The gardai and the bailiffs showed up at the home of Brendan and Asta Kelly yesterday. The couple had fallen behind on mortgage payments and were told they had to leave the premises two years ago. Banks don't move quickly, apparently, but Anglo Irish Bank did make good on their promise.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were forcibly removed from the premises.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly made a lot of money in Germany, where they sold Irish textiles.
They then sold their businesses and moved back to Ireland, purchasing a home in an exclusive new estate. They invested their money in Irish banks and property and thought they could comfortably live on the interest income.
The banks have collapsed under the weight of the bloated property market that imploded. Like so many others, the Kellys lost out.
Unlike the poor peasants who were evicted by the cruel landlords, the Kellys have other properties that they could occupy, and they could have made arrangement to occupy said properties over the course of the past two years.
Instead, they dug in their heels and blamed the banks for their misery.
In fact, the Kellys were free to invest in whatever they pleased. They picked the wrong investment.
Then they picked the wrong analogy for their very public eviction.
As much as they and their neighbor who videotaped the eviction would like to believe there is universal sympathy for the Kellys, there is not.
The couple are not completely skint. They have options, which most other evicted families in Ireland do not.
For now, the Kellys are squatting in their former driveway. They say they will not leave under any circumstances, but sooner or later one of their tenants in Ringsend will leave and a home will open up.
Which is more than can be said for those who were evicted after they lost their jobs, and really had no place to go.
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