Limerick Regeneration has 'failed' communities, says mayor

Mayor Daniel Butler says the programme has made progress in some regards, but that it 'needs a complete revamp' 

The demolition of Pineview Gardens, Moyross which began under the Northside Regeneration programme in Limerick. Picture: Sean Curtin Press 22

Limerick Regeneration, launched to much fanfare 13 years ago, has “failed” the communities it was tasked to help, Limerick’s Mayor Daniel Butler has said.

The project aimed to transform severely impoverished local authority housing estates, destroyed by unemployment and a drug gang feud that resulted in 20 killings.

However, a special meeting of elected representatives of the Limerick metropolitan district today heard the historic problems of unemployment and drugs continue to blight these communities, though the feuding gangs have agreed a ceasefire.

Redevelopment plan scaled back

Due to cuts in central funding, plans to demolish and rebuild large swathes of substandard housing in Moyross, Southill, St Mary’s Park, Ballinacurra Weston, were also scaled back.

So far, 1,287 homes have been demolished, and 269 new units have been built. Existing houses are being refurbished and given thermal upgrades.

The initial projected spend of €3bn was drastically scaled back after the 2008 economic crash, and revised downwards again in 2013. Figures released by Limerick Regeneration last year showed it had spent nearly €400m.

Fine Gael Councillor, Sarah Kiely, sought details on how much of the Regeneration budget has now been spent, how much is left, and what the money had been spent on, but the project's officials said they did not have this information.

'Criminality is rampant' 

She described the thermal upgrade programme as “a disaster” as it has been stalled for the last two years, and said residents were forced to live in “cold, damp, inadequate homes”.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin said Regeneration had not brought jobs to the “unemployment black spots”.

“Criminality is rampant,” he said adding, that trying to “stabilise the estates” remains an “ongoing issue”.

Fine Gael Mayor Daniel Butler said some “progress had been made under Regeneration” but it “needs a complete revamp” and “has failed and left communities isolated’.

Newly-appointed director of Regeneration, Joe Delaney, revealed it had operated without a “dedicated directorate” and without a “dedicated infrastructural team” “for a number of years”.

Safety and school attendance 'have improved' 

Mr Delaney assured councillors his staff would engage with them, and acknowledged “there has been delays” overall.

He said there would be 513 new builds in total and that thermal upgrades had been completed in 1,176 homes out of a total 1,460 units.

Mr Delaney said school attendances, community safety, and local facilities had all “improved” under Regeneration.

A council spokeswoman said the LRFIP “is a 10 year programme which the Council will be seeking to extend” and that it would revert to elected members at a later date in relation to matters raised”.