€213m deficit for Dublin Docklands Authority

[Paul Clerkin]

The Dublin Docklands Authority has said it will need financial support from the Government to survive following the collapse of the property market.

Authority Chairperson Professor Niamh Brennan said the Authority had a deficit of €213m last year and that its position is clearly serious.

In its annual report the Dublin Docklands Development Authority referred to its stake in the the purchase of the Glass Bottle site at Ringsend, which has seen its value fall by 85%.

There was criticism of this deal at the time because the DDDA was acting as both the planning authority and developer in the deal.

Because Anglo Irish was funding the purchase while its chairman Sean Fitzpatrick was also a non-executive director of the Docklands Authority.

The High Court also found the Authority had acted outside its powers in another deal involving the construction of new headquarters for Anglo Irish bank on the quays.

Today Professor Brennan, who was appointed last March, said public confidence in the authority had been undermined but a review was underway to ensure the authority complies with corporate governance.

She said with financial assistance from the Government the authority can restore its mandate of redeveloping the docklands.

[Yixian]

Well, you know, with all the complaints about the DDDA and their various mistakes you can't help but be thankful these projects are around, the construction of the docklands will employ hundreds of workers for years to come.

[jdivision]

I hope that's sarcasm. There's a lot of stuff coming out on Sunday about them.

[tommyt]

I have heard some truly remarkable allegations from parties very close to the coalface that i hope make the public domain soon.What a vipers' nest.

[jdivision]

CHQ could be shut down and there's a multimillion arbitration dispute in relation to the first U2 tower
The DDDA's planning/development errors, most of this has been out before but there's some new bits such as how they ended up with the Jones Oil site, the legal fees from the North Wall Quay site and how they originally approached the Kellys about the Irish Glass Bottle site.

[OisinT]

It's a shame because I really like the Docklands and have been seriously considering moving there, but I think the prices will continue to drop over the next 2 years at least.

[gunter]

Assuming that the DDDA are dead in the water as an agency for driving any further development in the docklands, when the next agency is set up, Is there any reason it can't be given overall responsibility for not just the docklands, but the port, Poolbeg and Dublin Bay as well?

Is that too much to ask?

If the state of Cork is anything to go by, odds-on we're going to need a pretty robust flood defence strategy in the coming decades [whether it's all to do with mankind leaving his carbon footprints all over the place, or not] and not to combine future flood defences with a comprehensive urban plan would seem to be folly of a scale we haven't attempted before, . . . and we're pretty good at folly.

[newgrange]

At all levels they used to fling money around.

They had no problem spending five figures on a one day event for schools that would get lots of press coverage (though educationally be essentially useless), but ask them for 500 euro to give ten kids 50 euro off the price of a trip to visit the Auschwitz Memorial (and actually learn something) and you were met with a blank.

[AMDM]

bye bye DDDA....

[Yixian]

Assuming that the DDDA are dead in the water as an agency for driving any further development in the docklands, when the next agency is set up, Is there any reason it can't be given overall responsibility for not just the docklands, but the port, Poolbeg and Dublin Bay as well?

Is that too much to ask?

If the state of Cork is anything to go by, odds-on we're going to need a pretty robust flood defence strategy in the coming decades [whether it's all to do with mankind leaving his carbon footprints all over the place, or not] and not to combine future flood defences with a comprehensive urban plan would seem to be folly of a scale we haven't attempted before, . . . and we're pretty good at folly.

Deeeeeeeefinitely, the Liffy NEEDS flood defences...

And that is of course an architectural opportunity too!

[PVC King]

I disagree that flood defences will be required any time soon; there is clear action on Climate Change for the first time ever with both the US and China on board. Secondly the Quay walls are pretty substantial at least as far up as Islandbridge.

It will also be good to see the DDDA go back to ther original remit of the late 1980's and 1990's and acting as a planning agency that also promotes events and attractions in their territory. Once the Interconnector goes into the Docklands it will be a very different proposition to what it is now.

[Yixian]

Once the Interconnector goes into the Docklands it will be a very different proposition to what it is now.

Agreed x100