James Quigley is spokesperson for the Inishowen anti water charge group which brokered a peaceful agreement between the group and MBC Builders, Ballybofey, one or the subcontractor who are installing meter boxes and meters in Donegal. See this article Inishowen Comes To Grounbreaking Agreement in Donegal Daily. Mr Quigley recently contacted all local and national politicians in the Inishowen Peninsula by email in the hoped that they would publicly support this peaceful and sensible agreement. He believes that it is the duty of politicians to support and encourage such an endeavour. It is our hope, he said, that any hostile group or individual would take heed of any forthcoming statements of support from our elected representatives and see the brokered agreement in a different light. Silence from our politicians in this matter is not acceptable. It is even more imperative that 'leaders' in our county be brave and speak up especially in light of recent criticisms of this deal. See this article in Donegal Daiily 'Outsiders Trying to Disrupt Water Meter Agreement In Inishowen Claim'. All article can be read in www.buncranatogether.com.

Full email to all Inishowen representatives

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2015
To: albertdoherty@eircom.net; bernardmcguinness@donegalcoco.ie; jackmurray@donegalcoco.ie; charlie.mcconalogue@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; johnryan@donegalcoco.ie; martinfarren4labour@gmail.com; martinmcdermott2014@gmail.com; nicholascrossan@eircom.net; padraig.maclochlainn@oireachtas.ie; paulcanning@donegalcoco.ie; renadonaghey@donegalcoco.ie; thomas.pringle@oireachtas.ie;

Subject: Inishowen agreement with water contractor

A Chara

Please see this article in Donegal Daily
http://www.donegaldaily.com/2015/07/19/inishowen-comes-to-groundbreaking-agreement-on-water-meters/

I have been elected spokesperson for the Inishowen group in question.

The above article concerns an agreement which members of Inishowen anti
water charge groups were able to broker with MBC Builders, Ballybofey.
MBC Builders is subcontracted by GMC Sierra to install boundary boxes
and meters in Donegal. Up to now this contractor did not respect 'no
meter' signs in property which did not want a meter and have no contract
with Irish Water. This hard stance led to controversy and friction
between themselves, householders and opposition groups throughout the
county. The potential for this controversy to escalate in Inishowen is
great especially after the episodes in Moville and Manorcunningham.
However, John Gildea has now demonstrated his willingness to come to an
agreement and has stated that he would abide by the 'no meter wanted'
signs' now and in the future.
This opportunity for a peaceful resolution where a mutual accepted deal
has been brokered is too good to miss. We all have a responsibility to
do everything in our power to help avoid conflict. We believe this
agreement has the potential to do this.
I would like to point out that we have been pursuing this approach all
along and to that end we have constantly publicised it through the web
page buncranatogether.com. Indeed at a public meeting in Feb 2015 in
the Lake of Shadows hotel where a audience voted overwhelmingly in
favour of us trying to broker such an agreement.
As you might know GMC Sierra and their subcontractors have resumed
operations as part of their 'second phase programme' in Donegal. At the
moment their operations have been halted in Inishowen but we have been
informed that it will resume again here within the next couple of months.

You may or not be aware but we are experiencing opposition by hard
liners who for some reason do not want to talk to Gildea or have
anything to do with Irish Water. We find it hard to understand their
arguments but their opposition exists and has the potential to wreck
this deal. We need support from everyone who see the sense in this
approach. To that end we invite you to give us your support. If you
would write a statement to that end we would put it up on Buncrana
Together facebook page and our web page if you have no objections.

FYA read
http://buncranatogether.com/home/2015/3/18/obnw4qvggeda0mj5rrcl7jc9klp7fh
A full account of an agreement that has been working for past 7 months
and which demonstrates a public mandate for this approach.