FF keeps the rural vote on tap as water charge anger streams out

AS THE temperature at the Oireachtas Water Committee increased sharply this week, so too did the number of emails and phone calls made to the offices of the 20 TDs and senators involved.

Much of the correspondence came from concerned, law-abiding Irish Water customers who wished to make absolutely clear their desire for refunds.

Others took a different stance entirely.

These voters said they are perfectly content with having paid their bills – but that they want to see their defiant neighbours pursued, even through the courts.

There was correspondence too from city dwellers who vowed to continue to stage their regular protests against domestic water meters being installed outside their homes.

This was taking place while they were out at the shops or on the school run, some would say.

But take a step outside of the walls of Dublin, or Cork, or Limerick city and the mood music from voters is of a different kind entirely.

These are the families who bore their own well, like their next-door neighbour who lives 10km down the road. These are the people whose homes are situated along rural laneways.

They have clubbed together with nine or 10 other households to set up a group water scheme.

When a leak develops, these people – in many cases – carry out the repairs themselves.

There are an estimated 190,000 connections on group water schemes across the country, on top of the 170,000 private wells.

If anything, these are the people who should feel most aggrieved at how this Government, and its predecessor, have handled the whole water charges fiasco.

These rural families didn’t take to the streets in huge numbers carrying placards when their subsidy was cut.

They didn’t physically block workers from simply doing their job. They got on with things, as people do in rural Ireland, but waited in the long grass for Fine Gael and Labour until the general election arrived.

Having secured significant support from rural voters at that election, Fianna Fáil made the issue of group water schemes a priority in the negotiations underpinning the Confidence and Supply Agreement.

“The Government will suspend the water conservation grant, while restoring Exchequer funding to group water schemes to pre-2015 levels, implement multi-annual funding for the rural water programmes and revise grant levels to new group water schemes and for

They have paid for their water for years. Why should they be treated differently?

the refurbishment of private wells,” the document states.

Now, as it appears that water charges could be scrapped entirely, these voters are making their voices known to their TDs.

Fianna Fáil in particular is conscious of avoiding the mistakes made by Fine Gael and is not isolating rural voters.

“What these people are saying to me is that they want fairness,” said committee member and Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford Mary Butler.

“Our slogan is an ‘Ireland for All’ – that means looking after both urban and rural voters in relation to water charges.”

Anne Rabbitte, a TD whose constituency of Galway East has many rural and urban areas, said rural voters “need to know they are being looked after” by politicians.

“This is why we pushed so hard to restore these schemes to their former level,” Ms Rabbitte said.

“These are people who have been paying for their water for years – why should they be treated differently?”