If you haven't already joined @CatuIreland then you really should. Don't do it for me though. Do it for Stephen Faughnan - chairperson of the Irish Property Owners' Association (IPOA)

The IPOA has over 5,000 members. They represent landlords and concern themselves with lobbying against rent control, eviction bans, public housing etc. They have significant political clout and media influence due to their numbers, connections and financial resources.

Every move to regulate the Irish rental market and improve the lot of tenants is countered by the IPOA. They're on the radio and quoted in newspapers spreading misinformation and rhetoric to shift public opinion and distort perceptions of what's feasible or economically prudent.

When basic measures were introduced to stop lying their way through loopholes in anti-eviction legislation the IPOA attacked the new rules as stifling red tape that would destroy the private rented sector. It takes about four minutes to fill out a statutory declaration btw.

When Paul Howard hired violent thugs to force through a violent illegal eviction on Mountjoy Square a few years back the IPOA argued that landlords were driven to desperate measures because there were too many rules against illegal evictions.

The IPOA again pposed rules against illegal evictions around the covid lockdown eviction ban. Seemingly allowing landlords to "go about their business" of kicking people out of their homes trumps concerns about homeless families on the streets in the middle of a pandemic

The IPOA also consistently push the false narrative that pressure on landlords is forcing them out of the market in droves (UNTRUE) and that this will decrease overall housing availability in the country (short term changes but overall UNTRUE as housing stock remains regardless).

The IPOA oppose any attempt to check rampant inflation in the rental market and use their media connections to dominate the national conversation - always pushing their own narrow interests regardless of the social and economic impact on the state.

When the IPOA don't get their own way they organise amongst themselves to try to punish renters en masse - thereby attempting to undermine gains in renter's rights.

The extortionate rent you pay is no accident. It's the result of conscious decisions and concerted lobbying by groups like the IPOA. We can change this. It's our money that makes them rich. If we take a common stand they're nothing without us. So join the union: @CatuIreland