Festival of Home

national | housing | news report Friday November 24, 2006 13:55 by Sean Crudden - impero sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth. 087 9739945

Home - Homelessness. What are the Issues?

Yesterday on the final day of the two-day "Festival of Home" organised by Focus Ireland in The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, an all-day conference took place entitled "Building Houses or Creating Homes?"

Key issues discussed: Psychological and other factors such as autonomy, independence, personal control, social support, belonging, reference groups, home as a springboard for a desired lifestyle, shame, NIMBY (not in my back yard) and NOTE (not over there either), affordability.

Two interesting "statistics" to emerge were that there are 280 000 single person households in The Republic of Ireland and the provision of social housing has declined over two decades from 27% of new houses to 7%.

It was pointed out by Robyn Dowling that that our concept of home is an idealised, socially constructed one. At a parallel session I asked for consideration to be given to alternatives to this concept of home for classes such as old people, widowed people, out-of-home teenagers.

Approximately 130 people attended the conference.

Speakers included Declan Jones, Chief Executive, Focus Ireland; Dr Robin Dowling, senior lecturer, Urban and Cultural Geography, MacQuarie University; Professor David Clapham, professor of housing, Cardiff University; Sr Stanislaus Kennedy; Mary McAleese, President of Ireland; Mick Wallace, Wallace Construction; Anna Lee, manager, Tallagh Partnership; Philip Watt, director, National Consultative Committee on Racialism and Interculturalism; Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Joseph Rowntree Professor of Housing, University of York and director of the Centre for Housing Policy.

I attended and spoke at a "parallel" session on "Fragile Homes: Supports and Barriers to Sustaining Home." This session was chaired by Dr Jeanne Moore, policy analyst, NESF.