ONE OF THE founders of the Home Sweet Home campaign – who is no longer granted access to Apollo House – has multiple previous convictions.
Yesterday TheJournal.ie learned that Quentin Sheridan (40) - who founded the original Home Sweet Home Facebook group in October – is no longer granted access to Apollo House following an incident that took place early on the morning of 29 December.
It is believed that an altercation took place between Sheridan and other volunteers within Apollo House at about 3am that morning. Sheridan left following this and he has not been back since.
Sheridan has been involved in kidnapping, aggravated burglary, assault and armed robbery in the past.
He was released on parole from Mountjoy for Christmas 2013 when nearing the end of a seven-year sentence, but failed to return in time. He since returned and finished the remainder of his sentence.
A spokesperson for Apollo House occupiers confirmed that Sheridan left Apollo House following an argument.
He has since said that he is no longer on the list of people allowed into the building.
The Apollo House spokesperson was unable to confirm Sheridan’s status within the building.
The Home Sweet Home campaign had far outgrown Sheridan’s initial Facebook group by the time the occupation of Apollo House took place on the night of 15 December.
However, he was put forward for a number of media interviews at the time, and was referred to as one of the visionaries of the campaign.
When the group was served with a legal notice asking them to vacate the building, Sheridan told the Irish Times they would meet A&L Goodbody solicitors – acting for the receivers Mazars – “as a collective”.
The group also sent out this tweet on Christmas Day highlighting Sheridan’s role within the organisation. The tweet has since been deleted.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, Brendan Ogle – one of the key members of Home Sweet Home – said:
“Home Sweet Home is a coalition with hundreds of thousands of supporters from among the general public.
‘We’ in support are all Home Sweet Home. As far as the High Court is concerned HSH and Apollo House is manifest in four defendants to a receiver’s action against the campaign.
“They are myself, Carrie Hennessy, Aisling Hedderman and Glen Hansard.
Of course HSH is ultimately a unique coalition of trade unionists, artists and fantastic volunteers in the Irish Housing Network.
I am not prepared to discuss any personal circumstances of vulnerable or homeless people.
We are simply trying to help alleviate their human suffering. Anybody who supports that endeavour ‘is’ HOME SWEET HOME’.
Convictions
Sheridan – who has been homeless for much of his life – has served various prison sentences for a variety of different crimes.
In 1998 he was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in kidnapping and falsely imprisoning a man.
Sheridan and two others got into the man’s car in north Dublin on 30 June 1997. They threatened him with a syringe and forced him to drive them to 14 petrol stations to buy £400 worth of goods with his credit card.
On 13 August 2002, Sheridan was sentenced to eight years in prison in the UK for robbery and possessing a firearm.
Court documents show that Sheridan and two other men forced a taxi controller carrying money into an alleyway in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Sheridan held a handgun to the man’s head and is believed to have assaulted him with the weapon.
The documents show Sheridan has multiple previous convictions. He was imprisoned at the age of 13 for robbery, and has been imprisoned several other times throughout his life.
In 2010, Sheridan was convicted for an aggravated burglary involving a 62-year-old woman. He broke into the woman’s home with a seven-inch bread knife and made off with about €260 and the woman’s car.
At the time Sheridan had 38 previous convictions.
Court reports from the time state that Sheridan spoke to the woman at the time of the burglary and apologised for what he was doing.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison as a result.
In 2013, it’s reported that Sheridan was let out of prison on Christmas release but failed to return on time.
Sources confirmed Sheridan returned to the prison following this and served the remainder of his sentence.
In response to a question from TheJournal.ie about his convictions, Sheridan said he had ”made a lot of mistakes in the past”.
“I strongly believe it’s what you do with your life after that and what you do with your life in the future that defines who you truly are.”
Home Sweet Home
Sheridan is the original founder of the Home Sweet Home Facebook group, which was started on 26 October of this year.
Sheridan founded the group with the stated goal of ensuring that there is a “home sweet home for every homeless person bold enough to fight for their rights”.
The campaign was picked up by youth worker Dean Scurry – who approached several artists.
It was also joined by the Irish Housing Network and was given the support of the Unite and Mandate trade unions among others.
The Irish Housing Network, the trade unions and the artists and musicians became the three main pillars of Home Sweet Home
The campaign has evolved hugely since the original Facebook group was founded, with the logistics and operations being managed by different entities.
The campaign came to public prominence when a group of activists occupied the Nama-controlled Apollo House in order to provide housing for the homeless.
Apollo House now sleeps up to 40 homeless people per night, and activists say the campaign has hundreds of volunteers offering a range of services.
Home Sweet Home this launched its Emergency Housing Plan, which calls on the government to declare a national housing emergency.
Representatives for Home Sweet Home met with Housing Minister Simon Coveney last night in regards to the occupation.
They have been given until 12 noon this Wednesday by the High Court to vacate the building.
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