I DON’T OFTEN feel compelled to write, but the case of the Apollo Occupation has provoked in me a desire to do so. This event has seemingly shone a light on one of the most saddening parts of life in Ireland at the moment, and highlights the actions and inactions of a great number of people.
Firstly, let me be clear: the fact that there is a housing crisis is an absolute embarrassment. Tens of thousands of vacant properties around Ireland, which were erected in a hurry during the Celtic Tiger, are of no consolation to the numerous families who fear nightly where they will sleep, wonder how to explain to extended family and friends that they’ve nowhere to post Christmas cards to, or have no address to put on CVs or social welfare documents or, well, anything.
We have failed them and our collective inaction is an indictment of successive governments that we elected. We should be ashamed.
Why is there a crisis?
An unglamorous term, Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, was introduced by the Fianna Fáil/ Green Party coalition to define a quantity of social housing requirements for each new development (a wonderfully noble idea) or, crucially, a monetary contribution to the relevant council based on a pro-rata evaluation of the overall development (up to 20%). This second part has been far more attractive to developers ever since.
The councils of this country have repeatedly shown they are willing to compromise on actual building stock in an integrated community from developers in lieu of cash. It was envisioned that the councils would use this fund to build social and affordable housing for their constituents, but this has failed to materialise.
What we are left with is an embarrassingly inadequate social and affordable housing stock with the funds redirected in various councils, and families at a loss as to what their Government can do for them.
Successive governments have abdicated their duty to us, the people, and there is no sign of any political entity with the desire to meaningfully address this. The financial need of political parties is simply too great for them to meaningfully change the method of development.
Apollo Occupation: well-intentioned but deeply flawed
Now let me be clear. Allowing the homeless to sleep in Apollo House is a well-intentioned but deeply flawed proposal. The building has been correctly identified as unfit for use as an office. It is most certainly unfit for use as a hostel, or any form of housing.
The solution is not to patronise our homeless, to decide on their behalf that housing of a sub-standard nature is “better than nothing.” It is an insult to the humanity of anyone caught in this position to accept what others would not, and is a classist and undemocratic idea.
Previous ideas about rapid build homes with leniencies on building regulations are equally unfair. Why should we expect anyone to settle for something that we generally acknowledge to not be of the minimum acceptable standard?
Homes shouldn’t be profit earners
For too long, housing has been commodified and traded as an asset. This idea must change. For most of the citizenry, it is our home, not a potential profit earner. We must demand that our councils fulfil their obligations to their jurisdictions in the delivery of adequate housing, with adequate provision of amenities and infrastructure, in places where people are happy to live, integrated within existing communities.
We must demand that our Government enforce the delivery of this obligation as efficiently as possible. We must demand that our Government ensures that until these minimum requirements are met, and those who are homeless are cared for with the kindness, consideration and decency we all deserve.
Having them in an abandoned, sub-standard office building scheduled for demolition is not acceptable, and we should not be pretending that it is, no matter how appealing this show of passion is.
Those who are supporting the occupation of Apollo House are doing so for the right reasons, and Fr Peter McVerry is right in identifying this as a galvanising moment for Irish civic participation. This shows the pressure we can apply on the Government that we elect.
It is my sincere hope that this activism won’t dissipate in the coming weeks, or that we apply this energy into allowing the Government to legitimise sub-standard solutions. Because that, sadly, is what Apollo House is: a temporary, inadequate and unacceptable solution. Our homeless deserve better than that, because we deserve better than that.
David O’Brien is a Dublin-based architect in private practice.
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