A Dublin-based actor and satirist vowed to push ahead with a ‘silent protest’ outside Leinster House on Thursday, hours after the Green Party called for a general election.
Morgan C Jones urged members of the public to turn up outside the gates at midday on the day and to stand silently holding placards bearing the message ‘You’re fired’ for the Government.
The date was chosen to coincide with the Donegal South West byelection.
He said he would love to see a peaceful gathering of people outside Leinster House urging the Government to go and not "a large mob baying for blood”.
“I feel really disappointed and sorry for what they have done to our country," he said.
He believed the Government did not have the “authority, ability or will” to continue.
The actor said it appeared the Budget would not be passed based on the current maths.
“So that’s going to paralyse the country for another several weeks while we go through this charade with Fianna Fáil trying to hold on to power while the Greens try to look as if they’re the ones with the moral high ground.”
Jones said he wanted the protest to be separate from any political protests and from planned trade union protests later this week.
“I’m not a member of any political party, but I vote left,” he said.
“I’ve been on a few of the marches and demos and when it becomes a party political thing, all these guys are shaking the tin. They may have a point, and they may genuinely object to what’s going on. But what I think has been missing is a citizens’ protest.”
Describing trade union leaders as “benchmarking poodles”, Jones said: “I feel very disaffected. I’m a member of a trade union – I’m in Equity. But I really don’t feel that any of the Siptu or Congress marches do any justice.”
He has been using Twitter to publicise the protest, with the hashtag YoureFFired.
Jones is one-sixth of the group of writers and actors collectively known as The Emergency. He and comedy partner Dermot Carmody also perform as Carmody & Jones.
Recently, Jones made a short video parody of the television advert in which former taoiseach Bertie Ahern promoted his newspaper column.
The Emergency also penned a single entitled ‘Not doing any time’ to mark the arrival of the IMF this week.