Opinion

Time for leading political parties to take housing crisis seriously

The decision by Belfast City Council to green light a community greenway on the Mackie’s site is disastrous.

This is a 25-acre site which is currently owned by the Department of Communities in an area where the need for housing is at crisis level. For the council to agree this site should be used for a £5.1 million greenway is not only short sighted but it is actually extremely unethical when there are so many people on the housing list.

There are currently 15,318 children homeless, 18,659 children in housing stress and 28,000 children in the housing list. To throw an opportunity of building homes away is shameful. How much more are working-class people supposed to endure? A lack of homes, reliance on food banks, energy poverty and growing poverty in general while the government continues to ignore these issues we, the working class are suffering. The working class who kept the country going during a global pandemic.

A proposal to defer the decision on the plan was defeated and the plan for the greenway was pushed through by Sinn Féin, the DUP and PUP. If this is not a sign of the utter contempt these parties hold the working class in, I’m not sure what is. Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) have warned that this plan will destroy all possibility for the site to be used for housing in the future and they have correctly pointed out that this greenway in fact creates a barrier between communities north and west rather than connecting them.

This site had the potential to provide housing for many families in desperate need. The fact that the desperate need for housing has once again been ignored by Sinn Féin and the DUP cannot go unchallenged. That they pushed this application through due to ‘legalities’ and the fact there was no other application in the system is ludicrous, reckless and completely ignores the desperate need of many families in Belfast.

We now have a very real housing crisis in Belfast and this must be addressed immediately and seriously. We need to use sites like Mackie’s to build social housing not just turn them into greenways. We require rent control and an end to the guarantor rule for those in private renting. It is well beyond time that the leading parties begin to take the housing crisis seriously. Any plans to privatise the NIHE must be vigorously opposed and we must have in place plans to build social housing through the NIHE before it is too late.

GEMMA WEIR


Workers’ Party, North Belfast

Lest we forget

Referring to John Healy’s letter (November 5) there are a number of points I would like to take issue with.

Firstly, I think Eric Bogle would be horrified if either of his excellent anti-war songs No Man’s Land or The Band Played Waltzing Matilda were used as Remembrance Day anthems. His attitude to such events may be best summed up in these lines from the latter.

‘They’re tired old heroes from a forgotten war and the young people ask, “What are they marching for?” And I ask myself the same question.’

Secondly, the Furey’s took the lyrics of No Man’s Land changed the title, trashed the lyrics and now, unfortunately, their version is the one most commonly sung in the pubs and clubs throughout Ireland. The verse highlighted by Mr Healy has been desecrated as follows:

‘The trenches have vanished now under the plough

No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now

But here in this graveyard it is still No Man’s Land

And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand.’

The poetry has been replaced by the following meaningless drivel.   

‘And look how the sun shines from under the clouds

There’s no gas, no barbed wire, there’s no gun firin’ down

But here in this graveyard that’s still No Man’s Land

The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand.’

Thirdly, I take issue with the finding of the grave of William McBride; I distinctly remember Eric Bogle being interviewed on this subject, he said, and I paraphrase: “I just chose a name, every name under the sun was in that cemetery so there had to be a William McBride.” The facts that a grave has now been uncovered that seems to fit the bill is purely coincidental, there is no connection to a Co Armagh family in the song.    

I, being a pacifist, have a problem with the ‘glorious dead’. Many of them would have died in vain and martyrdom is used as a weapon of war.

The First World War was the most horrific conflict imaginable; untold thousands were sent over the top to certain death, while the generals did their duty by standing mournfully at monuments. Of course republicans also love their ‘fenian graves’. I have vivid memories of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness carrying the coffins of dead IRA men. ‘Lest we forget’.   

P McKENNA


Newry, Co Down

£16 is just too much to stream game

May I commend Cahir O’Kane on his article  – ‘Gaapitalist claws’ (November 16).

I was quite surprised to discover that I would have to pay £16 to stream the Tyrone county final. I had enjoyed Dungannon’s odyssey in the championship last year  and also Trillick, Dromore and Coalisland this year –  as well as Moortown’s late comeback against Rock in the intermediate championship. However, I think £16 was just too much, I paid €5 to watch Derry county final the previous week. Kerry consented to giving Tyrone an extra week to help recover from Covid prior to last summer’s All-Ireland semi-final – it was ‘the right thing’ to do. Similarly (despite protestations from Tyrone county board) charging £16 was ‘the wrong thing’ to do.  I decided not to watch the game.

A nasty jolt, just when we were contemplating being able to watch Tyrone’s  county matches next spring.

Hard to compare this with a £10 day pass for Sky Sports to watch inter county championship games.

P DEVLIN


Coleraine, Co Derry

Irish government needs to act now on reunification

The conversation on Irish reunification is becoming more and more common place as each day passes.

I’m reminded of an old maxim my secondary school teacher used to offer up to her students preparing to sit the state exams – if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

It behoves all of us to start making preparations for seismic constitutional change on our island. To this end, a good first step would be for the Irish government to convene a Citizens’ Assembly so as to ensure the broadest cross-section of public opinion is heard on the topic of Irish unity. That includes the voices of those opposed to such a prospect.

If the omnishambles that is Brexit has taught us anything it is that a failure by government to plan for the type of huge change on that level results in chaos and catastrophe for citizens.

SÉAMUS HAZLETT


Ashbourne, Co Meath