The progress made in regenerating Moyross estate in Limerick could be endangered by threatened cutbacks in community employment schemes, a resident of the estate told the National Policy Conference on Social Housing.
Mr Paddy Flannery, who is manager of the Moyross Community Enterprise Centre and has lived on the estate of 1,100 houses for 24 years, said if locals lost the services provided by community schemes it would be "the downfall" of the estate.
"We will return to a situation where services such as childcare, security and caretakers for our community buildings will no longer be a viable proposition," he told the conference.
One example of the schemes operated by local FAS workers was a £70,000 investment by Limerick Corporation in the installation of three surveillance cameras in a section of the estate. The cameras had been so successful in detecting and preventing crimes that residents in other parts of the estate wanted them installed as well, Mr Flannery said.
The cameras, which are monitored by local people employed on a FAS Job Initiative Project, were "a very good example of how a community and a local authority can work together to relieve vandalism and intimidation on an estate", he said.
During the 1980s many people had moved out of Moyross as they were not willing to live next door to problem families. "I love where I live. I have good neighbours," Mr Flannery said, adding that it was a minority of troublemakers who had dragged down the area.
He recommended that instead of forcing people to leave Moyross, more people who would contribute to a stable community structure should be encouraged to live there. He suggested this could be done by offering favourable loan schemes and tax incentives to those interested in buying property in the estate.