PROTEST
Monday May 17th, 1pm
Town Hall, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire
A demonstration will take place at 1pm today (Mon 17th) outside Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council in protest against the eviction of Anne and Christopher Moore and their three children from their Loughlinstown Council home on Friday.
The Moore family were evited by Gardai and Council officials for rent arrears, even though the family had offered an installment arrangment to pay-off the arrears last October and had kept to the arrangment solidly for eight months.
Anne Moore resisted her eviction on Friday by climbing to the top of a ladder leant against the front of the house. Her brave protest resulted in a seven hour stand-off with Gardai. During the protest, huge numbers of neighbours and Loughlinstown residents came out onto the street and pleaded with the Gardai and Council officials not to proceed with the evicvtion.
In a sinister move the Gardai requested a black-out of any live media coverage of the eviction protest, even though large numbers of media correspondents were present. A large number of riot polce were also brought to the scene of the eviction and gardai imposed a crime scene cordon around the entire estate, restricting access of neighbours and members of the public to the eviction scene.
Although evicted the Council have provided no alternative accomodation for the Moore family, who are now scattered staying with different friends and family members.
The Moore family, their friends and neigbours, with the assistance of the People Before Profit Alliance, are holding their protest outside the Council offices today in an effort to secure re-instatment in the home where they have lived for over 16 years and to appeal to the Council to agree a reasonable installment arrangment for the re-payment of the rent arrears.
Thousands of leaflets have been distributed in the Ballybrack/Loughlinstown area over the weekend advertising today’s protest.
Anne Moore will now also speak at the Right To Work protest outside the Dail this Tuesday May 18th at 7.30pm to highlight her plight and appeal to the government to put the interests of ordinary families like their own ahead of that of Bankers and millionaires.
Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett, who was asked by the family to assist them in their camapign said:
"The Council’s action in evicting the Moore family is utterly heartless, unreasonable and stupid. It is absolutely disgusting to turf a family out on the street in this manner just because they fell behind on their rent, particularly when the family have shown over an eight month period a serious willingness to pay-off the arrears and had made regular re-payments.
It is also barbaric that the Council have left the family on the street with no where to go – providing no alternative accomodation. The Moore’s are now homeless and scattered, while their home of 16 years is boarded up – where it will stay empty for months like hundreds of other Council houses across the county.
It is totally outrageous that this sort of eviction of a family can take place when there are literally thousands of empty houses in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown that are now effectively owned by the public through NAMA and the Banks, and the Council itself owns hundreds of affordable homes, which are currently lying empty.
The Moore family accept that they had fallen badly into arrears but they had approached the Council eight months ago, offering to pay the arrears in instalments with some lump sum payments, which would have paid off all the arrears in about 3 years.
The Moore’s made these payments solidly for eight months showing they were serious about paying off the back-rent. But the Council refused to be reasonable, simply demanding “a very big cheque” – knowing full well that the Moore family could not find such a large amount of money.
This heartless act is not just a tragedy for the Moore family, it is a symbol of the sickening injustice in Irish society today.
Billions in public money is now being poured into the Banks whose greed crashed the Irish economy. Bankers like Sean Fingleton walk away with pensions of €27 million despite their crimes.Yet a poor family, who are struggling to make ends meet are thrown out on the streets. Why is it alright to bail-out the bankers who wrecked our country with their greed but not families like the Moores? The double standards are simply staggering.
Because of the greed of Bankers and developers, 300,000 houses now lie empty across the Country; 430,000 people are unemployed; workers wages and social welfare have been slashed; and hundreds of thousands of people are left with huge debts they can’t pay. Is this how we are to treat ordinary people?
The plight of the Moore family demonstrates in the starkest terms not just the inhumanity and injustice of the government’s policies but also their sheer stupidy. It will in the end cost the state more to evict the Moore’s between social welfare, rent allowance payments and lost rental revenue than to leave them in their home. Equally, it will cost the state more to allow people in mortagage arrears have their homes re-possessed, or allow people willing to work rot on the dole. This injustice and stupidity just can’t be allowed to continue."
For more info/confirmation:
Richard Boyd Barrett 086-7814520