Residents of St Teresa’s Gardens in Dublin gathered to watch on Thursday as the last block of 1950s-era flats were demolished ahead of a new housing development.
At 4.15pm, the demolition equipment crashed into a three-story complex which fronts the entrance of the south inner city estate, one of the oldest high-density social housing sites in the city.
It marked a significant moment in the first phase of a €12.5 million regeneration project which will eventually see dozens of families rehomed on the site of the old buildings.
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The sight of the flats’ concrete façade tumbling to the ground was greeted by cheers and applause from a collection of locals, who attended a reception in the nearby community hall to celebrate the achievements of the regeneration project so far.
It is hoped the new units will start to become available from the beginning of next year, and St Teresa’s residents who have been moved to other parts of the city in the intervening period will be given priority for moving back to their old community.
Watching proceedings was James Boyne, who has lived in the area for six decades having moved there as a two-year-old from nearby Francis Street.
“When I was only young these flats were out of this world, they were great,” said Mr Boyne, one of the tenants who was moved into two blocks of flats that were comprehensively refurbished to act as temporary accommodation after his old home was levelled last year.
He said of his new one-bed apartment, which is an amalgamation of two old flats under the original configuration: “In my old flat you couldn’t swing a kitten in the kitchen - you could swing a tiger in it now it’s that big, it’s brilliant!
“People do want to come back. My daughter actually said to me ‘da, if I had’ve known that they were going to be this nice, I would have never moved’.”
St Theresa’s has been beset by social problems over the decades, including drugs, crime and unemployment, and has faced many delays in its regeneration programme after a comprehensive public private partnership scheme fell through during the economic crash.
Despite its problems, St Teresa's regeneration board member and resident Kristine Taylor said she loved living there.
“It was lovely. Everyone was very welcoming, very neighbourly. I have nothing bad to say about it at all. It’s a very safe place, even though you might not think so when we had the drugs and everything, which is still there to a certain extent but not like it was,” she said.
The ceremony was attended by Minister for Housing Simon Coveney, who described the complex, which was built more than 60 years ago, as "totally outdated".
“At the time it was a solution for housing for many families but it’s totally outdated now,” said the Minister, amid some playful heckling from locals.
“There’s been huge frustration in this community that this could have been done maybe a decade ago. It didn’t... but it can happen now.”