Linda Quinlan Often drawn to the hidden, overshadowed and undefined Linda Quinlan’s initial response to Ballymun moved towards the things being left behind, surrendered and deserted in the wake of the regeneration. Early into the project, having encountered the former Trinity Comprehensive School just days away from its imminent closure, she decided to cite the school as a central role in the project. At varying stages artists Martin Healy, Kate Murphy and Lee Welch were invited to enter this dialogue with a view to extend Quinlan’s perspectives and locate a position from which to consider the commissioning process. The sense of urgency and responsibility surrounding the old Trinity Comprehensive School, led Quinlan to invite Martin Healy to record the building before it closed it doors to take up permanent residence directly across the street, in a building that had just undergone a heavily invested refurbishment. Having recently arrived to Dublin from Sydney, Australian artist Kate Murphy interest in issues concerning the cultural and social weave, particularly concerning matters of identity, struck Quinlan as an apt invitee to respond to the various facets of shifting ground taking place in the community and landscape of Ballymun. Quinlan, together with the artist Lee Welch, worked with eight students from Trinity Comprehensive over a 4-month period on a series of research trips and workshops framed under the title ‘The Shape of Things to Come’. The students included Michael Brouder, Ian Coffey, Dean Creedy, Jessica Gibson, Jason Keegan, Ciara Kearney and Sinead Moloney. Their meetings promoted lively discussion which centered on the students concerns, aspirations and position in light of the regeneration. Kate Murphy ‘Rehearsal’, a 3-channel video work launched in the Virgin Mary Church in Ballymun on 7 December 2007. Kate Murphy’s work could be read as an allegory for regeneration, where the local population is awaiting the end moment. The imagery echoes the question inherent in regeneration programmes of whether the regeneration programme is merely a process of ‘patching over things’. Murphy became interested in the churches in the area as a location for her work as these buildings are unique in Ballymun insofar as they will remain unchanged by the regeneration process. Martin Healy Martin Healy researched both the old and new sites of the Trinity Comprehensive school, working with images of change within this metaphor for the greater regeneration process. Martin produced images of the new school at night, deeply rich colours with intense light emanating from the centre, suggesting not just bright futures, but also suggesting that Ballymun is not alone, and is one of a shared sense of community. Two photographs were permanently installed in the school in September 2008.