The housing crisis has caused misery for countless people across our community. Many people feel trapped paying sky high rents while unable to save up for a deposit to buy their own home. Others are living at home with family, long after they want to find their own place and have their own independence. And others, as I’ve experienced in my own close circle of friends, feel forced to emigrate because they can’t picture a future here in Ireland.

Everyone should have the right to a secure and affordable home. A change of government is needed to unravel and reverse decades of bad housing policy.

A Sinn Féin government would take a different approach to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We set out in our 2024 Alternative Budget that a Sinn Féin government would deliver greater investment, increase targets to match demand, cut out red tape which is causing delays of up to 2 years before a brick is laid, use new technology to build, speed up planning and introduce changes to tax code to incentivise building of affordable homes.

A team of Sinn Féin councillors will work hard on the council to tackle the housing crisis too. We'd work to deliver affordable purchase homes through Local Councils and Approved Housing Bodies at prices people can genuinely afford. Local councils and Approved Housing Bodies will deliver the new affordable homes in Sinn Féin’s government plan, on public land.

The housing crisis has caused massive stress for many people across Cabra/Glasnevin. It has resulted in many young people/families living back with their parents in a box room, this is unacceptable. People are struggling to pay crippling high rents and as a result are struggling to get a housing deposit. In Cabra Hamilton Gardens development was mainly Built to rent, this is unfair on locals as it has prevented them getting on the property ladder in their own communities all while greedy developers are lining their pockets. This is what I want to change! I want people who grew up in the neighbourhood to be able to buy and live in the community they know and love.

Everyone should have the right to a secure and affordable home. A change of government is needed to unravel and reverse decades of bad housing policy.

A Sinn Féin government would take a different approach to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We set out in our 2024 Alternative Budget that a Sinn Féin government would deliver greater investment, increase targets to match demand, cut out red tape which is resulting in delays of up to 2 years before a brick is laid, use new technology to build, speed up planning and introduce changes to tax code to incentivise building of affordable homes.

A team of Sinn Féin councillors will work hard on the council to tackle the housing crisis too. We'd work to deliver affordable purchase homes through Local Councils and Approved Housing Bodies at prices people can genuinely afford. Local councils and Approved Housing Bodies will deliver the new affordable homes in Sinn Féin’s government plan, on public land.

The solution to the housing crisis is for local authorities to directly build public housing on public land. This is how we solved the housing crisis a century ago when the state was much less wealthy, and it's still the solution now.

The Workers’ Party has been leading the charge for a universal public housing model in Dublin for over a decade. My colleague Éilis Ryan when she was on the council passed a motion to save O’Devaney gardens and redevelop it as 100% publicly owned social housing. Unfortunately that motion was overturned by the housing minister and other parties on the council who then handed it over to private developers. As a councillor I will continue to fight for the return of a real social housing programme, accessible to all.

I believe that housing is a right and not a commodity. I’m part of a whole generation of Dubliners stuck living in their parents’ home and I’m deeply committed to addressing the housing needs of our city. While progress is being made, urgency is paramount in moving from conception to delivery.

I’m a huge supporter of the cost rental / Vienna Model of housing – this involves the state constructing housing and only charging rent proportional to what it cost to build. This eliminates the profit motive and provides sustainable, high quality and affordable homes for people. While this Green policy has resulted in cost-rental homes finally being built in Ireland recently, its delivery needs to scale up much quicker and, if elected, I will advocate for this type of housing in our area. We must also avail of every opportunity to develop social and public housing on publicly owned land.

I will push for new housing on large underutilised industrial areas such as lands on Ballyboggan Road, Bannow Road and Botanic Road through mixed-use regeneration plans. It’s vital that we ensure that these redevelopments include amenities such as shops, markets, parks, public spaces and services such as creches, schools and healthcare to build sustainable and resilient future communities.

Restoration and efficient use of existing buildings could provide much needed housing and I have outlined my views further in question 4. 

Fianna Fáil has a proud tradition of building homes and since entering government in 2020 we have turned the tide on housing with the largest numbers of homes being built and being bought in a generation under our Housing for All plan.

I will work with my party and local authority colleagues to continue to significantly increase the availability and supply of housing and we believe that the State has a fundamental role in enabling the delivery of new homes, public and private.

Supporting home ownership is a core objective of our party. I will work hard to expand supports available to first time buyers and renters, while also incentivising landlords to stay in the rental market and to provide long-term leases through tax cuts. This includes protecting, extending and expanding the Help to Buy Scheme, the First Home Scheme, and the Vacancy Refurbishment Grants, among others.

The implementation of the historic new Planning Bill, under the direction of Minister Darragh O’Brien, and spearheaded by the local authorities and will de-risk and accelerate home building, allowing us to achieve our ambitious new targets of 300,000 homes by 2030.

The retention of public land in the City for social and affordable housing must be a priority. The reliance on private developers to deliver small amounts of social housing needs to be addressed and ultimately it will be a change of government policy that will tackle the biggest crisis facing Dublin. Affordable housing must be genuinely affordable too, and not just a tag line.

The housing crisis is the social rights issue of our generation and is the hardest part of my role as a councillor to deal with. The numbers go up and up and the government shamefully ignore them and refuse to bring back the eviction ban. I am living with my parents at the age of 34 which is something none of us imagined would happen and it is repeated across the city.   I am fighting to deliver every social and affordable unit I can. In the development plan I fought to limit build to rent and make houses universally accessible. I am working on local projects, and forced Transport Infrastructure Ireland to quickly resolve an issue that was limiting social and affordable housing on Bannow Road.   Sadly, the delays in housing are caused by central government not only doing nothing but actively frustrating our work. It is inexcusable that there is still a 4-stage approval process that pretends construction inflation does not exist. It is shameful that the government took so long to bring out the zoned land value tax and it is sickening that they delayed it by a year for no reason, giving land hoarders another year of contributing to the housing crisis with no consequence.   Government needs to let us build houses. We are ready and we just need them to stop interfering.

If I, Sarah Louise Mulligan, am elected for the Cabra/Glasnevin, Dublin Central constituency. I will personally contribute to the building of new Irish homes out of my salary. I also said this when I ran as a presidential candidate back in 2018 in many of my speeches. I will get in touch with other patriotic entrepreneurs and ask them to kindly invest in this project.

It’s paramount that Irish people who want to start Irish families are helped to do so. I would monitor the builders on the site, giving lots of Irish men work, sit down and read their plans when they hope to start and finish the building of new, beautiful affordable, Irish homes for the Irish only. There was once a time where Irish families were given an incentive to start a family, I would adapt the "Hungarian system". I would also increase the minimum wage, helping people with a mortgage so our own Irish people are not left deciding between food or central heating. 

There’s a great opportunity with the Ballyboggan Local Area Plan to put a focus on affordable and social housing in a well connected new urban village. Unfortunately, the Social Democrats efforts to make a zoning category with affordable housing included is continually blocked. We will keep trying.

To be clear, councillors have very little power to build houses and anyone claiming otherwise is a bullshitter. Housing policy is dictated by Government and carried out by unelected local authority officials. Governments over the past decades, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens, have ideologically opposed the building of public housing. Judge these parties by their actions not their promises at election time.

In relation to housing, councillors have the power to dispose of public land and we seen the disgraceful giveaway of the lands at O’Devaney Gardens to a private developer. I was centrally involved in the campaign to stop the giveaway of the public lands and councillors from the Greens, the Social Democrats, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour voted in favour of the giveaway. Over 1,000 public and social homes could have been built on the lands but instead a developer will make huge profits on public land gifted to them.  

The major blocks to social and affordable housing are land and property hoarding by vulture funds and the lack of a state building company. I will make it a priority to challenge these vested interests promoted by Fine Gael & Fianna Fail because adequate housing is a human right, not a luxury.

Support the provision of social and affordable housing on publicly owned land alongside increased cost rental provision. Our target is 20,000 publicly delivered homes a year.

Seek to increase Council borrowings for investment in social and affordable housing. Seek binding social housing delivery targets in each annual Budget, and a recognition in the Development Plan of the projected social and affordable housing needs over its duration and in particular recognise that a growing percentage of public housing needs to be dedicated to older people.

Since I was first elected in 2014 to Fingal County Council housing has been my number one issues when dealing with people in Fingal. The housing crises is at an all-time high. The number of homeless people including whole families is at numbers that have never been seen before. There are also thousands of people particularly young people trapped paying sky-high rents while unable to save up for a deposit to buy their own home. And very high numbers are living at home with family, who are not even accounted for on the homeless lists.

Everyone should have the right to a secure and affordable home. A change of government is the only way this housing crisis will be resolved as the previous Government has shown they are unable to do this.

A Sinn Féin government would take a different approach to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We set out in our 2024 Alternative Budget that a Sinn Féin government would deliver greater investment, increase targets to match demand, cut out red tape which is resulting in delays of up to 2 years before a brick is laid, use new technology to build, speed up planning and introduce changes to tax code to incentivise building of affordable homes.

I am running in the Cabra/Glasnevin area this time around and if I am elected to Dublin City Council I along with my team of Sinn Féin councillors will work hard on the council to tackle the housing crisis too. We'd work to deliver affordable purchase homes through Local Councils and Approved Housing Bodies at prices people can genuinely afford. Local councils and Approved Housing Bodies will deliver the new affordable homes in Sinn Féin’s government plan, on public land.

In speaking to people across our community in recent months, I have heard first hand the incredibly difficult conditions that many are facing in both social and privately rented accommodation.

For example, at St. Peter’s Court, a DCC-run Senior Citizens accomodation in Phibsboro, residents showed me around the facility and told me of the challenges they face to get even basic maintenance requests completed.

People should not have to live in damp, mouldy or unmaintained homes. Sinn Féin has proposed significant increases in Government funding for Councils to maintain, refurbish and retrofit Council homes. This includes a specific fund for local authorities to respond proactively to maintenance issues including windows and doors, damp, mould and leaks. Too often, a small leak becomes a huge problem because it is left for too long. We would work towards every local authority producing a preventative maintenance plan. We would also introduce a regeneration scheme for apartments and flats that are past their lifespan.

On the private rental side, Sinn Féin is calling for an emergency three-year ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies. Additionally, we are proposing an NCT style certification process, where all rental properties are required to be certified, demonstrating compliance with basic standards – a process that will protect tenants and compliant landlords.

How some people are living in some council and privately rented accommodation is unacceptable . I worked a case previously where every wall in this house was black from mould and damp. There was a young family living in this home where the father had chronic COPD. This is simply unacceptable and this needs to change, nobody deserves to live like this. It's unfair and inhumane . In Ireland people should be living in the highest of standard housing where they feel safe , secure and in a house that does not put their health at risk. DCC needs to improve housing conditions for residents and private landlords need to be held accountable to their tenants.

Sinn Féin has proposed significant increases in Government funding for Councils to maintain, refurbish and retrofit Council homes. This includes a specific fund for local authorities to respond proactively to maintenance issues including windows and doors, damp, mould and leaks. Too often, a small leak becomes a huge problem because it is left for too long. We would work towards every local authority producing a preventative maintenance plan. We would also introduce a regeneration scheme for apartments and flats that are past their lifespan.

People should not have to live in damp, mouldy or unmaintained homes. We would prioritise those homes in greatest need of repair and reduce waiting lists for basic maintenance. 

Maintenance of social housing, like most council services, has been decimated over the last 15 years. We need to rebuild the city council’s capacities by hugely increasing the number of full time maintenance staff.

In the case of private rented accommodation, we need to do everything we can to take on slum landlords, pressure both the housing authorities and the Gardaí to intervene to prevent illegal or bogus evictions, and give more power to council inspectors to tackle unhealthy conditions and reduce overcrowding. We also need to crack down on Airbnb and other short-term letting schemes which are used to circumvent tenancy laws.

We need stronger renter’s rights and increased enforcement of existing regulations to protect tenants. Dublin City Council has powers to inspect and issue enforcement notices for privately rented houses. However, the level of enforcement actually carried out is very poor. I’m dedicated to getting increased resources for Dublin City Council’s private rental inspection team to ensure housing standards are met by landlords and safeguard tenant rights. By increasing regular inspections and following through with enforcement proceedings, we can hold landlords accountable and uphold the rights of all renters.

While Dublin City Council has been retrofitting and refurbishing its existing housing stock, there are still a lot of people living in poor public housing. I would like to see accelerated regeneration and renovation of existing public flat complexes in the area as well as increased maintenance budgets to deliver modern housing standards and enable swift upgrades such as double-glazed windows, insulation and combatting draughts and mould problems.

Dublin City Council must also do more to inform people of the supports available to reduce home energy bills and create warmer homes such as the free home energy upgrade scheme for people on low incomes and the grants and low-interest loans available to everyone in the area.

In today's private rented sector, it's evident that far too many homes are in a state of disrepair, posing significant threats to the health and wellbeing of their occupants. Addressing this pressing issue is paramount, and I am committed to enhancing these conditions to guarantee that everyone has access to affordable and high-quality housing, regardless of whether it's through social or private rental avenues.

I am dedicated to exploring a comprehensive array of measures available to local councils, empowering them to take decisive enforcement actions and clamp down on unscrupulous landlords who, whether knowingly or unwittingly, subject their tenants to substandard living conditions, leading to adverse health effects and emotional distress.

The Council needs to take on more apprenticeship trades people to ensure we have the ability to solve maintenance issues in our housing stock. We also need to expand the insulation programme of social housing through greater investment and widen the entitlement to grants to retrofit private houses.

We need meaningful rent controls and an end to no fault evictions. It is shameful that the government ended the eviction ban and it must be reintroduced now. People are living in misery and they are afraid to complain because the landlord will evict them. This fear needs to change. My generation deserves the right to a secure home and the government is doing nothing. DCC are doing inspections and this is welcome but people are afraid to report.

Deportations of the illegal Immigrants who have committed serious crimes. This will soon free up some Irish homes and apartments, existing housing, both social private. An Irish version of ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcemen] would be implemented. Landlords would be given strict rules that they must look after the Irish first and if an Irish tenant suffers dampness or mould, they will be exposed. Everything must be in working order. If not, serious ramifications would come into play, if Irish tenants are being mistreated by Irish landlords. 

The housing standards were eroded by successive Housing Ministers which despite our limited power, we work to reverse. I regularly support renters accessing environmental inspections. A warm home is essential and there are great community projects sharing knowledge about retrofitting, solar panels and insulation, this could become a city-wide Council led programme with supports for those who don’t have the funds to pay for works upfront.

One simple and effective way to improve conditions is to resource the departments carrying out checks on both public and private rented properties. Again, we have seen the previous Government's ideological opposition to employing local authority staff and the dubious relationship between landlords and the major political parties. The number of TDs who are also landlords is a clear conflict of interest.

I will work for a mass retrofitting campaign across all social housing for the well-being of ordinary people, to cut costs and to benefit the environment for the long term.

A vote for me is vote to directly employ vastly more maintenance crews on DCC & Cabra-Glasnevin council. Privatising and outsourcing the main jobs of the council has left waiting times now stretching into years for urgent repairs.

Ensure repairs are carried out by the Council within three months and seek a rolling programme of estate management and improvement including retrofitting and energy efficiency measures. Provide more resources for the inspection of private rental tenancies by local authorities as data shows huge levels of non-compliance.

One of my very first successes as an elected councillor was to get funding released from FCC to have windows and doors replaced that had been installed in a housing estate that was 40 years old at the time. If elected to DCC in June, I will bring this 10 years of work experience with me to deal with bad living conditions in both social and privately rented accommodation.

People should not have to live in damp, mouldy or unmaintained homes. We in Sinn Féin would continue to push to prioritise those homes in greatest need of repair and reduce waiting lists for basic maintenance. 

This is one of the biggest issues that we have been hearing on the doors in recent weeks.

Dublin can be a beautiful city to live, work or visit – however, much more needs to be done to ensure we have a clean environment, including clean streets for us all to enjoy.

As a priority, I, along with Sinn Féin colleagues, would support the process of bringing bin services back into public ownership, as well as public waste services such as recycling centres.

Yes, the streets throughout Dublin Central are filthy and illegal dumping is at an all time high. I believe bins should be brought back under public ownership. This is what I would be calling on bins to be put back under public ownership  as well as public waste services such as bins and recycling centres.

Dublin can be a beautiful city to live, work or visit. However, much can be done to ensure we have a clean environment, including clean streets.

Tackling the problems with waste and dumping of rubbish has been a priority for us for years. In my own area bags of rubbish are regularly dumped on every street corner.

Last year I set up the Dublin 7 Waste Campaign along with other residents in Phibsboro to highlight these problems.

Ultimately much of the problem with dumping stems from the privatisation of waste collection, which is expensive, inefficient, and results in dirty streets. We've also seen public bins removed from many busy areas to prevent household waste being dumped in them, which only makes the problem worse.

As a councillor I'll fight for the city council to take over waste collection again as a free public service, funded from taxation. I'll also fight for the council to replace the public bins that have been removed and start employing more street cleaners.

Littering and illegal dumping is a disgusting blight on our city and is contributing to the unpleasant and unwelcome feeling of some of our streets and laneways. Legislation has been enacted by the Oireachtas this year to give Dublin City Council CCTV powers to tackle illegal dumping. If elected, I will make it a priority to ensure that Dublin City Council rolls out much-needed camera enforcement at blackspots to deter illegal dumping and to identify and prosecute those responsible.

Ultimately, I would like to see large underground bins for shared use by local residents as seen in many other European countries as opposed to individual wheelie bins, bin bags on footpaths etc.

There must be a large increase in the number of wardens employed to enforce laws against littering and dumping of domestic waste, dog poo etc. This role does not need to be limited to litter but could include enforcement of bylaws in parks, issuing fines for illegal parking as well as identifying and reporting broken footpaths and streetlights, overflowing bins, abandoned cars etc. on the job. These would be community wardens with a strong visible presence in local areas to ensure the city provides a clean and friendly atmosphere to all its residents and visitors. 

It’s a goal of every city to provide a clean and pleasant environment for its citizens to live and work. However, the management and disposal of municipal waste, upkeep of sewage systems, and establishment of urban recycling programmes constitute significant allocations within a local authority’s budget. With the correct planning and appropriate expenditure, the local authority can cultivate a highly liveable environment, characterised by minimal pollution, visually appealing streets and public areas, and a path towards sustainability for its residents. I will work hard to ensure this is a reality.

I will fight to increase penalties to combat illegal dumping and littering while also ensuring the sufficient provision of bins and the proliferation of public litter bins, including those for waste separation. I will work to ensure that general local authority services such as street cleaning and litter picking are increased to improve the public realm and to ensure that we all have a clean and prosperous place to live, work, and do business.

The council will shortly take on 100 general operatives to work in the area of street cleaning especially in the City Centre. We need to continue to employ more staff in this area and this would be a priority of mine if re-elected. I also support the Council taking back the bin collection service. 

Dog fouling is something I really hate. It is really inconsiderate and as I am visually impaired, I have no hope of missing it. I have secured funding for a local school, Gaelscoil Bharra, for the children to design posters and have them put up around the area. I think we need to tackle dog fouling with a bit of imagination, embarrassing people who don’t clean up after their dogs.   If re-elected I will work on setting up local responsible dog owner groups to do shared walks and make sure they have bags and scoops with them. Also I am looking at helping older people with volunteers to take the dogs on walks.   I think for litter we should see a reduction in the number of bottles and cans after the deposit scheme, although I am disappointed that the machines are inaccessible and it is not covered in home delivery services, which disabled and older people can depend on so yet another failure to disability proof climate policy.   One way of tackling litter is by reducing the amount of needless packaging we create. For more serious dumping we have new CCTV powers which should help tackle it. Sadly, this is taking too long and the Data Protection Commissioner has delayed this process at an unacceptable level.

Asylum seekers who are currently living in tents along the canal are causing immense upheaval, rubbish and stress among residents. They all should be sent back to where they came from immediately. There’s a smell of human faeces wafting through the air, even the dogs on the streets know it’s wrong to have asylum seekers living in tents with no sanitation.

Dog owners must clean up after their dog immediately so they don’t get a fine on the spot.

The government are responsible for all the chaos they create regarding making Dublin less safe. They are doing it on purpose and want to turn Ireland into a third-world kip. They all need to go a new patriotic government needs to be in power now. These stale politicians have done enough damage obeying their EU masters.

Firstly, we need more resources in our public domain units. The new street and footpath sweepers are prioritised for the city centre, but the suburbs also need attention. Dog fouling has increased and there is little incentive for dog owners to clean up after their pets. The dogs won’t listen to us so I’m appealing to pet owners to clean up after their furry friends.

The primary issue in relation to illegal dumping and dog poo is the weak legislation. If any of the parties who are or were in Government are serious about tackling the illegal dumping crisis the legislation must be strengthened immediately.

Secondly, the existing laws must be enforced. Ireland doesn’t do enforcement well!

Thirdly, the enforcement sections in local authorities must be properly staffed.

The council should take control of waste management. This would prevent illegal dumping in the area and incentivise the public to sustainably manage their waste.

I will support a major campaign by DCC in relation to responsible dog ownership and littering.

Propose new byelaws on dog fouling to strengthen the ability for fines to be levied through a zero tolerance approach, with intensive enforcement “brown zones” for streets and roads where persistent offending occurs. Propose a poster campaign that emphasises the public health risks of dog fouling. Advocate for a new role of Community Warden to be a familiar face in every locality. There is also a need to hire more litter wardens, traffic wardens and dog wardens.

 I put forward several motions and questions over the last 10 years to bring back our bin services into public ownership and to have them back under the ownership and responsibility of our local Authorities. I believe by having them under our control that this will elevate a lot of the problems we have with illegal dumping and fly tipping. I, along with our Sinn Féin team will continue with this campaign as having our waste management in the hands of private companies is just not working.

There are far too many vacant and derelict properties in our capital city, including in Phibsboro, Drumcondra and Glasnevin. Many of these homes are lying idle for years. Some are being left to rot, becoming derelict and a further blight on our communities.

In our community, we have seen examples of homes lying idle for 10+ years, for example at 19-21 Counnaught Street, Phibsboro and 8-10 Ferguson Road, Drumcondra. While small steps of progress now seem to be taking place in both these cases, we need far greater urgency in fighting vacancy and dereliction across the city.

Sinn Féin would encourage local authorities to Compulsory Purchase, where practical, and return to use derelict properties alongside increased utilisation of the Buy and Renew scheme. We would also request monthly updates to increase the collection of the Derelict Sites Levy and to speed up the return of vacant social homes.

At a time where we have a housing crisis it is a sin that there are so many vacant and derelict buildings throughout Cabra/Glasnevin.

Many of these homes are lying idle for years. Some are being left to rot, becoming derelict and a further blight on our communities. A prime location where houses should be built is the Cabra Matts site. This site has been left idle for far too long and has become an eyesore, on this site social and affordable homes should be built and should actually be affordable and made available for the people of Cabra. 

Sinn Féin would encourage local authorities to Compulsory Purchase, where practical, and return to use derelict properties alongside increased utilisation of the Buy and Renew scheme. We would also request monthly updates to increase the collection of the Derelict Sites Levy and to speed up the return of vacant social homes.

We already have measures in place such as vacant sites and derelict sites levies, but these are deliberately weak, and the fines are rarely collected. Many speculators and property developers are happy to hoard vacant sites and let these fines build up, knowing that no action will be taken against them. In the Dublin City Council areas there are around €7 million in unpaid derelict sites levies.

On the council I will push to have these levies increased, and ensure that all levies are collected at the end of each year. Sites that remain derelict or vacant for more than 4 years should be compulsorily purchased to be redeveloped as social housing, with the cost of unpaid fines subtracted from the purchase price.

Dereliction and vacancy is a huge issue in our area. Restoration and efficient use of existing buildings could provide much needed housing and commercial, public and arts spaces in our city. Dublin City Council is not properly staffed to tackle this anti-social behaviour. From my own experience of trying to get buildings placed on the derelict sites register and ensure that the levies are collected from their owners, I know how slow and arduous this process can be. If elected, I will advocate for a well-staffed planning enforcement unit to inspect derelict buildings, collect levies and issue compulsory purchase orders to uncooperative owners. 

I’m also fully supportive of measures such as the Vacant Homes Tax and the Residential Zoned Land Tax to discourage hoarding and stimulate supply of much-needed housing in our city.

Addressing vacancy and dereliction is a key priority for Fianna Fáil, and this is no different at local authority level. The Vacant Homes Action Plan, which was launched in January 2023, outlines the significant progress that has been made in addressing vacancy, along with the actions that are being pursued to return as many vacant properties back into use as possible. There are now a range of schemes and supports in place to support addressing vacancy.

One of these key initiatives to address vacancy and dereliction has been the introduction of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant under the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund. From May 2023, up to a maximum of €50,000 in grant funding is available to support the refurbishment of a vacant property into a home. Where the property is confirmed as derelict, up to a maximum of €70,000 in grant funding is available.

This, along with other schemes such as the Repair and Leasing Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme, and the new CPO Activation Programme are all working to decrease rates in vacancy and dereliction, and I will continue to push these programmes of work to ensure that we see further significant increases in properties coming on stream to buy and rent.

I will also work hard with my colleagues to ensure that the local authority is utilising every mechanism available to it under planning regulations to bring vacant properties back to the market, such as the regulations that exempt the need for certain vacant commercial premises, including ‘over the shop’ type spaces, from requiring planning permission change to residential purposes. I will also ensure that the Vacant Homes Officer in the local authority is doing all in their powers to speed up this process.

As part of our annual budgets over the last few years we have decreased the rates vacancy refund for businesses. This is a targeted strategy to discourage vacancy. I would support the continuation of this strategy. I would also support the collection of derelict sites levy to speed up the return of vacant houses. 

At the moment DCC is looking at vacancy and dereliction. There is already a very generous scheme for property owners and a high demand for these properties so it is really wrong that they are left empty. Compulsory purchase is taking too long and is too expensive. We need more powers on this and we need the resources to make it happen.   Active Land Management is where a government body buys derelict properties and brings them back into use. Dublin City Council is doing this but the funding is not there. Property is expensive in Dublin and we need to be properly resourced to do this. There are problems with state aid rules and procurement as well as blocks on our ability to borrow so this all needs to be changed. Again I am really ambitious to tackle dereliction in my city but the department of local government is not.

The price of rent in Ireland is a disgrace. It’s why we have so much homelessness among the Irish, including 4,000 children waiting to be housed. Landlords should help the indigenous Irish instead of making money out of illegal immigration.

Anywhere there’s vacant homes for a long period of time should be immediately investigated. There should be stricter rules on solicitors who know a home or apartment is lying there rotting away. This should be exposed and brought to the attention of those who look after the Irish homeless situation. I would be more than happy to help facilitate in this process. 

The Dáil needs to give us a vacancy tax with teeth that can be enforced. I also want to see vacant commercial units given to community and creative groups at a reduced rent. This will require landowners to engage and envision a vibrant shopfront.

Vacancy and dereliction are also at crisis levels and require radical action. The Derelict Sites levy and the Vacant Site levy are a very good start but Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) need to be used more frequently. The CPO legislation has to be strengthened and the process simplified. This may require challenging the constitutional property rights.  

I will be calling for a comprehensive audit to be carried out on vacant and derelict properties as a matter of urgency. Homeless people can't wait. We already report any derelict properties as part of our campaigns.

A punitive tax should be applied to vacant and derelict property if not used within a specified period, to encourage owners of the property to put it back into use.

Too many homes are lying idle during a housing crisis when a family could be living in it.

DCC should be given strict deadlines on the time it takes them to turn their own vacant properties around. Finally, we will seek to compulsory purchase house on the vacant properties register.

Introduce minimum turnaround time targets of 4 months for vacant houses and voids, with clear reporting every month. The current average reletting time is 35 weeks. Seek details on the number of properties owned by the Council not included in void figures due to listing for demolition or other purpose. 

There are far too many vacant and derelict properties in our capital city. Many of these homes are lying idle for years. Some are being left to rot, becoming derelict and a further blight on our communities. Sinn Féin would encourage local authorities to Compulsory Purchase, where practical, and return to use derelict properties alongside increased utilisation of the Buy and Renew scheme. We would also request monthly updates to increase the collection of the Derelict Sites Levy and to speed up the return of vacant social homes.

Communities deserve to feel safe and protected – but at the moment, the reality is that too many people in our capital city feel unsafe.

Sinn Féin have outlined our proposals to invest in the Gardaí, getting to grips with the recruitment and retention crisis to end the huge numbers resigning, so that we can have more Gardaí on our streets and working in collaboration with communities.

Going hand in hand with a renewed focus on community policing, we would provide improved resourcing to support the work of Youth Diversion Projects in our communities – to intervene early and help young people who may have become involved in crime/anti-social behaviour.

We would also introduce a public transport policing unit for DART, LUAS, Irish Rail, and Dublin Bus, to ensure that passengers are protected and can feel safe as they go about their daily lives.

Communities deserve to feel safe and protected. But too many people in our capital city feel unsafe. Sinn Féin have outlined our proposals to invest in the Gardaí, so we can have more Gardaí on our streets protecting communities. We would introduce a public transport policing unit to ensure people can feel safe while using public transport. We would get to grips with the recruitment and retention crisis in the Gardaí to end the huge numbers resigning. We need more community Gardaí on our streets and in Cabra we need a Garda station that is open after 7pm to give people the opportunity to report a crime. 

The main factors causing people to become unsafe is the increase in drug-related anti-social behaviour, and the lack of visible community policing, particularly at night time. Re-development of addiction support and outreach services in the city centre is essential.

As a councillor I would also engage with the gardai to ensure the re-opening of local garda stations, which have been closed or had reduced hours, and the return to community policing. For example in Cabra, the garda station is now closed at night, in an area which already has many problems with anti-social behaviour and drug dealing, leaving elderly people in the area feeling unsafe at night.

While councillors do not have direct influence over policing, they can highlight issues and ask for more resources in areas that need it. I would like to see more Gardaí walking on our streets and on our buses, trains and trams. A greater presence of garda members in local communities is needed to strengthen relationships and prevent crime. The reduction in community garda numbers in recent years has had a drastic effect in our community and these units must be urgently expanded.

However, policing alone can’t solve our safety problems. We need to be investing in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme and fight the causes of crime by providing more youth and community spaces in our area and improving youth work supports. They provide activities, guidance, safe social outlets and ensure that young people’s lives aren’t lost to chaotic behaviour and crime.

Prioritising public safety is paramount. As opposed to making the city ‘feel’ safe, I will commit to making it a reality that the city is safe. This will involve a multifaceted approach, with collaboration from the local authority, An Garda Síochána, community organisation, and residents. This needs buy in from right across society and I will work hard to be the link that makes it a reality. Greater visibility of Gardaí in high-traffic areas and crime hotspots can deter criminal activity and provide reassurance to residents and visitors.

I will look to implement community policing programmes that foster positive relationships between law enforcement and the community, ensuring collaboration and information- sharing to prevent crime.

Adequate street lighting is also key to ensuring public safety at nighttime. I will work to improve street lighting in dimly lit areas and alleyways to make pedestrians feel safer and reduce opportunities for criminal behaviour. Similarly, the correct rollout of CCTV in strategic locations can act as a deterrent to crime and aid in the investigation and prosecution of offenders. This will all need to be backed up by initiatives aimed at addressing specific types of crime prevalent in the city such as theft, vandalism, and antisocial behaviour.

We need a more visible garda presence on the streets in the city. The recent increase in gardai in the city centre cannot result in less gardai in our communities across Dublin, so the recruitment of more gardai needs to be a priority. The development of a night time economy would bring greater footfall to our city also. 

Safety is a huge problem and people have the right to be safe in our city. Garda recruitment is at crisis levels and Gardi can’t afford to live in Dublin. Important positions like Juvenile Liaison Officers are not being filled and are overworked.   We can’t keep locking people up as our prisons are overcrowded. We need a robust system to deter crime, with more community sentences and more services that are properly resourced. Quite a lot of failures in the health system are being delt with by the justice system and that is not good enough.

Close the borders and deport illegal immigrants. Women should be legally allowed to carry pepper spray. Free self-defense classes for everyone of all ages in every community. I want to see more Irish elderly people on the bus like it used to be. They should feel safe too in their own city. 

A city needs three things to feel safe: Effective Policing, Quality Urban Design and Pro Social Activity. When completing Safety Audits with the DCC Women’s committee we found that the basics matter; a broken or obstructed light and broken or blocked footpath can make an area feel unsafe. Every woman and people from minorities know the feeling that creeps up your back when you feel unsafe walking alone.

Simple solution is to have a more visible police presence and a judiciary willing to enact the laws. Open drug dealing and anti-social behaviour must be tackled.

Crime doesn't happen in a vacuum and needs to be fought with a socialist response. My strategy for anti-social behaviour is to tackle the root causes such as poverty, addiction and the housing crisis. This means reclaiming our resources from greedy vulture funds and making social housing a priority.

We also need to give people an outlet whether it be in social, leisure or sports facilities. Young people a need a pro-social outlet for their spare time and reduce the risk of them causing harm.

I will fight to implement strategies that actually work for addiction issues. Instead of criminalising addiction, we need community solution such as outreach, mental health support and resource centres.

In practical terms, lighting is a major issue. People want to feel safe where they walk around and I campaign to add more lighting.

Labour Councillors will work to improve the relationship between local councils and the Gardaí, and to promote community policing. Labour Councillors will:

• Promote and facilitate more local policing forums at neighbourhood level to reconnect local people to their Community Gardai. 
• Support more Home Security schemes to be put in place to help people, especially older members of our community, upgrade the locks and security systems on their homes.  
• Insist on good planning standards in terms of safe and well-lit, inclusive public spaces that prevent the development of anti-social behaviour black spots. 
• Work with Drug and Alcohol Taskforces at local and regional levels to ensure communities are resourced.

I was a member of the Community Policing Forum in my first term of being elected. I see the value of these forums and having the local Gardaí present at local community public meetings. Residents like to have the community Guards listen to the issues in their area and this helps to build relationships between them both. These meetings are vital. Sinn Féin have outlined our proposals to invest in the Gardaí, so we can have more Gardaí on our streets protecting communities. We would introduce a public transport policing unit to ensure people can feel safe while using public transport. We would get to grips with the recruitment and retention crisis in the Gardaí to end the huge numbers resigning.

Dublin ranked worst in public transport of 30 European Cities in 2023. We need change.

In Glasnevin, Phibsboro and Drumcondra, we are very much at the centre of ongoing plans to change our transport network. Whether it be Metrolink, Dart West, or BusConnects – there is certainly a lot going on.

While it has been on the cards for over 20 years, I welcome recent progress with the MetroLink project and the ongoing oral hearing at An Bord Pleanála. While residents' concerns regarding disruption during the construction phase must be fully and properly addressed, I want to see this project built as it will be truly transformative for our community and city. Quality public transport links, like the MetroLink, are essential if we are to reduce transport emissions and meet our climate targets.

Once planning permission is approved, we need assurances that this project will now be finally delivered on budget and on time. The National Children’s Hospital is a prime example of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s inability to deliver a critical project on time and on budget. It is essential that the same mistakes are not repeated on this major piece of infrastructure.

Road safety and accessible transport are at the heart of ensuring people can live, work and play safely in their communities. 2023 saw the highest number of deaths on our roads in almost a decade. Dublin ranked worst, in public transport, of 30 European Cities in 2023. It’s time for change.

We recognise that many children cannot safely access school without relying on a lift from parents. This can be a barrier to parents but it also reduces young people’s independence. In government we would increase funding to make getting to school safe.

Our main focus has to be on improving the frequency and reliability of bus and Luas services, electrifying and expanding the commuter rail network, and making sure that the metro goes ahead and is not delayed yet again.

A lot of focus has been placed in recent years on penalising driving as a way to reduce traffic, but I believe this emphasis is wrong. To really reduce the amount of cars we have to provide viable alternatives for the hundreds of thousands of people, especially living in the suburbs, who commute to work or to school by car, as it's the only practical means available to them.

If we build our public transport infrastructure first, removing cars becomes much easier. Trying to squeeze the space for cars without providing alternatives first just increases congestion, slows down buses and makes everyone’s journeys longer.

I will answer this question and the next one together as I believe they're intrinsically linked and must not be viewed in isolation.

In my vision for Dublin, everyone — young and old — can move around easily and efficiently on public transport and by walking and cycling. There are many elected representatives who support this vision in principle and quote ambitious party policies but fail to show leadership when it comes to implementing the measures needed to deliver it — supporting MetroLink but not the alignment, supporting faster buses but not bus lanes, supporting cycling but not cycle lanes. Just this month, we've seen councillors who called for more bus routes objecting to new bus stops.

I got involved in politics through years of advocating for better public transport, walking and cycling facilities and greener public spaces for Dublin city. Over the years, I’ve learned the minute details about all the major transport projects in the area and have been involved in stakeholder engagement for all of them. 

Over the next decade, this area will be transformed through an unprecedented level of investment in public transport, walking and cycling. The scale and number of projects planned in this area is more than any other part of Dublin. New DART stations are planned for Cabra and Cross Guns along with electrification and higher frequencies at Ashtown, Pelletstown, Broombridge and Drumcondra. MetroLink will connect the city centre with Berkeley Street, Cross Guns, Mobhi Road and beyond. BusConnects will deliver faster buses and safer cycling infrastructure along the Drumcondra Road, Mobhi Road, Botanic Road, Finglas Road and Navan Road and Dublin City Council’s Active Travel Network will deliver better walking and cycling facilities on the Royal Canal, North Circular Road, Cabra Road and Ratoath Road.

Only one party has shown unwavering commitment to and delivered on improving public transport and walking and cycling across all its elected representatives. To sustain the momentum on improving public transport, pedestrianisation, cycle lanes, better footpaths, zebra crossings, speed limits, greener public spaces etc. we need to ensure there's a Green councillor in every area. I will continue to advocate for sustainable transport to decrease pollution and congestion and build a safer, healthier and greener city.

Improving public transport in Dublin City and across its suburbs requires a comprehensive approach that addresses various aspects of the transportation system. We need to see an expansion of services that increase the frequency and coverage of public transportation routes to serve more areas within the city and its outskirts. This includes expanding bus, tram (Luas), and commuter rail (DART) services to connect underserved neighbourhoods and suburbs.

Enhancing the availability of real-time information on schedules, routes, and service disruptions through mobile apps, digital displays at stops, and online platforms to improve passenger convenience and reliability is also key. I will work with transport providers to ensure that this becomes a reality.

I am also passionate about the need to ensure that we have the correct services in place for people with disabilities. They need to be offered the same level of service as any other public transport user. I will engage with all transport operators to ensure that public transport infrastructure, vehicles, and services are accessible to people with disabilities and reduced mobility, including the provision of wheelchair ramps, priority seating, audible announcements, and tactile paving at stations and stops.

By implementing these measures, and many others, in a coordinated manner, Dublin can create a more efficient, accessible, and sustainable public transport system that meets the diverse needs of its residents and contributes to the city's overall liveability and economic prosperity.

I always found it bizarre that there is so many groups looking after transport in the city. DCC, NTA, TII, TFI and more all have responsibilities for public transport. There needs to be a coherent plan involving all these groups to connect all different types of public transport. We also need to develop a proper schools bus system for the city, this is not just a rural issue. We also need more electric buses in the city. 

The Bus Connects proposals are holding up everything. They are too ambitious to do all at once and should have been tried with smaller parts and adapted. If Dublin bus could run radial roots around the city that could have been done on top of the existing bus system. I feel we need to tackle safety and make bus driving a more attractive option for people. We also need to have more public toilets available for these bus drivers.   We need stronger protections for transport workers. The violent assaults they face need to stop and there needs to be a stronger Garda response to tackle this. I fully support SIPTU’s Respect Transport Workers campaign.   The Luas is a great option and should be expanded with more trams and lines. MetroLink is also a great addition and needs to be advanced. The Dart+ projects are welcome but the community consultation needs to be improved. I am also delighted that Irish Rail are finally providing a second station in Cabra, as I called for, but this is taking too long.

Deport illegal immigrants, they are taking up room on our Irish buses. I had to wait for the third bus. Two buses that went by were packed. This proves Ireland is full.

Less Ghost Buses would be a start! The NTA runs our public transport and while city councillors are actively engaged the consultation is usually too late in the process. Better night buses into areas currently not covered, reliable services and addressing safety and accessibility concerns all need to be on the NTAs agenda.

A free, properly resourced public transport service and policies to discourage private vehicle use.

Free and frequent public transport needs to be introduced to encourage people out of their cars and free up the streets from traffic.

The Green Party commissioned a survey which said people wouldn’t take up public transport if it was free but never looked at increasing capacity. Of course you won’t see uptick if the buses are already full, running late or not in the areas they need to be.

Busconnects are an issue in some areas, so this will be part of the strategy.

Labour councillors will propose new solutions to extend services and improve journey times including:  

• Ensure new junction designs prioritise pedestrians and cyclists first, then buses. 
• Seek extended evening and early morning services, especially at peak times like Christmas and at weekends. 
• Introduce monthly car-free days in urban centres.

Road safety and accessible transport are at the heart of ensuring people can travel to work, school etc safely and efficiently. In 2023 we saw the highest number of deaths on our roads in almost a decade. Dublin ranked worst, in public transport, of 30 European Cities in 2023. We need to change this. I was part of a group of councillors from around the country who brought forward the motion of Jake’s Law that was passed successfully in FCC and across the country. Jake’s Law was to reduce the speed limit to 20kph in housing estates after a young boy tragically died after being hit by a car while playing outside his home. The speed was reduced to 30kph.

I do recognise that many children cannot safely access school without relying on a lift from parents. In government we would increase funding to make getting to school safe. Ensuring more active travel, such as cycling and walking, will be a keyway to tackle the climate crisis. To ensure this is realistic, people must feel confident that they can do so safely. Also, quality public transport links, like the Metrolink are essential if we are to reduce transport emissions and meet our climate targets.

Road safety and accessible transport are at the heart of ensuring people can live, work and play safely in their communities. 2023 saw the highest number of deaths on our roads in almost a decade – a trend that needs to be reversed.

In our area, it will be fantastic to see the work on Royal Canal Greenway Phase 3 completed by next year, with the section between Cross Guns Bridge and Binns Bridge due to be opened this summer. This will be a great resource for our community and will be vitally important to make cycling more appealing and make cyclists feel safer.

We also support auditing all footpaths and putting in place a programme of footpath restoration so everyone can walk and move around their local area confidently.

Ensuring more active travel, such as cycling and walking, will be a key way to tackle the climate crisis. In order to ensure this is viable, people must feel confident that they can do so safely.

Ensuring more active travel, such as cycling and walking, will be a key way to tackle the climate crisis. In order to ensure this is realistic, people must feel confident that they can do so safely.

We support auditing all footpaths and putting in place a programme of footpath restoration so everyone can walk and move around their local area confidently.

While bike lanes are important, the best way to improve the city for pedestrians and cyclists is to hugely improve our public transport system, which will reduce the numbers of cars on the road. I've cycled around Dublin every day for 30 years, and bring my kids to school by bike, so I'm familiar with the sad state of cycling infrastructure in Dublin. However, while we do need to improve our bike lanes, the biggest impediment to cycling for most people is the amount of traffic, or the fact that they simply live too far from their work for cycling to be viable. Improving public transport for commuters will free up space for those of us who cycle, and make the task of improving our cycle lanes much easier.

See answer to previous question.

Dedicated protected bike lanes in suitable areas need to be explored. But it is absolutely paramount that these lanes are well-maintained and clearly marked to enhance visibility and safety. Too often we see bike lanes that are covered in mud, rubbish and have uneven surfaces meaning that cyclists are forced to travel in car lanes. This needs to be urgently fixed for the safety of all road users.

Similarly, we need to see the implementation of more traffic calming measures, such as raised crosswalks, speed bumps, and narrower lanes, to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists at intersections and along residential streets.

Once cyclists have made their journey, they need to be provided with secure bike parking facilities – something which we have a dearth of. We need to provide secure bike parking facilities, such as bike racks, lockers, and bike-sharing stations, at strategic locations throughout the city to encourage cycling as a convenient and sustainable mode of transportation. These facilities should be well-lit and monitored to deter theft and vandalism.

Everyone wants to live in a pleasant space that is easy to traverse. As such, we need upgraded footpaths with wider pathways, tactile paving for visually impaired individuals, and ample lighting to enhance safety and accessibility for pedestrians, particularly in high- traffic areas and near public transport hubs.

More greenery, trees, and public seating along footpaths and bike lanes to create a more attractive and inviting environment for pedestrians and cyclists would also be a welcome step. Beautification efforts can also include public art installations and decorative lighting to enhance the streetscape.

For visitors to the city, we need to see the installation of clear and consistent wayfinding signage for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate the city easily and safely. This includes directional signs, distance markers, and maps at key locations to help users plan their routes effectively.

Lastly, local residents, businesses, and advocacy groups must be involved in the planning and design of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to ensure that their needs and concerns are addressed. Community feedback can help identify priority areas for improvement and inform decision-making processes. By implementing these measures in a coordinated manner, Dublin can create a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly city that prioritises safety, accessibility, and sustainability for all road users.

The active travel unit of the council has done some great work and they need to be properly resourced to continue this work. We also need to invest in repairing damaged roads and footpaths in the city. The current level of funding from central government is completely inadequate and a recent report showed us it will take us 100 years to repair all damaged roads at current funding levels.

We have already delivered safer cycling infrastructure. We need to keep the focus on vulnerable pedestrians, and not make people feel unsafe, this means we need to get rid of shared spaces and have safe cycle lanes separate from the footpath.   We need to reduce the speed of cars and it is disappointing we can’t go ahead with the 30kph speed limit in the city. Again this is the government interfering and not letting councils do their job.

Deport illegal immigrants, so we can have more Irish families walking around and cycling through our cities. 

More safe bike parking that includes facilities for cargo bikes are needed across the city. The Active Travel Office is doing great work for cyclists so I’m going to focus on pedestrians who I feel need more attention. We are all pedestrians at some stage and know the challenges of broken footpaths, blocked footpaths, slow crossings and dog fouling. A back-to-basics approach has been presented by the new Chief Executive, a clean and walkable city is central to this. Slowing cars, low traffic areas and more action to prevent footpath parking are my priorities.

Simple solution is to have a more visible police presence and a judiciary willing to enact the laws. Open drug dealing and anti-social behaviour must be tackled.

Properly resourced public domain improvements will encourage both cyclists and pedestrians.

Safe cycling facilities are also essential.  

Cycle lanes need to be introduced in conjunction with free public transport so that traffic is reduced significantly, and road space is made available. This needs to be done in a way that is beneficial to taxi drivers and transport operators to make the transition as smooth as possible.

A reduction in car dependency will also reduce emissions and the harm that emissions cause to people.

Active Travel: Labour councillors will support new cycleways and other active transport infrastructure including BusConnects, improved pedestrian facilities. We need more continuous and segregated cycleways especially in urban centres, safe counter-flow cycle lanes, secure cycle stands in towns and at schools, and safe routes for school children cycling to school.

Accessible Public Spaces: Town and city centres should be designed to be walkable spaces, not dominated by cars

Cycling Officers: ensure every LA has a dedicated full time Cycling Officer to promote cycling and insist on primacy for cycling and pedestrian improvements in any road project.

In my new area of Cabra/Glasnevin one of the biggest issues raised on the doors in damaged /broken footpaths. The Sinn Féin team will support auditing all footpaths and putting in place a programme of footpath restoration so everyone can walk and move around their local area confidently and safely. 

I will be a voice for a fair, equal and diverse society – all sections of our community must be able to feel safe and included. Arson attacks on accommodation for asylum seekers have no place in our society, and I condemn them unequivocally.

The recent scenes we observed when the government attempted to move homeless asylum seekers out of the public eye at Mount Street and Crooksling show that this Government’s approach is chaotic, heartless and directionless.

There are 1,200 asylum seekers sleeping on the streets here in Dublin. We need a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system. The current shambolic approach by government is very obviously not working.

On a local level, we need to take every opportunity to foster greater integration – inviting asylum seekers and other new arrivals to Ireland the opportunity to play their part in the local community. A lot of good work is already taking place in this regard, like the long-standing support that Bohemian FC have given to asylum seekers, but we need to build this out further across more and more sporting/community groups.

I will be a voice for a fair, equal and diverse society. All sections of our communities must be able to feel safe and included. I believe by having conversations with our communities and giving them the respect they deserve , people are annoyed and angry as there is no housing, accessing a GP/ Dentist can be difficult, people are living in damp riddled apartments and houses, they are struggling to find school and creche places for their kids. The Government has created this mess, not immigrants and asylum seekers. Our communities have the right to be angry as they have been left behind due to decades and decades of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Our communities need to now voice their anger on June 7th and use this as an opportunity to send a message to the current government. 

The most important role that the city council can play in tackling the far right threat is in addressing the social deprivation and marginalisation that fuels this kind of hate.

A far right racist element has recently managed to make inroads in some working class areas by taking advantage of the deprivation and justified anger caused by years of austerity and the housing crisis, and directing that anger at immigrants, in particular asylum seekers, and minority groups such as LGBTQ+ communities.

In the years since the 2008 crash, community facilities, social services and youth programmes in working class areas of Dublin have been repeatedly slashed, and have never recovered. The city council has little power to directly tackle far-right violence, but what it can do is tackle the conditions that allow it to develop by addressing the crises in housing and social services, and ensuring that marginalised working class communities are listened to and represented in city hall.

The council also needs to be engaged with local community leaders in areas where asylum seekers are housed well in advance of new centres opening, to make sure that local communities feel informed and respected, that their concerns about inadequate social services are listened to, and that the far-right aren’t given a foothold to spread misinformation.

I’m proud of the societal change we’ve achieved in recent years. We built a kinder and more equal Ireland that cherishes diversity and protects vulnerable people. However, recent events have shown that there are those who wish to take that from us — by spreading xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, hatred and division — and there are politicians who indulge them. I’m worried about the escalation in threatening behaviour towards members of our community. I experience the increase in abuse and hatred first hand both on our streets and online. This is not the Dublin I grew up in. I will stand up against intolerance and discrimination and work to build a fairer city with equality and respect at its heart.

I moved to Dublin as a child almost twenty years ago when my mother got a job as a nurse in the Mater Hospital. My answers to the previous questions had a common theme of the urgent need to recruit more staff in several roles. We desperately need more bus drivers, nurses, builders, mechanics, engineers, childcare workers, urban planners. We're at full employment and the list of staff shortages is endless. Ireland is not full.

Addressing the rise of far-right extremism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and hate crimes targeting marginalised communities in Dublin City requires a concerted effort from us all. Education and awareness, community engagement, adequate law enforcement response, support services, and the creation of safe spaces and support networks all must form part of this response and I will do all that I can to ensure that these actions are implemented.

Greater consultation and engagement with communities needs to happen. All sections of our communities must feel safe and included and I will continue to work with all groups to ensure this. Arson attacks on accommodation has no place in our country and serves no purpose for anyone, I condemn these attacks. 

The simple answer is more democracy. They feed on hate and lies and the only way to tackle this is by telling the truth. Labour has always stood on the side of solidarity and delivering more rights.   I am proud of my role in supporting the great win on marriage equality and I strongly believe that LGBTQ+ people deserve our respect and support.   We don’t have a migration crisis, we have a housing crisis and a failure of government to deliver safe accommodation for people in Dublin, regardless of where they come from. Seeing people sleeping in tents in the snow while state buildings are empty is appalling and we must not stand for it. People seeking protection in Ireland deserve better. We also have jobs we can’t fill such as bus drivers. It is so obvious that people should be sent on driving courses and those who are able should quickly be employed by Dublin Bus.   People looking for protection should get it. The government is turning to the right instead of trying to fix the housing crisis and that is really disappointing.

There is no far right, in Ireland, there’s just people who’ve been right so far. I think Ireland is a very welcoming country, we are not racist. The LGBTQ community have many rights now. People have a right to speak their mind. Free speech is the cornerstone of our democracy. Therefore, the Hate Speech Bill needs to be put in the bin as soon as possible and [Justice Minister] Helen McEntee should step down for trying to enforce it on Irish people and should bring [Garda Commissioner] Drew Harris with her.

As we face another year of a housing crisis, continued cost of living increases and a health system failing the vulnerable it’s no surprise hateful actors are getting attention. To ‘other’ people is a well-known strategy in other countries and we need all leaders to reject this. When I meet people concerned about asylum seekers their concerns are the lack of services not each individual seeking sanctuary. The conversation needs to focus on the core concerns about housing, public services, the struggle many people face keeping their head above water and what can be done to support them. The traditional media and social media platforms also play an important role here.

Government policy on immigration is almost solely to blame for the rise of the racist right. Dumping refugees (and I use that word purposely) in working class areas with no consultation and no increase in already scarce resources was a recipe for disaster. The pantomime of giving taxpayer funded tents to desperate refugees and then removing them in a coordinated public showcase keeps the immigration issue on the political agenda.

This cynical policy has played well for Fine Gael with them holding their own in the polls and Sinn Féin seeing a drop in support. The irony of the situation is that the very political parties responsible for the housing and homeless crisis and the dysfunctional health service are not being targeted by the racist right. Given the historical evidence of the racist right, we should not be surprised that they and the establishment parties are actually on the same side.

The only way to counter the parasitic racist right is to organise in communities. Preaching at communities or demonising communities will only further disaffect ordinary people. The weakness of the racist right is that they have never tackled the drug dealers damaging our communities, have never campaigned for resources in communities, never fought against the political parties who have forced austerity on our communities or defended workers as union reps.   

I already work with local community groups in an effort to increase diversity and ensure that people from every background feels welcome. This means doing community outreach, education campaigns and countering attacks on the ground. If elected, I will continue to fight all forms of bigotry systemically.

Much of the current rhetoric is coming from the top down in racist policies, inadequate housing and services which then fuels hatred, misinformation and division. There is a lot of false information regarding immigrants, and I will continue to work within and build 'For All' groups to help counter false information.

Special attention must be made to ensure no level of hate or discrimination is acceptable against members of the LGBTQ+ community. This means working with members of the community to best inform policy and education to fight this discrimination in all its forms.

Support a 'welcome communities' approach working with the community and encouraging people to get involved in volunteer led integration opportunities such as conversation classes and intercultural sharing to bring communities together. Encourage local groups and residents associations to support and promote Pride events and ensure inclusivity when organising community events especially events sponsored by DCC.

I have always been a voice for a fairness and equality for all. I believe that everyone in all our communities must be able to feel safe and included. Arson attacks on accommodation for asylum seekers have no place in our society and I condemn these attacks.