O’Brien’s Topaz in battle with 1916 patriots

As if he hasn’t already got enough on his plate with the Sitserv/IBRC controversy, Denis O’Brien now has to contend with a boycott of his Topaz chain of petrol stations by a group styling themselves as the 1916 Societies Dublin.

In its latest two-page flyer, this select group, which uses the slogan "Dublin Against Austerity", urges people to boycott Topaz, which O'Brien took control of last year having acquired its loans from the liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

"The campaign is to highlight Denis O'Brien's role in the imposition of water meters on behalf of Irish Water," the flyer states, with some colourful references to previous donations to Fine Gael and how the water meters are costing taxpayers millions of euro.

“The protests have been well received so far with passing motorists constantly beeping their horns to show support and the forecourts remaining largely empty with many motorists turning back,” the group declares.

There’s even a picture of the modern-day patriots standing on a Topaz forecourt with two large banners carrying pictures of the 1916 Easter Rising leaders. It’s hard to imagine that Pádraig Pearse and his fellow rising leaders had this in mind when they took up arms against the British some 99 years ago.

A spokesman for Topaz assured us that the boycott is having little impact on sales at the country’s biggest fuel retailer. “Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of our customers understand that there is no relationship whatsoever between Topaz and Irish Water and we are enjoying a very good business performance this year,” he said.