76 thoughts on “We’re All Dissidents Now

  1. Am I Still on this Island.

    Ah, this happened with Corrib as well. Dinny O’Brien must be getting desperate. He should just stare at a brown piece of stationary, it’d cheer him up.

  2. Joxer

    the last throw of the dice – when you are losing just blame ‘dissidents’ on ‘the violence’ .

    1. munkifisht

      Disappointing sure but totally predictable. As soon as people start to turn violent they’ve started to loose. I was saying this would happen the other day (I know, amn’t I just f**kin great) but was pilloried. I think the protests look like they’re still winning, but the actions of the other night were a step backwards.

      1. realPolithicks

        The “actions the other night” were what in most countries would be called civil disobedience. If Ireland were a functioning democracy and not actually bought and paid for by the Denis O’ Briens of the world, then peoples right to protest would be respected and they would not be labeled “dissidents” for having the temerity to fight back against actions by their government with which they disagree.

        1. munkifisht

          It has nothing and everything to do with that. What happened the other night was not a protest, it was a riot. I have been fully supportive of the protests from their beginning and believe it is not peoples right to protest, but their social obligation, but it is also their social obligation to keep their emotions in check. If you start to loose the head you’ve lost the game. You can’t reason with a rioter. If you riot you allow the other side to undermine your argument and paint you as a dissident, even though that’s a gross exaggeration, but it is an exaggeration of a truth. If the protests had remained peaceful they would not have this card to play.

  3. Spartacus

    Isn’t it amazing.

    Given the number of well equipped news-hungry media professionals in the capital, the CCTV surveillance and bodycam equipment available to the Gardai and the security services, the ubiquitous smartphone recording capabilities of the average person in the street, not to mention private CCTV installations and dashcams, not one piece of video to support this contention has made it into the public domain.

      1. RealCorkLanger

        Ya, it shows a load of people roaring at Gardaí claiming they have been punched and assaulted in a variety of ways – and claiming they have evidence on video.

        Yet, the uploaded videos only ever show them roaring at Gardaí calling them every name under the sun. (if there are other videos supporting their allegations, fair enough, then dont appear to be doing the rounds though)

        And there are no reports anywhere(that I have seen) of complaints being made to any authority.

        Why, its almost like they are just trying to provoke a reaction from the Gardaí…….

    1. Hosannah in the Hiace

      except Broadsheet has been boosting known dissidents. look at the post submitted by Trevor Conlon for example

          1. Mick Flavin

            Ooh! It’s Clampers’ ma!
            Here, while I have the chance, who really is Clampers’ da? Charlie Haughey, Malcolm MacArthur or Lord Mountbatten? Or…is it Mani?

          2. Mani

            It’s not me Mick. I haven’t completed my time machine yet (just need to collect a few more empty boxes of Bold and buy the necessary materials from some Libyans).

            Clampers’ Ma doesn’t know herself. She can trace it back to when she was working as a middling class escort on contract to Montrose. It was at a Staff Xmas party, she woke up in the cloak room to find a tumescent Santa standing above her with a bottle of Satzenbrau and a twinkle in his eye. Next thing you ho-ho-know she was in his arms and on the love express to orgasmville. 10 months later (he really clung on in there, the ultrasound shoes him digging his nails into her womb) Clampers was born. Two days and one brief procedure later, she had a son.

  4. Jock

    This is the truth but of course the crazies see this as some sort of conspiracy to demonise legitimate protest.

        1. Original Cynic

          Our “Eirigi types”, as you put it, are complete pussycats in comparison to the Belgian austerity protestors!

  5. Zynks

    Lets be careful or the DOB law people will come out because we are making a mockery out of a DOB company inferring that another DOB company’s profitable activities are being affected by subversive individuals. Let these law people focus on suing the state and IW for failing to protect them appropriately and we will all be happy ever after.

  6. phil

    Ok if the government want to throw around bull like that , Ill do the same. In my opinion the government is undermining law and order in this country, they are a threat to Democracy in this republic …

      1. scottser

        he must be an ‘eirigi type’ jock. he should be sent for political re-education in one of your specialist ‘treatment centres’.

    1. RealCorkLanger

      The article does not say that anyone in government made these claims, it says senior Garda officers have

    2. Markus

      it’s quite clear when you look at these protests that they are hijacked by dissidents. The front of the water protest March a few weeks ago was all people with hoods up/scarves over faces waving RSF flags.

      you just need to look at the front of any protest that has taken place over the past few years.

      the biggest problem is that it undermines the genuine protesters and puts people off associating with what are often genuine protests

      1. Original Cynic

        In fairness the ones feckin’ around in the “Mrs. Browne” disguises are the really dangerous ones!

  7. Just sayin'

    Well, the Real IRA are people I would certainly want to distance myself from if I were protesting in Coolock.

  8. TheDude

    Edna & his band of merry idiots really have no idea of the anger growing against them every day.
    He and Joan are happy to keep loading petrol on the fire not thinking for a minute it may consume their very selves.

    1. RealCorkLanger

      Just out of curiosity, did you write ‘Edna’ intentionally or by accident?

      I find it very strange that people try to take the piss out of the Taoiseach by calling him Edna instead of Enda. You could just call him a flute or something, would get the point across, if you feel that way.

  9. PhilJo

    FG backer infiltrate telecoms provision with no conclusive proof of bribery

    FG backer gains disproportionate voice in Irish media

    Private industry infiltrates state provided services through outsourcing contracts (eg. Siteserv)

    I imagine INM are saving these stories for a big weekend eposé

  10. Soundings

    One of the first austerity marches I went on about two years ago in Dublin city centre, a group of about 10 men turned up with big white flags with 32 CSM logos on them, only a small march of about 100 in total from the GPO to Kildare Street, but there was a heavy Garda presence, at times the Gardai were man-marking the 10 men, at Kildare Street, there were some speeches and the 10 men with the big 32CSM flags went to the front where theire outlandishly big flags blocked the view of speakers for the rest of us. The Gardai corralled the 10 and moved them to the side. When the protest finished, a group of around five Gardai escorted them (walked a few feet behind them) as they went back down Molesworth Street, Grafton Street where the 10 got taxis at the bottom of Grafton Street. The Gardai had a word with the taxi drivers, didn’t hear what they said. That was the first time I saw that type of policing.

    There was subsequently a split in the CSM and James McDonagh set up Irish Republican Voice and they’ve been present at various protests, bondholder bailout, cuts to various services outside Leinster House, any protest really. The IRV were the group who sat down on O’Connell Street a year or so ago.

    I wouldn’t be the least surprised to see IRV/32CSM or other dissidents trying to jump on any bandwagon that adds a veneer of respectability to groups that have been linked to drug dealing, extortion and to a surprisingly limited extent, dissident activity.

    But so what? Why should the legitimate grievances of protesters be set aside just because a few idiots try to muscle in on the protest.

  11. Alfred E. Neumann

    Shouldn’t they be celebrating that dissidents have embraced the legitimate democratic method of public assembly?

  12. andyourpointiswhatexactly

    Now I have Dissident by Pearl Jam as an earworm.
    Thanks a bunch, Bodger.

    When she couldn’t hoooooooooooooooold, oh she folded
    LA LA LAAAAAAAAAA

  13. Colm

    People might not like the source of this information, but it is 100% correct.

    Whether there has been a planned infiltration or not, many of these protestors are 32-county enthusiasts who don’t give a sh*t about water charges.

    1. scottser

      maybe they do give a sh1t about water charges in the context that it is a national resource, already paid for by its citizens and is being rolled out as a funding stream to service bank debts of foreign governments and will eventually be sold off when it becomes profitable. just cos someone gives a monkeys about the sovereignty of the nation and its resources does not make them a ‘dissident’.

      1. Colm

        Quite right, being concerned about your country’s resources doesn’t make you a dissident.

        But wrecking a load of cars outside Coolock Garda station, blocking the Malahide Road and just generally being a violent thug doesn’t make you Gandhi either.

        There are many, many legitimate grievances about Irish Water but these guys are exploiting them, and the genuine swell in public opinion, for their own ends.

        1. scottser

          from what i’ve seen (granted i haven’t been to any protests where it’s kicked off like coolock) the gardai don’t seem to be discriminating against any of the protesters. they seem to be happy enough to handle ordinary protesters far too aggressively. surely the gardai know who are ‘dissidents’ and are able to identify them at protests and remove them before it is allowed to kick off?

    1. ReproBertie

      Apart from all the reporting on RTÉ and TV3 and in all the newspapers, local and national, there’s been a complete media blackout on it.

  14. Truth in the News

    Red Herring propaganda,. its a back off to see if the current
    spate of government spin doctoring this week might work
    as their response has been extensively outed in the media, the reality is
    that there was a huge public protest last Saturday and another
    one due in early Dec should the momentium continue to build
    and the numbers reach hundreds of thousands,,,,the Kenny
    regime is gone…..the reason for backing off is stall the numbers
    turning out…..indeed rather than heading for the Dail and the GPO
    perhaps its time to go doors of RTE and O’Briens mouthpiece the Indo.
    to tell them that their time has come too:

  15. Soundings

    Shouldn’t the Independent be required to disclose when it is reporting stories which are linked to businesses owned by the majority shareholder (with just under 30%) of INM?

  16. will-billy

    Why do any of you bother taking note of this at all? I suppose broadsheet feel it is their duty to mention but really would anyone pay any attention to the pub bore going on about stuff that he dislikes, interminably? that is what I think of every time I look at any of the indo titles

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