ELDERLY PEOPLE are now the “most militant” section of society, according to a leading member of the campaign urging people not to pay the €100 household charge.
Dublin TD Joan Collins, of the People Before Profit Alliance, was yesterday joined by fellow small party and Independent deputies who took to the streets of the capital to spread information about their campaign.
“We are campaigning door to door in communities and getting great feedback particularly from older people who’ve worked damn hard all their lives and are very annoyed about the household charge,” Ms Collins said.
“They are probably the most militant section that we’ve met. The grey-haired brigade is really committed to not paying it. A lot of them just can’t pay it. We are trying to make sure the communities are behind them.”
Also distributing leaflets to shoppers and passersby outside the St Stephen’s Green shopping centre in Dublin yesterday were Ms Collins’s fellow People Before Profit Alliance TD Richard Boyd-Barrett and Socialist deputies Clare Daly and Joe Higgins.
Mr Higgins said the group’s aim was to achieve “mass non-registration and non-payment” by St Patrick’s Day.
“If a mass of householders stand together in solidarity and demand a change of policy then the Government will not be able to persecute people,” Mr Higgins said.
Wexford TD Mick Wallace said he was getting a “pretty good” response from people on the streets.
He argued that if a quarter of the 1.6 million homeowners eligible to pay the charge refused to do so the campaign could be deemed a success.
“If 400,000 don’t pay that’s a massive problem for the Government. I honestly think the people are really angry and won’t pay. The Government is not going to drag people through the courts. The courts are full already,” Mr Wallace said.
He also said he had been surprised to see large turnouts at meetings around the country, saying 320 people had attended a gathering he had attended recently in Wexford and 480 in Carlow.
“I can’t remember public meetings of that size before,” he added.
Other TDs supporting the campaign are Independents Thomas Pringle, Luke Flanagan and John Halligan, as well as Séamus Healy of the Unemployed Action Group in Tipperary South.
Yesterday’s event was organised by Ruth Coppinger, spokeswoman for the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes.
The campaign is calling for a “national day of protests against household taxes” on Saturday, February 25th.
The Department of the Environment has confirmed that 97,000 households have registered for the charge. The deadline for registration is March 31st.
The Government will use the revenue it raises from the charge to support the provision of local services, including public parks, maintenance and cleaning of streets, and fire and emergency services, among other uses.
