Government party candidates getting an earful on Mayo doorsteps as election looms
The blame game is in full flight
by Caoimhín Rowland
The government's roll-out of the deposit return scheme has been as smooth as a pebble-dashed wall masking pyrite-riddled blocks just waiting to crumble at the next shock.
A mixture of private and public has been a theme of Irish governments and a source of ire from county councillors who are getting an earful at the doorsteps in the run-up to June’s ballot.
A blockbuster February sitting of local representatives ran on for five solid hours, the reason was to conduct a grilling of approved housing bodies, only three of the six invited bothering to show up, Tuath, Co-operative Housing and the Mayo Mental Health Association.
Tuath, in particular, came in for a tearing, but all three in attendance were complimented for appearing in front of councillors who rightly or wrongly are seen to be purveyors of a housing crisis in the county, one that impacts everyone in the country, county and voting ward.
It was an opportunity to opine for greater local autonomy, a recurring theme at all council meetings when our elected representatives bear their frustration at administrators, primarily for policies implemented by their parties.
Mayo has not been immune to pressures to deliver social, affordable or even any housing.
For councillors braving doorbells in the coming months, the immigration blame game is the symptom of an underlying unease in the structure of local government ready to fall in June.
Councillors know this, nerves were palpable in the chamber, most notably over thorny issues in Ballina over the Mary Robinson Centre, the recent non-binding cold shoulder to the department of integration and lack of homes for people shone through.
No quick fixes will be found in a little over three months, much to the detriment of what voters may see as defective representatives.
Councillors are looking over their shoulders, waiting to hear who will next declare. St. Patrick’s weekend will provide clearer answers, any serious challengers will surely have announced by then.
Ignoring the disease and blaming the symptoms is often an Irish solution to an Irish problem, Mayo’s housing infrastructure is currently oversubscribed.
And the fact local government has failed to provide housing for its populace for well over a decade now, coupled with the reality a vast majority of homes built in that previous booming decade are now set to crumble in housing estates right across the county, is leading to a perfect political storm.
And if you think this is bad, just see what is to coming down the line.
Nine Fine Gael TDs know this, Joe McHugh was the first to announce his departure two years ago from his seat in Donegal, and the latest is Paul Keohane in Wexford.
It makes over a quarter of Varadkar’s 2020 TDs absent come the next general election.
The question remains, who are the opposition?
A recent poll from IrelandThinks puts Sinn Féin predictably as the forerunner for the 18-34-year-old category.
The Social Democrats are next to them, well below Mary Lou’s party at 30% at a commendable 15%.
The numbers only slightly reduce for the next oldest demographic, the mood music is deafening, a sea change is on the horizon.
Councillors speak about “people on the doorsteps,” just a bit more of an inkling of anger at how they are the ones getting it in the neck, fearing soon a P45. The defective blocks scheme doesn’t cover council homes, private buildings or non-primary residences, its costs will be recouped via the concrete block levy.
It's a cost to new generations who are fortunate enough to have means to build a home for themselves but penalised for what the European Parliament stated is an inept ability to regulate blocks being sold in this country.
A stark warning is handed down that the mica/pyrite problem will happen again if measures are not taken to address it.
The lack of a unified opposition capable of inspiring voters as a viable alternative is the only saving grace for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two parties facing internal disarray.
Where will it end?