People not 'units' - are Ireland's housing targets wrong? -RTE Behind the Story (32 mins) www.rte.ie/radio/podcas...

Smart cities know that, as hot as they already are, they’re just going to keep getting hotter. Greening the city not only cools it down, it cleans the air, quiets the noise, improves mental health & happiness, saves public money, & more. Strand Aldwych, London. 2021 vs. 2025. Via @modacitylife.com

Pet peeve: Irish media using images of UK construction sites (yes, we can tell)

“Construction sector worth €14.3bn to Irish economy Investment in dwellings at 5.6% of Ireland’s modified gross national income, down from 6.1% in 2023 6% of all people employed in Ireland worked in construction in 2024, below EU average of 7%” www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Barcelona's epic Sagrada Familia could be finished in 10 years reut.rs/4mgo66F

“People not 'units' - are Ireland's housing targets wrong?” my podcast yesterday, RTE Behind the Story, with Katie Hannon, David McCullough & Fran McNulty #housing #speirgorm www.rte.ie/radio/podcas...

How drawing is a good way to take notes in a meeting or class. Graphic Recording is a way of capturing information using a combination of single words, bullet points, doodles and directional arrows, explains Jennifer Flynn @wearetudublin.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

“Central Bank warns State spending not sustainable without raising taxes or infrastructure cuts. Broadening the tax base is necessary to create the fiscal and economic capacity to increase public capital investment as envisaged in the National Development Plan” www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

“recommendation is reform of public procurement to ensure that quality rather than the lowest price is accepted. Current practices reward unrealistically low prices that ultimately drive disputes, increase costs & delay delivery” This 1000% irishbuildingmagazine.ie/2025/09/16/a...

“Ikea enters Irish housing market with €73m investment in Dublin Ingka said it would treat rental payments as mortgage repayments w/ transfer of all 150 homes to local authorities at end of lease” Why can’t this be a condition of all local authority purchases? www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...

“Taoiseach had to intervene to get extra funding for social housing The delay effectively stalled the delivery of up to 5,000 homes due to a lack of funds” extra.ie/2025/09/15/n...

“People not 'units' - are Ireland's housing targets wrong?” my podcast yesterday, RTE Behind the Story, with Katie Hannon, David McCullough & Fran McNulty #housing #speirgorm www.rte.ie/radio/podcas...

“Dublin is becoming a place of extremes, home to only the very richest and the poorest More than 3,300 new houses were built in Dublin city last year. Just 155 were bought by households” -Lorcan Sirr @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

“One-off housing policy shift will allow people build homes on their own land, says Taoiseach” ..self-building is great, but homes must be in locations that don’t generate more car-dependent sprawl, or cause damage to groundwater or sensitive environments www.thejournal.ie/one-off-hous...

“New housing plan ready within next month, says Taoiseach” “Most building is funded by the State..even work carried out by private sector…private sector dependency on State funding needs to be eased out” ..govt painted themselves into this tight corner, despite warnings www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...

🏗️ 🇮🇪 12.5% decrease in number of dwellings granted Planning in Q2 2025 (compared to Q2 2024) In Dublin, 35.5% decrease overall, permissions for houses down 45% & apartments down 30% *decrease is primarily a factor of developer confidence not “Planning Barriers” www.cso.ie/en/releasesa...

Why new apartment standards won't mean housing more people: This policy sleight of hand is a ‘win’ only for investors, and the government’s supply target, writes @orla-hegarty.bsky.social @ucddublin.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

“House prices will rise further if garden cabin rules are relaxed, Government is warned” @wayneoconnor.bsky.social www.independent.ie/irish-news/h...

“Sale of €500m student housing portfolio on hold due to rent control uncertainty” @killianwoods.bsky.social www.businesspost.ie/commercial/s...

“Why is a State organisation LDA competing with taxpayer-funded housing bodies in developing new apartments?” .. great to see some procurement analysis looking at risk management & value for money in the housing programme, by Joe Brennan @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Courts do not decide merits of a Planning application Courts determine if the law was followed correctly in the Planning process Access to the courts to uphold laws ~enacted by politicians~ is a democratic right, & it is exercised by both citizens & developers www.independent.ie/irish-news/j...

“Half of the households in Ireland have children, yet there is no plan for where, & how, the next generations will live” my piece today in @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

“policy sleight of hand is a ‘win’ only for investors & government’s supply target. A typical 100 unit apartment building can house up to 275 people, but re-designed as studios only 178.. with same draw on limited finance, construction capacity infrastructure” #speirgorm www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

“Minister threw out the baby, the bathwater & the toys, ordering "there shall be no min or max req’ment for apartments with a certain number of bedrooms" This hits hardest on children because 2nd & 3rd bedrooms are where children sleep & play” @ucddublin.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

“Half of the households in Ireland have children, yet there is no plan for where, & how, the next generations will live” my piece today in @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

🏗️ Irish construction activity fell last month - AIB report “Commercial activity decreased for the first time in seven months.. housing projects down for fourth month running.. civil engineering activity also fell at a sharper rate than in July” www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...

“Fifth of children in poverty after housing costs”- ESRI www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

“Govt could not continue to make constant changes to housing policy, as the sector needed certainty...[but] one or two major changes could be introduced around the budget” nO mOrE cHanGeS… jUsT oNe oR tWo mAjOr cHanGes www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...

“Easing of garden cabin rules could have ‘unintended consequences’ for tenants Threshold warns units could be rented out without planning, safety or tenancy protections” www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Senior architects have hit out at price rises by software brand NBS and criticised the RIBA for having sold off its key technology arm brand five years ago

Nave is a modular, electricity-free terracotta cooling system by Yael Issacharov that uses water’s evaporative effect to cool indoor spaces sustainably and aesthetically. It’s offered as wall tiles, partitions, or a vertical totem and draws on Palestinian and Egyptian traditions.

Ahead of Saving The City (podcast series coming Sept 10), I wrote about ten things that would improve Dublin.

“Dublin City Council defends housing & zoning targets against minister’s directions Already sufficient capacity in development plan to meet city’s housing needs, says senior council official” when political panic meets proper planning www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...

Threshold housing charity: “When changes to rent controls kick in, the government will have to hike the amount that it spends on rental subsidies if it is to avoid near-catastrophic levels of homelessness” @dublininquirer.com @laoiseneylon.bsky.social www.dublininquirer.com/government-w...

When investing in sustainable walking, cycling, & affordable public transport means you’ve “fallen behind” on buying more cars 🤣

“American Students in Ireland Run Into The Country's Housing Crisis” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...

Housing: “Limerick Mayor plans to deliver 2,000 modular homes” “units on display measuring 23 square metres & 32 square metres” Permanent homes the size of 2 parking spaces! This is not safe, sustainable or liveable housing www.rte.ie/news/2025/09...

The way that housing co-ops work in Switzerland may seem foreign to many. But the central idea is simple: What if homeownership had no profit motive and no capital gains? Advocates say their model could reshape how the world thinks about affordable housing. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/r...

“New reports show 79% of private homes sold in Dublin last year were bought by landlords” Landlords fleeing INTO the market 🙄 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

Yes, you do need independent professional advice for building work, to protect your interests & investment www.bbc.com/news/article...

Schools: For generations, clean air in classrooms was used to stop children catching infections They could do it in the 1850s, there is no excuse not to in 2025 @cleanairie.bsky.social

🎧 New Apartment Standards the 20th Century Tenements My conversation with Rory Hearne on Reboot Republic podcast (no paywall) www.patreon.com/posts/patron... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4DZe... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/r...

❌“Some of biggest savings for each individual apartment are found by cutting down on floor space – potentially lessening cost for a developer of between €30,000 to €43,500” ..this claim is just creative accounting—a studio was already cheaper to build than a 1-bed www.thejournal.ie/new-apartmen...

Communal, community & cultural space in apartment buildings produce rent—just less rent than more apartments in current market By allowing developers to do this, the opportunity for other uses—laundry, gym, community room, workshops, & other activity—is lost forever. Unjustified & shortsighted

RIAI Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland on apartment standards: “We are deeply concerned that moves to relax key design safeguards risk undermining the creation of sustainable, high-quality living environments & will create future long-term challenges for apartment owners & tenants” 1/2

🏗️ Court found that WhatsApp messages had concluded in a binding contract between the parties: “Builder: Are we saying it’s my job mate so I can start getting organised mate? Client: Yes” #Construction #Procurement www.engineersireland.ie/News/using-w...

Analysis: Builders blindsided by Browne’s apartment changes ..so builders, planners, architects, QSs, local authorities, tenant organisations —all critical stakeholders— blind-sided but not Land Development Agency, & some of their key developer partners 🤔 www.businesspost.ie/property/ana...

Research cautioned Browne new apartment standards bring only marginal savings for most units “if you only reduce floor area alone by five or six square meters per apartment, you’re only going to save €10,000 or €12,000” @killianwoods.bsky.social www.businesspost.ie/politics/res...

Construction firm sues over alleged €6.8m defects in glazing to Dublin office block #Construction #Procurement www.irishtimes.com/business/202...