Smithfield Resi

I wonder what will replace the revenue garnered by DCC running the site of the demolished fish market as a surface car park within those 250 metresof a LUAS stop.

“Extensive surface car parking to the front of developments, which detracts from the character of a centre and discourages pedestrians, should be avoided and parking standards should be in accordance with the relevant Development Plan standards.”

“POLICY T2
It is the policy of Dublin City Council to encourage modal change from private car use towardsincreased use of more sustainable forms of transport such as public transport, cycling, and walking, and by encouraging teleworking and carpooling and car-sharing.”

“Restrictions on the use and cost of on street
parking will be kept under review and changed,
as necessary, in order to discourage commuter
parking and to facilitate short term parking for
shopping, business and leisure purposes”

would be completed in December 2010

I understand they got an extension. Although the cobble relaying seems to be taking forever…should have got some central europeans in with some sand to lay a flexible base rather than all this fussing about with mortar bases.

Observers of the cobble sett flexible vs rigid laying technique controversy may wish to amble over to Smithfield at the moment. The setts are being relaid in what I would consider to be very odd manner (set in concrete, not sure what the jointing plan is) which appears to be taking them ages..

..by contrast I have seen a Prague cobble expert lay almost the same area in a day and a half (including a stunning coat of arms set into the pavement portion).

Whenever I hear how great the new Dublin-Cork road is, I can help reflecting on the following statistic;

London – Paris 495km including some 37 underwater. 2 hours 15 mins.

Dublin – Cork by train 250km – 3hrs 5m (or would take 6 hours to reach Paris!)

Dublin – Cork by road 2hrs 30m ish…

Absurd.

Of course, if the objective is to reduce deaths, there are cheaper options than spending on any roads.

I think 3 people died being hit by trains this year…..

€10 million/km is the accepted cost of LGV East. NRA spend slightly less at €8m/km, but clearly more km of motorway coverage is required.

So, apart from the obvious of IE’s involvement. Why can’t we have a high-speed rail network?
And why can’t we get more freight onto rail?

By the way if anyone has pics of Dublin Tourism pre signage (with dates if possible) please post here…

Of course these abuses of the system only occur where grubby greed and materialism come into it. I’m delighted that we have organisations that put protected structures to reuse and preserve and enhance their character as part of their day to day operations. I took a stroll past one of them today just to admire the grace with which they are conducting their strategic vision of ‘Create ambassadors to promote Dublin as a must-visit destination’.

Of course one must understand how they are funded. Very well it seems.

Nice brass..of course this isn’t really enough to ensure everyone sees what they are at…time for a sign..

or two…

Now…to attract in the crowds we had better tell them what we do. After all the name Tourist Information and two small signs isn’t going to tell them…

What do we have? We have……

Information!! That’s right. Information. And Stuff. Lots of Stuff.

Oh – we had better tell them about the Stuff. Yes, the Stuff. Just in case they don’t come in. And we have those signs CIE gave us.

and this Stuff

Of course … these are a bit small, and behind our railings. Soooo… we’ve been thinking. Outside the Box. Like Ann Riordan, our chair. We are going to rethink the paradim! Yeah! With CorriBoard! And Railings!! Come see our INFORMATION!!!!!! Yeah!!

Oh.

That looks….

a bit like we are selling GAA tickets…we need to tell them more then! “Tell them, they will come….”

Now step back admire the effect!

Wonderful. They will come. They will come…

____________________________

both entrences will have square edges, which will hinder pedestrian movement.

Ahh, those pesky square corners, never got the hang of them…

Mixed reactions from two of the objectors…reading up now…

I shouldnt….but it is funny

Priceless…..

The animal welfare issues can be dealt with by adequate supervision of the fair. Isn’t it better to have a central location to do this and check on the welfare of the animals in the process rather than scouting the country to find abuses?

@StephenC wrote:

Also what about this horsemarket lark….cant they pass a Byelaw to prohibit the market. Or request an Act of the Oireachtas. There must be some way to extingush the market right.

Sure what’s 1000 years of history….:rolleyes: Have you any idea how many tourists come and see this, it needs promoting (and true, policing) – it’s just a shame tourists have no reason to remain in Smithfield after the horse fair..

“The whole thing is a complete mess, but it was the local authority that allowed the market right all those years ago and it behoves the local authority to come up with a remedy… It’s on our desk and we have to deal with it.”

Not sure if they mean the Horse Market or Smithfield is a mess?

I really welcome them sorting out Smithfield, but what the hell is going to cost €4m to provide “water, drainage and power facilities on the existing space” and plant a few trees??

Presumably there is already water available through the mains, power runs to the lights, and last time I checked the drains sort of worked.

My fear will be that this will be an excuse to dig up the cobble setts again, remove them on the pretext of ‘drainage’ and create another crap ‘urban plaza’ like the one on Dame Street, full of concrete ‘planters’.

What’s really needed is to take the land off Jameson or whoever currently being used as a cut rate surface car park and turn that into Smithfield’s Garden Square – there’s passive overlooking and CCTV at the Luas stop if they open up the railings, plenty of mature trees there already to get the thing rolling. (and get the rest of the cars off the square for good – there’s a massive underground public carpark that is half empty under Smithfield Market)

Opposite, they should never have given Danniger permission to knock the ESB substation and give that over to an Arts organisation as was originally promised. Then sort out “The Hole”, and the strip of land that was CPO’d as part of the Luas works and is now a litter trap and a source of revenue for Pat Egan’s crappy IPA posters.

I hope to God there’s a consultation/planning process before they make it worse…