Stuff the Water Charges

1995 WILL BE seen as the beginning of the end for the 
hated double taxation water charges in Dublin and 
throughout the country.  For the first time in almost a 
decade, the year closed without a single water 
disconnection for non-payment in the entire country.  
This fact is a tremendous tribute to the hundreds of 
campaign activists who have been busy fighting the 
charges for almost two years in Dublin and for much 
longer in many other areas.  As the campaign faces into 
the new year, much remains to be done but great heart 
can be taken from the successes of the last number of 
months.

When the first summonses for non-payment of the 
charges dropped through letterboxes in Firhouse, 
Rathfarnham and Templeogue in late October/early 
November, it was exactly what campaigners had been 
waiting for.  Since the formation of the current 
government (December '94) and certainly since the 
passing of legislation "delimiting" the power of County 
Councils to disconnect water (in early June '95), anti-
water charge campaigners had known that these court 
cases were on the way.  

Over the summer months and into early autumn, the 
campaign had established an office in the centre of 
Dublin (in a room given by the Amalgamated 
Transport and General Workers Union - a true example 
of solidarity in action), had installed a 24-hour 
emergency hotline number and had launched a 
membership drive to finance a Legal Defence Fund.

Tremendous response

The campaign pledge to resist the Councils' attempts to 
browbeat people into paying, to defend non-payers in 
court and to prevent disconnections if any were ordered 
met with a tremendous response from the residents of 
the 3 County Council areas.  By the time the first 
summonses arrived, almost 6,000 households had paid 
their #2 membership and this figure was to rise to over 
8,000 by the end of the year.  As 1996 begins, the 
membership will continue to be built in new areas and 
among new contacts.  Without a doubt this is the 
biggest campaign to have happened in Dublin for many 
many years.

The first batch of summonses were for a court 
appearance at Rathfarnham courthouse on Thursday 
November 16th.  Within minutes of the first of these 
being received the campaign hotline was buzzing and 
the resistance was under way.  In the two weeks prior to 
this first court hearing, public meetings were held 
throughout South Dublin, Fingal and Dun 
Laoghaire/Rathdown - some of them attended by over 
200 people, many by at least 100.  At these meetings, 
local campaign groups and residents' associations 
pledged their support for those who had been 
summonsed, and organised delegations of local people 
to travel to the protest outside the court on November 
16th.

The atmosphere outside the court on 16th November 
was electric.  The 40+ campaign members who were 
due to have their cases heard were represented by the 
campaign legal team and were supported by a 500 strong 
crowd of noisy protesters.  Banners and placards on 
display showed that people had travelled from places as 
far apart as Swords and Dun Laoghaire.  

Representatives of the anti-service charge campaign in 
Waterford were present to demonstrate their solidarity 
and messages of support were received from Clonmel, 
Cork, Galway, Limerick and many other places where 
double taxation service charges have been fought for 
nearly a decade.  Banners representing the Dublin 
Council of Trade Unions, the ATGWU, printers, 
bricklayers, and other unions were also visible, as were 
representatives of the Association of Combined 
Residents Associations (ACRA) and the National 
Association of Tenants Organisations (NATO).

Following lengthy legal arguments during which the 
chanting and singing protesters could be clearly heard 
in the courtroom, the judge decided to adjourn the 
cases to the following week to consider the legal points 
raised.  Already the campaign had had a victory.  South 
Dublin County Council had expected to have almost 50 
disconnection orders issued against non-paying 
households, instead they had witnessed a much bigger 
protest than they had thought the campaign was 
capable of organising and the subsequent publicity in 
the national and local media would obviously be seen 
as a setback for their attempts to enforce the charges.

A week later Rathfarnham courthouse saw an equally 
big protest. As protesters were interviewed live on the 
Gay Byrne Show for RTE Radio, all of the cases which 
had been adjourned from the previous week were 
thrown out of court when the Council found 
themselves tied up in legal knots with regard to 
proving who owned the houses and who consumed 
the water.  It was a tremendous victory for the 
campaign and a demonstration of the fact that people 
power, in terms of the huge demonstrations on both 
occasions, did have an effect.  A further 100 cases called 
by South Dublin County Council for November 23rd 
and 30th were adjourned to mid-January as Council 
officials found their strategy in disarray.

Meanwhile Fingal and Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown 
County Councils tried their hand as summonses 
arrived for court appearances in Swords, Balbriggan and 
Dun Laoghaire.  Again the campaign organised support, 
and again the response from members and supporters 
was brilliant.  Unfortunately a small number of those 
summoned to Balbriggan and to Dun Laoghaire failed 
to either contact the campaign or show up in court.  As 
a result disconnection orders were made against these 
people.  These orders have however since been 
appealed to the Circuit Court.

On Wednesday January 10th, the campaign received a 
further boost when Judge Peter Smithwick ruled in 
Dun Laoghaire court that in cases of joint ownership 
the Council must notify both parties of their intention 
to seek a disconnection order.  The logical consequence 
of this is that both parties should also be billed ,and be 
sent all warning and reminder notices.  This could yet 
turn into a bureaucratic nightmare for the Councils!

As the campaign faces into the coming phase, care must 
be taken not to allow court appearances to consume all 
of our time and resources.  While it is obviously 
important that non-payers are defended in court, we 
must remember that the courts are there to protect the 
interests of the state.  We must also bear in mind the 
fact that even if we do get a lucky break in terms of a 
favourable court judgement, it is very easy for the 
politicians to change the relevant piece of legislation.  
Such a "lucky break" is therefore likely to be of a very 
temporary nature.

It is extremely important that over the next couple of 
months the campaign is strengthened at local level, 
that local action groups are established in all areas and 
that local activists are in constant contact with one 
another.  This is necessary in order to build the sort of 
on-the-ground solidarity which will be absolutely vital 
if disconnections are to be resisted.  The water charges 
will not be defeated from an office in central Dublin.  
Nor will they be defeated by frantic activism on the part 
of a few.  Victory will come from community solidarity 
and self-activity on the part of local campaigners.

The campaign's immediate task must be the 
establishment of these local action groups.  Without 
them the victory which can be ours will be more 
difficult to achieve.       

Gregor Kerr 

Contact the Federation of Dublin Anti Water Charge 
Campaigns by ringing Gregor Kerr at 4947025 or Joe 
Higgins at 8201753.
