The Liberties Community Project

Many thanks to the German Ambassador for inviting The Liberties Community Project to the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce Summer Reception at his residence this week.

The Liberties Community Project has been Charity Partner of the German-Irish Chamber for several years and appreciate the Chamber’s continued support for our work in South West Inner City Dublin.

A particular thank you also to Joe Walsh and the team at Siemens Ireland for their generous donation of €1,000, received this week, in support of the delivery of adult education classes. Contributions like this make a meaningful difference in supporting learning opportunities and community development locally.

Many thanks to the The Irish Times for publishing a letter from our CEO Austin Campbell responding to Tanaiste Simon Harris’s selective use of housing data to portray the Government’s housing performance in a positive light.

The Tanaiste was answering comments made by Irene Tinagli MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis, who stated that Ireland’s housing crisis is “amongst the most complicated and severe in Europe and the government has not used all of the tools at it’s disposal to fix it”.

Ms Irene Tinagli’s concerns are entirely consistent with the Council of Europe’s decision in FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) v Ireland (2014/110), which found Ireland in violation of Article 16 (right of the family to social, legal and economic protection) because the state had failed to take sufficient and timely measures to ensure adequate housing for families living in local authority housing.

Her comments are also consistent with the lived experience of individuals trying to buy a house and individuals living in social housing in Ireland.

Too often senior government officials like Simon Harris rely on abstract supply figures which mean little when homes remain unaffordable for working households, when institutional investors continue to outcompete families, and when many existing social housing communities are living with damp, mould and associated health impacts.

We would do well to heed another of Ms Tinagli's comments -"Do not give up hope and continue to speak out. In politics, we do not hear enough of ordinary people's voices."

Communities and community organisations must continue to develop meaningful evidence to steer senior government officials towards regeneration, refurbishment and housing investment decisions that are shaped by residents’ rights, wellbeing and everyday realities rather than disconnected headline figures.