"Now Is The Time To Join The Fight For Housing Justice In Galway" - Ian Ó Dálaigh
Ian Ó Dálaigh has called on those most affected by the housing crisis in Galway to join the fight for housing justice in the city. The Éirígí For A New Republic spokesperson was speaking at an Éirígí protest at the site of a proposed large Build-To-Rent development that recently received planning permission from An Bord Pleanála. Ó Dálaigh said,
“We are here today to protest against the growth of vulture-landlord-owned housing in Galway City. This particular site off the Lough Atalia Road in the heart of the city recently received planning permission for a new development of over 200 Build-To-Rent homes.
Build-To-Rent homes cannot legally be sold to owner-occupiers for a minimum of fifteen years. During that time they can only be used as rental properties and must be owned by a single vulture landlord.
Éirígí activists protest on the site of the proposed Augustine Hill Build-To-Rent development close to Eyre Square in Galway City Centre (16th May, 2022)
Not of this has happened by accident. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens have all played their part by changing the state’s housing policies, planning rules and taxation system to encourage the vulture takeover of housing.
As things stand there are only a couple of these large scale vulture-landlord-owned developments underway in Galway, but that is all going to change over the next couple of years if the political establishment and the vultures get their way.
We only need to look at Dublin, where the vultures are on track to own tens of thousands of homes, to see what is coming down the tracks for Galway. We simply cannot allow that to happen.
A single vulture landlord, the Comer Group, already own more than one percent of the housing in Galway. The Comers will be joined by many other vulture landlords in the coming years unless more people join the fight for housing justice!
A previous ‘Vultures Out!’ protest on Eyre Square in May 2021. Éirígí has been leading the pushback against the vulture takeover of housing in Galway for several years
There are many thousands of people who are directly affected by the housing crisis in Galway City and the surrounding area - people on the social housing waiting list, people trapped paying extortionate rents in the private rental sector, adults stuck living in their parents homes and many others.
These thousands of people and their families have huge latent political strength - enough political strength to effectively push back against the vulture landlords and their gombeen political fixers.
I am asking those who are directly affected by the housing crisis in Galway to become active in the fight for housing justice and to fight for their own futures instead of leaving it to others to fight on their behalf.
The fight for housing justice is winnable but only if large numbers of people join it. Éirígí Gaillimh has been to the fore of the fight against the vulture landlords and for Universal Public Housing for several years. Now is time to join fight for housing justice and For A New Republic. Now is the time to join Éirígí.”