State needs to build and stop shovelling money at landlords

Housing is an intensely political issue – and while our leaders dither, the likes of Vienna and Berlin are showing the way forward

I know of a terraced house near Croke Park that has been vacant for a decade. In that time, its overgrown back yard sometimes invaded those of its neighbours; its roof leaked and its accelerating neglect infected the houses beside it and upset their owners.

One night 18 months ago, the squatters moved in and declared themselves at home. Within a few weeks, they had been removed, the house was placed on the ...