Some of the estimated 120,000 protesters explain why they took part in Saturday’s national demonstration in Dublin
Mary O'Sullivan: Revenue official
“Some of the private sector are doing very well and they’re not being hit at all. There’s no mention of them,” says O’Sullivan, a mother of two living in Rathfarnham. “Why not up the rate of tax for everyone which would be a lot better, instead of hitting the likes of us. We’re quite willing to pay our share, but let us all pay an equal amount.”
She estimates she and her husband – also a public sector worker – will lose around €285 a month once the levy is imposed.
“This was imposed in such an arbitrary way,” says her husband Pearse, who declines to say what sector he works in, except that he’s a union member. “They should set out a three- or four-year plan. Instead, they’re just kicking who they can kick easiest.”
Vincent Donegan (37): fireman
“Things are tough enough as it is, but the levy means we’ll be losing a massive amount of our wages,” says Vincent Donegan, from Tallaght who’s decked out in a spotless navy fireman’s uniform, along with dozens of other colleagues. “My wife is a teacher, so it’s a double whammy. It will work out at around €200 a week. And we’ve two kids aged two and four, as well as a mortgage. “Everyone has to take their share of the pain, but for lower paid to shoulder this kind of burden is unfair. There must be a better and more equal way of doing this.”
Pádraig Murray: actor
“We’re standing up for our industry,” says Murray, a Dublin-based actor, who declines to give his age. “I’m with Irish actors’ equity. We’re out here today because there is a better way. There’s talk of savage cuts in the whole area of the arts and we don’t think it’s the way to go.
“The levy doesn’t affect us. As actors, the whole notion of working in a downturn is the way of our life at times . . . But we’re saying is that we need to defend our industry and cuts are not the way to go and it won’t help.”
Jessica Murphy (16): student
“More young people should be on the streets in protest over the Government’s handling of all this. Our parents and family are affected, everyone,” says Murphy, who is on her first ever protest.
“Something needs to be done to protect education from cuts and imposing third-levels fees. And we need to stand up for what we believe in.
“We’re going to need jobs in the future, and when we go to university next year, we might have to pay fees, which is unfair. Education should be a right, not a privilege.”
Maria Hamill (37): medical secretary
Maria doesn’t think there’s any sympathy from private sector workers over the plight of lower paid public servants.
“They all think we don’t pay our pension, but that’s not true. We do . . . So on top of everything, I’ll end up losing around €150 a month extra with this levy,” says the mother-of-one who works in Dublin’s Mater hospital.
“Some of us have young families, we’re paying childcare fees, mortgage payments. All the usual domestic bills, transport, groceries, lunch, petrol. We’re just trying to live.
“The whole levy has been structured very badly. For example, if you earn €39,000 you’re hit more than someone on €44,000, because of the way the tax credits work. So it’s been done very, very badly.”
Dennis Walsh: clerical officer
“I think this divide between public sector and private sector workers is driven by the media and the Government,” says Walsh, a clerical officer living in Portlaoise and based at the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
“This isn’t a pension levy. It’s a pay cut, squeezing people who have very little and making beggars of them. We should tax people at higher levels, but you can’t make paupers of people. We’re just saying, ‘go away and think again’.”
Walsh, who says he can’t afford to live in Dublin, insists the levy funds will end up being misused.
“I will lose a significant portion of my salary into a dark hole of a banker’s pocket. Like nearly half of my union, I pay a full PRSI stamp. So I’m paying into a pension already.”
Derek Brian (44): hospital porter
“I know the public sector has job security, but there are two million people working in the country and just 350,000 public sector workers. Why should the minority have to pay?” says the Dublin hospital porter. Working in St Vincent’s hospital, he earns just under €30,000 a year. But he’s angry that people on much more generous incomes are not being hit by the pension levy.
“I don’t mind paying as long as everyone is. I know the country’s in trouble. But everyone should get a fair crack of the whip,” he says. While he has sympathy with private sector workers who are losing their jobs in significant numbers, he says public sector workers have been struggling with meagre wages for many years.
“There’s a lot of pain in the private sector, sure, but we’re not the best paid. There is a minority at the top of the public sector who have been doing very well.”
Paul Fagan (45): clinical scientist
“I don’t necessarily disagree with the levy – but it needs to be more equitable,” says Fagan, who works as a clinical scientist, assisting in cardiac surgery.
“I’ve a mortgage and car loan like everyone else in modern Ireland. Thankfully, I bought my house in pre-Celtic Tiger days, so my mortgages isn’t as big as for others. Most have no fat to trim, especially for those who’ve just put a foot on the property ladder.”
Michael Devereaux (50): local authority worker
“I’m here because my son lost his job in the car industry, I’ve a young son who could lose his special needs teacher, and I’m being asked to pay this levy,” says Devereaux, from Palmerstown, who works in Dublin City Council’s cleansing department, collecting rubbish. He’s hoisting a clown in the air, with a sign attached which reads: “Cowen clown.”
“This is about more than just the levy. We need a proper system we can all look forward to. What’ll happen in years to come if everything just collapses around us? ”
