DUBLIN'S PERFECT DREAMS

DUBLIN'S increasing role as a tech hub is also bringing high-earners to the city.....................

NO PLACE like home : Dublin boom fuels housing spiral. Sharing a studio flat in Dublin with two other people, Greek security guard Aris complains about the housing crisis that forces them to live in cramped conditions.

''It's quite rough,'' said Aris, who splits the 850 euros [$970] a month rent for the 30 square-metre flat.

With scant storage space, personal belongings are relegated to the ground. A kitchen hob is within arm's reach of one mattress, while the other two are pushed together.

''It's not humane conditions to live in Dublin,'' said a 42-year old, who moved to Ireland three years ago.

Rocking prices have impoverished renters and pushed families into homelessness, leading to weekly protests in the streets of Dublin by affordable housing campaigners.

Aris's situation is not rare in the capital, which is currently in the midst of a ''perfect storm'' that is driving the average rent to  between 1,600  euros and 2,000 euros.

Increased immigration, depleted stocks of social housing, an aversion to building tall structures and simple greed following a hard-scrabble recession are all factors.

Dublin's  increasing role as a tech hub is also bringing  high-earners to the city, whilst Airbnb  is capitalising on the popularity of the city as a weekend-break destination - to the detriment of the people looking for term rentals.

At one point this year, the property site Daft. ie said there were just 1,258 properties available for long-term rent in Dublin , while  Airbnb offered 1,419 short-term lets.

'People are desperate' : The iron is that Ireland witnesses an unprecedented property boom in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis - a period known as the Celtic Tiger years.

Construction of new properties ground to halt after the crash, setting the scene for the current squeeze on housing stock as the Irish population grows rapidly due to a high birth rate and significant immigration rates.[Agencies].

The Serving of the latest 'Operational Research on Quality of Life' in the Developed Countries and Economies, continues.