Conor Skehan :'Nothing but the facts will do when tackling homelessness'
A great article, well worth reading in full The facts are that, in terms of comparisons on the broad canvas of housing, Ireland now fares well in the context of Europe; having the fourth lowest level of overcrowding; the fifth lowest housing overburden rate and Europe's lowest levels of...
askaboutmoney.com
A great article, well worth reading in full
With respect, it is an awful article. I suspect we have been down this road before, so I will keep this post to bullet points and avoid any further interaction.
- Homelessness is an issue by itself, increasing levels of homelessness is another issue, and one that the article has completely missed
- Having security of tenure is fundamental to the progression of civilised societies. Not having security of tenure is regressive.
- as has been mentioned before elsewhere, the levels of homelessness have been increasing, not just in Dublin, but in London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Athens, Rome, Berlin...lauding our 'fourth' or 'fifth' lowest position on the European average is ludicrous, and shows a complete ineptness to understand the complexities of the issue
- Im not sure what the author is inferring when he writes about the bigger issue of 'arrears', he is hardly advocating more homelessness?
So I guess im dumb on his meaning on that point.
- the immediate consequence of homelessness is not having a roof over your head, or not having a secure residence to live and function routinely as individuals, couples or families do on long-term basis (ie - hotel rooms or hostels are not homes).
The long-term consequences, particularly with young children involved, are not certain. But I would hazard a guess that the probability that those consequences are not favourable increases dramatically.
- Homelessness, and increasing levels at that, cannot be separated from the rest of societal issues. It is part of a melting pot of other issues, increases in drug addiction, gang-warfare, unemployment, poor education, waiting lists in hospitals, hygiene, etc.
When all these issues keep adding up, keep increasing, it will instigate a reaction - of some sort, or sorts. This is human nature.
Trump, Brexit, Yellow Vests, Ghetto riots in Paris before that, Arab Spring, or whatever - in Ireland, the people marched against Irish Water. Not because of some profound devotion to a public water system, but because incrementally a large body of ordinary working people had felt they had been pushed too far by austerity. Since then we have had 'new politics' where the main opposition supports the government in power.
- Homelessness only affects a tiny portion of the population directly, but it affects the entire population indirectly. Be it businesses, communities, be it through tax increases, or increased borrowing, be it social disorder, a rise in xenophobia, racism, extreme nationalism....ALL of it is interlinked.
- And when some, or ALL of these issues are increasing then the last thing that is needed is inane commentary that touts our standing above or below European averages
- If people cannot see the connect between all these issues, and continue to box them off into different separate compartments, then we are heading for a rude awakening one day.
Finally, I don't purport to have answers, although building more houses and apartments seems reasonable.
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