Regeneration of Northside ~ Moyross

@Dreamstate wrote:

Limerick Northside Southside Regeneration Agencies

The final Masterplans should be finalised by June 2008. These Masterplans will encompass the Moyross Housing Estates and Adjacent Lands on the Northside of the city and the O’Malley/Keyes, Carew/Kincora, Clarina/ Crecora Estates and Adjacent lands on the Southside of the City.

The Masterplans will effectively become frame work development plans and subject to approval of City and County Council be enshrined into the statutory development plans of Limerick City and County this bringing long term certainty for developers, landowners and planning authorities in the area involved.

I would love to know how the re-generation board members were selected . Can anyone advise us on this ?

In particular who selected the developers ? …. Was it the Elected Members ? I think that everyone should check it out and keep an eye on what the re-generation board members get back in time to come…….

Author questions ‘who gains from regeneration?’ (Limerick Independent)

Written by David Raleigh

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

A BOOK is to be launched in Limerick next week questioning whether Limerick’s Regeneration plan to transform local Council estates is good for the public or good for the profit gains of private interests, writes David Raleigh. The sure-to-be controversial book is written by Dr John Bissett, and will be launched by University of Limerick Professor of International Politics and Public Administration, Peadar Kirby. University of Limerick Professor of International Politics and Public Administration and has already been launched in Belfast and Dublin.

According to advance notice, the publication has been “greatly received by communities involved in regeneration but not necessarily by the present government.” ‘Regeneration: public good or private profit?’ is said to lift the lid off a model of regeneration that “wasted public resources, and failed the needs of communities in need of those resources”. The book also documents the trials and triumphs of the regeneration process at St Michael’s Estate, Inchicore in Dublin from the perspective of the local community.

The publicity for the launch of the book in Limerick next week explains that Dr Bissett “uncovers the mechanics of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) as a model, names the deliberate exclusion of a community, and tells the story behind decisions and actions”. The release added: “This book exposes the appalling social consequences and loss of public monies, which occurs when those responsible for public decision-making, ignore international standards for housing provision and the rights of local communities to be involved in shaping their future. It explains how rules for regeneration were written behind closed doors for the benefit of the developer and the banks and how this was then defined as the common good.”

It also explained that the book is a “must read” for local residents, civil servants, academics, developers, community workers, politicians, students and anyone with an interest in not only social justice, but for transparent and accountable expenditure of public monies. “At a time when large areas in Limerick are being proposed for regeneration, it is essential that the lessons from regenerations such as these and elsewhere are transferred and learned from, especially in communities of high disadvantage and inequality,” the press release added. The book launch is due to take place on Monday, March 2, from 6-7.30pm at the Dominican Biblical Institute on Upper Cecil Street. Speakers on the night are said to include: Dr John Bisset (author); Rita Fagan, Director, Family Resource Centre, St Michael’s Estate, Inchicore; Peader Kirby, Professor

Limerick conditions ‘a scandal’

JAMIE SMYTH in Brussels

Fri, Apr 17, 2009

MEMBERS OF the European Parliament from other member states have compared living conditions in parts of Limerick to those experienced in the Third World and demanded a new EU investigation into illegal dumping activity.

A Moyross businessman told the hearing of a committee of MEPs how he counted over 50 spent bullet shells near his premises after gangland feuding.

The MEPs also accused Limerick City Council of misleading the European Commission by claiming it is providing an adequate waste collection service in all areas of the city.

“These conditions are reminiscent of the developing world yet it is taking place in a developed country in the EU,” said Romanian MEP Victor Bostinaru after listening to a presentation made to the European Parliament’s petitions committee by a local resident.

Cathal McCarthy, a resident of Westin Gardens in Limerick, told MEPs the estate suffers from illegal dumping and anti-social behaviour, and is plagued by gangs. One elderly resident is so scared he has boarded up his house and lives in darkness, he added.

“Limerick City Council’s claim that there is a waste collector with a small truck that could collect our domestic waste regularly is false,” said Mr McCarthy, who added that he felt the council is instituting a deliberate policy to try to get residents to agree to resettlement to allow large-scale regeneration.

He said the authorities had collected waste and brought pest control to remove rats last week, but this was only after they learned he was to appear at the committee. “I believe if you send a delegation to investigate the problems it would send a message that Europe matters and it cares,” Mr McCarthy told MEPs during his presentation.

Caroline Curley, Limerick City Council’s director of environment services, later told The Irish Times the council had not misled the EU and insisted a waste service was provided. “We are working hard to deal with social problems and waste issues . . . The reality is that some people there are just not interested in a clean environment,” she said.

Another member of the delegation, local businessman Thomas Daly who lives in the Moyross estate, said people were frightened for their lives: “I counted 58 spent shells outside my house with different gangs shooting at each other in pitched battles.” He added a Government promise to provide a designated Garda force to combat gang activity had not been fulfilled. Photographs shown to the committee during the presentation revealing boarded-up houses, illegal dumping and piles of refuse drew angry responses from MEPs.

“This is a scandal. It is untenable. It is clear that EU citizens have been left defenceless. We must hold the local authorities to account,” said Spanish MEP Willy Meyer Pleite.

Munster MEP Kathy Sinnott said illegal dumping was a weapon of war 😡 used by gangs who wanted decent people to move out of neighbourhoods to allow them take over.

She also said it was clear the commission had been duped by Limerick City Council, which had sent letters to the EU executive claiming it had solved the waste problem. Under EU law, the council is obliged to ensure waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health.

The European Court of Justice has already ruled against Ireland for failing to correctly implement the EU’s waste framework directive in 2005. Peter Wessman, director general of environment in the European Commission, told the petitions committee the information he had received from the Irish authorities suggested they were now in compliance. But after viewing the photographs, he said the commission would investigate the matter again.:cool:

The chair of the committee, Polish MEP Marcin Libicki, who visited deprived areas of Limerick in June 2007, said the photographs showed “the terrible state of the place”. He said the committee would send a letter to Limerick City Council and the Government explaining it was requesting the commission to undertake a new investigation into the conditions in parts of Limerick.

He said the committee would table a resolution for voting at the plenary session of the parliament requesting the commission to take legal action against Ireland for failing to comply with EU laws on waste collection.

Moyross region in Limerick as captured in photographs shown to the European Parliament’s petitions committee. Along with news of illegal dumping, rat infestation and gang activity, they led Romanian MEP Victor Bostinaru to comment: “These conditions are reminiscent of the developing world yet it is taking place in a developed country in the EU.”

© 2009 The Irish Times

Pretty damming stuff – no accountability either from a weak Limerick local authority or our national government in Dublin! If the EU parliament must kick a few asses, then so be it. 😡

Other images of Moyross from thebaz dublin and James Horan Shoots People

I couldn’t agree more with this, especially given the apparent “wealth” of this country. But having been to Romania, I think the Romanian MEP should be more worried about the fact that half his country looks like this, and also about the utterly utterly shameful treatment of Roma in his own country.

Having A Voice In Regeneration

A nice input here from UL Students of Journalism in getting a local newspaper up and running called “The Moyross Voice”. 😎

See video clip.

State cannot deliver €1.7bn for Limerick regeneration – O’Dea

JAMIE SMYTH, Social Affairs Correspondent

THE GOVERNMENT will not be able to deliver the €1.7 billion it promised for the regeneration of Limerick, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has said.

The Government announced its €3 billion regeneration plan for Limerick in 2007. It had planned to invest €1.7 billion between 2009 and 2018, with private investors investing the rest.

The State agency tasked with developing the project, Limerick Regeneration, held talks with officials at the Department of Environment this week aimed at agreeing incentive schemes to attract private investment.

Brendan Kenny, chief executive of Limerick Regeneration, said tax breaks for developers were under consideration, although these may require EU approval. Another possibility was for private investors to build social housing, which could then be leased back to the State.

However, he said the reality was it would be very difficult to attract private-sector investment.

Mr O’Dea, who is a local TD, warned yesterday that there was growing public “disenchantment” in Limerick due to the lack of progress on the project.
“Rather than let the thing grind to a halt because we can’t afford to put more than €25 million in in a year, let’s attract money in from the private sector and see some action,” said Mr O’Dea, who added he had been approached by investors eager to get involved.

“I can’t give their identity, but they are local builders, people who have been involved in the building trade for a long time . . . they are solid guys,” said Mr O’Dea, who estimated they had “a couple of hundred million euro” to invest.

The master plan aims to regenerate four estates – Moyross, Ballinacurra Weston, Southill and St Mary’s Park. It envisages demolishing up to 2,500 houses, creating two new town centres and breaking the “cycle of disadvantage” in the city.

Mr Kenny said the regeneration project would now be delayed and may not be completed for 15 years due to funding problems.

Limerick Regeneration will put forward new proposals to Government next month aimed at starting a building programme to reassure local people the regeneration will go ahead.

However, significant changes are expected to the original plan, with more houses on the estates being refurbished rather than demolished and rebuilt.

Mr Kenny said his big fear was that good families would leave the estates if there was a long delay in redevelopment.

“Three hundred houses are gone from Moyross and we are losing the best families, the ones we want to be in the new communities,” he said. 😡

© 2010 The Irish Times

Another bitter reality check for Limerick City.

Talk about to be between a rock and a hard place for options.

Limerick a disjointed city, one would get the impression it’s divided between snobs and yobs, between arrogance and ignorance, between private and public housing, between city and county councils.

I reckon NAMA could now replace the Regeneration Agencies as they must have a nice portfolio on their books. An Irish solution to an Irish problem. :rolleyes:

was this just a ruse to knock down the wrecked houses without compliant

@lostexpectation wrote:

was this just a ruse to knock down the wrecked houses without compliant

So far “regeneration” has been nothing more than a colossal junket for those who are allegedly overseeing the project! 😡

Spending a couple of billion Euro building new houses was never going to solve anything. There is a disturbing cultural mindset afflicting many in these areas thats going to take a long time to weed out. Unfortunately not enough emphasis has been placed on addressing this problem!

As long as we keep ignoring the hard issues nothing is ever going to change in Limerick City. Inevitably, things are only going to degenerate further! :rolleyes:

Article from Today’s Irish Times

Limerick:’Worse now than before’

Limerick’s regeneration project is in jeopardy due to a scarcity of public funding and locals in the city’s most disadvantaged estates are becoming disillusioned, writes JAMIE SMYTH Social Affairs Correspondent

‘NEXT STOP, New Life – Regeneration five minutes away,” proclaims the colourful mural in the sports hall at the newly built youth centre on the Southill estate in Limerick. It is one of scores of paintings prepared by local children as part of a project to identify what the Government’s €3 billion regeneration project in Limerick means for them and their community. The images of smiling faces, playgrounds, rainbows, trees and flowers are in stark contrast to the drab reality of the estate outside, where burnt-out houses and illegal dumping blight the landscape.

“The kids are really enthusiastic about the regeneration. You can see on the paintings they have set out life goals. One wants to be a mechanic, another a boxer,” says Ciara Kane, who manages the youth centre, which is based in a derelict factory.

The centre is one of the first social initiatives funded by Limerick Regeneration, which is the agency co-ordinating the redevelopment of the Southill, Moyross, St Mary’s Park and Ballinacurra Weston estates. It is a fantastic resource, providing local kids with indoor soccer pitches, an art room, computers, a cafe and a range of youth services. Getting young people involved in sport and other community-based activities is a key way of keeping them off the streets where they could get involved in anti-social behaviour and other trouble. It gives them hope that things are getting better in the area, says Kane.

The need for a major regeneration in Southill is beyond doubt. Walk a few hundred metres from the youth centre and you feel like you are in a third-world slum. Poverty, drugs, and intimidation are part of everyday life on the estate, which consists of 1,000 houses – about half of which have been condemned for demolition by Limerick Regeneration. High crime rates, unemployment rates at least four times the national average and high levels of single-parent families combine to create levels of social deprivation that make living on the estate at best a challenge and at worst hellish.

Sarah (not her real name) feels lucky to have escaped Southill with her life. She lived there for almost 30 years without any problems, and enjoyed the tight-knit community atmosphere in the estate. But when a family linked to serious crime moved into her street, her life and those of her family changed utterly.

“They broke all my windows, put fireworks through my letter box, and attacked my dogs with iron bars. It was unbearable. I couldn’t leave the house for fear I’d return and it would be burnt down,” she says in a voice that shakes following years of intimidation.

She says her tormentors ranged in ages from four to 14. Because they were juveniles they could not be prosecuted, and their parents didn’t care. “Animals wouldn’t live like they do,” says Sarah, who was recently relocated to another area by Limerick Regeneration, leaving her old home derelict, like scores of other houses on the estate.

Sarah says she would return to Southill when regeneration is complete if the estate changes and the troublemakers are removed. But an admission by local TD and Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea last week that the Government can’t afford to put up the €1.7 billion public funds needed to demolish 2,500 homes, create two new town centres and break the “cycle of disadvantage” suggests she could be waiting a very long time.

The Government is investigating whether it can raise additional private money to kickstart the project. But after 2½ years of waiting for regeneration to happen, and no new houses built yet, local people are becoming disillusioned with the project.

“I’ll be a pensioner by the time any of this happens,” says Breda, who lives on her own in the sprawling Moyross estate in north Limerick, which became the catalyst for regeneration following a petrol-bomb attack on a car containing youngsters Millie and Gavin Murray in 2006. This tragic incident, when three 17-year-olds threw a petrol bomb into the car of Millie’s and Gavin’s mother, with the two children inside, drew world attention to the estate.

“All they’ve done is move a few people out of the estate and board up some houses. Many of these abandoned homes are then burnt to the ground or infested with rats. Nothing new has been built. It’s worse now than it was before,” says Breda, pointing out the gaps in the rows of houses where a home has been burnt out and then demolished.

“This is never going to happen,” says Derek, a middle-aged man making the long walk to the single row of shops at the entrance to Moyross. He says regeneration is just the latest in a long list of broken promises made to people in Moyross by politicians.

BRENDAN KENNY , chief executive of Limerick Regeneration, says he understands people’s frustrations at the slow pace of the project and admits the State’s financial problems are causing delays in delivery.

But he says tangible social projects are being delivered and are helping to stabilise life on the estates. “We need to get the social side of the project going before we build houses. This is about helping families develop parenting skills, diverting children from anti-social behaviour and targeting crime,” says Kenny, who points to a series of grants the agency has made to youth clubs and other bodies involved in the regeneration process.

But he says serious money now needs to be committed by Government to get the big projects started and to prevent local communities from losing hope and going backwards.

“I’ll be bringing a new plan to Government next month for several projects, including a new community centre and through-road for Moyross and a primary healthcare centre, educational facilities and replacement housing in the other areas,” he says.

He says the agency may ask the Government to provide tax incentives to attract private developers to the project and to consider leasing social housing from the private sector.

Limerick Regeneration is also revisiting the masterplan drawn up in 2008, and admits the timeframe for delivery will need to be extended beyond 2018. It is unclear how they plan to proceed, given the lack of cash available to begin a major building programme. But it is likely that many of the 2,500 houses earmarked for demolition and rebuilding may now be refurbished, according to the agency.

Financial problems are not the only challenge for the project. There are concerns within the regeneration team and in local communities about the ability of Limerick City Council to take over the lead role of overseeing the project in 2012 as planned.

“We need someone in charge to say this needs to be done or this family needs a certain type of support. We have too many people working on individual problems without co-operating,” says Paddy Flannery, manager of the Moyross community enterprise centre.

“There can be five, six or seven State agencies dealing with one family. They are all doing their best but often not sharing information or working together,” he says.

DESPITE THE DELAYS and a growing sense of disillusionment with the project, progress has been made.

At The Bays youth centre in Moyross, groups of teenagers are playing pool, while others are attending boxing training in the neighbouring hall. “Crime has definitely dropped in Moyross, because there are so many gardaí around these days,” says one teenager, who is attending a Garda diversion project that aims to keep young offenders out of detention through close supervision, family supports, and activities.

“I was joyriding when I was 14. But a lot of joyriders have been locked up in the last few years. There was also a lot more fighting a few years ago . . . people arguing with each other,” says the teenager, who like many boys on the estate has a passion for the horses that roam many of the green areas.

The 100 extra gardaí provided to the city as part of the regeneration process has cut down the level of anti-social behaviour in Moyross, and targeted the gangs that deal drugs and have made Limerick synonymous with serious crime.

“Limerick is a tough place to police. The planners didn’t do a good job 30 years ago when they designed the estate with just one way in and lots of cul de sacs,” says Luke Conlon, an inspector in charge of community policing in Moyross. “But there is no doubt the level of crime in Moyross has dramatically fallen since regeneration started,” he says.

Most key members of the two biggest criminal gangs in Limerick, the Dundon-McCarthys and the Keane-Collopys, are currently in prison, and the murder rate halved in 2009, with three killings in the city, which is less than the number of gangland murders in Dublin this January.

Conlon says building new homes is not the solution to the estates’ problems. “We need to educate families to bring their kids up well, keep children in school and get them involved in sports and activities. If we don’t attract the youngsters then they will focus on other attractions that they perceive as cool ways to get on in life, such as guns and drugs,” he says.

But without a visible sign of regeneration some time soon, the real fear is that people could quickly lose hope and that the estates could slip back into a mood of despair characterised by crime and deprivation.

The friars who work on the soul of Moyross

AMONG THE strangest sights in Moyross are the Franciscan monks who are often seen playing American football or chatting with local children in between the burnt-out and boarded-up houses.

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal set up in one of the toughest parts of Moyross in 2007. The monks follow in the footsteps of St Francis by rejecting materialism. The order, which broke away from the Capuchin Order of the Franciscans, set up its first Friary in the Bronx in 1987, and has churches in London, Bradford, Honduras and Nicaragua. It has grown to 125 monks, and last October set up a new friary in Derry.

“When I came here first to visit in 2006 and saw the burnt-out cars, graffiti and garbage, I thought this is exactly the type of place that attracts us. I didn’t know much about the gangster element at that time,” says Brother Sean, who is one of five monks in the friary, which has been converted out of three abandoned council houses.

He says people often hold misconceptions about Moyross, which he says is much quieter than the media portray. He has only seen one violent incident. It involved a woman who was set upon by a crowd and almost kicked to death.

But violence and deprivation do not deter the Franciscans.

“Just before we got here there was the incident with Millie and Gavin. The Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray rang us and I think he expected we would change our minds about coming to Moyross. But this only solidified our reason for coming,” he says.

The Franciscans are popular with local children, although some older members of the community are more sceptical about their presence. “They feed off poverty and deprivation so I don’t see how they will help in the long term,” says one community worker.

They monks’ day centres around prayer. They also make house visits in order to build relationships with the local community, and they organise social events and masses. “A lot of these children just want to know someone cares about them. They want people to spend time with them. They want positive male role models,” he says.

The monks recently began work on a garden on the cul de sac to try to lift people’s spirits. “We hope our garden blossoms for people this year,” says Brother Sean. “We want to help the poor. But not the way the regeneration scheme wants to do it. We are working on the soul,” he says.

Cabinet approves €330m for 26 key regeneration projects (Limerick Leader Page 2)

I fully agree, delivery of this key project by 2012 would also restore people’s faith on regeneration too.

An Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing and Local Services, Mr. Michael Finneran T.D., announce Government support for 26 new regeneration projects worth €337million for Limerick City (Department of Environment)

18/06/10

An Taoiseach with his colleague Mr. Michael Finneran T.D., Minister for Housing and Local Services, announced today (18 June 2010) that the first phase of the ambitious Limerick Regeneration Programme, incorporating 26 new regeneration projects worth €337million, would get underway this summer. “This Government is about renewal, whether it is economic renewal or renewing some of our most disadvantaged communities” said An Taoiseach at the official launch of the Phase 1 Implementation Plan. Despite the challenges currently facing the Exchequer, An Taoiseach indicated that the transformational plans had whole of Governmental support and that funding for the plan, to be delivered over the next four and a half years, had been secured within a number of Department’s budgets. “I consider the regeneration initiative in Limerick to be of the utmost importance, both for the communities and families living in the city, but also as a demonstration of this Government’s ability to deliver complex projects across the whole of the public sector”. Highlighting the importance of delivering private sector investment as well as public investment, An Taoiseach indicated that an Inter-Departmental Group has already been established “to develop proposals in the coming months for a scheme of economic, employment and social regeneration incentives needed to deliver on the regeneration of these areas.”

Minister Finneran welcomed the Taoiseach’s remarks and added “For the people of Moyross, Southill, Ballinacurra Weston and St. Mary’s Park, the approval of these projects show that this Government has listened to their problems, we have heard them, and are delivering on our commitment to work with them to rebuild their communities” On the housing front, he promised “I am committed to providing over 850 new and refurbished social housing units, and the associated enabling works, at a total cost of €160m over the next four and a half years.”

He thanked, in particular the Ministers for Finance, for Education and Skills, for Transport, for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, for Health, as well as the Minister for Children, for their ongoing support for enhanced service delivery in the areas, in addition to their capital commitment to the phase one plans. “Regeneration is not just about bricks and mortar”, he said, “ and it is about ensuring a safe, secure living environment for people, to build job skills, support education initiatives, and offer new community and recreational opportunities.

The Government have agreed to provide a dedicated €5 million fund in each of the next five years to deliver enhanced public services to protect the social fabric of these communities. I look forward also to the announcement of economic incentives to bring private sector interest into these forgotten areas” he added.

Minister Finneran was also pleased to announce that, on top of the €25 million already allocated in 2010, he is making available an additional €10 million in 2010 in order to fast-track the enabling works, including acquisitions, demolition and site preparation, to facilitate the early construction of new housing and other important infrastructural projects. “I expect that this additional funding in 2010 will provide an important kick start to this process, creating much needed employment” the Minister added. “I expect that by the end of the year we will have broken ground on two new housing projects at Cliona Park in Moyross and at Lord Edward Street serving Balinacurra Weston, while the new crèche at St. Mary’s Park, with significant funding from the Childcare Investment Programme, will be almost completed”

The Limerick Regeneration Programme – Phase 1 Implementation plan, as outlined in the attached list, is a mixture of wider strategic infrastructure projects and specific local area projects covering new housing, a new road transport network, new educational campuses, the upgrading a many existing estates, and a range of sports, enterprise, and community facilities over the next four and a half years.

Minister Finneran continued “I intend to amalgamate the two Limerick Regeneration Agencies into a single Agency, led by a new, more strategically focused Board. The new Agency will determine and implement the components of a rolling programme for delivery of this Phase 1 plan, with regular progress reports at local level and to Government.”

A list of projects is available to view here.

Limerick Regeneration Project list

Category and Project Estimated Cost (millions)

Sustainable Strategic Objectives (with regional benefits) – Total €90 million
1. Coonagh/Knocklisheen (part of the Northern Distributor) Road €43.1
2. Access from Southern Ring Road €7
3. Upgrading of Childers Road €5
4. Commercial, Sport, Recreation, and Community Facilities €6.5
5. Civic Hub Buildings in Moyross including Employment, Community, Health Care, Youth, Education, Children, and Local Government facilities. €32.17

Sustainable Economic and Enterprise Development – Total €16 million
6. Marketing Sites N/A
7. Land Purchases €10
8. Integrated Employment and Enterprise Services €6.02

Sustainable Housing – Total €116 million
9. New housing at Cliodhna Park – 36 units €6.49
10 & 12 Housing refurbishment in Moyross and Southill – 248 units €18.9
11 & 14 New sheltered housing in Southill and St. Mary’s Park – 61 units €10.15
13. Traveller specific housing in Southill – 6 units €1.29
14, 17, 18 & 19 Other replacement housing projects for Moyross, Southill, Ballinacurra Weston and St. Mary’s Park – 440 units €66.51
15. New housing at Lord Edward Street – 70 units €15.35

Sustainable Community and Social Development – Total €40 million
20. Clustering of schools – St. Mary’s Park €5.65
21. Community crèche – St. Mary’s Park €1.2
22. Reorganisation of primary school educational facilities – Southill €11.65
23. Health and community development – Ballinacurra Weston €13.12
24. Integrated Youth Centre, Southside €10.17
25. Primary Healthcare Facility – St. Mary’s Park N/A

Other – Total €70 million
26. Social inclusion activities €25
Enabling Works €41.62

Overall Total €336.9

Moyross land deal fails (Limerick Post)

Written by John O’Shaughnessy

80-acre Delmege Estate back on market

PROPOSALS by a group of Limerick investors for an 80-acre landbank at the former Delmege Estate in Moyross, have fallen foul of the banking crisis.

Last year, the group, headed by entrepreneur Michael Daly, signed contracts for the site, subject to planning permission, and announced it was their intention to develop an industrial park and create hundreds of jobs for the people of Moyross.

However, Michael Daly, who headed the consortium, this week told the Limerick Post that the world had changed a lot in the interim and that proposals had been dropped.

The site in question was in the headlines a few weeks ago when the body of murder victim Lee Slattery, was discovered in a shallow grave there.

The Delmege Estate, a short distance from Watch House Cross, had been owned by deceased Limerick solicitor, James Lyons.

Said Mr Daly: “Yes, we had definite plans for the site and we put a lot of money into preparatory work. There was tremendous excitement when news first broke, and it gave great hope to the local population.

“In fact, one of our proposals was for a rail stop. Now that the Limerick-Ennis-Galway rail line has opened, a train stop off at Moyross would have been of great convenience to locals”.

The Fordmount Group, which Mr Daly once headed, was not involved in the consortium involved in negotiations for the historic Delmege Estate, which has been lying idle for over a decade.

Limerick auctioneer Pat Kearney, who had been the selling agent, said this Wednesday it was unfortunate that things had not worked out.

“Mr Daly is a man of great vision and I have no doubt that had the economy not taken a downturn, the Delmege Park venture would have been a great success.

“It had been welcomed by local groups, and, in fact, talks had already been entered into with business people who were serious in their intentions to occupy units there. Eighty-acres is a large tract of land and a lot could have been done with it”.

@CologneMike wrote:

Limerick Regeneration Project list

Sustainable Strategic Objectives (with regional benefits) – Total €90 million
1. Coonagh/Knocklisheen (part of the Northern Distributor) Road €43.1

One week things are going forward, the following week things just go into reversal. 🙁

See previous post “Limerick developer in plan to create 3,000 new jobs”

NEW WEBSITE HOPES TO CAST OFF NEGATIVE VIEWS OF SOME PARTS OF LIMERICKS (live95fm)

The designer of a new website is hoping it will help to shake-off negative views of Limerick’s disadvantaged areas.

Tim Horgan from Changing Ireland says Moyross-dot-ie will focus on painting a positive picture of the area without shying away entirely from negative news items.
Anyone can submit articles or pictures to the website however the brunt of work will be carried out by local people.

Tim says the focus of Moyross.ie is on the community…

Live95fm flagged this excellent community website. Their mission statement first outlines bluntly its difficult history. Especially parts of its socio-economic profile is worrying stuff to read, with an extreme high percentage of single parents trying to raise families on their own and also the high drop-out rate of kids leaving school at or before the age of 15.

I must say I’m really heartened after reading through its news blog, it shows some great community spirit and the community services they have built up. It will be a long haul, but they are getting there.

http://www.moyross.ie 🙂

Moyross Estate

Mission Statement:
Moyross is a local authority housing estate on the north side of Limerick built between 1973 and 1987and forms the parish of Corpus Christi. In 2006 the estate had 1,160 houses with 19 acres of open green areas divided into 12 parks and a population of 3,468.

By 2009 the housing stock has been reduced in preparation for the regeneration programme to 900 houses. Up to 2008 the estate was unusual in that it spannned two electoral areas, with 728 houses part of the Ballynanty DED of Limerick City Council, and 432 houses in the Limerick North Rural DED of Limerick County Council.

This division led to residents in Pineview Gardens, Creavel Park and Delmege Park feeling disenfranchised. These areas experienced very high levels of violence and intimidation in 2006 and fed into the very high turnover of tenants in these three parks (10% each year).

For a number of years there is no one on Limerick City Councils waiting list wishing to be housed in Moyross. All this led in a large part to the appointment of John Fitzgerald to draw up a report to the Government and the subsequent establishment of the Limerick Regeneration Agency in 2007.

History:
At the outset Moyross was built with no infrastructure to cater for the size of the population. Corpus Christi Church, Primary School and the houses of the Mercy Sisters and LSA provided the only community facilities until 1988. Two years earlier the first community development training took place and led to Moyross Partners becoming the catalyst for subsequent developments including a Family Resource Centre, Community Enterprise Centre and Health Centre. Later the Moyross Development Company was set up providing a range of youth activities from the disused Shannon Development Industrial Bays.

From the 1980’s Moyross experienced extreme levels of poverty and disadvantage with an unemployment figure of 84% at that time. The community has had very high dependency on social welfare and a disproportionately young population. In 2001 Moyross with, Ballynanty and Kileely was designated one of the 25 most disadvantage areas in Ireland under the RAPID programme. Despite this, Moyross is characterised by strong community involvement and a commitment to working in partnership with statutory agencies to develop a range of facilities and services to meet its needs.

Socio-Economic Profile:

Population:
The total population decreased by 7% from 4,448 in 1992 to 4,110 in 2002 and reduced again to 3,468 in 2006. (CSO 2006)

Age Dependency:
43.8% are under the age of 25 years 7% are aged over 65 years.(CSO 2006)

Lone Parent Families:
63.9 % of households are headed by people parenting alone. (CSO 2006)
In a local survey of lone parents, 78% are the only adult in their household. Pineview Gardens and Delmege Park have the highest concentration of lone parent families in the area.

Education and Training
29% of the population of Moyross left school at or before the age of 15. (CSO 2006) There are 3 pre-schools run by Corpus Christi School, Moyross Community Crèche and Respond Housing.

Corpus Christi Primary School caters for 294 children.

There is no secondary school in the community but St. Nessans Community College is adjacent to it as is the Limerick Institute of Technology.

A partnership between LIT and the Moyross Community Enterprise Centre completed a feasibility study on expanding the Institute into Moyross with the building of a Village Centre /LIT Campus North and formed the nucleus for the Northside Regeneration Agency Master Plan

Employment
The unemployment rate in 2006 was 24.6% 13% of people employed are engaged in Community Employment Projects or Job Initiative Schemes. Currently 140 people are employed on CE and JI Schemes by 4 different sponsoring bodies including Moyross Community Enterprise Centre, Moyross Development Company and Barnardos.

Moyross Community Enterprise Centre is the single biggest employer in the community employing 96 people in total. Speedline Engineering was the only significant commercial employer in Moyross employing 56 people. The new shopping centre has created an additional 30 jobs.

Housing:
There is a high standard of housing in Moyross. 69% are rented from the local authority. 31% are owner-occupied or on tenant purchase. 100 houses were boarded up across the whole estate in November 2006 and have subsequently been demolished along with another 160. The Northside Regeneration Master Plan envisages the demolition of all the existing housing stock on a phased basis over the next 10 years.

Services Available in the Area:
The range of groups and facilities now operating include:
• Moyross Partners (umbrella body for community groups)
• Moyross Community Enterprise Centre responsible for:
o Moyross Action Centre,
o Community Crèche, Pre School and Out Of School Service
o After Schools Programme,
o Moyross Millennium Playground
o All Weather Pitch and Handball / Hurling Wall
o Two Soccer and GAA Pitches
o Community Meals for the Elderly
o Moyross Community Mini Bus,
o CCTV Security System on the estate,
o Moyross Environmental Project, Youth Clubs
• 7 Micro-Enterprise Units in Sarsfield Gardens housing:
o Changing Ireland – the Community Development Programme Newsletter
o T Fashions
o Guys and Dolls Hair and Beauty Salon
o Moyross Adult Education Centre
• The community centre compound also accommodates:
o Moyross Residents Forum
o Garda sub-office,
o Moyross Health Centre,
o Caherdavin Credit Union branch office,
o Local Employment Service
o Community Development Network Moyross
• The Moyross Development Company operates from 6 converted factory units housing youth facilities including:
o Millennium Jobs Club
o Corpus Christi Youth Development Group
o Shades Youth Club
o Bayze Side Youth Club
o Corpus Christi Boxing
o Corpus Christi Kung Fu Clubs
o Corpus Christi Pipes and Drum Band,
o Snooker Hall, Indoor Soccer Pitch and Motor Cross Track.
o Ceim ar Cheim Probation Project

Other groups and services are:
• Moyross Adult Education Group
• Corpus Christi Pastoral Council
• Corpus Christi Primary School
• Bereavement Support Group
• Rainbows Support Programme
• Moyross Youth Intervention Project
• Barnardos with 2 family support centres in Castle Park and Craeval Park
• Moyross Utd. Soccer Club.
• Thomond Rugby Club
• Senior Citizens Club
• Respond Social Housing Community Centre
• Suaimhneas
• LIT Sarsfield GAA Club
• Extern
• Northside We’re OK Youth Initiative
• Northstar Family Support Project
• Northside Local Education Committee
• Local Community Based Education Initiative
• Franciscan Friars
• Northside Youth Café
• Northside Youthreach
• Northside Learning Hub
• Moyross Community Companions

There are small shops operating for many years in Delmege Park and Castle Park.
In 2004 the Watch House Cross Shopping Centre opened the complex houses some of the above named community projects plus:
• Library
• Northside Regeneration Agency

Commercial outlets include:
• Super Valu supermarket with ATM facility
• Pharmacy
• Delicatessen
• Petrol station
• Bookmakers
• Hair and Beauty Salon
• Fast Food Take-away
• Chinese Take Away
• Pet Shop

There is a public bus service every half hour to the city centre on the 306 to Craeval Park and 309 to Pineview Gardens