Are these Dublin's most unusual developers?

A handful of women from Ringsend formed a co-op to build homes that locals could afford. Now Poolbeg Quay, where two-bed apartments cost under €150,000, opens tomorrow. Kate McMorrow reports

Making a difference takes on a whole new meaning when it applies to a group of indomitable women from Ringsend /Irishtown, who between them have created 111 new homes for local people.

The knock-on effect of freeing up local authority housing meant that a further 70 families were able to stay in the area.

When Dublin 4 house prices began to soar in the mid-1990s, Ringsend's young people were moving out of the city in search of affordable housing, leaving behind an ageing population and dwindling school numbers. The GAA club, Clan na Gael Fontenoy, found it difficult to make up a team, shops closed up and the social fabric of the village was beginning to run down.

Enter Linda McMahon and Eileen Farnley, two of a group of volunteers who responded to a call from community development officer Joe Grennell to solve this problem. Cambridge Square, Cambridge Park and Cambridge Court were built by the project, which then rested on its well-earned laurels.

Many disappointed locals remained unhoused, however, such was the demand as prices soared and young professionals moved into the redbrick cottages bordering Ringsend Park.

Over 1,000 locals turned up to a meeting arranged by Linda and Eileen in the GAA clubhouse, paid £50 each for membership and a new co-operative was formed. Linda and Eileen were joined on the committee by Marian Dunne, Catherine Gorman and three other directors and the City Housing Initiative was up and running. Linda and Catherine had jobs as cleaners, while Eileen worked as an administrator in the DIT.

Tomorrow is the official opening of Poolbeg Quay, a project driven by Linda and Catherine which has created 62 houses and apartments overlooking the Liffey.

The lucky buyers, all applicants under the City Council's Affordable Housing scheme and from the locality, paid under €150,000 for two-bedroom apartments with balconies or three-bedroom townhouses and just under €190,000 for two-bedroom penthouses with vast roof gardens.

Along the quays at Grand Canal Dock, similar apartments by private developers are selling like hot cakes for more than double the price. The draw at Clan na Gael to decide who was to get a place at Poolbeg Quay was very emotional, says Linda, adding that they "wanted everybody to have one".

"As names were pulled out of the drum, people who were lucky couldn't look the unlucky ones in the eye. Some cried.

Everybody here knows each other. Brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts - that's what Ringsend is like. Older generations need support from their families - it's not good for a community to have an imbalance of ages."

Poolbeg Quay was the third such project for builder John Coffey of CPM Construction. For Linda and Catherine, the journey from cleaning ladies to hands-on developers was not without challenges, all met with determination and a refusal to go away, says Catherine, who's daughter Niamh went everywhere with them in the early days.

When they spied the disused pump station and lobbied assistant city manager Brendan Kenny to sell it to them for affordable housing, the difficulties of extracting the sunken machinery had not occurred to them. Nor had the task of removing heavy electric cable, a job carried out by the ESB for a fee.

"They were robbed - when it came to paying for things, we had no mercy. Everyone knew we had no money and were very supportive, even our architect Peadar Nolan, who had to wait until we got the DOE grant to get paid," says Catherine. Having a track record with their initial projects helped and local politicians Eoin Ryan and Ruairí Quinn weighed in with their support.

The Byrne family were the first to move into Poolbeg Quay, getting their keys on August 29th in time for baby Emma to be born on September 9th. Their two-bedroom apartment is larger than most on the open market, with a wide flagged balcony running the width of the apartment and panoramic views over the river.

Moving from a tiny rented flat in Sandymount to this was heaven, says Jackie, who's eldest daughter still lives part of the week with her grandmother on Londonbridge Road.

"My brother got an apartment here but my sister didn't, though she got lucky when someone dropped out.

Everybody knows each other and people don't go out any more, just sit on each other's balconies and socialise. We're paying about €20 more than the rent in Leahy Terrace and look at this place - you couldn't buy that view!"

Along the way, Catherine and Linda found time to obtain certificates and diplomas in housing and community studies. Now fully-fledged developers, their City Housing

Initiative operates out of a vacant council rent office and they receive a small salary. Marian and three other volunteers help out on a voluntary basis and Eileen continues to work at the DIT.

Linda and Catherine have acquired celebrity status in the village, their every move noted. They are always looking over walls for likely sites, and word gets around if they are seen eyeing up land, says Linda.

They are more confident, not afraid of a challenge and have a good all-round knowledge of building and developing which will carry them on to even greater heights.

They have identified two new sites which they hope to have up and running as soon as possible. The high cost of land is their only drawback.

Living in Ringsend is their greatest advantage. "Because we live in the community, we take its needs into account and we make sure nothing impacts badly on it. We really do care," says Catherine.