Éirígí Gaillimh Take To The Streets To Fight For UP Housing
On Saturday the 28th September, Éirígí activists took to the streets of Galway to promote our UP Housing campaign. Our activists unfurled a banner and set up a stall, collecting signatures calling on Galway City Council and the Land Development Agency to build UP Housing on Galway’s public land.
Speaking from Eyre Square, Éirígí Galway representative, Ian Ó Dálaigh, said,
“We are in the midst of the worst housing crisis in generations - the effects of which are felt very sharply here in Galway.
Ever-rising levels of homelessness, an ever-increasing social housing list, and a total lack of public housing being built; that is the reality of the housing crisis. A crisis caused by a fanatical belief in the private sector and profit-driven economics!
It’s time for different choices to be made. It’s time to prioritise the needs of the people over the greed of the property vultures. It’s time to end the reign of the developers, bankers, landlords and their political fixers. It’s time for Universal Public Housing!
Ó Dálaigh continued,
We gathered here today to promote UP Housing - the ONLY long-term solution to the housing crisis. We unfurled a banner, handed out hundreds of information leaflets, and gathered hundreds of signatures for our UP Housing petition. You can also sign this petition online.
The petition is calling on Galway City Council and the LDA to use the city’s public land to deliver UP Housing. The LDA have plans in place for three ‘projects’ on public land banks - one on the Dyke Road, one on the Sandy Road, and one at the Docks.
In total, these three sites have the potential to deliver around 1,200 new housing units. This would go some way towards reducing the impact of the housing crisis in Galway - but only if these homes are in permanent public ownership!
Ó Dálaigh concluded,
This type of action is a key part of how we build popular support for the idea of UP Housing. The battle for housing justice will be won through organising in our communities - organising to challenge the establishment’s narrative, and promoting alternative ideas.
I would strongly encourage the people of Galway to get involved 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 the fight for housing justice and For A New Republic. Now is the time to join Éirígí.