“A force bigger than life itself,” said a eulogy by O’Neill’s friend Carmel Jennings. “Working-class warrior,” said Rita Fagan, another friend of O’Neill’s.
Dáil constituencies in Dublin have been redrawn, and candidates for the next general election hope they’re better off. But there’s one who probably isn’t.
This would be a move towards decentralisation of government services for homeless people in the city, which some people say would make their lives better.
While he was lord mayor of Dublin last year, Labour’s Brendan Carr announced a scheme to promote businesses who paid the living wage by awarding them with a plaque.
Others say it doesn’t matter what type of organisations are running these new homeless hostels for families, as long as the quality of service is good, and they are well monitored.
At recent meetings in City Hall, councillors discussed the growth in student housing in the Liberties, and Gardaí gave updates on some of what they’ve been doing in the inner city.
The squeeze in the private-rental sector means that those who run the programme for rough-sleepers must rely on social housing. Which isn’t always easy.
“When you have regulation of the entertainment industry from 1935 it’s definitely outdated,” says Constantin Gurdgiev. “The social conditions which might have warranted the regulation no longer exist,” he says.
