Peter Preston Demonstrates Against Bertie Ahern

dublin | crime and justice | news report Monday January 22, 2007 01:55 by Bertie Watcher

Protester says Ahern should resign- vows to continue demonstrating

Mr Peter Preston, who last year spent some months on hunger strike at the gates of the Leinster House in Dublin, has resumed his protest, this time by picketing at the constituency headquarters of Bertie Ahern, St.Luke's in Drumcondra.

Mr Preston says he intends to regularly protest outside Saint Luke's, but he will also go back to Kildare Street and other locations in the run up to the election campaign.

His dispute with Bertie Ahern lies in the fact that he feels that Mr Ahern has not done enough, either in his role as local representative or as the country's political leader, to investigate the circumstances surrounding a serious attack on Mr Preston's daughter, in a public house in Drumcondra.

The pub, which was known as a den of underage drinking, was the scene of an incident in which the young girl had a glass smashed in her face.

There are conflicting reports about the circumstances of the attack, the police response, and the subsequent actions of the Department of Justice, the Taoiseach, and also another, opposition party representative, Mr Joe Costello of the Labour Party.

Peter Preston is calling for the resignation of Bertie Ahern and other individuals, and a full investigation into the affair. The mainstream media have refused to cover the issue, seemingly because they are concerned about possible libel claims.

He has said that he does not intend to embark on a hunger-strike again at this time, but that he will protest at the constituency office and parliamentary offices of the Taoiseach, and also that he will follow Bertie Ahern as he canvasses in the upcoming General Election.