Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 4.45pm
A FINE GAEL councillor has said she is “incredibly sorry” for saying that water charges protesters should collect rainwater while out marching and drink it for a week.
Laura McGonigle, a Cork city councillor, made the remarks on her personal Facebook account at the weekend.
The comments were made as tens of thousands of people took to the streets around the country, including in Cork, to protest against Irish Water and the introduction of water charges.
The comments were subsequently deleted from her account but several screenshots have been circulating on social media today:
In a statement issued on her Twitter account this morning, McGonigle said she wished to clarify her comments and apologise for any offence that may have been caused:
I wish to clarify a comment posted by me on my private Facebook account over the weekend. A suggestion had been made to me earlier that morning that as a nation we should not pay for our water as there was plenty of rain. I was attempting to highlight that rainwater is not safe for drinking and costs the State in the region of €1.2bn per year to treat. I realise that my comments were open to a misinterpretation that I did not intend, I apologise for an offence this may have caused.
Contacted by TheJournal.ie earlier, McGonigle expanded on her statement, saying she was “very sorry for any offence or upset caused by ill-judged comments”. She added:
“I never intended to upset anyone. There was no intention on my part to insult anyone, and if anyone felt insulted I am incredibly sorry.“I understand why people are protesting and I fully support their right to do so. I don’t feel I can usefully add to this, other than to say again that I’m sorry. I’ve been overwhelmed by the commentary which my comments have caused.
McGonigle has been a councillor for the South East Ward in Cork city since 2009 having originally been co-opted onto the city council in 2007.
First published 12.19pm
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Puts are own problems and concerns into a different perspective.
Where has the humanity gone? Climate change is manifesting itself every day in some or other part of the world.
These poor people, just trying to live and look after their families, totally powerless in the face of what the climate is doing to them, dependent on the charity and goodwill of others.
And on the other hand, you have the like of Putin and Johnson, selfish, power hungry men, totally oblivious to the suffering they are causing to the people around them.
I fear for the future of the world and if there is a God, I hope that he balances things out for all of mankind, and soon.
@Mary Walshe: We can’t wait to have perfect leaders or perfect climate or even for a god to do something. People are dying right now and we can change that Right now all those people need is food and surely you and i and everyone else can do that. I’m glad they can depend in a little way on their fellow man to help them ,ie charities. So until that better world comes let’s just put our hands in our pockets and help. That’s humanity, in action! It’s in our control.
Ever since I was a little boy and that was not yesterday, there has been famine and suffering in Africa. Charities have applied much needed ‘plasters’ to each problem but the problems continue. Politicians have bled their people dry and created vast wealth for themselves in the process and local politicians have used their positions in well paid jobs in charities as stepping boards to better paid jobs in politics, where they promote themselves and forget about the charities. Donations, much of which go, not to those in need but to CEO’s salaries and collectors commission. A radical approach has to be taken and focused on the political systems within those countries by those World bodies i.e. the U.N. so little starving girls can plan for their long term future. Charities know that without tackling the politicians/U.N. etc they, albeit unintentionally, prolong the little girls suffering and lack of hope. Plasters won’t prevent hunger. These people deserve better.
@Barrycelona: Very true. But also, what kind of person has numerous kids knowing that some or all of them will die from malnutrition or starvation because they can’t take care of them.
@Jim Smith: Poverty!! Just like Ireland in pre war times. It was inevitable that several children would die and that was one of the reasons people had such large families. Poorer families have always had more children. The more children that survived, the greater chance of a bigger ‘ income’. Men also have a lot to answer for, in the way they used and treated women, even in today’s World
@Jim Smith: Poverty!! Just like Ireland in pre war times. It was inevitable that several children would die and that was one of the reasons people had such large families. Poorer families have always had more children. The more children that survived, the greater chance of a bigger ‘ income’. Men also have a lot to answer for, in the way they used and treated women, even in today’s World.
@Barrycelona: Well no matter how poor I was, I wouldn’t have many children knowing that I couldn’t feed all of them and that some will die because I might get more money. That’s sick. The thing is that the Africans that I work with agree with me. The media seems to portray Africans as helpless sadists. Many are highly educated and intelligent people who care if their children live or die.
Why is this under ‘Ukraine’ news?
have your say