This article originally appeared in SIPTU’s Liberty newspaper in February 2024.
Members of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) have secured a series of improvements for tenants in Davitt House in Drimnagh following a nine month protest campaign and a meeting with Dublin City Council executives in December 2023.
CATU National Campaigns coordinator, Jack Ferguson, said: “Members of the CATU Davitt House Committee and CATU Crumlin/Drimnagh branch met
with representatives of Dublin City Council on 14th December. This meeting discussed the urgent action needed in relation to insulation, double glaze windows and composite doors as well as improvements to accessibility after an ambulance struggled to gain access to a resident needing urgent medical attention. On average, tenants in Davitt House are spending €80 to €100 a week to heat their homes. Mould and damp are extreme in
both blocks. The complex ha never been retrofitted and recurring maintenance issues are rectified by outsourced private companies rather than plumbers, electricians or carpenters directly employed by the council.”
He continued: “The Council previously failed to deliver a written timeline after meetings between CATU representatives in the summer of 2023.
These meetings were the result of a successful campaign of regular surveys, petitions and protest actions by CATU to get Dublin City Council executives to the negotiating table. The campaign continued until the December meeting, at which an agreed written timeline for repairs was secured.”
He added: “Over the coming weeks, CATU members will be liaising with the council to ensure the work urgently needed at Davitt House is completed so that not another winter is spent in freezing cold flats. This was a nine-month campaign fought hard by members of CATU. The message from it is clear, when tenants organise they win!”
Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) is an all-island Community Tenants’ Union made up of 25 branches in local communities from Cork to Belfast.
