CityLiving: For every resident who lamented the survival spirit of neighbours in old Ballymun, there were others who aren't one bit sorry to see the towers fall. Edel Morgan reports
A long time resident of the Ballymun flats, who declined to be named, told City Living that unlike some of his neighbours, he didn't suffer any pangs of nostalgia at the recent "wake" for Old Ballymun when demolition began on the 15-storey tower Pearse Tower.
More than 500 families have already been rehoused and a further 1,000 are expected to get new homes by the end of the year. But with over 16 months to wait until he gets his new apartment, he says life has been particularly difficult since the new Ballymun went under construction. A crime wave has seen vandals loot vacant blocks and burgle and thrash occupied ones, leaving tenants virtual hostages in their flats in an area that has been nicknamed "The Bronx."
"My flat has been broken into several times and my car has been stolen. You can't leave your flat if you have anything decent as it will be taken." Some residents are having to put up steel grilles on doors and balconies to protect their belongings , at their own expense
He says services for tenants of the old flats have deteriorated in recent years. His block wasn't included in the programme of refurbishments carried out some years ago and the plumbing system is antiquated. "It is virtually impossible to get contents insurance for the flats here because they are constantly being destroyed by water leaks. If there is a leak on an upper floor, it can destroy the flats below. If it's a case of someone leaving a tap on, there is no compensation. We get flooded once or twice a year so it's impossible to keep the place nice."
He says the heating system is also erratic. "It is turned off in summer, and it can be freezing during a cool Irish summer. The only way to get it switched back on is to organise a demonstration of residents. In winter it's the other extreme - sweltering heat."
In the first phase the three 15-storey tower blocks (Pearse, McDonagh and Ceannt Towers), four four-storey blocks and one eight-storey spine-block will be demolished. Building works however have meant there is little open space suitable for children to play. "When there were horses around, at least they had something to occupy them, now there is nowhere to play."
The renewal programme being overseen by Ballymun Regeneration Ltd involves an investment of some €1 billion, but some local community councils have criticised the continued use of the old Ballymun Health Centre while a new, purpose-built, €50 million centre remains vacant.
However some have a more positive take on life in Old Ballymun. Eileen Dennan who wrote an article for "Wake" newsletter this month described the feeling of having good neighbours "above you, below you and all around you means you're never really isolated. Up in the penthouse level on the fourteenth floor you feel far removed from whatever troubles are at ground level . . ." She revelled in being able to talk to her friend upstairs through the vent in the bathroom and loved her bright spacious flat. Unlike in a house, when a visitor pulls up in the car-park outside, no one knows what flat they are going to and on her balcony on a summers day with a glass of wine, "you might as well be in Ibiza". On sunny days there would be "gangs of parents" sitting out nice day steps watching the kids play.
"Where else could you shout up to your neighbour for a lend of some sugar and have them lower it down from the balcony above."
She also acknowledges the dark side of Ballymun; gangs drinking on landings, discarded needles, people being thrown off the top floor in drug related incidents, bottles, fridges, and even couches being thrown over balconies, the smells, the graffiti, dogs being thrown down chutes and the dangers of children falling through the gap in the balcony. If you are unlucky enough to have noisy neighbours, it can mean sleepless nights. Excrement in the lifts and rats in the rubbish bins were other problems.
Another contributor to Wake, Karen Brady, says Old Ballymun was not "such a bad place really" but laments the increase in crime. She says that some of the tenants left behind in Old Ballymun are glad for the people getting their new houses, but some are "deep green with envy" at being left behind "with not a hope of getting out for years to come,resenting BRL and DCC for leaving them in a building sites "in an up and coming world of crime".
