Local man hopes to make a difference to Tyrrelstown

Hello fellow Tyrrelstown residents,

Ignatius "Iggy" Okafor has lived in the Greater Blanchardstown Area since 2000 and moved to Tyrrelstown in 2004. He hoped to make his new community a home for himself and his young family. But Ignatius found out soon enough that Tyrrelstown lacked all the necessary facilities to make a community a true home. The lack of a proper community centre for young people, poor transportation links, apparent over-emphasis on the commercialisation of the area and the clear ‘divide and rule’ style of the 8 management associations make any sort of decision making and community cohesion extremely difficult.

For Ignatius, it was no surprise that the recent report commissioned by the Tyrrelstown Development Group: A Profile of the Needs of the Tyrrelstown Community – concluded that the area was not ‘sustainable’ in the long term. The report sponsored by the Blanchardstown Area Partnership, Fingal County Council, Foróige and other agencies slammed the lack of foresight on the part of planners and developers. The numerous issues that beset the relatively new 4000 home Tyrrelstown Community include among others: lack of proper bus services; the absence of a community facility which will provide opportunity for cultural, leisure, community, sports and other activities, including dedicated spaces for children and young people; a lack of Garda diversion plan to assist in checking low levels of crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour with visible, effective and community-friendly policing; poor services for preschool children with affordable childcare support in the area and a lack of a decent secondary school to address the current deficit in places. To make matters worse, the absence of a direct government plan to address these problems in a timely manner are major concern to residents of Tyrrelstown.

At a recent meeting at the Park Plaza, the residents clearly voiced a need for a local person to represent and champion their interests and Ignatius made a mental note to do his best for the area. Ignatius, like many other residents has felt helpless in the face of the numerous gross inadequacies of the Tyrrelstown Community but recently summoned the will to step in the gap on behalf of his ‘people’. Says Ignatius: “Tyrrelstown is my community and the people are my people; I know the problems in the area and the people’s problem are mine also”. He says he will use all legitimate means possible to continue to press for attention to be given to the issues and plights of the people in the area because his children and family stand to benefit when things get better.

Ignatius who works with the HSE at the Temple Street Hospital is a local community leader and the Executive Co-ordinator of the Mutual Cultural and Literary Exchange Centre (MCLEC).

Please post if you have an issues i can help with.

Ignatius "Iggy" Okafor
info@iggyokafor.com