In response to the death of Mark Glennon, the following article appeared on the Indymedia newswire under the byline Blanch4life. While the crime reporters for the rest of the media can report breathlessly about the "westies" and the politicians and Guards can outdo each other with get tough responses, this article looks at why the trade that Mark Glennon and his brother supposedly died over took such a hold in D15 and what the celtic tiger is actually delivering for those who have jobs. People protested in Dublin this weekend at the deaths of two people left behind by our Celtic Tiger economy, and tried to find out why some citizens in the North are so alienated - who'll speak for those riding the tiger out in Blanch?

"So, what's the answer to all this? How do you stop young men becoming involved in gang culture? The traditional left wing answer is that the area is economically depressed, a 'blackspot', and needs more investment in jobs as well as extra Garda on the beat to combat crime. This may have been true in the 80's and even up to the mid 90's, but it is a blinkered response to the reality of Blanchardstown today. The Celtic Tiger is there in full effect..."

The recent tragic deaths of two ‘homeless’ people in Dublin highlights the Governments acute inadequacies in serving its citizens. On a weekly basis people die needlessly on Irish streets due to the acute lack of housing and lack of services to those in need. In response to these recent deaths Street Seen who publish an Irish Anti-Poverty newsaper are calling on people to protest in Dublin on Saturday 17th September saying clearly enough is enough: No More Deaths On Our Streets.

Numbers of people sleeping rough in Dublin city centre remain at record high levels, according to a new survey conducted by homeless organisations. Two hundred and thirty seven (237) people sleep rough in Dublin on any given night. These people are vulnerable to changes in the weather, violence, abuse and sexual exploitation. The survey co-ordinated by the Homeless Agency was carried out by Focus Ireland, Dublin Simon Community, Merchant’s Quay Ireland along with Dublin City Council and other homeless services

It was only with the introduction of the Housing Act in 1988 that any kind of national assessments of homelessness by Local Authorities were carried out. Although the early assessments were deeply flawed the most recent one (2002) found that a record 5,581 people were homeless throughout the state (according to the Housing Act definition). The majority of these were in Dublin. The Homeless Agency also co-ordinated a separate assessment for Dublin. This counted 2,920 homeless people in Dublin in 2002. There are currently 48,413 households on the housing waiting lists nationally and 5,581 people who are homeless. The vast majority of these live in emergency hostels and B&B accommodation on a night-by-night basis.