THE ORGANISERS OF a protest against the spiralling cost of living and the housing crisis are urging people to attend a march in Dublin on Saturday to heap pressure on the government ahead of the budget.

The demonstration organised by the ‘Cost of Living Coalition’ –which involves over 30 organisations – is set to gather on Parnell Square in the capital at 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the demonstration is set to be one of the biggest protests seen in Ireland since the campaign against water charges.

“We both hope and expect to see thousands and thousands and thousands of people on the streets this Saturday in advance of the budget, demanding action from this government that will genuinely protect people from, what is an absolutely crushing, cost of living crisis and the associated housing crisis that is blighting the lives of tens and tens of thousands of people in this country,” Boyd Barrett said.

The Dún Laoghaire TD said the cost of living and housing crises are inflicting more hardship than the prospect of water charges did and merit a mobilisation on the scale that was seen around water charges from 2014 to 2016.

The broad range of groups backing the demonstration includes the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), the Senior Citizens Parliament and the Union of Students in Ireland.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said rising inflation is a “nightmare” for many in the country and the government is out of touch with the hardships people are facing.

“The evidence will be on budget day as to whether or not the real gravity of this situation has landed with a government that, frankly, is completely out of touch so far, with realities on the ground,” McDonald said.

“It’s important that people come out and make their voices heard, because we are going to have to force the hand, or the ear, of this government to listen,” she added.

Socialist party TD Mick Barry, who was involved in a protest in Cork last weekend, said people are travelling from all over Ireland to attend the march on Saturday.

“This is people’s chance. The energy providers have had their say, the landlords have had their say, this is the chance for ordinary people to have their say on the streets,” Barry said.

The Cork North-Central TD said the march will be the beginning of a campaign movement and the demonstration will not be a one-off event.

“There’s no way we’re going to allow people to freeze in their homes this winter, or people to struggle to even put food on the table for their kids while the ESB is making €2 million euro in profits per day and the government isn’t doing nearly enough on these issues,” Barry said.

Macdara Doyle of ICTU said radical government action is needed to prevent the energy crisis morphing into a wider jobs crisis.

Imelda Browne, President of the Senior Citizens Parliament, said it’s important that the struggle to deal with rising living costs doesn’t become a battle for resources between different generations.

“The younger people in my life are my grandchildren, my children, my nieces, my nephews. The older people in their lives are their grandparents, their parents, their aunts, their uncles. We are family, we are not people to be pitted against one another in a battle that matters to everybody,” Browne said.