A father of five and advocate for people in debt has barricaded himself into his Limerick farmhouse after receiving an eviction notice last Thursday.
Speaking to Journal.ie, Seamus Sherlock said he was absolutely gutted when notice from the bank arrived last week.
“I was shocked, it took me a good few minutes to recover once I had read it,” he said.
“The letter I got was only two sentences long and my whole life and the lives of my five children was wrapped up in those two lines.”
“There’s no date on the order so I have no idea when they’re coming but we’re staying put.”
Alongside a group of supporters, the father has barricaded the entrance to his farm. Supporters have travelled from all around the country with several camping out overnight.
“Most people here are in debt themselves and have their own problems but they said they want to feel like they’re actually doing something,” he said.
Sherlock said he attempted to reach an agreement with the bank after his business failed last year. Since then he has been unable to keep up mortgage repayments.
“I don’t want a write down, that’s not what I’m looking for, I want to pay it off. I just need the bank to give me some time,” he said.
In 2010, Sherlock staged a protest outside the headquarters of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) asking them to end the practice of cutting off customers who were in arrears.
He later set up ‘Life After Debt’ organization to help others who were suffering from debt issues.
“I was getting more than 30 calls a day some days from people who were struggling with their debt, looking for someone to talk to,” he said.
“I get a lot of calls in the middle of the night from men just like myself who are feeling really low and in the last two years I’ve lost five friends to suicide.”
The farmer feels like the bank are “making an example” of him, because he has been vocal about his debt issues.
“I was in the national media a lot in the last few months telling people to stay in their homes and now I suppose I have to practice what I preached,” he said.
Sherlock is determined to prolong the protest in the hopes of delaying the eviction.
“We’re not going anywhere, we’re here until the bank sees sense and stops trying to bully people,” Sherlock said.
Meanwhile, a new study among members of the farming community showed that one-in-three don’t share their problems and difficulties.
According to a study commissioned by the Irish Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy, Irish farmers tend to hide mental health problems from friends.
The Irish Farmers Association said the findings were not surprising.
“By its nature farming is very isolating” Margaret Healy, Chairperson of the National Farm Family & Social Policy Committee at the IFA told Journal.ie.
“The countryside might be more built up but there are less neighbors as a lot are now commuting to work. There might be no-one in the house from seven in the morning until seven in the evening which means that farming is even more of a lonely occupation than it was before.”
11 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Searlit | Aug 27, 2012, 01:33 PM EDT
It doesn't make sense to evict the man when he is willing to pay. Something logical and humane like extending & reducing the man's mortgage payments, until he is better off, makes more sense.
Jim McKay | Aug 27, 2012, 11:19 AM EDT
I am standing with Seamus Sherlock at his farm,we will not lose this battle due to it's importantance not only Seamus and his family but also the Irish people.For anyone in any other Country from Ireland.support Seamus sherlock.The red coats also have been long gone out of Ireland,We are dealing with another predator now some Irish and we will deal with them.
brian22 | Aug 25, 2012, 06:39 PM EDT
Farmer Sherlock, bring yourself and five sons to Australia and work in the mining industry - you will never look back.
cillowen | Aug 25, 2012, 10:59 AM EDT
what does the ombudsman characters do - sit on their fa while folks go beserk.
TisEyerish | Aug 25, 2012, 10:08 AM EDT
This is just so very, very sad. Take the farm from him, to what end? So it lays fallow because no one can afford to buy it? If I weren't in much the same position on the other side of The Pond, I would send every dime I had to this man...and the thousands of others who so desperately need from freedom from the stress of trying to survive. I hate what the world has become.
jacersagain | Aug 24, 2012, 10:46 PM EDT
No, mairint, it'll be the white coats coming for him... I sympathise with the man and his struggle to protect his home, his 'castle' against money chasing bullies.
mairint | Aug 24, 2012, 08:53 PM EDT
The Redcoats are coming...
aloistmartin | Aug 24, 2012, 06:25 PM EDT
God Damn the Royalist Pandering Rent Collector ! This type of Insult to God and Country is beyond any Bourgeois apology of Wealth and Prosperity !
Towngate | Aug 24, 2012, 04:37 PM EDT
Farmer Sherlock has no doubt been in receipt of Child benefit x 5 and the infamous Single Farm Payment in addition to all the other Welfare benefits. If he can't manage on over €24 thousand per year FREE money,he has no right to be advising anyone,let alone trying to 'run' a business. He needs a good kick in the hole!
canadianirish | Aug 24, 2012, 02:24 PM EDT
Time for the Irish diaspora here in Canada and the US to reach out to this man and his family. Surely someone has a contact(s) in Ireland who can be of assistance to this man of integrity. I've contacted one political party in Limerick and would like to see other politicians inundated with emails and phone calls. Word from Limerick is that an uprising is in the air.
Seanmor | Aug 24, 2012, 09:09 AM EDT
Farmer Sherlock's plight reminds me of Land League days in Co. Limerick. The article states that Sherlock has stong support among local people but it doesn't indicate if any periest is in his corner. It the late 1800s Fr. Casey of Abbeyfeale (west Limerick) played a major role in the struggle against the eviction of tenant farmers. A question comes to mind: What are church leaders and others who are very supportive iof needy immigrants in the Irish tate doing to help this unfortunate farmer and his five children?