Reclaim The Streets Press Statement in advance of September 22nd (next street party)

national | miscellaneous | news report

Tuesday September 10, 2002 23:58

by Lion - RTS

Contact Details: Email: rts-dublin@yahoogroups.com Mobile Phone: 087-9425422 (For info and interviews or comments from RTS supporters) Reclaim the Streets will be holding a free street party on September 22nd, International Car Free Day. We will assemble at 2:30pm outside the main entrance of St. Stephens Green (top of Grafton Street).

The idea of our parties is not to put on a show for a passive audience but that the people are the party. We encourage everyone to bring musical instruments, costumes, games, footballs, paints, food, balloons, and whatever they think might add to the party atmosphere. Many groups and individuals have already prepared entertainment for the party. We will have a sound system, DJs, bands, the performance of a play (due to be part of the fringe festival), face paints and chalks for kids, a mass GAA game and plenty of dancing and revelry. There is room for many more activities, so we encourage everybody to unleash their creativity! This party will be held in a peaceful, festive atmosphere and we encourage people to bring children along. As usual, violence is not welcome. In our previous parties, the only violence has come from the Gardai and thus they are not invited.

Reclaim the Streets events are parties, but they are also demonstrations; demonstrations of our desire to have a say in how our city and our environment is run, demonstrations of an alternative vision of how public space should be used, demonstrations of ordinary peoples’ ability to organise their own celebrations, based on co-operation and mutual aid instead of competition and greed. Our demonstrations are celebrations of the range of visions of our world that are present in our society. We do not shout towards the deaf ears of politicians, instead we aim to empower people and give them a sense of their own potential for creativity and organisation.

Transport & Public space.

By reclaiming a street for an afternoon for a free street party, we voice our demand to have a say in how our streets are used. Our transport system is a shambles. For decades the government has been in thrall to the motor industry while our public transport system has been criminally under-funded. This has resulted in a massive expansion in the number of cars on our roads with the attendant environmental and traffic congestion problems. We are not against cars, we are against ‘car-culture’. Many people have no choice but to drive to work and car drivers suffer some of the worst consequences of our disastrous transport system. Who enjoys sitting in a traffic jam? Our public transport receives the lowest government subsidy in the EU. As a result we have some of the highest fares in Europe for a service that is, quite frankly, pathetic in relation to most European cities. The government’s solution seems to be to make driving in our cities as difficult and unpleasant as possible by funnelling traffic onto a small number of congested roads while failing to supply any viable alternatives. At the same time Dublin Bus is seeking an 18% increase in fares while the government are moving towards privatisation of public transport. Evidence suggests that privatisation of public transport leads to a decrease in the number of people who have access to it.

The Reclaim the Streets party is an opportunity for all of those who have a desire for a saner, less polluting transport system to have their say. Therefore we have issued a special invitation to groups campaigning on environmental and alternative transport issues. We extend our invitation: Critical Mass, Dublin Cycling Campaign, Campaign for Sensible Transport, Earthwatch, Dublin Busworkers Action Group and all concerned environmentalists, Trade Unionists and transport campaigners.

The streets make up by far the majority of our public space, yet our government seems to want to use them exclusively for our capitalist economy, ferrying people and goods to and from businesses. By reclaiming the streets we assert our demand to have a say in how the public space is used in our city. Thus we also issue a special invitation to all those groups who are fighting for a say in how our public space is used. In particular we invite all travellers, organisations and individuals, who are bearing the brunt of the new, racist Trespass Law.

Police Violence & civil rights.

The last Reclaim the Streets free party was held on May 6th. After several hours of peaceful and enjoyable partying, the gathering was attacked by at least 60 Gardai who proceeded to beat the participants and bystanders with batons. At least 14 people were hospitalised as a result of this attack and dozens more were injured. For once this violence was caught on camera and the scenes of Gardai, with their numbers removed, attacking the defenceless crowd were shocking to many Irish people. In the aftermath of this incident, the Gardai have been unable to come up with any justification for the attack. There has been no credible evidence of violence on the part of partygoers, either towards the Gardai or towards bystanders. The most that the GRA spokesperson was able to claim was that: "a car with a baby in it was kicked". It appears that the source of this allegation was a person who was not present at the event. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence (photos, videos, witnesses) that the Gardai launched an unprovoked assault, not one Garda has been charged and the investigation that they established is widely regarded as a ‘whitewash’. On the other hand, at least 20 partygoers are still facing charges as a result of events on the day. The charges range from "breach of the peace" to "assaulting an officer". In many cases those who were worst injured by Gardai assaults were charged and many people suspect that this is in order to discredit these individuals and undermine any future lawsuits against the Gardai.

Given the unprovoked nature of the assault on May 6th, many of us feel that the Gardai were trying to beat us off the streets. This was an attack on our right to protest, our right to peaceful assembly and our right to enjoy the public spaces of our city. Therefore we call on all concerned citizens to turn up on September 22nd, to support our right to protest, our right to peaceful assembly. If you feel that the police should not be able to beat alternative voices off the streets, please come along. Show your opposition to Garda violence and enjoy the best party of the year at the same time!