We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN on more than a thousand homes in Dublin city as part of the redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens.
As part of a deal struck between Bartra and Dublin City Council, just over half of the homes are to be used for social and affordable housing.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste described the project as “hugely significant” for the council.
“These new social homes will be built to the latest standards and the highest quality and I’m sure the tenants will be delighted with them when they are finished.”
Built in 1954, O’Devaney Gardens – once home to 272 social houses – was originally set to be redeveloped in 2008 through a public-private partnership between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
However, the crash halted plans until 2016, when councillors voted to push ahead with its redevelopment through its Housing Lands Initiative, which aims to work alongside developers to build a mix of social, affordable and private housing on large council-owned sites.
The turning of the sod today comes nearly two decades after talks first began about moving out residents of flats on the site to allow for much-needed regeneration.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said: “This is a great day for Dublin’s north inner city.”
“The redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens, which I know has been long awaited, will transform this area, providing amenities for the community and high-quality housing, including hundreds of social and affordable homes.”
“Housing for All is working,” he added. “We are seeing an increased supply of housing across all tenures, and getting major projects like this on site is key to maintaining that momentum.”
The plan faced a delay in 2021 after the developers, Richard Barrett’s Bartra ODG Ltd, instituted High Court judicial review proceedings against a condition attached to the An Bord Pleanála decision giving the 14-storey project the green light.
The scheme was the first Strategic Housing Development scheme where the appeals board included a condition locking out investment funds from purchasing residential units and restricting the sale to individual purchasers.
It was agreed that DCC would work with Bartra to reserve some of the private homes for sale to an Approved Housing Body to use for cost-rental housing.
Bartra agreed to enter into an option agreement with the council where the council or its nominee can purchase some or all of the private homes for cost-rental – which is what will happen.
CEO of DCC Richard Shakespeare said the plans demonstrate the council’s “commitment to addressing the housing needs of our community”.
“O’Devaney Gardens is not just a construction project; it’s a pledge to create a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable urban environment in the heart of Dublin.”
Let’s hope only working people get these homes. If they are given to professional wasters, it’s bad governance, they don’t need to live close to the jobs.
@John Mulligan: Professional waster? What’s that? And how do you become one?
@John Mulligan: very well said, we shouldnt waste money on the lazy and useless
@Alan Kennedy: the first step is often to be given a free (practicly) house…
@John Mulligan: Define “working people”.
@Sal Paradise: @Sal Paradise: I presume people with jobs and carers etc. People who actually work and contribute to society.
@ecrowley ecrowley: You really think carers don’t contribute socially? And nobody can ever retire?
@Sal Paradise: people who work, obviously.
Public housing close to jobs should not be give to people who don’t need to be there.
I grew up in a Dublin City Council area a long time ago.At that time everyone around worked.There were no career welfare recipients.
Quite a few were from outside Dublin too.
Unfortunately things have changed and employment for some people does not make financial sense.
@Patrick Presley: it’s a disgrace that the welfare crowd are housed closest to the city centre and workers have to commute. A sterilisation policy for generational welfare wasters is badly needed
@Pete Murray: definitely….. and it will solve half the inner city crime problems as well
@Pete Murray: You sound like a Nazi. Are you a Nazi?
@Pete Murray: What sort of people raised you, that you’re now a cheerleader for eugenics? Nobody will ask your permission to start a family, nor should they.
I hope Irish people get 1 or 2 of them
@Boris Blank: spot on. And they must speak Irish, be in full time employment, get up before the crack of dawn, be fully compliant catholics, wear only green socks and support the GAA at the end of the season. Exemptions will be made for people who are none of these but who will agree to wear Ireland for the Irish t shirts, burn down hotels and who are prepared to loot sports shops and attack the gardai. Northern Irish need not apply as they come from outside our border and are therefore not eligible.
@Boris Blank: or all of them
“Housing for all is working” he says.
It only took 20 years to get going on the site, the man is insufferable
@Mary Looners: He’s minister for housing? I always wondered what he did.
@Mary Looners: Whatever he is, he is the one making this ludicrous claim.
@Mary Looners: Obviously not there Mary.
But he’s still insufferable so theres that
@Mary Looners: what party (parties FF or FG ?) had the Housings ministry 20 yrs ago ??? I believe the social Dems or Pbp or Aontu or SF or Catherine Connolly or Thomas Pringle are to blame for this housing crisis ,they definitely should not be accusing FF or FG of causing this crisis ,just because FF or FG have been the main 2 political parties in government since the foundation of this state does not mean they could have done anything or implemented any different policies that would have dealt with the housing shortage over the last 20years or more, FF and FG have never hidden the fact that they on the side of the Bankers ,The Developers the multi Corporates the Landlordships ,so in effect, essentially You and Me are responsible for the housing crisis .
@Denis Rathsallagh Brady:
Exactly. He’s done nothing yet worth celebrating and this is the bare minimum we can expect.
Look at his claim here for one apartment block (that hasn’t been built yet): it replaces 272 public housing units.
500 of the units are to be sold so that leaves 500 apartments for social housing. This has taken his department a decade to actually make a start. It isn’t even doubling the housing it’s planned to replace.
This now adds an astonishing 228 new social housing units to the city council’s stock. It’s not spectacular performance by any government department.
Hopefully people with jobs get them. Welfare recipients do not need to be housed in prime city centre locations
@GVR: Certainly it would be great if medical staff could afford their own places near hospitals – most of which are in Dublin city because that’s how consultants wanted it. Considering the hours medical staff work, they surely have the greatest need for public transport and nearby homes. Maybe our city council is doing something for the people of the city, rather than tripling the investment portfolios of “prime shareholders”.
No doubt people will find a reason why this is not a good thing. I would guess they would be the same people who also exclaim that we need more homes built.
I wonder if anybody will object to to this development on behalf of the ‘people’?
@Sun Rise: it’s already through the planning process, they turn sod today.
@Sun Rise: depends who gets these houses.
@Shane O Mac: Yes, it does depend on who gets these houses.
If vampire funds and the like get any, then it perpetuates the failure of housing policy by Government (at all levels).
@Sun Rise: How have 48 people given that post a thumbs up?
I fear for our future i really do.
They started work on it today???!!!!
@Shane O Mac: What “houses” are you talking about? I see a 14- story apartment block over the article. Where are you seeing “housing”?
The headline is a huge exaggeration. These aren’t the future creation of a thousand new homes. Not at all.
Yes, it’s good to hear that 500 new apartments are coming up for sale.
Certainly better than none.
But. The construction displaces 272 households, leaving 228 new public housing units. Ireland has thousands of people who are currently homeless. Will they all crack open the champagne when they move into these 228 new public apartments? It’s not remotely enough.
What about the homeless etc etc?
@Boris Blank: Ukraine with them, fair is fair
@Boris Blank: they would never afford them
About time .
Re-gentrification of Dublin iner city.. Again and again and yet the place is going down hill. Tents and homeless everywhere! How is it ‘we’ can’t see what’s in front of our own eyes?
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say