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Fri 03 Mar 2010Greece is a real country - unlike Ireland
Greeks face the same problems as the Irish – but they know the enemy lies within
IN MAY 2002 a Reclaim the Streets celebration in Dublin went horribly wrong. Its political undertones provoked inappropriate reaction from unmarked gardaí wielding batons. Protests, and reactions of this kind, are rare in Ireland. In Athens, it’s the norm, but it’s the police who are trying to reclaim the streets, in the face of frequent protests that are overtly political in character. It’s astonishing (to a non-Greek) to see how quickly a home-made petrol bomb can come into play, how frequently protesters will take to the streets, and the riot police to their batons.
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