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THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE gathered outside the Dáil today in the latest demonstration over the housing crisis.
The protest included groups from unions, political parties, community organisations, colleges all across the country and activists involved in the recent Take Back the City movement.
Síona Cahill, president of the Union of Students in Ireland, said more than 6,000 students had joined the protest today. She told the crowd that they were tired of “damp, rundown and regularly overcrowded conditions”.
“This is the social justice issue of our generation, the locked out generation,” she said.
Keith Troy, a construction worker on a zero-hour contract also spoke at the rally. He said workers in his situation “don’t know if they’re working from one day to the next” and have constant uncertainty about paying their rent or mortgages.
He said Irish citizens “need to unify more” in order to force reform in this area.
“We need everybody and their dog out on the street.”
Homeless campaigner Peter McVerry actually did bring his dog with him. He told the crowd they were both there “to fight for human rights”.
“This protest is not just about homelessness, this protest is about housing. I guesstimate that there are at least half a million people in this country whose housing situation is causing them serious distress. That includes homeless people, it includes people who are living in overcrowded households, people who are living with their parents because they cannot afford to move out, people living in poor quality private rental accommodation,” he said.
People who are living in rental accommodation, but are paying a huge amount of their income just to keep a roof over their head, people in mortgage distress of more than two years, worried sick about when the bank is going to put a letter through their letterbox.
McVerry said we “have a housing policy that is affecting a huge number of families from all social groups except the very wealthy in this country”.
He also said most young people growing up “will never be able to own their own home”.
To get a basic home at €300,000 requires you to have an income of about €80.000 a year and only one in three households in this country will have an income of €80,000 a year.
Young people who have been told stay in school, study hard, get a good Leaving Cert, go to college and Ireland will look after you – they have been fooled. Because Ireland will not look after them.
They will never be able to own a house, they will never be able to get out of the private rented trap they find themselves in. We are conning our young people.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie about his reasons for attending the protest, Brian Desmond said the apartment block he lives in was purchased by a vulture fund four years ago.
“I’ve seen over past four years how much they have upped the rent, that people are being displaced, pushed out, the community is suffering,” he said.
People say ‘oh it’s only a 4% increase’, but that’s a lot for somebody who’s working and trying to cover a family of three. Now I’m at a point where it’s breaking point. My daughter’s in school, I don’t see anywhere I could move to if I’m going to keep her in that school.
“It’s unsustainable for me and my family and there’s no Plan B as far as I can see from the government. I think everybody needs to become a collective and it’s a civil rights issue at the moment, we’ve sold off out country to companies who are just trying to make profit.”
‘True colours’
The protest today coincided with a debate in the Dáil on a private members bill on housing drafted and signed by 47 TDs from Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, Solidarity, Social Democrats, Labour, the Green Party, Independents4Change and others.
The motion calls for:
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the protest and debate will “reveal the true colours of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail when it comes to the housing emergency”.
Are they prioritising the needs of a whole generation who are losing hope they will ever have a secure, affordable home of their own or will they continue to promote the interests of vulture funds, property speculators and landlords who are profiting from the housing crisis?
He said only a “mass movement of people power, of the homeless, of housing applicants, of workers, of students and young people affected by this crisis” will force the change of policy that is needed.
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The real agenda of the military is now exposed.
read again – it’s not the first time the detention time has expired. Do I detect some Clonskeagh spin on this story?
I hope they do re-arrest him, otherwise it’s playing straight into the Muslim Brotherhoods hands.
They will be rightly pi**ed off if he is re-arrested :-) but will still carry on trying to take over the world like Pinky and the Brain.
I mean the Islamist Brotherhood, not the Egyptians
I’m pretty sure the Muslim Brotherhood want nothing more than to keep him in jail, not released. They were the party that helped oust him, we’re they not?
@ Amy, naw, his release would add to their sense of grievance, keeping him in would deprive them of that.
The Mummy has been sprung….the coup is complete!
Yes the Mummy Returns nice one.
It is clear that the military is choosing Nationalism over Islamism.
This is good for Egypt.
Seoirse, wow! This is the military that is backed up by the USA right. So you approve?
Some the narrow minded, racist s**te that pops up on this about muslims is ridiculous. A democratically elected government were outed by military force. Mass murder has taken place and people still manage to point the finger at the Muslim Brotherhood. Joke.
Yes the MB are the good guys, all they wanted to do was impose sharia law and those pesky Egyptians didn’t like it and wanted them out. Shame on them. Lets go down to clonskeagh HQ and console then
In fact the Egyptian people voted two-thirds for Morsi’s Islamist Constitution.
Mass murder has taken place, Emmet, and it’s despicable; but the MB are no angels either. They’ve been attacking and/or burning Christian churches for years (this is well documented), and also favour sharia law being enshrined in the constitution. It’s very hard to see a positive outcome, whatever transpires in the future.
He touted himself as a moderate before the elections in which weren’t exactly the fairest or most straightforward. He started to give himself greater power once in charge and the people realised what a mistake it was. No chance he was going to give up power and call fresh elections. I don’t agree with the military having power either and would like to see a new elected government sooner than later.
2 people favour sharia law. Luckily its entirely compatible with the irish red thumbers lifestyles. Women talking up the benefits of islamofascist rule is just incredible to me. Absolutely bananas
Once its a fair, Christian goverment backed by the US. Then we call all sleep in peace.
Ahe ahem
Read this balanced piece http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/cairo-egypt-morsi-arab-spring-1047733-Aug2013/
Over 600 protestors executed by the military. 35 protestors that were in custody murdered by the military. Lets remember this was a democratically elected government.
Which the majority of people protested to have removed if you remember, the army were seen as heroes the day they stepped in to help.
On point Emmer
It wasnt a majority of people. there were probably 2 million demonstrators in Cairo. Cairo has 20 million people. These were largely the secular demonstrators of 2011 who have always felt the MB hijacked their revolution by having the temerity to beat them in elections. Like it or not the Egyptian people have never been secular outside the trendy urban middle class.
Where is his ‘re-trail’ to? Somewhere nice I hope
The Egyptian Army seem to be well aware of what and who they are dealing with unlike the unfortunate Egyptian Police men who are being lynched by the fans of the peace loving MB.
”he still faces charges of corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters during the early 2011 uprising that overthrew him, with his next hearing scheduled for Sunday.”
with his friends in power once more – there is little chance that he will serve much more jail time .. ironic that the US puppet and Torturer is being freed on the day Bradley Manning get a severe jail sentence for showing the crimes of the USA .
I meant Emmet, sorry.
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