Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no more open expression of hostility to some of our most vulnerable and deprived citizens than the appalling use of anti-homeless spikes. The cynical term describing these inhuman barbs is "defensive architecture". With whom do these people think they are at war? What are they defending against? The city belongs to everyone as does the space within it. There are some positive controls, including traffic lights, to alert people to various dangers. There are acceptable barriers and rails in place for our safety and to stop people wandering into cars and buses. There are benches in the parks and picnic tables. These are inviting features and offer people a chance to rest and a place to bring their families. However, metal spikes in doorways and on ledges clearly make a hostile and aggressive statement. They suggest the owners do not want that sort of person there. They suggest such people are not as good as the rest of us and are somehow lesser beings. These are ugly statements to make to those who are destitute and homeless through no fault of their own. They represent the antithesis of Ireland of the welcomes. There is no céad míle fáilte for the homeless here. These features are not defensive architecture but abusive architecture. They do nothing to address the problem of homelessness; they force the problem to go somewhere else. The idea is that out of sight is out of mind. God forbid someone working in a big bank might have to look at a homeless person. Such anti-homeless devices are a direct assault on the homeless and on our humanity and dignity. They blame the victims for their plight. They divide us into the haves and the have-nots. This is not how I want us to be defined. This is not how I want our city and country to be defined. I have no wish for the problem of homelessness to be brushed under the carpet. I have no wish for the homeless to be labelled as some sort of untouchable caste. I want the homeless to be treated with dignity, respect and humanity.

For many years, mention of social housing by councillors or deputies from the bigger parties was always frowned upon. This has led to the situation now facing communities. The idea has been filtered down over the years that social housing and homelessness are bad and that the people affected will cause us problems. That is nonsense. We built social housing estates in the 1960s and 1970s in large numbers. The biggest problem was that we did not put the facilities in place. That is what we need to do: we need to build social housing estates.

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