been reading up about this on various other sites, looks like a cracking campaign.
in a nutshell, the irish government (via the councils) are trying to impose flat rate taxes on households for their waste collection. actually it's not quite flat rate as the more rubbish you chuck out, the more they charge you - ie a total break from the basic, age old, principal of paying via yer income tax in a progressive manner. of course the council uses the excuse of being 'green' to justify this attack on basic living standards, but it's a complte load of ol tosh, as household waste accounts for a mere 2% of what is chucked in landfills, and the big businesses which create most of the waste aren't being asked to pay for it! it is also a method of providing a steady income stream so that the bin collection service can be privatised in the near future.
so the response has been an anti-bin tax campaign, with people refusing to pay any charges. after a couple of months the council instructed the binworkers not to collect ANY rubbish from those houses that hadn't paid. and so campaigners have set up blockades at the depots so that NO rubbish at all is collected (whilst trying to work with the binmen themselves to ensure they remain onside, and to offer them longer term support in their campaign against privatisation). So far it has been fairly succesful.
But Dublin corp is trying to crack down, of course, and so far 15 people have been jailed for refusing to say they wouldn't go on another blockade - including an irish TD (MP) & a councillor - both members of the Socialist Party. The support for them is massive, especially when completely corrupt officials are investigated but never charged, let alone jailed.
This morning one bin lorry ran over a protestor - breaking his leg - and the driver wasn't even a binman, but someone from the Housoing Office! he continued to drive the wagon away, and wasn't stopped by the Gardai.
All in all, a cracking campaign - more details at http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm/bins.html and http://www.stopthebintax.com/ and http://www.nobintax.info/news/news.nv?front and an indymedia update is available about todays goings on at http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=61632&%20PHPSESSID=91830243cb02d21aae2c<br%20/>e89c1a3549c9
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