The Labour Party’s new policy is a new policy, technically speaking. But it is not a new idea. It is, in fact, almost 50 years old and was first proposed in the Kenny Report of 1973. The report is so old, in fact, that its author, Justice John Kenny, has been dead since 1987. The […]
The real debate about Ireland’s dysfunctional housing market is not about the problem but rather about how to fix it. The prevailing view seems to be that the underlying problem exists because there isn’t enough interference in the housing market. Accordingly, the only way to fix Ireland’s dysfunctional housing market is through even more government […]
One of the rather more desperate attempts by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to recoup lost ground to Sinn Féin has been to focus on the latter party’s apparent track record in voting against proposals to build housing developments. Sinn Féin has indeed pursued inconsistent policies, as we shall see, but the political reality is […]
The claim that all improvements in living conditions are illusionary distractions was pioneered first by Lenin in What is to be Done? and updated as part of new left ideology in the 1960s by Marcuse and the Frankfurt School of Marxism. It still forms the basis of current identity politics in which the traditional working […]
The Economic and Social Research Institute has this morning published a paper by one of its economists Kieran McQuinn on the likely short term future of the housing market in Ireland. The paper is largely technical regarding budgetary projections, but its main focus is on how state intervention in the housing market could be increased […]
Proposed housing debt would represent 1.5% of GDP.
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The media pummelling of Fine Gael bye-election candidate for Dublin Bay South, James Geoghegan, shows no immediate signs of easing off. One might suspect, given the ferocity of the criticism headed his way, that some elements of the media who had a soft spot for snubbed ex-TD Kate O’Connell are taking a little bit of […]
The Sinn Fein Housing Spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, and the Sinn Fein TD for Cork North-Central, Thomas Gould, are seeking to compel the state’s Land Development Agency (LDA) to provide for the transfer of public land for the sole purpose of housing asylum seekers. The Sinn Féin TDs made the remarks during a meeting of […]
I’m not proud of a feeling of schadenfreude upon hearing wealthy actor Paul Hogan whine about the homeless drug addicts that have descended on his Los Angeles elite Venice Beach neighbourhood. Mr Hogan feels blockaded into his $3.5m mansion and wishes the homeless just stayed somewhere else where property prices were more suited to their […]
Our housing policy is a mess from left and right. Time to put people first again. Housing is a central issue for any society. Ensuring that people have somewhere to live, and that where they live is of tolerable standards, is fundamental to any viable community. How to provide it is one of the most […]
Developer Johnny Ronan has been refused permission for 1005 apartments in a 40-plus storey tower scheme for Dublin’s docklands. What do you think? Would the development be helpful in providing homes for people or does it make the situation worse? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Vote in our poll below and […]