INNER CITY COMMUNITIES in Dublin have this evening come together in peaceful protest against the crime that is currently blighting the city.
The march, entitled Communities Standing Together, walked at 7pm from the East Wall to the monument on Buckingham Street.
At the march’s end, a minute’s silence was held for the young people who have lost their lives to drugs in the inner city, with everyone present exchanging a sign of peace.
One woman spoke to TheJournal.ie regarding the recent spate of gun crime seen as a result of the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch feud in the city:
“It’s been an upsetting time, it’s just adding to the problems that have persisted in this community for a long time.”
We’re hoping that a bit of attention will come on the community out of this. Hopefully it will create a bit of change.
There are so many decent, lovely people living and working here today who deserve better.
One of the organisers of the march, Carina O’Brien of Icon, said that “when people feel trauma of this kind they’ve nowhere to go with it”.
She said that it was important to call the event a procession rather than a march because of the negative connotations associated with the latter word.
“It’s not a protest, it’s symbolic of solidarity among a community,” she said.
Speaking at the march, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said:
“I’m glad to see this community are not prepared to remain silent.”
The people who are doing this have two weapons – their guns and our silence. People should be able to be proud of the community they live in, because these are great people who have gone through an awful lot.
Children here need to be protected from being dragged into drug culture.
Additional reporting Michelle Hennessy
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say