The Ballymun Flats refers to a number of flats - and often the tower block complex - in Ballymun, Dublin which is currently undergoing demolition.
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The Ballymun Flats were built in the 1960s to accommodate the rising population, and particularly to accommodate former residents of inner-city areas which were being cleared in the process of 1960s 'urban slum clearances'. Whilst suffering from a lack of sufficient public amenities, several schools served the area (Holy Spirit N.S. and Ballymun Comprehensive), as well as an Eastern Health Board medical centre and a purpose built shopping centre. The area suffered from many social problems such as drugs with rampant crime as well as many other problems. The causes of these social problems, and the subsequent discrimination faced by many people with Ballymun addresses when seeking employment outside the suburb, have been disputed, but Ballymun generally paralleled the experience of many working-class people in the 1960 and 1970s when placed in high-rise locations. Despite the negative perceptions of many non-residents of Ballymun, there existed, and exists today, a strong sense of pride and community in the area, as evidenced by the fact that many former residents of the flats have accepted new social housing in the district.
All four storey flats (Sandyhill Avenue, Sillogue Avenue and Shangan Avenue) have all been demolished with a new area called Marewood consisting of houses and apartments situated in the area where the Sandyhill Avenue flats were once located.
The eight storey flats are currently going under demolition, Balbutcher Lane remains the only flats in Ballymun to have windows on the front balconys and railings around the car park. Unlike other flats in the area, visitors have to buzz in to enter the flats. So far there have been no evacuations in Balbutcher Lane. It is located beside Joseph Plunkett tower, the only remaining tower in Ballymun, which is also the only tower to have ever had the same features as the Balbutcher Lane flats.
As of 2011, most of the flats on Shangan Road and Sillogue Road are now evacuated and two of five blocks of the Sillogue flats are currently lined up for demolition. One of the blocks features a large note saying 'Concrete Jungle Mother Farewell to Your Stairwell Forever' [1]. Coultry Road had just one of three blocks of flats demolished in 2005, but in 2010, work began on removing another block, currently only one block of Coultry remains.
The flats on Balcurris Road are the only block of flats which no longer exist. Demolition of Balcurris was completed in early 2009. Subsequently, various circuses have taken place on the site of where the flats once stood. It is believed that the Ballymun Shopping Centre, which is located next to where the Balcurris flats stood, is to be rebuilt and could be extended onto the now empty area, also the proposed Dublin Metro North is due to travel through Balcurris.
Main article Ballymun tower blocks
The seven landmark towers were named after the leaders of the Easter 1916 rising as follows:
The remaining tower is clearly visible from the adjacent Dublin airport. A petition is currently being drawn up to save the Joseph Plunkett tower from being demolished.
The red aircraft warning lights on these structures were not connected to any form of back-up power for many years, leaving the towers completely dark in a power outage.
The line "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" from U2's 1987 song "Running to Stand Still" (on The Joshua Tree album) refers to these towers.[1]
Ballymun flats feature in M.J. Hyland's Booker-shortlisted novel Carry Me Down (2006), symbolising John's family's descent into poverty.
The Ballymun Trilogy is a series of three plays about the process of change in Ballymun, written by Dermot Bolger and staged by the Axis Art Centre located close to the original site of McDonagh Tower. They are From These Green Heights, The Townlands of Brazil and The Consequences of Lightning.