Can we have this bicycle parking in Dublin?
I was on a recent inter rail trip around europe, something which i would highly recommend to anyone even remotely considering no matter what your age! But back to the point i witnessed some very interesting solutions to bicycle parking in cities, which i will show in some later short posts. I thought that Switzerland...
How would you protect the canal on your site?
Based on our recent visit to our masterplan site, i figured that this little humpback bridge deserved its own little post just for how pretty it looks! I believe one of our major planning issues for the site is how to treat the royal canal and the tranquility of it! Any suggestions on possible solutions...
Urban Art from my Euro trip
This is a little off topic from my usual but i thought it would be important to show off some of the urban art and extra little features of urban design which some of europes great cities had to offer me while i leisurely toured by train around europe this summer. Head below the break...
Interesting plans afoot in Sudan
My good friend put me onto this post the other night when I got back from holidays. I must say they certainly look pretty but my word this is actually where people will live! It is beyond me as to how someone could believe that structuring a city in the shape of either a rhino...
Developers to face high-rise curbs as council agrees plan
DEVELOPERS ARE facing severe restrictions on the construction of high-rise buildings in Dublin city following the introduction of the new Dublin City Development Plan next year. City councillors last night agreed to ban the construction of buildings above 28m (92ft) – about half the height of Liberty Hall – unless a statutory plan called a...
Dublin height focus of planning debate
Decisions made this week by Dublin city councillors will determine the height and scale of future developments, writes FRANK MACDONALD WHETHER NEW buildings in Dublin should be relatively high or low has become the most contentious issue confronting councillors as they begin a series of special meetings today to deal with the draft Dublin City Development...
Decentralisation ‘a failed strategy’
A LEADING academic has denounced decentralisation as a failed strategy which has undermined the institutional fabric of the state and become a charter for mileage claims, writes Anita Guidera. Professor Brigid Laffin, principal of the college of humanities at UCD, told the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, yesterday that failures of accountability went beyond...
Study proposes range of schemes to protect and improve canals
FACILITIES FOR houseboats; horse-drawn barges; markets; concerts; water sports, shops and restaurants are proposed for the Royal and Grand canals in Dublin in a new report from Waterways Ireland. The Dublin City Canals Study recommends a range of recreation, tourism and commercial schemes to protect and improve the canals and open up both waterways to a...
Gormley rejects Poolbeg claims
Minister for the Environment John Gormley has rejected as “scaremongering” and “absolute nonsense” claims that the State will face massive EU fines for landfill waste if the controversial Poolbeg incinerator does not go ahead. The Minister also said he would this week receive the report of the “authorised officer” he appointed in March to examine...
Go-ahead for Bord na Móna €120m wind farm
STATE-OWNED energy group Bord na Móna has received planning permission from Offaly County Council for a €120 million wind farm at its peat production site in Mountlucas in the county. The proposed development forms part of Bord na Móna’s long-term strategy to develop a portfolio of generating assets, including wind farms and a complementary flexible...
Spike Island the next Alcatraz?
Only time will tell! SPIKE ISLAND was officially handed over to Cork County Council yesterday for use as a tourist amenity amid efforts to develop it into an attraction comparable to Alcatraz in the US. Alcatraz in San Francisco, which was only a prison for 20 years, attracts about 1.4 million visitors each year while...
