Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

The housing crisis is not just an urban crisis. It is also tearing out the very heart of rural Ireland. Young people are being priced out or locked out. They are being pushed into the larger towns or cities or, more often than not, they are being pushed abroad. GAA clubs and county boards are raising the alarm on this. Some are now appointing demographic officers to deal with rural youth depopulation. This week in my role as Sinn Féin spokesperson on rural affairs, I will be meeting with GAA president, Jarlath Burns, to discuss the very real impact on clubs, parishes and communities across the State.

The national planning framework that the Government pushed through the House actively promotes urban concentration at the expense of rural Ireland, deepening pressure on cities and depopulating the rest. The Our Rural Future strategy is silent on housing. It barely mentions it; there is only superficial mention. There is no ambition. There are no plans and no delivery. Virtually no affordable housing has been delivered in rural areas. In many towns and villages, no social home has been built in 30 years.

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