Cathal O'Connell

The Housing Market and Owner Occupation in Ireland

One of the most defining features of the Irish housing system is its relatively high rate of owner occupation and the consequent overshadowing effect of this on other tenures. According to the 2002 Census returns the rate of owner occupation in Ireland stood at 77 per cent, while the other tenures – private renting and social housing – represented approximately 11 per cent and 7 per cent respectively (Central Statistics Office 2004b). The current imbalance in the Irish housing profile is the outcome of particular political tenure strategies pursued since the foundation of the State in the early 1920s. The pursuit of these strategies has had the effect of favouring the development of owner occupation, through a variety of both direct and indirect measures, as the preferred housing option for the majority of households in the community. The knock-on effect of this has been to constrain the size, role and effectiveness of the rental tenures in offering credible alternative housing opportunities to the population. This chapter considers a number of themes related to the owner occupied sector in the Irish housing system. These themes can be summarised as: the direction of housing trends since the formation of the State; an overview of direct and indirect state supports for owner occupied housing, an examination of schemes which focus on enabling low-income households access owner occupation; and finally a commentary on the phenomenon of house price inflation in the Irish housing market in the 1990s and the implications of this for the housing system.

Social Housing Management, Governance and Delivery in Ireland: Ten Years of Reform on Seven Estates

This paper examines developments in social housing management, governance and delivery in the Republic of Ireland during the last decade, using evidence from two rounds of research conducted in 1997 and 2007 on seven social rented estates, located in a variety of regions. Among the three most significant developments in this regard, the reconceptualisation of the housing management function has had the most positive impact on the views of tenants. Some aspects of the externalisation of social housing provision, such as the growth of the housing association sector and the use of PPP arrangements for social housing regeneration, have also been positive, but the future of this externalisation agenda is uncertain. The impact of the various reforms to the management of the social housing service, such as advent of strategic policy making and performance monitoring, has been uneven in some cases and uniformly low in others.

The symbolic representation of community in social isolation and loneliness among older people: Insights for intervention from a rural Irish case study.

Social isolation and loneliness are common experiences of ageing in rural communities. Policy responses and interventions for social isolation and loneliness in later life are shaped by sociocultural understandings of place, relationships and social interaction. This study examined how representations of rural community in Ireland influenced the focus, relationships and activities within a befriending intervention designed to tackle social isolation and loneliness. Through a qualitative case study conducted in 2014, the symbolic meaning of the intervention was explored using interviews and focus groups with participants (8 befriended, 11 befrienders and 3 community workers) from one befriending programme in rural Ireland. Reflected in the programme was a representation of a rural community in decline with concern for the impact on older people. There was a valuing of the traditional community defined by geographical place, perceptions of similarity among its members, and values of solidarity and mutual support. The befriending intervention represented a commitment to intra-community solidarity and a desire by many for authentic befriending relationships that mirrored understandings of relationships within the traditional community. Identifying and alleviating social isolation and loneliness imply a set of normative values about community and the optimal social relationships within community. This paper proposes that there is a need to consider the role played by understandings of community in shaping context-sensitive interventions to counter social isolation and loneliness in later life.

Decline and Renewal of Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods: Old Insights, New Evidence and Policy Implications

This article employs two tranches of qualitative research conducted in 1997–1998 and 2007–2009 on five low income social housing estates in three Irish cities to explore the trajectories they followed in terms of their ability to attract and retain residents. Four factors are identified as particularly significant in this regard: social order and disorder, community cohesion, neighbourhood life cycle and institutional strategies and capacities. Whereas the quality of the built environment and disadvantage had no clear primary impact on demand, the conclusions identify the implications of the analysis for the literature on neighbourhood change and for planning, housing and neighbourhood regeneration policy in Ireland and internationally.

Foreword and Acknowledgements

This monograph has developed out of the research of the Kinchega Archaeological Research Project (KARP).1 In 1995, I was invited to take part in an archaeological project on the Kinchega National Park, by Peter Grave (University of New England, Armidale) and Paul Rainbird (formerly of Sturt University and the University of Wales, Lampeter). The initial aspiration for this project was that it would concern the prehistory and pastoral history of the Kinchega National Park. However, the departure of Peter Grave at the project’s initiation, and then Paul Rainbird in 1997, meant that the resulting Kinchega Archaeological Research Project focused on my own specialisms in the realm of household archaeology. I am grateful to both these colleagues for inviting me to take part in this project, and particularly to Paul for his support and encouragement to continue with it.