AFTER up to a decade of broken promises, public arguments and the collapse in the public finances, some of Dublin’s most high profile housing regeneration projects may finally be inching forward. Dublin City Council is planning to make all of the apartments in Dolphin House in Rialto, Dublin 8, bigger and to fix services like drains and sewerage facilities.
The complex was criticised by the Irish Human Rights Commission earlier this year because of the poor conditions. A resident in the local authority complex was awarded €15,000 earlier this month after the Circuit Court ruled his apartment was unfit for human habitation because of sewage in his shower tray.
The Council told Labour councillor Henry Upton that it is also considering adding an extra floor on top of each block at the complex in order to reduce the loss in the total number of units. Some of the blocks will be demolished and replaced with new ones elsewhere within the complex, pending further consultations with residents by the regeneration board.
At the nearby St Teresa’s Gardens complex, the owners of the adjoining Bailey Gibson land have proposed a land swap, which if approved by the Council, would see them bring in a housing association to develop about 70 social housing units on the swapped land. Only 189 of the 346 units at St Teresa’s Gardens are currently occupied and the council is proceeding with plans to empty the complex of tenants by relocating them. Meanwhile, at St Michaels Estate in Inchicore, Dublin 8, the Council said that work is continuing on the construction of 76 housing units on a two-acre site, 32 of which will be for social housing. The remainder of the 10-acre site is now likely to be sold off.
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