The period since the mid-1990s is distinguished by radical change in the housing sector in Ireland. During this time, house prices rose at an unprecedented rate. Between 1993 and 2003 the average price of a new house in the State increased by 220 percent. Private rents also grew and waiting lists for social housing lengthened. At the same time, new house building increased rapidly to one of the highest rates in the European Union. This development transformed city centres and suburbs, and also provincial towns and the countryside, which saw unprecedented construction of holiday homes and estates for commuters working in urban areas.

This book, the first comprehensive review of housing in Ireland for many years, introduces, in an accessible manner, the key housing developments since the foundation of the State and also reports on the findings of the latest research on the transformation of the sector in the past decade. The issues examined here include:

-the impact of the house price boom on wealth and affordability

-the urban renewal schemes and private rented housing

-the management of social housing

-the accommodation of Travellers and homeless people

-rural housing policy and politics

During the past decade, Irelanda (TM)s economic growth has attracted international attention. This book analyses the consequences of that growth on housing and serves as a primer to other countries on the complexities of delivering sustainable housing solutions in the face of economic success.

As such, this book will be of interest to students, practitioners andpolicy-makers involved in the housing field worldwide and to anyone who wishes to learn more about the causes and effects of Irelanda (TM)s recent housing boom.

This book examines the long-term development of the Irish welfare state since the late nineteenth century. It contests the consensus view that Ireland, like other Anglophone countries, has historically operated a liberal welfare regime which forces households to rely mainly on the market to maintain their standard of living. Drawing on case studies and key statistical data, this book argues that the Irish welfare state developed differently from most other Western European countries until recent decades. Norris's original line of argument makes the case that Ireland's regime was distinctive in terms of both focus and purpose in that Ireland's welfare state was shaped by the power of small farmers and moral teaching and intended to support a rural, agrarian and familist social order rather than an urban working class and industrialised economy. A well-researched and methodical study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of social policy, sociology and Irish history.

In a groundbreaking longitudinal study, researches studied seven similar social housing neighbourhoods in Ireland to determine what factors affected their liveability. In this collection of essays, the same researchers return to these neighbourhoods ten years later to see what's changed. Are these neighbourhoods now more liveable or leaveable? Social Housing, Disadvantage and Neighbourhood Liveability examines the major national and local developments that externally affected these neighbourhoods: the Celtic tiger boom, area-based interventions, and reforms in social housing management. Additionally, the book examines changes in the culture of social housing through studies of crime within social housing, changes in public service delivery, and media reporting on social housing. Social Housing, Disadvantage and Neighbourhood Liveability offers a new body of data valuable to researchers in Ireland and abroad on how to create more equitable and liveable social housing.

In a groundbreaking longitudinal study, researches studied seven similar social housing neighbourhoods in Ireland to determine what factors affected their liveability. In this collection of essays, the same researchers return to these neighbourhoods ten years later to see what's changed. Are these neighbourhoods now more liveable or leaveable? Social Housing, Disadvantage and Neighbourhood Liveability examines the major national and local developments that externally affected these neighbourhoods: the Celtic tiger boom, area-based interventions, and reforms in social housing management. Additionally, the book examines changes in the culture of social housing through studies of crime within social housing, changes in public service delivery, and media reporting on social housing. Social Housing, Disadvantage and Neighbourhood Liveability offers a new body of data valuable to researchers in Ireland and abroad on how to create more equitable and liveable social housing.

This book examines the long-term development of the Irish welfare state since the late nineteenth century. It contests the consensus view that Ireland, like other Anglophone countries, has historically operated a liberal welfare regime which forces households to rely mainly on the market to maintain their standard of living. Drawing on case studies and key statistical data, this book argues that the Irish welfare state developed differently from most other Western European countries until recent decades. Norris's original line of argument makes the case that Ireland's regime was distinctive in terms of both focus and purpose in that Ireland's welfare state was shaped by the power of small farmers and moral teaching and intended to support a rural, agrarian and familist social order rather than an urban working class and industrialised economy. A well-researched and methodical study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of social policy, sociology and Irish history.

During the past decade, Ireland 's economic growth has attracted international attention. This book analyses the consequences of that growth on housing and serves as a primer to other countries on the complexities of delivering sustainable housing solutions in the face of economic success. It introduces key housing developments and also reports on the findings of the latest research on the transformation of the sector in the past decade.

When first published in December of 1843, Charles Dickens's A CHRISTMAS CAROL was hailed instantly as a masterpiece. Since that time, the work has never been out of print. As well, the book has been translated into dozens of languages, adapted into countless stage and film versions, and even made into operas and ballets. In this penetrating 10,000-word study, Michael Norris tells the complete story behind Dickens's writing of the book. Norris dives deep into his topic to discover the altruistic angels and monetary demons which drove Dickens, the public debates and rancor which informed him, and the terrible childhood memories which both haunted and inspired him. Here, at last, we have the ideal reader's companion for Dickens's Christmas classic.

It is 1805. After Captain James Matthew Hauke of the Royal Navy ship of the line Man of War chases Napoleon's navy across the Atlantic he is left by Admiral Horatio Nelson to defend the Caribbean English colony of Dominica from French forces. The Captain is joined by an Irish Missionary, Father Padraig Smye, who has left his duties in the war torn revolutionary nation of Haiti to replenish his faith in New Orleans. Together they attempt the daring rescue of a young girl; the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner kidnapped by pirates. Their destination; an island that has no name, one designated on an ancient map only by a dire warning: Never land. Their mission goes terribly wrong once the sun sets and the secret denizens of this lost island come out to play. They are very old... and very hungry. Perry Bradford-Wilson and Michael Norris' thrilling dark fantasy novel merges history, mythology, and literature in an unforgettable tale of adventure.