Speaker refuses to condemn protesters
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ONE of the main speakers at the rally which ended with gardai baton charging people outside the Dail is refusing to condemn the protesters who tried to break into Leinster House.
People Before Profit councillor Richard Boyd Barrett also said the tactics used by gardai, who were forced to push the protesters back from the Dail gates, were an overreaction.
And the Socialist Worker's Party (SWP), whose members were trying to force an entry, praised the incident as "in the spirit of the Greek resistance".
Around 70 to 80 protesters broke away from a Right to Work march and tried to force their way into the Dail on Tuesday night.
The march was around 700 strong, but a minority turned it violent. It was addressed by speakers from Sinn Fein, as well as Mr Boyd Barrett, 'Irish Times' columnist Fintan O'Toole and Janette Byrne from Patients Together.
The handful of gardai at the gate used their batons to disperse the crowd and three people were injured, but not seriously hurt.
Fianna Fail Clare TD Timmy Dooley, who was on Kildare Street at the time and saw the whole incident unfold, said some of the protesters "used flagpoles to strike gardai".
Another rally is due to take place at Leinster House next Tuesday.
- Fiach Kelly Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
