Castlerea protestors urge the community to stand together
Protestors on the march in Castlerea. Pic. Liam Reynolds
Upwards on 100 people gathered in Castlerea this afternoon, Sunday, to make their voices heard in protest against the planned move of 52 International Protection Applicants to an apartment block in the town.
The protest, organised by a group called Castlerea Concerned Citizens, marched from near the Riverside apartment block through the streets of the town to the town square where a number of people addressed the gathering.
Among those who spoke this afternoon were Vincent Beirne, who led the protest, Justin Slamen, Irish Freedom Party, a local election candidate and Hermann Kelly, a candidate for the European Parliament in the Midlands North West Constituency and a founding member of the Irish Freedom Party.
Vincent Beirne, was highly critical of local public representatives, in particular MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan. He also spoke of the concern in the community and the worry on the minds of people about the arrival of International Protection Applicants.
Mr Beirne said the issues facing the community were also ones faced by the nation and, to applause from those gathered, he said the community was being sold out by property developers, by vulture funds and by public representatives.
Local election candidate Justin Slamen thanked the people for turning out and for standing up for the community.
He noted that some had tried to stop the protest and tried to slander them, but the protest showed that all involved were all good people, all local people who cared about the community.
“Looking around here today we have families, friends and neighbours, that’s what we are fighting for and that’s what we are standing up for, our community,” he said.
Mr Slamen spoke of the lack of trust in public representatives and stressed that Castlerea had enough.
Hermann Kelly also thanked the people for coming out. He was scathing of public representatives and in particular of MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan.
He told the gathering that the protest was about standing up for the rights of the community and ensuring that their children had a future in Ireland.
Two other speakers also addressed the gathering, applauded the bravery of the people who turned out and appealed to the community to stand together.
