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Ireland angered by government charge for tap water

A demonstration in Dublin is scheduled for Saturday.

By Ed Adamczyk

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A government charge for tap water in Ireland has led to demonstrations and victory in parliamentary elections by candidates opposing the measure.

The introduction of payment for water, which had been free, is part of an austerity program demanded by creditors, including the European Union the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, after a 2010 financial bailout of the country. It has also led to the creation of Irish Water, a state-sponsored agency to maintain the Ireland's supply, including its leaking pipes, obsolete filtration plants and neglected infrastructure.

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The water bills, none of which have yet been sent to Irish residents, will range from 176 euros ($220) to 500 euros ($626), depending on the size of households. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Dublin, earlier in October, to voice their anger over the plan, with another march scheduled for Saturday.

Two anti-austerity candidates won elections to the Irish Parliament in October, campaigning against the water charge.

Residents of Ireland see not only anger but irony in the situation. They note they reside on an island surrounded by water, with above-ground reservoirs, yet they are forced to pay for water that, in many places, is inadequately purified.

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Galway resident Dette McLaughlin, 56, told the The Guardian:

"It adds to the anger that for nearly a year we were unable to drink our water from the tap because of the cryptosporidium bug in the supply. So many people in Galway have no confidence in the water supply still and instead prefer to buy bottled water. So it annoys people even more now that the government is asking us to pay for it. I am not going to pay. I am not even getting involved in the argument over the costing of the water charges. Even if it was only a fiver a year it is still wrong on a point of principle. I have never seen so many people out on the streets, people you would never see at any protests over other cuts or charges."

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