The new miracle of Fatima
Presidential approval for €130m facelift of former flats
Wednesday November 04 2009
BILL Reid, the father of Ireland football star Andy Reid, has nothing but fond memories of his childhood growing up in Fatima Mansions in Dublin's south inner city.
But yesterday Mr Reid (56) experienced a new miracle of Fatima -- a €130m facelift, new homes and shops for residents, play areas for children and hope for the area.
As he celebrated the new, he remembered the bad. "My parents were among the first to move in in 1949 and it was a fantastic place to grow up," said Mr Reid.
"I was one of nine, and we lived in a three-bed flat. Your door was never closed, there was neighbours and friends in all the time.
"People looked after each other. If my mother had no money, she'd go next door and they'd sort her out. When she was paid, she'd help them out.
"The canal -- where the Luas is now -- was used as a swimming pool in the summer. We played football, and in the evening we would light fires and stay out until it got too cold."
Nightmare
But the dreams turned to nightmares in the recession-hit 1980s, and the flat complex became run down and decimated by unemployment and drugs.
Fatima became a no-go area, and entire generations of families were lost to heroin.
Dublin City Council and joint venture partners Maplewood Elliott yesterday unveiled the 'new' Fatima, after a five-year project to redevelop the 11-acre site beside the Red Luas line.
On Sunday, Andy Reid, currently frozen out of the Republic of Ireland squad by boss Giovanni Trapattoni, will be in Fatima Mansions for a family fun day out with Ireland legend Paul McGrath and former England footballer Des Walker.
The council provided the land, and in return the developer demolished 300 old flats and replaced them with 614 new homes, a leisure centre with swimming pool, shops, a creche with 75 places, an all-weather pitch and enterprise units.
Some 150 homes are for the council, 70 are affordable units and 394 apartments are for sale to the private sector.
Yesterday President Mary McAleese officially opened the F2 Neighbourhood Centre, congratulating the community on what they had achieved.
"Isn't it something to be very proud of," she said. "When the wee ones grow up, won't people say 'you're very lucky'. They'll be able to say their mammies and daddies and grannies and granddads made them lucky -- they wanted a change and boy did they get it.
"There was a lot of unhappiness, a lot of mammies and daddies were afraid their children would not blossom. What did they do? They made this the best place to grow up in Dublin.
"The flats are gone but the memories haven't. The spirit and heart of people will just distil and you'll see it in the children who will flourish. The lives lived here will be rich in community and self-confidence. The changes that were brought about, you made it happen."
Among those present were Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, who said that Fatima's favourite midfielder, Andy Reid, could not attend because he was "training so hard".
- PAUL MELIA
Irish Independent
