Hijjah 21, 1431 / Nov. 27, 2010, SPA -- Thousands took the streets of Dublin Saturday to protest against the government's austerity budget required for a multi-billion-euro international bailout, to be finalized Sunday. Public service workers, students and left wing political groups were among the more than 50,000 people who marched through the Irish capital under the banner of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), dpa reported. Jack O'Connor, president of the SIPTU trade union, told the crowd the government's recovery plan and bailout is "about rescuing the people at the top of the banks in France and Germany." German and France are participating in the European Union-International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout totaling 85 billion euros (114 3 billion dollars), which is expected to be finalized Sunday. The austerity plan detailed 15 billion euros' (20 billion dollars) worth of cuts and tax increases, 6 billion euros of which are to be implemented in 2011. Irish police said the protest passed peacefully, with no arrests made during the day.
