THE 'Can't Pay, Won't
Pay' campaign continues its county-wide series of
public meetings against the household, septic tank
and water charges with a meeting next week in
Buncrana.
'Can't Pay, Won't Pay' steering committee member,
Kathy Doherty, said:
“We welcome the findings of the Red C opinion poll
which confirms that widespread non-payment of the
household charge is now a reality.
"Despite all the official threats of penalties and
massive fines, 26% of those who were aware the
charge applied to them, did not intend to pay. In
Donegal this would mean that more than 15,000
households would not pay. Across the State that
would mean 400,000 would defy the Government."
The group said a boycott on this scale "effectively
means the household charge is dead in the water".
"The authorities will find it an impossible task to
track down so many people and attempt to take action
against us. If they attempt to take any action we
will mobilise our campaign to defend those they
target," said Ms Doherty.
"No one believes the Government spin that the charge
will pay for local services. People realise that we
are being made to pay for the bank bailout. In
January the Government will pay out €1.2 billion to
Anglo Irish bondholders. That's more than seven
years worth of household tax for the entire country
gone in a single month. This is a monstrous rip-off
we should not accept."
Ms Doherty added: "We intend to maintain our
campaign to build an even higher non-payment level
than is seen in the poll. We want to convince those
who are thinking of paying that they will not be
alone if they decide not to pay. There are thousands
of us in Donegal alone who will not pay come what
may. We are now more confident than ever that we
will defeat this unjust tax.”
The next meeting will take place in the Drift Inn
(upstairs) on Thursday, January 26 at 8pm. The
meeting will be addressed by members of the campaign
steering committee. |
