De-Centralisation

Long Term the right decision, but got at being the operative word and the worst possible timing.

I work for two organisations on both sides of the border, I use the enterprise a lot, we deal with the Department of Tourism. Possible to hold one meeting in Dublin and one in Belfast in one day, no problem. One meeting in Killarney (Kerry South TD J’O’D) and another in Belfast, no chance.

Seceondly the Dublin Office market is on its knees vacancy is 15.4% (Jack Fagan Irish Times) or Three Years supply.

Tax breaks in the middle of a boom, pulling the rug at the cyclical floor.

Well done lads you have underperformed the Sunday Indo’s Market Monkey yet again.

Presumably the end of the Hawkins House refurbishment plan too?

Really?
This is the first time I’ve heard of the plans being officially ditched for Hawkins.

Couldn’t believe the Dept of Agriculture moving – one of the largest buildings in Dublin being vacated.
What’s going to happen to the 100 year lease the State stumbled into with this building on Kildare St?
Perhaps Health could move from Hawkins to here – and the OPW, from the goodness of it’s heart, knock Hawkins flat on its face and indulge in some faceless property development and build some quality 6 storey apartments in its place, hence rejuvinating the area, encourage inner-city living, and restore the low-rise skyline of this area of the city centre.

Also to move on Kildare St (well kind of) is the Dept of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources.

Can’t you already hear the developers scrambling over each other to throw up more sprawling semi-ds to accomodate the armies of white-collars trooping out to the regions.
Well I never – benifitting the very supporters of FF

McCreevy said that the locations were picked because of their access to “road and rail routes”.

Trim lost it’s rail service in 1963

Cavan Town lost it’s rail service in 1963

Knock never had a rail service and the Western Rail Corridor (nearest line) lost it’s sevice in 1974 and is deemed unviable by the present government even though they are opening offices all allowing new towns and hosuing estate to spring up all along it.

Sounds like a FF re-election ploy and nothing else.

BTW he said no to Cardon Tax and yes to more motorways and tax relife on inner city car parks and Ireland now ofically is one of the most polluted countries in the EU thanks to auto emmisions and we face hundreds of million in fines. But McCreevy is doing everything to increse emmision.

something just ain’t right… The road building lobby are spending our taxes and we’ll end up paying the fines for our air quality. How come nobody talks about this?

http://www.platform11.org

There are extensive consulations being carried out now with the view to legislate – incl carbon taxes – next year. Apparently.

Only 2,600 of the 10,300 jobs are going to the designated gateways & hubs, this is madness.

What will happen to all those prestigeous Ministerial headquarters in Dublin…. should the story become true and decentralisation happen. Im thinking of Defence (Infirmary Road), Education (Tyrone House – recently renovated) and OPW in particular.

One good thing is the opportunity for the OPW to offload some of the architectural tat that it currently uses. Particularly for Social Welfare and Comm. Marine & N R. Bye bye Apollo House.

The one significant thing that does bother me slightly about OPW designs, is that sometimes, a great project or renovation goes a bit under-utilised. Because the buildings need some kind of public liability insurance or something to really expand their functionality. I am aware of one very classy job done by the OPW down the country, which is a bit of a nonsense – lovely building, design etc. Lovely job – it just doesn’t do much more than any ‘brochure display unit’ could do in the local newsagents. Get the idea?

I mean, short of ‘promoting’ tourist history/culture at local level – some of their work around the country doesn’t have as much functionality as say a National School or something. But there was no expense at all saved on the job I know, best materials, detailing etc. It typically took like two whole generations to achieve and it is perfect architecturally in many respects. It gets about two visitors a day at peak season and employs one person and a student staring at the wall! The OPW are capable of awesome designs, but finding functionality for those renovation/restoration works, insurance etc, etc is a problem. It is not lack of architectural ability – it is lack of basic strategic business entrepeneur-ship.

On a similar point, what has Temple Bar become? Has its programme expanded, improved or otherwise gained much shape over the years? Is it thriving? Are all those award winning buildings actually hubs of activity. I think like the OPW thing, it is the exact same problem. I have been following the recent debate about giving the LA downtown the ‘cultural architectural treatment’. But there has been a very strong argument to leave it – it is good already. It provides very reasonably priced real-estate for all kinds of small businesses to develop, for low class people to become middle class people by working, producing and selling stuff there is a market for.

What kind of a product is most OPW designed centres selling?

Wasn’t JFK right when he spoke of what might have happened if his grandfather stayed in New Ross and DEvalearaaaaaah stayed in Brooklyn.