Last night.
Paul Murphy TD joined Anti Austerity Alliance and Irish Water protesters outside the Department of Justice in Dublin to protest against the arrests of protestors this week.
One of those arrested, 16-year-old Jason Lester, also said a few words…
Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland, Baldoyle Anti-Water Meter Task Force and Workers Solidarity Movement Ireland
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Every speaker last night was fantastic, especially the people from the residents groups and those who’d been arrested.
The anti austerity alliance estimate that 750,000 people showed up at the protest outside the department of justice. It’s that pressing an issue for the Irish people.
I passed by the protest last night. Would like to remind people who were there that we live in a republic not a repubalic. That if you wish to have a person removed from office it is out not ow. And finally the word is traitor not trayher.
I do hope I’m not too highbrow for you( with the exception of Ruth of course).
Not a mention of this on RTE news last night
True, but how about no mention on broadsheet (yet) of Greece doing a bit of a climbdown yesterday and talking to it’s lenders…sure everyone has an agenda. Looks like out fair maiden Reality is embracing her new friend Syriza.
Our
Nobody, least of all Syrizia expects that they’ll get their way entirely, they’re going to have to negotiate and find a middle ground.
D’ya know
I’d rather spend my dossing and arsing around here trying to stay on top of our own fields of shit
Irish Water Scam
Anti Choice Nutters
Childcare Costs
Pension gaps
The worst healthcare in Western Europe
Universities that sink lower in rankings by the term
A runaway train of a public sector that just wants and wants and wants
A Government with approval numbers in the gutter riding us like we’re seaside donkeys
A police force that is fit for nothing
U.S.C.
A Rail Network that needs an 8 digit top up annually
Christ t’night lads. Worrying less about the Greeks
And learn to stand up and be counted for Ireland
In fairness, the treatment we received at the hands of our European partners and the abject failure of our government to fight back accounts in part for a lot of that list. And Greece is the only one shaking things up – if they win any concessions we stand a chance of benefitting, so it’s not like discussing the Thessaloniki mayoral election, y’know?
Joe, we both know English or accuracy or shades of grey in conversation isn’t your strong suit, but saying that Irish is not the primary language, culturally or socially in Ireland is not denigrating it or it’s speakers, it’s a point of fact. But that’s aside, from another thread, chill out.
That said, I’ve no idea what point you’re trying to make. Have a lovely afternoon.
@ Joe the Lion time was when our “little puff on the edge of Western Europe” became an inspiration to the repressed around the world when we stood up to the almighty British empire – most notably in India. Even Lenin once wrote about how a blow against the British empire in Ireland was of “a hundred times more significance than a blow of equal weight in Asia or in Africa”
Ok some issues I observed as I passed the protest last night
1. We live in a Republic not a “Repubalic”
2. The word is traitor not “treyher”
3. If you wish someone to be removed
from office the word is out not “ow
I hope I’m not being too highbrow for you ( obviously you’re excluded from this Ruth!).
Pitt there wasn’t an out of control bin lorry on the scene, would have spared us from this boing crap.
twit!
Now, now.
classy comment randy. now why don’t you google a pic of mitzi steady? she’s a 4year old girl who was killed last week by a tipper truck that ploughed into a group of pedestrians. maybe you could send a post of your comment to her parents
Now that’s a pretty impressive bit of whataboutery.
Randy’ s comment is disgusting. why was it not removed?
Maybe because Broadsheet have would have no qualms in showing pics of said accident, such as the lad who was killed by a bus outside Trinity a couple of years back ?
In fact. It was exactly this time 11 years ago that a Dublin Bus mounted the path.
That was the incident on the Quays, I’m talking about the photos from the time the homeless guy was shoved under the bus.
The boring crap that the present Irish government has allowed corporate multinationals to be exempt from Irish taxes, whilst forcing additional tax after tax after tax on the Irish people? That boring crap?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/irish-tax-policies-anti-social-developing-countries-un-expert
This Philip Alston looks like a second rate shill “designed to facilitate tax avoidance by huge multinationals in return for a pittance of a reward to Ireland. But more importantly, the costs to other countries, including developing countries, have been immense”.
No seriously, Enda and Michael – thanks to your selfish tax policies, Microsoft aren’t locating to the Yemen. WTF?
And his analogy about having a band practise in your flat. Does he even bother to read through his speeches the ****?
boing crap? Is that what you get from eating too many jumping beans?
only if you serve with runner beans as well
Poor Randy must be in ribbons this morning… #prayforrandy
what is boing crap and who is Pitt?
Good on those people last night. By arresting people involved in water protests the Gardai/ Government are attempting to demonise/ scare people away from the very legal right to protest.
Don’t go protesting against the water charges you might get arrested – Oh F off
It is illegal to restrain someone for two hours. If someone did it to you, you would be well within your rights to make a complaint and force the Gardai to get involved.
Protesting = good
Aggressively trapping someone in a car and shouting at him/her for two hours = bad.
Get a grip
Restrain?
Look at you and you going all 50 shades
Sould Jason not be in bed at that time, its a school night. Well I suppose he can get a note from the Gardai…
The protest was from 6.30-745.
Sorry I was trying to be sarcastic , I failed…
Poor phil, he was hiding under that bed for an hour.
and no mention in the news of the (alkefed) attempted break in to eniskillen hospital morgue by a gang of travellers to remove the body of the shooting “victim”.
psni public order unit mobilised, hospital forced to go on lock down, all allegedly of course.
alkefed? alleged.
sure that’s their culture
Why are the crowd so obsessed with that sex addiction movie from a few years back. Is this some kind of anti 50 Shades protest?
Hopefully these people will go on trial just before the next election. no jury will convict them and enda will look even more stupid.
ok, I’m mistaken, enda couldn’t possibly look more stupid.
They were arrested because there is a good suspicion that they were involved in illegal activity related to pinning someone into her car. Non story.
Pinning huh?
for the fjords?
That would be pining dear
Like the rare exotic butterfly she is: Papilo Gowlipuss.
I’m seeing sum’ting at lot less exotic
Abbie Lee Miller from Dance Moms
I have no idea what that is.
pinning? terrifying an old woman while she read the newspaper and joked on the phone under the protection of several dozen garda, publuc order garda and a helicopter?
oh lordy lordy, it’s hilarious! !
I never said terrifying. You did. Preventing her from going about her business. Going from an acceptable form of protest to an invasive one.
‘Acceptable protest’ is a contradiction in terms.
Oh good. Getting my work done before the weekend has just become more realistic
I know, finding out you can count on your toes as well must have come as a real shock.
Justice will see all of these trouble makers with criminal convictions. The gardai have been ridiculously hands off for the past year as they were reluctant to let them become the “martyrs” they so desperately wanted to be. This has led to increased lawlessness
just so i have this correct, people do not want to pay for the water they use themselves? not from ireland so just trying to understand. on what grounds do they think its reasonable to not have to pay?
Individual water rates were scrapped in 1997, with the money for maintenance of the water supply to come from general taxation instead. Naturally, maintenance didn’t happen and so the water supply in Ireland is quite antiquated and loses a lot of water to leaks. Even so, the water supply is more than adequate to meet the needs of the populace.
Since the end of the Celtic Tiger era, the Irish government has made a number of highly uppopular decisions which have placed a disproportionate level of debt on the country (the IMF bailout, agreeing to pay back unsecured bondholders, purchasing the portfolios of bankrupted property magnates and selling them on in NAMA), and harsh austerity measures which have disproportionatley targeted lower income areas (the Universal Social Charge, Property taxes).
And now, Irish Water. A company who’s foundation involved millions being spent on high-class consulting firms, who’s contracts were given to friends of the government rather than the lowest bidder, and was clearly being set up to privatise at the earliest opportunity. This isn’t about not wanting to pay for water, it’s about communities who’ve been driven to the breaking point financially, and who are tired of their elected officials looking out for business interests instead of the common person.
Stop whining and pay up.
No.
but at the end of the day, the government still has to pay and provide for this utility. so why not have the costs for this explicit and subsequently charge those who use it most (and maybe use it inefficiently) more?
Then they should reduce general taxation comensurably, and provide concrete guarantees that our water supply won’t be privatised.
pipes, irish citizens already pay through vat and car tax. we just don’t want to pay twice.
Self serving drivel.
People with private supplies pay for their own water and subsidise city dwellers. In fact the subsidise Jobstown dwellers through welfare AND free water
Pay twice????????what are you on about? ive heard this argument before but its utterly stupid. the government pays for water once. what makes you think you pay for it twice. anytime any new tax is brought in you claim youre paying for it twice. idiotic
We currently pay for water through general taxation.
And now they’re changing it so that we pay through seperate charges. And there will be no commensurate reduction in taxation because the economy’s still fecked and we need the money. I’m wholly sympathetic to the anti-water movement – who could possibly have watched the whole debacle unfold the way it did and not be? – but this argument is self-defeating at best.
yes “currently” and now going forward you will be paying for it via water charges. where do you see you are paying for it twice. ‘commensurate reduction in taxation’ – were currently running a budget deficit. how difficult is this for people to understand.???
You should use the same excuse next time you get on the luas, Dublin bus or come to a toll booth. See where that gets you.
pipes you muppet we don’t pay twice. We pay for water through vat and car tax, 400 milion in 2014. try to keep up.
So when VAT goes up, do you protest about paying something else twice? What about Income tax or capital gains?
“I don’t want pay increased VAT because I already pay for Healthcare and Education.”
This double paying thing is cr@p.
Clean water is a precious resource that currently has no value in Ireland. People can piss it away all day and all night and they will not pay a penny more. People can have leaking taps or leaking pipes and they won’t bother to fix them because there is zero incentive. Water worth nothing at the moment. By metering water consumption we can
– give water a value
– penalise those who waste water
– identify leaks
– reduce our consumption
– get in line with the rest of the civilised world
– improve our infrastructure
I understand your point, I just happen to disagree with your conclusion.
Also, you’re awfully involved in this for someone who claims not to be from Ireland.
Paolo – the government has already backed off on metering water.
irish water also receives cash from the structural investment fund
That’s bullpoo Ollie.
@ PIPEs – You’re new here?
Pro Tip – You should lurk a bit more and read the past posts, before polluting this post with your banal comments.
Who made you king of broadsheet? If someone wants to post, let ’em.
Funny how these protesting louts can’t even resist their idiotic chanting even when one of their own is attempting to speak. This 16 year old is nothing but a trouble maker and now is being seen by them as the voice of the young. He should focus on getting a leaving cert.
so vogy, you know this 16 year old personally? how’s enda’s bottom today? do you have it covered with kisses?
How come the media won’t cover the story about the people protesting about the thing that got turned on its head because the Gardai said an alarm went off and the ducks were trapped in an inferno and the homeless guy spilt his hot chocolate??? Why?..
Ssssh! It’s a conspiracy. These water protesters are beginning to sound like holocaust deniers or the people who reckon the CIA brought down the world trade centre towers.
Irish protest=pallid + lizard eyed +polyester tracksuits
French protest =sallow +dark eyed + fashion shoot
Which one would make the news@
If people think that the Jobstown protests, the anti-Irish Water protests, and the various other anti-austerity protests around the country are merely about the implementation of a veiled austerity Water- tax they are missing the bigger picture. The Irish state has been rotten for a very long time: decades in fact. People are just sick of the inequality, corruption and injustices which have shaped our nation for generations now. There are parts if Ireland which never saw prosperity and there are generations of people from deprived areas in Ireland who have seen and experienced nothing but prejudice and disadvantage. Ireland is in the grip of a class war. The Jobstown protests were a manifestation of Ireland’s class war. I applaud anyone who stands up for their rights, and in particular their right to protest…