Councillors back housing rally

Cork city councillors have formally endorsed the Raise the Roof rally taking place next month recognising that the housing crisis remains the biggest barrier to stability, security, and happiness for far too many people in Cork.

“It’s about recognising that everyone who calls Cork home deserves a home of their own. It’s about acknowledging that housing is not just a market issue—it’s a human rights issue,” said Sinn Féin Cllr Michelle Gould.

With just one vote against the motion, Monday’s city council debate turned heated, as councillors clashed over who is to blame for the housing crisis.

Independent Cllr Albert Deasy suggested that people fleeing war were adding to the problem.

“Did any of the political parties sponsoring this motion call for initiatives to enable repatriation or prioritise the housing needs of Irish citizens? No. It’s a platitude, like we hear here tonight: ‘Everyone who calls Cork home deserves a home.’ This reckless slogan ignores reality. We must prioritise our own citizens.”

Labour Party Cllr John Maher pushed back, saying there are more than enough houses in Ireland.

“There are 184,213 empty houses in this country. That’s enough to house everyone—and we must not forget that. We don’t need division between ‘us and them’ because it gets us nowhere. I’ve been here seven years, and the figures keep going up and up. Four or five years ago, ‘affordable housing’ meant €250,000 to €325,000. That was expensive even then. Today it’s a giveaway.”

His party colleague, Cllr Peter Horgan, argued that scapegoating refugees was not the answer.

“It’s not the refugees fleeing war who are the problem. The problem is the fat cats—the 1% in the suits—up in Dublin, in London, in New York with Trump. They’re the problem, not the families and children escaping war. Cork has always been a safe harbour for ships.”

The division within the chamber was also highlighted by Sinn Féin Cllr Joe Lynch.

“I think members of this council should also take their responsibilities very seriously. We just heard from Cllr Deasy who, to my recollection, has voted against every single Part 8 development that has come before this council for approval. It reeks of hypocrisy when people speak out of both sides of their mouths.”

Fianna Fáil Cllr Colm Kelleher described the rally as political but acknowledged the scale of the housing challenge.

“This has become a political rally, unfortunately built on the real hardship facing our nation and our young people today. To put it in perspective: since Fianna Fáil came into government in 2020, with the housing portfolio, we have delivered over 126,000 new homes across the State. Our population has grown massively over the last 20 years, and the construction industry has not kept pace. We need social housing, we need affordable housing, but we also need private investment—and at the moment, we are lacking private housing.”

Workers’ Party Cllr Ted Tynan blamed privatisation for the crisis.

“The privatisation of house building is what has created the crisis. The only solution is a State construction company.”

Green Party Cllr Oliver Moran pointed to a steep decline in housing activity.

“The last Raise the Roof protest in Cork was in June. What’s happened since then? We’ve seen an 80% fall in housing commencements compared to the same time last year. That’s incredible—an 80% drop in the middle of a housing crisis.”

Social Democrats Cllr Niamh O’Connor highlighted the human cost: “There are about 5,000 homeless children in the country right now. Over 100 of them are in Cork and Kerry. If those aren’t ‘take to the streets’ numbers, I don’t know what are.”

Councillors voted to endorse the Raise the Roof rally and encouraged communities, families, and individuals to join on 4 October, assembling at the Grand Parade at 2.30pm.

The last Raise the Roof rally in Cork took place in June this year, with up to 1,000 people taking to the streets to call for urgent Government action to end homelessness and tackle the housing crisis.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.