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Raise the Roof rally to call for housing policy changes

Raise the Roof rally to call for housing policy changes

Radical changes to the Government's housing policies will be called for at a protest in Dublin today.

The Raise the Roof rally will look to highlight the growing homeless crisis as well as issues within the private rental market.

The protest was called in support of an opposition party motion on housing that is scheduled to be debated in the Dáil today.

The motion is supported by Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the Labour Party, Solidarity, the Social Democrats and the Green Party and Independents4Change.

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The event will be held outside the Dáil at around lunchtime, with a coalition of groups and parties involved, including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Sinn Fein and The Union of Students in Ireland.

Organisers are urging people to come along and show their support for the rally which will feature a number of keynote speakers, including: Sheila Nunan (ICTU); Síona Cahill (USI); Orla O’Connor (NWCI); Peter McVerry; Keith Troy (Homeless & Housing Coalition) and Aisling Hederman and others.

Singers Damien Dempsey and Frances Black will also perform.

Homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry says people are fed up with the lack of progress in tackling issues around housing.

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"The Government have admitted that the problem is just going to get worse for the foreseeable future," he said.

"So it's, first of all, a protest and a way of trying to say it to the Government, look, policies are not working, clearly they're not working, and we need you to revisit those policies and produce policies that will work."

Digital Desk

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