First tracks laid for initial phase of reopening of Dublin-Navan rail line
TIM O’BRIEN THE FIRST tracks of phase one of the reopening of the Dublin-Navan railway line were laid yesterday. The 7.5-km double-track line begins at Clonsilla where it will branch off from the Maynooth-Dublin line and ends at a park and ride facility at Pace near Dunboyne, Co Meath. The line is due to open...
Wind farms break 1,000MW barrier
CHARLIE TAYLOR The amount of electricity generated by Ireland’s wind farms broke the 1,000 megawatts (MW) barrier for the first time last weekend, providing enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes. The very windy conditions last weekend resulted in an all-time peak wind output of 1064 MW on Saturday, generating enough power to...
440,000 must buy septic tank licence – Gormley
MORE than 400,000 homeowners will be forced to buy a licence for their septic tank under new laws planned for next year. Yesterday, Environment Minister John Gormley said he would introduce a licensing and inspection system for septic tanks, which will affect 440,000 homes across the country, mostly in rural areas. The department has not...
€460m sport, leisure complex planned
A PLANNING application for what Michael Lowry TD has described as “the most sophisticated and ambitious project that Ireland has ever seen” will be lodged with North Tipperary County Council this morning. The Independent TD was speaking yesterday in Horse and Jockey at the launch of a €460 million cultural, sporting and leisure development featuring...
Fingal – First draft of Plan due next March
FINGAL’S new County Development Plan must be agreed by April 2011 with the first draft expected to go on public display next March. Councillors met last week to begin the next phase of the preparation of the Plan following on from the initial round of public consultation during the summer. Public representatives play an important...
Local area plan to be completed
A LONG-awaited local area plan for Rivermeade in St Margaret’s will be completed by the middle of next year, according to Fingal County Council. Cllr Tom Kelleher (Lab) put a motion to a meeting of the Balbriggan/Swords Area Committee last week asking for an update on the RV1 or rural village plan. The council’s planning...
Bus gate halves journey times in capital
BUS journey times through Dublin city centre have fallen by half since the controversial bus gGate started operating last July. City traders claim the ban on cars using College Green in the morning and evening peak is killing business. But up to 90 million Dublin Bus passengers a year will experience a marked reduction in...
Shannon rail bridge nears completion
THE FINAL stage of work to replace one of Iarnród Éireann’s three railway crossings of the Shannon, a bridge near Lough Tap, between Dromod and Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim, gets under way today. Over the next 12 days the line will be closed as the new steel bridge and concrete deck is lifted into place...
Planning board defers key Corrib pipeline decision
AN BORD Pleanála has deferred a key decision due to be have been delivered yesterday on the controversial Corrib gas onshore pipeline in north Mayo. The appeals board told The Irish Times that Shell EP Ireland’s application to modify the gas onshore pipeline route was under “active consideration” during board meetings that took place from Wednesday...
Bord’s report doesn’t have much appeal
AN BORD Pleanalá’s handsome looking annual report for 2008 contained no great surprises. The workload was down 16 per cent on the previous bumper year; there was a 20 per cent drop in the number of appeals dealt with in relation to one-off houses in rural areas and the percentage of local authority planning decisions...
Council to ‘freeze’ zoned land in Ennis
CLARE COUNTY Council is set to “freeze” more than 4,000 acres from development in response to Department of Environment concerns on “unjustified and unsustainable” overzoning. The move means that during the lifetime of the current development plan to 2014, no housing development would take place on 4,171 acres of land zoned for housing around Ennis....
Children’s Hospital to open in 2014
Not sure where the Eccles Street the site actually is, but i’m sure details will surface quiet quickly. The new Children’s Hospital of Ireland will open by the end of 2014, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said. Construction of the €750 million project on a site beside the Mater hospital in Dublin will begin at end...
