Property rights are not unquestionable

Abortion may be the divisive issue in this and many other societies but that is probably because we have not discussed property rights and the impact that idea, that vague but apparently inviolable principle, has right across society.

The subject is, like anything to do with money or property, fraught with complexity, conflicting interests, exploitation and distrust.

This week at a sitting of the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin property rights played out in a most unacceptable way when pensioners Martin and Violet Coyne were evicted from their home of 15 years. Their security of tenure — and how that phrase resonates in our folk memory — ended when their landlord went into receivership in 2012. The receiver, on behalf of ACC Bank, sought to sell the property to reduce debt owed to the bank by the Coynes’ previous landlord. Through no fault of their own the Coynes lost their home and because of the housing crisis they, like tens of thousands of others, struggled to find an affordable alternative. Property rights trumped tenants’ security.