In Ballymun, residents learn their homes are soon to be demolished from a planning notice

On Friday 8 August, Kieron McDonnell headed home from work, looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

As he arrived back in Coultry Gardens, Ballymun, he noticed a planning notice. It hadn’t been there that morning, he said.

He read it.

His house, and three others next to him, were to be demolished just after Christmas, it said.

By then, news had already spread among the estate, and to the other residents of the four houses, three social and one privately owned.

“The blood drained out of my body,” says Patricia Barber, who has lived in one of the row, 63 Coultry Gardens, since 1967.

She raised four children in the terraced bright peddledash house, she said on Monday, sat on a cosy armchair in her living room with her budgie Shadow watching on.

Eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren all now know it as Nanny’s House, she says.

The planning application, lodged by the charity Tuath Housing, covers more than 3ha – an area that takes in the four homes and the nearby Muck and Magic Community Garden.

It is for 463 apartments and duplexes in 10 new buildings, with a crèche and a mixed-use culture and community space.

The homes would be split between 206 cost-rental and 255 social homes, shows a council report. Plans show 190 one-beds, 226 two-beds and 47 three-beds.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that the project is guided by the Ballymun Local Area Plan, a blueprint for development which was agreed in 2017, after public consultation. 

It is a joint venture between Tuath Housing Association and the council, the spokesperson said.

But the way the news was delivered about the demolitions was appalling, says Natalie Barber, Patricia's daughter, who lives with her.

Barber says she accepts she has to move – but the lack of information and communication so far has her incredibly stressed.  

While the area badly needs housing, the move feels like yet another act of disrespect to the people of Ballymun, says People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy. 

Regeneration has never been finished, he says. 

“Locally, when you talk to people, you get maybe two sentences into conversation about the area before the shopping center comes up. And that's only scratching the surface. The shopping center is the big white elephant project that was never delivered,” says Reddy. 

Close neighbours

When she learned the news, Natalie – whose daughter also lives in the house – phoned the council immediately, she says.

The person on the phone told her that she could see no record of what Natalie was talking about, she says.

Later that same day, a letter from the council was hand-delivered – officially informing them of the plans.

“It’s going to break-up a really tight-knit community, who look after each other,” says Gerry Tormey, who lives just across from the houses due to be knocked.

“We’re blessed with neighbours here,” said Margaret, Gerry’s wife – in their living room on Tuesday.

Development has been talked about for years, Gerry says, and now it seems to him to be arriving all in a rush.

In 2005, he says numbers 1-17 Coultry Gardens, just outside his front door, were demolished.

The site then lay vacant for years, he says.

He points out the front window. Just beyond their wall, there had been hoarding for eight years after the houses were levelled, he says.

“It was just used as an illegal dump,” he says.

Today, there is a wide green space that he enjoys playing football on with his grandchildren. It’s part of the site earmarked for the apartments. 

As of July 2024, there were 1,030 households on the main social housing list, and 882 on the transfer list, waiting for a home in “Area D” which includes Ballymun, show council figures.

Tormey and his wife Margaret say that they and their neighbours support the building of much-needed homes in Ballymun, but the scale of the planned development has shocked them.

Meeting

On the evening of 3 September, officials from Tuath and Dublin City Council held a public event in the Ballymun Civic Centre, centered on the development.

Officials from both organisations circled the room. Large artistic renderings of the developments were displayed on easels.

It wasn’t the kind of event that many of the attendees were expecting, they said – and they weren’t impressed.

“We were told this would be a major meeting but this is just a showcase event,” said local Kevin McGowan. “We’ve already seen all of those pictures.”

They expected a chance to speak into a microphone, said McGowan and others. To put forward questions. 

Several attendees complained that no official minutes were being taken.

A council spokesperson said on Thursday by email, that, “In every way possible, we will engage with local residents to ensure that information is clear, concerns are heard, and the benefits of the development are understood.”

One reason why Patricia Barber was so surprised, she says, is that she had thought the plan to demolish the homes had been scrapped.

In 2010, she was told the same four houses were to be demolished, she says. That time, she refused to leave.

Residents in the other three houses, mostly elderly people, left, she says.

The council then told her that they had changed plans and no longer needed to knock those particular houses, she says.

Development of some kind has been expected for years, Barber says.

Natalie adds that they’re not against building in the area on vacant land.

A couple of years ago, Barber says, one of her neighbours in a house now due to be knocked bought their home outright from the council.

After that, the feeling around the estate was that those houses were staying, she says.

A surprise

On 16 May, Tuath Housing gave a presentation to local councillors about the proposed development.

It included details of the process involved and what will be delivered, a spokesperson said.

“Based on feedback from local representatives, the number of dwellings proposed was reduced and number of parking spaces increased,” said the council spokesperson.

Says People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy, who was at the meeting: “Nowhere was it mentioned that those four houses were going to be demolished.”

Images in the presentation did show the houses in one, and new development in that place in another – but only on close inspection.

The demolition justification report for the project, in the planning application, gives three reasons for knocking 62-65 Coultry Gardens.

Upgrading the houses to modern energy and comfort standards would be prohibitively expensive, it says. 

At 50-60 years old, the houses are nearing the end of their design life. And retaining them would restrict efficient redevelopment of the site.

Patricia and Natalie Barber say they haven’t had a decent night’s rest since hearing the news.

They can’t imagine enjoying Christmas, knowing that in January, they could be out of the home where four generations have lived.

Like the Barbers, Kieron McDonnell says he wonders where he is going to be this time next year too.

“DCC’s Area Housing Team is continuing to engage directly with residents who will be relocating to alternative accommodation,” a spokesperson said.