President Mary McAleese yesterday launched the State's largest ever regeneration project which aims to transform some of the most deprived areas of Limerick city.
The plan, drawn up by a Government agency in consultation with the local community, involves the demolition of up to 2,900 houses, a massive rebuilding programme and new measures aimed at tackling social disadvantage.
A number of radical steps aimed at combating anti-social behaviour and criminality are also included, such as ensuring applicants for local authority housing have a "certificate of eligibility" from the Garda.
It also recommends taking a Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) approach against perpetrators of crimes by working with the Revenue Commissioners and other bodies to deal robustly with offenders.
Controversially, it questions whether welfare payments should continue to be provided to recipients involved in criminality or who do not send their children to school.
The chairman of the Limerick Regeneration Agency, John Fitzgerald said the proposals were deliberately radical given that so many other public policies have failed in the past.
"These are measures which came from the local community and have the full support of the people of Moyross and Southill," he said.
Proposals aimed at addressing social disadvantage include one-to-one support for children with educational problems, intensive family support for parents who need it and bringing health services closer to the community.
The report acknowledges that public services have failed Moyross and that a new form of response where State agencies work together to provide positive results is needed.
At the launch of the regeneration plans in Moyross yesterday, President McAleese said Moyross could be become a national example of what a community can do when it focuses on breaking with an unhappy and unpleasant past.
"The people of Moyross and Southill know how draining and depressing it is to feel excluded, forgotten, left out, to watch a culture of anti-social behaviour grip their streets and prey on young and old alike, to grow cynical about the agencies that are supposed to help citizens, to come close to giving up all hope of a normal life," she said.
"Today we all set out on a journey of hope together, in partnership, in solidarity as citizens of a republic dedicated to exalting the dignity of each human being. Our country will not know its truest potential until the potential of Moyross has been revealed and realised."
At a press conference before the launch of the report, the chief executive officer of the Limerick Regeneration Agency, Brendan Kenny said there was no estimate yet on the cost of the project. He said previous projects, such as the regeneration of Fatima Mansions in Dublin, were "revenue neutral" given that the local authority was able to attract private investment.
A similar model is being drawn up for Moyross and Southill, with officials estimating that up to 80 per cent of houses could be privately-owned, while the remainder would be local authority dwellings.
He also insisted that no families will have to move out of their area while construction is ongoing, as there is enough land in the vicinity to relocate people within a short distance of their own home. Consultants will begin putting details on the proposals contained in yesterday's "Vision" document, and a masterplan including designs for houses is expected in mid-June.
Mr Kenny said it was possible that construction of new houses could start as early as the beginning of 2009.
The project has its roots in work done in late 2006 by Mr Fitzgerald, a former Dublin city manager, after he was asked by the Government to produce a report on regenerating the two areas.
