John Halligan tells 'arrogant' ministers ‘shut up’ over refusal to pay water bills

A defiant John Halligan has told “arrogant” Fine Gael ministers to “shut their mouths” and leave him and his fellow independent minister Finian McGrath alone over their refusal to pay water charges.

Mr Halligan, TD for Waterford, is expected to be named a junior minister in the Government by Taoiseach Enda Kenny next week, but was bullish in his defiance of Fine Gael calls for himself and Mr McGrath to pay their water bills.

Mr Kenny and several Fine Gael ministers called on Mr McGrath to pay his water bills. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Halligan singled out comments by new chief whip Regina Doherty over the weekend as most unhelpful.

Mrs Doherty advised TDs who haven’t paid their water bills to do so as they won’t “magically disappear”.

“I don’t know what they are at. They should have shut their mouths on it and consulted with us first. It is only creating tension and showing a type of arrogance again,” he said. He argued Fine Gael knew his position and of Mr McGrath in relation to water charges during the negotiations.

Mr Halligan said he hasn’t paid any water charges as he hasn’t been billed, but that he is opposed to the principle of paying water charges.

“It is interesting in that I haven’t even been billed. I wouldn’t pay it anyway being honest.

“I think there is two issues. When they were negotiating this Programme for Government with us and ministerial positions, they knew our positions on this, well. It is also a newly structured Dáil with the whip being removed on votes of conscious and so on. We are only obliged to support the Government on votes of confidence and the budget,” he added. “When they were offering Finian McGrath a ministry, they knew he hadn’t paid his water charges, he had been saying it in the Dáil,” the Waterford TD said.

Mr Halligan said for him the decision to back Enda Kenny was difficult enough without this sort of conflict, as he has some people already calling him a “traitor” for entering Government, even though he won concessions on Waterford Hospital.

Last night, Mr Kenny joined the chorus of Fine Gael ministers who called on Mr McGrath to pay his water charges.

“Yes, he should pay his water charges, of course,” the Taoiseach said at an event in Dublin city centre.

Earlier, ministers Simon Harris and Paschal Donohoe led the charge by saying they expected a fellow minister to comply with the law of the land and pay his charges.

Mr McGrath released a statement through the Department of Health, in which he said he would seek advice as to his non-payment of water charges.

“Minister McGrath is getting advice from the Attorney General and will be consulting with his Independent Alliance colleagues,” the statement said.

Original article: Daniel McConnell and Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner, May 12, 2106

A 16-year-old boy has been jailed for six months for his part in the Jobstown protest

A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY has been given a six-month sentence and become the first person to be jailed for taking part in violence at the Jobstown protest.


Outgoing tánaiste Joan Burton and her entourage were allegedly trapped in a car following a graduation just after midday on 15 November 2014 at An Cosan education facility in Jobstown in Tallaght.

An anti-Irish Water demonstration was held which delayed her for about two hours.

She and her team had been attempting to travel by car to St Thomas’s Church, a short distance away, for the rest of the ceremony.

Gardaí allege protesters surrounded the car, tried to “get in at” the Labour leader and there were a number of violent incidents during which officers were pushed and missiles thrown.

The boy, now aged 16, but who was 15 at the time of the incident, was in court with his mother and a grandparent.

He had pleaded guilty to criminal damage to the rear window of an unmarked garda car – which he jumped on – and violent disorder charges.

The court heard he has prior convictions for theft and has already served a sentence which expired in January for his other offences.

Finalising his case on Thursday, Judge John O’Connor imposed a six-month sentence on the boy who cannot be named because he is a minor. It makes him the first person to be jailed in connection with the controversial protest which has led to more than 20 people, including TD Paul Murphy, coming before the courts.

Initially the boy, who was not politically motivated when he joined in the violence, expressed regret and in November he had shown a willingness to engage with the Probation Service.

The judge had then told the boy, who has “significant behavioural” problems that if he continued to co-operate with the Probation Service to address his offending, he would be sentenced to a period of probation supervision. Failure to do so would result in a custodial sentence, he had been warned.

However, since then the boy repeatedly refused to work with the Probation Service calling it “a load of bollocks” and he wanted to be sentenced. He also picked up a new charge of unlawfully interfering with a car in a Tallaght on 11 February last.

He pleaded guilty to that as well as a connected breach of the peace and possessing gloves for use in a theft.

Violence against women

Judge John O’Connor had told the teen earlier that the purpose of violence towards women is to humiliate them and erode their dignity and violence directed at women in politics “is to limit their effectiveness in the political process, to alienate them and to state they are not welcome in politics”.

“It should also be pointed out that this particular attack on the elected Tánaiste of Ireland is an attack on the Irish State,” he had said, adding that it was also an attack on gardaí who were protecting Joan Burton.

Defence solicitor Michelle Finan had said psychological and welfare assessments described him as “most vulnerable”. He required “therapeutic support but refused to engage” and had been hospitalised 14 times in the last two years with serious injuries.

The solicitor had said the boy “got caught up in the excitement of what was going and lost the run of himself”.

A welfare report stated he had “significant emotional and behavioural difficulties” prompting mental health concerns. Judge O’Connor had said the teen’s other issues included: negative peers, anti-social incidents, involvement with pro-criminal gangs and drug issues.

Other cases

Paul Murphy TD and 18 other people from Dublin are awaiting Circuit Court trial. They face a variety of charges which include false imprisonment, violent disorder and criminal damage to garda cars.

Five other juvenile males have been before the Children’s Court in connection with the protest.

One youth, aged 15, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder was placed on probation for 12 months in February. Meanwhile another boy (16), who admitted the same charge, was also sentenced to probation recently.

None of the three teens who have pleaded guilty was politically motivated but got caught up in the incident, the court has heard.

A 17-year-old Leaving Cert student will be tried later this year at the juvenile court; he is accused of false imprisonment of Joan Burton and one of her advisors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Another boy, now 15 but who was then aged 13, has indicated that he is pleading not guilty to a violent disorder charge and his trial date will confirmed in the coming weeks.

Last week an 18-year-old youth was cleared of committing violent disorder.

Original Article: www.thejournal.ie/ May 5, 2016

Irish Water: Thousands cancel direct debits amid uncertainty

Ralph Riegel and Paul Melia

Thousands of Irish Water customers have moved to limit their exposure to financial loss in the light of ongoing discussions about the future of water charges.

The Irish Independent has learnt there has been a flood of cancelled direct debits in the last number of weeks as Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were embroiled in government formation talks.

Irish Water is refusing to release the exact figures, saying they are not available at this time, but sources have suggested that up to 80pc of all calls involve customer queries over repayments, direct debit cancellations and refunds to their bank accounts.

One source said people were desperate to recoup some of their payments made to date.

"I'd estimate that eight in 10 calls now involve people questioning direct debit cancellations, refunds or how exactly the SEPA banking refund system works," the source said.

"Last year there was significant anger over the bills. But at the moment people just seem to want information about how they can get some of their money back."

Irish Water last night declined to comment on the scale of direct debit cancellations it has faced since the 2016 General Election and the confusion over water charges.

One utility official said it does not comment on "hearsay".

However, the number of payment cancellations is understood to now be running to thousands each week. It is also believed the numbers cancelling have increased amid repeated warnings from major political parties that there is no question of immediate refunds for the 928,000 households who have paid their charges to date.

More than 1.5 million water bills are currently being issued, with some 750,000 expected to be posted or sent electronically over the coming weeks. The bills are being sent because Irish Water is legally obliged to continue to charge for water and wastewater services, and customers are expected to pay under current legislation. New legislation will be enacted after a minority government is formed, which is likely to be next week, after which charges will be formally suspended for at least nine months.

It has also emerged that Irish Water workers and contractors are also seeking emergency meetings with Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Independents over the implications of the deal on the suspension of charges on their jobs.

Aside from its directly employed staff, Irish Water's operation provides employment for more than 1,000 contractors both in terms of meter installation and bill processing.

More than 750 specially trained contractors operate with Cork outsourcing firm, Abtran, on handling Irish Water bills and payments. Contractors are also involved in the installation of water meters and various maintenance functions.

Separately, the chair of the Public Water Forum has said that neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael made contact with the group over the agreement struck between both parties in relation to the water charging issue.

Dr Tom Collins, (photo above)  who chairs the forum which is designed to address consumer concerns, said he saw the value of an entity which would advise on best practice. He said in education, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) was tasked with helping to shape policy, and that could be helpful in the water debate.

"They (the parties) didn't talk to the forum," he said. "I could see the value of an organisation in relation to developing proposals for drinking water and wastewater, and not just confined to Irish Water."

Original article:   Irish Independent May 5, 2016