KillarneyToday.com Exclusive
A MAJOR national protest is being planned for the streets of Killarney to coincide with the staging of the annual conference of the Labour Party in the town later this month, KillarneyToday.com can reveal.
The protest rally, to voice opposition to water charges and the austerity regime, is being organised for Saturday, February 28 by Killarney Right2Water campaigners and it is likely to attract at least several hundred people from all parts of the country.
The Labour conference, which will be attended by several cabinet ministers and party leader Joan Burton, will be held in the INEC from February 27 to March 1.
Although the organisers of the protest have been at pains to stress that it will be a peaceful event, it is expected that dozens of extra gardaí will be deployed and security measures will be considerably beefed up while the politicians are in town.
Television cameras and the national media will be closely monitoring events and it is likely that the street demonstration will be afforded extensive coverage.
Traffic is expected to grind to a halt while the public rally goes ahead at the Market Cross at 12 noon. People are expected to travel by road and rail from throughout the country to participate and a number of buses are being booked.
Billed as an ‘Ireland Says No’ protest, the organisers plan to highlight their opposition to Irish Water, austerity, bank bail-outs, unfair taxes, family home evictions and cronyism.
“We will be welcoming groups from across the country to stand with us on the day. This will be a peaceful protest,” Kevin Murphy of the Killarney Right2 Water campaign told KillarneyToday.com.
