“These motocross bikes are going up and down the streets outside their houses because normally they'd have somewhere to go, now they've nowhere to go.”
For some, life is an inherited ache to leave Vietnam and half-remembered stories and unprocessed feelings embodied in what their grandparents said, or didn’t say, about the past.
The building, which has literary connections and a prominent location in the village, is falling apart. It’s not clear what the owner’s plans are for it.
Those proposing the move said the council had agreed to a plan with 768 homes, but now Bartra is pursuing a denser, taller development. Those opposing it said it couldn’t legally be done.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council decided in 2019 not to build housing for Travellers on the site, saying it planned to sell it. Now it’s back to housing again.
It’s a problem the government will have to navigate as it rolls out a promise to introduce minimum BER ratings for private rentals by 2025, “where feasible”.
Dublin City Council would sell the site to developer Glenveagh, which would agree to build 853 homes there, which would all be social and affordable, say officials. But what does affordable mean?
It examined deals done between 2016 and 2019 and found that councils generally got a good deal, but that there wasn’t a rigorous, standardised process.
They rezoned the site from industrial to residential for an affordable housing proposal. Now, the land’s more valuable and the landowner is looking to sell it.
