Sir, - The decision to sell off the only historical building in Ballymun is either covetous or naive. St Pappin's Church, in Ballymun, has been closed to the locals for over 15 years and has been allowed to deteriorate until the price was right. The people in Ballymun are furious at this decision which was made without any reference to them. The building has the capacity to become a heritage and arts centre.
The Ballymun people feel they have been on a roundabout of charity and hand-outs in the name of empowerment. These hand-outs come in the name of capacity-building and basic skills programmes, as identified by the middle-classes. There is now even the possibility that the middle-class professionals, who drive in and out of our communities to work, will receive awards for their work in Ballymun.
The people in Ballymun would much prefer if they were in a position to think for themselves and were resourced to develop their own action plans, rather than allowing the professionals to create an economic empire for themselves out of the people of Ballymun.
We are calling on the Catholic Church to hand St Pappin's over to a local group of people, free of charge, so that they can begin the process of accessing their own funds and repair the building for grassroots development.
It is the least that could be done in the name of empowerment. - Yours, etc.,
Kathleen Maher, Chairperson, Ballymun Women in Local Development, Ballymun, Dublin 11.