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'.