A nine day protest march by eight men from south Kilkenny ended today when they finally reached Leinster House a little after 2pm.
The men - who had set out from Kilmacow in south Kilkenny - were met at the gates of Leinster House by Sinn Féin’s Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin who congratulated them on finishing their protest and said that they had helped “to inspire the people.”
Each of the ‘Kilmacow eight’ had their own specific reasons for marching but said that they were united in their anger over the lack of job prospects for young people in Ireland.
They presented Mr Ó Caoláin with ‘the eight demands by the eight walkers’ and asked him to take their grievances to other TDs.
These demands included a halving of the number of TDs along with their wages, the abolition of the Seanad, social welfare for the self employed and the right to vote for Irish emigrants.
One of the protestors, Stephen Tobin, arrived at the gates of Leinster House on crutches after hurting himself yesterday.
“I got shin splints and just went through six or seven miles on crutches yesterday evening and the same all of this morning” he said.
Despite his injury getting worse all the time, Mr Tobin said that “it was well worth every bit of it” and that he never thought of stopping.
The men, who ranged in age between 34 and 64, carried signs bearing the slogans “stop the talking and start the walking” and “our children are not for export”.
Spokesman for the group, John Kavanagh praised the “unbelievable support from all walks of life” that they had received on their walk.
In a speech outside Leinster House, he urged people that if they had grievances with the Government, to “put that grievance in the ballot box” by voting against them.
“Even though we are very concerned about the future of our nation, we have no doubt that the Irish people are the best people in the world, and the best people in the world deserve to have the best politicians in Leinster House.
“I hope that God will forgive Fianna Fáil and the Green coalition because the men from Kilkenny won’t” he said.
The demands from the eight walkers
- Halve the number of TDs and halve their wages
- No pensions for ministers or TDs until 65 years of age.
- Abolish the Seanad.
- Give our exported generation their vote.
- Reverse the pension levy
- Social welfare for self employed
- Remove the tax on savings
- Genuine apology from our failed politicians.