Water charge anger shows politicians need to start listening

As tempting as it is to belittle the water balloon incident (and credit to Minister Burton for her dignified response in such circumstances), it would be very wrong for the Government or political class — which includes the journalists — to sneer at those who throw water balloons and to deliberately misunderstand what such incidents mean.

The fact some people felt so angry, so disconnected from the political process, that they felt their only option was to throw a water balloon, or even worse a brick, means those people no longer have any trust in the State to respond to their needs.

The political class have no concept of what it’s like to get a water bill, even if it’s €200, when you have €0 in the bank or of the sheer drudgery of living week to week literally counting every single cent, so they genuinely don’t get it.