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This story detailing the way in which the "regeneration" of Ballymun in Dublin is turning out to be a free-for-all for private investors, property speculators, builders and landlords, at the expense of the local community is written by Mick Burke, a community activist from Ballymun. It is taken from the first issue of 'Ireland From Below', a non-profit, community newspaper written, produced and published by a voluntary collective which will report on community struggles all over the island of Ireland. Contact details for the paper are included at the end of the article.

At a series of meetings with tenants in the late 1990s, Dublin Corporation set out to persuade the people of Ballymun that demolition and rebuilding were the best – and only – options for the future of the area. A Dublin suburb with the population of Sligo was to be torn down while the people were still living there; at the same time a replacement town was to be built around them.

That option was at first overwhelmingly rejected by the community and only slowly accepted as part of an overall strategy for the area that was intended to change Ballymun forever – from a high unemployment, low-skill ghetto into a vibrant modern town capable of attracting investment at the same time as giving local people pride in rebuilding and reshaping their town.

The regeneration programme has been underway for nearly ten years, and a different picture has emerged, one in which the profits of private investors, property speculators, building giants and private landlords are prioritised over the interests of the long-standing Ballymun community.

Start Transcript:

"Now I, ehm, I usually have a lot to say and my speech, I have it in my mind and I can rattle it off at any given moment, but, eh, I'm going to be completely honest with you, I've been on a mission and I've been seeking.

In the Marine Corps my primary mission was to seek and destroy, pretty cut and clear. I think the phrase, somebody mentioned the phrase to me today and, eh, it's still with me and I'm going to share that with you, this phrase that was, eh, presented to me today - I was called a criminal. And, eh, you know it really hit me because it is something I have been running from, and then I got a double dose today when I was in the Irish court. The Irish court and the American court are like night and day. And over the course of listening to the prosecutor and the defence, and especially the testimony that the Doctor of International Law and the Geneva conventions, when he got up and gave his spiel.

In a deep, dark space in my heart, I realised today that I am a war criminal. I never wanted to admit that. I knew what I did it was a violation of the Geneva conventions and International Law. But when you tell it to Americans and you explain the scenario of what happens, the Americans dismiss it as 'fog of war' or 'collateral damage'.

This story was first published by Barry as a comment on this article: "A review of "Pushers Out: The inside story of Dublin’s anti-drugs movement"

I was going out with a girl from near Dolphins barn when Josie Dwyer was killed. I used to pass him quite frequently. He was always on the grass outside the flats or hanging around the railings on the bridge. A pathetic sight - he couldn't have weighed more than 7 or 8 stone.

Before he was killed if you walked through Fatima chances are you'd be approached maybe a couple of times and asked if you were looking gear. And it only takes a minute to walk through it. One guy even employed the Moore street selling technique of yelling "come get yer luvverly gear" while riding round on a mountain bike. The drugs thing was just out of control. The bird I went with attended many anti-drug vigils and marches and even favoured shooting the bigger dealers dead. Last I heard of her years ago she was addicted to smoking the stuff herself - just gave up . Beautiful girl too, an awful waste.

Im not surprised to be honest Josie Dwyer got thumped even though it was wrong, especially given the company he was in. People were at the end of their tether with the rate of adddiction. What made that era particularly bad and dangerous for youngsters was the emerging rave scene which itself lead to an explosion in drug use and culture even in the middle class areas. The working class areas got hit even worse.

Youngsters would go to raves and get introduced to the Es which they were assured were safe and non addictive. Sure didnt trendy types like that bollocks Anthony Wilson and others go on TV talking about how great they were. Trendy comedians joked on TV about taking them. The youngsters would be worried about going home off their faces on Es because their parents would see they were hyper. Mnay of their parents were violently anti drugs. The E dealers had a great solution to this - smoke a bit of gear and it'll wind you down before you go home. Nobody'd know any different.