‘Will They Still Be Your Friend? Or Will They Find You Scum?’

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Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy at the launch of 63-house build in Carlow last month

This morning.

On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

RTÉ’s Education Correspondent Emma O’Kelly spoke to a homeless family who is living in a hotel.

One person Ms O’Kelly spoke to from the family was a young female student.

The girl told Ms O’Kelly:

“Definitely, the past year, it’s been a very huge eye-opener. It’s a huge culture shock and a huge change to how it was for us.

“It’s hard to fit in and to find someone who will accept you and your troubles and, if you get to the stage where you can open up about this situation and the homeless, it’s still the sense will they still be your friend? Or will they find you scum?

“It’s hard to pick the good people from the bad people and then finding it hard to come out to teachers you’ve never met before… It took me about five or 10 minutes there earlier on to say that I was homeless to my deputy principal. She kept saying to me, ‘take your time’, ‘take your time’ and I just couldn’t say it.

“I could barely say it to her when I did say it so it’s very hard.”

Asked what she would like for her and her family, she said:

“To get our home, to get our space back. Even if it’s, I don’t know, if it was just our privacy back, it’d be ten times better than what we have now because there is no privacy here.

There’s no time, peaceful time.”

Asked what she would say to either a Government minister or the Taoiseach if she had the opportunity, she said:

“Give us our home, please. We need it. We need it as soon as possible.”

Listen back in full here

Further to this.

Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy spoke to Áine Lawlor during News At One.

From the interview…

Aine Lawlor: “You can’t give her a home, can you? Right now?”

Eoghan Murphy: “I think, Aine, the piece that was broadcast this morning, on Morning Ireland, which we just heard a clip from there, it’s probably one of the most important contributions to this debate that we’ve heard in the past number of months. 

“We have a crisis in homelessness and we’ve known that for quite some time and we’re putting in a huge amount of effort and resources to try and help these families who are in this absolutely appalling situation.

“Now those people who’ve been working on the frontline, in a voluntary sector or in local authorities or with me in my department, to try and find these solutions, they’ve heard these stories. I’ve had the opportunity myself to meet with some of these families.

“But the bravery they had this morning to come out and tell the country about their particular circumstances, I think was very brave but very important that people understand what these families are facing because…”

Lawlor:The problem is not understanding, Minister. The problem is we have a bright, capable young woman living in these circumstances, who believes other people see her as scum because Government can’t deliver on housing and we have, you know, you can say we’re making all kinds of improvements, but are you not just drowning a little bit more slowly, is that not the case?”

Murphy: “With respect Aine, I don’t think everyone does understand what these families are going through, who are living in hotels, and who are going to school, their first day back and actually said, coming out to her deputy principal about the difficult circumstances she is facing, because the amount of feedback is generated already this morning, into the department.”

“We have a particular problem here that has been growing over the course of the year, as more and more families have presented with homelessness. ”

Lawlor:It’s up by 30% in one year. No matter what you do, the problem seems to be getting worse, not better.”

Murphy: “Well, thankfully, we’ve been able to put in resources to at least make sure they’re not out rough on the streets, we’re able to put them into hotels and put the wraparound services around those hotels. What we’re trying to do is move these families then into permanent sustainable, long-term accommodation. So, if you look at the 12 months, up until the end of May, 1,200 families were removed from hotels, or prevented from entering them. At the end of May though, we still had 650 families still in hotels.

“We have a pathway for those families out of those hotels into social housing homes, into the private rental sector and into hubs.

“But people continue to present and that’s the purpose, I suppose of the summit that was organised over the summer, is to bring the local authorities together, to make sure we are going to be able to deal with this problem.”

Later

Murphy: “We have build more social housing homes and we’re doing that. And at the moment, I’m in negotiations with Paschal Donoghue about how we’re going to, hopefully, scale up our ambition in that regard but there’s not much I can say about that at the moment because we’re at that sensitive stage of those negotiations but in a few weeks time I’ll be announcing my review of Rebuilding Ireland which is a plan which is working. But to see how we can improve it.”

Later

Murphy: “Earlier this summer, when I talked about enhanced CPO [Compulsory Purchase Orders] powers, another broadcaster compared me to Adolf Hitler. I mean we have a crisis here, we need to look at things that maybe we haven’t looked at before to make sure we can properly house families like those that were on the radio this morning.”

Later

Murphy: There are a lot of vested interests in this area. If I was to start flagging things to you now, that we’re going to do in the next three or four weeks, they would rally against, potentially try and stop the things that we want to do so I have to be careful…”

Listen back to News At One in full here

Earlier: The Good News Unit

Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews

 

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37 thoughts on “‘Will They Still Be Your Friend? Or Will They Find You Scum?’

  1. The Lady Vanishes

    Anyone who stops being your friend because you are homeless is the scum, not you. And it could happen to them too. Unless you come from a very comfortable, close-knit family and manage to stay on good terms with them, we’re all vulnerable.

    1. Robert

      The school crowd can be merciless, and it’s not like you can just remove yourself from the situation if things turn against you.

  2. Brother Barnabas

    The saddest aspect of this is a homeless kid genuinely believing that Eoghan Murphy gives two dry plops about her or what her classmates think

    1. A snowflake's chance in hell

      Yea what anonymous online commenters on a blog site think on the other hand is REALLY important

        1. A snowflake's chance in hell

          True but it’s not important

          Government ministers have real authority and responsibility

          it’s scurrilous to pretend otherwise

          1. Boj

            Well why aren’t they using it? Murphy going on about vested interests shows that they DO NOT have this real authority and responsibility otherwise the vested interests wouldn’t matter.

  3. Sheik Yahbouti

    Poor Murphy – handed the ticking bomb – ‘somebody up there’ really doesn’t like you.

    1. dav

      well the bar has been set by his predecessor, so as long as he isn’t caught pouring petrol on homeless people n O’Connell st and setting them alight – his continuation of coveneys ineptitude, will be seen as a success by the blushirts…

      1. A snowflake's chance in hell

        Yeah that’s a fair point it’s hard to see how he could be any worse than his predecessor

      2. realPolithicks

        Lets face it these jokers don’t give a fupp about homelessness except to the extent that it affects their ability to be reelected. They’ll go through the motions and call “emergency” summits and announce this measure and that measure and nothing will actually happen. That’s how things roll in Ireland, there’s been an issue with hundreds of people lying on trolleys in A&E and hundreds of thousands of people on waiting list for basic procedures going on for twenty years now and no solutions are being offered by anyone. Einstein defined insanity as “repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different result”, give this some though when the next election comes around.

  4. Truth in the News

    How much Government Property lays unused, and how much is the hands of NAMA
    As to Murphy the speech, spin and body language says it all, this Dept, as its being
    run allowed a half a billion to wasted on water meters, Davitt tackled these issues
    in the rural sector back in the 1880’s, they now need to be addressed in the urban
    sector in 2017

    1. A snowflake's chance in hell

      Absolutely correct

      if you go down these to the Customs house it’s like a bunch of old hippies flopping around, directionless, unmotivated, at literally nothing all day, no accountability for anything

    2. Joe

      J. J. Clancy solved it for town tenants in 1908 with the Housing of the Working Classes (Ireland) Act (commonly known as the Clancy Act.

      The solution was largely predicated on the idea that the government would make available to local authorities substantial loans with very long terms and low interest to build more council houses, lots of them.

      Clauses as follows in case anyone in Leinster House needs a prompt to get some heads of bill together

      AERANG-EMENT OE CLAUSES.
      Clause.
      1. Provision of funds for loans.
      2. Extension of period of repayment of loans.
      3. Removal of limitation on borrowing powers.
      4. Re-borrowing to pay off loans.
      6. Application of dormant portion of Irish Suitors’ Fund to the
      purposes of Housing Acts.
      6. Appropriation of portion of Irish Quit Rent Fund to
      housing purposes.
      7. Creation and application of Irish Housing Fund.
      8. Orders of Local Government Board to have effect of Act.
      9. Exercise of housing powers outside district.
      10. Leases by local authority for building working class houses.
      11. Remission and abatement of rates in certain cases.
      12. Amendment of law as to. closing and demolition orders.
      13. Power to recover cost of demolition.
      14. Arbiti’ation as to acquisition of land under Part Three of
      53 & 54 Viet. c. 70.
      16. Amendment of Lands Clauses Act, 1845.
      16. Title of Act.
      17. Interpretation of terms.
      18. Commencement of Act.
      19. Extent of Act.

  5. Frilly Keane

    Well I fully expect the Minister to announce (Today?) to the Housing Summit of County & City Managers that all the NAMA land banks in their respective Counties and Municipalities are being handed over to them for urgent residential re-zoning

    1. Cian

      Again? NAMA have offered the councils dibs on residential properties. And the councils have refused.
      Or are you saying that office blocks should be torn down and rebuilt as apartments for social housing?

      1. Frilly Keane

        Dibs?
        they did in they’re namalamaamass
        badly located ghost estates and sites more like

        one of which that I know of was up a rural lane with site works and up to roof level for 8 x 5 bed 3 story houses
        and not a bus stop for 10Km
        thats not an option for Social Housing

        I know of another site that has spent 18 of the last 24 months under water

        loads of sites along the Motorways and with rail access etc that NAMA kept to themselves and their Friendly Portfolio clients

        the pick of the dibs are long gone lad
        The Councils etc didn’t get a sniff of them

        1. Frilly Keane

          additionally I should add that the Dept of Defense has put up some fine parcels of land and buildings in recent years
          If this and the last Government were actually serious they would have been sold to the Local Authorities / Voluntary Housing Sector

        2. Cian

          You’re in agreement with me that NAMA doesn’t have any fancy land that they are withholding? As you said above all the houses they have left are ghost estates in the middle of nowhere, and all the good stuff is long gone.

          So your original post saying “I expect the Minister to announce […] that all the NAMA land banks […] are being handed over to the [councils]” is actually meaningless?

          1. Frilly Keane

            Don’t try an’ put words inta my mouth Cian
            I’ve plenty of me own, no need for any more from you

            NAMA still have land and assets, and more are still being transferred as the courts continue to scour through former bankrupts assets

            When NAMA did make offers to the Local Authorities/ Municipalities it was as a result of shaming and naming a number blaggards inhouse who were doing non transparent deals for themselves, and their butties, and their former employers/ or clients.

            And what they offered was toxic anyway and of no use to any of their own internal sources. Who would have got the first sniff anyway

            SO anyone to be saying the Local Authorities and the Voluntary Housing Sector “Got Dibs” is wrong and incorrect

            incidentally

            there’s plenty of land with Motorway & Rail access that can be re-zoned from commercial/ industrial to Mixed Use, residential & public amenity

            So stop looking for the loopholes in my posts to argue a way back into helping out Developers & the Private Finance Sector & Friends of the FG/FF as the solution

            And no about of targetting my posts will prove that the Government Policy of Privatizing Social Housing & Accommodation, at all levels, from direct provision to the rental (HAP) to Central Bank MARP Mortgage to Rent is sustainable, honest and better use of tax payers money.
            Although I do like watching you try

          2. Cian

            I wouldn’t dare! :-)
            But, like, ’twas your own words.

            Two things:
            1. What new assets did NAMA receive in 2015/2016/2017 through the courts?
            2. NAMA didn’t just offer toxic properties: from their 2016 annual report: “Social housing – Over 2,300 homes successfully delivered for social housing by end-2016, with over €300m invested in the repair and purchase of homes which have been leased or sold to approved housing bodies and local authorities.” [https://www.nama.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/NAMA_AR2016_Press_Statement_-_FINAL_-_01.06.17.pdf]

  6. Jake38

    “Aine Lawlor: “You can’t give her a home, can you? Right now?”…………

    Good god. Is there nowhere the likes of Aine Lawlor can go for a little remedial interview technique instruction.

    1. A snowflake's chance in hell

      two cheeks of the same butt

      just one side of it setting up the other for the same old fake news “balance”

      Aine Lawlor makes my skin crawl

    2. dav

      aww, soo unfair against the poor ickle minister…. A pity eoghan murphy and his ilk can’t be sent out on to the streets for a few nights, to see the vast problem that they have created

  7. gorugeen

    My heart goes out to that young girl. I was made homeless when I was 16. The govt didn’t give a tootly-toot then and still don’t.

  8. phil

    Try voting for FF next time and see if that helps, if it dosent vote for FG the time after, and repeat…

    unless of course, FF & FG are doing a fine job for the ‘vested interests’ maybe you are one of those vested interests and you are not even aware of it. How are you getting on ? Who did you vote for in the last few elections?

  9. Andrew

    Eoghan Murphy is a close friend of Varadkar as well as a colleague. I have to assume that they are both sincere in their attempts in solving this crisis.
    However, this hasn’t happened overnight and spiralling rents and house prices is a direct result of STATED govt. ppolicy.
    I will await what he plans to reveal in the next month and what he means by vested interests. If they are serious then compulsory purchase orders and pinitive taxes on unusued sites and property is the way to go.
    Seek tenders fron european construction companies to build on a mass scale.
    The problem is solveable,I’m really not sure there is the will to solve it. I really hope there is.

  10. Jocky

    Not buying a second of this.
    20 years paying into a mortgage from a property that has probably quadrupled in price. The actual mortgage payments should be about 200 euro per month. Where is the equity gone? Why did they not pay their mortgage. Why are the relevant facts always left out.

    So many others are in a far worse situation.

  11. Catherinecostelloe

    I recall so many homeless Irish in London, sleeping in rat infected derelict buildings. Going through bins near takeaways to eat someone else’s leftovers. Picking up cigarette butts from the gutters. So as dire as your situation is , just focus that ye have clean beds, a bathroom, a roof over your head and food. And have belief its only temporary. Wish you well and stay positive. No – one thinks you are scum because you are homeless, – your confidence has been knocked and pg things will improve for you.

  12. Sham Bob

    ” There are a lot of vested interests in this area. If I was to start flagging things to you now, that we’re going to do in the next three or four weeks, they would rally against, potentially try and stop the things that we want to do so I have to be careful… ” ??

    So, is he spoofing and they’ll do nothing? But it is troubling if the government is genuinely afraid of these vested interests. Being FG though, we don’t know if he means developers, landlords, and vulture funds, or people like Peter McVerry.

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