What linked all of the presentations was the theme that the Irish housing and homelessness crisis not only could have been averted but can also be solved. All that is missing from the Irish context and present in Finland, for example, is the political will to do so.

All of the speakers in different ways clearly articulated what it is they think accountability means. Specifically, at this protest, they called for the long-promised but never delivered, Traveller-led strategy to address the mental health crisis. Initiatives from within the community are not enough on their own when faced with the kind of intersecting challenges that afflict Traveller communities.

This time the social housing prototype that is being implemented half-heartedly in Ireland is cost rental housing. The ‘Vienna Model’ is considered the blueprint for public housing that is affordable, high-quality and desirable and – even though Dublin City Council hosted an exhibition about it in 2019 – to date its implementation here bears only a faint resemblance to the original. This failure to fully embrace the vision is unlikely to result in success.

What does it take to make the mental leap to put ourselves in a homeless person’s shoes? To see that it’s the same problem – ‘decent, hardworking’ people are becoming homeless because rents are too high and they can’t even think about buying a home or saving for a deposit.

Now that we have observed the trend of the seasonal decrease for five years (2017-2021), we know that the drop in homelessness that occurs each December is an aberration, not a cause for optimism. We have to dig deeper into the available data to account for it, and to solve the conundrum of the strong rebound in homelessness which inevitably follows it in January.

Squatting may be a crime, but the Christian tradition speaks with one voice: vacancy is a sin.

It is necessary to consider what squatting reveals to us about the Irish housing system. While the communal squat at Prussia Street seemed very much in its infancy and may have been exploring new social forms, it is impossible to ignore the backdrop of Ireland’s worsening housing affordability crisis.

Policy papers and strategies should not just be taken at face value. They must be read with a critical eye to reveal their hidden meanings or obscured agendas. Their true meaning will emerge via an interpretation in which suspicion plays a crucial role.

Hope that things will change for the better is part and parcel of events like COP. If change was not possible, if the situation was truly hopeless, these meetings would not happen. What we need now alongside our hope is the will to take action.

The recommendations in the Kenny Report from 1973 could have prevented, or at least mitigated our current housing and homelessness crisis. So why were those recommendations ignored? asks Peter McVerry.