The fetishisation of private property ownership in Ireland; To what extent has the Celtic Tiger influenced Ireland's ambiguous relationship with property ownership to date?

Ireland is currently in the midst of a housing crisis characterised by a lack of affordability and an insufficient housing supply. It is well established that Ireland not only has a history of a volatile property market, but also deep historical connections to land and homeownership which many academics attribute to the unique national relationship with property. This research aims to define the ambiguous nature of the Irish relationship to property and highlight, through the similarities between the Celtic Tiger and the current housing crisis, that this relationship has yielded largely negative consequences for Irish society. Specifically, this study looks at the role of property in the Celtic Tiger under the themes of the ‘home’, the role of Government and the impact on Irish society. To test the hypothesis that an ambiguous relationship with property exists and was at the heart of the Celtic Tiger property crisis, qualitative research was undertaken in the form of interviewing individuals with a unique or in-depth interpretation of this relationship, namely politicians and industry experts. Through a mixture of structured and semi-structured interviews, their responses were recorded and then analysed to establish recurring themes and viewpoints that would shape the direction of the analysis and findings. Interestingly, some responses were in contradiction of the main hypothesis, suggesting that the role of Government has a more prominent role in placing property in the forefront of the Irish psyche. Combined with further analysis of existing academic and political discourse, it was concluded that similarities between the Celtic Tiger and the current crisis have less to do with an underlying fascination with property but in fact relate more to Government inaction in the property market that perpetuates divisiveness and widens existing inequalities in housing