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Introducing vaccine passports and allowing only people who have been vaccinated to interact socially will create a form of apartheid in Irish society that must be rejected, a demonstration against the coronavirus lockdown was heard on Saturday.
Organizer Diarmaid Ó Cadhla told the crowd in Cork city center this afternoon that the decision by members of the European Parliament to accelerate digital green certificates for vaccinated people was a worrying development.
“If we accept these vaccine passports, we can also say goodbye to any notion of bodily integrity or medical privacy or any semblance of genuine informed consent regarding our health care. We have already started down the path of denying services and other interactions based on health status.
“This is creating a new apartheid and a two-tier society. It will create a new slavery never seen before in modern society and we must say no! “Ó Cadhla said at the rally. The assembly was billed as A Parade for Truth and called for an end to the lockdown.
Ó Cadhla, also accused the government of incoherence in excluding French, German and Italian visitors from having to quarantine themselves here while preventing the Irish from traveling internally. Ó Cadhla was incorporated into the Cork County Council in 2017, but failed to be elected twice to the Cork City Council.
“They said they couldn’t interfere with the travel rights of the citizens of these countries because of the European Union, but aren’t we also EU citizens? Why is our freedom restricted and not that of some German who may come to visit our country? Why are we restricted? “
Police presence
The rally, which Gardaí estimated drew a crowd of about 250 and The Irish Times counted about 240, drew notably less attendance than an earlier one that Mr Ó’Cadhla organized on March 6. Up to 700 turned out for that one.
Today’s meeting was also highlighted by a considerable police presence. Some 50 uniformed and plainclothes officers monitored the peaceful protest. But as at the March 6 rally, most of the participants did not wear masks and social distancing was negligible, as most attendees gathered in groups to hear Peter O’Donoghue of Fermoy and the Irish Freedom Party member Aaron Joyce from Dungarvan.
Gardaí confirmed that no one was detained, but they were forced to speak to about 12 organizers. These included speakers, musicians, flag carriers and will be the subject of a file sent to the DPP on possible breaches of coronavirus regulations.
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