Yearly Archives: 2013

Outside City Hall, Dame Street/Cork Hill, Dublin.

From An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland:

Fiachra Worrell,
Planning Enforcement
Dublin City Council
Civic Offices
Wood Quay
Dublin.

February 8, 2013

Re: Legal Complaint – Re: Erection of Concrete Base Structure and No. 3 Flagpoles adjacent to City Hall at Cork Hill, Dublin.

Dear Mr Worrell,

Further to our email to Michael Philips City Engineer yesterday and to our telephone conversation this afternoon we thank you for confirming that there has been no consent under Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001.

The concrete structure already inserted and proposed flag pole placement is highly injurious to the setting of major protected structures namely the City Hall, main entrance to Dublin Castle and the former Newconem Bank now the Rates Office.

This is one of the city’s iconic architectural ensembles featuring in a Malton print and State Visit arrivals to Dublin Castle.

The main pediment of the City Hall has three flag poles and the Rates Office three on the portico. The insertion of flagpoles on this site is unnecessary and unjustified apart from being visually deleterious.

In addition to this the structure erected is a waste of public money.

We do not consider any claim that the work is exempt from Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 consent because of sub threshold cost of the project applies and also because of the location of the works affecting major Protected Structures.

The claim made by Paul Heffernan Media Relations and Corporate Communications, Dublin City Council, this afternoon that “the structure is to provide more protection to pedestrians on this street. City Hall is on the Dublin walk from Trinity to Kilmainham and the left turn from Parliament St can be very busy, the works therefore provide a traffic calming measure. A part 8 wasn’t necessary”, has no basis.

Traffic calming has already been achieved by the erection of the line of black bollards half way across Cork Hill and there is no need for an additional structure particularly the large lumpy intrusive concrete structure inserted.

We request that the concrete base be removed forthwith and that no further works proceed.

We are also referring the matter to the OPW and Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Lumley

Built Environment Heritage Officer,
An Taisce.

That’s them told.

An Taisce

Thanks Charles Stanley Smith

A mere smattering of the delights on offer at the WTF, Evolution? Tumblr, wherein wonders of nature are presented for your delectation and disgust.

Above: the Shoebill, the red-lipped batfish, the tongue-eating louse, two geoducks, the wolffish and a pignose frog.

Now go and get sick, if you must.

Every damn week.

Behold.

Baffled Late Late Audience Guy AND a Michael Collins fan.

It’s going to be a long night.

Largely Indifferent late Late Audience Guy

So When Are You Going To Unleash Magnum On Us?

Scary Late Late Audience Guy

Awesome Saturday Night Show Audience Guy

Thanks John Gavin

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78397292″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Unearthed in a second hand record shop in Cork and uploaded direct from vinyl to the internets only today – feast your ears on this ‘song’ recorded to mark the 5th birthday of 2FM in 1984.

‘Gram Blaster Flash’ featuring the vocal stylings of Gerry Ryan, Dave Fanning, Peter Collins, Marty Whelan, Larry Gogan & BP Fallon.

Cover scans: Mek and Jeremy Murphy.

Ciaran Savage adds:

Found this (below) on a board in my childhood bedroom in De Blanch. Anyone know when Radio 2 became 2fm?

(Thanks Oisín)

 

“The agreement significantly cuts the Irish sovereign’s funding requirement. The government estimates it will have to borrow less than €1bn a year to service the interest on the new government bonds, compared with payments of over €3bn annually on the promissory notes. It also simplifies the complex and opaque arrangements including ELA loans parallel with the promissory notes that have been in place since the financial crisis.”

 

“The Irish government estimates the interest saved on the new government bonds compared with the promissory notes to be worth about €1.1bn in 2013, €0.9bn in 2014, and €0.7bn in 2015. In 2013, the savings are cancelled out by the estimated costs of liquidating IBRC, but in both 2014 and 2015, the result should be to lower the government’s budget deficit by 0.6% of GDP.”

 

Which is all a bit ritch.

Fitch Says Ireland Deal Eases Fiscal Pressure, Improves Transparency (Reuters)

Solidarity With The Magdalenes is a Facebook page set up by supporters of the magdalenes.

They will be meeting tomorrow at the gates of Stephen’s Green, Dublin, at 11.30am to put flowers at a memorial bench [unveiled by Mary Robinson in 1996] to those who worked in the laundries (above) in the green.

You can show your support here.

In Cork there will be flowers laid at St Joseph’s Graveyard on the Tory Top Road tomorrow at 2pm.

Thanks Rachel Robinson

Pic: Magdalenelaundries.com

Meanwhile, in March