Ná habair é déan é - the rallying call for social, cultural and political change.

As Irish political institutions and constitutional arrangements continue to evolve, communities should embrace this call to action. The phrase was coined in the early days of the Irish language revival by families who dreamed defiantly of a bright future despite the horrors of conflict. It’s the mantra of an Dream Dearg - grown from small acorns planted by visionaries who would not accept the logic of a status quo which told them their dreams were impossible.

PPR activism is imbued with this thinking too. The communities we organise with are living examples of what can be done when people work together with common purpose. The state must be held accountable, of course, but often the best way to expose powerful people is by doing their job for them.

The Shaws Road families knew this deep down in their bones. They established a community to bring the Irish language back to life in a one party state designed to crush the Irish identity completely. They could never have predicted the success of the movement they started - families speaking Irish every day, schools, youth clubs, thousands of confident kids and adults - fully aware of their rights and their place in the world - influential at every level of society.

If you could time travel and tell them that Belfast City Council in 2022 would be struggling to recruit enough workers to handle requests for Irish language street signs, they wouldn’t believe you. But people, in their droves, are demanding that the name of their home is recognised by the state. Where the state fails people will put their own signs up, as they have done already in my street.

And of course, language rights are not enough. None of us are fighting for a bilingual society rife with food banks and homelessness. We are inextricably linked to the fortunes of our communities and the struggles of our neighbours. This deep sense of community - solidarity - intersectionality – whatever you want to call it, inspired an Dream Dearg to support a homeless family’s legal action against Belfast City Council last year. We raised £9000 in a few weeks through small donations. The family took the status quo to court and won, opening up new possibilities to shape the city of the future.

Eleven international architects have now teamed up with these campaigning families to design Belfast’s first climate resilient community at the Mackies site - a historic sectarian interface, a vacant no man’s land, where forty foot walls divide communities. It is the largest piece of public land in the city, owned by the department responsible for housing provision, which until recently was led by a Sinn Féin Minister promising 100,000 homes over the next fifteen years.

What better place to lay the foundations for the future?

Imagine a diverse, inclusive, sustainable self organised community. A place without peace walls, where paramilitaries and political parties have no territorial claims or vetoes on human rights. Imagine a place where the only agenda is that every child has a safe and sustainable home. Ná habair é, déan é!

Click here to explore the designs and have your say.