Speech by John Douglas, general secretary, Mandate at the United Wolfe Tone Commemoration, Bodenstown, 20 September 2017 Comrades, brothers and sisters, Our national freedoms were defined by the United Irishmen in terms of citizenship, the responsibility of the state to its citizens and the responsibility of all citizens to the […]
Ireland
Ireland in debt
Ireland in 2017 is in a state of confusion. On the one hand the official line tells us that we are out of the recession, that government revenue and expenditure are increasing annually. The level of general government deficit is declining, and government debt in 2016 was 75 per cent […]
Apollo House: A housing crisis by design
Frustrated at the failure of governments to tackle the problem of homelessness, a number of organisations under the umbrella of Home Sweet Home, including the Irish Housing Network, trade unions, and artists and musicians, have taken on the Government in an organised act of civil disobedience. There are now 6,847 […]
Public housing—not social housing
As a solution to the housing, rent and homelessness crisis we need a massive public housing plan, with both new construction and the conversion of NAMA property into public housing. The advantages of public housing to working people are many. It would not just resolve the present crisis—a national emergency […]
Monopoly capital, the budget, and housing in Dublin
A small number of builders and developers own the land zoned for housing around Dublin. They are the suppliers of housing, and they have control over supply. As monopolists or semi-monopolists they have a vested interest in the high and rising prices for new houses. If prices rise, their profits […]