Split turns protest into a bit of a damp squib

Only hardy souls attended event, says Michael Clifford.

The split in the water protest, as Brendan Behan could have predicted, wasn’t long in coming.

At 2.45pm, less than two hours after the protest had convened at Merrion Square, People Before Profit’s Brid Smith made an appeal from the stage.

“There are some people trying to drag people away from here down to an event in the GPO,” she told the freezing crowd.

“Seven hundred people have already left. Let’s remember there’s only one Right2Water, united we stand.”

A cheer went up, but by then the heat had gone out of the protest, and maybe hearts weren’t in it. Behan’s dictum about the split being the first item on the agenda of any Irish organisation proved once again to be prophetic. Of far more interest was the news that something was happening down in the GPO. What could it be? Another Rising, carried forth by the people risen from their slumber at the prospect of paying directly instead of indirectly for water?

The protest, heralded by its organisers as an abyss over which the Government would be dragged, turned out to be nothing of the sort. The sigh of relief heaved out across the lawn in front of government buildings, and into the crowd that gathered in the kind of freezing weather that would have kept brass monkeys at home.

The turnout was as much as might be expected on a Wednesday of plunging temperatures in the middle of December. There may well have been 40,000 there and they should be commended for their fortitude.

While the event was extremely well-organised on one level, a programme lasting three-and-a-half hours was far too ambitious. That’s the kind of fare that would go down a treat on a sunny Sunday in July. As it was, a large cohort of the hardy souls began to drift before the event was halfway over. There are only so much talkin’ bout a revolution you can listen to when your hands are turning to blocks of ice.

On stage, the MC for the day was Brendan Ogle, and if he ever tires of political activism, he’ll make a fine and dandy frontman for any ageing rock band on the lookout for one. Brendan was in his element as he introduced a succession of speakers and entertainers. “Hello, Dublin,” he began, and carried on keeping spirits up throughout the event.

The biggest cheer went up for Gerry Adams. “This is real democracy; people power,” he said. Up until two months ago, Sinn Féin didn’t consider water charges to even be a red-line issue for entering government, but people power convinced them that there were votes in people power so they changed policy.

The highlight of the day was the appearance of Damien Dempsey. He sang about James Connolly, and then introduced Glen Hansard to join him in a rendition of The Old Triangle, and for a few minutes all the cold and woe and prospect of water charges melted away as spirits soared in unison with the songsters. The day could have done with more Damien.

It was a day for old dogs for the hard road. Richard Boyd Barrett barrelled onto stage like he had been waiting for this day all his life. He gave it serious welly, talkin’ bout that revolution.

Apart from that, the only downside of the day was the carry-on of a small fringe which appeared to be spoiling for a fight with the gardaí. They gathered at the bottom of Kildare Street, fired up to storm the citadel. But give or take a few minor incidents, and a bit of argy-bargy on O’Connell bridge, their provocation didn’t go anywhere. Their determination to kick up serious grief was in stark contrast to the good humour of the well-organised main event.