75-year-old, Tom Roche, from Tullamore is facing eviction from his house because of a vulture fund.
Tom’s trouble started way back in 2008 when funding for the Just Forests organisation was cut and he was left without a job. Up to this he had been a prominent development educator (DE) and facilitated over 600 workshops at primary, post-primary and third-level schools around Ireland, including a four-week sojourn at Dublin Zoo. He also developed the first responsible timber procurement policy for Local Authorities. Tom is the founder and spokesperson for Just Forestswhich campaigned for sustainable forest development. As Ireland has such low forest cover, we are major timber importers from all continents. Just Forests had a particular focus on Ireland’s role in global deforestation.
Meanwhile, most of those who caused the banking crisis walked free. Greedy bankers had sought to borrow as much as they could from international capital markets to fuel a housing boom. When it all collapsed, they went cap and hand to the government looking for a ‘re-capitalisation’.
They got a staggering €64 billion from Irish taxpayers.
Far from showing the slightest sign of gratitude, the same bankers tried to fleece 40,000 customers who they wrongly removed from tracker mortgages and put them on a higher interest rate. People lost their homes as a result.
But none of the bankers were sent to jail for their criminal activity.
Tom Roche, however, has been sentenced to a lifetime of suffering from stress, worry , sleepless nights, and loss of human dignity because of iCARE and the activities of one of these banks, PTSB.
To add to the irony of the situation, PTSB is actually a majority state owned bank. The state owns 57% of the shares.
Tom has made every effort to come to terms with this bank. He went to a Personal Insolvency Practitioner to try to reach a settlement.
Then he joined a state-backed Mortgage to Rent scheme and was willing to sign away the ownership of this house to the housing association iCARE when he died.
However, iCARE has pulled out of the scheme and so PTSB told Tom that they are selling his house to a vulture fund. To increase the value of their sale, they are telling Tom to leave his own home. They have sent him a letter to say they are taking possession of the house.
It is a disgraceful way to treat anyone.
However, Tom is taking none of this but has embarked on a campaign of protest, starting outside the PTSB office in Tullamore at 11am on Monday 19th August. He will then stage protests at PTSB branches in Mullingar, Athlone, Longford, Portlaoise, Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick each Monday thereafter at the same time, 11:00am – 12:30pm.
He is inviting anyone in these areas to join him.
