Reports from the marches in Rosslare, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Athlone, Sligo and Tralee.
Cork
Trade union leaders in Cork yesterday expressed satisfaction at the turnout by an estimated 15,000 workers in solidarity with the staff of Irish Ferries, writes Southern Correspondent Barry Roche. According to Siptu general secretary Joe O'Flynn, marchers through the city centre were told by gardaí that it was the biggest such protest seen in Cork city in recent times.
The march started at Connolly Hall on Lapp's Quay and proceeded along Parnell Place, up Merchant's Quay, down Patrick Street, along the Grand Parade, down the South Mall back to Lapp's Quay, the circuit taking almost a half an hour.
The protesters were addressed afterwards at Connolly Hall by a succession of speakers, including TEEU general secretary Owen Wills; president of the Cork Council of Trade Unions, Colm Cronin; Siptu regional secretary Gene Mealy, as well as Mr O'Flynn.
Mr O'Flynn told the crowd: "We are sending a very clear signal to Government and employers that we are not prepared to accept displacement, cut-throat wages and slave-like conditions by what we consider are rogue employers in a race to the bottom."
"We are drawing a line in the sand today over which we will not cross. And I am calling on the Government to heed the message not just from Cork but from workers all around the country to take issues of displacement and exploitation seriously."
Mr O'Flynn said it was disgraceful behaviour by Irish Ferries - which is a profitable company - to try and drive wages down to €3.60 an hour, less than half the minimum rate of pay.
Limerick
Up to 10,000 people took to the streets of Limerick yesterday, writes Karl Hanlon. Fleets of buses ferried protesters from towns throughout the midwest to the Mechanics Institute on Hartstonge Street, where marchers assembled.
An estimated 5,000 protesters set off shortly before 1.30pm but numbers quickly swelled as more people joined along the route through the city centre.
Gardaí put traffic diversions in place and Sarsfield Bridge was closed to motorists as protesters marched to O'Connell Avenue, where a stage had been erected.
All the main trade unions were represented and teachers were prominent among the marchers.
Seán McMahon, of the West Clare INTO, travelled to the march with 25 teachers from his local branch and said he was not worried about talk of deductions in salary.
"If you really believe in something then you shouldn't have any worries about being docked pay. As teachers, we're very conscious of the future of all our kids and the reason we're here today is to ensure their future.
"We're faced with a scenario where people are earning as little as €3.50 an hour and that's enormous exploitation," said Mr McMahon, a teacher from Mullagh national school.
A large number of foreign nationals also took part in yesterday's march.
Some of the staff from Hi-Life Tools in Shannon who took part in yesterday's protest have been with the company for nearly 40 years.
One marcher, Pat Williams, said jobs needed to be protected regardless of whether the workers were Irish or not. "It has taken us a long time to get to where we are today and we won't sit by while our living standards are downgraded," he said.
Jim Nolan of Siptu said he was taking part to help guarantee a livelihood for his children and future generations. "We have to protect the jobs for our children."
Waterford
An estimated 15,000 workers from the public and private sectors in the southeast were told by ATGWU Irish regional secretary Mick O'Reilly that yesterday's demonstration was "probably the most important of its kind in the last 75 years", writes Ciarán Murphy.
The protest in Waterford gathered momentum as it moved from Waterford Industrial Park at Browne's Road and into the city centre, picking up protesters at various points along the route.
Thousands of members of unions including Siptu, TUI, ATGWU, TEEU, the ASTI, BATU and the INO walked in relative silence, followed by delegations from the Socialist Workers' Party, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and others.
It was only when some members of the construction industry passed building developments at the Railway Square on Manor Street and again at developments on Bridge Street that some good-natured heckling was aimed at on-site workers.
The marchers came to a halt at The Glen, where Mr O'Reilly told them that the stakes in the dispute were enormous."The stakes in this dispute are not just about the question of Irish Ferries. They are also about the reality of what kind of Ireland we all want to live in."
Mr O'Reilly said Taoiseach Bertie Ahern claimed to "just be a man in the street" but needed to be reminded he was "head of a sovereign Government" and as such had a say in how the people of Ireland lived their lives.
"The Irish government, in the early 1990s, refused to back EU legislation governing the whole situation of seafarers," he added.
ATGWU shop steward with the ESB in Waterford Jimmy Purcell told The Irish Times their purpose for protesting was to "show solidarity with their fellow workers" and to show Government and industry that exploitation would "not be tolerated".
Paula Hewison, an ASTI member and a teacher at De La Salle College in Waterford, said she did not want to educate her students to see them working for €3.50 per hour.
"It's all about naked greed from the people at the top in Ireland today."
"It's a load of rubbish," added fellow ASTI member Freda Ryan.
Galway
The Government's "mealy-mouthed and supine response" to the Irish Ferries controversy was criticised by Labour Party president Michael D Higgins at the protest rally in Galway yesterday, writes Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent.
An estimated 1,500 people braved continuous rain to attend the protest, which marched from Galway Cathedral to the Spanish Arch.
Mr Higgins, who is a Galway West TD, drew parallels with the extreme labour conditions prevailing in Ireland of 1912-13, and said that Ireland was "not just an economy, but a community of people", and "profitable companies" were of "no value" if they impoverished their own employees.
The debacle had the potential to create serious resentment and racism against foreign workers in this country, Pat Keane, president of the Galway Council of Trade Unions, said. While the trade council welcomed foreign workers, Mr Keane said that as a society we needed to adopt a threshold of decency in relation to pay and conditions.
Mr Keane said the habitual residence rule, which stipulated that foreign nationals must work for two years in this country before they could claim anything back from the State, meant that workers were afraid to speak out.
Michael Kilcoyne, Siptu branch organiser, warned that many Irish workers would not be able to pay their mortgages in five years if the "race to the bottom" was allowed to continue.
Also addressing the rally were Joe Cunningham, Siptu regional secretary; Elaine Harvey of the Galway People's Resource Centre; and Micheál Ó Conghaile, an officer with Irish Ferries vessel Jonathan Swift.
Michael Joyce, who had travelled from Westport, Co Mayo, for the rally, said he believed the march would have been larger if unions such as the Irish National Teachers' Organisation had given a clear direction to members and had withstood threats to dock pay by the Department of Education.
Mary Kelly from Roscommon said she was in Galway visiting a relative in hospital, but had felt strongly enough about the issue to attend the rally.
"The Irish Ferries workers, particularly those on the ship in Wales, are a fine example to us all."
Athlone
Almost 2,000 people marched in Athlone yesterday, writes Liam Horan. The marchers, who went from Golden Island shopping centre to the local civic offices, included a range of trade unions as well as politicians from all the major parties. Impact, Siptu, the Irish Nurses Organisation, teachers' unions, Bord na Móna and the CIÉ group of unions were all represented.
Siptu assistant organiser Pádraig Mulligan said no talks on a new national pay agreement would take place until the dispute was resolved.
"We must stop greedy employers from destroying decent unionised jobs. Do not hang up your walking boots because this is an issue we cannot afford to lose," he said.
Senior union officials who addressed the marchers likened Irish Ferries' treatment of its workers to that of Gama.
Joe LaCumbre, ESB worker director, told the crowd that the issue "effects all society".
"It is the heart of what the future is about. There is a threshold that trade unions and society will not go below."
He said Irish Ferries workers were expected to work for €3.60 an hour when top executives in the company were earning more than €600,000 a year.
Labour TD Willie Penrose said the protest was not just in solidarity with Irish Ferries, but to protect the rights of future generations. "The Irish public have to reignite the spirit of 1913 to stop the abuse of workers by unscrupulous employers."
Senators Mary O'Rourke (FF) and James Bannon (FG) were also present.
Tralee
More than 2,000 people marched in Tralee, Co Kerry, yesterday, writes Anne Lucey.
Many of those taking part from the hotel and catering and service industries expressed fears about their own jobs.
Large delegations from the Labour Party and Sinn Féin led the march. Among those taking part were mayor of Kerry, Toireasa Ferris, Labour Kerry South TD Breeda Moynihan Cronin, and Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris.
The Socialist Workers' Party and Amnesty International were also represented, along with trade unions including Siptu and the CWU.
Workers from the public sector were joined by those from the private sectors, with strong representation from the construction, hotel and catering, retail and service industries, telecommunications sector and An Post.
The manufacturing sector was also well represented, and at least one group of workers were from a private nursing home.
Siptu branch organiser Andrew McCarthy said the issue which triggered the Irish Ferries dispute - displacement by cheaper migrant workers - was already widespread.
"This affects hundreds of thousands of others - the hotel and catering industry, the bar industry and construction industries are riddled with it."
Dominican priest Fr Michael Commane said he strongly supported the protest, but criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for not playing a more prominent part.
"I do find it significant that the church hierarchy who always say they are on the side of the marginalised haven't said much about today and are not here today."
Rosslare
Some 2,000 people turned up in Rosslare yesterday afternoon in poor weather conditions, writes Brendan Keane.
Among the speakers was Michael Wall, Siptu Wexford branch secretary, who said the protest "shows that Ibec and other such organisations do not have their finger on the pulse".
Sligo
An estimated 2,500 protesters - five times more than the anticipated figure - took part in the rally organised by the Sligo Council of Trade Unions, writes Marese McDonagh.
John McCarrick, Siptu organiser in the northwest, said those demonstrating did not want to see anyone "sold into slavery".