Today 8 housing activists from An Spreach Housing Action Committee and from D8HAC were up in court. All 8 were charged with trespassing on the 29th of July 2014 in a vacant flat in Charlemount Street in Dublin’s south inner city. All charges were dismissed by the court. This is a small victory for the housing groups, but the struggle continues it is not the end of the campaign to highlight the homeless and housing crisis.
An Spreach was formed to help highlight the homeless and housing crisis by methods of direct action. In the sort time of An Spreach’s existence it has been involved in helping stop house evictions; banner drops around the city; removed homeless spikes that were erected outside the Department of Social Protection (homeless people were sleeping in the Department’s doorway to try get some protection from the elements (these spikes were made from cement and bolted to the ground to prevent homeless people sleeping there); and An Spreach liberated a vacant flat in the Tom Kelly flat complex in Charlemount Street in Dublin’s south inner city. An Spreach was created by housing activists that were sick and tired of the lack of action and change from politicians and community representatives in trying to combat the problems of the homelessness and the housing crisis.
Parliamentarianism has proven that it cannot solve the crisis and that it doesn’t intend on trying to solve it because governments and parliaments are the protectors of privilege, protecting the privilege of the corrupt criminal elite. People have died on streets because of the cold and lack of shelter, families are having to live in cars, all while there are thousands of empty and vacant buildings scattered all over the country . This system of injustice and inequality cannot be allowed to continue.
The answer will not be solved by the elite from above and there is no quick fix solution. Housing the homeless is one step towards solving the crisis, but problem and the causes goes far deeper than just building more houses. The question has to be asked, why is there a homeless and housing crisis? Why are people homeless?
There are many reasons but it all boils down to social and economic reasons. People can become victims of homelessness because of addiction problems, mental health issues, cannot afford rent, loss of income, etc. Too seriously combat the crisis would take decades, there needs to be debate within society and a plan created, it will take nothing less than a revolution in society to solve. No amount of reforms to the system can solve the crisis because the problem is the system, capitalism. Capitalism is a disease on society, homelessness and poverty are symptoms.
source: http://www.wsm.ie/c/housing-activists-cases-dismissed-court
