Regeneration works for the Traveller community at Labre Park have been continually delayed since 1999, with representatives accusing Dublin City Council of being complicit in ‘horrendous treatment’ and ‘institutionalised racism’ toward a vulnerable ethnic minority
Labre Park in Ballyfermot
An inner city representative has accused Dublin City Council of being “complicit in horrendous treatment of a very vulnerable community”.
Following the news that long-promised regeneration works for the Traveller community in Labre Park have stalled, representatives at the South Central Area committee have called for a special meeting to find a solution that ensures residents are not “condemned” to live on land that’s at risk of flooding.
The motion put forward by Sinn Féin Cllr Daithí Doolan called out the “deplorable conditions” people are living in and said residents have waited three generations since plans dating back to 1999 have continually failed to get off the ground. He said Travellers at Labre Park have had regeneration “dangled in front of them like some sort of carrot” only for one blockade after another to stall the project.
“Recently we were hit with the shell shock news that again there’s yet another flood report, that we haven’t seen, that’s going to be used to prevent the progress of this regeneration,” he said. “It’s bitterly disappointing as a public representative, so I can only appreciate how disappointing it is for residents.”
Cllr Doolan requested the flood report be circulated to councillors so they can investigate the reasoning for themselves, for the Traveller community at Labre Park to be communicated “openly and honestly” about any developments, and for DCC to buy land if necessary to provide housing of a standard that allows them to “enjoy their lives” in acceptable living conditions.
The Ballyfermot-Drimnagh representative said it’s his belief that residents at Labre Park have been let down due to decisions made by people who would never “have to live, let alone visit, the area”. “I can’t help but feel this represents institutionalised anti-Traveller sentiment,” he said.
He called for DCC’s housing manager to bring relevant stakeholders together for a special meeting to discuss solutions and make sure the topic is at “the top of the agenda” or that they look into another site that would be suitable “to build good homes deserving of the people of Labre Park”. Chairperson Cllr Vincent Jackson agreed and said a special meeting should be focused on solutions as “we all know the difficulties” and they must work together to “overcome them”.
Social Democrats Cllr Lesley Byrne said that since becoming a councillor she has been struck by how language is used to describe vulnerable communities within council reports. Having previously called out the description of regeneration works at Oliver Bond House as ‘units’ instead of homes, she said the categorization of Traveller-specific accommodation also highlights a sense of institutionalised racism.
“We have housing reports and we talk about housing delivery. But then, we talk about Traveller accommodation, which itself has a built in sense of prejudice in that we are accommodating the Travellers to live somewhere as opposed to actually providing them with homes,” she said.
Cllr Byrne accused DCC of being complicit in “horrendous treatment of a vulnerable community”. She called for a standalone item to put on the council’s agenda to address the provision of homes for the Traveller community so that they can “look at where we are at” in terms of addressing their needs.
The manager’s response stated that the flood report for Labre Park would be circulated to representatives and that the housing department “recognises the failure to secure approval for the regeneration has been deeply frustrating for the local community”. They said following engagement with internal and external stakeholders “a revised approach has been adopted, which will now be progress in two phases”.
The first phase will see an energy retrofit of existing homes at Labre Park to a minimum standard of B2. This comes as part of DCC’s Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme and will take place in 2026/27. Existing homes will also receive broader refurbishment works that will mirror what was in the Part 8 proposal for the site.
Subject to funding, a broader programme of refurbishment and estate enhancements will also proceed, which include road footway, drainage and lighting improvements. They stated that the full refurbishment and allocation of the two fire damaged homes is also proposed.
Dublin Live has contacted DCC for comment.
This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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