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Good to see a decent LED alternative … what kind of wattage are they capable of ? from what i’ve seen, LED’s emit nothing like their ‘equivalent watt rating’ suggests.

@gunter wrote:

The elegance of the Leinster Lawn idea was that it proposed a ‘purpose built’ parliament complex in place of the existing second hand arrangement that we have now with parliamentary functions shoe-horned into buildings designed for other purposes.

Not only that but the ‘new build’ idea frees up Leinster House to be integrated into a great cultural complex (National Library & National Museum on Kildare Street and National Gallery & Natural History Museum on Merrion Square), as originally intended.

No doubt my suggestion torpedos the possibility of creating a great cultural complex, which does sound like it could be great, but to be honest i just dont see that the Leinster Lawn site is frankly good enough for a national parliament – any new build would i feel amount to an odd piece of in fill in the front garden of a fine mansion, lined up with, well nothing – all a little hotch potch like i think, which is surely what we’re trying to get away from.

Of course it all depends on what final proposals would come in for the Leinster Lawn site (in our hypothetical world here!) but i think it would be hard to beat the stature & poise of the Leinster House, National Library, National Museum buildings combined.

@RoryW wrote:

What would be the point of depriving people of the Reading room & National Museum just so some glorified County Councillors can sit in splendor – government (and politics) is generally unpopular enough already without this landgrab.

They are after the Natural History Museum for the seanad anyway – don’t give them any further ideas!!!!!

Well whether we respect them or not Rory, our state is shaped from the Dail chamber, with consequences for all of us, the events of last week being a case in point …fairly glib dismissal, no? 😉

@Rory W wrote:

why not use the European Hall and St Patricks Hall in Dublin Castle as a temporary Dail whilst Leinster House is restored

That would make sense alright, sufficient space & adequate security.

the courtyards look to be in a real state 😮

@jdivision wrote:

price war at the moment wouldn’t have happend without that ban tbh, certainly not on the scale we have now and still consumers head north because they’re unhappy with the retail cap that plays a key part in some British retailers not entering the market here

Again the absence of regional government raises its head; the reliance on national policy which may be altered at a whim or for non-planning considerations has come up short and has the potential to significantly damagfe diversity in retail offer.

There is an excuse for maybe 4 large retail boxes in Ireland maybe 2 Ikeas one in Dublin the other in Belfast and a Costco in Dublin and maybe Cork or Belfast although even without the ban they have chosen not to consider this location.

Whilst I agree that the traditional corner shop has been eclipsed by the more efficient supply chains of Musgraves, Spar and Tesco there is little comparison with large scale sheds in a sea of parking and a cheesy brick facade. Whilst some contributors will disagree with me paying Tesco, Musgraves and Spar a compliment but they have supported main streets up and down the country over the past decade by providing a basic retail offer under the worst signage going.

At a time where Main Street is under pressure the last thing that needs to be done is allow discount retailers to design and build huge floor plates at a notional rental cost of say c€5-7 per square foot per year as this may directly undermine those occupiers that have supported Main Street who are tied into paying a quantum of those rental levals and who have in the case of supermarkets added massive footfall to surrounding streets and through this spin off vibrancy fostered the development of ancillary retail such as cafes etc.

Schemes such as The Pavillions or Dundrum are the way forward which integrate with existing urban space and do not destroy road access to and around the main cities. The only thing I’ve ever bought at Ikea is a hotdog and that is exactly the danger of permitting excessive floor plates; it moves way beyond bulky goods and kills employment in places where it is environmentally sustainable to provide it.

yep ‘wow’ was my first impression too 😉 thanks for posting spoil sport, the wife thinks its kinda’ cheesy (as in a block of) 🙂

@johnglas wrote:

There is great unease out there and we need to revert to a more regulated (and less ‘controlled’) society, particularly in money terms, where money and property are not so much commodities as means to an end and the fatcats are made to act responsibly and pay their dues like the rest of us. Here endeth the lesson…

For sure; the large Wall St investment banks are down to 2 survivors throw in UBS and there are probably only 3 left. The many large commercial banks that tried to copy them will retreat into less risky business models that are more akin to utilities than casinos. It was some week all the same and I for one hope we never see anything like it again!!

The real irony of this week is that the FSA may take some of the 20 Floors Lehman Bros had at 20 Bank St; if only they knew what was going on in the same building but one thing is clear 4 equally sized floors was from enough space to regulate the volumes of instruments out there. 😮

The underbelly of any society is unattractive but when the cops don’t give a damn it really does make the problem a lot worse; on a trip to Vilnuis a couple of years back it really struck me just how few of socienties unfortunates existed and this in a country where gdp is a fraction with that of Dublin’s. The snooker tables in Donnybrook really do need to be removed and the beat walked again to clean up the act of people who behave in an unacceptable way just because they can get away with it.

Johnglas

I was disapointed by your comments; the subject under discussion is that the boom is over and that a mega recession is going to consume the entire economy; yet you concentrated on the fact that I had by increasing my holding of actual shares to prop up existing positions at intra day lows been equated with someone selling shares I didn’t own and try to exacerbate the position of companies already under pressure.

This is something I would never do but when shares hit a particularly low point intra day I often jump in with a belief that prices will rise and that the excess shares can be used to at worst cut losses or at best deliver profit. The ban on short selling introduced this week is welcome and make no mistake if things kept going at the rate they were going in markets this week for another 24 hours the system would have crashed and unemployment would have been 30% in the OECD within 24 months.

To express relief that one has not been wiped out in the face of the worst market conditions in 70 years does not make one a wanker but simply a typical retail investor who has been caught in a once in century level of volatility and seen all there existing strategies redendered ineffective. Give me a choice between the levels of volatility seen since the start of the year or a stable market delivering 6% growth p.a. and I would chose the quiet model everytime as there are always sectors that have an advantage over others and outperform slightly in the medium term; examples would be renewable energy over automotive.

Thankfully Friday delivered and the BoI shares I bought at €3.85 and €3.70 early doors on Thursday finished the week at €5.25 which indicates that despite a €30bn exposure to property the market is confident that the economy although facing changes will come through this phase with its main banks remaining profitable; which lets face it this is not a phase we want to see for a very long time again.

Interesting shot of the original layout Graham, it all looks a bit precarious !

@GrahamH wrote:

I would propose moving the entire lower Dáil ensemble to an elegant contemporary setting within the new building. It would require real ingenuity, and have the potential to be absolutely spectacular.

Would definitely agree with that. Any modern chamber i’ve seen really has little to recommend itself – I’m just not convinced that we would end up with anyting better than the lower layout we have now should it be decided to go down the road of entirely new build. Saving the lower portion and setting in a completely new context would get my vote 😀

Here’s Canberra ( I hate the notion of political capitals )

Given Ireland’s history, its probably one of few chambers in Europe that dates from the early 1900’s. Most European states have the benefit of long established parliament houses with lavish chambers.

Whatever happens, the area between Leinster House, National Museum & the National Library needs to be re-designed & returned to the city ! And as usual, the London Planes out front have to go.