Margaret Jaconelli Residents were ‘cast to the wind’

In the run-up to the Games, the case of the Jaconellis gripped Scotland.

The family refused to move from their Dalmarnock home of 35 years to make way for Games-zone construction work. They were evicted in 2011 after Glasgow City Council imposed a Compulsory Purchase Order, allowing them to seize the property.

It proved to be one of the most controversial evictions in recent history. Here, mum-of-four Margaret Jaconelli gives her candid view of events that changed her life.

“It is ironic people 10,000 miles away have asked for my views on the Commonwealth Games while the organisers in my home town of Glasgow have not.

“At the end of tonight’s Closing Ceremony, the Gold Coast of Australia will be handed the baton to stage the next event in 2018.

“I was recently asked by ABC Radio in Australia what I thought about Glasgow 2014 and which lessons could be learned

“I said, ‘Do your best so nobody will be victimised, bullied or have anything stolen from them’.

“I was never opposed to the Games, just the way Glasgow City Council went about it. So, while the Games were on, I said nothing critical.

“The city will reap economic benefits for years to come. After all, they have spent the best part of a billion pounds putting on this show.

“But the place where you won’t hear many cheers for the Commonwealth Games is Dalmarnock, the area of the city most affected by it.

“I was robbed of my house, the locals were robbed of their shops. We need a doctors’ surgery, buses and new schools and the community centre they shut down as well.

“As the athletes prepare to head home, my husband and I will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. Yet we are worse off now than when we married when I was just 16-years-old.

“And what of the community we once lived in? The residents of Dalmarnock have been cast to the four winds.

“We had a great community. You could always go to a neighbour if you needed help. Yet they demolished the tenements.

“The people who remain have had eight-foot fences put up in front of their homes, are told they can’t park outside their front door and are forced to leave home early if they want to reach their work in time.

“The only hope they have is that all the sacrifices they have made results in a Games’ legacy.

“Legacy is a term often bandied about by politicians. They can take decisions affecting thousands of people then retire to their comfortable homes in the suburbs.

“A conference on regeneration is taking place in Edinburgh next week. One speaker is Gordon Matheson, the Labour councillor who was boss of Glasgow City Council when I was turfed out of my home. We asked if we could speak. But after being asked our names were told the event is fully-booked.

“Regeneration is not difficult, as long as you take the people affected with you. Faceless bureaucrats and politicians talk about ‘regeneration’ and ‘legacy’.

“Why don’t they start with an easy request give us a shop in Dalmarnock.

“It’s not much to ask. Not after spending a billion pounds.”