Protester dug up meter and posted it to Irish Water

A water charges protester who dug up a water meter on the pavement outside his home and sent it to Irish Water with an invoice, has claimed before the High Court the plastic cover installed over the meter was unsafe.

Irish Water denies the claims and its counsel Cian Ferriter argued Dermot Murphy was seeking to use the court “as a platform for his political views” and campaign against Irish Water.

Mr Murphy, Lakeview, Mullingar, is seeking orders against the company requiring it to replace the plastic covers of which, the court heard, 600,000 have been installed.

Representing himself, Mr Murphy claims his constitutional right to bodily integrity had been infringed by Irish Water in installing plastic covers that were “not fit for purpose”.

He had written to former environment minister Alan Kelly about the matter but was told to take it up with Irish Water, he said.

He said he was very concerned the new meters could be tampered with. There were examples where a child, as a joke played on his mother, interfered with the meter and put washing up liquid in it which led to bubbles coming out of a tap, he said. There was also a videoed incident where red dye came out of a tap after someone took out a meter, he added.

He said the plastic meter cover could take a weight of 2.2 tonnes while the older castiron covers could take four times that. He sometimes used a mini-digger which he was unable to drive over the plastic cover, he added.

He said there were guidelines suggesting the plastic covers were only suitable for pedestrian areas and should not be put in locations involving vehicle access.

While Irish Water had said it had manufacturers’ reports stating the covers could be used in this way, he disagreed.

Mr Ferriter, for Irish Water, argued Mr Murphy’s case was “fundamentally legally misconceived” and he had made out no case entitling him to injunctions against the company.

Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan, having heard arguments from both sides on Thursday, said she will rule on Mr Murphy’s application next week.