Stop Deportations demonstration

Sat 16 June 2001



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The 'Stop Deportations Campaign' (an SWP front group) called an anti-deportations march on Saturday, going from the Department of Justice on Stephen's Green to the traditional rally outside the GPO. These marches are becoming annual events (aned the main work of the Stop Deportations Campaign) and are supported by most of the anti-racist and refugee groups, as well as the rest of the left.

The atmosphere on the march was upbeat, but it couldn't disguise the fact that turnout was low. Maybe everyone's been to busy recently, with the Nice referendum, anti-bin charges campaign, and Women on Waves to promote the march. For whatever reason, most of the marchers were members of one group or another, and so a march that in previous years has had over a thousand people this time had less than 500.

One bright spot for the WSM was that half a dozen members and supporters of the Syndicalist Solidarity Network came down from Belfast to join the demonstration. Between us we had about twenty anarchist flags flying, making us the most colourful section of the march.

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[A Personal report from a Workers Solidarity Movement member, these reports are posted to the Ainriail list when first written]