Silence speaks louder
Saturday November 07 2009
CELTIC Tigers may come and Celtic Tigers may go, but there's one constant about the Irish people -- we're a desperate shower of last-minute merchants.
By 2pm yesterday -- half an hour before ICTU's protest march was due to set off -- the crowd wasn't exactly packed like sardines around Parnell Square.
Nonetheless, the organisers busied themselves handing out this year's must-have accessories, arching paraphernalia such as whistles, placards and bright-yellow T-shirts with a variety of slogans -- 'Snip Off' and 'Save Jobs' were the hot favourites.
But by 2.45pm when the march's leaders -- including ICTU's general secretary David Begg, SIPTU president Jack O'Connor and regional secretary Patricia King -- set off for Merrion Square, the numbers behind them had swelled considerably.
And the biting blustery wind ensured that everyone moved at a brisk clip down O'Connell Street and towards Merrion Square for the rally.
It was a colourful sight with the capital's main thoroughfare awash with banners and flags, marching bands, a few samba drums, a ginormous Great Dane called Oisin (representing Dogs Against Cuts, presumably) and an impressive turnout of a couple of hundred firemen. ("I hope to jaysis I didn't leave the chip-pan on," remarked one onlooker to her pal as the long phalanx of fire-fighters filed past.)
Some people had showed up to offer support, such as Helen Powell from Knocklyon. "I'm out to support the young people," she explained. "The place has gone to rack and ruin. "I worked all my life; my husband worked all his life. It was the likes of us that brought the country the Celtic Tiger, but unfortunately it was the Government that lost it," she said.
There was some applause from spectators as the march progressed across the city -- but not much. One agitated man heckled and shouted at the union leaders. "Traitors!" he roared, as the march's stewards tried to move him out of the path of the march.
But if overall the march met with little hostility, there was a lot of indifference. Shoppers went about their business and ignored the passing protest.
Sharon Ryan, who recently lost her job in the IT industry, was
Irish Independent
