The Taoiseach has this evening formally launched a report on regenerating Dublin’s north inner city.
Reopening Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station and increasing the visible Garda presence on the street are among the suggestions in the report, which was put together by former head of the WRC Kieran Mulvey.
The report was commissioned in the wake of multiple gangland shootings and concerns about crime in the area.
The report recommends a three-year action plan to regenerate the area.
It also proposes multiple actions on education, training opportunities and "integrated" social supports.
Mr Mulvey also suggests a number of measures to improve the physical landscape of the area to move away from "unsightly housing, derelict buildings, waste / litter and unsightly building facades".
Speaking at this evening's launch, Enda Kenny observed: "There is a vital need to ensure there are no more 'false dawns' for this community. If we want to make this happen for real this time, we need community engagement and support as a prerequisite.
"The structures and processes that Kieran has proposed have that at their heart. I will shortly announce an independent Executive Chair to lead a number of the implementation structures 'housed' within the Dublin City Council," he added.
"Basic rights and normal expectations"
In the introduction to his report, Mr Mulvey writes: "I have met many people who are just trying to get on with their day to day lives, as parents, senior citizens, students, workers and whose priority is to have a safe community in which to live and decent opportunities to improve their lives, the lives of their children and to have a better standard of living.
"These are the basic rights and normal expectations of citizens and residents in this Republic [...] I hope this Report will assist in creating a new start and developing a new approach for the betterment of their community and will contribute and assist towards resolving the particular and difficult challenges which they face on a daily basis."
Labour's urban regeneration spokesperson Joe Costello praised Mr Mulvey's 'tremendous job', but warned "there are no clear targets or time lines for delivery of the overall plan."
He said: "It is now up to the Taoiseach and his Government to honour their commitment and deliver what the promised. They must step up to the plate or the Mulvey Report becomes another false dawn for the North Inner City."
Sinn Fein’s Mary-Lou McDonald, meanwhile, says locals were not consulted enough.
"To get this right you have to bring the community with you in a full way - not in a tokenistic way," she said.
"From speaking to people... the initial big disappointment is that it's very light... Some people were nearly saying tokenistic in terms of community involvement."
