Yesterday…
Dublin Chamber of Commerce announced on Twitter:
White water rafting, anyone? New images have been released to show what the new white water rafting facility, that Dublin City Council is proposing to build in the IFSC, will look like. The project will reportedly cost €22m and take around 18 months to build.
How did that go?
Social Housing.
I live between 3 homeless shelters that did not exist 5 years ago. One for disabled folks. One for families with children.
If you build this but not social housing, you risk people downing you all in it.
— James Brophy (@jamesfbrophy) November 27, 2019
Is this a joke? 22million when we NEED social housing so badly? Better Dublin? Better for whom? FGS, we’re at breaking point with increased rents and staggeringly high homeless rates. This is a ridiculous waste of resources.
— Arlene Hunt (@arlenehunt) November 27, 2019
That looks like a huge site space.
It’s in the IFSC
And it’s only €22 million??
*Looks over at O’Devaney debacle*
Something stinks here
— Davey wan Kenobi (@kenobifan1977) November 27, 2019
Initially estimated at €12m, now €22m, by the time the plans are finalised and approved it’ll be at least €50m and you know it. €75m will be spent on this before it opens while the city continues to rot in a mire of homelessness, sky high rents, dangerously bad infrastructure
— Learaí Óg Ó Néill লারি ওনীল (@larryoneill) November 27, 2019
This was quoted as costing 12 million in August! Still 12 million too much IMO, how did it go up 10M in 3 months? What will the final cost be? This is nonsense. https://t.co/PRq3Q7KnxB
— Catherine ‘Repealed the 8th’ Rutter (@CatRutter) November 27, 2019
Are you out of your minds, WHAT ABOUT PROVIDING MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR DUBLIN RESIDENTS and helping fix the housing crisis, or are the proposed new apartment blocks hidden under all that white water?
— Kat Keogan (@KatharineKeogan) November 27, 2019
Oh.
Meanwhile…
The Dublin white water rafting course will be known as The Bleedin’ Rapids
— James Kelleher (@etienneshrdlu) November 27, 2019
Meanwhile…
In the Dublin Inquirer, Lois Kapila reports:
With Dublin City Council short of money, councillors on the finance committee have agreed to consider a different way to raise cash: civic crowdfunding.
Council to Consider Crowdfunding for City Projects (Dublin Inquirer)
“With Dublin City Council short of money, councillors on the finance committee have agreed to consider a different way to raise cash: civic crowdfunding.”
– if only they had an established mechanism for raising cash that they hadn’t voted to reduce on three separate occasions…
Thanks
blueshirtsFF/Green/Lab/SocialDemshirtsIt’s worth remembering that only 5 short years ago Phil Hogan introduced what we were promised was the most comprehensive reform of Local Government in 100 years. That it has been a woeful failure will come as a surprise to no one.
Given the deliberate departmental obstructions DCC face every time they try to build social housing- I suppose putting the site to some use is better than none?
Only if they will recoup the cost.
Maybe it will, but I doubt it.
I don’t get the whole we need this so can’t spend money on anything else.
Yes we need social housing but that doesn’t mean we don’t invest in other projects at the same time.
I would question the quickly rising price but it look like a great facility to me.
Exactly, you don’t just stop developing a city because of other issues. There’s people who live in this city, tax payers who also deserve a good city. It will an amazing amenity. FFS remeber the uproar when the closed the last ice rink! And I can’t wait for the other rapids, Dun Laoighre baths to be opened
Is there demand for this? There is some similar stuff in the Grand Canal Basin – is this overwhelmed by demand?
It’s pretty busy most lunchtimes anyway…
I imagine the insurance for this won’t be provided and it’ll never happen though. From the news there aren’t many insurers willing to take on outdoor/activity customers here.
The big question here is – why?
Also. 100% guarantee it will not look like that. This being Ireland, there will be extensive railings all around every inch of this.
Exactly, you don’t just stop developing a city because of other issues. There’s people who live in this city, tax payers who also deserve a good city. It will an amazing amenity. FFS remeber the uproar when the closed the last ice rink! And I can’t wait for the other rapids, Dun Laoighre baths to be opened
We can’t have anything nice in this country because of the moaners and begrudgers. Why does every penny (or none of it at the moment cause of the gravy train riding politicians) have to go to the homeless?
Regardless even if it was built, on day one some skanger would “fall in” and sue their insurance. The great unwashed win again.
I presume that DCC won’t be operating the proposed facility.
More tender shenanigans ahead so.
I just don’t think we have the weather for it,
I also agree with the likely hood of horrible railings,
and while not a begrudger the state of so many other urgent issues makes this have a bang of let them eat cake about it
I would have thought that white water rafting would be one of the less weather-reliant outdoor activities – a bit of rain is hardly going to make a difference if you are already soaked by the spray.
haha, saying you can’t do rafting cos of our weather is literally the worst excuse
sounds like hell to me twice as wet, freezing hands, no thanks
more a pedallo down a beautiful sunny gorge type of girl, preferably with chilled wine
We go out in all sorts of weather Janie, usually
Heavy Mist/ Fog is one no no for every open sea/ inshore paddler
Heavy squalls is another, but some like meself and Mrs K would be more inclined to dip when it is a bit more lumpy
but under conditions, like having someone on shore on look out, and a rib on standby
And neither of us would be nervous swimmers anyway, but it would be strictly inshore
Also, kit is far more advanced now, most of us would have kit for all sorts of weather anyway,
Longies, Shorties, Skins, Kags, gloves and varying classes of buoyancy aids, even helmets; conditions decide tbh
If I’m just doing a few laps of the beach at HT, a short sleeve rasher is the height of it and gloves, I always use gloves
This facility here, I would be using skins, gloves and probably a kag depending on time of year, and booties. However I suspect they will also insist on buoyancy aids and helmets.
And I doubt they will permit rolling and reverse gates.
That should shut Mumsnet up.
brilliant
lol
haha
Closed within 1 year of opening due to rising insurance costs.
If you charge 20 euro per hour, and you can have probably no more than 6 people at a time going around the course at a time. it would take over 20 years to make the money back assuming that there were no upkeep costs.
would be better if they stuck a glass roof over it and turned it into a swimming pool.
alternatively fill it in and sell the site for another office block, and use the cash to build more houses.
ohh yeah , a nice warm affordable public swimming pool
You don’t need a roof. There are outdoor heated pools in London.
seagull poop
would be least of worries
scientifically proven that the average irish person pees within 45 seconds of entering a swimming pool
I have a gut feeling this isn’t going to crystallise into anything
And it’s just a glossy announcement in the wake of DCC voting to up rates.
Ok I know they pushed it out last August and the 12 mill quoted made it very attractive; And I would have been one of those whose eye was caught by it.
But that was motivated by a personal bias because I’d be one of the ‘rafters’ looking forward to it.
But DCC can’t even manage public swimming pools.
They are promising the City this facility that – going by the images published anyway, looks to me like it will be managed in a single file circuit along with strictly controlled weirs that’ll lead to crowding as one, two, three etc person canoes, kayaks, canadians of various capacities, and paddle boarders assemble to wait their turn.
And if anyone has ever seen the start of the Liffey Decent they’ll know what I’m getting at.
It’s an ambulance chasers wet dream while Insurance underwriters are sweating out well paid overtime.
And it may well be restricted to Clubs and private groups, like their swimming pools.
My point is that it’s a great idea but is totally unrealistic as an ongoing facility – my own personal fear is that it’ll end up like the Lee Bats (sic)
(Filled in with concrete and a hotel built over the site.)
I would be one of those vocally and actively critical of DCCs failure to supply Social Housing, and despite it being in my favour – their decision to reduce LPT was reckless; at best. Doing my best to be polite lads.
While this facility does demonstrate a willingness to invest in the City, it is imo anyway, just for show.
I suspect it will – if it does come to anything, be another piece of publicly funded infrastructure that will be handed over to a local business man to operate.
And despite the issues – particularly regarding restricted use, I introduced above, it is for that reason only – I am now totally against it.
Also has anyone considered the noise pollution from this. White water rapids are generally very noisy + the machinery for pumping the water.
Something about the scale of the images doesn’t look right to me, I don’t think the space is as big as it is portrayed
Maybe its a badly needed sewerage treatment plant in disguise?