First Irish Water Protesters Jailed in Wave of Political Policing

The first of Ireland’s Irish Water protesters to serve time under new anti-protest legalization were sentenced to 28 days yesterday, with two men also having to serve an additional 28 days for previously suspended sentences, again for peacefully protesting against Irish Water.

Bernie Hughes, Michael Batty and Derek Byrne were all given sentences of 28 days for breaching an order preventing peaceful protesters from going within a distance of 20 meters from water meter installations. A stay was put on the sentence of Michael Batty because he was unable to attend the proceedings. His solicitor told the court he was suffering from ill health overseas and sent his apologies for not attending. Both Damien O’Neill and Paul Moore were given sentences of 28 days each but will also now serve a previously suspended sentence of 28 days leaving them both with a total sentence of 56 days for peacefully protesting the installation of Irish Water meters.


Video: Bernie Hughes spoke outside the court at lunchtime, just before sentencing.

The sentences come after a poor prosecution case based on video footage that showed no violence being used against installers. The source of the names of protesters, which Irish Water claimed was received from a third party, caused a concern for the Data Commissioner. Due to an inability to say who had helped name the protesters in the footage, the Data Commissioner is now investigating the Gardaí because of claims that they have shared information about protesters with Irish Water and Sierra, possibly breaching data protection legislation to aid the prosecution of individuals by the companies. The prosecution also attempted to submit photographs they had taken from Facebook profiles but these were deemed inadmissible by Justice Paul Gilligan. Justice Paul Gillian spoke of the necessity of the right to protests to keep democracy in check during the sentencing and condemned the actions of the peaceful protesters, harshly exposing the murky waters of Ireland’s new politically motivated judicial system.

WHY ARE THE INSTALLATION PROTESTERS BEING TARGETED BY POLITICAL POLICING?

Sierra is being used by the Irish government to forcefully install water meters in all most all homes across Ireland in an attempt to force Irish people to pay for their water twice, by taxation and by Irish Water. Because the water meter installers are the front line of implementing the governments unfair Idea, they are witness to acts of peaceful civil disobedience like residents sitting on footpaths where works are supposed to happen. So far peaceful protesters have stopped the installations of thousands of water meters and now growingly popular water meter fairies are removing water meters after they are installed. The peaceful resistance to the installation of water meters has been so successful on the front line that the government and the companies involved in Irish Water realize it is now a massive threat to the survival of Irish Water and the plan to charge Irish people twice for water. For that reason Irish Water installation protesters have been the first target of jail time by the growingly strong Irish regime.

But it is not just installation protesters who have been targeted by political policing in Ireland. A number of other people have been arrested while peacefully protesting including TD Paul Murphy following a sit-in protest that saw the deputy prime minister having to sit stuck in her car for two hours and being struck with a water balloon thrown by a child, a wave of morning raids and arrests swept the capital. Over 20 people including children as young as fourteen were arrested. Some of the protesters including a TD and a father who had been arrested with his wife in front of their daughter then questioned for up to 12 hours. The parents were brought off to separate Garda stations, sometimes the families did not know which stations their loved ones were being brought to. Gardaí even visited a school informing children that protesters would end up in jail and that everyone had to pay Irish Water. Children of protesters were attending that visit.

After the deadline to register came and passed (a number of times due to the extension period), the protests on the streets had not diminished. The billable date began; the protests on the streets had not diminished. A sweetener deal with discounts and money back on bills paid fell on deaf ears; nothing was stopping the Irish from taking to the streets. Finally when the Jobstown incident happened, the Fine Gael and Labour government did not waste time to use it as a means to attack the protest movement. Their attempt to make the protest movement seem violent and aggressive, failed and only brought out the stories of individual protests which completely contradicted the image painted by the state. Charges of false imprisonment and assault amongst others stood out as being blown out of proportion showing the desperation of the government to quell resistance. So far the political policing plan, just like the Irish Water plan, isn’t working and both are looking likely to see Fine Gael and Labour crumble like their Fianna Fail predecessors.