Irish Examiner view: Coalition will have to fix the housing crisis

the sense of frustration among those for whom the dream of home ownership has become a nightmare, is obvious

Fri, 07 Feb, 2025 - 01:00

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has expressed “regret” over the palpable misrepresentation of figures for new home completions in the run-up to last year’s election, but even his admission that the previous government was ‘wrong’ will not sit well with the electorate.

Although the election was won by the main parties and a new Government formed with the help of Independents, the sense of frustration among those for whom the dream of home ownership has become a nightmare, is obvious.

Whether the public was deliberately misled on home completion figures — only 33,000 were built, as against government insistence it would be closer to 40,000 — the fact remains that the misrepresentations (or were they plain lies?) cannot mask the failures for which this administration has to take the blame.

We know that housing is not solely an Irish problem, it is a global one, but we also know that the problems are not insurmountable and have to be addressed quickly if Mr Martin’s Government is to maintain any form of credibility.

That reputation has been further undermined by figures from stockbrokers Davy this week which estimated that the annual need for new homes was well above official estimates at 93,000 units a year until 2031. It recommended the axing of rent caps, streamlining planning, and cuts in building costs as means of achieving this figure.

This Government is effectively in its second term and little has been achieved by way of meeting housing demand. Voter disillusionment and electoral embarrassment await if ways to build affordable and sustainable accommodation are not found in short order. The issue must be taken by the scruff of the neck and dealt with. Thus far it has only been tickled.

Democratic winds of change

In a world where the tenets of democratic norms are seemingly under attack from every quarter, what has been happening in Serbia in recent weeks has had a restorative effect for those who believe that, while democracy is far from being a perfect system, it is still the best there is.

The collapse of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on November 1, which killed 15 people, sparked a series of anti-government protests which so far have forced the prime minister to resign and put the president under increasing pressure.

National outrage at the deaths and the mere platitudes offered by the country’s rulers, resulted in a widespread sense that, once more, there would be no satisfactory explanation for the tragedy and nobody in authority would be held accountable. Peaceful student protests, usually violently interrupted by government-backed provocateurs, have evolved from silent vigils into a national movement with agricultural workers, farmers, the Bar Association of Serbia, taxi drivers, culture workers, and engineers joining the growing numbers clamouring for changes to a regime which for years has ignored the rule of law.

Democracy has been the biggest loser under the increasingly authoritarian government of president Aleksander Vucic but, following the resignation of prime minister Milos Vucevic, the sense in the country is one of change.

The non-violent nature of the protests and the manner which they have been continuously threatened and attacked by agents of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party has galvanised a nation tired of being pushed around by its own rulers.

On Wednesday, there were five separate protests in Belgrade involving pensioners, students, medical workers, and public transport workers and plans are already afoot for a massive protest in Kragujevac, the country’s fourth largest city on February 15.

The Serbian people are on their way to proving that they have a voice which will not be drowned out by a ruling oligarchy which, by now, is only clinging to power. In the face of the potent and seemingly unshakable power of its citizenry, it may not last much longer.

Irish racing world remembers Aga Khan

The Irish thoroughbred and bloodstock industries owe a massive debt of gratitude to the late Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV, who passed away in Lisbon on Wednesday, aged 88.

Probably unknown to many outside the world of horse racing, the Aga Khan’s contribution to the sport in Ireland as well as our world-leading breeding programmes played a huge role in establishing this country as one of the biggest global players in the sphere.

His quiet, behind-the-scenes involvement in racing and breeding, was also supplemented by his role supporting and sponsoring show jumping, helping Ireland become a global centre of excellence in the breeding of sport horses and allowing our riders to compete on a world stage.

He will possibly be best remembered as the owner of the ill-fated Shergar, the easiest winner of the Epsom Derby in history, who was kidnapped from his Ballymany Stud in Co Kildare in 1983 and almost certainly killed shortly afterwards by the IRA gang who failed in their demands for a £2m ransom.

The spiritual leader of 15m Nizari Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan was also a global benefactor in education and health.

Irish trainers such as John Oxx and Dermot Weld brought him success in such great races as the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with such horses as Sindaar and Harzand, while he was also responsible for such household names as Dalakhani and the unbeaten Zarkava.

He was a significant shareholder in the bloodstock auctioneers Goffs and Arqana and a key financier in the redevelopment of the Curragh — which was reopened in 2019 and where the main stand is now named in his honour.

Irish racing and breeding will forever remain in his debt.

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