Letters to the Editor: Home buyers haven't a hope

No accountability from our leaders about the crisis in housing

Mon, 10 May, 2021 - 08:06

My boyfriend and I work full-time. We have saved €30,000 and the likelihood is that we will continue to save for another two years in the hopes that properties will become available at affordable prices and a bigger mortgage will enable us to buy.

I have a friend looking to buy in Kildare and, in a 12-month period, she has found — and been outbid on — numerous properties. A recent €250,000 three-bed, detached house in Enfield shot up to €415,000. I have another friend seeking planning permission on her boyfriend’s parents’ land, with all the right paperwork, who has been denied and is going to wait another year in the hopes of the decision being overturned; she is less than sure of the outcome.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

We want to buy so that our €1,500 monthly rent doesn’t have to continue for another two to three years but it feels like that is the reality, as so few new builds, or even older houses, are available to buy, let alone affordable.

The majority are being snapped up by international companies who pay little tax, if at all, even when they rent — how is our system so flawed? Why are we not being protected? We work, we are paying tax and yet we get absolutely no consideration from our government. Our taxes go to pay for so much, but we don’t feel the benefits of any of it. No free healthcare, no affordable homes, and no accountability from our leaders.

Tuhye Gillan

Ashtown

Co Dublin

Odds stacked in investors’ favour

There has been widespread anger since it emerged that a global
investment firm snapped up homes meant for first-time buyers. This is a total disgrace. Government policies have to change.

Successive governments have allowed this outrageous situation to develop and “nearly €4bn has been invested by global funds in the Irish residential market” (Irish Examiner, May 5). In 2019, international funds bought 95% of apartments constructed that year and paid no tax on any of these buildings.

How are ordinary buyers who scrimp and save all their lives to fund a mortgage supposed to compete with these outside investors?

Noel Harrington

Kinsale

Co Cork

Boarded-up homes in a housing crisis

I’m just responding to the article about the housing crisis and the house boarded up in Moyross — ‘Limerick council house boarded up due to ‘threat of break-in’ ( Irish Examiner, online, May 8).

I’ve been living in the student village for four years. I was sent there and told I would be out within the year. I am hard working. I’ve got kids. We are living in cold rooms with mould in what is essentially falling down student accommodation. We still haven’t been housed. On my way to work I see at least 10 houses boarded up. How is this right?

Bridget Lyons

Cappantymore

Meelick

Co Clare

Give life a chance in the face of suicide

The Darkness into Light events had a special resonance this year because we seem to be all making that journey. Months of lockdown and the disturbing necessity to avoid our fellow human beings have pushed people to the limits ... or maybe beyond.

These dark times must surely give way to brighter, happier days as we emerge from what has been a prolonged living nightmare. For anyone already contemplating suicide, this past year and a half must have been especially dark. With better days ahead, though, I believe there’s everything to live for.

The Penny Dinners Recovery group who took part in the Darkness Into Light swim in aid of Shine A Light and Mental Health awareness group at Inch beach in East Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

No problem, no challenge, is worth ending one’s life. There’s always help and advice. Anyone who picks up the phone or talks to a trusted friend will find that the situation wasn’t nearly as insoluble as it seemed.

There’s always a way out, a way back; no question about it.

Apart from finding a way out of the crux, dilemma, or adversity, staying alive has the merit of averting lifetimes of grief for those left behind.

One of the most powerful arguments for choosing life is the testimony of people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) after unsuccessful suicide attempts.

What interests me is the fact that, according to research, the overwhelming majority of people attempting suicide who had an NDE were relieved to have survived. They became utterly convinced that life was, after all, worth living.

That leaves me thinking that suicide is not the best option, no matter what the problem might be, or however overpowering or irresolvable it might seem.

Soon, the stifling darkness of the Covid era will have passed. Just think how glorious will be that emerging light of recovery. Death will catch up with us soon enough. Right now, we can get on with our lives, and if there‘s a problem we can reach out. Every time. Let’s give life a chance!

John Fitzgerald

Callan

Co Kilkenny

High suicide rate among Travellers

I’m not sure whether people know or not, but the highest rate of suicide is amongst Travellers.

The forgotten people basically.

Young Traveller men who suffer from mental health issues are taking their own lives and to be honest it’s an
absolute disgrace that no one cares enough about it.

Why isn’t there more support for these young men to talk about their mental health?

Why are they treated differently just because they come from an ethnic community?

I’m not a Traveller and I do suffer from mental health issues but I’ve never been treated in the same way people treat the Travelling community.

I hope someday people will wake up and smell the roses and realise that everyone — no matter what gender or race or colour or creed — we all deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else.

D O’Sullivan

Macroom

Co Cork

Novelist Pym’s name taken in vain

It is a great shame that the recent story regarding the Twitter account subscribed to by Eoghan Harris and others should involve the name of
Barbara Pym (1913-1980).

Ms Pym, after serving her country in the Second World War, wrote a series of excellent novels which gave joy to very many people.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The trademark of her writing was her gentle, courteous, but perceptive understanding of human nature. She illuminated but did not judge.

I hope those who have charge of Ms Pym’s estate will take steps to ensure that her name is not used again as a cover for those who, for whatever
reason, do not wish to use their own.

Katherine Barrett

Clomacow

Co Cork

Sparrows wiped out by avian malaria

I blamed myself, magpies, and my cat (convicted) for the disappearance of garden sparrows which were so numerous that, as kids, we used to try and catch them by sprinkling salt on their tails as the Saxa salt tin suggested.

Now it turns out that it wasn’t herbicides, hedge-cutting, or anything else manmade, they simply developed avian malaria which wiped them out. I understand that a mite infestation is a problem for bees and instead of immediately blaming the farmers for everything, a balanced presentation would be welcome.

Michael Foley

Palmerston Gardens

Rathmines

Dublin 6

Plight of puppies following Covid-19

Puppies have become the new must-have toy over the Covid time; the must-have accessory. Many of the Covid lockdown restrictions permitted walking a dog and thus there was a need for dogs. The simplest rule from economic theory is that if there is a
demand beyond supply then prices rise and so puppies cost thousands of dollars. Similar upsurges in interest occurred with home gardening so there was a run on vegetable seeds, library borrowing went up and people returned to old hobbies and there were queues outside hobby shops.

But what will happen when life returns to normal?

The gardens will go to weeds and the jigsaws will be put away but what of all the now grown-up dogs? They are too ‘valuable’ to give away, they can’t be returned easily, they cost money and walking them each day will get boring. This is just another, quite sad, example of how Covid has changed many people’s lives and not always for the better even if they were never affected by the virus itself.

How long will it take before we can safely return to the old ways?

Dennis Fitzgerald

Vic Melbourne

Australia

Social circles

My doctor assures me that from today my circulation will improve.

John Williams

Clonmel

Co Tipperary