4.7 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2023
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | You're listening to the Men's Raya podcast, and this is the story of Celine Conroy. |
0:30.0 | Sean Tracy House is a social housing apartment complex located on Buckingham Street, Upper |
0:45.6 | in Dublin's North inner city. The original three building complex was built in the 1960s, |
0:51.3 | amid a wave of mass social housing construction in the center of the capital. The movement |
0:56.7 | was brought about by the concern over squalid living conditions after three tenement buildings |
1:01.8 | collapsed and separate parts of Dublin in the summer of 1963, resulting in a number of deaths. |
1:08.6 | The government responded to public concern by pulling down the old buildings, replacing them |
1:13.5 | with purpose-built social housing units. However, in their rush to get people out of the dangerous |
1:19.1 | tenements, the focus was mainly on building housing at scale and often the sites lacked social |
1:25.5 | amenities and services such as shops and playgrounds. As the heroin epidemic ripped through pockets |
1:31.9 | of Dublin's inner city in the 1980s, complexes like Sean Tracy House became hotbeds for |
1:37.7 | anti-social behavior related to drug use. High levels of unemployment along with poor housing and |
1:44.2 | a lack of facilities for young people resulted in spiraling drug use in the community. And although |
1:50.5 | this plateaued towards the end of the 80s, the trend saw a resurgence in the mid-1990s. |
1:57.0 | As the turn of the century rolled around, a regeneration of Dublin's inner city began. |
2:01.6 | Dublin City Council had started to demolish troublesome apartment complexes to make way for new |
2:07.4 | accommodation units with improved social conditions and adequate leisure facilities. Sean Tracy House |
2:14.2 | was earmarked for this urban renewal scheme but the plan was hampered by delays and despite the |
2:19.8 | aim to demolish the building in 2003, it was still standing in 2005, although only a handful of |
2:26.6 | people still occupied the building. Among these residents were Selene Conroy, her partner Paul Hickey |
2:33.3 | and their three children. Selene had been brought up in Dublin's north inner city. Family members |
2:39.3 | described her as a quiet and sweet child who never asked for much. However, Selene's childhood was |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GoLoud, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of GoLoud and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.