Housing Action Revival in Cork
Jerrica Struthers recounts the story of one tenant's fight back against a bullying landlord and the necessity of solidarity in the struggle for fair housing
On the Brink
On Thursday the 9th of January 2025 Workers Party President, Cllr. Ted Tynan received a phone call from a young woman who was on the brink of homelessness due to her landlady selling her home. After discovering the cause of her distress Cllr. Tynan made enquiries to third parties. A practicing solicitor assured both Ted and the tenant that she cannot legally be forcibly removed from the home without a court order. A court order had not been obtained by the landlady or her agents.
The next morning. Cllr Tynan received another phone call from the same lady, this time even more distressed. It transpired that the landlady had allowed herself and a locksmith into the home without the tenant’s consent while the tenant was home alone. They then proceeded to change the locks and refused to give the tenant a key, despite all of her belongings being in the home. A video taken of the incident shows that the landlady was aggressive in her communications to the tenant and even threatened the tenant, saying “if you’re not out by 5 o’clock then you will be made leave”. In her unrelenting attack on the tenants’ rights, she then incredulously called the Gardaí to aid in the illegal eviction.
The Gardaí tried to encourage the tenant to leave despite the fact that it was the landlady who was breaking the law. However, after the tenant put Cllr Tynan on the phone to the officer in charge, he quickly changed his attitude and stated that “we’re impartial” while the landlady said that the law was on her side.
How often does this happen? And how often do landlords succeed with these bully tactics? How often do they get away with exploiting overworked, understaffed and underfunded law enforcement for their own benefit?
Solidarity
Later that day, Workers Party members arrived at the tenant’s home to find the tenant understandably incredibly upset, visibly shaking, and completely distraught. She had been an exemplary tenant for over 10 years. In fact. She had overpaid her rent in excess of €3000 according to the Residential Tenancies Board determination order. This rent had not been repaid to the tenant as per the same determination order that the landlady subsequently attempted to use to evict the tenant. It seems that she believed that she could pick and choose which part of the order that she would uphold.
Party members remained in the house with the tenant as she was afraid the landlady would return and make good on her threat. To ease her mind, members made phone calls to the housing charity, Threshold, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), a solicitor, and a local Garda, who all confirmed that the landlady had no right to take such action, and any enforcement needed to be carried out through the courts. It was advised that any other action outside of this is illegal.
Hearing this and the fact that she had the Party’s full support was all the encouragement the tenant needed to make a courageous stand against the lawless landlady. The locks were changed back to protect the tenant from both illegal eviction and possible violence. At 5 o’clock, the landlady returned.
Landlady calls the Gardaí
Expecting that the once intimidated tenant to have conceded to her demands and vacated the premises, the landlady had not anticipated the tenant’s strength and will to fight back when she attempted to gain access to the property yet again. Multiple attempts to re-enter the property came to nothing.
Through a window from the back garden, she shouted at Cllr. Ted Tynan, “you shouldn’t be here, You’ve no permission to be in there, you are trespassing on private property” . Cllr. Tynan responded calmly but firmly, “what you’ve attempted
here today is an illegal action” and reminded the landlady of her legal obligations. Flabbergasted, she left and didn’t return.
She did however attempt to make a complaint to the Gardaí regarding Cllr Ted Tynan of the Workers Party, unaware that the local Gardaí already knew of her recent escapades. They reminded the landlady of her duty and the legalities of the situation.
Success
The tenant has since enjoyed peaceful and exclusive occupation of her home and has been offered a new tenancy in her dream home close to friends. She has expressed her utmost gratitude to the Party for coming to her aid in such a stressful chapter in her life. For the members involved it was a privilege to partake in her fight and to witness the tenant standing up for her rights. Events like this re-enforce our understanding of the importance of standing up for workers.
Who is to blame for the housing crisis?
Some blame the “other”, but poor workers from other countries are not ‘the others’ that we should be worried about. The “other” is not someone who works themselves half to death in hopes of keeping a roof over their head. “The other” that we should be concerned with are those who seek to keep us in a state of fear that our basic necessities might be stripped from us. The “other” is the greedy landlord who’d rather see a person homeless than report a loss of profit and the capitalist system that encourages such greed and inhumanity.
The Workers Party has a long, rich history of opposing lawless landlords and will always seek to ensure that tenants’ rights are upheld.