Hi.

It’s not my turn to blog. I haven’t blogged in quite a while. Neither has anyone else.

First, let me preface this by saying I have nothing against the Gardai and that the students were not blameless. Now that’s outta the way, let me direct you to two rather interesting videos.

I wasn’t at the protest – I’d meant to go, but hadn’t, because I’d been sure trouble would break out, and I didn’t want to be near it. Trouble did break out, but of a different kind. I’d been aware of students planning on drinking on the way up, drinking when they got there, and drinking afterwards. A right piss-up was planned. I was wary. Booze and massive crowds are not a good combination. However, that never happened. But trouble very much did.

Some background: Irish reg. fees are currently 1,500 euro. The grant ranges from 3,000 to 6,700 euro, approx. The government, to save money and dig themselves out of the shithole they’ve created, want to raise the reg. fees to 3,000 and slash the grant by 10%. I don’t fancy the idea of paying the reg. fee. As I’m a grant holder, I’ll have to pay 1,500, instead of the full 3,000. It’s still a lot of money that I don’t necessarily have.

That said, while I don’t like the idea, I’ll accept it. I’m not a tax payer. I don’t work. I go to college. It’s not exactly the hardest life style in the world. Fundamentally, the government put me through college, so I would be willing to pay the extra costs. I get the full grant though, so I can afford it, just about. Others cannot.

Which is why they took to the streets.

A brick, singular, and bottles were thrown at the Department of Finance. (Could have been the Dep. of Education.) A bunch of about forty protesters broke from the main group and peacefully occupied the building. None of the Dep. workers were hurt or injured in any way. It was stupid, sure, and mildly radical, but it’s no excuse for what happened next.

It started when the riot police arrived. Riot police suggest a riot must have ensued. When I first saw the report on the news, my thought was “fucking idiots”, especially when I heard USI President Gary Redmond had condemned their actions. I reckoned the students must have got violent. Some of them did. One police officer had his nose broken. Two more were treated for minor injuries. These students should be condemned. These students have been condemned.

The police have not.

We’re in  a society wherein if you scratch your arse or fall over, ten minutes later it could be on YouTube. Naturally, there are several dozen videos of the protest floating about. The two I’ve linked to are the most popular.

From two minutes in of the ten minute one, you can see the students sitting on the ground. It’s their prerogative. It’s their right. A tiny minority were aggressive. They insulted the gardai and kicked at them. They’re idiots. Absolute knobs. But the riot police are worse. They lashed out with their batons.

They’re ready for a fight. Their stance is aggressive, batons held above their shoulders.

Several students have bloody heads, their skulls cracked open. In the video, they’re literally sitting on the ground, chanting “shame on you” towards the police. Shame on them, indeed.

Fast forward to 3:01 in the shorter video. A girl is knocked unconscious and tossed aside. Her friend rushes to her aid. Had her friend not been present, you have to wonder would anyone have helped the girl out?

Protesters are cracked in the face and legs. Protocol suggests that gardai strike the legs of violent or aggressive trouble-makers. These people aren’t violent. A bit loud, maybe even rowdy, but they stand no great threat. Mary Harney having a bit of red pant chucked on her doesn’t excuse their behaviour.

We have a right to free speech. We have a right to protest. Is it because we are young that the police presumed we are trouble – that we are deserving of this level of violence? These are several photos taken on the day. It is the gardai’s job to restore peace, and protect the innocent. These people are innocent. A small group threw a brick and bottles. They sat in the Dep. of Finace. No one in the building was hurt or under threat.

Sure, the students aren’t blameless but the Gardai need to take responsibility for their level of violence. Beating sitting students over the head with a baton is not keeping the peace – it’s stirring hostility.

Taxi drivers went on protest a while ago. I’m too lazy to google the details. They occupied a department building. They were not forced out, but monitored. Had there been 20,000 taxi drivers or doctors or nurses on the streets, would they have been treated the same? Would a group of sitting nurses, chanting slogans at the gardai, been cracked in the head; charged at by mounted horses; beaten? I very much doubt it.

The Gardai were out of line. They should issue an apology, at the very least. But they won’t. Perhaps it’s a training ground for the tactics they intend to implement in the months coming, when the country starts to shake with the effects of 6 billion euros of cut-backs.

Mary Harney may have been red with paint, but the students, and some of the streets, were red with blood.

That’s not OK.

The Gardai should be called into line for the way they acted: be forced to publicly admit they did wrong. But they won’t. The Government has their back. The politicians have their back. USI president Gary Redmond has their back.

There’s a Facebook group with over 2,000 members calling for action to be taken against the violent gardai. It’s just a Facebook group. It will likely come to naught, but there’s no harm in joining. Maybe someone will listen? Group is here.

P.S. visit here for more info. Pictures featured belong to Mindful Youth and G Fox.