Catholic Info

Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: John Grace on March 29, 2013, 04:41:46 PM

Title: Catholic Action in Ballymun
Post by: John Grace on March 29, 2013, 04:41:46 PM
Ballymun will not be known to non Irish readers of Cath Info but plans are in place for Catholic Action initiatives there. I shall enclose what wikipedia says about it and give you an idea what we are up against.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballymun
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Ballymun (Irish: Baile Munna) is an area on Dublin's Northside close to Dublin Airport, Ireland. It is infamous for the Ballymun flats, which became a symbol of poverty, drugs, alienation from the state and social problems in Ireland from the 1970s. Today it is undergoing a multi-billion euro renewal, with a renovated village centre, surrounded by estates of houses and apartments, with several sub-districts such as Sillogue and Poppintree.
Ballymun had a population of 22,109 at the 2006 Census.


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Ballymun tower blocks

Main article: Ballymun tower blocks


Ballymun Tower
Among the opprobrium heaped on Ballymun, the deployment of the flats has been described by the environmental journalist Frank McDonald, in his book The Construction of Dublin, as the Irish state's 'worst planning disaster'. However, at the time of its construction, Ballymun was a sought after location and prospective tenants had to pass an interview to get housing there. There were three types of flats: seven fifteen-storey towers; nineteen eight-storey blocks; ten four-storey blocks. The flats were built in the 1960s under the authority of Neil Blaney, the then Fianna Fáil Minister for Local Government. They incorporated the best social housing practice of the time. The first tenants moved in between August 1966 and December 1966. By February 1969, when the National Building Agency's contract for Ballymun ceased and control of Ballymun was handed to Dublin Corporation (Dublin County Council didn't want it), there was a total of 3,021 dwellings in the new Ballymun, all of which was social housing under the control of the Irish state through Dublin Corporation (the Corpo).

The tenants primarily came from the most deprived areas of inner city Dublin, places where the depth of poverty could not be conceived of in modern Ireland. Many tenants were middle class residents whose property was 'compulsory purchased' by Dublin City Council. They arrived in Ballymun to some of the finest social housing in Europe, having central heating and other rarities of the day in their homes.

However, there was a profound lack of amenities throughout the area - initially the only shop was a van selling at premium prices, for example - and, combined with a lack of trees, and estates built in cul de sacs, ghettoisation developed. The earliest efforts to improve services began in the 1970s with the establishment of tenants' associations, particularly in Sillogue. By the recession of the 1980s, Ballymun was infested with social problems, most especially alcohol and other drug abuse. Although the public image of Ballymun has changed somewhat since the beginning of the Ballymun regeneration project in 1997, continuing social problems in Ballymun ensure it remains a remarkably different world to, for example, neighbouring Glasnevin.
Title: Re: Catholic Action in Ballymun
Post by: John Grace on October 19, 2018, 08:58:17 AM
I thought I had better update you to say the plans never materialised. I was in Ballymun recently and disappointing the projects and ideas never got up and running. I haven't given up. I have no doubt many of you have kept the matter in prayer.