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Irish Want to Keep Their Water Free: Thousands Protest on the Streets of Dublin
Posted by talesfromthelou on December 11, 2014Posted in: Capitalism, Economics, Ireland, Water. Leave a comment
Irish Want to Keep Their Water Free – Businessweek.
http://www.businessweek.com
By Carol Matlack
December 10, 2014
Photographer: Peter Morrison/AP Photo
Water tax protesters congregate close to government buildings in Dublin city centre, Ireland, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014.
The Irish have stoically endured six years of austerity. But they’re drawing the line at having to pay for water.
Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of Dublin and other Irish cities on Wednesday in an angry protest against the government’s plan to start billing for water and sewer service. Ireland is one of only two countries in the world (Turkmenistan is the other) that provide free water to residents, according to Global Water Intelligence, a British research outfit.
The demonstration capped an emotional campaign by labor unions, human rights advocates, and others who contend that access to water is a God-given right. “Water is so potent, even St. Patrick didn’t mess with it,” playwright and novelist Michael Harding wrote this week in the Irish Times, in a column evoking images of holy water and springs with miraculous healing powers. “And now our masters want the water.”
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The campaign also is drawing support from activists in Detroit who are fighting that city’s move to shut off service to thousands of customers with large unpaid water bills. Representatives of the Detroit Water Brigade, a local protest group, arrived in Ireland this week and are joining a demonstration in Cork, according to local media reports.
Full story:
Irish Want to Keep Their Water Free – Businessweek.
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