"No Excuse For Further Delays Of Housing On Central Bank Land In Ballinteer & Sandyford" - Brian Leeson
Brian Leeson has slammed the suggestion that it could take seven or more years for the first new housing to be built on public land in Ballinteer and Sandyford. He was responding to media reports that 37 acres of public land, currently owned by the Central Bank, is to be transferred to the Land Development Agency. Speaking from Ballinteer, Leeson said,
“It’s now exactly four years since Éirígí first called for universal public housing to be built on eleven acres of unused public land in Ballinteer. The land in question, which is located at the back of the Central Bank facility on the Sandyford Road, has been closed off to the public for decades and currently serves no useful purpose. It is ideally located and could provide secure, affordable homes for hundreds of local people.
Brian Leeson speaking at the back gates of the Central Bank facility in Ballinteer, February 2018
Last year, when it became clear that the board of the Central Bank was considering relocating their entire Sandyford operations to another location, Éirígí publicly called for the entire 37 acre site to be used for universal public housing.
And then earlier this week it was reported in the media that the Land Development Agency is to take control of all 37 acres for the purpose of building housing on it. This represents a major step in the right direction and vindicates the calls that Éirígí have been making for the last four years.
Éirígí activists at the front gates of the Central Bank, July 2021
Unfortunately, the same media report also carried a statement from the Central Bank suggesting that it could take a minimum of five to seven years for the Central Bank to relocate from Sandyford. A delay of this length is completely unacceptable.
If it has been agreed in principle that the entire Central Bank site is to be used for housing, then that should happen without delay. If the government had listened to myself and Éirígí four years ago, there would already be hundreds of local families living in secure, affordable public housing on this site.
Having already squandered four years, there is no absolutely no excuse for any further delays from the government. With sufficient political will, construction of the first new homes could begin next year on the eleven acres of unused land, with further development to follow after the Central Bank facility closes.
Over the coming weeks and months, Éirígí in Dublin South will be working with the local community to force the government to accelerate the building of new universal public housing on the Central Bank lands.”