Thousands protest against Irish water austerity

Tens of thousands of people marched on Ireland's parliament on Wednesday against new water charges which have fired up the largest public opposition to austerity since the country's financial crisis.
Dublin promised to directly charge households for water as part of its EU-IMF bailout, but a mass campaign against the fees has sprung up ahead of the first bills due in 2015.
The scale of the opposition last month forced Prime Minister Enda Kenny's coalition government into an embarrassing climbdown when he slashed the charges.
But crowds estimated to be 100,000 by organisers and 30,000 by police marched through Dublin on Wednesday demanding the charges be abolished outright and chanting "No way, we won't pay".
Loading households with hundreds of euros in extra bills has proved to be a tipping point in the government's austerity drive as it seeks to balance its books, according to Anti-Austerity Alliance lawmaker Paul Murphy.
"The reason why the protests are as large and substantial as they are is because water charges have become the lightning rod for all of the accumulated anger and discontent of six years of austerity," said Murphy, who won a by-election in October after campaigning against the fees.
The Irish economy has revived since exiting an EU-IMF bailout a year ago and is forecast to be the fastest growing in the EU this year, but many people have yet to feel the benefits with unemployment still well above 10 percent.
"The water charges have come about because of the bank bailouts. The regular people you see here didn't raise those debts but we're having to pay for it," said protester Liz Donovan from Cork.
- Scuffles -
 Some scuffles broke out between some protesters and police close to parliament, and one officer was brought to hospital after being hit by a missile and was later discharged. Traffic in the capital was brought to a halt.
Addressing the crowds, opposition leader with the Sinn Fein party Gerry Adams said a decision to cap charges 160 euros ($199) for single households and 260 euros for others was not enough.
"We have put the government on the run. We must stay together to end austerity," Adams said.
The minister responsible for the water charges, Environment Minister Alan Kelly, described the protest as "a significant day" but insisted there would be no further climbdown.
"The package that has been put forward is the best package that is available. The majority of reasonable people have come with us in relation to this," Kelly told reporters.
Support for the coalition parties slumped again in the latest Irish Times poll last week, but Kenny is adamant the government will last its full term of office until 2016.
Kenny's satisfaction rating is at its lowest point since 2002. when he became leader of the centre-right Fine Gael party.
The prime minister was named in many of the placards carried by protesters, and demonstrator Dave Clarke from Dublin told AFP he was there "to protest against the government, austerity, water charges and everything else Enda Kenny stands for."
In a pattern reflecting trends across Europe, support for traditional parties has ebbed as smaller parties advanced in opinion polls, with Sinn Fein riding a surge of support with its opposition to austerity.