When I visited the Occupy Cork (Ireland) camp on the evening of October 20, it was only the sixth day of its existence. Though it is the second-largest city in the Irish Republic, Cork has a population of only around 200,000 people--meaning, it is roughly the size of Des Moines, Iowa. Yet Cork has long been known as the rebel city in Ireland and so it's not surprising to see it making its own, independent appearance on the Occupy scene fairly early on. I've been reading about the Occupy Wall Street camp since the beginning but have not visited it. Like most Americans, I don't have the means to make impromptu trips to New York City so I used a long-planned visit to Ireland as my chance to see the Occupy movement close up. I saw the camp in Dublin the week before I was in Cork. I was delighted but didn't make my way inside for a visit. When I saw the fresh camp in Cork, it felt more inviting--possibly because it was within walking distance of my hotel, possibly because it was so small.
I made my way to the camp shortly before the 6PM General Assembly meeting. (I knew there was a 6:00 General Assembly meeting because I'd seen it posted on their agenda sign as I passed by in a tour bus.) I have here a few short video clips I took while there. I wanted to capture the atmosphere but felt very strange holding a camera on these people who I knew would soon be, if they were not already, under the scrutiny of police and private security. So, I didn't record group discussions. Here is a minute or two of the opening of the General Assembly. The meeting begins with protocol instructions so everyone present can participate appropriately. My camera started after instructions were already underway:
By the way, the young men wearing the yellow safety vests are essentially the security volunteers though what they have written above a smiley face on the back of the vest is "Helpful Steward."
Again, because I didn't want to be creepy, I didn't scrutinize the camp with my camera. But for the benefit of those who will not be going there to see, I will give a brief description. (For those who may visit, here's the camp's location on a map Of Cork City.) From the street, one first sees the table and signs set up for giving information to the public. Behind this, one can see an open space between a narrow section of the River Lee and a two-lane city center street. The modern buildings around it are a few stories high and it was easy to image that the area had usually been the place for the office workers in the area to take a quick smoke; stone benches, a few small trees, mostly paved with a few patches of grass. By night, it is well-lit by tall street lamps. The dozen or so small pup tents pitched on the ground were huddled closely together to afford an open area in front of the stand-up green tarp shelter that served as the kitchen (where all are welcome to eat for free). The space that this managed to open was a perhaps 15' x 10' area. It was in this space that the general assembly took place. For those who have been there, I need only say it was October in southwest Ireland. For those who must use their imaginations: it was chilly and rainy in the noncommittal way harbor towns can be--you'd seem foolish using an umbrella, but you know for sure that you'll be quite damp when you get home.
I had heard about the General Assembly in Wall Street. I'd been fascinated by their "human mic" as a creative response to having their megaphones banned. I didn't know, however, what happened at such meetings. Knowing that these Cork Occupiers were just newly organized, I surmised that the discussions would be interesting. It turned out that though they had probably fewer than 100 people there, they had the use of a megaphone. Here's the young man (whose name I came to learn is Saint John) setting up the discussion:
And so everyone counted off from 1 to 5 and sat down in five separate groups to read the draft of the Occupy Cork statement of purpose. When the count-off came around to me, I demurred. I didn't feel right about assuming I was a regular member of this assembly. I wasn't Irish, let alone a resident of Cork. In addition, it felt like many of these young people were college students and my professional habit of not interrupting students when they are discussing things well among themselves kicked in. Instead, after the counting off was over, I asked the woman next to me if I could follow her to her subgroup. Once our group was seated together, one member read aloud the first draft of the Occupy Cork statement of purpose (see and hear this in the video below). My next post will concern the interesting debates that developed in the discussion. Here's a chance for you to guess what points in this statement would lead to disagreements. Take a look/listen:
