Fórsa rally on Friday will support Cork City library staff

A rally is planned for Friday afternoon to show support for staff at the Central Library on Cork’s Grand Parade.

The rally is being organised by the Fórsa trade union, after a series of incidents at Cork’s Central Library on the Grand Parade involving protesters objecting to the availability of what they term “pornographic” books related to LGBT+ matters.

Fórsa has threatened industrial action against Cork City Council for what it says is the council’s failure to protect library staff against “harassment and intimidation”.

Many of the incidents have been recorded and streamed on social media, and in one incident in early March, and which was subsequently streamed, a copy of Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay was ripped in half by a protester in the central library.

Fórsa head of local authorities, Richy Carrothers, called on people to support the protest, and said that improved protections for library staff against harassment and intimidation by anti-LGBT+ protesters must be implemented urgently.

“Our members are at risk in their place of work. Harassment must not be tolerated, and Cork City Council must act to discharge their responsibilities as an employer under health and safety legislation,” he said.

“Libraries represent community hubs for social integration, serving as centres of cultural, educational, and academic learning, and must be places free from harassment and intimidation for both staff and library users.”

Friday’s rally, which is scheduled for 12.30pm outside the Central Library, will be followed by a march to City Hall.

Speaking outside of Leinster House this week, Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry, said the rally was a matter of national significance.

Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent told The Echo he welcomed Friday’s planned rally as a show of support for Cork’s library staff and for the LGBT+ community.

At last month’s meeting of Cork’s joint policing committee (JPC), Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the right to peaceful protest does not grant a right to intimidate or threaten, and gardaí have a duty to intervene where people are subjected to intimidation.

Responding to several speakers at the JPC who offered their support to library staff, Ann Doherty, chief executive of Cork City Council, said the safety and well-being of council staff was the executive’s priority.