Thousands ‘Raise the Roof’ in capital protests

THOUSANDS of people took to the streets in Dublin yesterday demanding immediate action to address the shortage of housing.

The rally was organised by Raise the Roof, a campaign group made up of trade unions, advocacy groups, homelessness agencies, student unions and political parties. A stage was erected close to Government Buildings where a number of speakers addressed the crowd, including a group of East Wall residents who held up a sign saying ‘Refugees are Welcome’.

Actor Liam Cunningham, who was among those leading the march to Government Buildings, said, ‘I am sick and tired of foreign investment and vulture funds, and what was known as absentee landlords when I was young and growing up, that the revolutionaries in this country took 800 years to remove, and this Government and the previous government have invited back in’.

He added: ‘These people are for profit. They don’t have a soul, they don’t have a heart and the people who live in this country are suffering because of it.’ n Far-right group that protested at RTÉ bussed to East Wall, see page 32