Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
LA officials investigate cause of deadly fires as curfew is enforced amid looting fears
Black boxes on Jeju Air flight stopped recording minutes before crash
Three sisters from Kerry win top prize at Young Scientist 2025
As it happened
As it happened: Tens of thousands turn out in Dublin to demand 'Right2Water'
Tens of thousands of people took part in the latest mass protest against water charges — but there were some violent scenes too, and ‘breakaway’ protesters caused havoc for commuters.
Tens of thousands of people have been taking part in the latest mass demonstration against water charges, organised by Right2Water and community groups.
The main protest began at Merrion Square, just outside Government Buildings, at 1pm — with people travelling from the four corners of the country (and even Detroit) to take part.
Estimates of numbers have varied widely — with one Minister putting the figure as low as 20 thousand, Gardaí putting it at between 30 and 35 thousand, and some organisers claiming up to 100 thousand turned out.
Elsewhere in the city, breakaway protest groups caused traffic chaos by blocking O’Connell Bridge -– and a Garda was taken to hospital after being injured in a confrontation on Kildare Street.
The Detroit Water Brigade will be taking part in today’s protest. Members of the group have been making the most of their time in Dublin, visiting Trinity College and other locations across the capital.
Earlier today, Kelly told reporters that water charges are “completely necessary”.
He said he didn’t “envisage” anything changing in terms of the revised water payment package he introduced last month.
10 Dec 2014
1:10PM
Last night, former junior minister Fergus O’Dowd, one of the people involved in setting up Irish Water, said he was worried that the utility would be privatised.
He said he remains “deeply concerned at other agendas, they may be European… I don’t know where they are coming from…” and said we have “real reason to be concerned”.
Kelly’s response today?
I don’t really know what Fergus O’Dowd is talking about, to be frank. I haven’t a clue.
I mean ‘dark forces’? That goes to a space where I’m not really sure where he’s going to be honest.
There’s a large Garda presence gathering at the bottom of Kildare Street including the Public Order Unit with barking dogs amid suggestions that protesters on Nassau Street may attempt to breach the barriers.
A few TDs have ventured out to see what it’s all about. We saw Leo Varadkar come up Kildare Street for an interview with RTÉ and we also bumped into John Halligan who was heading in the same direction. Fine Gael backbenchers Derek Keating and Jim Daly also ventured outside the main Leinster House entrance to have a look.
Health Minister Leo Varadkar has just been on RTÉ’s News at One saying “it really bothers me that people are protesting over €3 a week” when there are “much bigger problems in Irish society” citing the Áras Attracta revelations and people waiting on hospital trollies. He prefaced his comments by acknowledging they may not be politically correct.
His remarks didn’t go down well with his fellow interview panellists.
Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen said setting up Irish Water was a mistake, adding that the company’s “conservation ethos” has been completely lost.
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan accused the Government of arrogance, while Independent TD John Halligan said today’s march is about more than just water charges.
The Government are still just not getting this … It’s about six years of austerity.
Hi… Daragh Brophy here taking over liveblog duties from Orla (awesome job Ryan, take the rest of the day off etc. etc.)
Anyway… I’m just back from Merrion Square, where I’ve been Tweeting like a trojan for the last few hours (get them here).
Crowds were really beginning to thin as I left the main protest area around 20 minutes ago — but there are still many thousands packed in to the streets immediately surrounding Government Buildings.
Mr Dublin himself, Damien Dempsey, has been rocking the crowds in the last few minutes…
“Think today of all the 3rd level students that are doing 1st semester exams. If we weren’t, the streets would be even fuller.” — From student Neil in Cork, via email.
Brendan Ogle, from Right2Water and the Unite union, estimated numbers earlier at between 70 to 80 thousand.
Gardaí have told us numbers are more like 30 to 35 thousand.
Someone just sent us this image via email, with the line…
“Rte van tagged. Maybe in response to reports of only 30,000 attending March when over 100,000 counted by streets filled around merrion square and Nassau st.”
This guy’s perched on top of the traffic lights at the bottom of Kildare Street. Or at least he was, until recently (we’re not saying he fell or anything — but he’s probably climbed down by now).
Gardaí have confirmed a person is being treated in hospital after a collision at the scene of a protest near Liberty Hall this evening.
A small group of water charge protesters had been attempting to block traffic outside the landmark union building earlier, after breaking away from the main demonstration at Merrion Square.
The person has been taken to hospital for assessment, a Garda spokesperson said.
Dublin Fire Brigade also confirmed they attended the scene, but had no further details.
This Tweet was also sent from the scene…
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
TheJournal.ie has been unable to confirm the full details of what’s described in the Tweet.
The Garda spokesperson said the car hadn’t mounted the pavement. He said details of what had happened were still coming in from the scene.
Now someone’s driven their car onto the Luas Green Line.
From the Luas website:
“Please also note that services on the Green Line (St. Stephen’s Green to Brides Glen) are only running at the moment from Brides Glen to Beechwood
“There is no service between Beechwood and St Stephens Green
“A motorist has accidentally driven onto the track at Charlemont, the tow truck is on route but traffic is very heavy due to the protest in the City. We are doing our utmost to restore a full line as soon as possible.
Away from the traffic situation, Brendan Ogle of Right2Water has just been on RTÉ’s Six One.
He’s sticking to that 100 thousand figure for turnout, given by organisers earlier.
“About a quarter past two today we had a situation where our biggest concern was safety from crushing.
“We have people coming to this demonstration — a site that the Gardaí told us held 60 thousand — who were turned back for safety reasons. We were told that.”
Brendan Ogle
Earlier, Fine Gael Minister Simon Coveney put the number at “somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand — according the Gardaí”.
“I think there’s an obligation to try and be accurate.”
The Garda Press Office estimated the crowd at between 30 and 35 thousand, stressing they were confident to stand over that number.
TheJournal.ie was down at Merrion Square at around 2.15 — and this is how the crowd looked on the south side of the square, about 100 metres back from the main stage.
There were reports, however, that the far side of the square was far busier… And in fairness, the crowds were a lot heavier just 15 minutes before the above shot was taken.
The following press release from Right2Water just landed in our inbox…
An estimated 100,000 people from all over Ireland attended the National Assembly organised by Right2Water today (10 December 2014).
The Right2Water campaign is a broad alliance comprising trade unions, political parties, independent TDs, and a range of community groups and activists. It has one core premise – that water is a human right – and one core demand: the abolition of domestic water charges.
In a statement, the campaign today said:
“Today saw 100,000 people from all over the country gather on a bitterly cold day in Merrion Square to reinforce that demand. Since October 11, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets and squares of our towns and cities to demand the abolition of domestic water charges, and the campaign will continue until that objective is achieved.
“The kind of peaceful people power we witnessed today in Merrion Square has already extracted significant concessions from the Government. We urge all those who oppose these domestic water charges to resist any attempt by isolated groups to undermine that principle of peaceful and unified protest”, the statement concluded.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
LA officials investigate cause of deadly fires as curfew is enforced amid looting fears
2 mins ago
5
Fatal Plane Crash
Black boxes on Jeju Air flight stopped recording minutes before crash
53 mins ago
2.9k
Tralee
Three sisters from Kerry win top prize at Young Scientist 2025
Updated
16 hrs ago
56.9k
57
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 138 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 95 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 123 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 93 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 68 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 67 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 32 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 28 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 115 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 56 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 67 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 74 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 39 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 77 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 75 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 54 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say