.

Grave concern was expressed at the enormous cost of this completely unnecessary and over the top police operation to the taxpayer when clear assurances have been given that the protests will be entirely peaceful.

Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti War Movement added: “The hype around the Mayday protests smacks of the methods of George Bush. This is beginning to look like the deception of Weapons of Mass Destruction – a ficitional threat was used to justify a murderous war in Iraq and now we have the Irish Government and the Police creating a fictional threat as a way of curbing the right to protest and undermining basic civil liberties. We believe that the main aim of the hysteria that has been generated by the Gardai around the Mayday protests, is to justify draconian police methods around the visit of George Bush and to discourage the public form participating in those protests.”