A 'dream come true' in Ballymun

When Ms Margaret Fallon was asked if she'd have the Taoiseach round for tea, she realised that she didn't have a teapot. "It got broken in the move," said the new house-dweller. "Someone had to bring one round, and the biscuits. I was so busy during the week it wasn't high on my list," she laughs. Of course, she "didn't think it would be anything too serious".

"Like, I didn't think it would be like this," she said, referring to the television crews, news photographers and journalists as well as local TDs and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Michael Mulcahy, who had also dropped in to see her new home.

Ms Fallon and her three children - Dean (13), Ciarán (7) and Kim (4) - are among the first 20 families to move from their tower-block flats in Ballymun into new houses as part of the €2.5 billion regeneration of the area.

"The best thing? The kids can go out and play. They were grey in the flat," says the mother. "I was on the 11th floor and I wouldn't let them go out. They'd have to use the lifts by themselves, and there were some queer characters there.

"There were some very good people, too - don't get me wrong. I never had an angry word with any of my neighbours. But no, I don't miss a thing about the flat."

The colourful three-bedroom and four-bedroom houses in Shangan Crescent are the first tangible results for the residents of Ballymun since the area began to look more like a building site than a residential area. A place long associated with high unemployment and deprivation, people were more likely to leave it than stay once they found work.

All seven tower blocks, containing 2,820 flats, will be demolished by 2010, and 4,000 new houses will be built. An estimated 500 families will move into their new homes by the end of the year.

Mr Mick McDonagh, who managed the in-house team of architects at Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, which designed the houses at Shangan Crescent, said he was delighted to see this first "hand-over" in the programme.

Each house is insulated and fitted with double-glazing and timber-framed windows, a marble fireplace, two bathrooms, a fitted kitchen and patio doors. Although most of the new residents will rent from the local authority, they will have an option to buy. The asking price? Between €150,000 and €190,000.

Having supped tea and biscuits with Ms Fallon (and the assembled throng), the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, described the day as "a dream come true for all of us". He presented his hostess with a camellia plant.

"It's lovely," said Ms Fallon.

Asked whether the bonhomie and generosity shown by the Taoiseach would see her voting Fianna Fáil at the election, she smiled. "We'll talk about that another day," she said.