That’s an example of what I was struck by - saw similar in SW Dublin area (12?).
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Dublin 12,what had you in that part of Dublin.Wouldn’t have thought it would be the choice of area to visit for an international traveller on an annual trip.
As said earlier ,affordable housing,buying or renting,is a huge issue not just in Ireland but in many other countries at the moment .We,the government ,have neglected our responsibilities in this area for more than 25 years.What has compounded the issue is the rise in population over that time as we have become a prosperous country,with many of us doing well but many more left behind.
The country have the money but they spent too long spending it badly or in the wrong areas.Certain things in society need to be taken care of,social housing being one of those things,and by governments own admission they’ve dropped the ball in this area.
30,000 new units(hate that expression) were built last year,rising to 40,000 this year( and for the next decade )for a population of 5 million people shows how much they’ve ignored the need for housing.
In a country with enough money to build and look after those who need ,to not do so will lead to protest and anger and at the moment,and for a few years now it has been building to a point were people are at the end of their tether.Unfortunately the government have waited too long act and now have a lot to do with the pressure on to do it now.Something needs to change to get ahead of these problems if that is at all possible.
A new(quicker) way of building would be a great start ,encouraging new business to explore other parts of the country in which to invest(were only small country so everything is nearby) is something we should be looking at,bringing down peoples everyday cost is a must while allowing those working in agriculture to continue to work the farm and to make something from it(large retailers make too much profit in this country}.
We could and should all be doing so much better
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Meeting with O’Neil’s (sporting goods), as a matter of fact. But did in fact take the time to visit Drimnagh Castle while I was there.
It’s funny, circa 2009 you could find analyses suggesting that Ireland had been so overbuilt that there would be no need to build housing for at least a generation. Even solid companies could not get debt capital to finish some of the projects that were abandoned mid-construction, their value was so heavily discounted. I suppose those projects have long since been re-activated and completed? I didn’t really have occasion to look after about 2011.
Ghost estates of which there were about 600 but under 100 of them now.Some are partially occupied and others need finishing.
Leaving aside who would actually do the work (private/public), I would have thought a financing mechanism to get those into the housing pool would make a great deal of sense.
They have been finishing them off but there was a lot of work to do and they are still in the process of finishing them.I think part of the problem is also where some of the estates are located.Some off them would be in the middle of nowhere so probably more difficult to provide services which are needed to get the homes up and running .
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Not yet. Six weeks to go. Or rather 47 days, 4 hours, and 18 minutes.
Not that I’m keeping track, or anything…
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Hope you’re able to get some sleep after a long transit from SoCal. Will that first pint of Guinness back home hits the pit of your stomach with a click?
Had another weekend in Ireland last week, and was surprised to find out that there are people in the southern counties that struggle to understand the Ulster accent - to the point that they cannot in extremis. On the flight back, this old gent from Belfast (in center seat of three) was struggling to make himself understood to someone from Wexford in the opposite aisle.
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There are people in Dail Eireann unable to understand Danny Healy Rae from Kerry.
To be fair, they are lucky.
He talks pure shite anyway!
My daughter was in New York recently and met a bunch of Galway girls on top of Empire States building. After chatting for 10 mins one of them asked her what part of Scotland she is from? She’s a Derry girl.
Riots in Dublin tonight, following an attack by a man with a knife on children and carer during the day. The tragic incident was utilised by Far Right and thugs to riot in the city.
Buses, trams, Garda cars set ablaze. Its a nightmare, orchestrated online by Far Right Anti Immigrant scum.
That is truly shocking. Not the Ireland that I know and love.
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The energy was building, I could detect that tension there in May. The far right seem to have figured out how to tap into it.
Trinity has apparently closed the gates.
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The far right in Eire? Fuckin 'ell…
Doesn’t sit with the caed mile failte and slainte etc.I remember from childhood. 
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Well, political scientists have always been baffled at the fact that in conventional terms, both of the dominant parties are centre right. The far right actually has quite the heritage in Ireland, although of the Catholic ultra-conservative type more than anything. There’s a statue of a Nazi collaborator in Fairview Park, and I cannot think of many other nations who had a head of state express condolences on the death of Hitler to the German ambassador.
But, yes, certainly way outside the consensus of the last 30 years or so. I guess the slight rightward skew of the two traditional parties leaves a space for anti-establishment appeal for those who don’t support everything that Sinn Fein does.
All that flirting with the Nazis was more anti British than real sympathy for fascism though.
Irish politics has always been dominated by attitudes towards Rome and London, and more recently Brussels. Tap into the mood on those and keep the farmers happy was usually enough.
There’s no Irish family that hasn’t had a migrant among them, and the experience of being bottom of the rung in the UK, US, Australia and so on has always made far right politics a hard sell.
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It definitely had a strong anti-British element, but there was certainly a connection between ultra-right Catholics and fascists. Some of the original Blueshirts were enthusiastic enough Catholic fascists to form a unit to fight for Franco. If you look at the style, for want of a better word, of the two factions that split Fine Gael (O’Cronin and Duffy), there was obviously some appeal of Fascism. They were at least fascist-adjacent. Other successor parties in the late 30s and 40’s were unabashedly fascist. Of course, parties like that existed throughout the West, but Irish neutrality meant they were never confronted to the same degree. Bewley never really faced true consequences for his conduct as Irish ambassador to Germany, though he was dismissed.
As for your last comment, punching down has a real history as well (certainly not unique to the Irish). The experience of being on the bottom has not exactly created a fine foundation for Black-Irish relations in America (Boston is often named as one of the most racist cities in the US). Irish ‘nationalism’ has an ugly history in North America at least of being easily connected to white supremacism - especially in the last decade or so. It is probably rather bewildering to people who have actually grown up in pluralist modern Ireland to see what American-Irish people think of Ireland.
RTE interviewed a “passer by” after the stabbing incident.
Noted bigot, racist, transphobe, homophobe…
Just happened to be in town after the stabbing. Just happened to be posting a few bits. Should be lifted this morning and charged.
Some of the online stuff us shocking. Calls to go to Leo Varadkers house and pull him out on the street…
I fucking despair for what we are becoming…
The mob looted Foot Locker and sportswear shops…they passed bookshops. People couldn’t get from events in the city because of these vermin cunts.
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