Joe promises uproar over tax - and he's bin there, done that

DÁIL SKETCH:A VERY unsettling picture appeared a number of years ago in the newspapers. It showed Deputy Joe Higgins being carted away by riot police during a protest over bin charges outside Leinster House.

As they tried to remove the socialist firebrand from the scene, a garda held on to one of Joe’s legs and his colleague clung bravely to the other. Unfortunately, the officers didn’t have an agreed exit strategy.

So while one man headed in the direction of Trinity College with Higgins’s cherished left wing, the other struck out towards the Shelbourne Hotel with the limb from the right.

To this day, we marvel at the miracle that Joe’s wishbone didn’t snap and leave him with a permanent limp.

That eye-watering photo put some people off chicken for life.

During those heady protest days of 2003, a number of bin-tax protesters were jailed – among them Deputy Higgins and the then councillor Clare Daly, who now sits in the Dáil alongside her Socialist Party comrade.

Yesterday, they relived their finest hour as the prospect of a return to the barricades was raised during Leaders’ Questions.

The old battle has reopened on another front.

Deputy Higgins rose and fired the opening salvo: “This week, the Taoiseach’s Government is declaring a new economic war on the people with its new household tax. It will be a new burden on ordinary people in furtherance of the Government’s ruinous austerity policy of bailing out banks and speculators.” And up with this, he will not put.

It is “a burden too far”. A massive campaign to boycott this charge is already beginning, announced Joe. “The Taoiseach’s disgraceful campaign of intimidation of threatening householders with fines of €2,500 for non-registration will be resisted. Does the Taoiseach know that the attitude among people is that if one is brought to court, then we will all go?”

Richard Boyd Barrett of the United Left Alliance looked like he was ready to lead the march there and then.

Enda Kenny is setting himself up as “the new Captain Boycott of austerity, imposing the will of the EU-IMF and bleeding our people”, thundered Higgins.

The Taoiseach wasn’t going to take that jibe lying down, but his attempt at quick repartee wasn’t one of his finest. “I suppose I should address Deputy Higgins as Captain Kirk of the Enterprise,” shot back Enda, to the complete bafflement of everyone.

The charge, he said, will only amount to €2 a week and would defray the cost of fire services, street cleaning, libraries and the like, not to mention water. The nation’s pipes are in a terrible state. (So were Enda’s yesterday morning. He sounded very chesty. The man needs a good rest.)

“There’s more leaks from the Cabinet than from the water pipes,” said Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher.

Joe, aided and abetted by a feisty chorus of the United Left Alliance, dismissed the Taoiseach’s argument. A cut here, a cut there – “everything adds up”. Enda recalled the bin protests and Joe’s leading role in it. “I remember you being dragged away behind a truck.” Joe’s elastic legs must have been too much for the riot police.

Anyway, continued the Taoiseach, is it not worth €2 a week for Deputy Higgins to have running water every morning so he can shave? He might have been better off directing that question at Mick Wallace of the blond stubble. We’d have given him the money ourselves.

There was a giddy sense of unrest in the air.

As the bickering continued, the much put-upon Ceann Comhairle sighed. “There must have been an awful lot of Christmas parties last night.” The Fianna Fáil leader complained about the Coalition trying to guillotine through Bills without proper debate. This was particularly bad on Fridays.

“That’s because you can’t hold up your end, that’s the reason. The lads have gone home,” harrumphed Pat Rabbitte.

Boyd Barrett perked up at the thought of a few public beheadings. The Government should at least allow for proper debate, he argued.

“Such is the severity of the austerity that is now being meted out to people and being rushed through with guillotines, pretty soon the anger of people in this country will rise up to the point that they will want another type of guillotine to deal with the people who are imposing this austerity.” But the incipient revolution was much closer to home yesterday.

As the Taoiseach repeated his threat to allow the Dáil sit into next week if deputies continued protesting, we feared he might make good on his promise. Enda may look shattered after the long year he’s had, but he has called the TDs’ bluff once this session and cancelled a scheduled break.

But if it were to happen this week, he would have a real protest on his hands. Deputies quietly backed down yesterday.

Guillotines or not, it’s been an exhausting 12 months. Everybody in Leinster House was delighted when Enda decided to let them eat Christmas cake.

With business winding down, a number of Labour politicians took themselves off to Grafton Street for a carol-singing session.

It was organised by Senator Mary Moran, who has a master’s degree in music. Colleagues and staff, including deputies Michael McCarthy and Arthur Spring, Senators Ivana Bacik, Susan O’Keeffe, Jimmy Harte, Marie Moloney, John Kelly and Aideen Hayden in tow, set up halfway down the street.

Mary arrived with her electronic piano, generator and amplifier and accompanied them as they sang a very impressive repertoire of carols. Perhaps wisely, they didn’t advertise the fact they are politicians.

"Everyone was in great form, although they were petrified before the performance. We didn't get one complaint from the public. Everyone was brilliant to us and we had to do several encores of The Twelve Days of Christmas," said Moran.

The TDs and Senators practised for weeks in the run-up to their singing debut. They rehearsed on Tuesday mornings and Thursday nights.

In the end, their efforts were rewarded with “lots of notes” and they made “a significant amount” of money for the St Vincent de Paul.

Well done all.