In the mid-1970s when "The River mount", as the locals of south Finglas still call it, was built, it had a supermarket, a bookies, a grocery, a newsagent's shop and, later on, a video library. Today, only the newsagent's shop and the pub - the Tower Inn - survive. Most of the other units have lain empty for over a decade. They are defaced by graffiti and their windows and doors are covered with black metal shutters. Broken glass and rubbish are strewn around the flat-roofed buildings, and weeds and grass poke through the uneven tarmacadam.

A compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the Rivermount has been legally challenged by the owners of the Tower Inn. The case comes before the High Court in November. Dublin Corporation had planned to redevelop the site, which is at the junction of St Helena's Road and St Helena's Drive in south Finglas, as part of a plan by Dublin Corporation to "rid the city of blots on the landscape such as run down shopping areas which often attract trouble". Earlier this year, Dublin Corporation confirmed a CPO on Darndale Shopping Centre, in Dublin 17. At the time, a corporation spokesman said the order was made on the centre, which like the Rivermount, was built in the mid-1970s, because it hadn't functioned as a proper neighbourhood facility for years.

But while there are alternative retail facilities for Darndale residents - at the nearby Darndale Village Centre, which will be completed in the new year - some Finglas south residents fear that, if the Rivermount is demolished, the newsagent's shop will not be replaced.

"I would like to see the appearance of the area being improved and would welcome any move to build houses there," says one resident of nearby St Helena's Court, which provides sheltered accommodation for senior citizens. "But if the newsagent isn't replaced, I'm too frail to go to Janelle Shopping Centre or to Finglas Village to get a newspaper or a bottle of milk and some of the other elderly residents would be in the same situation," he added.

Dublin Corporation says if the CPO goes ahead, "it will have to be seriously considered whether another shop is the best thing for the area".

"There has been a lot of antisocial activity around that centre over the last 15 years," says Paddy Woods, assistant principal officer in the corporation's development section. "The danger is that if a shop is provided it will become a focal point for undesirable behaviour. We have had discussions with the locals and some people made representations that a shop was needed but others said that it could attract the wrong people.

If the CPO goes ahead then we will have further discussions at that stage to determine exactly what type of redevelopment will take place."

Another elderly local person said that although the Tower Inn had had its problems, it was convenient for "some of the old folk to gather for a social evening." In the city centre, there have been objections to a CPO in the Gardiner Street/ Summerhill area. The site includes a vacant former CIE site between Summerhill and the bottom of Mountjoy Square and an extensive stretch of mostly cleared ground beside the Hill 16 pub. This land has 15 owners, three of whom have objected to the order.

"We are currently negotiating with these adjoining land owners," says Vincent Norton, principal officer in the corporation's development section. "The corporation is taking a proactive view in relation to developing the city and if it doesn't see development moving in the right direction, it will intervene in the market. "We would like to see a mix of office and retail and residential units on the Gardiner Street/Summerhill site. We expect major redevelopment to take place there under the North East Inner City Integrated Area Plan in the next three years."

In the Liberties/Coombe area, construction has started on a new road from Cork Street to the Holy Faith Convent in the Coombe. Dublin Corporation used its CPO powers to acquire 140 "references", including houses, buildings and sites, to make way for a redevelopment of adjoining areas and streets, including Dolphin's Barn, Patrick Street and Ardee Street.

"The rejuvenation of the area will be carried out in conjunction with the new road. There was a lot of dereliction there and quite a few run down properties and under-utilisation of the land. We are using our compulsory purchase powers much more than in the past," Vincent Norton said.