Greek protest policing
Mick Barry condemned police repression of workers' protests in Greece and asked for a response. The Taoiseach said he would seek a report from his Department and Foreign Affairs, and noted that protest rights are limited by Covid-19 public health rules.
Yesterday was a day of mass repression in an EU country, namely, Greece. Up to 6,000 police were mobilised against workers' protests. They used tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades. More than 100 people were arrested, elderly people were beaten on the streets, a communist MP was injured and a journalist arrested.
The marches have been called by organisations of the Greek left, including the KKE, Antarsya and Xekinima. They called people on to the streets on the anniversary of the student uprising of 1973 which led to the overthrow of the dictatorship. They were also protesting against the Greek Government's decision to tear up the eight-hour day rule and forcibly to compel people work an extra two hours per day. The Greek Government used Covid regulations stating that only a maximum of three can gather. The demonstrators were masked, however. How can a government declare war on working class people but yet make it illegal for ordinary people to fight back?
Is the Taoiseach prepared to make a protest to the Greek ambassador about the scandalous actions of the Greek State on the streets of Greece yesterday?
Comment on this
I will undertake to get a comprehensive report from my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs on what happened. I am not in a position to make any judgment this morning on what the Deputy has asserted.
People in all European Union countries are and should be entitled to protest. That said, Covid-19 places very significant restrictions on that right because it conflicts with the competing right of everybody to public health.