An independent protest is planned in Eyre Square this weekend on Saturday 5th of July at 12:30-1:30PM, on the same day as a national protest by CATU in Dublin, to bring attention to recent changes in rental law.

The RPZ Reform Protest aims to raise awareness surrounding a recent bill which changed how Rent Pressure Zones function. The new changes mean that from March 2026 onward, landlords will be able to reset rent to an undefined ‘market rate’ at the start of every tenancy, in effect putting the rental market nearly fully back into the free market. 

However, government attempts over the past decade to address the housing crisis by leaning on private investment supply needed stock have repeatedly failed — per insufficient targets that are missed year-on-year. Making housing investment more attractive by raising rents in Ireland is an unethical, and losing, strategy.

RPZ Reform believes that this return to the ‘free market’ is unacceptable in a time of record crisis, a crisis which puts Ireland at the third highest profitable rent-yield country to invest in globally (with an 8.5% return on investment). Intervention and public housing for all are needed as the situation escalates to become an existential crisis; exorbitant rents are at the heart of problems we face around cost-of-living, homelessness, child poverty, youth emigration, and bottlenecks in foreign investment.

Galway is a student city, filled with many vulnerable renters. We need as many bodies as we can get — hope to see you there!

RPZ Reform are inviting people interested to join their whatsapp broadcast channel –TAP HERE