Alek Smart

Given the current decrepit state of the country`s finances does anybody really envisage this O Connell St project even progressing to site-work stage within the next 5 years ?

The extent of serious damage to the basic fibre of our Developing and Construction industry by the Sean Fitzpatrick affair alone must have reduced the funding avenues available for this somewhat dubious project ?

One of the more interesting aspects of this years Crissermas Lights along OCS is how the Central median and GPO Plaza looks so totally bereft of life or purpose.

This has been exascerbated by the incredibly sad looking Crib…It seems as if was just dropped opposite Easons cos the LED Tree is squatting on the Holy Ground.

Walkin along the street from South to North one is struck by the sheer absence of…well….anything along what should be a focal point for the entire City.

Oh and yet again…the Lights atop the Spire are blown….well two of the sections are…the rest will follow.
Has DCC secured any form of rebate from the lighting system designers as it most certainly is not performing to the original PR Blurb……. 😀

Thanks ctesiphon for this Quote:

“The underlying rationale for this quantum of car parking is derived from a number of specific considerations, including the strategic location and uniqueness of the subject development, as well as supporting planning policy. It is therefore submitted that the level of car parking proposed for the site is based on sound transportation needs.”

Uniqueness…..Truly I say unto you…This man is the Son of….???

1,111…..Now I`m sure we can improve on that too.

No nettles being grasped here then,Kyoto or no Kyoto 😮

I too am living with the Tree,hugging it almost 🙂

However as with the Spire itself,its let down badly by the base which singularly fails to make any impact.

I have long felt that the Spire should have been set down into a circular,seated amphitheatre directly in front of the GPO, which would have enhanced it`s dei-facto role as a meeting place (C u at the Pillar/Spire etc etc )

Just look at the missed opportunity as evidenced by the throngs who stand arkwardly around the base on that uncomfortable raised metal banding.
All they do is prevent a free-flow of pedestrians between North Earl and Henry Streets…..

Last Question…….where is the Crib going this year..????

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/…715115568.html

God almighty are we still being fed this drivel 😡

Quote: “Properly functioning and integrated public transport was the key to providing a true alternative to the private car, the report said.”

Anybody find fault with the above sentiment ?

Oh dear…the compilers of the report don`t appear to have checked in with Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.

Our Minister for Transport currently feels that Dublin has more than enough buses,in fact TOO many and is “undecided” about funding any extra resources in that department.
What he has refrained from saying is that his Department is currently examining options from the CIE bus companies for a substantial REDUCTION in the Public Bus fleet.
In Bus Atha Cliath`s case we could be looking at 100 buses taken off the road.

Notwithstanding the current “Downturn”,this volte-face from the Minister merely underlines the lack of any real impetus for the Public Bus service that T21 supposedly was meant to encourage.

Now here`s a Quare one….” Proximity to public transport can no longer be used by developers to justify large scale residential or mixed-use schemes which would swamp transport services, and even small developments must be subject to traffic management analysis, it said.”

So marketing initiatives such as “Only a stones throw from Luas” will need to be revisited then ?
The reasons for Developers latching on to the Public Transport network in the first place was a total lack of any integrated planning BEFORE these developments were commenced.
Only in the VERY recent past has any form of official contact regarding Public Transport become accepted.

And to complete a thoroughly despondent report….”However, despite infrastructural improvements, there was a continuing decline in cycling to work or schools and colleges, the report said.”

This hoary old chesnut arises again,with not a mention of our Weather……Like it or not,while the committed chamois wearing cycliste will not care a whit about the weather,the huge volume of POTENTIAL job related ones most definitely will.
Mass transfer to the bicycle simply ain`t going to happen unless the earth`s axis shifts to satisfy DCC`s planners.

In the meantime the same pro-cycling professionals could do worse than take an in-depth look at what is left of the Cycle Shelters so expensively provided along several of the City`s main arteries…..within a very short time they became derelict,with not even enough cover for a gypsy to live in.
The only items contained within being the abandoned skeletons of vandalized machines whose owners rapidly returned to the Micra,Polo or Fiesta.
…..Get a grip DCC.

One of the most immediate requirements to breathing a bit of life into the Parnell St-Bolton St-Capel St-Wolfe Tone St zone would be if Bus Atha Cliath could find it within itself to recognize it as an area which has merits for some form of Public Transport service 😮

No matter what ethnic grouping we establish there,they will require Public Transport as an INTEGRAL part of their community ?

Currently anybody working or living in the area has to trek to Parnell Square or O Connell St to avail of the Omnibus and even further if seeking the Train.

Anybody with a little interest should walk around the place and wonder why the absence of public transport..??? :confused:

This entire scenario is fast becoming a quagmire for DCC.

The handling of the initial contract negotiations was bad enough but as sure as night follows day when a civic body embarks upon secret deals then they WILL be caught out,thankfully in this case it was still dark.

For a City authority which prides itself on employing the brightest and best young professionals DCC has suddenly appeared as a stumbling grasping body who are`nt even aware of the basic bye-laws or conventions governing the City they purport to “manage”.

Its also quite a feat on the part of JCD in that they appear to have escaped any of the questioning whilst DCC flail around trying to make base metal into gold…:D

Mind you,a brace of senior resignations would do a great deal to clear the air !!

One of the saddest aspects of this thread is the all too apparent reality gulf which currently exists at Departmental and Ministerial level about what exactly constitutes a Bus service.

The current Bus Atha Cliath ORDINARY services which serve the Airport are largely already overstretched BEFORE factoring in any Airport specific traffic.

Sending Swords corridor services through the Airport can only be a sticky tape answer to the greater problem as the core business of the 41 group is Swords and greater North County Dublin.
Similarly the 16A attempts to portray itself as an Airport service when it`s merely an extension of a SANTRY route

There appears to be little recognition on the part of the Department and Minister of the difference between a service route and an express route a la Airlink or Aircoach.

Bus Atha Cliath have attempted to address this with the proposed 141 which would have linked Swords with Rathmines whilst bypassing the Airport.
This of itself would have freed up resources for those Airport bound customers who did not wish to travel (and pay for) Express.

However,the Department in it`s infinite wisdom consider that such an ordinary stage-carriage service operating along the Swords Road QBC will in some exestential fashion “interefere” with the Swords EXPRESS service which incredibly enough is a limited stop EXPRESS service utilizing the Port Tunnel.

I hope that somebody somewhere can see how immediate approval for the 141 (Proposed 10 Min peak frequency,with full 7 day service) is in the Public Interest which is surely the remit of the Department and Minister for Transport.

Thans to Smithfield Resi for those images and particularly for the Wording of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill 2000.

Thse images portray a situation far worse than anybody could have believed.
Perhaps the structures were erected in darkness by a French crew believing traffic flow to be in the opposite direction ?

I really do think that some form of writ should be slapped across the City Managers gob at opening of business tomorrow.
This thing encompasses all that can possibly be wrong with the Irish concept of good governance and responsibility.

In order to get to this actual stage the proposal will have been vetted by a cross section of EVERY professional department in DCC plus an Garda Siochana.
Are we being asked to believe that the sum total of every professional who inspected this amounted to a total inability to refer to reality as it pertains to public safety.

There is a very real need now for some form of impeachment mechanism whereby people such as the City Manager can be forced to account for their decisions.

The images of that buggy and pedestrian totally concealed behind this insanely placed structure tell the entire sorry tale.

One can see where people such as Noel O Gara get their confidence from when dubious planning and irregularity on the part of a Civic Authority result in such a potentially fatal mess.

It might be worth mailing those images to Gay Byrne or show them to Joe,as in the absence of true democracy in this pastiche of a Republic it`s probably the best chance we have of securing accountability ! 😡 😡 😡

Well,our City Manager stoutly declares his belief that we have a “World Class” traffic management system in Dublin.

The Rathmines and Dorset St hoardings flatly contradict this and appear to render it as the babblings of somebody possibly not quite “right in the head”.

However,it will probably be more productive to count how many senior City Council administrators decide to holiday in France this year….and next year….and the year after….. 😀 😀 😀