Dundalk to join insurance battle
A Dundalk woman has taken up the battle against massive car insurance hikes after she was charged nearly €300 a year extra on her policy renewal and after hearing others in Louth had seen their premiums double.
Ruth Donegan, who volunteers at SoSAD in Dundalk, is helping to co-ordinate a national demonstration, to take place on July 2, against the massive car insurance hikes that have been foisted on motorists in the past 12 months.
She said: ‘I saw a post from Damien and Kian on the Ireland Underground site and they wanted to organise a national protest, to converge on Dublin, on July 2.
‘ They were looking for representatives from all the counties and people who were interested in helping. I’m helping in Dundalk and North Louth and we are hoping that there will be a convoy of cars from this area that will travel down to Dublin, linking up with others along the way in Drogheda, South Louth, Meath and North Dublin.
‘We aim to be at Merrion Square in Dublin by noon on Saturday July 2’.
Ruth is one of the thousands of car insurance customers who have been stunned by the massive rise in premiums over the past 12 months. Ruth, who studied Community Youth Work at DkIT, said: ‘In my case, my premium went up by €257 when compared with last year. And I’m in no way the worst off. A woman in Dundalk last week told me how hers had risen by 100%.
‘ To me, this is just another nail in the coffin for Irish people. Taking part in this demonstration shows that we are anti austerity and we are not going to accept people just getting ripped off, by insurance companies, banks or politicians and it’s something that affecting everyone.
‘ Taxi drivers are actually losing their livelihoods because the insurance hikes introduced in the past 12 months are so high that many can no longer afford to pay them.
‘I know that if I haven’t got it to pay the higher costs, other people haven’t got it. In addition, I need to have full insurance for any jobs that I apply for, even applying for apprenticeships. So it’s affecting my ability to get work and I’m not the only one’.
So many drivers are interested in turning up for the rally on July 2 that the rallying point has had to be moved from Kildare Street to nearby Merrion Square.
Organiser Kian Griffin said: ‘ We are expecting 6,000 cars from all parts of the country to turn up’.
Earlier this month, the Dail passed, without a vote, a Fianna Fáil motion calling on the government to tackle the spiralling costs of motor insurance.
The TDs also accepted a Sinn Féin amendment which called for, among other things, the Oireachtas Finance Committee to examine the issue.
The cost of motor insurance has increased by 35.5% over the past 12 months, according to inflation figures from the CSO.
To take part in the July 2 demonstration, get in touch with Ruth Donegan on Facebook and check out www.ireland_underground.com for more information and representatives from around the country.