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Timberyard Residents Take Their Campaign to the Streets

04/07/10

‘Enough is enough’ was the theme of the protest held by residents from The Timberyard, Cork Street, Dublin 8 outside City Hall on June 14 as councillors entered the building for their monthly meeting.

None of the passing elected representatives stopped to speak with the residents, with the exception of éirígí activist, councillor Louise Minihan. Minihan addressed the gathering of families from the Timberyard, which numbered in the region of 50 people and included some of the mobility challenged residents.

Minihan informed the residents that éirígí had forwarded an emergency motion calling on Dublin City Council to address all of their housing maintenance needs and requirements with immediate effect. Some of these needs, which éirígí has previously highlighted (Timberyard Deserves Better) ranged from basic “snagging” issues such as settlement cracks to more serious concerns such as drainage of both rain water and sewage together with access for emergency vehicles to the development and movement of mobility challenged residents to and from upper levels in apartment blocks.

Residents were relieved to hear Minihan conclude that it was expected that all parties and independents in the Council were likely to support the motion. Residents spoke during the protest of how they had unsuccessfully engaged with Dublin City Council, both as individual tenants and collectively through their residents' group representatives, to have the issues addressed during the course of the past year. Residents’ representatives informed éirígí South-West Inner City representative Damien Ó Fearail how, since the party became involved in the campaign, the local authority and the main contractor had been on site committing to addressing some of the physical building snags.

However, residents’ representative Fran Dempsey informed éirígí that, despite Dublin City Council’s commitments, they had decided to go ahead with their protest to publicise the campaign. Dempsey told éirígí activists that support for the motion was vital to insure that DCC and Townlink make good on their commitments once and for all.

In an appalling turn of events, the hopes of residents were dashed when the emergency motion fell due to the largest party in the council, the Labour Party, failing to support it.

Cllr Minihan spoke with disappointment about the failure of the emergency motion: “The motion was put forward for vote without debate as most of the local area elected representatives were aware of the residents’ problems. All other parties in the chamber supported the motion, so I cannot understand why the Labour Party failed to support it.”

In response, residents’ representatives vowed to step up their campaign for adequate housing.

Ó Fearail spoke of the residents’ anger that their concerns were not considered important to the Labour Party.

He said: “Residents were deeply disappointed when they received news that the éirígí motion had fallen but were stunned when they heard that the reason for its failure was opposition by the Labour Party. Despite this set back, residents are determined to secure their rights as a community. éirígí will continue to support this community and, if the defeat at the Council proves anything, it is that communities are strongest when they are campaigning outside the structures of the state.”

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