Trim plan a monument to stupidity
Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2005 / September 27
The Irish Times

In 2003, when the preservation of Trim Castle in Co Meath won an award from the pan-European heritage organisation Europa Nostra, it seemed to be a sign that this country was finally achieving a mature and civilised appreciation of its own history. The castle, with its relatively intact keep, curtain walls and gatehouses, all built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, is one of the most important complexes of Norman buildings in Europe. Looming over the Boyne and the surrounding landscape, it bears potent witness to the raw power and technological mastery of a force that shaped the development of modern Europe, and in particular of these islands. And then, quite suddenly, this monument to Irish history became a monument to Irish misgovernment. Having spent €4.5 million of public (mostly EU) money on restoring the castle, the State then facilitated its effective defacement by the placement of a four-storey hotel and car-park right next to it. Frank McDonald has covered the story superbly in this newspaper, and now the first report from the Centre for Public Inquiry takes it further. The report reveals, among other things, that two years after receiving a major European award, the State's handling of Trim Castle is now the subject of an EU Commission investigation. The way a proud achievement has been turned into a shameful episode is a grim example of the abysmal quality of governance in Ireland.


Flood to present report on Trim hotel
From:ireland.com
Tuesday, 27th September, 2005



The first report of the Centre for Public Inquiry - the privately funded investigative vehicle chaired by former High Court Judge Feargus Flood - is to be launched this morning.

The report focuses on the development of a 68 bedroom modern hotel with a 400 seat function room and car parking adjacent to the famous Anglo-Norman King John's Castle, in Trim, Co Meath.

Mr Justice Flood who also served as the first chairman of the Planning and Payments Tribunal, will present the report to the chairman of Meath County Council, Brian Fitzgerald, at Trim Castle.

Detailing the background to the disposal of the hotel site to a private developers David and Lynda O'Brien's D O'Brien Developments Ltd in October 2002, the report ties together much of what is in the public domain and reveals that the EU Commission is investigating whether Trim Town Council carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), or screened the project to establish whether an EIA was required.

The report also alleges that a number of the current and former members of the local authority feel they were advised "against their better judgment" by council staff to agree to sell the land, which had been earmarked for a public car park.

The report is also highly critical of former minister for the environment Martin Cullen who was advised that Dúchas, the department's heritage section, consistently expressed concern regarding the scale of the hotel, which was described as insensitive to a national monument in the State's Care. But the minister recommended only that the development be scaled back and this morning's report claims that "as a result of the instructions from the minister's office no objection was submitted by the department or Dúchas officials to the planning application".

Following the grant of planning permission, the report claims, two officials from the department prepared an objection but "an intervention by the minister's office put a halt to these efforts to lodge an appeal".

It is also alleged that an agreement was made between Dúchas and the local council for the site to be converted into a car park and Dúchas contributed €63,000 for this.

However, the council decided to rezone the land and failed to inform members of the arrangement with Dúchas.

The Department of the Environment has since asked Trim Town Council to return the money and the council has indicated that it intends to do so.

Executive director of the Centre for Public Inquiry, Frank Connolly, said the report also showed the developer of the hotel was informed by letter that his proposal for the site had been selected as the most suitable "weeks before the elected council were told". According to Mr Connolly, councillors told the Centre for Public Inquiry that this factor "removed the council's reserved function/right in relation to the proposed proposal".


Any Thoughts?

I have close ties with Trim, and was up there not so long ago. I recoiled in horror seeing the hotel under construction. Though the principle of a hotel is a positive boost for the town, the design and location of the project is surely one of the worst planning mistakes anywhere in Ireland in many years. First off the hotel juts intrusively across the beautiful vista that is the beautifully manicured northern lawn of Trim Catheral. No matter which way you looked at it, it's impossible to avoid the ugly hotel intrusion. If not to make things worse, when touring the legendary Norman Castle grounds (you have to pay nowadays, c'est la vie!) - the sight of the hotel sneaking up over the eastern curtain wall shoulder height is surely a criminal enfringement and violation of this most rare and reverent of historical monuments. A woeful hinderance for which all responsible should receive some serious wrist slaps.

what chance demolition?

Any chance of an image of this monstrosity?

There's one in inside the front page of the Times today but the building is unfinished (I think?) in it. It's absolutely unbelievable and difficult to describe how much the building has f*cked the context of the castle. Cullen has a lot to answer for. I really hope this goes further but I can't see anything being done about it. At best, I hope the EU demand their 3 or 4 million back which might make council staff/self important ignorant ministers think a bit more about their actions in future.

The effect of the completed hotel (below) is everything feared and worse. The Trim townscape is all about the massive castle and its rampart walls dominating the place, with smaller buildings of the 18th to 21st centuries dotted around outside that. A building of this scale should never have been constructed here!
.

While i would have no outright objection to a building of that size or any size being so close to an old castle, that just looks absolutely disgusting.


The same MUCK that seems to be thrown up everywhere ; jurys christchurch, jurys at IFSC etc etc.........

Very bulky

Totally inappropriate

The report is also highly critical of former minister for the environment Martin Cullen who was advised that Dúchas, the department's heritage section, consistently expressed concern regarding the scale of the hotel, which was described as insensitive to a national monument in the State's Care.

But the minister recommended only that the development be scaled back and this morning's report claims that "as a result of the instructions from the minister's office no objection was submitted by the department or Dúchas officials to the planning application".

Following the grant of planning permission, the report claims, two officials from the department prepared an objection but "an intervention by the minister's office put a halt to these efforts to lodge an appeal".



I thought this report was out today or something until I looked at the date. How did Martin Cullen get away with that and what happened afterwards? surely someone was disciplined? Outside of the e-voting and failed rehash of every transport policy that was called Transport 21, this surely was a sacking offence on its own?

There is something similar in Galway with gaudy coloured houses next to castle ruins near Kinvara,Galway and the best comment about it I heard from a mate who took one look and said "Who had the cheek to build that castle right next to those lovely holiday homes?"

The report is worth a look...

http://www.publicinquiry.ie/covers/trim.gif (http://www.publicinquiry.ie/pdf/FIOSRU_270905_hi_res.pdf)

in a read it and weep kind of way...

[Warning - that's nearly a full 10 mb of shame.
If you are on a slow connection the low res version is also available (http://www.publicinquiry.ie/pdf/FIOSRU_270905.pdf)]

That pic in devin's post is absolutely appalling. completely out of place.

It's absolutely sickening to see this happen but it sums up, in one incident, the way this country has been run over the last twenty years. Decisions are made to suit developers to the detriment of everything and everyone else.

[I]I thought this report was out today or something until I looked at the date. How did Martin Cullen get away with that and what happened afterwards? surely someone was disciplined? Outside of the e-voting and failed rehash of every transport policy that was called Transport 21, this surely was a sacking offence on its own?

This was the whole point of Martin's decision as M of ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE & Local Government to dismantle Duchas as a stand alone agency with a right to intervene on its own accord in the planning process. The new Heritage Service must now get approval from the Minister to lodge any objections. Of course Martin is also famous for having passed the National Monuments Amendment Act allowing him (or his succesors) to declaisfy national monuments. Ahhhh a great man Martin...a true PATRIOT. Somewhat after the mould of Charles J. 'everyone hated him, except the people'.


A recent article on this hotel (by Frank McDonald I think) pointed out how the hotel martketing shamelessly exploits the castle as an attraction to the hotel..'get your wedding photos taken against a stunning backdrop' etc.

This story is a little bit off thread but perhaps the more cynical among you can see a common theme..

Department rejects plans for 'green' cement
Liam Reid, Political Reporter

The Irish Cement plant at Platin, Drogheda, Co Louth

The Department of the Environment has refused to support Office of Public Works (OPW) proposals on the use of environmentally friendly cement in public building projects.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the department made its opposition clear after a meeting at which cement industry representatives vigorously opposed the proposals.

Earlier documentation suggests the department had initially looked favourably on the proposals.

According to documents released to The Irish Times, the department had discussions with the OPW about making it a requirement that "green" cement be used in Government building projects such as new decentralisation offices.

"Green" cement is made from materials that are the byproduct of industrial processes, such as slag from the manufacture of steel or other metals or ash from coal-fired power stations. As a result it does not require as much energy to produce. One Irish manufacturer, Ecocem specialises in "green" cement, and has lobbied the Government on the use of green cement in public building projects. Other large cement producers also have the capacity to manufacture the material.

In a letter to the OPW last September, the Department of the Environment described the plan as "very laudable" and said it would continue "to explore the potential of the initiative . . . so as to follow the aspirations of both ministers".

The following month, department officials held a meeting with the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) who were "vociferous in their criticism" of the project, according to a departmental official. The CMA is a lobby group for the three main manufacturers - CRH, Lagan Cement and Quinn Cement.

Following the meeting, the department sent a letter to the OPW stating it was "particularly concerned that the initiative, however well-intentioned, may prove prejudicial to the emergence of a voluntary agreed programme of action by the industry".However, senior OPW staff also claimed in documentation that the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, had agreed to the initiative in 2004 - a claim the department rejects.

In November last year, Mr Roche wrote to Minister of State at the Office of Public Works Tom Parlon to say his department would not take part in the initiative, because it would favour one manufacturer in particular. This was a reference to Ecocem. Separately, the traditional cement industry has argued the scheme would have unfairly benefited Ecocem over the traditional companies.

Mr Parlon responded by letter rejecting this and he said there were a number of suppliers of "green" cement in the State. He also indicated in his letter that the OPW would be pursuing the initiative alone. An OPW spokesman said yesterday that the specification of the use of "green" cement was now contained as a preferred option in decentralisation projects but it is not mandatory. He said the OPW now used a system where additional points were awarded to tenderers for the inclusion of more environmentally friendly building materials.

The OPW was also currently in discussions with the cement industry to see if some of its products met criteria for designation as environmentally friendly.

The Department of the Environment, in a statement to The Irish Times, said that the proposals were initiated by the OPW, not by the department, and added that Mr Roche had never approved the scheme.

© The Irish Times