My heart wants me to pay my water bill but my head won’t allow me to

Last Monday I attended the Claire Byrne Live debate on Irish Water in RTÉ. Even though I have registered with Irish Water I have not paid any bills. However I am not a committed non-payer. 

I was seated with the-non payers, something I felt uncomfortable about as they had to be reminded by Claire Byrne a number of times during the programme not to heckle Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell. Leaving aside RTÉ’s inability to cater for people like me I would like to highlight a cohort of people who will decide the future of Irish Water.

There are committed payers just as there are committed non payers. It’s unlikely these people will change their minds. However there are people like me who would like to pay their bills but are disillusioned with Irish Water and the government’s involvement in it. These people are the equivalent of undecided voters in an election campaign, the people that parties direct their campaign resources towards winning over. It’s undecided voters who have the real power.