Not around the eyes.
Good times.
Via Danny Jackson
Meanwhile:
Former minister for communications, energy and natural resources Pat Rabbitte has described claims that Irish Water will be privatised in years to come as a red herring.The Labour TD said no government “with its head screwed on” would seek to sell the utility to private enterprise.
Seems legit.
The email [below] gently plopped into our inbox this morning.
It may be a scurrilous trick or, indeed, a delicious treat.
Either way Chompsky we felt it worth sharing for the day that’s in it.
*pause*
Anon writes:
1. They had a meeting on Tuesday (4 people in the room) they are going to put out that they are not metering. Person of 1 in a house will be sent a bill of €176.00, two people or more doesn’t matter how many they will be charged €276.00 per year, this will be released today id say, Now they are not going to mention that this is only for 2015/2016 to get the government through the election,from 2017 it will be metering and that will be over €500 per year. So we will be back to square one,
2. They have not received over 700,000 letters back it’s more like 600,00 now this IS including the no consent forms, they actually don’t know how many have signed up because ALL the letters are in a warehouse in Cork, so people that have filled in the forms, their PPS details are in an unsupervised warehouse. The reason being is because people sent back sh*t and bangers and other stuff in the letters,
3. The CEO’s contract was only ever 18 months and he will be paid 350k to leave…
Um.
Anyone?
(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)
‘sup?
Lar writes:
Spotted outside the Roadside Cafe, Buncrana Co Donegal. The campaign up here has transcended the living world…
Health Minister Leo Varadkar appeared on Tonight With Vincent Browne last night, along with Sinn Féin senator David Cullinane; Fianna Fáil TD, Sean Fleming; and People Before Profit Councillor at Dublin City Council, Brid Smith.
Mr Varadkar was asked what people should do, if they can’t afford to pay their water charges.
David Cullinane: “If I can ask you an honest question, Leo?”
Vincent Browne: “Make it quick because we’ve gotta go to a break.”
Cullinane: “There are many families out there who can’t afford to pay their mortgage, can’t put food on the table, can’t put oil in their heating tanks. When they get their water charges bill in January and they can’t afford to pay it, what bills should they not pay? Should they not pay their mortgage? Should they not put food on the table? If they genuinely can’t pay, if they don’t have it, what should they do? What advice would you give them?”
Leo Varadkar: “Well that’s a very po-faced question because if you look at…”
Cullinane: “It isn’t, it’s a question…”
Talk over each other
Browne: “We’ve got to go to a break…”
Varadkar: “I’ll tell you why it is because if you look at your alternative budget, for example, you propose a standard rate…”
Browne: “Answer his question. Answer his question. Answer his question. What should people do? When people who are living on the margins have a choice of paying a water tax or paying for a essential necessities in their families, of their families. Which choice should they do…”
Varadkar: “What they should do is…”
Brid Smith: “Don’t pay the water taxes.”
Varadkar: “What they should do is enter into an agreement with the utility which is what they would do currently with the ESB, it’s what they would do currently with the…”
Smith: “Leo you live on another planet, people simply don’t have it.”
Watch back here
This morning.
Outside the Dáil, Kildare Street, Dublin.
From left: Sinn Fein Cllr Daithi Doolan, Anti Austerity Alliance Paul Murphy TD, United Left Clare Daly TD and People before Profit Richard Boyd Barrett TD -displaying on the left a map showing the locations of water protests nationally and on the Right a map showing the loctions of protests in Dublin on Saturday 1st November.
Full list of protests here
(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2ryqEPszCE
Protesters interrupt a meeting between Cork City councillors and Irish Water at Silver Springs Moran Hotel in Cork this morning.
Video via Cork Evening Echo
Update:
That escalated quickly.
Anyone?
Pics: Paul Byrne and TV3 News
The board of Irish Water.
Further to HotWaterGuygate.
Bewildered Student writes:
This (above) is from the irish Water website. In light of Coleman Sheehy’s Fine Gael connections and lack of experience in you, know, utilities of any kind perhaps some of your readers could fill in some of the gaps in the others directors’ CVs paying particular attention to their political and personal affiliations….”
Anyone?
Irish Water Board Members (IrishWater)
Earlier: Who Is The Hot Water Guy?
Irish Water logo redux: What Goes Up
Front page of today’s Irish Daily Mai
On Irish Water’s website, it describes Coleman Sheehy as:
Coleman Sheehy was appointed to the Irish Water Board in November 2013. Mr. Sheehy is involved in property investment and development and commenced employment with Sherry Fitzgerald Estate Agents. He subsequently spent some time in America, where he was involved in property investment and real estate with members of his family prior to returning to Ireland. He is currently involved in property investment and real estate in Ireland, the UK and in Central and Eastern Europe.
Journalist Neil Michael reports in the Irish Daily Mail [not online] today:
“The Mail asked both Mr Sheehy and Irish Water to flesh out his employment history but both declined. A call to Sherry FitzGerald, meanwhile, elicited a short statement to the effect that he ‘worked for us briefly in the later 1990s’. Further enquiries led sources to claim he spent less than a year there – in the lettings department.”
“And as far as him currently being ‘involved in property investment and development’, evidence of this was hard to come by last week, other than his apparent involvement in a firm that was recently listed for strike-off. On the Companies Registration Office database of directorships, Mr Sheehy is listed as having two directorships.
“One is with Irish Water with the first name ‘Coleman’ as it appears on his birth certificate, and for which he describes his profession as ‘property consultant’. The other – using the first name Colman 0 is with a firm called Melot Properties, set up in 1995 and run by older brother Andrew. Coleman joined as a director in 2004 and here he lists his profession as ‘valuer’.”
“Melot Properties, which has just been listed for strike-off from the register of companies for the fourth time since June 2011, steadily built up assets of €227,000 in 1996 to just over €1million in the year to September 2011. These assets for the company – which has outstanding bank loans of more than €1million in 2011 – appear to include two addresses on Gardiner Place, Dublin city centre. According to the Companies Registration Office latest records, two judgement summonses have been issued against the company. One, in 2009, was for €14,725.”
“The Mail put a series of questions in writing to Mr Sheehy last week, including one about this judgement. While he has declined to talk directly about it or any other issues raised by the Mail, last week an envelope was hand-delivered anonymously to our offices. This contained a letter appearing to show that this judgement had been settled in the sum of €10,000.”
“Although [Mr Sheehy’s aunt, Kathleen Sheehy] knew little of Coleman and his appointment, she did reveal that her family is steeped in Fine Gael history. Her father, for example, fought as a Free State soldier under Michael Collins and he later fought under Franco during the Spanish Civil War. ‘He was only a young fella when he was carrying dispatches up to Michael Collins by train to Cork,’ she recalled.”
Meanwhile, Fiach Kelly, in the Irish Times this morning, reports:
“The brother of a Fine Gael donor recorded as giving €1,000 to Lucinda Creighton when she was contesting a Dáil seat for the party was appointed to the board of Irish Water, The Irish Times has learned.”
…
“[Coleman] Sheehy, known as Frankie Sheehy, is listed as Colman Francis Sheehy in the Companies Registration Office (CRO) under records held for Irish Water. In the CRO documents confirming his directorship of Irish Water, Mr Sheehy’s occupation is listed as a property consultant and declares another directorship, of Melot Properties Limited.”“Andrew Sheehy is listed as another director of Melot. Sources said the pair are brothers. Andrew Sheehy is recorded under Standards in Public Office (SIPO) records as having donated €1,000 to Ms Creighton in 2007, when she contested and won a Dáil seat in Dublin South East. Ms Creighton last said Andrew Sheehy “made a donation to my campaign in 2007, but I don’t really know the guy”.”
Meanwhile, in last weekend’s Sunday Independent, Shane Ross wrote:
“A mystery man sits beside [Irish Water chairman] Rose [Hynes] at the monthly meeting. A director called Coleman Sheehy hardly registers on Google. The company provides the following utterly useless information about Coleman. He is “involved in property investment and development and commenced employment with Sherry FitzGerald estate agents. He subsequently spent some time in America, where he was involved in property investment and real estate with members of his family prior to returning to Ireland.”
“He is currently involved in property investment and real estate in Ireland , the UK and Central and Eastern Europe.“No past employer named, bar Sherry FitzGerald. No dates. No education. No positions. No titles. No qualifications. Company searches draw a blank. But Coleman has been to America. We know that. Maybe he travelled by boat? So he probably knows all about water.”
“I rang the Department of Environment on Thursday to ask about Coleman’s qualifications. “I do not have any idea who he is,” responded the press officer. I rang Irish Water. They wanted 12 hours to find out.”
Brother of Fine Gael donor appointed to board of Irish Water (Irish Times)
Shane Ross: Rose’s garden at Irish Water needs weeding (Sunday Independent)
Previously: Contains Impurities – The irish Water Timeline
Green Party’s Dan Boyle (left), Eamon Ryan (centre) and Trevor Sargent during the 2011 General Election
Further to the Green Party proposal of a referendum on the public ownership of our water.
Dan Boyle writes:
Public anger and frustration in Ireland at how water is being made available and is expected to be paid for, has come about because no one at a Government level has managed to provided a satisfactory answer as to who is benefitting from this?
As a basic essential of life water should be considered the ultimate public utility. The fear exists that by creating an Irish Water company the government is setting the scene to sell the country’s water infrastructure to the private sector and with that the ability to practically print money by being able to charge the public for the right to use water.
This is why the Green Party is calling on the Government to advance the legislation for a referendum on public ownership of water as a priority, and to ensure that it is included with the Bills already scheduled to be passed in order to hold other referenda in 2015.
Green Party councillors across the country have already submitted motions to their respective councils in Louth, Fingal, Dublin City, Dublin South, Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown, Wicklow and Kilkenny, calling for these councils to support a referendum on the public ownership of water.
The Green Party is proposing the inclusion of the following new Article 10.5 into Bunreacht na hÉireann, which would state:
“The State shall treat drinking water as an essential resource and in the interests of the common good the State shall not provide for the privatisation or commercialisation of water services for the people”.
If Irish Water has been established to rationalise services and provide economies of scale why has it increased the numbers working within it, increasing costs whilst introducing a bonus culture for not its work particularly well?
If introducing water charges in this way through this body is about encouraging water conservation, why are flat rate charges being made, that allow water users use as much water in whatever way they like?
If this method of seeking payment for water is to get consumers to think differently on how water is used, then how come the money isn’t being recycled in grants for householders to develop rainwater collection systems?
By any measure the steps taken by the Irish government on the future use and development of the country’s water infrastructure, with the establishment of the shambolic Irish Water company, is failing on every level. A constitutional provision is necessary to prevent this and any future governments from making any further mistakes.
Dan Boyle is a former TD and Senator.
Sign the petition here
(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)
Robbie Loughlin tweetz:
Seeing as your going to be doin Crimbo gift ideas, I wonder how these might sell!!!????
