O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Now that everyones let of steam, back to O’ Cll St.
I used not to be remotely concerned about being on the st, but now I am always nervous on it, and during the day.
And everyone I know says the same, ‘just don’t make eye contact with anyone’ ‘steer well clear of any scangers or shady people etc’.
Is’nt it just terrible, so sad, that you feel concerned for your safety during the day & that you avoid eye contact with people.
I never walk down the st without seeing anti-social behavior, people yelling across the st at each other, girls with buggys ramming them into the backs of pedestrians infront, people sitting on the ground outside of Mc Donalds with piles of crap beside them, people littering, people coming up to you asking for food, money, the coat on your back etc.
Its really not worth going onto the st at all.
This must change, but how?
Any change that occurs only happens as part of ‘national strategies’ rather than plans tailored to suit excusively the needs of O’ Cll St, eg are more Gaurds to be deployed as part of the IAP? No, indeed any mention of guards on the st at all is non-existant, and so we have to wait 4 years for the ‘extra 2000 guards’ Bertie keeps promising.A FULLY integrated plan of the st is necessary, and indeed for the city centre as a whole.
There is never ANY radical thinking in this country, a Grand Master Plan for all of Dublin City Centre should be drawn up, dealing with every concievable aspect of the place.
Whereas the IAP is very comprehensive, it is very vague in some of the most important areas such as security.
It was my understanding that there is a masterplan in existance that is being phased in gradually. For example the regeneration of Henry Street, the spike etc. Granted, this may not be extreme enough to transform O’Connell Street into the country’s first avenue but its not quite the chaos that it appears and it is in the middle of development.
A gradual upgrading must be preferable to an over night clean sweep that may not be so well considered. I was living just off O’Connell Street last year and we all got a copy of the plan in our post boxes. It seemed fairly reasonable, nothing earth-shattering, but then I suppose the Spike is the coup-de-grace.As for policing, Graham I think your right, that’s more of a city wide issue. Singling out O’Connell Street for tougher measures may cause more problems than it solves
A masterplan does exist….two actually. One is called the Dublin Development Plan, which is DCC driven and focuses mainly on planning and development. The other is the City of Possibilities, a DCC plan launched last year focusing on the social aspects of the city.
I don’t know if the plans address the mix of uses of the street (ie burger bars, sex shops, discount tat stores, off-licences, bookies, gaming arcades etc.)
This seems to be the main problem with the street, and it just seems to get worse and worse.
Does the council have any powers on the kind of business that sets up in a given area?
Also, no matter what you do with the street itself, you’re still a stone’s throw away from some of the dodgiest residential areas in the city. I lived off O’Connell Street until recently and without a doubt things deteriorated in the last year.You can’t out right ban certain buisnesses but you can use the carrot and stick approach. Introduce facade guidlines and building upkeep that would make the area less attractive to the lower end of the market.
Get a couple of flagship high-end shops into the area through grants and subsidies and it will begin to regenerate itself. That’s the tactic being used in alot inner city area’s on the continent.There were comments about the fact that while the DCC is committed to attracting a higher class of business to the street, the strength of their commitment is in question. The former Bank of Ireland building was the case in point. While the IAP specified a high profile use, what we got (or are getting) is a bookies!
I think you should be able to ban certain types of business from areas. For example a limit on the number of Centra/ Spars would be welcome. There is a glut of these tacky shops on the street. Ditto the fastfood emporiums.well nothing could be done about paddy powers: changing a bank into a bookies doesn’t count as a change of use. actually, i am quite pro having a bookies on o’connell street but that’s a different story.
Yeah perhaps a quota system could work for the fast food dives but I reckon that once a couple of sought after buisnesses are there and a reasonable framework for upkeep , regeneration will happen organically.
The unit sizes on O’ Connell St are generally too small to accomodate large stores, which could of course be adressed by the amalgamation of properties, which take time to aquire.
Have you ever been inside the new schuh store, it’s the smallest shop in the world!
Burger King has a wonderful premises for a quality store with that fantastic picture window upstairs providing wonderful views of the Street.It will take time for the City Centre to clinmb through the Divisions. It is Division three at the moment, but is bidding for a place in Division Two. The DDDA in their Draft Strategy for the Docklands talk about ‘raising the level of disposable income’ which is a euphemism for wealthy people spending lots of money. Until that demand is on O’Connell St that type of wealthy bourgeois glow won’t happen.
It is also not the fault of the inner city communities that they have suffered from being rundown and poor in the past, though it is much improved now. If the City Council can put in decent infrastructure and services, at least we can start saying that O’Connell St is clean and tidy, and has ‘character’ (notwithstanding all the dodgy euro shops on Talbot St). It is also up to the Council to make sure crime damage is repaired, and that civic pride is encouraged.
The Ramblas in Barcelona is lauded as one of the great streets in the world, but it is not that impressive really. Some of the buildings are very fine, but once you go below Carrer Portaferrisa it becomes really seedy, and the look of some of the tramps and heroin addicts there would really depress you. The Plaza Reial there is a gorgeous square but has to be one of Europe’s worst and most self congratulatory tourist traps.
But back to the main point: once we reach Division Two, we can gather fresh resources together in five year times, and have a crack at climbing towards the First Division.
To be honest I was thinking the first Division will be the extent of our achievement in my lifetime! To even dream of the Premiership is to move Ireland South as far as Jersey, to get some regular sunshine, and French haute cuisine…
Whats happening with the Carlton at the moment, did the CC compulsorily purchase it a few months ago?
I can’t keep up with all the feckin around on this site with Treasury Holdings & everyone else.
Assuming it has been aquired, which plan is going ahead? The one which eats up Dr Quirkeys & the derilict site and replacing them with Art Deco facades, or the other by A&D Wejchert with the inclusion of Fingal & the derilict site?
The Art Deco was so much better.
And the Moore Mall which was to begin before last Christmas ‘at the latest’?We know pretty much nothing about whats going on on O’ Cll St.
Yet its explicity stated in the IAP that the highest level of public consultation will be mantained throughout the project to ‘capture our imaginations’ & to offer updates etc
Even all here on this site with a general interest in built surroudings, let alone architecture, hav’nt the faintest idea for the most part whats going on, the type of paving, types of trees, the stalls proposed for the central median, lighting etc etc.
I had to give a presentation to about 100 Dublin people (adults) the other day about the Street, and the proposed changes.
NOBODY knew ANYTHING, even about the plaza outside the GPO, let alone about the tree layouts, tax incentives or the Carlton or Luas etcIndeed the only reason people know about the idea of new trees on the st is because of the ‘actions’ of the Greens and all of the media hype surrounding it.
Ironically, of the 2 boards on the st providing exceptionally vague info of its redevelopment, 1 has been removed to build the plaza!
Why arn’t there comprehensive information boards on the st, providing info as to the proposed physical elements of the st, and the timeframes & phases of development.
People love to read these things, not least if they are dealing with as grand a project as this.
We deserve them, not least as an explanation for why the street looks like a bomb site at the moment.We see new hoardings and cranes coming in & going up every week now, but with absolutely no details given to the public.
No wonder people have little faith in in the St, esp added to by the Spire fiasco – in which also no information was offered, even with people standing around peering into the site the whole time around its construction, & the public asking the site contractors questions.It is appalling behaviour – absolutely appalling. How much effort would it take to have a new onstreet noticeboard. No effort whatsoever.
If this much pride is taken in developing the street, I don’t expect much. And if any of the PR people are called into RTE to explain their vision, I will be the first to barrack them.
How dare they treat the citizens of this city with such arrogance.
Not that I don’t support what the CC are doing.
The way they stuck steadfastly to their plans for removing the trees in favour of the new was great, as is the actual layout of the proposed trees.
The plaza for public celebration is wonderful, as it also addresses/emphasises the importance of the GPO on the Street.
The only thing I hate about the plans , (I don’t even know if its going ahead at this stage) is the ludicrous proposal to mirror the columns of the GPO by erecting six sculptural lighting yokes, the same height as the columns, on the opposite side of the st outside Ann Summers.
Otherwise, Let The Building Commence!
(even though its already underway!)I think the CC are failing miserably to galvanise public support for a better street but that has always been the way DCC have operated. You only have to look at the city motto to know why. The CC manage the city as they see fit for the citizens of the city and we should be thankful for that…. they know best.
As for the sculptural lighting on the plaza… what will they look like. What will any of the street furniture look like. Its very hard to make a considered judgement without knowing what the end result will be. Have you seen them Graham?
I think flag poles would be better myself…stainless steel of course.
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