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“HE WAS PROTECTING his head [but] got a couple of kicks in the back and a hit on the head from one of the bars.”
Zara Flynn’s 15-year-old son is recovering from an attack at a Luas stop near Ranelagh in Dublin which happened last Friday. He was hit with metal bars by a group of teenagers wearing facemasks, and is now left temporarily limping after a sharp edge of one bar stabbed his leg.
“There was a large group of about 20. About eight homed in on him and started kicking him.”
Flynn’s son was locking his bike at Beechwood station when he was attacked by the group who had just got off the Luas. “He managed to wriggle under the [bicycle] racks so there was some element of protection.”
“The bike seemed to be the focus” of the attack, according to Flynn, who regrets buying her son a good bike, instead of getting him a cheaper secondhand one, as she worries this caught the attackers’ attention. “Parents want their kids to have a nice bike, but I don’t think it’s worth it if it’s going to attract the wrong kind of attention.”
The gang made off with the bicycle, leaving the injured boy behind. This was the third time that her son had a bike stolen, with one previously stolen from the same bicycle rack when his lock was broken off. But, it was the first where violence was used.
“A lot of parents have been in touch with me and they’re all concerned about the safety of what we thought was a very safe area.”
Bike theft with the threat of violence or where violence is used is growing. Over the past few weeks, Noteworthy has investigated this trend as part of our Stolen Wheels project. Today, in part one of our investigation, we reveal:
Part two examines bike theft trends over past five years and hears calls for better cycling parking facilities.
***
Increase in aggravated bike thefts
There was a 65% increase in bike and scooter thefts under the threat of violence or where actual violence was used between 2019 and 2020, with reported figures rising from 79 to 131.
Already, as of mid-February this year, there were 26 such incidents reported to the Gardaí, according to a response by the Department of Justice to a parliamentary question (PQ) in March. Read the full response here.
In 2019, there was a spate of such incidents along the Grand Canal cycle path with cyclists attacked in a similar way to Flynn’s son – by teenagers with metal bars. This was reported widely at the time, with Gardaí responding by increasing their presence in that area. Since then the number of reports has only gotten higher.
Flynn’s son was not the only boy attacked with a bike stolen last month. When asked about incidents where teenage boys were being attacked by gangs for their bikes in south Dublin, a Garda spokesperson said “there have been two reported incidents matching this description”.
They are also investigating a robbery that occurred at the Cowper Luas Stop in Ranelagh at around 6pm on 1 April. The spokesperson added:
One male youth was assaulted by a number of youths, and had his belongings taken from him. Two male youths were arrested in relation to this incident and were later released without charge pending file to the DPP.
Zara Flynn was alerted to bike thefts happening around the Cowper Luas stop by her son’s school a week before her son’s attack. The email said that “there have been a number of bicycle thefts from children and teenagers” at the Luas stop and that the Gardaí were aware of the thefts.
In relation to the attack on Friday, that of Zara’s son, the spokesperson said that “no arrests have yet been made and investigations are currently ongoing”. They added that the boy in his mid-teens “was assaulted by a group of youths and sustained injuries as a result of the incident”.
Jim O’Callaghan, Fianna Fáil TD for the Dublin Bay South, where the recent attacks at Luas stops occurred, said “from speaking to the superintendent in Rathmines, Gardaí have been partly successful in their investigations and believe there will be prosecutions in respect of some of these assaults”.
He also added that Transdev – the operators of the Luas – “have a duty to ensure that criminality does not occur at Luas stations”.
A spokesperson for Transdev said they could not comment on the incidents under investigation but added that “Transdev is working with An Garda Síochána and other parties concerning recent incidents of [anti-social behaviour] on the Luas Green Line”.
Concerning security, we have increased security patrols on the Luas Green Line and Luas Customer Service are using Twitter and Facebook to remind Luas Customers to use the confidential and discreet Luas text service.
The Transdev spokesperson added that “there is excellent CCTV on the network which is always provided to the Gardaí to assist them with their investigations”.
To view an interactive version of this graph, click here
Traumatised after knife attack
In her PQ response in March on aggravated theft figures, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee wrote that “in terms of those cases where offensive weapons are present, the Government is very conscious of the dangers presented by knife crime, and indeed all violent assaults”. The Minister added:
“Clearly any stabbing has the potential to cause irreparable physical harm and tragic consequences, and the Government is determined to ensure that similar problems to those which have developed in neighbouring jurisdictions do not develop here in Ireland.”
The rise in the use of scooters has attracted similar risk of aggravated robbery, with one woman telling Noteworthy that she was held up at knifepoint earlier this year in a terrifying experience.
Maria Clara Barros who works as a healthcare assistant is afraid of using her electric scooter after a man threatened her with a knife at Summerhill Parade in Dublin while attempting to steal it. This was essential for her work as she used it to travel between clients, cutting her journey time radically.
A guy grabbed me from the back, started screaming ‘Give me the scooter’ and put a knife to my throat. I started to panic and scream for help.
This happened last February which Barros said was lucky as it was cold so she was wearing a scarf which protected her neck from the knife.
Three men which Barros calls her “angels” came to the healthcare worker’s rescue. The first stopped his bike and called the Gardaí, the second shoved the attacker which caused the knife to fall and a third blocked him with his bike to prevent him getting the knife again.
The attacker bolted and soon after the group waved down Gardaí who happened to drive by. “They tried to help but they couldn’t find anybody.” Since then they were in touch with Barros to say they might have someone for the crime, but they were still researching. With no further update, she said “as far as I know, they have nothing”.
What traumatised Barros even more was this was the second attack she had experienced while riding her scooter to work in the early morning. Three weeks previously she was knocked off her scooter near the Samuel Beckett Bridge by a teenage boy, also on a scooter, in an attempted robbery.
“He put his scooter in front of mine and we both fell on the [road]. He started pulling my scooter in his direction.”
Barros thought he was just grabbing the wrong scooter at first until she started asking him to stop and caught the scooter’s handlebars with her legs. “He started to pull and left my leg full of bruises.”
She screamed and fought the attacker off and when a taxi stopped on the road as they were blocking his way, the teenager ran off with his own scooter. “
Barros didn’t report this first incident to the Gardaí as she had previously reported a scooter stolen and had not heard from them afterwards so thought there was no point.
That theft and the two attempted robberies have had a huge impact on the healthcare assistant. Previously, she had a number of clients who she looked after for an hour or two in their homes, but not being able to use her scooter means this is no longer possible. Instead, she has taken on one client where she stays all day.
She feels this is happening to a lot of women, with others from the Brazilian community telling her about similar incidents. “We work so hard to get even simple things with the price of the rent so unbelievable, and then another person comes to steal it.”
Anti-social behaviour linked to pandemic
The increasing number of aggravated bike thefts is most likely linked to Covid-19, according to a number of politicians and bike campaigners Noteworthy spoke to.
Hazel Chu, the Lord Mayor of Dublin and chair of the Green Party, said that “it is Covid-related” but feels that it is important to ensure this issue is tackled as “saying ‘it’s just Covid’ doesn’t make it any better for those suffering it”.
Chu said more policing is needed for bike theft that is assault-related and plans to raise this with the Garda Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing & Community Engagement this week. “There are lots of issues that are Covid-related when it comes to being confined indoors or not having an outlet.”
However, the Lord Mayor added that this is caused by a rise in anti-social behaviour rather than cyclists being targeted.
This is important for cyclists to know, she explained, as she hopes it will not discourage people from cycling and wanting more sustainable transport.
Fianna Fáil’s O’Callaghan also said that the “traumatic attacks were not just for the purpose of stealing bikes but were also designed to terrorise and bully the young boys”.
He added that “there is a responsibility on all members of the community to ensure that young boys and girls can enjoy their lives and neighbourhoods without fear of attack, and that there is no tolerance for violence being perpetrated against them”.
In her PQ response in March on aggravated theft figures, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee wrote that her “Department is developing a community safety policy, which is aimed at ensuring communities are safe and feel safe, through the establishment of inter-agency structures called Local Community Safety Partnerships”.
This is contained in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. The general scheme of this bill was published last week.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Green Party councillor Oisín O’Connor said that they have been liaising with local community Gardaí, not just specially about aggravated bike theft, but also the wider issue of young people having their activities taken away over the past year.
He said you can’t address the issue with more juvenile convictions. “You’ve already lost the battle if you’re starting to do that.
“We have been discussing with our local council’s sports partnerships to see if we can support more activities and get more resources to help clubs and youth groups to bolster a programme over the summer.”
Emboldened to steal bikes
O’Connor also felt that “the ease at which people have been able to steal bikes over the last few years in Dublin has now emboldened people to steal bikes in any way they want.” He feels that this has also been a factor in the increase in violent bike robberies.
Though these robberies are in a more serious crime classification than taking bikes from stands or gardens, he feels that by addressing the prevalence of non-violent theft, this could impact on more violent incidents. As it stands, the attitude that stolen bikes aren’t recovered “feeds into a sense that [bike theft] is not treated as a serious crime”.
David Timoney of the Dublin Cycling Campaign has been researching bike theft for a number of years in the city. He became aware of more aggravated bike thefts in 2019 at a local meeting in Finglas where bikes were being taken off children in parks with either violence or the threat of it.
“Parents were very agitated and worried.” Timoney said this is an escalation as bikes were being taken from people whereas previously bike theft “was known, even though it was untrue, as a victimless crime, because you never met the perpetrator”.
He said that though an increase is linked to the pandemic, these more violent crimes were happening at a low level before Covid-19. It is still only happening at a low level, according to Timoney, but added it is growing which is “pretty disturbing”.
The campaign group also became aware of the problem from contact with Deliveroo riders whose bikes were being taken. Though they’re not sure if they are being targeted, Timoney has noticed a lot of non-Irish people are victims of these attacks.
It’s unacceptable that people who are vulnerable and have done a lot of work during Covid are getting a hard time from people in Dublin.
‘Don’t feel safe’ as Deliveroo cyclist
One Deliveroo cyclist we spoke to said he has now had to change the areas where he works due to concerns for his safety.
Speaking to the investigation team, he related several incidents in which he and his colleagues had been targeted by groups, and in at least one of these incidents, his bicycle was the focus of attention.
“There are the areas in the city where I do not cycle anymore,” he said.
“The canal is very [much] the same with the young people. They wait for you to come. They see the blue [food box] and they see your face and they want to rob you [of your bicycle]. It’s not nice.”
The man said that, as a result of these incidents, some Deliveroo cyclists avoid making deliveries to certain areas.
“I have one friend who still goes because he can make a lot of money because he is never stopping. There are lots of orders. But it is dangerous. I don’t like it. Deliveroo say to us not to go into areas where we don’t feel safe. More and more areas in Dublin are like this now – it is like a game to the young people.”
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said they “strongly condemn all forms of attacks or violence against riders”. The spokesperson added: “Riders’ safety is our top priority at Deliveroo. We investigate all alleged assaults when they are reported to us and we work collaboratively with the Gardaí to increase support for our riders across Ireland.”
The spokesperson added that riders can alert them to safety concerns in the app and “never have to work in areas where they feel unsafe”.
Tackling youth justice
When Noteworthy asked what the Department of Justice (DOJ) was doing to tackle the increase in aggravated bike theft, a spokesperson said that “the policing of such incidents is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána”.
The spokesperson added that “there are already strong penalties available in law for those found guilty of such offences”. Someone found guilty of theft can receive a fine or up to 10 years imprisonment and of robbery “is liable on conviction on indictment to life imprisonment”.
The Department of Justice also pointed to the new Youth Justice Strategy, launched last month. “The immediate priority within the new strategy will be to enhance engagement with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity”.
They also again referenced the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. Community Safety Partnerships will replace and build upon Joint Policing Committees and “provide an opportunity for local communities to highlight key issues in their area”.
The DOJ spokesperson said that “bike theft is an example of the kind of issue which might be considered by these Partnerships”.
It will take better community policing to tackle this issue, according to Zara Flynn, whose son was attacked last Friday. “A Garda presence is not necessarily a reassuring thing for a teenager because you’re considered part of the problem.”
She feels there is a balance between safeguarding children and policing them, which isn’t currently achieved. “They need to get a good handle on who might be causing trouble or potential aggressors.” This is different from teenagers engaging in “the odd risky behaviour which is typical teenage behaviour”.
Flynn son’s is recovering well and is “straight back at it, in many ways”. However, Flynn adds that she no longer feels that he is safe when he is out and about as it’s frightening that this type of robbery is happening.
“You need to watch out wherever you are. They’re getting brazen and confident.”
***
Part two of our Stolen Wheels investigation examines bike theft trends over past five years and hears calls for better cycling parking facilities.
This investigation was carried out by Maria Delaney of Noteworthy, with additional reporting by The Journal’s Garreth MacNamee. It was proposed and funded by you, our readers.
Noteworthy’s previous cycling investigation which exposed the worst places in Ireland to be a cyclist can be read here.
You can support our work by submitting an idea, funding for a particular proposal or setting up a monthly contribution to our general investigative fund HERE>>
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“Will water bills be delayed?”
Not as delayed as their payment will be. A judge will have to prize the money from my twitching corpse before I pay twice for my water.
The judiciary will be the final weapon of the corrupt state to bring the nation to heel.
Maybe you should pay for it once, first.
We have a massive deficit. We are borrowing to fund the difference. This means that what we all pay in taxes doesn’t cover the cost of our services (including water). This means we’re not paying for it twice. The money that ‘was’ going to water is now going to plug the gap in finances elsewhere. If we get rid of the water charges, then those protesting have to tell us where the money is now going to come from.
I can understand the frustration at the bungling and inept way Irish Water has been set up, but let’s be honest most people just don’t want to pay ‘another’ tax, even though these are exactly the kind of sustainable, stable taxes the state needs, rather than relying on transient windfall taxes.
Cant pay these water charges and will not be paying these outragous taxes on the lords gift that falls from the sky.
Search Eagle, you’re right. We do have a huge deficit but you are being disingenuous when you say our taxes do not cover the cost of our services, including water. Our taxes DO cover the ‘cost’ associated with delivery and treatment of our water. However, the taxes collected for this are not spent on this. Instead our taxes are spent paying for something we do not owe and we are NOT responsible for. The EU and ECB’s treatment of us, the people of the Republic of Ireland, has been reprehensible. Our elected government’s continued spineless response to their blackmail is sickening. The debacle that is Irish Water is the final straw. It’s not just Leinster House that needs to hear we will not accept this unjust treatment any longer. Brussels needs to sit up and take notice….enough is enough.
S eagle u obviously can’t understand the frustration r u wouldn’t write such f Gael propoganda bull
@Search Eagle, while I see where you are coming from I don’t agree. “The money that ‘was’ going to water is now going to plug the gap in finances elsewhere.” – whose fault is that? The Irish peoples? I don’t remember myself running up massive debt and loan that I then passed on to the people? Who is being held responsible for that? I’m all for paying for a good water system, but we have paid out enough already and they still want more from us. What’s next? Where do we draw the line?
The money we now “don’t” have Eagle is going to pay for the bank bailouts. Never pay for the same service twice.
You do know why we have a massive deficit don’t you, you also must be aware that funding water was not an issue before the IMF got involved. You can also see a correlation between the 1.6bn needed to fund the interest on the bailout bankers part of our debt and the now missing 1.6bn needed to fund Irish water.
They can go and collectively Fcuk themselves.
Eagle. where does this stop in paying down debt that is not ours with our tax money that is supposed to be used to run the country. Next they’ll come up with a plan that roads were not being funded with motor tax, and now we have to bring in a separate road tax to fund the repair of roads. Would that be expectable to you
@Em Murphy Our democratically elected government decided to bail out the banks unilaterally. It decided to enact that massive over-reaching bank guarantee. It’s simply amazing how Fianna Fáil have managed to re-write history, to take themselves out of the picture, and the ECB is now getting the blame for insisting we (“we” as in “the country”) keep to an agreement that we ourselves put in place. Whether you or I like it, we (again “the country”) now have those debts, as we have to honour them otherwise we can kiss goodbye to anyone lending to us again.
@Richard yes I’m spreading propaganda for a party I’ve never voted for.
@Alan “whose fault is that? The Irish peoples? ” – yes, in a word. At least partially. We voted in governments that destroyed our tax base, pumped up spending and inflated a massive property bubble. We had an opportunity to vote out those governments and we did not take them. Now you might not have voted for those parties, I certainly didn’t vote for Fianna Fáil, but that doesn’t change the facts. You can’t moral outrage a deficit away. You can insist we’ve paid ‘enough’ but the figures don’t lie. “Enough” is the system fully-funded.
It’s telling that the recession has done little to make us grow up as a nation. Instead of learning from our mistakes, we look to blame others for our mistakes (EU, IMF) and give support to the next band of populists telling us what we want to hear (SF et al.).
@Kerry – the vast majority of the debt we hold is borrowing to fund public services and welfare during the recession after FF’s economy collapsed. The bank bailout is a significant, but lesser chunk of our debt. That’s not up for debate. That’s just a fact. Something that’s in short supply around here.
@Simon – the very reason the IMF got involved is *because* we couldn’t fund the place! They didn’t come in of their own accord, we invited them in because we needed the money. You can insist the debt isn’t “ours” until the cows come home, but the reality is our democratically elected government has made sovereign guarantees to pay back the debt. Most of which, as I said above, came from borrowing to fund public services when our stupidly narrow tax base came back to bite us in the behind.
We can’t change that now.
Eagle you might want to do some reading up on the bail out. according to Brian L. he was forced into the bailout, he even lied to his colleagues over it. The reason was not lack of funding but excessive private debts that should have not been tied to the public purse. It was totally unconstitutional for them to do that. It is even recognised now that certain banks should have been allowed to fail and NAMA should never have been set up.
9bn we are going to need this year just to pay the interest on our debts. that’s 9bn of tax payers money thrown out the window and not used to fund the country.
@search Eagle…. Feck off will ya… Your a fecking nuisance…
Here’s some light reading for you Eagle. Might help demist your rose tinted glass on how unconstitutional the bank guarantee and bailout was in that closed door overnight sitting that forced and rushed it into legislation.
http://www.thejournal.ie/ecb-trichet-bailout-letter-to-lenihan-573038-Aug2012/
And remember we bear the brunt of the debts for Europe. And pay a lot of interest on it too. we have to crawl begging for them to let us pay some of it back early
Search Eagle,
Modern fiat currency money is not a finite resource. It is created at will on the computer keyboards of the institutions public and private that are authorized to do so. Sovereign currency issuing states do not need to tax in order to spend. The act of government spending creates the money which can then later be removed from the economy via taxation. Neither do those nations need to borrow their own currency from anywhere is order to finance water or any other public services.
The macro economy of nations and the globe is fundamentally different to the micro economics of business and households (private sector) who are users of the currency but not the issuer. A sovereign currency issuing government can afford to buy whatever resources are available for purchase in its own currency, (including the labour of the unemployed) as they can never run out of keystrokes and so a budget deficit should not be considered a problem once this understood.
This is why most countries can run a budget deficit most of the time and it makes perfect macro economic sense to do so.
It’s really only the Eurozone countries that are required to borrow their own currency in the market at an interest rate determined by the market. Fiat currency issuing nations like the U.S and U.K do not need to obtain dollars and sterling from the bond markets to finance a budget deficit or indeed to cover private banking debt in the domestic currency. When they do choose to issue government bonds the primary objective is to implement monetary policy (e.g. drive their chosen base interest rate to target) not as a necessity to raise revenue. In addition, when those countries do ‘borrow’ in the market, they effectively decide what the yield/interest will be unlike the Eurozone nations subject to the tender mercy of the speculators.
In contrast, the Euro single currency was deliberately designed to allow speculative financial capitalism to profit massively from member state sovereign debt as monetary policy is now in the hands of the ECB who impose destructive neoliberal economics on the citizens under the pretense that there is somehow a shortage of Euros and so member states must reduce their deficits to 3% of GDP. They do this with the assistance of member state puppet governments including our own FG/Labour quislings and FF before them.
The Austerity program imposed by the Troika and 2 successive governments achieved exactly what it was designed to do. That is to slash the social support structures like Health and Education and drive down the wages, working conditions and living standards of ordinary people to pay for the economic crisis caused by the capitalist elite. Privatization of our national infrastructure like the water network will follow soon as per the old IMF playbook. To justify austerity, they peddle the economic fairy tale that nations need to ‘balance the books’. This is nonsense in a macro economic context. Most countries run a budget deficit most of the time and always have done. Vicious austerity is applied to the people of Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece while in contrast the ECB has created 1400 billion euros by pressing keys on its shiny computer in Frankfurt and made it available to the parasite banks whose greed and stupidity triggered the economic crisis in the first place. Austerity is for the little people.
In fact with the fiat floating currencies we’ve had since the 1970s there is no need whatsoever for a sovereign currency issuing government/central bank like the U.S. or Japan to ‘borrow’ at all in its own currency. They can simply create the currency at will electronically on computer keyboards. This is a major factor in why sovereign currency issuing governments actually control bond interest rates regardless of the state of their economies and with far higher debt to GDP ratios than the Eurozone nations. For example, Japan has a far higher debt to GDP ratio than Ireland and yet its bond yields are much lower.
The government ‘debt’ market is in reality an extremely generous, risk-free, interest bearing deposit facility for the large financial institutions and ultra wealthy. Continuing this neo liberal agenda, the Eurozone was deliberately designed to allow private banks (markets) to profit to an even greater extent from member state debt. The EU allows the markets to set the borrowing rate for Euro countries on an individual basis while the authority to create their own currency has been taken from the nations and now resides in the ECB. It’s an ingenious Catch 22 and the vast majority of the EU citizenry are the victims.
I had a meet
I has a meeting outside government buildings today with myself and agreed to defer any payments to Irish water until after the next election.
Search Eagle, you can blow that out of you know where orifice. It is as simple as this. We will not pay one more cent for water. We will never allow our water to be privatised. You can talk down to who you like, you can blame who you like. The message to you and those of your ilk is clear. Understand.
@Simon That’s a very simplistic analysis.
Even if we accept for a moment that the reason for the bailout was exclusively due to private debt being tied to the public’s purse, who was it that tied that debt to the public purse in the first place? Who was it that did so in 2008, without making any particular attempt to co-ordinate with its European partners? And who was it that implemented the ridiculous fiscal policies and lack of regulation that lead to the banks needing to be bailed out in the first place. We all know the answer.
The Irish government had no intention of burning any bondholders, otherwise they would’ve done so between 2008-2010. The only bondholders that were burnt were AFTER the IMF/EU got involved with our monetary affairs. It is quite clear that the Irish government only started making noises about burning bondholders (the very few that were left) when they could shift the blame onto the ECB, for insisting that they carry out the very policy they supported (perhaps unfairly). Whatever the flaws in the ECB’s approach to the crisis, and there are numerous legitimate criticisms you can make, this is not one of them. This is a Fianna Fáil re-write of history that doesn’t make any sense.
Can I repeat before anyone comes back with a predictable retort of me being a EU shill or some other crap: The ECB isn’t blameless in the crisis, the crisis response from the EU was muddled at best, but our government were the architects of it and arguably made the wrong moves to solve it. The crisis is complicated and multi-faceted, and it certainly isn’t wearing ‘rose-tinted glasses’ not to accept the simplistic narrative of “it was Europe’s fault”.
@Coddler – I don’t have time to reply to that at the moment as it’s a long post, but in essence what you’re bemoaning is a lack of money printing in the EU. I disagree with how you cast it as some big conspiracy to allow speculators to run riot over the euro-zone, but there is a legitimate debate to be had about whether the ECB should’ve engaged in more vigorous QE.
However, your view seems to be that this could’ve avoided the need for proper fiscal management. That is not one I subscribe to.
@Tim I’m sorry that you don’t like hearing stuff that doesn’t affirm what you already believe. I didn’t realise this was groupthink.ie
@Dave who is ‘my ilk’.
Blame everybody else there why d’ont you S.E , F.F wrecked the country so it,s the people,s fault who voted for these muppets you say. Also d,ont forget shinner bashing it,s all the rage at the moment plus nobody asked the people regarding bank bailout in this land of continuous referendum,s the bank bailout was sold as a liquidity problem.
Search Eagle?
Can you define what you mean by “proper fiscal management”? If you mean limiting the budget deficit or “balancing the books” then I’ve already explained why this is a huge mistake.
Quantitative Easing involves buying bonds from the commercial banks in return for central bank reserves. QE measures are based on the mistaken belief that commercial bank lending is constrained by the amount of reserves that that they hold in the central bank. A commercial bank will lend money to any credit worthy borrower who they believe will pay them back. The bank will then source any shortfall in reserves after the fact in the interbank market or from the central bank itself. Lending is never limited by reserves as the loan itself creates the deposit which in turn generates reserves.
The reason that the commercial banks are currently not lending much is because they are not convinced there are credit worthy customers on their doorstep and the root cause of that is the lack of aggregate demand in the EU after 6 years of savage austerity. This is why QE has failed to stimulate the real EU economy and more vigorous QE will have exactly the same result.
Search Eagle, you have written enough drivel above to prove you really are clueless, i’m not here to educate you, find out what “ILK” is for yourself
Delayed they will be scraped if people stick together
Possibly. Where is the money going to come from then? Despite people’s protestations that they’ve ‘already paid’, there is now going to be a large gap of several hundred million in the budget.
Well maybe they shouldn’t have squandered hundreds of millions setting this garbage up. It wouldn’t be the first time this country has flushed huge amounts of money down the drain either. E-Voting machines anyone? Few snowploughs? Spend money first, ask questions later.
How about where it came from up to now ? The 1.5 billion a year that is collect from the 2% on vat 5% on motor tax
Does anyone know what’s gonna happen to this money once we are paying for water ???
Or have used the €180 million it cost to set up iw to fix the leaks and use the money it’s going to cost every year to run iw on maintaining water. It’s not rocket science.
Search eagle they have already wasted that setting it up and still got it wrong
@searcheagle.How much do you reckon it would cost to run a proper water system for the entire country? How much are going to give the banks for generations to come? Which there will be many more booms and busts and debt loaded on top of that debt as well.
Forget the nay sayers, the vast majority of the citizens of Ireland are vehemently opposed to water privatisation. We live in a republic the last time I looked. If the majority stick together we’ll be fine and this whole neoliberal nightmare to privatise our god given water will be scrapped. We don’t need the agreement of everyone just a majority. This transcends class and social divde. We will not under any circumstances accept privatisation of our water supply.
Labour are trying to spin the blame away from themselves to Irish Water. Are people buying it?
Labour will be like the dodo after the next GE.
They do indeed Jayo, but Labour voters have an alternative in Sinn Féin.
Too put it nicely,
Irish Water can go and make love to themselves. …
Of course they’ll be delayed. Even if every last member of the public cooperated, Irish Water is completely incompetent. I doubt they even know where their local post office is.
On the basis of the number of Welcome Packs they’ve not yet sent out (only 10 days before the original deadline), I’d say we can expect our January bills sometime around Easter.
Labour will be something a scrape off the bottom of my shoe after the next election
I suspect that after The Nationwide Marches on November 1st , Irish Water , will be washed down the drain , followed by this inept and awful Government !
I saw a video this morning of a man being arrested at a No Water demonstration in Dublin yesterday .
In it a Garda brazenly removed data from the mans phone , having taken the phone from him.
The Gardai’s function should clearly not be to provide heavy handed illegal back up for this Irish Water Company , where some Gardai are acting themselves , in an illegal manner ?
I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. The Gardai are no longer a “peoples’ police force”, years of political manipulation of it’s upper echelons have reduced them to nothing short of a government militia.
Gerald please do not insult excrement as unlike labour gael it has some use’s, for example fertiliser.
Couldn’t give two shiny s*****, there not getting a cent off me!
they’re.
You’re a w*****!
There, their they’re Jason. Did you get a bad start to the day.
its Simples , we are not paying for it , we are not registering for it and Denis O Brien can now go and suck a fat one for all I care . I AM NOT YOUR PIGGY BANK
DoB will be left seriously out of pocket if IW buckles because of his speculative investment in water meters.
Not enough to blame Labour, FG should be sunk without trace too.
The f••••• state if them all. They’re an embarrassment to the Irus people. Alan Kelly was cringeworthy last night on the state broadcaster, John Tierney has the head of a sleeveen and is nowhere to be seen, bully biy Hogan slipped if to the safety of Europe. Meanwhile you can smell the fear and the desperation, throwing lots if new measure to get us to sign up if WE were the dumb ones. Irish people must be steadfast and resolute, stick together and demand the immediate disbandment if the corrupt entity that is IW. Every day that passes they waste more if our money trying to get us to buy back what is already ours. Close the door when you leave IW !
True martin we will not forget FG part in this but Labour said they will not enter government if water charges are on the table.
Fooking sure they’ll be delayed….12 th of never
Indeed but it was not the Labour leader who stood up in the Dail and said it was an abhorrence that people should have to pay tax on the family home, it was not a Labour TD who said “not another cent” for the banks or bondholders. I’m not defending Labour, far from it, but FG are Ireland’s Tory party, all of this and probably more would have come to pass if they had achieved an overall majority.
The caption on Tierneys photo is wrong. It shoild read “is Tierney endas newest scapegoat”
The existence of IW and the management of IW are two separate issues.
Tierney is responsible for the latter and has not done a good job so far considering the massive resources at his disposal.
He didn’t create IW, but he is being richly rewarded for the clusterfluich that it has been to-date.
What qualified him for the job needs to be investigated.
Why we didn’t hire some experienced foreigner who has managed a water utility in any one of all the other OECD countries that charge for water needs to be explained.
Instead we have the guy with an infamous past (Incinerator, Bottleworks etc) who has demonstrated extraordinary abilities to spend enormous amounts of money on consultants.
We hear this morning that Kenny and the government have known since 2012 exactly what the bonus system in IW would be. More lies come out on a daily basis. It is all down to the fact that they thought that we would roll over once more and take it up the a** again. They couldn’t wait to set up another cosy quango for their buddies. They thought we would never cop on. They can tweek as much as they like with IW, nothing will change, we will not pay them one more cent. The government and IW are finished, the sooner they realise that the better. They should not be allowed swan off into the sunset with their huge multiple pensions either. Those responsible for making 1% of Eurpoe’s population pay 42% of a debt they are not responsible for, should face criminal charges in a court of law.
Very well said, Dave. Spot on.
The question should be – Will water double tax bills be paid?
The answer is a resounding no.
A million metres ! Coincidentally that’s almost all the way to Berlin.
and at €500 for each one installed Daire.
Water tax would not go the state but to IMF to pay for private banking mistakes, everybody knows it search eagle so go back to work in FG headquarters or wherever it is, or maybe you’re an employee if the big PR company that our taxes are paying for so they can tell us what they want us to think. Take a hike
There was already talk that the monies (if any ) collected should be put into the social housing crisis.
so LPT is to fund IW
IW is to fund social housing.
All a disguise as we know the money will be put in the one big pot that the bailout has priority over
Willie o dea is not giving his pps no and is deducting his free allowance from his bill when it comes
delayed or on time ,it makes no difference ,i wont be paying !
Wow, He is one Smug looking Gobs***te
So that’s what he looks like. Grey Lego hair, a tan and a smirk.
No surprise there.
The whole thing stinks,again all down to the public service gobs##tes who have destroyed this country and wasted billions in tax payers money ,The Government who failed to see the collapse of the banks particularly Anglo who cost the state 60 billion yet biffo was the chief executive s best golfing buddy,Tierney who was the head of the poolbeg incinerator wasted 100million yet not a brick layed and then gets to run Irish water which he also has made a balls of,Banana Republic carry on .
mine will be delayed as it will never arrive
By the way don’t give thumbs down to comments you don’t like, it just bums the comments to the too and then more people get to read their propaganda, if you like it red thumb it if you don’t ignore it
telling me how I should use my thumbs. not going to go down well. This comment deserves to be at the bottom of the pile
How are the massive salaries and up to 19% awards,in Irish Water, going to help close the deficate hole???
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