kefu

The twelve-storey building in Smithfield is not a high rise except in the loosest terms of the word.
There are non-high rise cities like Paris where the height of a standard building is seven stories.

Frank, it’s in the “national interest” because Ireland is currently losing out on large-scale conferences.
A relative of mine wanted to bring a big science bash to Ireland but couldn’t because there wasn’t a suitably large venue.
In general, it brings in a good type of tourist (not stags and hens) and also organisers tend to target off-peak times so there’ll be sufficient accomodation available and at decent prices. As a result, it brings more balance to the tourism industry.
You also get a lot of follow-up business – the people attending the conference are usually busy and only get a flavour of the city. If they like what they see, they will come back, usually with a family in tow.
That’s why so many countries will subsidise a loss-making conference centre – it’s the type of investment, which may not in itself make money, but will bring dozens of other tangible benefits.

An interesting article from the Irish Times here, which seems to suggest that the spire can not be saved without being dismantled and rebuilt.

From the Irish Times, February ’02 by Frank McDonald
One of the most important landmarks in the centre of Dublin, St George’s Church in Hardwicke Place, is now the subject of a dangerous buildings order, The Irish Times has learned.
The order, issued by Dublin City Council, requires the owner of the former church to remove all the loose stonework in its triple-tiered steeple and wrap it in wire mesh to prevent any more falling off.
But the council has no money to assist the owner, Redgrove Properties Ltd, of Galway, in restoring the building because the Government halved grants for the restoration of heritage properties in this year’s Budget.
The cost of restoring the steeple and portico of St George’s (now the Temple Theatre) is estimated at €3 million, equivalent to the entire allocation for 2002 of funding for the restoration of heritage properties throughout the State.
The steeple of St George’s, which is nearly as high as Liberty Hall, is the only church spire that can be seen from O’Connell Bridge. It is also the first landmark that greets visitors on their way in to the city centre from Dublin Airport.
The former church, which was opened in 1814 and deconsecrated more than a decade ago, is acknowledged as the masterpiece of Francis Johnston, architect of the GPO in O’Connell Street and the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle.
Its steeple has been surrounded by scaffolding for the past 15 years because the Portland stone was cracking due to expansion of the iron cramps that held it in place, the same problem that once afflicted the Custom House.
The Church of Ireland, having tried in vain to raise funds for the restoration of St George’s, sold the building in 1991 to an actor, Mr Sean Simon, who had plans to turn it into a theatre. He, too, eventually gave up.
After its deconsecration, the bells which Leopold Bloom heard ringing in Ulysses were removed to Taney Church in Dundrum, while the ornate pulpit was carved up to decorate Thomas Read’s pub in Parliament Street.
Even after St George’s became a major “rave” venue, further attempts were made to raise public funds for its restoration; first, in 1991, to celebrate Dublin’s role as European City of Culture, and later from the Millennium Committee.
But despite its location in the heart of the Taoiseach’s constituency, no funding was forthcoming.
“It is absolutely scandalous that this has been allowed to go on and on,” Mr David Slattery, the conservation architect, said yesterday.
Mr Slattery, who was responsible for the restoration of the Custom House in 1991, said there was absolutely no doubt that St George’s could be restored, although this would probably mean taking down and rebuilding its steeple.
His 1991 report on the church found that the cornice and frieze of its Greek-style portico were also affected by spalling stonework due to the expansion of ferrous metal clamps.
According to Mr Slattery, the present owner of the church could not be saddled with the bill for its restoration.
“Given that our historic buildings are one of the main reasons tourists come here, surely Bord Fáilte could chip in,” he said.
In the meantime, Redgrove Properties Ltd has been given 28 days to carry out the works required by the city council to remove the danger posed by stonework from the church’s landmark steeple falling into the street.

You can see all three from up around the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park if I remember rightly.
It’s probably the best view you can ever get of Dublin up there.

If you think two or even three ring roads is bad, have a look at Beijing, which has seven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Roads_of_Beijing

New Plan announced for Parnell Square
“With the completion of O’ Connell Street next year, we are turning our
attention to Parnell Square which has great potential to become a significant
and attractive cultural destination for Dubliners and tourists” said John
Fitzgerald, City Manager.

A Framework Plan for Parnell Square has been completed by Howley Harrington
Architects on behalf of Dublin City Council in association with the Office of
Public Works, the Rotunda Hospital, The Gate and Academy Theatres, The Dublin
Writers museum and the Abbey Presbyterian Church. The plan, which was
presented today to the Central Area Committee of Dublin City Council, aims to
transform a square which “is undervalued, underused and under performing” and
which also suffers from poor public perception.

Parnell Square will, during the lifetime of the plan, benefit from over €200
million of public and private investment. Dublin City Council has already
begun the €12 million extension to Dublin City Gallery- the Hugh Lane Gallery
which will open early next year. “This Framework plan is ambitious and
visionary – but most of all it is achievable” said John Fitzgerald.

The Plan recommends the following

· Upgrading the Public Domain on all sides of the Square- Footpaths, lighting,
trees and bus lay-bys to be upgraded to the same standards as those prevailing
in O’Connell Street and on-street parking and bus lay-bys to be re-organised.
· An Urban Pergola and Sculpture Promenade on Parnell Square East to stretch
from the Gate to the Abbey Presbyterian Church containing outdoor sculpture.
· Rejuvenating The Ambassador Theatre which could become a cabaret type
theatre with restaurant café and bars.
· Making the Garden of Remembrance more welcoming and accessible with:
o The entrance to the Garden to be improved.
o A new gate from Parnell Square North
o Improved accessibility for all within the park
· Abbey Presbyterian Church (Findlaters’) to be accentuated by extended
pavements and floodlighting
· National Museum of Literature: Improve and expand the existing Dublin
Writers Museum to become a National Museum of Literature
· New anchor use for the Coláiste Mhuire Site possibly a luxury hotel
· New City Childrens Garden and crèche on the Northwest Corner very
appropriately situated beside the Rotunda and Garden of Remembrance. There
will be a new contemporary “Cabbies” shelter built on the location of former
facilities.
·
Rotunda: A new masterplan for the Rotunda hospital to facilitate the
consolidations, expansion and improvement of clinical facilities while
contributing positively to urban design. There was broad agreement with the
Rotunda on the following

o New four story buildings facing on the Parnell Square east and west with
increased car park facilities. The ground floors to have appropriate
commercial and public uses.

o A new public garden, recreating the original garden designed for the centre
of the Square. This garden would be linked to all surrounding streets and to
the Garden of Remembrance. This would create a possible new North South
pedestrian route from the Hugh Lane Gallery, across the Garden of Remembrance,
through the new Rotunda garden and through the historic hospital building onto
Parnell Street.

The Plan is to be implemented in three phases. Phase one, which will take
eighteen months, will include improvements to pavements, roads, parking as well
as installing decorative street lighting and planting trees. This phase also
includes the flood lighting of the Church and the commencement of the
improvements to the Garden of Remembrance entrance. This work will cost €25.6
million including the €12 million already being spent on the extension to the
Hugh Lane Gallery due to open next year. The second and third phases have
longer timescales

Michael Colgan, Director of the Gate Theatre said “Parnell Square was once an
epicentre of cultural life in Dublin because of the vision of one man, The
Rotunda Hospital founder, Dr. Bartholomew
Mosse. He developed the area from nothing to one of the most sophisticated
neighbourhoods in the city where nobility, gentry and ordinary people alike
came to enjoy some of the best music Europe had to
offer as well as a civic area devoted to the patronage of fine arts. Nearly
250 years later, we now have an opportunity for Parnell Square to be restored
to its former purpose and glory”.

Master of the Rotunda , Dr Michael Geary said: “The building of new modern
clinical facilities around the perimeter of the Square will allow the
restoration of the Rotunda Pleasure Gardens in the centre of the Square. This
will enable the Rotunda Hospital to continue its proud tradition of excellent
maternity care throughout the 21st century and beyond and place it as the
central axis of an exciting and improved cultural quarter”.

Klaus Unger, Assistant Principal Architect Office of Public Works said: ” We
aim to make the Garden of Remembrance more welcoming and universally accessible.”

Sean Harrington of Howley Harrington, author of the plan said “Parnell Square
is Dublin’s lost Georgian square. At the end of the great axis running from St
Stephen’s Green through the rejuvenated O’Connell Street northwards the square
has the potential to be the jewel of the north side of Dublin City

PEACHDEEN LIMITED (NORMAL)
Director/Secretary Information
GENERAL INFORMATION top
Company Number 319100
Registered Office 3 CASEMENT SQUARE
COBH CO CORK

Company Type SINGLE MEMBER COMPANY LTD BY G/TEE WITH SH/CAP
Designation NORMAL
Principal Object OTHER BUSINESS ACTIVITIES N.E.C.
Incorporated 24-Jan-2000
Annual Return Date 31-Mar-05
Last Annual Return 31-Mar-2004

Company Number 319100

Name/Address of Secretary Date of Birth

JOHN MCCARTHY
THE RECTORY.
COBH,
CO. CORK.
13-Feb-1967

Name/Address of Director Date of Birth
JOHN MCCARTHY
THE RECTORY.
COBH,
CO. CORK.
13-Feb-1967

ZITA MCCARTHY
THE RECTORY
COBH
CO CORK
IRELAND

And if they have a feeder bus from O’Connell Street or Summerhill – what more do you need? Visiting times are set in stone so a bus would be the simple and logical conclusion. The local politicians were saying the same thing when Cloverhill and Wheatfield were opened. And what about the families of the subversives and gangsters who are put down in Portlaoise?
I’m sure when Mountjoy was built, it was the greenfield site of its day, but it’s not now and needs to be moved away from the city centre.
One of the things lost in this argument is that the cost of refurbishing Mountjoy to anything approaching acceptable standards would be enormous. So the only place where sufficient land at a reasonable cost is available is going to be several miles outside the M50.
Would you be happier if the state paid €600 million for a site for criminals? Because I certainly wouldn’t be.

Bumped because I’m curious myself.
There was a very beautiful art nouveau style lamp at the Ilac centre, which featured fish and fruit. It appears to have disappeared as that quadrant on the Moore Street/Parnell Street junction is being redeveloped. I’m hoping it will be saved because it wouldn’t have been listed.
I can hardly think of anything else that could definitely be ascribed in this category in Dublin at least.

I remember going into the selling office for the scheme (they were too expensive) and were told that there would be a lot of commercial development. Apart from the obvious pubs, restaurants, some regular shops, and the ubiquitous Spars and Centras, she also said there was going to be a large gym and a cinema. Not really sure what much more they could put in.