Housing experts gather in Kildare for Maynooth conference on affordable homes for all

Experts on housing will gather in Maynooth tomorrow in a bid to create a new vision and plan for affordable homes for everyone. 

 Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute will host its second Annual Public Housing Conference tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, beginning at 10:00 in the Callan Building at Maynooth University. 

This year’s theme focuses on how  public housing can deliver affordable homes and a sustainable planet in the context of a changing political landscape.

 Featuring contributions from the public, private and voluntary sector, speakers at the conference will include Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, Fr Peter McVerry and advocate and campaigner, Patricia King, general secretary of ICTU.

SEE ALSO: Hard hitting warning signs for M7 motorists at toll plaza

 Other speakers will include John O’Connor, chief executive, The Housing Agency, Dr Mary Murphy, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University, Orla Hegarty, Lecturer/Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, UCD and Colette Bennett, Research & Policy Analyst, Social Justice Ireland.

Other participants are Hugh Brennan, Chief Executive, Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance CLG, Dr Daithi Downey, Dublin City Council Housing Observatory, Dr Lorcan Sirr, TU Dublin, author of “Housing in Ireland: The A to Z Guide,” Fiona Dunkin, Housing Policy Officer, Clúid Housing, Declan Daly, Tipperary Energy Agency, Rosemary Hennigan, Policy Coordinator at Focus Ireland and Bernard Joyce, Director, Irish Traveller Movement.

SEE ALSO: more Kildare stories

The conference will also have a screening of ‘Through the Cracks’ a short documentary on the experience of homeless families in emergency accommodation, with introduction from Ingrid Casey (poet, artist, and producer of Through The Cracks) and input from documentary participants directly affected by homelessness.

The afternoon session on achieving  a right to housing for all in Ireland will include contributions from John-Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive, Threshold, Dr Rory Hearne, Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University, author of Housing Shock: The Irish Housing Crisis and How to Solve it (due to be published in June 2020),  Michelle Byrne, Campaigns Officer, Union of Students in Ireland and

Aisling Hedderman, community activist, North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis Community.