Occupy Cork protests to begin this Saturday

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations will be mimicked in Cork this Saturday by a group of protestors who will engage in a peaceful protest on the South Mall.

The Occupy Wall Street protests have expressed the American people's anger at economic inequality and corporate greed, they have targeted the centre of American capitalism. They have now spread to over 70 cities in America, as well as Dublin, London and, now, Cork.

Protests in Cork and Galway will begin this Saturday. The group will meet on Saturday at 2pm in the city centre and then march on the South Mall. By Wednesday evening, there were more than 260 confirmed attendees of the Cork protest on the group’s Facebook page.

The movement began in Ireland this week in Dublin when a group set up camp outside the Central Bank on Dame Street last Saturday. The Dublin group has said its mission is to end corporate corruption and keep the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank out of Irish affairs.

The group is also demanding the return to the Irish people of oil and gas reserves off the Irish coast. It is thought that the Cork group will follow the same principles. 

On it’s Facebook page, the group says: “Occupy Cork is targeted directly towards the growing social and economic injustice that is rampantly undermining the very vulnerable people of society in Ireland today. 

“We, the people of this very heart of the Irish society will not and cannot tolerate this injustice of corporate social spin any more. Now is the time to reverse this corruption, media manipulation and financial ravaging.”

It also states that the protest be undertaken in a peaceful and relaxed manner. No political party or trade union banners, no violence and no alcohol or drugs will be tolerated at the protests. 

The protest group will meet at Bishop Lucey Park at 2pm on Saturday, 15 October at 2pm. After the gathering, they will march on to South Mall, Cork’s business and banking district according to the Occupy Cork Facebook page. 

The group will provide a live of the protest on http://www.livestream.com/occupycork.

The Facebook page also states that the “gathering has no affiliations to any political parties or organizations”.