‘Heart of Dublin’ under threat as Inner City mum fights for community pitches
Dublin city is currently stuck between a rock and a hard place as the needs of a growing population put increasing pressure on limited infrastructure for young people across the city.
This means that as the government endeavours to ramp up housing construction to 300,000 units by 2030 , communities feel they are losing out on the very things that make everyday life bearable for those growing up. One issue that has become incredibly apparent in recent times is the loss of sports facilities for youths across the North Inner City.
As Irish people sing the praises of the country's greatest sports stars and icons like Troy Parrott put their best foot forward to quality for the World Cup, it begs the question of how Dublin can raise the next generation of sports legends if they have nowhere to play as they come of age. Parrott himself spoke out on the issue as the Multi-Use Games Area known as the Strand at Aldborough Place near Portland Row was announced as the location of a new housing development.
Thousands lined the streets to celebrate Kellie Harrington’s Olympic glory , but there’s far less fanfare when she’s waving the flag to save the pitch where she first discovered a love for sport and met the role models who would inspire her to greatness. Ireland’s best sport stars are not created in a vacuum, and it’s thanks to the prevalence of the facilities provided by Dublin City Council across the city that many working class athletes could beat the odds and become household names.
This is the context out of which Nikki Murphy, who originally hails from Dominick Street, is calling on Dublin City Council to ensure that pitches and sports facilities are retained and the young people of the North Inner City are not left behind in the midst of major housing development. Nikki stressed the people in her community are not anti-housing but merely wish the thousands of derelict and vacant homes across the city served as the source for housing stock, rather than essential sporting facilities.
In an open letter to the council, Nikki stated that “the mammies, the nannies, the carers, and the guardians of the children of Dublin” are calling for the retention of vital pitches. “We are the ones who wash the mud off the jerseys, who stand on the side-lines in the rain, and who know that a football pitch is the only safe place our children have left.” she said.
“You call our pitches ‘underutilised.’ We call them the heart of Dublin. We are watching a housing crisis turn into a displacement crisis, where our families are being scattered all over the Greater Dublin Area and further afield. These are the Pitches of the Nannies - the only roots our displaced families have left to come back to.”
Nikki herself knows first-hand the positive power of public pitches as she’s spearheaded the achievements of her son Kane, who has since emigrated to Australia, and has made the cut for the 100-goal shortlist to receive the 'People's Puskas Award.’ As a young player growing up in the North Inner City, Nikki says local pitches were a vital outlet for her son’s ADHD, allowing him to hone his skillset.
“Look at the ‘golden mile’ of the North Inner City. You see a development site; we see the launchpad of heroes like Kellie Harrington, Troy Parrott, and Wes Hoolahan. I see the turf where my son Kane Harris, (who again due to government failings has had to emigrate like so many other Irish sons and daughters), built the skillset that today sees him in a Global World Cup Final,” she said.
“You aren't just building over concrete; you are building over the launchpads of our heroes and demolishing the dreams of our grandchildren. Research shows that structured sport is a transformative tool for neurodivergent kids, channelling energy into discipline and self-esteem.”
Nikki is quick to point out that the North Inner City isn’t standing in the way of progress, but her campaign merely wishes for existing buildings that sit empty to act as the solution to the housing crisis rather than viewing the social fabric of their neighbourhoods as something to be knocked down and replaced with houses.
“We have been the ones most impacted by the housing crisis because we only have to throw a stone and we know somebody that’s either in homeless accommodation or we’ve been through the system ourselves,” she said.
“Leave their hands off the pitches and sort out the vacant homes and you wouldn't have to take those spaces,” she said, warning of the very real cost of eliminating these facilities while putting nothing in their place. Nikki explained that pitches offer the young people of their community something positive to do, and to take them away will only increase anti-social behaviour.
“When you take away something, something else is going to explode,” she warns. “The kids that are going religiously to play on those pitches are going to look for something to do elsewhere and get into trouble because they don’t have the facilities and they don’t have the outlet.”
“That’s what has sparked the fire in my belly for this campaign. My son said to me before, we are nobodies. I said you are somebody, don’t let anyone make you feel like you are nobody. Why? Because you come from the flats? That doesn’t mean anything. You’re something. I said to him, ‘you’re not better than anybody son, but there’s no one out there who's better than you either.”
“That’s the thing. Working class people are carrying stigma, it’s embedding in their subconscious because all their lives they’ve been told you’re not good enough, or sit down and shut up. Especially if they’re not neurotypical,” she said.
Dublin North Inner City Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis has been vocal about the need to provide for the city’s young people. He previously cited being “saved by a diversion programme” as a youth and has actively campaigned for the retention of the Strand pitch.
It’s in these kinds of sports facilities “where friendships are forged and communities made” according to Cllr Ennis. “If that pitch wasn’t there, I’d be on the street corner,” he said.
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment regarding provisions in place to retain or replace sporting facilities in light of major housing developments and regeneration projects across the North Inner City.
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