There's always one! Four little girls in the shadow of the Ballymun tower blocks.

This charming image of four youngsters posing for a photograph in the shadow of the Ballymun towers back in 1969 would brighten any Wednesday morning! The 'flats' had just been opened, the families had moved from the crowded and sub-standard housing of the inner city to the brave new world of the new apartments and everybody was full of hope for a bright future. This was before the blight of drugs and addiction, before the "troubles" and the escalation of violence that came with them and hope sprang eternal! I wonder are they still in Ballymun and has life treated them kindly?..Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire ( http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000046408 ) ..Date: 1969..NLI Ref: WIL 43[9] ( vtls000048829 ) ..You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )