As the sun sets and another cold and possibly wet night threatens to descend upon Dublin, something new and very different is happening in the capital city. Apollo House in Tara Street, a NAMA-owned building previously abandoned for six years, has been occupied by a group of activists, artists, volunteers and ordinary citizens who are in the process of creating a refuge for the city’s homeless population.
Hot Press went to the scene of the occupation and spoke to some of those involved in what is potentially a game-changing initiative.
One of the architects of the occupation, Dean Scurry (pictured with Hot Press' Peter McGoran), is an activist with the 'Home Sweet Home' charity. He reveals what had been happening in the weeks that led up to last night's events.
"About five weeks ago, a homeless guy posted a private message on Facebook where he speculated about the idea," says Dean. "He said: 'Wouldn’t it be great to take one of these old buildings and occupy it?' Then an hour later I met that man in the park in Dublin by St. Patrick’s Cathedral and we spoke about it. I asked him, 'Are you sure you want to do this?' and his response simply, 'What else can we do? Bury more people?'
“So we discussed things further and I rang a few friends. I rang the Irish Housing network and a bunch of others and we got together and planned it out. We've met every Wednesday morning since then and thrashed out ideas. And then in the last week and a half we had a meeting every other day and pulled things together. Last night was Midnight at the Oasis."
The timing of the occupation initiative couldn't have been more critical. "Christmas is 10 days away and people are dying out there on the streets this winter,” Dean says. “What are we going to do? Wait for it to get wetter and colder? There could be snow in January. We’re not prepared to wait around for that."
One of the things that activists find most baffling is that the State owns buildings like the one that has been occupied in Tara Street. But rather than using a resource of this kind, it sits idle, while people sleep in the streets. The hope is that this initiative can be a way around the bureaucracies that prevent things happening.
"Our objective is simple – to end homelessness now,” Dean says. “In the short term, we want to get vulnerable, rough sleepers off the street and into Apollo House, so they can be taken care of. In the long term, we want to work on this problem at a national level. We want the government do something."
We asked Dean if he has any words for Ireland's political leaders in Leinster House – a building which is less than a mile away from the Tara Street occupation. What is interesting is that, from the activists’ perspective, this is not about confrontation. Instead, what they are doing is shaped as part of a national conversation – one in which every stakeholder should be entitled to have a say. And that crucially includes those who are homeless.
"I'd invite politicians to come down for a conversation,” Dean says, “and to see what we're doing here. If we have to negotiate with them then we’ll negotiate. But if they're not engaging with us that’s a different thing.”
High profile figures such as Glen Hansard, Hozier and Saoirse Ronan have thrown their weight behind the occupation. Dean explains how this came about.
“Glen’s a good mate,” he says, “so I gave him a shout. Then it just so happened that the artists we reached out to wanted to get involved with us. We had Jim Sheridan, Kodaline, Mattress Mick, Saoirse Ronan, Panti Bliss. We didn’t seek out these people: a lot of them heard what we were doing and offered their support.”
Their involvement should help to ensure that the national conversation on homelessness reaches – and involves – a far greater number of people. Dean emphasises that this conversation is one that desperately needs to take place.
“We have to assess what we really want for our most vulnerable,” he observes. “How we treat the most vulnerable in our society matters. Are we going to act like a beacon for the most oppressed in our society – or are we just going to talk about it?"
The question now for the Government is: are you listening?