A call for empty NAMA buildings to be given social & community use.

We have temporarily occupied a NAMA-owned building in Dublin city centre to launch a new campaign that aims to lift the veil of secrecy from the controversial agency. The building is 66-67 Great Strand Street in Dublin 1 (Go to this page for more information).

A day of events and talks by academics and authors at the re-opened building from 12 noon on Saturday (January 28th, 2012) will focus on the "unmitigated failure" of NAMA and look at alternatives. The Unlock NAMA campaign wants to make empty NAMA buildings available for social and community use, to reveal details of all NAMA properties and assets and to challenge the culture of debt.

The address of the occupied building will be revealed on Saturday at 9.30am at facebook.com/unlocknama and @unlocknama on twitter. Unlock NAMA has three main demands:

1) Make NAMA properties available for social and community use
2) Publish full addresses and details on all properties under NAMA
3) Publish full details on all sales of NAMA assets

ANTI-NAMA PROTESTERS have vowed to continue their campaign after their occupation of a building said to be owned by Nama was ended by gardaí.

Activists from the Unlock NAMA campaign had taken over the building at 66-67 Great Strand Street in central Dublin and used it for public talks and meetings earlier today.

However, garda officers arrived to clear the premises this afternoon. After a brief meeting, the protesters made the decision to leave peacefully.

“They said it was private property and we had no right to be there,” Unlock NAMA spokesperson Moira Murphy told TheJournal.ie. “We were given an hour to clean up. We’re all out of the building now.”

She said more than 50 people had attended the protest, and it was now planned to repeat the operation in other locations.

“It’s been a success even though it wasn’t the outcome we anticipated,” she said. “We’re hoping to expand the project, get more people involved, and show people how to identify Nama buildings in their local areas.”

According to Murphy, gardaí told protesters that the building was not controlled by Nama. She said their information showed that it was.

A garda spokesperson would only confirm that it was a “privately owned building”. Protesters had departed peacefully, there were no arrests and no investigation was under way, he added.

Another member of the group told TheJournal.ie earlier today that the protest was about “lifting the veil of secrecy around NAMA and making the buildings available to the public,” adding: “It’s a no-brainer to give them a social and community use.”

On what grounds in this instance where the Keepers of the Peace called and also how much power do they have in such situations.

Over the next while Unlock NAMA will be focusing on the Smithfield area. This Saturday (June 9) we'll be holding a stall in Smithfield square and knocking on doors to to talk to people and find out what they think about the wasted NAMA buildings in Smithfield. Drop along from 1pm to find out more or help out.

Many buildings in Smithfield square and the surrounding area are empty. They are a monument to a property boom which benefited a tiny minority (banks and developers) in the short term. Many of these buildings are in NAMA.

NAMA was set up by the government so you might think these empty buildings could be made available to the public and to local community groups. But NAMA is all about bailing out the banks. NAMA’s objective is to sell or rent the buildings it controls and then to give that cash to the banks.

Unlock NAMA thinks another way is possible. We think that buildings or vacant lots in the community should be used in a way that benefits everyone and that is sustainable in the long term.

What do you think?

That’s what we want to know. That’s why we’ll be knocking on doors and holding some public discussinos over the next few weeks.

Our first discussion will take place in the Macro Community Resource Centre on North King St., at 7pm on Wednesday the 20th of June.

Our second discussion will happen in the Prussia Street Parish Centre, 7.30pm on Thursday the 21st of June.