Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
TENS OF THOUSANDS of people marched through central Brussels today to protest against reinforced Covid-19 measures that the government has imposed to counter the latest spike in coronavirus cases.
Many of those involved in the demonstration, which police estimated at 35,000 people, were also protesting against the strong advice to get vaccinated and any moves to impose mandatory jabs.
Shouting “Freedom, freedom, freedom”, and singing the anti-fascist song Bella Ciao, protesters lined up behind a banner saying “Together for Freedom”.
Among the crowd, signs varied from far-right insignia to the rainbow coalition flags of the LGBT community.
At the end of the protest, a few hundred people stayed behind to throw bottles and sticks at police, who used tear gas and a water cannon to try to disperse them.
The World Health Organisation said last week that Europe was a pandemic hot spot, the only region in which Covid-19 deaths were rising.
The autumn surge of infections is overwhelming hospitals in many Central and Eastern European nations, including Ukraine, Russia, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Over the past several days, there have been many anti-vaccination marches in European nations as one government after another tightened measures.
Dutch police arrested more than 30 people during unrest in The Hague and other towns in the Netherlands on Saturday, following much worse violence the previous night.
Austria is going into a 10-day national lockdown on Monday for all its residents, having first imposed a lockdown on the unvaccinated.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Welcome to the reality of supporting some one with a difference here , talk to parents and siblings about how we have to fight for everything.
Fair play to the foster carers for contacting the Ombudsman and therefore going up against Tusla and the HSE. Not a decision taken lightly. There is a bullying mentality when you go against these agencies. Hopefully now the child and her family will get the supports they need. It’s disgraceful that the family had to put themselves through the stress and pressure to get the outcome.
@Clare Sharkey: Sad thing is that TUSLA are in the process of moving the child into a residential type setting and removing her from the wonderful foster family. Wouldn’t it be much easier to put the supports in place and leave her with the loving foster family.
@Lorraine Roche: its a power struggle. Easier to blame foster carers than themselves.
It’s not only children with disabilities who are in care the system is failing it’s children with disabilities full stop. Your child with a disability is accepted into a service-8-18 disability service- they then have to go on waiting lists within that service for Speech& Language, Occupational Therapy, Psychologist etc…. Services are badly organised and seriously under resourced.
A certain spectacle Senator with his “human rights activists” friends will be working tirelessly on this one.
“bespectacled
@Are roo from Cork: think you were right first time.
Abandoned at birth !!!!!????
The poor Girl can expect a lifetime of neglect by the state, funding is ridiculously low in the intellectual disability area, from childhood right through to Adult services!
The Government should take control of all services and streamline while increasing funding – the current system with dozens of organisations with CEO’s on mainly over €100k with generous expenses is putting tax money into the wrong hands instead of into the frontline where conditions have plummeted and staff under severe pressure are leaving disillusioned!
Put the money where it matters and strip away the red tape to give those with disabilities the services they deserve- too much of a gravy train at present!
@David Grey: leo will be in shortly saying how “it shouldn’t be like this”
have your say