Dublin city centre was brought to a standstill on Saturday when tens of thousands of protesters, perhaps as many as 100,000, marched to demand that water charges be scrapped.

The Right2Water Campaign, which organised the mass protest, is backed by trade unions, anti-austerity groups and left-wing opposition parties.

The turnout for the march was far higher than expected, with the police calling the turnout 30,000, the Establishment Irish Times plumping for 50,000 and the organisers estimating the highest figure.

Whatever the exact numbers the protest represented a nationwide mobilisation, with many of those thronging Dublin having already taken part in events in their own areas.

Ireland’s citizens currently pay for water services through general taxation, but the neoliberal coalition has decided to charge households several hundred euros a year for the service from the start of 2015.

The Right2Water Campaign wants water bills to be abolished.

Some platform speakers at a rally outside the historic Dublin GPO building stressed the need for non-payment, but the Right2Water Campaign position is that the issue remains live and that mass demonstrations can still win the cause of abolition.

Banners demanding that the government abandon water charges were seen from communities across the country.

Some protesters held placards reading: “Water for the people, not for profit” and “Ministry of Thirst.”

The protesters also sang: “Enda in your ivory tower, this is called people power,” in a ref

Erence to Prime Minister Enda Kenny, and “From the rivers to the sea, Irish water will be free.”

The huge turnout in Dublin coincided with the announcement of two surprise results in parliamentary by-elections.

Independent Michael Fitzmaurice won the Roscommon-South Leitrim seat on the seventh count, overhauling pre-poll Fianna Fail favourite Ivan Connaughton, who had topped the poll on first preferences.

A similar fate befell Sinn Fein candidate Cathal King in Dublin South West, where transfers handed victory to Paul Murphy of the Socialist Party-led Anti-Austerity Alliance on the eighth count.

Former MEP Mr Murphy had argued that Sinn Fein could not be trusted to abolish water charges if it entered government.

He said that his victory signalled opposition to water charges and government austerity policies.