Protest over police action in Catalonia

A large number of people gathered on Wexford Bridge last week to protest at the Spanish government’s crackdown on the Catalan independence referendum.

Sinn Fein Cllr Mick Roche condemned what he termed the ‘brute force’ used by Spanish riot police against peaceful voters.

‘Men, women and children were beaten.. they were families, old age pensioners, students, beaten to silence their peaceful call for Catalonian independence,’ he told the picket, criticising both the EU and most of its member states for remaining silent or supportive of the Spanish government’s reaction to the referendum, which Madrid government said was illegal.

“The Irish government and our Taoiseach have refused to condemn the terrible attack on democracy and the Catalan people. They too seem to believe that maintaining the status quo by any means necessary is more than acceptable,’ said Cllr Roche.