Protests will show Government ‘trickery’ on water charges failed

An anti-water charge protest in Dublin on Wednesday will highlight that the Government's "trickery" in offering concessions to the public has not worked, Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins has said.

Mr Higgins said he expected tens of thousands of people to participate in the march, which he believed could have a “material impact” on the water charge regime, the austerity agenda and the durability of the Government.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Monday insisted that "issues that were causing genuine concern to people in the marches they were having around the country in the last few months have all been dealt with and very clearly" by Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly in a revised water package announced last month.

"The Government's trickery in trying to make so called concessions just hasn't worked whatsoever," Mr Higgins said, adding that he had relatives leaving from Dingle in Co Kerry at 7am for the protest.

The Socialist Party part is supporting the Right2Water protest on Wednesday afternoon and is also holding a demonstration under the “We Won’t Pay” campaign banner that will continue into Wednesday evening.

Asked if he had any concerns over safety at the event following controversy over the protest in Jobstown last month, Mr Higgins replied that he always stood for disciplined and peaceful marches which also reflected the anger felt by the public.

Socialist Party TD Paul Murphy, who was criticised over his role in the Jobstown protest, said people planning to attend should have no concern over safety and that groups in attendance would be putting forward members to act as stewards.

Mr Murphy said a decision to charge a man for letting air out of a car tyre during the Jobstown protest was "a gross over reaction". Mr Murphy said the man had made "a silly mistake" but he alleged that the reason for his arrest and court appearance was to "smear" the protest movement.

Asked about the allegation made by Mr Murphy, a Garda spokeswoman said: “There is an ongoing investigation into the incident and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”

Mr Murphy said a Government decision to put down a confidence motion in itself on Tuesday rather than debate a Sinn Féin no confidence motion while the protest took place Wednesday was a “clever” move but that the protest would show that people thought they had a “dreadful Government”.

Mr Higgins said the next important step in the campaign would be encouraging people to boycott paying the charge altogether.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar last week criticised "far left" politicians in his constituency for encouraging people to engage in non-payment campaigns and then abandoning them and leaving them with substantial bills while they moved on to the next issue.

Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger, a Dublin West rival of Mr Varadkar, said the allegation was an "utter lie" and that people had not been left with huge penalties as a result on non-payment campaigns.

Ms Coppinger said people “knowingly take part in a boycott” and come to meetings where everything is outlined and that it was “highly insulting” for the Minister to suggest otherwise.