Orla Hegarty By Orla Hegarty, Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin Perhaps the worst thing that could happen is that we start to think of the housing crisis as a perennial (or worse, a ‘wicked’) problem; one that can be alleviated but never solved. Problems that continue can too easily become normalised. Over the last five years, the challenges have become more acute and are most visible in the rising numbers who are without any home. Five years ago, there were 2,500 homeless people in Ireland and today this stands at…
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Winner: VIEW editor Brian Pelan VIEW editor Brian Pelan and VIEWdigital co-founder Una Murphy attended yesterday’s Participatory Budgeting Works Imagine Democracy Celebration event at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast. They joined other winners who successfully pitched at an Imagine Democracy event earlier this year – which was part of the Imagine Belfast Festival. VIEW editor Brian Pelan, who secured £500 to help organise a VIEWdigital ‘Engaged Journalism’ event at the Belfast campus of the Ulster University, said he was delighted to take part in yesterday’s event at the Crescent Arts Centre. “Our event at Ulster University give participants a…
Stuart Kyle, his son Dylan (10) and Autism NI’s CEO Kerry Boyd Get your wetsuit and swimming cap at the ready and join Autism NI’s CEO Kerry Boyd, parent Stuart and his son Dylan Kyle on Sunday, September 1, as Autism NI hold their ‘Swimathon’ at Let’s Go Hydro in Carryduff. Autism NI CEO Kerry Boyd said: “We are absolutely delighted to hold our first ‘Swimathon’ and I can’t wait to take on the challenge myself. This will be a fun event for swimmers at all levels and an opportunity for participants to show support for the autism community.” Parent Stuart…
Fianna Fail TD Darragh O’Brien Darragh O’Brien and I sat across from each other in a small private room in the Dail in Dublin. The Fianna Fail spokesperson on housing was eager from the start to give me his party’s views on the housing crisis in the Republic of Ireland. Why housing? was my first question to him. “I was in foreign affairs for over two years and then we had a reshuffle last year. Our party leader Micheál Martin asked me to take over housing, planning and local government. “I’m delighted that I have this position as the issue…
Sinn Fein TD Eoin Ó Broin Eoin Ó Broin is passionate and outspoken about the need for a huge increase in public housing to tackle the crisis in Ireland. The Sinn Fein TD, who represents the Dublin mid-West constituency, has just written a new book, Home: Why Public Housing Is The Answer, to further promote his arguments, . I caught up with him recently at the Dail and started off our interview by asking him: “What does social housing mean to you?” “The first thing is that it is housing provided by local authorities and approved housing bodies. It is…
FIONA CASSIM Fiona Cassim, who is married, works as a billing administrator and part-time contributor for the Irish Times and Irish Independent, says she is part of ‘generation rent’ in the Republic of Ireland, born into a society which is ‘hell-bent on home ownership, and yet the majority of us are still renting’ In recent years, the Republic of Ireland has been dominated by the words ‘housing crisis’. Where once the topic of homelessness would not have found its way into the media, now it screams from the headlines. To be homeless is simply to be without a home, something…
By VIEW editor Brian Pelan “I don’t know who the owner is – it could be Frosty the Snowman.” This remark comes from one of the people interviewed in the new documentary called Push which examines the global housing crisis. He was talking about the unknown private company who now owns his home in Toronto, Canada. Push, directed by Fredrik Gertten, was screened last night at The Mac in Belfast as part of the Docs Ireland festival in front of a packed audience. It reveals the way in which property has become a valuable asset that is traded without regard…
John O’Connor John O’Connor, Chief Executive of the Housing Agency, believes that cost rental can deliver on much needed secure and affordable housing in the Republic of Ireland The idea of cost rental has been in the media a lot recently. It is a model where the rents charged are linked to the cost of delivering and maintaining the properties, as opposed to being linked to market rents. It aims to ensure that homes are affordable for households with a moderate level of income. This model has been used, for example, in Austria for the last century. It is considered…
Clanmil Housing is celebrating its 5,000th home after successfully transforming a 101-year-old listed building on Durham Street, Belfast, into apartments. The restoration was part of a £3.3million housing scheme providing a total of 23 homes. The development, which was part funded by the Department for Communities, has given the previously derelict listed building a future. Clanmil Group Chief Executive Clare McCarty said: “Reaching the 5,000 homes milestone is testimony to the hard work and dedication of our fantastic team and the valuable input of our partners. “For this project we have worked closely with local political representatives and St Mary’s…
Campaigner: Father Peter McVerry with his dog Tiny in the Ballymun housing estate, Dublin VIEW editor Brian Pelan talks to the veteran homelessness campaigner and Jesuit priest Fr Peter McVerry at his home in Ballymun, Dublin The sun has decided to make a rare appearance as I stroll through the vast Ballymun housing estate in Dublin. Quite a few families are sitting outside their front doors enjoying the heat as a few helmeted teenagers speed past me on their scrambler bikes. I’m on my way to visit the veteran homelessness campaigner and Jesuit priest Fr Peter McVerry who has been…
Kilcooley Women’s Centre client Sabrina Lilley who talked to the inquiry at Stormont today about her experiences claiming Universal Credit. She was accompanied by her support worker Roberta Gray from Kilcooley Women’s Centre By Una Murphy, VIEWdigital Northern Ireland welfare experts have warned of a “toxic combination” of Bedroom Tax and Universal Credit causing a sharp rise in poverty and homelessness next year. They were giving evidence to MPs from two Westminster committees at Stormont today (June 10). Women from the Kilcooley area of Bangor, Co Down also gave MPs first-hand accounts of their experiences claiming benefits, including the controversial…
Part of the Goethehof public housing complex in Vienna What can Ireland’s housing experts learn from Vienna where two-thirds of the city’s inhabitants live in public housing was the question being asked at the launch in Dublin earlier this year of the exhibition, The Vienna Model – Housing for the 21st Century. VIEW editor Brian Pelan went to Vienna to have a look at the city’s public housing programme which is presently celebrating its 100th year of existence. Public housing in Vienna grew out of squalor, war and disease. I learnt this after a trip to Dublin in April this…
Leilani Farha: the UN Special Rapporteur for Special Housing VIEW editor Brian Pelan talks to Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, about her concerns over the Irish Government’s ‘practice of adopting laws and policies which treat housing as a commodity and undermine the enjoyment of housing as a human right’ I first came across the name of Leilani Farha after a UN Working Group sent a letter, co-signed by her, to six governments, including the Irish Government, as well as the giant equity firm Blackstone on March 22, this year. The letter outlined concerns about how policies…
https://issuu.com/brianpelanone/docs/housing_edition_52 By VIEW editor Brian Pelan One thing that the political parties and a broad range of academics, housing associations, voluntary bodies and wider civic society agree on in the Republic of Ireland is that there is a housing crisis. There is a difference of opinions on what the solution should be. Our latest edition of VIEW concentrates on looking at social/public housing issues and gathers an extensive range of views on the present state of it and poses the question – does the State need to embark on a huge public housing building programme to effectively tackle the dire…
Communicate Your Story Lunchtime Learning Seminar – organised by VIEWdigital – is about working with journalists to get coverage for your story. About this Event What journalists want from you and what your audiences want to read. This seminar, led by experience journalists, will give top tips on what makes news and how to get your story into the media. Learn what makes a story ‘newsworthy’ and how newsrooms work. Building relationships with journalists, pitching story ideas to journalists will be covered in this lunchtime learning event, which is ideal for you if you want to get your organisation’s work…
