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EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you should know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #WATER CHARGES: Householders are facing a charge of around €40 per year over a 20 year period for the installation of water meters, it is being reported this morning. The Irish Times says that a loan from the National Pension Reserve Fund will pay for the installation of the meters but some will have no meter and face ‘assessed charges’. The proposed water meters that will be discussed by the cabinet later today where the government is expected to sign-off on the new State body that will implement the system.
2. #TROIKA: Officials from the Troika are back in Dublin today to carry out their sixth quarterly review of Ireland’s bailout. With unemployment at 14.3 per cent, officials from the EU, IMF and ECB are expected to review the Pathways to Work programme as well as other developments on the loan agreement.
3. #BREIVIK: The trial of the Anders Behring Breivik, the man who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, continues today with Breivik expected to give evidence to the court. Unlike some proceedings, his testimony will not be televised. Already this morning the court has had to deal with the issue of one of its lay judges posting on their Facebook profile that Breivik deserved to be executed.
4. #DRINK DRIVING: Motorists who are convicted of drink-driving could reduce the amount of time they are disqualified by undergoing a training course at their own expense, the papers report this morning. The Irish Examiner, the Irish Times and the Irish Independent report that plans are being considered by the government which could see bans reduced by up to a quarter.
5. #FRACKING: The controversial process of extracting shale gas from the ground, fracking, has been given the green light in the UK with experts advising the government that it can be used despite concerns raised by environmentalists and others. The Guardian reports that it has been given the go ahead despite it known to have caused two earthquakes.
6. #BUILDING BOOM: An Taisce has said that flaws in buildings that were “thrown up” during the Celtic Tiger property building boom will become more apparent in years to come. In its report on Ireland’s planning sustem yesterday the heritage body expressed concern that there could be many more examples of buildings like Priory Hall in north Dublin.
7. #AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that she plans to withdraw the country’s 1,500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013 – an election year. The announcement came in a speech in Canberra overnight, BBC News reports. Most international troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, theoretically having handed over control of security operations to Afghan forces.
8. #BUSTED: Authorities in the US have said that they have uncovered a secret internet drugs markets where LSD, ecstasy and other illegal substances could be bought through an online ring known as The Farmer’s Market. BBC News reports that at least eight people are being held in the US, the Netherlands and Colombia on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
9. #BIG FELLA: The grand-niece of Michael Collins, Mary Banotti, has said that she finds the auctioning off of a lock of the revolutionary’s hair and a cotton swab used to clean his corpse “really appalling”. The former Fine Gael presidential candidate told RTÉ Radio this morning that many of her family were upset by the auctioning of such items tomorrow.
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I have a water meter already that came with my boom time house. I bet the chancers will find a way of making me pay for it again whilst the council estate Gets free water for life!
Do people with their own wells have to pay for these stupid meters?
@ Tom…. YES
@ Brian. It would really sicken ya wouldn’t it. I wonder what other charges will come into effect before the years out…
Great so now they want €800 for the water meters … and as for the Troika… screw them as Iceland did and look who’s winning now… NOT EUROPE
Iceland weren’t part of the single currency. Had more options than we do.
No they didn’t, we had the chance to bring down the euro, prior to the then government blinking first………. We had all the cards and yet failed to play them. Neither Germany or France could afford to lose the euro as their currencies would become safe havens for investors… upping the value and thereafter making their exports expensive…. Simply put our ballless government of the day failed the country and people to protect the Hun and the “Cheese eating surrender monkies”… and they are supposed to work for us… they should be taken to kilmainham and executed like the traitors that they are
Spot on Brian. A lack of balls got us into this mess and a lack of balls is keeping us there.
@ Paul… So true…… I run my own business and My 2 partners and I, if given the opportunity to do so would sort this mess out in a year….. Throw Shell out( as it could be seen that they acquired their rights illegally) for a start, nationalise the resources about the country, drill and process the oil and gas here and then the 200 billion is a drop in the ocean… We’d have FREE schools, health care etc…. Simply done with the right people and motivations
B B BUT Brian that flys in the face of the great and glorius plad of our leaders. To give away any resource that get us out of this mess and then keep beating us down till we are the cheapest laboure units in Europe. How could you even suggest such a thing….It smacks of thinking and thats ileagle or something.
Plan
No you don’t and won’t have to pay for meters or water charges, provided the nation grows a set and collectively tell ends where to go
If you don’t pay they cannot cut you off from a supply if water unless they change the constitution. I imagine soon, the way things are going, it will be cheaper to fill your house with bottled water.
Fracking got de go ahead in England? Take it nobody there has seen de documentary “Gasland” I particularly like de piece where de poor home owner can set his tap water alight while its coming out of de tap!!
Gasland is anti fracking propaganda. You are naive to believe that is a trustworthy comprehensive review of the process.
Either way Shanners, In Ireland we own the land beneath our property… So rights to drill would have to be applied for under each owners land……
Shanners you really should do your homework with regard to Fracking you can not pump highly toxic material into the Earths crust and expect to be in control of the outcome it is a highly dangerous practice end of, test fractures in England resulted in earth quakes fact. Dont go telling people that facts are propaganda just because you have an opinion based on misinformation.
What will it be next, tax for breathing in the air. I wouldn’t be surprised with this lot!
And one for thinking, as they certainly don’t want us doing that at all………..
the price of a water meter is around 50 euro….so why we have to pay 40 a year for 20 years at a cost of 800 euro ????? is there solid gold in it ? if so i like to have it installed, then rip it out and melt it down !..i know they always complain about maths teaching in this country, but do they really think the ppl are that stupid that they don’t know 40×20= 800 ???? jeeeeezzzzzz they can spread it out, make it sound sweeter but it will still come down at ……800 euro !!
You need to break the €800 down to understand it.
€50 for the meter
€750 for local council administration
Bring in a sunlight tax I say. Tax the bejaysus out of feckers with window in their houses and and offices.
AIB bailed out by the Taxpayer now charging for transactions.
Household charge.
Nppr Charge.
Stamp duty on credit cards.
Inflated fuel prices.
Increase on car tax.
Increase on public transport fares.
Water metering.
People are fed up dusting themselves off every time the Government knock them down. I am now very clear as to how I will vote in the fiscal treaty.
Picking yourself up and dusting yourself off is all well and good But a bully will keep knocking you down till you hit back. Don’t pay and vote NO.
Two things here, @ Brian, Balless Goverment fail us the people, thats a joke, we are and still are, only the tools to which they can prosper and build a wealthy future for them selves at our misery and expsense.( and we deserve it for accepting it). Secondly. this state wants us to be uneducated, poor, downtrodden, our youth and future shipped out, that way we are much easier to control and manlipalate, Echoes of the past 900 and black 47 here, Perhap the person who will buy Micheal Collins locks has plans to clone a peoples leader from them, we don,t seem to have any of his likes left nowadays.
They should try some fracking in the dail I’m sure they would extract some amount of gas out of there.
@shanners, i think its you who’s naive if you think fracking is perfectly safe!
*enda
Alan , what’s that about they will have to change the constitution tell me more
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