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That is obscene and an insult to the intelligence of consumers.

I trust the planners will bear this type of unacceptably unsustainable behaviour in mind with future submissions from this promoter

@notjim wrote:

Normally I would think the scale excessive but isn’t this part of the street all about big buildings, the old guinness buildings, looming over small, more domestic-scall ones?

Good point notjim, hadn’t thought … still have a problem with the massive walled gable to the right, nice to see the left has a face.

Quite like the stacked cubes, but it really is very heavy on IAWS, it would help if there was some kind of bridge between them to carry on the parapet & line before going off on such a bender … though obviously space is tight. The scale of the curtain wall is more objectionable … surely other options here ?

@SpatialPlanning wrote:

I am currently writing my thesis on Regional Airports as Agents Of Social and Economic Development with Ireland West Airport Knock as my main case study. Does anyone know of any published information that might be helpful?

Also, which other regional airports have had a major impact on their localities in terms of social and economic development?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

SP

Airport thesis beyond new terminals for large overcrowded airports being necessary and viable are very hard to nail down!

Personally I’d do Kerry airport and link to the Killarney tourism powerhouse but if you are doing Knock I’d fix up a meeting with Fr MacGreil who led the Western Rail Corridor campaign as I’m sure they had a good look at every possible statistic in existance linking infrastructure to economic development and lets face it beyond Pee Flynn’s Castlebar silk route there isn’t really much else up there!

From what I have heard comment wise the retailers are doing the numbers anticipated.

A further piece of the jigsaw falls into place

@Daniel McConnell wrote:

As our economy tanks, with the government in exile, we reveal that despite all the rhetoric from Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, Ireland’s economy is now in real danger of collapsing and we show how it’s all our own fault.

measured & useful comment as ever from the Sunday Indo* :rolleyes:

*we guarantee: 1. Hysterics 2. Little or no research 3. Agendas 4. Typos and 5. That the following 32 pages may or may not be true.

@gunter wrote:

What would this have looked like circa 1720?
10th March 2008 11:56 AM

less depressing i’d imagine 🙁

@Angry Rebel wrote:

On the topic of bringing roads in on time and on budget, you’ll notice now they all are. That’s easy, and is simply the result of getting smart, ie. when announcing the project, add a hefty contingency amount and add 3/6 months to what you think it will take to do it….and hey presto we have a road on time and on budget. It’s cynical spin again from a Government that excels at it.

True. However i would contend that actual construction has been relatively quick – for any country to construct the bulk of its motorway network in a 6 year time frame has to be seen as a reasonable achievement, in terms of road building.

More appropraitely the Government should be blamed for pissing about and then shelving the critical infrastructure bill when we really needed it, the protracted planning process is the real reason for the delay.

Of course T21 is heavily weighted in favour of roads and with the gov hell bent against borrowing, until they were forced to, it does seem that roads are granted massive funds, and that it is at the expense of rail. A motorway network between dublin & the major centres is a basic necessity imo, however, with a midget national debt of 37bn, we could have transformed both the rail & road networks in tandem.

Why the delay with Navan, why is it that rail projects are phased in to oblivion, just borrow the damn money, get on with building it & build the lot of it.

@wearnicehats wrote:

Paul, I wonder if, in the same way as you moved all planning matters to a separate forum, you might set one up for “infrastructure” issues where like minded souls can go and rant about all things road related. While we’re at it let’s have my 2 cents.

Yep an infrastructure section sounds like a good idea.

I used to cycle to work, did so for about 5 years & on no section of my route was there a cycle lane (advisory or otherwise) at that time, whereas now a cycle lane of sorts covers over half of it. Not great, but a fair improvement.

I have to say sometimes we’re our own worst enemy, plenty of risky moves going on out there … I was involved in a massive pile up (about 10 bikes) just ahead of leeson street bridge … to be honest we were all lined up at the lights, familiar faces i’d encounter every morning, and were pretty much racing each other – the leader of the pack swerved between two cars & the rest of us came down sliding all over the place … bicycle armegeddon, you should have seen the bemused faces on the jammed motorists 😮

I think it should be mandatory that road bikes are fitted with rear view mirrors, as stupid as they might look.

In general though, i’d agree that it seems like no thought at all goes in to where a cycle lane is actually headed or how it will negotiate a set of traffic lights, lets just put down a bit of red & stop it up here somewhere :rolleyes:

@Devin wrote:

I suppose I feel well disposed towards the Dunnes scheme because it worked out so well in the end all things considered. The George’s Street building (with Dunnes homewares in the ground floor) is a lesson in modern infill in a historic street and would stand up well anywhere in Europe. The integrity of the older buildings on George’s Street was retained in their refurbishment – no silly glass storeys on top and whole structures retained as against just facades. The whole scheme maintains a sense of the scale of the area.

I should have said from the outset that i think the Georges St. elevation & its integration with the existing building stock is excellent, it is solely its rear end i have an issue with.