By Kathleen Stokes
When someone blows the roof off, we generally take this to mean that they excelled or exceeded at something. We can imagine what this looks like in the context of Rundale – penning a razor sharp critique or disentangling complicated events to better understand the underpinning interests and power dynamics.
Another way we might describe this could be ‘pulling back the curtain’ or ‘peeling off the layers’. We’ll stop with the cliched turns of phrase, this month’s contributions all do this to a superb standard, particularly in relation to Ireland’s housing market and taxation regimes.
Conor McCabe takes on the recent Apple Tax Case, detailing how the recent ruling illuminates the true character of the Irish state, its colonial mutations, and deep-rooted class relations.
Aaron Downey sets out how Ireland’s housing system transfers public wealth to private hands, raising vital questions for housing organisers about the concrete balance of political and economic forces and where energy can best be focussed.
Juliana Sassi bridges analysis from both these pieces, outlining how Ireland’s postcolonial dependency translates into a hyper-reliance on international investors for housing provision.
We are particularly excited that this is our first edition made up entirely of guest contributions. Juliana and Aaron’s articles are both based on talks presented at the first of a new series of Connolly Conversations held in Connolly Books in August – keep an eye out for more in the series over the autumn.
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