Room to improve, then remove?

A friend recently informed me of a letter his elderly father - who lives alone - received through his letter box, informing him of a new government backed scheme, which offers to renovate your house in return for renting out your top floor.  Having known about the 39th Amendment for quite a while now, a bill being brought forward by People Before Profit as a potential solution to the housing crisis, which is currently being exasperated by the coalition government nobody wanted, with their insistence on us fulfilling our ‘international obligations’ at the expense of our national ones, coupled with the World Economic Forum’s well publicised plans to end all private property ownership by 2030 - let’s just say, my suspicions were immediately aroused.

I didn’t need to go digging too deeply as almost instantaneously, a letter matching the description of the one described to me began circulating across social media.  AVA Housing (formerly the Abhaile project) are the group spearheading this new initiative, with chartered accountant Michelle Moore, who is the founder of the organisation, heading up the team of directors for said project.  On the face of it this all looks completely innocuous and benevolent, until you introduce a little more detail into the picture and as the old saying goes ‘the devil is in the detail’.  I’m not suggesting for one moment that Michelle Moore is engaged in any wilfully nefarious activity or if she’s even aware of how her scheme facilitates and plays into the hands of various political agendas.  She is merely a businesswoman who sees an opportunity in the market to be capitalised upon and exploited for financial gain.  In fact I’d be almost certain that this is the case and these are the extent of her motivations.  The establishment on the other hand, who are backing the scheme, will provide her with all the support necessary, in order for her to succeed in this endeavour, should it coincidentally and fortuitously align with their goals.  AVA Housing will be provided with all the resources of the state, including data, analytics and even more sensitive information, for example the information gleaned from the public in the last census, something many predicted might happen.  The information volunteered by homeowners has no doubt been analysed studiously by vested interests who wish to pursue the policy of ‘right sizing’ by incentivising (at first, carrot before stick remember) projects to best utilise what the state now ominously refers to as ‘housing stock’.  Implying that they have already assumed ownership.

At present there is complete carnage within the housing system.  The cost of a home far exceeds the purchasing power of the average industrial wage.  Housing lists have an average wait of over nine years, particularly if you are Irish and are not receiving coaching by NGO’s on how to exploit the loopholes that exist within the system.  Queues to even view show houses are longer than ever and it’s becoming more and more difficult to get loan approval from banks.  Amidst the backdrop of this we have a completely reckless and insane migration policy adding further pressure to an already dangerously inflated balloon.  The sound gear and instruments were still being packed away by roadies at Electric Picnic, when the announcement was made that Stradbally, Co. Laois, was now the latest town to be bestowed with the honour of accommodating 750 so-called ‘Asylum seekers’.  In tented accommodation no less.  The usual commentators were on hand to decry the inhumanity, of course as usual neglecting the obvious elephant in the room.  The small matter of our ability to house not only them, but the 12,000 plus forgotten Irish homeless languishing on our streets, who do not factor in the governments thinking whatsoever.

Armed with the knowledge, of the desire - by the likes of our friends in Davos, to remove property rights, the more cynically natured among us, might deduce that this is a crisis not meant to be fixed and it is simply being used as a tool to achieve the age old dream of communism here in the west, that being the end of private property ownership.  This is again of course just speculative, but another important piece of information has yet to be introduced.  When you consider the group has started to do leaflet drops into the letterboxes of homeowners who are in the 60 and above age group and who also live alone, this more or less proves that AVA Housing (and likely other private groups), have accessed and methodically scrutinised the personal information of homeowners, collected by the government in the last census.  The non-profit organisation (which doesn’t necessarily mean the board members don’t receive a salary or expenses) have initially targeted the Beaumont and Artane area with a meeting scheduled for Friday next, 8th September between 10:30 and 12pm.  ‘Refreshments will be provided’ is highlighted in bold print at the bottom of the page, no doubt to entice lonely pensioners to attend, with the prospect of a fleeting social outing, in this increasingly atomised world.

Tackling the loneliness of old age is actually stated as one of the projects aims in its mission statement.  The benevolent nature of state sponsored initiatives is always the key ingredient to any sales pitch.  RTÉ have been instrumental in this regard, to an enormous degree in the past few years.  Heavily influencing the thinking and decision making process of the demographic in question, who trusted implicitly the smiling ‘man on the telly’, who spoke to them like an old friend.  Perhaps their only friend.  The recently deposed Ryan Tubridy, gaining their trust speaking to them directly through the gogglebox on a Friday evening as they sat down to watch the Late Late.  Which brings us to another key piece of information and the identity of one of AVA Housing’s directors.  Another trusted ‘lovely man’ and regular guest on the couch of the aforementioned staple of middle Ireland.  Enter Dermot Bannon.  Now again, as in the case of Moore, I am not suggesting Bannon has any knowledge of anything sinister at all; if indeed anything dark even exists, but could you actually pick anyone better as a salesman for this particular project to pitch to Ireland’s over 60’s if you tried?

Irish people love their homes and are extremely house proud.  Bannon’s show ‘Room to Improve’ was watched by most people in this age group and was actually one of the more watchable shows on RTÉ.  Who doesn’t like a nice house?  It also catered to that covetous, nosy and begrudging nature that is one of the more unflattering qualities of so many Irish people.  How often do people gaze enviously upon a beautiful home and declare quietly to themselves “we are not living”.  There will be queues around corners to have the great architectural powerhouse, Dermot Bannon, carry out renovations on their houses - for bragging rights alone.  After the job is completed however and the fuzzy glow and showbiz glamour have worn off, it’s time to uphold your end of the bargain.  Who I wonder would your new lodger be, to keep you company in your old age?  Well of course we must remember that we have ‘international obligations’, which our politicians have repeatedly confirmed take precedence above our own interests.  And of course, the young able bodied non-Ukrainian men who are currently present and being boarded in centres all over the country (for god knows what reason) can’t stay in direct provision, or indeed tents, forever, as we are told it’s inhumane.  This then leads us to the logical and highly probable conclusion, that the prospective tenant will be one (maybe more) of these men.

Men shacked up in the SIAC building in Clondalkin have been caught on camera by locals, dealing and taking drugs.  The Gardaí have turned a blind eye and have refused to view video evidence presented to them by locals.  The state have made it clear they are not interested who comes into the country, whether they have a criminal record or not.  They are - it seems - simply concerned about volume and are continuing to bring in men by the bus load every week who will all need to be housed.  The establishment showed in Turnapin they had scant regard for the wishes of elderly local residents, when a load of strange foreign men were dumped in their area, with security provided by the Gardaí to protect these non-Irish citizens from the ghastly, ’racist’ locals.  Does anyone believe they will treat individual cases any differently?  They will most likely care even less.  Lonely, isolated pensioners living alone will be met with even greater indifference should they object to the identity of their incoming tenant(s).  No doubt the race card will be pulled from the deck as usual, to be ruthlessly employed, to beat the poor elderly man or woman into submission and silence them.

Picture this line of events:

• Elderly man/woman attends organised event with ‘refreshments’ and gets to chat with AVA representatives regarding refurbishments (possibly meeting Dermot Bannon).

• After an informal chat to get everyone comfortable, they are greeted formally by a speaker, who presents the sales pitch.

• A PowerPoint slideshow is presented of before and after home alterations, with all the needs of the pensioner considered and addressed in the planning.  All positives so far.

• An agreement is made, contracts are signed and work commences.

• Upon completion of the project a representative from AVA Housing (or perhaps another NGO, or more likely the relevant government department), knocks upon the door of the pensioner, arriving to introduce the new housemate.

• It’s a young man (likely unvetted) from an IPAS centre.

• The pensioner will be no doubt be congratulated on their humanitarianism and told that they are doing a great deed by helping a ‘refugee’ find a place to live.

An international protection applicant is far more likely to be the beneficiary of this scheme than a native Irish citizen, when you take into account the powerful and well funded groups such as INAR and the Immigration Council, who will be on hand to lobby on their behalf, while an Irish man or woman is made jump through hoops to receive a medical card.  Now also take into consideration that NGO staff are liaising with migrants and teaching them what rights they have.  They are actively being coached on how to the get the absolute maximum from the system.  Citizens Information have a section on their website pertaining to ‘Tenancies of unlimited duration’.  Under new rules, if your tenancy was created after 10th June 2022, you automatically fall into this category.  Ergo, every single one of these cases will be legally deemed so.  The anti-social and violent behaviour in centres like City West provides us with an insight of what could potentially occur.  Do you really believe they won’t attempt to house these men with an elderly man or woman?  The won’t even screen them coming into the country, never mind on a case by case basis.  The residents of Turnapin stood together and were ruthlessly strong armed by the agents of the state and told they had no right to complain.  What chance does a solitary elderly person stand in the face of such callousness and antipathy?

An elderly man or woman could become a prisoner in their own home depending on what kind of individual they get.  They could end up with gangs in their home having drug fuelled parties.  Could they expect any assistance from the Gardaí, given what we have recently witnessed?  I am not suggesting these men are all criminals, but due to our ridiculous open borders policy, championed by the likes of Fair City and Bohemians FC there is every likelihood that they are.  Once they are in, you will never be able to get them out!  They could claim squatters rights and eventually force you out by making your life so unbearable that you can no longer stay, which would have huge implications for inheritance and all sorts.  I want to stress again that this is all worst case scenario, but it is what will be possible.  The home you worked for all your life will be then likely be sequestered by the state and subdivided up, to house more people from these centres.

I want to stress again that this is not an attack on AVA Housing or any of its directors.  I am not calling their integrity into question, they too are likely just a piece on the chessboard, an instrument merely playing notes in an orchestra, given its cues by a faceless conductor, turning the pages and expressing the movements, of a symphony devised by an even more elusive composer.  I don’t believe Moore, Bannon or anyone else involved, are even aware of how their project helps the WEF and UN achieve the goals for Agenda 2030, but they don’t have to be.  They may even be driven by altruism, who knows?  They can however, be easily exploited and used as a tool by genuine decision makers far away from public view.  Money and connections are often all that is required to get the wheels moving in the real world and those who are really in charge possess unlimited amounts of both.  There may even have been subtle hints filtered down to certain people regarding potential upcoming opportunities within the market.  Again who knows?  I’m speculating.  Their motives are irrelevant, it’s the outcome that really matters and besides they are just responsible for taking on the works, who gets housed will be for the department to decide.  What we do know for sure, is that once the money and personnel are in place, things tend to click into gear pretty rapidly and have a habit of taking on a life of their own.

I’m not trying to patronise or convince our elderly or anyone else for that matter, of what’s best for them.  That is a matter for them and entirely their own decision.  I just want to present an alternative perspective to elderly people who will no doubt be presented with only the positive side of the story.  Most of what I have written here is only my opinion, but having closely followed the geo-political manoeuvres at play in our country over the past few years, it is a carefully considered opinion and an educated guess of what may be in store for the folks who sign up to this scheme.  It would be remiss of me not to communicate this message.

If you have elderly parents or grandparents who have received these letters, it is vital you make them aware of this information, so they can make an informed decision.  They will no doubt be mesmerised by the friendly man on the telly once more, but a healthy dose of cynicism should be applied to prevent them from potentially being hoodwinked.  Just like ’Fair Deal’, I don’t believe this will be to the benefit of people in the long run and will be a devastating blow for home ownership into the future with the cost of buying a house increasingly spiralling out of the reach and affordability of ordinary people.  There will likely be further assaults on home ownership in the future with homes having to comply with energy regulations, possible property tax hikes and other requirement.  But for the time being, I believe they are testing to see how many they can get on board consensually.  Give them nothing easy.

If you received the letter and plan to attend the meeting on Friday, ask them one simple question, “who am I most likely to get as a tenant?”  The response will no doubt be nondescript and vague, but ironically the lack of detail may be exactly what you need and what tells you to proceed with caution.