David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that a number of Government Senators this morning called for a debate on the right to protest. It is not surprising given that over the last two months we have seen three of the biggest protests that have taken place in this State in decades. In October we had the big rally in Dublin, when 100,000 people marched. On 1 November, we had the local and regional rallies, when people in towns, cities and villages came out in their own communities. Yesterday we had a really uplifting rally, with tens of thousands of people coming on a cold night in the middle of the week to march and engage in protest in a very peaceful and family-friendly way.