Sir, – In his review of Brendan Ogle's book From Bended Knee to New Republic ("A balanced insider's guide to water protests", December 24th), Julien Mercille states that "the sympathy she [Joan Burton] earned [for being trapped in her car] has not been visible in elite discourse for the six people whom the State jailed, some of them for weeks, for protesting against water meters".
You are not jailed in Ireland “by the State” for protesting against water meters. You may, however, be jailed – after due process by an independent judge in a properly constituted court – if you stop someone, using force or menace or threats, from going about his or her lawful business.
Just as it is unlawful to prevent someone who is properly authorised to do so from installing water meters, so would it be unlawful for me to prevent Prof Mercille from reaching his workplace at UCD by using force. Prof Mercille, were such a circumstance to arise, would be entitled to the same protections afforded by our courts to water meter installers, and I would be subject to the same sanctions as the persons referred to by the professor as protesters against water meters.
You can protest as much as you like against water meters, but as you do so you must obey the law. – Yours, etc,
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DECLAN DOYLE,
Dublin 3.