Buncrana Together and the 2016 Irish General Election

Article by Buncrana Together

The 2016 Irish general election must take place no later than April 8th.

Buncrana Together, a local non-aligned anti Irish Water group, would like to inform the public that we will not canvass for any independent or party candidate prior to and during the run up to the elections. We will leave that to the public to decide. However, we do ask the public to question all candidates and not to vote for any who supports Irish Water, Water Charges and their relevant legislation. These would include Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Labour Party. Our reasons are given below. We will assess all Independent candidates in due course. We invite all candidates to let us know their positions on these issues.

We also like to state that we are part of the Right2Water movement but we are not part of Right2Change. There is an important difference between the two and for anyone wishing to find out please read our web page at buncranatogether.com . In short we believe that Right2Change principles have ostracised some very capable candidates and parties.

We do not require candidates to have signed up to Right2Change principles. Any candidate who genuinely opposes Irish Water and it's privatisation will include these issues in their manifesto and we believe that if they are genuine they will also support our boycott campaign.

Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour Party, Green Party

It is a fact that the process towards Water Charges and Irish Water started in 2000 when Fianna Fail introduced the Planning and Development Act 2000.  It was this Act that stated all new property was to have meter ready boxes. 

In 2007 the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition enacted the Water Services Act, 2007.  This put in placeregulations for a water service authority. 

In 2009, Brian Lenihan mentions the introduction of water charges in a budget statement'The Renewed Programme'.  It contained a commitment to introduce a system of water metering for homes.

Fine Gael in their 2009 manifesto 'Local Strength, National Recovery' said
"A new national Irish Water company will have responsibility for new investment in water infrastructure. As described in Fine Gael’s March 2009 Job Creation Strategy, Rebuilding Ireland, we would set up a new semi State company called ‘Irish Water’ to take over responsibility for investment in new water infrastructure. This will ensure access to secure and safe water supplies which is core to sustainable national economic recovery and the development of key growth centres in Ireland over the next decade."

In November 2010, Fianna Fáil/Green coalition government publishes a memorandum of understanding on the conditions of the €85 billion EU-IMF bailout which says water charges will be introduced in 2012 or 2013, by which time metering is to have been installed across the State.

In 2011 Fine Gael/Labour government confirms a procurement process for the installation of water meters was entered into with the intention of having the necessary infrastructure in place early in 2012. 

April 2012, Phil Hogan confirms "The Government also announced the contract to run the company has been awarded to Bord Gáis Éireann, of which Irish Water will become a subsidiary. Irish Water will gradually become responsible for supplying all public water in the State, taking over the role currently performed by the 34 local authorities. Mr Hogan says charges would be introduced in 2014 and Irish Water would have 90-95 per cent of the meters installed by the end of that year. 

2013, Irish Water was incorporated as a semi-state company under the Water Services Act.

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“If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in.” George Carlin.

However, you can be hoodwinked, of course. Remember a famous Irish politicians recently said on Vincent Brown show, “Isn’t that what you do during an election?” while discussing Labour’s pledge to maintain child benefit rates,.

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Murphy’s Law: The man behind the water charges movement

By Elizabeth Doherty Irelandtoday

Paul Murphy TD

PAUL Murphy is an interesting figure – a polite, well-educated 33-year-old from a middle-class background – who speaks in rapid fire about his passion that the poorer people rise up and challenge austerity and “the establishment” in the forthcoming General Election.

In this, the first part of a series of interviews with the Anti Austerity Alliance TD, we get to grips with Murphy’s persona and his quest for a Left Government.  The left politician genuinely believes this election will be different – that the working class vote will increase and that austerity can decrease with it.

This is the first time I have met Murphy – whom had become a real figure of interest as he awaits a criminal trial for alleged involvement in the false imprisonment of Tanaiste Joan Burton during a water charges protest in Jobstown, Co Dublin in November 2014.

When we meet Murphy in a cafe bar in Dublin, the legal proceedings are a matter that must stay off the table to allow for a fair trial for the TD and the 17 others who will appear before a judge and jury for the alleged charges.

Meeting Murphy for the first time, after seeing him only on TV is an intriguing experience.  When compared to certain political leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Labour, the cardigan-wearing Murphy, may not exude the empowering political and corporate approach of the mainstream politician – but in what he lacks in the suit department, he makes up for in genuine old school passion.

“I’m looking forward to the elections,” Murphy said. “I think it will be good to get out there and talk to people.  There’s a big opportunity there to make a change.

If you look at what happened in Spain, the same thing could happen here in Ireland.  We could also achieve a bit more of a stabilisation in the establishment.  The two party system has been broken.

In December Spain’s political parties faced a struggle to gather a stable government after a historic election that tore asunder the traditional two-party dominance.

For decades the conservative Popular Party (PP), now led by PM Mariano Rajoy, and the Socialists (PSOE) had dominated the Spanish political landscape.

But a climb in support for the anti-austerity Podemos party and the centrist Ciudadanos broke the mould.

Murphy believes that while the Left do not have enough numbers to storm a victory in the General Election – they are increasingly becoming a fly in the ointment of the “establishment,” and that poorer voters are being underestimated.

This election is different to any other that has come before in Ireland, Murphy said.

The former UCD law student says as he sips his coffee in this city centre cafe-bar, full of jeans-wearing student types.

“A huge number of working class people have become politicised.  Communities have been active over water charges and marriage equality.

“A huge number have been registered to vote for the first time. A large amount of commentators aren’t taking that in to account.

“That’s hopefully going to see a good performance from the Left to strengthen the movement against austerity.

The voting predictions aren’t necessarily going to be accurate because we believe more working class people will vote this time.

For those who have been affected by austerity –  Murphy believes – with the latest figures showing 120,700 men are unemployed and 71,000 women out of work in Ireland – and 92,291 mortgages in arrears – 33,000 of these, family homes in arrears for more than two years – ad 17,000 legal proceedings on these before the courts – the Left is becoming more appealing

Power of the people: The Marriage Referendum has politicised people.

But as most people switch on their TVs, radios, and open their newspapers or log on to mainstream news websites, the main parties still being written about are Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail and to a lesser extent Sinn Fein.

Though he feels the Left is winning the fight among poorer and struggling people – and with social media a powerful tool in his artillery – Murphy has 11,500 followers on Twitter and 21,261 on Facebook – he does not have the same power getting his message out in the mainstream media.

But with daily Facebook and Twitter updates on water charges, abortion rights, and austerity issues across the board, it is yet to be seen if the political battle between social media and TV/radio/mainstream news will win to increase the Left’s position.

Murphy believes that the message has already been filtered out – and if his following is anything to go by, only time will tell.

Yesterday Murphy emailed his huge Facebook base of fans – telling them to stand strong on their water charges boycott.

“I’m hearing lots of stories of Irish Water sending text messages, letters and making phone calls to who they call their ‘customers’.

“They are all designed to scare people into paying.  Don’t be scared, they can’t beat the boycott if we stick together.”

The TD then used Facebook to state that “there are no penalties for non-payment until July 2016 – after the general election.

“Event then the penalties are relatively small – €30 or €60.

“Unlike with the property tax, they cannot take water charges from your wages, social welfare or pension.

“They could only start a process to try to take it off people at the end of 2017 and it would involve two court cases.

“The courts have said they would not be able to deal with the number of cases involved.”

He then went on to invite people to help build attendance at January 23 protests to help give confidence to people to stick with the boycott and use the election to put pressure on all the parties on water charges.

But for Murphy – though he feels he and the Left, may be winning the fight for the working class vote in many areas, the TD is pragmatic and he feels the war is far from won across the board.

“If we get 4 per cent of the vote this time, then you’re talking about years rather than decades before the Left could get in Government, but there is no guarantee .

It is not likely to happen this time, but of course we want to be part of a Left government this General Election.

I do feel we are talking about years rather than decades for our position to be strengthened though.

And if we look at how things have changed across Europe, things can happen quickly.

“It’s about rewriting the political landscape. If you look at Syriza, in 2009 they had made major mistakes.

“They were jaded with power and let people down.  They had 4 and a half per cent in the EU elections but then in 2015 they had almost 40 per cent of the vote on two occasions.”

The water charges protest movement has also strengthened the Left.

Murphy’s voice reaches a crescendo as he places his coffee gently down, his eyebrows raised in anticipation.  “The previous models of who will vote aren’t necessarily accurate anymore,” he said.

His voice returns back to rapid fire.  It seems that no matter how fast this man talks, he is throughout switched on, not pausing for thought because apparently these issues are either so close to his heart – or he has rehearsed them very well.

Notably, Murphy seems to talk off the cuff in a more lucid and challenging manner than many politicians witnessed centre stage.

He continues, failing to take a breath:  “For example Tallaght, my constituency, has really low levels of voting.

“One area called Brookfield, there were only 18 per cent of people who voted in the by-election, which is a really low figure.

You won’t see the same level of voting there as the very well off areas, where people are more likely to vote, but I think that because people have been politically involved in a mass movement against water charges and marriage equality, that this movement is bigger than the establishment want to take in to account.

“Fine Gael strategists were over in London recently getting advice from the Tories on how to pitch their election message and one part of that is we (the Left) are the image of chaos but when you look at Britain, you have to take in to account that after the election, the labour leadership contest saw Jeremy Corbyn propelled to victory after thousands of people joined the Labour Party to vote him in.”

A group of Enda Kenny’s team, including Mark Kennelly, chief of staff, Tom Curran, Fine Gael general secretary and Mark Mortell, a key political adviser to the Taoiseach, spent two days in London with senior British Conservative Party representatives in the wake of the shock July General Election victory for David Cameron.

Like the Tories, Fine Gael is centring its political battle for dominance on the long-term economic plan.

And though unemployment figures remain high – a key factor in the Fine Gael campaign to prove their economic prowess – the Left is questioning what type of jobs are actually available to people, with concern that the conditions workers are in are less than desirable.

Recruitment agency, Glassdoor has found that the number working part-time has increased substantially since 2008.

In Ireland, just under one in ten work as so-called “involuntary part-time workers.” – the third highest number in a study of 16 EU countries.

 While Ireland is one of the toughest countries in the EU to actually secure a job – the recruitment company found it the 12th hardest country to find work – out of 16 countries.

Estonia, Norway, Austria, and the UK were found to offer the best prospects for a job seeker – therefore it might be more understandable why the Tories could use jobs figures and the economy so readily to succeed in gaining victory.

For Murphy, the fight up to the election is about beating the spin and drawing the battle lines to continue a campaign against austerity – which Murphy feels is very much still a matter of national importance given the high numbers in long-term debt, the high unemployment figures and massive homelessness statistics.

We, the Left, do have a voice.  If Corbyn’s voice got out against the odds, and our voice gets out, against austerity, which I think it will, the political shape will change.

If Corbyn’s voice can get out: The Left’s voice in Ireland can get out, says Murphy.

“That the left could be involved in a Government in the next election is not the most likely outcome but what’s clear is like with Spain, this will be another step in defining the election landscape.

“This will be the third election since the financial crisis – In 2011 you had the smashing of Fianna Fail, a traditional mainstream establishment party.

“The link was broken with the working class there.  Then in 2014 it was the smashing of Labour in Ireland, when they gained less that 5 per cent in the European Elections and this year I think you’ll see that combined, with Sinn Fein, which has a clear austerity mandate, you’ll see the emergence of the Left.

“You’ll then have a period where people feel more powerful and we are looking for a movement outside the Dail, taking on austerity, linked to and increased by the Left inside the Dail.”

Original article Elizabeth Doherty, Irelandtoday, Jan 12, 2016

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Claim 61% of households paying Irish Water charges rejected

Paul Murphy TD says figures show 928,000 people have paid at least some of their bill

Irish Water says 61 per cent of customers have paid their bill. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times

Claims by Irish Water that 61 per cent of its customers were now paying water charges have been rejected by one of the TDs most prominent in the anti-water charges campaign.

The utility said on Thursday that 61 per cent of customers were now paying water charges at the end of the third billing cycle compared to 55 per cent at the end of the second cycle and 44 per cent at the end of the first billing cycle.

It said a total of 928,000 customers had now paid “part or all of their bills”.

This meant 98,000 customers had paid charges for the first time in the past three months, it said.

Irish Water said total revenue from charges paid to date by domestic customers was €110.8 million.

Revenue received during the third billing cycle was €42.3 million, an increase from €38 million in the second billing cycle and €30.5 million in the first billing cycle.

“Overall payment levels from bill cycle three therefore show both an increasing number of customers now paying water charges, and increased revenue received to help fund the repair and improvement of water services in Ireland, ” Irish Water said in a statement.

‘Major deficits’

It said it would spend €522 million to start to address the “major deficits” in the drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and to repair the most critical infrastructure in need of urgent investment in 2016.

Some 100 treatment plants were upgraded or under construction last year and 319 contracts were signed for new projects to improve water supply and wastewater treatment around the country, it said.

It said 2,200 customer leaks were under its “first fix” scheme, saving 26 million litres of water every day - enough to supply the town of Mullingar.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said the figures released by Irish Water did not confirm that 61 per cent of customers were now paying water charges.

“They simply provide the figure that 928,000 people have paid at least some of their bill. That figure is utterly worthless – because it includes those who paid the first bill and then joined non-payment, and those who paid the first and second bill and then joined non-payment,” Mr Murphy said.

“While Irish Water claims that 98,000 people paid bills for the first time in the third billing period, they don’t tell us how many who had previously paid stopped paying. Therefore, we simply don’t know whether the number who paid the third bill increased or decreased, or what percentage paid.”

Mr Murphy said Irish Water claimed to have received €110.8 million in total revenue.

“In the first billing quarter, they claimed to have a target of €66.8 million. Multiplying that by three (for three quarters) gives a figure of €200.4 million – which is the total that they should have raised in revenue.

“What they have in revenue, €110.8 million is only 55 per cent of their targeted revenue – not 61 per cent.”

Original article Elaine Edwards, Irish Times, Jan 14, 2016
 

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