lostcarpark
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I found a photograph of it dating from February.
If anyone’s interested, the photos I took today are here.
Agreed. I can’t believe it could be there for three years without somebody noticing and it becomming public knowledge. Even three months is probably pushing it.
Then again, I must have walked past that spot hundreds of times without paying notice to either the plaque or the empty space.
I don’t find it tiresome, though. It’s a hoax, but an imaginative one. An implausible story that just might have a hint of truth about it.
I think it would be a shame if it does get removed. However, I’d like to know the source of the original story and some confirmation of the intentions of the council before I start a letter writing campaign. I’ve seen this article copied on several forums, but none of them have credited the original source.
If they had carved the hole out of the stonework for the plaque, that would be vandalism. However, this is filling in an unsightly hole the council had left after a failed project. It may meet the technical definition of vandalism, but as long as no damage has been done to the bridge, I think no moral vandalism has occurred (if such a thing exists).
Hopefully people will see the humour of it.
I’d recommend getting down there to have a look for yourself before it disappears.
It’s vandalism in a sense, but the plaque is filling in a hole left when the millennium clock (“the chime in the slime”) was abandoned.
It’s a bit of harmless fun. I think it should be allowed to stay, at least until something more fitting can be found to plug the hole.
And it’s hardly the first time a memorial has been erected to a person or event of dubious historical accuracy.
I may be the only one, but I love the engineering elegance of the lattice structure. There is talk of picing a colour to hide, but I suggest we should pick a colour (or colours) that shows it off at its best.
I would love to see it the same colour as the Ha’penny bridge, but I take the point about dirt.
Failing that, I would agree with subtle and muted colours, but not as an attempt to hide it, rather to bring out its beauty.
@mickeydocs wrote:
The Dublin rail commuter solution could be solved if there was some intelligence behind the scheduling of darts and commuter trains.
That will go some way, yes, but IE have projections showing a 4-fold increase in commuter traffic between now and 2016. The Dublin rail plan will provide a fast, regular service on the four main lines into the city, One element of the is upgrading the signaling to allow trains to run closer together.
@Rory W wrote:
Wow – suddenly I’m back in civilisation again with late trains!!! Cheers for that lostcarpark – just one last question – how can I get my hands on the new timetable that you’re quoting from (other than waiting for it to appear at the stations) as it doesn’t seem to be on the irishrail site yet?
I think the timetable comes into affect around 13 Dec, so if you select any date after that on the IE website you should see the new trains. Note that the 23:20 goes from Connolly rather than Pearse. There seems to be a new train from Pearse just before 10pm too.
As I say, there’s nobody alive who’s seen the Custom House without the Loop Bridge. It’s a part of our city’s landscape whether we like it or not. I think we all agree the ads are horrible and have to go, but once that’s done, there’s some pretty decent Victorian ironwork which, with a lick of paint and some nice lights could look spectacular.
After that I’d look at whether anything can be done to make the overhead line supports fit in better with the burdge. I’ve sure the Victorians must have had some beautiful wrought iron tramline supports that could be copied.
I disagree that it blocks the view of the river. I grew up with the DART, and for me the loop line is the view of the river. It is the best vantage most people get of the river, and can look fantastic from a train in the early evening sun.
@Rory W wrote:
Every 10 mins would be cool – Thanks santa
Just one more thing can we have a service that runs after 8:45pm (from Connolly) on a Saturday night (last train to Drogheda) it’s ruined my social life!!!
A ten minute frequency may be some way off, but Irish Rail’s new timetable starts in mid-December, and you can now get a 23:20 train from Connolly to Drogheda every day of the week including Sunday. A massive improvement on the old timetable!
Of course from January it’ll be back to bus transfers to Portmarnock at weekends, but you can’t have everything.
As far as I know, the Loop bridge is a listed structure, though that doesn’t mean very much if the minister decrees it in the “national interest” to get rid of it.
I do think that if the advertising were removed from the bridges crossing the Liffey, Beresford Place, Gardiner Street and Amiens Street, and suitable illumination added, the result could be amazing.
But let’s face it, no-one alive has been around to witness the custom house from O’Connell Bridge, and the skyline has totally changed in the last hundred years with the SIPTU tower and the IFSC looming over it from all sides. If the loop line was removed, it still wouldn’t be that much of a view. I think the loop line is part of the city’s charm, and while a rail tunnel is proposed, it is to complement the loop line not replace it.
@Rory W wrote:
Hey platform 11 folks! Instead of my direct train from Drogheda to Sidney Parade (it runs on to Bray) I change at Pearse? is that the plan or will through trains still happen?
That’s right, you’ll change at Pearse. Drogheda trains will all be through trains, but they’ll be going to Kildare rather than Bray.
A minor inconvenience, I agree. However, in exchange you will get a train every ten minutes from Drogheda, and a maximum wait for a train at Pearse of seven minutes. I think this is well worth the slight inconvenience of losing a few direct trains.
Services like Cork-Dublin-Belfast seem likely to go ahead in the future, as there is EU funding available for such a service. Although the Interconnector tunnel will only be suitable for electric trains, the Phoenix Park tunnel would be ideal for such a service. At the moment it isn’t possible because there isn’t room in Connolly (anything that crosses the DART line takes up a slot and another service would have to be dropped). However, because the northern line DART trains will turn off before Connolly and Maynooth trains will probably use the Midland line, there will be no conflicts with trains bound for the bay platforms at Connolly (it’s a bit hard to understand if you don’t know the area, but it does make sense). This would allow a push-pull train to drive into Connolly and reverse back out to continue its journey.
@burge_eye wrote:
Am I missing something or doesn’t the multi zillion pound LUAS link Connelly and Heuston????
It does, but the Interconnector will do so much more. If it was just a case of linking Connolly and Heuston, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but at the moment there is no spare capacity across the loop line bridge to allow more trains into the city, and the trains at commuting times are packed to capacity.
This will allow the current DART to split in half, so Kildare trains will continue through the tunnel to Drogheda, taking in the northern half of the DART. Other DARTs will use the same tunnel to run from Heuston to the Airport. This will leave the loop line bridge almost totally free for the second DART line which will run between Bray and Maynooth. The two lines will cross each other at Pearse, and with no big gaps for outer commuter or InterCity trains, DARTs will run at regular intervals all day, making changes between lines quick and easy.
Find a local architect who knows the planners, and will be able to tell you what sort of thing they’re likely to go for.
I think linking the lines is vital, as they should have been from the start.
Dawson St, Nassau St and College Green make sense as the shortest route, and would provide a link between the two main shopping areas (yes, I realise it’s easily walkable). And I agree that having trams running around College Green will look lovely (though that’s not enough reason to build it on its own).
In the short term, the Westland Row route has advantages, as it would integrate with DART was well as the Red line, but we should hopefully be getting the Interconnector a couple of years later, so it will be integrated at Stephen’s Green anyway. Therefore I would advocate going the shorter and cheaper route.
I don’t see a problem with busses and trams sharing road space on Nassau Street. If you eliminate cars from Dawson Street and Nassau Street, there shouldn’t be any problems.
I don’t understand the bollards myself. A neat circle around the spire would seem more logical.
To the best of my knowledge, there’s only one aircraft that overflies the city at low altitude by night, the Garda helicoptor. Surely they know to steer clear?
James
Well, I can’t see the spike being susceptable to litter when it’s finished. I think the complaint was that people threw rubbish over the railings, which should be gone once construction is complete.
I agree that rubbish is to be expected at large gatherings, but it would actually make the clean-up easier if people just threw it on the street and not try to hide it by throwing it over railings (of course taking it home with them would be even better, but I don’t expect a miracle).
But a major contribution to the amount of rubbish is the array of fast food outlets on the street. I don’t have any objection to the restaurants, but if they were made pay for the rubbish they create, they would have an incentive to reduce the amount they produce. A charge of 15c for each carton, paper cup, plastic lid and drinking straw would add 75c to the cost of an average meal. Reataurants would fairly quickly see the benefit of providing washable plates and glasses for eat-in customers, and customers would think twice before ordering take-away if they have to pay extra.
It worked for plastic bags.
James
It is a shame people don’t think before they stuff their rubbish in the nearest tree protector, flowerbed, water feature, road works or national monument that it would be far easier to clean up if they just threw it on street. Kinda sad really, as one would assume they think they’re doing the right thing when there isn’t a litter bin to hand.
I know this is going a little off-topic, but I’m convinced we should have a disposable-fast-food-container tax like the plastic bag tax. It would clean up O’Connell Street within a week!
James
And each one has a sensor to calculate the score when you successfully toss a coin through… 🙂
James
