Shaw St is a narrow back street connecting Trinity College with the quays, off Pearse St in Dublin 2. It is lined with a mixture of old and new buildings hosting apartments, a creche and a solicitor’s office, two construction sites, and a few derelict lots. More building activity is on the way: in the past week, two planning notices were erected on sites next to the railway bridge. One is for 12 apartments to be built by the housing charity Peter McVerry Trust. Outside the vacant warehouse and graffitied hoarding, I meet Francis Doherty, the organisation’s deputy director for…

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