Beginning of the end as seven towers are waked by locals

It was a fitting tribute to the nearly departed. The seven Ballymun towers were given a rousing send-off last night when several hundred locals gathered for the Demolition Wake, an event marking the beginning of the end of the most controversial housing development in Dublin.

Held in the fenced-off car-park beside the civic offices in the shadow of McDonagh Tower, it wasn't your typical Irish wake. There was no alcohol, and few tears were being shed about the fact that the dismantling of the first tower will begin today.

Locals were in celebratory mood. At one point passers-by could have been forgiven for thinking they had wandered on to the set of The Commitments. A band was on the stage singing Mustang Sally, and horses could be seen trotting along the pavement.

There was poignancy in Dermot Bolger's specially commissioned incantation which he read as McDonagh Tower was illuminated by oil lamps glowing in every window. The poem remembered aspects of the complex's history:

Every whiskey, every Valium, every cigarette/ Every couple holding hands in a kitchenette/ Every laughing child being spun in the August sun/ Every boy with a piebald horse to gallop on.

Brigid Bates used to live in Clarke Tower and said she had fond memories of her time there. "I was only about 23 when I arrived. They were beautiful. You wouldn't get the like of those fine big rooms even in Dublin 4," she said, standing in the evening sunshine. "I watched the other towers go up. One of my sons, Karl, was born in my flat on the 15th floor. They were happy days".

A local man, Paul Kane, was presiding over two large books of remembrance where people were recording their thoughts on this symbolic moment in Ballymun's history.

"Ballymun is the best place to live," wrote one little girl. "Bye bye, Ballymun!" wrote another.

Among the entertainment provided was a dance performance by a group called Balletmun.

A play entitled We Were, We Are, We Will Be was performed by children from the nearby Gael Scoil na Tseachtair Loch.

The piece, written by Melanie Grace, daughter of the comedian Brendan Grace, examined the past, present and future, imagining Ballymun after the €3 billion funds earmarked by Ballymun Regeneration Ltd have been spent. A time when the towers will be just a distant memory, and the Luas will come gliding down the main street.

Phase one of the demolitions, which includes three 15-storey towers and five low-rise blocks, is due to be completed by early next year, and 600 local families have already been rehoused. This morning Bertie Ahern will be present as a 120-tonne excavator machine takes the first chunk out of Pearse Tower.

Dublin's skyline will never be the same again.