Mute Nation

A small scuffle in Ballyfermot, thousands of farmers at the Dáil, and five thousand marching for the Quinns in Cavan, but where is the national protest, asks Michael Clifford

SCENES from a country in turmoil: A ministerial car pulls up for an event in the enclave of Ballyfermot in west Dublin. As Frances Fitzgerald, the children’s minister emerges from the vehicle, a surge of 20 angry men and women move forward. Eggs are thrown. Insults are hurled like missiles.

The gardaí move in and the minister retreats. A few arrests are made. Later that day, one 28-year-old man is charged in relation to the incident.