Monday, September 02, 2013

Moyross revamp must be followed up: Priest

The parish priest of one of the country’s most deprived estates has warned the Government of “dangerous consequences”, if it continues to neglect the massive regeneration project in Limerick.
In a hard hitting homily at Corpus Christi Church in Moyross yesterday, Fr Tony O’Riordan challenged those responsible for the regeneration of areas of Limerick city to urgently refocus and re-engage, if they still believe in the ambitious project. 

“There are those who have considerable responsibility for the circumstances and situation of life here in Moyross and they too need to be challenged on their behaviour and neglect, which shows a disregard for the community of Moyross.

“To Government, especially the Minister for Housing and the Minister for Environment, and to those who manage our city, I say that the inertia and lack of urgency and the lack of focus in tackling the social, economic and physical issues facing Moyross and the other areas designated for regeneration is worrying in the extreme. The improvements that have been won in recent years give no ground for the current complacency and current lack of focus and urgency. Taking your eye of the ball now is wrong and will have dangerous consequences,” he said.

The latest census figures show that one area of Moyross had the highest depravation index in the whole country, while the entire estate is one of the most disadvantaged in Ireland.

Speaking after Sunday Mass Fr O’Riordan warned that young people would be lured by sinister elements into lives of crime as other options are not being available to them.

“The good and ordinary life of a job, a decent house, a decent community is not available to them. They need help to create those kind of avenues and so the other avenue of criminality of violence, of intimidation, that route is open to them because there are enough sinister elements in the city and in this community to take young people and to give them soft options of violence and drug dealing and of criminality and that’s the dangerous consequence: the waste of that life but also the consequence it will have for the community and for the city,” he warned.

The Moyross priest has urged Limerick Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan to talk to her officials at the “highest level” in the Department and ask why after almost a year and a half of the new arrangements for regeneration is there still a delay in moving the programme forward. 


“We still don’t have a physical plan. We still don’t have a social plan and as far as I can see there is no coherent inclusion of the problems in Moyross from an economic point of view as to how to get people into jobs or to how to even get people engaged in labour market activation programmes.”

Fr O’Riordan, made his comments during his homily at the first anniversary of 21-year-old Moyross man Robert Sheehan who was shot dead while attending his brother’s wedding in Co Clare last year. 


Challenging those involved in the murder Fr O’Riordan he warned that their evil will confront them.