Dublin: Bin tax campaign escalates and shuts down entire service

Keep up the fight , guys, and please let us know more about what's going on and anything us Brits could do to help.

This was day 35 of the blockades, which seems almost incredible looking back.

A huge number of blockades have been mounted in that time, well into three figures, the vast majority in the Fingal local authority area with solidarity blockades in the other three Dublin local authority areas.

15 people are now in prison. 13 have been jailed in the last week, following Socialist Party member of parliament Joe Higgins and Councillor Clare Daly who are now three weeks into their sentences. Nearly 60 people have been dragged in front of the courts.

This was one of the most significant days so far, with a near total shutdown of the service across the entire city.

Irish indymedia ( www.indymedia.ie ) is the best source for quick updates of what is happening on the ground at any particular time.

For a more detailed background to the struggle, the best sites to take a look at are:

www.socialistparty.net/bintax/index.htm (the Socialist Party anti-bin tax site)
struggle.ws/wsm/bins (the Workers Solidarity Movement anti-bin tax site)

Both have big archives of articles going back years, dealing with the roots of the campaign and the underlying issues. The Socialist Party site is particularly enormous.

Also worth a look are the two official campaign websites

www.nobintax.info (Fingal anti-bin tax campaign)
www.stopthebintax.com (all-Dublin campaign)

After the first two jailings, the Fingal Anti-Bin Tax Campaign set up the "Free Joe and Clare Campaign". This is an appeal for money to help towards the enormous legal and other costs incurred by the campaigns (in at least the first two cases the High Court awarded costs agsinst the protesters, which will probably total nearly £30,000 sterling).

The request which the campaign has issued to supporters outside of Ireland reads:


1. Write a letter of protest at the jailings and get your friends to do so. Send it to the Ministry of Justice (Michael McDowell TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law reform, Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform, 72-76 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. Tel: ++353 1 602 8202; Fax: ++ 353 1 676 7797; Email:  minister@justice.ie). Please send copies of all protest letters to “Free Clare and Joe Campaign”, c/o 21 Elmwood Drive, Swords, Co. Dublin.

2. Make a collection on your estate and amongst friends and send it into the campaign address or deposit your donation into the account. Put a resolution to your trade union branch for a donation towards the punitive legal costs (see below for account details)
Campaign account details:
Free Clare and Joe Campaign, Allied Irish Bank, Dame Street, Dublin 2
Sort Code: 93 - 12 – 09
Account number: 00208087
Swift code: AIB KIE2D
Please make sure you fill your name and address on the lodgement form

I know that a number of trade union bodies in Britain, including London Unison, have passed resolutions of support and made financial contributions. More are desperately needed.

Signatories of the appeal to free Joe and Clare include trade unionists and left wing activists (and members of parliament) from Nigeria to Brazil and Sri Lanka

Since that appeal was first drawn up, a further 13 people have been jailed, mostly from the Finglas (not the same as Fingal) campaign. The Finglas campaign have also established a legal defence fund though I don't have details to hand. Remember if you, or a trade union, community or political organisation you are involved in are sending letters of protest that there are now 15 people in prison, rather than just the original two.