Michaela Whitton

September 9, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Ireland’s mass movement against water charges saw a shocking development last week when media reports revealed that the Irish Police have been conducting surveillance on a number of protesters.

Tap water in the Republic of Ireland was free until 2014, and the introduction of domestic water charges as part of austerity measures has proved to be seriously unpopular. The rapidly growing protest movement against the state-sponsored company in charge of water services, Irish Water, has gathered momentum since last October.

The sinister development in the movement of major public opposition to Ireland’s water charges uncovered that a number of Garda have been gathering intelligence on activists. Under the codename Operation Mizen, the shocking infringement on civil liberties has included the tracking of protesters’ whereabouts and the monitoring of their online activity to compile profiles on them.

Keeping the issue in the public eye, the Right2water campaign led by activists, community groups, political parties, trade unions, and citizens has tirelessly demanded the abolition of the water charges. Protesters claim the charges discriminate and are another regressive way of taxing people.

The controversial measures have resulted in hundreds of thousands of people rallying to demand an end to the government’s bullying tactics while mass demonstrations have also embraced some of Ireland’s other problematic issues, including housing, the right to education, and access to healthcare.

Since the details of targeting protesters were released, outraged members of Parliament (TDs) have described the tactics as “quite shocking,” claiming the incident raises fundamental questions about the interference of the Garda in the political life of the state.

Anti-austerity TDs have since written to the Minister for Justice and demanded details on the full extent of the operation. Calling for an immediate public statement to be made, the outraged letter addresses a number of concerns about the extent of the surveillance used during Operation Mizen:

“Were you aware that this Garda Unit was in operation? Were you consulted about its foundation or operation? Did you have any report made to you or to your Department by the Garda Commissioner or any authorities in the Garda on the operation of this Unit?”

The letter also demands to know how many individuals were the subject of surveillance and if public representatives were targeted. It asks if the telephones or other communications of anti-water charges activists were intercepted and if so, if public representatives were also subjected to the interceptions. It goes on to request information on what other forms of surveillance were used during Operation Mizen.

As the Department of Justice confirms receipt of the letter, claiming it “will be responded to in due course,” it’s likely the Irish won’t be holding their collective breath.

As with most mass movements that tend to be more about the type of society people want to live in than just the presenting issue, Ireland just added political policing and invasion of civil liberties to the list of things to rally against.

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