Irish in New York rally support for ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters

Irish flags flying as New York residents partake in mass protest in city

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MOLLY MULDOON,

Irish Voice Reporter

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Protesters gather at Zucotti before marching down Broadway.

Photo by Deanna Slattery

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The crowd was made up of “every cross section of society that you could imagine,” something he found quite bizarre.

“Generally in protests you have one section of society, be it students, union workers, elderly,” he said.

“It’s not confined to one group, everyone brings their own issues to the table, not catering for just one issue,

“I just wish the Irish people would have done this months ago,” he added.

By the time the group got to Times Square the Irish American contingent had doubled in size, according to Hennessy.

“A lot of the police officers were giving us the thumbs up because we were Irish,” Slattery added.

Meanwhile some 67 percent of New York City voters identify with the views of the Wall Street protesters according to a new study.

A Quinnipiac University survey, released on Monday, shows that 81 percent of registered Democrats, 58 percent of Independents and 35 percent of Republicans surveyed agreed with the views of the Zuccotti Park occupants. The University surveyed over 1,000 registered voters by telephone recently.

“Critics complain that no one can figure out what the protesters are protesting,” said MauriceCarroll, director of the Hamden, Connecticut-based institute. “But seven out of 10 New Yorkers say they understand and most agree with the anti- Wall Street views of the protesters.”A Sunnyside resident, Hennessy says that for those who are skeptical of the movement, he has one request.

“My biggest challenge is just go down and look,” he concluded.

The protests began over a month ago, on September 17. The efforts of those involved have motivated people across the world to participate in similar demonstrations, including protests in both Dublin and Cork. An estimated 1500 protests in 82 countries occurred this past Saturday. The cost of policing the protests now stands at $3million, according to Mayor Bloomberg.

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