One year on: Village vows to continue protest

It’s been a long, lonely crusade, marching through their village against the State’s multi-billion bank bailout policy.

But as they marked the first anniversary of their protest yesterday, the people of this quiet rural North Cork parish — which has been christened the “Irish village that said ‘No’ to austerity” — said they can sense a change in the wind.

And the people of Ballyhea vowed to march on for as long as it takes.

“More and more people are now discussing the bank bailout issue and momentum is growing,” said Fiona Fitzpatrick, from nearby Charleville.

She and her three children led 150 people along the main Cork to Limerick Road yesterday on the village’s 52nd Sunday march.

“I’m absolutely outraged by the vast amounts of money we’re sending out to pay unsecured bonds, while our own services are being cut to shreds, and our own people are being asked to take hits, time after time after time. I’m furious,” she said.

The Ballyhea bond-holder protest began a year ago, with the hope it would encourage other communities and parishes to follow suit. But that didn’t happen. They claim they’ve been ignored by the national media.

But the Ballyhea crusade has garnered international attention, with reporters from some British news-papers, and TV crews from Britain, France, China and Australia dipping in.

Despite the apathy here, people have turned out in various numbers every Sunday for the last year.

Yesterday’s larger than normal crowd was joined by leading economist and finance lecturer Constantin Gurdgiev and Libertas chairman Declan Ganley.

“This is the only active protest in the country on this issue,” Mr Gurdgiev said. “What the guys have been doing here in Ballyhea is something the rest of the country should appreciate.

“We need reform of the banking sector. We need to allow failed banks to fail. We can’t continue to repay that debt.”

Local Noel Hanley, who was on his 52nd march said: “I’m not sure what it has achieved but we’re marching to keep it alive as an issue.

“We’re paying a massive price for what’s going on — taking on the burden of private debt — private investors who should have lost their money.

“And the money to repay them is being stolen from our hospitals and schools and old people and that’s wrong. And because it’s wrong, we’ll keep going and going and going.

“The longer we keep it going, the more pressure we’ll bring to bear.”

Mother of two, Triona Ní Shíocháin, travelled from Fermoy to march. “It’s completely unjust that the State has to foot the bill for what is essentially private bank debt,” she said. “I fear for what the future holds for us, our children, this generation, and that’s why I’m here today.”

Declan Ganley, who was on his second Ballyhea bondholder march, praised the protesters as they headed back towards the church.

“They are standing up for what is right, for justice and morality,” he said, adding he would like to see this form of protest spread. “It’s peaceful, it’s decent, it’s families with children.

“It’s the great people of Ireland saying that this is wrong, and we need to see more of that.”

As the march ended at the church, Diarmuid O’Flynn, protest organiser, berated the Government for continuing the bailout, the national media for asking the wrong questions and the European Central Bank.

“We should tell the ECB to get off our backs. If they do, we’ll soar.”

Some €3.1bn is due to be paid on the bonds of Anglo Irish Bank on Mar 31.

The next Ballyhea march takes place in the village on Sunday at 11.30am.