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Bell compiled data from the 1 January until 20 July this year and found, amongst other things, that Gerry Adams is the most followed TD, Luke Ming Flanagan is the most prolific tweeter and that 88 per cent of all TDs are on the tweet machine.
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Thursday night between 9 and 10pm is the most popular time for politcians in the Dáil to be tweeting.
The busiest dates on Twitter so far this year were, unsurprisingly, ‘prom night’ – the night the IBRC liquidation bill was debated – and the recent all-night debate on the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill.
The third most popular event that TDs tweeted about was… the election of Pope Francis on 13 March.
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A sample of 20 properties out of 48,000 can hardly be considered representative of the total, that is only 0.04%. To have a 95% confidence level, normal in statistics, the sample size should be over 100 times greater, about 2,000 properties.
@Chris Linehan: not sure it would be billions, but not cheap either, which in of itself highlights just how big the issue is. However, that still doesn’t diminish the fact that the report lacks any statistical foundation from which to draw valid empirical conclusions from such a small sample size compared to what is required.
Every town and village in the country has derelict /vacant properties.. they may not be derilict , but it’s a shame to see them empty.. I would love to see the properties chosen for this survey.
@Daniel Morrissey: it is a shame – but many are in the wrong place to assist with the homeless housing list despite the fact that many small villages could do with an injection of residents
@Daniel Morrissey: Many of which should be razed to the ground and a building with a suitable layout put back in it’s place. The trouble is, these properties are an expensive site so buyers are not interested – and often the owners don’t have the funds to carry out the work. Renovating them doesn’t appeal either because the costs are as much as the aforementioned replace and build. Then add in the stringent planning laws and people just say it’s not worth it. It’s a vicious circle.
Sure derelict buildings are costly to repair, but where and what type of ones. The ones with 50 acre land close to Dublin that nobody can buy bar the crony friend in government / council member / builder… who will get 100.000 free renovation ticket?
I can smell the trickery being cook!
Cpo them , put them up for auction and let the market decide , anyone not developing them within 3 years forfeits the property and what they paid back to the state
Of course a property that is not suitable for living in is exempt from LPT – local property tax – so the idea of paying someone to repair a property sounds great on paper but suddenly this property becomes liable to a tax that did not apply before. One would also be well advised to insure the property. There are ongoing maintenance charges Also, if one rents the property after renovation, one is faced with more taxes and responsibility and also the prospect of not being able to sell the property because of sitting tenants. Why not lease them to the local authority who then become responsible for repair and maintenance and all charges etc. not to mention being able to give homes to people on the housing list
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: I see where are you coming from Niall, do you think that if somebody has building connections or even a company, they could take the 50.000 or 100.000 free to renovate the house nicely, sell it to or even better rent it to the local authority that as you said “have people in the housing list” for a nice price, and pocket the money over and over and over… one house at a time or 50.
Another advantage will be that renovating cost less most times than building from scratch but you can sell it for the same market value pretty much. Better margin! Sounds like a great business to me.
Total lies, fantastic Herbert Sims buildings lying idle in Ballybough under the shadow of Croke Park and have been for years not sure how many families they could house.
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