Water is a basic human need and right, and it should always be a public good rather than a private commodity, Dermot Murphy of the National Citizens’ Movement told a well attended Sunday morning meeting in the Newbury Hotel, Mullingar on 5 October, when he advised all present that “no government is going to help us, and the present injustices can only be overturned by the people.
“The laws are being broken by the lawmakers and we are on the verge of living in a police state at the present time, so people must stand up before it is too late. They are picking away at your freedoms and liberties at present, just like Hitler did, until there was nothing left,” Chris Wakefield from Rochfortbridge told Sunday’s meeting.
He said that when people protest peacefully, the Gardai would stand back and watch, although in Dublin, it was a different story, with the situation “ready to explode.”
Sunday’s meeting also heard from the Rochfortbridge man that the Water Services Act – which was signed into law on Christmas Day by the President of Ireland “while you were all watching Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory” – was what all the present trouble is about. “The fact that this bill was signed into law on Christmas day should have all our alarm bells ringing,” he said.
CAN’T AFFORD CHARGES
Mr. Gorman said that ordinary Irish households cannot afford the significant water charges now being implemented, and low-income households will pay proportionately more, and this will leave many people with less to spend in their local shops and businesses. The local economies cannot afford this, he said, urging as many as possible to attend a peaceful protest in Dublin on Saturday next.
The numbers present at 11.30am on a Sunday morning, including young mothers with their children, and the strong contributions made, clearly indicated high levels of public concern, and also considerable annoyance and upset due to the perceived ‘aggressive’ attitude of those involved in water meter installation work in different areas, and the failure of Irish Water to communicate with those who contacted them. There were strong complaints about the role of businessman Denis O’Brien and his media empire in “pushing” the water meters, and exerting his influence, through his Topaz oil interests, etc., and also against Nestlé, the international corporation, whose former CEO called the idea of water as a human right “extreme”.
A RIGHT TO WATER?
Kieran Allen of the People Before Profit Alliance, said the Chairman and former CEO of Nestlé, one of the world’s wealthiest corporations, had said that water was not a human right. “But everyone needs water – we can’t live without it, and a supply of water should not depend on the amount of money you have in your pocket. What is wrong is that this is a flawed argument. Our water should be free because we pay for it already, in our taxes.”
“What we have really here is an attempt to screw over the Irish people, yet again, and this follows the Universal Social Charge, the carbon tax, the property tax. And all of this is part of a strategy to extract the equivalent of €8,000 from every man, woman and child in this country to pay for those people who ripped off this country and those who ran the banks,” he said.
“Every year, at the moment, Irish people pay €8 billion in interest payments to the bond holders – in other words, to wealthy people who gave money to banks and to bail out governments. That is the equivalent of every penny we spend on education here. We might as well close down our school system and give the money over to bond holders . And guess what, we are going to do this until 2053. That is what it is all about,” he said.
“This makes no economic sense. What do you think will happen when we continue taking money out of people’s pockets like this? Look around Mullingar and elsewhere at towns and you see shops closing down,” he added.
LOCAL WOMAN’S STORY
Mary Walsh from Beech Grove, Mullingar, told the meeting that when Irish Water moved in to install water meters, she indicated her opposition and parked her car over the shore, and put her signs beside it. “While I was there, they avoided my home. They moved out of our estate, and two and a half weeks later, when I came home from work, they had put a water meter attached to my stopcock. They totally ignored my opposition.
“I have been writing to Irish Water, An Bord Gais, Phil Hogan and various others since January last, about 50 letters giving them every opportunity to answer my questions. None were answered. Not only did they put in a water meter, but they broke my pillar,” she said.
“I have never felt so violated in all my life. I was most upset when I found what they had done.”
She added that when she went to the Gardai to submit a criminal complaint against Irish Water, she could not get the Garda to accept her statement, despite speaking with him for twenty minutes. The Garda went out to the back, and came back to me saying: “We have been instructed not to take any complaints against Irish Water.”
She wrote out her complaint and sent it by registered post to Supt. McMenamin with a covering letter. “I got a letter back saying they got my letter, and someone would be in contact with me in due course, but so far, that is all I’ve got, and I can go no further.”
“I asked the Gardai if they were not obliged to protect my interests, and uphold the safety and protection of people,” she said.
Ms. Walsh said she will not be buying any more Topaz products, or anything from the huge range of Nestlé products in the shops. “If enough people take this approach, we can make a difference. We have to take back our power, and not allow what happened in Nazi Germany to occur here,” she said. “As consumers, we can change what we buy, and hold these people to account.”
At Sunday’s meeting, organised by Ben O’Connor, Mullingar, local organiser for the National Citizens Movement, a non-political group, other strong views and objections were also expressed regarding the enforced installation of water meters and the tactics being used, when people indicated they did not want a meter at their homes, and considered them a health hazard, because of the RF radiation exposure they emit.
DUBLIN DEMONSTRATION
All present on Sunday were encouraged to attend a national Right To Water demonstration in Parnell Square, Dublin, on Saturday next, 11 October at 2pm. This is expected to attract tens of thousands of people who take the view that they have already being paying enough for their water supply through existing taxes and other government charges, and object to a system leading to the privatisation of domestic water supplies. (Anyone interested in travelling to Dublin by bus can contact Mr. O’Connor at 087-2365807).
