We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE REDEVELOPMENT OF a derelict site in Dublin city into a public park has moved a step closer after Dublin City Council (DCC) objected against its sale and unanimously supported the proposal.
The motion, which was passed in the name of Sinn Féin councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh and seconded by Labour’s Rebecca Moynihan, backs the proposal of turning the idle land – located between Cork Street and Chamber Street – into a recreation area for the residents of Dublin 8.
Dublin City Manager, Owen Keegan, had initiated the process to dispose of the site but the strong opposition from the chamber will now ensure the 1.2 acre site remains in the council’s possession.
Rezoning
A final decision on the rezoning of the land will be made in early 2014 when the council reconvenes and the necessary capital is secured. Councillor Moynihan has negotiated an initial budget of €75,000 for the development of recreational facilities in the South West Inner City but additional funds are expected to be required.
“There is still substantial work to do yet, but this is a big stepping stone. Our initial goal was to halt the sale of the site and now that that’s been achieved, we’re confident of getting the desired result,” Councillor Moynihan admitted.
Now is the council’s perfect opportunity to reverse some of the appalling damage done by developers over the past few decades with the Dublin 8 vicinity representing a concrete jungle and in dire need of a public amenity.
It’s claimed that initially there had been an invitation for expressions of interest for purchase and development of the site without the support of the chamber. The tender document asked potential developers to include an area for public use in their application.
The City Manager has now acknowledged the council’s stance and conceded the site won’t be sold contrary to original plans. “We won’t be proceeding with the disposal at this stage,” Keegan confirmed.
Report expected by February
While there is no exact timeline for the rezoning of the site, a report is expected to be presented to the council by February at the latest. Before compiling his recommendations, Keegan will factor in the suitability of the site for such a development and the overall cost to the council.
DCC have never fully financed the construction of a permanent public park without the support of private funding or schemes such as the National Lottery grants.
Over 1,000 residents have signed an online petition in an attempt to highlight their need for a recreational facility. Furthermore, several social media driven campaigns are now underway to try and convince the DCC that the investment would be a long-term strategic asset for the community.
“This area is one of the most deprived in our capital and an investment like this would have huge social and economic benefits for the wider community. Land is finite and to sell an invaluable resource when there is a desperate need for green space is a short-term vision,” Moynihan argued.
Safe and healthy environment needed
The acreage in question lies between Cork and Chamber Street and has been in the hands of DCC since the demolition of the council flats in November 2008. Its location on one of the principal arterial routes in and out of Dublin City adds to its significant value.
According to Central Statistics Office figures, there are 2,000 children under the age of eighteen without access to a safe and healthy environment for social recreation in the South West Inner City.
Colin Farmer, who has lived in the area for nearly a decade, is behind the ‘Cork Street Park’ campaign and admitted the area has experienced anti-social behaviour and hardship in recent years because of its lack of facilities.
This video shows a weekend of family activity held on the site in question in September this year (watch from 2:05). Via OutdoorCommunity.ie/Youtube.
“Since moving here, I’ve been struck down by the lack of green space available and the issue is compounded by the signs prohibiting children to play ball in the housing development’s commons areas,” he explained.
Welcome haven
“Cork Street, in particular, resembles a dual carriageway and having a park will provide a welcome haven for residents. Additionally, a community is built on social interaction and a public area would facilitate and encourage this.”
The high density housing district in Dublin 8 falls under the Liberties Local Area Plan, which aims to achieve social, economic and physical regeneration. However, other social issues have taken precedence in recent years.
The Dublin City Parks Department is responsible for the management of the fifty-three public parks – covering 1,400 hectares – in the capital. The provision and maintenance of these recreational facilities are accommodated for in their annual budget but funds for similar projects have all been donated by external sources.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The last thing you should do is listen to ordinary people’s opinions on complex technical topics. Look at Brexit.
Listen to what the technical experts are saying, and they are all to a man saying that Cork city needs to be extended to give it a critical mass which is important for many reasons.
@Fred Jensen: at the cost of the county though. Even the financial rebate being proposed is only for 5 years before review and doesn’t factor in lost revenue to the county council from developments they have already partially paid for.
There is also a concern the the financial model maybe unachievable in the short term for the city council
Majority of ordinary people in the county are dead set against the city council taking over. Increase in rates…no or little investment in these new areas…theyll become back waters.
@Tony Skillington: the extended City Council should have more money to spend as it wouldn’t have to subsidise the rest of the county council. The council of course might struggle
@Tony Skillington: so who is responsible for that traffic jam they call Douglas??
@Michael Collins: that’s in the county at present. So the county
@Tony Skillington: are they? Must people living in Douglas probably aren’t even aware that they are in fact living in the county. The county would have a stronger case if they hadn’t been pushing people out to far flung places to live. Cork is relatively small yet they seem to think living in Mallow and commuting would be better than living near the city.
May as well extend it to Midleton, Mallow, Macroom and Bandon seeing as ye are on such a roll lads.
So is Limerick city now bigger than Cork City ??as they have extended their boundary, and encompassed a far greater population than Cork city..
@Gary Heslin: limerick city doesn’t exist. It is now part of the county limerick. But the old boundary had a greater land area than Cork city has presently with half the population.
@prop joe: Incorrect. Limerick City still exists. It may be a unity authority with the county but it still has a border, as such. Population including suburbs 95k.
Why has Cork City got its own council ?
@sportsmad: like must urban areas it is governed locally. The counties we have presently where drawn up by the British 400 hundred years ago and don’t really make sense anymore. We should look at all county boundaries.
@prop joe: I’d like to see West Limerick and North Kerry join as one county!
@Colm O’Sullivan: I would like to see from west clare to the cork border, from north tipp to the cork border and east waterford to the cork border all come under the cork banner.
It has a bigger population than half of the counties in Ireland as it is, if the proposed expansion is approved, only 2 counties in the Republic will have a bigger population.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say