Join the People Before Profit Contingent on the National Housing Protest
Wesprzyj naszą pracę na Go Fund Me. Dziękujemy!November 26th 1pm Parnell Square – Organised by Raise the Roof.
Ireland is experiencing its worst crisis ever. The far-right are trying to claim that the country is full. Yet there are 166,000 vacant properties, many of which have not been occupied for years. Their real agenda is to give cover to the rich whose greed has caused this crisis.
Irish landlords are pushing up rents to astronomical levels. Irish developers are accumulating land banks for the sole purpose of pushing up prices so they can make more profit. Irish banks are charging mortgage holders excess interest rates. The wealthy have used parties like Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to make people totally reliant on the private market. These parties have cut back on social housing and now pay out nearly €1 billion a year to private landlords to house those in need.
The housing crisis, therefore, is a direct result of successive right-wing governments. They see housing as an opportunity for profit and have devised policies to boost house prices. So, they invited in vulture funds to buy up €200 billion of Irish property to push up prices.
These policies reflect the interests of the wealthy and privileged. The Irish rich have a love affair with property speculation and their interests are represented by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. There are 80 landlords or landowners in the Dáil and some, like Simon Coveney, have multiple properties.
No one should fall for the lie that we have a housing crisis because of refugees. It began long before the war in Ukraine and is caused by the greed of landlords, bankers and speculators. We should stand up against any racist argument that asylum seekers are to blame.
If you want a detailed fact sheet that counters the lies of the far right, go to https://www.pbp.ie/the-lies-of-the-far-right/
WHAT CAN WE DO?
We can step up the protests, like we did on water charges.
But we need to go further. We need to drive FF and FG out of office and form Ireland’s first left-wing government without their presence.
People Before Profit wants to solve the housing crisis by ending the reliance on the market. Here are three simple measures we advocate.
1 – Full rent controls to reduce rents and provide security of tenure to renters.
2 – Stop the sell-off of public land. Build social housing and create a national construction company tasked with clearing the housing list in five years.
3 – A „Use it or Lose it” scheme whereby vacant properties and sites that are not activated within 6 months without reasonable excuse are acquired by the state.
People Before Profit are hosting a special meeting on the housing crisis next Wednesday, 30th November, in Wynn’s Hotel at 8pm. 
People Before Profit
