HISTORY WAS created in New Ross at the weekend when the town saw a large group of people participate in a torchlight procession across O’Hanrahan Bridge in protest at the planned introduction of water charges.
The protest was staged on Friday night and from around 6.15 p.m. saw people gather at the JFK Statue on the town’s quay-front.
It was the first protest of its type in the county as all of the other anti-water tax demonstrations have been daytime events
From their the group, headed by the Right 2 Water branch, went across the bridge and back before going through the town centre and out along the quay as far as the Topaz Service Station.
It was the second time in a matter of weeks that an anti-water tax protest has taken place in the town and while the number of people who attended on Friday evening was not as big as that of the previous march the organisers were pleased with the turnout.
In recent weeks people involved with Right2Water in New Ross spoke to The Echo about their concerns and about the reasons why protests such as that held on Friday night will continue.
With the Government backtracking, to a degree, as a result of public pressure the Right 2 Water group Secretary in New Ross, Claire Smith, said the new measures are scandalous.
She outlined the group’s determination to keep fighting the proposals at whatever cost.
“We will fight this to the end,” she said.
The aim of Friday night’s protest was to march in silence across the bridge while the torches were used to represent the protestors’ view that “democracy is dead” in Ireland.
Many of those who marched also observed the opinion to The Echo that the Government is on its last legs and they were holding torches to signify that.
“It’s just not fair what this Government is doing,” said one protestor.
“We thought what he had with Fianna Fail was bad,” she added.
“Fine Gael and Labour should be ashamed of themselves and Labour, in particular, have completely turned their back on where they come from.”
Another protestor said the torchlight march was a way of him expressing his opposition to water charges in a dignified manner.
It’s expected that more protests will take place over the coming weeks with at least one bus load of protestors planning to attend a major national rally in Dublin on December 10.
