IRSP activists in the Lower Springfield Road/Mid-Falls Road area tonight carried on the the latest phase in the Housing Campaign by identifying empty properties that could be used to house homeless families. The Lower Springfield/Mid Falls Road area of Belfast is one where little effort has been made to provide public housing for the thousands of families and single people currently on housing waiting lists. Compounding the problem further is the blight of private landlords who rent out sub-standard housing to desperate families, refuse to carry out much needed repairs while reaping in a fortune in Housing Benefit payments. Many private landlords prefer to keep their properties empty until such times as the Irish housing market improves and they can reap further profits.
In Ireland today, 100,000 families are on public housing waiting lists, yet there are an estimate 350,000 empty properties! Tonight over 5,000 people will be sleeping rough on Irish streets! The Irish Republican Socialist Party will continue to highlight this scandal and unapologetically fight for the people of ‘no property!’
