OTD: Kilkenny priests squat in flats row

A notice to a young married couple to quit their flat in Kilkenny led to a four-hour squat by two priests and a march through the city by members of the Kilkenny Flat Dwellers Association.

On Saturday, members of the Flat Dwellers Association, headed by Rev Jim Forristal and Rev Jackie Robinson and including Cllr Joe Cody, marched from City Hall to the flats at 5 John’s Quay.

They were protesting against the notice to quit order issued to Michael Kavanagh, his wife Anne and their 14-month-old infant David.

Mrs PB Brophy, wife of the landlord, said the house was not bought for flats and the couple were let stay on out of kindness.

Fr Robinson and Fr Forristal went into the Kavanagh flat in support of the tenants. At the same time members of the Association carried pickets as they marched outside the flats

The Kavanaghs said they got their notice to quit after they had complained to Kilkenny Corporation under recently adopted bye-laws controlling the letting of flats about conditions of accommodation.

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The priests were in the building for four hours, about two of which they spent talking to members of the Brophy family who own the house.

However, they failed to stop the notice to quit. On Saturday night Anne and her child moved to her mother’s home in Callan. Michael stayed in the flat.

The priests claim that the campaign is not against landlords as such. They want to highlight the inadequacies of the bye-laws, pointing out that they are not much use without back-up legislation to guarantee security of tenure and a neutral rents tribunal.

Ireland’s international rugby match against the All Blacks at Lansdowne Road on Saturday will have a special significance for one Kilkenny man.

Willie Duggan has been selected as reserve on the home team. Coach to Kilkenny Rugby Club, he is the first Kilkenny-born man to receive such an honour.

The game is part of the IRFU centenary year celebrations.

An appeal to business and industry to close down during the funeral of President Childers was made by Mayor Tom Martin at a special meeting of Kilkenny Corporation.

Mayor Martin urged that all shops and offices close their doors between 11am and 2pm so that workers could attend special services or watch the funeral on television.