Globalise Resistance rallies for Mayday against Le Pen

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday May 02, 2002 16:11 by Joe Carolan - Globalise Resistance globalise_resistance at yahoo dot com 087 9032281

Rain was hard but spirits high

About a hundred and fifty people joined the Globalise Resistance rally against Le Pen and the rise of European fascism yesterday at the GPO, braving a terrible downpour to take the spirit of France's anti Le Pen mobilisations to the streets of Dublin.

"Chasson les nazis- bienvenue aux immigres" and "Les blancs, les noirs, la lutte ensemble!" echoed between the pillars of the GPO as numbers gathered. "Le Pen, Le Pen, No Pasaran!" went the call from a group of Spanish students, and then the Irish joined in with @Black and White- Unite and Fight- Smash te Nazis, Smash the Right!" Every language in Europe seemed to be represented, with people from Greece, Italy, Malaysia and Germany also raising anti fascist chants in their own languages, to a mixed degree of response from the mostly Irish/French crowd.

The manifestation rallied at the O Connell Statue, before joining in with the Trade Union run Mayday march. It could be said that the GR contingent brought whatever passion and energy that coulb be found on yesterday's march, which apart from the Anti Bin Tax campaigns and the far left, seemed to be made up of a collection of trade union bureaucrats who had done very little to mobilise numbers or inject colour or politics into the day.

Anti le Pen chants were now joined by Anti capitalist slogans from Genoa and France, "Tous ensemble!", "So, so, so solidarite!" and "Oh, anti, anti capitalista!" echoing through O Connell street. Many joined in with "One solution, revolution". As the rain poured down, the bureaucrats got a rendition of "Well you're all very quiet up the front!" which transformed into "And we all hate the National front!"

Bandeira Rossa, the Internationale, Bella Chao and anti fascist songs from the French resistance were all sung as the demo made itys way to Liberty hall, where the energy the anti capitalist contingent had built up was now in direct contrast to the top down approach of the bureaucrats and their long and worthy speeches. Many there could not stomach that one of Ireland's more left wing trade union leaders had been sacked the day before, and was nowhere to be seen up on the stage. Cheers of support for Mick O Reilly of the ATGWU went up, and bureaucrats who had engineered his sacking with Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern and Bill Morris were given the heckling they deserved.

The gap between the anti capitalist contingent and the bureaucrats was wide and plain to see, and Des Gegarty of SIPTU likened the hecklers to the Red Brigades and Le Pen's fascists. This brought a lot of derision from the crowd, who didn't take too kindly to their defense of Mick O Reilly being linked to terrorism or fascism. Ritchie Brown of the Campaign against the Bin Charges, at the end of his speech, expressed his utter disgust at those trade union bureacrats in the ICTU who had helped stitch O Reilly up, which got the biggest cheer of the day from the crowd.

GR will next be taking to the streets on May 6th, for the Reclaim the Streets party at the GPO. The Bush monster will go up in flames!