Anti-War Demo's
February 15th, 2003
Report From Dublin
by Paul Moloney
Eyewitness: Report From Dublin, Republic of Ireland
I arrived in town at about 11am and there was no
expectation as to what was to come. Like Mike
I was wondering whether it was the right
day.
First thing on the agenda was to go to a meeting
of the Grassroots Network and have some
discussion as to what would happen after the 15th
with a view to having a demo in Shannon (March 1st).
Then down to a stewarding meeting of the IAWM
(Irish Anti-War Movement).
Some discussion took place where it was agreed
that if the turnout was 20,000 that it would be a
good response.
Anyway after a quick stroll over to the assembly
point and with the time at 1.30pm it still seemed
that a turnout of 20,000 would be a good one.
Then it all went crazy, reports were coming in of
crowds coming in from the suburbs of Dublin and
by the time it was due to start of the crowd being
all the way from the assembly point to O'Connell
Bridge. Figures were now being estimated at
40,000 and the march hadn't even moved off yet.
The funniest part was those who had assembled
believing themselves to be at the front were going
to be at the back.
It got so crowded at the back that it was agreed to
go down both sides of Parnell Square and to march
down both sides of O'Connell Street. First time I have
ever seen that happen.
By the time we got to the first assembly point the front
of the crowd had been through three quarters of an hour
before hand and the numbers were being revised up to
70,000.
So on we went to the last assembly point even walking
down Grafton Street which is usually of limits as it is
a shopping pedestrian area but as with elsewhere the
lack of a Garda presence was striking.
We got to the end of the march and we heard that the
Gardaí were saying 80,000+ and RTE was saying
100,000 so you can take it there was more than this.
So all in all it was a fantastic day, about 5 to 6 times
bigger than what was expected, all of which passed
off peacefully. Let's hope it awoke Bertie as he unlike
Blur will be more worried about losing the populist
support.
– Moloney
I arrived in town at about 11am and there was no
expectation as to what was to come. Like Mike
I was wondering whether it was the right
day.
First thing on the agenda was to go to a meeting
of the Grassroots Network and have some
discussion as to what would happen after the 15th
with a view to having a demo in Shannon (March 1st).
Then down to a stewarding meeting of the IAWM
(Irish Anti-War Movement).
Some discussion took place where it was agreed
that if the turnout was 20,000 that it would be a
good response.
Anyway after a quick stroll over to the assembly
point and with the time at 1.30pm it still seemed
that a turnout of 20,000 would be a good one.
Then it all went crazy, reports were coming in of
crowds coming in from the suburbs of Dublin and
by the time it was due to start of the crowd being
all the way from the assembly point to O'Connell
Bridge. Figures were now being estimated at
40,000 and the march hadn't even moved off yet.
The funniest part was those who had assembled
believing themselves to be at the front were going
to be at the back.
It got so crowded at the back that it was agreed to
go down both sides of Parnell Square and to march
down both sides of O'Connell Street. First time I have
ever seen that happen.
By the time we got to the first assembly point the front
of the crowd had been through three quarters of an hour
before hand and the numbers were being revised up to
70,000.
So on we went to the last assembly point even walking
down Grafton Street which is usually of limits as it is
a shopping pedestrian area but as with elsewhere the
lack of a Garda presence was striking.
We got to the end of the march and we heard that the
Gardaí were saying 80,000+ and RTE was saying
100,000 so you can take it there was more than this.
So all in all it was a fantastic day, about 5 to 6 times
bigger than what was expected, all of which passed
off peacefully. Let's hope it awoke Bertie as he unlike
Blur will be more worried about losing the populist
support.