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WAVES OF PROTESTS have been seen in the Middle East and London and now demonstrations over an anti-Islamic film made in the US have spread as far as Australia.
Six police officers were injured and eight people arrested during Saturday’s violence in Sydney.
ABC News reports that police clashed with protesters in Hyde Park and the city’s business district, while fights were also seen on the streets.
The broadcaster said it understands the rally was started after a mass text message was sent, which read: “We must defend the honour of our prophet, we must act now.”
Hundreds of Muslims then took to the streets to protest against the controversial film made in the US. At about 1pm, a group of people marked from Sydney Town Hall to Martin Place, where a confrontation involving both protesters and police occurred outside the US Consulate.
Police said that a number of people left the group peacefully but some others moved to Hyde Park where police negotiated with them in an attempt to disperse the crowd. However, further violence erupted until about 5pm.
About 150 officers were called to the protest and six were injured during the events. Eye witnesses said that glass bottles and other missiles were thrown in the direction of police. Two have been taken to hospital for treatment. Eight people were arrested for various offences including affray, assault and throwing a missile, said NSW Police Superintendent Mark Walton.
“I think we have actually acted very professionally and responded very well to what was a completely unannounced and unorganised protest. There was no advice given to police by this group that they intended to protest and, as a result, in a very short amount of time we had a significant amount of police,” he added.
Protesters say that pepper spray was used on them. Police admitted to the use of OC spray “in an attempt to subdue and disperse the crowd” during an incident at Martin Place. A total of 17 people were treated on site for the effects. Two others received medical treatment for dog bites.
“In NSW there is a right to peaceful protest,” continued Walton, “a right to express our view – but there are rules to follow. This group did not advise police of their plans, there was little or no organisation or control of what they were doing, and their actions were disgraceful.”
Whatever their grievance, there is no excuse for this type of unlawful and anti-social behaviour, and it will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the protest was unacceptable.
“Violent protest is never acceptable – not today, not ever,” she said in a statement.
US diplomatic posts around the world have been targeted in recent days by protests against the film Innocence of Muslims, which ridicules the Prophet Muhammad.
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Great new, and a fantastic opportunity to boost Irelands profile if done right. I am a Dub, but I really really hope these videos (a) Get out of Dublin and showcase greater Ireland (b) do not overtly publicise the Guinness Storehouse – Ireland has more to offer than a tour of a brewery.
Article doesn’t say but the press release indicated that Col Hadfield will be filmed throughout his day and tourism Ireland will make 3 vids of his travels
Col, meant Chris!
If you’re a “DUB” Joanne why does your profile have you down as a “REBEL” (Cork) ?.are you a typical Rebel trying to put the Jackeens down and enforce the Rebel yell that Cork is the “Real Capital” ? I have ya sussed girl ;) Go on the Dubs !!!!!!
But it’s the middle of winter,,the countryside looks bleak at this time of year ,,surely it would be better to do this in summer or autumn ????
I think this man is even cooler than the Pope if that’s possible.
Joanne from Cork, wanna be a Dub…….Dublin is the countries biggest tourist attraction. When tourists think of Ireland most head for the capital first then some travel around the country.
Let him come to galway…
When he did his autistic version of “Ground control to major tom”,he automatically became the most famous astronaut/spaceman that has ever lived in the last 40 yrs.He may never become as famous as Armstrong,Aldrin,Collins or Gagarin,but he really is a legend in his own lifetime.And in all honesty he has single handily made NASA fashionable again,not since they first launched the Shuttle has there been so much interest in space. The man, IMO ,is an inspirational figure and his name should go down in history along with the aforementioned pioneers of space. In other news,his “Tache” is the only one on planet Earth that rivals Dick Spring,Willy O’Dea and Tom Selleck .
Yes I did.damn auto correct lol
Stephen Duggan – the song is actually called Space Oddity. But Chris Hadfield’s video is one of my favourite videos of all time.
Just as you knew what I meant,so did everyone else,stop trying to be so pretentious,although with a name like “Simon” that may be kinda hard.
You’re frightened by the name Simon, that is weird.
Yeah ave d original “SINGLE” of Space Oddicy. Anyone kniw Whats it Worth ?
On a completely different note what’s wrong with Ireland and especially Dublin being associated with Guinness ? One can not walk thru Dublin without being hit with the famous smell of hops and barley roasting,it’s as much a part of Dublin as the White House is to Washington DC. Guinness has been, and still is one of the major supplier’s of jobs not only in Dublin,but Ireland as a whole. We are too quick to knock our own success stories,i.e. Guinness,Ryanair or the likes of Kerrygold food group thru pure ignorance and begrudgery. Guinness is an institution not only in Dublin,but worldwide.If someone famous wants to promote it by being photographed holding a pint of the black stuff,so what ? Lets be f@#!*#@ proud of our success stories and not knock them,build upon the global brand and increase not only awareness and interest in our great country,but jobs,growth and pride as well.
Stephen u obviously have not walked through Dublin recently. Unfortunately, There is no longer a smell of oats n barley. Mind u in Temple Bar you can get a totally different smell !
One of the nicest and most inspiring people on (and sometimes off) the planet.
Legend absolutely love him :)
I would have thought Blackrock observatory would have been a better choice of attraction than the Guinness storehouse. Unless Guinness are sponsoring his visit.
Whatever cute hoor thought about this deserves a slap on the back
Any boost to the tourism sector is a good one, But this Guin*** worshipping is a disgrace, every high profile visitor is frogmarched to advertise an average over rated beverage, an utter disgrace to persist in portraying the county as a nation of people who drink this gunk.
Totally Agree.
Also noticed the gate at Guinness’s along the Quays, featured on their wonderful Xmas tv add, has had the word Guinness painted over and replace with a Diageo aluminium sign. VANDALISM at its best. Suggest Bord Failte get on their case.
I think you’ll find Col. Hadfield has his own opinions on Guinness, and they are not negative ones: his grasp of Irish culture would put many of us to shame.
As others have said, Hadfield’s contribution to space exploration and science may not be made up of heroic firsts, but in its own way it is as immense as those of Gagarin, Tereshkova, Glenn and Ride in making people realise, *really* realise, that real funny, clever, personable humans are now living off-world and we are only going onwards from there.
Thanks Chris.
Make him paddys day grand marshall
Great Idea Lesley.
Would b definately better than a spacer from Dail Eireann.
Love that man , he’s a legend
Re. “So, we know now he’s a little rusty on his plurals as Gaeilge”
I get so sick of this. Truly.
I may be wrong but I suspect he has written more Irish than the writer of this article did in the last year and he has certainly done far more for the language. Please, I beg you, resist the urge to correct people and show that you know more than they do. Seriously. It’s petty and does damage to those who would like to learn the language. People are terrified to write or say anything because they know the Irish press will be on their case like a ton of bricks.
Consider the case of Glen Hansard who won an Oscar and choose as his first words at the ceremony, “Go raibh míle maith agat.”
You would think that should have been met with pride and gratitude for his using this historic moment to let people know we have our own language and are proud to use it. What a moment of delight. But no. The headlines ran that he has used the singular form instead of the plural form. Who cares?!! That nitpicking missed the point and spirit of the moment and I contend that it is OK to use the singular form to address a group. Either way, give the man credit for what he did.
I am thrilled we have Cmdt. Hadfield as our new ambassador. I am more than thrilled he promoted our language from space. I am over the moon (forgive me) that he is making such a commitment to telling people about the best of Ireland. Please, I beg you, do not drag him down and other Irish language learners down by focusing on unimportant details. It does far more harm than you realize.
I blame the teachers you overused red pen and who corrected us far more than they praised us. I admit I was often guilty of the same offense that you are guilty of here. Tagann ciall le h-aois.
But let’s be positive and remember, ‘Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí’ because we are all young at heart.
Déarfainn nach bhfeicfidh tú tagairt don bhotún beag sin sna nuachtáin as Gaeilge mar
1. ní fiú tagairt a dhéanamh dó
2. tá sé drochbhéasach mar ba chóir dúinn bheith buíoch as an rud a rinne sé agus
3. tuigeann siad go ndéanann rud mar sin damáiste.
Cumarsáid #1 i ngach teanga.
Brón orm má tá mé dian ort anseo ach tá an pointe seo an-tábhachtach go deo.
Buíochas as an chuid eile den scéal faoi.Go n-éirí leat.
I once locked myself in a Soyuz capsule that was being prepared for static display in a museum. I let the hatch close and it wouldn’t open from the inside. It was late on a Friday evening. I was sitting there tapping on the inside of the capsule when a technician–the last person to leave the museum for the weekend–heard me. He let me out. If he hadn’t heard me, I probably would have used up all the oxygen in the capsule over the next two days.
That’s my space capsule story. It has nothing to do with the Mars story, but I felt compelled to tell it.
@ Stephen Carrick,it’s a small world me aul flower,how’s you and all yours ?
Disney Grange first stop.?
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