Housing and the cost of living highlighted during protest

A number of trade unions and political activists marched in Dublin, calling for action on housing and the cost of living ahead of Budget 2027.

SIPTU, Unite, Fórsa, and others gathered at the Garden of Remembrance to walk to Leinster House where a rally took place.

Political parties such as People Before Profit, Solidarity, Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats were among those present.

“The central contradiction in Ireland today is that we have a wealthy economy but the workers who create that wealth are being priced out of a decent life,” SIPTU Sector Organiser Paddy Cole said before the protest.

He added: “Whether people rent or hope to buy, too much of their wages is swallowed by housing. Workers from home and abroad can have qualifications, full-time jobs and good wages, yet still be unable to leave the family home, rent a decent place to live or plan for children.

“That is an abject policy failure, not a failure of the people who are trying to do all the right things. This crisis unites healthcare assistants, retail workers, civil servants, hospitality workers, construction workers, transport workers and many others. Governments respond when people organise and put them under pressure.”

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Unite Deputy Regional Secretary Tom Fitzgerald said: “Workers throughout Ireland are facing an escalating cost-of-living crisis. Unite’s research shows well over a third of public-sector workers struggling to make ends meet, while the Government continues dragging its feet on a new pay deal.

“Public and private sector workers must turn out to demand real Government action, on the streets this coming Saturday, and on the public sector picket lines if the Government does not come to the table with a meaningful offer.”

Among those at the march was Kieran Allen, a member of People Before Profit. Mr Allen attended the protest as he is unhappy with the price of energy.

“I see that I’m paying 39c per kilowatt hour, then I look at data centres and they’re paying half of that. So why am I subsidising people like Bill Gates or all these big tech bros? So I’m hear to protest that.”

Head of Advocacy at the Irish Wheelchair Association Joan Carthy, who was among those who addressed the crowd, said the protest was “about an affordable Ireland for everybody”.

She said that the association has been calling for a Cost of Disability Payment for several years, and although the Government has committed to it, there are concerns that it may not match what is needed.

“We are told this is going to be a groundbreaking payment, but we think that’s only in name only as the introduction of the payment rather than meeting the needs of people with disabilities.”

President of Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) Daniel Walsh also spoke on behalf of students, and said the cost of college is “getting out of hand”.

“We need to see investment by the Government into the sector, and meaningful measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that’s impacting students up and down the country.

“We had a report released earlier on in the month that put the cost of sending a student to college in Dublin at just under €20,000 – that’s not affordable for any family in the country.

“So we need to see investment in student accommodation to bring down the cost of that, we need to see the abolition of a student contribution charge which is still amongst the highest in Europe, and we need to see investment into the sector to eliminating the core funding gap of about €300 million annually.”