If land that has been identified for the RZLT was instead purchased by local authorities using the CPO mechanism and used to build public housing, it would be a step in the right direction.

The shift to electric cars is an essential element of our climate mitigation strategy. But to repeat a cliché that is fundamentally true: electric cars are not a plan to save the world; they are a plan to save the car industry.

Instead of levelling the playing field, fast fashion is actually increasing inequality.

Changing the pace at which you move through a city, and removing the metal barrier which separates you from your surroundings, makes you a more engaged resident and citizen. You come to intimately know your surroundings, such as the parts of your commute that are more dangerous, where the best views are, and which areas have more green space. You spot the areas where the infrastructure is good enough to allow kids to walk and cycle to school. You also see where new homes are being built and others are boarded up. The life of an area becomes is more connected to you, than it is from when observed from behind the wheel of a car.

This issue is not only affecting the property market for potential buyers. Land hoarding and speculation also affects the delivery of social housing. Higher land values consume a significant part of the budget of AHBs – who deliver much of our social and affordable housing – and directly impact the final cost of the houses and apartments. This has an obvious immediate impact on how many units they can deliver. It is also an issue when calculating the financial outlay for affordable and cost-rental housing, which in turn affects the price of sale or rent of a unit and the overall long-term sustainability of a scheme.

The fact that we have to take everything about SMR technology on trust is important because for almost a century, the unfulfilled promise of the nuclear energy industry has left a trail of destruction in its wake. While carbon-neutral from a certain perspective, any claim that nuclear energy has been good for the environment can only be financially motivated. Apart from the obvious catastrophic impact of the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters, in the ten years from 2006-2016, Greenpeace found 166 “near misses” at nuclear power plants in the USA alone.

Research has shown repeatedly that more prison spaces does not solve overcrowding. Today’s commitment of an additional 620 beds is based on the development of around 400 new cells which is the final nail in the coffin of any ambition for “one prisoner, one cell”. Even the conservative proposal of a cap at 4,000 prisoners is not considered by the Department. We are staring into a future of double-ups, triple-ups and rampant overcrowding.

Beyond agriculture we see this undervaluation of biodiversity every day. Developments fail to take care to protect existing habitats; trees are routinely cleared in the name of road safety, when they are deemed dangerous or to satisfy the demand for fuel. We value what we understand.

At the heart of the prison-black-hole phenomenon is a refusal to recognise the humanity of the prisoner. The person in prison ceases being a citizen, a neighbour, a person with a complex narrative that can explain how they ended up where they are. They no longer warrant our empathy. They become faceless and nameless.

Most prisoners come into prison with an addiction issue, receive little or no help with their addiction, and leave prison with the same addiction issue. And we are surprised when they reoffend!

If this example of using public land for the ‘common good’ was followed by everyone – from individuals to businesses to the State – it would significantly improve our lives, as well as help with the multiple social and environmental crisis we are living with.

A house or apartment that is owned by someone who does not live in it, is not that person’s home, but it is their property. If the property has a tenant living in it, it is now their home, even though they are not the owner.

This semester I have been teaching a course on how theology relates to power and politics. It has been a joy to watch students grapple with classic theological texts – so apparently distant from their everyday experience – and see them realise how sharply they apply to pressing contemporary issues. At the same time, I… Read more »

Maybe serious channels for dialogue, listening and understanding are being developed by the Office of An Taoiseach and other departments. But if, as I suspect, the real intention is not for understanding but a focus on building consensus about the issue of societal violence, we may be asked to travel a different path. One of punishment rather than understanding.

Travelling to Rome in October 2019 was my first experience of slow travel across continental Europe. It was without a doubt more stressful to organise than booking a flight, but I can honestly say that it was one of my nicest travelling experiences.

There are – still – more than 11,000 people homeless. Homelessness figures have been record-breaking, (you might say exceeding their targets) for six months in a row.  But the Government’s targets for social housing have not even been met, never mind exceeded. This fact has been further compounded by the Department of Housing’s reported underspend of €340 million in its housing budget for last year, which raises further questions about the Department’s capacity and determination to lessen the severity of this crisis. 

My wife and I rented an electric cargo bike while on holiday last year and were awakened to the possibilities that they offer. A bike like this can carry kids and bags and shopping over far longer distances, with ease. The government offers a €1,500 tax free allowance to buy electric cargo bikes. They cost next to nothing to run, and in traffic are as fast as any car.

Prison overcrowding affects prisoners’ ability to attend education, work, appointments and social activities, and puts a strain on stretched in-prison psychological and addiction supports. There are few, if any, downsides to having fewer people in a prison.

More flights means that more emissions will be produced. On the other hand, people travel for a myriad of different reasons and defining what is frivolous and what is necessary is an extremely tricky balance to find, but one that we all must grapple with.

Letting people know, in simple terms, what they are entitled to and how to get it is the basic level of public service that we should be able to expect from Government.

Optimism has its place but the reality of the current housing and homelessness issue should not inspire it.

There is recognition at the national level that our car-dependent transport model needs to change.  Funding to finance this change is available but the political will required both at national level and at local level to make changes which could be unpopular with our car-addicted population must be as strong as the Government’s stated ambition to turn our system around.

Most people want a speedier, more efficient planning process, but we must consider the question of who it will be benefit most. Will it be better for local communities, for the environment, for biodiversity, for climate action? We need more housing, but we also need climate action and the former cannot compromise the latter.

Christians don’t need to wage any wars in defence of Christmas. But we do need to find new ways to sustain the transformative message of Christmas in our contemporary age.

From COP in Egypt to your Parish – How we care for our Common Home COP27  – the primary forum in which nations negotiates climate action – came to an end on Sunday. The closing documents of this summit saw some advances being made in climate justice for Global South Nations with the establishment of… Read more »