2 days ago
Protesters from across island take part in housing rally
Around 2,000 people are marching down O'Connell Street in protest against the Government's housing policies.
Led by CATU, the Community Action Tenants Union, they are calling on the Government to provide more social housing, to build more affordable homes and to reintroduce an eviction ban to help tenants.
The protesters have travelled from all over the island of Ireland, and are calling on both the Dáil and Stormont to immediately implement a number of measures to protect people in the 32 counties from homelessness.
Hundreds are waving flags and carrying banners and are representing groups from many different counties.
One woman carrying a loudspeaker shouted, "When housing rights are under attack", while the crowd chanted in response, "stand up, fight back".
There are representatives from the Traveller community who say Traveller accommodation is unsuitable for many of them and that they are disproportionately represented within the homelessness figures.
They said they are protesting today to highlight what they say are "decades of neglect" with many Traveller families living in unacceptable conditions.
The Traveller community representatives said that people are living without adequate sanitation, maintenance, or access to safe, secure or culturally appropriate homes.
The protesters will gather at Molesworth Street to listen to speeches and call for further Government intervention in the housing crisis.
