Letters to the Editor, July 3rd: On enticing developers, bedsits, Ukraine and Kneecap

Irish Times

17 hours ago

Sir, – Lorcan Sirr's article ('
If long-term renting is such a good solution, why don't more politicians do it
?', July 1st) invites challenge across a number of key elements.
Sirr claims that 14 per cent of higher income Irish renters spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, versus 3 per cent elsewhere – but offers no source.
These percentages depend heavily on which countries are included: Ireland's higher living costs skew the average. A more apples to apples comparison – say among the EU 15 – shows Irish rent-to-income ratios are above average, but not significantly so. Sirr's framing exaggerates the disparity.
He goes on to characterise Government strategy as 'let rents rise to attract investors, then build supply to bring rents down'. This is a caricature.
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Government policy includes major subsidies for cost rental, increased public capital for social and affordable homes and targeted institutional investment to fund supply.
Institutional investment hasn't been a driver of rent inflation – it has responded to demand and under-supply, not caused it.
A critical omission in the writer's piece is any mention of institutional investors' role in the for-sale market. Across Europe and in Ireland, these investors back the delivery of homes for purchase, funding large-scale apartment and housing developments that are then sold to individuals, first-time buyers and owner-occupiers.
This model reduces developer risk and brings forward supply. Ignoring this makes his argument against 'the investment model' incomplete, selective and unfair.
He cites inspection failure rates without acknowledging that increased inspections naturally uncover more issues, or that enforcement and funding have improved in recent years. Again, it's a one-sided narrative.
Suggesting housing policy lacks legitimacy unless politicians themselves rent long-term is more rhetorical than serious. Housing policy should be judged on outcomes and delivery, not on whether TDs rent or own.
Sirr's critique taps into valid public frustration but misleads by leaving out key context, cherry-picking data, and ignoring the evolving and broader role of private capital in housing delivery. – Yours, etc,
PAT FARRELL,
CEO, Irish Institutional Property,
Dublin.
Sir, – Lorcan Sirr calls for more regulation of the Irish rental market, despite the dramatic reduction in the number of rental properties and landlords since the introduction of rent controls and heavy rental market regulations in 2016.
Landlords have lost significant control over their properties in an ever-changing regulatory environment, but the left is seldom satisfied no matter how draconian or how restrictive the regulations are from the perspective of the property owner.
In late 2016 rent controls were introduced for the private rental market in Ireland. At that time the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) said there were 319,822 private rented tenancies. By the end of 2024, the RTB said the number remaining was down to 240,964.
Stringent rent regulations have driven capital investment out of Ireland in search of more reasonable investment markets elsewhere, logically. Smaller landlords have sold up in their droves.
Economists and investors warned of significant negative investment consequences at the time of the introduction of rent controls. Investors have now been regulated into submission – and they have gone away, you know.
What was predicted has ensued. There is no doubt now that rent controls discourage private investors from funding the construction of new homes and they drive current investors and landlords out of the market, thereby reducing the supply of housing required to provide accommodation in an era of strong population growth with long term inward migration flows.
Many people want to come to Ireland to share in our prosperity and they want homes built to rent or to buy so that they can settle here for the long term. To grow this country's housing stock at the level required over the next 5-10 years will require in the range of ¤20-25 billion per year of new investment.
State funding and Lorcan Sirr's proposed Irish savers housing fund will not be nearly sufficient to deliver the housing investment needed for the medium to long term. The taxpayer and the Irish saver, together with severe regulations, will not solve the housing crisis. The private sector is the key to unlocking mass housing supply. Approximately ¤10-15 billion of private sector investment is likely required in this country every year to build the homes we need.
More rental market regulation will not help – overburdensome regulations, high taxation on small landlords and ritual anti-landlord sentiment have truly come home to roost in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
MARK MOHAN,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – Michael McDowell ('
Folly of abolishing bedsits
,' July 1st) reminds us again of the folly of getting rid of bedsits. Many people, this writer included, remember happy days lived in places deemed to be unsuitable by today's standards.
I recall to this day visiting a house set in bedsits in Rathmines with a judge who wanted to help one of the residents I knew. We were sitting in cramped accommodation, having a mug of tea and discussing the topics of the day, when a man from another nearby bedsit dropped in.
The man we were visiting nodded to his friend and said: 'Sure, judge we are as happy as Larry here aren't we, what more do we want'?
The 'cure is worse than the disease' comes to mind when decisions are made at times, without looking at the wider picture.
Getting rid of bedsits clearly is a good example. – Yours, etc,
ALICE LEAHY,
Director of Services,
Alice Leahy Trust,
Dublin 8.
Cutting off Kneecap
Sir, – Long seen as one of the free world's great independent broadcasters, it was disappointing to see the BBC bowing to political pressure from UK prime minister Keir Starmer and others with their decision not to livestream Kneecap from the Glastonbury festival at the weekend.
It was somewhat ironic that, in their zeal to cut Kneecap off, Bob Vylan, a performer I had never heard of, managed to sneak in under the radar, much now to the embarrassment of BBC director-general Tim Davie. – Yours, etc,
JOHN GLENNON,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Instead of pursuing Kneecap and Bob Vylan for possible hate crime, surely it is time that the British government and, for that matter, the Trump administration, call out the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli army persists in supporting marauding Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are illegally terrorising Palestinian residents.
Then there are their daily amoral attacks in Gaza, where it appears they are using the residents, civilians they insist on calling suspects, for target practice. This has to be called out for what it is .
The British government should spend less time worrying about rock stars and their stage shows and more time using what influence they have to stop what more and more countries are now acknowledging to be a genocide. – Yours, etc,
HUGH DALY,
Dún Laoghaire,
Dublin.
Voting rights and the diaspora
Sir, – I wholly disagree with Ciarán Scally's view on Irish citizens voting from abroad ( Letters, July 2nd). I am an Irish citizen, born in Ireland, who then moved abroad during childhood to Canada, as many did during the late 1980s.
We came 'home' every summer and I returned myself to go to college and stayed in Ireland. We became naturalised citizens and hold dual citizenship.
I go to Canada every summer and have family still living there. While I enjoy my summer visits, and I have a right to vote in elections, I have never done so.
I don't feel that I have a right to exercise my preference when I really don't suffer the consequences of it, even in the very recent tight federal election, where of course I had an opinion, but I did not vote.
There are more Irish citizens abroad than at home and this could have a huge impact on current politics, but the ones abroad don't live with the consequences.
Do they really understand the full nuances of current day to day living in Ireland? Maybe, but more likely not.
If we look at current US politics, as an example, where many many Irish citizens live, would we want to risk a far right vote which, though there is now an element of in society, we haven't really seen in voting?
Is their a perception of Ireland and Northern Ireland, for example, an 'Irish one' or an 'Irish American one' which really are two distinctly separate cultures?
Those who leave Ireland are also paying no tax to Ireland, unlike requirements in other jurisdictions such as the US, which offer ex-pat voting – and that then is possibly a different issue.
When you move abroad, there are changes to life and in deciding to leave Ireland not being able to vote is one of them, and rightly so – you can't have your cake and eat it. – Yours, etc,
NIAMH BYRNE,
Fairview,
Dublin 3,
Sir, – Once again the issue of voting rights for those living in Northern Ireland and the 'diaspora' is being raised.
There is a key principle here and we should stick with it. There are many people who do not live in the State but are part of the nation. I respect absolutely their Irishness and their right to so identify.
However, the laws and jurisdiction of the Republic only apply in this State.
Therefore, a vote on our government structures should be held and exercised by those living in the State or who are external to it for short periods. The president is the third House of the Oireachtas and should be respected as such.
Indeed, many of those who support such a proposal have never respected the very existence of this State.
Extending the right to vote to all those aged over 18, irrespective of nationality, living in the State for a reasonably defined period of time, is the truly democratic thing to do and not the proposals regarding the presidential elections.
Indeed, in my view it demeans the office of president by implying that it is a vote of lesser consequence. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT LACEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Perspectives on Ukraine
Sir, – Oskana Voronina's letter (June 30th), demonstrates that there is hope for Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country. The material and psychological damage to Ukraine is inestimable, but we in this country can do more.
Senator Michael McDowell is one member of the Oireachtas speaking out on the tragedy that is the existential Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yes, what is happening in Gaza is genocide, but its scale and impact on world peace is regional and local in comparison to the eventual outcome in Ukraine.
The suggestion that Russia has kompromat on the US president Donald Trump looks more plausible every day. There is rarely a word of censure on Putin's invasion from the White House.
To date, there has been hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, inestimable infrastructural destruction, millions driven from their homes, probably hundreds of billions of euro of property damaged and the eventual outcome is still in the balance.
The Skibbereen Eagle needs to be resurrected, as currently Mr McDowell is fighting this battle on his own. – Yours, etc,
VINCENT CARROLL,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin.
Some spoiler alerts
Sir, – As a regular gig-goer I read Máirín O'Keeffe's letter (June 30th) with interest. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to Malahide Castle to see Neil Young myself, but read the positive reviews with regret.
Máirín requests 'more of the songs we've been listening to all our lives'. I checked Neil's setlist and 10 of the 14 were what I call bona fide classics spanning most of his career.
As for Van Morrison, he has a reputation for being contrary so nothing new there, but I noted that he did finish off with a great version of Gloria.
To paraphrase Neil Young, let's all keep rocking in the free world. – Yours, etc
FERGUS MADDEN,
Goatstown,
Dublin.
Architecturally reassured
Sir, – Adding to today's timely editorial ('
Good design is not a luxury,
' July 1st ), I feel reassured that the commitment made by the Government, through the published Government Policy on Architecture, will ensure that physical investment in buildings and places in the public domain will always be on the basis of good quality design. –– Yours, etc,
KLAUS UNGER,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
Glenveagh Castle and that curse
Sir, Marc McMenamin says Arthur Kingsley Porter bought Glenveagh Castle from the much-despised landlord John George Adair in 1929, but Adair died in 1885. (Irishman's Diary, July 2nd).
Adair's American wife, Cornelia, inherited the estate and was quite well liked – at least according to the accounts of local people and their descendants (of whom I am one) – before she died in 1921.
McMenamin notes that the State eventually acquired Glenveagh but oddly makes no mention that for nearly 40 years when it was owned by another American, Henry McIlhenny, life there was famously gay –and untouched by what McMenamin calls 'Adair's curse'. – Yours, etc,
FRANK GAVIN,
Toronto,
Canada.
Below the belt
Sir, – I can answer MJ Tomlin on 'where do we go from here?' (Letters, June 28th).
The answer is in Simplex six down today: sperm.
Back to the beginning. – Yours , etc,
DAVID McMENAMIN,
Killiney,
Dublin.