Dear Galway City Councillors,
I am writing as a citizen of Galway
to voice my disappointment and anger at the decision by Galway City
Council to remove the Occupy Galway camp. I have paid my household
charge and this is what I get. Eyre Square belongs to me and the rest
of the citizens of this city. In whose name was the camp removed?
I welcome the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race to Galway. I, like
many Galwegians, had a ball the last time the race was here and I am not
blind to the fact that the race brings in much revenue to the city.
And I sail and enjoy the water.
I also welcomed Occupy Galway to Eyre Square. I helped erect a tent
when they relocated the camp to facilitate the Christmas market. I am
not a member of the Occupy group but I recognise their aims.
Nobody
in their right mind would deny that the world is riven with
inequality. It is obvious that the vast majority of the world's wealth
is still in the hands of the tiny minority. The Occupy Galway camp was a
protest against this injustice. By removing the camp, you councillors
have taken a stand for inequality, injustice and greed.
Galway is an awesome city. It is the sort of place where the
radical and the corporate meet. It is a city of culture and arts yet is
the party town for stags, hens and the Galway Races. Occupy Galway and
the Volvo Ocean Race are not mutually exclusive; there is room in the
civic space for the campaign for social justice and the
enterprise of business men and women of Galway to make a living. Yet by
removing the camp, the voices for equality are again sacrificed on the
altar of profit. The people are silenced while all the concerns of
business are met. This slew in favour of one side of the civic equation
only results in the alienation of the responsible citizen. One can't
help but wonder what President Higgins thinks.
"The eyes of the world will be on Galway", say you councillors. Never
mind the eyes of the world, I truly doubt that they would have cared
about, or even noticed, the Occupy Galway camp. But you should mind the
eyes, hearts and minds of the people of your own city. You further
drive us into the arms of the far left with every conservative decision
you make.
I now ask each of you councillors to reply to my email and explain why this decision was taken and what your position is.
Regards,
John Rogers.
