Breaking news, protest Dublin, Dublin protest, ICTU protest, david begs, austerity protest

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Breaking news, protest Dublin, Dublin protest, ICTU protest, david begs, austerity protest

Thousands of people have gathered in Dublin and other towns and cities across the State to take part in a march against austerity and to call for a lifting of the national debt burden.Gardaí say up 25,000 people are attending the Dublin march which commenced shortly after lunchtime.In addition to the Dublin march, protests organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu)are also taking place in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.Ictu general secretary David Begg is estimating that at least 100,000 people are taking part in the various marches.The Dublin march could last for as long as two hours and there will be serious traffic disruptions and rolling road closures along the route. It has started on Cook Street before heading down Winetavern Street, Dame Street, Nassau Street until the protestors arrive at Merrion Square where a rally will take place.The Cork protest is also expected to last for around two hours and starts at Parnell Place and taking in Merchants Quay, Patrick St before it finishes on the city’s Grand Parade.The Galway protest has also got underway with the marchers congregating at the city’s cathedral. Its route will take the march over the Salmon Weir Bridge up Eglinton St, down Shop St and onto Quay St before it finishes at the Spanish Arch.Some groups in the demonstrations have described events as “tokenistic”, saying people needed to “hear some real leadership from the trade union movement on how it’s going escalate resistance to austerity”.However, Mr Begg said: “It would be fatal for people to believe this issue is now resolved and we can all move on.” He added: “February 9th is an opportunity to tell the authorities in Europe that the bank debt does not belong to the people of Ireland.“At the onset of the crisis Ireland had one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in Europe. The difference between then and now is due entirely to Ireland socialising bank debt at the behest of the ECB, to save the European banking system.”