March continues today

Today sees the seventy-fifth Ballyhea march against in protest against the ongoing bank bondholder bailouts.

“It began on March 6 2011, the weekend after the General Election when the Fine Gael leader and prospective Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, indicated, even before he had formed a government, that he would be going back on his pre-election promise of burden-sharing with the bondholders,” said organiser Diarmuid O’Flynn.

Ballyhea is a rural parish in north Cork on the main Cork/Limerick road, with a population of 1,000 while Charleville the nearest town, has a population of around 3,500. Sixteen weeks into the protest a group from Charleville began marching in the town and since then the march has alternated between the two town centres, every second Sunday.

This week it’s the turn of Charleville, gathering at the Library Plaza at 11.30am, along with well-known economist Dr Constantin Gurdgiev (his third march) and by Independent Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly (his first outing), along with several other high-profile individuals.

After the march, which lasts for only about 15 minutes, Constantin and Stephen will host a discussion at the Park Hotel, on the outskirts of the town.

“We can’t undo the massive damage done to the Irish economy and to Ireland’s reputation as a result of the EU/ECB policy over the past few years,” said Diarmuid.

“We must do our damnedest, however, to get back the billions we were blackmailed into pumping into our failed banks to enable them to pay the failed bonds. So we march, 75 weeks now, and until we see this wrong righted, until we see action as opposed to rhetoric, we’ll continue to march. We invite anyone in the area to please join with us this Sunday. This is not just Ballyhea’s fight, nor just Charleville’s fight – it’s your fight, it’s everyone’s fight, right across Europe.”

The march will begin today at 11:30am at Liberty Plaza in Charleville. To find out more about the bonds, visit www.bondwatchireland.blogspot.com.