It can be difficult for residents' groups to get their views aired in the national media at the best of times, especially when it comes to what are perceived as 'local issues'. Limerick Regeneration Watch and its affiliate organisations have have had some success in recent times in getting reporters from national newspapers and television to visit the areas first hand and report matters from the residents perspective:

IRISH TIMES ~ The Dundon Legacy: 17/08/2013
Following the conviction of John Dundon for the murder of Shane Geoghegan,a young man mistakenly shot as he walked to his girlfriend’s house, Irish Times reporter Carl O'Brien visited Limerick for an article in their Weedend Review, interviewing a variety of people, including our own Matt Collins and Cathal McCarthy, the article gives a fair report on Limerick Regeneration: "The issue of the regeneration programme is hotly debated locally and has no shortage of skeptics. Some of them have formed Limerick Regeneration Watch to chronicle what it sees as broken promises, missed opportunities and a lack of meaningful consultation with the community". (pdf 1.2 Mb) READ MORE >>>

SUNDAY WORLD ~ Limerick's €116m Wasteland: 07/10/2012
In October 2012 Sunday World reporter, Niall McDonald, accepted an invitation from the Ballinacurra Weston Residents' Alliance to take the tour of their regeneration horror estate (pdf 2.2 Mb) READ MORE >>>

IRISH DAILY MAIL ~ Limerick After The Dundons: 05/05/2012
In April 2012 Irish Daily Mail reporter, Brian Carroll, contacted Limerick Regeneration Watch's Cathal McCarthy for an interview and was given a walking tour of Ballinacurra Weston. The article doesn't name of the residents' groups, but many residents expressed the view that it showed that regeneration areas are populated by decent people, something that is rarely reported by the media. (pdf 2.2 Mb) READ MORE >>>

IRISH EXAMINER ~ Limerick Regeneration pt. 2: 29/03/2012
David Young talks to residents in Limerick "regeneration" estates, partly demolished after essential funds failed to materialise, The article features Limerick Regeneration Watch & Ballinacurra Weston Residents Alliance and an interview with the Regeneration Agencies CEO, Brendan Kenny, who has since returned to his job as Assistant Dublin City Manager after the closure of the Agencies in July 2012 (pdf 1 Mb) READ MORE >>>

IRISH EXAMINER ~ Limerick Regeneration pt. 1: 28/03/2012
In the first of a two-part series on Limerick Regeneration, David Young talks to locals who are disillusioned by broken promises and broken homes left in the wake of "regeneration". The article features the Moyross Residents Alliance and an interview with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal aka, the 'Monks of Moyross'. The facts about the depopulation process and its detrimental impact on schools in regeneration areas were supplied by Limerick Regeneration Watch and were compiled from Department of Education statistics. (pdf 1.6 Mb) READ MORE >>>

Dept. of Education Statistics:
The information supplied to the Irish Examiner by Limerick Regeneration Watch is AVAILABLE HERE

VILLAGE MAGAZINE ~ Regeneration Agencies to Close: Dec 2011
In August 2011 Village Magazine invited Limerick Regeneration Watch's Cathal McCarthy to write a 700-word fact-heavy article for the October - December 2011 edition of the magazine. At the time it was rumoured that the Regeneration Agencies would be closed down by Christmas; they were officially closed in July 2012. (pdf 111 Kb) READ MORE >>>

PRIMETIME INVESTIGATES ~ Limerick Regeneration: Dec 2011
RTE's Primetime Investigates featured a special on Limerick Regeneration, which aired on Monday 6th December 2011. Primetime reporter, Barry O'Kelly lived in Limerick for 8-weeks and worked closely with Limerick Regeneration Watch affiliates to expose the failure of Regeneration and other state agencies to tackle anti-social and criminal behaviour. The programme highlighted the nightmarish reality of residents living in the regeneration areas. READ MORE >>>

SOCIAL DYNAMITE
All of the journalists that we have worked with are given walking tours of the area they are covering and are encouraged to talk to as many residents as possible. They are also given a copy of Social Dynamite: A Study of Early School Leavers.

More insightful than the Fitzgerald Report and written 43 years ago by Fr. Liam Ryan, Social Dynamite argues for the urgent need for the social regeneration of a newly built Council estate "situated in the suburbs of one of our larger cities", which he calls Parkland to avoid adding to the "amused hostility" of "the better educated classes" towards the estate. The city in question is Limerick and the estate is Ballinacurra Weston. Imagine what might have been if the recommendations of Social Dynamite had been heeded all those years ago. Alas, like the reports produced in recent times it was ignored. READ MORE >>>