The plaza needs help, says Sean Mullan, owner of the Third Space cafe. “Someone with the imagination that we could make this a vibrant space that belongs to the city.”
The NTA is working on revising schedules and updating technology to try to make sure buses in Dublin – and real-time information about them – are more reliable, a spokesperson said.
The homes have gone through round after round of repairs in recent years. Meanwhile, there are thousands of households on the social housing list in the area.
These might include helping “activate” projects that already have planning permission built, and perhaps providing affordable student housing, a spokesperson says.
Department of Housing figures show around 200 built in the Dublin City Council area in the first half of 2022 – but 138 of those weren’t finished until months later.
People waiting on them, stuck in precarious housing situations, are getting increasingly desperate, says People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin. “It’s causing so much trauma.”
Official figures show an small uptick in landlords telling the RTB they were claiming an exemption from rent-cap rules because their properties hadn’t been rented for a while, or ever. But the totals are still small.
The Housing Assistance Payment scheme is designed to mirror social housing, but HAP tenants are not always treated the same as those living in council-owned social homes.
Local councillors welcomed the plans, including confirmation that all the homes will be social or affordable, but also flagged the high proportion of studios.
