AN anti-eviction march will take place from West Belfast to the city centre this weekend.
It comes as private and social tenants, political and community representatives come together to highlight the impact of evictions on individuals, their families and the wider community.
Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) held a press conference at Forthspring Inter Community Group on the Springfield Road, alongside fellow grassroots community groups, to highlight the protest. The press conference heard from a number of tenants who face eviction, including Caroline Reid, mother of Marc Reid, and Caitríona McCrudden, who are facing eviction by the Housing Executive due to their succession tenancy policy.
Rebekah Corbett, from CATU Belfast said: "The housing crisis deepens while politicians at every level of government choose inaction instead of tackling the problem head on. Rather than seek to end homelessness, social and private landlords are moving to evict tenants even when they know that there is nowhere else for these tenants to go. There are very real problems in our communities that are being ignored by government and profited off by landlords.
"We heard from families being forced out of their homes by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s cruel Succession Policy. It is our view that instead of working to end the housing crisis, the NIHE is actively contributing to it by evicting families following the deaths of their loved ones – often into homelessness."
Seán Doherty, from Beechmount Residents' Collective, added: "As a community activist, I see the impact that evictions have on people first hand. Hundreds of people in my community in West Belfast have been forced out of their homes with nowhere to go.
"They end up in temporary accommodation halfway across the country, sleeping on the sofas of friends and family members or on the streets. We’re sending a clear message to the private and social landlords today – we won’t let you evict us into homelessness and destroy our communities."
Following the event, an anti-eviction march was announced, and will take place on Saturday from 12.30pm – with a march from Dunville Park to City Hall.
The march has been endorsed by several community groups, including PPR, Anaka Women's Collective, Beechmount Residents' Collective, the People's Housing Bill campaign group, Glór na Móna, An Dream Dearg and Trademark Belfast.
West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll said: "People in power try to use the housing crisis to divide us – they want us to accuse each other of cheating a broken, rotten system. They want us to blame asylum seekers and migrants, who come here fleeing war, persecution and poverty.
"But working class communities know who’s really to blame – it’s not our fellow tenants."
