For two hours yesterday Dublin’s O’Connell Street was a swollen river of anger as 100,000 people marched in protest at the government’s handling of the financial crisis.

The demonstration had to set off from Parnell Square at 1.50pm, almost 15 minutes early, to accommodate the huge numbers. Long after 3pm, as most of the protesters were gathered in Merrion Square, the tail end of the snake of marchers was still shuffling across O’Connell Street, waving their placards and shouting their disgust.

“If this levy goes ahead, I’ll be left with €6.50 a week to live on,” said Sean Whelan, a housing maintenance worker for Dublin city council, referring to the government’s levy on public sector workers. He fished a sheet of paper out of his inside pocket and waved it indignantly. “Here’s my wage slip, if you don’t believe me. Look. I’m already only getting ¤106 a week, and this levy is going to have me down to nothing.”

Whelan said the government cutbacks had hit him in a number of ways. He did not qualify for a carer’s allowance, despite looking after his incapacitated 85-year-old-mother. Cutbacks in the medical card scheme meant he now had to pay for her dentures, glasses and incontinence material. He was also hit with the levy affecting all PAYE workers.

“I can’t afford to strike, but I can’t afford to take these cuts either,” he said. “You tell me, what should I do now?”

Before the march, the government released a statement reaffirming its commitment to introducing the levy, saying it believed it was a “reasonable approach” that recognised the perks enjoyed by public service employees. The message to the marchers was clear: Cowen was not for turning.

While the majority of those demonstrating carried placards that objected to the levy, a quick straw poll of the protestors revealed that many people had taken to the streets to protest over other issues, from the banking scandals to job losses, the war in Iraq, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the evils of capitalism, the Shell pipeline or, as in the case of Tom Barrett from Foxrock, to voice a general dislike of the government.

“I’m a private citizen, and I’m disgusted at the way the whole country is being run,” said Barrett, brandishing a placard that made possibly defamatory remarks about Brian Cowen. “We need them out of office now.”

Barrett’s placard was one of a number of makeshift offerings carried by marchers. Trade-union leaders had placed stacks of professional signs and rows of flags and banners all down the length of Parnell Square, but many demonstrators stuck with their own material.

“Honey, look, what do you think that means?” said one American tourist in bemusement, pointing at a sign of a morbidly obese feline sitting under the caption: “New home wanted for fat cats,”

Marguerite Kilduff, from Dublin, also carried a home-made sign as she walked on the fringes of the protest with her nine-year-old daughter, Eilin. “I’m a nurse, my husband is unemployed, I have two children and I just can’t afford what’s happening now,” said Kilduff, her shoulders lifting in a tired shrug.

“I haven’t lived here for years so I won’t ever get a full pension. If I could opt out of it, I would. I think that if the government told us where this was going we’d be happier. But this sense of not knowing is terrible.”

Kilduff said she didn’t want to strike and didn’t believe anyone else did either.

“We provide an essential service; I don’t want to take that away,” she said. “We’re just looking for fair play.”

Further down the street, a much more militant attitude was emerging as Richard Boyd Barrett, of the People Before Profit Alliance, was quickly filling pages of a petition calling for a one-day national strike.

Joe Higgins, the former Socialist Party TD, said he believed the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) needed to funnel the anger of the people into industrial action. “This demonstration is great, but Congress needs to lead the people on a national strike,” he said.

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