Central Bank's Occupy policy enrages local business owners

Occupy Dame Street protesters can stay put according to Central Bank boss

Frank McQuade, who owns two shops directly facing the camp, said: "They came at Halloween and for the first week or two it didn't really affect anything, but then it just got bigger and bigger and really messy, and attracted loads of loopers and headbangers."

"I would think that when the weather gets better, it will get more difficult. We asked them for weeks and weeks and explained to them about being small businesses and needing the footfall of customers coming across there. They kept fobbing us off for weeks, right over Christmas and then in January we had meetings every week with them and they'd say 'oh we'll go back to our assembly'. There are no leaders or bosses, so it's very handy, they don't have to do anything then."

McQuade said that he has no issue with the protest in theory, but in practice the protest is a very different story, adding that he has witnessed some of the protesters openly urinating in the street.

"Jesus I hate the banks more than they do!" he said. "But there's at least 50 jobs on the line because of them, if not more. I'm 25 years here in April and this is the worst year even including the eighties."

Paddy Conlon, manager of Candy Lab, a few doors down, said that people avoided walking near his shop because of the camp.

"It's a major concern to us. It's very untidy," he said. "The main house they have at the front of the bank is fine and I think they should just focus on that.

"It's well known that some nights there is absolutely nobody camping there."

"It couldn't be done by me and you," Conlon added, "to erect anything you need planning permission."

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John Murphy believes the camp has discredited a worthy cause.

"There's no discussions with them," he said. "We've tried every means to get them to reduce the size of the camp or make it more aesthetically pleasing but there's no give with them. It seems like these are serial protesters and if it isn't the oil or trees of whatever it'd be something else. I actually don't think they've done much good."

Said 21-year-old Padraig Loughran, a protester from Trim, Co Meath, in the kitchen area of the Occupy camp: "For the first three months I pretty much stayed here constantly.

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Nster.com