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LAST UPDATE | 24 May 2019
THERESA MAY HAS announced she will step down as Conservative leader on 7 June, paving the way for a Tory leadership contest with the eventual winner set to take over as British prime minister.
The Prime Minister made the announcement in an emotional statement outside 10 Downing Street this morning.
May broke down in tears as she delivered the final sentences of her speech saying it has been “the honour of my life” to be the “second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.”
A Conservative Party leadership contest will officially get underway when May’s resignation kicks in and reports indicate that the party intends to have a new leader in place before the end of July. She will remain as Prime Minister until her successor is appointed.
The development prompted calls for a general election from opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said a no-deal Brexit is now “more likely than it’s been at any point”.
Similar sentiments were shared by a spokesperson for the Spanish government who said that a hard Brexit seems “almost impossible to avoid”.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar released a statement wishing May the best in the future.
“I got to know Theresa May very well over the last two years. She is principled, honourable, and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country, and her party,” he said.
Politicians throughout the EU have admired her tenacity, her courage, and her determination during what has been a difficult and challenging time.
The resignation follows a torrid week for May, who has been dealing with intensifying criticism from within her party since a speech on Tuesday laying out her latest plan to get her Brexit bill through parliament.
Conservative Andrea Leadsom quit her role as Commons Leader on Wednesday, saying she no longer believed the government’s approach would deliver Brexit.
May took over as Tory leader and prime minister in July 2016 after David Cameron quit in the wake of the Brexit vote, pledging in her first speech to build a “country that works for everyone”.
Her authority was left in tatters after the result of a snap election left her party without a parliamentary majority the following summer, forcing the Conservatives into a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP.
She has faced growing criticism from MPs (some of the harshest coming from her own backbenches and even ministerial ranks) over her handling of Brexit in recent months. However, she narrowly survived a party vote of no confidence last December.
With reporting by Céimin Burke
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Wow nearly 8,000 homeless yet our government is taking in economic migrants “refugees” setting them up with free homes to live and free money.
How can we look after people of another country when we can’t even take care of our own? Completely disgrace and so disrespectful not just to our homeless but to all Irish citizens.
@Bry Krwn:
So Irish people don’t get free homes and free money? You really need to cop on
@Bry Krwn: your comments are an embarrassment to irish people and humanity. Do right by people should not be confined to the borders of a person’s nation. We as a people know all too well what it is like to have to emigrate for the opportunity of better life and then for you to come along and slate immigrants in the same article just shows your utter ignorance. The same can be said for for all those who read the article on the famine and then thumbed up your comment.
Yes, there is a housing problem in Ireland but if an immigrant comes here I think they have an equal right to be taken care of.
After all they have been through the least we can do is reach out and offer them a hand up. You might argue that it’s not our responsibility as a country to look after those from another country but it is our responsibility as humans to show sympathy and compassion to fellow humans. Social media is a platform that could be used for the greater good but all I ever see is hatred and vile rants.
@Dark Knight: I don’t know of any Irish emigrants getting assistance or housing for free in the countries they arrived in.
@Rex Facer: well all the more credit to us then for doing so
@Rex Facer: probably because they’re not refugees!
@Bry Krwn: economic migrants and refugees aren’t the same thing.
There was no famine. It was a british genocide of the Irish people.
@Colm Ó Liatháin: A British genocide where thousands of Irish fled to Britain to seek work more like. Take a look at British census figures (1841-1861) for ‘Irish’ in cities like Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Newcastle etc and you will see how populations grew as a result of your British genocide..
See my comment below and research it if you need clarification on why people fled.
@Colm Ó Liatháin:
The famine was caused by a fungus, you idiot.
That kind of stupid comment is like blaming the chinese for the black death.
@Buster VL: The failure of the potato crop was caused by a fungus. The preventable death of over 1m people was at the hands of the British
Ok
Apologies if I missed the inclusion of this point in the article; but it’s hard to get a truly accurate figure regarding homelessness when there’s a lot of people living with relatives and this isn’t on an official database.
@Felicity Hensen: Your own statement is contradictory. If you are living with relatives you are not homeless.
@Felicity Hensen: and it’s hard to get an actual figure as so many pretend to be homeless to abuse the system and get a free house. We will never know the actual figure
@Felicity Hensen: I think that you will find that it shows up on 2016 census statistics that a generation of younger adults are still living with their parents. But what the ceensus is not telling us is the numbers from families who are now (emigrants) residing/working overseas.
The housing crissis is not so much about the shortage of houses but the fact that people are not buying them mainly because banks are not lending money as freely as they used too without providing for a large deposit. True that there are not as many houses being built, but equally true that there are still a large percentage of houses around the country which are vacant.
Maybe its about time the clowns in government put a curb on the amount of people coming into the country and kick out the scroungers
@Kevin Moylan: mention of the famine and you talk about immigration…. irony I hope!
@Eoin Ryan: we clearly can’t even take care of our people with this homeless crisis, how can we be expected to look after anyone else?
@Kevin Moylan: Is it just the brown ones you want to stop or white ones too Kevin? And what about the Irish scroungers Kevin, where would you send them?
@Reg: if you’re coming here to work and contribute to Irish society, race isn’t the issue. Send the Irish scroungers into employment and/or education. Achieve this by tightening up dole allowances and regular interviews with these citizens to help get them working or into education. People do want to work and upskill but our government has made it too easy for them to do nothing.
@Kevin Moylan: Irish hospitals are crying out for nurses and doctors, recruiting worldwide.
@Kevin Moylan: can’t believe I’m agreeing with this
Census 2016 shows number of residents born outside Ireland (810,406) http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/census-2016-snapshot-of-a-fast-changing-ireland-1.3039031 – so no surprise there is a homeless crisis which will only get worse with open door border policy and supercharged by Brexit .
@GO GREEN: My husband was one of them, an Irish citizen from birth who has an Irish birth cert. He was born to an Irish mother who was living abroad. He isn’t homeless. Sorry for messing with your stats.
@Sandra Turner: My point is that an increased population via increased migration requires massive house building on a continuing basis to avoid a mega homeless crisis.
@GO GREEN: My wife and several of my siblings are Irish, born to Irish parents but born outside of Ireland. You see the problem with simple statistics?
@Reg: For sure Reg but majority born outside Ireland will not be Irish, that is the main point.
@GO GREEN: How do you know?
@GO GREEN: Exactly, how do you know? In my own family and my wifes family nearly all were born abroad. 11 out of 13 and most of them live in Ireland now.
@GO GREEN: Quite true the 2016 Census shows residents born outside Ireland, many of whom are Australian children born to Irish parents and returning home after their visa’s had expired.
@GO GREEN: open border policy also allows plenty of Irish abroad. If Ireland were to have to take back all their Irish abroad in exchange for sending all foreigners living here back home, chances are the crisis would be even worse
The Famine or Gorta Mor was Genocide on an industrial scale which facilitated the land clearances of the Landlords and their agents in Ireland! It led to vast migration and the centralisation and control of wealth! The parallels today could not be much clearer, the weapon has been refined to the efficient transfer of wealth and the break up if social cohesion but the outcomes are similar!
@Jarlath Murphy: It is not hard to draw parallels when you see today that there are fewer unskilled jobs available. Traditionally the unskilled Irish would have got on the boat for England, but there are similar problems over there now as growing numbers are looking for food and accomodation. The only way to solve the problem is through education and where there are no jobs at home then go abroad if you can afford it or have a relative who can help you – but that takes money.
The good days are over it seems and in the past this has led to civil unrest and war.
Well over a million died through starvation in one of the worst famines ever taking pop into account to even attempt to compare it irresponsible
@ktsiwot: the study isn’t about the people who died. It is about those who where homeless.
Off you pop and check how much food was exported out of Ireland during this “famine” by the British. The information is widely available
@Paul Mc Manus: it’s purely about how we define homelessness. In the 1800s, homelessness was living at the side of the road with no hope of food. In the 2010s, homeless includes everyone getting support and accommodation but are awaiting permanent houses that match their wants. If this was just the number of people who have dropped off the radar of society and sleep permanently without a roof, it wouldn’t be as dramatic.
So you’ll do all this research (fair play btw!) but won’t do one on the whole Halawa affair?
It’s unbelievable that this country can accommodate refugees with no problem, yet when it out people lying on the streets of of this country we have a problems getting it right. And as time goes by the housing crisis is getting worse.
@Paul Maguire: It’s equally unbelievable the amount of young wans out there, without a job, without a care in the world deciding to pop a kid or 2 out and expect the state to raise it. That their new ‘family’ is now ‘homeless’ with the sense of entitlement of demanding a home. It’s time to clamp down on these scroungers and sort out those that in desperate need of housing.
Head of the treasury, sir Charles Trevelyan viewed the famine as divine providence and was happy to let god’s will be done without lifting a finger to intervene in a meaningful way. Sound familiar??
Credit for a detailed and thorough appraisal of the situation. Excellent journalism.
Even if the claim cannot be categorically proven this does not deter from the fact that the levels are unacceptable in a modern Irish society, one of the wealthiest countries in the world as Vincent Browne often reminds us.
Things should not be as they are, unfortunately the republic is currently run by a party ideologically opposed to the principle of a fair and equitable society for all.
VAT on new homes … scrap it like UK, NI, France …
Compulsory purchase of land to widen roads but wont do it to facilitate family homes! Do it.
Allow bed-sits .. essential for some in society.
Referendum on Special status of Family Home .. like Germany.
No Boarded-up or vacant houses : Private or Social – unlawful
Ban Part5 on new owners .. unfair burden 5k per hoise
Scrap 10K tax by counciles on new owners … unfair burden
Lower cost of housing else your grand-kids and great grand-kids will face the same “political class” abuse of young people.
https://www.change.org/p/referendum-on-family-home-special-status-in-ireland
An interesting measurement will be the total number of home possessions by banks over the next three years as the Banks ramp up their mortgage Possession proceedings in the Curcuit Court and in the High Court.
Then add the number of evictions of tenants from rented properties.
Look whom is in power ? Who was in power prior to that ? In fact since state formed , 1 or the other … Case rested..
Considering all that goes on in this country it seems strange to me that you’d do a fact check on a statement made by a man clearly trying his very best to help those in need. We hear stuff everyday that is either blatant lies or at best flirting with the truth. Maybe McVeery wasn’t spot on in his analogy but given how busy he is and the type of work he’s doing does anyone actually care if he’s not correct? Who would blame the man for making a statement that might have some impact on government policy. Bad form The Journal.
@jane: Jane, it is quite possible that they started out thinking and even hoping that McVerry’s statement would turn out to be true. Just because it turned out not to be (and I’m not saying he deliberately set out to mislead) should they just abandon the article? Surely only reporting the info that validates your own viewpoint and discarding the rest would be worse form?
All of that mumble jumble to end with we actually have no figures to know the truth
Jesus wept.
It is a strange feature that following the 1880 Land Act, rural agrarian tenants then enjoyed vastly superior legal protection compared the very limited protection of urban tenants in residential accomodation in Ireland today.
We have the robber banks and vulture funds.
During the famine food was exported.
Today many houses are empty and many more are under occupied.
Both the result of putting money before people.
It is quite possible that we have improved in the early 21st century compared to the laissez faire policies of the mid nineteenth century. That is a very small comfort.
Leaving out the fact the banks are holding off on evictions to artificially build house prices into another bubble
@Oh Sheeple Stand Up: And the state holding on to thousands of properties through NAMA for same reasons.
Also famine is rewriting history it was a genocide
The article did not include people living in direct provision, another few thousand, (5000?).
Also missing is a look at circumstances around the building of large scale corporation estates in the mid 1900s. Why were these built at that time?
Valid comparison cannot be made.
The proposition can neither be proven nor disproven.
Considering all that go
have your say