The 1803 rebellion followed only five years after the rebellion of 1798. 1798 involved tens of thousands under arms, rising across the country over months and the liberation of parts of Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford for long enough for a republic to be declared. It was smashed by the British empire with great brutality directed at those under arms but also the civilian populations. As many as 30,000 may have died.
Despite this Robert Emmet who was the brother of one of the 1798 leaders reorganised and with Thomas Russell and others attempted another rebellion in 1803.
The reactions to the attempted evictions of the 27 people who occupied the long vacant Grangegorman complex here and elsewhere online has been interesting. On the ground at the gates people passing have been curious, and overwhelmingly positive. Some have brought down gifts including the pictured fry up from council workers at the depot nearby.
It was expected that this (May 6th 2002) would be the largest Dublin Reclaim the Streets to date due to the massive level of publicity for it. The city centre had been covered in posters, stickers and graffiti from three weeks before advertising the event plus. Posters had also been put up in Cork and flyers distributed in Belfast. What was not so expected was that by the end of the day 24 people would have been arrested and over a dozen hospitalised by a police riot on Dame street. Pic:Gardai face crowd at RTS
Septembe 2003 was the start of the intense period of the bin tax struggle in Dublin, a struggle that was to see 25+ people jailed as the state tried to crush the campaign. I’ve just uploaded the news articles I wrote at the time on the struggle to my archive on this site, this blog summarises these and links to each of the news posts as it is summarised. I also explain the internal context of what is argued to a greater level then could be done at that time.
Sundays (Sept 22nd 2002) Reclaim the Streets was a great success. Over 1,000 people took part in the four-hour party. Despite attempts by the Gardai to whip up a panic because the organisers refused to meet with them in advance of the party the day was trouble free and very good humoured.