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An update from one of the squatters in Grangegorman after Day One of Eviction Resistance

Date: Thu, 2013-10-31 13:05

Today (Weds) was very quiet; there was no eviction attempt. We were prepared for the worst, but no cops called around, nobody claiming to be the owner, nothing.Just to recap, we are preparing ourselves to resist eviction because previously, on Friday, two people claiming to be agents acting on behalf of a company, which they claimed own two of the houses, came to illegally board them up. When we weren't letting them do so, they called the cops. The cops decided not to do anything because they did not have the paperwork or legal authorisation to evict us[1]. However, the “owners” and the cops did say that they'd be back on Wednesday (today) with “papers”.

 
We had issued a call out to our friends and beyond for support. A lot of people called around, including some unexpected faces, which was really nice. Evictions are always a stressful time for any squat and so it can be really difficult to maintain morale when an eviction is happening. The support of everyone who came by today is really appreciated. Especially as squatters in Dublin are used to trying to hide underground, it's a great morale boost to know that we have support outside just our immediate circle of friends and comrades. There were some stressful moments today, but at the moment the mood in the houses is good and defiant!
 
Even though “nothing” happened today, it's of course possible that they could try to come tomorrow, or indeed at any time. We still fully intend to resist any eviction attempt they might make, so your support is still needed. It's impossible to know if or when they are going to come, and when we do know we'll issue an emergency call out[2], but until then, it's still possible to give support! You're very welcome to come down and hang out with us, and doing so would be great for our spirits. There may also be work being done on the houses that you could help with as well.
 
But if and when they do come, it's really important for us to have as many people there as possible! We need people to stand outside the houses, we need people to film the cops and the owners if they try to illegally forcibly enter the houses and we need the numbers to give us the confidence to pull it off! The only thing we ask is that you don't talk to the cops. Never talk to the cops.
 
1. In a way this was an unprecedented (for us) victory in itself. None of us who have been squatting in Dublin for the last few years had ever previously managed to convince the cops that they can't just come in and evict people for the owner. If any would-be squatters are reading this: we basically just pointed out that the alleged owners had no way of proving that they were in fact the owners. So they then had to go off and find some proof that they actually did own the houses. This is a bigger deal than it might sound, because as any one who has ever gone to the Deed's Office on Henrietta Street knows, it can actually be very difficult to prove that a particular building is owned by a particular entity, especially in cases where a building has been repossessed or a company is in receivership.
 
2. If you would like your phone number added to the list that will receive this call-out directly, please email it to dublinhousingaction@gmail.com.