Doolan (SF) calls for May Day Protests

dublin | summit mobilisations | press release

Friday April 09, 2004 02:04

by FS

And he's sorting out the flat bed truck for the gig.

Sinn Féin representative for Dublin South East Daithí Doolan has called on people to ignore unfounded media hype and spin and take part in May Day protests and said that 'Similar efforts to discredit peaceful protests are a hallmark of media coverage of such events'. Speaking at a press conference held in the Earl of Kildare Hotel this morning and organised by Another Europe is Possible, Mr Doolan said the protests were not against expansion, but against the 'kind of EU we are building' and that Sinn Féin was 'opposed to a Europe written on terms dictated by big business and corporate lobbyists.'
Mr Doolan said: "There has been a lot of unfounded hysteria in the media about the protests planned for May Day. Similar efforts to discredit peaceful protests are a hallmark of media coverage of such events.
"But the media has given very little coverage to what the protests are actually about. People have suggested it is a protest against expansion, against letting in the new countries. On the contrary, we support expansion, but we, new member states and old, need to have a debate about the kind of EU that we are building
"Sinn Féin firmly believes another Europe is possible. One where 55 million men, women and Children are not living in poverty, where vital public services are not open to privatisation and where the ongoing militarisation of the EU and erosion of Irish neutrality is halted, and reversed. People accuse us of being anti-EU, when in fact we're simply opposed to a Europe written on terms dictated by big business and corporate lobbyists. I am calling on people to see through the hype and the spin and turn out to the march and carnival on May Day."