Water charges 2014 was the year westmeath said no

The introduction of water charges has mobilised communities in a way six years of austerity couldn’t. The Westmeath Examiner talks to a number of local activists about their involvement in the anti-water charges campaign and where they see the movement going.

Rochfortbridge may not be renowned as a hotbed of political activism but the place will certainly be remembered by the Irish Water contractors who tried to install water metres there this autumn.

According to members of the Rochfortbridge Against Water Meters (RAWM) , Irish Water managed to install six metres in the town due to their efforts.

The secret to RAWM’s success, said founder member Chris Wakefield, is “people power”.

“After a day in the town, they left. It’s do-able. Where there is a will, there is a way... It’s the commodification of water we are against. There are bondholders and investors buying up water stocks. The commodification of water is disgusting in my view, it’s the rationing of water based on who can afford to pay it. It’s not right,” he said.

While the people of Portugal and Greece took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands in 2011 and 2012 to protest against the austerity measures imposed on them by the EU and IMF, anger among the Irish was characterised by its passivity, much to the bemusement of our continental cousins.

This passivity finally came to an end in 2014. The government’s decision to introduce water charges was the proverbial last straw that has politicised hundreds of thousands of people, including Mullingar postman Barry Carr, the man behind the Mullingar Says No to Water Charges.

“I can’t take any more. Me as an ordinary family man, it’s just one tax too many. I went up to Dublin to the original march and set up the Facebook page the morning after through pure frustration. Through that I met a whole group of wonderful people. Now it has moved on from water to all the other things that are wrong with our society at the moment.”

People’s anger grew throughout the year as details emerged about the multi-million start-up costs of Irish Water and the generous conditions of the semi-state’s managing director John Tierney and his staff. As the original registration deadline for customers of October 31 came into view and people’s concerns about submitting their PPS numbers and other personal details grew, opposition organisations were formed in towns and villages throughout the county, including Killucan, Raharney/ Rathwire Against Water Tax.

Jimmy Duffy, who is involved in a number of community organisations and is one of the founders of the north Westmeath opposition group, says that the government’s handling of the issue has only strengthened the resolve of the people.

“This government is after getting enough off us. They can’t get any more. On the community alert side of things we are trying to help people. There is one guard in the village and robberies going on. Then you look at the news and someone puts in a water meter and there are 20 gardaí standing around three women, the balance isn’t there...

“We don’t want water charges, we pay for water already. We want Irish water dismantled.”

Mr Duffy also noted that the one positive that has emerged out of the controversy is that it is “bringing communities together.”

“It’s empowering communities. I consider myself a community activist. I have seen people in wheelchairs, I’ve seen people that wouldn’t say boo to anyone.”

The members of the different opposition groups across the county converged on Mullingar in their thousands on November 1 for the biggest protest seen in the town for decades. One of those that braved the torrential rain on the day was 19-year-old Nicole Lonican, one of the founders of Rochfortbridge Against Water Meters.

A veteran of the anti-wind turbine campaign, which she joined when she was only 17, Ms Lonican says that she was “compelled” to join Rochfortbridge Against Water Charges because of “how unfair things are”. She wishes that more young people would get involved in activism.

“I don’t know what gets young people involved, I wish more would get involved because you are fighting for your own future and your kids’ future.”

While 2014 may have been the year that the people of Westmeath stood up and said no, some commentators, both inside and outside of Leinster house, are predicting that the steam will go out of the anti-water charges campaign following the government’s decision to introduce capped charges until 2019.

Chris Wakefield, like his fellow campaigners, believes that the battle has only begun and will only intensify in the year ahead, starting with a march on January 31.

“We want to make this [charge] non-collectable. Irish Water will be privatised if they have enough customers on the books. If they don’t have enough customers on the books, no one will invest in it. We and rest of the country have a moral obligation to stop them. The only settlement we are prepared to agree to is the complete abolition of Irish Water.”

• Response from Irish Water to a query about meters installed in Rochfortbridge: “We don’t breakdown the figures into that level of detail, however we can say that to date almost 16,000 meters have been installed in Westmeath.”