Annual retail sales fall 10%
Annual retail sales continued to fall in September, slipping 10 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, but rose 2.1 per cent month-on-month. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office showed that both value and volume of sales during the month slipped. Excluding the motor trade, sales volume fell 6.0 per...
Councillors reject Dunne’s new plan for Ballsbridge site
DUBLIN CITY councillors have again rejected developer Seán Dunne’s plans to redevelop the site of the former Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels in Ballsbridge, which he bought for €450 million four years ago. Councillors unanimously recommended that city planners refuse Mr Dunne’s application even though he had significantly scaled back his original plans for the...
Dublin port hearing to reopen
TIM O’BRIEN Bord Pleanála is to reopen its oral hearing into plans by Dublin Port Company to infill 52 acres of Dublin Bay. The hearing was adjourned last September after it was revealed that the Bord’s advisor on hydrogeology, HR Wallingford Ltd, had previously worked for Drogheda Port Company. Drogheda Port Company is seeking to...
McNamara faces €96m lawsuit on glassbottle site
DEVELOPER Bernard McNamara is being personally sued for €96m by clients of Davy Stockbrokers over the now infamous purchase of the Irish Glass Bottle Site. Mr McNamara, who last week launched a €140m action against the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) over the terms of the mammoth property deal, one of the largest in Irish...
City footfall nosedived before Bus Gate review
A new report presented to Dublin City Council says that retail activity in the city centre has been in decline since April 2008. The report was prepared as the local authority decided to review its ‘Bus Gate’ traffic management system, which has had a dramatic adverse impact on retail trade in the city centre —...
Council wants to put halting site in posh suburb – Dalkey
The rich and famous inhabitants of Dalkey in south Co Dublincould be hosting a halting site as well as major commercial development on their coastline if the local council gets its way. Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co Council is proposing to zone the coastal area at Bullock Harbour in Dalkey — where Pat Kennylives — for commercial...
Board may reopen Corrib gas hearing
AN BORD Pleanála has said it will reopen the oral hearing into the Corrib gas onshore pipeline if Shell EP Ireland responds within three months to its requests issued this week. Shell EP Ireland told The Irish Times yesterday it was “confident” it could meet the February 5th deadline set by the appeals board, following...
Proposed route for Corrib pipeline unsafe, Shell told
AN BORD Pleanála has found that up to half of Shell’s proposed route for its controversial Corrib gas onshore pipeline in Co Mayo is “unacceptable” on safety grounds. In a ruling yesterday, the planning board said the proposed high-pressure pipeline would be routed too close to housing in Rossport and between Glengad and Aughoose, and...
Gormley opposes decision on Dublin ‘bus gate’
MARY MINIHAN MINISTER FOR the Environment and Green Party leader John Gormley has described the decision to temporarily scale back the College Green “bus gate” as “a retrograde step”. Dublin city councillors voted on Monday night to lift the ban on private cars passing through the area during peak evening hours from November 18th to...
‘Bus gate’ ban to be lifted temporarily
OLIVIA KELLY DUBLIN CITY councillors have agreed to temporarily scale back the College Green “bus gate” to appease city business interests in the run up to Christmas. The councillors last night voted to accept a proposal by city manager John Tierney to lift the ban on private cars passing through College Green during the evening...
McNamara begins action against Docklands authority
COLM KEENA, Public Affairs Correspondent Property developer Bernard McNamara is seeking damages and an indemnity from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) in relation to a deal where clients of Davy Stockbrokers are seeking to sue him for €95.84 million. The case, which was admitted to the Commercial Court today, involves the former Glass Bottle...
We need to design a workable land tax