Oral history project on 1970s rent strikes seeks participants from Finglas and Ballymun

RESEARCHERS from the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) are conducting an oral history project on the rent strikes which took place throughout Ireland in the early 1970s and are looking to speak to people from Ballymun and Finglas who remember these events.

Between 1970-73, tens of thousands of council tenants all over the country withheld their rents in protest against rent increases, poor quality housing, a lack of community facilities and rising living costs.

Fiadh Tubridy, a CATU member and researcher in Maynooth University explains that “this was a huge social movement which has never been properly recorded.

“We have been working on this project for the past year and have interviewed people from Coolock, Ballyfermot and the Liberties in Dublin as well as Cork, Drogheda, Clare and Waterford.

“We have heard incredible stories from all of these places but we would particularly like to talk to anyone from Ballymun or Finglas because these were very active and important areas during the rent strike.”

Ballymun tenants march – Sunday Independent 8th March 1970

Ballymun tenants were among the first in the country to go on rent strike in opposition to the ‘B scale’ differential rents system in March 1970.

This system had been introduced in 1966 and meant that overtime, bonuses and the income of family members aside from the main tenant were all taken into consideration for the purposes of assessing the rent, leading to dramatic rent increases.

In his memoirs a local man, Peadar Kelly recalled one memorable event which took place during the rent strike in Ballymun:

“Three men, having shared a few pints, took a can of white paint and a brush up onto the roof of Connolly Tower.

“Two of them then took a leg each of the third man and, paint can and brush in hand, they lowered him, headfirst, over the parapet of the tower.

“It was his job to paint the slogan “B. Scale Rents Out” on the black parapet of the tower.

“Unfortunately, a woman living on the top floor chose that moment to go out on her balcony and hang some clothes on her line.

“Seeing the upside-down face of the painter staring in at her she promptly fainted.”

Finglas was similarly a key area during the rent strikes and in July 1972 there was a mass mobilisation to prevent the eviction of rent striking tenants.

An article in ‘The Tenant’ newspaper, reported that “vans and cars laden with men and women from outside areas circled the eviction centres, “Radio West Finglas” gave a newscast every fifteen minutes between records, and broken down cars were towed to the hot spots so that barricades could be set up in a matter of minutes”. Unsurprisingly the threatened evictions were never carried out.

The rent strikes continued until August 1973 and ended with a deal between the tenants and the Minister for Local Government which meant lower rents, better terms for tenant purchase and recognition of the National Association of Tenants Organisations as the official negotiating body for council tenants, who would thus have to be consulted about any future increases. According to an article in the Irish Times it was “unquestionably the most dramatic and bloodless victory ever achieved in this century by tenants versus landlords.”

Aisling Hedderman, the CATU training and education coordinator, explains that “there is a need for a similar mass movement to tackle the housing and community issues that many people are facing now.

“We are doing this project to learn what people did in the past to improve their living conditions and those of their neighbours and communities so we can apply those lessons today.”

The CATU research group is interested in speaking to anyone who has information about the rent strikes in Ballymun, Finglas or any other area.

“You can contact them by email on catunato@gmail.com or by phone on 0877197874.”