New housing plan promises 300,000 new homes. Can it deliver?
In hard hats and high-vis jackets, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Housing James Browne looked the part at Thursday’s launch of “Delivering Homes, Building Communities, 2025-2030″, the Government’s latest grand plan to tackle the housing crisis.By 2030, it is committed to delivering 300,000 new homes. It’s an ambitious target.But who is going to build these new homes and how can that target be met given successive governments’ failure to meet far more modest goals?Will private developers be tempted to ramp up the delivery of apartment schemes? And given the acute skills shortage in the construction industry, where will the builders – the real hard-hat wearers – come from? And what about Ireland’s creaking infrastructure - the water and electricity needed to make building possible?The shame of record-breaking homelessness figures means a move to solve this aspect of the housing crisis is a key plank of the new plan.Irish Times Political Correspondent Ellen Coyne was at the plan’s launch. She joins In The News to discuss these issues.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How Sudan became a killing zone
Few conflicts have caused as much horror and devastation to people’s lives as Sudan’s civil war. And yet, the country’s ongoing death and destruction remains largely unnoticed, and often ignored, by the rest of the world.An estimated 150,000 people have been killed, and 14 million people displaced, since the country was plunged into civil war in April 2023 after a power struggle broke out between the country’s army and a powerful paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).Last month, the RSF captured the city of El Fasher, the last major urban centre in Darfur held by the army and its allies. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were left trapped in desperate famine-like conditions with no access to food, medicine or relief supplies.The city’s civilians have also been subjected to mass killings, and ethnic and sexual violence, while pregnant women are giving birth on the streets after the last remaining maternity hospital was looted and destroyed.Why do so many in the world continue to the turn a blind eye to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis?And is a ceasefire even possible in a region plagued by decades of instability, mass displacement and destruction?Today, on In The News, how Sudan became a killing zone.New York Times chief Africa correspondent Declan Walsh discusses the devastating effects of Sudan’s civil war, the foreign powers funding the crisis and the measures needed to end this conflict.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What we know so far about the alleged plot to destroy Galway Mosque
Last Friday, two men appeared before Portlaoise District Court as part of a Garda investigation into an alleged terrorist plot by an extreme right wing group to attack Galway Mosque.The two men were arrested on Co Laois on Tuesday during a cross-Border antiterrorism operation and were charged with possession of explosives.A video found by gardaí on one of the men’s phones revealed a ‘practice’ recording of what the extreme right wing group intended to release after its planned attack on Galway mosque.A major inquiry is now under way to determine how long the alleged plot was in the planning, what role others may have played and to identify all four men who appear in the video. Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally has the latest details. Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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COP30: Will this be the year for real change?
On Monday, the COP30 climate summit officially opened in the Brazilian city of Belém at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.Brazilian organisers have insisted this will be the “COP of implementation” where measures needed to combat the climate crisis will take precedence over more promises and never-ending negotiations.This year’s global summit marks a decade since the highly lauded Paris Agreement – the landmark agreement signed by almost 200 countries and designed to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Its main goal was to limit future global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above ‘pre-industrial’ levels. And while some progress has been made, ten years on from this legally binding agreement, emissions are still rising and UN secretary general António Guterres has acknowledged it is now “inevitable” that humanity will overshoot this 1.5 cap.What exactly do world leaders hope to achieve over the coming fortnight?How will the absence of a US-led delegation impact plans for cutting global emissions? And in a world deeply distracted by war, defence and ideological divisions, can China and the EU take the lead in pushing climate measures back up the list of international priorities?Irish Times Climate and Science correspondent Caroline O’Doherty joins the podcast from Belém to discuss whether this year’s climate negotiations will move beyond plans and into concrete action.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Is it time to change the way we buy houses?
For most people, the process of buying a house can be quite disheartening. The lack of housing supply across the country means houses often sell for way above asking price and usually after an excruciating bidding war. While the Government promises to address the supply issue, is there anything that needs to change about the way we buy houses? In the UK, a major reform of the house-buying system has been proposed by the Labour Government. The plan aims to cut costs, reduce delays and make the whole process more efficient for buyers and sellers. Under the new plan, sellers would have to provide key information about the house upfront. Binding contracts could also be introduced earlier. It would cut the costs for first time buyers and speed up the process by up to four weeks - so should Ireland follow suit?In today’s episode, Ciarán Mulqueen, who runs the social media account Crazy House Prices, takes a look at how the process works in other countries and whether something similar could be introduced here.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In The News is a daily podcast from The Irish Times that takes a close look at the stories that matter, in Ireland and around the world. Presented by Bernice Harrison and Sorcha Pollak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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