4 hours Ago
Having a place to call home is surely one of the fundamentals of a properly functioning egalitarian society. Sadly, in modern Ireland, far too many families don’t have a place of their own to call home. One of the main reasons for this is the Government’s seemingly abject failure on housing in general – both for purchase and to rent.
With regard to tenants’ rights, it has failed to introduce legislation that would afford renters permanent, real security of tenure, which many of our European neighbours provide. Latest Government figures released last week show that since May last year, the number of families in emergency accommodation has increased alarmingly, while the number of homeless children has also gone up. Overall, there has been a 63pc increase in homelessness since this Government took office.
Since the moratorium on evictions came to an end on April 1 last year, we’ve seen a worrying increase in no-fault evictions. This has further compounded the number of families living in emergency accommodation. These statistics are based simply on the number of people seeking to live in emergency accommodation.
As bad as they are, they merely mask the magnitude of the problem. In reality, many thousands of people in Ireland today have been evicted and end up couch-surfing, sleeping in cars or going back to living with their parents. Many more emigrate.
Over 69,000 people left the State in the 12 months to last April, compared with 64,000 in the same period in the year previous. This is the highest emigration figure since 2015. The fact that young Irish people are choosing to emigrate, predominantly for financial reasons and in some cases because they were evicted by their landlord, provokes disturbing comparisons with the Great Hunger of 1845.
The shameful difference is that this time, neoliberalism is the cause, not colonialism. Ireland’s housing crisis was founded on a wealthy cohort of private investors, banks and foreign investment funds that were allowed by the Government to turn property into a wealth-accumulation asset. Only 3pc of the Irish population are landlords, and just under 1pc own more than two properties.
Undoubtedly, the biggest problem in our capital is the alarming increase in people sleeping rough on the streets. The really sad thing about this is that many of these unfortunate souls are sleeping in doorways and under bus shelters in plain view of Leinster House. Denis Doyle, Bray, Co Wicklow O’Rourke was force with a rare understanding of what was written in the stars Mary O’Rourke, who has died, was one of the outstanding figures of Irish politics over several decades.
She was the former deputy leader of Fianna Fáil and a former cabinet minister , holding the education, health and public enterprise portfolios. O’Rourke was someone whose name was synonymous with being part of a political dynasty as well as being a force in her own right. Throughout her years in politics, from the Charlie Haughey era to Albert Reynolds, right through to Bertie Ahern, she was part and parcel of the front benches of Fianna Fáil.
There was a period when she wasn’t on the front benches, but Ahern brought her back as the deputy leader and appointed her as minister again. O’Rourke was, to my mind, a huge character in Irish politics. She was a strong personality in that she knew her own mind.
In 2010, she gave an interview to RTÉ in which she said she couldn’t see a huge difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and she wouldn’t be surprised if they went into coalition. That was controversial at the time. However, within 10 years it happened.
She knew how to speak plainly and firmly. She was undoubtedly a prodigious force in Irish politics. May she rest in peace.
John O’ Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Absurd budget provision for phone pouches might just be one splurge too far The €9m set aside in the Budget for the cost of schoolchildren’s mobile phone pouches is a drop in the ocean compared with the still-escalating cost of the new National Children’s Hospital. However, it could be the straw that breaks the patience of the long-suffering taxpayer. The Government’s spending spree has now gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.
John Glennon, Hollywood, Co Wicklow Clowns broke free from the circus and took control of national purse strings First, it was the €336,000 bike shed at Leinster House, then it was the €1.4m security hut at the Department of Finance. Now we have the absolutely unnecessary mobile phone pouches for schools.
What happened to three strikes and you’re out? Citizens’ genuine needs have been ignored for umpteen years, and then we spend €9m on this. The anthem for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the forthcoming general election can only be Stephen Sondheim’s Send In the Clowns , albeit with an apology to the professional clowns of the world, who do not deserve to be associated with this lot. Declan Foley, Melbourne, Australia Like Mary Kennedy, I’m putting best foot forward to slow the ageing process As someone who has just turned 70, I can empathise with Mary Kennedy’s efforts to stay healthy and stave off ageing (‘I want to work as hard as I can to stay healthy – Mary Kennedy on turning 70 and why she has a new zest for life’, Irish Independent , October 3).
I attend the gym every day, stand on one leg at checkouts and refrain from grunting while standing up and sitting down. Despite this, it didn’t stop a grey-haired, hippy-like character on a bike from riding past me and my wife in San Francisco last month and greeting us with: “Hi, grandma and grandpa!” Enda Cullen, Orchard Gate, Co Armagh Senior coalition parties in no position to lecture anyone on child protection I always find it funny when a leader of Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil lectures Sinn Féin on child protection. These two parties neglected children’s welfare since 1922, let the church run everything and didn’t get the gardaí to investigate church abuses until the late 1990s.
Liam Doran, Dublin 22.
