Paul OMahony

Hi Sue,

what we do at the end of the day is advertising. In order to correctly place any form of advertisiing in a public place you either require planning peremission from the authorties, or you need to be allowed to operate under licence. This applies whther you are placing a shroud or whther you are placing a small poster somewhere.

In other countries we apply our concept to restoring city council owned buildings, government-owned buildings, private buildings, listed buildings and non-listed buildings….it really doesn’t matter the ownership/or listing of the building as long as the concept is applied correctly and a substantial part of funds raised is used directly to fund the conservation work being carried out.

Our strategy in trying to introduce this concept to both Dublin city and Cork city is to work together with the senior planners in doing this the right way. If we were to just go ahead and do it anyway, we would only make enemies within the planning department and that is not our goal. My company has already been indirectly compared to some of the unscrupulous banner-advertising companies which have, for the last number of years, put banners up in an illegal fashion in Dublin.

We don’t do this…..we are a legitamite company, with a legitamite concept that works….we have to make this clear at all times to senior planners….we do not place advertising anywhere illegally ! We are against all forms of illegal advertising, we are against all forms of low quality advertising, and we are against all forms of long-term outdoor advertising. Outdoor advertising must be legal, high quality and transient in nature.

Frank,

as stated earlier in this thread, what we are proposing is nothing new. High-specification shrouding is now present in every capital city in Europe. Planners in these cities have embraced the idea nad put rules and regulations in place – strict controls – as to how it should operate.

….I believe it was said to me in one particular meeting here in Dublin – its not happening in Liege so its not happening here….it would seem that there is now a concerted effort to make Dublin a copycat city of Liege…..the mind boggles !

Thanks for your views Frank. I think it is very hard for people to accept this idea until they actually see it for themselves in other cities…..when done properly, these things look really great and can really add something special to a city in some circumstances….I really do believe this

At a time with so many ugly scaffold sites around our city….wouldn’t it be nicer to have something which adds colour and structure and really can make people smile and say “that’s clever !”

…the key is rules, structure and proper enforcement !

We’re always open for new ideas and new suggestions. We would love the opportunity to show the council what it is we mean by high spec shrouding. We could perhaps organise a competition and get architects to submit drawings of what they would like to see the new Abbey Theatre looking like – if the drawings are good enough then they should be good enough to superimpose the image onto the shroud ?

I’m pretty sure that that would raise a few eye-brows !

We would truly love to do something on this site…..but it seems there is absolutely no-one in the council interested in taking any action at the site.

Graham, I have two views to your question which for me sit very comfortably;

Firstly, I do believe it is essential to find a way to encourage the planning authorities to do their job correctly and properly enforce legislation which is in place….unfortunately, however, since I began my campaign of identifying buildings to the council which may only be described as buildings-at-risk, I have not seen much evidence of that this is going to happen any time soon. I have played a very active role during the last 10-months in trying to encourage the planners to take some kind of action on a number of blatant breaches of enforcement legislation re. some very fine and prominent buildings in our city….95% of the time my letters, emails, phone calls to the senior planners have been ignored.

My second answer to your question is that in my opinion I find high specification shrouding beautiful on the city landscape – it adds colour, vision, and vibrancy to a streescape when done properly. It also is an indication to me that that the planners are willing to look outside of the box on occassions, and are willing to try new ideas to deal with old problems.

From my dealings with the planners the last 10-months it has become evident to me that some senior planners do not want change – it seems that too many changes are just beyond their scope of ability. However, I have also seen that some planners do want change but are afraid to take any steps to stretch their necks too far outside the box, as too often they get it chopped off.

It is my view that planners need to be encouraged to think outside of the box, to try new ideas, to be encouraged to push-out-boundaries to bring the best to our city. It is very unfortunate that as Irish people we tend to be a very cinacle race – so when new ideas come along they are often quashed before they even get to the drawing board. This has to change in our planning environment….planners need to be allowed to try new things after a thourough period of investigation of th ebest options….we need to get away from mediocre solutions to our planning problems, and we need to embrace vision.

All of this must lie on a bedrock of proper planning-enforcement, which can only come about with a complete rethink of expenditure funding in this area.

Thomond.

For the last 10-months we have tried – unsuccessfully – to get senior planners to work together with us on this idea in an open co-ordinated fashion. Our strategy was to inform city councils of this concept and to show them how this concept can successfully work at raising significant funding to carry out necessary conservation work on our urban architecture. We thought that Dublin would be ideal – with so many buildings which are crying out for attention and the need for funding contributions. We have approached both the Dublin Civic Trust and the Cork Civic Trust regarding what we do and we have the full support of both organisations. Our hope was that we could work together with the civic trusts to identify buildings which are most suitable for this idea, in this way ensuring the right buildings were chosen and that any/all conservation works carried out was done so in the right manner.

I have made significant links with a lot of senior people who are operating in Ireland’s built-heritage who privately think that our idea is a really good one, but are unwilling to give our idea public support because they believe their organisations cannot be seen to support a private enterprise….and it would cause a conflict of interest in their positions.

My stategy is a simple one Thomond – it has been from the beginning. I need to build links with those operating within the built-architecture environment in Ireland – people who have a say and can make a difference to the decision-making process. I truly believe that if we are given the opportunity to talk to people and show people in an honest open fashion what we are trying to achieve we will win people over – of this I am sure. The majority of people I have had the opportunity to meet with in person – and decribe our work to them and show them previous examples of what has been achived using our concept – I have
managed to win over to our way of thinking.

There are so many people/organisations that I still need to meet with and convince that this is the way forward for raising funding for urban conservation works.

Despite numerous efforts to get to speak with someone/anyone from the Heritage Council – it would seem I am being avoided. I think this is a really great pity….it would seem that just the very word advertising has urged this reaction. I am continuing my efforts to at least be given the opportunity of a meeting…I really didn’t expect to be just ignored.

I have also hired the services of a Senior Council to investigate the legality of what we are proposing under Irish planning law. The SC I chose was a very well-known SC in planning in Ireland, and he produced documentaray evidence which showed that what we are proposing is permissable under Irish planning law, and in many ways provides a very inventive idea which should be very seriously looked at….still nothing.

I have made various efforts to approach the Minister of the Environment, to arrange a meeting – still nothing.

Thomond, I am open to all suggestions as to what might be our next best step here. In co-operation with Dublin Civic Trust, I have already proposed quite a few buildings to the city council which my company was willing to sponsor to carry out immediate urgent repair work to…..my proposals have all fallen on deaf ears at council level.

I think what we need is the support of the Dept.of the Environment here…..but to date we have not succeeded in getting any kind of real response

…..I don’t suppose that you have any friends in the right places….all we want is an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with some of the key decision makers to show examples of what we have achieved with our concept elsewhere……I am sure that
once the facts are known, and pressure comes from the right circles, that the city councils will be forced to take a closer look at what we are suggesting.

…..without this pressure it seems that the city councils are not really bothered with providing extra funding for urban conservation works to be carried out on buildings which are government-owned or privately-owned…..it has been said to me many times by senior council members that the privately-owned buildings should pay for their own conservation work to be carried out. True as this may be – this not happening, and it is not going to happen in the next 10-years without proper enforcement legislation being enacted.

“When properly organised and introduced using the right guidelines, rules and enforcement this scheme will create significant funding for carrying out conservation of our urban built-heritage” ……I’m not sure that I can say it any more clearly than this.

This is not me just saying this to ‘muddy the waters’…..I am taking the example of what is happening in over 20-large cities in western Europe. This concept was used to help fund repair work on the stonework at the Brandenburg Gate. It is regularly used to help fund restoration projects on historic buildings in London. I am currently talking with Brighton City Council’s and their Heritage Officer re.using this concept to help fund carrying out conservation works on the Brighton Pavilion.

This concept needs to be properly investigated before being disgarded…..we are too quick to do this in this country !

Thanks guys.

I agree Graham, it is a crazy idea that the very thing that most people who have a love or urban architecture abhore…is the very thing that could end up saving it. I fully accept that there are those amongst us who just hate all kinds of outdoor advertising….and if I’m honest, there is very little of any kind of outdoor advertising in Ireland’s city which I find attractive or in any way stimulating. However, this can change….I know this. If you look at what has happened in so many other great cities around Europe the city councils have embraced new forms of advertising and have completely banned the old, worn and ugly types of advertising (ie.posterboards, billboards, 48-sheets, 96-sheets etc.). There is another way, and we have to embrace that, and not decide that all forms outdoor advertising is an attack on our visual liberties.