Madam, – Finally a Government Minister tells the truth (Front page, February 6th) when Willie O’Dea admits that the €1.7 billion for Limerick regeneration will not be forthcoming.
This news will be devastating for the countless families in Limerick’s troubled estates who had looked forward to a bright new future free from crime gangs, arson, murder, violence and anti-social behaviour.
Many will recall the images of the fleet of shiny black Mercedes cars sweeping into the deprived estates of Moyross and Southill and Ballinacurra Weston and St Mary’s Park all heralding a new dawn of enlightened local government and a vindication of the rights of people living in local authority housing.
Sadly the dream was only a mirage. The hope raised among the residents merely words spun by well-paid spin doctors.
The tragedy is made all the more depressing by the comments of the leaders of the failed regeneration effort saying that private investment will come to the rescue. There is no way that private investment will make up the shortfall.
In effect, private investment will engage in what can only be described as an ethnic cleansing exercise, where families in local authority housing are evicted to make way for new private marinas, waterside apartments and leisure centres.
This awful image of privilege over people is the sad reality of regeneration in Limerick today. All those who promised false hope to people living with crime and violence should hang their heads in shame. – Yours, etc,