socialist environmental alliance header

Vote for an SEA candidate

Index

Vote for an SEA candidate

Eamonn McCann: Speeches and Statements

Against Water Charges

Speech by Eamonn McCann to a meeting at meeting Bogside [Pilot's Row Community Centre], Derry

Monday 7th February 2005

On Saturday, we will see contingents from Catholic and Protestant areas marching together in the demonstration organised by Derry Trades Council. The Socialist Environmental Alliance has been active across the city along with others in promoting the demonstration and trying to ensure a big turn-out.

New Labour's plans for water charges and privatisation are part of a wide agenda. The intention is to hand our water and sewerage services over to private concerns. Every household will then be forced to pay up in order to provide the private investors with profit. On the NIO's own figures, around 700 jobs will be destroyed in the process.

Meanwhile, we will go on paying for water through the rates. We will be paying twice. This is an outrage.

One of the reasons the mainstream parties havn't involved themselves fully in the campaign is that the issue doesn't fit comfortably into their politics. It has nothing to do with rivalry between "the two communities." This campaign, by its nature, can't be won in either community unless it's won in both.

We have more than a year before the charges come in to make Communities Against the Water Tax (CAWT) a major reality in every area. There are members of different political parties and of none involved in CAWT. The SEA urges everyone who wants to defeat water charges and privatisation---irrespective of their views on other matters---to help build CAWT into a single, united, mass campaign across the North.

The vast majority of people on all sides are opposed to this plan. If we all stand together we will win.

If we do win, it will show in practical terms what can be achieved when we link arms across the sectarian divide to march forward together. It would point the way to more hopeful possibilities generally.





SEA Logo

Software error:

DBI connect('sitestatistics','sitestatistics',...) failed: Access denied for user 'sitestatistics'@'localhost' (using password: YES) at /home/socialiorg/public_html/cgi-bin/sea/DbUpdateLog.pm line 46

For help, please send mail to the webmaster (root@localhost), giving this error message and the time and date of the error.