Ukraine Homes

I think Tìr na nÒg is due to reappear shortly. That should be able to house a few thousand nicely.

It is not known yet how many will come, or for how long. This rubbish about how we can't house our own won't fly. As members of the EU we are going to have to muck in. Given that we are not NATO members and don't spend on defence or contribute much militarily to European security the least we will be expected to do is offer humanitarian aid.

If things stabilise in Ukraine and refugees can go home, it will only have been a tenporary problem. If tens of thousands of refugees become long term residents, that is something else again.

The State will have to get its act together regarding housing and spatial planning, the speed of provision of infrastructure and costs of providing infrastructure.

Refugees who plan to return usually stay close to border they crossed. That means Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

Majority of refugees who move further away from home may have lost everything or simply want a change, these people do not intend to come back. So whatever number will come in here you can bet that most of them will want to stay. Which is quite understandable. Social welfare here is more than they can earn in most of jobs over there.

12,000 people have registered housing offers in their homes with the Irish red cross at the last count, that's more than enough to cope with the current demand.

I think that this is a perfectly reasonable proposal. These people are not immigrants; they're war refugees from what will (hopefully) be a temporary conflict. If I left Ireland for same reasons, I'd just be happy to have shelter without the fear of death before I returned home.

However, what I greatly fear is that certain groups are going to try to profit from this latest episode of human misery.

@patnor1011 "Social welfare here is more than they can earn in most of jobs over there." But the cost of living here is a lot higher, nowhere near covered by social welfare payment. People are also going on about the receipt of medical cards, but again try get a GP to take you on and your first experience waiting 12+ hours in A&E will dampen that freebie right down.

And if you think thats going to happen I have some grass that i want to sell you :)

I know several people i work with who pledged rooms in their houses. When they sat back and thought about it though they realized they didnt think it through and wont be going forward with it.

People already struggling and gas and electricity and petrol to increase like nobodies business. Then food to go up.

You'll have one or more people in your house all the time. Heating on, feeding them.

Its all very noble, and you really feel for the refugees, but there is a reality to this. Can people afford to take in refugees. Will they be able to afford it going forward.

If you get to be friends with the people in your house it would be very hard to show them the door when you start to struggle or find that you no longer feel like you have space in your own home. And what do you say when they go looking for alternative accommodation when the times comes and they find out, as so many irish people are at this very moment finding out when they go to move, that they cant find accommodation on the market.

I know this might come across as an "I'm alright Jack" comment, but remember those many many cubicles for the Covid vax in places like Citywest? Could they be repurposed in the short term as a place to sleep and wash and be fed? A lid on top of the cubicle and a proper door would give privacy. Red Cross or whoever could supply food via our donations. Those centres were set up really fast and fair dues at the time, what is happening to them now though?

I know it is not ideal. But if these places are idle why not?

Buy the dip! Time to get into the ukrainian property market. Due to bounce back any day now!

There's nothing new in that. The Irish electorate has consistently voted in either neo-liberal or leftist parties election after election and stood by whilst the civil service was packed to the rafters with legions of the same.

Furthermore, no debate is allowed in the public sphere, and those who even try to call attention to uncomfortable elephants in the room can have their lives destroyed by twitter mobs. In many ways, the Irish have damned themselves. I suppose it's all well and good if you're living in a mortgage free house with a pension on the way, but that will be paid for by younger generations who have been used to fund these benefits through debt.

I guess we reap what we sow, eh....

I don't think that I can even point out what I'm referring to without getting the thread closed. Read between then lines, if you know what I mean :(.