Madam, - It is sad to watch the spectacle of intelligent, idealistic people going to jail, clenched fists raised, over the issue of local government charges - sad, because this is a sacrifice for the wrong cause.
Local government rates were abolished because Fianna Fáil was convinced that it would otherwise lose an election. It was an indefensible bribe to the electorate - as someone said at the time, a government should never abolish a legitimate form of income. It was always obvious that central government was not going to finance local government to the point where services were maintained, never mind improved.
To the charge that bin charges are double taxation the reply is that every budget sees the imposition of double and treble taxation without people taking to the streets in protest because at some level we see that such taxation is what funds essential services. (It also funds things which are not essential but that is another question.)
To my mind, if people are looking for ideals for which they are willing to sacrifice their liberty, something that hits them in their pockets is the least noble of causes. Who has taken to the streets with fists raised for the vicious inequities in our health care or the lack of proper education provisions for handicapped children, to name only two? There is not a city in the world without its system of rates or local government charges and many of such cities have a much higher rate of taxation than we have.
I believe that bin charges should be paid and that the energies of those now protesting and refusing to pay should be channelled into causes that concern quality of life or even life itself for many of our poorer citizens. - Is mise,
MÁIRÍN DE BURCA, Upper Fairview Avenue, Dublin 3.