Evictions Cannot be Tolerated and Must be Opposed

By AM Tuesday, September 23, 2014

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Statement from the Tomas Allen Society, Meath. It featured on the website of the 1916 Societies.

Eviction Targets

On Friday 12th September members of anti-eviction groups The Land League, Meath Anti-eviction Ireland and The Tomas Allen 1916 Society took over a home and removed a security guard who was guarding the property.

The property in Castleknock, Dublin was at the centre of an eviction of an elderly couple, Martin and Violet Coyne, ahead of a court hearing. Martin (73) and Violet (61) were evicted from their home on August 27th by the Dublin sheriff and thugs from a security company, Security Partners of Derryguile, Mountmellic, Co. Laois – owned by Michael and John McDonald. On the morning of the eviction Martin and Violet were forcibly removed by Security Partners’ chief thug Gerry Murray, they were dragged out onto the street at 7.15am, Violet was still in her nightclothes and was not allowed back in to dress, while Martin barely had time to pull on his trousers and had to borrow a jacket from neighbours as he stood in the cold. The couple came to national attention as a result of the eviction and having to attend court in their pyjamas.

The case centred on a repossession order instigated by ACC Bank because the owner of the property was placed in receivership in 2012 by the bank and they now want to sell the property. Martin and Violet had refused to comply with the eviction order obtained by the bank because they had nowhere else to go and were due in court later that morning to appeal the order. Martin and Violet rented the property they called home for 15 years, never missing a payment. This case highlights the lack of rights of citizens in rental accommodation and also highlights the shortage of affordable housing in Dublin and other parts of the state.

The failure of successive governments to build affordable social housing for citizens is yet again fuelling a property bubble in Dublin and other areas. With tens of thousands of families on waiting lists for social housing and with up to 60,000 families facing eviction the homeless crisis is set to explode. At no time did Martin and Violet enter the property as they are under threat of jail from the court order, this action was taken to highlight the injustice of this eviction and to show the banks and the establishment who collude with them that we will not tolerate this treatment of our citizens. We have since discovered that Martin and Violets personal property, including thousands of euro worth of power tools, fishing gear, digital cameras etc. have been stolen from the property by the security thugs.

The occupation of the home and subsequent stand off with over 20 Gardai and 6 security thugs lasted for over 8 hours when at around 3 o’clock the Gardai smashed the back door in with a battering ram and arrested the activists on the charge of criminal trespass. All the activists were taken to Blanchardstown Garda station but released within the hour.

All this in a week that saw one of the chief architects of the financial meltdown, former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Sean Fitzpatrick, granted free legal aid by the state. Martin and Violet Coyne were not afforded the same privilege. The thousands of Irish families fighting to save their homes in the BAR (British Accredited Registry) courts, standing alone without legal representation in front of Masonic judges who’s brief is to defend the corrupt banking institutions at all costs, shows clearly the two-tiered system of justice in place in this state – where the rich must be protected at all costs while the poor are abandoned and thrown to the wolves.

This terrible indictment of society in Ireland today highlights the pressing need for a new republic which guarantees equal treatment for all its citizens without regard to position or status. We will continue to highlight these injustices and to stop evictions in Ireland, just as we continue to press and make the argument for a 32-county Irish republic capable of addressing the needs of all who live in this country as opposed to those of a select few.