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Census reveals 1 in 8 houses empty while thousands homeless

Date: Wed, 2016-07-27 15:34

The 2016 Census has again revealed there is no housing crisis. In fact about 1 in 8 houses were empty, a massive 259,562 dwellings in all.

So why are their hundreds of homeless on the streets and thousands in emergency accommodation. Why are rents soaring, particularly in Dublin, to level that mean most people can no longer afford to rent there? Why have house prices continued to increase far, far beyond the reach of the average worker?

It seems clear the answer is to be found in homes being left empty while people sleep on the streets. A situation that only favours landlords and property speculators who want to keep available supply low in order to keep rent and house prices high. And all while courts and Garda evict those amongst us who decide to solve their housing problem by occupying some of these vacant properties.

Irish Housing Network stand with homeless residents in protest of the eviction of twenty families from emergency accommodation in Dublin

Date: Tue, 2016-07-26 16:17

O’Connell St, July 22nd - amid Ireland’s worst housing crisis in decades, people gather outside Lynam’s hotel to protest the eviction of five homeless families, including ten children. Fifteen of the twenty families granted temporary shelter at the privately ran hotel have already been pushed out by DCC, and now find themselves forced living off the couches of friends and family. The remaining families who do not want to leave, deciding to take a stand against the apathy and cruelty shown to them by the Irish state now find themselves under huge strain and uncertainty as their quality of life hangs in the balance.

Repeal the 8th mural by Maser at Project arts removed after pressure from bigots & DCC

Date: Tue, 2016-07-26 15:17

Due to a small group of sexist whingers, the beautiful Repeal the 8th mural by Maser at Project Arts in Dublin has been removed.

Over 200 letters of support were sent to the centre thanking them for their support of the campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment of the Constitution, which equates the life of a foetus to that of the mother and sees that anyone who has an abortion in Ireland will spend 14 years in jail.

Dublin City Council claimed the mural was in violation of the Planning and Development Acts and that the mural changes the tone of the street and impacts on the area. If they think a bit of street art is bad they’d want to take a look at how denying bodily autonomy to half the population and treating them like criminals impacts upon people.

Why is DCC handing land over to developers? IHN video seminar explains the land grab

Date: Mon, 2016-07-25 15:45

This Irish Housing Network had a seminar on the land grabs happening on 3 major areas of Dublin at the moment as part of the housing crisis. The seminar was to inform residents and housing campaigners of DCC's plan, and to discuss how we can fight it together.

TDs vote not to allow for abortion in cases of Fatal Foetal Abnormalities

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 15:48

TDs voted against Mick Wallace’s bill July 7th to allow for abortion in cases of Fatal Foetal Abnormalities. This is the second time that TDs have voted this way when Clare Daly’s bill was shot down last year.  The vote comes less than a month after the UN Human Rights Committee declared Ireland’s abortion laws to be a violation of human rights.

60,000 people to be forced on super exploitative jobs scam schemes

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 15:45

Over 60,000 people are to be forced on super exploitative jobs scam schemes by the government. The programme, which has been dubbed as a scam by many, has been outsourced to two privately run recruitment firms. Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar plans to refer 60,000 unemployed to the privately-run Jobs scam scheme in order to force those most hard-pressed by government cuts to be a cheap labour force for business'.

Dublin Pride 2016 Reflections - Queer liberation, not rainbow capitalism

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 15:41

I had mixed feelings attending Pride, but mostly felt bewildered and pissed off. I was looking forward to this year's Pride for quite some time. It was my second ever Pride, and I came to march with the Radical Left Bloc, one of two radical blocs attending, which was organised by others. Like last year, I was shocked – somehow again – by the level of corporate infestation and toothlessness.

Here is an important question for everyone: what's the point of Pride?  From being there, I know clearly that people's answers to this question vary hugely.

Black Lives Matter protests in Ireland

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 11:58

Early July saw Black Lives Matter solidarity protests happen in cities across Ireland, including Cork, Belfast, Galway and two seperate protests on different days in Dublin.

The largest of the Dublin protests was on July 12th when hundreds of people gathered across from the GPO on O'Connell street.  A second protest that Saturday at Central Blank plaza included a march to the GPO.

Kurdish solidarity statement with the Black Lives Matter movement

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 10:52

This is the Kurdish solidarity statement with the Black Lives Matter movement read out by a delegate of Saoirse Jin at the July 12th Dublin protest.‪

Transcript of video
"Thank you.  Saoirse Jin is an Ireland based womens group in solidarity with the Congress of Women’s Freedom, the KJA in Kurdistan which is a pluralist women’s rights movement fighting for the rights of the Kurds and all minorities in Turkey.  And they sent a message of solidarity to this protest. So I’m going to read it for the KJA

Theresa May elected but there can be no such thing as a feminist Tory

Date: Thu, 2016-07-21 10:34

Theresa May has just become the UK’s latest Prime Minister and the second ever woman Prime Minister. She’s certainly a decent orator paired with a comedian of a speech writer who wrote a statement filled with faux concern about making the “UK a country that works for all and not just the privileged few” – it’s as if she thinks we don’t know she’s a member of the privileged-few-loving Conservative Party, or as she reminded us, Conservative and Unionist Party (I’m not sure that’s supposed to make us feel better about the Tories…).

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