“At least I’ll be able to tell myself in 50 years time that I did something, I tried to do something,” says the organiser of a novel democratic demonstration of the frustration that so many Irish citizens are feeling.
On Saturday, April 24, he’s hoping as many people as possible around the country will gather at noon to make noise in a gesture that might encourage the Government to call a general election.
In advance of that demonstration, he’s visiting Mullingar and Athlone this Saturday to talk to people and make a video of ordinary people holding placards to say why that election is needed.
Dubliner Cathal Furey is an ordinary guy who has an interest in politics but has never been in a political party or organisation and he doesn’t intend to join one. But he feels there’s a need to give people an opportunity to express their frustration.
“It’s democratic rather than political,” the 31-year-old lecturer in business and IT says of the initiative. He felt he had to do something about the “disconnect” between the Dáil and Government on one hand and the people on the other.
“We’re going through a massive crisis,” he says.
“In a democracy, calling for a general election is a democratic thing to do,” he adds. He believes it’s ultimately up to the people to decide if they want to change the government or what parties they support.
“But the beauty of it is that if a general election is called by the people, they’ll feel ownership of it, it would get them involved.”
That’s why he’ll be at Athlone Castle on Saturday April 10 between 10am and 11am and at the Market Square in Mullingar between 3.30pm and 4.30pm with his camera, markers, and A4 pages for people to write down their thoughts.
The images will go into a video which he plans to upload to the internet and give ordinary people a chance to speak out.
The video should also encourage more and more people to get involved in the noise-making campaign on April 24, which he’s called Heyday.
The family of singer Mic Christopher have given permission for his song ‘Heyday’ to be used for the recording.
The main noise-making demonstration will take place at government buildings on Merrion Street on April 24 but he’s encouraging people to hold events locally.
“If enough people gather and make noise in front of the media, if everyone posts pictures and video clips of the event everywhere online, it should at least give the Irish Government something to think about.
Those who’d like to lend their support to the campaign can contact Cathal at [email protected] or see facebook.com/generalelection for more details.
