Gardaí disperse small violent group outside Dáil
Despite a successful day of protests on O'Connell Street today, a small splinter group who became violent disturbed the peace outside Dáil Eireann.
A crowd of approximately 70 extremists threw bottles, bangers and paint at Gardaí and burned posters.
Gardaí remained calm and succeeded in dispersing the crowd despite much provocation.
Groups outside the Dáil continued their protest yet disagreed with the violence that was created.
Public service workers, students and left-wing political groups marched through Dublin under the banner of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to demand a better and fairer way.
Thousands then filled the capital’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, for a mass rally outside the historic GPO – where the 1916 Proclamation of Independence was read.
Jack O’Connor, president of the SIPTU trade union, said the Government’s recovery plan and bailout was about rescuing the people – “But it’s about rescuing the people at the top of the banks in France and Germany,” he told the cheering crowds.
Gardaí said the protest passed peacefully, with no arrests made during the day.
