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SQUATTERS OCCUPYING A number of buildings at a site in Grangegorman have given details of the work they have done since they took over the space to turn it into a home for 30 people and a service for the community.
There were scuffles on Monday night between the group and employees of a private security company which was hired by receivers, appointed by NAMA, to take back control of the site.
A small number of injuries were reported afterwards and negotiations between squatters and gardaí eventually ended the standoff and security workers left the scene.
Last night, the squatters defended their occupation of the site for the last year and a half.
In a statement, they said it has been a home and living space for about 30, mostly young people, who can no longer afford to rent in Dublin as prices in the capital soar. It consists of three houses, three converted office buildings, five warehouses, a main courtyard and two smaller yards.
A community garden was built by the residents and is worked on by them and local families in the area.
They have converted warehouse and office space into venues for poetry, music and circus performance art.
A ‘free shop’ was also opened, allowing people to bring unwanted clothes and other items and take whatever they want free of charge.
The group said resident and non-residents can also make use of a community kitchen and seated area.
“All these activities and more are able to run completely free of charge because of the squatted nature of the space,” they said.
The Irish Times reports this morning that the site had been earmarked in 2008 for a €100 million residential, retail and office scheme with 164 apartments. The plans fell through after the economic crash and planning permission expired.
According to the group occupying the site, increasing rent in Dublin and high levels of youth unemployment mean young people can no longer afford to rent in the city.
“With the number of empty buildings in the city, squatting makes a lot of sense”.
The High Court adjourned an application today by receiver Luke Charlton today for an injunction to prevent alleged trespassing on the site and to allow him to take back possession of the site.
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Are these any different than the squatters in gorse hill ?
good question. we didnt see a gang of bullys beating down the doors attacking the residents of Gorse Hill.
Because the residents of Gorse Hill are attempting to use the legal framework of the state to delay their eviction, rather than claiming the man is out to get them or it is a 1% attack on an organic community
These people never owned this land, at least to O’Donnells owned Gorse Hill at some point.
did they own it i think it was the company they ran owned it so technically they didnt ever own it so they are squatters who dont even live and work in this country from what i have read so they are really parasites
And we all no that ‘ownership’ is sacred in corporate Ireland Inc.
Yes – the people at Gorse Hill were property speculators that I believe at one point may have had as much as one billion in property interests, heavily leveraged of course. A few years back this bad thing happened where it suddenly because clear that all the money our banks had lent to that type was not coming back. And as a result the banks looked like they might collapse. But the government stepped in and said it was grand, sure the rest of us would over the billions that were leant out for the rest of our lives out of our wages, welfare, health, education and of course new taxes and charges.
The people in Grangegorman on the other hand are like the vast majority of us. They never had much money, they never bought multiple properties on borrowed money, and then never came to the rest of us after that bid failed to pay off their loans.
Do you see the difference?
Get their jugglers. That’s their weak spot.
lol
Fair play to these squatters.
At least someone’s getting some use out of some of NAMA’s crumbling portfolio.
This site should have been sold off years ago an the money returned to the taxpayer.
Instead some fat cat receiver was collecting a big check every month for minding it when he obviously wasn’t.
Do we get a refund for his years of lazy corruption?
This just shows how pathetic and inefficient NAMA is.
Such a farce.
“NAMA”
“6 Years Of Making Shelter Unaffordable/Unattainable For The People Who Were Mugged To Fund It”
Who gave this hippy Internet access?
The Irish people will have to decide what type of country we live in. Either people who “can” pay, pay their way and contribute extra in taxes to help people who cannot pay. Or people who “decide” not to pay get given everything they want payed for by the workers. This decision will happen at the next election, should be interesting.
Nama don’t own this site. This was confirmed on liveline yesterday
NAMA don’t won sites. They own the loans on the sites. Which to the man or women on the street amounts to the same thing but allows NAMA to claim not to own sites they control ownership of. Like Grangegorman
Do the people supporting these squatters also support travellers who move caravans on to community playing fields?
If you didn’t buy it, or inherit it, you don’t own it. If we wanted a soviet system, we’d vote for one.
inherit? and how did the original owners get their property? it wasnt always by legal means. Many ppl inherit property that their ancestors murdered to get. Many more inherit property from the old British occupation where their families were allowed to keep it. We’re meant to be a republic, not an oligarchy.
This site was legally purchased, so all of your straw man about British occupation is nonsense.
The community idea is excellent but not when you are occupying someone else’s property. We are a republic and as such we have laws and a judicial system to enforce tem
I don’t post often, once or twice a year max. But for people like you, I feel I’ve no choice. You sir, are an idiot!
It is time for the Fomorians to reclaim their lands and eject the invaders.
OG kush goes well with orange juice
I’d love to be able to just live in my house mortgage free. Ah that’s the life!
Get out ya shower of lazy wasters
So because you can’t, you resent others for trying?
Ross, I do not think that you are playing with a full deck. In fact, I would say that you are a finger short of a full hand.
Ross
If only life was that easy that you can just walk into someone else’s property and just say it’s yours. Sorry for ya mate but it just doesn’t work that way. I’m just gonna jump into this guys car beside me and take it. Sure it’s a free world. Wake up man
They may be squatting due to not being able to afford rent but at least they don’t owe a bank €70 million & still expect to live there for free. Our democracy has ruled that the Killiney home has to be vacated only for a legal error to stall that. Which is the greedier side here? Don’t get me wrong. What’s being done by the squatters is not right but they are less well off while the bank cannot get money owed back. Legal loan default is just as bad & a greater burden than squatting.
Kick them out so the new medical center and university can be finished in time once the luas arrives!
Wasters
Are they preventing the University or Medical Centre from being completed?
They wont speed it up anyway
So thats a ‘no I tried to introduced a complete red herring’ then Darren.
Glad thats clear now.
Poetry Corner. Bunch of over privileged knobs.
Is poetry only for a certain class? A poor man singing a song is fine, but don’t let him near a poem!
@Ross No, but these people are getting to live rent free, performing poetry and circus art, tending to their gardens, on someone else’s euro. That’s the height of privilege. Most people in this country break their back for 40 years to achieve that sort of freedom. Society only works when we all buy in. The logical conclusion of this shower’s actions is survival if the fittest.
What would it mean if I and a few of my big friends decided we wanted to live there instead of the current squatters? We’re bigger than they are, why wouldn’t we?
Society only works when we all buy in? Remind me again the last time that society actually worked?!
I believe so. Of course there are problems. But I ask again, what if me and my gang decide we want to squat there and not share?
people break their back’s for 40 years to afford thing’s only because society dictates that’s the way we have to live. These people are trying something different and it works for them. Imagine we all could live like that, no stress, no breaking your back to line your bosses pockets, none off the modern world’s pressure, sounds like bliss to me.
It only works for them because they are the only ones disobeying the law. If other people started thinking like them we would end up with a tribal or feudal society, and they would be under constant threat from bigger dogs. It is the Gardai that mean that they are safe where they are.
Whether they know it or not, these people are completely reliant on the society and infrastructure around them, and are expecting others to foot the bill for that. They don’t grow their own food, haven’t built their own shelter. They don’t dispose of their own waste or look after their own health. They are sponges plain and simple.
Crusties
..or hipsters?
Chase them out with a hose and a bar of soap
….The question that needs to be asked is how they are fertilising their organic garden…..Health and Safety would support a bulldozer in this case…
Or homeless?
Soon to be homeless.
There’s a place full of squatters on gorse hill… time to move :-)
Best suggestion I have seen for a long time, the soap will work wonders.
What happens if new squatters move in and eject the old ones? Will the old squatters complain to the police about the new squatters taking over ‘their property’?
Poetry and circus art?? Would ye F off. Crusties!
I read headline and thought that was a gym article.
The guy with the crutch broke his leg squatting heavy, he misunderstood what was going on too.
Good for them, doing something creative and community driven, utilising one of the many derelict sites that lie dotted around our country going to waste, unused and vacant.
There are lots of unused vacant cars in car parks all over the country. Some of them are left there idle from 8am to 8pm, does this give me the right to assume ownership (steal) of them? If 8 hours is too short a time to take possession of a vacant car then how long should I wait before I move in?
And don’t forget the bridge that you occupy ,Sappy
Let them buy or rent a site, like everyone else. I suppose the electricity they’re stealing from the adjoining property is lying around unused too.
If you left an old banger of a car, unlocked, in a car park for ages, you’d expect someone to take it. And if they fixed up that old banger and turned it into a meals on wheels delivery car, then even better. But sure you’d be happy out driving around in your Ferrari, so you wouldn’t notice it gone
Tap it worrys me that you seem to have overlooked the reality that the police went in to evict these people without a court order. If you have any belief in the rule of law you’d have to question how the guards allow themselves to be led so blindly by a private company. Don’t the guards know the law themselves or is it only applicable to certain members of society.
Adverse possession.
@oggie, why get personal? Some sort of vendetta?
It doesn’t matter what they have done to improve the place , they don’t own it , they don’t pay rent , they’ve no right to be there!
Good on them!
I’m sure this was not their first choice of housing. But out of chaos & poverty they have built a community addressing the real needs of people! A community garden, free store, poetry & art sounds like a productive & inspiring way of spending the day & using the space! This country is littered with ghost housing. Personally I think it’s fantastic to see any of that being used in a positive way!!! If they are happy & not hurting anyone leave them to it. I hope they get to keep it!!
They thought Jonestown was a good idea too
The young ones,Darling we’re the young ones,And young ones shouldn’t be afraid.To live, love,While the flame is strong,For we won’t be the young ones very long.
All the resentment towards them just proves our property ownership obsession. If a natural disaster wiped our homes, we would be too fickle to enjoy our survival and other aspects of life.
Very much hope the Occupiers get to stay on site + also provided with the resources to create employment. The DIT plan includes a productive garden to provide fresh food for the college canteens – here we have a group of young, knowledgable, able-bodied, hard working folk already creating an urban garden on the doorstep. Give the Occupiers security of tenure + contract them to provide food for the future students at Grangegorman Campus. This would be one surefire way of sustainably rebuilding the economy – from the grassroots up……..
Mici that’s the kind of progressive lateral thinking that’s not welcome in Irish society. Instead you’ll be thrown in the leftie hippy crustie box by all the red thumbing conservatives here
Not a conservative, just disagree with these people relying on state infrastructure and handouts from the public to survive while actively flouting the law and social norms. As with gorse hill, there is benefit for those who are willing to break the law. Whether it’s a mugging, corporate fraud or simple trespassing, these people benefit by breaking the laws to which the rest of us adhere. If the security company had been as ad hoc with their adherence to law then the squatters would be long gone. Parasites.
Eric, I can’t argue with you except to say that in this case perhaps the law may be the problem. It’s easy to shout ‘privilege’ and resent people for no real reason as most commenters here are doing, but the point is that squatting can actually benefit society as a whole if sensible, pragmatic laws are designed to make it work for everyone. If you own a building or a site and you leave it unused for over a year while there is a housing crisis, that doesn’t benefit anyone at all. So introducing rules that protect squatters in the event that they ‘claim’ a building that has been unused for over a year gives owners an incentive to keep their buildings in use, and provides an outlet for creative, anti-establishment types who can obviously contribute a lot to their community. Then you protect them so more squatters can’t squat the squat but enable the original owner to reclaim it should they be willing and able to. It’s not rocket science and it worked quite wonderfully in the Netherlands until it was scuppered for no practical reason.
Smelly hippies get the f??k
how do they wash? do they have access to running water? if so, they should be expecting a bill to come through the door on April 1st
What lucky people who get to spend their days enjoying art and reciting poetry. Peace loving people trying to find themselves and change the world for the better. How inspiring and self sufficiently without welfare benefits of any kind. More power to you dear peaceable hippy crusaders.
Ps. How about a charming vegan cafe in the courtyard?
Such parasites. Such people claim to have anti capitalist ideals but ultimately like all parasites just take what is not theirs for their own benefit without having earned it while everyone else works for what they have.
Gunsgerms are you talking about politions and Irish water now. Please try to keep to the subject of the article. Thanks.
If you’re “connected”, owe millions to the banks, have property and bank a/c’s off shore, transferred your property/cash to family members, were a big/medium player in the game that was the Celtic Tiger and still live in your mansion – you are a gov/bank/nama approved quasi legal squatter – i didn’t know there was such thing either. If you’ve shag all, just surviving, part of an ordinary community that has regenerated once derelict buildings which benefits an area/community (rather than a fat cat) you are an “illegal” squatter that could be ran over by an untaxed/uninsured van used by a dodgy, nama security outfit. Mad that isn’t it. But sure it’s a great aul country all the same.
No one leaves a car for someone else to do up; they leave a car because they’re too cheap to pay for its proper disposal & expect the local authority, and ultimately the tax payer, to foot the bill instead.
bunch of hippies and crusties, throw them out
If they squat for 12 years then they can claim legal ownership. Some fight then among the squatters as to which of them claims what.
Not if the legal owner asks them to leave they cant
Even if he only asks on the last day of the 12 years for them to leave they wont aquire squatters rights
It has to be 12 years without the legal owner asking you to leave.
When I saw the header for the article, I was sure it was going to be about this.
Who is the owner of this land? They need to go there with the police and explicitly say this is my property so get off it. Otherwise, of course it will be exploited by others.
have your say