Housing policy is my priority.

I can only offer you preliminary considerations, although I am fully aware of the horrendous difficulties with regard to housing that so many of our Irish people face. My thinking has been guided very largely by that of Dr Rory Hearne who is one of leading authorities on this subject.   So there must first be an affordable housing scheme put in place.  

• That would involve the use of extensive residentially zoned public land that would be made available to public authorities to build homes that would be affordable to rent or buy.
• There must be a commitment by government to make ‘for purchase’ housing schemes available alongside cost rental projects.
• This  would also involve the strengthening of the position of local authorities in negotiating the cost of Part 5 housing (both social and affordable) by providing that where developers are stalling in negotiations, the local authority would acquire land from the developer (within that development). That would occur  within a specified time period.
• There should be a removal of leasing as an option under the Part 5 model.This would entail the avoidance of an arrangement whereby local authorities enter into long-term leasing deals, rather than buying properties as social housing.
• There should be a move away from schemes that focus on boosting demand, as they do not make housing more affordable. These schemes must be scrapped.

I accept Dr Hearne’s contention that the market cannot be relied upon at this time to deliver affordable housing.  

• There should thus be a vast programme of house building with a delivery target of 20,000 homes per year. Capital spending must necessarily be increased.
• There should be a mix in the building programme to consist of one-third affordable purchase homes , one third affordable rent and one third social homes.
• There should be legislation to prohibit the sale of state land suitable for building homes.
• Builders should be contracted to build on publicly controlled land and  to deliver social and affordable homes for purchase and rent.
• All this should be undertaken in accordance with a masterplan with prices set in advance by the State using a State Planning Agency.
• The cost of building on public land should be driven down by tendering for new housing at scale.

Dr Hearne has been the author of this programme and I fully acknowledged this. I support his approach.

I would, however, add one point. I do not believe that the housing crisis will be solved – even with this excellent plan- unless the immigration crisis is addressed with equal rigour.

Change the tax system. Give grants to the needy.

Encourage people to improve their morals, to have greater social concern and to take pride in their city. Local Council ordinances and tax initiatives might also help.

Change the relevant tax provisions.

Frankly, you need people with good morals, so you begin with moral education.It is also necessary to have a criminal law system which very actively punishes wrongdoers, but also promotes the rehabilitation of those who can be rehabilitated,

A big question. A greater availability of Luas lines. Perhaps an underground: but that last is merely aspirational thinking on my part.

Go Danish. To start with, have bike lanes everywhere.

There is a lot to unpack in all of this.

Who comprises the far right? When you use the term “far right” do you mean most of the Irish working class and a large chunk of the rest of the indigenous Irish population? The quality of life of these people is declining significantly. Their future is most uncertain. These are the people who are not being listened to by government. They very correctly consider themselves to be the victims of globalisation. It is only now that they are beginning to organise themselves. They have been betrayed by both the parties of the traditional right and left. That betrayal has been absolute. The powers-that-should-not-be have shown complete contempt for the intelligence of the Irish working class and indeed for the intelligence of all Irish people. The powers-that-should-not-be may well have miscalculated. The people are angry.   The immigration system here is broken. It lacks all coherence. As things stand, it can only be thought of as being a nation-wrecking exercise. I do not favour EU immigration policy, but I am not opposed to some level of immigration – however modest – once it is well thought-out and it is beneficial to the Irish nation. I am quite prepared to think the unthinkable: if that involves ending our membership of the EU, so be it. I would add, however, that it would be important to me to  consider all  scenarios going forward. I do not have a closed mind on these matters.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is an inevitable consequence of our present predicament.

I think of myself as an ethnopluralist. Everybody has the right to live freely and peacefully in their own parts of the world. Societies work best when people have a great amount in common ethnically. Those societies that are not homogeneous are subject to the likelihood of increasing and eventually catastrophic social division. These arrangements simply do not work.

I have goodwill towards all people. I do not, however, think that people from very different cultural backgrounds will necessarily get on well together.

Of course, I am against arson attempts on buildings housing asylum seekers, although such events do not surprise me. I would always first seek a peaceful solution to social problems. I would think that those who engage in these arson events are deeply frustrated people who are simply not being listened to.

Here’s my solution: have a full debate involving all interested parties on these issues. The debate should be information-rich. Those who participate in it should exercise critical thinking to the maximum. Then we could have a referendum/referanda on the critical issues.

I like the Danish approach to both legal and illegal immigration. It is very stringent. The Danes have totally changed their minds on the immigration issue having experienced what they did experience.

On immigration matters, I think along the same lines as those of Renaud Camus, the French writer.

I have no particular observations on the LGBTQ+ cluster of questions at this time, although these questions do deserve some commentary. I will just make one observation. I am totally against the sexualisation of children at an early age by ideologically-driven activists and any initiatives which promote gender confusion in children. I oppose all these initiatives absolutely.

I have no illusions about the agenda of adherents to Frankfurt School thinking and its various offshoots. I oppose that agenda with all my might.