Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that "nothing short of the complete scrapping of water charges will satisfy the people".
“The Government seem to be suggesting that the people who took to the streets, in their droves, last Saturday were marching to hear yet another week of government spin, bribes and threats in relation to water charges," Deputy McDonald said in Dublin this morning.
“The response to the protests, from the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton, has been absolutely mind-boggling."
Deputy McDonald also said there can be "no place" for physical or violent approaches during demonstrations against the charges.
"This is true in the case of excessive force by members of An Garda Síochána or by demonstrators," she said.
“However, the Government much accept that it their policies and their bullying-boy tactics that have created the highly-charged climate surrounding this issue.
“The reality is that only the complete scrapping of water charges will satisfy the people."
Her comments were echoed by a party colleague who described the wave of anti-water charge protests as the largest the state has seen and a 'mass movement'.
Dublin Sinn Fein Councillor Micheal Mac Donncha said that water charges are the last straw in austerity cuts for the Irish people.
The water charges will be one of the topics up for discussion at Sinn Féin's Annual James Connolly School in Dublin today.