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AS ANY FREQUENT reader knows, comments are part of the lifeblood around here.
Whether they make you laugh, roll your eyes, punch the keyboard, nod your head, or just think about something in a different way, the reaction from readers is an integral part of the news stories that we publish.
There was a clear theme among the articles which got the most comments this year: They were mainly topical news stories which people felt strongly about.
Here’s the list in full of the articles which got the most comments this year.
1. RTÉ cameraman injured in demonstrations on O’Connell Street Number of comments: 712
2. UN: Ireland must compensate woman forced to travel abroad for abortion Number of comments: 710
3. We’re helping women access abortion pills in Ireland. Here’s why Number of comments: 544
4. Make no mistake, today’s March for Choice is just the beginning of a long ground war Number of comments: 520
5. Hundreds turn out for ‘Celebrate the 8th’ anti-abortion event in Dublin Number of comments: 508
6. Who’s in? Who’s out? These are your new ministers Number of comments: 507
7. Florida gay nightclub worst mass shooting in US history 50 dead and 53 injured Number of comments: 491
8. Twitter bans right-wing writer after Ghostbusters actor targeted by trolls Number of comments: 490
9. ‘Like most of my friends, I baptised my children so they could go to school’: The anger of Ireland’s non-religious parents Number of comments: 475
10. Nine dead in suspected terrorist shooting at Munich shopping centre Number of comments: 467
All figures correct at the time of being compiled
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I still think the only way to improve the housing situation is for to build social housing as we did in the past. When the government abdicated their responsibility to people who were not in a position to buy/rent their own homes and turned to the private sector then we ended up with the perfect storm and the chickens have come home to roost.
@Honeybee: but where does the government get the money to provide the amount of housing required?
@Cian Mooney: rainy day fund. Stop paying hap. Reits pay tax of 40% on income like the majority of the rest of us
@Gert McNulty: there isn’t a rainy day fund big enough, where do the people receiving hap go if the moneys stopped to be redirected to funding social housing, also who’s building these houses?
@Cian Mooney: they borrow it like we borrowed 64 billion to bail out the banks except we get something useful for it by building social housing.
@Cian Mooney: builders build them like they build our roads and all other infrastructure. Government puts out a tender and private builders bid for the contract. Its not rocket science.
@Shane Carroll: good idea, only they don’t loan money for governments to build social housing
@Shane Carroll: ah yes, the people building are roads are going to build houses. “Builders”…….
@Cian Mooney: from the money they will save from HAP payment, emergency accommodation payment etc.
@Cian Mooney: They already have it. Plus, it’s not actually a spend. It’s an investment. The state will receive rental income, plus it actually owns the rental property, unlike what we have now- subsidising the private sector with zero payback.
@Cian Mooney: Divert the HAP wasted millions
@Benny McHale: Makes too much sense.
I got left a house by grandfather. I would love to rent it out but it needs to be renovated no heating etc. I have gone to the bank and the credit union but I was rejected. The government should provide interest free loans to landlords to bring their properties up to spec in return the landlord agrees to rent their property at a reasonable to the council for say 10years or even the loan term.
@Maria: isn’t there a system in place already with Local Authority as you’ve mentioned above.
@Maria: I thought there was a new grant for this?
@Maria: this scheme is in place the vacant homes property scheme check out your local Co Co website. There is also a repair and lease scheme plus the seai Grants
@Maria: Don’t waste money renovating it to rent it out. Once tenants move in it’s effectively theirs. You will never be able to regain possession of it!
Encourage, encourage, by all means.
We can’t tell people what to do with there property. How many social or affordable houses where built this last 20 years. Try now to pass the buck to people and what they own.
Not only should we do this asap, we should have done it years ago, but no doubt the government will never go for it. There’s no excuse for rampant dereliction and empty buildings when Daft figures indicate we have less than 1200 properties for rent nationwide.
@Sylvia Power: staggering this has happened a long time ago
@Sylvia Power: Derelict properties are NOT the Government’s fault. The owners are responsible.
An NCT type system to assess basic standards ? As if things weren’t bad enough. Is someone taking the mickey ?
@John Costello: landlords are tryin to rent properties without heating, with cracked windows, with leaking pipes… yes, a certain minimum needs to be applied across the board.
There was a report recently listing over 2000 vacant council/gov properties. Sort this out and lead by example
Not as easy as just renting it out they would probably need to be brought up to spec that’s not just a couple of hundred euro.
@fitzz30: if you can’t afford to do anything with it you need to be forced to sell it to someone who can or you have to start paying tax on it.
@Jonny Parkinson: why? It could appreciate in value as it is. If someone buys something it is theirs to do with as they please.
@Jonny Parkinson: “forced” just stop and think about that. You want to empower the government to take private properties from a person
@Jim Buckley Barrett: sorry encouraged to sell or pay tax. If you buy something in an area you also have a responsibility to make sure the building is fit and able to be used. If you can’t afford to do anything with it, sell it to someone who can or pay a vacant tax. Too many buildings left by lazy ppl doing nothing with them. Obviously there are reasons that require exemptions. But for a lot of cases ppl are holding onto property that they can’t afford to fix and won’t sell.
There are grants now to help renovate these buildings if your too lazy to do anything about it then I think there needs to be a vacant tax that encourages owners to either sell or renovate. Basically there needs to be an incentive to get ppl to take action and make a decision
@Jim Buckley Barrett: no, not “take”. make them sell, for the good of the nation. selling, as in “they get money for it”
Easy to get around. Setup a friend to send 500 quid rent each month and then send them the 500 quid back. Property is technically rented.
@Rafa Condron: and 2 People then have a tax liability on 6000 per annum income
@dublindamo: and a fraud case on their sheet
Question to the wise, When the Ukrainian Refugee Situation is resolved and the Majority of them return home and vacate properties, Will we be in a position to house our own home seekers ? ?
Will we steady the housing crisis ship and the cost of construction.
Why should we follow anyone? Why can’t we be leaders and come up with our own ideas?
@Terry Fagan: because these models work. why not take inspiration from existing models. Not like Ireland invented its own wheel, either. The existing one works pretty well.
@Terry Fagan: Ireland is bankrupt for ideas to fix the housing market.
Encourage older people to downsize and make it possible to downsize in the area. Dublin is circled by under occupied housing in well serviced areas. Quickest solution
No. Feck off me property. Tis mine. What else then after that? Too much of this draconian language floating about dictating what people should do and act like.
But seriously, if the government choose to act in a certain way and bring problems and pressure upon themselves, such problems should not overspill upon people who disagree. What next? How one dresses? What they may eat? Music preferences?
@Keth Warsaw: I remember working in Temple Bar when owners were fine with letting their buildings, walls and chimneys crumble into the streets. It took a new law to make them repair or sell up. Probably saved many lives. You should be able to hold a different view and be able to have a safe roof overhead.
Hardly surprising given the existing hatred by people who are almost culturally identical.
Quit talking about it and do it.
Leave it to Leo.
If we follow Denmark, can we also follow Holland….hmm? Nooo.
Ah, just what Ireland needs – a few thousand vacant properties that are unfit for habitation to hit the market. I am sure generation rent will entering a bidding war to buy these wrecks.
Cristina landlords are people that own 2 or more homes, average rent now 1,700 PM.
I suggest that possibly 50% of landlords purchased their properties for under 200k. [pre 2017]
Average for a 3 bed semi in 2016 was 200k 2022 average cost was 380k almost double.
A 200k mortgage would cost 950 per month leaving a profit of 750 profit per month with a tax bill @ 40% = 300 PM = a profit of 450 PM Why should they deserve more of
The their tenants [who dont own a home] tax returns.??? how class bias could that policy be.??? 1,700 would buy a 370,000 mortgage.???
have your say