Annual Public Housing Conference Maynooth 2020

Friday, March 27, 2020 - 12:15

Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute hosted the second Annual Public Housing Conference on Wednesday, March 11 2020. This year’s theme focused on how public housing can deliver affordable homes and a sustainable planet in the context of a changing political landscape.  

Featuring contributions from the public, private and voluntary sector, speakers at the conference included Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, Fr Peter McVerry and advocate and campaigner, Patricia King, general secretary of ICTU. Other speakers included John O’Connor, chief executive, The Housing Agency, Our own Dr Mary Murphy, MUSSI and Department of Sociology, Orla Hegarty, Lecturer/Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, UCD and Colette Bennett, Research & Policy Analyst, Social Justice Ireland,  Hugh Brennan, Chief Executive, Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance CLG, Dr Daithi Downey, Dublin City Council Housing Observatory, Dr Lorcan Sirr, TU Dublin, author of “Housing in Ireland: The A to Z Guide,” Fiona Dunkin, Housing Policy Officer, Clúid Housing, Declan Daly, Tipperary Energy Agency, Rosemary Hennigan, Policy Coordinator at Focus Ireland and Emily Murtagh, Accommodation Policy Officer.

We were also treated to a screening of ‘Through the Cracks’ a short documentary on the experience of homeless families in emergency accommodation, with introduction from Ingrid Casey (poet, artist, and producer of Through The Cracks) and input from documentary participants directly affected by homelessness.

The afternoon session on achieving  a right to housing for all in Ireland included contributions from John-Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive, Threshold, Dr Rory Hearne, Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University, author of Housing Shock: The Irish Housing Crisis and How to Solve it (due to be published in June 2020),  Union of Students in Ireland and Aisling Hedderman, community activist, North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis Community.

Please find attached presentation slides from a number of speakers and the following presentations from the afternoon session are available on You Tube:
Peter McVerry: 

Dr Rory Hearne

Patricia King

While the presentations for the morning sessions are available on the Podcast Reboot Republic see link:
https://tortoiseshack.ie/reboot-republic-podcast/

The presentations themselves are also available below;

  Irish Post-Crisis Rental Housing Investment and Expenditure: Enhancing or suppressing pathways toward always affordable cost rental housing? - Dáithí Downey
  Affordable housing - ÓCualann Model
  Welcome Dr Rory Hearne, Conference Chair
  The Vision of the Irish Traveller Movement - Emily Murtagh
  What ways forward to solve the housing & homeless crises? - John O’Connor
  Housing and Home after GE2020: what ways forward to solve the housing & homeless crises? DR LORCAN SIRR
  Housing, Energy Poverty and a Just Transition - Colette Bennett
  The Human impact of Homelessness and the Housing Crisis – A Children’s Perspective Dr. Niall Muldoon Ombudsman for Children