Time for action on the Shannon, say flood protest organisers

The organisers of a rally protest over the government’s lack of commitments on cleaning up the River Shannon are calling for action, not empty promises.

Paul Macken said this week there have been many empty promises, but that is not good enough, and the organisers of the protest which will take place in Athlone this Saturday (February 20) say they will persist until action is taken.

Large crowds are expected to travel to Athlone from all over the country, many of who were affected by flooding and many others who are showing solidarity to the people of Athlone and surrounds. The IFA is also supporting the event.

“There is still a lot of anger out there with people. Everyone has suffered in some way. We want one authority on the Shannon and the Shannon cleaned,” said Paul.

While several people in Athlone are not happy with the small amounts of compensation offered to them, or in some cases lack of any compensation, he said the sole issue for Saturday’s rally protest is the clean-up work on the River Shannon.

“This is our total aim and focus now. This event is solely about the Shannon. We are not going away. We are following through to the bitter end. It is all empty promises, nothing concrete. We are finished with that. Now it’s about action. The talking is finished. We will stay with this until we get answers. They are not going to beat us down,” he said.

A national group will be set up, he said, with representatives from the various committees across the country. Their aim is to continue with the efforts to get commitments from the government.

“We will take this forward on a bigger scale. We are putting the ground work in place for the European Courts of Human Rights and Justice,” said Mr Macken.

“We are making plans for the future when the new government is in place. We will let them know we are there.”

He stressed that the focus will be on a peaceful protest. “We want it done in a peaceful way, so that everyone can get back to their lives, to get back to normal again. We want to get our point across. We want action.”

The event will get underway at the Diskin Centre in Athlone at 12 noon on Saturday and the crowd will make their way up through the town to St Peter’s Square where speeches will be made.