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Title: How do communities cope and respond to change?
Abstract:
The objective of this paper is to provide an outline of the changing character and identity of
the East Galway City community of Doughiska, Roscam and Ardaun (DRA), Ireland. It will
briefly demonstrate how economic and social policy during the Celtic Tiger years
transformed community practice, and will introduce responses to these social and economic
circumstances, with particular reference to newly-emerging forms of social activism.1
A property bubble: the case of the DRA.
In a relatively short period of time Ireland has undergone a remarkable
transformation, from the desolation of the 1980s, with the loss of a generation to emigration,
to a period of unparalleled economic growth and immigration (though this is currently
tempered in other parts of the country by a return to emigration on the part of some sections
of the population).2 The profile of DRA is not unique but exhibits, in a concentrated form,
many of the challenges associated with this period in Ireland: unbridled development and an
enormous population explosion.
Ireland’s property bubble and the social consequences of a poorly-regulated private
rental sector can be linked to government policy that favoured a free market response to
housing demand.3 This was not a particularly novel experience for Ireland, as government
policy has persistently promoted home ownership as the preferred tenure for its citizens (this
policy has long historical roots and apparently a considerable degree of cultural acceptance).
From the mid to late 1990s, the public provision of housing diminished considerably as a
series of government tax reliefs extended home ownership and expanded the role of the
private sector in providing rental accommodation. The government decided to retain tax
The Celtic Tiger period refers to a period of rapid economic growth during the beginning of the
1990s – 2001, with a shorter economic revival from 2003 – 2007.
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2
Put in here immigration statistics.
Bubbles form when the price of any asset get out of line with its underlying value (Woodall,
2003:2). In Ireland, house prices increased significantly between 1994 – 1995: 5 % in Dublin and 7%
in the rest of the country. Further leaps took place between 1996 - 1998.
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2
relief on mortgage interest,4 maintain grants for first-time buyers and introduce a succession
of tax schemes designed to sustain private sector confidence in housing as an ‘investment’.
During this period a series of changes in stamp duty encouraged first-time buyers; reforms in
Capital Gains tax fuelled further speculation.5 In addition, different classes of construction
investment enjoyed sizable income tax concession and a myriad of schemes between 2004 –
2006: urban renewal, tourism, third-level education, car parks, student accommodation, parkand-ride, nursing homes, hospitals, sport-injury clinics and childcare facilities. It was a
combination of policies that incentivised aggressive property speculation, sponsoring a race
to build large sprawling estates with little regard for long-term economic or social
development.
Also significant for change within the DRA were policies encouraging land-owners to
sell serviced land as part of the government’s insistence that the private sector would provide
the engine of growth post-2001. Substantial land was sold to speculators during a ‘four-year
window’ when the government cut Capital Gains tax from 40% to 20%. The fact that this tax
was set to rise again by 60% after this four-year period placed pressure on owners to sell
land. As part of a response to the ‘housing crisis’ (not enough houses to meet demand) the
Bacon Report (1998) recommended the optimum use of lands already zoned for
development. It proposed an accelerated programme of investment in water and sewerage
infrastructure and an increase in residential density.
The DRA development, therefore, occurred within a decade of unprecedented
economic growth and an emerging global property bubble. It is important to note, however,
that large political and economic influences such as these affect people in different ways;
policy initiates do ‘not arrive fully formed but are reproduced and transformed in social
situations that are already laden with significance’ (Shove , Pantzar, Watson, 2012:151). It is,
therefore, important to understand residents’ social experience if we are to consider the
consequences of such changes and to do this exercise justice it is important to consider
change over a period of time. Only then is it possible to discover how people cope with
change and why certain practices emerge more strongly than others in certain large-scale
The ceiling on income tax deductibility of mortgage interest for owner-occupiers increased in 2000,
2003, 2007 and 2008 (Honohan, 2010:31).
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5
The rate of stamp duty was lowered in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007, in a misguided
attempt to address increasing property prices and improve affordability for first time buyers
(Bacon Reports 1998, 2000; Honohan Report, 2010:30; Horan, Working Paper, 2010).
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contexts. This research therefore has been conducted over a three-year period, involving
ethnography, participative observation and action research.
The evolution of the DRA:
Five kilometers East of Galway city centre, the DRA is made up of three settlements:
Doughiska, Roscam and Ardaun. Throughout the last decade it has been an area confronted
by a series of considerable challenges that are associated with a large population increase (a
manifestation of global forces that have moved workers both nationally and internationally
searching for jobs), and major development. Hitherto, Doughiska, Roscam and the Ardaun
had been three semi-rural communities, but within less than a decade the DRA had become a
sprawling city suburb with plans to re-develop the Ardaun from 11 houses into a town for up
to 13 thousand residents.6 During this period of speculation the population of the DRA
increased from 200 people to an estimated 7,280 today. One third of this population were
born in other countries, with over over 33 different nationalities resident in the area,7 which is
three times higher than the national average (Geraghty, 2009).
However, it still has several native Irish families living there and these families have
witnessed in one generation a complete transformation of ‘their’ community. While
Doughiska and Roscam experienced a striking population increase, the Ardaun remains
primarily farmland displaying many of the hallmarks of a traditional rural Irish community.
Up until the 90s people from the Ardaun would have been life-long residents with extensive
kinship networks. As many of the older generation died, social dynamics within the
community changed. Paddy King, one of the original three families, reminisces:
When I was a younger man, the land was full of men working. You would
walk the land every day and meet a farmer. You would know everyone. What
was important in those days was talking. There would always be a lad out by
the wall to talk. Now I still go out walking on my land, but I don’t meet
anyone.
First it was to the factories, and then when the Celtic Tiger came the men left
the land and went working in construction. They were too busy to talk.
Communication died.
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The Arduan development was put on hold due to a slowing economy in 2007.
66.6% Irish, 23% European (with 11.9% Polish compared to 1.5% national average), 7% African
(50.7% of all Africans are Nigerian), 2.2%, 0.6 American, 0.6% other (Geraghty, 2009).
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We learnt years ago that you cannot stop progress. I remember as a child
Paddy Nally’s land down the road. It was full of hazelnuts and mushrooms
and we were always trying to get into his fields. He was a terrifying man and
if he caught us he would chase us off his land. Paddy fought development
right up until the dual carriageway was laid right through his land 20 odd years
ago. He refused to sell. They moved him off with a serving order the day
before the tractors came in.
(19th January, 2011. Kings Residence)
Paddy King.
Gerry Burke, one of the families native to Doughiska reveals that his way of dealing with
change is to remain within a close family network:
In many ways this area had always experienced change. At the height of the
famine in 1840s, 20 families were moved off of Ballybrit Castle grounds by
landlords. These evicted families found refuge in Doughiska and they
established a new village called Baile Nua, known to locals still in the area as
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Ballynew (new area). My family have seen the area completely transformed
over the last ten years. Twenty years ago everyone knew each other. As a
young lad I remember that times were hard; we didn’t have money, but we all
had potatoes, milk and pigs to eat. There were only traditional families living
in the area, including the travellers. We all used to help each other out.
I’m a bit of a loner, so I don’t get involved in the new community; I keep
myself to myself, as I have a large family network. I can see how it must be
difficult for people arriving from other countries though. It must be hard not
having family in the area. I would imagine that the need is stronger for these
people to build a community.
(18th January, 2011, Burkes Residence, Doughiska).
Nuala Keady, originally from Roscommon, moved to Galway in 1972 and to Doughiska in
1985. She describes how she moved into a bungalow that had no inside water tank and only
four channels from an ariel in the roof:
It was all farmland right from Coyne’s shop down to the sea. When the
bulldozers moved in, in 2000, the pheasants, birds and foxes disappeared.
They cut down all the trees; nature disappeared overnight. Previously, we’d
been a very sociably community: bonfires at the cross-roads, cards and
socials at the Castlegar Hurling club; the place was buzzing. But when the
developers moved in they built massive roads that divided the community.
We were suddenly physically isolated from one another. The whole fabric
and practice of everyday life changed. We used to call in to each other’s
house for a cup of tea; the door was always open. These days you have to
make an appointment! We no longer felt like a community. Most social
events stopped. We didn’t even have a local church keep us connected,
until Father Martin moved here in 2005.
My husband died in 2000, so when I saw three-storey houses going up
around my small bungalow I decided to move. I moved into an estate – to
Tur Uisce; I had to buy channels. It was the loneliest and most difficult
time. My son, who was born in 1986, was diagnosed with a learning
disability (Williams Syndrome) and the children used to tease him.
I had never lived in an estate before; I grew up on a farm. In 2002 most of
the new properties going up were rented – they were transient populations.
A lot of people moved to the area without any intention of staying, but
because of the crash – they had to stay. They are now more involved in
community.
Ironically, now that I have adjusted to the changes, I actually prefer it. I
cook my food, the Nigerians and Indians cook theirs. We need to accept
that people have put their roots down here, their kids are now Irish. I would
like to think that they would help me out and me them. There are
Rumanian, Nigerian, Polish and Irish living in my cul-de-sac; we look out
for one another.
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(19th June, 2012. 147 Túr Uisce, Doughisa)
New forms of social activism:
Conversations with people who have lived in the DRA for extended years reveal how
development was abrupt and disturbing to both the landscape and traditional social practice.
The above quotes identify a number of important issues regarding loss and change and what
is perceived as being important elements of social life. For both the King family and Nuala
Keady, communication, dialogue and social interaction appear extremely important. When
spoken about there was a feeling of sadness and loss due to absence of such practices. A
sense of ‘rootedness’ seems also important; that when the transience of the Celtic Tiger
period diminished people began to once again take ‘root’ in their community. For many of
the older generations this connection to the land, or locality, is not explicitly expressed but
inferred through constant reference to the land and stories about social life being connected to
practices that involve the land in some way, such as reference to the ‘roads that divided the
community’ or the social aspect of farming.
For Gerry Burke, retreating into family networks was his way of dealing with social
fragmentation and the associated loss of continuity or shared social norms. This demonstrates
resilience in the face of change and the ability to continue relatively stable traditional
associations amidst change and disruption. For others this is not the case. For Nuala, the
idea of being able to be a ‘neighbour’ is also important, where she feels connected and part of
a wider community experience. She referred on a number of occasions to being ‘actively’
involved in community practice.
It is this sense of ‘activism’ that is beginning to emerge forcefully in the DRA. This is
a new form of activism; one that has a completely different identity to the professionalised
community workers of the Celtic Tiger era. Professionals are beginning to disappear from
the locality as government funding ‘dries up’ and are being replaced by new forms of
community activity. New civically-engaged practices have emerged, fundamentally shaped
by a range of different attitudes, cultures, value systems and age groups. It is possible to call
this new form of activism ‘multicultural’ because it involves many different cultures and
traditions. In addition, it also includes older native people and young members from the new
communities.
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Certainly, the demise of the economy has led to many people questioning the last ten
years’ National Development strategies and local development. This has spurred a need
within the DRA to discuss new, alternative pictures for the future. In so doing, a number of
activities over the last two years have resulted in projects being set up to support local
activism that will both build community and encourage political and civic representation.
These groups regard multiculturalism as a positive feature of community and are committed
to forging a new agenda for government, one representative of all cultures and people and
dedicated to more sustainable approaches to development. Interestingly, an assimilationist
approach is not part of these groups’ agenda. They are exploring difference as a reality of
life; this is not necessarily about one or another’s cultural or personal values being ‘right’ or
‘wrong’. Instead difference offers creative opportunities for personal and community
development within an expanded sense of the ‘normal’. In a training-session for community
leaders a Nigerian, two Polish and an Irish person summarized their feelings and presented
these accounts about cross-cultural dialogue:
Through socialisation with others we can learn so much. We can take the
good from all the cultures we encounter to form our own version of best
practice; to make us better people and achieve more than we ever thought
possible.
Change is for the better: We can mix attributes to form our own set of
values that will help the way we and others operate in the community and
indeed through life.
There is a challenge, one of humility in realising that our way is not the
only way of going about our lives. In the end we all need the same thingslove, safety, peace, to belong.
Stereotypes are lifted, because people think differently when they open
themselves to others.
(Family Resource Centre, Doughiska. 12th May, 2012).
Extracts from a World Café event where over 60 people attended from 9 different
nationalities (Pakistani, Nigerian, Liberian, Irish, English, Polish, Ukrainian and Libyan and
Yemen) and three different faiths: Catholic, Muslim, Pentecostal, reveal that people are
beginning to see difference (whether it be opinion, ethnicity, culture or something physical
such as a disability) as something positive. One theme expressed by nearly all participants in
the World Café was the need to ‘collectively work together for change’; to ‘get involved and
make things happen’ and that ‘the strength of the community resides in people working
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together’ (World Café, 19th June, 2012). When reflecting on the value of ‘difference’
participants shared the following thoughts:
What makes us afraid of difference? I think that we fear losing our own
identity. I think it is important to explore what it is we fear. To talk about
it and work through it.
I think we are naturally afraid, so it is only natural to find change difficult.
We are made up to identify what is similar to us to keep us together. We
need to find more of a collective link – to educate ourselves to respect
others.
We need to see that change is a positive thing. Not to be afraid of it and not
to resist it.
Suspicion and curiosity can be turned around and lead to difference being
regarded as a positive experience.
(World Café, 19th June, 2012)
There is not space in this paper to elaborate details of how these feelings are
being realized. But, a case in point is that over the last three years adversity has
brought many different people together to work towards a common goal. For example,
in response to developers pulling out of a number of estates in Doughiska and leaving
a ‘ghost estate’ (as well as inadequate facilities and infrastructure, problems with
flooding and sewage) a group of residents have formed the Fearann Ri, Fionnuisce and
Caisleain Thorlaigh Residents Association (FFC). The group is represented by about
30 people from: Nigeria, Ireland, Romania, and Ukraine and Poland. This group is
petitioning the local city council, local developers and government to resolve these
issues. They have got together and are petitioning for the ‘ghost estate’ to be
demolished and turned into community gardens and for the City Council to take
responsibility for amenities and services. A long battle has ensued.
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‘Ghost estate’: Fionn Uisce.
To summarise: Father Martin Glynn, the local parish priest, states:
The changes that have occurred in the DRA offer an opportunity to
understand in more depth the complex nature of building social relations.
Overcoming diversity and social fragmentation is desirable, not only
because it creates richer and more meaningful communities, but also
because it challenges people to question the norms, customs and behaviours
that limit an individual’s experience of the world (7th May, 2010, Café
Mocha, Roscam).
Father Glynn believes that a profound shift in consciousness occurs when an individual finds
themselves in circumstances whereby they are forced to move beyond the comfort zones of
their own perceptions and needs. He suggests that over time this shift creates a profound
cultural change that can result in a more equal and egalitarian society. ‘In the past there were
strong cultural norms that constrained this activity. Today, I believe this is changing for the
better. We must learn from the past and at the same time not be afraid to break from the
shackles of history and embrace the new opportunities that change can bring. Many of the
activities being embarked upon in this community challenge these everyday norms. We have
been forced to make change, to make a difference and the people are stepping up to this
challenge’ (7th May, 2010, Café Mocha, Roscam).
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