Recent Take Back the City protests and occupations and planned national housing demonstrations are the result of the total failure of Government policy to resolve the daily worsening housing crisis.

Government policy for seven years has been to champion the interests of property speculators, landlords, and vulture funds and this policy was continued in Government plans such as the Land Development Agency, Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, and Housing Building Finance Agency.

The use of paramilitary-style policing tactics, the use of balaclavas leading to the hospitalisation of a number of peaceful protesters, is very sinister.

The protesters were not protesting for the sake of it but were driven by intense frustration at the failure of Government policy to stem the deepening crisis and a clear set of demands which include:

An emergency programme to build public housing on public land;

Stop selling public land to private developers;

Stop land and property hoarding by the councils using powers to take over hoarded property;

Stop economic evictions into homelessness;

Establish a constitutional right to secure and affordable housing.

The Land Development Agency is just the latest in a long line of failed policies from Nama, section 110 tax breaks, LIHAF, HBFI, which all involve handing billions worth of land property and public cash to speculators and developers to make obscene fortunes while the housing crisis just gets worse and worse and worse.

Rather than using paramilitary-style policing against peaceful protesters, the Government should recognise that their policies are failing and listen to the demands of the protesters, and publicly call for the spurious charges levelled at entirely peaceful housing protesters to be dropped.

-Richard Boyd Barrett

TD, People before Profit