A group of housing activists, which includes members of Take Back Trinity, has occupied a building on North Frederick Street after a court order forced protestors to end the 10-day occupation of a property on Summerhill Parade.
A statement on Summerhill Occupation’s Facebook page at 1pm today said the group had occupied the property to “to continue to highlight the need for organised action against the crisis”.
“Enough is enough. Insurance companies should not be allowed sit on potential homes in the middle of the most acute housing crisis since the foundation of the state.”
The property, the group said, “has been vacant for at least 3 years”, and has been owned by McGreal Insurances since being taken into receivership in 2015.
The group made several demands on the statement released on social media. The group has appealed to the government to buy all vacant properties and land to repurpose it into accommodation. “We want to highlight that private, vacant properties can, and should be put into public ownership”, the group said.
Activists have also called for a ban on evictions and a rent cap at 20 per cent of the renter’s income or at €300 per room maximum. The group also called on others to take similar action to protest against the dire accommodation situation in Dublin.
“The housing crisis is not a natural disaster; we do not need to accept that this is simply the way it is. But things won’t get better on their own – action is needed, by people and for people”, the group said in the statement.
The group also shared a live video, in which protestors could be heard chanting: “Housing is a human right. We will not give up the fight.”
The group originally occupied a property at 35 Summerhill Parade last Tuesday, with Gardaí quickly showing up at the property. It has since been confirmed that the property is owned by Dublin landlord PJ O’Donnell, the owner of a machinery plant supply firm.
President of Trinity’s Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) Oisín Vince Coulter, speaking to The University Times last week, said a “polite conversation” had taken place in which the group told the Gardaí they would not be leaving the property without an injunction from the courts.
The High Court granted an injunction, ordering the group to vacate the property before 8am today. The protestors complied with this order and had left the property before private security employed by the owner came to take back the building, the Irish Times reported this morning.
Take Back Trinity is a grassroots movement, set up in protest at Trinity’s introduction of a fee on supplemental exams in March. The group subsequently marched in the Trans Rights parade in July, as well as joining the occupation of Custom House on Wednesday.
Sean Egan, one of the leaders of Take Back Trinity who attended the occupation of Summerhill Parade, speaking to The University Times last week, said it was “inevitable” that there would be “a massive social movement around the issue of housing because the situation is untenable”.
