Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
 RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Promoting Human Rights in IrelandHuman Rights in Ireland >>
The Establishment Figures Involved in Trying to Suppress the Story of Britain?s Rape Gangs Mon Jan 13, 2025 07:00 | Laurie Wastell
Twenty one years ago, Channel 4 pulled a documentary about Asian rape gangs in Bradford after coming under pressure from an 'anti-racist' group that included several senior members of the British establishment.
The post The Establishment Figures Involved in Trying to Suppress the Story of Britain?s Rape Gangs appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Mon Jan 13, 2025 01:14 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
?It?s -3?C but I Can?t Afford to Put the Heating on Because of Rachel Reeves? Sun Jan 12, 2025 19:00 | Richard Eldred
Meet 72 year-old retired teacher Lynn Emm, who, because of Rachel Reeves, is now forced to choose between warmth and survival, heating her home for only two hours a day while struggling to make ends meet.
The post ?It?s -3?C but I Can?t Afford to Put the Heating on Because of Rachel Reeves? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
?Islamophobia? and the Grooming Gangs Scandal Sun Jan 12, 2025 17:00 | Richard Eldred
The APPG's dangerously vague definition of Islamophobia is smothering free speech and silencing critical discussions on grooming gangs, warns Freddie Attenborough in the Spectator.
The post ?Islamophobia? and the Grooming Gangs Scandal appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
How Wokeism Is Destroying the West Sun Jan 12, 2025 15:00 | Sallust
Sallust draws eerie parallels between the decline of the Roman Empire and the current state of Western civilisation.
The post How Wokeism Is Destroying the West appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?114-115 Fri Jan 10, 2025 14:04 | en
End of Russian gas transit via Ukraine to the EU Fri Jan 10, 2025 13:45 | en
After Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the Pentagon attacks Yemen, by Thier... Tue Jan 07, 2025 06:58 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en
Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Counting crowds
 national |
anti-war / imperialism |
opinion/analysis
 Sunday March 21, 2004 19:45 by John Cunningham - Galway Alliance Against War
is not an exact science
I note that there is discussion on another thread about the size of yesterday’s anti-war march. I recall a similar discussion this time last year about the dimensions of the 15 February mobilisation —was there 80,000 or perhaps 200,000? I discovered yesterday that it is hard to be half-way accurate about such matters, much less definitive Having travelled from Galway in the morning, I was very disappointed by the numbers around Parnell Square. At 3.15, there was certainly less than a thousand. On the march, stewards were mentioning numbers of between two and four thousand —I suspected exaggeration so I decided to try a count myself in Kildare-street. I counted 250, noted the space they took up, and tried to estimate subsequent blocks of 250. Not an ideal method, but I suppose we’ll never have turnstiles for protests.
My count yielded 5,250, with a few left over, which surprised me. There was nothing near that at the start of the march —nor was there, it seemed, at the finish.
Many protestors, perhaps as many as half of the Kildare-street crowd, joined in en route. Some, I’m sure, were delayed on their way, some made an impromptu decision to join in, some deliberately timed their arrival to avoid the tedious speechifying. Towards the end, too, one could see people drifting away to the pub or wherever.
The little computation indicated that all of the various estimates were correct. It just depended on when the count was taken. My 5,250 did not include those who abandoned the struggle before Kildare-street, nor the few who joined after it. And it did not include the dozens of protesting amateur photographers along the footpath. (Maybe the half-hearted anti-warriors who joined outside Trinity and went to watch the rugby on telly after a half-mile stroll didn’t deserve to be counted either).
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6"Maybe the half-hearted anti-warriors who joined outside Trinity and went to watch the rugby on telly after a half-mile stroll didn’t deserve to be counted either."
Because only 'true' anti-warriors (?) stick around to listen to endless speeches from the swp and friends.
I had no intention in walking from point A to point B in the pissing rain just so I could 'feel good' about being against the war.
As for the match, it was a decent game, but I think we could of played a little better.
No way was i going to spend hours standing around in that weather when the only possible effect my presence would have would be to make up the numbers at RBB and Aoife ni fearghails recruitment drive..
i try to say to myself no matter what the RBB sayd hes not speaking for me or of me..
going to top oil at a certain point of the day has encouraged me to go and join the main march for a while and go elsewhere, to feel like ive done something that gets closer to the heart of the matter
perhaps even pana going to the american embassy was there attempt and doing something for there group seperate to the iawm
i rarely let the rain stop me from going to these things, if it important enough you go even for just an hour,,,
its like people not oging to the pub cos the weathers bad...
sleeping late is my demon
when the next shannon demo people
Would it be beyond the bounds of possibilityf for demo organizers to pay an independent monotring organization to assess march numbers?
Hate to be a party pooper, but there was NEVER as many as 5,000 on that march!! No way Jose. Might have reached 4,000 at one point, but I doubt even that.
I reckoned about 3,500 - 4,000. I was at a protest for proper cancer care in the South East in Waterford on Friday (about 4,000 people) and it was pretty much the same size as the anti-war one. There was a very small but interesting action outside TOP oil in Amiens St, though.