Reply To: Who is Frank Mc Donald’s transport (and seemingly housing) Expert ?

I am of Ballyfermot …it is a good place on the edge of Dublin city …..It was once what could be termed predominantly ‘working class’ ..it was awful in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s as I remember when poverty was rife and morale was rock bottom, but some people held on and brought us through the bad times…….but now that there is a proliferation of work and money….things have picked up big time. They have built a new Civic centre in Ballyfermot …it looks very well….’Temple Bar’ comes to the suburbs. Many present Irish ‘celebs’ come from ‘Ballyer’ such as Joe Duffy, The Fureys Brothers and Lorraine Keane’s ma as well as Tom Hyland,reknowned for his campaign for human rights in Asia. Many such working class suburbs can boast renowned names of Irish life and culture..ie Brendan Behan once lived in In Drimnagh etc…
The housing schemes of Ballyfermot are good….soundly built and visually ok………if they are painted up with a bright colour and the front garden tended to … they can look as good if not better than any private housing estate.
Frank McDonald is a good writer ….he is well informed of Dublin’s architectural history ….I gained part of my knowledge and love for Dublin city through Frank McDonalds newspaper articles and books throughout the years.

[This message has been edited by GregF (edited 13 May 2002).]