Gentrification is good, BUT!!!

Change is good when it's done correctly with the key stakeholders all on the same bus going in the same direction. There's no bus stop at Donore Avenue!

Andrew O'Connell is my name. I am a former resident, youth leader, resident's committee member and former elected City Councillor for this area, and still a vocal advocate for the community of St. Teresa's Gardens as it will always be known. I have 30 years of community development work advocacy under my belt. So I tend to believe I have greater insight on the things I talk about when it comes to community and housing in this area.

The impact of Gentrification on the Donore parish area has been extremely destabilising over the last two decades. It’s blatantly in your face to see as the picture above shows. It varies significantly depending on where you stand on Donore Avenue, Cork Street the South Circular Road, or anywhere in the Liberties.

The scale of developments in the Newmarket area where I once played in five aside competitions on the square and watched boxing demonstrations by Donore Boxing Club during our summer festivals are but a distant faded memory. The square is now dwarfed by existing streets and shopping precincts, and the specific circumstances of the heights in question depend on how much the developer funds permit on the architect’s imagination.

Gentrification was a word that I had never really heard talked about much growing up. It was a big word. If you used big words on the street, you were soon put in your place by your peers. It wasn’t until my college years that I first heard of this term used.

For many communities across the inner city, it is associated with the wolf in sheep’s clothing analogy.  It is something not to be trusted as it doesn’t have your community's best interests at the heart of its philosophy. At its core is change. Change for the better in the minds of the vulture funds, developers, builders, council, and the new classes who can afford to buy and rent in these high-rise towers.

Its effect on indigenous communities in many cases sees those communities wiped of the Ordnance Survey maps of future generations.

Gentrification always leads to the following shifts: A rise in house prices, a shift in the cultural fabric and class system, the displacement of long-established communities, and a breakdown in family support systems, networks, and social connectivity. A redistribution of wealth and carve up of prime public land. With new residents and long-time residents having vastly different income levels. It exacerbates and reinforces a sense of inequality when young people from the area cannot afford to live work and raise families in their own areas.

Those pushing gentrification will always point to the positive shiny aspects of their creations in the area in question. Yet, they don’t live here. They won’t live here, and they won’t play a role in shaping the future of this area.  

Gentrification is highly context-specific, and there are cases where it may bring positive changes, such as improved infrastructure and services. However, these positive effects are often accompanied by significant challenges for existing communities.

Donore Parish is one area where Gentrification has caused huge harm to the entire fabric of the community.

Gentrification has affected the mental, physical, and psychological well-being of everyone living here. These effects have been extremely negative and are a result of the significant disruptions and changes that Gentrification has brought to this community.

The Vulture funds and developers never provide the plans with health warnings printed on them, but they should!

Some of the key impacts that affect the lives of those living in the Donore parish area today:

•  Stress and Anxiety
• Mental Health Challenges
• Physical Health Disparities
• Loss of Cultural Identity
• Social Isolation
• Economic Disadvantages
• Loss of Community Ties
• Increased Substance Abuse
• Resistance and Advocacy

The reality of life in Donore parish is that in the last 20 years, all but one or two community organisations have been dismantled and removed, leaving the area without a solid layer of community support structures that could have helped to mitigate and manage this massive change.

The local groups and organisations I was involved in played a vital role in protecting and supporting this very community. So not only has our community been dismantled since 2014 those vital services have also gone.

The future in Donore Parish looks very bleak! Those in power have questions to answer and the next generation will struggle to find a connection with their heritage, culture, and traditions of the past.

Dublin City Council must reflect its direction and focus in the months and years ahead when it comes to developing this city.