Ballyfermot had a history prior to Dublin Corporation's building programme in the early 1950s. The popular stereotype of Ballyfermot is of a downtrodden people plagued by drug addiction and over-run by urban cowboys riding bareback through the streets and parks. I believe that the image is crudely over-drawn. In recent years I have observed a revitalisation of the area. The benefits of growth in our economy are filtering through to working class suburbs like Ballyfermot.
Economists can produce sophisticated statistics to demonstrate the rate of growth in our economy.
I point to increasing numbers of my patients entering the workforce and a gradual reduction in the size of my GMS panel. For many years I began to fear that Ballyfermot would remain an economic backwater. Now I see signs that the metaphorical Celtic Tiger has more substance than shadow. I can think of many individuals who no longer attend the surgery as frequently as before. They are now working.