Fitzsimons removed from RTÉ studios prior to election debate

Mark Fitzsimons

Dundalk-based local and European election candidate Mark Fitzsimons caused something of a stir at RTÉ studios at the weekend after claims he was physically removed from Montrose after demanding to take part in a special election debate.

Gardaí were called to the Donnybrook-based studios in Dublin over the matter after Mark – who is visually impaired – staged a protest in order to be allowed to take part in the show.

Fitzsimons says that RTÉ staff attempted to physically remove him from the studio as he demanded to be allowed participate in the main Midlands-North-West debate.

Mr Fitzsimons staged the protest in the studio just minutes before the show went on air.

He sat down on the studio floor before he and his carer were removed by security guards.

Mark told The Irish Daily Mirror: “They tried to remove us, and myself and my carer stood our ground.

“They tried to put their arms around us and move us on, and I said: ‘No, I am here to protest.”

“They kind of put their arms around us to forcibly remove us, and when they did that I just sat down on the floor.”

RTÉ bosses decided to call gardaí and Mr Fitzsimons eventually agreed to leave the studio, although he later returned to take part in the second part of the programme

An RTÉ spokeswoman said: “There was a minor incident in studio last night ahead of the debate section of the Prime Time programme.

“Mr Fitzsimons and his guest looked to make a protest and were asked to leave the studio area.

“Mr Fitzsimons later appeared on the programme and had the opportunity to voice his views and take part in the debate.”

McGuinness tipped to retain her European seat by topping the poll in this constituency

Mairead McGuinness with local TD Peter Fitzpatrick

Ardee woman Mairead McGuinness is odds-on to retain her European seat in Friday’s elections, according to the results of a new Ipsos MRBI opinion poll published today in the Irish Times.

The poll found that the former Ear to the Ground presenter and Fine Gael candidate had 18% support.

It also predicts that Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy will join her in Europe as he has been tipped to take 15% of the vote.

The two remaining seats in the Midlands North-West constituency are then likely to go to Fianna Fáil’s Pat the Cope Gallagher and independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, who both took 12% each.

Their biggest challengers are Marian Harkin (10%), Lorraine Higgins (8%) and Thomas Byrne (8%).

That means that local candidates Mark Dearey of the Green Party (3%) and independent Mark Fitzsimons are unlikely to feature in the overall shake-up, with the latter taking less than half a percent of the vote in the opinion poll, which covered 150 sampling points throughout all constituencies in the Midlands North-West area.

New political party will run at least one candidate from Louth in local elections

Cllr Ciaran Kenna will run for the Anti-Austerity Alliance in May’s local elections in Drogheda

A new left-wing political party has confirmed it will run at least one candidate n Louth in the forthcoming local elections.

The Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA) said yesterday it would run 40 candidates around the country, including 19 in Dublin. At least one will run for a seat on Louth County Council with Cllr Ciaran McKenna from Drogheda putting his name forward.

Cllr McKenna is a member of the Socialist Party and was chairman of the Drogheda Campaign Against Home And Water Taxes in recent years.

He was co-opted onto Drogheda Borough Council last September in place of Frank Gallagher.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a second candidate could yet compete in the north of the county.

One possibility is that Mark Fitzsimons from Dundalk could seek election, having expressed an interest recently. Following his recent decision to campaign for the use of herbal cannabis for medicinal purposes, he said he would be open to the idea of running for a seat on the council.

He also has a background in protesting against austerity, which would make him a fitting candidate. Many others are also in the running though.

The new party has grown out of groups that have protested against the household charge and property tax in recent years. About half the members are of the Socialist Party, with the rest non-aligned or moving from other parties.

Six candidates and dozens of supporters turned out at a media launch event in Dublin yesterday. The new party will primarily be campaigning against property taxes and water charges and aims to become the fifth largest political organisation in the country after the elections on May 23^rd.

Mark considering European election bid following huge response to cannabis arrest

Mark Fitzsimons with a quantity of cannabis

A local campaigner who last week handed himself into gardaí with a quantity of herbal cannabis in a protest designed to challenge the law regarding the use of the drug for medicinal purposes is considering putting himself forward for the European Parliament elections in May due to the huge response he has received.

Mark Fitzsimons, who has been completely blind for the last five years, handed himself into local Gardaí on Thursday with enough cannabis for one joint and requested he be charged with possession in order to secure a court appearance. Mark was followed by The Irish Times, who filmed his story.

Mark believes that by being prosecuted for possession he may be able to avail of free legal aid in order to test the legislation. He feels the drug should be legalised for medical purposes and believes he may not have had to have both his eyes removed from glaucoma had he been allowed to take the drug years ago.

The response to his actions has been huge and he is now seeking 60 signatures to mount a European election campaign. Anyone who would like to support Mark in his bid can call him on 087-6350177.

Previously: Dundalk man presents himself to gardaí with cannabis and asks to be charged in order to challenge law

Dundalk man presents himself to gardaí with cannabis and asks to be charged in order to challenge law

Mark Fitzsimons with a quantity of cannabis

A local campaigner who has had both his eyes removed due to glaucoma has handed himself into gardaí with a quantity of herbal cannabis in a protest designed to challenge the law regarding the use of the drug for medicinal purposes.

Mark Fitzsimons has been completely blind for the last five years and believes that by being prosecuted for possession he may be able to avail of free legal aid in order to test the legislation.

On Thursday, Mark presented himself to gardaí in Dundalk Garda Station with enough cannabis for one joint and requested he be charged with possession in order to secure a court appearance. Mark was followed by The Irish Times, who filmed his story.

Gardaí confiscated the substance and issued him with a formal caution. Once a test confirms it is marijuana, Mr Fitzsimons will receive a summons to attend court.

Mr Fitzsimons said he had discovered as a teenager the medicinal effects of the drug and believes it should be made available to others.

“More and more studies show that cannabis can be used and is used and it’s the best form of treatment for it,” he claimed. “I also found out it’s an anti-inflammatory.

“The older I got the more certain I became of it. I remember saying this to people and all they would say is, ‘that’s illegal’.”

He said that while people he spoke to dismissed marijuana as a recreational drug, he had been given prescription pain killers that took him six months to come off when he had his second eye removed five years ago.

Mr Fitzsimons believes that aside from alleviating pain, cannabis properties can be used to treat the condition, not necessarily through smoking, by reducing pressure. He says he may have kept his eyes had it been a medical option.

Read the full story and watch Mark’s video here.

Source: The Irish Times

Dundalk Says No group planning peaceful Budget day protest

Mark Fitzsimons has vowed to protest peacefully on Budget Day

Local activists who plan a protest in Dublin to coincide with the Budget on Tuesday October 15^th insist it will be carried out peacefully.

A similar protest against austerity when the Dáil reopened for business last month ended in confrontion.

However, Finbar Markey of the group Dundalk Says No has told the Irish Independent that the people who have come together to form the protests on social media are “people who don’t want extremism, who don’t want violence, but they feel voiceless at the moment.”

Eibhlin Ni Riain of the same local group said that the last protest was a different experience than others as Gardaí seemed “stressed and aggressive”.

Mark Fitzsimons, also of Dundalk Says No, said the previous trouble was caused by around 20 people, when there were 500 or 600 in attendance.

Mark said he and two others were pepper-sprayed the last time, with one of them suffering a fit.

He insists he will be marching again on October 15^th though, saying: “We will march, but we will never raise our hand, and if batons are raised to us, they can beat us, but we will march forward, because that is what you do.”

Source: Activists promise peaceful Budget Day protest (Independent.ie)