Environment Minister Alan Kelly’s comments that the issue of water charges “has gone off the agenda” has been ridiculed as “wishful thinking” which shows “how out of touch Labour and Fine Gael are from the vast majority of the population”.
This is the view of Anti Austerity Alliance Galway West candidate Tommy Holohan, who said the fact that more than 50 per cent of households were refusing to, and/or had not, paid their Irish Water bills, “despite an avalanche of propaganda on radio, TV, and in the press”, is proof that the issue of the controversial tax is very much alive.
“The Anti Austerity Alliance and the We Won’t Pay campaign have been continuously active throughout building the boycott, holding meetings, calling to doors all over Galway city, convincing people to stand their ground, in fact most didn’t need much convincing at all,” said Mr Holohan. “If Fine Gael and Labour honestly think that the issue of water charges has gone off the agenda, than they’re in for a serious shock as soon as they hit the doors in the General Election.”
