OVER 3,200 people took to the streets of Laois on Saturday to show their opposition and anger against water charges. Despite the heavy rain, the organisers of the two marches in Laois said that they were overwhelmed by the large turnouts.
Over 1,200 people attended the protest march in Portlaoise. The start was delayed for a short while to allow people to join, such was the unexpected turnout. They then marched from the council buildings down the town’s Main Street and back again, where speakers congratulated them for their attendance.
Portarlington organisers said that they were “overwhelmed by the massive turnout”. Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Barry Keegan said: “It was very hard to gauge the huge numbers, but we estimate that about 2,000 people came out. The main message they had for this government is that we want our water services brought back under the control of our local authority, we want to see a progressive tax introduced that is fair to everybody in relation to water charges and we are not paying for a service that we are already paying for.”
Local community activist Mary Oakley also spoke to the crowd, which was good- humoured but defiant.
Meanwhile, in Portlaoise, the Laois Says No to Water Charges spokesperson Eileen Buggy told the crowd, which was comprised of families and those of all ages, to “remember this feeling and why we came out here today”.
She said: “Today is the day we made history. Today we made our voices heard. You will be remembered as the generation that stopped the betrayal of your country. Ireland’s water belongs to the Irish people. We already pay for it and we won’t pay for it again.”
Stephen Greene, also from the Laois Says No to Water Charges group, asked: “How many times does this government want us to pay for our water? They have taxed us to the hilt and now they want to impose another tax on us. We are not here just to generate taxes for them. We are not their slaves.
“The privatisation of the Irish people’s water is not right. It should always be in the ownership of the Irish people. We never gave consent to these politicians to allow a company to set up the privatisation of our water.”
