TheCity

Tag: people

  • Dublin’s streets packed for march against austerity

    Dublin’s streets packed for march against austerity

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    Saturday’s anti-austerity march brought thousands out on the streets of Dublin City.

    The march, organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, saw people from all corners of the country come to capital to demonstrate against austerity measures and taxes.

    Gathering at Parnell Square, live traditional Irish music – well known songs like the ‘Rare Old Times’ and ‘Dirty Old Town’ –  kept participants entertained while waiting patiently in the cold for the demonstration to take off.

    When the time came, approximately 10,000 strong left from the Garden Remembrance, with chants and banners at the ready.

    Despite the colds, spirits were high and all aspects of society marched side by side – the young, old, students, unemployed and employed alike.

    [youtube.com=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akQJwaG6OLc]

    Accompanying the marchers was a wide range of lively music and dramatics – including marching bands, singers, costumed performers and creative floats.

    Led by a deathly cloaked figure on a horse – demonstrators left from Parnell Square, making their way down O’ Connell Street and across College Green, before proceeding back across the O’ Connell Street bridge for a special assembly in front of the GPO.

    So many turned out for the event that tail end of the march had barely left Parnell Square while those way ahead in the lead were almost at the end point.

    This made for a parallel meeting of marchers travelling across both directions of the O’ Connell Street bridge. Here, the sound of uilleann pipes mixed with enthusiastic shouts and a lively sing along of Bob Marley’s ‘Stand Up For Your Rights’.

    Meanwhile, unified chants of “You cut, we bleed” bellowed across the Liffey. These chants echoed the general theme and feeling of the march – many hurt and worried by budget cuts and taxes to come.

    But whether marcher’s cries were heard all the way over in the offices of Kildare Street remains to be seen.

    By Liam Keegan & Aidan Knowles

  • Morning in Moore Street

    Morning in Moore Street

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    Mid-week 9.45am meandering...

    A schoolboy, who ought to have been in school begged his Dad to buy him a watermelon,one so big that he struggled to lift it. “Please Da can I have it, they’re lovely so they are.” My heart went out to the young lad when his Dad said “not today son.” Even though I suspected he only wanted it because it matched the colour of his uniform.

    “Cigarettes for sale” was the brazen bellow to be heard from the street corners. Loud and clear so all could hear.

    “Come here to me love and I’ll do your hair for you” pleaded a woman with a handful of hair extensions.

    A mother and daughter sat side-by-side at their fruit stall and exchanged tips of the trade. Breakfast for the street merchants consisted of their own produce. One man munched on a banana and a woman crunched on an apple.

    The pigeons wanted in on the action too, a flock gathered around chunks of naan bread retrieved from the nearby refuse bin.

    A waft of freshly baked bread lingered in the air. The source was a Parisian baker and an actual real bakery.

    Across the street stood a lady haggling with the fishmongers; she wanted eight fish but onlyif the price was right. She tried her luck but the experienced trader wasn’t having any of it.

    Five minutes later, the customer returned and did a deal. The merchant emerged the happier from that trade-off. Her face lit up, in marked contrast to her earlier scowl.

    Neon lights signalled phone repair shops in competition for custom. One such shop had an on-site hairdresser to offer haircuts to ‘shorten’ the wait. Beat that.

    A toddler stood enrapt looking skywards; a toy sized toy shop and its turban- wearing ower had captured her attention. She was lost in her own world until her father hurried her along.

    A Polish store big enough to take on the Tesco giant complemented the kitsch polish cafe a few doors away. On a fruit stall, Chinese pears took pride of place alongside Irish pears.

    Difference embraced.

    Words: Martha Gberevbie

    Photos: Aidan Knowles

  • Do you know first aid?

    Do you know first aid?

    A study carried out by NUI Maynooth in October 2012, on behalf of the Irish Red Cross shows that 95% of people surveyed would not respond in an emergency situation, such as a traffic accident or cardiac arrest, as they feared not being competent enough to offer assistance, even if they have been trained in first aid.
    We went to the streets of Dublin to see what the public thought.

  • Should women be allowed carry pepper spray in Ireland?

    Should women be allowed carry pepper spray in Ireland?

    In light of the Jill Meagher murder in Australia, questions have been raised about the rights women have to protect themselves in Ireland.

    At the moment it is illegal to carry pepper spray as a form of protection in this country.

    But should it be legalised? Here’s what the people of Dublin think.