PRIORY HALL: A HOUSING SCANDAL THAT COULD HAPPEN ELSEWHERE

Nightmare legacy of the Celtic Tiger

BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA
SINN FÉIN DUBLIN CITY COUNCILLOR

AS WE approach the centenary of the 1913 Lock-Out, we might have hoped that the sight of families being moved out of their homes because they were living in dangerous buildings was a thing of the past. But memories of the crumbling tenements of Dublin have been revived as scores of families and individuals were moved out of the Priory Hall apartment complex in north Dublin, many to emergency accommodation in hotels.
“Refugees in our own country” is how residents describe themselves - and it is no exaggeration. Shortly after they moved in, I visited the Regency Hotel and it was a very sad sight to see parents with young children having to live out of luggage in cramped hotel rooms. For young people who had made their homes in Priory Hall, many paying very large mortgages, it has meant shattered dreams.
These people are victims of the worst excesses of the Celtic Tiger and the property bubble. Unscrupulous developers, Coalport, were allowed to build unsafe, sub-standard apartments in what was presented as a showcase for the new Dublin, the ‘Northern Fringe’ of the city north of Donaghmede, with its hundreds of apartments and houses.
Priory Hall apartments are on both sides of what was supposed to be a main thoroughfare linking one end of the new suburb with its main street of shops, small businesses and a DART station.
Today, the ‘Northern Fringe’ stands half-finished. While there are many sound houses and apartments and an award-winning park, the area is still without even  a  supermarket and many of the units designed for shops and businesses are empty. The DART station is a fine piece of architecture but it was to be the focus of a thriving urban space which is now more empty than thriving. One side of what was to be the main street is a derelict building site.
But for the residents of Priory Hall the nightmare is far worse than an incomplete townscape.
There were problems with these apartments from the beginning. The problems with fire safety and construction led Dublin City Council to move out its social housing tenants in 2009. This left hundreds of residents who were either owner-occupiers paying mortgages or tenants of private landlords.
The owner of Coalport, Tom McFeely, is one of the worst developers of the Celtic Tiger era. Major problems surfaced with his development at Áras na Cluaine in Clondalkin also. Much has been made in the media of the fact that he is a former republican prisoner and participated in the 1980 Hunger Strike. But, as I have pointed out at meetings and a rally organised by a determined residents’ committee at Priory Hall on October 29th, McFeely has betrayed everything Irish republicanism and his comrades stood for by his treatment of the residents of Priory Hall. This has been reiterated by Martin McGuinness and Mary Lou McDonald.
If the prime culprit in all this is McFeely and Coalport, much responsibility must also be shared by successive governments and the local authority, Dublin City Council. Thanks to cronyism between ‘official Ireland’ and the developers and speculators, there has been totally lax regulation of construction. Fire safety certificates have been issued solely on the basis of paper exercises with very few inspections. Similarly, construction standards are ‘enforced’ almost solely on paper and on trust.
As one of the speakers at the October 29th rally asked: “30 years on, have we learned nothing from the Stardust tragedy?”
It was the danger of fire that led the High Court, at the request of Dublin City Council, to order the evacuation of Priory Hall. But beyond the immediate fire safety issues there are major construction problems at Priory Hall. These have been identified in an inspection report commissioned by the City Council. A report under building control legislation is due to be given to the Council soon. With other councillors representing the area, I have called for the publication of these reports.
As all speakers pointed out at the rally, people should not have to pay mortgages on the Priory Hall apartments. The Government should call in the lenders and require them to come up with a plan which will allow people who are willing and able to pay mortgages to have a home to show for their hard-earned money.
The High Court gave Coalport five weeks to rectify the fire safety issues. No one believes that the work will be completed in that time. Many believe that, ultimately, Priory Hall may be facing demolition.
As I said at the rally, the residents face a long struggle for justice but with the support shown on October 29th, and if they stay united and strong, they shall overcome.