PROTEST:THE POOREST and most vulnerable in society must be protected as austerity measures are implemented, the head of the International Monetary Fund delegation said yesterday in response to issues raised by protest groups.
Ajai Chopra said the situation of the most vulnerable would be “more severe” if the EU-IMF’s funding was not available to “cushion” them.
Asked his response to the hardship and anger being felt by people across the State as a result of the measures required under the terms of bailout, Mr Chopra said the adjustment required had been “very wrenching”.
There had been huge job losses, and unemployment was “unacceptably high”.
Throughout the troika’s press conference in the city centre, a loud protest was audible from the street outside. There were shouts against cuts to bus services and to the troika’s presence in Dublin.
Mr Chopra said: “It is very clear to us this Government stands by and owns the policies it is implementing. It is important the poor and the vulnerable sectors of society are protected.”
Protecting these sectors was being made possible by the funding from the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank.
“[It has been] possible to cushion these sectors against the adjustments, which would be much deeper, more painful and more severe. The key objective is to generate growth, create jobs and bring down unemployment.”
At a protest later on nearby Grafton Street, the Enough Campaign suggested the Irish help the Government and IMF by following the advice of Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay A Modest Proposal: they should “eat their children”.
The group read excerpts from the 1729 text.
Actor Barry McGovern was introduced by Richard Boyd Barrett TD, and read from the piece of how “melancholy” it was to see “the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children . . .
“I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.”
Eating the children of the poor at a year old would have a number of advantages: the children would no longer have to be maintained; poor families would gain a source of income; and it would give a boost to the hospitality industry.
Commenting after the “proposal”, Joan Collins TD said it would be “innovative to extend the proposal to also include eating the unemployed and the elderly”, while Thomas Pringle TD said Ireland could become a “world leader in this industry and could develop a strong export market”.
Earlier, a protest against cuts to Dublin Bus services took place outside Government Buildings.
“This is an on-going campaign,” said Dublin city councillor Bríd Smith, “though the people here today are particularly worried about the 48A, the 76, the 19, the 16 and the 3 bus routes.
Passersby were asked to fill in their name and address on the back of postcards that would be sent to lord mayor Andrew Montague, congratulating him on having spoken against cuts to Dublin Busin his inaugural Mayoral speech and asking him lobby for their reversal.
