Fine Gael has reneged on holding a referendum on the ownership and management of our water. This has been done with the collusion of Fianna Fáil and some of the independents—despite their pontifications on how water charges were a “red line” in the deal that was done with Fine Gael after the last election.
Once the question of water charges was taken up in the Dáil they did what they always do: they set up a committee to discuss and debate the question so that it would be lost in the swamp of our so-called democracy. Until they got in they would sign or agree to anything; in this case they promised a referendum, but the chances of it being held are slim to never.
The aim always was to muddy the waters, to take the issue out of the headlines and kick it down the road. This demonstrates the lack of democracy in our political system; it also shows the contempt that these parties have for the people’s views.
It puts beyond doubt that there are no fundamental differences between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and that when needed they will always be, as they have always been, propped up and kept in office by the Labour Party, the Green Party, and independents. All these politicians ever do is act in their own interests and in the interests of their controllers in big business and the Golden Circle.
