DUBLIN (The Thursday Times) — Ireland’s People Before Profit party projected a video onto Dublin’s Convention Centre on Tuesday night denouncing EU leaders as “complicit” in what it calls genocide in Gaza, days before the biggest gathering of world leaders ever held in Ireland.
Around 50 heads of state and government are due at the venue on Thursday for the European Political Community summit, held during Ireland’s EU Council presidency, with an informal meeting of EU leaders there on Friday. The rolling footage also singled out Germany over its arms supplies and declared that “workers will bring the war machine to a halt”.
“We’re projecting onto the Convention Centre where EU leaders are going to meet,” the party’s Richard Boyd Barrett said. “The point we are making is that while ordinary people are having to threaten strike action in order to get a decent pay increase, the Government and EU leaders are here to discuss crucially their plans to double our arms expenditure, to spend tens of billions extra on weapons and militarisation.”
Gardaí quickly approached the group and the projection was halted. Officers were understood to be concerned about where the vehicle carrying the projector was parked, and the group looked for another location.
March planned for Thursday
Anti-war groups plan a march under the banner “For A People’s Europe – No to Genocide and War” from the Spire on O’Connell Street at 5pm on Thursday towards the Convention Centre and the National Gallery, where the leaders are due to dine. Speakers at its launch included Boyd Barrett, Fatin Al Tamimi of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the MEP Lynn Boylan and Sara O’Rourke of the Irish Neutrality League.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has promised a “zero-tolerance” approach to any protest that is not peaceful. More than 5,000 gardaí are involved in the largest security operation the state has mounted, with over 1,000 armed and public order officers on duty on Thursday and Friday.
