Residents to continue water meter blockade
As a small group of protesters continued to block the entrance to Ashbrook Heights in the Lehenaghmore area of Togher, Cork, they welcomed news that their stance had helped inspire a similar blockade in Raheny.
As Ashbrook residents supplied the protesters with tea and cakes, Suzanne O’Flynn said she and her neighbours are delighted that the Ballyphehane and South Parish Anti Water and Property Tax campaign members had responded to their call for help.
“The protesters have told us they will stand with us as long as we want them to stand with us. They have assured us of that. Maybe we might win this battle,” she said.
“I will do anything that I can, everything in my power, to block this work.”
Some of the Murphy Contractors work crews spent most of the day sitting in their vans across the road. Other work crews continued water meter installation in nearby estates without interruption.
Campaign member Brian Gould was told by gardaí he could face obstruction charges after disrupting work in nearby Fernwood Estate for a time by standing in a hole dug by a contractor, and later by standing in front of a rock-breaker.
“Whether they will prosecute me or not, I don’t know,” he said. “But we are going to stay here protesting. We will stop them again.
“We will do everything to frustrate these people from putting in these meters.
“Hopefully the people in other estates will come out and back us and stop these people doing something that we do not want.”
Peter McMahon, who lost his wife Margaret to cancer last year, was one of the first residents to move in to Ashbrook Heights 15 years ago. He said he fully supports the blockade.
“I have €223 coming into this house. I just can’t afford half the time to pay my rent or to put food on the table,” he said.
“If anybody else around the country feels the same way about this, come to Ashbrook Heights and stand with us.”
Ms O’Flynn, one of his neighbours, said she is worried about the potential health impact of the smart meters, which protesters claim emit electromagnetic radiation.
She also slated the Government for how it plans to impose water charges.
“Not everybody is working. Not everybody has an income. They are not thinking about everybody,” she said.
“If the people of Ireland can’t afford this, we’re going to be reduced down to five litres a day. Sure how are people going to manage on that?”
Kim Seymour, who lives across the road and is recovering from Hodgkin lymphoma, said she also has health concerns about the meters.
“I have two children, a 5-year-old and 14-month-old, and if we don’t stand up against this, it’s our children who will suffer,” she said. “There is no need for water meters. We are paying our taxes already. We’ve survived this long without meters.”
Irish Water insisted that domestic water charges will apply from October 1, with the first bills being issued in January 2015.
“Customers with a meter will be charged on the basis of use. Customers without a meter will receive an assessed bill which will be based on a close approximation of water usage,” a spokesman said.
The company also moved to reassure the public about the water meters. “There is no issue with radiation from meters,” the spokesman said.
“Compared with other wireless devices in the home, the meter radio units being installed emit significantly less electromagnetic radiation — 1,000 times less than a laptop wifi, 5,000 times less than a cordless phone or baby monitor, 10,000-25,000 times less than a mobile phone or leakage from a microwave oven.
“The radio units do not transmit continuously. It only emits a signal when information is requested, which could be every three months.
“Irish Water is satisfied that all required national and EU safety standards are being met with these meters.”
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, a Sinn Féin local election candidate in the area, visited the estate yesterday and said residents were “ferociously angry and annoyed” about the notice they got about the works.
“The residents had little opportunity to move cars or settle themselves for the disruption, because of the poor notification,” he said.
Irish Water has been given sweeping legal powers to allow it install domestic water meters across the country. Under the legislation, people who interfere with the installation process, or with meters after installation, could face fines of up to €5,000.
This sets out the legal context:
Sections 19 and 20 of the Water Services Act 2013 gave Irish Water responsibility for the domestic water metering programme.
Section 7 of the Act 2013 provided for the transfer to Irish Water of all water services functions conferred on the county and city councils by the Water Services Act 2007.
Section 32 of the 2007 Act sets out the general water services functions and includes the installation and maintenance of meters.
Section 72 (1) (a) (iv) of the 2007 Act provides that Irish Water can require any consumer of water supplied by it to take such supply through a specified meter.
Section 72 (6) provides that a person commits an offence if he or she fails to comply with a requirement under section 72 (1) (a) (iv).
The Act specifies that a person convicted for an offence under section 72 (6) is liable to a fine not exceeding €5,000.
Section 74 (1) of the 2007 Act provides that it is an offence for a person to remove, damage or cause the removal or damage, or otherwise impair, or cause the impairment of the proper working of a meter.
The Act specifies that a person convicted for an offence under section 74 (1) is liable to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both.
Section 41 (2) of the 2007 Act provides that Irish Water may for the purpose of providing water services carry pipes through, across, over or under or along any public road or place intended for a public road.
It also provides that Irish Water can, from time to time, alter, remove or replace the pipes.
The legal definition of the term “pipes” in a section of the 2007 Act includes meters.
Section 21 (1) of the Water Services Act 2013 removes any requirement for Irish Water to get the consent of the local authority for meter installations in roads.
The Roads Act 1993 includes a definition of a footpath as a road over which there is a public right of way for pedestrians and defines a road as including footpaths.
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