The vicious cuts being introduced by the Assembly will result in £30 million being cut from the Department of Social Development. This will only make the housing crisis worse with less money available for repairs, never mind new builds. At the same time, there are over 50,000 empty houses across Northern Ireland. These are mostly owned by speculators and property developers waiting for a more favourable time to sell them off and make a profit.
The fact that these parasites are allowed to leave property empty while families and the elderly struggle to find homes shows where the real priorities of the Assembly Executive are. They care more for the interests of their property developer friends than the concern of working people.
If the Executive parties were serious about dealing with the waiting list, it would step in and take into public ownership those houses that are not being used so we could provide the 40,000 on the waiting lists with homes. Compensation should only be paid out to those who can prove they genuinely need it, not to those who have made millions at the expense of working class people and have caused the economic mess we are in. The Executive should also begin a programme of public works that could provide the 13,000 unemployed construction workers with socially useful work, not only in building houses but in more schools and local facilities.
Clearly though, as the recent scandal with Peter and Iris Robinson shows, the politicians in the main parties are tied to the interest of property developers and cannot be relied upon. Local communities must organise and demand housing for all as a right.
A glimpse of what is possible was seen last year when Mersey Street residents in East Belfast took direct action and forced the Housing Executive to provide newly-built housing to local residents.
In July 1972 nine people were killed when three no-warning car bombs exploded in Claudy, a village just outside Derry City. July 1972 was the bloodiest month of the bloodiest year of the Troubles, but even then the Claudy attacks caused mass revulsion. Now a Police Ombudsman’s report into the bombs has implicated a deceased Catholic priest, Jim Chesney, in the attack. It has also alleged that the state and the Catholic hierarchy colluded to cover up his role.
Sinn Féin recently published it’s policy paper “There is a Better Way”, a plan for the cuts which offered a few populist measures as window-dressing e.g. a marginal pay-cut for MLAs, reduced use of business consultants and slashing bonuses to hospital consultants. But aside from these few populist policies, the document is a 100% acceptance of the cuts agenda.