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Saturday 25th Feb. saw many Household Tax demonstrations held across Dublin and a mass leafletting in the city centre. This was part of the nationwide day of action that saw around 40 protests take place. We give some reports here from WSM members who were at some of the protests around Dublin.
The latest in a series of meetings in the Dublin 1/3/7 area took place in the Mount Carmel Centre on Nelson St on Wednesday evening, covering the Dominic St, Dorset St and Blessington Basin areas. Despite the competing attractions of the “boys in green” and Olly Murs, about 25 people were in attendance.
Ireland is to have a referendum after all on the EU austerity treaty and a lot of the left is getting unreasonably excited about this. I say unreasonably because my opinion is that the referendum will not really, as the likes of the ULA claim, be a meaningful ballot on austerity. Austerity is not something simply being imposed on us by Europe through this referendum but something our domestic ruling class are already imposing and have been for a few years. Of course they have used the ECB/IMF as the 'bad cop' to scare us with and when passed will use the EU austerity treaty in the same way. But we need to recognize and organize around the fact that our local politicians and capitalist class are not really a 'good cop' eager to help us avoid the attentions of the 'bad cop' making threatening gestures at us across the room.
In Cork the mobilisation for the National Day of Action against the Household and Water Tax saw a lively and noisy crowd of over 500 hundred march through the centre of Cork City. At the rally beforehand members from some of the local areas involved in the Campaign in Cork took advantage of the open mic forum to explain why they opposed the tax. Speakers from Farranree, Bishopstown and Cobh declared their intention not to register or pay the tax. The fact that the tax is unjust and will rise sharply in a short period of time was highlighted. It was also pointed out that the proposed Water Tax which will follow shortly on the heels of the Household Tax is also a major threat. The proposed Water Tax in itself will be a major burden and one that will hit the majority households harshly.
As part of the National Day of Action activists from various towns and villages across Co.Mayo gathered in Castlebar on Saturday to host an information stall in the county town center. The mood from passers by was one of defiance and fear. The vast majority of people stated the had not registered and do not wish to do so.
An email which has been circulating widely and has appeared on facebook and on many other social media sites, claiming to be from McCann Fitzgerald solicitors has been exposed as being fake. The email claims that people won’t get a bill for the household tax because “the charge is a statute”. It goes on to claim that because the tax is a statute it “only carries the force of law upon you if you consent to it” and that “If you do not consent [it] cannot affect you in any way whatsoever.”
"The UNITE trade union has formally pledged its support to the Campaign against the Household Charge. It will urge its members not to register and support national and local protest movements where it has a density of members around the country. - "The following comes from the UNITE circular today 24/2/12
A lively and energetic meeting took place in the local community hall in the Dunard estate in Dublin 7 on Wednesday night. The meeting was addressed by Councillor Cieran Perry and local resident and campaigner Dermot Sreenan about the upcoming Household Tax and the campaign against it.
Following a series of 4 public meetings across the area (attended by a total of about 100 people), the following activity is planned by the Dun Laoghaire Campaign Against Household And Water Taxes in the next couple of weeks: