Housing activists bring Dublin transport to a halt with sit-down protest at bridge
HOUSING demonstrators brought Dublin city centre to a standstill for more than two hours yesterday with a protest that closed the main traffic arteries through the capital.
More than 500 protesters gathered at the Garden of Remembrance at lunchtime yesterday to voice their displeasure at the Government’s housing policies. It was part of a ‘‘National Day of Action’’ with demonstrations held across the country.
Shortly after 2pm, the group in Dublin made its way past the Parnell Monument and headed south on O’Connell Street.
When crossing the River Liffey and O’Connell Bridge, the group turned on to the quays and held a sit-down protest, blocking access to the bridge and the quays on both sides of the river.
It led to huge traffic disruption and blocked transport through the city for hours. Shortly after 3pm, the group vacated the quays and gathered on the middle of the bridge, before leaving at 4pm.
The protest coincided with six similar events across the capital and 12 other housing demonstrations around the country, including events in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Waterford and in areas in Dublin’s commuter belt. Gardai said 500 people took part in the demonstration in Dublin city centre but organisers claimed numbers were in the region of 800.
Take Back the City spokeswoman Aisling Bruen said the sit-down protest was modelled on a similar demonstration at Parnell Square earlier this month.
“It is an action and shows how you can spark something with a relatively small crowd, because there should be thousands of people taking part considering the numbers who are affected by this issue,” she said.
Margaret Cash, a motherof-seven who photographed her children sleeping homeless in a Garda station last month, addressed the crowd, calling for Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to resign.
“There are hundreds of children walking the streets in hail and snow looking for somewhere to go for the night, but they have nowhere to go. I know because I have been there. They cry themselves to sleep.”
The Take Back The City group has been involved in the occupation of vacant properties in Dublin in recent weeks.
Protesters had demonstrated over the eviction of people from a city centre building that was subject to a repossession order when gardai and private security workers wore masks while removing them from
the property.
Independents4Change TD Joan Collins, who attended yesterday’s demonstration, said: “Something needs to happen to spark a sense of revulsion against what is happening with homelessness and sky-high rents,” she said.
“This is a hard response to highlight the issue. I hope it can put pressure on the Government and can make salient points about private property, ownership and letting property lie vacant when there are more than 3,000 children homeless and people sleeping in overcrowded houses.”
Peter Dooley, a spokesman for the Dublin Renters Union, said the aim was to force landlords to act: “Direct actions are a real challenge to the landlords, developers and government. It has been great to see the occupations and rallies in the city centre.”