Man drives cement mixer into gates of Irish parliament to protest country’s banking bailout

Cement mixer rams Irish parliament in bank protest

DUBLIN — A cement mixer has rammed into the gates of the Irish parliament in an apparent protest at the country’s catastrophically expensive bank bailout.

Police said they had arrested a 41-year-old man at the scene Wednesday but gave few other details.

The truck hit the guarded gates of Ireland’s legislature around 7:15 a.m.(0615GMT). Written across the truck’s barrel in red letters were the words: “Toxic Bank Anglo.”

It is an apparent reference to Anglo Irish Bank, which was nationalized last year to save it from collapse. The bank owes some euro72 billion ($97 billion) to depositors worldwide, leaving Irish taxpayers with a mammoth bill at a time when people are suffering through high unemployment, tax hikes and heavy budget cuts.

The truck is still being removed.