
Letters: Changes to apartment standards will just drag us back to our tenement past
This crisis manifests in two critical dimensions: a severe lack of available housing, and soaring costs that make housing unaffordable for the majority.
While the reduction in standards may, at best, marginally increase the availability of units, albeit through compromised quality, it does nothing to address the core issue of affordability. Instead, it risks exacerbating the problem, forcing families and individuals to pay exorbitant prices for substandard, cramped living spaces.
Historical accounts of Irish tenements often detail the hardships endured in overcrowded, poorly ventilated spaces, sometimes with only a single room serving as a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom. Disturbingly, the Government has now legislated to reintroduce such conditions, a move that flies in the face of basic housing rights and dignity.
It is imperative that policymakers prioritise quality, affordability and the well-being of citizens over short-term gains for developers. Ireland deserves a housing strategy that ensures safe, decent and affordable homes for all, not one that reverts to the worst of our past.
Thomas O'Connor, Crumlin, Dublin 12
All organisations affected by housing reforms should have been part of the plans
I can understand the considerable disquiet among professional planners over the Government's decision to drastically reduce the minimum standards for apartments.
The reforms that were announced by the Department of Housing without consulting the very professionals that will have to interpret and implement the changed guidelines is baffling and bewildering.
One has to be deeply concerned about the potential unintended consequences of this decision. I find it incredible that the Department of Housing did not consult with tenant organisations, homeowner organisations or members of the public ahead of these changes.
You couldn't make it up.
John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
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A few heatwave tips from a Brisbane resident used to very high temperatures
Having lived in Brisbane for the last 50 years, with daily summer temperatures reaching the mid- to high-30s, I suggest the following safeguards for handling a heatwave.
Heatstroke can kill – so stay in the shade as much as possible, especially elderly people and children.
The elderly should secure pedestal fans to keep cool. Drink plenty of water and eschew alcohol in the hottest parts of the day.
Going swimming? Plenty of factor 50 sunscreen should be applied regularly. Wear a hat and a shirt.
When I arrived in Brisbane in 1975, home air-con was virtually non-existent, so to ensure a good night's sleep many residents put their sheets in the freezer for two hours before bedtime.
Enjoy your heatwave by dressing for the heat, using sunscreen, drinking lots of water and avoiding alcohol until the cool of the evening.
Eddie Keane, Rochedale South, Queensland
Trump's tariff call shows he doesn't need a deal, he only wants submission
President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvo may sound like more bombast from across the Atlantic, but Ireland would be unwise to dismiss it as theatre.
With 30pc duties threatened against Mexico and the EU, he is effectively reshaping trade policy into a geopolitical cudgel.
This is not the old game of tariffs-for-jobs. This is a deliberate move to assert dominance over allies, testing whether the post-war trading order has any spine left. And while European leaders have huffed predictably, Mr Trump has already scored the psychological point: he doesn't need a deal, just submission.
Ireland, ever the agile middle player between Brussels and Silicon Valley, should take note. These aren't just tariffs on cars and cheese. They're signals. Signals that the old rules are dissolving and a colder, more transactional era is beginning. The question now isn't whether Ireland likes it. It's whether it is ready for it.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Armagh
We are losing our decency with so many moving to growing politics of hate
The burning of a migrant boat effigy on a loyalist bonfire has shocked decent people north and south.
Though it was indeed an offensive and provocative incident, was it any worse than the nationwide displays of bigotry we've witnessed here over the past three years? Banners with hateful slogans like 'Get them out!' and 'Ireland for the Irish!' have appeared in towns across the land.
Those who attend these protests appear offended when asked if they consider themselves to be racist.
'Oh God no, of course not,' they say, 'we're just concerned about services in the area, the number of GPs, sure otherwise we'd be delighted to see them coming'.
I suggest there needs to be an urgent emphasis on anti-racism courses in all schools. These courses should be comprehensive, and professionally delivered.
Judging by the degree of venom, ignorance and naked hostility evident at anti-immigrant marches and pickets, we've already lost a minority of the population to the politics of hate and division.
Let us act now to reclaim our decency as a nation. From an early age, children could be taught that there's a world of difference between patriotism and racism, between fascism and traditional nationalism. They might be taught that there's no 'plantation' under way in Ireland akin to the ones undertaken by various English kings and queens and by Cromwell.
Or that there's no attempt to 'replace' us all with another set of people, that conspiracy theories beloved of internet keyboard warriors are madcap claims that have no more credence or provenance than the most fanciful fairy tale.
A major anti-racism drive in schools might not help present-day victims of that age-old insidious and destructive human vice, but it might ensure that we don't end up with another generation of bigots wrapping themselves in the Tricolour as they seek to dehumanise people who have lost everything and whose only 'crime' is to look 'different'.
John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny

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