North Wall tenants push back against mass eviction from former NAMA-owned homes
Tenants at Spencer Dock in North Wall are uniting against what they describe as “State‑linked evictions” connected to NAMA’s wind down.
In a petition supporting ‘Spencer Dock Tenants’ Right to Remain,’ they outlined several residents facing eviction as legacy assets linked to NAMA are being sold off. “These units were once part of the State’s response to the financial crash; today, they are being treated as disposable assets, with real people told to get out so ‘clean’ investment products can be delivered to the market,” the Change.org petition states.
While they claim the intention appears to be to sell the property with vacant possession, Spencer Dock residents are urging the government to ensure the homes are sold with tenants in situ. They state that, throughout the over 600 apartments in the complex, 18 have been identified as under the control of Madison Property Management, acting for Grant Thornton as liquidators.
“In October 2025, eight households received Notices of Termination on ‘sale’ grounds, and additional ‘soft terminations’ have been reported where tenants were pushed to leave without formal notices. Some of these tenants had only just moved in when they were told they would have to go,” the petition states.
“This is happening against the backdrop of a severe housing crisis and new rental laws that are supposed to strengthen security of tenure from March 2026. Instead of using legacy NAMA assets to protect renters, the State is allowing liquidations to proceed in a way that appears to sidestep the spirit of protections like the Tyrrelstown Amendment .
“We believe this is wrong. State‑linked homes should not be cleared of tenants and sold with vacant possession while thousands of people struggle to find secure, affordable housing.”
Tenants are calling on Minister for Housing James Browne, ‘ Housing Tsar ’ Garret Doocey, and the NTMA/remaining NAMA stakeholders to halt evictions at Spencer Dock while disputes and policy options are considered.
They’re asking that homes be sold with tenants in situ or transferred to an Approved Housing Body or local authority. Additionally they are asking for “full transparency on who now owns these homes, who will benefit from their sale, and what safeguards will be applied to protect tenants in similar State‑linked developments.”
“Spencer Dock should be a test case for how Ireland protects people in State‑linked housing, not another example of tenants being sacrificed to maximise disposal value,” the petition states.
The plight of Spencer Dock tenants has been highlighted by Dublin Central by-election candidate and Green Party Councillor Janet Horner who stressed in a Dublin City Council emergency motion that these evictions are “going against the spirit and the intention of the Tyrrelstown Amendment.”
This amendment aims to protect tenants from losing their homes due to large-scale property sales. This comes into effect when 10 or more properties in the same development are being sold within 6 months and states that a tenancy cannot be ended simply on the grounds of an intention to sell unless certain conditions are met.
“From what we can best assess, and unfortunately we are relying on tenants to figure out their own circumstances here, is that there is an attempt to evict a significant group of tenants. Under the Tyrrelstown Amendment you cannot evict nine or more, so they are applying other means to coax people into leaving without issuing an official eviction notice,” Cllr Horner said a recent Central Area Committee meeting.
“It is a clear and obvious attempt to get around the intent of the Tyrrelstown Amendment to prevent mass eviction. It is very frustrating to see it done in the interest of a state agency around maximizing profit from assets held under NAMA.”
While Cllr Horner said the council’s powers are limited in this instance, she believes its important they raise "significant concern” around what is happening and said that external residential bodies, like the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), need increased regulation to ensure “external analysis and accountability” in situations such as this. She expressed disappointment that it has been up to tenants to “organise, advocate, and rally themselves” here.
Cllr Horner further outlined her stance in a social media video where she said many tenants are now “facing homelessness” or “very difficult rental situations.” She stressed that one of her goals if elected to the Dail would be stronger protections for renters who should not be “left to self organise when facing mass eviction.”
“I want to bring that kind of legislation through to the Dail as a TD for this area and I want to support the tenants in this case and ensure that we can fight this eviction,” she said.
A spokesperson from Grant Thornton stated: "John Boland and Michael McAleer of Grant Thornton are the appointed liquidators of Treasury Holdings, of which the Spencer Dock Development Company is a subsidiary.
"The Spencer Dock apartments in question were held by NAMA until September 2025, when they were released into the liquidation estate as part of NAMA’s wind-down programme. The liquidators are legally obliged to maximise the value of SDDC’s assets for the benefit of its creditors and have taken independent advice, which has indicated that the properties should be put on sale on the open market with vacant possession.
"The liquidators have appointed licensed professionals to manage and dispose of the properties in accordance with regulatory requirements and have no further comment."
The petition to ‘Support Spencer Dock Tenants’ Right to Remain’ can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/support-spencer-dock-tenants-right-to-remain
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