Water is Life: From Standing Rock to Jobstown

Standing Rock isn’t the only place to have seen a mass struggle around water in recent years. Over in Ireland, attempts to commodify water by introducing a water charge led to the emergence of a huge movement starting in 2014, one which was heavily based in militant community direct action. Memorably, the “water meter fairies”, who made unwanted water meters magically disappear, were described by one politician as “a subversive organisation seeking to willingly break the law and destroy public property… attacking the very fabric of the State.” See here for more background on the water charge movement from an anarchist perspective.

On November 15th, 2014, the Tánaiste (second-in charge of the state – roughly equivalent to a Vice-President) got a taste of just how unpopular the water charges were when a huge community protest surrounded her car and held it up for two and a half hours in the Jobstown area. The water charges have now been suspended, but the state doesn’t take this kind of humiliation lightly: just as in Standing Rock, it’s now looking to get revenge on individuals who were part of the movement. One minor, who was 15 years old at the time of the original protest, has already been convicted of “false imprisonment,” and another 18 adults are facing trials starting in April. If the jury finds that holding a car up does indeed count as “false imprisonment”, then they could be facing life sentences of very real imprisonment as punishment for this two and a half hour delay – the sick logic of the state at its finest.

This is an invitation to anyone looking to take part in the upcoming week of solidarity against repression from the 1th-7th of April. At the very least, it’s to suggest that Irish embassies and any other symbols of the Irish state should be considered as suitable targets (although really, it’s probably safe to assume that any embassy probably represents a state that’s currently up to some repressive bullshit or other), but beyond that, more broadly, it’s to ask: what connections can we draw between the Grand Jury currently gearing up against Standing Rock’s water protectors and the upcoming trials against Irish water protesters?

The recent Bobby Sands Reading Group float in the Tucson St Patrick’s Day parade was one interesting experiment in how the attachment that many Americans have to a vague idea of “Irishness” could be used in rebellious, anti-colonial ways; it’s a long while to the next St Patrick’s Day, but there must be other ways to explore these themes and ideas.

Mni wiconi! Shove your water meters up your arse!

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