Veronica O'Neill has been living with her son, Alan, in number four since shortly after the house was built in 1966. It was one of 17 houses in Coultry Gardens. Now the O'Neills are the only residents left in the area. All around them, the land has been flattened and carefully raked over to form a neat muddy plain. A number of large yellow JCBs are resting not-sosubtly in the near distance.

Currently, the O'Neill's house is propped up on either side by numbers three and five, both of which have long since been abandoned.

The exterior wall of number five has been torn away, and temporarily replaced with a bright blue sheet of plastic. A large metal gate blocks the front entrance to the houses. The windows of three and five are boarded up. A small item of clothing swinging from the washing line in the O'Neill's back garden is the only indication that anyone remains.

Veronica O'Neill was reluctant to speak this weekend about her reasons for wanting to stay in her house.

However, a spokesman for Dublin City Council confirmed that it was "in consultation" with the family in an effort to persuade them to move out of the house.

"There are no legal proceedings planned against the family, " he said. "We are in negotiations with them at the moment, but we are not at liberty to reveal the details of those discussions."

A Labour party councillor for the area said that the land was a key part of the Ballymun Regeneration Scheme and that the problem did need to be resolved.

"It is a very delicate situation, but I don't think they will be allowed stay in the house, " Andrew Montague said. "It's on the main street, and there would have been a whole variety of plans for that land. All of the other residents would have been moved to new houses in the area. They are actually better houses than the ones being demolished. However, this is something we have come across a few times in the course of the Ballymun Regeneration Scheme."