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| Bin Tax Protest fiasco! national | miscellaneous | news report  Tuesday April 09, 2002 17:49 by Paul Kinsella - Dublin Anti Bin Tax Campaign paulkinsella53 at yahoo dot com 53 Lorcan Grove, Santry, Dublin 9, Eire 087 - 9748511 What happened? Last night's Bin Tax Protest outside City Hall was a total flop! Only 12 people turned up - Myself, 10 members of the Worker's Party and Des Derwin, Trade Unionist and actively involved with the Socialist Alliance in Ireland. That's all! No Workers Solidarity Movement, no Socialist Workers Party, no Socialist Party, no Sinn Fein! Nor was the All Dublin Campaign Against the Bin Tax officially represented last night! I would have thought with this being the last Dublin City Council Meeting before the Election, and that was officially confirmed to me by one of the porters whom I know very well, that the next Dublin City Council Meeting won't take place till Monday 27th May, well after the Election, that an effort would have been made by ALL concerned to have had as good a show as possible of our anger and our dtermination to show both the Politicans and Last night's Bin Tax Protest outside City Hall was a total flop! Only 12 people turned up - Myself, 10 members of the Worker's Party and Des Derwin, Trade Unionist and actively involved with the Socialist Alliance in Ireland. That's all! No Workers Solidarity Movement, no Socialist Workers Party, no Socialist Party, no Sinn Fein! Nor was the All Dublin Campaign Against the Bin Tax officially represented last night! I would have thought with this being the last Dublin City Council Meeting before the Election, and that was officially confirmed to me by one of the porters whom I know very well, that the next Dublin City Council Meeting won't take place till Monday 27th May, well after the Election, that an effort would have been made by ALL concerned to have had as good a show as possible of our anger and our dtermination to show both the Politicans and the Wider Public at large that this will be a big issue in the upcoming Election, and even after the Election it won't go away. The establishment were laughing at us last night. The Councillors were certainly laughing at us last night as they made their way into City Hall. So too were the pigs. They sent up one pig on a motorbike to control us, but he had one look at the tiny crowd and just sped off again, never to be seen again for the rest of the night. So too must the General Public, although there was a lot of support from passing Taxis, Cars and Buses, as well as from people passing by. I suppose the upcoming Election will be used as an 'excuse' for nobody turning from those Parties that do contest Elections such as the SWP, the Socialist Party and Sinn Fein. But this 'excuse', flimsy enough as it is, simply doesn't wash with those organisations that don't contest elections such as the WSM, and the All Dublin Campaign Against the Bin Tax. Finally, I must salute the Worker's Party for being the only Party to have had an Anti Bin Tax Protest outside every City Council Meeting since this Double Tax was first mooted. Even the Porters on duty last night congratulated the Worker's Party from having stuck with their Monthly Protest through thick and thin, and having been there right from the very start, long before anybody else took it up. |
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Comments (9 of 9)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9youre a member of the workers party. how come you dont say that when youre congratulating them?
and maybe people have better things to do with their evenings than come along to a meaningless protest.
do something active. not the same protest each week.
aunty party has a point when speaking out against going to the same protests every week.
protesting should either be escalated or called off, constantly repeating the same thing, week in week out, is a sure way to demoralise activists.
there is no standing still, only growth or regression.
pick targets, escalate the scale of the operation as much as possible beforehand and then throw a party on the street. fresh ideas = fresh activists.
Firstly I should have also mentioned in my original article that some people might've been confused by the fact that the City Council Meetings usually take place on the first Monday of every month, but coz of the Bank Holiday it was deferred by a week, although that should've been a problem coz there've been Bank Holiday Mondays before and that didn't deter a large crowd for participating in the Protest the following week.
Regarding the piece by aunty party, who doesn't give their name, I never said in my article that I was a member of the Worker's Party. As regards me congratulating them, all I'm doing is repeating what other people, including the Porters on duty at City Hall and Passers-By told me. So by your reasoning does that mean that they are also members of the Worker's Party? Also by your reasoning does that mean that Des Derwin is also a member of the Worker's Party!? Even though Des is most certainly not a member of the WP!
You then moan that "and maybe people have better things to do with their evenings than come along to a meaningless protest." I certainly don't consider it to be a meaningless Protest to Protest against Double Taxation of PAYE Workers and of the Poor, whilst at the same time the fat cat, corrupt bastards are getting off scot free! What with their Corporation Tax on business reduced from 37.5% to 12.5%, their Inheritance Taxes also drastically slashed and various other measures that have benefited those corrupt, fat cat bastards. No matter who organises a Demo outside City Hall, whether it be WP or Workers Solidarity Movement, Socialist Party, Sinn Fein, Socialist Workers Party, the All Dublin Campaign Against the Bin Tax or whoever, I will be there unless I'm sick or for family reasons.
Plus you also gave the impression that the same Protest is on each week. These Protests only take place when the Councillors on Dublin City Council have their Full General Members Monthly Meeting.
Finally both yourself and Ocean do make positive suggestions about the need to do something active and different! I do agree with you'se about the need to pick targets, escalate the scale of the operation as much as possible beforehand and then throw a party on the street. fresh ideas = fresh activists. That's why I'm really looking forward to the Reclaim The Streets Street Party next month on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday May 6th. I'm the first to agree that we do sorely need some new ideas and tactics if we are to get more people to support our causes. I did point this out in a number of articles on the IMC Newswire where a number of people, myself included, were very unhappy and very demoralised by a number of very poorly attended Demos in Dublin recently.
paul - read and learn. my point was that you are a member of the workers party but you didn't say it. which is dishonest, as you were talking about how wonderful they are.
don't try to deny it. are you or are you not a member of the workers party? you say "i never said i was a member of the workers party". THAT'S THE ******* POINT! i didn't say that you said you were a wp member, i asked why you won't come clean about your affiliations.
and maybe my "real name" is aunty party. who are you to judge? just because i don't give my address and phone no, doesnt mean that i'm not as real as anyone else here.
Come on folks. Let's not waste time. The bin tax is one of the symptoms of serious privatisation of vital services heading our way. Down here in Cork Indaver the incinerator company are already taking over the job of "waste management" from the local authorities. This is not just an Irish issue. Find out more about the WTO's GATS, Global Agreement on Trade in Services. This is about privatisation of EVERYTHING from education and waste to recreation and policing. We do not have time for infighting. Fine to disagree but make it constructive.
All the best
John
Paul,
as far as I know there was no call from the campaign for a picket last night. So you seem to be complaining that other organisations didn't turn up for the WP one.
This might be reasonable if we thought the bin tax would be defeated because the same dozen people picket every council meeting over a few years. It won't. And it won't be defeated through elections either. It will be defeated through mass non-payment.
Now a picket might help non-payment if it gets positive media coverage or if a lot of local groups build for it (and so it helps give people a sense of solidarity). But picketing every meeting with the same faces won't do this, in fact it's liable to be counter productive.
In terms of the WSM last night one of our members was addressing the Dublin Council of Trade Unions on behalf of the campaign (asking them to make it an issue on the MayDay march). The previous night another had been chairing a meeting in Dublin South (where the charges are now being introduced). They could have spent this time instead standing outside the council meeting but for the reasons outlined I think what they were actually doing was more useful.
Pickets had a role in building the campaign and may have a role in the future. But only if built for properly, wasting time doing one every month to impress the porters is not the way to go.
Sorry if I don't use the posh words that some of ya use, but I'm a young working class and very proud of it lad aged 20 from Tallaght, who left school just after the junior cert! I'm politicially aware, but not in any movement.
Just a few points looking at this argument about these bloody bin taxes and the protests that folks have organised against them. Firstly as ya might have gathered from my title I get the 77A bus ftom Tallaght into and out of town every day going to work. The protests outside the corpo rooms on Dame Street always grab people's attention no matter how small they are. So it doesn't matter if only 4 heads march up and down outside the corpo the people still see it! Secondly as I see it some of ya seem to think there are too many pickets on Dame Street. Well I and most of the people on the bus think they are not enough pickets outside the corpo buildings. Not enough by half! Everyone in Dublin and down the country has to pay these bloody bin charges. People seem to think the sun shines out of Bertie Ahern's a**e. Well they're wrong! If Ahern or the rest of his corrupt mob ever showed their faces in Tallaght they be lynched. On the bins alone they'll get a hammering from those of us around here who bother their a**e to vote next month, never mind all the corruption and them looking after their rich bastards/friends. This bin tax is screwing the ordinary PAYE workers and the poor as well. Some of my mates who know people round the country have told me in many areas the bin service was sold off from the councils and in other areas they stopped collecting the bins full stop! Is this true? What authority have they to do this? On whose authority?
Finally I can't stop noticing that ya bicker over the most minor things! I don't what parties or none that any of ya are involved in. As long as ya fight for the people! As the Rap song says "Fight The Power!" As for the most active parties on the ground here in Tallaght the Shinners win hands down. Also Mick Murphy and the gang from the Socialist Party do a hell of a lotta work on the ground here in Tallaght. Also seeing that some of ya were slagging off the Workers Party, they have also been fairly active here in Tallaght. Not as active as the other 2, but they have some presence in Tallaght. They ran someone here in the last election Eamonn?? Kelly??
One final thing. I notice that a lotta ya are middle class dudes. People round here don't like that! They don't want some middle class dude with a Dublin 4 accent lecturing them about how things should be done or preaching to them! The Shinners, WP and Socialist Party people round here are not like that. They're of the people and with the people. They either live on the large council estates here in Tallaght or in Clondalkin.
Sorry if I don't use the posh words that some of ya use, but I'm a young working class and very proud of it lad aged 20 from Tallaght, who left school just after the junior cert! I'm politicially aware, but not in any movement.
Just a few points looking at this argument about these bloody bin taxes and the protests that folks have organised against them. Firstly as ya might have gathered from my title I get the 77A bus ftom Tallaght into and out of town every day going to work. The protests outside the corpo rooms on Dame Street always grab people's attention no matter how small they are. So it doesn't matter if only 4 heads march up and down outside the corpo the people still see it! Secondly as I see it some of ya seem to think there are too many pickets on Dame Street. Well I and most of the people on the bus think they are not enough pickets outside the corpo buildings. Not enough by half! Everyone in Dublin and down the country has to pay these bloody bin charges. People seem to think the sun shines out of Bertie Ahern's a**e. Well they're wrong! If Ahern or the rest of his corrupt mob ever showed their faces in Tallaght they be lynched. On the bins alone they'll get a hammering from those of us around here who bother their a**e to vote next month, never mind all the corruption and them looking after their rich bastards/friends. This bin tax is screwing the ordinary PAYE workers and the poor as well. Some of my mates who know people round the country have told me in many areas the bin service was sold off from the councils and in other areas they stopped collecting the bins full stop! Is this true? What authority have they to do this? On whose authority?
Finally I can't stop noticing that ya bicker over the most minor things! I don't what parties or none that any of ya are involved in. As long as ya fight for the people! As the Rap song says "Fight The Power!" As for the most active parties on the ground here in Tallaght the Shinners win hands down. Also Mick Murphy and the gang from the Socialist Party do a hell of a lotta work on the ground here in Tallaght. Also seeing that some of ya were slagging off the Workers Party, they have also been fairly active here in Tallaght. Not as active as the other 2, but they have some presence in Tallaght. They ran someone here in the last election Eamonn?? Kelly??
One final thing. I notice that a lotta ya are middle class dudes. People round here don't like that! They don't want some middle class dude with a Dublin 4 accent lecturing them about how things should be done or preaching to them! The Shinners, WP and Socialist Party people round here are not like that. They're of the people and with the people. They either live on the large council estates here in Tallaght or in Clondalkin.
Tip for Paul Kinsella Bud and anyone else. For the next time at City Hall wear Balacalvas or at the very least Tights over your Faces. This is how'll you really get noticed! Now that's what I call a Protest! I'll join you the next time if this happens I promise! The only time I break a promise is if I'm dead which in my occupation is a very real danger! Instead of the Masked Ball we'll have a Masked Demo.