Inexorable

Blippers who live elsewhere will probably by surprised to learn that we in Ireland have been used to getting our water supply free. Not any more though. As part of the bailout, the dear old Troika who have been our financial masters (IMF/EU/ECB) instructed the Government to impose a property tax (which began implementation last year) and to instal water meters in every household and impose water charges.

Water charges will be introduced in Oct 2014, and the first bills will be issued in Jan 2015. The first step to all this, of course, is the installation of water meters, which began in August. Work in my area began on a neighbouring road some weeks ago, and has now made its way onto the road I live on. The gang is working on the far side of the road first, and will then work back along my side. I mention tomorrow (the wonders of back-blipping!) that I do a runner to get away from the noise and upset, which has been getting worse with each day that passes.

This is a somewhat historic moment which I just had to record, so I put my camera on sneak mode this evening and grabbed a couple of shots. The guy in the white hard-hat is from Irish Water/Uisce Éireann and seemed to asking me to desist, so I walked over to him for a bit of a chat. I explained that I was just recording the moment, complimented the guys with the digger on the neatness and efficiency of their work on the neighbouring road, and there we were: best of mates. We'll see how long the matey-ness lasts when the bills start to come in!