Refurbished flats a beacon of hope

ONE of the roughest parts of Dublin rang with the sound of children playing safely yesterday.

St Joseph's Mansions, once racked by extreme social deprivation and a rampant drug culture, is now a beacon of hope in the north east inner city.

Renamed Killarney Court by its new tenants, it is now a shining example of how the local community, the State and a housing association can work together to improve the quality of life in Dublin's inner city.

Local artist and tenant Sharon Harding had a special talisman placed outside the community hall just before Taoiseach Bertie Ahern arrived to officially open the complex yesterday.

Sharon used her neighbours' hand-prints to create a striking ceramic charm. Residents chose the talisman for its magical benefit warding off evil and attracting good luck.

She lives in one of the 105 units of one, two and three-bed homes in the €18m complex. All the units are occupied..

Sharon grew up in Liberty House, a complex around the corner in Railway Street, but always wished she could live in St Joseph's, affectionately known as Joey's.

"Joey's was once the most desired des res because it had a play centre and was very secure. However, it became a centre for a lot of the drug dealing and became very run down."

It was unfortunate, she said, as many good families once lived in the complex. Sharon said the new development is better because residents played a leading role in creating the kind of environment they wanted to live in.

She said all the residents had been through a thorough screening process out of which a cohesive community had been created.

Mr Ahern said there was a time when he found it difficult to get State officials and public representatives to even walk through the area.

He said the only politician brave enough to make a start in improving the quality of life for the community was former PD and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Bobby Molloy. When he became involved in 1997, 98 of the 138 dwellings had been abandoned.

Clúid Housing Association chief executive Brian O'Gorman said he would like to see more commercial life coming into the area and building on what had been achieved so far.