“IT’S LIKE A PREGNANCY, it starts off as something tiny but it gets bigger and stronger every day, and in the end you’re left with something really amazing. I reckon we’re still in the first trimester.”
It is difficult to believe that this life affirming comment has come from someone who has endured the elements of Ireland’s wettest city, in an effort to kick-start enormous social change. All the while living in a tent and a haphazard lean-to at the edge of Eyre Square. Despite the tirade of scepticism they faced in the earlier stages, the people of Occupy Galway are pillars of positivity and hope. Instead of complaining about the bailouts and the Troika like the rest of the population, they are standing up for the beliefs of those very people, in a peaceful attack on the bastions of social injustice. But are they really making progress or are their aspirations just that?
As a dull grey mist settles over Galway’s epicentre, business people, school children and tourists scurry to the nearest shelter and alone stands the ancient square’s newest, yet most primitive feature- the Occupy Galway encampment. The ram-shackled structure is surrounded by a patch-work fence and nine tents that house the active members of the group. Disapproving glances and mutters of ‘eye-sore’ and ‘nuisance’ are long gone, and in their place, a sense of acceptance has descended. Every now and then people cagily peek through the door, some stopping to chat, others just to take a look at this strange living arrangement. However, those brave enough to venture in to the alien environment may be surprised by the warm, unquestioning welcome they receive- an offer of a cup of tea and a seat comes before a formal introduction has been extended.
Five occupants have congregated comfortably in what appears to be the general living area-come information centre; adequate seating and basic kitchen facilities along with what appears to be a laundry area at the back, make up the simple room. Although they do not conform to the stereotypical pot-smoking, dread-locked, hippy-activist profile, they are not too far off either. Liam a Mayo-man, came to Galway after a stint of protesting in Rossport. He introduces himself immediately and happily chatters away, answering any questions however obvious or awkward, without even a hint of condescension or resentment. Paul, a northerner, chips in every now and again as the rest of the group potter about and read the paper, happy to let the others do the talking this time.
The Galway group is one of seven in the country and has over fifty active members that ‘man the camp’ on a rotation basis. Living in a tent in the main square of a city can’t be easy but this bunch are worryingly upbeat about it. “It has been pretty easy though, really. Hasn’t it?”, Liam says, as he looks to his camp-mate Paul for support, who nods and smiles. They have experienced very little negative behaviour towards the movement since settling last October. Other than some drunken hecklers, and dubiousness in the earlier stages, they have found that most people are genuinely interested and mainly supportive of what they are doing and trying to achieve. One incident however, does stand out. A local business man came over the camp, shouting at the group and threatening to throw a chair. “I think he had a few drinks on him, but I heard he was up to his eyes in debt so he was probably just annoyed that we were drawing attention to a situation that he wanted to forget about,” Liam quips with an air of indifference. These hiccoughs don’t seem to deter the resilient protesters. If anything it spurs them on to do even more to induce the much needed social change that they are striving for.
“At the beginning people were like ‘it will never work, go home’. But now they’re asking for advice so that’s a clear litmus test that things are changing. And we’re a lot more confident in what we want. I don’t think I’ve ever left anyone at the fence that actually hasn’t come around to at least appreciating that there is some value in what we’re doing,” the mayo-man continues. In its most basic form, the aim of the movement is to highlight the stark inequalities in society across the globe and to hopefully encourage change.
The inequalities they refer to are not as simple as financial discrepancies. They encompass social, economic and political inequalities. They discuss issues ranging from abortion laws to bank bailouts and hope that their influence and political supporters can help influence the social reforms that are necessary to make a real difference in the lives of the people who gained nothing through the Celtic Tiger years and lost more than those who caused the fallout. However, the goal is not to coerce people to join the movement, but to let them come to their own conclusions on the current state of global affairs through educating them on the realities of what the world is facing.
They are under no illusions that this kind of process will be a long one and, but they are willing to offer their time to the cause.“The minute the cascade effect actually occurs it probably won’t be because of us, it’ll be a be an external thing or a mixture of both. A lot of it is just about the will to keep trying. And I’m sure something good will come of it because good things come of everything like, you have to be a bit philosophical you know?” Liam seems to be acting as front-man this particular morning.
Although some progress may have been made, real social change seems like a distant dream. Yet their perseverance and passion has to be admired. Perhaps if more people offered their time and expertise to the process that this would come about faster, but for most of us that is just not feasible. While it is hard to say whether any major changes to society or politics will come as a result of the movement, one can hope, for their sake and ours, that they do.
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