[Photo from ‘Darkest Dublin’ collection, RSAI]
I’m using so much of Ruth McManus‘ work for my chapter on 20th century Irish housing it’s embarrassing.
Her book, Dublin 1910-1940: Shaping the City and Suburbs (Four Courts Press, 2002) is in the public library system, and is available for purchase from Four Courts here.
I’m also drawing heavily […]
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I gave up on Irish journalism about 18 months ago, just after the 2008 bank guarantee scheme and the December budget of that year. And while this has done my blood pressure no end of good - it’s not the news that drives me mad, it’s the inane analysis - it also means that I […]
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First of all, as always, the caveats.
This graph is based on dwellings in Irish towns of 1,500 people or more. The reason for that is because the Land Acts skewer home ownership as farms are both a home and a livelihood.
By removing farms from the picture, it’s possible to get a glimpse at house/apartment purchases […]
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That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain.
The happy highways where I went
and cannot come again.
I was brought up in the Seventies. Strong colours and oversized jumpers. These are my memories. The boundaries of my world were the Harmonstown road to the Santry river, the shops on Edenmore park, the old […]
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There’s a comment often bandied about when it comes to housing in Ireland: ‘our parents got through it, so can we.’
Well, our parents didn’t get through this, because our parents never faced what Ireland is facing now - at least in terms of housing debt.
The sheer level of theft which has taken place - and […]
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Figures are available here.
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One of the more frustrating ‘common-sense’ myths about Irish society is that the Irish people possess a house-owning gene, a double-helix of owner-occupancy which defies financial gravity.
Yet, when we look at the actual facts we see that the Irish people loved owning their homes so much that in 1961 around 46% of the population […]
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The answer can be found here.
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Or is this decision from Judge John Cooke of the High Court absurd?
Outlining the reasons for his ruling today, Judge John Cooke said the court found there are good grounds to give this second petition a hearing.
The court is satisfied that the material now proffered answers the deficiencies identified by the Supreme Court, Judge […]
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The Kenny Report, the official title of which is “COMMITTEE ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING LAND, REPORT TO THE MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ROBERT MOLLOY, CHAIRMAN MR. JUSTICE J. KENNY (DUBLIN,1974), was begun in 1971 and finally published in 1974. Its findings have never been implemented
Its recommendations formed part of the Green Party’s pre-election manifesto. […]
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