Republican Bloc Joins the National Housing Demonstration
On Saturday the 5th of July, the Republican Bloc marched with thousands of others at the National Housing Demonstration, which was organised by the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU). Éirígí activists and members of the 1916 Societies marched behind a joint Universal Public Housing banner, whilst carrying dozens of tricolours.
The core demands of the demonstration included calling for an outright ban on the ownership of Irish housing by vulture landlords, and the creation of a new system of Universal Public Housing. These particular demands are central to ending the housing crisis once and for all. Éirígí have been to the fore on both of these issues through our Vultures Out! and UP Housing campaigns.
Éirígí has been campaigning against the vulture takeover of Irish housing for a number of years now by organising the pushback against the vulture landlords on the ground, and exposing the scale of the takeover through the Track The Vultures map project.
We have also consistently called for the building of universally accessible public housing for nearly two decades. We hold that housing is a fundamental human right, not a commodity to be shaped by the whims of the private market!
The government and main opposition parties would have us believe that vulture landlords have a role to play in ending the crisis. In reality, they are a fundamental part of the crisis - predators profiting off of human need!
Éirígí fundamentally rejects this failed logic! We are demanding an outright ban on the corporate ownership of housing, and the creation of an entirely new system of Universal Public Housing.
A system where rent is linked to income.
Where long-term security of tenure is guaranteed.
And which is open to all, regardless of income.
This is what housing justice looks like!
We commend CATU for their work in organising this demonstration. Those in attendance on the Republican Bloc are committed to working with like-minded individuals and organisations to build a large, vibrant movement that will deliver housing justice.
Winning this fight will take more than one protest however, it will need everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel, putting the work in their communities, helping to build popular support for Universal Public Housing.
Are you sick of the housing crisis? Play your part in ending it! Join the fight for housing justice and For A New Republic - Join Éirígí!
Full credit to Jana Bulochova (@bylo_photography on Instagram) for sending on the photographs.
