Speaking ahead of tonight’s monthly Dublin City Council (DCC) meeting Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on the city’s management to reverse it’s decision to effectively sack Croke Villas, Dominick Street and O’Devaney Garden’s regeneration workers. A motion calling for the same is before the council tonight. Ms McDonald has described the workers as “the glue that keeps these communities together.”
“These workers are a vital resource during the demolition and construction phases of regeneration as they ensure their communities are informed at every stage of the project. Community confidence in DCC’s commitment to actually deliver these regeneration projects is low and this belief is now compounded by management’s decision to withdraw funding for what are moderate salaries of around €17,000 per worker.
“DCC management’s claim that it is an appropriate time to discontinue funding for the workers as the projects are proceeding to the planning stage does not hold water as the Housing Project Management Unit of DCC has already acknowledged the decision is a budgetary one.
The Dublin Central representative has also sharply criticised DCC for reneging on its commitment to redevelop Croke Villas despite having already spent nearly €6 million of public monies on the project. “I am absolutely furious for the people of Croke Villa’s who have basically been sold a pig in a poke.
“DCC management’s decision is shortsighted. It sends a desperately negative message to these communities who have had plans for decent housing continuously put on the long finger.
“For the families in Croke Villas it is simply devastating. Their living conditions remain morally scandalous as no progress has been made on regeneration despite millions of public monies having been spent on property acquisition for the project. Is the Council now giving this community a bum’s rush?
“How galling must it be for the 22 families left in Croke Villas to see the government’s rush to bail out wealthy Anglo bondholders yet be told there’s now no money in the bank to sort out the shamefully poor conditions residents are being forced to live in.” ENDS
