The sit-in at the Debenhams store in Waterford continued overnight.
The four ex workers and a Unite the Union member have now spent 24 hours inside the premises in City Square Shopping Centre, as an escalation to the on-going pickets which are now entering their 173 day.
Gardai spoke to the occupiers on a couple of occasions yesterday and are monitoring the situation.
It's understood, the gardai will not forcibly remove the protestors unless asked to do so by the owners of the building. In the meantime, those inside are resolute that they will continue the sit in.
Shop steward Michelle Gavin said there wasn't much sleep last night but they are determined to keep going:
“There wasn’t much sleep inside the store last night but we knew this wouldn’t be an easy fight. We are determined after 173 days on the picket that we are not going away without a good fight."
They are calling for more support from Waterford Oireachtas members, in particular minister of state Mary Butler:
"Today we are calling on local Waterford Junior Minister Mary Butler, who is part of this government, to speak to us - we want to hear her commit to taking action for us in her position as one of the members of the Government Party Fianna Fail”.
She added that they had received good support from Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane, and although other three TDs had expressed some support, she called on them to come to the picket line and sign their pledge cards, and to take a picture doing so.
The protestors want KPMG back at the table with workers representatives Mandate Trade Union but want the inclusion of shop stewards from the 11 stores across Ireland also affected to discuss how online business could be used for the ex-Debenhams workers agreed redundancy package and for the government to take action legislatively.
The occupiers have said they hope to speak to Junior Minister Mary Butler by the end of the day and have no plans to leave soon.
