Hundreds of people responded to the High Court demanding the eviction of Apollo House by linking arms to form a protective ring around it. The judge refused the residents an extra week to find accommodation despite the housing minister failing to deliver what had been promised.
Hundreds of people responded to the High Court demanding the eviction of Apollo House by linking arms to form a protective ring around it. The judge refused the residents an extra week to find accommodation despite the housing minister failing to deliver what had been promised.
As the protest continued one resident told the Irish Times livefeed that “We are not knocking on NAMA doors, we are kicking them in” People chanted ‘Homes not Hostels’, ‘Homes for All’ and ‘House the Homeless’ while a banner delared ‘Homeless people are not the problem, they are the result of the problem.’ Traveller activist Eileen Flynn who has volunteered at Apollohouse told the crowd “We need to stand together … this is the best movement since 1916"
Speaking for Apollo House Rosie told the crowd about the betrayal of the minister and the treatment of residents who trusted his word but found conditions in the places they were brought to were "worse than prison". She continued "They are treating us like dogs, they are treating us like fools, we are not taking it anymore, this housing crisis is going to end"
In our compilation of video we shot during the protest we argue that the housing crisis is no accident – there are plenty of empty houses and apartments. The crisis in conditions for homeless people exists because as a deliberate discipline to scare the rest of the population into continuing to pay morgages they can no longer afford and rents that eat most of their income. Huge numbers of politicans are landlords, property specuators or the people who take bribes from that wing of capitalism. That’s why they have no interest in a solution.
WORDS: Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )