This article is from page 16 of the 2014-10-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
MORE than 100 local people are involved in an organised, round-theclock, blockades to prevent water meters from being installed in part of East and South Clare.
So called ‘meter-watch’ groups have been established in six Clare towns and villages including Shan non, Newmarket on Fergus, Killaloe, Westbury, Meelick and Parteen, to prevent Irish Water and sub-contrac tors from installing meters outside people’s homes. The groups, which are all operat ed on a voluntary basis, schedule a number of volunteers to be present in each area from 7am to 6pm each day, to workers from installing meters. According to Meter Watch member David Houlihan, the six Clare groups are becoming more organised and even starting to coordinate and organise their activities together.
“There has been big opposition, people have come out and told them [the Irish Water subcontractors] that they don’t want the meters and when people come back from work they have installed them anyway. That’s when people started getting annoyed. That’s when we started gathering together and blocking them from installing the meters,” said Parteen man David Houlihan. “People have started organising group to be there all time to stop them from installing the meters. Someone has to be present all the time. They keep coming back trying to put them in and someone has to be physically there to stop them each time. We have group set up in each area and they have the numbers of other residents who will come out and help. We have numbers for peo ple in other areas as well, who can come over and show support if need ed. There are a lot of people involved now, but we need it, people need to go to work and see to their children. According to Mr Houlihan, meter watch will continue until the Gov ernment rows back on the introduc tion of water charges. “We are all paying charges and this is a tax too far. People just haven’t got it. People are outraged with this,” he said. “All the groups help each other out now. It has become a massive amount of organisation – phoning people and making sure that someone will be there all the time. The contractors started coming earlier and they don’t give out notices anymore, so it’s be come a cat and mouse game between us.”