
Letters to the Editor, May 27th: On housing, cycling and the decline of retail
This isn't just poor planning – it's State failure. The Greater Dublin Drainage project has been talked about for over two decades. In that time, entire cities have been built elsewhere. Here, we can't even get past the paperwork.
People are running out of patience. You can't keep telling families to wait while the cost of living climbs and the promise of a home drifts further out of reach. Scarcity like this – when it's avoidable and clearly political doesn't just fuel frustration. It risks something deeper: a loss of faith in the system itself.
If we don't get serious about delivery, don't be surprised when the politics start to get serious too. –Yours, etc,
READ MORE
GAVIN REDDIN,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Not a day goes by without mention of Ireland's housing crisis – yet it only seems to get worse. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that our politicians either lack the will or the ability to fix it.
I have some sympathy for them, because any meaningful solution would probably mean reducing the paper value of what many homeowners believe is their greatest asset. (I'll leave it to the economists and philosophers to explain the difference between cost and value.)
Perhaps I can help by going back to first principles.
What is a house?
Well, in Ireland – much like Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's, 'Through the Looking Glass' - a house is whatever the planning officers say it is. And what they say it is will typically cost you €500,000 or more, and probably won't look very interesting.
But here's the thing: it's not actually that difficult to build a perfectly good home for a fraction of that price. The problem is, such a home wouldn't satisfy the planning department's arbitrary rules and definitions.
So what if we changed their job?
What if the planning authorities stopped defining what a house must be, and instead focused on planning the services – the roads, water, power, waste, broadband – that are needed wherever people choose to live?
Let the buyer decide what kind of house they want, and what they can afford.
As for how to appease current homeowners who are worried about falling values ¨– I don't know.
But I do know that there's an entire generation coming up that doesn't give a damn about propping up old property values.
They just want somewhere to live. – Yours, etc,
JOHN HOLSTEAD,
Ventry,
Co. Kerry
Public spending and fiscal policy
Sir, – The Central Bank's call for the exchequer to
'anchor'
fiscal policy is probably long overdue (Saturday May 24th): Public expenditure has continued to exceed budgetary limits and targets, mainly as a result of an increase in current, and mainly recurring, expenditure, which taxpayers will be asked to finance in the event of a downturn. Meanwhile, investment in upgrading key infrastructure lags, not to mention housing.
The Universal Social Charge (USC), introduced 17 years ago as a temporary measure, continues to levy incomes when the emergency it was designed to fund is long over.
The disposition of nearly all parties to find new or increased expenditure programmes just because the exchequer is in surplus, has to stop.
Instead what is needed is a root and branch review of existing expenditures to improve efficiency and eliminate waste. – Yours, etc,
JOE LENIHAN,
Collins Avenue,
Dublin.
On your bike
Sir, – Joe Humphreys in his 'Unthinkable' piece (
'Cyclists versus drivers: How to avoid road rage ' May 26th)
suggests that 'taking a Zen approach could help motorists and cyclists to be less judgemental about each other' .
All very well , however whilst cycling recently I was almost meeting my maker by a large SUV more suitable for the rocky mountains than suburban Dublin .
As a cyclist I can assure your columnist there is no 'moral superiority ' merely the will to avoid injury or death on the roads .
Sometimes rage is the only appropriate response. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MORAN,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – Joe Humphries' article on the dangers of cyclists feeling morally superior to cars had the worthy aim of increasing mutual respect on roads, but he missed something. He didn't mention those who are neither in cars nor on bicycles.
As a walker I rarely have a problem with cars; they mostly stay off pavements, stop at red lights and respect crossings. In contrast, cyclists often ignore all three with impunity, which is why pedestrians can no longer amble along the pavement in a relaxed fashion or trust the green man to provide a safe crossing.
No doubt Humphries is the sort of responsible rider who stays off the pavement and always obeys traffic lights – in which case, well done he – but many cyclists don't obey the rules of the road, which is why pedestrians sometimes feel less affection for cyclists than they otherwise might. – Yours, etc,
DAVID HARRIS,
Coptic St,
London.
Joe Humphreys admits that as a cyclist, he sometimes experiences a sense of moral superiority . As a pedestrian of many years standing, I wonder if that superiority also applies to the cohort that cycle on footpaths?
My most recent episode involved having to give way to a female cyclist on a footpath which ironically is parallel to a dedicated cycle lane. You couldn't make it up! –Yours, etc,
FRANK J BYRNE,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
Inaction
on Gaza
Sir, –Una Mullally has accurately and eloquently identified 'the hypocrisy that drives people stone mad' when it comes to 'the lack of a concerted international effort to stop what Israel is doing in Gaza'
(Why are Kneecap facing consequences when Israel is not?
May 26th).
But what if there is an even more uncomfortable explanation for such hypocrisy and inaction?
What if the governments of European 'democracies' are actually complicit in Israel's alleged crimes?
Israel enjoys privileged access to European markets under the EU-Israel Association Agreement (1995). Article Two of this Agreement renders its provisions dependent on 'respect for human rights and democratic principles', a respect long absent from Israel's treatment of Palestinians within Israel itself and in the territories that it occupies.
The illegality of this occupation was reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in July 2024.
The EU has consistently resisted calls for the suspension of the Agreement, while certain European countries (Germany, Italy, Britain) have continued to export arms to Israel since the onset of its current campaign against Gaza.
The Irish Government has turned a blind eye to the transit of arms to Israel through Irish airspace, allows the USAir Force to use Shannon Airport in furtherance of American support for Israel, and has failed to stop the Central Bank from selling Israeli war bonds across the EU.
If European governments are truly complicit in Israel's alleged crimes while the majority of their citizens oppose them, this raises questions about the genuineness of what Michael McDowell has recently called 'Europe's model of enlightened liberal democracy'. Surely we cannot afford to leave such questions unanswered? – Yours, etc,
RAYMOND DEANE,
Primrose Avenue,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Last weeks's statements of concern about Gaza, from some world powers and the EU are welcome. However, they do not lessen the impetus to enact Ireland's Occupied Territories Bill (OTB).
The list of powerful nations included all the major external suppliers of bombs and weaponry used on Gaza's devastated territory. Each has already had the option of withholding supplies or using them as a lever for a ceasefire.
In reality, mighty nations and power blocs are often bound by commercial and strategic interests, or alliances that can override the inhumanity of bombing starving children. Smaller countries can be less compromised.
Against the background of a broken world order, the Tanaiste Simon Harris's commitment to, at last, enact the OTB offers hope.
Properly enacted, it will be a peaceful but practical counterbalance for less powerful countries to employ.
It focuses on objective illegality, rather than imposing blanket boycotts. Thus it will not involve blameless Israelis or citizens of other countries where the OTB might be deployed.
The Occupied Territories Bill (2018), as proposed b y Senator Frances Black reads as a moderate. cohesive whole. Re-drafting, or even tinkering to placate, could render it ineffective. It has a potential to sanction any illegally occupied territory in the world. It is vital that this remains in the Bill, in a disordered world, where UN motions are ignored or vetoed, with impunity.
The delaying of the OTB, over a five-year period when it offered a potential for peace in Palestine and Israel, is a matter of profound regret.
This must not be compounded by further unnecessary delay or revision of its impact. – Yours etc
PHILIP POWELL,
Dublin.
A bridge
too far
Sir, – David Raleigh ('Decades of 'daily frustration' over traffic end as Killaloe-Ballina bridge opens, May 23rd) notes that decades of frustration due to traffic congestion ended on May 22nd due to the opening of the new Brian Boru bridge over the river Shannon.
He omits to mention the frustration that the official opening generated. At one o'clock on May 22nd it was announced that the bridge was open. Some of us were gullible enough to believe that this meant open to traffic. However, this did not happen until 5.30 pm.
Ironically, the tailback on the approach road to the old bridge was three or four times its normal length while the politicians and those who were officially invited were congratulating themselves on the new bridge which was cordoned off on both sides. It was an exercise in political arrogance and hardly an example of bridge building. – Yours etc
MARGARET LEE.
Co Tipperary
Not united on Man United
Sir – Michael Walker's excellent piece on just how bad things are at Old Trafford ('Once people were desperate to join United; now United are just desperate', Sport, May 24th) made for sobering reading for the many Red Devils fans here. Yet, a powerful punch was pulled by not mentioning Scott McTominay.
The poor judgment of letting the talismanic Scotsman go last summer should be reframed as outright lunacy after his key role in Napoli winning the Serie A title this term.
He scored a dozen goals (no United player got into double figures in this season's Premier League) and was voted Serie A's MVP (Most Valuable Player). Shame on the United decision makers. –Yours etc
BRIAN QUIGLEY,
Dublin 9.
Drowning
the oceans
Sir, – Last week I went to David Attenborough's latest film: Ocean. In my opinion, this film is vital viewing for us all as it reveals a level of marine/ oceanic destruction beyond anything the general public currently conceive.
It highlights the immense contribution the ocean and its life make in the capture of carbon, and the production of oxygen, as well as providing food in this highly complex and extraordinary ecosystem.
It shows clearly how our industrialised fishing and the methods this uses is contributing more to global warming and destruction of our planet than much of what we are doing on land.
The film portrays the stark reality of the impact of our current highly industrialised fishing industry on our oceans and seas– throughout the globe including the deep seas and Antarctic areas which previously had been less exploited.
It shows mega bottom trawlers drawing vast metal chain or beam based nets along the floors of the oceans. These sweep everything in their track into their nets in this dredging process.
As the metal based nets work their way across the oceans' floors, metal claws dig into the oceans' beds, breaking their surfaces to extract as much as can be taken, regardless of whether what is dredged up will later be deemed marketable.
It seems to be the crudest, most wasteful, and most destructive form of fishing imaginable. On land, these practices currently being conducted throughout our global marine waters might be compared to a legitimised and approved scorched earth policy.
This type of fishing doesn't make sense as it is the antithesis of sustainable practice. The film tells us that currently approximately 3 per cent of the world's oceans are being preserved from exploitation. This is not adequate to save our oceans or ourselves.
The film has been released in preparation for the UN's World Oceans Day in June which is campaigning for 30 per cent of the world's oceans to be preserved from exploitation.
It seems to me that supporting this campaign and taking action to realise this level of preservation of our waters, is not only good for all on this earth, but on the most basic level supports human self-interest.
I hope that we as an island nation play our part in the realisation of this goal. – Yours, etc,
MARY O'BRIEN,
College Road,
Galway.
Trump's tariffs
Sir, – Donald Trump's extended tariff deadlines are almost as numerous as BAM's completion deadlines for the new national children's hospital. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dublin.
Retail regeneration
Sir, – As I walked through my local town-well, technically, Armagh is a city – I was struck by the sheer number of charity shops, hairdressers, and coffee outlets now dominating its streets. This isn't unique to Armagh; towns across the UK and Ireland are following the same dispiriting pattern. Meanwhile, traditional businesses like butchers, grocers, and independent pubs are quietly disappearing from our high streets.
We must act to arrest this drift towards commercial monoculture. Local authorities could offer grants to improve shopfronts, providing incentives for entrepreneurs to take over vacant premises, and investing in broader streetscape revitalisation.
They might also consider planning restrictions to prevent over-concentration of similar business types.
A town centre should serve as the beating heart of commerce and community – not merely a corridor of caffeine and coiffure.
Without intervention, we risk losing the diverse, vibrant high streets that make our towns distinctive and genuinely useful to residents. - Yours, etc,
ENDA CULLEN,
Armagh.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ireland's latest investment plan: A sceptic's guide
How do we make sense of all the billions announced in new State investment spending ? The key message is that the Government is going for it in terms of the sums it is committing – and this has big consequences. By doing so it is responding to economic growth and population increases, which have been well in advance of expectations. Here is how the numbers add up and the questions they raise. Where the money comes from : The State has allocated an additional €34 billion to its investment plans over the five years from 2026 to 2030. This is a big increase, with the overall total coming to just over €102 billion. About €20 billion of the extra cash is due to come from what might be called cash reserves – the €14 billion from the Apple tax payment, €2.5 billion from the sale of AIB shares and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund established by the Government. This still leaves a gap to be paid for, however, and this will be met by running down budget surpluses in the years ahead. There is also a commitment to tighter control of day-to-day spending to leave more cash for investment, though an increase of 6.4 per cent is pencilled in again here next year. Tariffs: Why has Donald Trump threatened the EU again? Listen | 47:35 The State will run down a lot of its financial leeway. Already the Department of Finance is facing a smaller budget surplus year than forecast in springtime. The budget sums will come under further pressure if economic growth slows sharply. Where the money will be spent : The Government announced the overall spending allocations, but not the list of projects involved, though some of the big ones, including the Dublin MetroLink , are known. As ESRI professor Alan Barrett said on RTÉ radio, the normal approach in a National Development Plan (NDP) is to start with population and growth projections and then develop a list of projects that are based on this and outline how they relate to each other. Instead, departments are now to come up with their own priorities. The list should be published around budget time, we are told, but with the review well flagged for months, it seems a lot of last-minute haggling means it has not yet happened. As Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, previous NDPs might have been too long. But this one, right now, looks a bit flimsy. Surviving a downturn : Taoiseach Micheál Martin said at the press conference launching the strategy that the goal is to keep investing, even if the economy slows or hits difficulties. Slashing investment spending after the financial crash has had a big economic cost for the Republic. But with no details of the expected budget position next year – never mind in subsequent years – published in the summer economic statement, the other key document published on Tuesday, we have no feeling for how the Department of Finance sees all the numbers adding up. Budget surpluses will be smaller, it says, but we do not know by how much. We are not clear on the appetite to borrow to fund investment in the years ahead if the corporate tax take takes a heavy hit. In fairness, the Government will want to see the outcome of the EU-US tariff talks, which have big implications. If there is a bad outcome, we are told the €9.4 billion budget will be pulled back. That would be the acid test of where priorities lie. Delivering the projects : Senior Ministers spoke at length at the NDP launch about the barriers to delivery from planning and bureaucracy. This raises the obvious question of why they did not do much about them when they were in government last time around, including the multiphase approval processes for local authority housing, for example. A new Planning Act was passed, but only in the dying days of the last coalition. The fiscal council has noted that the State has consistently struggled to meet investment spending targets in recent years. And, as the document states, finding construction workers is a challenge. Now Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers is examining recommendations from an expert group on the delivery issue, and some important moves are on the table. Succeeding here is central to its plans and rebuilding credibility on project delivery.


Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the State's new investment plans: the work is only starting
The Government's plan to invest more to address the infrastructure deficits in the Irish economy is a move in the right direction. Shortfalls in housing, water, energy and transport are not only crippling competitiveness but affecting people's daily lives. The Government is correct to push ahead with its planning, despite the international uncertainty. A growing economy and a rising population have left recent administrations running to catch up. International investors have been increasingly outspoken about Ireland's infrastructural shortfalls. All of this needs to be addressed. And Taoiseach Micheál Martin is correct when he says that State investment spending must be protected no matter what. However, the plans published yesterday raise of number of important questions. The lack of any detail of the projects to be included in the plan is somewhat puzzling. Everyone knew in the final period of the last government and the opening months of this one that the review was due. So why has no list of projects been completed? Because of this, as Prof Alan Barrett of the Economic and Social Research Institute pointed out, we do not have any of the essential detail on how the projects all fit together. READ MORE There are, of course, a significant number of projects which we do know about and which will be funded by the money now being put aside. The focus on vital areas such as water, wastewater and energy is important. But with last-minute rows over housing in particular, it is unclear that the Government yet has a convincing plan in this key area. An updated housing plan, due in the autumn, needs to give a clear view . The Government is also – belatedly – looking seriously at the blockages and delays to project planning. This is welcome but long overdue. These issues have been hiding in plain sight in recent years, leading to extraordinary delays and additional costs in projects large and small. Too much time was lost here by the last government. This one needs to get serious on the issue of the delivery. This will be uncomfortable politically and it remains to be seen if the Government has the stomach for the necessary fights. The scale of the investment commitments being made are significant. And paying for it will use a lot of the leeway in the national finances and also the cash put aside from the Apple tax payment and the sale of AIB shares. This means a higher level of risk. To create the required leeway in the national finances – and ensure yet more cash is not pumped into the economy – the increased investment spending must be combined with much tighter control of day-to-day spending. This is the trade off. If this does not happen, then the scale of the financial risks facing the State will increase yet further. And they are already high enough.

Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Omagh bombing survivor wants High Court to compel State to hold public inquiry into atrocity
Two people directly affected by the Omagh bombing want the High Court to compel the Irish government to establish a public inquiry into the atrocity. Emmet Tunney, who survived the 1998 dissident republican bombing, says the Government is obliged to establish a public inquiry in circumstances where state authorities allegedly held 'actionable intelligence' relating to the attack. Mr Tunney's case states that a public inquiry is required to ensure an effective investigation of the atrocity. He alleges the State's failure to hold such an inquiry is a breach of his rights under the Constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). According to Mr Tunney's court documents, article two of the ECHR requires an 'effective, independent, prompt, and public' investigation in circumstances where state agents knew or ought to have known of a real and immediate risk to life. READ MORE Articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution require effective investigations of deaths involving potential state failures, his papers say. Shawneen Conway, whose 18-year-old brother Gareth was killed in the bombing, is seeking to bring an action similar to Mr Tunney's, the High Court heard on Tuesday. A total of 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998. An independent inquiry into the bombing established by the UK government opened in Omagh in January and is continuing. That inquiry is examining whether the atrocity could have been prevented by UK authorities. In the High Court on Tuesday, Ruaidhrí Giblin, for Mr Tunney, sought an early date for his application seeking the court's permission to bring the case. Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty said she would hear Mr Tunney's and Ms Conway's applications for court permission next week. Mr Tunney, from Omagh, Co Tyrone, is seeking an order compelling the Government to establish a public inquiry into the bombing and he wants a court declaration that the Government's failure to establish such an inquiry to date is in breach of his rights. He wants to bring his case against the Government, Ireland and the Attorney General. His case claims some of the perpetrators of the bombing are believed to have operated within the Republic of Ireland. He alleges there were failures in intelligence sharing and co-operation between Irish and UK authorities before the bombing. Authorities in the Republic may have had prior knowledge of the Real IRA's planning, his documents claim. Mr Tunney also argues an Irish government inquiry is required in circumstances where there are limitations on the jurisdiction of the UK government's inquiry. For example, he says, the UK government cannot make findings as to whether Irish authorities are culpable for a failure to supply information relating to the bombing. In the UK Omagh bombing inquiry, its chairman, Lord Turnbull, heard arguments over the last two days regarding applications from some survivor and family groups seeking to be represented by special advocates. They said their interests should be represented in closed hearings and they raised a risk of damage to confidence in the inquiry if they were not. However, a lawyer for the UK government said no statutory public inquiry has had special advocates to date and there was no justification to have them in this case. Katherine Grange KC also contended no provision was made for such appointments in the 2005 Inquiries Act and she cautioned around avoiding unnecessary costs. At the conclusion of the hearings around special advocates on Tuesday, Lord Turnbull said the issue raised is 'important and interesting'. He will provide a written decision 'in due course'. – Additional reporting PA