We've had enough !

Despite the bad weather, protest organizers Right 2 Water estimate that over 150,000 people came out to protest the water charge scheme to protest a recently enacted government plan to install water meters on homes and charge residents for private water usage and to send a clear message to the Irish government: water is a human right, and the people demand the abolition of domestic water charges.  Over a hundred demonstrations took place across Ireland. 

As part of their bailout deal made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Irish government has attempted to enact reforms to privatize the nation's water system. Under the Water Services Act 2013, the government set up a new semi-state company, Irish Water, which is gradually taking over all water provision services from the Republic's 34 local authorities.

Martin Kennedy said he was taking part in the protests because he wanted to send a message to the government. "Primarily, people are here today about water charges, but really it's about austerity. We've simply had enough," he said.

Anita Stanley, who attended a demonstration in the capital with her mother, also expressed her frustration at the government's policy. "I'm a young widow, like my mum Ann, and we're here just to say we've had enough," she said. "We can't afford to give any more."

Éamonn Campbell, member of the folk bnd The Dubliners, was also among the protesters. "It is not just about water charges, it is about all these taxes that have been forced by the greedy, both in Ireland and Europe, and paid for on the backs of the needy."

Households are due to receive their first water bills in January 2015.

In the face of growing global water crisis, fueled largely by climate change-driven drought effects, efforts to privatize water resources are springing up worldwide.

 Mitch Jones, Director of the Common Resources Program at Food & Water Watch, says that "A market can’t represent the common will of the people, because only those with the money to buy are allowed a voice," Jones writes. "And it can’t express the value of water because the value of a life-giving substance like water is different than its cost. Water is vital for all of us. And, access to water cannot be for sale."

 Residents of Detroit, Michigan—which has faced mass water shut-offs in the face of a similar water privatization effort.
"Detroiters stand in solidarity with the people of Ireland against water charges and the privatization of our public water systems," wrote organizers with the group Detroit Water Brigade. "We are not strangers ourselves to the escalating attacks on the poorest members of society collectively known as 'austerity.'"