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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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Soon all our main streets will be exact replicas of each other and we’ll start to resemble the cookie-cutter cities of the UK. DCC needs to start supporting small business owners and stop feeding the fat cats.
@Anonymous Education: There used to be a unique feel walking down streets of different cities, but thanks to global commercialism, the same shops appearing in every city on multiple streets, cities are losing their sense of individualism.
@Anonymous Education: so people complain when there aren’t jobs, then when a business opens and creates 600 jobs people complain because it’s not a small Irish business. You really can’t win
@Sam Harms: haven’t heard very many there’s no job complaints! The point on generic fast food places flooding what were once unique streets is valid
@Conor Heneghan: would you rather buildings remain vacant?
@Sam Harms: If they’re the only two options that you can see, then you need to try opening your mind.
Indigenous businesses should always be preferred to generic corporate entities. Authorities can affect this by various means.
@Adam Johnson: and then there’s the people who moan because Ireland doesn’t have a central plaza but every other European city does! People seem to like everything being the same!
@Battaz: but there aren’t enough indigenous businesses to take over all of the empty commercial properties. There are loads of empty retail/restaurant spaces near where I live that have been vacant for at least 2 years now.
Was a good film that.
@Decko Kelly: Yeah it was.
@Decko Kelly: No women, no children.
@Will Thompson: he was very sexist was me in. And ageist
Can’t wait not to go there to get ripped off
@Artur Gurta: Here’s their menu, prices seem to be a few pound more than UK McDonald’s for a simialr mount of food. Have to give them some credit for selling healthy food at a price similar or just above to other fast food chains.
https://leon.co/wp-content/uploads/LEON-SPRING-PAPER-MENU.pdf
@David Jordan: Thanks for that. Looks nice, just have to convince my fast food junkie kids unfortunately.
Every second shop is a food outlet then you’ve the government whinging about being obese.. Enough is enough..
@TechBuzz Ireland: I suggest you have a look at their menu first.
@Dave O’Keeffe: Lentil masala. I’ll pass thanks.
@TechBuzz Ireland: Mediterranean Cuisine … healthy … but we shall wait and see and how much will a leaf do lettuce set ya back…
@Terry Cahill: the price is on the menu you don’t have to wait and see.
@Radioska: Sterling prices without Irish inflation…
@Battaz: Great for the bowels.
I wish they opened comments on the pr1ck who tortured those poor dogs. String him up!
@David Walters: No comments allowed on legal cases currently before the courts.
Another hangout for the beardo-checkshirts or maybe the pseudo -blueshirts ….
We are being invaded by hordes arriving on our shores opening up franchise food outlets. We can’t cope! The country in bursting at its seems with mediocre culinary offerings and “trendy” furniture.
Let’s have a referendum to keep them out!
Nice to see a “healthy” fast food place open instead of the usual rubbish!
@Lyndsy Ní Éalaithe: yeah, but I don’t think a quinoa salad would cut it at 2am when all you want is taco chips
@Green Lentils: Ha ha true!
@Lyndsy Ní Éalaithe: If the coffee is as shite as the coffee in the Happy Pair, they can keep it.
Should this not be in Fora, or at least labelled ‘sponsored’? Who’s gonna believe it’s not!?
Let the trotts commence.
It’s very average stuff, cold mulsh in the guise of healthy living, so It’ll probably be huge here, and if its not who cares Stuart and the gang can dress up in some other venture they care little for in a bid to be millionaires.
How can they call pulped veggies and fruit smoothies healthy !!!.
They crush the enzymes out of it and instead of slow release sugars and fibres you are basically drinking lumpy coke.
This crap is poison to diabetics.
have your say