Nearly 2,000 protesters staged a rally outside Mountjoy Prison in Dublin on Saturday to demand the release of jailed anti-bin charge campaigners.
The rally, which took place after a march from Parnell Square, was organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, which plans a continued campaign against local authority service charges. The turnout was smaller than the organisers had hoped for.
A number of protesters jeered and heckled the president of SIPTU, Mr Jack O'Connor, over the union's refusal to organise industrial action in support of the campaign.
Political parties represented at the rally were Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Workers' Party and the Workers' Party. Unions present included SIPTU, the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), the ATGWU and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation.
Trade union council members from Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway and other areas also travelled to support the event.
On arrival at Mountjoy Prison, a Dublin Council of Trade Unions delegation handed in a "letter of solidarity" to be distributed to jailed protesters.
Ten people were jailed by the High Court last week when they refused to give undertakings not to interfere with Dublin City Council's bin collection services.
Socialist Party politicians Mr Joe Higgins TD and Cllr Clare Daly are also serving sentences for defying a High Court order banning them from obstructing the waste collection service of Fingal County Council. Addressing the rally, Mr Mick O'Reilly of the ATGWU supported the calls for "a protest during working time" and drew cheers when he criticised the stance taken by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Its general secretary, Mr David Begg, has said the anti-bin charges campaign could lead to privatisation of services and the ICTU does not support it.
Mr O'Reilly said there was a need for unity among trade unionists and it was important that whatever tensions existed were not expressed in a way that could detract from the campaign. "That applies to everybody, including some of the so-called leaders of the trade union movement. And I'm referring to the statement of the general secretary of the ICTU, which I think does not facilitate unity in the campaign."
Mr O'Connor said it should be clear that the protest was not part of some kind of "axe tax" campaign.
Mr Eamon Devoy of the TEEU, which led the calls for the rally to take place, said he had never experienced a situation where "ordinary decent" people had been incarcerated for peaceful protest.
