2017 may start with a watery bang, as whirrings deep within the Irish Water machinery seem to indicate feeble life signs.
An ‘expert’ commission setup to look into the issue of water charges in Ireland is expected to deliver its findings next week. Among these dreaded outcomes, there may be a suggestion of a ‘modest’ charge.
But Independent TD Paul Murphy has rightly warned the Government of a renewed onslaught of protests if they even sneeze the words ‘water charges’ again.
Mr. Murphy said “Whatever the Expert Water Commission says will not change the reality of this political debate,”
“A majority of TDs elected to the Dáil were elected on a platform which included opposition to water charges and Irish Water.”
And he even took a well-aimed snipe at the turncoat army that is Fianna Fail. He said “That (whether the party supports a charge or not) will be determined not by any principles of Fianna Fáil, which are non-existent, but by how much political pressure they feel,”
“Fianna Fáil and the government should know – if any attempt is made to re-introduce water charges, they will be met by a renewed campaign of protest and non-payment and will pay an enormous political price.”
Mr. Murphy rightly pointed out that if either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail move to re-introduce charges, they will seal their fate as a political force.