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THREE WATER PROTESTERS who were in court over breaching a 20-metre exclusion zone around Irish Water meter installers have each been given suspended sentences of 28 days.
The judge said that none of the three defendants “appreciated the gravity” of breaching the High Court order to stay a certain distance away from the Irish Water meter installers.
Handing down the sentence, Justice Paul Gilligan said that the court “cannot stand idly by while those who defy it go free”.
He added that the “authority of the court must be respected” and that the defendants’ position that they had done nothing wrong was “hard to comprehend”.
The sentence was suspended for six months on the condition that the three men do not breach the exclusion zone order, which was enacted by Justice Paul Gilligan on 5 November, with nine protesters ordered to abide by it or face contempt charges.
The three – Paul Moore of Mount Olive Grove in Dublin, Damien O’Neill of Greenwood Park in Dublin, and Terrance Sheridan from Kilbarron Park, Dublin – were before Justice Gilligan at the Criminal Courts of Justice today after GMC Sierra, the company installing the meters, asked the High Court to intervene.
Paul Hosford / TwitterThere was a cry of "shame on you" from the public gallery when Justice Gilligan handed down the suspended sentence.
— Paul Hosford (@PTHosford) November 26, 2014
All three had not denied in their affidavits that they had been inside the exclusion zone, but all denied that they had been in any way violent.
On Monday, the court was shown videos which showed the men within 20-metres of works, but Justice Gilligan said today that he was not satisfied that these videos had been authenticated.
The court was told that on 11 November, O’Neill was observed interfering with works, but said that he had done this because an elderly resident had become agitated. Justice Gilligan said that he was only there to judge one issue – whether the order had been breached – and could not take any reasoning into account.
In the cases of Moore and Sheridan, an affidavit by an independent observer, as well as witness testimony, put them among a group of protesters who led a slow walk of GMC Sierra vehicles out of an estate.
Cahir O’Higgins, solicitor for Moore and Sheridan said that Justice Gilligan had been “fair and even-handed” and said his clients would “continue to protest in a peaceful and respectful way” and “not doing anything to put themselves in jeopardy”.
Justice Gilligan had asked the protesters on three occasions if they would give an undertaking not to breach the exclusion zone. On all occasions, no undertaking was offered.
A fourth man, Derek Byrne had proceedings against him struck out on a legal technicality on Monday.
Outside the court, Byrne said that this had become “a case of the Irish government against the Irish people”.
Additional reporting by Christine Bohan
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Outrageous that they even got a suspended sentence, a more severe judgment than that handed down to our friends the three bankers this year. Evidently our justice system knows which side its bread is buttered
If 3 were jailed then 300 would take their place
I think it’s shameful that the judge in this case found it so easy to serve s custodial sentence regarding these alleged peaceful protesters. Surely it’s not simply over the distance they came within a protest regarding a barring order?
Spend some time in any criminal court in dublin & watch the daily ignorance of judges who repeatedly strike out or let off those convicted criminals who cause violent crimes, repeat offenders who terrorise & steal from buisness & communities on an epic scale each week & those who fail each day to simply conform to be law abiding citizen..
To add to that the manner is which I’ve seen judges talk down to Gardai, innocent victims & witnesses is nothing short of disgusting! I’ve yet to see a judge put a disruptive defendant in his place in court. Shameful!
Kenny has given the people back their Fenian dead.
20 meters would put the exclusion zone well within my front living room.
Is there not a civil rights solicitor who can take this up as it interferes with an individuals right to protest? Surely some ECHR legislation has been broken with an undefined movable exclusion area.
As stated above, all that Denis O’Brien would have to do is instruct GMC to set up an orange fence outside of the protestor’s houses to get them jailed? Surely something wrong with this system. When the revolution happens, we will have to replace the judiciary as well!
jail those 300 idiots also- simples :)
Have to say I think mulligan really is the perfect name for yourself. Even though your attempts at convincing people to change stance on these issues are a load of s***e, you keep having another go.
paddy mulligan twitter account suspended . ic says the blind man
https://twitter.com/account/suspended
“The court was told that on 11 November, O’Neill was observed interfering with works, but said that he had done this because an elderly resident had become agitated. Justice Gilligan said that he was only there to judge one issue – whether the order had been breached – and could not take any reasoning into account.”
This is the problem in a nutshell…… nobody in Government takes reasoning into account because if they do, they have immediately lost!
the judiciary aint government you pleb
Flat out on the comments today Paddy.
Wrong, Mr. Mulligan. The Judiciary is very much a branch of government. There are 3 arms of government: The Executive, The Legislative, and the Judicial.
Judges are appointed by the President, at the direction of the Government. The President does not have any discretion over the appointing of judges.
The Judiciary are those appointed by the President of Ireland under Article 35.1 of the Constitution of Ireland. However, this function of appointing judges is not one of Presidential discretion. Rather, and in accordance with Article 13.9 of the Constitution of Ireland, when the President of Ireland appoints a judge he does so “on the advice of the Government”.
Who pays their wages?
paddy mulligan twitter account suspended
https://twitter.com/account/suspended
Almost every mass civil movement in history to improve the human condition has begun with the breaking of the law. This is necessary because the law is largely constructed to protect the interests of those who benefit most from the status quo.
so to improve the human condition the police should just break the law also and do as they please? seems fair
The police won’t improve conditions for the majority. Their role is to ensure the opposite.
paddy mulligan twitter account suspended
Shameful! The government and their financial backer trying to crush dissent. It will not work, this will make communities under siege ten times more determined to fight this axix of evil. Forget about the billions for social housing announced by water tax man Kelly today – he better start building prisons, because there is going to be mass resistance to this disgraceful law
The government didn’t sentence them, the judiciary system did.
And who appoints the judges? This was a political decision, the judge obliged the government. And remember who funded Fine Gael? Denis O’Brien, whose company Siteserv that he bought from Nama (after getting millions in debt written off) is FITTING WATER METERS. The whole thing stinks
Who appoints the judiciary again? The president under direction from government.
Shut up you fool
watch out for them voices in your head con :D
Same thing.
This is a ridiculous order. I object to them installing a meter that I don’t want and will not pay for. Therefore, based on the location and size of my house I will have to leave the building and the road!
This order is a nonsense!
if you go near them the order is rightfully enforced and you will be rightly locked out until you learn some manners
Ah just have a smoke out yer back garden.
ye’ll be grand.
Each of the protesters have to pay €25,000 legal fees… Justice system in Ireland, like most countries, has been bought and paid for a long time ago by people with deep pockets especially when they tend to fleece countries of billions of Euro over a extended period of time as will happen when our water is privatised.
serves them right i hope they learn some manners now :D
Should have jailed them. No man or woman doing an honest day’s work should have to experience the level of abuse that IW meter installers are experiencing. They are taking their anger out on the wrong people
Daily subscriber to that beacon of truth the Irish Indo i see.
and throw away the key
So Enda, send ordinary people to court for not paying you unjust tax while your criminal friend that wrecked the country walk free!!!!
You are no better than the foreign yolk that oppressed Ireland for 800 years..
Power to the people….
Criminal records now, getting into the States and Oz won’t be a possibility for them
Not necessarily. Depends on the crime and sentence
serves them right, you only get a criminal record if you are a criminal. well done to the judge
DECEMBER THE 10th GETTING CLOSE
HOPE YOUR ALL READY FOR THE BIG PROTEST
IF U WASTE UR TIME TALKING
TO THE PEOPLE WHO
DONT LISTEN TO THE THINGS
THAT U ARE SAYING
WHO DO U THINK
IS GOING TO CARE
CANT PAY WONT PAY
Proper bloody order. But the judge didn’t go far enough. He should have thrown them in the joy for a month. Let them stew on that.
Go and suck Enda off you fool.
Averted uproar by suspending the sentence’s.
There is no way these guys were going to be jailed. This was a judopolitical decision to break them financialy by awarding cost against them.Basically they have each been fined about 25k.
A lot of judges sitting now would have been appointed while FF/PDs were in power. All right wing in their ways as a result. It’s been happening for years look at all the injunctions against pickets on industrial disputes. The judges are no friends of the worker.
the judge should have jailed these thugs
paddy mulligan the pride of the the??? Fina gael party.
20 meters would stop me coming out my own front door Bloody ridiculas judgement senile old judge also over paid
They are part of the corrupt establishment.
Who appointed the judge ??????
The indo is a rag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dl3Vq506pY&sns=em gmc stopped in bray this morning
Laughing at them.. class. love it
Anybody else sick to the back teeth of feckin stories about Irish water? Jeez build a bridge and get over it. And stop acting like your doing it for me, my bloody form is filled in and gone back.
So Jonathan, just because people are angry about this you think they shouldnt be now Why?
Dont pretend,this is not effecting someone you know. You must be a fg or labour man because no one is immune from this no matter who you are it effects someone you know.
dunno Jonathan. I’d be more sick of bill landing through my door every 3 months to pay that super Quango.
F*ck off then.
i hope a large police presence is there to deal swiftly with any thuggish activity. lets hope the thugs are all thought a valuable lesson
Well here’s your choices. Everyone pays the bill and its spread evenly or don’t and taxes get hiked and only taxpayers pay. Pick one coz its not going away. And I’m not affiliated to any party. Couldn’t give a toss bout politics really
paddy mulligan twitter account suspended .
https://twitter.com/account/suspended
Paddy Milligan. You comments are spoken like a true blue shirt Nazi. Don’t give people the right to protest and if they do use the police to bash a few heads to keep them in there place.
You one very ignorant individual if you think this is how a democracy works. Tor not related to Dennis OBrian are you.
lock the undesirables up and throw away the key, just common thugs all these so a called protestors. internment would work perfectly well in this situation, just round then up and cage them
Dick head
Now John, that’s very unfair to Dick Heads everywhere.
paddy mulligan twitter account suspended . ic says ze blind man
https://twitter.com/account/suspended
Water meters to be installed in prison cells….
Mulligan the lying FG troll is busy today
Ahhhhhhh a Martin Nolan moment……….
have your say