Paul Hosford: Government painting itself into a corner with attacks on Peter McVerry

A row on the eviction ban started on the airwaves which is stoked on social media — a thoroughly modern uproar and one with no real winner.

Father Peter McVerry: “I am extremely concerned and I think this is a horror movie for all those tenants who have received a notice to quit and they are totally at a loss as to what to do."

It's not every week that the political discourse is dominated by a priest or a painting. This week, the Politics Gods blessed us with both at once.

The Government was somewhat effective in turning Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin's tweet of a piece of art depicting gardaí assisting an historical eviction into a referendum on Sinn Féin's historical attitudes to the force.  

No words needed (credit Mála Spíosraí) pic.twitter.com/JK6NVcFNeU

— Eoin Ó Broin (@EOBroin) April 1, 2023

However, the row with the country's most popular priest may be a little harder to land. Fr Peter McVerry is a national figure, respected across the board for his work with homeless people, but he has never shied away from his strident advocacy for those he aims to help.

Fr McVerry has been particularly loud in his opposition to the ending of the no-fault eviction ban. "I’m horrified at what’s going to happen in the next few months," he told Newstalk last week.

“I am extremely concerned and I think this is a horror movie for all those tenants who have received a notice to quit and they are totally at a loss as to what to do.

“There is virtually no emergency homeless accommodation available anywhere in the country. Normally, families would be put up in hotels, but as we know, hotels are full and many hotels are reverting back to tourism."

While that viewpoint has been echoed from the Opposition and other housing charities and advocates, it was a claim Fr McVerry made on South East Radio on Monday which thrust him into the political spotlight.

“My understanding is that the Minister for Housing wanted to extend the ban and was acting in preparation for extending the ban but he was overridden by the Taoiseach and that’s why there was no preparation made during the five-month ban for mitigating the effects for ending this ban,” Fr McVerry told South East radio.

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A spokesperson for the Taoiseach fired back that “the claim is 100% incorrect and without any foundation" but Fr McVerry did not back down. In fact, he doubled down. 

Asked by Claire Byrne about it, Fr McVerry said that he “can understand” why Taoiseach Leo Varadkar would deny he overruled Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien on extending the ban. But Mr Varadkar had earlier said the claim was “100% untrue” and that there was “zero evidence” to support it.

Backbench Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell rowed in on Twitter, accusing Fr McVerry of "talking around corners" on the issue.

Talking around corners might be normal for a political activist but I'm sure its not normal for a priest. https://t.co/FzYIll0r3N

— Alan Farrell (@AlanFarrell) April 4, 2023

A row started on the airwaves which is stoked on social media — a thoroughly modern uproar and one with no real winner. It is possible Fr McVerry was told that the ban would be extended or got the impression as such. Indeed, up to the days before the Government made its decision, it had been floated that an extension was possible. 

A number of Government TDs were broadly in favour of such a move, so it is completely feasible that Fr McVerry was told that was the way the Government was leaning or has since been told a version of the story which suits one party.

Government sources are clear that the decision was made unanimously at Cabinet on foot of advice from the Department of Housing and that there was no overruling done on the day.

While Mr Varadkar is fully entitled — and expected — to clarify the Government's position and how such a decision was made, the discordant tone used from Fine Gael circles particularly is somewhat strange. Fr McVerry is not a political opponent. He is a tireless campaigner for the nearly 12,000 people who are homeless in this country.

If the Government succeeded in returning the serve from Mr Ó Broin, the question might be asked whether it can do the same with Fr McVerry. But the point that Fr McVerry and very many others would make is that it isn't about who told who, what, and when. It's about whether Fr McVerry is right on the fallout from the ending of the ban.

At a time when thousands of people live under notices to quit, without much certainty of what is next, a clash of personalities is the least of their concerns.