About The Right to Adequate Housing

The Right to Adequate Housing is a human right recognized internationally under agreements like the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It goes beyond simply having a roof over your head—it means access to safe, affordable, and dignified living conditions where people can thrive. Adequate housing includes aspects such as security of tenure, access to essential services (like clean water and electricity), and protection from environmental hazards like damp or mould.In Ireland, this right is particularly important given the ongoing housing crisis, with many people facing homelessness, substandard living conditions, or unaffordable rents. Ensuring adequate housing is essential for everyone to live with dignity and stability.

If you are facing challenges with realising your right to adequate housing, you can seek support from one of the following organisations:

• Community Law and Mediation
• Threshold
• Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)

Demanding Adequate Housing: How Communities Can Unite to Demand Their Rights

Residents of Oliver Bond House in Dublin have long endured substandard living conditions, with pervasive mould and dampness leading to significant health issues. A 2024 study by Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine revealed that 82.8% of residents reported problems with mould and damp in their homes, and residents were 2.4 times more likely to have asthma compared to other patients in the same practice.In response to these challenges, the community has actively organized to advocate for their rights. The Oliver Bond Resident's Group, led by chairperson Gayle Cullen, has been instrumental in highlighting the dire conditions and their impact on health. Their persistent efforts have brought attention to the urgent need for regeneration and repairs, exemplifying how collective action can empower communities to assert their rights and seek necessary interventions.

About The Fight Against Illegal Dumping

Illegal dumping—unlawfully discarding waste in unauthorized places—harms more than the environment. It directly affects your rights to live in a clean, safe, and healthy environment. Dumped waste can pollute the air, soil, and water, releasing harmful chemicals. These conditions create unsafe and unhealthy urban spaces, especially in communities where waste often accumulates unchecked.This problem disproportionately impacts vulnerable or low-income communities, where access to reliable waste management services might already be limited. When illegal dumping occurs, it can lead to long-term health risks, such as respiratory illnesses and exposure to waterborne diseases. It also denies people access to clean public spaces like parks and streets, depriving communities of safe areas to gather, exercise, or relax. This creates an unfair burden, reinforcing inequalities and diminishing quality of life for many.Addressing illegal dumping is essential to protect your right to a healthy environment and a dignified standard of living. If you’re experiencing difficulties related to illegal dumping in your area, know that you have the right to demand action. Reporting these issues to local authorities, joining community clean-up efforts, and accessing waste disposal services can help reclaim your environment. Together, we can create cleaner, healthier spaces for everyone.

If you are facing challenges with illegal dumping, you can seek support from one of the following organisations:

• Community Law and Mediation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Dublin City Council

The Right to a Healthy Environment

Everyone has the right to access safe, clean, and welcoming green spaces. Parks, community gardens, riverbanks, and greenways are not luxuries—they are essential for physical health, mental well-being, and a sense of belonging. In Dublin, where urban living can often mean cramped housing and heavy traffic, green spaces offer vital breathing room. They provide places to walk, play, meet neighbours, and reconnect with nature in the heart of the city.Access to green space is not equally shared across Dublin. In some parts of the city, especially areas facing economic disadvantage, green spaces are smaller, poorly maintained, or harder to reach. This deepens social inequalities and affects people’s quality of life. Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves safe access to nature—places where children can play freely, older people can relax safely, and communities can come together.Protecting and expanding green spaces is part of protecting your rights. If your community lacks proper access to parks or safe public spaces, you have the right to raise your voice. Community groups, local campaigns, and city plans all have a role to play in making Dublin greener, healthier, and fairer for everyone. A city that defends its green spaces is a city that defends the health, dignity, and rights of its people.

If your access to green space is being limited or you would like to learn more about initiatives to increase green space in Dublin, check out these resources:

• Mapping Green Dublin
• DCC Greening Strategies
• Community Law and Mediation

Access to Good Infrastructure

Everyone should be able to move safely and easily through their community. Good footpaths, safe cycle lanes, and connected routes are essential parts of a healthy, accessible city. In Dublin, where traffic congestion and pollution are daily realities, walking and cycling offer cleaner, cheaper, and healthier ways to get around. But for these options to be truly available to everyone, the city needs safe, well-designed infrastructure that protects people, not just cars.At present, access to safe walking and cycling routes is not equal across Dublin. Some areas enjoy well-planned streets and bike lanes, while others face broken footpaths, dangerous road crossings, or complete gaps in the network. This creates barriers, particularly for children, older people, and anyone with a disability. Without safe and accessible routes, people are cut off—from work, from education, from social life—and the city becomes less fair and less healthy.Good infrastructure is not a luxury; it is a right. If your community lacks safe footpaths or cycleways, you have the right to call for better. Local action and city-wide planning can help transform Dublin into a place where everyone, no matter their age or ability, can walk or cycle without fear. Building a city for people, not just for traffic, means building a fairer, healthier future for all.

If you know about poor infrastructure in your community, you can seek support from one of the following resources:

• Community Law and Mediation
• Dublin Cycling Campaign
• Sign Up for Spark Skills!

Tackling Air Pollution Through Football

Air pollution is an invisible threat that affects our health every day. In Dublin, places like Doyle’s Corner—one of the city's busiest junctions—can sometimes record air quality levels that exceed EU safety thresholds. Poor air quality is linked to respiratory illness, heart disease, and other serious health conditions. The Clean Air Champions League is a new European initiative that aims to raise awareness of this issue and inspire meaningful action—using the power of football to lead the way.Launched by Bohemian Football Club, the Clean Air Champions League brings together football clubs and associations from across Europe—including Wolverhampton Wanderers (England), ADO Den Haag (Netherlands), Real Betis (Spain), and the Bulgarian Football Union. Each club will install air quality monitors at their stadiums, collecting real-time data and feeding it into a unique league table that ranks clubs not just on pollution levels, but also on how well they engage fans and communities in improving air quality.For Bohs, this project is part of a broader commitment to community health and environmental responsibility. The goal is to use football’s platform to reach people where they are—to turn data into dialogue, and dialogue into action. Through workshops, local engagement, and creative campaigns, the Clean Air Champions League invites fans, residents, and city leaders to take collective steps toward cleaner air and healthier neighbourhoods—starting right here in Dublin.

To find out more about the Clean Air Champions League, click on the link below:

• Website coming soon!

The Football Empowering Environmental Justice Champions project brought together Bohemian Football Club and the Centre for Environmental Justice to tackle environmental justice issues in the community. Using surveys and workshops, the project explored the challenges faced by fans that related to their environmental rights. The aim was to make complex environmental topics accessible and create easy pathways to seek help, empowering the community to advocate for their rights.

The project began with a survey, distributed online and in-person at matches and local neighborhoods, to identify key environmental concerns. It highlighted illegal dumping, poor infrastructure, air quality, and inadequate green spaces as top frustrations. The survey also revealed a significant gap in community knowledge about environmental rights and resources. To address this, a workshop tested communication tools, with participants favoring comic strips paired with an informational website as the most engaging and effective medium.