There’s a huge old manse where I live that’s owned by a Christian religious cult. They have a mission there for young people 6 weeks of the year. The rest of the time it’s empty and unused.
Because charity is for the poors
I’m more concerned about actual residential building being left derelict or being used for Airbnb. That’s by far the more pressing problem than old church buildings.
Everyone hates the church so this feels like clutching at straws trying to get us angry at the church and not, *checks notes* the multitude of landlord TDs that prioritise their own greed over the housing of their constituents
This comes across as an easy win by knocking the church, plenty of other empty buildings that could be used.
The old “lets pretend all homeless people don’t have other issues going on that contributed to their homelessness that they need help / rehabilitation with first”
Otherwise you’re just creating an extremely unsafe space. Boggles my mind how some people can be so naive with overly simplistic solutions like this.
Because it would cost more to convert an old church building, which additionally may be under preservation order, to residential units than to just build from scratch. By the time you’ve hired an architect, done the building conversion, removed asbestos or other harmful substances, installed kitchens and bathrooms in a building not designed for them, adhered to fire and safety codes, got planning permission for fire escapes in a non-residential building … just build it from scratch.
Because a church is not a residential building and not equipped to act as one. Why not focus on empty buildings that are already better equipped to provide accommodation?
In Ireland, Insurance is God.
The RCC has been surprisingly quiet regarding this whole situation. You think they’d at least open up their church grounds to the refugee tents so they wouldn’t have to camp next to busy roads, but noooo.
Why doesn’t every bleeding heart lefty have a refugee on their couch?
11 comments
There’s a huge old manse where I live that’s owned by a Christian religious cult. They have a mission there for young people 6 weeks of the year. The rest of the time it’s empty and unused.
Because charity is for the poors
I’m more concerned about actual residential building being left derelict or being used for Airbnb. That’s by far the more pressing problem than old church buildings.
Everyone hates the church so this feels like clutching at straws trying to get us angry at the church and not, *checks notes* the multitude of landlord TDs that prioritise their own greed over the housing of their constituents
This comes across as an easy win by knocking the church, plenty of other empty buildings that could be used.
The old “lets pretend all homeless people don’t have other issues going on that contributed to their homelessness that they need help / rehabilitation with first”
Otherwise you’re just creating an extremely unsafe space. Boggles my mind how some people can be so naive with overly simplistic solutions like this.
Because it would cost more to convert an old church building, which additionally may be under preservation order, to residential units than to just build from scratch. By the time you’ve hired an architect, done the building conversion, removed asbestos or other harmful substances, installed kitchens and bathrooms in a building not designed for them, adhered to fire and safety codes, got planning permission for fire escapes in a non-residential building … just build it from scratch.
Because a church is not a residential building and not equipped to act as one. Why not focus on empty buildings that are already better equipped to provide accommodation?
In Ireland, Insurance is God.
The RCC has been surprisingly quiet regarding this whole situation. You think they’d at least open up their church grounds to the refugee tents so they wouldn’t have to camp next to busy roads, but noooo.
Why doesn’t every bleeding heart lefty have a refugee on their couch?
Get yourself to a nunnery