Gerry Adams attacks government and bankers

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams accused the government of facilitating bankers and developers to distort the housing market. During the Celtic Tiger era and therefore helping to destroy the Irish economy. He said that those whose greed put housing beyond the reach of ordinary people and undermined the state"s competitiveness must shoulder the burden of any tax increases that Taoiseach Brian Cowen intends to implement over the coming months. The Sinn Féin President was speaking in Tullamore at the launch of the election campaign of local Sinn Féin candidate Brendan Killeavy last Monday night. Mr Killeavy is hoping to win a seat on both Tullamore Town Council and Offaly County Council. 'Brendan is a first time candidate who has been active in Sinn Féin for ten years now. He is committed to improving the living and working conditions of the people of Tullamore, of Offaly and of Ireland. I believe that if elected he will make a very effective public representative,' said Mr Adams. 'A key issue in this area is the lack of social and affordable housing. There are 750 families on the housing waiting list in Tullamore with 15 new families coming onto that list every week now.' Mr Adams said that many individuals and families were forgotten by the Celtic Tiger economy, who in recent years, could not afford to buy their own home in a 'scandalously over-priced' housing market. 'The Government, including Brian Cowen during his term as Minister for Finance, refused to intervene to curb the escalation in house prices. Had this been done things would not be as bad as they now are. The failure to curb rising house prices pushed up the cost of living and the cost of doing business,' he said. Sinn Féin is calling for a doubling of the output of social housing across the state, wants Government assistance for families currently at risk of losing their homes due to the reckless banking practices and is calling for an urgent halt to illegal evictions. Present at the launch was Brendan Killeavy and Cllr Tómas Sharkey, who is the Ireland East candidate for the European elections.