The future of some community and voluntary groups in Ballymun is uncertain, according to a report published yesterday by the Ballymun Community Organisations Network (BCON).
The report, Building for Change - communities facilities strategy, concludes that Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL) and the Dublin City Council does not adequately engage with voluntary and community groups in the area.
It outlines the BCON's "clear concern that the experience of regeneration to date in Ballymun has eroded, rather than enforced the community's social capital".
The research included over 80 interviews with members of community and voluntary groups, and local authority officials. It also included a comparative analysis of community facilities in areas of urban regeneration throughout Ireland and in the UK.
Many of the 38 community groups affiliated to the network are housed in flats and basements and several are resident in the Ballymun Town Centre.
All of these buildings are due to be demolished in the next few years.
"A lot of the groups in Ballymun are in a very difficult position", Dermot King of the BCON told The Irish Times yesterday.
"When there are no plans and no certain future, then that erodes trust and undermines people's energy."
The report states that "neither BRL nor the Dublin City Council has placed detailed, proposed plans into the public arena for consideration and discussion in an inclusive manner".
In a response, Ballymun regeneration, a council company, said all of the community groups in Ballymun would be relocated before the last demolition is due to take place in 2012.
"Facilities have already been provided to accommodate groups already relocated from the flats and more facilities are in the pipeline. It is not expected that any community group will be rendered homeless by the demolition of the flats," it said.
The research carried out on behalf of the BCON also confirms that the involvement of the community and voluntary sector in urban regenerations schemes is crucial to social sustainability.
Paddy Haughey of The Plough Youth Group, which is a member of the BCON and provides educational and recreational services to young people from a lift shaft and two basements, said he has been seeking a guarantee of secure premises from BRL since 2000.
"Premises should be provided," he said. "Youth groups are the soul of the community and they give an immeasurable contribution to the education of young people and building their confidence, and giving them an alternative way of life."