Scuffles Mar Daíl Protest

Reports are emerging that individuals amongst around 1,000 protestors who are opposing Government cutbacks were involved in scuffles with Gardaí yesterday evening.

The demonstration, organised by the Right to Work campaign, took place outside the Daíl and is believed to have been the scene of some scuffles between protestors and a Gardaí presence.

Earlier, there were minor scuffles with gardaí when members of the socialist Éirígí group commenced a march past Anglo Irish Bank.

Gardaí had cordoned off the bank while their mounted unit and plain clothed officers patrolled the area.

Éirígí members said the Gardaí blockade was stopping their right to free demonstration and protest and the crowd was said to have pushed through the Gardaí standoff.

The protest takes place amid dark days in the Irish economy as news of redundancies such as the 758 Pfizer pharmaceutical jobs in Cork continue.

A spokesman for the Right To Work movement said: "Over the past year workers have taken a battering. The employers and the government have used the media to divide public and private sector workers. They want us all to accept pay cuts, worse conditions and to work longer for a pension.

"These disastrous policies have been adding thousands to the dole queues."

The spokesman added: "Now it is time for us to come together to spread the resistance. This campaign is about building solidarity between trade unionists, community activists, the unemployed, students, migrant workers, pensioners and those campaigning for green jobs."

(DW/BMcC)