Demonstrators gathered in Cork Saturday to protest Irish government measures against Covid-19, and what organisers said was an “international coalition of governments, corporations and NGOs that has worked to legitimize extended lockdowns”.
While the specific focus of this protest was vaccine passports, the variety of placards on display gave evidence of multifarious agendas among the participants.
About 400 people were in attendance, while a smaller group of non-committal spectators across the street also watched the assembly. The Garda presence was also more subdued than at previous events, with plenty of Garda bodies, but no helicopters or barriers in evidence.
After the short march to Brown Thomas, the speakers were introduced by former County Councillor, Diarmaid O’Cadhla of the People’s Convention. They have been protesting regularly on St Patrick’s bridge over recent weeks, and one of this group was the first speaker, an Italian activist who said she feared she would have to leave the country soon to avoid the restrictions that will be imposed on those who refuse the vaccine.
She was followed by Dr Anne McCloskey who drove from Derry for the day. In a fiery speech she called on people to assert their personal sovereignty against what she described as government assault on civil liberties. She also said the number of deaths from Covid-19 was being exaggerated and that lockdowns also killed people by preventing access to medical care.
Dr Dolores Cahill also addressed the rally, and claimed this was the 8th false pandemic in recent decades. She questioned the legal authority of the Gardai to enforce anti-Covid regulations.
Diarmaid O’Cadhla spoke next, and said that a mass protest movement similar to that which successfully defeated water charges was needed. He urged people to continue protesting with him on St Patrick’s Bridge on Mondays, and in their own localities. He also announced the arrival of a message of solidarity from the organizers of a parallel protest in Waterford, before leading a rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann.
Many of those present expressed distrust of mainstream media and politicians, and this was echoed in many of the placards on display, with RTÉ coming in for the most criticism.