As two of the last few shops in Ballymun shopping centre closed at the weekend, residents and business owners in the north Dublin suburb say Dublin City Council is "dismantling the heart of the community without any plan as to what will replace it". The Tír na nÓg café and Valuetown – a cut-price homewares shop – both closed on Saturday. Neither business wanted to close, they say.
This morning, amid about 45 boarded-up units, the only shops open will be a charity shop, a bookmaker, a post office and two chemists. The post office, located at the entrance to the centre, is likely to close before year-end as postmaster Dermot Higgins plans to retire.
A new €800 million shopping centre, complete with an 11-screen cinema and a bowling alley, was to be the commercial heart of the Ballymun's 16-year regeneration, completed in 2013. However, Treasury Holdings, which was to deliver the new centre, went into receivership in 2008.
Treasury was taken over by Nama and last year its 53 per cent stake in the shopping centre was acquired by Dublin City Council, which now owns the centre.
Since 2008, the centre has become increasingly derelict. The biggest blow was the closure of Tesco a year ago.
There is a SuperValu nearby and a number of convenience stores, however, residents told The Irish Times that these are too expensive for a full week's groceries and they now travel to either Charlestown (3.5km) or Santry (2km).
They agree that the centre needs to be rebuilt or refurbished and this means businesses have to move out. However, they say the council is forcing businesses out without offering them alternative locations from which to trade. Nor, they say, is it consulting with them – or telling them – about what will replace the centre in the longer term.
The result, says local Sinn Féin councillor Noeleen Reilly, is that viable businesses are shutting down and 20,000 residents are without shops.
Local Rachel Grant says the people of Ballymun “used to have shoe shops, flow “I used to enjoying coming into shops and into the cafe here. When this closes we won’t see anyone, won’t know what’s going on in the area.”
Donna Hayes, duty-manager at Tír na nÓg, says the council gave the owner notice of four weeks to vacate the unit. "We are always busy, I don't understand why we can't stay open until the centre closes," she says. "It doesn't make sense. The council said we could relocate in Ballymun but they're not offering us anywhere else. It is disgusting the way we've been treated."
Across the way, Edward MacManus has been running a chemist shop for 20 years. His lease runs for a few more months and so he remains open, doing a “busy trade”.
“I think the council is treating everyone very arrogantly,” MacManus says. “They want the centre vacant. I personally think they should just refurbish it. It could be full of thriving businesses. I know a number of businesses who would like to get in here, but the council won’t entertain them.
“If they must close, the closure should be a managed properly. They could move existing businesses to one part of the centre and close the rest of it. They should be bringing the residents and business people together to consult on a plan, but they haven’t. They are dismantling the heart of the community without any plan as to what will replace it.”
A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said: “The council completed the acquisition of Ballymun Shopping Centre late last year with a number of tenants remaining in situ. It is envisaged that a number of these tenants will relocate in the area and DCC is working with those tenants to achieve this outcome.
“The shopping centre is currently in a poor state of repair and the overall objective is to obtain vacant possession to enable redevelopment taking place on a cleared site.”
But Aisling Byrne, who has lived in Ballymun all her life, says that now the housing regeneration is complete, the people are being "forgotten and abandoned all over again". "There are five schools in Ballymun, but not one shop where you can get a pair of children's socks. It's not fair on us."
Ms Reilly says the council’s plans are long term only, with no provision being made for the immediate needs of the community. “Action must be taken urgently to restore commercial activity in Ballymun. The people cannot wait another 10 years for this.”
