Locals living in Dublin’s north inner city, including Olympic champion Kellie Harrington, have been left “devastated” amid plans to construct housing on a “vital” playground and sports pitch.
A development being undertaken by Dublin City Council and Tuath Housing would see 49 units across three blocks constructed on the Portland Row Maintenance Depot site and a playground and sports area on Aldborough Place.
While locals say they are glad to see the depot site used for housing, they are “devastated” at the loss of the space used for decades for sports, play and community events.
As of Friday, plans submitted had amassed 28 objections to the use of the space, including one from two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington.
RM Block
Speaking to The Irish Times at the site, nestled away from a busy Portland Row, the 35-year-old recalled playing there as a child and training there with her coach during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I see people coming here with their grandkids, playing football. If you take that away, we’re never getting it back,” she said.
Ms Harrington said the proposed plan for the depot site is “absolutely brilliant”, saying social and affordable housing is needed now more than ever.
However, “we all nearly died on the spot” at the sight of plans to build on the amenity on Aldborough Place, she said.
“It’s not for me, it’s for the future generations of kids that are coming through, I want to make sure they have a safe space to play, to be able to practice their sports and hang out with their friends,” she said, adding: “I’m not asking for anything unrealistic.”
Ms Harrington, alongside various other locals, maintains hope that the site will be removed from the plans and instead redeveloped for recreational use.
“Winning two Olympic medals, yes it’s great, but it will be forgotten about eventually; hopefully, if this is looked after and maintained, it won’t be,” she said.
According to planning documents, a new multi-use community and cultural space is proposed within the new scheme, which will be accessible to both residents and the wider community.
However, Ms Harrington, who lives beside the site, believes it will be oversubscribed, resulting in children having to “book in”.
“They have met with us a couple of times but they haven’t listened,” she said.
Catherine Flood, who has lived in the area for 43 years, recalled fond memories of her own children playing at the space.
“That’s all they had, and that’s all my grandkids have. There’s nowhere else, and they want to take this. It’s horrendous,” she said.
Such spaces are “almost all but gone”, particularly in the north inner city, local Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis added.
“Eleven out of ten of my cases as a councillor are housing; it’s not a housing crisis, it’s a housing disaster at this stage. But at what cost do we put buildings on top of buildings and swallow up all our free space?
“A gun can’t be put to our heads in terms of the need for housing. We have a massive need for housing, but we have a massive need for play space,” he said.
He added that spaces for play and sport can act as the “ultimate youth diversion” amid “high levels of open drug dealing and antisocial behaviour”.
Among those objecting to the plans is Elizabeth Cashin, who wrote that she lived through the 1941 North Strand bombing. Her 14 children grew up playing at the site, she said.
“I am making this observation to save the playground for other children,” she wrote, adding: “Please don’t take it away from them.”
Dublin City Council and Tuath Housing did not respond to requests for comment.
