People Before Profit - Solidarity aim to tackle housing ‘nightmare’

Housing, public services, special needs supports, combatting racism, support for Palestine, and climate measures that don’t punish working people, are the top priorities for People Before Profit-Solidarity’s five Cork candidates.

At a press conference today, Cork East candidate Asch Ní Fhinn spoke of being served a no-fault eviction in 2022 that left her and her daughter spending a year in emergency accommodation.

“My daughter was left with core memories of trauma, fear and instability — we eventually got out, but tens of thousands of people are still trapped in same nightmare,” she said. “For every one person who exits emergency accommodation, two more enter. [People Before Profit] offers a real alternative, a housing programme providing high-quality, affordable housing that is publicly owned.”

Cork South Central candidate Shane Laird said that only “rhetorical” action on Palestine has been taken by Government so far: “If elected, [our party] will push for the immediate passing of the Occupied Territories Bill, a BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] policy to sanction Israel and closing Shannon to US troops.”

South West candidate Zoe Laplaud criticised the “over-dependence on fossil fuels,” saying: “Any pretend action taken comes in the form of handouts and subsidies to big business and polluters, working people are always faced with punitive measures.”

North West candidate Joe Moore spoke of the need to oppose all forms of “State racism”, including Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-Traveller racism, saying “the State is appeasing the far right, a group of people who will never be appeased”.

He called for more funding for traveller-appropriate accommodation, an end to deportations, those seeking international protection to be given the same rights as those living in Ireland, and repealing the amendment which removed the right to citizenship for children born in Ireland.

North Central TD Mick Barry said: “People in Cork have suffered a greater disimprovement in the quality of their water than any other five-year period in the history of the State.”

He called for compensation for the people buying bottled water and investment in upgrading pipes. He also discussed ongoing issues with the bus service and recent cuts to it, predicting “Christmas bus chaos” and suggesting that traffic improvement and better pay for drivers were needed.

Mr Barry added he was “involved in a battle” to keep his seat, explaining that the addition of Mallow and Ballincollig put him at a disadvantage: “I would say we have a 50/50 chance of retaining the seat, I’m appealing to people to vote us number one.”

The party did not rule out a coalition with Sinn Féin, with Mr Laird saying: “If the math adds up, it’s certainly something we’d consider, but we have red line issues we’d want to see met before we would agree.”