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Updated at 12.13pm
TÁNAISTE JOAN BURTON has said the protest group that trapped her in her car for hours in Jobstown yesterday was infiltrated by a people from “outside the community”. She also rejected claims from organisers that the action was a peaceful one.
The Labour leader was stuck inside her car for almost three hours yesterday afternoon as angry protesters banged on her vehicle’s roof.
Burton and other senior Government figures have condemned the action as undemocratic.
While Paul Murphy, the newly-elected Anti Austerity Alliance TD, has also come in for criticism from the Tánaiste for his part in the protest.
The former MEP was one of the organisers of the action, and insisted afterwards that it had been peaceful.
However, gardaí confirmed there had been two arrests — one for a public order offence and another for damage to a patrol car.
“They were rocking the car, banging on the windows on the doors and the roof,” Burton told RTÉ’s Marian Finucane this morning.
“And, you know — Paul Murphy is a TD. He was standing at the back with a loudhailer leading the chanting.
But I can say — if that’s his idea of a peaceful protest I would not like to see that norm being set for Ireland by him as the way people in Ireland protest.
The Labour leader’s car was surrounded by demonstrators in the Dublin suburb at around 1pm yesterday, as she attempted to leave a graduation ceremony at An Cosán — a higher education college.
Dozens of gardaí attended the scene, as did the Public Order Unit.
Burton was eventually escorted to safety after protesters allowed her to leave — and she was transported to a waiting garda car, which sped from the scene, shortly before 4pm.
‘Undemocratic’
Speaking to RTÉ News last night, Communications Minister Alex White also condemned the protesters’ actions.
While Independent Senator Katherine Zappone, who is a founder of the Cósan centre and was at the scene yesterday, said the ‘menacing’ nature of the demonstrations was unacceptable.
“The actions of some of the protestors generated an air of intimidation and menace which turned what should have been a local community celebration into a major security operation, with the Garda Public Order Unit on the ground and a helicopter overhead,” Zappone said in a statement.
“The blockading and banging of posters on the Tánaiste’s car, the jostling and spitting at those involved in the event goes beyond any legitimate form of protest.
“Those behind such actions do not represent the thousands of us who took to the streets of Tallaght just two weeks ago to air our legitimate grievances over Irish Water.
“As someone who witnessed much of what unfolded [...] I have no hesitation in saying that what occurred went beyond legitimate peaceful protest.”
Burton also said the protest took away from students’ experience.
“They were entitled to celebrate their achievement, their community’s achievement,” the Tánaiste said.
Regarding those who took part in the action she said “I think there were a lot of people from outside the community there”.
Labour and Fine Gael figures have also been weighing in with their criticism of what happened, on Twitter.
You cant use people as cash cows for Europe’s bankers. You cant lie to people for election purposes. You cant cut and cut people’s services to the bone. You cant take 147,000 in expenses alone over a 3yr period. You cant set up quangoes and staff it with over paid cronies. You cant force water meters on people. You cant expect people to pay for a utility more than once, or twice. You cant use a people’s police force as a private security force for a company. You cant use a people’s national broadcaster as a propaganda machine. You cannot pretend to listen when people march in protest in their 10s of thousands. You cannot live in an ivory tower, untouched by the austerity you have imposed on your people. You cannot do this, and much more, and not expect people to react. This government is entirely to blame for what went on yesterday in Jobstown. And will be entirely to blame for what is coming, no matter how they try to spin, and try to blame people on their reactions.
Very, very well said Dave Doyle – fair play.
The government have proved that yes you can! While I dont agree with the water charges, are we going to stick with this shower (no pun intended) or get back in FF who will probably feck the country up even more. God hope we dont have a situation where SF are in power?
I recall the Late Brian Lenihan stating in an interview with UK Media, that if the austerity measures the Irish Government were placing on Irish people were being implemented in France, that the French people would be rioting and buildings would burn….so it just took us 5 years to wake up and there still isnt any riots or burning buildings ..so considering government expect a natural angry reaction to austerity on top of austerity…what is the issue here!!!????
Well said
Dave Doyle fair ply to you for that comment. It is factually correct. You deserve 5000 green thumbs.
You cant make sensationalist statements and accusations without facts dave.
{SLAVERY, adjective, noun
Synonyms Expand
1. thralldom, enthrallment. Slavery, bondage, servitude refer to involuntary subjection to another or others. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by a master: to be sold into slavery. Bondage indicates a state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome and degrading labor: in bondage to a cruel master. Servitude is compulsory service, often such as is required by a legal penalty: penal servitude. 4. moil, labor.}
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Before this government , I had a half decent job, earned enough to support my family, pay all my bills on time, and was even able to spend a little in my local economy. I , along with thousands of others can no longer do this, despite the fact that both myself and my partner are both working.
We are working purely to exist. We see the effects of this governments austerity budgets every single day, and it is crippling us.
Most people are accepting of the fact that taxes need to be collected to pay for services,BUT most of us are now living in what is almost a third world country , in terms of access to a living wage, access to health services and access to education whilst having more and more of a tax burden placed on us.
I no longer feel that I am contributing to a society, but rather I am just handing over my wage to unseen collectors.
Not content with this, they are now going after monies that we just do not have. They are demanding monies(on behalf of a private company) with threats , menaces and intimidation (correct me if I am wrong, but if a private citizen demanded money from you at your front door in this way, would that not be illegal?} and then seem to be utterly surprised when people object.
The elected representatives then take to social media to object to the manner in which certain protests take place.They either do not see, or just do not care about how desperate most people are (either way, in my opinion, this makes them unfit to govern)
I for one , feel that this government has ripped up the mandate that they were given by the people of Ireland, they have trodden roughshod over the populace to further their own ends, they are selling off the very lifeblood of this country, and therefore no longer have a right to preach democracy to anybody
Well said Chris, in the same boat myself. My husband works 40hrs a week and I work 35. Its not right that we have nothing to show for it and are struggling day to day.
Chris I totally agree with u.
Its soul destroying Caroline, and just plain wrong.
Very well put Chris.. In the same situation myself.. working 7 days a week to pay tax.. I have no disposal income anymore… this Government seems to think that those who can’t get jobs are the only people protesting … are they really that thick….. I don’t like protests but this has me fuming. .. I will not pay anymore. .. The Labour Party should be ashamed of themselves. . Kathleen Lynch Ciaran Lynch and the rest of the rats. ..
What is wrong is that the B***H was using a state car and state driver on a Saturday to go to a collage to hand out cert’s is this what we pay tax for
if she want to do that then use her own car and drive it herself
There are thousands like you Chris myself included, but don’t expect things to change any time soon. My advice to you is to rationalise your lifestyle to suit your budget and accept that life isn’t easy. Emigrate if you think that you can do better elsewhere.
@Chris Kirk , my point is, that I , and thousands just like me, have no ‘lifestyle’ left, to rationalise or otherwise.
Any level of autonomy in decision making regarding my household budget, has been systematically eroded by this governments policies, and for what exactly?????
@Chris Kirk, cannot believe you said that Mr Kirk, you open with the old ‘I’m one of you’ line saying ‘myself included’….. yea right!
why shouldn’t we expect things to change? My ‘lifestyle’ has been ‘rationalised’ so much at this stage it’s gone beyond any definition of rational.
Will you lend us the 4 or 5 grand to emigrate then? the days of heading over to england with a tenner in the pocket have been consigned to sociological ramblings of the 1950′s. Mark me now, change is coming and coming very soon
Excellent post Chris, I totally agree , people cannot be expected to live this way long term, I dread to think what will happen to people of my generation when we reach pension age. Hopefully people will see the whole neo liberal scam of the last thirty years for what it was , on massive wealth grab from working people.
Post was to Chris Hennessy, not the Chris Kirk waffle above.
At Chris Hennessy – your point is well made, I’m in the same boat and am totally opposed to the water charges. I can’t wait until the current government goes (not sure what the replacement will be like but can’t be worse than these liars)
That aside, I think you undermine the validity of your argument by mentioning a ‘private company’ – all semi state bodies are registered as private companies do as to limit their liability. There is nothing more unusual to IW in this regard than there is to RTE, Bord Na Mona Coillte etc.
The only reason I raise it is that, by referring to this and the whole spurious ‘No valid contract’ argument, you just give people more ammunition to dismiss you as a crank, thus undermining an otherwise well made argument.
Private banks & bondholders Chris.
The set up is nearly complete, Ireland like uk/USA has been organised to service corporations, not citizens.
@chris kirk nice advice put up and shut up or get out. very democratic.
That’s a stupid thing to say chris. So rather than stand up for your rights and demand accountability you suggest that we all leave for somewhere else. So break up familys and go somewhere where you have no vote and are a stranger in another country. This is our country as much as it is theirs. You suggest selling your home and be saddled with a negative equity, what do you suggest then, move your family into a shoebox. I suppose you think the leaders of the rising against the English were wrong, maybe we should have politely asked them to leave. The only language bullies understand is direct confrontation.
A private company is a private company regardless of who owns it. It doesn’t matter if God himself owns it it’s still a private company.
Cupid – you are correct, the ownership of the company is immaterial – in fact it is as immaterial to the argument as the status of the company.
The issue is the commodification of water and the double charging, it’s not about the status of a company. The government is no more trustworthy than IW.
The issue would be better served without red herring arguments.
Thank you Chris for reminding us what it is like for the ordinary citizen living with austerity measures everyday! i I am struggling to pay my bills and the water charge is step to far. Objectively how can an the domestic economy grow if people don’t have disposable income to spend. I am a protester and have taken part in most of the major protest to date. But I am a fervent believer in the philosophy of Dr Martin Luther King who advocated at all times ‘no violence’ I would encourage my fellow protesters to look at the March on Washington 28th August 1963 where grave injustice were overcome with words of love peace and truth. By all means revolt, antagonise disrupt and disturb but never with the use of violence. We can achieve more by taking the higher moral ground and deny the powers that be a deflection tool to undermine our just cause.
Chris, don’t you understand that governments come and go and it is up to individuals to make sure that we don’t live beyond our means. From personal experience of being caught between a rock and a hard place faces with your position I would scale back and start to take stock of your lifestyle, otherwise you will find it even more difficult to manage in future years.
Pancho, rationalisation is when you start to account for every penny and spend on new clothes and household appliances only when it is necessary. If you have reached that level then you will know what I am talking about. How you will survive as a pensioner god only knows.
Yeah, Chris, that’s what we should all do. Sit back and take it up the ars3 like a good little citizen. No thanks. Feel free to do it yourself.
That was a cupid stunt trying to put words in my mouth. I said nothing about selling houses, negative equity or history revision. I am talking about people becoming responsible and living within their means.
So were the people of the Soviet union wrong to protest. Were the allies wrong to have fought fascism. Is what’s happening in Zimbabwe wrong, are the people there not entitled to protest. Was Nelson Mandela a terrorist in your eyes. I guess you think James Connolly was wrong as well. Best get on to Dublin council and get all our monuments taken down.
That seems to be the government line alright if you don’t like it emigrate. Why should we this is our country too. Such a stupid comment to make.
The Berlin Wall didn’t fall down on its own either. Germans protested.
It was western money that brought down the borders in Eastern bloc states that allowed East Germans to leave the Gdr en masse. When nobody really was left Germans either side went mad and tore it down. But it took a few decades to happen.
East Germany had powerful allies working behind the scenes for their freedom. We don’t though.
Agreed cowanwatch I suppose chriskirk thinks that JFK was rabble rousing with his I am a Berliner speech, how about Reagan’s tear down this wall speech, an obvious incitement to physical damage of property. He should have been arrested when he came here. Nelson Mandela said “there is no passion to be found playing small.in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living” the cheek of him. What he should have said was pay all your taxes no matter how unjust, and if you don’t like it leave. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to be remembered for quotes like that.
People are being responsible. I no longer socialize, my children only get new clothes coz they are growing out of their old ones. I just want to be able to pay my bills comfortably.
Find it funny you quoting 2 of the biggest corporate presidents as examples. Reagan, greatest devotee of Milton F and the Washington consensus. Kennedy, so corrupt I don’t even know where to start. And look at how little actually changed in SA when Mandela came to power, financial deals done that actually gave more power to a private central bank, less regulation, easierfor foreign corps to buy state assets etc etc. A little knowledge etc etc
@Chris Kirk, I find your responses to my posts quite patronising, both towards me personally, and to the thousands like me, who are struggling on a daily basis. Your response seems rather along the vein of the late Charles Haughey, preaching at us to tighten our belts, well there are an awful lot of us out there who have no more room on our belts.
I can only assume that you speak from the fortunate position of someone who can still actually make a choice, decide what you can and cannot live without,and place your household budget where you deem proper, I and many others are not in this position.
And just as an aside, I have been working and paying taxes for almost 30 years. I have raised my children into adulthood, as I am sure you can imagine, there have been plenty of occasions when I have had to ‘scale’ back my ‘lifestyle’ and have always lived within my means.
Once upon a time the Labour movement would have been protesting with the people they purport to represent – instead of being indignant about the nature of these demonstrations.
To any F.G trolls on this site claiming yesterdays protest was in any undemocratic, watch this video and try to defend it and explain how the actions of F.G John Perry are democratic !
And for all the Labour trolls, here’s Susan O Keeffe doing what all politicians do during an election, according to Pat the Rabbit.
Blood boiling watching that, disgusting bare faced liars the lot of them.
Skip to 1 min 20 sec for Sussie telling porkies. The reason she gave after the election for not resigning her sit was that she did not get elected to the Dail..She claims that the Seanad, where she now sits, is not the Government
Lets all remind Susan O’Keefe of her promise, Susan you are a LIAR and have been exposed on YouTube..over to you love……
Don’t those in government realise that this groundswell of anger towards them is only the tip of the iceberg. If the government were to scrap Irish Water in the morning, the anger and hatred would still be there. The situation is not helped by the fact that to get elected FG lied it’s head off. The abolition of the water charges was number one on their agenda.
Agreed John, its no longer just about water anymore. The years of austerity, the lies FG/Lab told us to get elected, vast unemployment, the real figure hidden by the numbers who have had to emigrate and the ones on the Jobsbridge scam.People are sick of these thieves and scam artists we laughingly call a government.The day Kenny tried this IW trick on has opened the floodgates (pun intended) of hatred and resentment for his government. We need these crooks out now and the sooner the better they have an election the better
Yeah but the social utopia that we all want has to be paid for and the mistakes of previous governments have to be paid for. It’s unfair to burden the taxpayer but I don’t think this government is terrible at all. I think that politics as we know it is flawed and I include Sinn Feín in that. Trapping a very hard working woman in her car for three hours, which must have been frightening, is thuggery. This is a damn good country to live in still and I’m not supporting the kind of people who call this action peaceful. I’m anti Irish Water and I’m anti any new tax burdens on the poor, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept anarchy as an alternative.
@martin, perhaps if this and previous governments weren’t such obvious liars, and listened when 150,000 citizens march instead of glibly dismissing them as being under the influence of terrorists, there would be no need of angry protests.
Aboloshing water charges were not on FG’s agenda, they were on Labour’s. The Programme For Government 2011 stated that Irish Water would be established and a metering system would be put in place and charges brought in.
But, as usual, don’t let the facts get in the way. Carry on.
http://www.taxinstitute.ie/TaxPolicyandPractice/IrishTaxPolicy/ProgrammeforGovernment.aspx
They also promised to get rid if quangos . He also signed a contract for a better Ireland and said they wont pay the bond holder but hey dont let facts get in the way
Why don’t they start by abolishing there UNVOUCHED expenses. Yes I know it won’t cover the quango that is irish water with its bonuses but it would be a start of solidarity I mean there are families hungry today and they have there on the fecking gravy train. .FFS you couldn’t make this two tier system up !!!!
@Martin B. what very hard working woman ? , it was j. burton. .
In the above article a Senator Katherine Zappone? never heard of her until now….. sounds a bit too much like ‘Cappone’ for my liking
@ RJ Fallon: The only thing Joan Burton worked hard on this week was avoiding questions at leaders questions in the Dail, which was the main ‘undemocratic’ thing to happen this week.
No mention of THAT from Alex white.
She runs a private College , And I doubt anyone in Tallaght could afford to take up Education there.
Martin…not by us
Martin, you clearly don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘anarchy.’ What was carried out yesterday by those protesters is not anarchy.
Agreed, and Ms Burton ought to stand when she is addressing the Dail instead of leaning on the bench with her hands behind her back, the. person should give her a thump each time she does it. A bit of respect please.
If you’ve never heard of her it’s probably due to the fact that she is an unelected Senator, appointed directly by Kenny after being recommended by Labour. Says it all, really.
Someone tell Burton to stop slouching! She look shifty when she do that….in fact she IS shifty, dodging answering questions.
Pancho she is the eye of merkil
@Martin… When they lie and use cancer patients to gain votes, when they refuse to listen to 200’000 citizens of this sates that marched over two dates, when 700 of our children spent last night (15-11-2014) in emergency accommodation,what do you expect? What choice do we have to make them listen. I don’t necessarily agree with violence as a course of action but try living in the shoes of a family in this country on the bread line who, if the water chargers are introduced, will consider bread a luxury. Please watch:
http://youtu.be/ccH8ht3T1_k
On behalf of the rest of the Martin Byrnes in the country I want to make it clear Martin (the sunflower) Byrne above has been expelled forthwith from our clan for that comment above.
Thuggery!!! Hasn’t the govt been lying thugs to us since they got in to power. I do not advocate violence in any way shape or form BUT that bitch deserves it and oh so much more along with her treasonous cohorts . Out out out!
Check out Cosán before your silly statements, has helped a lot of local people get back into the work place and improve their education, reading and writing ability.
Katherine Zappone is not married. Most definitely not married. Here. Yet.
Joe ‘sure sure sure’ Duffy is going to have a field day with this on Monday !!.. Roll on the 10th!!…
It really hurts when someone says they are going to do one thing and then they do something that is completely the opposite.
And rightly so.. I think I’ll ring him myself..
Just out of interest is this desperate attempt to spin protesters as violent thugs working? Two people get arrested and suddenly every invisible TD is out of the woodwork trying to paint the rest as “undemocratic thugs”.
It would be a joke if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Paul Murphy was terrorised by the Gardai had his clothes torn off his body by them while peacefully protesting sitting down on the street and Burton complains that this form of protest was unacceptable. Why is it when one member of a hated government say something is unacceptable the media demands we are supposed to stop and come to heal yet when a quarter of a million people take to the streets and tell the government that something is unacceptable the people are called thugs by the Taoiseach and the media. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT THIS GOVERNEMNT IS NOT DOING WHAT ITS TOLD BY THE PEOPLE. GET RID OF IRISH WATER OR GET OUT OF LENISTER HOUSE.
Any TD reading this and trying to paint protesters as thugs I suggest you organise yourself a place on Jobsbridge after the next election, these people will not forget you!
all labour td’ s ministers senators wheeled out with their quotes, ”shocking” unacceptable ” attack” etc,, It did look terrible in ways hemming her in and slow marching her out I get but some of the stuff in between looked and sounded terrible
However when they do what labour did setting themselves up as the guardian of the people from fine gael,,they then enter office and take from peoples pockets, take from peoples schools and colleges take from peoples hospitals take from the old take from the young take from the sick take from the the disabled take from the carers take from the single parent take from the employed take from the unemployed take from the married take from the single take from the children,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Just maybe something like this was inevitable,, why ? because they keep taking even thought there is long since nothing left to take
Bus
I am not a TD and what I saw yesterday was mob rule and the illegal imprisonment of a Minister. A Tallaght Garda told me that they were terrified for her personal safety and that Jobstown is an area that is virtually incapable of being policed.
Yes , the protestors are thugs and if this is what we can expect from our Socialist TDs then I’m afraid that should be charged with riotous behaviour.
Tasers and Long batons should be the standard procedure for Gardai in such warrens as Jobstown.
Hugh what you are suggesting like you are that the Gardai use of Tasers and long batons on peaceful protestors could see a lot of Gardaí injured or worse going forward. The more aggressive the Gardaí are the more aggressive the response is likely to be and there is not enough Gardaí in the country to do Dennis O’Briens willing.
Well ghess who built jobstown. It certainly wasn’t the people who live there. If you build inadequate infrastructure and no amenities throw in disadvantaged schooling and a lack of employment as in any place in the world you reap what you sow. There’s plenty of money in the country to provide proper housing for everyone but no political interest.
get used to it,,it seems government wont listen what else is left for the people to do,, remember the mobs larkin connolly pearse put on the streets,, they were not listened to either
Listen to the interviews that Joan Bruton and Paul Murphy gave this morning.
Joan is using emotive language while describing the day she had. All quiet understandable under the circumstances. She even bangs on about how the poor people who were graduating had their day ruined. She mustn’t have noticed one Graduate joining in the protest, cloak and all, and fair play to her. Some things are more important.
Yet, Murphy’s interview comes across as quiet rational even though hes being goaded by the interviewer and he explains his point of view very well. He didn’t organise it as Joan said, he even said she’s lying, he was there and did act as a go-between between the Guards and the protesters and a deal was agreed on. Pity there wasn’t more of his caliber in that cesspit Dáil.
Good, policemen and politicians should be terrified of the people.
Here here Martin!!
Well said, double standards. Enda Kenny’s aid assaulted a bye election candidate on a walk about! I didn’t see the political parties & media branding Fine Gael with the same Bolloxology.
We need a general election now, this Irish water farce has gone on too long! The government tried to get away with a scam, it’s not going to work, the coalition will fall over this, we should be seriously thinking of calling a general strike if they don’t start listening to us!
Cupid
Jobstown is located beside some of the country’s largest employment bright spots with Citywest Industrial Park within walking distance but many of the residents in Jobstown are Social Welfare lifers and easy pickings for the hard Left and Sinn Fein!
It’s not as if we are talking about people on the edge of homelessness and unable to pay their mortgages but rather those in finely built homes and living on the generosity of everyone but themselves.
Sinn Fein and other militant politicos took charge of the imprisonment of a Government Minister yesterday and her life was clearly in danger when recorded film shows concrete blocks being thrown through the windows of police cars caught up in the savagery.
Is it not extraordinary that this behaviour is totally supported by the Left the Hard Left and Sinn Fein and thus the voters in this country can expect to get this savage thuggery fro you all if we vote for you in the next election .
You really do get what you wan in this country!
The Irish Constitution provides for Freedom of Assembly and peaceful protest, the video clip in this article showed evidence of Wilful Obstruction and Threatening and Abusive Behaviour. That was not a peaceful protest, it was Anti Social Behavior all in a public place. If anything the people protesting in this video are nothing but thugs, there is a time and a place and to protest unlawfully at a graduation is just not acceptable.
Not necessarily agreeing with Hugh about tasers and batons, but that could hardly be described as “peaceful” now Martin
Were you this outraged when Frank Feighan a TD elbowed a pensioner three or four times for simply nudging him to start a conversation? There were three guards there and not one of them reached for a baton or the pepper spray to stop an old man being assaulted.
Making promises to get elected
And then doing the complete opposite
Is undemocratic
And then complain when the say they have enough of your lies and deceit
Totally out of touch
Spot on.
If Joan had really wanted to get out of there yesterday all she should have done was threaten to take off her top.
All concerned would have scattered within seconds, screaming for rusty spoons!
Inflicting austerity on people who voted you in is dictatorship not democratic
The journal gets more pathetic by the day with its “not peaceful” tag on the photo.
Should have saved that tag until the 10th dec, which will in no way be peaceful.
Looks like a fake photo of some lad throwing a brick in the indo. 1 your foot would be on the ground to get max distance 2 look how far the crowd is away 3 the brick is perfect not a chip on it. 4 he would need some miracle not to hit Joan’s car and not some person in the crowd getting hurt Was any taken to hospital ? 5 why was there some pro taken a photo of the back of a van ?
@ Gerry… My thoughts exactly!
Ah denegate a woman on her appearance, good boy. Ireland shout be proud of you!
You are a fool and demean those who wish to protest peacefully.
There’s also a video of the incident, sorry to burst your bubble but it happened!
Can you provide a link to that incident,Justin? I’ve seen a couple of photos and one in particular looks like it has been photoshopped ..
Link ?
Great detective work there Pete, instead why not agree that there is a sinister element to some protests and throwing a brick at Gardai doing their job is wrong…
I don’t believe that all protest should be peaceful Justin. If that concept is outside your comfortable universe where everything is like it is on MTV, well I’m sorry.
I thought the UNpeaceful protests in Greece were perfectly correct, and showed that the Greeks were not a broken people. Their politicians took note, and Greece got extorted a little less as a result.
On the other hand, we just pulled down our trousers and bent over the minute we were told to. Pathetic.
I think people are tired of being ridden now though.
There is trouble makers no doubt. 99.9 % are just people who have had enough it really is that simple
Video is on Sunday world website. Looks like a lot of skangers itching for a fight.
What’s everything on MTV look like? Do they all use made up names too “gumbridge” when you hide behind made up names no-one takes you seriously!
That clears that one up,Justin .. Thank you!
It’s full of worthless platitudes like ‘demean those who wish to protest peacefully!’, and warm fuzzy concepts like the eternal sanctity of peaceful protest.
And what’s in a name? You could be called Tits Magee for all I know or care.
Troll
i saw the video too. the photo still looks photoshopped. The young fella thru a brick at a garda
car. it bounced straight off the car & no damage done, perhaps a scraping of the paint. 2 people were arrested. do not take the actions of 2 people to represent the rest of the country.
Maybe if the government realised that they are voted in to represent the public and listened to the publics voice the protests wouldn’t be getting so serious.
The people of Ireland feel the same way as Joan Burton felt in that car yesterday. The government outside banging and intimidating them into submission.
I don’t agree with intimidation or tactics of those involved but understand their frustration.
You hit the nail on the head!
Well said Play.
I doubt anyone serious about the issue actually wants there to be “an air of intimidation” or any hint of disrespectful behaviour, but that’s what they feel their government is doing to them.
Bullying people into signing up to something they already pay for, threats for non payment.. Ignoring the people’s concerns – forgetting who they work for.
Threats and intimidation – only when the government do it it’s OK apparently..
Now we have that Clown Kenny claiming he “took into his confidence” parliamentary colleagues that he received nasty intimidating texts to his personal mobile phone? lets see the evidence Enda, who indeed has this infamous personal mobile number?, he and Bruton are creating a nothing out of a nothing, namely there are riots on the streets, nasty elements are hijacking the anti water protests etc etc, its complete fiction and an attempt to further belittle the ground swell of opinion against not only these charges but against this appalling government. The Independents Headline with cleverly positioned photographs this morning further plays into this nonsense.
Miss Burton is discovering that apart from her parties assured demise shortly, her own constituents are up in arms. I don’t agree with any violent actions but the dogs on the streets could have predicted trouble in Jobstown (theirs an irony in a name place, a major unemployment hotspot) yesterday, her own handlers need to be asked some questions.
The fact remains Miss Bruton and Messer Kenny, the Main protests with up to 150k on the streets saw not even a crisp bag being thrown on the ground, your attempts to tarnish the vast majority with the actions of a few will not wash and thankfully the majority are seeing through these pathetic attempts at distraction.
Joey Dempsey, in any largepublic protest you will get the loonies, anarchists ,Eirigi and others hiding behind the vast majority of peaceful protesters trying to wind up people. This will no doubt happen on December 10th too. Be aware of this folks and dont get sucked in to their agenda.The only way to defeat this IW fiasco is peaceful protest, look how it worked for Ghandi!
Gus even Ghandi wasn’t totally against the use of violence “that if one is absolutely desperate, one may resort to violence” Ghandi.
Yesterday protest was hardly violent, actually I got a little bit of guilty pleasure seeing one of this sleeveen Government getting a taste of what it feels like to be intimidated.
Jesus wept, Ghandi was not protesting about a utility bill.
neither are we
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy
That’s so wrong Neal, so wrong. You don’t remember his salt protest? Though to be fair, that was more of a condiment protest.
The view among the organisers seems to be that it’s “peaceful” as long as they didn’t point a gun at her and “democratic” as long as they had a vote on whether or not to trap her in her car.
So we cant have fancy mobile phones, can’t buy our kids fancy toys for Christmas, can’t protest!! She should stop digging holes for herself! It shows me the Gulf between politicians and tax payers who pay their wages!!
F**k off Joan
It’s very simple Joan, you and your government are not listening to the people. To their anger, their distrust and frustration. Listen before someone gets seriously injured.
Facist.
Alan – That’s an awful name you have called An Tanaiste Joan !
Alan – FG are the Conservative Unionist Fascist Party – you should know that ? You being a big supporter of Enda’s !
It seems Fine Gael and Labour have there juniors on the Journal today…. Just like Hitler Youth….
Hi Joan.
Maybe it would have been a lot more peaceful if you came out and spoke to the the people outside your beemer who elected you when you lied your way into government.
A good business person never hides from his/her customers.
Would this be more peaceful for you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlQg9qf3VVw
All your going to hear on this is undemocratic thugs but if you have been to any of these protests you will see there is a broad range of people most of who have never demonstrated in their lives. You have to ask yourself why then is a large portion of our country coming out onto the streets and venting their frustration, maybe the bullying the misinformation in the press, the villifiing of ordinary hardworking people by the mainstream media and heavy handiness of the Gardai on elderly women are finally striking a cord. Sitting in your home and taking whatever is dished out by those in power seems to be finally coming to an end in this country. That is democracy.
Government got exactly what they wanted yesterday ; sending Joan Bruton into one of the poorest areas of Ireland is like waving a red flag to a bull and then when she left they put their riot squad out in full get up to clear the people off the streets which included pushing women and children…They may have got their pictures they so dearly wanted for the propaganda rags that spew their lies, just hope people don’t fall for their nefarious ploys.
You’d wonder if that was the plan from the start… send her in, people get would up, they have a headline along the line of “the lunatic fringe”.
So iPhone Joan… its the peoples’ fault 1% may have over reacted? Surely it’s not the Government TDs fault for consistently ignoring the marches, protests and most vocal message I’ve heard from the electorate in years?
You annoy people, then ignore and frustrate them, you’d want to be stupid not to expect them to react!
See all the other td’s giving there 2 cents they should come and meet the people of tallaght and listen to what is actually affecting people. they haven’t a bleeding notion of the hardship the people of this country are going through. the people on top only look down. The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.
People are angry and fed up. The fact that these elected representatives are bashing protesters on twitter etc just shows how out of touch they are with citizens on the ground. As long as nobody was physically injured it was a peaceful protest. These representatives are elected to represent the people but only seem to represent themselves, banks and large multinational corporations. They are banking on citizens backing down as the economy “improves”.
Are you for real????? “As long as nobody was injured it was a peaceful protest”
People attacking Garda cars
Stopping the lawful travel of a citizen
Harassing, banging, shouting at a citizen
There was any number of reasons these people could have been arrested and you’re claiming peaceful bloody protest?? You need a serious look at what you class as peaceful
Like sgt hyland,stopped the legal movement of a father bringing his sick child to hospital, you my friend need to “get real”.
I dont support violence or damage that may have happened. The majority have no part in it. I do however support peoples right to protest against their public representatives who clearly don’t represent the electorates best interests or that of the country. This is their democratic right as it is for me to have my opinion and you yours.
A lot of faceless commentating and insulting. Afraid of openly voicing your opinion ?
The reality is that it was poorly handled by Joan Burton and the Gardaí.
If she had stopped to defuse the situation by talking to the representatives as an elected member of government should do. This would have calmed the protest.
Instead she called in the riot squad, refused to talk and then used force to push through the crowd.
This created resentment, built frustration and it now has galvanised resistance.
Joan Burton Leader of Labour a working peoples party, behaving like an aristocrat pushing the peasants aside with force. Refusing to listen to someone in a democracy is tantamount to saying you are of no value.
No matter how you dress this up, Joan as an elected leader failed to lead and take control of this situation. She failed to listen and failed the people she purports to represent.
Not only that, but how much did this incident cost the taxpayer ?
If I was in public relations for the Labour party, I would be crying into my coffee.
It was actually a mother bringing her son to a pre arranged appointment with a specialist, but hey, whatever fits your needs, don’t let the truth get in the way.
Yes Lad- Who is attacking the tax payer exactly??
well said denis
Well said Denis
While I dont agree with what happened, maybe protestors felt that ‘anti democratic’ is the only language our govt understands? Instead of cribbing about ‘poor Joan’ maybe take a step back and realise that the people have had enough of your shit!
Well said Caroline
As DR Grimes said last night, the right to peaceful protest does not include a right to trap, harass or intimidate people.
Nor should this basic principle of democracy need to be pointed out.
Another basic principle of democracy is not to tax people 3 times for a necessity.
“Nor should this basic principle of democracy need to be pointed out”
Says the lunatic whos threatening violence in another post, you have no credibility.
Every household was contacted – the deadline was given – the form spoke – they are the democratic voice of the people …….
No means NO !
Justin, you calling others a lunatic, anyone who has a differing opinion to you is considered a lunatic. Joan Burton got off lightly yesterday… The voice of the nation is clearly no to the triple taxation, but yet the government ignores…. Tell me who is right…. Now please go back to your FG pocket guide to get info on how to respond….
He obviously didn’t call him a lunatic because of a difference of opinion.
No Graham, if you read sarsfields posts you’ll see he was advocating violent protests, that makes him a lunatic, don’t you agree?
Justin, peaceful protests so far have been ignored, the voice of the people has been ignored…. What do you suggest, go home, choose between food or water? When people are pushed to the brink, theres only one way…. You blame the callous government for that…. They choose steak or lamb….
Ok so your advocating violence as well so fair play! Your clearly from the SF gene pool. Peaceful protest has shifted the government a lot so far.
I have never voted SF, was always Labour and Workers Party… I do not prefer violence, but would do anything to make sure my children have a good chance in life. In Ireland, the young are leaving to have that chance, unemployment is not down, the population is…. Again, refer to you pocket guide for response….
These politicians have beaten a scared animal into a corner there is only one way this is going to end unless they listen unfortunately and they are the ones who are undemocratic they are not taking on board the hardships and pain of their electorate
“Anti-democratic” Have labour lost the plot? What could be more anti ddmocratic than what they and fg are doing to their own people for the interest of foreign big business. Judas.
She couldnt expel these people Had to be forced to listen to the people who elected her and rightly so She will really feel our anger come election time Goodbye Joany the Phoney
A spud in her exhaust pipe and she would have being listen to the people a lot longer
Very classy, Pete.
Roll over again Neal.
I’m a pensioner, and will not be frightened or intimated by the gangsters in Fine Gael/labour.
I am also not fooled by the crafty slick propaganda from RTE or Independent newspapers.
I WILL be on the streets on the 10th of December, peacefully, with friends and neighbors, and the rest of the risen people, hopefully to witness your overthrow.
If i could give you a 1000 green thumbs Padraig i would, you said little but thats all you needed to make your point BRAVO
There is a family of 10 people after every green thumb,well said Padraig.
Who pays your pension?
I have to laugh at all the TD and Senator Tweets and Comments as this is shameful and undemocratic , is this not exactly what FG and Labour are doing to the Irish people..pot kettle black!!!
Welcome to the Wild West Joan!
If that’s the official tourist board slogan for the region, it needs work!
Your trolling “needs work”. Give it up Neal u r no longer funny
If you look at the videos and read the reports of what actually happened Joan and the legitimate protesters were gone long before the two arrests were made what caused the problem was a group of young immature ill mandred kids so don’t let this and other fact thin and establishment leaning articles colour your opinion of the real protesters
One brick thrown does not a violent protest make
It never happened Kevin it’s clearly photoshopped
@John Mulligan people stay firm and keep focus on the real issue. but this story is going to run now because it suits fg lab agenda, i think we all know this malee is being used in the mere hope to keep people of the street,
Great to see Jobstown Joan really connecting communities and getting back to the grass roots politics..
I’m sure the protesters are listening to all the criticism and taking it on board, they feel the pain the same way the Labour Party and FG feel the pain of the people.
The protesters were genuine and fair play to all of them, you always get the few thicks wanting to have a go at the Garda they’ll throw things and then hide behind women and children.
BUT THE REAL PROTESTERS DESERVE A LOT OF CREDIT AND THEY SHOULD BE THE ONES ON THE FRONT PAGES.
RR85, the Irish media are not to be trusted to tell the truth,they only report what they are told to report.Sites like this one shows a more accurate picture withour government censorship
not protestors just thugs
the gardai behaved excellently as did the protestors and so did Joan – she hid excellently – Is the Tainiste of the land not able to move among the people – that is sign that something is very wrong ………
Hard to take you seriously (Kenneth) if you start insulting people from all walks of life .
Sccot, how long have you been in the Labour party now?
Won’t matter soon Gus – As the line goes “‘Tis in the past and there ’till stay !”
condemning thugs, no decent person would have being present at that act of thuggery so no i didn’t offend any decent people just thugs
@sccott there was plenty of decent people at the protest and all your name calling won;t stop the protests. keep protesting people never mind the name callers.
I have no Sympathy at all for Burton… she is not listening to those who voted for her… Gilmore listened to the people after the local election results .. but instead of coming and advising the rest of the Labour party to listen to the people he ran for cover….. Capt. Gilmore left the sinking Ship … Burton is Looking after herself as well .. The rest of the Labour party should be ashamed of themselves … Ciaran Lynch don’t you ever come knocking on the doorsteps of the Cork People again .. you have left us down badly…
3 hours of sitting in the comfort of a car with a radio and heater in hand. Would love to see how she would like sitting in A+E for hours.
Correct Daniel – nor would she ever have to experience going to bed at 7 pm to escape the cold, or to count pennies to see if there was enough to buy a jug of milk.
It’s a shameful fact that an ever increasing number of pensioners have to do this – but…. “the bondholders must be paid”……many of them remain undisclosed and protected in this very government!!
@padraig o braonain i feel a lot of older people have been let down. i don;t think a lot of the politicians know how much it is to fill an oil tankard or how much it is to just keep a household going on basic things and more importantly the don’t care.
“undemocratic”??? Alex I know its foggy outside but come on wakey wakey, time to rise up out of the slumber.
manners need to be put on those thugs out trying to kidnap people. time for the gardai to take a hands on approach with these riff raff
Hello Scott welcome to Facebook for someone that was so slow to take to social networking your your well able to troll, don’t worry I’m sure if you go to the trouble of putting a few pictures on your fake account you might make a few friends (they might try sell you shoes and sunglasses though)
Sccot if the Gardai are used in the manner you suggest it will end in nationwide civil unrest.I feel sorry for the Gardai actually, understaffed and not trained to handle the situation they find themselves in.In the eyes of many of the public the Gardai are the enemy and it will take a long time for the force to get back public sympathy.Remember policing in Ireland is by the consent of the people.This situation has been brought about by a corrupt government in panic mode!
Sccott are you gonna put manners on them ?
we have a well pid police and army to batter sense into these thugs if needs be, me well i just have a bath to show solidarity with the protestors :D
@ sccott thats a very thuggish comment, so your are up for violence it just depends whos doling it out very selective.
Violence is the loudest form of political change…
This ain’t 1980s South Africa. They can afford to reign it back a little and still win.
They also have to show their determination and remind politicians that there are more people on this planet than financiers and economists and those who serve them for selfish needs !
I was wondering when somebody would revert the whole thing to the struggle in South Africa. Have you heard anything about South Africa lately? The rioting is still there, it just does not make headline news. The ANC government it corrupt and carry out human right abuse.
Explain Neal, TD’s have never, ever listened to the community. Give examples…
At almost exactly the same time that Mary Lou staged her sit in in the Dail on Thursday, public order units were called to Parliament Buildings in Cape Town to remove MP’s who didn’t agree with the ANC’s internal findings that President Zuma did not misappropriate public funds to upgrade his homestead in Nkandla. The public protectors investigation and the opposition all disagree and are calling for Zuma’s resignation and for him to repay the public coffers. Very little of this shows up in international media. There are serious issues in the new South Africa that are not reported.
You’re right though the situation is no where near late 80′s early 90′s SA but the National Party also only pandered to the well off elite with no interest in 90% of the population.
3 hours is a very long time for one to be holding in their waters .
On the contrary Alex. Large numbers of people are becoming aware of the exploitative system which they live under and are taking the necessary steps to correct this. It’s the essence of democracy.
Let’s take a moment just to reflect and remember, all this would not have happened if this “COOPERATE” run and owned Government had not have come on with an idea to way over charge for water after we have already been taxed. The neck of them to try and scam us.
All this is nobody but the fools in Leinster House. They must be held responsible for this mess
That may be the case, but that message has now been completely overshadowed by the actions of these vermin protesters.
These protesters will loos there support??? I’m afraid not. These protesters are gaining support and clearly the Goverment haven’t a clue. In all my 31 years I have never seen Ireland protest so much about something . These protest are happening more and more how much does it take for the goverment to realise that they don’t have a mandate anymore to govern this country . President Higgins needs to deslove the goverment before it gets out of hand. And just to say I have not protested yet but I will and the actions yesterday would not put me off protesting
If the people have to go to war with a FF/FG coalition after the next election (an almost certain outcome now that Sinn Fein have grown so strong) then our answer to Joan & Enda, and the rest of the bloodsuckers is:
We the people are going nowhere-until this despised quango is abolished and a referendum is held to enshrine Irish water in public ownership and “no commoditization” by local authorities to boot.
If a FF/FG coalition are united, and determined to go to war against our communities all over Ireland,on this issue;then the people who have never used their democratic mandate (an incredible 50% of the population!) must present themselves at polling stations in numbers never seen before. This is a war between the Golden Circle of politicians and crony public sector unions;one one hand; against the common people of Ireland who are daily crucified to keep all of them in a lifestyle unknown to working class people.
Minister Coveney-recently wheeled out to defend Irish Water- has a flawed pedigree -too flawed to be wheeled out as a defender of iniquitous taxation of the poor.
Perhaps if the great and good in Irish business and political life had not in previous decades hidden much of their wealth offshore in Ansbacher bank accounts we might have a proper water infrastructure today.
If Bart Ahern and his Soldiers of Destiny had spent less time, during their three terms in office acting as an ATM machine for public sector unions, and investing the money that flowed in, in necessary infrastructure we would not have hundreds of thousands of our citizens marching in th rain for a more just society.
This “Irish Water” quango has to become a political watershed (pardon the pun) in Irish society.We must now become more French than the French themselves, if that is what it takes to clean out the political Oligarchy and their crony unions.
Either we the people will win-and change the political face of Ireland for the first time in history-or a FF/FG coalition will continue to harass us-even after the next election and we lose everything that our forefathers fought for in 1916.
I have no doubt that if Patrick Pearse and James Connolly and Michael Collins,and Sean mcDermott,were able to speak from their graves; they would unite in saying ” ;
The loss of this battle by the common people is too hard to even contemplate”
Let 2016 therefore be the year that; if our political elite are still warring against us over this most profound principal of access to non commoditized water for all our citizens; -let it be a year of a battle won,and true independence and true representatives elected;who are beholden to no union, or business, or industry, or lobby group-but who consider the best interests of all our people before anything else.
Well said. I believe we are in for a long fight. A lot of people with blinkers on and a fear of change.
well said sean it takes the people to be truly on their knees before they do rise up.
There are far more creative ways to get your point across in a peaceful manner. The actions of those people will only serve to discredit the anti water charges movement.
Democracy is about discussion, debate and respect. In the majority of cases its far better to sit at someone’s desk than to sit on it.
David, tell us about the respect that is been shown to the people by government. The are no longer in power to serve the people they are serving their masters in the EU and think we should all be turned into slaves.
I think what I said was reasoned. There is nothing democratic about restricting a citizens movement, regardless of whether that person is the tanaiste or not.
Is it not un- democratic to push ordinary decent people to the brink ! I,ve worked all my life , paid my taxes and in general been a law abiding citizen ! Well I,ve had enough, when you get to the stage where you just can,t see any light at the end of this road .We will be unable to pay our mortgage if another bill, tax or anything else of a similar nature is pushed upon us . Our parents and grandparents did not work hard all their lives for our wonderful country to end up like this where the rich get richer and ordinary decent hard working people like myself can,t even have a modest lifestyle Enough I say No more , I now will do whatever it takes to see this Government Fall , Shame on you all.
I totally get the reason people are protesting, but in other countries people pay for water and have done for decades without locking TDs in their cars. It’s getting out of hand because a bunch of thugs use their arms instead of their brains. There are better ways of protesting, but this isn’t one of them.
We have also paid for our water. You do know that, right?
I do know that, and we have been for a long time. I just think the protests are getting out of hand because some ignorant people decide it’s OK to trap a person in their car for three hours.
People are angry and understandably so, nobody is listening and they are taking these opportunities to demonstrate it. Nobody was hurt, she was inconvenienced for a few hours and that’s about it. There are YouTube clips of this protest and the protests were far from menacing. But of course, our TD’s and “media” are telling their usual lies to try to discredit the protesters. Apparently, the arrests were made long after Joan and the majority of the actual protesters had left.
What idiot thinks we haven’t already been paying for water? Did you think some religious order was producing it voluntarily?
It is the lamest argument I have ever heard.
How about, no bus fares because we bought the buses using our taxes?
Other countries do this that and the other. Other countries also don’t have USC vrt hit high tax at €100.000 have shorter working weeks have more holidays
Johngahan u r calling someone’s argument lame after that bus bull u wrote
Violence never solved anything. As I wrote, there are other ways in going about it. Our government is flawed, as is any. There is no perfect government, and any new one that gets elected has things they cannot follow up on “like they promised.” Did people seriously expect we would get out of what FF did without a scratch? That FG and Lab would wrap us in cotton wool until it was over? Trapping a woman in a car for 10 minutes, so be it, but 3 hours? Saying all this doesn’t mean I support FG and Labours actions. I simply believe what happened with Burton was a step too far , and I would say so about any other person.
Joan if you do not like the heat get out of the kitchen water is a God given right
“We’ll take your advice on board ,Joanna “,said no protester EVER!
This is shocking behavior and shouldn’t happen in decent society but this is how far decent people have been pushed, to the point where we are doing things we don’t want to do and wouldn’t normally do but have no other course of action when we’re being repeatedly pay for mistakes that weren’t ours, some financially, some families have paid with lives. We’re not happy that things like this Happen but when the people we chose to represent us don’t listen to us it becomes NECESSARY!
https://www.facebook.com/Right2WaterIreland , Protest 1pm ,Leinster House ,December 10th .
Like Previous protest of 100,000 s, On the day we will visibly and vocally ,effectively , peacefully protesting .
The most intimidating protesters are being led by subversives like Eirigi and other organisations that have a long history of not recognising the legitimacy of this state.
Paul Murphy is a disgrace and his membership of the Dail is an affront to our democracy.
The leniency shown by the Gardaí to these hooligans cannot go on, they will have to get tough with these thugs.
Proinsias, tell us of this democracy of which you speak, bringing in legislation on Christmas Day? Making us pay 2/3/4 times for water? The most vital component to life, do you remember the Lisbon treaty? I think you mean dictatorship.
I have no recollection of the Oireachtas sitting on Xmas day. We democratically chose to pass the Lisbon Treaty. We do not directly pay for water it’s funded up to now by general taxation.
I think there needs to be a usage charge for water. However I think it should be reasonable but above average use should be penalised heavily.
Well Said Proinsias
Proinsias being a yes man like u is affront to democracy there would be no democracy if we all were cowards and yes men it would be a dictatorship but I’m sure that would suit u find
Well boo hoo Proinsias the country is literally bursting at the seams with fresh water why do you think IW want to meter us?, its because they know they have an abundance of water, they want you to use as much as you can because the more you use the more money this quango will rake from the populace.
I hope your family don’t all come down with a dose of the runs at the same time you might have to flush the loo a hundred times a day.
“Speaking to RTÉ News, Communications Minister Alex White said the protesters’ actions were “undemocratic”. Are you serious ? How about the financial robbery of our country through a pack of lies …….jesus they had Mehole Martin on the Saturday night show last night , the mafia establishment is really scared and so they should be..
@William Byod only an imbecile would conclude that water gets to their tap for free.
Good old Proinsias stooping to name calling again, who said the water was free??, everyone knows there is problems within the system, the zillions that its costing to put together this IW profit making machine could’ve sorted a multitude of the current problems within the system, it was never about conservation thats just a stupid red herring pedaled by you among others as some sort of justification for ripping off a country that has access to “5″ times more fresh water than your average European, even with the leaks in the system we still have an abundance of water.
We drove by it there waa lots of police cars and police on the ground and a lot of people standing around for the most part it was a peaceful protest from what I have seen and heard it got heated at the end but not until she was gone its not on for violence of any description in these circumstances as it weakens the cause but the government are not listening and they need to start because hoe Joan Burton was treated yesterday is how many people feel they are treated by this government everyday and its time they understood that
Anti-democratic is lying to an electorate to get into power then ignoring the will of the people once there.
“Anti democratic” would that be bringing in water charges against the will of the majority of people
No, that would be hijacking an elected representatives car and trapping her in it for a long period in an attempt to intimidate her into giving you what you want.
Neal really need to sharpen up in your wit u used to be mildly funny now just really sad and desperate.new avatar new user name rob someone else’s wit and pass em off as your own.u desperately have to try something your only a figure of ridicule now and your the only one who doesn’t get that.
“an elected representative…..” Neal Ireland Hello, who no longer has a mandate as she and her whole traitorous party have sold out the people who voted them in.
This current movement of people is historic, not only for it’s size, but for it’s coming together of people from all walks of life, some who have never marched or protested in their lives, but mostly it is historic for it’s continued peaceful determination in the face of lies, intimidation, threats against Social Welfare payments, against private income, and aggression by those who have been charged with ‘keeping the peace.’
We are wise now to how they operate and we have learned that our peaceful protesting will win in the end, despite how they might try to sabotage that, either by media lies or Agent Provocateurs placed among us.
Guy throwing a brick is wrong, but I did see other photos of thugs at the protest one had some sort of pepper spray and another had I think a steel extendable baton, absolute thuggish behaviour not to mention the thug in the car trying to run people over.
Anti democratic? Bit rich coming from the Labour Party who sold there souls getting into government. People voted for these liars because they were anti water charges, anti property tax, labours way remember that on the ads. Well people voted for these in a democratic process and our now protesting in a peaceful manner and by god labour will be decimated in the next elections
Nice Treaty? Wrong answer. Vote again.
Lisbon Treaty? Wrong answer. Vote again.
Welcome to democracy.
That was the plan all along. Send Joan into a poor area and watch the whole thing explode. Then the rsgs and government can paint the opposition to IW and the heavy handed with the same brush.
Just goes to show how sly they are.
Seen the Sindo today they seem to have all the info on how much the water charges will be ? How does that happen Joan Brutal couldn’t answer the question 3 days ago, said we well know next week but the Sindo seems to know before her ?????
So the rats in Labour have a voice after all well try listening to what the people are saying for a change and then speek up for them if you dont Labour are finished as a political force in Ireland for many years to come.
This is no longer about water charges you have had you’re chance and failed on that issue this is about removing a self serving government that has lost the support ot the people that elected it
The lies that both parties told to get elected are coming home to roost labour & fg are now reaping what they have sowen
SF must ave being raging Murphy got this protest in ahead of them, the smile on murphy’s face priceless
Come the next election the “Champagne Socialists” of the Labour Party will understand what democracy is when they are voted out of their seats, of course they’ll be able to start claiming their Dáil/Ministerial pensions straight away (no waiting until they are 65)
She deserves worse.
Joanna Tuffy – employer of her partner ‘Phil’ – earns a fortune for talking out her backside. It was a peaceful protest. Labour have zero credibility- liars. No arrests made so either it was peaceful or the Gardai are as inept as their employer. Labour & FG putting the Mock into Democracy.
I think they might need to go back into education if they see what they are do as democratic, and what the people of this country are doing as undemocratic. Muppets is about right.
Over 400 people at the protest .2 arrests .I call that peaceful protest .
The incident involving Burton yesterday was written by Stuart Carolan it’s just a propaganda stunt. The senior civil servants run this country TDs come and go every 5 years but senior civil servants don’t, and they write the policy’s for our elected politicians to introduce.
Clearly water protesters including their elected leader lack the mental capacity to understand the definition of ‘peaceful’
I’m sure their supporters will claim it’s all media spin and RTE somehow turned photos of them chanting in a field of daisies into them
trying tip a car and throwing bricks….
Drew do you mean the famous Photoshopped brick?
well done, people should try to go to these peaceful protests that confront our politicians to remind them who is in charge in this country!
It does not matter what you are protesting about.
It does not matter what side of the political divide you are.
It does matter that a Government Minister was held hostage in her car yesterday for 3 hours.
This was not a peaceful protest and only a thug would think that it was.
You will have lost a lot of creditability with decent minded people!
“m is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
If Joan doesn’t want to see protests everywhere she goes all she has to do is call for an election. Else, she might want to invest in a big book of sudoku.
Joan is a part of the lab party, a party that was set up to protect the middle and working class ppl,
Ask yourself honestly has she and her party done this ,
Your answer is what happened yesterday when a working class area lets her see exactly how they feel.
And tell me john how were the middle class protected
They were hit hardest regardless of labour or any other of the crap in the dail
You son are livin in a bubble
@hozatme that’s the point of my comment, she hasn’t and that’s
Why working class ppl are showing her how they feel,
I actually hate the terms classes of ppl,
Who gives anyone the right to class you ??
You cut me I bleed, you cut a billionaire he bleeds too,
Classes is a polictial way of saying I’m better than you are because I earn more Money , I think it’s all bs,
That’s why the ppl can’t stand together because one half thinks it’s better than the other, and one thinks the other is stuck up, why can’t we get along and fight this together ??
Meh. Local lad chucks a brick.
Doesn’t mean anything.
Poll tax protests in Britain weren’t all peaceful but they were successful.
Ms Burton. You will have to understand the frustration of the Irish people while you go about your Dail duties ignoring the people and their needs, it makes me boil with anger to think you think you are looking after the Irish people when you are dancing to Enda’s tune who in turn is jigging to Angela’s tune, you people are unbelievable and make me sick.
If we had a trustworthy government who care about Country and people we would be the best Country in the World.
I guess those looking from the inside of the bubble in 1789 saw the Storming of the Bastille as undemocratic and to contain a sinister element. Labour very quick to rally around their own as they cling on for dear life to the pension entitlements they are building up at the price if betraying the Irish people. The quicker this party is confined to the ashes of history the better. The quicker we have a referendum to abolish political pensions the better because we are attracting the wrong type of people to lead this country. Greed has simply destroyed the moral and ethical fabric of our society.
I feel the main anger started before the last elections.the bankers FF and the trioka messed this country.so we elect FG into power and we voted Labour in as handbrake measure to FG.
Everyone knows in ireland
FF = BUILDERS
FG= BIG BUSINESS
LABOUR = THE PEOPLE.
WELL NOT ANYMORE, THEIR ALL OUT FOR THEMSELVES AND THE PEOPLE ARE FRUSTRATED THEY HAVE NO-ONE TO SPEAK FOR THEM …..
Was it not extremely insensitive almost strange for Joan Burton to go to Tallaght in such fragile times ? Did it not occur to her that this might be provocative ?
I agree , was a set up
That was not a peaceful protest. What does she think they were going to say noting and just stand there. Well Joan the moan your noting but a waster you could have had it all but you shafted the people who elected you. Now you pay the piper.
Disgraceful behaviour. There’s a reason the property tax wasn’t protested like this..
Niamh what was the reason please also it failed
The reason why it failed was the authorarian Government we have allowed Revenue to take the property tax from peoples’ pockets. People just got on with it.
They are meant to be voting during the week (someone said it wasn’t going ahead) to allow IW to get Revenue to take again!
Enough is enough!
Joan its only mild compared to whats going to happen to your party next election your going into political wilderness next election like the green party do the country a favour get out now
The very people that voted them in are the same that are bitching and moaning
They were never a socialist party
They now with power act like the Gestapo
The way to protest is to eliminate them from all political life in the next election
Blocking her in at an award ceremony or picketing topaz stations by the shinners is not the way to go people are not thick we
Know
This is to deflect from the sex abuse scandal
The problem I have is that I have little faith in any of the political parties they are all abysmal
Howzatme absolute nonsense protest r going on before sex abuse shinner scandal this was residents not shinners but don’t leave facts stand in your way u r the one deflecting attention shinners have plenty of baggage to attack without lying about them u will be no better then what your attacking
Richard the ramping up is deliberate on the last week lets not play games with each other
I think u over estimate the power of the shinners. They were asked to remove there banners from protest I was on vast majority r def not shinners
They removed the banners and put up tri colours instead or at ballymun a shinner wore a leprechaun outfit
On radio 1 the head of the college in tallaght said she was spat at
Now it becomes a cluster fock for the shinners and goes back to my point
If they sat in front of the car it would have gone well
Grown men banging on a car and spitting and throwing eggs is just fockin dumb to promote a cause right now
She should be hung drawn and quartered for being a traitor, well done Tallaght , you made the real Irish people proud, power to the people
Poor Joan Feeling the victim again..
10-12-14
Power to the people
Jobsworth at Jobstown… time our cosy well healed masters felt the pain and anger of the people.
The truth of the matter is simple, Joan Burton may have felt threaten & intimidated, but that’s nothing compare to the intimidation & stress being put on them by banks on a daily bases or on families trying their hardest to feed their children.
What’s undemocratic Joan is the taxes your attempting to force down the people of Ireland’s throats without their consent when they have no more to give…. That’s not democracy either you twit
Dont know what Phoney Joanie is moaning about Poor Mary Lou was trapped for four hours People are angry what does.she expect
This govt are the undemocratic ones. They don’t listen to the Irish citizens.
As long as water siochana / Irish garda collaborate together the citizens of the state have a right to see them as misrepresenting them. Eamon Gilmore and Joan burton and co secured their seats on a lie. The garda are not investigating the whole story and are turning into stooges. This is not a democratic revolution in a positive sense by any stretch of the imagination.
Whatever way you look at it ten-twenty years ago the Labour movement would have been involved in scenes like this but now they are the people on the other side and they don’t like it?
People shouldn’t be firing things at the Gardaí and at the same time a TD shouldn’t be man handled and declothed in public. But government have to remember something this is their doing. They rushed this. They spent millions of people’s hard saved austerity cash rich or poor with extraordinary waste. People are angry. It is going to be hard for this gov to stay in.
How anyone could call that a ‘peaceful protest’ I really do not understand.
Lorns, nobody was injured or died ! That is peaceful, pity you were not at the poll tax riots in London in 1990 now THAT was violent! Toughen up!
Compared what went on in Brussels 2 weeks ago,this protest was VERY VERY peaceful,considering we had 2 peaceful protests with abouth 250000 people and not 1 arrest,and then the do gooders come out and claiming this protest was violent this makes me believe it smells as government propaganda.
DON’T FALL FOR IT.
Many of those ‘peaceful protesters have never set foot in a polling station because they couldnt be bothered. They are not remotely interested in democracy. To see the likes of Paul Murphy a public rep in the middle of it is surely a clear indication of the very dangerous kind of ‘democracy’ we could look forward to should he and his colleagues take over this country. No one is disputing the fact that everyone has the right to peaceful protest but what took place yesterday was an example of mob mentality and if he has any genuine interest in democracy Paul Murphy needs to stop playing to the gallery to feed his own ego and man up and call a halt to this kind of behaviour.
Getting abuse and having your car attacked while visiting Tallaght. I thought this was an everyday event in that dump?
What is the capital of Socrates
Outside the community my arse !
Why are people afraid to hit the Garda. Why are people afraid of them full stop. They have no mandate to hold people down.Theyre supposed to be guardians of the peace, but yet they assault peaceful protesters. I say it’s time to stop this peaceful stuff
Who managed to get the riff-raff out of bed so early to post the garbage above? How did the Gardai manage to show such restraint under the provocation from the mob. I have no time for Ms. Burton but this was a demonstration of what lies beneath the surface of those who bring mobs out on to our streets.
Shame Uncle Mort hides behind a silly name!
She now has a small idea what its like to be a member of the public. We are stuck paying for over an over paid government, paying for a bank collapse we did not cause while the ones who did got away scott free, and no forced to pay for the basic human right of water. She now knows how it feels to be trapped.
What is the point of the tweets between Shayne O’Donoghue and Joanna Tuffy? They haven’t said anything?
Missiles being thrown at the Gardai, peaceful alright. mostly animals claiming to protest yesterday. Some faces in this video that turn out at every protest no mater what the topic is. They’re the nasty element along with the yobish youths involved yesterday that couldn’t give a damn about water charges. more harm than good done here.
It was only a matter of time before the thugs took over.. People have a weird concept of what is peaceful. There also appears to be appalling double-standards in that a protestor pushing a Garda is peaceful protest while its brutality if it’s the other way around..
The behavior was disgraceful and cannot be condoned. Just look at some of the footage and some of the individuals involved. They don’t look like ordinary decent hardworking taxpayers that I met on the marches I have attended in recent weeks.
I look at the news from home, and I remember something I’ve always held true.
“Sometimes a cause’s most dangerous enemies are its most fanatical supporters.”
These protesters are the Anti Water movement’s most dangerous enemy.
Murphy is full of his own importance. He is person from a privileged background, private education etc. he has no time for the regular Joe soap he just wants to act out his thuggish ways.
Undemocratic i hear pmsl fook off so called td,s.there is nothing more undemocratic than yous wa**ers riding the people!!! Get a grip
As a nation who came out to voice their reaction about water charges and we’re not listened to . I think this was a timid reaction to the people we put in government . We put them their to bring the change we want not charges we won’t accept . If 100,000 citizens won’t be listened to by peaceful protest . It stand to reason the smaller protest will be more forceful the message will eventually be heard , Roll on election time when our pens will make the final descion ! Irish people are fed up being ignored !! Change is coming
That is absolutely outrageous by any standard. Guards are not political puppets for corrupt politics. OBVIOUS it was a sit down protest Thats PASSIVE resistence. So how do you protest Joan Burton style or Charlie Flannagan or Joann person. Throw people out of their overpriced homes due to bank fraud. Put small business out of business due to jobbridge and not making sure local people are hired by big business. 1 in every 4 I deal with in Dublin City are foreign. Yet same companies inundated with applications from unemployed still these companies go hire foreign people form where, in a recession? and only country where speaking english is not necessary just get by does?. Or voilence of forced by homelessness. If only JB and CF and J had a dot of understanding of being Passive. Now must see a Cross coming together of right and left democratic politics because these antics of corrupt political gangsters manipulating all round media spinning and goading while fiddling away has gone too far.
Unreal.
Am I the only one who finds it difficult in the extreme, to understand and believe how it took a number of hours for the Gardai, including the Riot Squad, to get joan Burton away from the protestors!!!???????? How can they explain this!??? Can someone explain this?
In a week of accusations of political stunting in and of the Dàil, could this have been the biggest and most orchastrated stunt of them all in order to undermine the current wave of protestors while gaining a sympathy vote for Joan burton at the same time!!!!!!???
The buzz word being used by the SHEEP of the Labour Party since yesterday as used by Alex White on the Six One News last night has been UNDEMOCRATIC.
Yes, Alex you and your colleagues in the Labour Party have been acting in an UNDEMOCRATIC manner since you joined Fine Gael in this Government. You were elected by the people of this country in a Democratic election based on your policies/manifesto. One of which was no water charges. If anyone is qualified to talk about things of an UNDEMOCRATIC nature it certainly is you and your fellow SHEEP in the Labour Party.
Of course the people who are being protested against would say it’s “undemocratic” … Isn’t it amazing how democracy comes into play when they are the subjects
It was in fact the MOST democratic thing to happen in a very long time. The citizens were tired of not being listened to so they were forced to voice themselves in another, very democratic way.
They’d want to invest in a dictionary to understand what Democracy actually means.
It’s not them making decisions for us.
It is us making decisions for ourselves.
You would think one of the protesters was throwing elbows like Frank Feighan the way she is going on.
it seems law and order and the reasonable protection of representatives should be thrown out the window when it comes to water charges.
Is it just me or has the whole thing gotten a bit out of hand. There are other issues to be dealing with in the counrty
Ah poor baby… Joan has been living the good life free from any consequences the rest of us have to a deal with paying for the feckless previous government and the current one happily continuing the treasonous treachery by paying foreign gamblers by plundering the middle and working classes in this country while they, their cronies and the rich business owners and bankers just get richer. They seem to be shocked that the placid sheep they thought they were herding towards the financial cliff of abject poverty would keep trotting along at their beck and call and believe every lie and con trick that came out of their mouths. Well Joan and Enda and all the other parasites that dwell in government buildings and the Dail.. no more you have lost any last shred of credibility or mandate and it’s time for you all to slope off to your privilaged retirements that we will still be paying you for.
Paul Murphy is a hero and without him the protests are doomed. Unless of course another hero takes his place. He has worked very hard at organising the marches. The likes of Burton and Kenny would like very much to be as popular as him but that will never happen.
Stupid wench
If poor Joan found that intimidating, god help her if she ever had to live in normal society, I have to walk down from Stephens green to o Connell street every night at around midnight after work. The lack of police on our streets, super long response times after incidents, junkies running the city centre , no public transport ect. Makes it an intimidating situation!
A water ballon thrown by a child is hardly the international incident you’d think listening to some people!!
I’m sad to see that the media coverage is neglecting to state why the people are protesting and instead is labeling them “thugs” and “undemocratic”. Admittedly you could say that about a small percentage of them, but what should we call our own government then? Democratic?! I don’t condone any type of violence but it is only arming the government with sympathy votes and neglecting to address the real issue at hand, that of the water and the complete contempt of the government for the Irish people. Some say “how would these actions be dealt with in the US by the police?”. True they wouldn’t accept it lying down and would be forceful against violent protestors, but then maybe we should ask why does this type of thing not happen in Scandinavia? Because democracy can work! I live in Spain right now but seeing the Irish people standing up for their rights (as happened historically in Ireland) offers me hope. Lets just hope the few that are brick/balloon throwing will realise it is just another nail in the coffin and not helping our case. We want people to stay in Ireland, not leave (I’m coming home next year).
Why would you even want any of this lot speaking at your ceremony ….I’d rather Bono!
@ clifford reid class we have to have that no1 by christmas
You reap what you sow
If police in riot gear intervened in the same way on the continent or the UK all hell would have broke out. Credit to Irish people for keeping order and not igniting the situation, the government and media need to keep their comments into context with the events that happened. The largest organised arm of any rights to water protest I’ve seen is the trade unions, the very people labour should be representing.
if it’s unanimous then it’s Democratic
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