A sharp escalation in anti-bin-charge protests is likely from today following the jailing of the Socialist Party TD, Joe Higgins, and his colleague, Ms Clare Daly. Olivia Kelly & Chris Dooley report.
Both were sent to prison for a month yesterday for defying a High Court injunction prohibiting them from obstructing refuse collections in Dublin.
Mr Higgins and Ms Daly have been leading protests against bin charges in the Fingal Co Council area since the local authority decided last week to stop collecting bins from residents who have not paid the charge. Protests have spread since to other council areas in Dublin.
The decision to jail the two sparked an angry response from campaigners against the refuse charges, who are planning a significant stepping up of protest actions in Dublin.
There is also a prospect of the campaign spreading to other areas of the State.
One trade union, the TEEU, is to hold a national meeting of its shop stewards to discuss the issue on Wednesday, when work stoppages are likely to be considered.
The Dublin city anti-bin-charge campaign staged a protest outside Mountjoy Prison last night, and further demonstrations are planned for today and over the next week. At 2 p.m. protests will be held at Fingal County Council's offices in Blanchardstown.
Simultaneous meetings will be held in Swords, Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
On Monday a mass rally is planned for the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square, to be followed later by a further protest outside Mountjoy. "We're calling for the campaign throughout Dublin to continue. This is an issue for the wider community and, especially, for the trade union movement," said a Socialist Party councillor, Ms Ruth Coppinger.
Mr Eamon Devoy, assistant general secretary of the TEEU, said the union had committed itself to opposing refuse collection charges at its annual conference last year. Up to 200 shop stewards are expected to attend Wednesday's meeting, which was organised before yesterday's decision. The development would be likely to harden people's resolve to oppose the charges, he said.
Mr Devoy said he could not predict what action the union might take, but industrial action, including a general stoppage across all sectors, would not be ruled out.
The TEEU has more than 1,000 craft and maintenance workers in local authorities, many of whom service vehicles and plants used for waste disposal in Dublin.
Mr Jack O'Connor, who takes over as general president of SIPTU on Monday, also condemned the decision to jail Mr Higgins and Ms Daly as "deplorable".
However, neither SIPTU nor IMPACT, the two unions representing refuse collection staff in Dublin, plans industrial action in support of the jailed politicians.
Mr Higgins and Ms Daly appeared shocked as Mr Justice O'Neill imposed the sentences in the High Court in Dublin.
The judge said he accepted they had acted as part of a political campaign and were sincere in their motivation.
However, they had breached the court order prohibiting their involvement in obstructing the refuse collections of Fingal County Council, and it was clear they intended to continue to engage in such activity.
Speaking as he was led away by gardaí, Mr Higgins said: "It's an outrage that we're being sent to Mountjoy for standing up for the community when gangsters in the pockets of speculators will never come before the courts."
Ms Daly, who has a three-year-old daughter, said she was "shocked" and "very annoyed".
Protesters who continue blockading refuse lorries also face arrest and possible imprisonment.
