In early 1998, Tony Blair, then UK Prime Minister, addressed the French National Assembly. In fluent French, he described the political ethos shaping New Labour and, more broadly, Third Way politics, as “an attempt to make realistic sense of the modern world. It is a world in which love of ideals is essential but… Read more »
At the end of July, we witnessed a surge in the number of deaths of people who were homeless or in emergency accommodation. Almost daily reports made the loss of life seem endless. In Dublin alone, ten deaths occurred in July – six men and four women – bringing the capital’s total for 2020 so… Read more »
The age in which we live is, apparently, one of seismic political shifts. For some, a dangerous popularism is resurgent around the world. Others optimistically spy the end of neoliberal hegemony and the beginning of a new left renaissance. Regardless of where one falls on these questions, two recent books – Chris Arnade’s Dignity… Read more »
We knew it could not last forever. I suppose we wish it could have lasted a little longer. There was a sense of the collective back in March. Curiously for our national holiday, people were at home and gathered around television sets to be addressed by the Taoiseach. Unsure of ourselves, and what a pandemic… Read more »
A tsunami does not just appear unheralded. Following an earthquake on the seafloor, inhabitants along the coast may receive one of two warnings before the waves arrive. Inundation in the form of a rapidly rising tide can precede the tsunami waves hitting shallow water. Alternatively, drawback is the less well-known warning sign as the… Read more »
The topic of private housing is given extensive and glowing coverage in the colour supplements of Irish newspapers, while the social housing sector is considered a dreary, detail-heavy question of policy. But three books about housing in Ireland which were published last year have revealed social housing to be a topic of fierce contestation.
Our current market-focused political culture came to power after the oil crises of the 1970s. In normal circumstances, it would be highly unlikely that any electorate would vote for a system that systematically weakened social welfare, deregulated markets, and reorganised resources so that rich people were more likely to get richer. But the architects… Read more »
One can only imagine that Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, breathed a sigh of relief. In the midst of a difficult General Election campaign, his Department was able to publish homelessness figures for December, which for the first time in a year, saw a reduction.
Housing has remained firmly on the agenda throughout the General Election 2020 campaign. Previously, the JCFJ proposed three questions about housing which could be used in conversations with canvassers, to see what each party’s housing policy is, beyond slogans. To close this loop, answers about housing policy were also taken from their current manifestos.
Working Notes is a journal published by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. The journal focuses on social, economic and theological analysis of Irish society. It has been produced since 1987.
