‘State building houses on State ground’ is best way to fix housing shortfall, says President

The “best possible way” out of the housing shortfall in Ireland is “the State building houses on State ground”, President Michael D Higgins has said.

Speaking on the Blindboy podcast earlier this week, President Higgins said the market cannot fix the entire housing shortfall by itself and the State has “a role” to play.

There was a preoccupation among Irish people with owning a home, he said, criticising the use of the term “getting on the property ladder” during the housing crisis.

“What you need is to have the experience of a home in a house, but it isn’t essential to own it ... We should just actually have a surplus of housing so that you have ones that are available to be filled. And that is possible, and it is possible for that to come to be in the future. I hope it does,” he said to Blindboy, who is a musician, podcaster and author from Limerick.

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During the discussion, Mr Higgins said emphasis has been placed on land ownership rather than land usage since the Famine in Ireland.

“The language that is now being used about property and getting one’s toe on the property ladder ... What all of this has done is it moves the conversation away from what is a home? A home is something into which you have poured intimacies. It is a shared space of security and shelter. There is something very much lesser when people talk about properties and the market,” he said.

Separately, Mr Higgins spoke to Blindboy on the topic of loneliness, saying “we have totally underestimated the degree of loneliness in our society”. He said loneliness was a “terrible feeling”.

“What strikes the bow and what resonates is in fact a desperate anxiety to connect and to be connected. Having a safe shelter and home is a crucial part of being connected to those with whom you have a physical relationship with, with those who are in your community and those in your society,” he said.

The President said he had not changed his views in his many decades in politics, and what was most important in the future was providing universal basic services including food, shelter and education.