Bertie, gardai have lost the plot, say protestors

BERTIE, GARDAI HAVE LOST THE PLOT, SAY PROTESTORS

Ahern 'insults' Irish people who want to protest

Gardai and politicians have lost the plot completely and are saying the first thing that comes into their heads, according to Dublin Grassroots Network, who are organising a May Day weekend of events for an alternative Europe.

Spokesperson Laurence Cox said that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's comments that protesters were "misguided hooligans" was an insult to the thousands of Irish people who are expected to take part in the weekend's events. "Clearly Bertie is a bit out of touch with his own constituents, maybe because he's trying so hard to impress mass killers like Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi."

Recent garda comments that protests may be infiltrated by anarchists have been greeted with derision. "After Aileen O' Carroll's appearance on the Late Late Show the whole world knows what an anarchist looks like," said Cox. "The only people infiltrating us are plain-clothes detectives."

Liz Curry, another spokesperson for the network, commented: "Security consultants and journalists have recently admitted that there could be as few as 30 or 50 'Wombles' coming from London. What is the Government's justification for calling out 5,000 gardai?"

GRA general secretary PJ Stone said recently that most of the protestors from Genoa were expected in Ireland. Pointing out that there were quarter of a million protestors at Genoa, Laurence Cox cited his comments as another example of "politicians and gardai saying the first thing that came into their heads instead of stopping to think about what they were saying."

ENDS

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