Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link The False Promises of Electric Vehicles Are Being Exposed Tue Jul 29, 2025 07:00 | Tilak Doshi
Shipping giant Matson declared last week that it would no longer transport EVs on its vessels, citing the fire risks posed by lithium batteries. The false promises of EVs are being exposed, says Dr Tilak Doshi.
The post The False Promises of Electric Vehicles Are Being Exposed appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Jul 29, 2025 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Town Councillor Who Asked Questions About 300 Migrants in a Hotel is ?Reported to Police? for ?Stirr... Mon Jul 28, 2025 19:00 | Will Jones
Town councillor John Edwards, who asked questions about 300 Afghans put up in a local hotel, was "reported to police for stirring up racial hatred", and has also been placed under "investigation" by a "monitoring officer".
The post Town Councillor Who Asked Questions About 300 Migrants in a Hotel is “Reported to Police” for “Stirring Up Racial Hatred” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Something Fishy in Grimsby: A Museum Caught in the Woke Net Mon Jul 28, 2025 17:34 | Jack Watson
In Grimsby, Lincolnshire, something fishy is happening to the popular local Fishing Heritage Centre, says Jack Watson. The wokerati have decreed that it must be "decolonised" to make it more "diverse and welcoming".
The post Something Fishy in Grimsby: A Museum Caught in the Woke Net appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Quiet Civil War Has Already Started Mon Jul 28, 2025 15:35 | Clive Pinder
When the Government stops listening, people stop obeying. That?s when the real trouble starts, warns Clive Pinder. The chasm between rulers and ruled means the quiet civil war has already started.
The post The Quiet Civil War Has Already Started appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Defeating the water charges - Don’t be fooled by the concessions

category national | bin tax / household tax / water tax | other press author Tuesday December 02, 2014 23:28author by wsm Report this post to the editors

4 page PDF paper from the WSM

This article was written by the WSM and appears on their website and is the text for a 4 page PDF leaflet which you are encouraged to print and distribute.

In the face of massive opposition to the water charges, the government have made several clumsy attempts to placate us, while their partners in the media seek to frighten us off the streets. The latest attempt, delivered by Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government in the Dáil on the 19th of November, is the plan to charge us €160 per year for our water and to give ‘eligible households’ a water conservation grant of €100.
defeating_the_water_charges_4_page_pdf_cover_image.jpg

These allegedly ‘very attractive’ and ‘reasonable’ double charges for our water remain the real issue, despite government claims that there has just been a ‘communications failure’. That is, they think the problem is that they didn’t soften us up with enough propaganda first, not that we simply won’t accept double charges, commodification and privatisation of our water supply. The government will promise us anything and everything in order to get us to lie down and accept these charges, including the laughable claim that if we use a low enough volume of water that we’ll each actually make money off the water charges! Rest assured that any temporary and limited reductions in charges from the figure they initially stated will be swiftly removed if we were to pay up come April. Though, with the credibility of the Irish political class at an all time low, no one is buying the lies the government are selling. Even a concerted media onslaught has failed to scare people off the streets and into silence.

It’s worth noting that the reason that the Fine Gael/Labour government is throwing concessions at us is because of the scale and militancy of the anti water charge protests, rather than because of the actions of any government party. It is above all ordinary people, who perhaps have never considered themselves political before, who have stopped the government in its tracks. The democratic self-organisation that underpins the recent protests is what the State really fears. The reason the media have been foaming at the mouth, con- demning militant working class protest is because the system can handle a few dissenting voices elected to the Dáil but it cannot handle a risen population.

Even as Denis O’Brien’s media machine tries to scare us, and the government parties attempt to divide and conquer, we must continue to educate ourselves, to organise and to protest the water charges at every turn. Protests, marches and pickets on the current scale are impossible to ignore and are putting politicians under serious pressure to comply with our demands. If we keep it up, we will see off this latest attempt at squeezing more money out of our already struggling communities.

PDF Leaflet of above text
You can download and print out extra copies
from the PDF files we have included below
Colour version: http://www.wsm.ie/sites/default/files/WSM4pageWC.pdf
Ink saving Black & White version: http://www.wsm.ie/sites/default/files/WSM4pageWCbw.pdf

Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/c/defeating-water-charges-2014dec
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy