Ireland is falling way behind its European counterparts in addressing derelict buildings that could help to solve the housing crisis, an Irish Mirror special investigation has found.
Its facade boarded up, it is a monument to indifference that many in the city will be familiar with, as it is by no stretch the only building of its type in Dublin, or other Irish towns and cities. "The problem is not about zoning or planning but about making sure the owners of these buildings do something with them.
"If you look at Denmark or the Netherlands, they are very strong in terms of their building stock, knowing what they have, what they should do with and the cost implications and options. Ms Harvey belives that approaches including compulsory sales of vacant buildings would work to drive down the rates of vacancy.
"When you talk to our international colleagues, Denmark were saying they were at 12%. I asked them what they did, and they said they brought in really strict urban policy, consolidated their town centres so that there was no more out of town development. "Some parts of Italy have done great work in imaginatively reusing older buildings and putting penalties on the owners if they don't move.
Cork Frank O'Connor and Jude Sherry are urban designers who moved from Amsterdam to Cork four years ago, and they are campaigning against dereliction in Ireland, mainly in Cork. "We have so many people who really need this. Families that are in terrible conditions at the moment. It is something that we believe in so strongly but it needs that political will.
Dublin Advocate Gareth Murray is another anti vacancy activist who's walking around his home town Dublin to document and educate people about the home vacancy. "I think that has to be part of the conversation, about how to we actually allow people to live in the city centre again. How do we make a community, where a community once was, that doesn't exist any more?"