Nov 1st saw demonstrations against the water charge all over Ireland. Around 1000 people from Dublin 7 alone marched down Constitution hill to join the huge anti Water Charges rally at the GPO
Nov 1st saw demonstrations against the water charge all over Ireland. Around 1000 people from Dublin 7 alone marched down Constitution hill to join the huge anti Water Charges rally at the GPO
Part of what brought so many out was the continued repression of communities resisting the water meters. See photos of the march.
Earlier in the week GMC Sierra dragged at least 8 water tax protesters into court this morning. The strength of solidarity at the courts was good as GMC told the judge that the roar that went up when they said they wanted an order forcing protesters to stay 20m back was an indication of what the state were facing.
GMC Sierra are saying the ongoing protests, which have seen the deployment of large number of Garda who shove residents around, are making installation "nearly impossible".
One rather obvious issue with a 20m exclusion is that as the water meters are generally at people’s front gate this would make it impossible for them (and possibly their neighbours) to enter their own homes!
Following the huge demonstrations on Saturday it looks like the government shifted strategy, admitting they made a mess and hinting at concessions. Minister for Environment Alan Kelly is doing that dance, in what is obviously a carefully choreographed move Irish Water boss John Tierney has also been out apologising.
This won’t be the first time governments have backed off attacking people who mobilise just to turn around months later and try again, often by targeting more marginalised sectors with a lower capacity to resist. Their retreat demonstrates that when we stand together we can defeat them – not that this fight is over yet.
But Enda has already talked of targeting workers through income tax rather than raising corporation tax as it the scale of the opposition became clear. It’s a transformation of society we need to eliminate the division between rich and poor, boss and worker and bring Denis O’Brien and co down to the same level as the rest of us.
WORDS: Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )