IRELAND'S LITTLE PEOPLE

Going through some of unpublished photo’s that I took at the Woodfield Market last month. I came across one of them which gave me confirmation of what I have always thought and could never prove.‘The Little People’[Fairies] always wear the costumes of the present time and because they do so, they are rarely seen today.

Can you spot him ?

Look to where the arrow is pointing

I have been spending a lot of time in recent days studying media reports, from various sources, on what is happening with our nearest neighbours, those on the island that lies between Ireland and Europe.

10 reasons to be cheerful - Not

© The Times 2017

It seems to me that there is an antithesis in the association of Mrs May and the DUP because the accepted social rights of individuals within England, Wales and Scotland differ greatly from those of the DUP.

The D.U.P.

Led by Arlene Foster.

About the DUP

With a third of its members drawn from the late Rev Ian Paisley’s staunchly Protestant Free Presbyterian church, it is unsurprising that recent research found more than half of the Democratic Unionist party “would mind a lot” if a close relative married someone from a different christian sect.

THE LEADER OF DUP is Arlene Foster and their membership includes:

Ian Paisley Jr. who in 2005 described gay marriage as “immoral, offensive and obnoxious.”

Gregory Campbell, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Nigel Dodds, Paul Girvan and

Emma Little-Pengelly. 

Little-Pengelly, the 38-year old MP for South Belfast, was endorsed last month by an organisation linked to the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group. 

David Simpson, MP for Upper Bann since 2005, is strongly opposed to abortion. He has described pro-choice supporters as “anti-democratic, anti-libertarian and anti-human rights”.

Gavin Robinson, Jim Shannon, Gregory Campbell and 

Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, a former lord mayor of Belfast who has said he thinks climate change is a con.

For more information https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/11/dup-whos-who-party-members-prop-up-tories-theresa-may

Personally I would be very loathe to even have a cup of tea with any of them and I do wonder if Mrs May has any understanding of what these people are like.

LIAR, LIAR !

A SONG about Tory leader Theresa May has reached the Top 10 in the download chart but the official chart shows on radio stations Capital FM and Heart have refused to play Liar, Liar GE2017, supporters have complained.

Click here: http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/she_s_a_liar_liar to download for £1 or less to help give Theresa May an election day present she really doesn’t want.

All money spent on downloads of the track up to 8 June will be split between food banks and the People’s Assembly Against Austerity.

Performed and produced by the band Captain Ska and promoted by campaign organisation the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, the song features various speeches and news interviews from Prime Minister Theresa May followed by a chorus of: “She’s a liar, liar . . . You can’t trust her . . . no, no, no, no.”

The song attacks the Conservative Party’s record in office over the NHS crisis, education and levels of poverty. “When there’s nurses going hungry and schools in decline I don’t recognise this broken country of mine,” goes one of the lyrics.

The song has been available for download from last Friday (26 May) and has been rising up in the iTunes charts, reaching Number 10 at the weekend.

The Chart Show this week did announce that the track had reached Number 10 but instead of playing it went straight onto playing Number 9. Now it has gone to Number 7 and could even be a chart topper by polling day.

Jake from Captain Ska said:

“This can only be seen as an attempt by the media owners to undermine public opinion. Thousands of people have downloaded this track and we demand that it is aired as any other song would be.

“We've written Liar, Liar GE2017 for this general election because we want to do all we can to expose the horrific effects Tory policy has had on ordinary people.

“Theresa May lies her way through interview after interview without addressing the real issues. We’re sick of her and her party of millionaires privatising and cutting our public services while the rest of the country faces deteriorating living standards and poverty. The money is there to improve the lives of the majority but it’s in the hands of the wrong people.”

http://www.culturematters.org.uk/index.php/itemlist/user/738-jake

The above article is by JOHN HEDGES

AN PHOBLACHT EDITOR

http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/26905

IRELANDS GENERAL ELECTION

I was talking to a relation in England the other day when I mentioned the forth coming election, to which they replied "What election ? "and when told said "That's the first I have heard of it"
So I thought that it was about time I brought it to my readers attention.

The election was announced in Dáil Éireann [the lower house] of the Oireachtas [Parliament]  on Thursday 4th February by Enda Kenny the present Taoiseach [the literal translation of which is chieftain or leader]
Polling day will be on 26th February.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

December 10 is Human Rights Day, a United Nations (UN) campaign that calls for people to know and push for their rights no matter where they are in the world.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted between January 1947 and December 1948. It aimed to form a basis for human rights all over the world and represented a significant change of direction from events during World War II and the continuing colonialism that was rife in the world at the time. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered as the most translated document in modern history. It is available in more than 360 languages and new translations are still being added.
The UN General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France, on the December 10, 1948. All states and interested organizations were invited to mark December 10 as Human Rights Day at a UN meeting on December 4, 1950. It was first observed on December 10 that year and has been observed each year on the same date. Each year Human Rights Day has a theme. Some of these themes have focused on people knowing their human rights or the importance of human rights education.

In Northern Ireland
Two campaign groups: The Pat Finucane Centre (PFC) and Justice for the Forgotten have jointly published :-

They said it is a “sign of the anger, frustration and bitter disappointment felt by over 150 bereaved families at the abject failure of the politicians and British Government to implement the legacy proposals set out in the Stormont House Agreement (SHA)”.

They added: “Families, whether Catholic or Protestant, from both communities, are angry and grieving.”

The groups said: “With goodwill, common sense and respect for international legal standards, the legitimate wish of families to the truth that they so earnestly desire, and deserve, can be achieved."

Males and Mails

© 2010 H.Rufus

On a day of deep snow I was taken by a 4x4 to the nearest train station to travel to Dublin.

On my way to the carriage door I glanced to see how many others were travelling and there in a window seat sat a familiar face. Little did I realise then that the well known personage was to become the next President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.

Uachtarán na hÉireann

My journey continued with a a wait of several hours in Dublin airport before catching my flight to Birmingham International and onwards to meet my one and only grandson Oliver who was then just three weeks old.

I often wonder what he will make of himself and of what his journey through life will be ?

AN POST

anpost.ie/Christmas

Our post travels everywhere!

© 2015 J. Brideson

One request from myself: if anyone has a spare iPhone ? If you post it to me now it will arrive before Christmas.

22nd May Referendum Day

On 22nd May Ireland will hold two Referenda on the same day. 

a, To change the minimum age of when an individual can become The President of Ireland from 35 to 21.

Personally I think that 21 is too young and that anyone who takes up this high office needs to have 'lived' and to have had life experiences.

b,The one that is upper most in the news is the Marriage Equality Referendum.

This referendum is being held to make a change in the Irish Constitution about the rights of the individual to marry a person of their choice- a person of the same sex as themselves.

Currently the word ‘marriage' in the Constitution refers only to the marriage between a male and a female, it fails to recognise the rights of the individual. The 1916 Proclamation guaranteed religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all of its citizens.

It is now time to put that right.

I have read the amendment and I have read the Children and Family Relationships Bill and am satisfied that the Marriage Equality amendment has nothing to do with children.

The state of being married does not mean that children will be produced by the couple, adopted or even fostered and being married does not give any couple a right to a family.

Nor does the Marriage Equality referendum have anything to do with religion.

Myself and Mrs H enjoy a very happy marriage and I see no reason why my gay friends in Ireland should not be allowed to do the same, especially as some of them have been partners for a lot longer than we have.

Hunger Strike & Political Policing

Derek Byrne

on hunger strike at Wheatfield Prison.

The Anti-Austerity Alliance has condemned the jailing of anti-water meter protestors. 

“ The court has jailed these protestors at the behest of the Denis O’Brien owned GMC Sierra, so that they can continue to try to impose water meters on communities which have risen up in peaceful protest against their installation. Once again, the courts have been used to attack the right of people to engage in peaceful protest."

“ The attacks from the state on the campaign against water charges needs to be met with a significant response by the campaign and communities, the protest which has been organised against political policing following the Jobstown arrests on Saturday can be a response in opposition to these attacks. ”

Paul Murphy TD

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said “ The jailing of these protestors and the arrests in Tallaght is an attack on the right of communities to protest against the imposition of austerity measures, in this case the water charge and meters, which are being imposed by the government despite the massive opposition to them."

AAA Councillor Michael O’Brien is a councillor for the area and is involved in the protests said: “This is a disgraceful attack on the right of a community to defend itself through mass peaceful protests against the imposition of austerity."

“The protests have been met with organised violence from the state through the Gardaí. The Gardaí have acted as bully boys on behalf of the government and GMC Sierra through physical attacks and harassment of those who have engaged in the protests."

“These jailings will not deter people from protesting against the installation of water meters and will be met with a firm response by the communities and the anti-water charges movement.”

Councillor Michael O’Brien explained that he had dropped by Wheatfield prison on his way back from visiting family in Enfield over the weekend. Most of the protesters had gone but he had the fortune of meeting a member of one of the jailed activist's family. The most disturbing thing about their incarceration is the 23 hour solitary lockdown which is normally reserved as a punishment for infractions committed inside the prison but not in this occasion.

She told him that the governor claimed it wasn't his decision to place them in solitary and permit them only two visits per week. Michael O’Brien said “This stinks of a spiteful political intervention from on high to psychologically break our fellow activists and this no doubt helped provoke Derek and Ollie's decision to go on hunger strike (I hope Derek and Ollie back down on this by the way)."

"Back during the bin tax struggle the overwhelming majority of the twenty something people who were banged up were put in the training unit in Mountjoy which, while being no holiday, allowed for the maximum possible free association, visits, activities and even phone calls from the outside. The few who were put in the regular Mountjoy prison at least had a 'normal' routine of two to a cell and association times etc." 

Paul Murphy TD, Anti Austerity Alliance, said he would seek permission from prison authorities to visit the two protesters today. He said he did not advocate the use of hunger strikes as a tactic but hoped to broker a deal with the authorities which would see the prisoners being moved back to Mountjoy Prison.

Post script

Imprisoned water charges protesters will step up their hunger strike from this morning by refusing fluids in opposition to their transfer to Wheatfield Prison.

Visit link below

https://soundmigration.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/thousands-attend-irishwater-mountjoy-prison-demo/

NOTE !

Historically hunger striking links back to the ancient Celtic practise of Fasting against Injustice.

DEMOCRACY

Originator unknown.

“The Greeks taught us democracy and now they have taught how to take it back”  said a recent tweet. 

It would have been more accurate to write that the ancient Greeks birthed an ancient form of democracy. For during the course of time the concept of democracy has changed considerably, depending on which country believes it’s self to be  a democratic country.


HISTORICALLY :
The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was found from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (krátos) "power" or "rule" in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía) "rule of an elite". While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[3] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. 
In virtually all democratic governments throughout ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an elite class until full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens in most modern democracies through the suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.


TODAY.
The citizens choose and replace the government through free and fair elections;
There is active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life;
There is protection of the human rights of all citizens.
There is rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. 
Eligible citizens are able to: 1) vote for the passing/rejecting of laws or run for office during elections, 2) join political parties, sit on boards or committees, and criticise or protest, 3) feel that some of their rights are protected, and 4) receive a fair trial if accused of breaking the country's laws. Politicians represent their constituents in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run.

It remains to be seen whether Tsipras will be able to carry out his election promises!

My birthday Jan 9th

A birthday cake

January 9th is my birthday. I was going to write up something about me and then, well we all know what occurred in Paris on that day. 
So I gave over my day and published something quite different to what I had planned. A reasonable amount of time has now passed and so I shall rekindle my thoughts.


On this birthday I became 72 years of age, although to be quite honest I am not convinced, of whether I am 27 or 72 because I actually feel like 35 and sometimes a bit younger. 


When I look in the mirror, which is not very often as I gave up shaving long ago, I wonder to which of my ancestors do I resemble. There is no answer and no photographs of either my father or his father at seventy-two for both died in their mid fifties. 
Their age of passing influenced me greatly, leading me to decide  in my early forties, to plan a life style change which would remove stress and give me the experience of total freedom. I chose this path in case I too had an early demise and so I retired early, in my forty-eighth year.


Life always throws up challenges and ironically within a few weeks of moving to my rural retreat, along came a entrepreneur who asked me to design an a piece of equipment for him - I stuck to my plan however and denied him, as did others and to my knowledge his idea never came to fruition. 


I did though make a return to employment - though not as a design engineer as I was previously, this time it was in Development Education as a Facilitator, a position that I greatly enjoyed and brought me into contact with some very interesting people. Folk who actually care and work towards improving the social and living conditions of people in our impoverished and mutilated world.


The above paragraph above brings me back as to why I published a comment from a former editor Philippe Val of Charlie Hebdo and why from time to time this blog highlights issues that disturb me greatly.

Please view

http://www.developmenteducation.ie

SILENCE

• 
  

  Ex-editor: 'Silence is the threat'

  Posted at 00:30

  Charlie Hebdo's former editor Philippe Val: "Do you know what threatens democracy the most? Silence. To reduce ourselves to silence means that we will lose all we have gained of liberty, freedom for women, for homosexuals, the freedom to come and go as we please, moral freedom.

  "But we must not believe that the Muslims who are today outraged by what has happened cannot understand it. They can understand it. They can understand that today, their religion needs to reform. So that it does not in the heart of the democracy where they have chosen to live, create terrorists, terrorism, which is of course opposed by most Muslims, who are victims of it."

A message from Lin

© Jane Brideson 

"Winter Solstice Rebirth"

I received this message from a special friend and I have had her permission to share

this with You.

OLD HIPPY MAXIMS

As above.......so below,

Macrocosm.......microcosm,

Turn on... tune in... drop out

Heads...          Freaks..... Go with the flow

We get stoned, on crystals.....megaliths.....mother earth

Give peace a chance

Attitude gratitude......Devotion

.................................................................

Old hippies, were in recovery. the 60,s.... you know

We are now recovered

We have got our 2nd wind

Riding the post 2012....

Wave of light.

In aquarian age, ascension, party mode.

......................................................

Then, we dropped out

Of, world we saw

Greed, poverty, negative emotions, male domination, power over....

Poverty, hatred, war, toxic medications, hatred of mother earth,  and women

SO

We created a new one. Turned on, tuned in , created 

Organic farms, crystal healing, respect for mother earth and all our relations

Art, music fashion,, whole-foods shops, cnd, single mums, healers etc

Our musicians our prophets

Our inner voice, our guide

.................................

Cos we are aquarian age, ascension, forerunners

The crystal children, The rainbow warriors

hippies

Worked hard, to build the dream,

All our brothers , of fur feather and fin, joined in too.

Burnt out

.......................

Now we flow on the lightwave of 2012, ascending

We let the dying die,

Co-create, the new earth, the new body of light,

love, peace beauty truth, abundance,

Balanced in true love,

Soulmates of the inner flame

Ecstatic with joy, our dreams coming true

We turned the tide, earth is safe,

Still lots of light work to do

----------------------------------------------------------

Being shown, our Avalon phoenix,

is ready to take flight; she will be riding on the gentle

solstice dawn light, 

her wings tipped radiant. orange, gold

As she takes flight.

I see her watch the light at mount kailish

Then flowing with the earth grid, catching dawn at each site, through Carnac ; Giza, glaston, as the womblike cairns, gavanis, new-grange,As ancient ancestors built for us,  so in time to remind us

They were the abodes of immortals, the beings of light, built to remind us, which way to go, aligned to let in the winter solstice light, to touch the spiralled stones,

you know, incase we got lost

to recover true humanity, in a world gone blind

She sings the song of creation,

Her gift to us this season, 

to renew our humanity

In the ascension light, 

she will fly on to Mexico

 sit on the stone of the sun,, and sing the new creation, now

 being born

for mother earth, all our relations

....................................................

Lennon, song,                 

                                    Some say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one, 

One day you will join us, and the world will be as one

...................................

So with this wonderful, gentle, new ascension wave 

of winter-solstice light,

I wish you a 

HAPPY SOLSTICE 2014

Happy hippy Lin

Culchies demonstrate in Dublin

This is only part of the demonstrators

This was Novembers Demo the feelings are

even stronger.

They came from all over Ireland: from the North, from Donegal, Down & Louth, from the South as far as Cork & Kerry, from the West, Mayo to Clare, from the East, Wexford & Wicklow and from the Midlands too. People from every county were there for themselves and to represent others unable to travel to Dublin.

They brought their placards, their voices and their determination. They stayed for a day and went away carrying their experiences to pass on to others.

We are proud of them !

Proud to have them as neighbours and to call them our friends.

On reading the newspapers it easy to see that the journalists are lost for words to describe what they witnessed when the ‘culchies’ came to town; unless of course, as I suspect, many of them are suppressed by a secret committee of censors!

Approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people took part in the peaceful,self disciplined demonstration. Out of this number six people were arrested and none of them actually charged. Were they the fifth columnists planted in the crowd? - I don’t know.


There is a new wave of governance flowing through the land. We know it for now as People Power which occurs when the electorate reach within themselves to become enriched with a sense of personal worth and value. Flowing from this comes the empowerment to become Activists who have ability and inner confidence to tell members of the government what they want and do not want.


That is what happened on the streets of Dublin on 10th December 2014 and from this example even larger numbers will be drawn on 31st January 2015 to another demonstration of People Power.

Detroit supports Irish Water Protest

Loyal friends across the pond

Today, a delegation  from The Detroit Water Brigade arrived in Dublin to stand in solidarity with Ireland and people around the globe who are fighting for strong public water systems and water accessibility. The Detroit Water Brigade provides bottled water, water coolers, rainwater catchment barrels, and water filters, to people in need. They will be visiting residents across Ireland who have been fighting against the installation of  water meters

Over the summer the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department shut off water for over 3,000 household each week due to residents being behind on payments. And though half of Detroit’s residents live below the poverty line, the Detroit city council recently approved a significant increase in water charges, making a total increase of 119% over the last 10 years. The water charges in Detroit are nearly double the US national average.

“To take water away from those who cannot afford it by handing it to a private, for-profit company isn’t just irresponsible — it’s genocidal.” Says Detroit Water Brigade’s Political Director. “We know that from firsthand experience here in Detroit and we can’t allow it to happen to Ireland.”

Since protests began the Irish government has completely lost the trust of the people. It is now obvious that the government are not listening to the people who they claim to represent, and the dogs on the street know that the people are fed up. What will it take to convince the government that access to water is a human right and not a revenue stream for bailing out big banks? How many times must we say that we demand water charges abolished before they will abolish them? And how many hundreds of thousands of people marching to the Dáil will it take to convince them that  water charges will not be accepted that people know full well that they already pay for their water.  The world is about to find out.

The peaceful protest against water charges on Wednesday, 10 December will begin at 1pm at Leinster House, Merrion Square. Solidarity protests will also take place outside Belfast City Hall, and in London outside of the Irish Embassy.

Céad míle fáilte to the delegates from Detroit 

The 1997 Act that absolves the Irish people from paying

water charges

KENNY & CO MUST GO!

The EU Needs to Cop On!

Lyn Boylan MEP  SF

European Commission rep's 'patronising and arrogant' comments on water protesters.

»MARK MOLONEY

A REPRESENTATIVE of the European Commission clashed with Sinn Féin's Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan on Thursday after the Policy Officer made "patronising and arrogant" comments about Irish water protesters during a conference in Brussels – apparently unaware that an Irish MEP was present.

During the Aqua Publica Europea conference, a spokesperson for a private water operator claimed that water should be treated like any other utility and should not be considered a free resource.

Responding to the comment, the European Commission Policy Officer for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, Lukasz Latala, said: 

"The Irish just don't seem to understand they need to pay for water."

The comment prompted an immediate response from Irish MEP Lynn Boylan - who has been appointed author of the European Citizens' Initiative Right to Water report – and was in the audience listening. 

Speaking from the floor, the Dublin MEP described the policy representative's comments as "patronising", telling him:

"The Irish people absolutely understand that water has to be paid for. But they don't understand why they are being asked to pay for it twice."

"We already pay for our water through general taxation and the wholly inept and shambolic entity that is Irish Water has also been funded by Irish taxpayers."

Speaking after the conference, Lynn Boylan said:

"The Irish Government alludes to conservation being a factor in the introduction of this tax. It is appalling that 40% of domestic water is being lost through leaking pipes. 

"Instead of the Government investing in the aged and decrepit infrastructure it has spent half a billion euro of the National Pension Reserve Fund in setting up a quango that is not fit for purpose and in the installation of water meters."

Danger Ahead for EU Countries !

Matt Carthy MEP Sinn Féin

MARK MOLONEY

MIDLANDS NORTH WEST MEP Matt Carthy today launched a discussion document produced by Sinn Féin which outlines concerns in relation to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations currently taking place between the US and EU. 

TTIP is the most significant free trade agreement of modern times but elements of it have been shrouded in secrecy.

Speaking at the European Parliament Information Office in Dublin this morning, Matt Carthy said it is important that a comprehensive public debate takes place in relation to the impact TTIP will have on Irish interests. 

Criticising the lack of transparency surrounding the negotiations and highlighting how MEPs only became aware of the mandate for negotiations via a leaked document, he told An Phoblacht that his party has major concerns surrounding the establishment of an Investor State Dispute Settlement Procedure.

"It operates outside of the rule of law and allows investors to sue member states as a result of potential loss of revenue. It is the mechanism by which tobacco giants are currently suing Australia as a result of that country’s public health measures against smoking."

Representatives from a number of trade unions, NGOs and pressure groups attended the launch and outlined their concerns in the areas of employment, workers' rights, agriculture and the environment.

Matt Carthy called on more organisations to evaluate the potential consequences of TTIP and to raise their concerns with public representatives.

"It has become increasingly apparent that there is a clear need for public engagement and debate on the consequences of TTIP for Ireland, particularly as we have lost our veto to block this agreement as a result of the Lisbon treaty."

http://stop-ttip.org

also please view

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh0InepmCwQ

 

: http://corporateeurope.org/international-trade/2014/09/ttip-covert-attacks-democracy-and-regulation

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/eu-ttip-petition#petition

Ireland will Rise !

Please listen !

Poverty & Children

©Irish Examiner 2014

This is what the Irish government coalition of Fine Gael & Labour have produced during their years of office, through the bad management of resources and are still causing in throughout the twenty-six counties, where many children go to school hungry!

A new report shows that children in families which have experienced poverty in the recession have suffered greater behavioural problems. 

The six-year ESRI "Growing Up In Ireland" study of 20,000 children found a risk of "strongly negative" consequences for children's emotional development if families were vulnerable for "longer periods of time".

The report will be launched by the Children's Minister James Reilly this morning, and it suggests a broader range of supports are needed to help vulnerable families.

Dr Dorothy Watson said that while parents may try to protect their children from the financial reality, it still has an impact.

"We found this for the three-year-olds … as well as for the older children," she said.

"Even though children might not have a very good understanding of what's happening in the family, at some level they pick up on these differences, and it affects their socio-emotional wellbeing."

Speaking ahead of the launch, Minister Reilly said the government has committed to tackling economic hardship through its Better Outcomes - Brighter Futures policy framework.

 Irish Examiner

Attempt to cling to power

       Mary Lou McDonald TD & Gerry Adams TD

Gerry Adams: Government's water charge u-turn 'a desperate attempt of Fine Gael and Labour to cling to power'

Saturday, November 22, 2014 - 01:18 PM

Sinn Féin is calling for a mass mobilisation of people to protest against water charges in Dublin next month.

The Right2Water campaign, which is organising the demonstration, says it expects an historic turn-out for its rally at the Dáil on December 10.

Around 100,000 people took part in their last protest.

Organisers of next months demonstration say the protest to abolish water charges will go ahead despite the Government’s new package plan announced earlier this week.

The Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is calling on people to send a strong message to the government.

“As with every other issue, Fine Gael and Labour have failed to listen to citizens on the water charges,” he said.

“The Government's latest policy is all about giving themselves a lifeline to run their full term. It's not about easing the pressure on those who cannot pay water charges.

“What we got on Wednesday was a PR offensive - a desperate attempt by Fine Gael and Labour to cling to power for the next year.

“Water charges have not been scrapped, the water metering programme will continue, metered charges are coming in, they will only go up, and there is still no constitutional right to water.

“This cynical Government manoeuvre will not work. The people are not stupid. It fails to address the demands of the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have taken to the streets on this issue.

“Sinn Féin is a central part of the Right2Water campaign and I am calling for the maximum possible turnout in protest against Water Charges on December 10 to deliver a strong message that Water Charges must be scrapped.

©IRISH EXAMINER 22-11-2014

Campaigner for the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry, said rent controls are necessary to ensure that the market retains an element of affordability.

New figures show the number of people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin has trebled in the last five years. 

Fr McVerry challenged the Government to outline just what it is going to do to tackle rising homelessness as we approach the coldest months of the year.

"A lot of people who are becoming homeless today and there are six new people becoming homeless every day, a lot of them are getting kicked out of their private rental accommodation because their rents are going up and they can't afford the increase," he said.

"if the Government are not going to introduce rent controls and if they're not going to increase the rent allowance to allow people to pay the increased rents, then what on Earth are they going to do?"

©IRISH EXAMINER

Catch a WHALE

Brian Stanley TD

"Sinn Féin's environment spokesperson Brian Stanley has described today's package of measures on water charges as "an introductory offer, and a con job designed to lure people into agreeing to pay a charge that will inevitably be increased to much higher levels in years to come".

Deputy Stanley said: "The fact that the initial bills for water will now be substantially lower than those announced by the Energy Regulator at the beginning of October is a victory for opponents of the water charges. 

"The Government now needs to go one step further and abolish the water charges altogether."

He said that otherwise, households would face much higher bills when the concessions were due to end after 2018."

quote taken from Irish Examine © 2016

The Irish government of scallywags are now offering people on Social Welfare a One Hundred Euro  bribe to sign up for Irish Water - which is nothing more 

"Than a sprat to catch a WHALE !"

I have news the Irish people have woken up and they have the bit between their teeth and within those people are those others who have the taste of blood within. 

To the TD's and Ministers of Fine Gael &Labour it yours that they are after! So might it not be better to 'fall on your sword now ? ' so resign and call a general election now before  the people get really angry and remember that the commemoration of the 1916 Uprising is not too far away. . . .