A student from Trinity College Dublin and one from Dublin City University were arrested last night after Gardaí in masks and bullet-proof vests, in the company of anonymous private security, raided a property on North Frederick Street which had been occupied by activists for 25 days.
The activists had been occupying 34 North Frederick Street since the middle of August to protest the many privately owned properties that were left abandoned in Dublin while a severe homelessness crisis grips the country. The property had been vacant for around three years according to the occupants.
However an injunction issued by the High Court some 13 days ago had demanded the removal of all those occupying the premises. The occupiers refused to comply with these demands and remained there, indeed with the movement, under the banner Take Back The City, even expanding into another vacant property nearby on Belvedere Place.
Last night, after the continued refusal of those protestors inside to remove themselves from the property, a public order unit of Gardaí entered the premises and, according to a student of Take Back Trinity, Sean Egan – while speaking to Trinity News – they used pepper spray and night-sticks to disperse those present and arrested six people who were failing to comply. Among those arrested were a Trinity student, Conor Reddy, and a DCU student.
The occupation at Belvedere Place is still underway and there is a protest in response to the forceful eviction of activists planned for later today outside 34 North Frederick Street at 5:30pm. The event can be seen on Facebook here.
Trinity College Students’ Union have released an official statement regarding the incident.
Those arrested were released late last night, though some of them required treatment for injuries sustained during their arrest.
