Locals have protested what they see as the failure of Dublin City Council to refurbish the “vitally important” Donore community centre three years after a fire damaged the premises, leaving the area without a hub for that time.
The protest was “a show of community strength” outside the former Donore Youth and Community Centre, involving the Tenters Residents Association, Sporting Liberties, and others “calling for action on the refurbishment of the centre on the third anniversary of the unfortunate fire,” Aisling Considine, a local Aontú representative said.
Local activist Catherine McSweeney, described as a tireless advocate for the reopening of the centre, told Gript that that she felt there was “no sense of urgency from the Dublin City Council” which had led to “huge frustration” in the community.
“There’s a feeling locally that we are treated like the poor relation: that the Liberties are neglected and that this would have been resolved a lot quicker in more affluent areas of the city,” she said. “People who put in huge voluntary effort are twenty years campaigning to get pitches for the boys and girls so they can play sports, it’s not fair, and its unacceptable.”
She described the 2021 fire – which an investigation found was not malicious – as “minor”, and said that the damage should have been turned around in 6 months. “The bureaucracy seems to be incredibly slow, everything moves at a snail’s pace,” she said. “And in the meantime the whole community is deprived of an essential facility.”
Ms McSweeney said that the area had the lowest amount of green spaces per capita of any area in the country – and that recently there had been a “huge amount of development but no new amenities”.
#Dublin8 resident and tireless activist Catherine McSweeney speaking at the protest on 24th June 2024 calling for action on the refurbishment of the Donore Youth and Community Centre on this, the third anniversary of the fire that caused it to shut down.#SouthWestInnerCity pic.twitter.com/oUCiSoLMh5
— Aisling Considine AONTÚ (@AislingAontu) June 25, 2024
Local children, including those representing Kevin’s hurling and camogie club, gave reasons as to why they missed the community centre, saying they “have nowhere to train for our hurling” and that they missed having the local facilities for basketball and summer camps.
Vincent Hennessey of the club said it was hard to believe that three years had passed since the community centre had burned down. “I find it really sad that as we come up to the school holidays the kids in this area were reminded again that they have absolutely no facilities,” he said.
He said that although eight or nine years had passed since the local Sporting Liberties initiative had been set up, local children now had less facilities with the absence of a community centre. “Now we have absolutely nothing – so we’re actually in a worse place,” he said.
He said that promises that the centre would open in 2026 were “just promises”.
“Our kids are going into the school holidays with nowhere to go,” Mr Hennessey said, saying the children were being denied the opportunity to flourish in the community because the centre had not been re-opened.
Catherine McSweeney also told Gript that a previous green space, the Boys Brigade grounds, which had previously been used for things like Community Games and local events was also taken out of use by the Council some twenty years ago and never replaced. She said in terms of the provision of public facilities, things were “moving backward”.
Aisling Considine, who is the Aontú Rep in Dublin South Central, said the demands of the community in Donore and St. Theresa’s were straightforward: “re-open the community centre, develop playing pitches in Dublin 8, and support the organisations locally who are supporting the area.”
“Clearly, from the turnout and engagement at the protest, there is a strong desire locally for the centre to be re-opened,” she said. “It’s vitally important and integral to community wellbeing.”
“It’s three years this month since the unfortunate fire and with little action at this point, DCC have given an expected re-opening date of 2026. They say this but in all likelihood, this date will not be reached.”
“The protest was attended several local councillors and TDs, my hope that these representatives, especially those in Government or in the governing pact on DCC, apply real pressure for action to be taken.”
A show of community strength this evening outside the former Donore Community and Youth Centre, with Catherine McSweeney and Tenters Residents Association, Sporting Liberties and others organising a protest calling for action on the refurbishment of the centre on the third… pic.twitter.com/a2RVpaUo7k
— Aisling Considine AONTÚ (@AislingAontu) June 24, 2024
That view was echoed by Catherine McSweeney who said that newly elected and re-elected councillors had promised that the centre and the pitches would be a priority and that they “would be expected to keep that promise”.
At the protest were women from the Ladies Club which catered for women of all all ages and said that a wide variety of events used to take place at the centre, which had a rooftop garden and hosted senior citizens clubs.
The local school has also been deprived of a venue for Christmas concerts, protest organisers said, and there was also serious concern expressed at the lack of a venue for breakfast and afterschool clubs, seen as key to progress for children who benefitted from the additional facilities.
“As one speaker said: ‘we’ve lost a generation of kids at this stage’, if the centre has been closed since the Covid lockdown and won’t open until 2026 at the earliest. It’s just not good enough,” Aisling Considine said.