Advancing plans to refurbish #BallyboughHouse

Last month, myself and Minister Paschal Donohoe had the opportunity to view for ourselves the amalgamation of two homes within Ballybough House, a part of a Pilot Project advanced by the Dublin Central Area Office of Dublin City Council.

The purpose of this Pilot Project was to show just existing homes in Ballybough House could be expanded in size and simultaneously be retrofitted from an energy perspective. It is important to note that Ballybough House was designed by the renowned former City Architect, Herbert Simms and is a Protected Structure thereby requiring that any future improvement works to be carefully undertaken within the context of statutes relating to buildings included on the Register of Protected Structures.

Feedback received by the Housing Department of Dublin City Council was very positive and obviously, residents in Ballybough House are very eager to the pilot project be widened to include the entire complex.

With that in mind, at this month’s Dublin Central Area Committee, I sought a commitment from the Housing Department that a full refurbishment of the complex is undertaken so that all homes in Ballybough House can have the same energy rating as the pilot initiative recently showed. The Housing Department have advised me that a post project completion review will be undertaken to assess the objective, outcomes, costs and lessons learned from the pilot amalgamation project at Ballybough House. Following on from this assessment, the next step will be for the Housing and Community Services Department to agree a regeneration proposal for the entire scheme.

While this is welcome news, the Housing Department to strike a note of caution in that the redevelopment of Ballybough House will not be straightforward given the need to respect and preserve the architectural heritage of the building. Notwithstanding this, myself and Minister Donohoe as your local T.D. will work to advance the refurbishment and enhancement of homes in Ballybough House.

I hope this information is of assistance to you. However, please email me at RayMcAdam@gmail.com if you have specific questions or queries arising from the details outlined above.