The blame for protests lies with a government that has deceived us

Pat Rabbitte, TD, on Prime Time, said that people can protest, and they are allowed to protest, but they cannot voice their concerns.

People can gingerly slink up to these public representatives of ours and stand there, look at them, and smile.

But wait. Didn’t people do that? A few times? And it didn’t make a blind bit of difference. And now, now these public representatives feel ever so shocked, upset, and hurt — even ‘bullied’ by the people.

I am so sorry that Lorraine Higgins feels threatened.

I am so sorry that Pat feels that it is wrong for people to congregate at his colleagues’ places of work.

I am ever so sorry that Frank Feighan cannot go to the pub for a pint or even go down the country for fear of abuse — I really am.

However, Pat said that protests are good — he said that the protests of the 1970s and the 1980s did not involve violence, anger or threats. It was hinted that social media was to blame.

But do you know where the blame lies?

The blame lies with a government that has not delivered and that will not deliver.

The blame lies with a government that has blatantly, continuously, and consistently deceived the public.

The blame lies with the fact that people are awake — people know the truth.

That’s what is so good about social media — it educates, and that is what these ‘public representatives’ fear.

The blame lies with these same ‘public representatives’, who have the option of having a pint, when many people don’t, people who are being taxed to the hilt to pay a debt they don’t owe.

And the blame lies with the lack of justice — a bank bailout of €64bn.

But the joke is if these ‘representatives’ were actually ‘public representatives’ — acting for the public — there would have been no bank bailout of €64bn.

There would have been no lies, there would be no protests.

Cait O’ Beirne

Cnoc na Sli,

Tubbercurry,

Sligo