Occupy Cork | |
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Part of the Occupy movement and anti-austerity protests in Ireland | |
Date | From 15 October 2011 to 13 March 2012 |
Location | |
Caused by | Economic inequality, corporate influence over government, Populism, inter alia. |
Methods | |
Status | Ended |
Occupy Cork was a peaceful protest and demonstration against alleged economic inequality, social injustice and corporate greed taking place on the junction of the Grand Parade and South Mall and at the NAMA-listed Stapleton House on Oliver Plunkett Street in the Irish city of Cork. [1] The group occupied Stapleton House after receiving the keys to the building on 25 December 2011. [2] The camp was dismantled on 13 March 2012. [3] [4]
The protest at its original location had been going on for months, [5] with a camp at the junction of the Grand Parade and South Mall in the city centre since summer 2011. [6]
On 15 October 2011, simultaneous protests took place in Cork and Galway regarded by local and national media as having mimicked Occupy Wall Street (New York) and Occupy Dame Street (Dublin). [7] [8] The protestors organised a number of demonstrations, including a 'teach-in' in AIB's branch on the South Mall; where a local schoolteacher held a maths class with primary school children in the front lobby of the bank, before the arrival of the police precipitated a 'recess'. [9]
On the evening of 3 January 2012, it was announced that a vacant six-storey [1] NAMA-listed building on Oliver Plunkett Street had been taken over after it was gifted to the people of Cork. [10] An anonymous donor reportedly left the keys to the building under the Christmas tree on Grand Parade on 25 December. [6] [11] The Garda Síochána (police) visited the occupied building, and then left again soon afterwards. [2]
The building, unused since a part-demolition and refurbishment undertaken in 2008, had been cleaned by its occupiers. [6] The occupiers released an online video chronicling their takeover of the building. [12]
On 8 January 2012, there was a céilí mór (a "big" céilí) in the afternoon to raise funds. [2]
The Cork City Community Resource Centre intended to open in the occupied building on Monday 23 January 2012, after an open day. The facility was expected to include classrooms, a music school, health facilities, a library, a bookshop, a café, a crèche, and a number of free initiatives for the public, including internet access, advisory and counselling services. [2] [10] [13]
The camp was dismantled on 13 March 2012. [14]
Fine Gael politician Des Cahill described the protest as "attention seeking". [15] Former Green Party senator and party chairman Dan Boyle described the manoeuver of 3 January as an "interesting development" and suggested that it was a legal and "legitimate protest". [15]