- First published 5.12 pm
THOUSANDS OF IRISH and French marched side-by-side this afternoon in a sombre solidarity march to remember those who died in last night’s terror attack in Paris.
The red, white and blue tricolour was in abundance as marchers made their way from the GPO to Leinster house. Some were holding candles, many were holding each other and others were in tears.
A vigil also took place in Galway City to remember the dead.
Clara Tracey from Enniskillen has been in Dublin just six weeks after six years in Paris, she told TheJournal.ie that she wishes she was still there:
“I just moved to Dublin from Paris six weeks ago, after six years. So I feel like Paris is kind of my home and I wanted to come out. It’s kind of killing me that I’m not there in a way, but my family are happy I’m here. I felt like I wanted to be around the French people and show support.”
“It felt like my home town was being bombed, even though I’m not French. I couldn’t take it in I don’t think I’ve actually taken it in, I’m still a bit shellshocked.
She adds that she’s now worried about what will happen next, especially to the refugees fleeing to Europe. After Charlie Hebdo, she says Paris stood together, but that this perhaps scarier.
“After Charlie, the French reaction was let’s go out en masse and rally and they did, and they’ll probably want to do it again.”
Was there fear since the Charlie Hebdo attacks?
“There was slight fear, but nothing like what it’s going to be after this now. Because the last one was reactive and targeted and this is just, it could have been anyone. People going out for a drink, going to a gig, going to a match.”
Clara’s friend, Ellie O’Neill from Rathoath also came out in support. She says today’s march was helpful, “people coming together”, but that it was surreal in town last night when the news started to come through.
“I was with Clara. When were walking through town to the bus at about 11 o’clock people were just kind of going about like everything was normal. I got on the bus and people were just chatting normally, it was just so so strange. Some people didn’t know. It was just like, why has everything not stopped? Why has the world not stopped?”
Among the thousands marching in Dublin, many French people struggled for words to describe their feelings. Among them, two friends Alex and Batiste who were thinking of their friends and families back home.
“I don’t know, I don’t have any feeling today, ” Alex says with his country’s flag draped over his shoulders. “I just now want to be with my family in France, we are a really patriotic country and we just want to be together.”
“When I see the whole world, everybody helping us, but we have many things to do and we have to these right now,” he says.
Batiste’s thoughts are with his cousin, who would have witnessed the aftermath of last night’s carnage in a Paris hospital.
“I’m so disappointed, my cousin works in the hospital in Paris, so she saw some really bad people, it was a really hard night for her I think.”
What does he want to happen now?
“Just to be with my family, my father my brother. But when I saw saw a city like Dublin, I’m very happy. To see a lot of people, French or German, or Irish people.”
Both say that today’s march has helpedthem but they are worried what happens next in their homeland.
“We don’t know, we want to be the same, but we are fearful.”
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