Housing activists occupying a vacant property in Dublin’s north inner city have been served notice to leave the building by the owner.
On Tuesday a notice was placed on the door of the house, 35 Summerhill Parade, and five neighbouring properties.
The notice said the owner of the property was Pat O'Donnell & Co Ltd Retirement and Death Benefit Plan, the trustees of which were PJ O'Donnell and Peter Mc Lornan, the notice said.*
In early May, a large number of primarily Brazilian tenants were evicted with 24 hours notice from the house, and five other neighbouring homes on the street.
Up to 20 tenants had been living in each property, sharing rooms in cramped bunk bed accommodation.
An inspection by Dublin Fire Brigade raised fire safety issues at the property, a Dublin City Council (DCC) spokeswoman said.
After these inspections the owner agreed the properties would be vacated.
Last week a group of housing activists broke into one of the vacant homes and occupied it in protest.
Groups involved in the protest included Dublin Central Housing Action, and student protest group Take Back Trinity.
The activists want DCC to buy the properties using compulsory purchase orders and to use them for social housing.
The notice was placed on the doors of 33-39 Summerhill Parade. It read: “Take notice that all those present on this property are trespassing thereon.”
"You should note that the assistant chief fire officer of Dublin City Fire Brigade previously expressed concerns about this property and directed it should remain vacant for fire safety reasons."
The notice called on those occupying the building to vacate the property and to remove any items or signs the group had brought into the building.
The notice said if the building is not vacated by 11am Tuesday, August 14th, "the owners intend to bring an application before the High Court. "
It continued: “Take notice that the owners will seek to fix those present in the property with the costs of any such application and proceedings that become necessary. This notice is without prejudice to the rights of the owners to claim damages for inter alia trespass.”
The notice said a representative of the owner could be contacted at a phone number, which belonged to Trinity Asset Management (TAM), an investment management firm.
Several days after the activists occupied the property, large steel doors were fitted on the other five properties owned by the firm.
* This article was amended on August 18th, 2018.
