Warning issued as Cork lockdown protest looms
AS organisers of a Cork city centre protest against COVID restrictions scheduled for Saturday promoted the event as ‘a family day out’, warnings were issued by public representatives about attending what they feel could potentially be a repeat of last Saturday’s violent scenes in Dublin.
Peoples Convention secretary Diarmaid Ó Cadhla, whose group is organising Saturday’s protest, has said the event will be going ahead despite the furore which followed the scenes where Gardaí came under attack from some protesters.
Mr Ó Cadhla, a former city councillor who failed to be elected at the last local elections in 2019, insisted that the protest planned for this Saturday had been organised before Saturday’s event in Dublin and that the event would be peaceful.
In a radio interview, Mr Ó Cadhla said the violent scenes on Saturday had endangered both Gardaí – a number of whom sustained injuries from a hail of bottles and other missiles – and protesters.
“Who benefits from that? It certainly isn’t the peaceful protesters, and we wouldn’t have anything to do with that,” he said.
He encouraged people to bring their children with them and said musicians will play at the event, while a number of people will be speaking.
Fears that Saturday’s event in Cork city would be hijacked by far-right elements, as happened in Dublin, have been heightened by increased activity on anti-lockdown message groups on platforms such as Telegram and Facebook.
Some views being expressed on groups on Telegram support far-right positions and are anti-mask and anti-vaccinations but also include standpoints which are anti-immigration,
anti-LGBTQ and anti other minorities.
Dublin Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond has called for Saturday’s protest to be stopped, stating that he doesn’t want a repeat of the scenes on Grafton Street at the weekend.
“[In Dublin] dangerous conspiracy theorists preyed on the genuine frustrations of many to recklessly bring hundreds of people out in protest against necessary public health measures aimed to fuel the spread of a killer virus,” he said.
“It is clear that subversive elements used the opportunity presented by that protest to spread their far-right propaganda, dangerous anti-science rhetoric and ultimately attack our Gardaí.”