The Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Campaign is to stage a public protest outside Donegal County Council Offices in Lifford next week.
The protest next Wednesday, December 21, is “to voice their anger at the proposed household charge and septic tank inspection charge to be implemented by the government.”
The campaign group say the idea of the protest is to make the public and all the local politicians aware that there is strong and fierce opposition to the extra taxes and that they are going to fight tooth and nail with local authorities if they are going to implement the charges.
The campaign against these taxes is based on the premise that all the money collected by the government will go to pay off bank debts. The meeting is being held on the day when county councillors are being asked to vote on their 2012 budget. The campaign says that this an opportunity for county councillors from all parties to vote against their proposed budget and send the message to the government that people simply cannot afford to pay these charges.
A campaign spokesperson Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig said “This is a chance for local representatives to stand with ordinary people and say that they wont ask people to pay unfair stealth taxes, this is their chance to break party lines and really represent their own people.
“We are expecting a good turnout at this protest because the campaign is getting a great response throughout the county. People are angry and the feeling at the meetings is that people are simply not going to pay, whatever the consequences. There are local action groups set up all over the county and indeed the country, with more areas setting up every week. We will be very vocal on the day.
“We are urging people to get out and attend the protest. Bring as many people you can with you on the day. We would also like to invite any groups or campaigns at odds with the government to come and stand with us on the picket line.”
Because Can’t Pay Won’t Pay is a non-political party organisation, they are asking people attending the protest not to bring party banners or placards, but to design their own and show the councillors that ordinary people are not going to quietly acquiesce to the needs of “corrupt bankers and money lenders.”