In any discussion of where Ireland finds itself, the first thing to note is how much it has already changed.

Since I was born in 1990, the Republic’s population has grown from 3.5 million to 5.5 million, a faster growth rate than any other EU member state except tiny Malta and Luxembourg. The number of people in employment has increased 137 per cent in that time. And the rate of growth keeps accelerating. Net migration since 2021 is 88 per cent higher than in the previous three years.

This growth has been a blessing in many ways, but it comes with problems. Ireland can’t build quickly enough to keep pace with the demand to live, work and invest in the country. It has Europe’s second-fewest homes per person. Dublin’s water network is going to reach its limits in the next three years, which will limit future housing construction. Ireland’s household electricity prices are the highest in Europe. It has 41 per cent fewer trains, roads and other transport infrastructure per capita than high-income European countries. And it has the lowest proportion of electrified rail of any EU member state.

To put it simply: we have not built enough homes or infrastructure or sufficiently developed our energy system to keep up with the radical population growth we’ve seen in my lifetime.

Our shortage of roads, railways, sewers, homes and pylons creates social problems. For the want of homes and infrastructure, grandchildren are forced to live far from their grandparents. Students can’t live near their university and so lose out on student life. Many people commute three hours a day. Others sleep on relatives’ couches or on the street. Life milestones such as marriage and family are delayed. Cities crowd out artists and lose their bohemian buzz. The stress frays Ireland’s social fabric and drives political polarisation.

Despite Ireland’s population growth, it remains one of the least densely populated countries in western Europe. It has talent and money. We are a high-trust society. What’s stopping Ireland from building what it needs to have the highest living standards in the world?

Ireland’s shortages of housing and infrastructure didn’t come from nowhere. Here are some specific projects Ireland fumbled: The Grid West transmission project, linking Dublin to the windy west, was shelved in 2017. Proposed nearly 30 years ago, the Water Supply Project, linking Dublin to the Shannon, still hasn’t entered planning. The Greater Dublin Drainage Project has entered its second judicial review, 20 years after it was first proposed. The Dart+ Tunnel, which would have facilitated hundreds of thousands of homes west of Dublin, was shelved in 2021.

The North-South interconne