Diarmuid Breatnach
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In a Sinn Féin “think-in” on Friday regarding a national election, the party’s leader was reported stating that in any coalition government of which they were a member their party would insist on taking the ministry responsible for housing.
Mary Lou McDonald was quoted as saying this was a “red line” for them. Some will be surprised since the housing situation in the Irish state is in crisis and any new government will be under considerable pressure to deliver significant improvements in that sector.
Sinn Féin does not look like a party that is prepared to embark on an extensive program of building public housing for rent and taking over empty properties, in other words stepping on the toes of landlords, property speculators and banks – although clearly what’s needed is nothing less.
Still, the party’s own supporters and many who decide to vote for its candidates in a general election will be relieved to see the newcomer to government take over a sector which has been visibly neglected by all the other parties that have been in government in recent decades.
“A Sinn Féin-led government will build the homes that our people need,” said Ms. McDonald, going on to say “we will deliver the biggest affordable and social housing programme this state has ever seen. That is the level of action needed to match the scale of the challenge we face.”
However, supporters may be in for a substantial disappointment, given that the party spokesperson reportedly refused to give a date by which the numbers of homeless would have dropped significantly or even disappeared.
A crash program of building affordable housing for rent, the only real solution to the housing crisis, if seriously undertaken, could be completed in two years at most. The fact that the party is unwilling to give a date for the completion of such a program cannot inspire confidence.
End.
SOURCES
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41226946.html
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