The following article by Geraldine Kelly was first published in Unity, the weekly paper of the Irish Communist Party.
ON Friday 1st of May a protest about the eviction of a family of three was organised at a house near the Springfield road. The Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) and others who have supported the family, organised the press meeting and protest to draw attention to the outrageous and illogical situation of the eviction of the family of three. The eviction took place on the morning of Tuesday 28th April at 7am, Clovelly Street off the Springfield road. The road was blocked off by the PSNI and also men who had their faces covered. The enforcement of judgement officer was then escorted to the house in a police car. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) representative sat in his car at the top of the street.
It is illegal for the PSNI to be involved with evictions in the North of Ireland if they do not have a court order. In addition, all attending officers were armed and male and no duty of care was shown to Caitríona and her family as they were forcibly removed. This eviction was also carried out before office hours so that Caitríona could not get any support. CATU members who were on the scene were prevented from gaining access to the family to offer much needed support.
This case has been ongoing for the past three years and all state institutions relating to housing have passed the buck back and forth stating there is nothing they can do to help. Caitríona has lived at this address for twenty years looking after her mother, along with her daughter Lisa and more recently her grandson Cillian who is only just three years old, this is the only home he has ever known. Caitríona’s mother died three years ago and that is when the problem began.
The NIHE have a succession policy which was updated in September 2024, it is now discretionary, this means that anyone in the NIHE could have granted Caitríona succession but instead the social housing body did the opposite, claiming this eviction is to increase housing stocks as the waiting list for housing is 50,000 families long but the actions of the NIHE has just added another family to the list. No one should be removed from their home and certainly not from social housing.
As of Friday 1st May, three days later Caitríona and her family have been offered no help. This is unbelievable in 2026 the NIHE is not fit for purpose and the system is broken.
As CATU has pointed out. In the hours and days since this eviction, local politicians have publicly come out declaring their outrage at this week’s events and offering support for Caitríona. But Caitríona, Lisa and Cillain are standing today – still homeless.
CATU’s demands are simple:
1. We want Caitríona’s family to be offered safe, secure, permanent social housing.
2. We want an end to police use and involvement in all evictions.
3. We want an immediate eviction ban across the social housing sector and a no-fault eviction ban on the private rental sector.
If you can support our members Caitríona and Lisa in any way, or want to get involved, please email belfast@catuireland.org