anto

What about that development opposit Nancy blakes, Lyric FM has its HQ there. That was supposed to be a big Shopping centre but as far as I know it’s just a bigcar park, correct me if i’m wrong

speaking of cluter, shame to see all that clutter on front of bank of Ireland in that picture, as for those poxy flower boxws!!!!!!!!!

Funny but the Church of Ireland gave that land to Cork Corp and the Corpo named it after the most conservative catholic bishop of the last century

it’s an education issue and Irish people’s lack of visual awareness. The tidytowns never seems to reward conservation, original windows as something to give points to; they just reward hanging baskets. Awareness of pvc and its inappropriateness in historic buildings is high in Dublin but in provincial ireland, pvc is your only man, then again bungalows galore are the order of the day aswell!

@Morlan wrote:

Hmm, what are they building here? Something for the hospital or is it commercial/residential dev? It’s a pitty about the little houses though 🙁

very expensive apartments, what else!!

Good article Ciaran,

There’s always a case of we need the apartments to subsidise the project which seems ridiculous as Dun laoighaire/Rathdown should be one of the wealthiest counties in Ireland. Not sure what the finances of DL are like though but as u seem to indicate they are healthy enough,

The site is a sensitive one and 8 stories there seems overblown. I’m sure DL is full of nimbys but they might have a point on this one. I’d like to see scotsmans bay linked up to the pier. I hear recently that the s2s (suttontosandycove http://www.s2s.ie) seems to have been shelved. Pity that, sounded like a fab amenity. Hope it’s not the end of it.

You’re right about the apartments that are being built in DL. When are we going to see schemes where 3 bed apartments are standard, Where you could conceivably have families living (I know bit of a cultural shift necessary but some people might prefer it to commuting from beyond the m50)

Speaking of disntintive shops in Cork. It’s a a shame to see Donavan’s butchers closing in Cork. It’s a real Cork landmark as is the English Market there aswell. Footlocker, Pizza hut!!! FFS what about the english market. People up here in dublin are always saying why can’t we have something like that. I hope all you Cork folks do your shopping there and not in Tesco’s and the rest!

what baout the condition of the gate in the picture. Are there any properly hung gates in this country?

@Tuborg wrote:

I wouldnt be too sympathetic towards the savoy, to be honest even though it was basically rebuilt in the late 80s it was never really finished to a high standard, to be honest i always hated it with its dull facade and horrible roof,the blank wall facing on to henry street just topped it off. Hopefully demolition will start in the next few weeks cos i think its replacement could be quite exciting. Meanwhile I’ve found a map of the boundary proposal and i think its pretty reasonable, the present situation is a pure joke, limerick city and its suburbs has a total population of around 100 or 110,000 yet only 52,000 live inside the city bounds!, castletroy has a population of 25,000 with a similar number living in raheen/dooradoyle and its plain to see how much development has taken place there in the last 10 years, a huge complex is to be built in castletroy, a similar one at coonagh cross and at the moment the crescent are extending again, this will bring its size up to around 100 units. All of this is bleeding the city dry, o connell st needs a serious revamp to bring it back to the prosperous street it was 40,50 years ago, it looks better in them old photos i posted than it does now!, there are a lot of trashy shop on the street at the moment, magic shops,tacky cheap shops and fast food outlets, a proper strategy needs to be put in place now. William street is also in need of attention, it has serious potential, we should get rid of the bus stops on the street and also the trailer trash that always seem to hang around outside the sports shops. Also I think it would help enormously if arthurs quay park was sold off for development, at the moment it is underused and only a loitering area for scumbags, it would certainly add a nice new quarter to the city centre.

I’ll try and find out some more about the docklands, as far as i know the plans are fairly wide ranging,shops,apartments,museum(s),financial services centre etc.

ps I think the actual map is a bit old but the proposed extension is correct

That park has never worked. Big mistake planting those trees and screening off views of the Shannon. Still people never like to lose parks so might be difficult.

That new building near Tait’s clock, what’s the verdict? Haven’t seen it myself not too sure about it though. I was in Limerick recently and I noticed the corner beside the Lock bar is derilict. This seems a great pity such a prominent corner in an are that has been improved. I think the Bar seems to be using it for storage. Also notice that there’s big bottle back just outside St, Mary’s Cathedral. I’m all for recycling but this is crazy.

article from the LImerick Leader. Seems that Limerick city centre is suffering with the new suburban attractions such as cinemas and shopping centres. Surprised to read that there’s no cinema in the city cntre now! Is the city’s reputation mean that suburbanites and people from the hinterland consider the city centre unsafe and too much hassle to find parking etc?

Anyway here’s the article……………………………

City’s facelift gives us
reason to smile

LIMERICK’S skyline has changed dramatically over the past 10 years through renewal encouraged by tax incentives. CLODAGH O’LEARY looks at what this facelift has done to the city

Changing image: cranes dominate the Limerick skyline – Limerick Leader. Irish Newspaper for Limerick and the mid-west of Ireland
Changing image: cranes dominate the Limerick skyline

IN the past 10 years, Limerick has undergone a €1bn facelift. From the skyscraping developments to the greatly improved infrastructure, Limerick has become a truly modern city.

The provision of tax incentives has led to numerous developments on Limerick’s docklands, Howley’s Quay and Harvey’s Quay.

And currently, 10 per cent of the country’s construction output takes place in the Mid-West. In total, about €1.2bn has been spent in developing the city in the last 10 years.

Conor O’Connell, secretary of the Mid-West branch of the Construction Industry Federation said that Limerick had been transformed by the level of investment in the city.

“A huge amount of construction work has been done in the city over the past 10 years, more so than other regional cities, with huge investment by developers and business people,” he said.

“Of all cities in the country, Limerick has benefited most from tax incentives under Section 23 and Section 50,” said Mr O’Connell.

The deadline for the completion of projects under the current tax allowance system is July 2006.

Fionagh Ryan, chairwoman of the Limerick City Business Association said that in order for the city to thrive, investment and development must continue.

“A strong thriving regime would not be possible without new development. As a city we need all of those developments so that we can be on par with Cork and Galway.

“The city must differentiate itself. People have to have civic pride, and businesses will have to keep their premises up to speed. People in Limerick need to use the services in the city,” she said.

Pat Daly of Shannon Development said that Limerick city’s regeneration had become the example for how well the tax allowance scheme had worked.

“The tax incentives were piloted in Limerick in a project between Shannon Development and City Council. In fact, the first project in the country was in The Granary, where Shannon Development’s offices are based. A lot of those projects are based on this model,” he said.

Mr Daly said that the scale of investment had allowed for the city to embrace one of its strong points – the river.

“The level of investment has absolutely changed the streetscape in the city and has brought people back to the city,” he said.

But with the progress, there have been some losses.

The question of whether the city centre is in decline is one which has been hotly debated, particularly with the development of sites at the Parkway, Castletroy, the new Childer’s Road development, as well as the Crescent Shopping Centre.

“Everyone is aware that we need a buck-up in the city centre. We need the plans to be positive for the city. As it is, there is a lot going on here, we have everything from UL to theatre, the city is really changing,” said Ms Ryan.

But Limerick is the only city in Ireland without a cinema in its city centre. The Savoy closed its doors in 2004.

City movie-goers must travel to the Omniplex in Dooradoyle; Storm cinemas in Castletroy will open next weekend.

“We need to improve the cultural aspect more in the city centre, particularly a cinema, but we need developers to come in to the city for that,” she said.

But where will the city go from here?

“To a degree, I would like to see a little more of the same. I would like to see the plans of the Riverside City to complete development onto the Riverside. And the plans being talked about to pedestrianise certain streets in the city centre will bring people back into the city. These are two clear aspects of the city’s core plan for the future,” said Mr Daly.

“In another 10 years, I would like to see the city continuing in a positive light, that people originally from Limerick will want to return to the city like I did. I had been living in Dublin for seven years. The quality of life on this side of the country is much better. There are good reasons to return here,” said Ms Ryan.

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