A video from private property developer Ballymore showing plans to redevelop Dublin’s Sheriff Street and the surrounding area has sparked controversy, as working class people rightly fear the impact that prioritising the private market over people could have on their community, including the demolition of their homes to make way for office blocks and student accommodation, according to Garrett Greene, Workers’ Party representative in Dublin Central.

Greene said: “Working class people want communities that they can afford to live, work and socialise in. Such communities are a social good and necessary to any cohesive society. We have seen countless examples of how private developers, aided by their allies in successive governments, are perfectly happy to throw that which benefits communities, as well as the idea of community as a whole, onto the fire in order to line their pockets. The ongoing housing crisis should be evidence enough that letting the private market take the lead on housing, while also aiming to build communities that people both want to and can afford to live in, is a non-runner.”

“Writing in The Business Post, David McRedmond, head of the government’s Dublin City Taskforce, described Ballymore’s plan “to completely rebuild the Sheriff St area from Amien St to Spencer Dock” as “amazing.” He has since backtracked and contradicted himself, telling The Irish Times: “I have no knowledge of the status of Ballymore’s plans, other than I’ve seen their proposals at a high level and they look interesting and seem to be good for the area.” In the same article, Ballymore themselves have also backpedalled, describing the video as the “first step in a conversation.””

“Despite the smoke and mirrors, and the wishy-washy language that private developers like to use to try and hide what they’re really playing at, this is clearly an attempt to further the gentrification of Dublin. The people who live there now don’t win, as they could lose their homes and their community, and the people who would live there should the plans go ahead don’t win, as they would likely be paying sky-high rents to live in an area where prices will inevitably rise all around them in a new and gentrified Sheriff Street. The only winners are the developers, who will do away with a proud working class community in the name of profit, assisted by their friends in government.”

“Developments like these do not benefit the community or society at large, and, despite the accusations of NIMBYism that will inevitably be aimed at the people of Sheriff Street, it certainly will do nothing to fix the housing crisis either. Mixed-income, universally-accessible, public housing is the solution to the crisis, not filling the pockets of property developers. By removing the private profiteers from the picture, we can provide genuinely affordable housing, while also ensuring that the needs of communities in the way of infrastructure and facilities are met. These things are not hand-outs, but prerequisites for building communities where all working people can thrive.”