Back in the 1970s and 1980s when I worked nearby Fatima Mansions was an area that I avoided at all costs and old habits die hard so I am still inclined to avoid the area. However, I am not sure how it happened but I arrived at the Fatima Tram Stop.

Fatima Mansions is an extensive public housing complex located in Rialto, Dublin. In the early 21st century, it underwent a substantial urban renewal programme with the assistance of public and private funding. All existing apartment blocks were demolished to make way for 600 accommodation units, consisting of social, affordable and private housing along with community, business and leisure facilities at a cost of €200 million. The blocks have since been renamed Herberton Apartments, but the area is still referred to locally as Fatima, which is the name of the adjacent Luas Red Line tram stop.

Work on the original complex started before World War II under the direction of Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council) but construction was held up due to material shortages. The first phase of construction was finally completed after the war and the first tenants began to move in in 1947: the development consisted of fifteen blocks, each of four floors in height. They replaced tenement housing for the area's working-class residents, and provided a great improvement in living conditions. In the mid 1980s the area became notorious for its high levels of heroin use and drug dealing, which eventually led to the original complex's demolition due to the drug problem's severity.