Welcome To The Occupation

“What is this raggle-taggle bunch of gypsies doing in front of the Central Bank?” ponders Finbar Markey as he stands in the shadow of the Central Bank Of Ireland’s infamous mushroom building. Markey is on the microphone for this Sunday evening’s General Assembly, speaking in front of a sparse crowd as the sun sets. It’s eight days since Occupy Dame Street set up camp, and the day after their first organised march moved from the Garden Of Remembrance through the capital. “This is an organic process,” he continues. “We aren’t coming here saying we have all the answers but we have a faith in common sense. Don’t be afraid to speak. Silence is what has brought us here. There’s an old saying from a long time ago that says ‘evil succeeds when good men stay silent.’ We have to stop being silent and understand our own value.”

With that summation of ODS’s spirit, he’s done for the evening. These assemblies take place twice daily, at one and six, offering people a platform to express their grievances. It’s just one small part of the larger movement inspired by Occupy Wall Street, the ongoing demonstrations that began in New York last month. Currently made up of 60-odd people permanently housed in 20-odd tents outside the symbolic home of the Irish economy, it is a passive people’s protest against political and economic corruption generally, and the IMF and ECB specifically. It aligns itself with no political parties, but has a spiritual link with the 1,400 occupations currently taking place globally. Alcohol and drugs are prohibited, whilst those involved do not hassle the general public and are under strict orders not to interfere with bank officials. It may be a bad time to be Gordon Gekko, or the Irish equivalent, but at least you won’t get lynched.
Markey and myself move to a two-man tent in the middle of the concrete camp site for a chat, though Markey is quick to point out that should the media approach them again, he will not be the one speaking. This movement does not need any leaders. It is at once a naive and admirable sentiment.
I take a bean bag and Markey begins to talk with purpose, like some Dundalk-based Che Guevara in a rain-jacket. “A whole multitude of issues have brought me here. The system isn’t right and it only works when people adhere, not only to the structural, but the human. I’m a big believer in transforming how we approach things.”
The approach has been decidedly polite. It’s rare to find a protest conducted in such a civilised manner, and gaining such support from the general public. “Absolutely, that’s fundamental,” says Markey. “We had our first protest yesterday with about 1,500 people, which we were delighted with given we’d only announced it a couple of days previously. We had 20 security in hi-vis jackets, all volunteers, and they managed to clear the road in five minutes. I don’t think the most highly-trained sheep dogs could have done what we did. We really make an effort to be respectful of everybody in society. This is about unity, it’s about getting everyone together. I often speak to the security guards for the Central Bank. They love talking but they keep looking over their shoulder towards the building as if to say: ‘Oh shit, what if someone sees me!’”
That unity has remained strong thus far. “Necessity is the mother of invention. The day-to-day stuff has been very organic, though I’ve found that there are lots of meetings about meetings. We came out with a policy last week and our first public statement was worked out with general assemblies. We’re working on a consensus basis at the moment, everyone has to agree. If one person disagrees we have to go back to the drawing board again. Within 45 minutes, a few hundred of us had reached an agreement on a one-page document. If you look at legislation in the Dail – ten years and it’s not even near completion. Compare that with our 100% consensus in less than an hour and it does make you ask certain questions!”
Markey intends to carry on for the foreseeable. “I’m finishing off my doctoral studies so I’m going to go home tomorrow, picking up my stuff and come back and do my work here.” This is no collection of clichéd hippies (though dreadlocks do abound), it’s an eclectic group of people that includes everyone from students to business owners. “The only time we have any problem is with drunks. Maybe 5% of the drunks end up shouting, ‘get a job, get a job!’” admits Markey. “You can try to tell them you have a job, have paid taxes all your life, but it’s not worth the hassle.”
Perhaps the biggest battle will be against the elements. Sleeping bags and extra blankets are in demand, particularly as we move towards winter. And then there’s the issue of food… “Luckily, businesses have been wonderful to us,” says Markey. “Especially the Epicurean Food Hall. Every night they feed hundreds. There’s real genuine support, even though the media aren’t covering it.”
Site co-ordinator Rosa O’Laoire is another peaceable protestor who’s been feeling the good vibes. I find the former Philosophy student attending to some of her cold and weary fellow campers, like a radicalised mother hen. “I was raised by quite liberal parents,” Rosa tells me. “I’ve always had that social conscience. Last week I was sitting at home, following Occupy Wall Street online and started thinking to myself: ‘We really need to do that. I wish somebody would organise that here.’ Then I saw this group on Facebook and immediately said, ‘yes, I’ll attend.’” She hasn’t regretted her decision, describing their first protest as “absolutely awe-inspiring” and expressing amazement at how quickly the group bonded. “When I first got here I didn’t know anybody and now they feel like my best friends. I feel like I’ve been here for years and it’s only been eight days.”
Like Finbar, Rosa has yet to formulate a clear end-point for the protest in her mind. For the moment, it’s all about expressing communal frustration rather than issuing edicts. “The point of the Occupy Movement is that we’re determined to remain unaffiliated with political parties,” she explains. “There are a lot of people here from different backgrounds with different ideas. And we’re getting great feedback from the general public. It was time somebody did something and they’re glad this has happened. The camp has doubled since we started. We’ve had to extend at the back and pretty soon we’ll have to extend it again. It keeps growing every day.” The gale-force, ice-cold winds may be swirling around the Central Bank as I depart, but if Occupy Dame Street toughs it out, maybe some day soon they’ll catch an answer blowing by.