Frank Taylor

Thanks TP. I never knew that.

I’m off to build some houses in my barn, to be dramatically unveiled in 2010.

After a certain number of years, is it the case that everything still standing without planning permission won’t be knocked down by the state? Has there ever been a case where someone built an illegal structure and is forced to knock it down 10 years later?

@garethace wrote:

I mean, if you want to a very accurate picture of what Westmoreland Street with ‘all pedestrians’ would really feel like,… then about all one has to do, is show up on the said street on any St. Patrick’s day, and you will know how uncomfortable it does feel, to have loads of boozy, daft people wandering around, ready to do something at any moment – how do you even attempt to police that situation?

You know well that crowd behaviour on St Patrick’s Day is not indicative of the normal behaviour of Irish pedestrians. Are you suggesting that the presence of private cars in an urban space is a civilising force for humanity?

One major consequence of sharing urban space between drivers and pedestrians is fear and anxiety. Every junction is a chance to die. Forget to look left and right and hello destiny. Hold your toddler’s arm in a death grip or lose your child. Shout your conversation over the din of traffic noise. We’re so used to this that it’s hard to imagine otherwise.

Like it or not, this style of housing is the current Irish vernacular. If extreme conservationism survives as an ideology, these houses will eventually be listed and become objects of magical worship just like every other housing style over 100 years old. I have no doubt that one day people will look lovingly at fat cracked, yellowing PVC windowframes and consider how best to sensitively restore them to their former white shiny glory.

When TP refers to ‘design quality’ is he referring to form or function? If he is making a comment on the aesthetic qualities of irish versus UK bungalows he must know that these opinions are purely subjective and likely to change over time. As Irish people choose to buy these houses, they must believe they are attractive and well designed. While you and I disagree you can’t argue as there is no accounting for taste.

Suburban shopping centre design is the architecture of despair. It’s so depressing that I believe it encourages young people to get the hell out and explore the rest of the world…until they get some kids and have to slink back out to semi-hell.

The Stephens Green centre got a lot of stick for its wedding cake shape and crappy approximation of the musée d’orsay but Lexington is right and it does look better than the competitors. Also it has an exterior rather than a hundred foot brick wall like you find around the sides of the Dundrum ‘Town Centre’.

I met some Germans camping near a beach in the West one summer. They told me how horrified they were at all the rubbish so they got some bin liners and gathered all the litter off the beach. Then they asked the locals where it should be disposed. “just chuck it on the beach”. We pissed ourselves laughing when they told us but they were stoney faced.

One time I was driving in Sweden and stopped by the country roadside for a cigarette. When I went to throw the butt away I stopped and noticed that the farm I was standing beside was manicured like a garden. Everything was so neat and orderly that I just couldn’t do it. Most of Sweden is like that. It really lifts the soul when you’re not surrounded by filth. When I spoke to some swedes about this they said it was a protestant cultural thing. So I’d agree with MT even though I’m a lapsed cat-lick.

This is the official line
@DIck_Roche wrote:

While citizens have a civic responsibility not to cause litter, the producers of problematic litter items also have a responsibility and need to be more proactive in minimising the litter pollution caused by the items they produce. It is only through intensive anti-litter activities and concerted co-ordinated action that we will be able to successfully address the litter problem in Ireland.

While the consultancy report had recommended that a mandatory levy should be applied on chewing gum with the proceeds generated being used to tackle the litter problems caused by that product, I have decided – following the case made by the chewing gum industry during the public consultation process – to give that sector an opportunity to propose a comprehensive Action Plan to address the problems caused by that product

500 tons of chewing gum are dumped on Irish streets each year. No levy can raise enough money to remove all this gunk. Instead the levy should be used to discourage purchase of the product in the first place. €1 or €2 per pack. Cheap chewing gum is hardly a human right, particularly when compared with the right to live in a clean environment.

Here’s an old thread on this subject:
https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3443

It took so long for these structures to go up (it seemed like they were working on them for years) that it will be hard for DCC to row back and remove them. It’s really hard for anyone to admit a lengthy mistake and make a u-turn. I think DCC would be delighted if they could find an escape route that allowed them to knock them down without losing face. Can anyone think of a way this could happen?

Maybe it could be discovered that the correct planning was not in order or that they were in breach of some clause of their development plan. Or maybe the person responsible for commisioning them could switch job and his successor could make the decision. Sadly they are too heavy to be shoved into the river by the citizens, as happened to the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Gurrier’.

Desirable areas could mean different things

here’s a tiny sample:

Snob value
Foxrock, Howth, Killiney, Dalkey

Good train connection to city centre
(On the DART or Luas lines):
Dun Laoghaire, Dundrum, Blackrock, Castleknock, Ranelagh

By the sea
Sandymount, Blackrock, Killiney

Quality of housing
Glenageary, Foxrock, Killiney, Rathmines, Drummcondra

Lively/hip areas
Ranelagh, Portobello, Temple Bar

My favourite would be Ranelagh as it has most of the above (except the sea) and you can walk there from the city centre or catch the luas.

You need a large budget. Even half a million $ would only get you a small 2 bedroom house in these areas.

This is an often repeated claim but I’ve never heard an argument towards why this might happen. If anything, you’re more likely to get doubly screwed by tax if you derive some of your income from foreign investments.

plenty of jurisdictions are happy to invest money without disclosing details to your home tax authorities – so long as they believe that you are not a criminal. Try Switzerland.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that there are 200 units in the new development in Smithfield with an average value of 400K. Assume a 90% qualifying cost yielding a total of 72 million worth of section 23 allowance which will be drawn down over the next few years by the landlords.

in this case, the relief would be 42% of 72million or 30.24million. The rest of the money (41.76million) is private cash.

If you had any imagination you could apply a host of conditions on that particular development in order to qualify for the grant aid.

Any number of conditions may be attached to tax relief – I don’t understand your point here.