​Austerity Ireland: Thousands to protest national broadcaster’s ‘biased reporting’

Published time: March 06, 2015 18:27

(Image by Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland)

Thousands of anti-austerity campaigners will gather outside Irish national broadcaster RTE’s headquarters on Saturday to protest against what they say is biased reporting that represents the interests of a marginal elite.

Protesters will assemble at 1pm at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook, south Dublin, before making their way to the national broadcaster’s studios nearby.

The demonstration has been organized by a diverse collective of anti-austerity and political campaign groups, coming from far-flung regions all over Ireland.

Among these, are anti-water charges campaign groups that have protested regularly in recent months against the Irish government’s water taxation policy.

The Irish government’s proposed water tax forms part of its long-term plan to repay billions of socialized bank debt, stemming from a banking crisis that brought Ireland’s economy to its knees.

Following an IMF/EU bailout in 2010 that resulted in years of harsh austerity measures, Ireland’s economy is yet to fully recover.

Campaigners say that RTE’s representation is failing the wider Irish populace, and has concealed some of the darkest manifestations of austerity which have befallen the Irish populace since 2008.

They accuse the station of portraying Ireland as a nation in recovery when in reality unemployment remains stubbornly high, suicide rates are soaring, and families who have bailed out corrupt bankers are being evicted from their homes and forced onto the street.

They also warn of political policing in Ireland, whereby anti-austerity activists are being arrested for exercising their democratic right to protest.

Paul Cheevers, a leading organizer of Saturday’s protest, said the Irish people refuse to continue “to be fooled” by RTE’s representation.

The father-of-two called upon the broadcaster to question establishment sources, and refrain from peddling inaccuracies.

Cheevers, who has been active in Ireland’s anti-water charges movement, accused RTE of focusing its lens on the interests of a government that has “lost touch with the electorate.”

In recent months, the personal trainer and father of two has actively resisted the installation of water meters in Rialto, Dublin, along with other local activists.

The Irish government will use the meters to facilitate the charging of Irish citizens for water usage. Opposition MPs and campaigners say the imposition of these water charges has already spawned the largest social movement Ireland has seen in decades.

Campaigners central to this movement have been misrepresented by RTE, with peaceful protesters being portrayed as “malicious and dangerous,” Cheevers says.

At the same time, the grueling impact of austerity on the ground in Ireland is underreported, he warns.

“Suicide is in overdrive yet the media don’t mention why this is happening, our hospitals are lacking beds, people have been stripped of their medication and the government message is: You look after yourself,” he said.

“I don’t see recovery, no one I know is experiencing recovery. The media will tell you we are in a recovery. It’s not true,” he added.

Another leading organizer of Saturday’s demonstration is technical sales representative and father of three Michael McDermott. He is particularly active in regional anti-water charges campaign group Cavan Says No To Water Charges.

McDermott told RT protesters gathered outside RTE on Saturday wish to send the message that “they will not be lied about.”

The anti-austerity campaigner sharply criticized RTE’s coverage of Ireland’s anti-water charges movement as biased.

He said the broadcaster ignored a large protest in December 2014 attended by 3,000 campaigners opposed to the Irish government’s water taxation policy, yet reported on a significantly smaller rally in North West Ireland on the same day.

McDermott stressed anti-austerity protesters in Ireland have been unjustly demonized by RTE.

He said the human cost of austerity is also underreported in Ireland. He said Irish citizens’ reliance on soup kitchens and food banks is largely ignored by RTE.

“On Wednesday night I attended the first meeting of our community coming together to help open a food bank because we have families contacting us that can’t afford food. We don’t see this reported,” he said.

“Also no reporters from RTE go to any soup kitchens to see the families that are there three times a day because they can’t afford to live.”

McDermott said Ireland’s supposed economic recovery is largely a myth perpetuated by RTE and other mainstream media outlets in Ireland.

“There has been no recovery for the majority of people in Ireland. I work hard and at the end of the month have nothing,” he said.

“I don’t go out, myself and my wife don’t waste money but the reality is the 99 percent in this country can’t live the way we should.”

McDermott said swathes of Irish families are facing the prospect of losing their homes because they are out of work and simply can’t afford their mortgage repayments.

“The prospect of losing your home, the place where your family should be safe from harm is one that puts people into a very dark place,” he said.

“I would know, I have been there, and that’s why I will always do anything I could to help people out,” he added.

Saturday’s protest is one of many recent protests in Ireland, as citizens continue to battle against strangulating austerity and economic stagnation.

An estimated one hundred thousand people took to the streets of Dublin in December in protest against the Irish government’s water charges.

As austerity prevails in Ireland and unemployment, poverty, and homelessness remain rife, campaigners’ calls for tangible social and political reform are gaining momentum.