This story detailing the way in which the "regeneration" of Ballymun in Dublin is turning out to be a free-for-all for private investors, property speculators, builders and landlords, at the expense of the local community is written by Mick Burke, a community activist from Ballymun. It is taken from the first issue of 'Ireland From Below', a non-profit, community newspaper written, produced and published by a voluntary collective which will report on community struggles all over the island of Ireland. Contact details for the paper are included at the end of the article.

At a series of meetings with tenants in the late 1990s, Dublin Corporation set out to persuade the people of Ballymun that demolition and rebuilding were the best – and only – options for the future of the area. A Dublin suburb with the population of Sligo was to be torn down while the people were still living there; at the same time a replacement town was to be built around them.

That option was at first overwhelmingly rejected by the community and only slowly accepted as part of an overall strategy for the area that was intended to change Ballymun forever – from a high unemployment, low-skill ghetto into a vibrant modern town capable of attracting investment at the same time as giving local people pride in rebuilding and reshaping their town.

The regeneration programme has been underway for nearly ten years, and a different picture has emerged, one in which the profits of private investors, property speculators, building giants and private landlords are prioritised over the interests of the long-standing Ballymun community.

Start Transcript:

"Now I, ehm, I usually have a lot to say and my speech, I have it in my mind and I can rattle it off at any given moment, but, eh, I'm going to be completely honest with you, I've been on a mission and I've been seeking.

In the Marine Corps my primary mission was to seek and destroy, pretty cut and clear. I think the phrase, somebody mentioned the phrase to me today and, eh, it's still with me and I'm going to share that with you, this phrase that was, eh, presented to me today - I was called a criminal. And, eh, you know it really hit me because it is something I have been running from, and then I got a double dose today when I was in the Irish court. The Irish court and the American court are like night and day. And over the course of listening to the prosecutor and the defence, and especially the testimony that the Doctor of International Law and the Geneva conventions, when he got up and gave his spiel.

In a deep, dark space in my heart, I realised today that I am a war criminal. I never wanted to admit that. I knew what I did it was a violation of the Geneva conventions and International Law. But when you tell it to Americans and you explain the scenario of what happens, the Americans dismiss it as 'fog of war' or 'collateral damage'.

This story was first published by Barry as a comment on this article: "A review of "Pushers Out: The inside story of Dublin’s anti-drugs movement"

I was going out with a girl from near Dolphins barn when Josie Dwyer was killed. I used to pass him quite frequently. He was always on the grass outside the flats or hanging around the railings on the bridge. A pathetic sight - he couldn't have weighed more than 7 or 8 stone.

Before he was killed if you walked through Fatima chances are you'd be approached maybe a couple of times and asked if you were looking gear. And it only takes a minute to walk through it. One guy even employed the Moore street selling technique of yelling "come get yer luvverly gear" while riding round on a mountain bike. The drugs thing was just out of control. The bird I went with attended many anti-drug vigils and marches and even favoured shooting the bigger dealers dead. Last I heard of her years ago she was addicted to smoking the stuff herself - just gave up . Beautiful girl too, an awful waste.

Im not surprised to be honest Josie Dwyer got thumped even though it was wrong, especially given the company he was in. People were at the end of their tether with the rate of adddiction. What made that era particularly bad and dangerous for youngsters was the emerging rave scene which itself lead to an explosion in drug use and culture even in the middle class areas. The working class areas got hit even worse.

Youngsters would go to raves and get introduced to the Es which they were assured were safe and non addictive. Sure didnt trendy types like that bollocks Anthony Wilson and others go on TV talking about how great they were. Trendy comedians joked on TV about taking them. The youngsters would be worried about going home off their faces on Es because their parents would see they were hyper. Mnay of their parents were violently anti drugs. The E dealers had a great solution to this - smoke a bit of gear and it'll wind you down before you go home. Nobody'd know any different.

Last week a German documentary team was at Shannon as part of a program on CIA renditions. After seeing troops and cops, and doing interviews with planespotters, they also got to see the Gardai chasing the plane spotters around the airport.

Today, as Dermot Ahern is seeking assurances from Condeleeza Rice that the CIA is not using Shannon for torture, a USMIL a/c with hazardous cargo landed at SNN prompting an evacuation of parts of the airport and neighbouring industrial estate according to Clare FM.

Previous reports from Tim Hourigan
which include the Swedish documentary that matched his plane spottings in Shannon to the world wide evidence of US torture renditions. This caused a Scandal in Sweden and Spain.

Access all Indymedia Anti-War stories at http://www.indymedia.ie/antiwar

From the newswire:

Street Seen* sure know how to show a crowd a good time. In the space of three hours we had; a rally with music; two occupations; and a magical mystery protest march. All to highlight the growing number of people dying on our streets for the want of a home. Joan Collins, John Boorman and some of Kila turned up to show support. A small, but perfectly formed, crowd were entertained by singers, musicians and the Happy City Samba Band. The well worn Kila bodhran made an appearance too.

The first occupation was in the old Colaiste Mhuire building on Parnell Square, where banners were hung from the windows. The first guards to arrive were the undercover / unmarked car variety. Uniforms arrived later but meanwhile the two from the first car walked through the crowd asking 'who's in charge?' While they practiced their interrorgation skills, those who were in the building made good their escape. Reinforced - the large group of guards made their way into the building but neglected to leave a man on the door. The door, closed firmly in the faces of the protestors, proved too much of a temptation for some. The cry went up ' anyone got a padlock?'. Surprisingly, someone had and it was employed on the door. The guards were now locked in. More reinforcements arrived and a bolt cutters the size of my leg was used to free them from the prison of their own making.

*Editorial note:The occupations were not organised by Street Seen, neither was the magical mystery tour. They were organised by concerned people and members of the homeless community and not directly by Street Seen. This article was submitted by regular contributer Elaine and is her personal reflection on the day's events.

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