The Anti-Eviction Taskforce is not aligned to nor affiliated with any political parties or groups. Recession or no recession, there is no moral reason why any individual or family should be threatened with eviction from their home. Yet it is happening with increasing frequency, not only in Ireland but in numerous countries across the world. Someone has fallen behind on their mortgage payments or has hit rock bottom through no fault of their own. They have trouble putting food on the table or clothes on their children, yet they are harassed, threatened and intimidated by lending institutions to find money or they will suffer the final indignity of the repossession of the place they call home. They will be removed, thrown out on the streets and left to fend for themselves. And this is all done with the blessing of the government, backed up with the presence of the Gardai who act as enforcers and justified as being completely legal. You've heard the buzz phrase 'Moral Hazard' being bandied about. Isn't it strange that this phrase never applies to those who take part in trampling over a living being's basic human right to shelter. They are allowed to break into a property, cause criminal damage, assault anyone who objects and arrest anyone who opposes what they are doing. These actions are morally reprehensible yet the people involved claim they are acting legally. If this is the case why are evictions carried out using the most devious means and kept as hush hush as possible? Why do you never see an eviction covered on any news bulletin? If the media will not report what is going on then the people will do it for them. The aim of the Anti-Eviction Taskforce is to bring the injustice of forced eviction into the mainstream and prevent any more homes being seized by financial institutions. It needs to be given a human face and the consequences to those it affects need to be shown. We need to set up a network in every county in Ireland ready to come to the aid of anyone in the locality who is threatened with or in the process of being evicted. All individuals involved with forced removal from a home should be filmed, identified and shamed by their actions. Receivers, locksmiths, The Sheriff and Gardaí should be photographed and filmed by as many people as possible. They do NOT like this stuff being shown to others. This is a peaceful way to prevent forced removal from a home. Do not let them quietly brush it under the carpet.
