Fatima Groups United

The group consists of representatives from the Fatima Mansions Residents Panel, Community Employment Scheme, Rialto Youth Project, and Day Care Center amongst others.

By bringing these groups together to act on issues affecting their community, Fatima Groups United is working towards four major objectives: a proper standard of housing, acknowledgement of the special needs of children and young people in Fatima, treatment facilities for anyone at risk of, or engaged in, substance abuse, and employment opportunities for the people of Fatima.

History

Fatima Mansions is a deprived neighborhood situated in Dublin's inner city. For decades residents have had to fight a tough battle against the oppression of drugs, poverty and demonization. But sometimes, little miracles are possible. Through the innovative efforts of residents and community groups who formed Fatima Groups United (FGU), city government agreed that these tenement flats would be demolished and the 11-acre neighborhood regenerated.

From the beginning, FGU set about convincing all the key partners that regeneration must not be just about bricks and mortar. It was essential to weave into the regeneration tapestry a strong and decorative social fabric. The new Fatima would need proper services, support for arts and culture and would have to engage people in designing their own futures. This would make the difference between superficiality and sustainability. FGU realized that it needed support and partners who would accompany the residents on their journey into change. However, in visionary community development, the nature and delivery of those supports is crucial. The support must be about empowerment not dependency. Capacity building not charity. Partnership not patronage.

One of those supporters, at a key time, was The Ireland Funds. It's head and heart were already open. It understood how community transformation can be at once, daringly simple and infuriatingly complex. A true friend is one who accepts you for how you are made, challenges you when you need it and is there for you at the crucial moments. The Ireland Funds continues to be a good friend.

The Ireland Funds fuels a vital part of our regeneration. It is difficult to find that kind of social-entrepreneurial companionship which is built on mutual respect and admiration. So, on behalf of Fatima Mansions in Dublin, a huge thank you to the silent and not-so-silent partners and supporters of The Funds. You are the people who regenerate possibility itself.

“Fatima has laid down a
strategy for education,
for employment creation, and
for the social and cultural life
of this community and how
to heal it.”
- Niall O’Baoill, Fatima Groups United

"Look around you. Breathe in the hope. Feel the energy of Fatimas' children. It is incredible to think that we've come to this point by way of despair, crisis and neglect. But the most amazing thing of all is that it was local people-the hurt, the oppressed, the excluded-that have brought us here by digging deep into themselves, by looking into the eyes of their children and saying: it's time to tear down the past and build a new future from the foundations.

The first brick laid will not be made of concrete. It will be made of respect. It will be cemented by community power. And it will be laid in our own heads and our hearts. And the second brick will be laid in the heads and hearts of the city council, government departments, funders and supporters. The third brick is as important as the other two. It's the brick we must lay in our collective imagination."

- Joe Donohoe, Chair, Fatima Groups United