• 0Shopping Cart
Community Work Ireland

  • About
    • What We Do
    • CWI Values
    • Our Team
    • Governance
  • Working Groups & Networks
  • Resources
    • What is Community Work
    • Resources
  • News & Events
  • Join
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

News

CWI Support for the Raise the Roof Campaign

News
Download the Statement

Civil Society Organisations call for public support for Wednesday’s Leinster House Lunchtime Rally

‘Raise the Roof’ to coincide with opposition party motion on the Housing Crisis in the Dáil.

A wide range of Civil Society Organisations have come together urging support for the campaign to demand action on the housing crisis.  A lunchtime rally (12.30-2pm) has been organised for Leinster House tomorrow, Wednesday, with a new direction in housing badly needed, ‘Raise the Roof’.

Across all areas of our society there is suffering because of the housing and homeless crisis. There are almost 4,000 children homeless, the thousands of parents trying to send their children to college are impacted, as are women experiencing abuse and seeking to leave a dangerous situation, as are those who might experience a temporary loss of employment, and couples wanting to start a family.

Threshold’s John Mark McCafferty explained: “We see tenants accepting unsuitable, unaffordable properties as there are less and less properties on the market. All the while, rents are rising. This negatively impacts their health, well-being, dignity and ability to afford an acceptable standard of living. Those that can no longer afford the rents or compete in the market face homelessness and uncertainty.”

Margaret Martin, Director of Women’s Aid said: “The housing crisis is having a serious impact for women and children affected by domestic abuse.  The lack of affordable and social housing, coupled with the dearth of affordable rental properties means that there are women calling our Helpline who are forced to sleep in cars. Some find themselves on sofas at the homes of family.”

Brid O’Brien of The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed added: “A lack of affordable and accessible options; uncertainty of tenure; delays in official supports coming on stream impacting access to what options there are. Landlords looking for work references have particular implications for people who are unemployed, and in particular for those who are long-term unemployed or may not have yet started their first job. It leaves people in an impossible cycle, as trying to get work without an address is challenging, while trying to get a home without a job is now more challenging”

Community Work Ireland’s Rachel Doyle said: “The housing crisis is affecting whole communities throughout Ireland and particularly those who experience the highest levels of poverty, inequality and social exclusion including Travellers, migrants, lone parents. Provision of appropriate, sustainable and quality housing and accommodation are central to the realisation of social, cultural and economic rights. Collective responses to this issue are key to empowering communities and ensuring that the voices of those directly affected by the issues are heard and that housing and accommodation rights in Ireland are realised as a matter of urgency.”

Paul Ginnell of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) said: “The housing crisis, and the inability to effectively address it, has the worst impact on those with the lowest incomes and living in poverty. Those 10,000 adults and children who are now homeless, and those on the margins of it, are experiencing tremendous damage to their wellbeing. The Government must now act decisively to rapidly deliver on adequate levels of affordable and social housing. It should also move to enshrine the right to housing in our constitution.”

Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council said: “At present, hundreds of people with refugee status, who have already spent protracted periods of time in the asylum process, are unable to move out of Direct Provision because of the lack of affordable rental accommodation. There is considerable solidarity on the ground amongst people, organisations and community groups, which is what’s needed – a united front to pressure the Government to properly respond to this crisis.”

Bernard Joyce Director of The Irish Traveller Movement said: “We need a shift in national policy and call this for what, it is, a national emergency housing crisis, the mechanism to deliver a home for Travellers has failed both our Community and the Irish State. We have put forward clear proposals to address the accommodation crisis facing our community. Travellers account for 4,460 people in overcrowded halting sites and in standard housing, 585 families living in unauthorised halting sites and a further 517 individual Travellers are homeless, eleven times the number for the general population.”

Martin Collins of Pavee Point said: “Overcrowding is a major issue for Travellers as the community struggles to cope with the lack of accommodation.  People ring us who have been on accommodation waiting lists for 10 and 15 years and are despairing. Living conditions impact on health – especially mental health and the Traveller community experiences a suicide rate that is six times the national average.”

For further information click here https://www.ictu.ie/raisetheroof

The NGO supporters include: Threshold, Women’s Aid, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, Community Work Ireland, European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland, Independent Living Movement Ireland, Irish Refugee Council, Irish Traveller Movement, ATD Forth World, Barnardos, Pavee Point, Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, Extern, National Youth Council of Ireland, Simon Communities of Ireland and Focus Ireland    

October 2, 2018
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://i0.wp.com/www.cwi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Raise-the-Roof-Campaign.jpg?fit=1500%2C1252&ssl=1 1252 1500 Ann Irwin https://www.cwi.ie/wp-content/themes/Master/images/cwi-logo-789.png Ann Irwin2018-10-02 16:49:092021-06-04 11:11:12CWI Support for the Raise the Roof Campaign

All Resources

All News & Events

Join CWI

News

  • Join the Team
    Join the Team
  • Values and Principles for Collaboration
    Values and Principles for Collaboration
  • Budget 2023 – Pre Budget Submission
    Budget 2023 – Pre Budget Submission
  • CWI AGM 2022
    CWI AGM 2022
  • Social Inclusion Forum 2022 | CWI/EAPN Ireland Prep Workshops
    Social Inclusion Forum 2022 | CWI/EAPN Ireland Prep Workshops

CWI Funders

CWI work is supported by the Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO), funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Rural and Community Development

Quick Links:

  • What we do
  • Join Us
  • Working Groups & Networks
  • News & Events
  • Resources
  • Governance
  • Archive

© Community Work Ireland
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • News & Events
  • Contact us
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy – CWI
Accept settingsHide notification only