We Only Want The Earth!

“...we declare that the nation’s sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nations soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation...” Democratic Programme of the First Dáil 1919 When the women and men of the first Dáil Éireann adopted the Democratic Programme quoted above they could not have foreseen the rise of transnational corporations whose annual turnovers would dwarf the gross national product’s of all but the wealthiest of the world’s countries. Nor could they have foreseen how some of those same transnationals would trawl the earth for its natural resources with little concern for the wellbeing of the people or the environment of their target countries. They did, however, understand the inherently predatory and anti-social nature of capitalism. They sought from the earliest days of the new thirty-two county Irish Republic to uphold the right of the people of Ireland to be the primary beneficiaries of the natural resources of Ireland. éirígí believes this right to be inalienable and to be as relevant today as it was ninety years ago when the Democratic Programme was unanimously adopted by the first Dáil. In the Ireland of 2008 an ever increasing portion of the ‘wealth and the wealth producing processes within the Nation’ are being concentrated in the hands of an ever smaller portion of the population. Ireland, both north and south, now ranks as one of the most unequal societies in the so-called ‘developed’ world. éirígí launched its campaign for the nationalisation of Ireland’s natural resources in the summer of 2006. Named ‘We Only Want the Earth’ the campaign has primarily focused on the Dublin government’s oil and gas giveaway in the Twenty-Six counties and the London government’s attempts to introduce domestic water charges in the Six Counties. ‘We Only Want the Earth’ has seen éirígí activists take part in countless public protests and meetings, civil disobedience and non-violent direct actions. Despite the verbal threats, physical assaults, arrests and spurious legal proceedings that have resulted, éirígí activists will continue to campaign for public control of Ireland’s natural resources. Click the link below to find out more about...

Oil and Gas The price of energy has dramatically increased since the turn of the millennium. This pattern will continue over the coming decades as demand for hydrocarbons (oil and gas) increases while at the same time the supply of those same reserves run out. The human cost of these increasing energy prices is already apparent. Billions of people across the world are suffering from the effects of the current global energy crisis. In Ireland hundreds of thousands are already struggling to heat their homes as the reality of ‘fuel poverty’ takes hold in post ‘celtic-tiger’ Ireland. Almost 3,000 people die each year in Ireland due to preventable, cold-related illness. In recent years a number of substantial Irish oil and gas reserves have been discovered which are potentially worth hundreds of billions of euros. These reserves could guarantee much of Ireland’s energy requirement as the ‘oil age’ comes to an end. Despite the obvious strategic importance of these reserves the Dublin government has handed over the rights to all Irish oil and gas explorations to the private sector. éirígí is calling for: The ending of all ongoing negotiations in relation to further oil and gas exploration, pending the introduction of new terms for same The renegotiation of all existing oil and gas exploration contracts on the basis of returning ownership of all oil and gas reserves to the Irish people. The establishment of a new state-controlled oil and gas exploration company. The development of a new set of terms for all future oil and gas exploration. Such terms would include the participation of the state-controlled oil and gas company as the major partner in all exploration projects. Where it is necessary to include private energy companies on such projects appropriate rates of taxation shall be paid. Click the link below to find out more about...

Water Charges

Water is chief among the fundamentals necessary for all life on planet Earth. More than light, food or shelter humans cannot survive without water for more than a short number of days.

The development of human society has been intrinsically linked with the provision of abundant, high-quality water supplies. From Roman times the provision of a public water services has been seen as a basic requirement of a ‘civilised’ society.

However, in the world of neo-liberal capitalism, water is just another commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. Throughout the world private capital are replacing government as the provider of this most basic of services.

Recent years have seen attempts to introduce ‘stand-alone’ water charges in both the Six and Twenty-Six Counties.  The Fine Gael/Labour coalition have announced plans in install meters in every house in the twenty six counties and to re-introduce water charges once more.  Such charges are part of a broader strategy of ‘creeping privatisation’ which will ultimately lead to the imposition of domestic water charges and the privatisation of all the water services. In such a scenario the role of the state will be reduced to that of a ‘regulator’.

éirígí is calling for:

• The immediate shelving of plans for the introduction of ‘stand alone’ domestic water charges.
• The exemption of schools and other essential service providers from the payment of water charges.
• State investment in the upgrading of water distribution networks to reduce the levels of water lost through wastage and leaks.
• State investment in a major education programme to encourage end-users to practise water preservation.

Click the link below to find out more about...

Say No to Water Tax – Keep Our Water Public!

éirígí Dublin City councillor Louise Minihan has slammed the confirmation that the Dublin government intends introducing new water and family home taxes from early next year.

Minihan said: “The coalition's confirmation that water and family home taxes are to be introduced is yet another attack on hard pressed working people already burdened with privately accumulated banking debt."

“The diktats of the IMF/EU are being implemented with vigour by a Fine Gael/Labour coalition that promised change but is simply delivering more of the same neoliberal policies that created the economic crisis."

“The imposition of a water tax is simply the first step on the road to the full privatisation of the domestic water supply and will be resisted by working class communities across the Twenty-Six Counties.”

The water charges announcement was made last month at a conference in Dublin which discussed the installation of domestic water meters across the Twenty-Six Counties. It was addressed by Twenty-Six County environment minister Phil Hogan and representatives of private business interests seeking to profit from the installation of a water metering system and the inevitable privatisation the domestic water system.

Water supply has become a major global business, with multinational corporations amassing enormous profits from the privatisation of domestic water supplies.

Amongst those addressing delegates at the conference was Darren Bentham, director of universal water metering with the Southern Water Company in England. The recent history of that company demonstrates how global financial interests are profiting from the commodification and privatisation of domestic water supply.

The company has passed through the hands of various private investors since the Thatcher water privatisation programme in 1989. In 2007, Royal Bank of Scotland sold the utility company to a consortium of international investors for £4.3 billion. The Greensands consortium, made up of a fund advised by JP Morgan investment bank, bought a 32 per cent stake, the Australian Challenger Infrastructure fund took a 27 per cent stake, while merchant bank UBS took 18 per cent. The remaining share of the company is divided between an Australian pension fund and infrastructure investor Paceweald.

In 2010, Southern Water declared pre-tax profits of over £300 million, while domestic users paid an average of £330 in water charges per year.

In 2007, OFWAT, the water regulator in England and Wales imposed a £20 million fine on Southern Water for supplying false customer service data. The data supplied by the company suggested it was performing better than was actually the case and resulted in higher domestic water charges for its customers. In 2008, the British Environment Agency named Southern Water as Britain’s second biggest polluting water firm.

According to OFWAT, domestic water and sewage bills have increased on average 44 per cent since the privatisation of the domestic water supply and sewage treatment system in England and Wales in 1989. In 2008, the average household bill in England and Wales was £330. However, the water regulator has since approved increased tariffs and households in England and Wales will face higher bills this year.

According to Minhan, the experience of households in England and Wales will be repeated in the Twenty-Six Counties.

“Despite the establishment propaganda, the introduction of domestic water charges has little to do with water conservation and everything to do with creating a profit boon for global corporations and the privatisation of public services,” Minihan added.

“The 2008 Local Government Management Services Board on Service Indicators in Local Authorities revealed that two-thirds of local authorities in the state lost 40 per cent of water through leaking pipes."

“In order to conserve water, the Dublin government needs to invest in fixing the creaking water infrastructure and introducing genuine water conservation measures. Instead, householders now face the prospect of charges for their domestic water supply in order to pay off the debts of rich bankers and developers."

“While Phil Hogan claims that householders will get a free allocation of water before charges are imposed, a similar yarn was spun when Dublin City Council introduced the bin tax almost 10 years ago. Yet, from next year, low income householders in Dublin City Council face a charge for bin collection of €208. In addition, the household waste collection service is being increasingly privatised.”

Minihan concluded: “éirígí is part of the No Water Tax campaign and is committed to playing its part in building a vigorous campaign of opposition to water tax across the Twenty-Six Counties and to ensuring the domestic water supply remains in public hands.”

Labour Party Hypocrisy Exposed with Water Tax Vote

The hypocrisy of the Twenty-Six County Labour Party was further exposed at the monthly meeting of Dublin City Council on Monday last [June 13].

Despite that party’s pre-election posturing as defenders of the working class, its councillors voted against a motion opposing the introduction of both a domestic water tax and a new ‘household charge’. And so Labour made explicit its commitment to the introduction of two new regressive taxes which will hurt the poorest and most vulnerable the most.

The motion, which had been submitted by éirígí Councillor Louise Minihan, read:

That this council condemns the decision by the Minister for Environment Phil Hogan to introduce:

• Water meters to every home in the state;
• A flat rate household charge which is a property tax in all but name.

Both measures outlined by the government are in reality, unjustifiable stealth taxes. The notion that the government hands are tied on these matters exposes that it is the EU/IMF that is in total control of this state.

This council also recognises that at the end of 2010 45,000 households were in mortgage arrears, 443, 400 people are unemployed and the introduction of these charges and will only serve to push struggling families further into poverty and hardship.

At a time when the communities we represent are suffering from the effects of an economic crisis that they were not responsible for creating, it is the role of elected representatives to use their platform to serve the interest of the people, and not the agenda of a wealthy elite, or the greed of EU/IMF - which is the only agenda that can be served by the imposition of unjust stealth taxes, that will hit hardest those, who can least afford to pay it.

Dublin City Council is committed to opposing any introduction of water charges, the so-called ‘interim household charge’ and the eventual introduction of a property tax.

Following a debate that lasted close to an hour, 27 Labour and Fine Gael City Councillors voted against, while 13 éirígí, independent and Sinn Fein Councillors voted in favour. Fianna Fáil and a single Labour councillor abstained, meaning that the motion was defeated by 27 votes to 13.

Prior to the commencement of the City Council meeting, 20 éirígí activists took part in an anti-water tax / household charge protest outside of City Hall.

Speaking at the protest Louise Minihan said, “Prior to the general election the Labour Party told people that they would moderate the most extreme right-wing policies of Fine Gael. There is little doubt that many people voted for the Labour Party because they believed those pre-election promises. But now, just weeks after the election, the Labour Party are showing their true colours. Instead of opposing the introduction of a domestic water tax and household charge they are instead acting as apologists for their senior coalition partners.

“Over the course of the next few years the right-wing establishment will attempt to introduce a domestic water tax which will ultimately lead to the privatisation of that most necessary of natural resources. The only thing that will stop the introduction of a water tax is a mass, community-based campaign of opposition. The building of that campaign must now begin in earnest. Tonight was just the start of éirígí’s contribution to the campaign to defeat these unjust taxes – a start upon which will build into the future.”

Water Tax Will Be Resisted

Below is a letter which was published in this weeks edition of the Leitrim Observer (June 15).  The letter, from éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey, was a reply to an editorial in the paper the previous week relating to the planned introduction of domestic water charges.

A chara

Please allow me reply to your editorial relating to the imminent introduction of water charges by Fine Gael and Labour.

You say that “there is a great deal of water wastage in this country”. You add that “this charge will hopefully tackle the whole issue of water conservation and see a pro-active attitude towards water leakage and burst pipes”.

The vast majority of water wastage has absolutely nothing to do with domestic households, the people who will pay this new charge. Burst pipes, water leakage and industrial usage account for the vast majority of water wastage. For a fraction of the hundreds of millions they are to spend having water meters installed in every household, they could upgrade the water infrastructure, eradicating leaks and accompanying wastage.

Fine Gael and Labour are using the fig-leaf of “water conservation” as a cover to introduce a new tax, which will impact hardest once more on social welfare recipients and low and middle income earners. It is also the first step towards privatising another essential public service, the domestic water supply.

And while talk of waivers for the less well off is occasionally mentioned, this is an attempt to deflect opposition from this double tax. Whether or not there is a waiver when water charges are introduced, you can be sure it wont remain in place too long. Remember the waivers with refuse charges? They are now a thing of the past, as the millionaire pays the same amount to get rid of his rubbish as the poorest family does.

The focus of all these cutbacks are the less well off not the wealthy. So while the government target Joint Labour Committee's to cut wages and conditions for low paid workers, and while carers and welfare recipients have endured cut after cut driving tens of thousands into poverty, there is no mention of targetting the rich. No mention of a 'wealth tax' or of nationalising our natural resources, moves that would generate hundreds of billions of euro's for the public purse.

We did not create the crisis and should not pay for it, either through water charges or other wage or welfare cuts. It is not our debt or the debt of this state. It is the private gambling debts of a number of greedy bankers and developers.

If the government proceed with their plans éirígí will, as part of the No Water Tax campaign, play its part in building a vigorous campaign of opposition to defeat this tax and ensure the domestic water supply remains in public hands.

Is mise

Gerry Casey

Water Tax – Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay

On Monday, June 13, Dublin City Council will debate an emergency anti-water and household tax motion that has been submitted by éirígí City Councillor Louise Minihan. The text of the motion reads:

That this council condemns the decision by the Minister for Environment Phil Hogan to introduce:

• Water meters to every home in the state;
• A flat rate household charge which is a property tax in all but name.

Both measures outlined by the government are in reality, unjustifiable stealth taxes. The notion that the government hands are tied on these matters exposes that it is the EU/IMF that is in total control of this state.

This council also recognises that at the end of 2010 45,000 households were in mortgage arrears, 443,400 people are unemployed and the introduction of these charges and will only serve to push struggling families further into poverty and hardship.

At a time when the communities we represent are suffering from the effects of an economic crisis that they were not responsible for creating, it is the role of elected representatives to use their platform to serve the interest of the people, and not the agenda of a wealthy elite, or the greed of EU/IMF – which is the only agenda that can be served by the imposition of unjust stealth taxes, that will hit hardest those, who can least afford to pay it.

Dublin City Council is committed to opposing any introduction of water charges, the so-called ‘interim household charge’ and the eventual introduction of a property tax.

To coincide with the debate éirígí Baile Átha Cliath have organised a public protest which will take place outside of City Hall beginning at 6.30pm. Join with us in sending a message to Fine Gael and Labour – ‘Water Tax? We can’t pay and we won’t pay!’

Speaking in advance of the protest, Louise Minihan said, “The corporate media and the political establishment attempted to portray the result of the last general election as some sort of democratic revolution. But now, just four months later, it is clear for all to see that nothing has changed. Fine Gael and Labour have simply picked up where Fianna Fáil left off. There hasn’t even been the slightest shift in policy, never mind a democratic revolution.

“The proposed new water and household taxes are just the latest mechanisms for the transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Instead of making corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share the Dublin government are choosing to attack ordinary families who are already struggling to survive. This cannot be allowed to happen.

“There is no doubt that many people who were terrified by the scale and speed of the economic collapse believed the lies of Fine Gael and Labour in the run up to the general election. On an almost daily basis those lies are now being exposed.”

Minihan continued, “Fine Gael and Labour are now claiming that they are being forced by the EU and IMF to introduce the proposed water and household taxes. This is just another lie. The right-wing political establishment have been attempting to introduce a domestic water tax for at least a decade. The EU/IMF bailout has given them the perfect excuse to do so, whilst claiming that they are being forced to do so by external forces.

“The last general election changed nothing. And it is highly likely that the next general election will change nothing either. The people of the Twenty-Six Counties need to follow the example of the Greeks and other Europeans who are mobilising in their millions to resist the so called austerity measures of the right wing. We in éirígí are committed to playing our part in the campaign of opposition to the water and household taxes and the wider struggle for a real democratic revolution. I would encourage everyone who can do so to join our protest outside of City Hall on Monday night.”

Our Water is Not for Sale

Opinion Piece by éirígí Tír Chonaill Spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig carried in todays edition (July 25) of the Donegal on Sunday Newspaper

 

“I understood when I was just a child that without water, everything dies. I didn't understand until much later that no one “owns” water. It might rise on your property, but it just passes through. You can use it, and abuse it, but it is not yours to own. It is part of the global commons, not “property” but part of our life support system.” - Marq de Villiers

 

An admirable thought, and the fact that water is part of our life support system is without question. The human body can live for over a month without food but last no more than a week without water. So you would wonder at anyone who would seek to turn this most essential of needs for basic survival into just another commodity, to be bought and sold to line the pockets of big business.

But this is just what might happen if the government in Lenister House have their way. Domestic metering has been an idea which has floated around within the Dublin government for some time now and earlier this year, Green Party leader and Environment Minister for the Fianna Fail led coalition, John Gormley, said that €1 billion would have to be raised annually through water charges, which he intends to impose on 1.1 million households, to cover the cost of treating the water system. Do the math and it is evident that the water charge that would need to be imposed on each home to raise this €1 billion would be more than prohibitively expensive for most, especially in these harsh times of economic crisis created by the capitalist greed of big business around the globe.

 

Of course, John Gormley isn't going to come out with a “like it or lump it” demand that we pay this tax just so we can have the right to consume the basic element for human survival. No, the reasons behind the imposition of domestic metering and water charges will be dressed up with terms such as conservation and suggestions that there will be job creation from the installation of meters, all in a vain attempt to make he and his ilk in the government look like the good guys in all of this.

 

 

Taking his concerns for water conservation – which no one would deny is a fair enough concern – Mr. Gormley would do better to look at the current state of our water services and ask why up to 40% of our water is lost through leaking pipes before it even reaches the tap. Countless homes across Donegal will be able to testify to the lack of investment there has been in our water supply infrastructure after their experiences earlier this year, when services were cut off due to harsh winter weather causing a less than fit for purpose system to freeze and supply lines to burst. In parts of Donegal in 21st century western Europe we seen parents having to melt snow and boil it just to feed their children. Throughout each year many homes in Donegal are subject to stoppages in water supply, “boil water” notices and periods of unusable discoloured water flowing from our taps.

 

 

 

 

And before anyone argues that a water tax would generate the money needed to remedy any of these problems by supplying the funds to fix our less than fit for purpose water services, remember that John Gormley said that the €1 billion raised from water tax would go towards the €1.2 billion needed to only treat the water, not improve the system. In 2007 the Dublin government in their 'National Development Plan' committed €4.75 billion in spending towards the Water Services Sub-Program to ensure a better water service. This commitment seems to have now disappeared out of the pipeline in one of its many leaks.

 

Then of course there is the claim of possible job creation that Mr. Gormley has used to try to bolster his plans for imposing this water tax, saying that employment would come with the installation of the domestic water meters. Knowing the current state of unemployment in the Twenty-Six Counties, with well over 22,000 unemployed here in Donegal alone, and knowing that the press would possibly use job creation as a headline, suggesting such a thing to back his argument and gather public support was a reprehensible move to make on his part. He also suggests this possible jobs boost while his government ponders 17,000 public sector job cuts, which would lead you to wonder about the state of thinking that there exists within his department.

 

 

Maybe if the Dublin government took some of the many billions of euros of our money they used to bail out the banks and developers who were responsible for today's economic crisis, and invested it in upgrading our water supply, jobs would be created, water would be conserved and no one would have to face the possibility of paying a draconian tax just to receive the basic necessity of life.

 

But of course we all know the Dublin government too well at this stage to think they would do anything else. The commodification of our natural resources and the giving away of well over €540 billion (thats €540,000,000,000!) in oil and gas to private foreign companies when those resources could be nationalised and the resulting hundreds of billions of euro invested in hospitals, schools, infrastructure and jobs, only goes to show the contempt Lenister House has for the ordinary working class here in Donegal and indeed all of the Twenty-Six Counties.

 

 

 

 

Domestic metering and water tax is the first step on the road to the privatisation of our water services and we only have to look to England and Wales to see what an unmitigated disaster the commodification of water can be. Ultimately what we will have are those who have the very least in society, those who struggle to put food on the table for their families, paying for a service so the wealthiest in society can water their gardens.

 

The bottom line is that water meters and water tax is unnecessary, unfair and unwanted and such plans should be vigorously resisted by everyone, everywhere. Our water is the single most important element for our survival and that of future generations. Our water is not for sale!