Offaly man who faces having his house repossessed to go on hunger strike

A WELL-KNOWN environmental campaigner – Tom Roche, from Tullamore and Rhode, who in recent times has campaigned to help distressed mortgage holders - will commence a 24-hour hunger strike and vigil on Sunday, June 15 at 11am outside The Courthouse, on Cormac St in Tullamore.

The event will coincide with court proceedings for possession of Mr Roche’s home. Solicitors representing Mars Capital Finance Ireland DAC, will initiate proceedings on Monday, June 16 at 11am in Tullamore.

Asked about why he has decided to go on hunger strike to highlight his plight, Mr Roche said; "In pre-Christian Ireland, fasting was used as a means of protesting injustice. In more recent times it has been used to raise issues of various concerns to individuals and groups - the death of 10 men in the 1981 [on hunger strike was to prove a defining moment in the struggle between the Provisional IRA and the British government or, to be more precise, the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher."

"Hunger strikes have played a major role in ending slavery, challenging dictatorships, protecting workers from exploitation, protecting the Earth’s biological diversity, promoting equality for women, opposing racism and many other important societal issues. In ancient Ireland, going on hunger strike was a form of 'distress' called 'troscud' (or 'fasting'). This practice was socially significant and had legal support as an act of due process and fairness."

Mr Roche described the impact home repossessions are having on families as utterly devastating. "One of Ireland’s most senior high court officials, Edmond Honohan said, some banks who were 'cheerleaders' of the Celtic Tiger were 'reverting to type' and pursuing people to the 'bitter end' even when they 'had no money'. He went on to say the 'new debt set' have 'legal rights' but some are made 'feel like outlaws' In the same article Mr Honohan said he had met ['several widows of people who had been driven to suicide because of the distress of debt."

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Added Mr Roche: "The mental and physical impacts of the distress and trauma mortgage arrears has caused me personally has been enormous. Over the past 15 years I have exhausted every legal avenue open to me to come to an equitable resolution to my mortgage distress situation. What is taking place is the anatomical unfolding of a home repossession scandal initiated in the first instance by Permanent TSB (PTSB)."

"In March 2025, I received an invitation to give a talk about my new sustainable development project ECORACE 2023, from Dr Gertrude Cotter - Lecturer in Global Citizenship Education at University College Cork (UCC) and academic coordinator of the [Praxis Project. I was to launch my new publication REBUKED - Anatomy of a broken promise during my presentation. REBUKED gives a detailed account of how the system has failed to resolve my mortgage distress issue. Unfortunately, I recently had to inform Dr Cotter that due to physical and mental pressures associated with my upcoming Court appearance on June 16 in Tullamore, that I would have to cancel my planned talk scheduled for Thursday, May 29 in UCC."

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