24 May 2001 Edition
We want houses, not tanks
Sinn Féin activists this week picketed Dublin's Clancy Barracks, a prime site for much needed housing but one which the Department of Defence has put up for sale on the open market.
Gerry Adams joined the picket on Tuesday, 22 May. He said ``Today we are outside Clancy Barracks to highlight the very real impact that the Treaty of Nice is already having on our neutrality. Clancy Barracks has, along with numerous other military installations across the 26 Counties, been earmarked for sale to the highest bidder.
``This is being done so that the Irish defence forces can raise the necessary funds to purchase and upgrade military hardware to make it compatible with other members of the Rapid Reaction Force. We believe that instead of investing in such a project such funds should be used to tackle the housing crisis which is evident not just in this city but throughout the country. I would call on the government to hand over the barracks to the Corporation.''
Last Monday at a special council meeting, councillors again backed the motion from Sinn Féin's Larry O'Toole that they had passed last December, calling on the Manager to negotiate the purchase of Clancy Barracks to provide housing for those waiting years on the housing list for accommodation. To date the manager has refused to do so. Sean Carey, assistant manager in charge of planning and development was recently quoted as saying, by way of explanation, that ``the concept of wall-to-wall local authority housing is finished''. The concept of a vast local authority housing estate, he said, would not be consistent with the development of that part of the city which we want to develop as a ``vibrant Western gateway''.
But as Larry O'Toole points out, ``No one said anything about building ghetto housing or flat land down by the riverside at Clancy Barracks. We are talking about providing quality housing, at a price which people in Dublin can afford, for the people who have waiting for housing over years.''
``Equality means that everyone has an equal right to housing, not just those who Assistant Manager Carey happens to think are `vibrant' people.''
Gerry Adams joined the picket on Tuesday, 22 May. He said ``Today we are outside Clancy Barracks to highlight the very real impact that the Treaty of Nice is already having on our neutrality. Clancy Barracks has, along with numerous other military installations across the 26 Counties, been earmarked for sale to the highest bidder.
``This is being done so that the Irish defence forces can raise the necessary funds to purchase and upgrade military hardware to make it compatible with other members of the Rapid Reaction Force. We believe that instead of investing in such a project such funds should be used to tackle the housing crisis which is evident not just in this city but throughout the country. I would call on the government to hand over the barracks to the Corporation.''
Last Monday at a special council meeting, councillors again backed the motion from Sinn Féin's Larry O'Toole that they had passed last December, calling on the Manager to negotiate the purchase of Clancy Barracks to provide housing for those waiting years on the housing list for accommodation. To date the manager has refused to do so. Sean Carey, assistant manager in charge of planning and development was recently quoted as saying, by way of explanation, that ``the concept of wall-to-wall local authority housing is finished''. The concept of a vast local authority housing estate, he said, would not be consistent with the development of that part of the city which we want to develop as a ``vibrant Western gateway''.
But as Larry O'Toole points out, ``No one said anything about building ghetto housing or flat land down by the riverside at Clancy Barracks. We are talking about providing quality housing, at a price which people in Dublin can afford, for the people who have waiting for housing over years.''
``Equality means that everyone has an equal right to housing, not just those who Assistant Manager Carey happens to think are `vibrant' people.''