The Anti-Austerity Alliance has today condemned the jailing of anti-water meter protestors at the behest of Denis O’Brien’s company GMC Sierra.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said “The jailing of these protestors and the arrests in Tallaght is an attack on the right of communities to protest against the imposition of austerity measures, in this case the water charge and meters, which are being imposed by the government despite the massive opposition to them.

Related Links: Right2Water campaign shocked at jailing of water protesters| Stop poitical policing - Stop the arrests now! | Right to Plunder the Economy, Not Right to Protest | Free the Jobstown 4! - Socialist Party Press Release | Paul Murphy TD arrested on trumped up charges designed to discredit Anti-Water Charges campaign

Over 100 separate local demonstrations took place today (Sat Nov 1st) against the Water Charges and for the Right 2 Water. Organisers estimate conservatively that over 150,000 were out on the streets today to send a message to this government that they won't accept paying for water twice and having it privatised later.

People realize that all the false promises and allowances will eventually be dropped and the long term result will be that a privatised water company will prey on the people with massive hikes in charges and big fat bonuses for themselves.

There were protests from Cork & Kerry to Wexford to Dublin to Limerick to Galway to Sligo to Donegal to Cavan to Dundalk and all over the Midlands. There has never been anything like it perhaps since the foundation of the state. The people are truly fed up and are determined and will not be abused by the political technocrats of big Capital that is robbing every social gain our forebears fought hard to get over the past century.

Related Links: Water Charge FAQ - your questions answered | Right2Water National Day of Local Protests - Sat Nov 1st | Right2Water National Protest against Water charges - Sat Oct 11th @ 2pm | No-one will be safe from water charges if we don't stand and fight | Why Irish Water Will Be Sold Off | The New Water Barons | Blockades of Water Meter installations in Cork and Dublin | The Irish water debacle: a timeline | http://www.Right2Water.ie/
Other Experiences: Resisting Water Privatisation in Bolivia and Ireland Bolivian Protesters end Water Privatization in La Paz, El Alto

For lots more pictures check each of the various campaign pages from around the country.

Campaign Facebook Pages: Carlow, facebook | Clare, Ennis facebook | Dublin, Blanchardstown, facebook | Dublin, Blanchardstown, facebook | Dublin, Ballyfermot facebook | Dublin, Blanchardstown facebook | Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, facebook | Dublin, Dundrum facebook | Dublin, Ringsend, facebook | Dublin, Tallaght facebook | Fingal, Swords, facebook | Galway, facebook | Kildare, Athy, facebook | Kildare, Celbridge, facebook | Kildare, Leixlip, facebook | Kildare, Naas, facebook | Kildare, Newbridge facebook | Kilkenny, facebook | Louth, Ardee facebook | Louth, Dundalk, facebook | Sligo, facebook | Wexford, New Ross facebook | Wexford, Gorey facebook | Wexford, Wexford Town, facebook | Wicklow, Bray, facebook | Wicklow, Greystones, facebook | Wicklow, Wicklow, facebook | Wicklow, Arklow, facebook

Press statement - Campaign Against Household & Water Taxes (CAHWT) 11 Feb 2013
Eyewitness reports of Garda violence at South Dublin County Council

19 year old protester hospitalised: plainclothes Garda ‘smashed my head on wall’

Campaigners against the property tax – who staged one of a number of peaceful protests at Councils today – have questioned why Gardai at South Dublin County Council used brutal and unnecessary force against them, including some plain clothes Gardai. Cannisters of pepper spray were also waved at locals who were manhandled and handcuffed. One is currently being kept in Tallaght Hospital for observation of his injuries.

Aaron Nolan (aged 19, now in hospital):
“I was standing in front of Shane Donnelly when one of the uniformed police pulled me to the ground. I stood up and tried to get in front of Shane again. A stocky man, with a light blue hoody, who I thought was one of the protesters, grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. He then grabbed my head with his two hands and smashed my head against the wall. I fell on the ground and when I was on the ground, he choked me with his two hands. I was dazed and unable to stand as he handcuffed me.”

Embedded Video Description: Arrests in South Dublin County Council of peaceful protesters

The Dublin City campaign organises to protect the bin service

The Indymedia newswire has seen reports from anti-bin tax actions in Drimnagh, Finglas and Ringsend and next Monday evening the first city wide protest of 2006 has been called at City Hall. The councillors will be voting on an emergency motion regarding the non-collection of bins, announced by the city manager three weeks ago, against the vote of the council. Across the city as the council starts to leave rubbish behind, groups are being organised to clear this up in the cold January weather. GAA and Labour clubs, pubs and even the cold streets are seeing meetings taking place as lists of bin collections are drawn up and the Dublin City Anti Bin tax campaign starts to act.

Update: Invasion Of The Wheelie Bin Snatchers

One of the most significant struggles to affect working class people in Ireland in recent years took place in the autumn of 2003. This battle was between the anti-bin tax campaigns and the combined power of the four councils covering the whole of Dublin, the Fianna Fail/PD coalition government and the Irish state. The battle against the bin tax exploded in September 2003 and was a dominant national issue for the rest of the year.

This peak of the ongoing campaign against the bin tax saw households across Dublin refusing to pay the charges, thousands of people taking to the streets, dozens of blockades of bin trucks and 22 people imprisoned. It also saw considerable disagreements emerge amongst different elements within the campaigns. The most visible of these disagreements was over the issue of blockading bin trucks in other areas of Dublin when the struggle in Fingal was underway. The Fingal Campaign and many activists in the rest of Dublin believed that it was necessary to escalate direct action across the entire city. Some others, particularly some forces within the City Council campaign, felt that doing so would be rash.

The Socialist Party, which has played a very prominent role in the anti-bin tax campaigns, has produced a lengthy document outlining what it sees as the key elements of these disagreements. This is not a straightforward historical account of the struggle. It attempts to record the main developments in the battle against the bin tax, deal with the role of socialists in the campaign and to draw lessons for future campaigns.

“The differences of approach that emerged relate directly to what is the best way to build campaigns and conduct struggles. They also relate to the role that socialists should play in the rebuilding of the working class movement, which everybody agrees will be a vital issue in the years ahead. The issues re-surfaced again in the build up to the local elections in June 2004 and have continued on the bin tax and around the debates on how and when to establish a new left party for working class people. The differences are current and very relevant and undoubtedly will come up again and therefore need to be clarified.”

RELATED LINKS
30,000 Word Socialist Party Document
Dermot Connolly On These Issues
Irish Socialist Network On The Campaign
Socialist Party Anti-Bin Tax Archive
Workers Solidarity Movement Anti-Bin Tax Articles
SWP Bin Tax Archive
Indymedia Ireland Bin Tax Campaigns Archive