hutton
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@Paul Clerkin wrote:
Check out the results of the poll on the rte news site – overwhelmingly against it
Hi Paul – it’d be very interesting if you could help with a link]RTÉ News: Free bikes
A free bicycle initiative, which has proved to be a success in Paris, could soon be on its way to Ireland.[/QUOTE]…and just to think, there’s all those nasty people ot there on archiseek that just seem to have a problem with stuff thats “free”…
BTW did anyone see the 6.1 piece? A little bit odd that the correspondant left it til the end to note in the same breath that while Paris gets 20,000 bikes for 1500 billboards (inaccurate + no mention of annual rental), Dublin gets 500 bikes for “about 100” billboards… give or take 30; but sure then what need accuracy when reported on the national broadcaster? 😮
Suffice to say that while it was pointed out that there are bike stations within 300 yards of each other in Paris, no mention as to how will the 500 would distributed in Dublin?*cough*, EIS? Transparency? etc 😡
@Paul Clerkin wrote:
Check out the results of the poll on the rte news site – overwhelmingly against it
Hmmm Thats very interesting. In the mean time RTE 6.1 TV news is about to air another piece on “free” bikes in Paris.
This was covered on Morning Ireland this morning, from 08:40 onwards.
A report by a correspondant in Paris followed by an interview with Andrew Montague, with notably no critic to balance. No mention of the lack of EIS, differential between benefits to Paris as opposed to Dublin, or that the contract which was agreed prior to councillors knowledge still has not been released… All in all, a very biased piece IMO – but judge for yourself if you want at: http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/@alonso wrote:
and if you put 50c in it says ” Welcome to Dublin, please visit the GPO Shoparama. Jesus Loves You. Brought to you by JC Decaux and Foster & Partners”
ROFL, Quote of the Week 😀
@StephenC wrote:
Is 4 on OConnell Street then, in front of teh last remaining Georgian
Oh very good – ’tis indeed O’ C St, although opposite side: It and one other on the same side would seem to be a peculiarity in that they must have been left over from the Georgians prior to the 1921-23 conflict, and subsequently re-integrated with the 20’s / 30’s buildings 🙂
Excellent stuff – thats pretty much most of them spotted…However no.3 still awaits identification 😉
@Maxwiggan wrote:
number 3 is a wee blue house by Ruth Walsh on the side of the national archive on Bride street around the corner from the former site of the dublin bird market on Peter street. yee haahw!!!
Spot on Maxwiggan – Bride St indeed on what I think used to be part of Jacobs….However, as to what it is, is still a mystery!
@StephenC wrote:
1 is on Dorset Street anyhow. Those are the new lamps. Around Eccles Street maybe
4 same street
7 is Cork Street?Dorset St is damn hot – but tis not Eccles St ]Number 6 is on the east side of Merrion Street Upper, just beside the junction of Baggot Street, Ely Place and Merrion Row. I remember seeing it and noting how obscure it was. Worryingly, I had a feeling it might appear on this thread some day:) [/QUOTE]
Phil you are spot on. Buy this man a pint! Wonderfully obscure – but clearly not obscure enough :p … Oh well, great anoraks think alike 😀
So thats a fair few spotted so… However numbers 3 and 4 are still up for the taking. While number 4 is a little bit of a jest, number 3 really should be got as it is so unique – Gothick/ Gothic Revival archs either side of a classical arch, forming what is clearly a canal bridge – come on folks..:D
@hutton wrote:
3)
4)
@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:
not much good at this but sure here goes …
5. Kevin St. Garda Station ?Bingo – well done Peter you got that one 🙂
All others are still open…
Aha finally I get 2 minutes free while theres sunshine – arising out of which, a few new mind-teasers are provided for entertainment -enjoy 😀
1) Whos got de balls to figure this one out – the framing may help 😉
2) Where is this, and for extra points what it is:
3) A bridge too far I hope not – still within the canals see! 😀
4) New meets old here:
5) This one’s a bit of an arresting image…
6) While this one is helpfully obscure enough to ensure that a few of you will be scratching your heads…
7) And finally I thought I’d throw this one in for those who haven’t seen it yet –
Enjoy…
This was in yesterday’s Times. Frank was on the radio yesterday making the point that unless they complete it out to Bray – which obviously would entail upgrading Luas green line – the project is financially unjustifiable.
I am inclined to agree; I am very much pro-metro, but is it now time to admit the politically un-admitable and look at relaying the Harcourt line, Bray to Harcourt St at 5’3″, underground via the airport and to Swords – where it would link in to the existing east coast rail corridor? There’s a thought – linked in public transport in Ireland…Looks as if those of us who got lambasted for pointing out the folly in reopening the Harcourt at anything other than a 5’3″ heavy rail capacity are beginning to be vindicated. Its either infrastructure or expensive trinketry – and I would have much preferred infrastructure. 🙁
@The Irish Times, Tuesday 7th August 2007 wrote:
Planned Dublin metro line to cost more than €5bn
Frank McDonald, Environment EditorDublin’s proposed metro line linking Swords with St Stephen’s Green is set to cost more than €5 billion, The Irish Times has established from documents released by the Department of Transport under the Freedom of Information Act.
Although all monetary figures in the documents are blacked out, it is possible to discern that the estimated cost of the 17km metro north line was put at €4.58 billion in 2004 prices. With construction inflation and additional expenditure, it would now be well over €5 billion.
The extra spending arises from the provision of an additional underground station at Parnell Square as well as a promise that the section of the route running through Ballymun would be underground, rather than on the surface as originally proposed.
The price tag for the city’s first metro line makes it by far the most expensive infrastructure project in the history of the State – at least three times more costly than the M50 (€1.6 billion) and six times more than either the two Luas lines or the Dublin Port Tunnel.
As well as metro north, the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) is pursuing plans for metro west, a 25km line linking Tallaght with Ballymun, via Clondalkin, Blanchardstown and a number of Luas lines, serving Citywest, Docklands and Cherrywood/Shanganagh.
No estimates of the likely cost of these projects have been revealed by the Department of Transport or the RPA, ostensibly on the basis that the figures are commercially confidential.
However, it is more likely that they are being suppressed for political reasons.
The documents were released after an appeal to the Information Commissioner, following a Freedom of Information Act request in November 2005 seeking details on the Government’s €34.4 billion Transport 21 investment programme.
They show that Iarnród Éireann submitted a 10-year capital programme, with an overall price-tag of €3.4 billion, to electrify much of Dublin’s suburban rail network and build an underground rail interconnector between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock.
Iarnród Éireann has conceded that the original estimate for the interconnector, which would have intermediate stations at Thomas Street, St Stephen’s Green and Pearse Station, would now be substantially dearer than the original €1.3 billion estimate in 2002.
The Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure gave priority to the metro north project, however, and the RPA recently submitted it to An Bord Pleanála for fast-track planning approval.
© 2007 The Irish Times
This is disgraceful… However the real question is why the rush to build the Blundelstown Interchange?
Anyone for a game of rezonings? 😡
[quote=”Campaign To Save Tara
Press Release – Immediate Release 18-July”:3dh4dfu1]Save Tara Campaign Condemns Imprisonment of Peaceful Protesters
The Campaign to Save Tara condemns today’s imprisonment of four peaceful
protesters arising out of today’s protests at the site of the proposed
Blundlestown interchange in the Tara/Skryne Valley.The trouble was sparked when contractors and security personnel acting for
SIAC/Ferrovial attempted to establish a machinery depot in the middle of the
Valley, at the proposed site of the 25-acre Blundlestown interchange.Minister Gormley who has previously spoken out against the proposed
route of the M3 was particularly vehement in his opposition to the
siting of a massive intersection so close to the summit of the Hill of Tara.The four men, two from the locality, one from Donegal and the other an
English national were arrested under Public Order legislation. Three
Irish women including Save Tara spokesperson Dr. Muireann Ni Bhrolchain
were also arrested but later released.Muireann Ni Bhrolchain said]
Meanwhile, from yesterdays Irish Times:
@Irish Times wrote:
Dublin ‘Love Tara’ march to call for rerouting of motorway
Jamie Smyth in BrusselsCampaigners protesting against the route of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara are to hold a “Love Tara” march and demonstration in Dublin on Saturday.
TaraWatch will hand in a petition with 50,000 signatures calling on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for the Environment John Gormley to reroute the M3 motorway away from the Tara archaeological complex.
Meanwhile, campaigners in Brussels presented a petition, signed online by 12,000 people, calling for a halt to work on the site, to EU and Irish officials yesterday. The petition asks the Taoiseach to intervene personally to choose an alternative route for the motorway.
Fionnuala Devlin, spokeswoman for Protect the Tara International Campaign, said people throughout Europe thought the Government was acting “like the Taliban” by destroying part of its unique archaeological heritage.
“Most of the people who signed the petition are from Germany. But we also have people from Ireland, the US, England Australia and other countries,” said Ms Devlin, who has co-ordinated an international campaign to save the Hill of Tara from the proposed route of the M3.
She presented the petition to the Irish Embassy and the Irish permanent representative office to the EU in Brussels. She also presented it to the petitions committee in the European Parliament and to the commission’s environmental directorate. MEPs on the petitions committee have agreed to send an urgent letter to Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas requesting that he intervene to immediately halt any further work on the site of the M3.
Mr Dimas has already written to the Irish Government warning that aspects of the planned motorway, just one kilometre from the Hill of Tara, could be in breach of EU law.
Munster MEP Kathy Sinnott, who attended the petitions committee meeting, said MEPs had also agreed to write to Mr Gormley, Mr Dimas and the chair of Meath County Council to have any further work halted.
Ms Sinnott said she hoped the presentation of the signatures would convince the Government “that Tara is a historical and valuable area that extends beyond our shores”.
Vincent Salafia, one of the organisers of the Dublin parade said he hoped the protest would be peaceful.
Marchers will gather at 12.30 at the Garden of Remembrance and march up O’Connell Street to the Department of the Environment at Custom House Quay.
Mr Salafia said more than 10,000 of the signatures were taken in the last week alone, which he claimed was evidence of a turning point in the debate following the recent intervention by the EU Commission.
Laura Grealish of TaraWatch said: “We want to compel a political solution, rather than being forced to go to court.”
© 2007 The Irish Times
A “Love Tara” march in Dublin? What sort of image does this imply; what other march in recent years had a “Love
” in the title? Oh let me see now, wasn’t it the “Love Ulster” march which predictably ended in a riot? Such nasty, hostile, and discrediting connotations as the loaded title are further compounded by Mr. Salafias quote that he “hoped the protest would be peaceful”.This is all a real shame as it seems to me that it discredits/ alienates others from an otherwise incredibly important issue.
Why does the media continue to give an unjustifiable space to Mr. Salafia, a seemingly rather devisive individual – particularly when there are plenty of credible sorts such as Conor Newman, Muireann Ni Brolichain, Julitta Clancy etc?
It seems to me that Mr Salafias agenda is not neccessarily as pure as it may first seem… And all the time destruction continues at Tara. 🙁
Finally this has been covered somewhere – Sunday Times from a week ago…
Turns out Brussels is getting 250 bikes without billboards on the basis that theyre paying 178K for their scheme; if this be so then the 500 bikes for Dublin is probably worth 356K… So let me see taking 356K away from the €85 Million that city officials claim the deal is worth leaves, hmm – €84.6 Million.
I know the proposed signage must be worth something, but between that and 4 public toilets amounting to a supposed worth of €84.6 million is surely in every sense of the word taking the proverbial piss…
All in all a good article, although its a pity that the journalist ommitted to mention the absence of a 183 vote by councilors
@The Sunday Times – July 1, 2007 wrote:
Dublin ‘]
Ruadhan Mac Eoin
OILING the wheels of commerce to drive a green agenda sounds like a win-win situation, but critics of Dublin’s “bicycles for billboards” deal say the council has ended up a loser.
J C Decaux, one of the world’s leading outdoor advertising agencies, has given the capital significantly fewer bikes proportionally than it gave to Paris, Lyons and other European cities where it has billboard agreements.
Dublin has agreed to let J C Decaux erect 120 billboards on public footpaths around the city. In return the agency will provide 500 bicycles for low rent at 25 locations. It will also supply four kiosks with public lavatories, maps and signposts. The value to Dublin is calculated at €85m. The agency has also agreed to withdraw 100 of its existing hoardings from the city. New ones will be located on public property and some will carry civic information.
In Paris the company is providing 20,600 bikes this year in return for 1,628 billboards – more than 12.6 bikes for each billboard, three times the Dublin figure of little more four per hoarding. The Paris contract also involves paying an annual rental of €2,085 for each site for 10 years.
Several other European cities have similar deals with J C Decaux. Vienna was the first, in 2002. It was initially a disaster, with 2,000 bicycles stolen in the first 48 hours, but then 900 secure GPS-traceable bikes being provided. Each bike in Dublin will have a mini-chip to allow it to be tracked.
In Lyons, a city with a population similar to Dublin, 3,000 bicycles have been made available – six times more than here – while Barcelona also has 3,000. In Brussels, only 250 bicycles are available, but the J C Decaux advertising element is restricted to bike sheds. The city has paid €178,000 towards the scheme.
Dublin officials are refusing to release the contract on grounds of “commercial sensitivity”, so the value of any cash transaction is included in the 15-year deal is not clear.
Andrew Montague, a Labour councillor who supports the project, said more transparency would be preferable. He believes J C Decaux got the contract after “a fair tender process”, in which there had been six bids. “As the Paris scheme is a much bigger scale, it was logical that they would get better value”, Montague said.
The Paris terms were agreed after a court challenge by a competitor, Clear Channel, which claimed there were irregularities in the original tendering process.
Emer Costelloe, another Labour councillor, said the revelations about the Paris project confirmed her “worst fears” that Dublin was getting “an incredibly poor deal”.
She would be urging the incoming Lord Mayor to address this “as a priority”.
Dublin is permitting 70 “metropole” billboards, which are 3.5 metres high, automated and illuminated. A further 50 electronic billboards, similar in size to that of bus-shelter adverts, are to be installed in the city centre, primarily in the north inner city and along the Aungier Street axis.
The Dublin deal has attracted criticism over the lack of an environmental impact assessment and road safety issues. Forty appeals against planning permission have been lodged with An Bord Pleanala. They include objections filed by businesses such as Arnotts and An Taisce, the national trust, which say they were not consulted.
One complaint is that J C Decaux has engaged in project splitting by sending in 130 separate applications to the council. Critics say officials were already predisposed to granting planning permission.
Most of the billboards are to be erected on the north side and in the inner city, which critics say will lead “to further stigmatising already disadvantaged neighbourhoods”.
Stuart Fogarty, former President of The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, has lodged an appeal on the basis that “the agreed advertising sites will be both obtrusive and create negative aesthetics for the city…and are not helpful to either motorists or pedestrians”.
The Sunday Times understands that J C Decaux is already at an advanced stage of negotiation with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council to introduce a similar scheme.
Heritage Protection Alliance of Ireland (HPAI)
Press release 27th June 20070. Acting in a private capacity, Mr. Stephen Devaney B.L. and Dr. Mark
Clinton of the HPAI have lodged a complaint regarding the imminent
destruction of the Prehistoric Temple site at Lismullen, Tara, Co.
Meath with the Environmental Dept. of the European Commission.0. Under EU Directive 85 / 337 / EEC demolition/destruction of a
structure/building of Cultural Significance can represent an integral
part of development requiring EIA. It is our contention that the
Lismullin Temple falls within the remit of this EU Directive (aka
Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA] Directive).0. In other words Mr. Dick Roche’s ‘destruction order’, in the absence
of a new EIA, would therefore be null and void.
0. There are a number of questions that might be addressed to Mr. Roche.0. Q. Was he aware of EU Directive 85 / 337 / EEC?
0. Q. Was he aware that its scope indicates that demolition works can
represent an integral part of developments requiring
EIA?
0. Q. Has there been any correspondence on the issue with the EU Commission?
0. Q. If there was- When? Not Recently? Recently? i.e. immediately
prior to the signing of the ‘destruction order’? Or, was there no
correspondence at all on the issue?
0. Q. Would Mr. Roche, as Minister for European Affairs, not feel
obliged to call on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and
Local Government to place a moratorium on any demolition works at
Lismullin pending a legal clarification from the EU Commission?
Q. Would Mr. Roche not accept that if our interpretation of EU
Directive 85/ 337 / EEC is correct then his ‘destruction order’ is
contrary to EU law, and thus effectively null and void?New offender spotted – this time at the NE end of North Great Georges St, outside circa no. 45; a couple of honey glazed slabs replaced by inappropriate shiny granite, spoiling the otherwise commendable restoration of a house. For what its supposed to be worth, the current City Development Plan both designates N Georges St as a Conservation Area and has specific policies directed at conservation of pavement features 😡
From “Breaking News”, Times website –
Last Updated: 15/06/2007 09:27
Gormley to review Roche’s M3 decisionThe Green Party’s new Minister for the Environment John Gormley is expected to review a decision by his predecessor Dick Roche to allow a motorway to be built over an historic monument in Co Meath.
In one of his final acts in office, Mr Roche on Tuesday signed an order for the “preservation by record” of the recently-discovered prehistoric henge at Lismullin, Co Meath, on the route of the proposed M3. Campaigners have called for the road to be re-routed in order to preserve the historic site
It is understood the Green party is deeply unhappy at the decision and was unaware of Mr Roche’s order when negotiations for government were taking place. It is unclear, however, if Mr Gormley can reverse Mr Roche’s decision.
Mr Roche decided the henge at Lismullin should be photographed, sketched and measured before the motorway goes through the site. “The excavation works and recording are to be carried out in advance of any road construction works in the vicinity of the National Monument,” he said in a statement.
Mr Roche said he signed the order on the advice of the Director of the National Museum Dr Pat Wallace.
“The Minister is satisfied, on the basis of the advice he has received, including that of his Department’s Chief Archaeologist and that of the Director of the National Museum that the approach set out in the directions he has issued is the most appropriate one from an archaeological point of view,” the statement said.
This morning, the Green Party’s Ciarán Cuffe said he hopes Mr Gormley will be able to rescind Mr Roche’s order when he assumes office.
“One has to look at decisions made on the day of leaving office. I don’t know if it’s possible to change them but I’d hope that we can,” the Dun Laoghaire TD said. “I’d hope that when the next crisis emerges on heritage issues, we’ll have a minister who is very capable of ensuring that heritage is at the top of the agenda.”
Muireann Nà Bhrolcháin of the Campaign to Save Tara also condemned Mr Roche’s actions. “Tara is not only one of the 100 most endangered sites now. It is the most endangered landscape in the world.”
Vincent Salafia, of the TaraWatch campaign group said he would be taking legal advice on the latest move. “We are asking Minister Gormley to do the same thing that Minister Roche did to 16 Moore Street; declare the entire site, along with neighbouring houses, a national monument.”
@alonso wrote:
No matter what the Greens do tonight, no matter what roads are built in the future, no matter what M3 is built, the unnecessary destruction of Tara comprises nothing more than state-sponsored vandalism of the most backward, regressive and idiotic kind.
Seconded. From today’s Irish Times:
Editorial –
The Greenfingerprints
Delegates to the special Green Party conference have confronted their core values, their conscience as the protest party, swallowed hard and opted to go into government with Fianna Fáil. Their parliamentary party made a mature decision because, in the world of politics, more can be achieved in government than in opposition.
Pragmatism won out over principle and, at the end of protracted, perhaps naive and certainly most unconventional negotiations, the Greens will be cabinet members in the first three-party Fianna Fáil-led government in the history of the State. And Trevor Sargent, in keeping with his election promise, has resigned as leader. What a catharsis!
It is clear when the programme for government with Fianna Fáil is analysed that cabinet membership and future political influence took precedence over immediate policy implementation. Policies of principle, such as the use of Shannon airport by the US military and the construction of the M3 at Tara, failed to tip the balance against the required two-thirds majority.
The package of measures that went before yesterday’s conference was strong on aspiration but short on specifics. In some cases, such as local government, electoral reform and a windfall tax on land speculation, it involved a reheating of old Fianna Fáil promises. In others, important, carefully circumscribed, policy concessions were extracted. A target for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions was agreed. A carbon tax was proposed during the next five years. On the controversial hospital co-location programme, disagreement arose between the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats on what, precisely, had been agreed with Fianna Fáil.
There is no doubt that the fingerprints of the Green Party appear on key elements of the draft programme for government. But it lacks a solid Green footprint. The concessions secured are important and environmentally progressive but not, as the PDs were able to boast on entering government with Fianna Fáil in 1989, mould-breaking. Green Party negotiators have sold the draft programme as a work in progress and promised that further advances could be expected during the life of the government.
The so-called “deal breakers” that Mr Sargent specified during the course of the election campaign were quietly forgotten. A demand for extra spending on education was significantly scaled back, as was a requirement for more energy-efficient building regulations. But a €100 million fund for better home insulation was agreed. No obvious progress was made on party policy affecting tax cuts and reliefs, VAT rates and capital gains tax.
With six Dáil seats at their command, Green Party negotiators were never going to get all the concessions they wanted. In a three-party configuration, the Taoiseach, with 78 seats, could depend on the PDs and a number of Independent TDs to return him to government. It was a hard call in the end which may haunt the Greens.
© 2007 The Irish Times
@The Denouncer wrote:
Should pull that horrible flawed spire out of the ground and rebuild the pillar, and stick Fr Pat Noise on top. That would be preferable. Good old Father Noise.
Rofl 😀 Post of the week.
The Phoenix Park its not – but another ‘flight of fancy’ says its that place where a former owner-occupier Lord Edward Fitzgerald described as “not inspiring bright ideas” – that is to say Leinster House (Kildare St gates); clearly Edward Fitz must have known something about it’s future use… So Kildare St gates of Leinster House ftw! 🙂
Some more good photos contributed by Paul h I see 🙂
Just after noticing that the false Dr Quirkey’s facade (netting held by scaffolding) on the old creamery site/ Carlton parcel has just been replaced – by a new false facade depicting the same. Originally a temporary measure prior to when the Carlton Group was to start construction, for reasons yet to be fully explained, the then assistant city manager Sean Carey initiated a Compulsory Purchase Order on this parcel in 2001 – despite the fact that PP had only been granted 2 years prior and it also appeared that the UK based Grosvenor Group was intent on investing in the ill-fated scheme. Naturally with a CPO being initiated, this would have done little to give furthered confidence for the Grosvenor Group. Peculiarly, since then – without the then knowledge of the elected councillors – city officials entered into a non-tendered contract releasing the land to Joe O’Reilly of Castlethorn. Needless to say the matter has since gone on and on and on in the Law Courts…
The new facade is most appropriate – a total sham.
@colm07 wrote:
Dublin in the rare ole times… O’ Connell St.
Wow – such a long elongated Victorian balcony on that building on the left… I never knew such an ediface existed…Keep up with the good antique and informative photos Colm! 🙂
@ake wrote:
I believe this thread now requires closing, moderator.
Maybe – but I wouldn’t necessarily agree… Its as if PVCKing read the future when originally titleing the thread, given that the NRA subsequently did not reveal the existance of the temple / henge until their hand was forced…Just like what happened with the Viking longphort site at Woodstown, Waterford, in 2004 😮
Anyhow, if the thread does close, before it goes here’s a release that An Taisce put out regarding the temple site discovery…
Seems to sum it all up really. A total and predicted mess.
An Taisce Press Release wrote:NEW TARA DISCOVERY HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR REINSTATEMENT OF NATIONAL MONUMENTS ACTAn Taisce – 02 May 2007
There was a time not too long ago that a new site worthy of the designation “National Monument†would have been wholly welcomed by the Minister of the Environment. More importantly its preservation would have been guaranteed.
The discovery of a circular wooden structure of possible Iron Age date in the Tara-Skryne valley is a major event. It is a new key element in an integrated complex of monuments and places that have been recognized both archaeologically and historically. The number of sites on the Tara ridge alone is now approximately 40. The importance of Tara and it’s relationship with the High Kings of Ireland is known to all. The discovery of what could be called a temple, after the fashion of a comparable discovery at Emain Macha, seat of the Kings of Ulster, is of obvious major significance. Such sites are extremely rare.
Prior to this government’s ill-advised amendments to the National Monuments Act in 2004, the Minister for Environment would have had very limited “wriggle-room†and a National Monument would have been safe. No longer]
