The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘INSURANCE PROTEST IS ONLY ONE PART OF BIGGER PICTURE’
A DEMONSTRATION spearheaded by Killorglin’s Kian Griffin against soaring insurance premiums on Saturday last, fell well short of its predicted attendance – but he remains upbeat, and insists the campaign itself remains very much on track.
Based on massive interest shown online, it had been anticipated by some that the protest organised by Mr Griffin’s site Ireland Underground could attract up to 15,000 people, and its venue had been moved from Kildare Street to Merrion Square due to the possibility of huge crowds.
Instead, just 100 people attended – but while Mr Griffin admits he’s disappointed, he still feels the campaign as a whole is doing extremely well:
“I came into Manor on the day, as that was where the Kerry branch of the protest was supposed to assemble, but disappointingly very few cars were there ahead of me. As we were travelling up, word from elsewhere told a similar story.”
“But I think the protest was only one part of a bigger picture, and this is only one backward step after five forward steps.”
Mr Griffin set up Ireland Underground in a bid to tackle the stigma that often goes with being a car enthusiast, and in that time he’d been struck by how many people, like him, were incensed at the spike in motor insurance prices.
Since then, he’s been calling for greater transparency into how insurance premiums are calculated, and the causes for its recent hike.
His bid to organise a demonstration was met with hugely positive reaction, and he managed to secure excellent coverage for the cause he’s promoting:
“I’ve been on national radio several times, and I’ve had coverage from national papers like The Irish Independent and locally from The Kerryman.”
“We’ve no financial clout, so I think we’ve done remarkably well up to now, and the feedback I’ve been getting has been very positive. We also had three TDs and an MEP in attendance on Saturday, and I think all that mixed together is a fairer reflection on our efforts.”
Social media can often be unforgiving, but even when outlets reported on the disappointing turnout, the prevailing reaction was one of positivity towards the Killorglin man for at least trying to take action.
That was also the message from Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart, who told the protesters that the issue was far bigger than the attendance suggested, while Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan – a former Kerry resident – urged the protesters not to be disheartened.
Mr Griffin persevered in spite of his disappointment, and addressed the protesters on the day. He’ ll take a hardearned break for a week or so, but his fight doesn’t stop here:
“We might well have future protests after the Dáil recess, but we mightn’t need to because we’re confident that we’ve started the move towards change.”
“We’ll learn from this. There’s clearly huge anger at insurance premiums, but it might be better to start things at a local level and then build our way up. We’ll see what happens.”