Bin Tax / Household Tax / Water Tax Public Private Partnerships are already privatising our public water system 13:00 Dec 19 0 comments Irish Water: Killing off conservation and the real agenda behind water charges 12:03 Jan 18 2 comments RTÉ Primetime Parrots State Propaganda on Water Charges 19:39 Dec 14 1 comments Defeating the water charges - Don’t be fooled by the concessions 23:28 Dec 02 0 comments Water Charges and TTIP! 01:15 Nov 16 0 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireUkraine Now Producing 10 Self-Propelled ... Fri Apr 19, 2024 06:15 | Anti-Empire Russian Firms Rush to Buy Anti-Drone Def... Wed Apr 17, 2024 08:58 | Bloomberg Ukraine Buys Huge Amounts of Russian Fue... Fri Jan 20, 2023 08:34 | Antonia Kotseva Turkey Has Sent Ukraine Cluster Munition... Thu Jan 12, 2023 00:26 | Jack Detsch New Israeli Government Promises to Talk ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 21:13 | Al Majadeen
Human Rights in IrelandA Blog About Human RightsUN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights
Lockdown Skeptics
Fifty Ways to Leave the European Convention on Human Rights Fri Apr 19, 2024 17:28 | Dr David McGrogan
Pupil Suspensions Reach Record High as Experts Blame Effect of Lockdowns on Behaviour Fri Apr 19, 2024 15:30 | Will Jones
Up to Half of Excess Deaths in U.S. Nursing Homes Were Due to Lockdowns and Mitigation Measures Fri Apr 19, 2024 13:19 | Will Jones
Woke Activists Need to Read Their David Hume Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:16 | Dr James Allan
Farmers? Biggest Problems are Green Ideologues, not Climate Change Fri Apr 19, 2024 09:00 | Ben Pile
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionThe cost of war, by Manlio Dinucci Wed Apr 17, 2024 04:12 | en Angela Merkel and François Hollande's crime against peace, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Apr 16, 2024 06:58 | en Iranian response to attack on its consulate in Damascus could lead to wider warf... Fri Apr 12, 2024 13:36 | en Is the possibility of a World War real?, by Serge Marchand , Thierry Meyssan Tue Apr 09, 2024 08:06 | en Netanyahu's Masada syndrome and the UN report by Francesca Albanese, by Alfredo ... Sun Apr 07, 2024 07:53 | en |
The Battle Against the Bin Tax
dublin |
bin tax / household tax / water tax |
feature
Sunday August 07, 2005 12:46 by Mark P. (Socialist Party/Personal Capacity)
The Role of Socialists in the Working Class Movement Update: Invasion Of The Wheelie Bin Snatchers One of the most significant struggles to affect working class people in Ireland in recent years took place in the autumn of 2003. This battle was between the anti-bin tax campaigns and the combined power of the four councils covering the whole of Dublin, the Fianna Fail/PD coalition government and the Irish state. The battle against the bin tax exploded in September 2003 and was a dominant national issue for the rest of the year. This peak of the ongoing campaign against the bin tax saw households across Dublin refusing to pay the charges, thousands of people taking to the streets, dozens of blockades of bin trucks and 22 people imprisoned. It also saw considerable disagreements emerge amongst different elements within the campaigns. The most visible of these disagreements was over the issue of blockading bin trucks in other areas of Dublin when the struggle in Fingal was underway. The Fingal Campaign and many activists in the rest of Dublin believed that it was necessary to escalate direct action across the entire city. Some others, particularly some forces within the City Council campaign, felt that doing so would be rash. The Socialist Party, which has played a very prominent role in the anti-bin tax campaigns, has produced a lengthy document outlining what it sees as the key elements of these disagreements. This is not a straightforward historical account of the struggle. It attempts to record the main developments in the battle against the bin tax, deal with the role of socialists in the campaign and to draw lessons for future campaigns. “The differences of approach that emerged relate directly to what is the best way to build campaigns and conduct struggles. They also relate to the role that socialists should play in the rebuilding of the working class movement, which everybody agrees will be a vital issue in the years ahead. The issues re-surfaced again in the build up to the local elections in June 2004 and have continued on the bin tax and around the debates on how and when to establish a new left party for working class people. The differences are current and very relevant and undoubtedly will come up again and therefore need to be clarified.”
RELATED LINKS |
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (124 of 124)