-Donnacha-
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Barbarosa, fair enough, and thank you for the explanation, I now know what you mean.
SIS, good point about apartment buildings and the fact that it is everybody’s right to be concerned about the appearance of them.‘Barbarosa’, could you please explain what a ‘psuedo-religious semi-communist state’ implies. I am not being smart here but I think that the description is somewhat paradoxical.
‘Whatever’, do you honestly think that people should not be allowed to be critical of sub-standard housing quality, simply because they do not live in them? Are we limited to accepting the situation and should we discourage ambition, because it seems like government seems disinterested in tackling the problem. In Ireland we are so often guilty of ecouraging mediocrity, accepting low standards, and disregarding creativity.I do not think that anyone suggests attempting to force people into non-profit enterprise. I do think that it would be defeatist to argue that it would be impossible to create conditions(legally) which would ensure better quality homes. Excellent apartments do not have to be very large, rather the design can be used to maximise the space available, and still produce ‘quality’.It is possible to introduce certain standards but it would be far more effective if planners were responsive and forceful in their dealings with particular developments. Should we be afraid to tackle the problem of sub-standard developments because we might upset developers? Should we not demand high(er) building standards generally?
In relation to the debate about apartment quality. Would people be willing to accept the possibility of never owning a house/apartment throughout their lives. Does this horrify/scare people that after 30 to 40 years they will not possess a property to call their own. The major advantage in ownership , I suppose is security, however does a mortgage guarantee security? Short term leases are the biggest impediment to people’s acceptance of full time rental of property as a viable alternative to home ownership. What do people think about this.
p.s. I realise this is somewhat tangential to the theme of the post, but it does relate generally.As well as pointing out the serious damage excessive car use does to the environment and to people with breathing related conditions (pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers), it is worth pointing out to people who become hysterical about the absolute right to ‘own’ a car(another great Americanism)that more people in this century have died at the hands of automobiles, than have died in W.W.I., W.W.II., the Korean, and Vietnam wars combined.Ignoring these types of statistics is not too different to Charlton Heston in the U.S. defending the principle of the right to ‘own’ a gun after schoolchildren were shot dead in shool classrooms. I am not oversimlifying here, nor do I suggest banning cars, I am merely saying that the disadvantages of cars are numerous and are easily, and conveniently ignored, by car enthusiasts. e.g. Some people on this post have written in to describe their new cars, fair play, well earned I’d say. “Just watch me rev. her up, put on my shades, and sit in traffic, what a car”. “it’s a six speed Alfa, I’ve only used three gears” etc. I’m not being facetious here, you must admit, it is pathetic.
In issues like car ownership and public transport, people often fail to distinguish between two very different concepts. Car ownership is not the same as car usage. In Ireland car ownership is increasing but still remains relatively low, compared to our neighbours in Europe. We often buy cars, and believe they are the sole means to transporting us, everywhere, work, school, shopping leisure activities. In many European countries cars are used far more efficiently, not to sit in traffic going to work, not for dropping kids to school, usually for evenings and weekend use instead. Admittedly, their alternative of public transport is usually more attractive than ours, however I do believe that they do not share the snobbery a lot of Irish have towards it. There are many many sad people in Ireland who would prefer to sit in a car, in traffic, pay high prices for these cars, ridiculous insurance figures, and high fuel prices, become stressed, believe their status symbol actually means something, impresses others etc., and watch buses fly by in designated bus lanes…… and still they think it is worth it, not to travel on public vehicles. This idea of the status symbol of the car is still powerful,but if u look at the U.S. situation, where the cult of the car originated, it has destroyed cities eg. LA, Phoenix. On the other hand, look at New York, a vibrant, 24hr., city(more European than American), suits and homeless people share subway carriages.They will not think of driving into work. Why?? Our attitude to public transport is the problem, as is the system itself. to all those who are ‘unfortunate ‘ to have to use the buses, keep waving at the lucky drivers as you pass them. Sorry about the length.
Did anyone see the news item last week where An Bord Pleanala directed a publican of Parnell place in Cork to paint over a large Murphy’s stout mural he had put on the 4 storey building? Fair enough I suppose. But in fairness the Bord.s inspectors must have passed by some of the newer mobile phone outlets with huge advertising boards outside, the unfortunate buildings inhabited by macdonalds and B.K., our bus station, and said absolutely nothing. This was a nitpicking excersise, and must have galled those in the planning dept. in Cork Corporation, only a block away from the building in question. This is what I mean when I said earlier about The Bord representing central control with very little knowledge of place specifity. Can someone tell me ,how does an Bord Pleanala become involved in a situation like this, does it have to receive a complaint to act or does it send inspectors on little nitpicking missions all the time. They must have had a good day out, ‘down the country’, I wonder did they eat in MacD’s
True M.G., But part of the reason why we get such parochialism is because local govt. has little autonomy, and offers limited potential for political development, not attracting talented, intelligent, and enthusiastic candidates. This provides a good illustration of the weakness of the planning system in this country. The planning dept. caught between the narrow focussed elected councillors with little or no vision or awareness of the wider context on the one hand, and the institutional straitjacket of the rigid and insensitive appeals system on the other. By the way, the symbolic nature of An Bord Pleanala as a ‘safety device’ against the errors of the incompetent ‘local’ authorities, doesn’t comfort me. Such a perspective is patronising and those who believe in it have no idea what democratic planning is all about. Urban authorities in Germany, Italy, and Spain for eg., would not accept such centralised interference. Should we?
J.K.
in relation to An Bord Pleanala.Are they not the major flaw in the Irish planning system today. The existence of the Bord, negates against a real and democratic planning system contolled by the local authorities. Local Government in Ireland is all but the extended arm of central government, and this runs against E.U. principles of subsidiarity and local democracy. An Bord Pleanala is more than an appeals bord, it is the institution of central control on our planning system. There should be appealling bodies within each local authority, responsive to the needs of particulars, and with the expertise of “local knowledge”, i.e. recognising the specificities of places and their situations.An Bord Pleanala’s very existence is the biggest obstacle to the goal of creating a respectable, effective planning system, within the broader context of better local government, and with regard to creating a ‘sustainable urban society’.
Let me know what ye think.Hair Bear, no neither, my ma, da, nor myself work for corpo. or council, nor am I in any way associated. Honestly. If I seem “over-protective” it is probably because I am sick of hearing people whinging about the problem of litter and pointing fingers, that’s all.
Lobb, how else would they be anything other than Catholic oriented, it is “Sacred heart City”, backed by a Bishop, in the W of Ireland. A room not dependent on money- making… an extra bedroom, a lounge, sitting room,kitchen,store room, whatever. One can pray anywhere. People should determine how their homes develop and are experienced, not vice-versa
McLoughlin, the issue of responsibility is the critical issue here. I think you agree. Do you believe that transferring all of the responsibility for the litter problem to the local authority sends the right message? This ‘normalises’ the act of littering by individuals, by suggesting that it is o.k. to litter, because we have the corpo. to pick it up. WE, the public are part of the problem, it is very easy to point and blame, as long as we escape individual responsibilty.
prayer spaces in every new house!!! i.e. catholicism infiltrates planning now. as if their wasn’t enough corruption. “Sacred Heart City” scares me because a bishop backed it……suddenly it must be a good idea.. ..genuflect please. Ireland’s Salt Lake City. NO THANKS
McLoughlin, the belief that the corpo or whoever else is responsible for picking something up every time we drop it is the attitude that I was talking about.The corporations and councils, remember have fairly limited resources(they do not receive taxes from their citizens, but from central govt.) and have been lobbying for extra cleansing dept. staff, increased powers for wardens. It is in their interests to have a clean city, for inward investment, tourism etc.. Mht. as far as i know, litter wardens are targeting businesses more than individuals at the moment.
realcork is an act of utter irresponsibility.It highlights problems(well done) and it portrays the only solution to be writing letters to officials in the corporation. Basically it places the responsibility on the corporation for cleaning up our litter every time WE drop it.A clean city, is one that does not need countless bins( such as Stockholm), but has environmentally responsible citizens/individuals, not a city with a collective attitude of dependency, and allocating blame for our general bad habits on local govt. bodies. REALCORK you do a good job illustrating the problem You FAIL miserably in offering solutions. Drop your cameras and cop on.
would the private and public homes in sacred heart city all have chapel rooms/ prayer spaces? If this is true, the idea should be forgotten about quickly, and if it is not true, it should still be forgotten about too.
Its great to see that twice the cost means twice the banality. While it may represent cool understated civil architecture in its paired down modern design , it comes across more as apologetic of its presence and a cheap imitation of the wonderufl Ha’penny bridge.
Yes a bridge is essential. It will direct human traffic away from the main croosing points and allow better accessto these areas on the north side being developed.
BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE SOOO BORING!!
Just visit the Stags Head off Dame Street and you’ll appreciate and learn everything about the quintessential Irish pub
Its at least nice to think that in such historic settings the college is able to incorporate some extremely modern and original architecture. The black box or engineering dept. was recognised with awards, and the new manages to avoid completly the sickening banality of most new constructions.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CREATIVITY!!!!!
