Dublin’s slum flats

IT’S fitting that James Plunkett’s classic novel,

‘Strumpet City’, has been chosen as the

‘One City, One Book’ for Dublin for 2013.

Set against the backdrop of the 1913 Lockout, Plunkett’s Dublin is a city of stark contrasts, with its working class characters living in deplorable conditions. Reading the novel today, you will be struck by how little has really changed in our capital city.

A recent report found that 90 per cent of flats inspected by Dublin City Council were deemed unfit for habitation. A total of 1,500 units were targeted in the crackdown on substandard private housing and 1,400 did not meet the minimum legal standards.

That’s a pretty stark figure.

The

?¬1 million increased inspection programme, which is funded by the Department of the Environment, found unsafe electrics, no private bathrooms, windowless rooms, damp, mould and inadequate heating.

The shocking figures relate to just three roads in Dublin with high numbers of flats and bedsits. A further 7,000 properties are to be inspected in the city as part of the programme. There’s every reason to fear that this will throw up more disturbing statistics.

Dublin City Council is to be praised for stepping up the battle on so-called slum landlords who, presumably, wouldn’t allow members of their own families to live in their flats. Any official action against them, where appropriate, must be seen to be enforced to restore our faith in the private rented sector.

Many of those living in these dumps are from the fringes of our society. They may be single parents struggling to make ends meet; they may have a history of drug or alcohol dependency; they may have lived on the street at some stage.

These are largely individuals without a voice. In many cases, they don’t have the support of their families and have limited access to legal services. Some of them find it difficult to find rented properties that will accept rent supplement. They are easy prey for the slum landlords of 2013 who are trampling on the rights of the voiceless.

Thankfully, there are organisations like Threshold fighting in their corner. The chairperson of the housing agency, Senator Aideen Hayden, recently called for an

‘NCT for housing’ to tackle unscrupulous landlords.

Sadly, she was not surprised by the findings of Dublin City Council’s inspections.

“Some of these flats are in buildings that are more reminiscent of

‘Strumpet City’ than modern day Ireland,

? she noted.

It would be hard to come up with a bleaker assessment of the society we live in than that.