Socialist Republicans Call On DCC To Renovate Finglas Drake Inn Site

Socialist republicans active in Dublin’s Northside have called on the Dublin County Council to purchase and renovate a building for the local community left rotting by a foreign absentee landlord since 2009.

Anti-Imperialist Action’s Molly O’Reilly Coiste (AIA) came to this conclusion after taking part in the Finglas Tidy Town’s regular community clean-ups. Locals raised concerns about the lack of community spaces. Through consultation, they identified the Drake Inn building as an ideal candidate for renovation as a social and cultural center, noting only the political will seems to be lacking for this to be made a reality. A petition has been circulating to this end, which can be signed here, asking the DCC to put an end to the building’s now-17 years of dereliction.

“While litter-picking, sweeping pavements and planting in our local area, we’ve also been chatting to locals about issues with dereliction and housing. Finglas locals have been raising the issue of dereliction in the area for years now ” , they said in a statement on social media, continuing to add that “yet sites like the Drake Inn have remained derelict since 2009. The Drake Inn’s current absentee owners are based in Switzerland. They are seemingly unbothered by the fact that a vacant building sits unused in the middle of Finglas, while an entirely manufactured housing crisis drives people into homelessness. As part of our campaign for universal social housing, Coiste Molly O’Reilly hopes to continue working with local communities in the north inner city to highlight the negative impacts of dereliction and property speculation”. 

The DCC is currently run by a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and Green politicians, after a progressive alliance failed to materialize. Recently, they raised rents for council tenants, leading to protests. In addition, the local government is undemocratic, as the unelected ‘Chief Executive’ Richard Shakespeare holds significant power over local councillors and is advancing a €600m+ plan to build a new Council HQ while refusing to spend on community initiatives, although he passes the buck for this to the Dáil. As well as this, local councils have limited autonomy overall, being the weakest in all of the European Union. 

If Aontacht readers want to get involved, they can DM the AIA on their Instagram or email isrmedia@proton.me .