Tear down the 'Great Wall of Moyross', residents demand

The walls, some of which are over 10ft high, have stood for generations and result in the area being enclosed, residents say

Jamie Daly, Jason Craig and Fr Joseph at the 10ft wall at Delmege Park, Moyross, Limerick. Picture: Brian Arthur

Residents in a Limerick housing estate are hoping to see the end of a series of walls that have “imprisoned” the community for generations.

A number of activists in Moyross are calling for the walls, some of which are over 10ft high and have been there for decades, to be demolished.

It comes after a successful battle that saw a u-turn on the long-awaited €58m Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road in Limerick, which will now go ahead.

However, residents say this is only the first step in opening up the area, which has been a hotspot of crime and poverty, largely accredited locally to the enclosed and ostracised nature of the community.

Jamie Daly is part of the Moyross Residents Alliance. He says the ones who will suffer the most from the long-term impact of the wall will be the children.

“If you are familiar with the word danger or stay out, you think of something out of Jurassic Park, or a zoo. Well the kids growing up here, that’s what they are looking at, the word danger. 

"And as soon as they get old enough to read, that’s what they are going to think, ‘dangerous’ – that’s us. That’s our environment,” Mr Daly explained, adding that "the Donald Trump era of walls was over."

“The wall is going to fall down, and some child is going to get seriously hurt, or worse yet, killed. Today it needs to come down, not next week, or next month. It’s urgent,” Mr Daly said.

Kyle Daly, 6. Residents are concerned a child could be injured by the crumbling wall Picture: Brian Arthur

Adrian Power, a school completion officer, grew up in the shadow of the “Great Wall of Moyross”, which is one of the many names given to it locally.

“Growing up, we didn’t know any better. We thought that every community was blocked off like that,” Mr Power said.

Mr Power said he understood concerns from other communities. He feels the walls were built to keep these elements of crime in but wants to know, at what cost?

“What it is doing is building fearful young people, fearful to participate in life outside of the community. Children who grow up feeling inferior or imprisoned,” Mr Power said.

Jason Craig, a family support worker at the local primary school, said he would like to see the wall replaced with something “easier on the eye” and something that doesn’t make them feel as if they are prisoners.

“With the new road coming in now, it's going to open Moyross and you're going to have a lot of first-time visitors coming in and you don't want that wall to be the first thing that people see,” he said.

Mr Craig and Mr Power both believe the walls are representative of mental and social barriers to opportunities such as education and employment, rather than just physical ones.

A spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council confirmed they were aware of concerns surrounding the walls.

“Most recently, in Moyross a section of wall has been brought to our attention that requires some works in terms of its stabilisation – costings and procurement of the works are being reviewed and with departmental approval will be carried out shortly,” a spokesperson said.

They also said they are “working on a number of projects” that will see the removal of walls over time, which will come with the progression of the Coonagh-Knockalisheen connection and other developments in the area.