‘It's an extremely stressful way to live’

A Cork musician has vowed to continue his weekly protest against homelessness outside Dáil Éireann despite having recently been evicted himself.

Martin Leahy has travelled from Cork to Dublin every Thursday for the past two and a half years to sing his song ‘Everyone Should Have A Home’ outside Leinster House.

He now must travel considerably farther having been evicted from his own home two weeks ago where he had lived for over six years.

“I did get evicted about two weeks ago. The landlord was selling the property,” Mr Leahy told the Cork Independent.

“I got evicted, so I'm staying with a friend further west now.

“I'm still looking for a place. There's a few things that may come through, I'm not sure yet, so, I suppose I'm what they call ‘hidden homeless’. It's an extremely stressful way to live,” he added.

Mr Leahy said his experience with eviction put into perspective how much worse it must be for families, especially those with young children.

“You hear a lot about the trauma. The formative years are so short and there are so many children already traumatised for life because of being in this situation,” he said.

Since beginning his weekly protests, Mr Leahy said he has received a lot of support and has even inspired a fellow musician and friend to begin a similar weekly protest outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin.

He said: “I'm only a small voice but it feels worthwhile.

“I get messages all the time from people supporting me. All that helps when you facing into a really nasty rainy morning. I don't know if I would have been able to sustain it without the support,” added Mr Leahy.

His latest song, ‘It’s For Your Own Good’ was released this month and deals with the issue of child homelessness in Ireland.

The song was written following a “particularly cruel” comment made by Fianna Fáil MEP, Barry Cowen in Dáil Éireann in 2023 when he compared extending the eviction ban to “making sweets free for children”.

Mr Leahy said: “It was in such poor taste, using an analogy with children.

“It felt like a dark enough time anyway. The eviction ban was never a solution, but all homeless services were saying don't lift it, for the moment just stop the flow into homelessness.

“The speech was written, it was prepared, it wasn't off the cuff,” he added.

Asked if he feels hopeful that the incoming government will fix Ireland’s ongoing housing and homelessness crisis, Mr Leahy said: “I might be naïve, but I'm hoping there will be a significant change.

“I know the polls are saying the same again, but I feel there's an energy around it and it's a big issue for people. It has such a wide-reaching effect. It seems that everyone is affected by it in some way,” he concluded.