Ezra Klein might have been talking about Progress Ireland here. The big challenge, for Ireland as for blue state USA, is how to follow through and build the stuff we all agree we want.

I made ProgressIreland’s pitch to the left!

The National Planning Framework (NPF) governs planning rules in Ireland. It is under review and will go before cabinet next week. The NPF limits housing supply in all kinds of ways. Courtesy of Seán O'Neill McPartlin, are some ways to fix it 🧵

New RedC poll in the Business Post: 4x more people support seomrai than oppose them.

.Fergus’s review of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s new book, Abundance, in the Sunday Independent: “The thesis of Abundance is that governments have lost sight of the importance of building. Governments prefer to solve problems with money. But money doesn’t solve all problems.

progressireland.substack.com/p/irish-electr…

Modern Ireland ties itself in knots trying to get things built. It takes decades for one part of the State to get permission from another part. 1930s Ireland simply gave itself permission:

Beneath Dublin Airport lies a secret. You may have walked through it. You may have checked in your bags there. But it was never meant for passengers. It was meant for trains. 🚇 This is the 100 year story of how Dublin never got a metro:

Apart from being described in intro by Ivan we the “formidable” John Moran, it was a great chat. Kettle calling pot black I say. Seriously though, it was a much welcome opportunity to showcase the new positivity about #limerick, how we are driving forward much hundreds of

New Danish neighbourhoods win praise for their ambition and the quality of their design. One of them, Nordhavn, will accommodate 40,000 residents and workers on a peninsula north of Copenhagen. But one of the Danes' big housing innovations is under the hood…

This is so important for Ireland. Ireland’s advantage is in software, which requires a giant end market to justify up front investments. But in software and tech, the EU is 27 small markets.

‘My favourite example of NIMBYism is from Ancient Rome, where an aqueduct was blocked on religious grounds.’ An interesting post on land readjustment from Seán O'Neill McPartlin at ProgressIreland: progressireland.substack.com/p/nimbyism-and…

NIMBYs are misunderstood, says Seán O'Neill McPartlin. A clearer understanding of their motives can turn them from blockers into partners.

Great short read here on what actually causes NIMBYism, along with some smart thinking on how to deal with it from Seán O'Neill McPartlin of ProgressIreland here

Ireland’s growth can’t rely on multinationals forever. Progress Ireland is hiring a innovation policy lead to unleash innovation: map R&D bottlenecks, design DARPA-style pilots, and tell the story. Ready to shake up the system? Apply by 30 May. (link in reply)

How does Japan build dense, walkable cities while Ireland struggles? A century-old tool called land readjustment has quietly reshaped Japan's cities. It could be the gamechanger Ireland needs 👇

The planning system costs Irish households about €70,000 each. 🧵

Our housing market is a bit like the market for cars in East Germany. We don't build enough of them; as a result, the market price of homes is much greater than their construction cost.

Housing policy is doomed to fail if it's unpopular. Even policies that deliver lots of homes get repealed if they annoy people. The best solutions deliver homes AND win public support. 🧵 [link at the end]

The ProgressIreland team is going to meet at The Duke, 9 Duke Street, from 5.30 to 7.30 this evening. Call down for a chat about policy, housing, roads, tunnels, companies, governments and what Ireland should do next.