Demolition work has begun at the Coolmoyne House and Rathmoyne House tower blocks in the Seymour Hill area of Dunmurry. Workers started the process on Tuesday.

The demolition is part of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's Tower Block Action Plan, a £308m programme approved in 2019 to remove all 33 of its high-rise blocks. Until this week, only one tower under the plan had been demolished: Monkscoole House in Newtownabbey, which was taken down in 2023.

The Dunmurry towers are among 15 blocks included in Phase 1 of the programme. The original schedule called for four other towers to be demolished by this summer, but those projects have not yet been completed.

The Housing Executive faced several obstacles that delayed the Dunmurry demolition, including the acquisition of private dwellings within the buildings, a legal dispute over a telecoms mast on one roof, and the need to safely remove asbestos.

Two other blocks in South Belfast, Breda House and Belvoir House in the Belvoir estate, are scheduled for demolition later this year.