The residents of East Wall have again blocked roads in the city centre in the latest in a sustained series of major protests which begun when busloads of young male migrants arrived in the area without prior notice or consultation.
Hundreds of people agains gathered this evening and marched from the refugee accommodation centre in East Wall to the road leading to the entrance for the Port Tunnel. They carried a flag saying “East Wall says No” and said they had resolved not to back down until the government met their demands.
While around 50 of the protesters proceeded to the East Link bridge which was blocked for a time, the main body of protesters remained on the road leading to the tunnel.
An estimated 400 to 500 local protesters are on the march in East Wall to block a major road again to protest a migrant centre in their area.#gript pic.twitter.com/dMJ9WhEgq5
— gript (@griptmedia) November 30, 2022
There were no speeches and the only banners, as requested last night by the residents committee, were their own, along with the national flag. The local group opposing the imposition of a migrant centre accommodating up to 380 people in the city-centre area
The protesters included many families and some musicians – with one playing Marcshlua Uí Néill – O’Neill’s March.
#eastwall #irelandisfull #istandwitheastwall pic.twitter.com/Hd3TjwHl4p
— Niall O’Hara 🇮🇪 (@ThoughtsToby) November 30, 2022
In a statement, the protest committee said that the government had forced them to take action blocking the roads and that they regretted inconvenience to commuters but that their actions were necessary.
“Our protest will continue every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until the provision centre is closed down,” they said. “This is a small taste of what’s to come.”
They also said that the East Wall protest had received “huge” support from all over the country – and that communities facing similar difficulties around the country had also not been consulted and had their concerns ignored.
“Our message to those communities is to take to the streets,” they told Gript. “Don’t stand on ceremony, fight for your community. The government has no right to ignore our concerns especially in regard tio unvetted men being placed by the hundred in a small area.”
One woman recalled how such marches and protests had drawn attention to the heroin crisis in the 1990s. “They only listen when people stand up for their own community. “
Another man observed that the absence of TV cameras was possibly due to the desire not to show what was happening in East Wall to communities in other parts of Ireland who are facing similar problems.
Another protest is planned for Friday at 5pm.