Protesters call for dialogue with Council

Date Published: 03-Nov-2011

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

The ‘Occupy Galway’ protesters who have taken over part of Eyre Square have urged Galway City Council officials to engage in dialogue with them if they have concerns over the staging of the Continental Christmas Market later this month.

Almost three weeks on from the start of their demonstration, protesters at the tented village said yesterday that no city officials had come to the site to ask them to move on or make way for the Winter Wonderland, which is due to start November 25.

With the construction of temporary cabins due to begin on the site within the next fortnight, the demonstrators said were prepared to stay at the city centre site “for the long haul” in solidarity with similar protests throughout the globe.

There were 19 tents at the protest site yesterday, where residents of the encampment said they had received considerable support from the public and even local businesses and passing Gardaí.

The protesters, who are not affiliated with any political grouping and have no leaders, have called for the removal of the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund from Irish affairs, and that the private debt burden is lifted from the Irish people.

The site occupied by the campers has been earmarked for a children’s play area during the Christmas Market from November 25 to December 18, leading to concerns that the market could face disruption.

“We want to follow the will of the people and we are not here to annoy people,” said protester Liam Heffernan yesterday. “There’s already enough economic chaos. We want to make a stand, but our gripe is not with the ordinary market traders. It is with the system overall.

Another protester, Michael Jones, said the tents were put on concrete because the protesters did not wish to destroy or damage the grass in Eyre Square.

“If the Council want us to move onto the grass, we need them to come down here and talk to us,” said Mr Jones.

“They know where we live. We are waiting for them to come down here and we are not hostile. This protest is part of a global movement which has the same values across the world.”

Members of the Council have called for the camp to be removed. Cllr Mike Crowe (FF) described it as an “eyesore” last week, while Cllr Padraig Conneely (FG) expressed concern that the protest could put the Christmas market in jeopardy.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.