WP on the March, Against Evictions
On Saturday 10th May, housing campaigners and community groups marched in Belfast calling for an end to evictions. Protestors marched from Dunville Park on the Falls Road, along the Grosvenor Road, before gathering at Belfast City Hall. The march was endorsed by several community groups, and political parties including the Workers Party.
Speaking ahead of the demonstration Hannah Gibson from Community Action Tenants' Union (CATU) said the protest would "shine a light on the destructive impact of evictions on tenants, their families and the wider community".
When asked why the Workers Party was joining the protest, Tony Dorrian, South Belfast Representative, said, "housing is about much more than bricks and mortar, good quality, affordable housing has a significant bearing on our health, our wellbeing, our life chances and our jobs prospects. Yet, under the capitalist economy, it is treated as a commodity, it is even called ‘a housing market’ and this human right is exploited as yet another opportunity to accumulate capital and make profit for the few.
"The capitalist system has failed to guarantee the construction and maintenance of acceptable and affordable housing. The Workers Party policy is that a state construction body should be set up to build good quality homes that are built and allocated on objective need. This would also provide a significant boost to the creation of sustainable well-paid employment."
Tony continued, “the state has a clear responsibility to all its citizens to ensure that, not only is housing provided, but that it is accessible, affordable, of high quality and meets the physical, emotional and recreational needs of the population.
"In our submission on housing to the so-called Programme for Government the Workers Party expressed our criticism of the vague references to ‘new funding models for the delivery of more affordable housing’ in a document that was short on strategy or indeed any definite outcomes.
"The housing crisis demands an immediate building of public housing an immediate cap on rents in the private rental sector; the ending of no-fault evictions and a comprehensive and credible plan to deal with homelessness. Tony concluded the Workers Party fully supports the call to End Evictions Now.