Jailings of Anti-Water Charges Protesters: A disgrace!

national | bin tax / household tax / water tax | feature

Friday February 20, 2015 16:34

by anti-austerity alliance

So how many bankers went to jail ? None! One Law for the Rich and One for the Rest of Us

When government propaganda fails,
political policing kicks in...

The Anti-Austerity Alliance has today condemned the jailing of anti-water meter protestors at the behest of Denis O’Brien’s company GMC Sierra.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said “The jailing of these protestors and the arrests in Tallaght is an attack on the right of communities to protest against the imposition of austerity measures, in this case the water charge and meters, which are being imposed by the government despite the massive opposition to them.

“The court has jailed these protestors at the behest of the Denis O’Brien owned GMC Sierra so that they can continue to try to impose water meters on communities which have risen up in peaceful protest against their installation. Once again, the courts have been used to attack the right of people to engage in peaceful protest.

“The attacks from the state on the campaign against water charges needs to be met with a significant response by the campaign and communities, the protest which has been organised against political policing following the Jobstown arrests on Saturday can be a response in opposition to these attacks.”

AAA councillor Michael O’Brien is a councillor for the area and is involved in the protests said: “This is a disgraceful attack on the right of a community to defend itself through mass peaceful protests against the imposition of austerity.

“The protests have been met with organised violence from the state through the Gardaí. The Gardaí have acted as bully boys on behalf of the government and GMC Sierra through physical attacks and harassment of those who have engaged in the protests.

“These jailings will not deter people from protesting against the installation of water meters and will be met with a firm response by the communities and the anti-water charges movement.”

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Emergency march to Mount Joy Prison over jailing of 5 anti-water charges protestors

by Twit

Thu Feb 19, 2015 23:09

Emergency march on Mounjoy prison in solidarity with 5 jailed #WaterCharges campaigners has now grown to 500 - meet them at prison.

March about to arrive at Mountjoy jail #irishwater #Dublin

Courtsey WSM: March leaving Parnell Sq, Protesters knocked on the door of Congress of trade unions demanding a national strike 0 replies 8 retweets 7 favorites

Laws for us Laws for them..

by Rua

Sat Feb 21, 2015 08:38

Judge Nolan said that it would be ‘unjust’ to impose prison sentences on the Anglo pair. Judge Gilligan jails 5 IW protesters. The law is an ass.

Photo from todays march against political policing

by wsm

Sat Feb 21, 2015 19:16

Thousands are at the emergency water charges protest against Garda repression and the jailing of 5 for protesting within 20m of meter installations.

Many of the speakers are those arrested in the dawn raids of the last two weeks and are getting a great reception from the crowd. We are now marching on Mountjoy prison

Courtsey of WSM

Two of jailed anti-water protestors goes on strike

by won't pay

Sat Feb 21, 2015 19:20

The crowd at the march heard today that two of the anti-water charges protestors have gone on hunger strike.

Meanwhile our bailed out bond holders, bankers and developers are doing just fine and have nothing to worry about.

Ruth Coppinger quotes letter from garda saying they are ‘losing credibility with ordinary men and women’

by T

Mon Feb 23, 2015 23:15

Ruth Coppinger (Socialist Party) claimed the “Garda Síochána is operating in a political fashion that benefits the Government”, in the arrests over seven days of Tallaght residents.

She said she received a letter from a garda and quoted: “What is really bringing the gardaí into disrepute is not the water charge protesters, but the Government that is using us against them.”

She also quoted: “An Garda Síochána is paying a heavy prices for their role in the introduction of the water tax. We are losing credibility with the ordinary man and woman.”

Ms Coppinger said gardaí and the courts were being used to “defend corporate interests and the establishment . . . in the anti-water charge protests”. There was no other way to describe the policing of communities protesting against the installation of water meters, she said.

Source below

we live in an age where gardai are wrongfully used to collect revenue for one dominant media operation - RTE.

Sun Mar 01, 2015 15:54

Where we live in an age where the gardai siochana,are used wrongfully to collect revenue for one dominant media operation - RTE. Should we be really that suprised and outraged at the recent water debacle?We have a problem when we have our police, courts & prison service hijacked as tools of coercion to fund one dominant media business - RTE. This is the root problem,its a culture of bullying for revenue for cronies and we have PUT UP WITH IT. Should we blame ourselves?Its absolutely and abomination and disgraceful that someone can be sent to prison for unlicenced TV possession.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/woman-who-failed-t....html

RTE - get plenty of revenue from advertisments,rugby and so on,why do they need extra revenue??To feed the bloated salaries of unimaginitive dinosaur presenters like pat kenny,gaybo or tubs?

Irish Water Strategic National Plan public consultation

Sat Mar 07, 2015 21:54

This is a chance to tell them we don't want fluoride in the water....

Irish Water has now published a draft of the first integrated plan for the delivery of water services in Ireland. This plan is called the Water Services Strategic Plan (WSSP). The document addresses six key themes:

Customer service,
Clean safe drinking water,
Effective management of wastewater,
Protect and enhance the environment,
Supporting social and economic growth and
Investing in our future.

The WSSP is an essential part of ensuring the availability of safe drinking water. It will ensure that we have an environment that is protected from the impacts of waste-water discharges, and that we have efficient modern systems that meet the needs of customers, contribute to economic growth and development, and provide value for money.

There are two ways you can give us your comments:

By email to: wssp@water.ie
By post to: Water Services Strategic Plan, Irish Water, P.O. Box 860, South City Delivery Office, Cork

Should you wish to receive email updates in relation to Irish Water's Water Services Strategic Plan (the WSSP), please fill out this form with your name and email address to register for updates on Irish Water's Water Services Strategic Plan (the WSSP).

For more information and links to the documents for current public consultation, see here

Jailed anti Water charges protestors freed today

Mon Mar 09, 2015 21:40

The five jailed anti water charges protestors have been freed. One was released after he apologized to the judge and the other 4 take their case to the High Court and had their sentences suspended following what were termed errors in the committal warrant ordering the protesters’ detention in prison.

One has to ask whether the government gave the nod to allow a mechanism for them to be released while saving face. In other circumstances the judicial system in numerous cases of corruption is not so eager to follow the rules of engagement. For example follow any of the cases documented on Integrity Ireland http://www.integrityireland.ie/

Perhaps the government figured that the longer they were in jail the more the issue would be kept alive and it just might increase support.

Either way their release is good news and no doubt a relief to them all to be out of there.

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Jailings of Anti-Water Charges Protesters: A disgrace!

Comments (8 of 8)