Here’s How 101 – Housing Solutions




Here's How ::: Ireland's Political, Social and Current Affairs Podcast show

Summary: <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/AlisonGilliland" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Alison Gilliland</a> is Labour Party member of Dublin City Council for Artane/Whitehall. She is also chairperson of Dublin City Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Housing.<br> <br> <br> <br> In our discussion I mentioned the article in the Irish Times <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/dermot-desmond-everyone-has-a-right-to-a-home-here-is-how-it-can-be-done-1.4195439?mode=amp" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">by billionaire financier Dermot Desmond</a> about solutions for the housing crisis. Desmond was found by various investigations to have xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxx. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> I also mentioned <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/why-the-abolition-of-windfall-tax-on-rezoned-land-profits-is-a-big-mistake-1.1971764" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">the huge cut in the windfall tax on profits</a> from rezoning made while the Labour Party were in government, and the lackadaisical enforcement of the of the <a href="https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/environment/planning_and_development_in_ireland/vacant_sites.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">vacant sites levey</a> by local authorities around the country; and <a href="https://twitter.com/ellenmcoyne/status/1241340858550624256" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">the huge attention paid</a> to the <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/dublin/?neighbourhood=&amp;filterEntireHomes=false&amp;filterHighlyAvailable=false&amp;filterRecentReviews=false&amp;filterMultiListings=false" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">tiny impact of Airbnb</a> on the housing market.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> *****<br> <br> <br> <br> Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another; for this illness seemed to strike through the breath and sight. And so they died. And none could be found to bury the dead for money or friendship. Members of a household brought their dead to a ditch as best they could, without priest, without divine offices … great pits were dug and piled deep with the multitude of dead. And they died by the hundreds both day and night … And as soon as those ditches were filled more were dug … And I, Agnolo di Tura … buried my five children with my own hands. And there were also those who were so sparsely covered with earth that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured many bodies throughout the city. There was no one who wept for any death, for all awaited death. And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world. <br> <br> <br> <br> That’s a quote from the Italian chronicler<br> Agnolo di Tura about the effects of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Black Death</a>, which did a<br> deadly circuit of Europe in the 1340s and 1350s, killing perhaps a third of the<br> population or more. It returned at various intervals for centuries, causing<br> more localized but sometimes just as deadly epidemics. But don’t let that get<br> you too paranoid, this disease can be now easily cured with antibiotics, which<br> weren’t available in the fourteenth century.<br> <br> <br> <br> Nevertheless, the Black Death is something<br> that still haunts the culture of Europe and beyond. The danse macabre, with its awkward dancing skeletons, is still a<br> common image, as is that of the plague doctor, with the black gown and long<br> beak-like plague mask.<br> <br> <br> <br> The southern German village of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberammergau_Passion_Play" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Oberammergau</a><br> still follows a vow that they would faithfully perform a Passion Play,<br> reenacting biblical stories, every decade if they were spared the plague that<br> was ravaging the area in the 1630s. <br> <br> <br> <br> But even more influential, for an event<br> that happened nearly 700 years ago, are the social and economic effects of the<br> Black Death.