Sinn Féin calls for emergency meeting of Cork City Council to discuss eviction ban
Members of Cork City Council are to meet to discuss housing in the coming days. Picture Denis Minihane.
The Lord Mayor of Cork is "considering" a request for an emergency meeting of the council to discuss the lifting of the eviction ban.
A spokesman for Cork City Council said that Lord Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Forde, will issue a response on Monday, though noted that the next meeting of the council's housing policy committee is due to meet this Wednesday anyway.
It comes in response to a statement issued by Sinn Féin earlier on Saturday in which the party noted that the requirements for "a full emergency meeting of the Council" had been met under Section 44 of the Local Government Act.
"The full emergency meeting must now take place and take place urgently," Cllr Mick Nugent said.
“The government’s determination to push ahead with the removal of the eviction ban in less than a week means that at least five hundred individuals and families in Cork face eviction through no fault of their own.
"Sinn Féin is bringing a Bill to the Dáil on Tuesday to stop this from happening. We have one last chance to stop thousands of people from losing their homes. Locally, councillors must stand up and be counted on a cruel decision that will have a devastating impact on people in this city. We must also prepare a plan to respond in a meaningful way. The emergency meeting will allow all councillors to state exactly where they stand on this disgraceful decision and to contribute constructively to the formulation of a plan.
"The lifting of the eviction ban will escalate a housing crisis that is already out of control in Cork. For over a decade, the failed policies of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have hamstrung the ability of local authorities to deliver the homes our people need to the necessary scale and with the pace required. Now, they have thrown in the towel on those trapped in a private rental nightmare. This government has given up on renters. Sinn Féin never will."
In order to request a full emergency meeting, the Local Government Act states that five councillors must back the call. The four Sinn Féin city councillors and Independent councillor Thomas Moloney have now signed the request.
The council's housing strategic policy (SPC) committee is to meet on Wednesday. All councillors will be allowed to attend this meeting.
"Officials will brief the meeting on the most up to date position in relation to eviction notices and the council's preparedness and planned responses to that situation," a council spokesman said.
