Workers Solidarity Movement

The water meter installation company GMC Sierra  obtained court injunctions that basically banned water charge campaigners from coming within 20m of an installation.  The Edenmore 9 were initally brought to court with this injunction, the case againt 4 of them is detailed below.

"Sit down my arse" - the opening words of a Garda inspector at a Drogheda water charges protest. A mob of Gardai went on to single out one young man and strip him out of his clothes as they drag him along the ground before arresting him.

The Irish Times ( 24 Nov ) has added its weight to the voices from the establishment demanding that anarchist access to social media be limited. The article is hidden away in the business pages under the headline "Social media causes grave damage and must become regulated" and ends with a call for internet companies to avoid "confrontation with authority" by censoring before ordered to do so by the government.

Joan Burton has seized upon her brief inconvenience in being faced with the people in Jobstown last week to try and smear water charge resistance in general.

Now the Phone is already notorious for inventing quotes from random people she claims to meet about how they just love austerity so perhaps you’ll forgive us some cynicism. In any case, according to the Irish Times:
"Joan Burton has accused Socialist Party TD Paul Murphy of “smirking” while protesters threw missiles and taunted gardaí with homophobic and misogynistic remarks during the water chargers protest."

On Friday 20 Nov Enda Kenny received an angry welcome in Roscommon which Fine Gaelers have been whining about in the media. The statement below explains how protesters " began to sing the anthem of the anti water charges protesters in Dublin in solidarity with them: 'You can stick your water meters up your arse / you can stick your 100 euro up your arse'. Some of us also repeatedly told him that we did not want our water supply privatised and that it was time for him to go as his mandate to govern has disappeared. We were surrounded by Gardai and asked to leave and did so without any fuss."

Over 200 women demonstrated tonight outside of Coolock Garda station against the wave of Garda violence at water meter installation protests.

The government are in full panic mode as the media scare stories they pushed so hard about 'dissidents', 'sinister fringes' and 'violent' sit down protesters have failed to divide the movement. Neither has the increased level of Garda violence frightened people off the streets.

After weeks of Garda provocation, and just after Garda beat protesters with batons someone finally snapped and threw a single brick back. When a politician as unpopular as Joan Burton uses dozens of riot police to force her way into and out of one of the most deprived communities in the state, what should be expected but angry protest. And when at a moment of unprecedented popular mobilisation those same Garda pull pepper spray & batons for use against water charge resistors what is a single brick bouncing off a car in response.

Running scared from the huge numbers mobilising to resist the water charge the establishment are now pulling out all the stops. Over the weekend we saw an image of a single brick being thrown at a Garda car used to try and divide the movement through saturation coverage of the brick and the demand that resistors condemn 'violence'

Then on Sunday as Enda Kenny drove out of the Mansion house three Garda grabbed Fiona who was protesting there and threw her head first into a metal bollard at the side of the road. In the video of the incident you can hear a sickening thud as she hits the bollard but you can also see the considerable force put into throwing her. But don't expect a media outcry about the violence of 3 large men smashing a women's head* off a metal pole, instead expect to hear once more about that brick that bounced off the back of a car.

There were significant disturbances in Santry & Coolock last night following a Garda assault on water charge campaigners protesting a visit by Enda Kenny and Denis O'Brien.

These images are from the video at the link  which shows why the campaigners became so outraged. As Enda Kenny drove through the crowd (flashing a dismissive thumbs up sign at the protesters) Garda were assaulting them and throwing them to the ground.

Later multiple arrests were made as Enda left the event and then Garda attacked solidarity protesters with pepper spray who had gone to Coolock Garda station.