Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AS THE 12th of July Orange Order marches cast off Covid restrictions and returned to full celebrations today the message from the loyalist institution was that it will do everything it can to oppose the Northern Ireland Protocol.
To mark the 332nd anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne around 60 bands paraded through the heart of Belfast today for the largest annual unionist celebration. Thousands of people lined the streets along the parade route, with many partaking in a few beverages to toast William of Orange’s 1690 victory.
Today’s event came with political tensions in Northern Ireland again in a heightened state as unionists are angered that the Protocol has created an economic border between Northern Ireland and Britain.
There hasn’t been a functioning government since the May elections as the DUP has refused to agree to its formation until its concerns over the UK’s Brexit withdrawal agreement are dealt with.
Speaking at today’s march, Orange Order members were clear that they believe the Protocol poses a grave threat to the future of the six county state.
Hugh Hamilton, lodge secretary at Star of the North Lodge in East Belfast, said the political tension is driving more people to join the Orange Order.
“Obviously, people’s culture and identity is important to them. So, we’re seeing a big influx right now. My own lodge, we took in an influx of 25 new members. We’re the biggest lodge in Belfast county with 764 members,” Hamilton told The Journal.
“As the membership grows, that’s probably an indication of what way people are thinking. They’re thinking that by being out in the streets in numbers it sends a message.”
And the message is:
We’re here and we’re not going away.
At a small gathering of Orange Order leaders in a corner of Barnett Demesne, after a six mile march from the city centre, opposition to the Protocol was announced as one of the order’s 12th of July resolutions.
“From the outset of this current crisis, Orangeism has stood firm and has worked tirelessly to encourage Unionist co-operation on this crucial issue. The economic and political future of Northern Ireland hinges on the removal of the Protocol which continues to see Northern Ireland treated as a place apart,” a speaker told the gathering.
Other aspects of the resolutions included continued “support for the right to life of the unborn”, a reaffirmation of the order’s devotion to the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II and continued opposition to Irish language legislation in Northern Ireland.
At the same gathering, James McHarg, the Grand Master of the Orange Order in Scotland, described the Protocol as the most significant threat to Northern Ireland since 1921.
“That’s how serious the situation is regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. I can’t understand how a British Prime Minister has allowed for such a situation to happen.
“You all saw through Boris and his false promises and not for the first time. But Boris is gone now and I hope and trust that the next Prime Minister understands the name of their party: the ‘Conservative and Unionist Party’, with the emphasis being on the word ‘unionist’,” McHarg said.
The Grand Master of the Orange Order in Scotland says the Protocol is the most significant threat to Northern Ireland since 1921. pic.twitter.com/ss990lAhIt
— Céimin Burke (@CeiminB) July 12, 2022
However, the protocol wasn’t a burning issue for all attendees. Thomas, a member of the Govan Protestant Boys band from Glasgow, said the day is more about cultural expression than politics.
“For us it’s more the band scene in the lodge. Obviously, the Protocol and everything that’s more to do with Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Obviously we want Northern Ireland to be a part of the British empire. And it’s the same for us coming from Glasgow. The SNP [Scottish National Party] is trying to split the union up as well. And certainly, for us, I would like to stay part of the Union. That’s got a lot to do with it as well.”
The loyalist band travel around Scotland and Northern Ireland participating in parades and also travel to the North America Glasgow Rangers Football Club convention every year.
It was involved in controversy in 2019 after it was filmed parading around Belfast City Hall.
What’s the day like for the on-lookers and residents?
The first thing that is noticeable about Belfast on 12 July is that, away from the parade route, it appears to be absolutely deserted.
“When the Prods come out to play everyone runs away,” a taxi driver jokes, before adding that he believes the annual unionist celebration is a financial boost to Northern Ireland and making it clear that he supports the marches.
The event causes significant disruption in the city every year and many, from across the community divide, take advantage of the fact that it’s a designated bank holiday to get away.
Belfast is a strange mix of thronged and deserted as the Orange Order 12 July parade makes its way from the city centre to The Field in the south of the city. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/WcT07p1D0J
— Céimin Burke (@CeiminB) July 12, 2022
When you do meet the crowds they’re tightly packed along the lengthy parade route. Flags and symbols are in abundance with crowns, red hands and poppies emblazoned on everything from t-shirts and ties to bowler hats and aprons.
Glasgow Rangers jerseys are also everywhere, with the Scottish outfit’s away orange strip particularly popular.
Like many cultural holidays, alcohol is ubiquitous with bottles and cans seen throughout the crowd and empties littered around the streets.
A PSNI officer told The Journal that the basic itinerary of the day is that the bands march out to Barnett Demesne, which is colloquially known as The Field, while “everyone else stays around [the city] and gets hammered.”
The party was in full flow in the city centre at around midday and groups lustily joined in as the bands banged out The Sash and other loyalist ballads. Amid the din one reveller managed to fall asleep outside a mortgage broker’s office. An impressive feat.
The crowd mellowed out again as the parade passed through the leafier suburbs around the Malone and Lisburn roads.
When the march culminates at The Field many of the marchers look physically exhausted after lugging drums and flags for around 10 kilometres.
They can be seen sprawled out on the grass or resting under marquees while teenagers drink suspiciously pale Coca-Cola and young children get their faces painted.
“It’s too much, it’s tiring” says Thomas from Govan, “it’s definitely too long if you ask my legs.”
Tucked away in a corner of the field, Orange Order leaders held a sparsely attended religious service and announced their resolutions for the year.
Meanwhile, Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child of Mine and other incongruous songs could be heard playing out over a big speaker nearby.
After a couple of hours the bands then turn around and do it all again, marching back into the city centre and then back to their lodges, where they began their day. Hugh from Star of the North said their round trip from East Belfast takes longer than 12 hours.
The main route in Belfast is now well-established and residents have become familiar with what to expect. Certain fashpoints still remain in the capital with particular issues cropping up in Ardoyne in north Belfast and the Short Strand area of the inner city in recent years.
SDLP councillor for Belfast’s Balmoral district Donal Lyons says the parades were significantly more controversial in years past and the Parades Commission – which is responsible for placing restrictions on parades deemed offensive – has done an effective job at reducing the number of contentious issues.
“There’s still local issues, I live on a parade route myself and there are still issues with regards to residents and due respect but a lot of the time, in a lot of places in Belfast, they are worked through by communities engaging with each other in the run up to it.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie agreed with this assessment saying there are now less contentious parades than ever as a result of regulation by the Parades Commission.
While the parades largely passed off without any major incidents today (though a man was arrested for disorderly behaviour after getting into an altercation with one of the bands) the PSNI are investigating the burning of election posters, flags and effigies on bonfires across Northern Ireland.
Representatives from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and People Before Profit all condemned the actions with some calling for unionist politicians to take action to try and stamp out the practice.
And still 50% of water will leak through the pipes.
@Trevor Beacom: which is grand as there not part of this nation.
@Roy Dowling: yep
@Trevor Beacom: Sun tax coming soon…
@Trevor Beacom: 89million litres of water/day have already been saved fixing leaks which they are already doing.
@Tim Pot: well its not enough
@ross guilfoyle: Ignore ‘tim’. he can pull a thousand figures out of his backside, but it still won’t change the fact that half a billion euro and a huge amount of labour went into fitting meters that FG were told weren’t needed, that could have been spent fixing leaks and leaving our water infrastructure in better shape.
@The Risen:
Hi ‘Paul’ Good luck in the election this year.
My figures are all from published documents, I tend not to store published documents up my backside.
The meters are still being used as they are invaluable to finding the leaks that ‘Paul’ cares so much about.
“In the case of specific leaks or specific demand, putting in a temporary meter is probably the only way to quantify what is going on. It can be a very valuable way of tracing leaks………in every situation where we renew pipe services, we put in a stopcock. All of our stopcocks have the capacity to take a meter. They are the only type of stopcocks that we use.”
LOL! ‘Paul’ indeed.
Still doesn’t change the fact that half a billion and a huge amount of labour went into fitting meters instead of fixing leaks.
but keep going……
@The Risen: don’t know who this dope thinks hes fooling. its obvious that repairing the big leaks was the best way to ensure supply.
@We Love Katamari: Plus he commentating on each anti IW comment for the last few days that Ive noticed, has to be paid to do it.
He stated somewhere earlier that IW were spending 500 million to fix leaks .. later then stated something like 487 million for meter installs, which is bull, must be far higher, DOB did not buy sitserve to make that little money. Anyways lets say 500 mill to install meters v’s 500 mil to fix leaks.. so if no meter install the money was spent on fixing leaks, at least 50% more water would be available, let alone what the couple of billion to set up IW , which is most likely far higher, would have done
@The Risen: I think Mr T Pot is actually Elizabet Arnett
Ms Elizabeth Arnett Head of Communications and Corporate Services
Elizabeth Arnett, yes the woman on TV defending Irish Water was former head of Project Communications of RPS Consultants who had the Contract for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project .
RPS Consultants
The contract between Dublin City Council and RPS for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project amounted to 30 million when initially quoted for 8.3 million. The European Commission ordered Dublin City Council to terminated its contract with RPS. It descried the contract as an ‘Illegal Situation’
Both Jerry Grant, Irish Water’s head of asset management, and Elizabeth Arnett, head of communications and corporate services, previously worked for RPS Group, a consultancy firm that had advised the state in the setting up of Irish Water – part of a consultancy package that has so far cost the state €85m. RPS also made some €30m out of its consultancy contract on the Poolbeg project, a contract the European Commission described as “an illegal situation.”
European Commision calls for end to €30m Poolbeg PR contract
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ec-calls-for-end-to-30m-poolbeg-pr-contract-29743278.html
THE European Commission has called on Dublin City Council to terminate a multimillion euro contract relating to the stalled Poolbeg incinerator project.
The original value of the contract – for client representative and public relations services – was in the region of €8.3m.
RPS & Burning €81 Million on Poolbeg Incinerator
http://galwaytent.blogspot.ie/2012/02/rps-burning-81-million-on-poolbeg.html
@The Risen:
…meters that are still being used to find the leaks to fix….
I suppose from IW’s point of view it would be helpful to know which part of the road to dig up…
Its also a fact that 89 million litres of water/day have been saved since 2014, through fixing leaks and increasing capacity. You can even see where: https://www.water.ie/projects-plans/
I wouldn’t be surprised if a few sneaky meters helped IW locate some of those pesky leaks either..
@Tim Pot: BS. Less than 7% of the water lost is between the meter and the house. Half a billion and a massive amount of labour spent to fit meters that ignore 90%+ of the water lost.
Again, thats money and labour that could have been used to fix the real issue.
You’re full of it ‘tim’
@Tim Pot: why are you quoting the most hated and distrusted company in ireland to back up the crap youre spewing on these articles
not credible, just like everything else IW put out
@We Love Katamari: EXACTLY
“Irish waters doing a great job, here’s some figures from Irish Water to prove it”
Good lad ‘tim’ LOL!
@Irish Bob: Irish Water is my Mastermind speciality topic that is all.
173m to setup IW, (not the couple of billion you claim)
477m spent on meters (over 2 years)
average spend of 689m/ year on capital expenditure (fixing leaks, improving capacity)
Feel free to do your back-of-envelope calcs with these figures.
@Tim Pot: so the the 2.4 billions wasted so far setting up a billing company is actually resting in someone’s account and you only spent 650m of it, that’s good news lets shut this shambolic scare mongering company down and use the remaining money to fix the leaks on the supply side where they have always been!
Incidentally if you are going to continue claiming Irish Water, a soon to be privatised company, own all the assets, will they be picking up the tab for the potential victims of stomach cancer due to the use of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) transporting water into the households?
@The Risen:
It might surprise you to learn that installing a meter at the point of consumption (house) and another at a point along the main supply line (which is still happening) will allow you to determine if there are leaks present in that section of pipe. (comparing expected to actual flow rates)
Thus, the 90% has not been ignored in that scenario.
However, now that the consumption (house) meter has been discontinued, IW have to temporarily (about 10 days) install a meter close by, to determine where the leaks are.
You will be pleased to know these are the same meters that were to be installed in your home (so that helps reduce cost).
@Tim Pot: Iirish Water PR is your paid job ..
173 million to set up, your having a laugh, i nearly fell off the chair laughing.
Company I used to work for got just under half that.
@Tim Pot: and how much spent on bonuses and perks for doing nothing?
@Irish Bob:
feel free to check, its near the beginning.
@Tim Pot: Thanks for that Liz .. what incredible reading, i will have to trawl through in more at the weekend as unlike you I am not paid to do IW PR.
All that does is confirm to me that Irish Water has to go.
Over staffed, overpaid, no transparency, cosy relationships between top people in IW and whom they give 10/20 year contracts to.
How Gerry Grant was hired first as Head of Asset Management after being the CEO of RPS Consultants, had previous advised on the setup of IW and had previous water consultancy contracts with councils and it still there, while John Tierney IW CEO and Eriva CEO were allowed to leave rather than be sacked.
http://wire.novaramedia.com/2014/11/an-unmitigated-disaster-8-reasons-its-kicking-off-in-ireland/
http://www.engineersireland.ie/groups/regions/midlands/events/%E2%80%98irish-water-%E2%80%93-transforming-water-services-deliver.aspx
Jerry Grant Chartered Engineer is the former Managing Director of RPS and now is Head of Asset Management with Irish Water since April 2013, having been a Consultant to the Irish Water Programme since September of 2012. Between 2002 and 2012 he was Managing Director of RPS Consulting Engineers Ltd and before that was Director of MC O ‘Sullivan & Co for 10 years. In that period, Jerry acted as a water services consultant to many local authorities, led many major strategic projects and acted as Engineer and Employer’s Representative on a large number of contracts, the majority of which were water services contracts.
RPS Consultants
The contract between Dublin City Council and RPS for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project amounted to 30 million when initially quoted for 8.3 million. The European Commission ordered Dublin City Council to terminated its contract with RPS. It descried the contract as an ‘Illegal Situation’
@Irish Bob: it’s 5 hundred million over 5 years, so just 100 million a year to fix what is absolutely essential & should have been done before anything else! But they wanted us the taxpayers to pay to fix it all up for them before the vultures swoop in! Didn’t work & never will.
@Colette Kearns: Exactly .. And has already happened in many places, its the business plan, states fix up infrastructure then hand over infrastructure assets that are worth billions to private entities who then charge back the same people while making huge amounts of minimal taxed profits.
Water giants make £2BILLION in profit – but SEVEN of them didn’t pay a penny in tax – Mirror Online
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/water-giants-make-2billion-profit-4703371
The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World’s Water
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-new-water-barons-wall-street-mega-banks-are-buying-up-the-worlds-water/5383274
Maybe, during the year when there is an ungodly amount of rain, it would be an idea to start storing it on a large scale, nationwide? It’s better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it!
@aboutallthethings: that costs money, and unfortunately people decided they don’t want to pay for a better water service
@Sam Harms: The money was there Sam. It was spent on meters that weren’t needed.
@Sam Harms: Hugely inaccurate.
@Sam Harms: the money is spent on anything except fixing the water system. That’s how the privatisation racket works.
@The Risen: IW are investing 5.5 billion during the period 2014-2021 upgrading the water infrastructure. This includes fixing leaks which they are already doing. https://www.water.ie/projects-plans/our-projects/ This is a 50% increase on the annual investment during the years 2004-2013
89million litres of water/day have already been saved.
@Tim Pot: hello Elizabeth. Would ya ever bog off with yourself with you propaganda
@The Risen:
Meters cost 473m,
IW are saving 100m/yr
Meters are still being used to find the leaks.
@Tim Pot: Ha Ha Elizabeth, ya shot urself in the foot , “meters are still being used to find the leaks”
@Irish Bob:
“In the case of specific leaks or specific demand, putting in a temporary meter is probably the only way to quantify what is going on. It can be a very valuable way of tracing leaks”
@Tim Pot: “IW are saving 100m/yr” how ??????
jasus in 20 yrs or so they will have recouped the 2 billion or so wasted already
@Tim Pot: Is that so Elizabeth,, well a meter can only measure what goes through the meter into a house .. How about fixing the major leaks in the main networks..
BTW what it your day job ? who pays you ?
@Sam Harms: how many times do prople need to be told! We already pay for our water etc…. through general taxation! People only have so much money….. wise up!
@Irish Bob:
… a meter can be placed anywhere in the network and it will measure the flow of water through that point.
They are fixing the leaks, 89 million litres per day have been saved since 2014.
I’m Tim by the way. Nice to meet you.
@Tim Pot: Yeah right MR T Pot, Ill send you an email soon and we can meet up, yous till didn’t ell me what your job is and who pays you.
I think you are Elizabeth as you spout the same tripe
Ms Elizabeth Arnett Head of Communications and Corporate Services
Elizabeth Arnett, yes the woman on TV defending Irish Water was former head of Project Communications of RPS Consultants who had the Contract for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project .
RPS Consultants
The contract between Dublin City Council and RPS for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project amounted to 30 million when initially quoted for 8.3 million. The European Commission ordered Dublin City Council to terminated its contract with RPS. It descried the contract as an ‘Illegal Situation’
Both Jerry Grant, Irish Water’s head of asset management, and Elizabeth Arnett, head of communications and corporate services, previously worked for RPS Group, a consultancy firm that had advised the state in the setting up of Irish Water – part of a consultancy package that has so far cost the state €85m. RPS also made some €30m out of its consultancy contract on the Poolbeg project, a contract the European Commission described as “an illegal situation.”
European Commision calls for end to €30m Poolbeg PR contract
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ec-calls-for-end-to-30m-poolbeg-pr-contract-29743278.html
THE European Commission has called on Dublin City Council to terminate a multimillion euro contract relating to the stalled Poolbeg incinerator project.
The original value of the contract – for client representative and public relations services – was in the region of €8.3m.
RPS & Burning €81 Million on Poolbeg Incinerator
http://galwaytent.blogspot.ie/2012/02/rps-burning-81-million-on-poolbeg.html
February 2, 2012
RPS is a mighty fine English business working behind the scenes with apparatchiks at Dublin City Council and with Covanta, a serial lawbreaker from New Jersey.
@Irish Bob:
No 2 billion wasted I’m afraid, if you were referring to setup costs, that was 173million (not billion)
@Tim Pot: What meters more than half have being removed by now
@Niall Binéad: and we obviously paid enough through general taxation, as our water system is in great shape……
@Tim Pot: Welcome Elizabeth
@Sam Harms: might want to check your facts there. We have been paying for water since 1978 (I could stand to be corrected on my date) but the rest is true :-).
@Sam Harms: they pay with their taxes all ready , just previous and current governments are poor at budgeting
@The Risen: the money was there it was given over ultimately to a Mr O’Brien who sold them the meters.
hope this weather lasts till September!!
@Danny Ennis: I heard end of August from a few people!
@Danny Ennis: Don’t think I could last that long..
@Danny Ennis: well hopefully seeing as our summer will be coming to an end then. Jesus IW have totally screwed us all & talk about putting a dampener on what should be a wonderful summer!
Thank god I have two wells
@Craig Hughes: Greedy fecker. Any chance of a bit of water for the flowers?
@Craig Hughes: well, well.
@Craig Hughes: Very Posh.
@Craig Hughes: Well, well ,aren’t you the lucky lad.
@Craig Hughes: #metoo. Can’t wait to post vids on social media of me with my hose out. Take that whatever way you will.
@Craig Hughes: Well well
@Craig Hughes: Same here. Would feel sorry for anyone who needs a hose to water a greenhouse/veg patch. Our tomatoes will be well watered.
@Barry McCarthy: if only he had 3 Wells!
@Craig Hughes: Groundwater will take even longer to replenish, you might be wise to take it easy too.
@Do the Bort man:he would be well well well over the moon.
@Craig Hughes: it doesn’t matter, a conservation order applies to everyone.
@Bart: https://www.water.ie/news/national-water-conservati/ Actually, it doesn’t apply to private wells, or private group water schemes.
They’ll have the cross spotless by then
IW really are useless
@Paul Quinlan: yeah they should have put and end to this sunshine already what do we pay them for
@Paul Quinlan: no they’re not, they’re self important Audi drivers ,and they’re good for telling us to mind our water that is paid for by indirect taxation as everybody knows , except a few dosile people that do not understand simple English.
@Daniel Wilson: don’t know what they are paid for, obviously it has nothing to do with fixing leaks
@Stephen Brady:
Well it turn out they are being paid to fix leaks… who’d of thunk it!
IW are investing 5.5 billion during the period 2014-2021 upgrading the water infrastructure. This includes fixing leaks which they are already doing. https://www.water.ie/projects-plans/our-projects/
This is a 50% increase on the annual investment during the years 2004-2013
@Paul Quinlan: so the local authories did a better job?
@Tim Pot: it’s about time they started. Should have done it first
FFG so badly wish to ripen iw for privatization.. Nothing more certain ..
Take 2 a coming :-|
@Willy Malone: – well you will agree they really messed up in 2014 when they passed a law that requires a national vote if even 1% of IW were to be privatised….
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/44/enacted/en/print#sec2
@Tim Pot: The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World’s Water
A disturbing trend in the water sector is accelerating worldwide. The new “water barons” — the Wall Street banks and elitist multi billionaires — are buying up water all over the world at unprecedented pace.
@Tim Pot: laws can’t be changed?
@Tim Pot: How long do you think it would take them to abolish that when they need to? I’d guess it will be done in short order.
What a joke of a country, snow there’s problems now sunny there’s problems ! How come other countries can managed this kind of weathers !
@Dannyboy: because the population of other countries pay directly for a water service; money with which the infrastructure can be properly maintained and upgraded. We should try doing the same, really…
@Dannyboy: we are not the only country suffering this at moment
@Dannyboy: Other countries are also more likely to deal with weather extremes on a yearly basis.
@Ajax Penumbra: those other countries get a lot more services for there tax money, we have a system that wastes tax money and and any money taken in by IW would only barely cover IW costs. What should have happened was spend the 500 million to fix leaks rather that a couple of billion to set up a quango headed by failures
@Ajax Penumbra: Other countries pay low motor tax or no motor tax, its included in the fuel price, they don’t pay vrt on cars a tax on a tax, they pay property tax which includes bin service, school transport among other things, they have mortgages that have the same payment for the life of the mortgage, we pay for everything individually.
@Ajax Penumbra:
A damning report by think-tank the Economic and Social Research Institute claimed the new utility only needs 1,700 employees — but it currently has over 4,000 on its books.
It will result in up to €1.8BILLION in waste and will add €150million a year to customer bills, around €65 per household.
@brendan H: “…we pay for everything individually”
Except for water.
@Ajax Penumbra: it doesn’t work like that in this corrupt country. Politicians were trying to line the pockets of the elite with our water services & trying to privatize just for profit. No one should profit from something that we all need to live on. Billions wasted so much so that if the billions spent on this rotten company had been used to fix the leaks we would have the best water services in the world! But due to some vile extremely greedy billionaires wanting to get even richer we all got screw over
Our taxes we’re bringing in over a billion a year for many many years! ( iw intend to spend just 100 million a year each year-for the next 5 years on fixing leaks ) where is it gone.?
@Ajax Penumbra: we do pay what planet are you on
@Colette Kearns: no they weren’t
@Martin O Donnell: …that’s why I said “pay directly”. I’m aware we pay via taxation; this is not a very good way to fund the service, however.
Don’t think that ban has jurisdiction in the 6 counties
@Ian: poor choice of words, think they meant it kicks in state wide from Friday. Of course the nation will all be under a ban then as the 6 already have one in place
@Ian: the ones with proper infrastructure you mean?
@Robin Pickering: So why have they had a hose pipe ban inplace aswell?
Up hwre in the NW we paid a fortune to upgrade our water scheme which was then handed over to the council who gave it to IW for them to charge us with. We get the same good water we paid for and they got bonuses for all the years of us building the scheme. Totally new infrastructure with no leaks meant it was a gift. The supply from our massive lake means there is no water shortage at all so the hosepipe ban is pure boll@x and I hope we will all probably ignore it. In fact I’m off to paddle the canoe over our water now and admire the unaffected depths of hundreds of feet. IW are a joke and this is a muscle flexing device.
Quick, wash the car everyone!!
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: meh. a clean car shows all the scratches
Use ice cubes. Not covered by the ban…
Salaries , Bonus’s , Cost … follow the money
There are 29 Irish Water staff earning over €100,000
http://www.thejournal.ie/29-irish-water-staff-are-earning-over-e100000-1279724-Jan2014/
Irish Water staff set to get pay rises – on top of bonuses
Are they going to shut down car washes or is that the next step ?
@Damien James Murray: not all car washes use water from the mains
@Damien James Murray: businesses pay for water used so no
I was asking more out of interest then an attacking them.
Regardless of if they pay for it the government can shut them down. I know 3 local car washes to me have shut down this week and I’m in North Kildare. I think it was the owner/operator that made the call.
How obsurd the amount of rain we get all year and its gone in 30 days ridiculous… Our politicians problem solving skills are a joke.
@ben: would it not be a waste of money to build a reservoir to hold 4 months water in case we get a heat wave every 70 yrs?
@Vincent: yes thats dumb… We need to recycle our water better.. Plenty of cheap methods to increase water supply.
A lot of farmers without wells are on group water schemes. Under enormous pressure now.
What a country we live in! 10 months of rain and 10 days of sunshine and we’re in a water crisis, there’s an old saying “give Ireland to the Dutch and they’d feed the world, but give Holland to the Irish and we’d all drown” – only that Ireland is where it is geographically we’d be like Haiti or the worst of Africa’s help holes….
@Ken Jordan: Hasn’t rained in a lot longer than 10 days. This warm spell hasn’t caused all the water problems
Always Remember and Never Forget those who seek to covet your children’s water!
No Votes for Pro Irish Water party’s, not even a 10th choice!
Hogan got in on the 13th Count and Kelly scraped through on the final count.
Roll on #GE2018 lets make enshrining the public ownership of our natural resources into our constitution an election issue!
The Vultures have had enough free dinners from this cadaver!
@Jarlath Murphy:
There is no intention to privatise IW, but if there was, then according to the Irish water services act 2014 (Which is Law)
“if the transfer of ANY or all shares in IW to a private entity is proposed there must be a national vote”
I’m sure most of us won’t have any such problems as we don’t have boats swimming pools ponds garden ornaments……
@Colette Kearns: how are boats relevant?
@Peter Brophy: you aren’t allowed to wash boats or cars for the duration
@Peter Brophy: read the article!!
@Colette Kearns: Though with no meters we’ll just have to take your word for it…
@Tim Pot: you don’t trust us?
@Tim Pot: Why Tim, are the meters smart or something and can tell where the water is being used ya plank !!
Would love to see people taking this seriously. There are animals that will be dying of thirst soon.
If you were worried about conservation you would fix the leaky system
@Stephen Brady: They are fixing the leaks, so they must care then by your own definition.
@Tim Pot: Why didn’t they start fixing leaks at the beginning, if they had there would be 50% more water by now ..
Irish Water isn’t fixing more leaks – or spending more on infrastructure
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-water-infrastructure-spend-1847942-Dec2014/
IRISH WATER IS set to spend less money on infrastructure than the Government’s average spend over the past 10 years.
The company’s capital spend on infrastructure up to November of this year was €300 million – while the government’s average spend between 2004 and 2013 was €430 million
It’s disgusting the water being wasted.
@A Right Pair Of King’s !: Over 50%
@Ronan Gallagher: 36% in Dublin
@Tim Pot: They want the Shannon too.
This really is all about FFG in charge of the country since its foundation,what have they done with all the money collected for the upkeep on the water infrastructure they spend it on something else .People would want to start thinking the next time they vote because FFG don’t care about anything but themselves
@high ho silver: hospitals, schools, roads ect. that’s were the money went.
@Tim Pot: Banks, Audis, Gyms, Bonuses, over-staffing, consultants, legal fees, PR, Ads, John Tierney, Gerry Grant and Elizabeth Arnett ..
Murky water in the Senior Positions of the Super Quango Irish Water.
Managing Director John Tierney who was the Dublin City Manager that presided over the Poolbeg Incinerator Project which at estimated costs of over 95 million to the taxpayer.
“The contract between Dublin City Council and RPS for Public Relations and Client Services for the Poolbeg Project amounted to 30 million when initially quoted for 8.3 million. The European Commission ordered Dublin City Council to terminated its contract with RPS. It descried the contract as an ‘Illegal Situation’
Both Jerry Grant, Irish Water’s head of asset management, and Elizabeth Arnett, head of communications and corporate services, previously worked for RPS Group, a consultancy firm that had advised the state in the setting up of Irish Water – part of a consultancy package that has so far cost the state €85m. RPS also made some €30m out of its consultancy contract on the Poolbeg project, a contract the European Commission described as “an illegal situation.”
A neighbour has being filling a pool since last week every single day. It’s huge.
@A Right Pair Of King’s !: It takes a whole day to fill. It’s beyond belief.
@A Right Pair Of King’s !: drill a hole in it tonight
@Robin Pickering: Lol Lol oh i would love to. She couldn’t give 2 hoots. I said why don’t you cover it in the evening, save filling it ? (Hint Hint) Ah sure it’s just as easy to refill it. I like them in it nice and fresh. I kid u not.
@A Right Pair Of King’s !: elastic band + small nail = effective slingshot!
@Drew P. Baulsach: Lol Lol
@Robin Pickering: and that’s not wasting water!?
Last time I saw a hosepipe was feile ’91
Who will be enforcing this hose pipe ban?
And what legislation will they be using?
AFAIK there is nothing in law to prosecute / fine anyone who disregards this ban.
Funny how the UK has had the same weather if not hotter in parts and for longer. Yet their reservoirs are 3/4 full and no water ban.
@vectorsector: Ours probably are too. This is all about continuously mentioning this absolutely inept, corrupt and utterly pointless company to try and get people to accept it. Morons think we are fools.
@Ronan Sexton: #waterconspiracy
@Tim Pot: Oh and the UK charge per litre of water used.
@Tim Pot: The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World’s Water
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-new-water-barons-wall-street-mega-banks-are-buying-up-the-worlds-water/5383274
Nestle CEO: Water Is Not A Human Right, Should Be Privatized | True Activist
http://www.trueactivist.com/nestle-ceo-water-is-not-a-human-right-should-be-privatized/
@Tim Pot: /Veolia Profit Rises as Water-Handling Operations Grow – Bloomberg Business
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-06/veolia-nine-month-profit-rises-as-water-handling-operations-grow
Water management: Berlin no longer wants Veolia – Multinationals Observatory
http://multinationales.org/Water-management-Berlin-no-longer
@Tim Pot: Blue Gold : World Water Wars
http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/
@Tim Pot: Water giants make £2BILLION in profit – but SEVEN of them didn’t pay a penny in tax – Mirror Online
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/water-giants-make-2billion-profit-4703371
The 19 water made profits of more than £2.05billion in 2013, but paid just £74million in tax, with seven of them paying no corporation tax at all
Propaganda by Irish Water thing else .
Raining in Cork now, will have to deal with floods in the morning.
I wonder if Croke Park etc will have to follow this rule? I think not for some reason.
Jerry Grant Former Head of Asset Management
http://wire.novaramedia.com/2014/11/an-unmitigated-disaster-8-reasons-its-kicking-off-in-ireland/
http://www.engineersireland.ie/groups/regions/midlands/events/%E2%80%98irish-water-%E2%80%93-transforming-water-services-deliver.aspx
Jerry Grant Chartered Engineer is the former Managing Director of RPS and now is Head of Asset Management with Irish Water since April 2013, having been a Consultant to the Irish Water Programme since September of 2012. Between 2002 and 2012 he was Managing Director of RPS Consulting Engineers Ltd and before that was Director of MC O ‘Sullivan & Co for 10 years. In that period, Jerry acted as a water services consultant to many local authorities, led many major strategic projects and acted as Engineer and Employer’s Representative on a large number of contracts, the majority of which were water services contracts.
IW is doing well,yeah right .
They say that it will cost 1.5 to 2.1 billion to fix the national water supply just about the same as it will cost to build a local vanity (Leo and Pascal) project Metro North in Dublin which will serve a few and what many experts think will be bad value for tax payers money. Getting priorities right is something that is lost on our politicians it’s all about getting re-elected in their constituencies
I wouldn’t mind if the funding of water in Ireland was taken out of general taxation and a charge was levied on each property in the state, with a water allowance, and additional charges for excessive use, determined by use of meters. We are halfway there already…and within 5 years we would have a good water system up and running.
@W Kevin Doyle: Not with a corrupt fake company at thd helm.
Seen DCC watering flowers on my way out to Marino this afternoon
@Eoin Doe: lots of them using canal and river water not treated drinking water.
@Vincent: maybe they could come and water everyone’s gardens for them
@Sandra Creevey: How do we know what water is being used indoors?
People may be using water indoors like baths and long showers OR filling paddling pools from inside to bring outside OR filling large basins of water to wash the car or water the plants.
The Jet Stream is not what it used to be. Melting Arctic has weakened the jet stream by slowing its west-to-east winds and triggering larger north-south meanders in the flow, causing weather patterns to remain in place for longer, resulting in prolonged heat waves as in Europe and US this Summer. This is not just a problem in Ireland in US Europe and Middle East the planet is sizzling in temperatures that are rising year on year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/07/03/hot-planet-all-time-heat-records-have-been-set-all-over-the-world-in-last-week/?utm_term=.9601e2cb7a77 Its only going to get worse as the G7 pump billions into fossil fuels the driver of ever increasing extreme climate.
there seem to be two different issues and really proper journalism who chase this down.
Issue 1 is the amount of untreated water in the reservoirs or being taken from rivers for treatment
Issue 2 is the amount of treated water that is being delivered to households.
Sometimes in reading what IW say it is issue 2 that is causing the problem as in a 15% increase in demand that cannot be met as they are unable to treat water at the rate demanded which suggests that they can meet the demand if people reduce usage…. but occasionally it suggests IW reserves of untreated water are falling and this is a different issue
Therefore the question is are we not storing enough water or are we not able to treat enough water?
Of course flushing good drinking water down the toilet is a waste but we have not even considered the use of grey water for future developments and it could easily be implemented in new builds as it might be hard to retrofit.
If building could be prepared to use two water sources then in 10, 20 or 50 years that could be an option – and the cost to implement in a new build would be tiny – a few 100 euro at most to run two rather then on pipe to the existing mains…
Oh dear we are so short sited – sure we will be grand until next time
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: Yes i agree that some sort of grey water system for all but drinking water..
The prob is they don’t want to fix, the priority is to get people to pay and line it up for privatization. The Wall Street Banks are buying up all the Water Companies and Infrastructure in the world, this agenda is being pushed by lobbyists in various guises.
50% of treated water is lost due to leaks, 7% is lost in houses, they spent 500 mill approx to install meters and IW say they will spend 500 mill over next few years to fix leaks.. Well maybe it would have been best to fix leaks first, but im glad now they didnt as it showed the true colors of IW, the super quango to end all quangos
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: What is the incentive for the homeowner to conserve water? Only the very greenest of homeowners will consider rainwater harvesting or grey water recycling at present because of the lack of incentive to conserve water in Ireland for the majority. The fact people are so up in arms about water charges proves that it would be a factor to reduce water consumption, and to consider alternative options such as rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling.
@Irish Bob: 689m/yr to fix leaks and increase capacity…
Oh look another hose pipe ban article from the journal iw’s main media outlet.
Just ban Paul Murph and his cronies, leave us good citizens alone
‘Don’t f***ing insult the Irish people any more’ – Liam Neeson won’t move home to Ireland because of water charges
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-news/dont-fing-insult-the-irish-people-any-more-liam-neeson-wont-move-home-to-ireland-because-of-water-charges-30863180.html
The 62-year-old star, who hails from Ballymena, Antrim originally but has lived in New York for 20 years, said he had planned to return to Ireland now his two teenage sons Daniel and Michael have left home for university.
However, speaking to the Irish Sun, Neeson said he had changed his mind due to the austerity measures implemented by the government.
“We’ve been f***ed from a great height by these bankers and it’s the final straw,” he said. “To tax people for their water. Just wrong. I’ve always thought about coming home, especially now with my empty nest but this is just insulting. It turns me completely off.
No summer fun for the Irish! ridiculous, a few WEEKS of no rain & there’s a water ban. What about young families, the elderly? No air conditioning, no fun way to cool off!!!
FFG are thieves in suits at the beckon call of elite masters. 100 years and the Irish people still won’t change. We deserve em.
They will bring in water charges and will privatize our water … Make it your election demand , to keep our water from those wishing to profit at our expenses …
Our east european neighbours are gonna go spare.
@Ben O Toole: thanks for the offer, but I don’t need any spare Eastern Europeans at the moment, unless they are available for watering can duties…
nationwide hosepipe ban why? our water comes form lough gill which is brimming with water. No need to impose ban on people in Sligo/Leitrim just because people in Dublin have no water
FS country
Are you allowed water your garden through watering can?
The county and urban councils were better at running our water systems and did not cost as much not by salary at least. Since Irish water was created there only problems one after the other and the water is not as good. Disband this bunch of crony handpicked overpaid incompetent people and give back the councils the means and resources to run the system.2 weeks of sunshine and cra zy stupid problems.
A fine of €125?? So ur asking neighbour’s to rat on each other?? F**k off..
Why wait? Do it now. it’s not going to rain between now and then. People’s roses and cars can do without
Maybe when the Pope comes he can turn all the lidl and Aldi wine into water!!!!
LoL, we have to pay for them being incompetent ?
This is ridiculous. Every time we get a bit of f sunshine ,we get this reaction. There always seem to be some “genius” in government who thinks that we are going to have drought. Are you kidding me? We are in Ireland for goodness sake! All we get here is rain, practically, all year round. Cop yourselves, will ya ….
Every bit of grass I see is dead or nearly dead but Trinity College rugby pitch is looking well. Walked past there earlier and they were watering the pitch.
have your say