Fact check: Are claims of discrimination against Irish citizens true?

As Ireland heads to the polls on 29 November, a manipulated video has been circulating on X, supposedly showing a Black woman, presented as an African migrant, mocking a white woman over having obtained social housing. 

The edited video tries to incite anti-minority sentiments by reversing the two women’s testimonies, so it looks like the woman who was granted housing is not showing compassion for the homeless woman.   

The misleading clip has attracted comments from people who were angered by her “gleeful” expression for being awarded a house at the expense of a white woman. 

The far-right party Irish Freedom Party has also promoted this misleading clip. In a tweet showing a picture of the two women, the party stated: “Irish people are being discriminated against in their own country. We are being treated like second-class citizens by this Government.”

However, this is not true.  

The clip was taken from a debate on housing aired on Upfront With Katie Hannon by the Irish state broadcaster RTE, featuring single women with children who are or have been homeless. 

One of the two women, Shauna, was awarded co-operative housing which was suitable for her circumstances, while the other, Chloe, was yet to be granted accommodation due to her four-year-old son facing long-term illness, which meant she needed a specific, alternative type of housing. 

What is co-operative housing?

More than 10,000 adults and 4,000 children are living in emergency homeless accommodation, according to the latest figures from Ireland’s Department of Housing.

Irish citizens from the majority of people with access to this type of accommodation, with Dublin being the hardest-hit region.

High rent is one of the issues pushing these people to homelessness.

As the nation struggles to meet its housing needs, co-operative housing can be seen as a way to tackle the lack of social and affordable homes.  

According to Co-operative Housing Ireland, the minimum rent can be as low as €30.  

“It has been a year and it has been amazing. We have that security,” said Shauna after living in this housing for a year. “This is our home and you’re not at the mercy of a landlord that can take back the property.”

Despite claims of Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien that social housing in the country is at its highest level in half a century, official figures show that in 2023, the government built over 8,000 units of social housing. This number is 990 units short of the government’s housing policy target. 

In September, the Irish Central Bank stated that Ireland needs to build around 20,000 extra properties each year if it is to improve the country’s national housing crisis.