An emergency meeting is being held by the protestors participating in the occupation of a property in Summerhill Parade this evening following a court order to vacate the building.
The High Court injunction was granted today, ordering the group to vacate the property by 8am tomorrow.
Earlier this afternoon, Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan ordered that the group vacate the property following fire safety and insurance concerns brought by the owners of the premises. While several members of the occupation were present in court, the application wasn’t opposed. The judge also noted that an order granted on Wednesday requiring all occupiers to identify themselves had not been fulfilled.
The group – which includes members of Take Back Trinity – have been occupying the building in North Dublin since the beginning of August. In an affidavit seen by The University Times, members of the Take Back Trinity group were noted to have occupied the building. Graduate Students’ Union President Oisin Vince Coulter and one of the leaders of Take Back Trinity, Conchúir Ó Rádaigh, were personally named. Other groups mentioned in the document include the Dublin Central Housing Action, the Dublin Renters’ Union and Brazilian Left Front Dublin Branch.
The occupation has garnered widespread media attention since it began on August 7th. Yesterday, some of the same housing groups occupied the Custom House for a short time. The protestors called on the government to purchase vacant properties and repurpose land into public housing. Other demands include banning evictions and for rent increases to be capped at 20 per cent of the renter’s income, or at €300 per room. That occupation ended following a promise from a representative for the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, that he would meet with members of the coalition next week.
Set up to protest the introduction of supplemental exam fees in March, Take Back Trinity previously occupied the Dining Hall in Trinity for almost three days and organised several protests, rallies and concerts around campus. Over the summer, the group has expanded its remit, attending Dublin’s first-ever Trans Pride and partaking in the Summerhill occupation.
