Independent Ireland said Far Right people were ‘removed’ from Galway fuel protests
Far Right agitators who tried to infiltrate the recent fuel protests in Galway were identified by other protesters and told to leave, according to Galway County Councillor Noel Thomas.
Speaking to media at his party convention in the city’s Galmont Hotel last Saturday, the Independent Ireland Galway West Bye-Election candidate said the Far Right moved on despite initially resisting calls to leave Galway Docks.
“We knew who they were, and I have to say the people involved in the protest, including myself, took action immediately, and we asked those people to move out politely.
“In fairness, there was a little bit of resistance, there’s no point lying about it, but they moved away. It was great we were able to identify those people and remove them because it kept the crowd nice and calm,” said Councillor Thomas.
Party leader Michael Collins, a Cork TD, said “there will always be an odd thug here and there”, and “out of every hundred (protesters) you might find one or two in there” but he insisted the protests in Dublin, Cork, Galway and elsewhere were peaceful.
“In fairness the protesters pushed them out, told them to go home, ‘you’ve nothing to do with this protest’,” he said about Far Right elements.
At the convention, attended by around 150 members, Independent Ireland Roscommon/Galway TD, Michael Fitzmaurice blamed Government inaction for fueling frustration that led protesters to take a stand.
“This isn’t Independent Ireland voters who were protesting; this isn’t Sinn Féin protesters who were protesting, or what some in the media call ‘Right-wing’.
“I know several contractors that voted Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil all their life (who protested), are we saying that they are completely wrong? They were frustrated, they were backed into a corner,” he said.
Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly insisted that his false claim in the European Parliament at the height of the protests – that Defence Forces’ tanks had been deployed on the streets of Irish cities to quell unrest – was “absolutely not” inflammatory.
The former RTÉ Midlands correspondent said, “I don’t accept any criticism”, insisting he corrected the “mistake” within hours.
“My effect? I’d love to think I had the ability to bring people onto the streets from my seat in Brussels, that’s not the case, it was ridiculous. When this Government makes a mistake, another opening of the Children’s Hospital is missed, another child goes without care. That’s what you call a mistake,” he said.
Councillor Thomas said the support at the Galway protests was “amazing”.
“I will never forget to my dying day, even down to the last hour, just before the riot police came through the barriers, we had workers from Bus Éireann handing out tea bags and water through the barriers – it was absolutely amazing,” he added.
Asked whether there would be more protests and blockades if fuel prices spiked again, Councillor Thomas, said: “I can’t answer that to be honest with you. People are emotive and hurt by what’s going on”.