Oh.
Last night.
Leinster House , Kildare Street, Dublin 2
An Irish Water protestor attempts an impromptu interview with former Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly with unwelcome consequences.
Sam Boal/Rollingnews
Meanwhile…
Fair enough.
Sam Boal/Rollingnews
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Gardai really are vicious.
Impeding a citizen going about their private business is unacceptable, impeding an elected representative, on their way to parliament is unacceptable. I dont remember electing that protester, the gardaí are doing there job, the protester is at best being a public nuisance at worst, restricting a fellow citizens right to free movement, and access to their work place.
Well there any number of people we don’t elect who interact with TDs, sometimes in oppositional ways – journalists, lobbyists, petitioners, protestors, activists of all types. We don’t insulate our politicians to the extent that every interaction has to be mediated through democratic mandates. On the other hand nobody really has the right to physically block the path and get in the face of anybody like that.
I really, really wish these people and more like them were being this hardline about homelessness or health care or government reform or climate change. I get that it’s hard to rally people around a call for higher standards of competence and ethical behaviour in our politicians, and not that the stupidity of the set-up of IW isn’t worth getting angry over, but the water protests increasingly seem committed to going down the rabbit hole of its own narrow focus.
Great point Nigel. I guess rightly or wrongly the water debacle is seen as a corporate takeover of natural resources by protestors
This. The cops are going to stop this, they have to. Imagine the outcry if he had smack him or something. I’m not sure these tactics add much to the value of their campaign. It was much smarter when they started getting a wider group of people involved.
But it’s not really his private business. He’s a public servant. His business is pubic business.
have we a right to interfere with any public servants we see and demand on the spot answers? I’m going to have great craic in the hospital, must charge my camera
Pubic business indeed….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZcYPEszN8
get real…..his total objective was to incite the crowd… well it worked…clap clap clap well done Alan… he should be charged with incitement
Panga, are you suggestion our politicians should not be able to walk the streets and use the primary entrance to their place of work?
I completely agree with what Wayne F just said.
Seems like a pretty reasonable way of protecting a democratically elected TD against someone who doesn’t believe in people power (ie. democracy)
In fairness, Kelly doesn’t believe in people power either. Why else would get refuse to put through privatisation of water issue to a public vote?
Nice attempt at a troll.
Can you provide any precedence for putting that to a vote?
No, of course you can’t.
Nice actual trolling there. As the board troll though, you have a responsibility to do better than ‘nice’.
You’re a moron. Please give it a rest
What is the evidence that he tried to privatize it?
I haven’t said he tried to privatize it but he has opened that door. The Dail could vote tomorrow to privatise it and there’d be nothing we could do save for matching en masse to the Dáil and kicking them out a la Serbia (I think) 10 or 15 years ago or whoever it was.
his brother is Declan Kelly CEO of Teneo Holdings….strong links to Bill Clinton….Denis O’Brien…
Teneo Holdings is a massive water infrastructure company whose benevolence extends to supplying the pipework and retaining the rights to the water
You’re not naive enough to believe AK was fastracked into Department of The Environment on his talents and skill are you?
wake up!!! see the bigger picture
That gard is having the time of his life there. ‘*….nows your chance to shine Marty. Give em the ol razzle dazzle*’
like him or not, a democratically elected TD shouldn’t be impeded from getting to the Dail
Take a look at the third photo down. Someone spelled agenda as adjenda. I was kind of impressed by that when I saw it on the news last night, I have to say.
Yes mock those less literate than yourself. Clever little boy.
He’s not mocking the less literate, he’s mocking the terminally stupid.
If you’re going to go to the dail with a placard, at least take the time to spell check it.
Placards don’t come with spellcheckers, duh.
these people have smart phones
Only corporate robots use smartphones. These guys use pay phones and to support the working class. (And megaphones to annoy everyone else)
But not smart placards.
‘…If you’re going to go to the Dáil with a placard…’ there…spell-checked that for you.
I would care about people outside the dail reading my message.
Making an impression on Bisted? Not so much.
It might have been Jen’s Da…. but which Jen !
and which Da!
Dunno who you’re talking to. I’m not a boy.
You are required to provide photo evidence of this as soon as the statement is made, the rules are very clear on this
Oh really? I’ll sort that out pronto, so.
Garda Siochana, the private army of henchmen to protect the centre right politicians and business interests of the country at the expense of the majority.
They are given free reign to oppress, bully and engage in criminality as long as they protect their masters in power.
Ordinary policing seemly doesn’t happen.
Tish, if I impeded you from access to your place of work what would you do?
HE probably wouldn’t have several Guards there to help him either.
No, but he’d probably have Garda uniforms in the boot… just in case.
Garda Siochana, the private army of henchmen to protect the centre right politicians – you mean the public police force to protect the democratic majority from the violent minority. We have center right people in power because that is how the people voted.
+1
Ah stop now, enough ragging on the Shinners.
Hehe!
And Alan Kelly has a woman’s arse.
Take that back. That is a gross insult to women’s arses.
he actually seems to *be* more of a front bottom, actually…
Very good.
Take him back to the stations boys…..he needs a to be taught some manners…..oopps….he fell down the stairs!!!
I HAVE A CAMERA. YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME.
Or something…. the plonk!
+1
You can actually see his shouty tones in the picture
:)
We’ll read tomorrow, how he approached with kindness, and laid petals on the path as he questioned him…
as the surging fist swinging mob screamed ‘peaceful protest’ and ‘get your hands off her, she’s a woman’
Newsflash, humans have emotions. Kelly the clever monkey knew what he was at. We need smarter politician’s and protestors in this country. It would have been a lot more symbolic if everyone there turned their back when the snake slithered by…but would that have made the news??
So humans having emotions are fine in this case but when alan kelly shows emotion at getting elected…. BURN THE WITCH
I would consider having a camera around a gardai as a form of self defence.
nobody has yet put forward a reason why this guy feels entitled to block a td on-the-go way to the dail.
HE HAS A CAMERA !
Seething anger at a scumbag who helps wealthy developers cut costs at the expense of societys standard of living? Stopping him in the street is relatively pointless but if you’re asking why, that’s probably why.
You’re totes adorbz Moyesty.
Tnx babez xxx
And yet as a country we are more then happy to give him the job back.
Well. Tipperary did. On the 5th count.
Ain’t democracy a b!tch?
Standing in front of someone and shoving a camera in their face is not ‘attempting an interview’ and not a part of the important right to protest.
Don’t like the man and don’t like his water policies, but Garda was entirely right to just pull the protester out of the way.
+1
Kelly grandstanding and the Garda enjoying flinging people.
He was that shocked he required 50 cc’s of power to help him…
You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power because some watery tart threw a sword at you..
Should’ve water cannoned the little skobi.
i wouldnt bother impeding him id do somethin that would properly mess with his mind, like stick my tongue in his ear. somethin like that would rattle him.
Maybe he’d like it. That’d rattle you, I’d say.
I’m free?
Step 1: Stick tongue in Alan Kelly’s ear.
Step 2: ????
Result: Non-corrupt competent government with long-term visions for social and economic development!
Nothing like low level sexual harrassment to ‘mess with the mind’ of a democratically elected public representative, hold himk to account ,if you will.
You absolute gobsheen.
aw you guys just dont understand politics
Why are they still picketing him? He’s out of office, Labour out of govt, job done.
Because people are very angry and he’s stoked some of that anger.
and the loudest shouts were reserved for Lowry…. his appearance was a gift!
Those 2 were voted in by the same constituency, right?
Or you know, people are thick.
Well you are, anyway.
I know you are, but what am I?
Thick.
This is like watching Socrates and Cicero debating.
Baggsy Socrates.
you can have him, he was brutal when he played for UCD
Anger is all well and good when it motivates you to make changes, to improve a situation.
However, at this stage, not anything Kelly can actually do re water. There isn’t even a ministry of Environment anymore.
OK but anger towards him doesn’t just vanish when he loses his ministry. Anger towards labour wasn’t some political strategy on the part of a rival party. These people are very angry. Alan Kelly is a big reason for their anger. They see him. They react. It’s all well and good talking about what people *should* do but you have to accept human nature, as in what people *actually* do and *will* do.
I assume the protesters were there having a general protest when Kelly arrived. Then this clown just lost the run of himself. He done his cause no favours.
I have real sympathy for the gaurds during all of this. They were bound to uphold laws which were political in intent when there is probably as many of them as anyone else who not agree with Irish Water.
What do you mean by ‘laws which were polticial in intent’?
Well the 20m protest exclusion zone around meter installations was most definitely political in intent and in some cases has set Garda community relations back to the point where they don’t exist. These are the communities which need good relations with the police most of course.
There wouldn’t have had to be exclusion zones without scum like this with the camera impeding people doing their job legally.
“Scum.” A protester puts a camera in Kelly’s face and he’s “scum”. Jesus Christ.
Moyesty old bean, the gardai are routinely referred to as scum by these people in their hugely edited video ‘evidence’ of garda brutality. I long for the day these ‘scum’ realise they don’t speak for the “people of Ireland” as they’re so insistent on saying. At best they speak for a percentage around the mid teens or low twenties.
And that’s just their IQs what!
Amazed little Alan and some of his pals didn’t have the cop on to ‘defect’ to FG. defect is wrong word given they are two sides of the same backside
Too much competiton in FG. The guy has more or less admitted he’s in this for power as opposed to a desire to change things or help people or a sense of civic duty.
I think you mean two cheeks of the same ar$e.
Yes, been a long day for TheDude
Well it’s not as if they have a wave of gangland killings to deal with…
They do actually. Haven’t you been watching the news!?
Dav only listens to the wireless, checking for missives from Dev on how the war of independance is going
These protestors must have very understanding employers.
Kelly isn’t even in cabinet. You may as well go yell at a tree. Moron.
RTE reporters door step people and challenge them getting out cars, etc.
Why is this different?
They don’t stand in front of you and will walk with you asking questions. This guy appears to be blocking him. I’m no fan of AK47 by the way
There can be no genuine belief that a state broadcast journalist poses a threat to the safety of a minister.
(The more disillusioned would say that there is no genuine belief that a RTE journalist poses any sort of threat to a minister in any way, but I digress)
The state broadcaster is a toothless old windbag and no threat to anyone in politics unfortunately.
Did you read the sentence in parentheses?