Why I'm campaigning

One of the campaigners involved in the protest at Cork City Hall on Monday night explains why he has been campaigning against the Household Charge and protesting against the bondholders for the past five months.

Hugh Mellerick, a single parent living in Mallow, brought his son Tim to the fortnightly meeting where Cllr Mick Barry put forward a motion on the controversial Household Charge. Hugh is currently exempt from paying the charge. 

Hugh survives on the lone parent allowance of €217.80 per week, and has to bring his 11 year old son to school in Buttevent every day. 

"I made the decision to be there for Tim on school runs during the day because of the discriminatory nature of the court service towards single fathers. He has to go to Buttevant rather than Mallow so I can't take a full time or part time job. Regular childminders are not something I can afford."

Hugh has just returned from Frankfurt, where he was there with the Ballyhea Bondholder group protesting at the European Central Bank.

"I scrimped and saved to get over there and it really opened my eyes. There is no problem with money on the streets of Frankfurt. We could have that sort of lifestyle but we're just so bloody used to accepting the status quo. I don't know if it is apathy or general national despondency that stops us."

Hugh, originally from Bishopstown, says pensioners living near him cannot afford heating. 

"Myself and Tim are able to put on extra layers that can keep us warm but some of the pensioners near me are so frail that simply is not an option. That's why I'm protesting. It's the ordinary, decent people that are being forced to pay for the banks while we barely get by. What kind of civilisation is that?"

Hugh will continue protesting every Sunday at the Ballyhea Bondholder march and will stay involved with both campaigns for as long as it takes, "fighting social injustice."