Interviews: JOANNE HUNT
Sinéad Keane Stillorgan, Dublin
"I'm out college five years so I was lucky I had a good run, but it's been a very fast downturn. I've been made redundant twice in the last three years. I worked in the private health industry. I'm doing some freelance work to keep me going
but I've applied for a visa for Australia. I wouldn't be able to afford to stay here past January. It's too expensive, so my options are limited. Greed got us into this.
Michael Fisher, Blessington,Wicklow
"I work for Lufthansa, we haven't had any pay cuts lucky enough but that's not to say everyone else hasn't. I'm a shop steward with Siptu. I'm protesting against the wider pay cuts and the way the economy is going at large. There is no
confidence in this Government at the moment is there? I think what caused the downturn was a lack of governance . . ."
Annie McNamara Cork
“We travelled from Cork today – the whole family. I'm a student and my husband is an engineer. I'm not a union person. I've never marched at anything before. This is our kids' future they're playing with, they're going to destroy everything – you cut from education, you cut from healthcare, I mean what sort of life will they have? It's a disgrace.
Patrick Beary Wexford
“I qualified as an accountant last May. I'm working at the moment, but that contract is not being renewed in April. I have a lot of uncertainty about paying my bills, my rent and I still have a lot of student debt. Wages are going down and taxes are going up. We're being hit from all sides. I’ve no money at all for my own purposes. It’s increasingly difficult.”
Margaret Grehan
"We (with husband Billy, pensioners) travelled up from Limerick today. I'm here because of the state of the country, the people we're having to bail out, the corruption that's gone on for years. They gave, and they told us they could afford it – they should have known. They never thought of putting a reserve away. Greed got us into this. I'm calling for honesty.
That's what our country needs."