Well lads, I don’t often post but this is important. We need to speak up!

35 comments

1. >while the population of Ireland is mostly behind him

   They are until these houses are being built within 20km of their own house.

2. Done. I’m calling the fecker too.

3. Don’t waste your time without an email or letter,
   Call the dumb feckers if you want it better.

4. The easiest thing we can do is not vote for FFG traitors in future. Consign them to the history books.

5. Agree. There seems to be a weird number of people especially in this sub who genuinely seem to believe that things can’t possibly be improved. I don’t understand it.

6. Have to say I thought he lost his fire for a long time he certainly made up for it now. Remember he was elected by the country …where TDs are elected by constituency…..

7. Yeah, we should hold large protests like we did for the water charges.

8. I think nimbys are vocal and motivated, while others are not.

   That being said, all housing doesn’t need to be built in Dublin (nor do the hotels or the offices…).

   There are towns and villages all around the country dying on the arses because there are no young families there… A rural resettlement package might help, keep small schools open, post offices open, an increase in population will lead to better services.

   Tax the REITs. Force rents on build to let properties down (they are extortionate!!)

   Anyway that’s just a few thoughts on a Wednesday morning

9. https://www.whoismytd.com/

   In case you’re not sure how to go about it folks

10. It is a speech and the housing crisis has not been bubbling away, it has been fucking causing massive problems for years. eBay/PayPal are reducing their work force as they can’t hire people here as they can’t get a place for their workers to live. Same is starting to happen with other big corporations.

    It was the number one issue that voters complained at the last election. So I am not sure how anyone can say it was just bubbling away. The government, civil services and the councils response has been pathetic. No denying that.

    We haven’t been building enough homes for years and that is the main cause of the problem but where to put them, what type they are, how and who pays for them, height restrictions, water and sewage, electricity, public transport and schools, giving them access to doctors and hospitals. Even the amount of traffic on roads. Having jobs They are all problems that directly tie into housing. Also legal issues every turn because of our planning process. And saying they are simple to fix as Higgins said in his speech is infuriating. The speech also won’t fix the lack of builders and building supplies.

    The concept to fix the issue is simple but implementation is complex as hell and every politician has skin in the game. But even with all the complexities I am not sure why it is taking so long make head way.

11. I think we need to realise that sending emails to deaf ears is not a good enough protest for issues like this

    Literally laughing at us on the other end of these emails

12. Many times in history when the government or rulers of a nation do not serve the people, they get removed. These people will not change their greed, why expect them to change their actions? A broken system is a broken system.

13. I heard ministers are ‘outraged’ over his comments. Who? Who specifically? I would like to write to appointed TD’s who are so called ‘outraged’ by the truth in front of their faces, spoken no less by the President of our Republic. I would like to let them know their position is abhorrent, and I would suggest others to do the same.

    Can someone make a list of those against the Presidents words?

14. Emailed all my Wicklow TD’s there a minute ago

15. Here is my email in case anyone wants to copy pasta;

    Dear xxxxx,

    Just a quick note to voice my support for President Higgins comments on the ‘Housing Crisis’

    I can see in todays papers certain ministers maintaining he ‘overstepped’ the mark.

    At least he had the courage of his convictions to address an issue facing every single citizen in this country.

    What pressure are you putting on colleagues to find a solution to this problem?

    Regards,

    X

16. At the end of the day, while he stepped outside of his role as President, this truly is a crisis and maybe it caused for some unprecedented action. Also, it’s not like the man is calling for coup. He simply spoke for many in my generation.

    If we want to talk about politicians stepping outside their roles then maybe we should look at the current government. They are as usual quick to point the finger without reflecting on themselves. I think they forget (as do we) they are public servants paid for by the citizens of this country. Anything they do outside of the interests of the citizens of this county go beyond the role they were elected to do.

    We forget what living in a Republic is supposed to mean, as do the elected representatives in government. Let’s hope we remind them come next election.

17. Well said. The amount of people who email call and message people constantly, 50% of their waking hours, but have never emailed a TD about anything.

18. For those wanting to find out who their local TD is: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/

19. How would a person gi about wording a letter like that ?

20. I cant believe the audacity of those people saying he’s overstepped his mark.

    He’s commenting on the disaster that is housing. Would it be political that he mentioned there is a covid crisis?

    It touches a nerve for these slimebags as the primary reason for the disaster is political. There are other reasons and we are all complicit in letting it happen, this is why his comment is not political. But first and foremost reason for the disaster is decisions taken and not taken by our politicians.

21. Emailed the lot of them. We’re being prostrated to investment firms by sycophantic TD’s who’d crawl over their mothers grave for a round of golf with a ‘truly’ wealthy person.

22. In a non conspiratorial way, what would it take for you personally to protest. Feels like something has happened in modern society that governments, organisations can keep pushing and taking as they know the people won’t revolt against them. I think it became evident with the financial crises of 08′. Anytime in human history before the last 50 years those guys would have been rounded up and killed or exiled, but somehow they got away with it.

23. [whoismytd.com](https://whoismytd.com) to skip the pigeon

24. Have been feeling the exact same.

    Ive been getting increasingly pissed off at the way things are being thrown at us and honest to God, the reaction from ministers this morning has my blood boiling.

    I’m genuinely just thinking of drafting up an email outlining the issues and just forwarding on the same one every single day to a list of TDs. If enough of us do it they won’t have a choice but to respond.

    I think a country wide shut down is the only thing they’ll listen to at this point.

    I’ve had enough.

25. I actually got a fast reply from my TD (Ivana Basik) :

    >Thank you for the email, and your comments about the President’s speech referring to the housing crisis. As Leader of the Labour Party, I have been strong in voicing opposition to the Government’s failed policies on housing. Indeed, just now in the Dail during Leaders’ Questions today, I expressly endorsed President Michael D Higgins’ description of the housing crisis as a ‘disaster’ and referred also to his comments about ‘failures’ in government policy on housing.

    >I called on the Government to move urgently to prioritise State investment in housing provision.

    >You will be able to see my comments on the http://www.oireachtas.ie website later today.

    >Thank you again for getting in contact with me about this crisis, it is always good to hear from local constituents, and indeed in the Dail earlier I referred to the many contacts I am receiving from constituents in Dublin Bay South who are in desperate need of support with finding a home – both renters and those seeking to purchase but who are now realising that escalating house prices, together with the hike in inflation and the cost of living crisis, are putting their aspirations beyond reach.

    >You can be sure that I and my Labour colleagues will continue to hold Government to account for their failed policies on housing.

    It’s a bit basic however more than I expected.

26. Thanks, I sent this to my local FG and FF TDs:

    Dear James and Bernard,

    I hope that you are not among the ministers condemning the president’s remarks about the housing crisis/disaster in Ireland. It is a matter of fact that there is a housing crisis in Ireland – that fact remains regardless of politics.

    I hope that you are doing everything in your power to address the problem. I fully support the president in his assessment of the situation – he seems to be one of the few elected officials in the country with the public’s interest at heart.

    Kind regards,

    xxxx

    Leixlip resident

27. Thank you for the prompt and the template. My expanded message below, if anyone would like to use it:
     
     

    TD,
     
    I am voicing my support for President Higgins’ comments on the Housing Crisis in Naas, Jun 14th 2022, where he has described the housing policy in Ireland as our “great, great failure”. In particular, I would ask every member of the Government to take the following message to heart as the true experience of the citizens of this country:  “It isn’t a crisis any more – it is a disaster.”
     
    In an [article in the Independent](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/president-michael-d-higgins-crossed-line-in-housing-policy-attack-say-furious-ministers-41754031.html) today, a number of ministers have responded angrily to the President’s statements, although they have chosen to remain anonymous. Their claims that he “crossed the line” speaks to their ignorance on the role of the President, and reflects their underlying shame for having failed the current and future citizens of Ireland in this matter.
     
    As has been reiterated by the Tánaiste, it is absolutely the President’s prerogative to speak out, and any ministers and TDs who object to vocal criticism in this matter need to stand and identify themselves.  Any members of the Dáil who are not prioritizing the generational crisis created and unresolved by this government need to reveal themselves so that voters can exclude them in the formation of the next government.
     
    I ask you directly, as one one of your constituents: what pressures are you personally putting on your colleagues to find a solution to this problem?
     
    Regards,

28. If those senior pols have a problem with the reality in not just Ireland but everywhere, let them pop their head out of their anonymous holes and speak their minds instead of hiding in the shadows behind a reporter.

29. Emailed the Kildare North TDs with a variation of u/sithnaround’s template (thanks for that).

    We should compile the responses we get in a google doc or something to make it easier to compare them.

30. We are a nation of pushovers without a doubt, we continued to vote in the same parties that claimed they could and would fix the crisis they caused and thus we aided this magnificent clusterfuck to grow exponentially to this point and will continue to get worse and worse

31. Does anyone know could the names of the Tds lambasting Miggeldy be found through a Freedom of Information Request?

32. Great stuff! We need more organised actions like this on the sub. Thanks 👍

33. Done. Thanks for the prompt 👍

34. Done, sent to all of the TD’s in my constituency

    Everyone get on board it takes two minutes

35. “Ministers outraged at fair criticism of their absolute incompetence”