10 April 1997 Edition
Taxing issues
There's enough in the issue of water charges to drown the 26-County establishment parties in their own sweaty promises, U-turns and hypocrisy.
Take the Progressive Democrats, for instance. They pledged £23 million of taxpayers' money to keep group water schemes going recently. They're the schemes some people had to set up themselves because the Department of the Environment and local governments wouldn't do it.
Then PD leader Mary Harney announced she favoured charging people extra for their water anyway. She wants to introduce domestic water metering which would cost £200 million of taxpayer's money to install.
Labour's Environment Minister Brendan Howlin protested at this, but he's spending £30 million of guess who's money to plug the leaks already there in the water supply system. Now why is there so much leakage there?
There's a huge, long-running water storage and water supply problem in the state which has never been tackled by the very politicians who now argue over whether people should have to pay twice for that water. Aside from the droughts and the breakdowns in supply, the poor quality of the water itself is another problem which has never been taken on by the politicians.
The drip-drip towards double taxation was turned on years ago in the state. And it wasn't any of the main contenders for government who resisted service charges; it was tens of thousands of residents who refused to pay again what they were already paying for already.
Political parties in Leinster House are running away with themselves. It's time they were taught a sharp lesson by an normally patient electorate.
In 14 constituencies in the 26 Counties, that lesson can be taught to the other parties through electoral recognition of Sinn Féin's real alternative, on water and on everything else.
When father of ten John Slane was killed by loyalists on 14 March there was virtual silence in the British media. The Guardian and Independent, among others, did not rate it a mention. It was as if it had never happened.
When a horse race was postponed because of IRA bomb warnings, the same media had unlimited space for the story. The Mirror gave it ten pages. The Guardian said it was as if the IRA had defecated in Britain's living room.
It is not difficult to have utter contempt for the British media.
Take the Progressive Democrats, for instance. They pledged £23 million of taxpayers' money to keep group water schemes going recently. They're the schemes some people had to set up themselves because the Department of the Environment and local governments wouldn't do it.
Then PD leader Mary Harney announced she favoured charging people extra for their water anyway. She wants to introduce domestic water metering which would cost £200 million of taxpayer's money to install.
Labour's Environment Minister Brendan Howlin protested at this, but he's spending £30 million of guess who's money to plug the leaks already there in the water supply system. Now why is there so much leakage there?
There's a huge, long-running water storage and water supply problem in the state which has never been tackled by the very politicians who now argue over whether people should have to pay twice for that water. Aside from the droughts and the breakdowns in supply, the poor quality of the water itself is another problem which has never been taken on by the politicians.
The drip-drip towards double taxation was turned on years ago in the state. And it wasn't any of the main contenders for government who resisted service charges; it was tens of thousands of residents who refused to pay again what they were already paying for already.
Political parties in Leinster House are running away with themselves. It's time they were taught a sharp lesson by an normally patient electorate.
In 14 constituencies in the 26 Counties, that lesson can be taught to the other parties through electoral recognition of Sinn Féin's real alternative, on water and on everything else.
News values
When father of ten John Slane was killed by loyalists on 14 March there was virtual silence in the British media. The Guardian and Independent, among others, did not rate it a mention. It was as if it had never happened.
When a horse race was postponed because of IRA bomb warnings, the same media had unlimited space for the story. The Mirror gave it ten pages. The Guardian said it was as if the IRA had defecated in Britain's living room.
It is not difficult to have utter contempt for the British media.