Gardaí and protestors clashed tonight outside Leinster House during a demonstration against the Government's bank recapitalisation plans.
Protestors tried to gain access to the main concourse of Leinster House resulting in a skirmish with gardaí at the main gate shortly before 9pm.
A small number of gardaí blocked the entrance and drew their batons when the crowd surged forward. At least one protester received minor injuries to the head in the clashes.
The group was part of a protest this evening calling on the Government to prioritise job provision and public services over further bank recapitalisation.
The tense standoff subsided after a few minutes as protest leaders appealed for a peaceful demonstration.
The gates and main doors of Leinster House were closed as a precaution as Garda reinforcements arrived. Kildare Street and Molesworth Street were closed off for a period.
Some 800 people attended the first public rally of a new “Right to Work” campaign which is backed by the Unite trade union and involves a coalition of community groups, young unemployed and other activists.
The march went from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil and many of the speakers at the rally said they opposed the Government’s economic strategy.
The Government would be remembered in history for ignoring the basic needs of the people and making people homeless and jobless, Janette Byrne of Patient’s Together told the assembled crowd at Parnell Square.
"Even at a time of its greatest wealth the Government was not able to solve the State’s problems," she said.
People gave the Government permission to do this by electing it and needed to learn from that, she said.
The greatest challenge ahead was to believe in possible change and this was a major crossroads, said Siobhan O’Donoghue of the Community Workers Co-operative.
People power was key to bringing forward an alternative economic agenda and challenge the Government’s economic policies, Richard Boyd Barrett Dun Laoghaire Councillor for the People Before Profit Alliance said.
He wanted the campaign to be the first step in an ongoing campaign against Government policies which caused the economic crisis.
Mr Boyd-Barrett said it was unjust to put billions into bailing out the people and institutions which caused the crisis while imposing cuts on those who had no responsibility.
He described Government policy as as “the economics of the madhouse”.