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The better educated each Irish generation is, the worse its chances of home ownership

IT Sunday: Housing crisis analysis, tips for better financial health and David McWilliams writes from Ukraine

Fintan O'Toole: All things being equal, you would expect that, as Ireland produces more and more graduates, we would also be increasing the proportion of people in society who can meet this basic definition of being middle-class

Sun Jan 15 2023 - 08:46

Welcome to this week’s IT Sunday, a selection of the best Irish Times journalism for our subscribers.

Has Ireland bred a revolutionary generation? As with almost everything else in the country, the answer is definitely maybe. All things being equal, you would expect that, as Ireland produces more and more graduates, we would also be increasing the proportion of people in society who can meet this basic definition of being middle-class. But we’ve actually been doing the opposite, writes Fintan O’Toole. “The better educated each generation is in Ireland, the worse its chances of home ownership . . . And history tells us that the worst thing an old regime can do is to educate more people than it can comfortably absorb.”

Also touching on the housing crisis this week is Michael McDowell, who writes: “We need an entirely new approach to building social housing in Dublin. Rebuilding its existing social housing has been the council’s priority in the inner city for decades now.” McDowell also argues that radical change is needed to make Dublin a liveable city and that failed planning regulations and an ill-thought-out transport strategy make it more difficult to reimagine our capital.

As most people returned to ‘normal life’ this week after the Christmas break, Fiona Reddan examined four steps to better financial health in 2023. Assessing how to manage your mortgage, savings, pension and other debt does not need to be intimidating, says Reddan. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your pocket, try signing up to On the Money, the new weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers. You can read the latest edition of the newsletter here.

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In his column this week, David McWilliams writes from Ukraine where he finds a “brazen, rebellious collective two-fingers shoved up constantly to the bully in Moscow”, Putin. Kyiv is a city of women. The men are gone, or at least the men of fighting age. The entire country is mobilised, confident of victory and keen to talk about the economic reconstruction that will come after the war. What type of Ukraine will emerge from this conflict? Will it be in the EU? How can they create a prosperous economy? There’s a resolve not to return to the old system, he writes.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s snooker career at one time looked like it would be short but it is now one of the longest and most successful. Where most players have careers, O’Sullivan has had a shared journey. For every time he stepped out on the precipice threatening to leap, he has managed to find a way back. Johnny Watterson writes about the many lives of the once-troubled genius.

French television viewers caught a rare glimpse of their president as a human being in an interview broadcast last weekend, in which he spoke about his marriage with rare candour during a discussion with amateur journalists. The French leader responded cheerfully to questions which would have angered him in a press conference, reports Lara Marlowe.

Prince Harry’s book Spare came out this week and Jennifer O’Connell reviewed the much anticipated publication, saying “it’s fabulously bitchy, deliciously gossipy – and one long act of retribution. Spare spares no one. What save it from being an entitled whingefest are the moments of genuine poignancy and insights into an irretrievably weird family. You can read the full review here.

In his parenting column this week, John Sharry advised a reader whose 16-year-old daughter is finding it hard to make friends in secondary school: “There are days when she goes to school and probably talks to nobody all day,” said the reader. You can read John’s reply, here.

And finally, Roe McDermott advises a woman who is falling for a man, who is still living with his ex-wife due to the housing crisis. “The situation is so difficult in terms of the practicalities of living arrangements and money, and I don’t want to cause him any more stress . . . What is fair to ask of him around when he will be moving out?” Read Roe’s advice here.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including movie rundowns in our film reviews section, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest match reports in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.

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