Last year playwright Alan O’Brien won the PJ O’Connor Award for Best New Radio Drama with Snow Falls and So Do We. rabble sent Sean Finnan along to chat to Alan about the play and why he refused RTÉ permission to broadcast the drama. So I guess to start with, what’s the play about? It was inspired by the death of Rachel Peavoy. When that happened I was amongst many … Read More
The Crisis of Social Housing in Dublin.
Much of the talk surrounding the housing crisis has been focused on problems facing tenants in the private sector. Dramatic rent increases and spikes in homelessness in recent years have been especially severe in Dublin making this inevitable. However, long-term policy failures within the provision of a functional social housing sector are being ignored. Patrick McCusker takes a look at how repercussions of this are being felt across the city. … Read More
What Simon Says.
Above: Simon Coveney at a defence symposium in 2015. Finally, after months of dithering and hanging on like a bad dose of the clap we picked up when we were in a bad place and made some bad decisions back in 2011, Enda Kenny has finally decided to step down. Tomas Lynch takes a look at the heirs to the Blueshirt throne. There’s not much to choose between … Read More
Dark Days.
It’s the Winter Solstice and the darkest day of the year as receivers Mazars go to the high court to serve an injunction to turf 35 homeless people back out on the streets right before Christmas.
Behind Their Good News.
Above: Bit Thorn sent us on these snaps of the occupation as it was about to begin last night. We’ll have more. That’s a Youtube video of their GoFundMe appeal below. Last night housing activists, including a stellar line-up of socially conscious celebs, staged a citizens’ intervention into the housing crisis. They did the obvious and occupied a building under NAMA control on Tara St. We asked Sean Finnan … Read More
Unreal State.
A rather inspired social media and pop up shop campaign from the Vinny De Paul here. You might have come across a few of their fake Daft ads. The acerbic ad copy sails way too close to the actual estate agent gibberish that dresses up squalor as opportunity. Bravo.
Living In A Slumlord’s Paradise
New report out this morning from Savilles real-estate on the state of renting. You’re right, it’s exactly like the torture rack it feels. The slumlords are playing the poor-mouth – they’re rolling in it. As the report says “it’s a no-brainer for people with the cash.” See more here.
Welcome The SDZ.
When our Obersturmführer for property developers, Simon Coveney designated the former Glass Bottle plant a Strategic Development Zone, there was plenty of celebratory hoo ha in the media for the 3,000 homes promised as part of the scheme. However far from being an answer to the capital’s housing problem, a little digging leads Rashers Tierney to find this SDZ represents a brewing triumvirate of social exclusion, vulture funds and tech … Read More
Body And Soulless?
Body and Soul announced a partnership with AirBnB last week igniting a flood of reaction online. Why? Well last week, online petition pushers Uplift delivered a petition of over 150,000 signatures to AirBnB HQ as a response to their operations in the Occupied Territories. Not to mention the role AirBnB is playing in creating a more harsh rental market in cities like Dublin. Last time we checked, music festivals were … Read More