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A chairde,

The next Dublin city-wide meeting is happening on Saturday, June 24th - but it’s not just a meeting! Given the timing, the plan is to reflect on campaigns ongoing around the city, to build towards the major national housing demo in July (more on that in a sec) and to raise some funds as well. This is how the day will shape up:

1. A regular branch meeting in Tailor's Hall, Dublin 8
2. A training session leading to a mass doorknock to build for the July national demo
3. A fundraiser in Peadar Brown's in the evening

Ahead of it all there’ll be a planning session next Wednesday, online - if you’d be interested in joining that, let me know. Otherwise, if you’re a member of any of the Dublin City branches, we’ll see you on June 24th 😎

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day you can apply for our open Ulster Organiser role - if you’ve been thinking about applying, or are just finding out now that it’s a possibility, make sure to get your CV and cover letter submitted to [email protected] before midnight tomorrow. You can find all the details about the role at the link below:

Ulster Organiser - Role Info

We’re building towards a major National Housing Demo - the first of its kind in years - and there’s loads (and loads) of work to get through to make it happen. The most important thing to do is save the date - JULY 5th. We’ll be communicating plans to transport members across the island to Dublin for the day, and there’s a whole load of logistics to get through - want to be involved? Get in touch! Whether it’s fundraising, leafleting, comms, whatever you can offer will be very welcome. We want this to be massive.

Last weekend was, as always, a busy one for our union: our burgeoning Kerry branch ran a stall in Dingle (pictured below!), while CATU Fingal ramped up their campaign against corporate landlordism in the area, talking to local residents about all things LRC/Jersia/Home Club (nightmare blunt rotation).

CATU Belfast were out and about at the East Belfast Churches Network event with the East Belfast Anti Poverty Alliance meeting in Willowfield Parish Hall. They met with other groups working to eradicate poverty in the city and shared our organising model and ways we can collaborate in the future. Over in West Belfast, members enjoyed Feirm an Phobail alongside a host of other great organisations.

CATU Mountjoy-Dorset had a great doorknocking session on Portland Place and in Bakers’ Yard. Residents discussed an array of issues from elder care to antisocial activity, lack of council maintenance to high rents and poor infrastructure.

All the while, our Training Coordinator, Aisling, gave another showstopping performance at the Robert Tressell festival in Liberty Hall in Dublin. Aisling was participating in a panel on housing in the company of reps from MASI, Forsa and the Hope and Courage Collective.

The union’s Universal Public Housing manifesto launch is taking place at 18:30 next Thursday, June 5th at the Fórsa offices on Nerney’s Court in Dublin 1.

The publication will set out a bold and comprehensive approach to addressing Ireland’s systemic housing issues. We’ll look at preventative solutions to cycles of housing precarity and how our model can shield fundamental human need from the speculative, vulturous grip of the market.

We’ll discuss the enhanced role local authorities can play in delivering community-focused housing, as well as identifying the challenges and opportunities in accelerating the delivery of new homes through reformed planning processes and training initiatives.

After months of pressure from Cromcastle Court residents, Mick Mulhern, the head of DCC Housing, will be coming to visit the flats along with other senior DCC officials. Cromcastle residents are organising to make sure their voices are heard during the visit, showing just how much work is needed, how serious it is and how soon it needs to happen. 🛠️

DCC have already said that they will meet two of the campaign’s three main demands by a) carrying out inspections of all flats and fixing all the individual maintenance issues and b) improving maintenance of the shared areas, like the stairwells, chutes and playgrounds. We will obviously be keeping the pressure on to ensure they follow through on these commitments. We also haven’t gotten any satisfactory response about transfers, so this issue in particular is what residents are continuing to push on. 🔜

The fact this visit is happening is thanks to ongoing pressure and the united front shown by residents across public housing estates in DCC. On the 12th of May, tenants from DCC estates across Dublin, including Cromcastle Court, protested at City Hall ahead of a Dublin City Council meeting. Other areas that were represented included Ballymun, Pearse House, Ballybough House and Emmet Buildings in Dublin 8. There was a great turnout and support from the public and a range of councillors came to learn about the issues. It was a positive step towards building a stronger movement of tenants from across the city. 🤝

The fact that we’ve secured this meeting is a testament to the work that residents and CATU members have done over the past few months - so well done to everyone who has responded to surveys, come to meetings and protests, sent emails and everything else!

Next Friday, June 6th, CATU D7 West will be screening the Rent Strike documentary in the cosy surrounds of Daylight, a DIY social space in the Dublin Industrial Estate, near Glasnevin cemetery (D11 TX99 - close to Broombridge Luas and the N2 bus).

Entrance is free and all are welcome to join! If you haven’t seen the film yet, it really is special, and provides a great source of inspiration for our organising today.

In Solidarity,

Naoise Faogáin
National Administrator

Community Action Tenants Union - CATU Ireland
www.catuireland.org