Recently in Ireland, there are almost no available homes to rent throughout the country and those finding houses must pay very high prices to get a shelter.
The housing crisis in Ireland is not a new thing. The average rent fee is €1,567, almost 12% more than last year’s fee €1,400.Unaffordable rent prices and a lack of housing have been a growing problem in Ireland for years, and has greatly affected not only students, but also everybody.
After the war in Ukraine, refugees coming to Ireland worsened the existing issue, resulting in increase in rental fees. Ireland has been struggling with housing its own citizens for years. Ireland has been home to 21,000 refugees from Ukraine so far. The number of refugees is expected to increase to 200,000.
Student are sleeping on couches, lucky ones live in packed rooms with many roommates, creating inhumane living conditions. Most of them are being forced to live in much smaller rooms with more people by their landowners. Some of them defer their programmes due to lack of accommodation.
According to the Residential Buildings Report, there were 90,158 vacant dwellings throughout the State in 2021, which is a huge number to house those are in need of accommodation. So far nothing has been done to restore and give these vacant houses to people.
A bunch of people from a variety of left-leaning movements just came together and acquired a vacant A bunch of people from a variety of left-leaning movements, most of them associated with the Revolutionary Workers Union, and a socialist republican organisation, took over the building, a former youth hostel, on 1 May. On social media, the activists named themselves after a leading figure of Irish history James Connoly, drawing attention to the housing crisis and vacant houses
Activists put a banner on the building, calling for an immediate action on the housing crisis. While the government cannot find an efficient solution for the issue, people seem to have found their own way. Activists also set up stalls front of the building explaining the reason of acquisition.
