Workers’ Party councillor Ted Tynan has
said that the political campaign against the property tax will continue but
that the main focus now must necessarily move to defeating the Water Tax, a
battle which, he said, is likely to include non-violent civil disobedience.
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| Councillor Tynan |
Councillor Tynan said that while the mass
non-payment campaign in relation to the Local Property Tax had been stymied by
the involvement of Revenue, the political campaign would continue. “The vast majority of people who have paid the
Property Tax, whether directly or through the intervention of Revenue, have
done so under duress. Hundreds of
thousands of people are seething with anger at this and the issue will not go
away”, he said.
“The real battle ahead”, said Cllr. Tynan,
“is against the Water Charges which, regardless of what the government says, is
a prelude to privatisation and ever higher charges. The collection of water charges presents the
government with a whole minefield of hurdles which did not exist in relation to
the Property Tax. Behind each of those
hurdles will be people resisting the water charges. The first hurdle will be the installation of
water meters and that battle is about to begin. It may have got off to a quiet
start in Maynooth but I predict it will not stay quiet for long”.
“Water must never be turned into a
commodity to be bought and sold for profit.
It is fundamental to human life and essential to human hygiene and
public health. It is the last frontier and while the government may be smug
about the Property Tax they will soon learn that the anger of the people has
not gone away. This battle isn’t over,
it has merely entered into a new phase”, said Cllr. Tynan
