MEMBERS OF THE Ballyhea Bondholder Bailout group took their demonstrations to new levels today, creating a human roadblock to cause traffic chaos on the main Cork-Limerick road.
About 50 people gathered at Ballyhea at noon to protest against the payment of a US$1 billion Anglo Irish Bank bond tomorrow.
Following a march, the group sat down on the N20 Cork-Limerick road, blocking traffic completely for about 15 minutes.
One of the organisers, Diarmuid O’Flynn told TheJournal.ie that although they caused delays, they did not receive any abuse from drivers.
“Many people even gave us a thumbs up in support,” he said. “It was very gratifying.
“We have been marching against the bondholder bailout every week for 35 weeks but we could not let tomorrow pass without doing something special,” continued O’Flynn.
The group were heartened by today’s turnout and that most of the marchers decided to participate in the roadblock.
It is not our preference to disrupt but it is reaching a critical stage.We sat on the ground at a set of pedestrian lights but when a Garda car came and asked us to move, we did. This protest movement is not about confrontation.”
O’Flynn said the group will continue to hold its small-scale events in various locations over the coming weeks.
“We are being told about the austerity but we’re not told about the bonds being paid. Most people do not know almost €100 millino in bonds are due to be paid by the end of the year,” he explained.
A separate event took place at Clarenbridge, where protesters blocked the main Galway-Limerick road.
Another protest, organised by the Occupy Dame Street group, started at noon outside the Department of Finance.
The €718 million bond is being repaid to senior, unsecured Anglo bondholders but the bank and the Government insist that promissory note arrangements mean the obligations must be met in full.
It is not clear who exactly are the beneficiaries of this week’s payments are. The bond was first issued in 2006 but could have been sold on by its original holders.
IBRC has another €1.25 billion payment falling due on 25 January, 2012.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say