Latest On Irish Water's Controversy in Inishowen Co Donegal

June 12, 2015

The Installation of water meters in Inishowen was suspended on May 21, 2015 and to date both GMC Sierra Ltd, owned by Denis O'Brien, and Patrick Gildea, building contractor from Ballybofey, have not resumed work. GMC Sierra Ltd is responsible for installing meters in 'Meter Ready' boxes and Patrick Gildea is responsible for preparing the 'Meter Ready' boxes.

David and Golliath

There are always two sides to every story, however, Buncrana Together will make no bones about rooting for the underdog in this controversy since Denis O'Brien's GMC Sierra Ltd and the unlimited resources in the coffers of Irish Water have made sure that they got their fair share of media coverage. To counteract some pretty biased reporting by some media it is only fair that the anti meter protesters get the opportunity to tell their side of the story.
However, in the interest of clarity, and in case you may not have read Irish Water's accusations and reasons for suspending meter installations in Inishowen, it may be best to show some of the newspaper articles coverage of the controversy.

Donegal Now - A Biased and Unprofessional Article

What only could be described as a biased, unprofessional article was in Donegal Now on Friday 15th May, 2015, Up to 15 protestors surround lone Irish water worker in Moville | Donegal Now (click link to see article). This article is so controversial in so many ways that Buncrana Together will devote an article specifically dealing with the controversy surrounding it.

Standoff in Manorcunningham Donegal News May 21, 2015

Threats and intimidation halt water meter installation

By Cronan Scanlon

Threats and intimidation by water protesters have been blamed for the loss of 50 jobs across Donegal this week.
On Monday, three companies were instructed by the main contractor, GMC/Sierra, to ‘stand down’ operations as it was no longer safe to do so.
One Ballybofey-based meter installation sub-contractor confirmed he laid off 25 men on Monday as well as a further six this morning.m Two more contractors were forced to lay-off a further 20.
A spokeswoman for Irish Water (IW) blamed the move on a number of instances of “targeted aggression” against installers in the Glenties and Inishowen areas.
“The safety of our staff and the staff of our contractors is of paramount importance to both Irish Water and our contractor, GMC Sierra. This work will be rescheduled at a later stage in the project to enable works to be carried out in a safe manner,” the spokeswoman said.
It is believed they came to the decision following an “almost riot situation” during a

Monday May 17th stand-off in Manorcunningham

stand-off at an estate in Manorcunningham on Monday. However, Gardai have also confirmed they are actively investigating a more sinister incident in which an Irish Water surveyor was “approached by a number of men” in Moville last week.
Garda Superintendent, Eugene McGovern, would not elaborate on the specifics of the incident which occurred on the morning of Thursday, May 14. However, it is believed the man was held against his will for almost an hour and had his ID photographed before being released.
See original article in Donegal News

Ok so that's the media's Story. Now For Protesters side of the story

Read these three Buncrana Together articles to acquaint yourselves with what Irish Water meter installers were doing in Inishowen:
Irish Water Meter Installers Insult And Abuse Ard Na Gula Duibhe 77 Year Old Resident
Irish Water in Moville Co DonegalTreatment of Woman Appalling
Buncrana Against Irish Water Press Release Irish Water Insulting Inishowen Community

Highland Radio Podcast

Michael Mooney member of Donegal Water Warriors on Highland Radio speaking out against Irish Water allegations. He has never witnessed any intimidation of Irish Water Workers. He was present both in Manorcunningham and Movile.

Click on image and listen to podcast.

Highland Radio Podcast

Enda Craig Moville Community Against Water Meters on Highland Radio does not accept Irish Water written apology.
Click on image and listen to podcast

Enda Craig Reply To Donegal Now Online Article In response to Donegal Now article May 15, 2015, “Up to 15 protestors surround lone Irish water worker in Moville”

A substantial number of people were invited to a meeting at Ard Na Gula Duibhe housing estate in Moville to stand in solidarity with the residents who had meters illegally installed.

Statements were read out condemning the actions and behaviour of the Irish Water meter installers by residents and members present.
As people left to make their way home they identified an Irish Water van parked in the Malin Road. A number of people approached the driver’s window where it was seen he was busy writing. He lowered his window and stated he was an Irish Water surveyor and not a meter installer. He showed his I.D. when requested and was asked why he was driving an Irish Water van with no company logo markings on the sides. He was told this was illegal and that he was in breach of his own company’s rules and regulations. He made no response. The people there requested him to take a message to his bosses that the breaching of all the various rules and regulations had to stop and most importantly there was to be no more verbal abuse of any residents. He agreed to convey the message and at this point he decided to leave. He started his van and left. This ended the interaction with the Irish Water employee.

We utterly and completely refute the version of events put forward in the Donegal Now online article “Up to 15 protestors surround lone Irish water worker in Moville” published on Friday 15th May 2015. It is a million miles from the truth and the reality of what actually happened.

It is very disappointing that Donegal Now would publish such a serious article with so many inaccuracies from an anonymous source.

People who were actually there would have had no difficulty providing an accurate account of what actually happened had they been contacted prior to publication.

Buncrana Against Irish Water Strongly Denies Irish Water's Intimidation Claims

Due to continued and persistent rumours of intimidation, harassment, disrespectful and abusive behaviour of Irish Water meter installation workers towards the communities in the Inishowen Peninsula, the cessation of the Metering Programme is very welcome news. If indeed the work has been discontinued because of the abhorrent behaviour of Irish Water Teams, then the outcome of any investigation on this obvious issue would be greatly anticipated.

That the alleged incident on the Malin Road, Moville on Thursday 14th May should have played any part in the decision to suspend Irish Water meter installations in the Inishowen peninsula is beyond comprehension. In an activity as controversial as these water meter installations, all “incidents” must be viewed with a jaundiced eye. No protester/resident that we are aware of knows of any incident of harassment or intimidation of any water meter installer. We direct you to the case of the 77 year old lady in Ard Na Guala Duibhe who received scandalous verbal abuse from an Irish Water installer at 6.45 am. Also a young lady from Carrownaffe who received similar abuse from a water meter installer on the morning of Wednesday 29th April at approximately 10:30am. To date we are not aware of any action having been taken in relation to these incidents.
No-one that we know of in the whole Moville area received any prior notice of the impending meter installations. In fact we are aware of a number of people receiving notification of installation weeks after the meter had already been installed. All meter ready houses have been fitted with water meters breaking the following Irish Water rules and regulations:

1. Installing meters prior to official starting time of 7.30am.
2. No notification of impending meter installation (rules are firstly 2 weeks then 2 days and finally installers must knock on each door to inform you a meter will be installed and water disconnected).
3. Using vans with no company logos.
4. Disconnecting water without prior notice to residents
5. Meter installer refusing to speak to residents (passive aggressive behaviour).
6. Ignoring “No Meter Here” poster in resident’s window.
7. Refusing to stop installation of meters when requested.

This cavalier disregard for their own rules and regulations and abuse of residents has been reported to Irish Water and the relevant authorities without any response.

More than a Monopoly, TD Calls for Objective Irish Media Outlets

June 11, 2015

Ireland – A call has been made by TD Mick Wallace for a more left of center media outlet or network in Ireland. The call came after Mr Wallace made the connection between a massive debt write off to INM (Independent News and Media) owned by Denis O’Brien and the lack of proportionate anti-austerity reporting in Ireland.

TD Mick Wallace speaking to a Commission of Investigation into IBRC states “The fact that the honorable Dennis O’Brien has such massive control over the media, this has to be a worry for our government, it should be a worry for any government.” He continues “…A real strong independent media would be worth it’s weight in gold to this country,” and suggests that “we should maybe look at the idea of sponsoring them.”

Description

In 2014, Denis O’Brien’s INM received a debt write off of €138 million, of that €60 million was written off by state owned banks. This year, INM plan to invest €100 million into the company. INM owns a very large portion of the Irish media with a readership figure of 2.4m people per week with assests worth €256.9 million.

A recent report into Irish newspapers shows their very dominant pro austerity ethos in that only 3% of their opinion pieces and articles could be considered as having an anti-austerity stance. It has been declared that “the media have been relentless cheerleaders for austerity” by UCD Professor Julien Mercille who carried out the study that began in 2008. He found that only 2% of the articles stated a desire for increased public spending, this was the case even though public services had been slashed and people were suffering on a much larger scale than before this period. Support for fiscal consolidation was through the roof with only 10% of opinion pieces and articles against it while 58% supported it. The remaining 32% didn’t express their views for or against fiscal consolidation. The most disturbing find was that 77% of the writers of opinion pieces and articles came from elite political or economic institutions. Shockingly only 9% of the writers were academics, a tiny 7% were members of left organisations and 3% were trade union officials.

While it is widely known that Irish media is made up of mainly mid-right to right publications the need for a more left of center news outlet was highlighted by Mr Wallace during his time to speak at the hearing on the terms of investigation into the state owned IBRC’s special treatment of particular businesses and business people.

In recent weeks Denis O’Brien’s finances have become an issue of public concern. After a very large public outcry the national broadcaster RTE responded by producing a report into the relationship between the businessman and the IBRC, a relationship in which Dennis O’Brien received loans at 1.25% for extended periods of time as well as having debts of hundreds of millions (that we know of so far) written off on numerous occasions. During his purchase of Siteserv alone the Irish tax payer footed the bill of a massive €119 million even though better offers were available. Siteserv was then awarded €184 million in contracts to install meters for Irish Water.

When it became public knowledge that RTE had compiled the report, the Irish people witnessed the full extent of Denis O’Brien’s power over the media. He sought and was granted an injunction against RTE which he then used in an attempt to silence other media outlets from reporting the details about Denis O’Brien and the IBRC made public by TD Catherine Murphy in parliament. Editors and journalists were so afraid of the legal ramifications of publishing Catherine Murphy’s claims that a number of newspapers went to high court seeking clarification of the injunction.

This happened despite the rights of the press to report on open discussions in parliament. The media owned by Denis O’Brien spun the story as a breach of privacy and the discussion of his banking affairs in the parliament as a possible breach of Dáil privilege. The high court has since made it clear that the press is free to report on discussions in the Irish parliament. RTE have also sought to have the injunction lifted claiming the content of the report should be made available to the public, because this issue is of major concern. The outcome is expected to be announced tomorrow.

The media in Ireland is a raw issue for the public and it seems it will remain this way. No Irish news outlet published the connection made by TD Mick Wallace.

More information on Denis O’Brien and the injunction that threatened democracy

Article by Jennifer Baker Revolution News

Irish Water Meter Installers Insult And Abuse Ard Na Gula Duibhe 77 Year Old Resident

May 31, 2015

Ard Na Gula Duibhe estate in Moville, Inishowen, Co Donegal completely metered by GMC Sierra Ltd installers on May 5th without the resident's knowledge, without their consent and without being notified. One 77 year old resident who did notice them at 6.45am was abused. The installer shouted into her face "your poster is a joke and you are a joke".

Statement from Mrs Rose Boyle of 15 Ard Na Gula Duibhe, Moville

"My name is Mrs Rose Boyle of 15 Ard Na Gula Duibhe, Moville. I am 77 years of age and I suffer from diabetes. On the morning of May 5th at 6.45am I noticed from my front room window an unmarked white van outside of my house and one man kneeling down at my water valve. I went outside and approached the man and asked him several times what he was doing. He ignored me and continued working. Suddenly another man got out of the unmarked van and very quickly approached me. he put his face right up against mine and shouted loudly "what's your problem?" I said if he is installing a water meter I want him to stop and I pointed to the 'No Water Meter Here' poster clearly visible on my front room window. He shouted into my face "You're poster is a joke and you are a joke." I immediately felt very frightened and intimidated. It took all the strength that I had left to go back inside my house where I have to admit I became very upset. This should not have happened to me."

Statement from Ard Na Gula Duibhe Residents

Mr Eddie Farren spoke on behalf of residents "Mrs Bolye is one of the oldest and most respected residents of this estate. This outrageous treatment of her by the Irish Water meter installers is unacceptable and will have to be investigated. It has to be condemned by all right thinking people.

No one in our estate knew that we had a meters installed even though we all had 'No Meter Posters' up on our windows. We were not notified by Irish Water. One resident Patrick Mc Gilloway, no 1, had no water for 2 days until he investigated his stop valve and found that it had been switched off and had a meter installed.

We call on our public representatives to insist on an investigation as to how this was allowed to happen in the first instance. Mrs Boyle is due a personal apology from Irish Water, as indeed are rest of the residents of this estate who have had water meters installed without proper notification and without permission."

Enda Craig, Moville Anti Water Charges group

Rules And Agreement Broken by Irish Water Meter Installers

Enda Craig, Moville Anti Water Charges, said that every facet of this incident is synonymous with abuse. This will be reported to all the relevant authorities especially irish water and An Garda Síochána. We are calling for an immediate and independent investigation into this affair. Irish Water must extend an unconditional personal apology to Mrs. Boyle. Also we demand that all water meters illegally installed without proper notification, both here and in the rest of the Inishowen peninsula must be removed.

Mr Craig said :

"1. Irish Water agreed every resident would receive 2 weeks notice, then a 2 days notice and then the installers would knock on doors to advise residents of the imminent water meter installation. None of that happened on this estate.

2. Irish Water meter installers are permitted to work between 7.30am and 7.30pm. In Mrs Boyle's case installers were working at 6.45am. How long before that were they in Ard Na Gula Duibhe Estate?

3. The first installer refused to acknowledge Mrs Boyle. This is 'passive aggressive behaviour' and amounts to abuse.

4. The second installer verbally shouted into Mrs Boyle face that 'she was a joke and her poster a joke'. This resulted in her becoming very upset and frightened. She has still not got over this abuse.

5. The installers showed no identification on their person or on their vehicle. Against Irish Water's stated protocol.

6 They failed to show any identity.

7. They disconnected Mrs Boyle's water supply without any notice.

8. They deliberately ignored 'No Meter Here' poster in Mrs Boyle's window and a verbal request to stop work.

9. Mrs Boyle had not signed any contract with Irish Water..

Irish Water Can Not Be Believed

GMC Sierra Ltd which, owned by Denis O'Brien, is sub contracted by Irish Water to install meters in this Inishowen. They started secretively installing meters here in mid April 2015. They have not been adhering to Irish Water stated protocols in relation to installing meters. See below Irish Water protocol.

Of course none of the protocols stated in this clip by Irish Water has happened to date in Inishowen. The abuse of residents by Irish Water contractors in Ard Na Gula Duibhe in Moville is not an isolated incident. See Buncrana Together previous articles, here:Irish Water in Moville Co DonegalTreatment of Woman Appalling and again here: Buncrana Against Irish Water Press Release Irish Water Insulting Inishowen Community All incidents have been reported.

Incidence of Abuse Not Being Investigated. Ignored by Local Politicians

To date these incidents have not been investigated. Residents have not been contacted by either Irish Water or An Garda Síochána.

All local politicians in the area have been notified and are well aware of what is going on. Apart from Sinn Fein councillors, none have raised the slightest objection nor have they contacted residents. In the case of 77 year old Mrs Rose Boyle she has been left on her own to deal with the aftermath of that gruesome ordeal.

Inishowen Independent May14, 2015

Below Mr Enda Craig, Moville Anti Water Charges, responds on Highland Radio to what he describes as a meaningless apology letter from Irish Water.

Inishowen Indepentent May14, 2015

In a later Inishowen Independent article May28th Irish Water praised the professionalism of it's staff and told the newspaper "Most of the metering teams are local workers and it is a testament to their professionalism and dedication that all incidents have been managed in an appropriate manner and that the overall targets for the metering programme continue to be met within the demanding quality standards."

Update :

All metering in the Inishowen peninsula has been halted. An Irish Water spokesperson said last week in the Inishowen Independent " there have been a number of instances of targeted aggression towards individual members of the metering teams in the Inishowen and Glenties areas of Donegal, which has necessitated the temporary cessation of works by the regional contractor, GMC Sierra, in these areas. Individual incidents were reported to the Gardai and are being investigated." However, local anti water charges campaigners flatly rejects Irish Water claims.