Ireland sees massive protest against austerity measures

Demonstrators stand in front of Leinster House in Dublin, Ireland November 27, 2010. Ireland entered the final hours of negotiations for emergency EU and IMF loans on Saturday with attention focused on the interest rate its taxpayers will be forced to pay to bail out their government and their banks. Thousands of demonstrators marched through the Irish capital's streets against the deal, which European Union leaders hope will prevent the crisis from spreading to Portugal and Spain and threatening the future of the euro.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin Saturday to protest against the introduction of spending cuts and tax increases by Prime Minister Brian Cowen's government.

Protesters, opposed to the government's four year recovery plan which includes 6 billion (8 billion dollars) in spending cuts next year and another 9 billion between 2012 and 2014, waved flags and placards and chanted slogans.

The protest began on the city's south quays and from there the protesters made their way to the general post office on the city's bustling O'Connell street. Protesters gathered behind the banners of their unions and organizers provided whistles to many of the protesters to use as a way to protest.

The protest was organized by the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU), which says the government's measures are unfair and strict.

ICTU General Secretary David Begg said nobody believe that the country could afford to pay the bail-out money, which carries a hefty interest.

The interest rate to be charged on the package of the European Unions (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to be 6.7 percent for nine-year money. This compares to an average borrowing rate of 4.7 percent on funds raised by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) over the past two years. In May, Greece arranged an EU/IMF loan for three years at 5.2 percent.

According to the government's four-year plan, by 2014 interest payments will have increased from 2.5 billion euro to 8.4 billion euro a year, around one fifth of all tax revenue.

About 10,000 people started the protest, however the crowd swelled to about 50,000 people as it moved down the quays, said Irish police.

Traffic control was in place in the city center along with a large number of police. Earlier, police said they were expecting a peaceful protest, but would be prepared to deal with any unruly behavior that might break out.

"While our policing plan is primarily focused on crowd safety, it will also aim to prevent any disruption," said police chief superintendent Michael O'Sullivan.