The obscenity of Abbotstown and neglected poor

It is the whole Campus Ireland project that is the scandal, not the aquatic centre and whether the contract concerning it was awarded to a shelf company (why on earth does that matter anyway?) It is the sheer outrageous indulgence of the project, the obscenity of the prioritisation that lies behind it, the contempt it reveals to the marginalised, vulnerable and deprived that it exposes - that is the scandal.

Of course it is crazy for lots of other reasons as well - siting a national stadium in an area so difficult to get at, especially at rush hour when at least some major sporting events would be starting just at the rush hour, is an obvious one. Putting it away from pubs, restaurants and the centre of town seems a mistake too. But these are asides. The main objection is the project itself, the proposal to spend such vast amounts of scarce resources on what is essentially an indulgence.

The project, if ever progressed, will cost certainly no less than €500 million. That €500 million of capital expenditure could transform the lives of tens of thousands of our citizens. Just think of what it would do for the homeless.

Eighteen months ago, in September 2000, the National Economic Forum reported that there were 39,176 households in need of local authority housing. One-third of them were unable to afford their existing accommodation, over one-fifth were living in overcrowded accommodation, one-eight were living in unfit accommodation and one-tenth were involuntarily sharing accommodation. Of these 39,176 households, two-thirds had a gross income of less than £6,000.

Given that reality, how could anybody seriously suggest that a sports stadium should take precedence over meeting the basic housing needs of such a large number of people? And yet it was in that same year - 2000 - that Bertie Ahern proposed building an 80,000 stadium at Abbotstown at a cost of €356 million and followed that up a year later by giving the GAA €76 million towards the rebuilding of Croke Park, a total of €432 million (of course the projected cost of the new stadium has rocketed since then.)

Yes, those were the good times but they weren't that good, we couldn't lash out on new and rebuilt stadiums and provide homes for the homeless. And proof of that is that now the number of households on waiting lists for housing has risen to almost 50,000 and the number of social housing units provided per year has been dropping.

In comparison with the vast expenditures in health, it might be argued that €500 million here or there would not make much of a difference. But just take one area where even a fraction of that would make an enormous difference: the mental hospitals.

THE REPORT of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals, Dermot Walsh, for the year 2000 was, as usual, published almost a year late, towards then end of 2001. Writing on the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dublin, he states: "Unit 4 needed to be brought up to an acceptable standard as a mater of urgency and it was disappointing that no progress had been made on this matter (his last several reports had made the very same point). An overall deterioration in standards in Unit 7 was observed on this inspection, particularly with regard to ward hygiene."

Of St Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman, he wrote: "A marked deterioration in overall physical standards at the hospital was noted since the previous inspection. Concern was expressed at the deterioration in the physical facilities and overall standards in the two male disturbed wards. They needed to be redecorated and refurbished."

Of St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar, he wrote: "Female admission patients were still in 'temporary' accommodation in the main hospital building and male patients still occupied the totally unsatisfactory accommodation in what was originally the female admission ward. Work was supposed to be undertaken to upgrade the old male admission unit. No rational explanation was provided as to why nothing had happened on the proposed restructuring and refurbishment."

Writing of St Kevin's ward in Our Lady's Hospital, Cork, he states: "The conditions in St Kevin's intensive care units at Our Lady's Hospital were totally unacceptable, particularly conditions in the ground floor units which were disgraceful and something that could not be tolerated in our mental health services."

These are just a few scattered comments culled form the latest report. The report as a whole acknowledges the progress that has been made in conditions in mental hospitals but, as is obvious for the above, it also notes the still appalling conditions that exist in wards of psychiatric hospitals around the State.

I have visited several of these hospitals and seen the absence of elementary facilities for long-stay patients: often no privacy at all, no curtains, no private lockers, often not even personalised clothing. Hundreds of our citizens live most of their lives in these awful conditions, conditions that could be transformed by modest capital expenditure.

I recall during a visit to St Ita's in Portrane a few years ago noting broken taps on wash-hand basins and being told that the taps had been broken for up to six months because there was no money to fix them. All that was needed was a tap for each of them and that would have cost about a fiver each.

We can't afford elementary conditions for the most vulnerable of our citizens, no homes for tens of thousands of homeless and we talk of building a national stadium at a cost of €500 million-plus and argue only over a contract being given to a shelf company.

Vote no.

vbrowne@irish-times.ie