President opens centre at renewed Fatima Mansions

THE “BEST place to grow up in Dublin” is how President Mary McAleese described the redeveloped Fatima Mansions complex in Dublin yesterday.

Addressing a group of about 500 south inner-city residents and their children as she opened a neighbourhood centre to mark the completion of the regeneration project, Mrs McAleese said: “When the wee ones grow up, won’t people say ‘you’re very lucky’.

“They’ll be able to say their mammies and daddies and grannies and grandads made them lucky – they wanted a change and, boy, did they get it.”

Among the crowds who turned out for the official opening yesterday were footballers Niall Quinn and Bill Reid, father of footballer Andy Reid, who grew up in the area.

Community activist Gemma McKenna marvelled at the light flooding into the new homes which were in colours “of honey and red brick. You walk taller because you are in such a beautiful place,” she said.

Original tenant Josie Walker, who lived in Fatima Mansions since 1949, was celebrating with her daughter-in-law Dorothy Walker and Dorothy’s daughter Christina. Dorothy said six young people, including Christina, had gone on to third-level education this year, thanks largely to a local homework club, she said.

The purpose-built community centre opened by the President houses a creche, homework club with internet access points, children’s arts centre, library, meeting rooms and halls.

A separate leisure centre includes a swimming pool, spa pool, gym, aerobic studio and other facilities. An employment centre covers 500sq m of community enterprise units.

The housing element includes 150 public housing units for former tenants of Fatima Mansions, 70 affordable dwellings and almost 400 private-sector units. Some 15 of the affordable homes remain at about €136,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to Mark Elliott of builders Maplewood Elliott.

According to Joe Donohoe of Fatima Groups United, “a once- blighted area has been transformed into a symbol of renewal and hope which can give hope to other areas in the city and throughout the country” – as long as funding cuts did not undo the good work.

Assistant city manager Ciarán McNamara said the project had escaped the difficulties of partnerships elsewhere including Dominick Street and O’Devaney Gardens. However, he said the council had revised plans for these and phase one of the rejuvenation of St Michael’s estate, 70 social and affordable homes, would be offered in January.

Dublin city manager John Tierney said the new Herberton complex represented “the standard of development you would love to be able to achieve in all circumstances in terms of the quality of homes, quality of the public realm and the quality of community facilities”.

The President recalled that 11 years ago, she had been at the launch of the Fatima Groups United report Making Fatima a Better Place to Live when unemployment, drug abuse and anti-social behaviour was rife.

She told the community: “People refused to give up or to give in and, out of your dreams for yourselves and your children, came a plan to lift this place to a new level of achievement.”

The renamed Fatima/ Herberton, a public-private partnership between Dublin City Council and developer Maplewood Elliott, is now home to its own Luas stop.

Gone are the prairie-style open spaces and the internal concrete yards, as are the original flats themselves. In their place is a leafy new suburb with apartments faced in wood panels and brown or yellow brick, overlooking two new cobble-lock streets with shops and offices.