David Kitt says his Fianna Fáil family link irrelevant to housing debate

Singer-songwriter David Kitt has said his family background in Fianna Fáil is of no relevance in his comments about the cost of living in Dublin.

Kitt has gone public on his decision to quit Dublin because the home he rents is being sold as part of a portfolio to a consortium of European investors.

He accused Fine Gael of "failing this city and its people massively. And Dublin's heart and soul is being ripped out and sold to the highest bidder."

On his Facebook page, Kitt posted: "It will be sold or rented no doubt to someone working for Amazon on a base salary of 70k while the people who make this city what it is are forced out to the suburbs or to a city (where) they can afford a reasonable quality of life and where their level of income doesn't make them feel like a complete failure."

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Kitt faced a backlash as a result of his comments with many people pointing out that his father, Tom Kitt, had been a member of the Fianna Fáil government during the boom time period. His uncle Michael, aunt Áine Brady and grandfather Michael snr were also Fianna Fáil politicians.

Kitt said it was “bloody typical” of “elements of the media” to bring up his family background and it did not address his essential argument that Dublin was becoming unaffordable for so many people.

“I’ve been dealing with a certain tribal spite all my life just because of my family name and it doesn’t have any relevance to this debate whatsoever,” he wrote in an updated Facebook post.

“By challenging the present administration by name I was by no means defending or extolling the virtues of previous ones. Certain elements of the media seem to be leaping on this part of what I said rather than discussing the important details – bloody typical.

"It's just tit for tat politicising and highjacking of an important issue. I'm simply a concerned resident and I can guarantee that whatever the party colours of the residing CEO of Ireland PLC, I would have taken issue with them over their handling of the current crisis.

“As our President put it ‘the neo-liberal model of unregulated markets, the privatising of the public space and the redirection of active participating citizens with rights to an existence of passive consumers with unlimited needs has exacted a terrible price on our economy and society’.”

Kitt also responded to those who said he should go and live in places outside Dublin where the cost of living is cheaper.

He stated that his original post was in response to a column in The Irish Times by Una Mullally about how creative types were being forced out of Dublin because of low rents.

“To those talking about Dublin not being the centre of the Irish universe, I get it, but that’s not really the point. There’s a whole lot more to this country that I’ll miss beyond Dublin but Una’s article was about Dublin and hence me chiming in as a born and bred Dubliner who is deeply saddened and angered by the way the city is headed and the costs involved.

“Maybe there are those in our midst who are happy to see it turn into Googletown and to see the back of lowly artists like myself but judging by the response here I’m not alone and that gives me some hope for the future of the city.”

He concluded: “I’m signing out, these posts will self-destruct in 24 hours and we can get back to usual service of strictly music around here, that’s definitely what I’m best at.”