Workers Solidarity Movement

People's need for housing has to be put before the considerations of the markets, the property speculators, and the bankers.

Property is once again on the rise which means this is a great time to be a landlord as you kick tenants out on the streets on some pretense, only to get in a new batch at a higher rental rate. The neo-liberal agenda has really given a free hand to the landlords to do what they wish, whilst the banks are only too happy to take homes of families who cannot meet their mortgage obligations, so that they can sell it or rent it out for quick cash.

Last week, three children under the age of six slept rough in Dublin city centre while their parents stayed awake to watch over them. As of August 2015, this family is but one of 620 families in Ireland, including more than 1,300 children, who are homeless. The root of the current crisis of housing is the current crisis of capitalism. 

Government policy is creating a fresh property boom that is once more driving the most marginalised onto the streets and into insecure accommodation. The deliberate creation of housing scarcity has seen huge numbers being evicted by greedy landlords, normally making use of the rights stripping clause that allows them to claim they are intending to move a family member into the property. Right now in Dublin who doesn’t have friends being evicted under that clause?

The cause is rapidly increasing rents and a wish by some landlords to cash in on rising property prices by selling. Tenants have suddenly found themselves dumped into a market where housing if very scarce, further fuelling the bubble of rent rises. Many landlords are refusing to accept tenants dependent on rent allowance and this along with the rising prices have left many unable to find suitable affordable new accommodation.

You'd think Enda Kenny had never seen a homeless person before. In the wake of the sad death of Jonathan Corrie, who was sleeping rough in the shadow of Dáil Éireann, Ireland's parliament, the Taoiseach went walk about in the city centre to meet Dublin's homeless. In an interview with the media, he said he was "taken aback" by what he saw. 

Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, whisked around the capital by the ghost of Christmas present, he got a first hand view of the conditions that people without homes or hostel places have to endure. He saw the effects of addiction, the sleeping bags and the syringes, that dominate the lives of those who have been left at the margins. But, it's hard to believe that he didn't know this was happening; It's difficult to imagine, that after three and a half years in power, he has suddenly had a Scrooge like epiphany, and is going to pull out all the stops to transform the lives of the country's homeless people. 

Unlock NAMA (UN) hit the headlines in January after occupying a NAMA building in Great Strand Street, Dublin 1. The aim of the occupation was to open a NAMA building to the public for a day and hold a series of talks on the subject. The group, along with around sixty supporters, were eventually evicted by the Gardaí after the intervention of the receiver but that was only the beginning of the campaign.

On Saturday 28th January Unlock NAMA opened an occupied building in the center of Dublin for a day of lectures about NAMA, Ireland's 'Bad Bank.' The event was cut short by a large number of police who turned up and ordered them out of the building. In this 40 minute interview Andrew Flood interviews Cat & Moira from Unlock NAMA about the occupation, what NAMA is and what Unlock NAMA demands.

Image: All rights reserved by Paul C Reynolds - used with permission

New Beginings a group of lawyers and professionals who have been directly helping mortgage holders in legal battles with lenders, are planning a series of meetings across the state to sign up hard pressed householders to a national campaign.

Journalist and writer Conor McCabe’s book ‘Sins Of The Father’ attempts, in the author’s own words, “…to shine a light on the reasons why Ireland has the businesses it has, and why banks and speculators yield so much power and influence.”  The book has been acknowledged as a significant contribution to the analysis of the political and economic decisions that have brought the Irish economy to ruin.  James McBarron interviewed McCabe for Irish Anarchist Review  

“People who got mortgages they can’t afford to pay back were greedy and foolish and should suffer the consequences…They signed a free contract, they’re adults and they have to take responsibility for their actions”. This is the kind of thing that gets thrown around a lot in recessions. It conveniently ignores a few things.