ORGANISERS OF A protest by council workers have said that librarians are living in a state of “fear and dread” as right wing protestors target libraries in anti-LGBTQI+ demonstrations.
Hundreds of protestors have marched through Cork in a demonstration calling for greater protections for workers in libraries who organisers said were facing ever more aggressive attacks by a disparate group of demonstrators opposed to trans and LGBTQI+ literature.
The event this afternoon began outside the local library on Grand Parade – the Forsa trade union organised event then marched down South Mall and to City Hall where speakers spoke to the large crowd.
Protestors carried Forsa banners, rainbow flags and placards denouncing the far-right and with slogans such as “no to bullies” and “Cork City Council – Protect your workers”.
At the beginning of the march a small group of approximately 15 counter demonstrators, including some well known far-right figures, gathered.
A large group of gardaí escorted the marchers through the streets as speakers with megaphones led the crowd in chants of “Hate Speech isn’t Free Speech” and “stand up, fight back”.
Forsa organiser and the union’s head of Local Government Richie Carrothers told The Journal that librarians were now at breaking point due to the far-right protests.
“We would prefer to not be here protesting but we have seen, since January, a series of rolling protests by a small group of people entering Cork city library causing fear and intimidation in the workplace.
“They are calling for a large number of books to be taken out of the library and they are shouting insults to the workers and live streaming these protests in Cork City Library.
“We have called on management to act but they haven’t – we have seen this happen as recent as last week as the far-right tried to break up a meeting,” he said.
Carrothers said the union was calling for an urgent risk assessment to determine the exact risks to workers and also called for greater garda protections at libraries.
“This is about workers rights and health and safety in the workplace but it is also about showing solidarity and support for the LGBTQ+ community because what we’ve seen is a rise in attacks on the community – there is a correlation between hate speech and attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.
“The Council need to act and provide a library that is secure,” he said.
Carrothers added that librarians were now at a point where they would be forced to walk off the job to protect themselves.
“What the staff are telling us is that they have a real sense of dread going into work – they don’t know what they are facing into on a day to day basis.
“There is no schedule to these instances – so when you are unsure what you are going to face and you have fear and dread and you are intimidated at your workplace.
“That is not acceptable,” he added.
Liz Fay, is a former librarian and is also Forsa’s local organiser for local Government and she said her colleagues work lives now feel threatened at work.
“We are here to show solidarity for our members in Cork City Library in Grand Parade – they have faced a series of incidents in the library by protestors that have taken offence to some of the books.
“They have shown to be aggressive to workers, our library workers feel as though there vulnerable and very much out on their own.
“We tried to engage with management but there was no response,” she said.
Fay said that there is an urgent need for training and risk assessments to “protect staff and in turn protect the public”.
She added that she was calling for greater interaction with gardaí and that new bylaws would be introduced to ban troublemakers from libraries.
Organisers said that librarians had not made formal complaints to gardaí about the attacks.
A number of local politicians including Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, Fine Gael senator Jerry Buttimer and city councillors attended the protest.
The far-right protestors remained outside the public library which was closed for the day – they remonstrated with locals over the whereabouts of a misplaced phone.
Gardaí maintained a discreet presence at the Grand Parade but later moved off when the far-right left the area.
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