Rhode man launches ‘Walk for Justice’ as home battle returns to court
By Rebekah O'Reilly
Rhode native Tom Roche is preparing to host an awareness campaign walk, the 'Rhode Home Walk for Justice', amid an ongoing legal battle.
The 76-year-old has been battling for the rights to his family home for fifteen years.
His legal battle began with PTSB, and continues with their successor MARS Capital Finance Ireland DAC.
On Monday, October 6, Mr Roche is due to appear at Tullamore Courthouse, where he will ask the County Registrar to strike out MARS Capital’s proceedings
To raise awareness of his campaign, Roche is leading the 'Rhode Home Walk for Justice' along the Grand Canal Way on the weekend before his hearing.
He is inviting anyone affected by mortgage distress or housing insecurity to join him.
The walk is due to be completed in three parts: Phase 1: Saturday, October 4, from 10am, Rhode Bridge (Russell’s Cottage, his mother’s birthplace) to Daingean; Phase 2: Sunday, October 5, from 10am, Daingean (Grand Canal Bridge) to Tullamore (No. 2 Chapel Lane, his father’s birthplace); And phase 3: Monday, October 6, from 10:00am, No. 2 Chapel Lane to Tullamore Courthouse, Cormac Street.
The full distance is approximately 30 kilometres, and participants may join at any stage. No registration is required.
Roche insists his fight is not only personal but symbolic of wider injustice: “We didn’t cause the financial crash of 2008.
“The Irish taxpayer bailed out the banks to the tune of €64 billion. Yet today, ordinary people are still paying through home possessions and the immoral interest rates imposed by vulture funds.”
His campaign calls on citizens, politicians, and members of the legal profession to witness what he sees as the destructive human cost of Ireland’s mortgage possession system.
“For the past fifteen years I have exhausted every legal avenue open to me but to no avail,” he said.
He asked people to: "Walk with me. Stand with me. Together we can resist."
He issued a direct appeal to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his government colleagues to attend the hearing at Tullamore Courthouse on Monday, October 6.