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“I don’t want to see any tears here today.”
MINUTES BEFORE MR Justice Paul Gilligan re-entered Court 22 in the Criminal Courts of Justice, water meter protester Derek Byrne addressed the 70 or so supporters who packed the court.
Byrne was told that there would be no tears, only cheers.
He told the protesters, most of whom have been present in court for similar cases since last last September, that no matter what happened, they’d already won.
It was an odd sight, coming in the austere surroundings of a court room, but one that spoke of the passion for the issue felt by the five people sentenced to prison on Thursday for breaching a High Court order telling them to stay 20 metres from Irish Water works.
It was also an example of what had been, largely, a fairly jovial atmosphere in court. There were frequent outbursts of laughter and the protesters had been in good spirits, joking with friends and family.
Byrne, who has emerged as something of a leader of the anti water charges, was joined by mother of three Bernie Hughes and 64-year-old Michael Batty in being sentenced to 28 days imprisonment for contempt of court.
Batty was not in court, but his solicitor said he intends to purge his contempt by coming home and giving an undertaking that he will abide by the order.
Paul Moore and Damien O’Neill were sentenced to 56 days, having previously received 28 day suspended sentences in November for breaching the same order. Byrne had been cleared on a technicality in that case.
The order
At the heart of the case was an order made by Gilligan on 2 October last. It ordered that water meter protesters stay at least 20 metres from employees of GMC Sierra who were installing water meters.
GMC Sierra, the court was told, hires security firms to film protesters regularly. This footage is shaky, short and often hard to make out.
The videos that Mr Justice Gilligan chose to deem admissible this week were generally short clips that showed protesters moving safety barriers, standing inside the work perimeters or, in one case, filling a hole dug by installers.
Counsel for the accused Patrick McGrath argued that at no point were the protesters violent and no instances had been reported to gardaí alleging any assault.
That was not disputed by any of the evidence, which at no point suggested any violence. One witness gave evidence of threats and an assault, but this could not be corroborated by any video evidence and was not considered by the judge.
The decision
Prior to handing down his sentence, Mr Justice Gilligan was told by McGrath that if the court handed down a suspended sentence, none of the accused would enter into their own bond or give an undertaking saying that they will stay away from workers.
When the judge asked were the protesters asking, in effect, to be imprisoned. McGrath said that he was merely relaying what he had been instruction.
The left the judge with the option of a fine or a custodial sentence, having earlier found the five in contempt.
He chose the latter, saying that the authority of the court had to be respected. He referenced the earlier cases and said that those before him had been there a number of times.
He said that the protesters absolutely have a right to protest, but that this was countered by the right to work. He said that the protests amounted to harassment and intimidation.
He added:
The court cannot sit idly by while those who defy its orders go free and those who seek its protection lose out.
A fundamental difference
What the case boils down to, essentially, is a fundamental difference on the type of protest that is acceptable.
While the protesters were never seen in evidence being violent, they are clearly shown interfering with barriers, filling in holes and blocking works.
The order given in October is clear that protesters should stay 20 metres away from installation works.
In the videos produced in court, protesters were clearly shown breaching that, the judge decided.
One person outside the court compared the protesters to those who protest Dublin’s fur shops. It’s ok to stand outside, they argued, but not ok to stop the workers working.
Those on the opposite side argue that the opposite is true: that if you are opposed to something, you take action as swiftly and decisively as you can.
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A beautiful place. Hopefully fire is put out soon.
@Celtic_Horizon: now that is one of the more stupid comments I’ve read on this site
@Nick O Donovan: You’re not aware then that these fires at this time of year all over Ireland are widely believed to be started deliberately by land owners to create grazing? That is that scandal. The fires are illegal, not lease because it’s the nesting season. They kill a host of wildlife and plans in our beautiful countryside.
@Nick O Donovan: you mustbe a farmer
@Little Diddy No: not disputing that in anyway. I’m disputing the ignorance of the initial comment
@Nick O Donovan: That a farmer is suspected?
@Andy K: you’re right, it is reasonable to suspect a farmer. However it’s also reasonable to suspect a hiker dropping a fag butt or starting a camp fire or even someone illegally dumping rubbish and lighting fire to it. What you don’t see is me wishing that their property is burnt down by that fire which is what I took issue with in the first place. Don’t get me wrong though it’s nothing short of a disaster and is heartbreaking that such beauty has been destroyed
@Nick O Donovan: or a broken bottle acting as a lens
@Celtic_Horizon: What about an uneducated Hill walker, an uneducated tourist or an uneducated person like you?
What an absolutely stupid and discriminatory comment.
And BTW, I am not a farmer.
The flames came close to a farmhouse? Now that would be poetic justice.
@Dave Hogan:
Not if it wasn’t that farmer that lit it!
@Avina Laaf: it’s always the farmer. Who else lights gorse fires up and down the country?
@Sean: man with van collecting household rubbish tipping it in to bogs and forestry’s and then burning it, not always the farmer Sean
@Sean:
There’s more than one farmer living in an area as large as that affected by an out of control gorse fire.
@Avina Laaf: There actually isn’t ! The farmhouse mentioned is down by the lakeshore. Up the mountainside, in the direction of the Kerry borders it’s largely scrubland and very remote Very little farming activity whatsoever, even the sheep have a hard time surviving up there.
@Barty: Gorse fire isnt enough to burn all traces of household waste. And the chances of that are lower.
@Martin Fahy:
So are you saying nobody has sheep up there and this was an ‘accidental’ fire??
@Avina Laaf: Did I say that ? No I didn’t. i know the area very well and I think it’s highly unlikely the fire was started by a farmer or farmers to reclaim land by burning horse because 1) The area is so remote where the fire started, even rescue services have problems accessing much of the terrain 2) There is nobody farming farming the land up those mountains other than grazing sheep 3) Much of the land is state owned.
@Martin Fahy: ….burning gorse….
@Martin Fahy:
1) Look at the photographs – the burning isn’t in a particularly remote area. Even the hotel was under threat according to the owners.
2) Bingo – the whole point of burning from a farmer’s point of view is to improve grazing for sheep in marginal mountain areas.
3) Killarney National Park is entirely state owned but nevertheless has been subjected to numerous deliberately set fires, surprise surprise in the areas where trespassing sheep are also a common problem.
Just out of interest, who do you think lit the fire?
@Avina Laaf:
Photographs can be very deceiving. If a long lens is used then everything looks like it is on the same plane. The fire on top of the mountain you see in the photos are probably a few miles away from the hotel.
Thank you I F A , guardians of the countryside.
That’s a serious fire hopefully nobody gets hurt. Farmers here in the Wicklow uplands normally concentrate on using gorse fires to obliterate the national park (ah, grazing ‘rights’) and it’s wildlife not each other.
what farmers fail to realise is that they are compunding the problem as bus fire increase germination rates of gorse, fuppin dopes
Vandalism but no will to prosecute
@Irish Cottage Rental: that’s exactly what it is….an effin disgrace
Just further proof that farmers are literally the most ignorant people you will ever come across. They literally don’t care as along as their land not impacted
@Brian: Why are you assuming that a farmer started this ? The valley and the surrounding area stretching up to the Kerry border is some of the most inhospitable and remote countryside in Ireland, with very little arable land. Much of the area affected is owned by the State. There are very few farms in the area.
@Brian: Seems to be the word on the ground that these fires, specifically at this time of year (coincidence?) are started by farmers to create land for grazing. A scandal.
@Martin Fahy:
With respect, you seem a bit clueless on this. The presence or otherwise of arable land has absolutely nothing to do with this.
@Brian: That’s a dreadful statement. It’s the kind of statement only ignorant people would use.
Love how all the people who know nothing about farming are blaming farmers for this, I very much much doubt that any farmer would start such a fire. They actually understand the countryside and how things work. This isn’t the Brazilian rain forest. It is far more likely that this fire was started off by either a hill walker or camper carelessly discarding a cigarettes butt, camp fire amber or even a glass bottle. Urban dwellers dumping rubbish in the countryside is a massive problem and is a far more likely cause of this fire than anything suggest.
@Anthony O Reilly: farmers burn national park every year and well outside the permitted roasting time for their own land. Anyone living near national park knows thus unless they’re a total idiot. Doesn’t mean this particular fire was started by a farmer but many are.
@Anthony O Reilly: The mindless speculation on here is ridiculous. People accusing different groups of people of starting the fires with absolutely no evidence other than their own prejudices.
Mob mentality at its worst.
What farmer will get that bill???
“He said the fire services were contacted on Saturday, but due to the remote location of the fire, it was decided that they wouldn’t call out a crew to address it immediately.” “it was decided” . It was decided by the local authority not to give the Fire Service the call out, probably hoping it would die out. When it got rightly out of control and more 999 calls probably kept coming in, they had no choice but to send the Fire Service out. All about the money. This is just my opinion
Little or no wind and fine weather during last week.
Saw hill fires on the Galtees on the way back to Cork from Dub.
Fire setting is a normal practice to clear scrub but you need to ensure it does not spread, in this case it did and little or no rainfall to keep it in check.
The Tailor and Ansty fight BAC
It’s a beautiful peaceful place. Visited there last summer. Hopefully nature takes over and it won’t be long before the blackened places are green again.
Wow… looks like California…!
@Celtic_Horizon: no matter what happened it is never acceptable to wish bad situations onto others and depending on wind direction and speed it may not have even been the farmers fault . The farmer himself may not have even been responsible at all as the fire was in an area where alot of people walk and explore . The fire could have been started by anything.
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