Labour TD calls housing crisis 'a national scandal' as protest takes place in Cork today
A TD SAYS the housing crisis is a 'national scandal' affecting young and old ahead of a housing rally taking place in Cork city later this afternoon.
An 'All Out for Housing' rally is taking place at the National Monument on Grand Parade at 2pm, as political parties try to mount a public campaign on the issue.
Labour TD Eoghan Kenny noted that the average rent in Cork city is now over €2,200 per month, adding that people are at risk of being 'squeezed out' of the private rental sector into homelessness.
The 25-year-old Kenny, who was elected to the Dáil for the first time last year at the general election, said the issue affects various groups in different ways.
Earlier this week
, hundreds of people gathered for a rally outside Leinster House calling for urgent government action on the housing crisis.
A
challenge facing campaigners
is how to capture the public mood in a way that could mobilise similar numbers to the water charges protests or the 'Repeal the 8th' movements of the past decade.
Advertisement
'It's difficult to capture every single group and personal story that you have come across, because there's so many different ones,' Kenny told
The Journal
.
'I suppose the main focus is on the issue of policy – ultimately, the policies of the two main government parties that have been in power for the best part of ten years and the fact that homelessness figures are only increasing, house prices are only increasing,' Kenny said.
'From a very personal point of view on, I'm 25 living at home with my grandmother. Albeit the fact that I'm on a good wage now, the reality for me is over the next five years or so, until I'm at least 30, I probably won't be able to move out home, and that's a difficult position for me to be in.'
The 'Raise the Roof' protest in Dublin this week was coordinated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Today's rally is also organised by the Raise the Roof coalition and Kenny hopes that it will help get people out on the streets.
'During the week of 21-27 April of this year, 888 men, women and children were depending on emergency accommodation in Cork and Kerry, 193 of whom were children,' he said.
'We know that it is people squeezed out of the private rental sector who are most vulnerable to entering homelessness. It's a national scandal.'
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
6 hours ago
- The Journal
Donegal's newest TD: 'My house will not be standing in six years' time'
DONEGAL'S NEWEST TD Charles Ward lives in a house that is crumbling. Towels are stuffed along the windows in his sitting room because every time it rains, it floods. The wallpaper in the same room is peeling from the walls, and in the corner where the walls meet the ceiling, damp and mould have led to the plaster collapsing in. Large cracks run along the walls of his children's bedroom. Ward, who was elected as a TD for the 100% Redress Party in last year's general election, tells The Journal that it was extremely difficult for him to publicly reveal the conditions of his home. In a video posted to the party's Facebook page ahead of the election, Ward walks through the house he built and shares with his wife Angela and their four children, showing the scale of the damage caused by defective blocks. The Journal / YouTube 'There are people up here who don't have a clue,' Ward says over a coffee in Leinster House. 'There are people up here who probably haven't ever looked at that video of my house and realised, 'Oh, my God, you live in conditions like this'. 'I live like that, but there's tens of thousands of other people that are living in the exact same conditions, and I have a responsibility to try and get this sorted. I am aware of that responsibility and I take it very seriously,' Ward says. For Ward and his family, the existing government scheme for people impacted by the defective blocks scandal does not work for their home. 'I was given the wrong engineering solution. 'For me, per square metre to rebuild my house, I'd have to come up with nearly €200,000. I'm nearly 50. That's not going to happen. With the majority of people in Donegal [impacted by defective blocks] that's not going to happen,' Ward says. In his view, the situation in Donegal is a humanitarian crisis that has largely been forgotten about by the rest of the country, with families left to deal with the stress and trauma on their own. 'My house will not be standing in six or seven years time. 'I have four children living in a house with bison slabs. It's unsafe, but I'm one of thousands that are in the exact same position,' he says. Advertisement It was because of this that Ward entered politics, something he never intended to do. Before becoming a TD, Ward was a healthcare assistant in a nursing home where he worked nights full-time so he could be a stay-at-home dad during the day. His entry into politics was fast, having been approached by 100% Redress just shortly before the local elections in 2024. Charles Ward (R) signing the Dáil register with clerk Peter Finnegan The party won four seats in that election, but Ward was unsuccessful and left 'deflated'. Despite this, he was chosen to be the party's sole candidate for the general election six months later and managed to take the fourth seat in the five-seater constituency with an impressive 6,862 first preference votes. Now, as leader of the 100% Redress Party, he is adjusting to life in Leinster House, where he intends to keep the pressure on the Government to improve the existing defective block scheme. 'I believe I will have a better scheme in place than what is currently in place at the moment,' he says. Asked what his other top priorities are for the people of Donegal, Ward says, next to housing, it is to make sure that the county gets a surgical hub in Letterkenny. Under current plans, Sligo University Hospital is the preferred option for a hub for the North West of the country, with no consideration being given to Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH). This is despite a significant campaign from staff in LUH, some of whom recently met with the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. 'I can understand there's a frustration going on between LUH and Sligo, where they both need surgical hubs. 'My take on it is, why do we not just go ahead and put two surgical hubs in. It will save the exchequer millions in the long run, it'll actually be one of the best investments that we do for the North West region, because the North West region in total is underutilised, and it's underfunded,' Ward says. Asked about the longer-term plan for his party, Ward says: 'In Donegal a year ago we had just come into existence, now we are the third biggest party in Donegal. We have to be there long-term.' 'I believe that we can do similarly again in other places at local and national level. 'The thing about the 100% Redress Party is we come from all forms and all demographics, we're inclusive. We're ordinary people who had to form because we felt we weren't getting any answers politically.' 'Unfortunately, the circumstances we find ourselves in is that we had to take this path, because I felt that the people in Donegal were getting a raw deal. I still feel we're getting a raw deal, but I have faith and I have hope, and that's the main thing.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Up to 1,000 people partake in Raise the Roof rally in Cork
Up to 1,000 people took to the streets of Cork this afternoon calling for urgent Government action to end homelessness and the housing crisis. The rally, under the umbrella of the Raise the Roof campaign, followed last Tuesday's protest outside the Dáil in Dublin. The national campaign is organised by a coalition of trade unions and Opposition political parties. Among the unions present were SIPTU, Fórsa, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Community Action Tenants Union. Joe Kelly of the Cork Council of Trade Unions said it was great to see people coming out in force to demand that there is a change to the housing policy of the Government. "People are very angry. We have workers on all sides of the economy and they are just priced out of housing. People have good jobs and they still can't a roof over their head," he said. TDs and councillors from Sinn Féín, the Green Party, the Labour Party and the Social Democtrats marched as did members of People Before Profit, the Socialist Party, the Irish Traveller Movement and Derelict Ireland. Jude Sherry and Frank O'Connor of Derelict Ireland carried a banner showing dozens of photographs of derelict homes from across the country. Ms Sherry said: "The whole of the country is crumbling. Every town, village and city has vacant and derelict properties in it. "So we have enough homes in Ireland to meet the emergency of getting everyone a home, even just the amount of council homes in the country is enough to ensure there is no child in emergency accommodation or going without a home." Labour Senator Laura Harmon said the State has to step in to build houses. "Something absolutely has to be done, we are losing teachers, gardaí, nurses, key workers from this country because of the housing crisis. I believe the housing crisis is the biggest threat to our economy here in Ireland, we need to treat it like an emergency," she said. Social Demoncrats TD Pádraig Rice said their message is that the Government's housing policy have failed and they need to change, while Sinn Féin's Thomas Gould said the clear message from today's rally is that "we need homes, and we need them now".
Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
More than 1,000 march in Cork City to demand urgent action on housing crisis
More than 1,000 people marched in Cork City today, demanding that the government urgently address the housing crisis. The rally followed news that new home construction is at a 10-year low, while rental prices continue to climb beyond the reach of many. The 'Raise the Roof' protest was organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) along with left-wing political parties. Aileen Murphy, a pensioner from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, said she used her free travel pass to attend the march. 'I have the bus pass, so it didn't cost me anything, but I felt I had to be here because I'm worried about the younger generation ever having a home of their own. I'm lucky I have. But if I was stating out today it might be a very different story. We have to worry about the future generation,' she said. Raise the Roof protest macrh against government housing policy at Grand Parade Cork City. on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Larry Cummins Sean Norberd, from Freemount on the Cork/Limerick border, said he came to support young people struggling to find homes, including nurses. Theresa Mehegan from Kanturk said her son has saved a house deposit but can't buy a home due to lack of supply and high demand. He's currently renting shared accommodation in Cork City, but wants to live independently. However, she said he can't afford to do so with the sky-high rents currently being asked. 'Michael Martin would want to stop and think about the damage he's doing to those who can't get their own home,' Ms Mehegan said. Protestors highlight #DERELICT IRELAND at the Raise the Roof protest march against government housing policy at Grand Parade Cork City on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Larry Cummins Amy Lynch from Carrigaline said attendees were sending a message that the government 'can't turn a blind eye anymore' to the housing crisis. Her friend Sarah Murray-Fitzgerald from Bishopstown, attending her first protest, said the housing situation 'is making it hard for young people to survive.' Protesters gathered at the National Monument on Grand Parade at 2pm, but the event was delayed by 20 minutes as some attendees had also joined a separate rally in the city supporting Palestinians. Crowds attending the Raise the Roof protest march against government housing policy at Grand Parade Cork City on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Larry Cummins ICTU's Paul Gavin said many workers now face retiring without owning a home and paying high rents on a meagre pension. He criticised the consistent failure of successive governments to build public housing on public land. Mr Gavin proposed immediate solutions, including restoring the Tenant-In-Situ scheme and imposing an effective tax on owners of vacant or derelict properties to encourage refurbishment. 'There are tens of thousands of these properties across the country that could be brought back into use,' he said. Musician and activist Martin Leahy performs for the crowds at the 'Raise the Roof' protest march against government housing policy at Grand Parade Cork City on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Larry Cummins Fórsa trade union campaigns officer Kevin Donoghue called the housing crisis the 'number one social issue' for union members. He argued the only real solution is to give local authorities the funding and authority to build sufficient social, affordable, and cost-rental housing. Labour TD for Cork North Central Eoghan Kenny described the situation as 'completely unacceptable,' noting that 15,000 people — 5,000 of them children — are homeless. 'Governments have ignored the crisis for over a decade. What is needed now is a State-run construction company as private developers hold the monopoly on house-building,' Mr Kenny said. STOP BLAMING MIGRANTS poster at the Raise the Roof protest march against government housing policy at Grand Parade Cork City on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Larry Cummins Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for the same constituency, said protestors were putting pressure on Taoiseach and "Corkman Micheál Martin" to act. 'There are too many boarded up houses all over the place. There are three generations living together in overcrowded houses because there are not enough being built. All the groups represented at this protest are here to highlight solutions,' he said. Currently, there are more than 300 vacant council houses in Cork City. Protesters later marched a short distance to Cornmarket Street, where more speakers addressed the crowd. The event also featured live music from legendary Cork singer-songwriter John Spillane.
