Fifteen months ago, the community of Ballyhea just south of Charleville in county Corkstarted a weekly protest march against the payment of bondholders in bust Irish banks, using citizens’ wealth to fund the payments. Since then they have been joined by Charleville and each week there are alternating marches in Charleville and Ballyhea. In addition, there have been protests online and offline that included a cycle/run/walk/crawl from Ballyhea to the Dail in Leinster House to hand in a petition, a fast, a sit-down protest on the main Cork-Charleville road as well as Facebook campaigns, the Bondwatch Ireland website which lists all bonds payable in Irish banks and a blog.
Who are these people? Meet them and it will take you about half a minute to recognise that they are “ordinary” people from an “ordinary” community who are standing up against the sucking out of money from our society to pay the debts of banks. No ego, no vanity, no hedge funds shorting the Irish economy, just ordinary people whose protest has made them extraordinary.
The original focus of the campaign was against the payment of bondholders in bust Irish banks, but that war is to an extent lost with the banks having now repaid much of their bonds. There are still considerable sums outstanding, including €640m in unsecured, unguaranteed senior bonds at what was Michael Fingleton’s Irish Nationwide Building Society, which will be paid in full on 26th June, 2012. INBS has thus far received a €5.4bn bailout from Irish citizens and taxpayers. The main focus of future protest though is likely to be on the extant €28bn of promissory notes. Anyone with a sense of ethics can see the injustice.
Yesterday a group of the protestors flew from Knock in county Mayo to Frankfurt-Am-Main in Germany, home city of the European Central Bank (ECB). Last night at midnight, they attached a proclamation – available here – to the doors of the bank, in a manner reminiscent of Luther’s nailing of his proclamation to the doors of Wittenburg. It might sound elaborate but the point being made is simple – citizens should not have to foot the bill for failed banks, it’s just plain wrong. As plain wrong as it was to sell Indulgences in the 16th century.
This morning, the group handed their proclamation to Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Professor Patrick Honohan as he made his way to the monthly ECB meeting to set interest rates. Professor Honohan, friendly and receptive as always, took the document which it is hoped will be shared in this morning’s meeting.
Will the protest make any difference? Will the be-suited executives at the ECB in their glass-and-steel skyscraper take a blind bit of notice of a small community from a place they’ve never heard of? Maybe not, but then again, Martin Luther made his point across a continent. And he didn’t have the Internet.
The extraordinary group in Frankfurt today comprises Diarmuid O’Flynn Fiona Buckley-Fitzpatrick Rob Fitzpatrick Cathleen Queally-Moloney Pat Moloney Phil Ryan Frances O’Brien Pat O’Brien Diarmaid O Cadhla Donncha O Briain Vicky Donnelly Richard Chapman Damian Moylan Hugh Mellerick Lynette O’Farrell. You can keep abreast of the group’s activities today and see photographs by following @ballyhea14 on Twitter.
NAMA Wine Lake 
Support from Debt Justice Action network here.
“The Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign has lent its support to a protest taking place today at the European Central Bank (ECB) by Irish groups and individuals demanding debt justice.
Campaign spokesperson Andy Storey said that the protest was especially timely as the German government has just told the Irish government there will be no deal on the Anglo debt after the ‘yes’ vote in the fiscal treaty referendum.
“Once again, the government has been told that being ‘Mister Nice Guy’ gets you nowhere – unless the Irish government stands up for itself and suspends the repayment of the promissory notes arising from the debts of Anglo Irish Bank
they will make no progress on this issue”, he said.
Representatives from a number of Irish organisations, including the Ballyhea/Charleville bondholder bailout protest group, travelled to Frankfurt to take their demands directly to Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, during that body’s governing council meeting. These demands include the immediate destruction of all remaining promissory notes and the refunding of the two promissory notes already paid, which have cost Ireland over €6 billion.
Nessa Ni Chasaide, also of the Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign, said that “civil society has to take its message directly to Europe because it seems the Irish government will not – the time for begging for favours is long passed, this is the time to demand justice, including the writing down of illegitimate debt”.
More http://www.notourdebt.ie/press-release-06-june
If you want to be kept up to date or get with grassroots debt , check out
https://www.facebook.com/NotOurDebt for more details
Sorry now, its all abit innocent. Reminds me abit of Father Ted “Down with that kind of thing”. I,d say the ECB are shaking in their boots. If this Irish population had any Balls the EU and ECB would have blinked long ago. Its actually an embrassement. the Vikings in Iceland told the Dutch and Brits where to get off and we fly from Knock Airport with a few placards.
And what you are doing ?
“Innocent” it may be to some degree, but I would not knock a group of ordinary people, doing everything within their limited capacity to try to pursue justice on behalf of Irish citizens.
I would reserve the word “embarrassment” for our Government – the only body that actually has the remit to address the injustice of odious debt repayment but, regretfully, chooses not to do so.
QUOTE: “If this Irish population had any Balls…”
Replace the above with:
“If enough Irish people followed the example of Ballyhea & Charleville…”
I’m in agreement. Personally, I think this whole Ballyhea thing is as big a waste of time as the Occupy movement. People committing injustices won’t stop if you just ask them politely. You have to make them listen.
I wish these people would do something useful like conduct private investigations, run for office, or research and present the system failings of the system and the corrupt actions of individuals in an actual newspaper. Pick someone—in Ireland—who is imposing injustice on the Irish people and go after them like Murdoch used to.
Put uncomfortable, personal pressure on people in power and they’ll take a lot more notice of you. Fart around on blogs and country picket lines and you may as well just drop dead like everyone else.
Protesters in this country should either go on the offensive or forget about the whole thing. Maybe the country is just too corrupt for that, in which case, well, …. Sinn Fein are around anyway.
The only thing “wrong” with the Ballyhea protests is that they are not replicated throughout the country. If they were, we’d see change.
The problem is that too many people are still too cosy and see no need for such protests or cannot see how protests will do any good. Just look at the turnout in the referendum (50%) and the fact that 60% of those that voted did so in favour of what might be considered the status quo. On this basis, only 20% of the electorate cared enough about things to vote NO and to change matters.
Sad really.
..Anything but embarassing. This group does what our pols do not. More power to them!
This is a courageous group of people.
Even if not successful they should remember the words of Francis Ledgwidge.
A gallant failure is not in vain,
It hath a victory of its own
a bright delectance from the slain
Is down the generations thrown.
When the history of this period is written, this group of people and Ballyhea will be lauded for their actions in contrast to the elected ‘leaders’ of the country..Traitors is far too kind a word for our ‘leaders’.
Well done to the Ballyhea Protestors….
Fair play Ballyhea,
However your efforts might be better directed just trying to get people behind you. Jetting of to Eu is nice, but getting a million people behind you first would be nicer. If you cannot achieve that, ask why.
Start with education. You think everyone in Ireland knows what you are on about?…maybe not.
People along with the Ballyhea includes those from the Debt Justice Action network whose focus has been on public/popular education. Check them out here http://www.notourdebt.ie/
More updates here http://soundmigration.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/irish-debt-activists-at-ecb-as-draghi-rejects-debt-writedown-in-return-for-yes-vote/
Well done to the folk at Ballyhea and also well done to NWL for highlighting the action that this group has taken over the last few months.
I’d like to see more activism of the Ballyea-kind throughout this country. An economic coup d’etat took place and is still taking place with regard to bank debt being foisted on to the ordinary citizens of this country.
We need more activism along the lines of the folks taking part in the Ballyhea protest.
@soundmigraton great work and I have been at your site often…
I suppose by education I meant,
1. really basic education for the “ah sure we’ll be grand” brigade who amazingly still exist, and also for younger people. The level of understanding that exisits is overestimated I think.
2. Deeper information on Lenihan’s motives for the guarantee, and whether Ireland’s interest or his own interests prevailed. Show us his diaries. How dare they be kept secret.
3.Who gets the money, the names of obscure private funds is not enough.
4.Education about NAMA ( nwl ploughs a lone furrow)
5. Money and where/how /when the money flows. It is complicated for sure. If Karl Whelan could dumb down a bit and describe the bigger picture that would help.
This is really complicated stuff of specialists. To engage the people is not easy if they don’t really get it all. Which most people don’t. I get smoke coming out my ears sometimes trying to figure out what economists are on about.
These are general suggestions not just aimed at you.
Resistance – education- hand in hand.
It has always been that way.
Excellent post, SF.
The need to educate all citizens as to what is really going on needs to be re-enforced continually.
The more information people have, the more informed they can be.
In fairness, NWL does go out of his/her way to explain what is going on with regard to the bank bailout, in simple and accurate terms.
This blog does the citizens and this state some service in my humble opinion.
SF
Re: points 5 & 6
5. ‘who gets the money?’
see http://www.debtireland.org/resources/publications/an-audit-of-irish-debt. This was an attempt to render the opaque nature of debt more transparent and was followed up with public/popular education.
6. Unlock Nama are attempting to do this?
@ Tom Crowley
Getting ready for some real shock therapy next Dec.
Ironic on the day Germany concedes to Spanish banks with a ” bailout light” on much better terms than Ireland, Greece and Portugal received.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/06/us-spain-banks-germany-idUSBRE8550IN20120606
was I dreaming this morning…
I thought I heard Lucinda Creighton say on newstalk betwene 9 &10 something along the lines of… Germans not doing their bit, they need to increase their wages and not be as productive, buy goods from the periphery EC countries etc. gave an example of a 4%+ pay increase. No one challenged her.
I’ve a bad dose of some bug or other so was a bit delirious this AM, was I actually dreaming or did one of our ministers actually utter such clap-trap.
I stopped listening to Newstalk a while back (my general outlook has lifted since – now, that’s ironic, given the Newstalk remit to broadcast “positive” stories), so I can’t confirm what Deputy Creighton said. But…
I do recall reading about Irish farmers complaining back in 1972 when they had to now compete with Danish dairy farmers. The line essentially was, “How dare those Danish cows produce more milk than our poor creatures.”
For the chattering classes, it’s always someone else’s fault.
They’re already starting criminal investigations re Bankia in Spain, Ireland meanwhile is looking into the framework of language that might be used in the even a call is made for some inquiries, if nobody minds of course.
Spain 1 ireland o
http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/06/inenglish/1339002579_185035.html
Here is an example of the little people going after a bank that might work in Ireland.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/06/bankia-legal-crowdfunding-idUSL5E8H676T20120606?type=companyNews
Looks like the initial bailout is “limited” to 80 billion. Apparently, the recent and continuing bank run was much larger than expected.
http://www.eleconomista.es/interstitial/volver/superlunes/
Don Quixote tilting at windmills or the spark that fires a revolution?
Don Quixote de La Mancha: [singing] “To fight for the right / Without question or pause / To be willing to march / Into Hell for a Heavenly cause!”
So I salute the Ballyhea knight-errants.
Great change always comes from small beginnings. A tsunami was once a tiny tremble on the ocean floor, a revolution was once a single thought in a person’s mind, and the most massive bonfire starts with a tiny spark.
For the past three generations, there are examples of women who have used their voices to change the the status of women in this country and in the world.
Sometimes, as NWL must know, the simple act of writing can be the most incendiary thing of all.
However, taking on the ECB windmills?
Don Quixote: Dost not see? A monstrous giant of infamous repute whom I intend to encounter.
Sancho Panza: It’s a windmill.
Don Quixote: A giant. Canst thou not see the four great arms whirling at his back?
Sancho Panza: A giant?
Don Quixote: Exactly.
It takes an army to fight giants – or a David with a sling-shot. People power or the courts.
Good luck to them. I admire their stamina and tenacity.
@ brian flanagan
I am not sure it is about people being cozy, or even complacent. People need to be 100% sure before they go on the streets protesting.
People cannot understand all of this, they do not know who to trust. They cannot go protesting and marching, because they do not have 100% conviction toward one side or another.
As there is no real authority on morality and ethics in ireland, each individual needs to learn and decide for themselves, and this, as we know is a phenomenal task. So we get inaction.
All the best to the protesters on ‘D Day’,someone has a very ironic sense of humor in Ballyhea.
those of us old enough to have protested in the eighties know, that while the Ballyhea protesters are to be admired, they will ultimatey get very little change.I hope their jobs are secure and their families are reared because these things have a way of coming back to bite. Sorry to be so negative as I really do admire them . In response to SF CA writer-it is not inaction -it is fear ! Why else would so many people on this site use nom-de-plumes?
NAMA executive parking.
http://hovercraftdoggy.com/2012/06/06/it-wasnt-meant-to-end-like-this/
doing something always beats doing nothing, hands down. A saying I like: the only failure is the failure to try..no one could accuse the people of Ballyhea protest group of not trying.
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