‘We want an opportunity to get on with our lives' –Raise the Roof rally demands new approach to housing
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Dáil to protest the Government's housing policy, which Opposition TDs said has left renters struggling and thousands homeless.
The crowd gathered for the Raise the Roof rally heard how some tenants are paying rents of up to €2,000 each month for their accommodation, while some apartments are advertised for as much as €4,000 a month.
Others have been living into their 30s and 40s in their childhood bedrooms or in hidden homelessness, while a record 15,580 people were living in emergency accommodation in April, protestors heard.
Speaking to the crowd outside Leinster House, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the message for the Government from the rally is: 'The game is up, the people are at the gate.'
Dubliner Eoin Hogan (33) said the housing crisis is stalling life for the younger generation as major milestones are 'being pushed back' due to difficulties faced in renting and buying a home.
"If I wanted to move in with my girlfriend, it's incredibly difficult to find a place, it's incredibly expensive if you want to buy you own home and have kids, everything is getting pushed back and pushed back,' he told the Irish Independent.
"We just want an equal opportunity to get on with our lives. I know many people who have moved to Australia, moved abroad. Something needs to be done.'
Louis Fallon (31) said 'everything' in renters lives are impacted by the struggle to find affordable accommodation.
"When I was back in college, it was €400 in Monkstown ten years ago for a single bedroom. Now, in Dublin, it's like €700 to €800. If I lost the room I had now, I wouldn't be able to afford it. I'd be back home with my parents. It affects everything in your life – education, relationships,' he said.
Protestors held party political flags, banners representing trade unions and signs with slogans such as 'housing is a human right', 'rent is too damn high' and 'dereliction is a social crime'.
"I'm 30 years of age and I live with my parents because we're saving for a house,' said Stobie (30), who is from Dublin.
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"Myself and my partner were renting in separate apartments for a couple of years but it's just not viable to live independently and save for a house – it's either one or the other and I don't think that should be the way life is.'
Faye White (31) said the housing crisis 'has been getting worse, rather than better' in recent years as she said the new legislation around Rent Pressure Zones are 'not good enough' to make a difference for renters.
"I have rented myself, I've been lucky enough and I will be able to hopefully get a mortgage and buy a home, the only reason is because my partner's family own the home. I would not even be able to think about getting a mortgage or look to buy a home if I wasn't in that very privileged situation.'
Ms McDonald said the Government 'must be faced down' on housing, telling protestors that it is 'shameful' that so many children 'call a hostel or a B&B home', while People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said rising rents have become policy.
"We cannot wait for over 20,000 people to be homeless, and that's where we'll be by the next election if things keep going. We can't wait for average rent in Dublin to go well beyond €3,000 a month,' he said.
"We can't wait while house prices continue to rise at a record rate. We have to stop them now with protests like this.'
Labour leader Ivana Bacik accused the Government of U-turns and 'terrible' housing policies, while Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne said the 'biggest barrier and blockage to housing in this country is behind us, and it's called Fianna Fail and Fine Gael'.
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