Property tax “totally unnecessary” say campaigners

There will be delegations from branches of the CAHWT from right across the country, and everyone interested in fighting back is free to attend as an observer too, so please make sure your area is represented! For more info, contact your local campaign organiser or alternative get in touch centrally by phoning 1890 98 98 00  or emailing us on contact@nohouseholdtax.org

KILDARE: Kildare South will be organising a bus to this march leaving from Kildare/Newbridge/Naas. The price will be €10-€12 return depending on numbers. If you would like to travel on the campaign bus please contact us to book a seat on 086-8153898 or emailkildareCAHWT@gmail.com. Booking advised, as seats are limited at this stage.
North Kildare are getting public transport.

WICKLOW: Wicklow are putting on a bus passing through Arklow, Avoca, Rathdrum, Wicklow town, Greystones, and Bray. Booking is essential as numbers of seats will be limited, get in touch as soon as possible. Contact Niamh 086-8641599 bus will cost from €6 – €9 euros depending on numbers.

KILKENNY: Kilkenny bus leaving Ormonde Road 10am sharp. Tickets €10. To books seats ring 089-9612939.

CORK: CAHWT bus to Dublin Protest Against Property Tax April 13th, meet 8.30am sharp (behind Metropole, Cork), €15 per seat, to book phone 083-1006654

WATERFORD: Bus’s leaving Waterford from outside The Forum, The Glen at 9.30am Sat morning, 5 euro fare, for anyone who wants to book seat ring John at 086073382 or Joan at 0861071647

LOUTH: Louth bus leaving Dunleer at 11am, Drogheda at 11:15am. May also be servicing Dundalk though tbc. Contact 0868102240 for info. (Members of the Dundalk campaign will also be getting the Matthews bus at 10am which will cost €14 return.)

WEXFORD: Wexford CAHWT are running a bus for 13th, leaving Clonard church at 9am Return fare €10. Phone 087 7742383, or 087 7862970 to book a seat.

NORTH LEITRIM: Bus from North Leitrim Leaving Kinlough at 8.00am & Manorhamilton at 8.20am For more details and booking Phone Thomas on 0876373810 & Gerry on 0868047669 ASAP

CLARE: Clare Bus leaving from Ennis/Shannon County Clare for more details contact Paul @ 0876934384

COUNTY WATERFORD & TIPPERARY: Bus leaving Portlaw at 8.30am, Carrick on Suir at 8.45am and Clonmel at 9.15am. price €14.00. Ring me 086-3042111.

It can also be produced as a newsletter with the following inside pages

It was described to him that a sustained Saturday morning picket was commencing on his office and also that the people who were standing outside were now at breaking point, at the most recent committee meeting the majority of people were advocating taking the protest to his home, all that stood in the way of such action was a reasoned but heated debate based on the fact that he had a family in the house. It was said that if he didn’t champion the cause of his constituents, and the family home tax was not repealed, the protest would be following him home in the near future. All of this was done in a peaceful and non-confrontational manner and finally he had to listen. He later accused a member of threatening him about the visit to his home but it was never a threat, simply a warning that that’s where people were at now, and that was what he could expect if people were pushed any further and if the home tax was taken from struggling people’s means of subsistence.

Yet, as the protesters were leaving the office in order to join the protesters outside, the Fine Gael TD physically manhandled a 72 year old man in the course of trying to remove the man’s mobile phone from his hand. The man who is recovering from treatment for prostate cancer and a knee operation had his neck grabbed in the attack and one activist had to get involved to stop what could have been a much more serious incident.

These TD’s on their lavish salaries and expenses find it very easy to preach and speak on TV and radio, telling the people to suck it up, that things aren’t that bad. Pat Rabbitte of the Labour party this week when challenged about wind turbines, their health implications for people in or near their vicinity, and the obvious resistance to them said, “Why is the emphasis on the protest and not that we are creating new jobs in a sector that is renewable and brings down the cost of energy to Ireland? It creates a whole new possibility, it’s a sector that wasn’t there before.” The utter contempt these people have for democracy and people’s lives is appalling and as the anger rises across the country and as families are further targeted by government – It’s only the next step that people should be bringing their protest and anger to the doors of the excessively comfortable members of this government, living in a bubble, who are not working for the people of this state, but for the troika and banking interests. If they are not willing to listen then they’ll be made listen. Enough is enough. We’ll be back next week, and the next, and the next…There is no let up on the pressure and strain on the people, it’s not our debt, and there will be no let up on the agents of the trioka until the millstone is lifted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46o4QIeyQXY

(Attack was not caught on video but the Gardai arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and a statement has been given regarding the incident.)

People voiced their anger and opposition to the introduction of the new property tax, water charges & other austerity cuts being inflicted by the trioka.

Guest speaker Joseph Farrell (a local solicitor) opened up the evening by giving people an understanding of the new property tax, and what the legal ins and outs were.

Lorraine Monaghan from the INMO gave a presentation explaining the injustice of the cuts to graduate nurses and called on the people present to support young graduate nurses in their continued boycott campaign and supported a combined approach against austerity.

Joseph Farrelly, the student union President in Carlow College spoke about the fiasco that is student grants and gave a few examples of the difficulties students face on a day to day basis, particularly those who are returning to college as a mature students and the challenge they face of financing their future.

Ben Gilroy, the leader of Direct Democracy Ireland spoke about the political system and the need for change. He showcased a great video of Michael Noonan speaking in December 2010, in which, Noonan argues against the exact policies this government are now engaged in. He gives out about the impact the deal will have on vulnerable sectors of Irish societies. Some people laughed others could be heard using the words ‘hypocrite’ and ‘joke’.

Clare Daly TD really got the room going with a passionate address around the issues of the property tax and the upcoming installation of water meters. She appealed to the ‘armchair supporters’ to get more involved in their local campaign. She also commented on the great turnout the meeting had received on the night and at past meetings in the town but ‘people needed to get more involved to win’.

Kevin Brady, a member of the Carlow CAHWT and chair on the night spoke about how the local campaign is becoming ever more active. He told the people in attendance how 25 people from the Carlow campaign along with support from Kilkenny, took the fight directly to Revenue. He said that they made the decision to occupy the Revenue branch in Kilkenny on the previous Thursday to show the people of Carlow, and indeed Ireland, that this campaign would not be bullied or intimidated by either the government or Revenue. He also said that this would be the first of many protests to be held against Revenue this year.

Another local CAHWT activist Keith Gilligan re-iterated the need for people to get involved now that it had been passed to revenue and stressed the need for people to come to the realisation that politicians will not change the situation that we are all in, ‘politicians who tell us they have all the answers are telling us lies. We should have enough of their lies and games by now and realise the power that we the people collectively hold. We need to appeal to workers and the unemployed, our friends, family members, neighbours, we are the workers who work in revenue and everywhere else we need to come together and say enough is enough.’ He also stated how members of the campaign had welcomed Phil Hogan to the town that day, ‘I looked in the window and there was no smirking or waving today, he was visibly sweating and looked worried. Why should we have respect for these people? They’ve no respect for us and I think it’s time to return the favour.’

Activists from Kildare Town, Newbridge and some Carlow CAHWT supporters gathered to protest the presence of Minister Burton at the opening of the Teach Dara Community and Family Centre in Kildare Town today.  The protest was well received by local residents and by many of those attending the ceremony.  A number of the local residents stopped to speak with activists to voice their concerns about the impending home tax and austerity measures in general. Some choose to stay and protest for the first time in order to show Minister Burton their disgust at her government’s actions. People in Kildare, and all over the country, are extremely angry at this governments attempts to foist odious bank debt onto the decent working class people who are struggling to keep themselves off the bread line.

The message to Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection, is that the people of Ireland have had enough; we will not accept any further austerity or savage cuts while the political establishment

protect themselves, corrupt bankers and the wealthy.

The Campaign Against Home and Water Tax will continue to protest against Minister Burton, the Labour Party and Fine Gael, for the attacks on our homes and families.  These attacks in the form of home tax, water tax, septic tank charge, crippling cutbacks in child allowance, child care, respite care grant and disability allowance are attacks on the basic social rights of the citizens of this country, and will be resisted vigorously.  Homes and families throughout the country are frightened about what lies ahead.  CAHWT groups in Kildare and throughout the country will continue to protest against those ministers, and local TDs, who choose to vote in favour of these devastating and penal taxes, turning their back on the people who voted for and trusted them.

To the prominent member of Kildare Town Chamber of Commerce who barked at CAHWT members from Newbridge to “go back to your own town to protest, not at our school!” We would like to state that CAHWT is a country wide campaign made up of decent, ordinary, hardworking and tax compliant people, who this government and the wealthy elite are criminalising. We reject the self-serving tribalism of “parish pump” politics that is dominant within the political class.  It is the people of this country working together, and not the continuation of the same old tired politics, that can offer our children a better future. We have united to fight these unjust taxes and cutbacks in the hope of a better future for our children, the elderly and the most vulnerable in our society. Our aim is to free our country from an economic dictatorship, and to help foster a vibrant democracy.