Labour lockdown in panic reaction to ‘scumbag’ protesters

LABOUR PARTY TD Aodhán Ó Riordáin described anti-cuts protesters pepper-spayed by gardaí outside his party’s weekend annual conference in Galway as “thuggish”. National Executive of Labour Women member Catherine Rotte-Murray called them “scumbags”.

Labour TD for Cork South-Central Ciarán Lynch had earlier described the demonstration as “a nuisance” before adding “losing the TV signal for the Grand National is the real annoyance”. Newly-installed MEP Emer Costello (who has replaced Proinsias de Rossa) attacked the “bully boys” but was referring to the demonstrators rather than Environment Minister Phil Hogan who has pledged the Fine Gael/Labour Government will drag resisters to the unfair Household Charge through the courts.

The Labour outcry over the clashes at NUI Galway distracted public attention from the shambles of a party celebrating its 100^th anniversary and still claiming the mantle of James Connolly,

The night before the conference, Labour Junior Minister Joe Costello made what can only be described as a ‘car-crash’ appearance on ‘Tonight with Vincent Browne’ which saw him unable to answer most questions put to him while the other panellists struggled to contain their laughter at his inept performance.

The fact that Labour were elected on a platform which was the polar opposite of what they  are now doing in government is well commented on and their conference only drove home this point further. But it also highlighted just how out of touch the party leadership are with the general public and their own grassroots.

An obvious example was the decision by Labour delegates to block the selling off of state-owned or semi-state companies. While this decision is to be welcomed, it was an embarrassment to the Government who have plans to sell their stakes in the ESB and Aer Lingus. What will Labour ministers do?

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn was asked to “apologise for the fiasco of DEIS school cuts” by one delegate while Patrick Nulty TD, who lost the party whip after he voted against the leadership in the Dáil, said the number of DEIS school cuts acceptable to Labour “should be zero”.

Notable over the two-day event was the complete lack of discussion on the Six Counties. This is despite Labour's youth wing publishing an article entitled “Should Labour be heading North?” in their Left Tribune magazine earlier this year. The piece argued that the “Labour party cannot afford to wait for Irish reunification before organising on an all-Ireland basis” but none of the party's leadership felt it important enough to address this issue.

Outside the centre, several thousand angry protesters, which included many students outraged by Ruairí Quinn's U-turn on the raising of third-level fees, surged through Garda crash barriers and surrounded the building, which was then placed on lock-down for several hours.

During some minor scuffles, over-zealous gardaí lashed out with pepper spray, reducing not just protesters but also fellow officers to tears. An RTÉ cameraman hit by the Garda pepper spray was hospitalised. (It’s not known how many gardaí needed medical help.)