Sir – Mr Murphy said, “he was satisfied that the traditional type of housing in this country would not supply the housing needs for a long time and it was possible that the erection of pre-fabricated houses might be undertaken to a limited extent in order to cope with the most pressing requirements”.
It wasn’t the current Minister for Housing, also called Murphy – Eoghan – it was Mr TJ Murphy, Minister for Local Government, speaking in Dublin Airport on his return from London in 1948 and reported in the Sunday Independent, September 5 1948, and reproduced in your supplement celebrating 70 years of the Republic (Sunday Independent, April 14).
So what has changed since that time over 70 years ago? Have we learned anything in the intervening years? From what we read about housing in today’s papers – no. I suggest the only change is the price of the paper, then two pence!
Alice Leahy
Director of Services
Alice Leahy Trust, Dublin 8
