12,000 SAY END IT LEO
Outraged public unite to march on Dail in mass protest
TWELVE thousand people took to the streets of Dublin yesterday to tell Leo Varadkar: End the housing crisis.
Fed-up members of the public, political parties, trade unions and those affected by homelessness marched on
Leinster House. Among the crowd was Margaret Cash who slept in a Garda station with her six sons.
In the Dail, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou Mcdonald accused the Taoiseach of “living in a fool’s paradise” if he thought his policies were working.
LEO Varadkar’s Government is facing a mass movement over the housing crisis on a scale not seen since the people rose up against water charges.
Twelve thousand protesters marched on Leinster House in Dublin for yesterday’s Raise The Roof rally.
Fed-up members of the public joined political parties and trade union activists to demand action.
Singers Damien Dempsey and Frances Black – now an Independent Senator – also performed during the rally.
Those among the crowd included homeless mum-of-seven Margaret Cash who was forced to sleep with her children in Tallaght Garda station.
Margaret said: “How many innocent people will die on our streets this winter?”
Aisling Hedderman faced the threat of homelessness after she was made redundant during the economic crisis.
She said: “Many people who are affected are experiencing this through their own situations.
“Especially those that have been affected by mortgage distress, increasing rents, lack of security within the private sector and lack of social and affordable housing.
“It is clear that it is not just minority groups that are affected but us all.
SECURITY
“I myself was in private renting for 15 years in which I moved four times and also sofa surfed in transition.
“I worked and I paid my taxes and in 2007 I was made redundant. I could not believe that I had to get State aid to help me pay my rent.
“Every day I feared homelessness. This created depression and my mental health soon got low.
“This helped me link in with other people that were in the same situation. Mental health and housing is linked together.
“If you are not secure, you do not feel secure within yourself. As I tried to access the services, I found that there was no services that would reflect the help that I needed.”
Fr Peter Mcverry closed the rally, along with his dog, Tiny.
He said: “This protest is not just about homelessness. This protest is about housing.
“I guesstimate there are at least half a million people in this country whose housing situation is causing them serious distress.
“So, we have a housing policy affecting a huge number of families from all social groups except the very wealthy in this country. The housing policy isn’t working. We have seen record numbers of homeless people, rent increases and we have seen the house of prices increasing.
“Most young people today growing up will never be able to own their own home. Let our politicians know we are going to vote homelessness out.”
The rally was organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the National Homeless and Housing Coalition ahead of a motion in the
Dail calling for a national emergency to be declared.
Although the rally was mainly peaceful, gardai had to step in to separate the crowd after a group of protesters began chanting back and forth with flag-waving Labour party supporters following the organised speeches.
But the crowd dispersed after around 15 minutes when the Labour members exited through barriers at
the end of the street. Though peaceful and no public order incidents were reported, gardai were taking no chances. The dog unit, mounted officers and five vans with cops decked out in riot gear were at hand.
And the authorities inside Leinster House were taking no chances either, with the Merrion Square side gates under lock and key as an added security precaution. But behind the ring of steel inside Taoiseach Leo Varadkar got a battering from opposition politicians during Leaders’ Questions in the Dail.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou Mcdonald accused Mr Varadkar of “living in a fool’s paradise” if he thought his policies were working, adding the people protesting outside “were no fools”.
All of the opposition parties ganged up on Taoiseach Varadkar, his ministers and TDS to support the cross-party motion calling for radical action on homelessness and the housing crisis. The motion
You are living in a fool’s paradise ... and the people outside are no fools
MARY LOU MCDONALD IN THE DAIL YESTERDAY
Solidarity/people Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett last night and the vote will take place this afternoon.
An unprecedented loss for the Government is already a foregone conclusion.
Mr Boyd Barrett told the Dail about a woman he knows who is homeless and living in her car.
He said: “Terry O’reilly is living in her car in Shanganagh Cliffs in Shankill.
“She served eight years in the Irish Army, now she’s homeless.
“She has to wear patches for a medical condition that are sought after by drug users, so can’t go into hostels – where these drug users are – which is the only option being offered to her by the State.
“She served the Irish State but yet she is staying in a car in the estate where she grew up.”
Mr Boyd Barrett challenged the Government and Housing Minister
Eoghan Murphy directly. He said: “Are you on the side of vulture funds, corporate greedy monsters and banks? Or the people who can’t afford a home, can’t afford rent and the 170,000 waiting for social houses?
“People are watching profits piling because of the human misery being imposed. It calls for a declaration of a national housing emergency.”
Mr Boyd Barrett said his motion called for a number of alternative proposals.
These included an extra €1billion for public housing in the Budget next week and tax disincentives to stop viable public land for housing being hoarded by speculative landlords and vulture funds. Minister Murphy said: “We need to more and we need to do better. I support people’s right to protest but we are not protesters in here, we are lawmakers.
“Let us try not to use housing and the people who are suffering from this crisis as a political weapon – let us try and work together.
“If we work together we can have legislation get passed quickly that will help tens of thousands of people all over the country.”
And Solidarity’s Gino Kenny called for a General Election, saying it was the only way to solve the housing crisis.
Are you on the side of the vulture funds or the people who can’t afford a home?
RICHARD BOYD BARRETT LEINSTER HOUSE YESTERDAY