About 200 people attend ‘non-political’ water charges protest

The campaign against water charges continued on Saturday with some 200 protesters gathering in Dublin to express their opposition to the measure.

Community groups including Dublin Says No and Cavan Says No To Water Charges were among the crowd which met at the GPO on O'Connell Street and marched along Bachelor's Walk, across Butt Bridge and back along Burgh Quay.

Michael McDermott, of the Cavan Says No to Water Charges group, said he hoped a couple of thousand people would participate.

“We feel that protests up until now have been led primarily and led by politicians,” Mr McDermott said. “So we’ve come together on a non-political stage for a non-political gain to organise our own protest, to show that it’s the people in this country that make a difference.”

Unlike the massive protest 10 days that brought traffic in the city centre to a standstill, Saturday’s demonstration slowed traffic but did not halt it completely.

"We'll try to keep the disruption on the main streets of Dublin to a minimum," Mr McDermott said before the protest began. "Obviously people have a lot of shopping to do, myself included…We are aware it's the busiest shopping day before Santa arrives."

Another anti-water charge protest is scheduled for January 7th and Kevin Keane, of the Seán Heuston branch of the 1916 Society, which had come to support the water charges protest, said opposition to the charges would continue.

“There have been three occasions over the last six months where more than 100,000 people turned up, but the Government refuses to acknowledge that people are upset,” he said.

UCD student Paddy O’Grady, who was not part of the protest, said he did not agree with some of the behaviour of the general water protest movement.

“I’m against aggression directed at politicians,” he said, referring to the incident in Jobstown in Dublin during which Tánaiste Joan Burton was trapped in her car for two hours.

“Banging on the car and trying to turn it over is not the right way to do it.”

He added: "The good thing about Ireland is that politicians don't need lots of security and they can still go about among the people, and they should be able to do that without feeling intimidated."

Mr O’Grady said he supports implementing water charges because water is a valuable resource, and that the government has plans in place to help those who are unable to afford water fees.