Prisoner Higgins’ rubbish arguments bin the cause and effect of waste

ACCORDING to RTÉ’s Sunday lunchtime programme, the national papers are getting to Deputy/Prisoner Joe Higgins. So, this morning, let’s send a few thoughts in his direction.

Hi, Joe. We've never met. Different constituencies. Different wheelie bins. Mine, in common with wheelies all over this country, gets tagged. The tagging costs €5 a go, although a friend tells me there's PAYE tax relief on money spent on such services. (If there's tax relief on bin charges, Charlie McCreevy should kill it off in the next Budget. The time and energy it would take a Revenue staffer to take whatever percentage of tax off roughly €250 a year couldn't be cost-effective.) But that aside, Joe, you looked very dramatic heading off to clink, in contrast to Liam Lawlor, who just looks bored. The shine's gone off incarceration, as far as he's concerned.

For you, though, this was a defining moment. You personify an issue. You're the Rosa Parkes of the wheelie bin. Fair dues to you. It'll stand to you, no doubt, in the next election. Voters in front of those dinky new machines will immediately recognise your name and face. Not that you did it to get notoriety. You and your colleague acted out of principle.