Activists voice concerns over social issues and austerity
ABOUT 200 left wing activists staged a “yellow vest” protest in Belfast city centre at the weekend.
The campaigners gathered outside City Hall on Saturday to demand an end to austerity policies and action on a range of social issues in Northern Ireland.
A number of speakers addressed the crowd, calling for a halt to public sector cuts, the abolition of zero hour contracts and a reversal of contentious changes to the welfare and benefits system.
Demonstrators also demanded reform of the region’s restrictive laws on abortion and an end to the ban on same-sex marriage. There were calls too for full legalisation of medicinal cannabis.
The yellow vest movement originated in France amid pub who lic anger at fuel tax increases. It is named after the high-visibility vests — gilets jaunes — that motorists in France must keep in their cars.
The movement subsequently widened into an expression of broader anti-establishment sentiment in both France and elsewhere in Europe.
It now encompasses a diverse and often competing range of political views, with both left and right wing voices having adopted the vests as their symbol of protest.
Some have used the yellow vest demonstrations to advocate far right anti-immigration and anti-Islam messages.
People Before Profit Stormont Assembly member Gerry Carroll,
attended Saturday’s event in Belfast, insisted the left could not allow the far right to hijack the movement.
“Today is a protest in solidarity with the yellow vest protest that exploded a few weeks ago on the streets of France,” he said.
“Today is in solidarity with that spirit of saying ordinary people here in Belfast and further afield stand together and get out on the streets
and campaign for a range of issues.” The West Belfast representative added: “The yellow vest movement started off as a mass movement of working people. Is it true the far right are trying to hijack it? Yes. Should they be allowed to? No.
“If people just say the right are trying to organise, let them have it — then you are conceding the ground of discontent and anger to the far right, which is very, very dangerous and history shows where that leads to.”
Another group calling itself the Yellow Vest Movement of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has said it will also stage a protest at City Hall this coming
Saturday. The group’s social media profile pictures were recently changed.
They had formerly featured a clenched fist covered in a Union flag and an image of a young white girl surrounded by figures wearing burkhas.
They have now been replaced by an image of a figure in the colours of the Union flag kicking a figure in the colours of the EU flag and captioned “Caution this is Sparta”, and a crowd of people in yellow vests under the caption “Now is the time”.
The group describes itself as pro-Brexit, anti-globalisation and against uncontrolled immigration.