O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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That it is and I noticed today that the first major graffiti has defiled the monument and been semi-removed 😡
In other news the street is finished from bridge to cinema and looks great 😀
3 statues have arrived which I imagine are temporary a rather hit and miss tiger on elephant; a couple one supporting the other palm to palm and a very topical and artistic rabbit who looks like he is kicking a penalty.
On a more lasting subject Lambert Smith Hampton have offered a leasehold interest in Findlater House; are there any further details on this I had thought that this had been acquired by Shelbourne Developments for a new retail scheme.
To the Bizarre; http://www.oconnellbridge.net/phpBB2/posting.php?mode=reply&t=2
Heuston…We have a problem…copy ?
The Dubberlin Taxi Drivers have moved back into possesion of their OCS Median rank.
Interestingly,all it took to entice them back was the removal of the Builders Railings.
The necessary Statutory Signage has as yet to be nailed to the stainless posts but I“m sure that will be attended to within the life of the current administration.
Now for the interestin bits…
The design of the median appears to present a considerable challenge to the Taxi Drivers in relation to swinging around from South to North in order to keep the queue moving.
Basically it looks as if the Taxi must now swing VERY wide and actually jut out into the moving Northbound Traffic Lane.
Secondly…The situation at the Rank itself allows intending pax to swing the NEARSIDE doors of the Taxi open as it sits on the median,invariably this means the passengers backside and more worryingly the Cab Door/s now also jut out into the traffic flow…which is quite a fast one.
The new right-turn arrangement into C Brugha St which has a small median interruptor to keep the Taxi`s seperate now means Taxi`s have to jockey for position depending on which direction they are headed.
It a Dogs Dinner of an arrangement,resembles a plan drawn up on a Woodbines Packet and is above all DANGEROUS.
Yet in this strange netherworld where Dublin City Council`s supreme planners range far and wide there is no Danger,not even a nod in that direction.
Just as those Sculptures resenble a Lewis Carroll storyboard so too does the OCS Taxi Rank ..
Still…I suppose it IS the only remaining example of what might have been had the Emperor Elect Ivor Callelly actually survived his spat with the Brothers of the Brush.
:pThe statues are temporary and are part of a series that will eventually go all the way up Pernell Square to the museums/gallery.
Good news on the OCS Ranca Tacasai isssue..
The Gabby Cabbies being a sight more pro-active than DCC or An Garda Siochana will ever be have developed an Irish Solution to their little problem.
They have simply taken posession of the Coach Bay outside the Gresham during peak hours which is fine by me…well until some Passenger wants the Cab to head in the opposite direction anyway.
However with the NCTS now beginning the takeover of Taxi Licence Issuing responsibility in Dublin,It cannot be long before the Nordics see another method of squeezing more revenue from the Cab Drivers….
Mind U I`m slightly disappointed at the lack of Game Play from the Gardai.
One of the evenings highlights in the “Old” OCS was the arrival of the Traffic Bike and its surly rider who would do battle wit the double,treble and quadruple parked Cabbies who would usually give him a bit of verbal..Great Street Theatre all the same,and makes them oul skulptures look tame in comparison….:rolleyes:
Hideous yokes, though it’s more their clunky bases that make them look so awful:
(the motorcyles have arrived already :rolleyes:)
This one is fun 😀
Well the taxi lobby got their way and now have a brand spanking new soulless rank commandering a third of the median of the Upper street, also creating a further needless crossing for the pedestrian further south:
The street lamppost line has also been disrupted, being reduced down from pairs to single file:
(though ironically does help in reducing the clutter)
And suffice to say all tree planting has been chucked out the window.As Alek was describing, the taxis have to pull out onto the carriageway upon reaching a jutting out island which seperates the rank from the right-turn queuing position a little further up which provides access to Cathal Brugha Street for all traffic.
The pulling out isn’t that tight, but certainly undesirable, along with the rank at large. It simply shouldn’t be here, and one suspects the O’Connell Street team in DCC are not too happy about it either. They have done their best to integrate it though – it is very well designed and the finish is superb, save the usual questionable manhole covers pockmarking the granite surfaces.
Needless to say the median has finally been opened over the past few days and all major works on the Upper street have been completed. All that is left is the ‘dressing’ as it were, furniture to be installed, signs to be attached to every conceivable pole in the place : ), streetlamp heads to be attached etc.
And seating! There still isn’t a single public seat on all of O’Connell Street – hopefully this will be addressed shortly. Hopefully what will not be addressed is more bicycle parking – they can feck off onto Cathal Brugha Street.
Once the final touches are added, I hope to have lots of before and after images, and more details of the rest of the Upper scheme.Meanwhile after dark, the GPO is looking magnificent 🙂
The statues have yet to be illuminated, and perhaps the rear of the columns could do with some light treatment too.
Also a wing of the building – note the intrusive impact the Plaza lighting poles have on the scheme.
This is not because of their proximity to the building, but as Stephan C mentioned recently, the lamps have never been directed to light their intended subject: the Plaza! Instead, nearly every single one on each of the four poles is ponting directly downwards, illuminating the footprint of the pole!
Here they are going up in April 2004, but it was only the bulbs that were attended to – the lamps were never moved!
Maybe because it was only realised afterwards that they’d flare into oncoming traffic…
Yay! Was on O’Connell Street late last night and it’s finally totally and utterly complete!! – not a single piece of fencing I sight. And it really is something to behold! Just to linger on the upper end and watch these massive pavements run all the way to the very end.
I think it’s true to say the whole adds up to more than the sum of the parts. You can really get the total effect now, with no fenced off bits anywhere.
Cheers to all involved!!!
@Graham Hickey wrote:
The statues have yet to be illuminated, and perhaps the rear of the columns could do with some light treatment too.
This, in my opinion, is the biggest disapppoint of O’Connell St. Only one statue (Parnell Monument) on the entire street is lit at night which is a great pity after the fantastic job they did restoing them. I haven’t seen the street at night since the new lights were installed but I hope it doesn’t feel as dark and soulless as it did before – lighting the statues would have gone a long way to fixing that.
I think Graham meant the statues on the top of the GPO rather than the memorials on the street. Its a fair enough point about illuminating them,although I wonder how/if this could be done without being intrusive.
I quite like these new installations (from the pics) although I agree the bases are awful. Couldnt they have made a little more effort. This is the same sculptor who installed the statue at the top of Grafton Street, set in a tractor tyre….hmmm.
Lovely collection of hideously cheap shopfronts to be seen through the trees on the second photo….call shops, budget travel, a newsagents or three…
@StephenC wrote:
I think Graham meant the statues on the top of the GPO rather than the memorials on the street. Its a fair enough point about illuminating them,although I wonder how/if this could be done without being intrusive.
I stole Graham’s point to make my own personal gripe 😉
The Parnell monument is uplight from a pole about 5m south of it. It’s not ideal but it works. Personally I’d opt for spots on the roofs of nearby buildings; the statues in the middle could be lit from 2 or 4 points, the O’Connell monument at the end is a little harder. The Spike looked really well when it was lit with the array of spotlights that were installed a while back – it should definitely be lit every night.
At last a bit of rigour on the part of DCC Planning…take a look at the Reasons for Refusal for Anne Summers. An application for retention by O’Carrolls across the street was also thrown out.
Full Development Description
Planning permission is sought by Ann Summers Ltd for the removal of the existing shop front, signage, the installation of a new shop front, signage along with stripping out the ground floor retail unit and providing a new retail shop fit-out with minor works to the basement floor level consisting of the removal of partitions, the construction of new partitions, repair and redecoration works at 30/31, O’Connell Street Lower, Dublin 1 (Protected Structure).
DCC Refusal:
1. The proposed development materially contravenes Section 15.24.0 of the City Development Plan 2005-2011 and the Special Planning Control Scheme for the O’Connell Street Architectural Conservation Area (2003) in terms of both design and materials for the proposed shopfront and signage. The materials and design proposed are inappropriate and present a poor quality finish to both this Protected Structure and to the O’Connell Street Architectural Conservation Area. The proposal is therefore considered to be inconsistent with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area
2. The proposal fails to satisfy the requirements of the ‘Shopfront Design Guidelines- The O’Connell Street Area’ (2003) and is considered injurious to the overall building and its setting within an Architectural Conservation Area. The proposed development is considered to materially the zoning objective for the area, which seeks to ‘To consolidate and facilitate the development of the central area, and to identify, reinforce and strengthen and protect its civic design character and dignity’ and is inconsistent with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
3. The proposal, if permitted would set an undesirable precedent for similar poor quality developments in this Architectural Conservation Area and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
(Sorry..Im sure ther eis an easier way to link this but it didnt seem to pcik up the page.)
Excellent to hear – more of this please! Proposals were also lodged in the run up to Christmas for interventions to the facade of the former BoI a little further down; didn’t see what was proposed…
On this very terrace, was just thinking there – isn’t it a shame in a way the manner in which this part of the street was rebuilt after 1916. Of course it’s been mentioned a few times before how the four storey Ann Summers terrace punches an unfortunate hole in the parapet level of the five storey street, but also think how impressive the centre of the street could have been if this terrace of ruined buildings was compulsorily purchased, and Clerys shifted northwards to face the GPO head on, with the acquired buildings being moved further south to the current site of Clerys, essentially swopping places.
It could have created a distinguished centrepiece to the street, also allowing for a square to be built that would address the Pillar, the GPO, and the street and city at large. Instead, everything was predictably rebuilt as once was, even down to the bizarre height of the old BoI which replicates the height of former building on the site.
And so the centre of the street was also lost, to be taken over as a giant car park, stuffed with the usual clutter to boot.Not sure what impact Clerys would have had on the GPO – stealing its thunder or whatever you want to call it – but an idea…
Either way, the off-centre siting of Clerys on the current Plaza isn’t the most desirable of circumstances.Now that O’Connell street has been repaved and replanted you can stand back and say ‘Well, it’s still full of downmarket retail: fast food outlets, Ann Summers and amusement arcades’. Would it really be better to replace all of this with upmarket retail: say Habitat, a few authentic Italian cafes and some bookshops?
A lot of poor people live within walking distance of O’Connell Street. If retail outlets that target them were removed, demand for these outlets would not be extinguished and they would shortly reopen elsewhere nearby. So is it a legitimate aim when cleaning up a street to seek to clean out the poor to the side-streets?
The way I see it, there are negatives and positives to poor and rich cultures. O’Connell street is one large public thoroughfare that celebrates working class Dublin and it would be a pity to go any further than we have already.
@Frank Taylor wrote:
The way I see it, there are negatives and positives to poor and rich cultures. O’Connell street is one large public thoroughfare that celebrates working class Dublin and it would be a pity to go any further than we have already.
Yes true. I don’t think O’connell street is particularly tatty anyway. The shop front are tatty but calling for all the riff raff to be closed down is just snobbery. There is more than enough space on the street to accomodate rich shops and poor shops . And that would be a huge step forward in integration in this economically sectarian city.
I think the future for the street completely rosy. grafton street was always a planning blip , and it is clear that commerce is moving northwards. There are some more projects starting in years to come. Arnotts is reputed to be buying abbey street (most of it), to open onto it. Then of course the carlton , that will be fixed up and the findlater house is crying out for GAP.
I think the rationale in improving the types of shops on O’Connell Street was
a) the balance had perhaps tipped too far in the favour of the so-called “undesireables” like fast food and call shops.
b) this is the capitals principal thoroughfare and should reflect the best that the city has to offer in terms of shops, restaurants etc.
c) many of the uses on the street (and the office developments, I believe, all fall in to this catagory) just don’t do anything for the street..don’t contribute any life to the street.
d) many of the arguements against cheap shops concern the poor upkeep of their premises and the general poor design… JWT, Funland, the terrace I mention above.Most commentators are not calling for all these shops to be closed, but they shouldn’t be allowed to dominate. A perfect example is the Centra/Londis/Spar proliferation in the city…undoubtably there is a demand for these shops but is the city any richer for having so many? Would you be happy to visit a city centre that only offered you this? Isn’t 5 fast food outlets enough on the street. Wouldnt an internet call shop be better suited to less prominent street?
@StephenC wrote:
I think the rationale in improving the types of shops on O’Connell Street was
a) the balance had perhaps tipped too far in the favour of the so-called “undesireables” like fast food and call shops.
b) this is the capitals principal thoroughfare and should reflect the best that the city has to offer in terms of shops, restaurants etc.
c) many of the uses on the street (and the office developments, I believe, all fall in to this catagory) just don’t do anything for the street..don’t contribute any life to the street.
d) many of the arguements against cheap shops concern the poor upkeep of their premises and the general poor design… JWT, Funland, the terrace I mention above.Most commentators are not calling for all these shops to be closed, but they shouldn’t be allowed to dominate. A perfect example is the Centra/Londis/Spar proliferation in the city…undoubtably there is a demand for these shops but is the city any richer for having so many? Would you be happy to visit a city centre that only offered you this? Isn’t 5 fast food outlets enough on the street. Wouldnt an internet call shop be better suited to less prominent street?
That is fair. Can i take it that the implication is that the council should be trying to free up space on nearby streets for some of the shops to move to ? Curiously there is very little retail space east of oconnel.
Most definately! There are numerous streets around OC St crying out for some development and life. Malborough Street and Cathal Brugha are the obvious ones. And Parnell Street (OC to Summerhill stretch) is in a criminally rundown consition, although it must be said atht these streets already provide the types of shops that Frank refers to…as does Talbot Street, Moore St, Dorset St, Gardiner St…
@StephenC wrote:
Most definately! There are numerous streets around OC St crying out for some development and life. Malborough Street and Cathal Brugha are the obvious ones. And Parnell Street (OC to Summerhill stretch) is in a criminally rundown consition, although it must be said atht these streets already provide the types of shops that Frank refers to…as does Talbot Street, Moore St, Dorset St, Gardiner St…
So is it the case going forward that o’connel street itself it not in need of the most attention but north and east of it ? And if these areas got that attention, oconnell street would only thrive ?
Impressively west and south western of oconnell are thriving ( herny street , bloom’s and liffey street)
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