Unlike residents of the north Kerry town, stuck with a name change on the orders of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht affairs, the residents in Dublin 8 have participated in a series of plebiscites to decide on their own placenames, since the name Fatima Mansions has been consigned to history.

There was an 85% turnout for the first vote last year and names such as Saint Anthony's Road, Ruben Walk and Lady of Fatima Close were chosen for various streets and communal spaces on the 11-acre site. But the appearance of the name Herberton on phase two of the development has alarmed some of the residents already in situ in the first 110 houses and apartments.

When the now demolished 14 blocks of 363 flats were built in the 1950s, the Dublin Corporation development took its name from the parish of Our Lady of Fatima.

"We'd prefer if the name didn't change, " says Gemma McKenna, a nun, a community worker and a Fatima Mansions resident for more than 20 years. "It has no meaning for us at all.

We chose Ruben Walk because it comes from the Jewish quarter in the area. Maybe we should acknowledge the Islamic community too.

Fatima is a Muslim name and there is a mosque on South Circular Road called Mosque A tha Cliath."

Another community worker in the Rialto area, who did not wish to be identified, said: "There are mixed views and feelings about what the name represents. Some people feel the Fatima name represents negativity but others think that, in the last five years, it's become a symbol of hope for other communities."

Worries about the Herberton name being imposed on the area have been allayed, however, by the chairman of the Fatima Regeneration Board, overseeing the public private partnership between Dublin City Council and the developer, MaplewoodElliott JV Ltd. "It's only a temporary working name, " says FRB chairman John White.

"People shouldn't be concerned. It won't be part of the postal address. The name Herberton is on one street in the development and I wouldn't even call it a street. It's a terrace less than a hundred yards long.

"I think now that it's been brought to my attention I need to reassure people about this. It's a misunderstanding, that's all. The name is only being used for marketing purposes on phase two. It's a short-term thing. People don't have anything to worry about."

He added that a statue of Our Lady of Fatima that has been synonymous with the area for more than 50 years and which was "inadvertently" broken by the builders is being repaired and restored to the area.

It is also planned to commemorate Trooper Anthony Brown, a Fatima Mansions native who died aged 18 in the Niemba ambush in the Congo, with a plaque in one of the plazas.