Report Paul Murphy
Presidential hopeful Catherine Connolly described as an “obscenity” the fact that people are suffering homelessness, blaming it on the fact that housing has been made a “product” rather than a rightful resource for individuals and families. She was speaking at a “town hall” meeting at the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda during a tour of Co Louth, also taking in Dundalk. In a 100-minute session moderated by journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne, she ranged over a number of issues including Ireland’s neutrality, housing, equality and health.
Asked how as President she might reach out to people who are suffering homelessness, she said that she had very strong views about the housing crisis and said that it was an “obscenity” that so many people were suffering homelessness. The Government had failed to analyse the problem “which the Commission on Housing did”. That commission had come up with a lot of recommendations and said that the country needed a radical reset of housing policy. That had not happened.
She said she had worked as a volunteer with the Simon Community and she had got more out of it than the Simon Community had got out of her. “To me, it is a basic human right to have a house. We can’t participate in society without having the security of a home. We need homes. It should never have been made into a product, ever. We made it into a product to be bought and sold. We put a price on everything but knew the value of nothing. So I value as a basic human right that we have the right to a home whether you buy it at an affordable price, whether you rent it, or whether you have it from the local authority. It is deeply worrying. And I want to thank all the homeless organisations”, she said.
