Ghost estates in city refused cash for vital safety works -Belmayne, Priory Hall and Marsfield

[C. Flower]

Interesting discussion on Tom McFeeley on the Pat Kenny show, going in to his past as a Republican and the way he justifies his present actions to himself.

Susan McKay was reporting at 10.45 - worth a listen on the RTE Player.

He was a member of the League of Communist Republicans and she says still considers himself a Leninist.

[PaddyJoe]

Interesting discussion on Tom McFeeley on the Pat Kenny show, going in to his past as a Republican and the way he justifies his present actions to himself.

Susan McKay was reporting at 10.45 - worth a listen on the RTE Player.

He was a member of the League of Communist Republicans and she says still considers himself a Leninist.

Quite possibly the only Leninist living on Shrewsbury Road then

[C. Flower]

Quite possibly the only Leninist living on Shrewsbury Road then

I didn't say anyone else considered him to be one.

[Baron von Biffo]

Quite possibly the only Leninist living on Shrewsbury Road then

Not any more. He was evicted for not paying the mortgage so he's now an official victim of the right wing, neo-liberal, establishment, the bankers aren't in gaol, anti-HC, it's a joke Joe... Continue to infinity.

[Andrew49]

Interesting discussion on Tom McFeeley on the Pat Kenny show, going in to his past as a Republican and the way he justifies his present actions to himself.

Susan McKay was reporting at 10.45 - worth a listen on the RTE Player.

He was a member of the League of Communist Republicans and she says still considers himself a Leninist.

It was a fascinating piece of radio. Feely's own experiences, and his community's experience of diabolical housing in Derry and its environs seems to have shaped his (and many others) subsequent actions - some went into the Civil Rights movement and others trod a more violent path.

[PaddyJoe]

Susan McKay's interview with McFeeley:

McFeely regards journalists as "scum". We meet at the headquarters of his main Irish company, Coalport. The building is on the edge of one of Dublin's grandest Georgian squares, but its large boardroom is as sparse as a prison cell. Grubby white walls, a basic table and chairs, a single poster of the Manhattan skyline. He takes the seat at the head of the table. He tells me he used to have antiques in the boardroom, but the sheriff took them. He fields calls. One, he says, is from a bank manager in Portugal, where he also has property problems.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...perty-bankrupt

[Slim Buddha]

It was a fascinating piece of radio. Feely's own experiences, and his community's experience of diabolical housing in Derry and its environs seems to have shaped his (and many others) subsequent actions - some went into the Civil Rights movement and others trod a more violent path.

His experiences of diabolical housing in Derry were of such a searing nature, so vivid, so horrendous, he just had to share them. And so he built Priory Hall totally from memory!

[BARNEYKX]

I think he needs knee capped, but then he would claim all round him

[C. Flower]

His experiences of diabolical housing in Derry were of such a searing nature, so vivid, so horrendous, he just had to share them. And so he built Priory Hall totally from memory!

According to the programme, he built more than one substandard development.

http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/...2D08%2D2012%3A

His idea of Leninism was "anything goes" it seems. There are other people who came from the same political background who do not agree with him, according to Susan McKay.

[Spectabilis]

I think the Susan McKay interview with Myles Dungan was one of the absolute gems on radio this year. Her analysis of McFeeley in political, Irish historical terms and even touching on the psychoanalytic was brilliant. I do hope there is a book there as it would encapsulate so much of Northern politics and the Celtic Tiger it would be a seriously important work. She is the most articulate and serious-minded journalist I have heard in recent years.

[PaddyJoe]

According to the programme, he built more than one substandard development.

http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/...2D08%2D2012%3A

His idea of Leninism was "anything goes" it seems. There are other people who came from the same political background who do not agree with him, according to Susan McKay.

I only heard snatches of the interview but it sounded like he became completely disillusioned after the hunger strikes and decided that mefeinism made a lot more sense than Leninism. There was mention of a former close friend and political activist who is a social worker and now thinks of him 'more in sorrow than in anger'.
Fascinating stuff.

[Count Bobulescu]

Priory Hall makes NYT.

DUBLIN — To visit Graham Usher’s dream apartment in Priory Hall, the most notorious of Ireland’s ruined ghost developments, is to see what Ireland aspired to be, and what it became instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/wo...tml?ref=europe

[PaddyJoe]

Residents marched today to highlight the first anniversary:

Protesters marched from Donaghmede Shopping Centre to Priory Hall in Dublin.
Residents say they have been left in limbo with many of them paying mortgages on homes that are unsafe to live in.
There is no sign of a deal in the mediation process set up between the residents, Dublin City Council and the financial institutions involved.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1013/priory-hall-march.html
Jan O'Sullivan got away very lightly today on the Saturday show when she pleaded that a retired judge was looking after things and she couldn't comment.
Judge Finnegan has apparently been looking into this since April and nothing has moved

[Baron von Biffo]

Priory Hall on This Week now.

We can have sympathy for anyone who finds themselves in the situation of the Priory Hall owners it's impossible to see why the state should have to pick up the costs.

[C. Flower]

DCC under Court Order have already paid out €1 million in rent and €700,000 in security costs. Add on legal costs to that.

That would have got new flats for half the residents, but no, lets keep pouring the money down the drain.

Ultimately there is infinite scope for wasting public money here, so why not just go for it?