A large crowd assembled at the Castle Basin on Tuesday evening as the people of Fermanagh came out in strength to support Dylan Quinn and his call to the parties of Stormont to get back to work for the people of Northern Ireland.
The #WeDeserveBetter campaign held events all over Northern Ireland and, on the banks of the River Erne in the shadow of Enniskillen Castle, the people of Fermanagh and beyond came together regardless of colour, creed or beliefs to send out a strong message to those supposed to be in government that enough was enough and MLAs needed to get back to doing what they are paid to.
On the 589th day without a functioning government in Northern Ireland, an unofficial record, crowds came slowly at first, maybe hesitant because of the overcast sky which threatened to open up. But it gradually got busier as the colour and humour started to show itself in the huge array of banners designed for this day.
As Dylan and his dedicated group finalised details for the evening, protesters milled about, talking to each other, laughing and joking and although there was anger and disappointment at the current stalemate in Northern Ireland, the whole event was jovial and good natured showing the politicians if people from all communities can come together and support this event, then they can surely get back to at the very least, sitting down and talking to each other.
As Dylan opened the event, the rain began to fall steadily but the crowd did not seem to mind. 
People of all ages had come out to lend their voice. From the young children whose futures were at stake to the older generation who have seen it all over the years.
To applause and cheers Dylan outlined his reasons for posting the video that kickstarted this whole movement. He thanked the crowd for coming out in such weather to show their support before directing his speech at the politicians and their parties who have let this impasse happen.
Then it was down to the river bank as the crowd lined up along its shores with number one to 589 to represent the amount of days without a government. As a boat sailed past capturing the crowd on video the shout of “We Deserve Better” echoed all around.
The crowd was that big the boat had to make a second trip as the crowds were still making their way to the river’s edge.
Once all this was complete it was back to the stage where they listened to a poem from Sophie Hughes before Dylan read out a call to action and thanked everybody for coming out and encouraged them to keep the #WeDeserveBetter campaign going and to continue to hold the politicians accountable.
As the crowd dispersed, people all around commented on the success of the event and with the rain finally stopping maybe things were going to get better.


Thoughts from the crowd

Jade Donnelly - "I'm here today to protest with everyone else. We want all the politicians to get back to work no matter who they are. They are able to go away on holiday. They are getting paid for work they are not doing. Schools are being destroyed because they are not getting the proper funding. I left Mount Lourdes a couple of years ago and it was bad then and now that there is no one there the money is going through the floor. I am doing an Ulster University course in South West College the new college funding has been put on hold because Stormont currently is not in session. So if they don't get back to work I don't have a course to go to, so for me to further my education they need to get back to work. "

Stephen Cairns - "The English dictionary definition of a politician is somebody who resolves disputes through debate. Our politicians aren't even meeting for debate. They are getting paid, they had a pay rise. Most people who have to go to work for a living don't get paid if they don't turn up and to me, in my mind if I was paying you to do a job and you didn't do the job, that's stealing. I would like to see them get back into some sort of forum and do what they are actually getting paid to do and if they can't do it move over and let somebody else do the job."

Margaret Collins - "Well I am here because I believe that we should all being doing our best for our own society. And I know that if it was a nurse or if it was a teacher that took 589 days off work we would never get away with it. I am really hoping that the voice of the people will be heard and that our representatives will get back together again and start discussing what needs to be discussed."

Andy Palmer - "We are here just to represent working class people who want action," he said. "We want the government back in doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is representing the people and making the country go forward. I hope they get things sorted and they start talking. They at least need to get round table discussions started and get back to where they should be in Stormont." 

Graham Kent -  "Well we are here because Stormont are not at work and I think they really should be. They are being paid they were voted into office and they are not doing their job. Dylan started this idea up and I think you can see from the number of people here that they all think the same thing so what we want to happen is to get the politicians back to work so hopefully they will get off their backsides and get back to doing some much needed work."

Sally Rees - " Well the reason I am here tonight is because I really firmly believe that we all do deserve better. And I think the campaign has shown what the power of one person can do and when they stand up others will have the confidence to stand up and join them and it shows that collective action can have a difference. It is about time the all of the MLAs started listening to the people that they are supposed to be representing."