On
Tuesday June 5th 15 of us (12 from the Ballyhea & Charleville bondholder
bailout protest groups, three from Anglo Not Our Debt/Debt Justice Action) landed
in Frankfurt with a singular aim – take the fight against the unjust imposition of the
bank debt burden on the Irish people to the ECB itself - those who are doing the
imposing - at its own imposing headquarters.
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| Looking for justice in Frankfurt ('she's behind ye!') |
Our
plan was threefold:
1) ‘Nail’ a Martin Luther-type protest scroll to the door
of the soaring ECB building;
2) hand in a letter outlining our seven demands to ECB President
Mario Draghi;
3) attempt in our own modest way to bring our protest to the
attention of the rest of the world, including especially to the attention of
the German people themselves.
We
had no idea what we were facing into, anticipated that we wouldn't get near the
actual ECB building itself, feared we might get ourselves arrested (we’re not
yet the ‘let’s get ourselves arrested’ kind!), but were determined to do
whatever we could to achieve our three objectives. So
how did we get on?
On the first night, the Tuesday night, we gathered at a
restaurant a few blocks from the ECB HQ and a recce party went to scout the
area. The word came back – incredibly, not a security guard nor a policeman in
sight, complete access. At around midnight we headed off, unfurled our custom-made
(for the Ryanair flight!) BALLYHEA SAYS NO and CHARLEVILLE SAYS NO fold-up banners,
marched through the adjacent square (site of the Occupy Frankfurt group, as it
happens), up to the door, and there ‘nailed’ to the door (with blue-tack) our
scroll, our Ballyhea Theses. Took the photo as proof (attached), and headed to
our hotel – mission number one accomplished.
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| 'Nailed' to the door |
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| The midnight coup |
June
6th, Wednesday, this was the big one, the day the Governing Council
of the ECB would convene, among them our own Central Bank Governor Patrick
Honahan. The meeting was to start at 9am so we were there at 8.30pm and again,
huge surprise – very little security presence, just a single police car, and
again we were able to go right up to within a few yards of the front door. Mr Draghi
arrived in his Merc just as we arrived on foot, bollard removed so he could be
driven right to the door, quickly alighted and escorted through, no chance for
us to get near. No matter, a few a minutes later Mr Honahan walked up, saw our
little group and all our banners; I went up to him, explained who we were and
what we were about, handed him the letter (brown envelope, I'm afraid!) and
asked if he’d deliver it for us. A very personable guy, he smiled, explained
that he could hardly deliver it to Mr Draghi himself (wouldn't look the best
from his point of view, would it, the Irish rep handing the demand letter to Mr
Draghi?), but he agreed to give it to an ECB rep – mission number two
accomplished.
There
we stayed for a couple of hours, speaking to members of the public, explaining
to them what was happening in Ireland, that it was us, in fact, bailing out
German, French and other European banks rather than us, the Irish people, being
bailed out by Europe. In this regard Damian Moylan was a huge asset to the group,
a multi-linguist with German being just one string to his impressive bow.
There was a
press conference set for 2.30pm for which I had secured accreditation through the Village magazine, an opportunity to ask a few direct questions. The
first plan of action though was to be back in situ by 1pm to catch the attention of all
the various media as they arrived. We did so, arriving in formal parade, and a
most successful couple of hours we had thereafter with just the one glaring
exception. Interviews with the Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, and a couple
of other newspapers local and national (including the very helpful Anne Cahill
of the Irish Examiner), loads of photos taken etc., loads of interaction with
the media, the general public, and even those going in to work in the building,
some of whom explained that they supported our cause. Mission number three
almost fully accomplished.
The
one failure? Despite being accredited, badge and all in the fist, I was refused
entry to the press conference, an unnecessarily threatening Wiktor Krzyzanowski
(Senior ECB Press Officer DIV Press & Information, according to his card) telling
me in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t getting through – I’d been seen with
that obviously anarchic group outside the door. ‘Are you afraid I’ll be causing
a disruption?’, I asked; ‘I'm not in the least afraid of you,’ he told me,
looking fairly smug in his considerable six-foot-plus frame. If Wiktor only knew
– in North Cork hurling in the 70s he’d have been only an average-sized full-back,
and they all said the same thing!
At
about 4pm we packed up, most of us heading back to the hotel for a couple of
hours of badly-needed rest, before heading out for a bite to eat. On the way we passed a monument to the monster that's been devouring much of Europe.
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| Who builds a monument to a monster? |
Overall
a very successful trip but thanks must go here to two people in particular, Cathleen
Quealey-Moloney and Fiona Buckley-Fitzpatrick, who did all the organising, took
care of all the logistics. The hotel was around the corner from a tram-stop,
the tram-line directly to the ECB building square. Flights were booked, petrol
money for the trip to Knock Airport collected, likewise for the bus-trip from Frankfurt-Hahn
to the city, for the tram tickets, all costs divvied up meticulously. The
itinerary and time schedule was planned to the metre and to the minute, every detail
faithfully recorded in Cathleen’s book – there was less planning put in by Winston
Churchill to the D-Day landings, and in a smaller notebook!
We
would also like to thank Martin Condon, Managing Director of Cavanagh’s of Charleville,
for the two people-carriers for the three days, and Anne Morris in Knock, who
dropped us off and picked us up at the airport.
Finally,
the 15 – the Ballyhea 15 as we’re now being called. I’ll start with the two
most important people in the group, the first two signatures on the Theses.
Frances O'Brien is a Millstreet native, married to Pat O'Brien from Ballyhea for the last
44 years, both now retired (Frances was a nurse, Pat a dairy-farmer); they’ve
been with us from day one, never flagged, and their stamina on this occasion
was incredible. Standing around for hours on end on concrete footpaths, holding
a sign, sandwiched between two gruelling days of travel, yet not a bother on
them.
Fiona Buckley from Meelin and her husband, Cork city
native Robert Fitzpatrick, both now
living in Charleville, and boy did they have to go around the houses to a) get
time off work and b) get to Frankfurt in time for posting the Theses, staunch
weekly marchers also.
Cathleen Quealey and her husband, Pat Moloney, another couple who have been there almost from the outset.
‘Does anyone else find themselves still awake in the middle of the night these
days, thinking of what we can do next?’ Pat asked at one of our meetings one
night. ‘Yes!’ we chorused.
Vicky Donnelly from Anglo Not Our Debt, a stranger to most
of us at the start of the trip but one of our own by the end, a long-time campaigner
for social justice.
Richard Chapman, friend of Vicky’s, and likewise – one of
our own within a day. A quiet chap but I think we infected him a little!
Diarmaid Ó Cadhla, another Cork city native, another long-time
campaigner for social justice and a most interesting and informed individual, has
been driving up and down from the city for months now to join our weekly march.
Hugh Mellerick, yet another Cork city native but now living
in Mallow, joined us through the anti-Household Charge campaign having seen the
over-riding significance of the bank debt burden and is a regular marcher with
us – did immense work on signage etc. in the final few days.
Lynette O’Donoghue, from Newmarket, now living in Cullen, like
Hugh a newcomer to our protest but – like Hugh – a great boost to it, totally
committed and very active. Great humour, great attitude to life, very positive.
Phil Ryan, Ballyhea native, the best hurler I ever saw
and that excludes no-one! Like the rest of us Phil was representing his family,
many branches of whom march with us on a regular basis. Not a public speaker
but well able to express himself within the group, hugely popular.
Damian Moylan, out of Mallow, a late-comer to the protest
but put in more work in the last few days of the last week than most would
manage in a month. Multi-linguist (Russian, Dutch, German), high-achiever,
bursting with ideas, this guy could be absolutely anything he wanted to be.
Donncha Ó Briain, documentary-maker, has been side by side
with us almost from the start – Ireland’s own Michael Moore, Donncha is the man
who made the famous Hugo Chavez documentary several years ago. Has become a
friend to all.
Yours
truly, the final member of the pack.
The
entire cost of the trip was funded by ourselves, with generous contributions also
from those who couldn't come. We understand only too well, we’re just an annoying little gnat
on an elephant’s arse. We won’t be swatted away.
Regards,
Diarmuid O'Flynn.
