Double standards rife as bin protesters fail to show fair play

THERE is a legal maxim of long standing that states: “He who comes into equity must come with clean hands.”

In other words, play fair if you want to be treated fairly.

The 150 or so protesters who have brought much of Dublin’s bin collections to a standstill have shown little or no fair play to anyone, even themselves.

They are seeking equity but they are not prepared to behave equitably with those who do not share their view. What they are doing is denying others, mostly bin collectors, the constitutional right to work and to go about their business unfettered by fear of harassment or intimidation.

What the protesters have also succeeded in doing, as an indirect consequence of their actions, is create circumstances in which one of their number almost lost his life.

Bin protester Joe Mooney is on crutches but he is lucky to be alive to continue his campaign against refuse charges. He was injured at Glasnevin bin lorry depot on Tuesday when he was knocked down by a council truck.

Though it would be quite wrong to suggest he deserved what he got, the fact of the matter is that Mr Mooney put himself in the way of danger. Even if the truck driver was being less than careful, the incident would not have occurred if the bin collectors were allowed get on with their work.

Refusing to pay a service charge is one thing; using unlawful means to serve a political end is quite another, and there can be few people in this country unaware of the dangers inherent in that kind of conduct.

Small though the number of protesters is, they have succeeded in blocking bin collections from 50,000 houses and the prospect is that many more thousands of households face being be deprived of this essential service is the dispute resumes in days.

Those jailed last month for contempt of a High Court order against the blockade include Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins. His behaviour, as a member of the Dáil, was described by Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill as particularly reprehensible.

Socialist or not, Deputy Higgins is still entitled to draw his Dáil salary despite being a burden on his fellow tax payers in Mountjoy.

The bin collectors, meanwhile, could be deprived of their livelihoods. Many collectors were temporarily laid off by South Dublin County Council and they have been warned they now face the sack unless the matter is resolved.

Had those railing against the charges staged a dignified and lawful protest, the likelihood is they would continue to enjoy the support of the general populace.

Reasonable people might be prepared to listen to the reasonable complaint that many on modest incomes are being forced to pay a charge while millionaire tax dodgers continue to enjoy amnesties.

Many may still question whether the decision to jail the protesters for a month was too severe compared, for example, to the sentences imposed on Liam Lawlor for not co-operating with the Flood/Mahon Tribunal.

But the issue being fought out on the streets of Dublin goes deeper than bin charges. It goes to the rule of law and strikes at the very heart of the democratic order. Those who seek equity must do equity.

The dust bins are not the only things left dirty on the streets of Dublin today. The bin protesters did not come with clean hands.