Monday 23rd July 2001 saw two separate demonstrations take place outside the Italian embassy on Northumberland Road. Both had been called to protest the savage repression of the anti – G8 Protests in Genoa.
Demonstrations in solidarity with Genoa G8 demonstrations and against the murder of Carlo Giuliani in Dublin
Monday 23rd July saw two separate demonstrations take place outside the Italian embassy on Northumberland Road. Both had been called to protest the savage repression of the anti – G8 Protests in Genoa.
The first, called by the Leninist Socialist Party (in the name of Socialist Youth) had been called for lunchtime. As the embassy was in the suburbs the attendance at this was fairly modest, with around a dozen people including the Socialist Party T.D. Joe Higgins. Speaking to those in attendance he said the Socialist Party were against the police violence but also against the violence of the demonstrators.
The second was called by a second Leninist organization, the Socialist Workers Party (in the name of Globalise Resistance), in the early evening. Given the rivalry between the two groups it was perhaps inevitable that each would call their own demonstration but it was unfortunate that in each case not a single member of either group attended the others demonstration. The second demonstration was larger with perhaps forty people attending.
Both demonstrations were attended by a number of young Italians who are currently in Ireland. In the evening they were given a megaphone and led chants of ‘police – assassins’ and ‘Berlisconi – assassin’ as well as ‘remember Carlo Giuliani’. Carlo Giuliani was the 23 year old anarchist murdered by the police on the Friday afternoon, pictured below
Anarchists who work near the area attended both demonstrations. At the second demonstration one of the anarchists who had recently returned from Genoa was asked to speak. He spoke of how the police had attacked all the demonstrators whether or not they were confrontational or pacifist. Their clear aim was to deny the ability of anyone to effectively demonstrate in Genoa. He also spoke of how, during the mass march on the Saturday, he had stood at the side of the road while the march passed on a four lane highway for over two hours. It was impossible to know how many were marching but it seemed to have been over 150,000 people.
On Monday evening over 30 people came to the regular Dublin anarchist monthly open meeting to hear a report back from Irish anarchists who had been in Genoa. They gave a detailed report of the lead up to the demonstrations and of the events they saw while they were in Genoa. A detailed discussion followed which concentrated on the role of the Black Block and the need for effective protest.
On Saturday afternoon around 30 people had gathered at the Central Bank in the city center to distribute leaflets to passing shoppers and inform them of what was occurring in Genoa. The WSM distributed around 2000 leaflets at this event and at public transport stops earlier in the week. There will be further events this Saturday when Globalise Resistance has a day of workshops starting at 11am at Liberty Hall in Dublin. At 3pm a march will leave from Liberty Hall. Irish anarchists will be marching, please come along.
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First published on the WSM site July 24th 2001
WORDS Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )