The right to protest - Going too far

Some of those who oppose property taxes occupied Revenue Commissioners offices in Kilkenny yesterday urging staff not to co-operate with plans to deduct unpaid taxes from pay packets.

In recent weeks some of their colleagues interrupted city council meetings in Dublin and Cork. Speaking at the Dublin protest MEP Paul Murphy — who inherited his Euro set when Socialist leader Joe Higgins was elected to the Dáil — asserted that the protestors represented the majority of the Irish people.

The reality is that those who brought in the tax and those interrupted in council chambers represent the majority. They achieved that by getting elected to office. The right to protest is rightly protected in this society but that does not mean it can be abused. Some of those who oppose property tax are stepping dangerously close to something quite unacceptable.