Red Day

I taught a day-long beginners poetry course at The Irish Writers' Centre in Parnell Square today and when I glanced out the window on the way to lunch I saw this crowd of people milling below, most dressed in red capes such as the one above and sporting red hearts or stripes (like war paint) on their faces. I guessed it had something to do with the Irish language as many were speaking Irish and their signs were not written 'as Béarla'. Here's what the Times reported:

Thousands took to the streets of Dublin city centre this afternoon to protest against the treatment by Governments north and south of Irish-language speakers and Gaeltacht communities.
Organisers said some 10,000 people took part in the march which started at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square and marched down O’Connell Street before gathering for a rally in front of Dáil Éireann.
The crowd, with many wearing red, heard from a number of speakers who condemned the lack of public services available in Irish.
Billed as a celebration of Irish on the streets of Dublin, Lá Mór na Gaeilge attracted participants from all parts of the island and was the largest such demonstration since the 2005 campaign to elevate the status of Irish in the European Union.
Citing the decision in December by language commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin to resign in protest over the failure by Government to implement legislation protecting the rights of Irish speakers, Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary Julian de Spáinn said Irish language speakers were “red with rage” at how speakers are being treated by the State.
“We will continue to campaign our public representatives until we achieve fairness and equality for the Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht communities throughout the island of Ireland. ”

The protest was called 'Lá Dearg', or Red Day, presumably in reference to those feeling red with rage (though the hearts suggest otherwise). I empathise with this, though I only have a skeleton of Irish (from my year at Ring College in the 1970s). I speak a little bit more than the 'cúpla focal', but only just. Yet our language is a huge part of our culture, and I'd love to be fluent in it.

The march, like most marches, had its chaotic/comic dimension and I did think of posting this shot instead.