‘Something We’ve Learned To Expect’

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Brendan Ogle outside Apollo House on January 12

You may recall RTÉ One’s report from Monday, by John Kilraine – about the former headquarters of the Unite trade union, on Merrion Square in Dublin, which has been vacant for three years.

It was reported:

“…a trust connected to the trade union Unite applied to be exempted from social housing for a development at its former headquarters…while one of its top officials was planning the occupation of Apollo House…”.

The report went on to say Brendan Ogle, of Unite and the Home Sweet Home movement, gained access to Apollo House a day after Unite’s application for a Social Housing Exemption Cert was granted by Dublin City Council.

Mr Ogle subsequently wrote a lengthy post on Facebook concerning the RTÉ report.

Further to this…

Yesterday evening, Mr Ogle spoke to Matt Cooper on Today FM about the matter, during which a statement from RTE was read out.

A transcript of the interview:

Matt Cooper: “Brendan Ogle, Home Sweet Home organiser, also the Unite trade union’s education and policy officer has joined us in studio today. Jimmy Kelly, the regional organiser, of course, was with us on yesterday’s programme to respond to the story which RTE broke yesterday about the former Unite headquarters in Merrion Square being vacant for the last three years. Leading to questions as to why it could not have been used as a venue to look after the homeless people rather than occupying Apollo House in Dublin city centre. Brendan Ogle, can you understand why people would ask that, and regard it as a legitimate question?”

Brendan Ogle: “No.”

Cooper: “Why not?”

Ogle: “I can’t understand why a workers’ organisation and volunteers and members of it, which is an non-profit organisation, a friendly society organisation, comes under attack for helping homeless people. I can’t understand it.”

Cooper: “Attack. Why do you say attack?”

Ogle: “Well, because, this is not journalism. We were approached by RTE at lunchtime, Saturday afternoon. I was approached, notwithstanding the fact I had nothing to do with property. I don’t even own one, nevermind having anything to do with it. And it was a very complex question. And Jimmy Kelly, who you’ve just mentioned – the leader of Unite in Ireland – sought, until today, until Tuesday, to provide RTE will full facts. Bearing in mind, Matt, that it was Saturday afternoon, if we’d got contacted on Monday, or even on Friday, we might have been able to do something.”

Cooper: “Sorry, had you not anticipated at any stage, over the last month or so, that somebody might come along and say to you, ‘hang on a second, you’re very involved in this campaign, you’re leading it down in Apollo House and, as it happens, you have a large building in Merrion Square which has been vacant for three years. If you’re concerned about the homeless, why didn’t you actually use that as a venue to house people?”

Ogle: “No, I didn’t anticipate it. I anticipated that elements of the media were up to no good when they were standing outside the gates of Apollo House, offering homeless people, going in and out, money to tell stories about what was going on in there. That was going on the whole time. So I appreciate…”

Cooper: “I have to say, I know nothing about that…I don’t know which organisations may have done that.”

Ogle: “Absolutely, and actually it wasn’t RTE either, it was print outlets. But I watched it, and I watched it on several occasions. So I anticipated a dirty tricks campaign because any time anybody stands up and puts there head above the parapet, be it the union or be it me or be it a long list of other people in this country – and stands up for people who need help – then agendas quickly set in…”

Cooper: “Hang on, why is it, no, no, no, hold on a second, why is it a dirty trick to ask what many people regard as a legitimate question as to why you did not use the property in Merrion Square?”

Ogle: “Well, first of all, it’s not a legitimate question because we went into Apollo House, very clearly stating – first of all, we were asked could we get into Apollo House by the artists. We’ve stated that, on the record, a number of times. So that loop was left out of the questions. Second of all, we went into Apollo House because it was a Nama property. We already own, and I’m not going to discuss it again – I will if you want, if you’ve the time – but the point about it is: it was a Nama property. As it turns out we were quite entitled to look for time to look into this. When we looked for time to look into it, we discovered that the so-called obligations do not apply at all because there’s only four units planned in Merrion Square. And [former environment minister] Alan Kelly changed the requirements to nine. So we can’t give someone .04 of a unit. And then we discovered today – and John Kilraine could have been told this, if he’d waited till… well I could have said I don’t know why the story was broken yesterday. I know exactly why the story was broken yesterday…”

Cooper: “Well, you assume you know why, you don’t actually know directly. Let’s be fair now…”

Ogle: “I’m suggesting, okay, I’m suggesting and I fully, genuinely and sincerely believe – the story was broke yesterday to damage me, to damage Unite trade union, so the facts that we discovered today would come out after the damage was done. I’m suggesting that, I sincerely, honestly and earnestly believe that to be the case. And what we have discovered is that, three years ago, Unite trade union spoke to a number of groups working with homelessness – which wasn’t as bad then as it is now, but was on the way – and invited them to look at Merrion Square and see was it appropriate for housing emergency accommodation. And one of the groups, the others can identify themselves, but one of the groups that will be happy to identify themselves was Focus Ireland, who came into Merrion Square three years ago, looked at it, looked at the state of the building and decided that, for emergency accommodation for the services they provide homeless people that that was not a suitable location – notwithstanding any planning problems. And we have worked very, very well in Home Sweet Home, we have…”

Cooper: “Hang on, why didn’t you know that or Jimmy Kelly knew that? Who, in Unite, actually spoke with Focus Ireland and why did they not tell you that?”

Ogle: “Well, first of all, Matt. Staff, as you know here, come and go and move through situations and we looked for time of RTE to give a full, detailed response to those questions. If the question had come on a working day, we could have done it quicker. It came on a Saturday afternoon, very bizarre altogether. Saturday afternoon? We looked for Tuesday, I don’t think it was unreasonable, there’s no reason why RTE couldn’t have waited until Tuesday and it took us time to do a search of our records, of our archives, or our emails, and of our systems. We’re not in that building anymore, Matt. We’ve got rid of that building. Our headquarters by the way…”

Cooper: “Have you got rid of it? You still own it, don’t you?”

Ogle: “It’s held by a trust and I think it’s on the market. My headquarters, Matt, and all the years I’ve sat with you in this building and in your previous building, in Abbey Street, you were over there once too, my headquarters is in Abbey Street..”

Cooper: “Yes.”

Ogle: “It’s always been in Abbey Street and what we are saying, putting on the record today, we’ve issued a statement at 5pm is that Unite trade union did that with charities working in the NGO sector. Focus Ireland, I believe, will confirm that – that could have been confirmed, had RTE simply waited until today. But there was a rush to judgment. There was an agenda set, in my honestly and earnestly held opinion and it’s unbecoming journalism and it’s unbecoming of the national broadcaster.”

Cooper: “Ok, but even if Focus Ireland didn’t want to use it, and I’ll come back and I’m going to ask the question: a lot of people would have said, if Focus Ireland had gone into Apollo House, they would have said that wasn’t suitable either. Now, you decided to takeover Apollo House, make it suitable, and the question is, if your issue was looking after homeless people, instead of occupying a building belonging to somebody else, why did you not use a building to which you had access?”

Ogle: “Our issue wasn’t looking after homeless people. Our issue was forcing the Government to fulfil its obligation to look after homeless people. The role, the job of looking after homeless people does not fall on Brendan Ogle’s office, on Jimmy Kelly’s office and Jim Sheridan’s house and Glen Hansard’s wardrobe – it falls on the Government. And the Government have a land bank called Nama and Apollo House was full of Nama. By the way, Apollo House, Matt, would accommodate ten times’ the number of homeless people and an awful lot quicker. We were able to kit it out in a day and a half. That could never have been done in any other building of a similar size and no other building of a similar size was available anyway.”

Cooper: “Nama, though, has offered many properties to various local councils around the country, including Dublin City Council and the various councils have rejected many of those particular properties. So, Nama has actually tried to give properties – is that not an issue? So, why takeover a Nama commercial building for this particular purpose?”

Ogle: “Well, Nama has offered buildings that local authorities have thought to be unsuitable and Nama has refused to offer other buildings that local authorities have sought – these are two arms of the State. Hold on, Matt, now. These are two arms of the State who are talking to each other against a background of at least 7,000 officially homeless people. Now, can I just make this point, Matt, because I don’t know how long we’ve got. I’m happy to stay here all night. But can I make this point: what is so wrong about people giving up their Christmas, using their energy, their activism and their resources – there was no homeless person who died on the streets of Dublin this Christmas, none. There was a fantastic atmosphere in Apollo House, it has put an historic spotlight on this emergency…”

Cooper: “But hold on a second, Brendan, that wasn’t all down to you…in fairness…”

Ogle: “No, no…”

Cooper: “I’m not criticising your bona fides in relation to this, right. But there’s the work of the likes of the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust, Focus Ireland, the work by Dublin City Council as well – in putting new facilities in place. There are an awful lot of people, even before you came along…”

Ogle: “Absolutely…”

Cooper: “With the Home Sweet Home campaign who have been trying their damnedest…”

Ogle: “Absolutely, and Matt, you’ve never heard me and nobody has ever heard me saying a bad word against any of those people. And despite their best efforts, despite their very best efforts, homelessness continues to skyrocket, we’ve got over 7,000 people, we’ve got Santa Claus coming to hotels and a lot of those people have discussed it with Home Sweet Home and discussed it with me, and discussed it with other people over the last few weeks. This has helped those people and those agencies make the case: what is so objectionable about that?”

Cooper: “Ok, but isn’t Nama’s remit, as set down by legislation, to get as much money back as possible for the State?”

Ogle: “No, it’s not. Section 14 of the Nama Act 2009 provides a remit for Nama to be aware of their social responsibilities. Home Sweet Home have written to the Minister for Finance on this issue, asking to act on it. He sent a holding response two and a half weeks ago – saying he would send a more detailed response which still is not forthcoming. Matt, we do not accept, Home Sweet Home do not accept, and Unite trade union do not accept that Nama is fulfilling the social responsibility ascribed to it, under Section 14 of the 2009 act.”

Cooper: “But, on your website, that you set up, and it’s a pretty basic website, Home Sweet Home, you don’t mention…Nama at all…”

Ogle: “I didn’t set it up..”

Cooper: “Ok, well somebody from Home Sweet Home set up this. It’s a website setting out your objectives under homelessness now. And Nama is actually not mentioned there.”

Ogle: “Well, Nama has been central, Matt. That’s why we wrote a five-page letter to [Minister for Finance] Michael Noonan. When Unite were approached by the artists – so when everybody is attacking Unite, a union that has put more resources into campaigning on water, on change and on homelessness than any other union in Ireland in the last number of years – which seems to be scaring the wits of some people – let me finish, Matt. When…”

Talk over each other

Ogle: “When I got approached by the artists, I got asked to procure, if possible, a Nama building. The Home Sweet Home is specific to forcing the Government. Matt, we can all do our best, the citizens of Ireland, for many, many years have been doing their best to address the homelessness situation in many, many ways. The charities you’ve named have as well. It’s the Government that needs to be forced to do it and Nama was the vehicle. And John Kilraine knows that.”

Cooper: “Ok, we have a statement from RTE because you [Brendan Ogle] have a fairly extensive Facebook post about this…”

Ogle: “I have..”

Cooper: “It says:

‘While we welcome feedback and have processes in place to facilitate feedback and official complaints, we strongly condemn personal attacks on our journalists and presenters. RTE stands by yesterday’s report and its reporting of the Apollo House story which we are satisfied has been fair and accurate’.

Ogle: “Well I will let the listeners and the viewers of RTE judge whether a report that was rushed out – without giving us the two days, two working days is all we requested – and which now turns out we had offered the building to Focus Ireland and other NGOs which can identify themselves and it didn’t meet with Alan Kelly’s provisions in any case. Of course RTE are going to defend their man. I think it’s an appalling standard of journalism and, to be honest with you, it’s something, through the water campaign, we’ve learned to expect from RTE.”

Listen back in full here

Yesterday: The Man In The Van

Previously: The Myth Of The Sinister Fringe

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52 thoughts on “‘Something We’ve Learned To Expect’

  1. Joe Small

    As Phoenix reported last week, Brendan Ogle is using his trade union position to try establish a political party. I don’t see how he can, on the one hand, criticise people for pointing on his Union’s hypocrisy on the basis that homelessness is not the responsibility of a trade union and, on the other hand, use that union and the issue of homelessness, like water charges, to further his own political aims.

      1. Joe Small

        Yes, I do. That doesn’t take away from my specific point one bit and doesn’t immunise trade unions from criticism.

      1. Cian

        and when you say government, so you mean the Daíl? The Councils? The Civil Service? The Public Service? or a combination of all four?

      2. Joe Small

        Nothing is very simple, except in Donald Trump’s world. . People who say things are very simple don’t usually know much about the issue.
        Also, my post wasn’t focused on homelessness, but on Brendan Ogle.

        1. Anne

          The government are responsible for the homeless crisis. Not Brendan Ogle.

          Which part of that is complicated?

          1. Cian

            Anne, I have a dictionary, thank you.
            “government
            /ˈɡʌv(ə)nˌm(ə)nt,ˈɡʌvəm(ə)nt/
            noun: the group of people with the authority to govern a country or state; a particular ministry in office.”
            This covers any of “Dáil? The Councils? The Civil Service? The Public Service”.

            I’m just curious who you are blaming. The Cabinet proposes the allocation of money for the councils to spend, this is voted by the Dáil. At Council level the councillors get to decide how this money is actually used, and finally the civil/public servants implement this.

            So I’ll ask again. Who you are blaming?

  2. Barry the Hatchet

    Good grief the media in this country never ceases to disappoint. This is nothing but a sad little distraction.

  3. ReproBertie

    When RTÉ don’t report something they’re covering up. When they do report something it’s down to an agenda and they should have waited. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

    1. Daisy Chainsaw

      Realistically, there was nothing to report. RTE simply sensationalised a non issue to demonise Ogle and denigrate HSH because they’ve both embarrassed RTE’s political masters. The big “damning” question was why wasn’t an empty building offered to house the homeless. Turns out it was, but rather than wait for Ogle to get that information from the people in UNITE who actually deal with that kind of thing, RTE made a big splash headline beloved of the most tawdry of tabloids. And despite the massive, embarrassing failure of this round of “whataboutery” there are still people trying to make Focus Ireland’s refusal of an unsuitable building all about Ogle.

      1. rotide

        Actually that’s not what the article said Daisy.

        It’s headline was ‘Unite union sought social housing exemption for former Dublin HQ” and that’s basically what the piece was about. The “damning question” came from a protestor, not from the report and was only mentioned once in that attributed quote.

        The Union was asked to comment and did and as has been discussed here didn’t have the pertinant information to hand.

        I find it incredible that this is being held up as some sort of fake news when you look at the sort of dross that bodger likes to promote.

        1. Daisy Chainsaw

          And it turns out that the exemption wasn’t even required because it was less than the minimum number required, but again, RTE couldn’t wait until UNITE had provided them with an actual reply to their question. The inclusion of a question from some heretofore unknown astroturf group just adds to the hatcheting.

          This was bad journalism. Whatever purpose it was designed to serve failed.

          1. rotide

            It doesn’t matter if the exemption wasn’t required, Unite still applied for it, not RTE.

            They basically just reported that. You might have questions over the ethics of it but the journalism was fairly solid. Nothing in that article was untrue.

  4. TheOtherGuy

    1. For Ogle to say that it isn’t legitimate to ask about the building owned by UNITE on Merrion Square is laughable. Of course it’s legitimate. There is also a legitimate answer, which qualifies the reasoning behind their decision and it’s totally acceptable. But to say the question itself isn’t legitimate is frankly double speak and crapology.

    2. To suggest that RTE should have waited 3 days or more for UNITE to go through their mounds of data to find an answer shows a clear misunderstanding of how a news cycle works.

    3. Writing a 5 page letter to a Minister should be your first clue that you’re not getting a response by return post. 5 pages is alot of copy. Likely a lot of points raised that need to be investigated and checked. So, if you got a response saying “thanks – we’re looking into all the points you raised and we’ll reply when we have all the information” isn’t unreasonable.

    All of the above not withstanding the fact that yes, we have a horrendous situation in this country with homelessness and we are in desparate need of a solution that works for all. You can’t complain about being lumbered with debt that isn’t yours whilst berating the agency that has been tasked with cutting that debt by as much as possible through the sales of toxic assets.

    Selling to vulture funds was hardly sensible though.

    etc

    1. rotide

      +1

      The usuals will be along to moan about how the media conspire against anyone that isn’t elite or the government but anyone with eyes and ears in their head can see that really isn’t the case.

      1. Listrade

        I’ll bite.

        Couple of open points that give some rise to suspicion about RTE’s actions.

        1. Did Ogle represent HSH or Unite (or both) during Apollo House? Hard to tell to be honest, but HSH is separate and made up of volunteers. If Ogle is volunteering, then his day job shouldn’t have a reflection on HSH and their actions.

        2. Is Unite officially behind HSH? Not sure again. But if not, then tying them and their properties to the Apollo House issue is deliberate to undermine Ogle or HSH in my opinion.

        3. Is it reasonable to expect that Ogle (a policy executive which isn’t that high up the chain of command) has any say or influence on the property management of Unite? The answer is a resounding no. So the issue of the property is Unite’s. The management of that property and other properties is way outside of Ogle’s influence and knowledge. So why tie it to him? Why present it as hypocritical?

        4. Could RTE have waited as requested to get the information? Depends. If Ogle is to be believed, the request came in on a Saturday afternoon. RTE were asked to wait for an official response on Monday once business resumes. A story of national importance where I had pretty much as much evidence as I was ever going to get and all I want from the other party is a comment: I won’t wait. However, a story where a leak has come from a single source with a vested interest and there isn’t really anything of national interest (based on 1-3 above), I can wait. It’d be due diligence to wait to be honest. The perception of whether or not it represents hypocrisy wouldn’t be lessened by running the story on Tuesday once all the facts had been given.

        5. Were other media outlets given the leaked information? If so, why did they wait and not beat RTE to it? If not, why the rush? If you’re the only news source with it, you’ve time to a bit more research.

        6. The reason for Apollo House is clear: maximum impact. It worked. They could have found beds all over the place, but it wouldn’t have had the impact on the public like this did. I think it irrelevant what other properties were available when you’re trying to raise awareness in a big way. So why is it relevant that other places were available, it was a publicity stunt and an effective one.

        1. TheOtherGuy

          1. Unite and HSH have pretty much been mentioned in the same breath throughout this whole thing. So my assumption is that Unite are strong advocates and backers of HSH. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I’ve not seen any communication from them distancing themselves from HSH, and nor, given your point above have you. So, when you play that way, you take the good with the bad. That’s the way it works. Not that there is anything wrong with the notion of HSH or Unite backing them.

          But if Ogle didn’t want Unite to be dragged into this, as he is a very visible face of the organisation, he should have been very clear about that fact from the outset. And all of that means that the question about Merrion Square is 100% legitimate. Let us also not forget that RTE is a public sector entity and therefore has a large number of people who are members of a union. Worth remembering.

          2. If Brendan Ogle is going to go out and talk about property and the spaces/buildings available it is entirely reasonable that he educate himself on the holdings of Unite.

          3. Entirely unreasonable to expect a news organisation to sit on a story because it’s Saturday. Also reasonable to assume that the source of their information was credible. They would have done fact checking. Vested interest or not, the information was accurate and RTE wound not have broadcast it if it wasn’t. They understand libel etc much better than you or I. As for other newsrooms, it’s a competitive market. How were they to know another outlet wouldn’t break the story?

          And News doesn’t respect business hours. If the Taoiseach’s ofice was asked a legitimate question based on information received and they said “wait til Tuesday'” you’d be screaming bloody murder.

          4. It is obviously relevant that other locations were available. To think otherwise doesn’t make sense. Apollo House worked to create awareness but if there were other locations available that could have been used long term then wouldn’t it be great to use them and THEN get into Apollo house?

          1. Listrade

            1.“And all of that means that the question about Merrion Square is 100% legitimate.”
            I agree. The question of it is legitimate. The newsworthiness is something we’ll disagree on.

            2.” If Brendan Ogle is going to go out and talk about property and the spaces/buildings available it is entirely reasonable that he educate himself on the holdings of Unite.”
            Disagree. Not that a detailed examination of the contradictions between how a union operates as a business or employer and their public policies on employers and business wouldn’t throw up a few interesting gems, but it isn’t reasonable to expect Ogle to be fully aware of property management particularly when it is managed via a property team in UK. Even if there are issues in Unite’s management of its properties Ogle has no influence on that, so why target him?

            3. “Entirely unreasonable to expect a news organisation to sit on a story because it’s Saturday. Also reasonable to assume that the source of their information was credible. They would have done fact checking. Vested interest or not, the information was accurate and RTE wound not have broadcast it if it wasn’t. They understand libel etc much better than you or I. As for other newsrooms, it’s a competitive market. How were they to know another outlet wouldn’t break the story?”

            Fact checking on one side though. Absolutely those facts stacked up, but it was only one side of the facts and not the full picture. Ethical reporting isn’t just about defamation; it is about checking the full facts of a story. What was the rush for RTE that couldn’t have waited 24 hrs to establish the fact that it had been offered to Focus?

            Going along with Matt Cooper (though I disagree), once the property was rejected by Focus, what was done then with it? Doing a more robust fact check rather than whatever leak came from DCC could still be spun to be one of hypocrisy. Without doing that, it doesn’t look good for RTE.

            Of course there are other angles in the Focus issue that would also need to be discussed (but aren’t). We have passing comment “subject to planning permission”. This is a common issue, particularly in Georgian Dublin, that renovation is prohibitive because of the cost of planning, the bureaucracy and delays in planning. It comes back to DCC, but that isn’t discussed. Why would it be so prohibitive to convert an office into residential accommodation (as it used to be) because of planning restrictions? There’s a story there. Or at least as much as a story as this Ogle one.

            4. “It is obviously relevant that other locations were available. To think otherwise doesn’t make sense. Apollo House worked to create awareness but if there were other locations available that could have been used long term then wouldn’t it be great to use them and THEN get into Apollo house?”

            We’ll disagree again. It was spontaneous(ish) direct action with a view to raise awareness. Quietly accommodating people wasn’t getting anything done in terms of public attention or government support. It was literally a kick the doors in and then retrofit a policy position after the event.

        2. rotide

          WRT your first 2 points, everything I’ve seen in the last two days from Mr Ogle has included mentions of unite and HSH at every turn. Now this is understandable given the story but from reading this transcript it seems like the two are fairly intertwined.
          When Unite were approached by the artists …I got asked to procure, if possible, a Nama building.

  5. john

    “a friendly society organisation” brilliant. Unions only care about their members and are far from friendly to those who don’t sign up or agree with their decisions!

  6. vickdon

    UNITE’s building on Merrion Square was vacant for three years. It was vacant because it needed substantial renovation and the owners were trying to obtain planning permission to increase the value. As the property market was rising, there was no rush to get it occupied. They didn’t leave the door open so that homeless people could use it for shelter because that could lower the value of the property and sure – hey might never leave. In other words, it was vacant for exactly the same reason that NAMA property is vacant.

    Anyone building housing is obliged to allocate 10% of the land for social housing. The idea is that the developer sells the social units to the local council at a price discounted from full market value. The council doesn’t get them for free.

    If you build less than 10 units then you can choose to apply for an exemption from this requirement. UNITE chose to do this in the same way that any developer would make this choice – in order to maximise their profit.

    UNITE applied for a social housing exemption under Section 97 (3) of the amended Planning and Development Act 2000, which reads as follows:
    (3) A person may, before applying for permission in respect of a development—
    (a) consisting of the provision of 9 or fewer houses, or
    (b) for housing on land of 0.1 hectares or less,
    apply to the planning authority concerned for a certificate stating that section 96
    shall not apply to a grant of permission in respect of the development concerned (in
    this section referred to as a “certificate”), and accordingly, where the planning
    authority grants a certificate, section 96 shall not apply to a grant of permission in
    respect of the development concerned.

    Note that its says “may” apply for a certificate of exemption from social housing.

    In the same Act, section 94 (4) (d) says that the Act shall not operate to prevent a person from allocating more than 10% of their development land for social housing.

    UNITE could have sold even one apartment to Dublin city council to be used as social housing but they chose not to.

    Ogle was paid €80,000 a year to be a union official for the ESB. We do not know how much he is paid from the dues of UNITE members.

    1. Listrade

      But they did offer it to Focus and other homeless groups for them to use. This was rejected. So there wasn’t such a devious attempt to keep it away from the homeless as portrayed here and in the initial report.

      Focus hasn’t clarified why they rejected it. Cost of development was one, but it was also mentioned as to planning permission, i.e. “before planning permission”. Would they even have got planning permission to turn such a property in that are from an office to accommodation for the homeless?

      After offering to homeless charities it wasn’t used for anything. Why would Unite have any more success in developing into homeless accommodation than the charities it was offered to?

      Also, Ogle’s wages are irrelevant to your points on Unite’s property management team.. The wages were from the ESB for his job at ESB. You aren’t paid to be a union rep.

    1. Kolmo

      “All objectors to the (our) speculator-controlled economy is an unhinged Trotskyite”
      – Page 1, FG/Goldman-Sachs member media booklet.

      (….probably)

  7. Anne

    “Our issue was forcing the Government to fulfil its obligation to look after homeless people. The role, the job of looking after homeless people does not fall on Brendan Ogle’s office, on Jimmy Kelly’s office and Jim Sheridan’s house and Glen Hansard’s wardrobe – it falls on the Government.

    That sums it up pretty well.

    Between all the volunteers houses, and the celebs’ guest houses, and Brendan Ogle’s shed out the back of his house and a building Unite have, and Glen Hansard’s kitchen cupboard and bla bla bla etc. etc. it could have housed the homeless and they could have done this quietly in the night, but it’s the job of the government to house the homeless and all the thousands shacked up in hotels too and they need to be shamed into it.. the useless fuppers.

  8. Anne

    I think Brendan is being trolled here. This is one big troll surely?

    Best way to deal with it is ignore it and talk about the shameless inaction of the government. Keep directing the conversation back to the issue and ignore the trolling.

    RTE are government sponsored trolls. Don’t feed the trolls as they say.

  9. Mourning Ireland

    Miriam O’Callaghan, Claire Byrne, Marian Finucane, Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy, Ray D’Arcy – call them out. Put faces on “RTE”.

  10. Kieran NYC

    Ogle using the classic Trump tacking of claiming victim from the nasty media every time someone writes a story that calls him to account.

    Whatever happened to the proper auditing of the money donated to HSH?

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