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Masterson Calls on People to Hold Firm as Deadline Approaches

27/03/12

The deadline of March 31 to pay the immoral ‘household charge’ is fast approaching. Representative for éirígí Tallaght Scott Masterson has called on locals to hold their nerve and stay with the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT).

Masterson said, “In the face of huge pressure from those in power it is clear that most households in Tallaght and around the state eligible to register for this unjust charge have not yet done so. With only a week until the deadline it is deeply encouraging to see that the vast majority have still not registered.

“Going into this final week I would urge households who may be having doubts or second thoughts to take a morale boost from these figures. Although we expect a late surge in the numbers registering, it is clear that the amount who will still be in active boycott of the tax by the end of next week will be huge.”

Masterson continued, “éirígí activists have been working on the ground in Tallaght with the CAHWT to ensure as many households as possible do not register. For the last number of months estates in Fettercairn and Killinarden have been leafleted numerous times to this end. While éirígí posters, stickers and stencils have been erected all over Tallaght as just one means of getting the message of ‘don’t register, don’t pay’ out in the area. Successful meetings have been organised by the CAHWT in West Tallaght and meetings elsewhere were attended by our members and activists.

“To date the campaign against this immoral tax has already been a success. The mere fact of hundreds of thousands of people being mobilised against the Dublin Government and their masters the EU/IMF is a victory in itself. It is the first small step in a long fight back against austerity.”

He concluded, “The task now is to bring those people, who have had the courage to stand up to this immoral charge, together more permanently. We need to build an anti-austerity movement north and south that can challenge neo-liberalism in every corner of the country. Any such movement will begin at a grass roots level. And this is what our work in Tallaght and around the Twenty-Six counties as part of this campaign over the last number of months has hopefully helped in beginning.”