Ireland's EU presidency must reclaim housing as a democratic project

Debate on housing and who has access to it is being rapidly filled by far-right extremists — Ireland can use this opportunity to shape an inclusive discourse, writes Valesca Lima

Frank O'Connor from Derelict Ireland outside Leinster House in March, as Cork-based singer/ songwriter Martin Leahy marked his 200th and final weekly Dáil housing crisis protest with his song 'Everyone Should Have A Home’. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

When Ireland assumed the EU presidency on July 1, it did so under the banner of ‘Ní neart go cur le chéile’— ‘strength in unity’. Yet, the reality across the EU is one of growing fragmentation, rooted in a structural and systemic housing crisis.

For the next six months, Ireland can steer the European affordable housing plan and shape the €2trn 2028–2034 EU budget. But doing so requires more than chairing meetings or pushing through the construction services act.