Civil summonses issued by Drogheda Borough Council against 28 local residents for non-payment of refuse charges were struck out at the local District Court yesterday. The local authority has agreed to pay the legal costs.
The residents and their supporters said it was "justice for the common person" and claimed the privatisation of the refuse service by the local authority in 2000 had resulted in the most vulnerable in society being penalised.
The summonses were issued against 28 named individuals, from various estates in Drogheda for non-payment of charges. The amounts the council was hoping to secure in court orders varied from €175 to €372.
When the first case was called yesterday, Deirdre Moran, solicitor for the council, said that all matters were settled and could be struck out with no order as to costs.
Chynel Phelan, solicitor for the residents, confirmed this and Judge Flann Brennan struck out all the cases.
Outside the court the residents were delighted and said they had no regrets about taking their stand against paying for their bins to be emptied.
The eldest campaigner was Rose Maher (73) who was accompanied by her daughter and daughter-in-law. They said it was "a big shock for her to find herself before the courts; she is a good citizen all her life and it is a disgrace that she was brought here by the council".
They said Ms Maher was unable to afford the annual fee and had never before had to pay for refuse collection. Another resident, father-of-four Christopher Finglas, said: "I feel brilliant today, it is justice for the common person and I would say to others to fight for justice and don't pay your bin charges."
Cllr Ken O'Heiligh (Ind) who is a member of Drogheda Borough Council and who led opposition to the bin charges, said the 28 residents stood united against the council's forced payment strategy and were rewarded with this victory.
"This is not the first time that the Drogheda Anti-Bin Tax Campaign has won important cases and they all arose out of the borough council using the courts to pressurise residents into a payment that is accepted by decent people as being an unjust and inequitable tax."
The Drogheda Senior Citizens Interest Group had its chairwoman, Maeve Healy, at the court and afterwards she said the outcome would be welcome news to the many elderly residents of the town.
"They are the one group most distressed by the introduction of this local tax. I trust this will see the end of taking pensioners to court and using the threat of imprisoning them to force them to pay."
A spokesman for Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said last night that there was no amnesty for people who did not pay bin charges.
The spokesman said the decisions on court actions against those who did not pay the charges were a matter for the local authorities concerned.
A spokesman for Drogheda Borough Council was unavailable for comment last night.