Push: a warning for Belfast

There’s a scene in ‘Push’ where Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, visits the home of a woman in Chile. The house sits atop a leafy hill and has the marks of being well lived in for decades. The woman looks despondent as she shows Leilani about, pointing out the window. Behind her, you can hear the roar of building work. It’s so loud that the camera seems to shake. The source of the noise is …

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Why protesters are taking over Dublin

Today is a day of action in Dublin, as protesters gather outside government buildings to demand action to a grinding housing crisis. Homelessness has hit record levels, and rents have hit such heights that even well-paid people are struggling to meet them. House prices have surpassed their Celtic Tiger levels, putting home ownership out of reach for even many in the middle class. How did the crisis reach this point? The new episode of The Irish Passport podcast explores the …

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Having handed the keys to Ireland’s silver to the ECB…

MOrgan Kelly is back in the Irish Times telling it like it is. And it’s not pretty. The question of why Fianna Fail/Green government chose to bail out high risk investors in Anglo (that notorious subordinated debt) to the tune of £9 billion is now a mere academic question for historians, or investigative journalists and/or restless bloggers. Ireland PLC no longer has that option. Kelly explains: September marked Ireland’s point of no return in the banking crisis. During that month, …

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