Dublin City Council commits to decanting tenants in 'horrendous conditions' ahead of 2027 demolition
Dublin City Council are confident that tenants currently living in “horrendous conditions” near Mountjoy Square will be decanted in time for a long-planned demolition to take place.
Councillors at last week’s Central Area Committee meeting were updated on the regeneration of Matt Talbot Court which was first announced in 2023 and experienced delays. Now the project is getting close to achieving Part 8 planning permission with demolition set for 2027 and new homes to be delivered by 2031.
The pre-Part 8 plans outlined the construction of 122 new homes. These include eight studios, 41 one-beds, 58 two-beds, and 15 three-beds. The new building will include two blocks with 66 homes in Block A and 56 homes in Block B.
The plan was welcomed by councillors, but Sinn Féin Cllr Janice Boylan said the people remaining in “the most horrendous conditions you can imagine” need to be decanted urgently. “It reminds me of the people in the long balconies in O’Devaney Gardens when the McNamara debacle happened and we were waiting to get the new plan up and running,” she said.
Cllr Boylan described the conditions people are living in as “shocking,” but also said it’s important that people who have been on the housing list for decades aren’t by-passed in the process. “Two wrongs don’t make a right, everyone deserves to be housed,” she said.
The manager’s response was that the 22 tenancies currently in Matt Talbot Court will be decanted in time and said four had received offers within the past week. They outlined that demolition will likely take place in August or September 2027.
The layouts of the new homes have been designed to align with new guidelines set out of by the Department of Housing. This includes a private outdoor space for every home with balconies on the upper floors. Block B will also have a multipurpose community area for residents.
Green Party Cllr Janet Horner welcomed the development but said it’s disappointing to see the loss of the basketball court within the plans. She cited the community pushback against the loss of basketball court in the reimagining of Mountjoy Square Park plans.
She said there is concern locally around the "erosion of sports spaces in the area” and asked that formal play space be integrated into the plans. Another point of concern was the bin system, with Cllr Horner stating “high quality segregation separation systems” should be a park of all new developments and that they point “repeat the mistakes of the past” where bins are left in a “chaotic state and not properly looked after”.
The manager’s response was that a basketball court “will be lost” but that consultation revealed “it wasn’t really used”. They stated there are plans for a soft play area with basketball hoop and a community space but it will be “under secure access” and just for residents' use.
Independent Cllr Malachy Steenson said that seeing these plans feels “a bit like déjà vu,” as they were previously ready to proceed with the redevelopment before it was delayed. He expressed frustration that they will not see new accommodation built until 2031.
“That’s five years to actually get houses built,” he said. Looking at the timeline, he questioned why it will “take a year to knock these blocks” when there are “people in this country with the expertise to have them down in minutes”.
“There seems to be no urgency. Not just in this project but right across the whole housing policy. Everything is years away and no doubt when we come to get the money for it they’ll pull another stroke in national government and tell us we can’t do it. This is not a reflection of the council, the proposals look great, but will it ever be delivered?” he questioned.
The manager said they share the same frustrations about how long things can take, but that to get this project up and running again required a new design, team and strategy. “I can assure you everything is being done to accelerate delivery,” they said.
Social Democrats Cllr Ellen O’Doherty questioned why there were not any four-bedroom homes within the plans as a lack of larger social homes is a major contributor to child and family homelessness. The manager stated that four-bedroom units “were not possible” for Matt Talbot Court.
The planned timeline for the redevelopment of Matt Talbot Court is as follows:
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