37 thoughts on “Roof Raising

  1. nigel

    In all fairness at the cost of building in this country and the scandals can you actually imagine the full cost of building these homes?
    Also if they cannot deliver a public project in time and within budget do we really have to hear as the newspapers report billion after billion flushed down the toilet

    Can you imagine in all honesty where the money is going to come from?

    We are already servicing a debt thanks to the crash of over 200 billion

    Maybe its time the EU were in charge of delivering homes and our budget contribution is increased to pay for it

    But of course the EU would have to be the only ones to do this

    Sad to say this is the reality and I just wonder how many geniuses that marched have one iota of how housing can be achieved in this country unless of course the costs to build are slashed
    I would reckon to house the homeless at the present cost in this country of building we are talking at least FORTY BILLION

    Maybe a better option is taking all the vacant property built and held onto by the banks in lieu of what they owe the taxpayer

    1. Col

      “I would reckon to house the homeless at the present cost in this country of building we are talking at least FORTY BILLION’
      At 10k homeless, that would be €4 million per person. Probably wouldn’t be that high.
      They should of course be looking at reducing land costs by building on state lands, refurbishing state owned property and clamping down on hoarding, taxing vacant sites etc.

      1. nigel

        Seriously when we hear about broadband the children hospital and Shane ross the world is your oyster

        Have we not let the penny drop
        When it comes to modern day Ireland leave your wallet on the street

      2. George

        Well it would cost 3 billion to build 10,000 houses in Dublin. . We know that about a third are children so that brings us down to less than 2 billion. Not all homeless people are in Dublin so that further reduces the cost. Additionally single people don’t need houses they need apartments which are cheaper to provide. So that further reduces the cost.

        Annual spending on homelessness by local authorities in Dublin alone is something in the region of 150million per year.

        1. George

          Also 16% of cost is tax which the state retains which further reduces the cost and that does not include the VAT paid on the building materials.

          1. Cian

            True. But some of the €150m comes back as income tax too.

            So if they stop housing the homeless for 10 years they could afford to buy them all houses.

          2. nigel

            Listening to a segment on the telly about a weir in county cork
            Previous time it was repaired it was 350 grand and the council thought it would cost only 750 grand
            It needs repairing and the estimate 1.5 million has been quoted and the council cannot even get a breakdown of that quote
            Sorry its not just Dublin its any place in our country
            As for 16%tax its nothing compared to the tax charged to every business
            Seems George you are clutching at straws

            We just do not have the money so alternatives to building must be the order of the day

            Modular units might be the way to go on council sites but not ones fixed ones like mobile home parks that are dotted all around tourist spots

    2. paver

      it’s not the cost of building is the problem, it’s the price of land in Ireland, this is where our government could tackle the housing crisis. if we made land (especially in urban areas) less of an asset, through taxation. then it could release more land for building. but that would be an attack on the vested interests and unfortunately I do not see that happening

      1. SOQ

        There is plenty of state owned land which could be made available right now. Half of Infirmary road up from the criminal courts is lying idle for a start.

        And then there is Diageo, the British multinational alcoholic beverages company, with its headquarters in London, England who hold more empty m2 space in the city centre of Dublin than any other.

        Walk from Christchurch to James hospital late at night to see how vast that land parcel is please- absolutely disgraceful- shove your Guinness.

  2. Rob_G

    Seriously, what sort of a dose goes around with a scarf around their face at a march for affordable housing…

    1. Mickey Twopints

      True for you, Bobby.

      So much more valid to sit behind a screen and snark at someone out protesting about a crisis in the provision of a basic human need.

      1. Rob_G

        Well, it’s a bit silly to carrying on like that when all the other photos show smiling older ladies and kids in buggies now, isn’t it?

        1. Mickey Twopints

          Three thousand children, citizens of our country, are bedding down in hotel rooms tonight. It’s utterly ridiculous to think that two people out on a protest march would “carry on like that”. If only they had shown their faces then the shower of inept oxygen thieves currently sitting their ample behinds at the government cabinet table would have been automagically empowered and gifted with the skills to sort this crisis out.

          If only the marchers on the protest got it.

          1. nigel

            That is exactly the situation sadly the reality is we cannot do anything
            Just look at insurance and anything our government is in charge of
            Children hospital national broadband and what other horror stories are in the pipeline of public spending

            Lets face it technology advances leaps and bounds and we bury cables in the ground
            5g 6g 7g where satellite technology is the future
            It reminds me of the film other peoples money when they talk about buggy whips

        2. Yep

          So you focused on one photo to comment on negatively and misrepresented it to do so. That was the take away Rob? Of course, you think getting rid of Murphy would “do nothing” so what’s the point. Yourself and Cian are a double dose of dickhead so clearly disconnected from the issue.

          1. Rob_G

            How did I misrepresent them? I said they were doses for masking their faces at a (peaceful) protest in a free and democratic country – I’ll say it again.

            ‘you think getting rid of Murphy would “do nothing”’

            – what do you think the immediate effect of replacing Murphy with some other FG TD would be?

            “Yourself and Cian are a double dose of dickhead… – when arguments and rhetoric fails, there are always childish insults to fall back on…

      2. nigel

        Mickey
        If taxes were raised to pay for the solution these same people would be out like the yellow vests screaming
        All I see is left wing wingers who think money grows on trees
        Its a feel good experience for them
        And since when is it a basic human right to have a family you cannot support without state aid and a home while others work like dogs and some even decide if I cannot afford children I will not have them

        1. Mickey Twopints

          Nigel, please feel free to get back to me when you’re able to reconstruct all of that into a lucid statement or question of some sort.

          1. nigel

            It is lucid
            Point is why should taxpayers fork out for those who want loads of kids and cannot support them?
            It sounds mean but lets face it its a valid question
            Bit like someone buying a home they cannot afford and expecting to be allowed to keep it without paying the mortgage
            Many lived beyond their means and if banks would of done due diligence then mortgagee would not of been granted during the boom plus no boom we would have an affordable housing situation like the days when interest rates were around 18% and those who could afford mortgagee with that rate of interest paid around forty grand for a home and values of homes went up by a maximum of 4%per

            The cold hard unpalatable truth is cheap money created the mess we are in and no control ensured we ended up in this situation and we have learned SFA

            The bust left the country in the state it’s in by a free for all and no control
            You tell me how the hell a country of our size can actually service the debt of over 200 billion and have a society where everyone lives the life of Riley

            Now we are all paying for it
            Sounds mean but its valid

          2. Mickey Twopints

            Right.

            That’s all very interesting, but what does it have to do with the lack of effective government response to the housing crisis?

    2. Col

      Probably don’t want to be instantly recognisable when trying to rent their next place with a hundred or so other desperate hopefuls.

      1. Mickey Twopints

        Well, if they’d taken the precaution of making better lifestyle choices they’d not only be homeowners themselves, they’d be members of the investor class and have a suitably impressive portfolio of property on let.

        They really have only themselves to blame.

        1. millie st meadowlark

          Oh you had me for a second. I was all set to fire off a steaming riposte but then I caught myself.

          Well played, good sir

      1. shortforbob

        Not very clever holding a flare in hand if she has that much problem with fumes.

        1. Yep

          Not very clever wearing a helmet cycling.
          Not very clever wearing a mask welding.
          Not very clever wearing sunglasses in the sun.
          You’re not very clever bo are you?

  3. SOQ

    There is an absolute and definite disconnection between those who just want a modest home they can call their own and those who sign off on 6 billion for a hospital and delivery of broadband.

    1. deluded

      It’s the theory of the moochers is what I call it.
      One of the points the Luddites made was that once you moved people off the land to man the machines
      what do they do when the machines stop? They have no plot and a cow and a pig.
      They live in a box. Generations of unemployed and lower level criminals scorned for having nothing. Now we have immigrants and they’ll be all moochers too, taking our jobs (that we would do but you couldn’t pay us enough ;)

      1. deluded

        I’m not an agrarian fantasist though, I’m just pointing out that we didn’t answer the Luddites’ point.

  4. Liam Deliverance

    Welll done to these protestors, getting out there, trying to make a difference, giving of their time and resources. Well done to Damien Dempsey and other performers for giving of their time and supporting this movement. This issue is 10 years old now and still the government has done nothing except waffle and obfuscate. This government is directly and indirectly responsible for most of the societal issues we face and if you vote FF or FG you are perpetuating that abuse on our citizens. Governments are there to serve people, not the other way around, vote to remove FF and FG and give actual democracy a chance. Some disappointing comments on this thread today. If they had put resources into solving this problem 10 years ago it would not be the monumental issue it is now. When they eventually have to address it, it will take tens of billions and there will be the usual suspects hoping to get a slice. Enough already.

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