Put affordable housing first with sale of Church lands

BUILDING houses on underused lands close to our town and city centres makes sense.

Providing new homes and reducing long-distance commuting is a win-win. That is why proposals for housing on the grounds of the Catholic Archdiocese’s lands at Clonliffe College are welcome, though clearly concerns around amenity space, heritage protection and building heights must be addressed.

However, it is crucial that the new homes built there tackle Dublin’s housing crisis.

It is two years since the then Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said these lands would be used for the benefit of the local community and to provide a legacy for the city of Dublin.

Subsequently the St Laurence O’Toole Diocesan Trust sold on the lands to the GAA which has engaged international developer Hynes to develop the lands with GAA pitches, rental housing and a hotel.

At a recent online meeting, Hynes stated that it would provide 10% social and 10% affordable housing on the site. They stated that ‘affordable’ might be as little as 10% below market rents. This suggests that as many as 90% of the new home will be unaffordable to most Dubliners. If so, it will be a lost opportunity for the city.

Perhaps the Catholic Church might rethink its intention to spend the €95million from the sale on funding vocations and the ongoing formation of lay people priests within the Dublin diocese, and instead provide support for more housing of those most in need. Looking ahead, greater transparency from religious institutions on their ownership and sales of lands might better inform future policy choices.

CIARÁN CUFFE, MEP for Dublin, Green Party.

Leo’s arrogant jab threat

IT’S the utmost in arrogance for Leo Varadkar to threaten those over 60 with being sent to the back of the vaccine queue if they refuse the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Anybody who refuses to accept this vaccine is doing so out of genuine concern over its safety, and the Government has no right to treat them as guinea pigs by forcing them to take the vaccine.

They are entitled to the same access to the other vaccines as everybody else.

It will be interesting to see which vaccine Varadkar opts for when his turn for vaccination arrives.

FRANK O’CONNOR, Blarney. ...THE Covid-19 vaccine bandwagon has rolled into town.

Let us hope there is enough seats for everyone.

Over the next few months patronising lectures from the selfappointed elite will urge the common folk to take a leap of medical faith and offer an arm to the business end of a needle.

People will have questions about vaccine safety based around their own personal concerns.

The role of vaccines as a disease prevention vehicle needs to be discussed. Both sides of the discussion must be given space to express their views. To dismiss vaccine concerns is arrogance funnelled through the prism that our medical betters know best. A documented history of medical failings at many levels of healthcare provision in Ireland means the pronouncements from the medical profession are not infallible.

Covid-19 vaccines may justify the view that they are safe to receive. But with all things medical, a grain of unknown exists. If a person decides not to receive a jab after reading the copious amount of pro-vaccine information and concluding this is the path they’d rather not walk, then we are in the realm of personal choice.

This expression of bodily integrity should not consign a person to social pariah status. ‘Vaccine bully’ may become the dictionary word of 2021. Forcing a person to receive a vaccine due to society norms is medical fascism delivered with a ‘common good’ stamp.

JOHN TIERNEY, by email.