Thousands land on Planet Dáil but message fails

A HUMAN river of despair flowed through Dublin yesterday, only to crash into a wall of indifference at the gates of Dáil Eireann.

Thousands gathered to speak for the silent and most vulnerable in society, driven on by a burning anger that they were paying the price for the orgy of financial mismanagement that has left the Government scrambling to snatch money back from the disabled.

More than 2,000 people, many in wheelchairs, massed at Leinster House to protest the threat to respite services, but their pleas for help did not seem to penetrate the thick grey walls and reach the Dáil chamber within.