Dundalk woman Maeve Curtis was amongst the guest speakers at the Right2Water’s protest in Dublin at the weekend.
Maeve, from Greenacres, has been one of the most vocal from this area against the introduction of water charges and accused the government of “enslaving the nation to banks.”
Check out her speech in full above.
The Dundalk branch of the Republican Network for Unity (RNU) are set to stage a protest outside Niall Clarke’s Topaz garage on the Dublin Road this Saturday at 1pm.
The protest has been staged due to Topaz owner Denis O’Brien’s involvement with Irish Water.
Dundalk RNU are inviting all anti-austerity groups to join them on the day.
Cllr John McGahon addressing protesters outside County Hall this morning. Picture: LMFM
Louth County Council has passed a motion calling on the government to scrap the water charges.
The vote was called for at this morning’s meeting at County Hall following a Sinn Féin motion.
Earlier in the session a Green Party motion was also passed, calling for a referendum to ensure water services aren’t privatised.
Fine Gael and Labour councillors, some of whom were abesent, were the only objectors to the Sinn Féin vote while only Fine Gael’s councillors opposed the Green Party motion.
Mayor of Drogheda, Kevin Callan, who stepped down from Fine Gael over the handling of the water charges situation recently, voted in favour of the motion.
A protest took place outside the council offices on the St Alphonsus Road prior to the meeting with around 75 in attendance.
Cllr John McGahon spoke to the crowd saying he sympathised with them but that investment in our water system was needed.
He said: “The point has been made that we have been paying water for the last 30 years but over the last 30 years we have seen that 49% of our water has been leaked, we have seen 20,000 people on boil water notices and it has been the fault of all governments, including my own, not to invest in the water system and that’s what Fine Gael are doing now.”
He said that the currently system was “not fit for purpose” and added that “whether people like it or not we are trying to make it as fair and as equitable as possible.”
The offices of Louth County Council where a protest will take place at 9.30am
A protest against the introduction of water charges will take place at County Hall in Dundalk this morning where members of Louth County Council are due to meet.
Councillors will vote on a Sinn Féin motion opposing water charges, with members of the public set to canvass them on their way into the meeting.
The gathering is expected to get underway at 9.30am.
Speaking about the proposal Sinn Féin Cllr Tomás Sharkey stated:
“There is no doubt that the Irish people do not want domestic water charges. Sinn Féin actively supports and works with the Right2Water campaign which saw more than a hundred thousand people on the streets two weeks ago.
“Our motion reflects the demands of the people of County Louth. We believe public money is being wasted with the roll out of metering when investment is needed in infrastructure. We have though the motion out carefully and hope it receives the support of all groupings in the chamber on Monday morning.”
The motion is as follows:
Further water charge protests are planned both locally and nationally in the coming weeks to follow on from the estimated 150,000 people who turned out around the country on Saturday to campaign against the introduction of meters and charges.
An estimated 6,000 people turned out in Dundalk in rainy conditions on Saturday, marching from the Fairgreen to the Market Square where a number of speeches were made and chants of ‘we won’t pay’ were heard. The march then proceeded through the town.
At the weekend Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr Kevin Callan, a member of Louth County Council, resigned from Fine Gael over the government’s handling of the introduction of water charges, describing it as a “bridge too far.”
Local youngster Craig McHugh has also resigned from the party.
In a statement earlier today, Sinn Féin leader and local TD Gerry Adams said he would not be paying the water tax.
“It is clear that the Taoiseach has totally underestimated the level of public anger at the imposition of domestic water charges and the determination that now exists to defeat them.
“Citizens, sick to the teeth of relentless austerity, with one new tax and charge after another, spoke loudly and clearly across this State, and in every county, on Saturday. Their message was crystal clear – they will not accept the Water Tax.
“The Taoiseach’s remarks the same evening, make it very clear that he has not listened to that message.
“Sinn Féin is standing firmly with those families and hard pressed citizens who very simply cannot pay the Government’s water tax. As a mark of solidarity, I have decided that I will not pay this Government’s Water Tax.
“The establishment of Irish Water and the imposition of water charges has been a fiasco from the very start.
“Sinn Féin has shown the Government how to pay for water services without imposing these charges. There are alternative and fairer ways to do this.
“This week in the Dail, Sinn Féin will introduce a Constitutional Amendment Bill calling for a referendum to retain control of water services in public ownership.
“The Taoiseach and his government need to start listening to what the people are saying and stop the introduction of water charges.”
You can view coverage of Saturday’s protest speeches from the Square in the video above.
A section of the crowd marching through Dundalk on Saturday
The protest at the Market Square today, as captured by Pat O’Shaughnessy
The installation of water meters will commence in the area in the coming weeks, according to Irish Water.
The news came ahead of a non-political protest at the Market Square this morning against the implementation of water charges at the end of next month.
According to Irish Water, advance notification of at least 14 days will be issued to each householder with information packs outlining the details of the installation process.
Meters will be installed outside domestic residences connected to the public water mains generally between 7.30am and 7.30pm, Monday to Friday and between 8am and 1pm on Saturdays.
A spokesperson for Irish Water says meter installers will always carry identification cards, wear branded uniforms and will never ask to enter people’s homes.
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are to hold a lunchtime protest at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda today.
The nurses are protesting at what they say are dangerous levels of overcrowding at the hospital’s emergency department.
Tony Fitzpatrick of the INMO said the protest related to the large increase in the number of patients on trolleys for long periods.
“The issue is that there has been a 55% increase in people waiting on trolleys. People are being looked after on trolleys for three or four days at a time.
“HIQA did a report into Tallaght and recommended that no patients should be looked after on a trolley and that practice is unsafe and is still ongoing at Drogheda and negatively impacts on patient care.”
Fitzpatrick says that there are 92 full-time vacancies at the hospital and that this is causing problems.
Nurses challenged Health Minister Leo Varadkar to come and spend a shift with them, but he declined yesterday.
Fitzpatrick says that management are due to meet nurses this week, but that the INMO is prepared to step up their actions if things don’t improve.
Some of the crowd that gathered in the Market Square for the protest at lunchtime today. Picture: Kenneth Sloane
There was another large turnout at the Market Square in Dundalk this afternoon for the second Support Gaza Protest.
Around 500 people turned out for a previous protest last week aimed at showing solidarity during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine and the figure was estimated to be roughly similar in a sunny town centre.
Local Sinn Féin councillors have been appealing for people to boycott Israeli products during the ongoing conflict.
Some of the crowd who gathered at the Market Square in Dundalk for the previous protest
A second Support Gaza Protest will take place at the Market Square in Dundalk tomorrow (Friday) at 1pm.
Around 500 people turned out for a previous protest last week aimed at showing solidarity during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
All are welcome to attend tomorrow’s protest.
Some of the crowd who gathered at the Market Square in Dundalk today
Sinn Féin in Dundalk today held a protest at the Market Square to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza who are under siege.
At the time of the protest, Israel had resumed its rocket fire on Gaza after a brief ceasefire. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world so any rocket that is fired into it will find civilian casualties. There have been countless images and videos lately on social media documenting the horrors faced by the Palestinian people.
This cross community event saw around 500 people turn out in what for the majority was a way of showing their support for the besieged Palestinians.
One woman at the event said “I have seen these images on Facebook and wanted to do more than just ‘like and share’, I felt moved to come here today and show my support.”
Similar events are organised for the day across the country.
Talk of the Town 