# Dublin InQuirer > Dublin Inquirer is an independent, primarily subscriber-funded newspaper serving Ireland's capital since 2015, publishing Wednesdays and Fridays online, and in print monthly. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About Us URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-09-11T11:17:03.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/04/Team-photo.JPG) Lois Kapila, Sam Tranum, Sunni Bean, and Laoise Neylon in the Dublin Inquirer office in March 2025. Launched in 2015, Dublin Inquirer is a local, [independent](https://dublininquirer.com/2016/10/01/what-we-mean-when-we-say-we-are-independent/?ref=dublininquirer.com) newspaper, dedicated to quality public-interest journalism. We publish online on Wednesdays and Fridays, and in print monthly. We aim to bring you stories that otherwise wouldn’t be covered, and that you won’t find anywhere else. We’re committed to understanding, and helping readers to understand, what and who is shaping the city today. We cover, broadly, housing and homelessness, transport, planning, immigrant life, the environment and climate, community safety, arts and culture, and food – in the Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council areas. If you'd like to a peek into our finances – where our money comes from, and how we spend it – have a read of this. [A look at Dublin Inquirer’s financesWe ask people to subscribe to help us do what we do, so it feels fair to tell you all where we are financially, and what we’d spend that subscription income on.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Finances-money.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-look-at-dublin-inquirers-finances/) And if you've any questions, feel free to ask. ## The Team **Editor**: Sam Tranum (sam@dublininquirer.com, 0873924797) **Deputy Editor**: Lois Kapila (lois@dublininquirer.com, 0873924796) **Distribution Manager**: Amy van den Broek (amy@dublininquirer.com) **Reporters** - Eoin Glackin (eoin@dublininquirer.com) - Lois Kapila (lois@dublininquirer.com) - Michael Lanigan (michael@dublininquirer.com) - Shamim Malekmian (shamim@dublininquirer.com) - Laoise Neylon (lneylon@dublininquirer.com) **Regular Contributors** - Bartira Augelli - Luke Maxwell - Dean Van Nguyen ## Advertising We sell advertising in our weekly email newsletter, and in our monthly print edition. There are [more details here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/), if you're interested. ## Subscription Questions If you would like to take out a subscription, you can do so [here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/membership/). If you have any questions about subscriptions in general, or your own, we have some [FAQs here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/subscription-faqs/), or you can just email sam@dublininquirer.com. ## Company Details CRO #559820 Dublin Inquirer The Digital Hub Thomas Street Dublin 8 D08 TCV4 Ireland info@dublininquirer.com --- ## Press Council We are a member of the Press Council of Ireland, and uphold the ethical principles in the Press Council’s Code of Practice. You can make a complaint to the Press Ombudsperson if you believe the code has been breached. Please visit [the website](https://pressombudsman.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), or email [casemanager@pressombudsman.ie](mailto:casemanager@pressombudsman.ie) for more information. You can also call the Office of the Press Ombudsman on 01-6489130\. Please note this is not the contact number for Dublin Inquirer. ## Reference We are a member of [Reference – the European Independent Media Circle](https://referencecircle.eu/about/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Within this network, we share experience and knowledge about building sustainable public-interest media organisations. ## Reporters Shield We are customers of [Reporters Shield](https://www.reporters-shield.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "a membership program that defends investigative reporting from legal threats meant to silence critical voices". Which means we have a kind of legal defence fund to pay for lawyers if we need to fight to defend our journalism. Although this is not defamation insurance, and so if we fight and lose, there's no fund to cover our opponents' legal costs, or any awards against us. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/07/Logos-for-memberships.png) ### 20% Off on Christmas Gift Subscriptions URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/christmas/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T10:27:52.000Z If you like reading Dublin Inquirer, maybe you know other people who would as well? If so, you can give them a one-year Digital + Print subscription so they'll get unlimited access to all our articles without hitting the paywall – including the new ones we publish each Wednesday and Friday, and the archive going back to 2015\. They'll also get the print edition in the post each month. And from now until Christmas, we're offering these gift subscriptions at 20% off our standard price for a year's subscription. If you'd like, we can post you a gift certificate and/or copy of the paper to put under the tree on the day. And you can buy the gift subscription now, and set the start date as 25 December, so it's a secret until then. This is a once-off payment, these subscriptions do not automatically renew. The confirmation email you get after purchasing a gift subscription will ask you to reply with details on where to send a gift certificate/paper for you to wrap up and put under the tree, and also the recipient's postal address, so we can start sending them the monthly print edition after the subscription starts. If you have any questions, or special requests, you can ask editor Sam Tranum by email at sam@dublininquirer.com, or by messenging or ringing 0873924797\. ### Latest URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/latest/ Last updated: 2025-01-15T20:48:43.000Z _No content available._ ### Archive URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/archive/ Last updated: 2025-01-15T20:49:24.000Z _No content available._ ### Membership URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/membership/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T08:35:09.000Z If you're not in a position to take out a subscription at any of these prices, get in touch and we'll sort you a Digital subscription at any price that works for you, all the way down to free: sam@dublininquirer.com. **If you have questions about subscriptions, you might find your answers in** [**these FAQs**](https://www.dublininquirer.com/subscription-faqs/)**.** Or you can email sam@dublininquirer.com. ### Sign in URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/signin/ Last updated: 2025-04-24T08:21:00.000Z _No content available._ ### Signup URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/signup/ Last updated: 2025-01-15T20:50:38.000Z _No content available._ ### Account URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/account/ Last updated: 2025-01-15T20:50:55.000Z _No content available._ ### Advertise with us URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T12:56:48.000Z Get word out about your event or business to a core of civic-minded and engaged Dubliners, through Dublin Inquirer. We offer advertising spots in our quality monthly print edition, and in our free weekly email newsletters. Our print edition is posted out directly to subscribers all across the Dublin region, sold through a few key stockists in the city, and available at all the city’s libraries. Our rate card is below, but if you’re looking for more information or a particular package, please do reach out on amy@dublininquirer.com. We’ve an ethical advertising policy [here, too, for guidance](https://www.dublininquirer.com/content/files/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/advertising-policy%5Fdublin-inquirer.pdf). We won’t do sponsored content – ads that look like articles – and we won’t take political adverts, and we won’t let advertising influence our journalism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Dublin-Inquirer-Rate-Card-September-2026.png) ### Yocojoin: a Youth Journalism Programme URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/youth-journalism/ Last updated: 2025-09-05T10:25:48.000Z We piloted a youth journalism training programme for people aged between 17 and 23, who care about the city. It included a three-month course, with classes once a week, followed by several months of one-to-one mentoring on stories, some of which we published. We're trying to work out how to make it a sustainable ongoing project. Part of it has been sharing what we know about journalism and how to do it. And part of it has been listening to Dubliners in this age group, to see what kind of news they want to see and also where they want to find that news. You can read some of the work [that they produced here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/yocojoin/). Project partners also produced a workbook on youth journalism, which you can [find here](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26084439-yocojoin-workbook/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and a [memorandum](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26084440-a-new-push-for-european-democracy-yocojoin-memorandum/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The initiative was part of the YoCoJoin project, a pan-European initiative co-funded by the European Union, involving five other newsrooms and organisations who all have been working under the guidance of the Dutch local public broadcaster Omroep Tilburg. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/04/Training-session.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/04/DSC_1208.JPG) Courts reporter Stephen Bourke gives students an interactive lecture on what it's like to cover the criminal justice system (L); students get stuck into a photography challenge during one of the classes (R) --- ## Project partners ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/04/Untitled-design.png) ## Co-funders ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cofunded-by-european-union-jpeg.jpg) ### Verification codes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/verification-codes/ Last updated: 2025-04-24T08:32:16.000Z [Mastodon](https://mastodon.ie/@dublininquirer?ref=dublininquirer.com) ### Terms of service URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/terms-of-service/ Last updated: 2026-03-09T21:07:03.000Z ## 1\. Introduction These are the terms of service for Dublin Inquirer Ltd (“we”, “us”, “Dublin Inquirer”), The Digital Hub Development Company, The Digital Hub, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland, CRO #559820, dublininquirer.com, info@dublininquirer.com. They govern your access to, and use of our website dublininquirer.com, and other products and services we offer. By accessing our website, you agree to abide by the terms of service set out on this page. We reserve the right to modify the terms and conditions at any time. It’s your responsibility to regularly review them for modifications. By continuing to use our website, you agree to be bound by the amended terms of service. All content on this website is © Dublin Inquirer Ltd. It may not be reproduced without written permission from the editor, which you may request by emailing info@dublininquirer.com. If you wish to complain about any content appearing on our website, or any other aspect of the website, please email us at info@dublininquirer.com. ## **2\. Personal information** Some of the servies we offer may require you to supply certain personal information. You agree to: (a) Provide true, current, complete and accurate information; (b) Maintain and promptly update this information as required to keep it true, current, complete and accurate. If you don’t, we have the right to suspend or terminate your use of the services. We maintain a privacy policy explaining what information we collect, why, and what we do with it, [here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/privacy-policy/). We reserve the right to disclose the personal information you give us if we are required to do so by law, or if we believe in good faith that any such disclosure is reasonably necessary for the administration of justice; to enforce the terms of service; to respond to a complaint received regarding the rights of third parties; or to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Dublin Inquirer, website users or the public. ## **3\. User account, password and security** You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your passwords and accounts, and for all activities that occur under your accounts or passwords. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorised use of your accounts or passwords, or any other breaches of security you know about. We will not be liable for any loss you may incur as a result of someone else using or accessing your passwords or accounts, either with or without your knowledge. ## 4\. Services a) Free use of the website: At our discretion, we may choose to make any number of articles or other pages or posts on our website free to access. We reserve change the status of an article, page or post from free to access, to accessible only by paid subscription, or under other terms, at any time, without notice. b) Paid Digital (only) subscriptions: Digital subscriptions include the services and products described in the text about them on our [Subscribe page](https://www.dublininquirer.com/subscribe/), at the price specified there. We reserve the right to change the price with 30 calendar days’ notice delivered to the email address provided by the customer when they subscribed. c) Paid Digital + Print subscriptions: Digital + Print subscriptions include the services and products described in the text about them on our [Subscribe page](https://www.dublininquirer.com/subscribe/), at the price specifised there. We will put a copy of the print edition into the post to the address provided by the customer, but will cannot be held legally or financially responsible if a third party fails to deliver it. However, if you do not receive your paper by the end of the month, let us know and we’ll try a second time to get one to you. We reserve the right to change the price with 30 calendar days’ notice delivered to the email address provided by the customer when they subscribed. Both annual and monthly subscriptions automatically renew at the end of the period, again taking the agreed payment, unless until you cancel them. We reserve the right to discontinue the website or our services or any portion of them, at any time, with or without notifying you. If we discontinue a service for which you are making recurring payments, we will stop taking those payments. ## 5\. Cancelling subscriptions You can cancel your subscription to the website and/or print edition at any time for any reason. You can do it yourself by logging into your account on our website and going to the My Subscription menu and choosing “cancel”. Or you can email us at info@dublininquirer.com and ask us to do it for you. ## 6\. Refunds If you purchase a subscription to Dublin Inquirer decide you want a refund for any reason, we will give you one, provided you ask us within two months of making the payment to us that you want refunded – whether it is a one-off purchase or a subscription renewal payment. We will provide the refund by the same means you used to make the payment, if that is possible. There’s no need to return copies of the print edition you received to receive your refund. If you have questions or need help, please contact us at info@dublininquirer.com. ## 7\. Comments We allow users to submit comments for publication on our website. We reserve the right to choose not to publish them, or to delete them, if we feel like it. ## 8\. Links and ads Our website contains links to other people’s websites that are not under our control. You agree that we are not responsible for the content of any of these linked sites. The inclusion of a link does not imply our endorsement of the linked site. Our website might contain advertisements or notices for products or services from third parties unconnected to us. You agree that we are not responsible for these products or services. The inclusion of an advertisement or notices does not impoly our endorsement of it. ## **9\. Indemnification** By using this website, you agree to indemnify, defend (at our request), and hold us, our directors, officers, employees, and representatives harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable legal expenses, made or brought by any third party due to or arising out of any of the following: (i) Your use of the website or any part thereof; (ii) Your violation of these terms of service; (iii) Publication of a comment by you; (iv) Viewing any content by any third party; (v) Infringement or misappropriation by you, or a third party using your computer, of any account or password to access and/or use our services; (vi) Any infringement by you of any intellectual property rights of any person or entity; (vii) Use or misuse by you or third parties of your passwords or accounts. ## **10\. Disclaimer of warranties** (i) We provides the this website and our other services on an “as is” and “as available” basis, and the you use them at your sole risk. (ii) We shall not be responsible for the effect or result of the introduction or entry of any virus into our website and/or one or any of our services. (iii) You understand and agree that any content and/or material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the website or services is done at your own discretion and risk. Dublin Inquirer is not responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of such content and/or material. (iv) We make no warranty that the website or services will meet your requirements; or that they will be uninterrupted, timely, or secure; nor do we make any warranty as to the results that may be obtained from the use of the site or services. (v) The Dublin Inquirer expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind insofar as is permissible by law, whether express, implied or statutory, including but not limited to the implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. (vi) No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by the User from the Site shall create any warranty not expressly made herein. ## **11\. Limitation of liability** The Dublin Inquirer shall not be liable for any loss of use, interruption of business, or any direct or indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any kind (including but not limited to lost profits) regardless of the form of action, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), strict product liability or otherwise, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages, howsoever arising, out of use of our website or services. ## **12\. 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Neither party will be entitled to enter into any contracts in the name of or on behalf of the other party, and neither party will be entitled to pledge the credit of the other party in any way or hold itself out as having authority to do so. ## **15\. Severability** If an arbitrator, court or other competent authority finds any provision of this agreement to be void or unenforceable, it shall be deemed to be deleted from this agreement and the remaining provisions shall continue to apply. The parties shall negotiate in good faith in order to agree on the terms of a mutually satisfactory provision to be substituted for the provision found to be void or unenforceable. ## **16\. Waiver** Any waiver (express or implied) by either party of any breach of these terms of service shall not constitute a waiver of any other or subsequent breach. No provision of these terms of service will be waived by any act, omission or knowledge of a party or its agents or employees except by an instrument in writing expressly waiving such provision and signed by a duly authorised officer of the waiving party. In particular but without prejudice, failure by the Dublin Inquirer to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the terms of service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by us in writing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/FoxIllustration-running-transparency.png) ### Fingal category page URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal/ Last updated: 2023-12-20T15:41:24.000Z [ ![In Malahide, the Toots train rides again](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/toots-train-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-malahide-the-toots-train-rides-again/) ## [In Malahide, the Toots train rides again](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-malahide-the-toots-train-rides-again/) After a break, the three-carriage road-train is back to doing its loop connecting the castle and the beach via the Dart station. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) March 5, 2025March 5, 2025 [ ![Council presents revised plans for Harbour Road and Red Island loop in Skerries](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/harbour-road-and-red-island-loop.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-presents-revised-plans-for-harbour-road-and-red-island-loop-in-skerries/) ## [Council presents revised plans for Harbour Road and Red Island loop in Skerries](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-presents-revised-plans-for-harbour-road-and-red-island-loop-in-skerries/) by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 26, 2025 [ ![Fingal County Council failed to use available NTA funds to improve bus stops](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bus-shelter-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-county-council-failed-to-use-available-nta-funds-to-improve-bus-stops/) ## [Fingal County Council failed to use available NTA funds to improve bus stops](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-county-council-failed-to-use-available-nta-funds-to-improve-bus-stops/) by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 19, 2025February 19, 2025 [ ![In Fingal, council moves to step in and finish estates developers have left in limbo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/windmill-playground-vandalism-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-moves-to-step-in-and-finish-estates-developers-have-left-in-limbo/) ## [In Fingal, council moves to step in and finish estates developers have left in limbo](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-moves-to-step-in-and-finish-estates-developers-have-left-in-limbo/) by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 12, 2025 [ ![Council Briefs: Airport noise monitoring, “forever chemicals”, and ethical procurement](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/dublin-airport-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-airport-noise-monitoring-forever-chemicals-and-ethical-procurement/) ## [Council Briefs: Airport noise monitoring, “forever chemicals”, and ethical procurement](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-airport-noise-monitoring-forever-chemicals-and-ethical-procurement/) by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 12, 2025March 3, 2025 [ ![Time for Trinity College Dublin to build student accommodation on land in Santry Demesne, councillor says](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/trinity-sports-grounds-santry-demesne-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-trinity-college-dublin-to-build-student-accommodation-on-land-in-santry-demesne-councillor-says/) ## [Time for Trinity College Dublin to build student accommodation on land in Santry Demesne, councillor says](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-trinity-college-dublin-to-build-student-accommodation-on-land-in-santry-demesne-councillor-says/) “It’s effectively sitting on residentially zoned land, it just isn’t right.” A spokesperson for the college says it’s considering its options for this parcel. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 5, 2025 [ ![An Bord Pleanála approves plans for 170 apartments in Clonsilla](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a-view-of-the-planned-clonsilla-apartments--from-planning-documents.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-bord-pleanala-approves-plans-for-170-apartments-in-clonsilla/) ## [An Bord Pleanála approves plans for 170 apartments in Clonsilla](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-bord-pleanala-approves-plans-for-170-apartments-in-clonsilla/) The planned new homes are to be spread across seven blocks to the front and rear of the Clonsilla Inn. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) February 5, 2025February 5, 2025 [ ![Judicial review launched over Dirty Old Tower that provides access to Clongriffin train station](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/clongriffin-2-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/judicial-review-launched-over-dirty-old-tower-that-provides-questionable-access-to-clongriffin-train-station/) ## [Judicial review launched over Dirty Old Tower that provides access to Clongriffin train station](https://www.dublininquirer.com/judicial-review-launched-over-dirty-old-tower-that-provides-questionable-access-to-clongriffin-train-station/) “It’s an enormous problem, the entire basis of the zoning in the area was about the provision of a new train station access.” by [Laoise Neylon](https://dublininquirer.com/author/laoise-neylon/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 29, 2025January 29, 2025 ## in past issues [ ![In Balbriggan, council plans revival of boat house and bath house for use by water sports clubs](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/balbriggan-bath-and-boat-house-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-council-plans-revival-of-boat-house-and-bath-house-for-use-by-water-sports-clubs/) ### [In Balbriggan, council plans revival of boat house and bath house for use by water sports clubs](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-council-plans-revival-of-boat-house-and-bath-house-for-use-by-water-sports-clubs/) A design team is in place to oversee their refurbishment, with a completion date set for March 2026, a council official’s report says. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 29, 2025January 29, 2025 [ ![In Rush, residents campaign to keep Postman Dave](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/save-postman-dave-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rush-residents-campaign-to-keep-postman-dave/) ### [In Rush, residents campaign to keep Postman Dave](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rush-residents-campaign-to-keep-postman-dave/) They’ve gathered 787 signatures so far on a petition to keep David Kelly from being moved to a new route after a decade in their community. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 22, 2025January 21, 2025 [ ![Fingal’s “flip-flop” on airport passenger-cap increase was in line with procedures, councillors say](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dublin-airport-2-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingals-flip-flop-on-passenger-cap-increase-was-in-line-with-procedures-councillors-say/) ### [Fingal’s “flip-flop” on airport passenger-cap increase was in line with procedures, councillors say](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingals-flip-flop-on-passenger-cap-increase-was-in-line-with-procedures-councillors-say/) A letter to the airport operator explained that an initial declaration that the application was valid was contingent on further examination by council planners. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 22, 2025January 22, 2025 [ ![Fingal exploring “bike libraries” to plug gap from retreat of bike-share services from north of county](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/skerries-3.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-exploring-bike-libraries-to-plug-gap-from-retreat-of-bike-share-services-from-north-of-county/) ### [Fingal exploring “bike libraries” to plug gap from retreat of bike-share services from north of county](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-exploring-bike-libraries-to-plug-gap-from-retreat-of-bike-share-services-from-north-of-county/) “We haven’t abandoned the north county bike share,” said Stephen McGinn, the council’s walking and cycling officer. by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 22, 2025January 22, 2025 [ ![The council finally has a plan to do up Clonsilla village](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/clonsilla-road-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-finally-has-a-plan-to-do-up-clonsilla-village/) ### [The council finally has a plan to do up Clonsilla village](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-finally-has-a-plan-to-do-up-clonsilla-village/) With a new community centre, playground, traffic plan, bike lanes, and more. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 22, 2025January 22, 2025 [ ![Council briefs: Rethinking community wardens, lighting up parks in evenings, and upgrading bus shelters](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-bus-stop-near-the-reception-centre--photo-shamim-malekmian-scaled-1.webp) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-rethinking-community-wardens-lighting-up-parks-in-evenings-and-upgrading-bus-shelters/) ### [Council briefs: Rethinking community wardens, lighting up parks in evenings, and upgrading bus shelters](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-rethinking-community-wardens-lighting-up-parks-in-evenings-and-upgrading-bus-shelters/) Why can’t a litter warden also give a parking fine? This, and other questions, were raised at Fingal County Council’s monthly meeting on Monday. by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 15, 2025 [ ![In Fingal, council plans roll-out of 14 EV-charging points this spring](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/esb-ev-charger-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-plans-roll-out-of-14-ev-charging-hubs-this-spring/) ### [In Fingal, council plans roll-out of 14 EV-charging points this spring](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-plans-roll-out-of-14-ev-charging-hubs-this-spring/) They’ll mostly be up and down the coastal side of the county, with just four planned for spots inland. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) January 7, 2025January 8, 2025 [ ![In Swords, councillors attempt revolt against traffic lights outside supermarkets on Rathbeale Road](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rathbeale-road-source-michael-lanigan-1.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-councillors-attempt-revolt-against-traffic-lights-outside-supermarkets-on-rathbeale-road/) ### [In Swords, councillors attempt revolt against traffic lights outside supermarkets on Rathbeale Road](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-councillors-attempt-revolt-against-traffic-lights-outside-supermarkets-on-rathbeale-road/) But in the face of stiff resistance from council managers, they backed down – for now, at least. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) December 18, 2024December 18, 2024 [ ![Council briefs: A new plan for Flemington, pushing for orchards, and more](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/flemington-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-a-new-plan-for-flemington-pushing-for-orchards-and-more/) ### [Council briefs: A new plan for Flemington, pushing for orchards, and more](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-a-new-plan-for-flemington-pushing-for-orchards-and-more/) Here’s some of what Fingal councillors have been proposing at recent council meetings. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 [ ![More for housing, libraries, and events, in Fingal County Council’s budget for 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/fingal-budget-meeting-source-fingal-county-council.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-for-housing-libraries-and-events-in-fingal-county-councils-budget-for-2025/) ### [More for housing, libraries, and events, in Fingal County Council’s budget for 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-for-housing-libraries-and-events-in-fingal-county-councils-budget-for-2025/) The new budget, approved by councillors at a meeting on 3 December, is up 7.5 percent from this year, to €389 million. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 [ ![Time for measures to get drivers to slow down on the Porterstown Road, council says](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/porterstown-road-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-measures-to-get-drivers-to-slow-down-on-the-porterstown-road-council-says/) ### [Time for measures to get drivers to slow down on the Porterstown Road, council says](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-measures-to-get-drivers-to-slow-down-on-the-porterstown-road-council-says/) The council is now looking to lower the speed limit and – eventually, maybe, install speed ramps. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) December 4, 2024December 3, 2024 [ ![In Portrane, residents of HSE-owned cottages fear for their future](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/portrane-avenue-cottages-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-portrane-residents-of-hse-owned-cottages-fear-for-their-future/) ### [In Portrane, residents of HSE-owned cottages fear for their future](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-portrane-residents-of-hse-owned-cottages-fear-for-their-future/) The HSE isn’t maintaining them well, or doing necessary upgrades – maybe it’s time it hands them over to the council, tenants and local councillors say. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 27, 2024December 3, 2024 [ ![For years, a developer has kept a stretch of road closed off, clogging up traffic](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/glen-ellan-road-fenced-off-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-years-a-developer-has-kept-a-stretch-of-road-closed-off-clogging-up-traffic/) ### [For years, a developer has kept a stretch of road closed off, clogging up traffic](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-years-a-developer-has-kept-a-stretch-of-road-closed-off-clogging-up-traffic/) And there’s no prospect of Gannon Properties taking down the fences that block off a stretch of Glen Ellan Road anytime soon. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 27, 2024November 27, 2024 [ ![Ryanair announces plans to fly tourists into occupied country against government in exile’s wishes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/file-photo-of-a-ryanair-plan-credit-sam-tranum-scaled.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ryanair-announces-plans-to-fly-tourists-into-occupied-territory-against-government-in-exiles-wishes/) ### [Ryanair announces plans to fly tourists into occupied country against government in exile’s wishes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ryanair-announces-plans-to-fly-tourists-into-occupied-territory-against-government-in-exiles-wishes/) The move supports Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, and will help finance its “illegal occupation”, a Polisario Front representative says. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam-tranum/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, the council plans to hike fees at recycling centres](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/coolmine-recycling-centre-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-the-council-plans-to-hike-fees-at-recycling-centres/) ### [In Fingal, the council plans to hike fees at recycling centres](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-the-council-plans-to-hike-fees-at-recycling-centres/) At a meeting Thursday, councillors worried the fee increase would lead to an increase in illegal dumping. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 20, 2024November 19, 2024 [ ![Improving access to Barnageeragh Bay Beach could cost €1.35 million and take years, a consultant told councillors](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/barnageeragh-beach-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/improving-access-to-barnageeragh-bay-beach-could-cost-e1-35-million-and-take-years-a-consultant-told-councillors/) ### [Improving access to Barnageeragh Bay Beach could cost €1.35 million and take years, a consultant told councillors](https://www.dublininquirer.com/improving-access-to-barnageeragh-bay-beach-could-cost-e1-35-million-and-take-years-a-consultant-told-councillors/) It’ll mean upgrading bus stops, footpaths and crossings on the R127 to make it safe to get to the path to the beach, before upgrading that too, he said. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 20, 2024November 19, 2024 [ ![In Swords, protestors target company that’s helped ship US military gear to Israeli air force base](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/main-asl-credit-sam-tranum-scaled.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-protestors-target-company-thats-helped-ship-us-military-gear-to-israeli-air-force-base/) ### [In Swords, protestors target company that’s helped ship US military gear to Israeli air force base](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-protestors-target-company-thats-helped-ship-us-military-gear-to-israeli-air-force-base/) After digging by The Ditch, and pressure from protestors, ASL Ireland issued a statement Friday meant to appease. Protestors say it’s not good enough. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 13, 2024November 13, 2024 [ ![Council says no grounds to pursue developer over failure to replace Dirty Old Tower at Clongriffin train station](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/clongriffin-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-no-grounds-to-pursue-developer-over-failure-to-replace-dirty-old-tower-at-clongriffin-train-station/) ### [Council says no grounds to pursue developer over failure to replace Dirty Old Tower at Clongriffin train station](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-no-grounds-to-pursue-developer-over-failure-to-replace-dirty-old-tower-at-clongriffin-train-station/) One councillor called the decision embarrassing. Another said it was “an utter failure to deliver for people”. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 13, 2024November 14, 2024 [ ![In Tyrrelstown, councillors push to give more land to Powerstown Educate Together National School, for a while](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/powerstown-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-tyrrelstown-councillors-push-to-give-more-land-to-powerstown-educate-together-national-school-for-a-while/) ### [In Tyrrelstown, councillors push to give more land to Powerstown Educate Together National School, for a while](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-tyrrelstown-councillors-push-to-give-more-land-to-powerstown-educate-together-national-school-for-a-while/) The school’s expanding, and wants the site so its kids will have space outside during the construction process. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 13, 2024November 13, 2024 [ ![Council Briefs: A battle over rezoning ALSAA lands, a call for more refuges in Fingal, and giving owner-occupiers a shot at apartments](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/fingal-chief-executive-annmarie-farrelly-source-fingal-county-council.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-a-battle-over-rezoning-alsaa-lands-a-call-for-more-refuges-in-fingal-and-giving-owner-occupiers-a-shot-at-apartments/) ### [Council Briefs: A battle over rezoning ALSAA lands, a call for more refuges in Fingal, and giving owner-occupiers a shot at apartments](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-a-battle-over-rezoning-alsaa-lands-a-call-for-more-refuges-in-fingal-and-giving-owner-occupiers-a-shot-at-apartments/) These were a few of the issues Fingal county councillors discussed at their November monthly meeting on Monday. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 13, 2024November 13, 2024 [ ![In Donabate, residents want developers to finally finish building their estates, and hand them over to the council ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/the-paddocks-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-residents-want-developers-to-finally-finish-building-their-estates-and-hand-them-over-to-the-council/) ### [In Donabate, residents want developers to finally finish building their estates, and hand them over to the council ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-residents-want-developers-to-finally-finish-building-their-estates-and-hand-them-over-to-the-council/) Until then, the council won’t maintain and improve the public areas, fixing roads, cutting the grass on the greens, and all that. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 [ ![In Malahide, Mondays mean Dave McNally and Hair of the Dog at Fowlers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/img_7696_1-scaled-e1730850013161.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-malahide-mondays-mean-dave-mcnally-and-hair-of-the-dog-at-fowlers/) ### [In Malahide, Mondays mean Dave McNally and Hair of the Dog at Fowlers](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-malahide-mondays-mean-dave-mcnally-and-hair-of-the-dog-at-fowlers/) They bring a relaxed vibe, and sing-a-long-able renditions of “Country Roads”, “Sunny Afternoon” and more. by [Bartira Augelli](https://dublininquirer.com/author/bartira-augelli/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 [ ![Timeline for Fingal section of Royal Canal Greenway drifts further again](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/royal-canal-12th-lock-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/timeline-for-fingal-section-of-royal-canal-greenway-drifts-further-again/) ### [Timeline for Fingal section of Royal Canal Greenway drifts further again](https://www.dublininquirer.com/timeline-for-fingal-section-of-royal-canal-greenway-drifts-further-again/) The plan now is to apply for planning permission in the second quarter of 2025, councillors learnt recently. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 [ ![As residents of Portrane and Donabate campaign for a cultural space, a beautiful hall nearby sits empty](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/st-itas-3-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-residents-of-portrane-and-donabate-campaign-for-a-cultural-space-a-beautiful-hall-nearby-sits-empty/) ### [As residents of Portrane and Donabate campaign for a cultural space, a beautiful hall nearby sits empty](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-residents-of-portrane-and-donabate-campaign-for-a-cultural-space-a-beautiful-hall-nearby-sits-empty/) The grand Victorian hall at St Ita’s used to host show bands, Christmas dances, and more, says Paschal Henchy, who worked at the hospital for 44 years. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 30, 2024November 3, 2024 [ ![In Balbriggan, a push to use the deposit-return scheme to fund a life-saving project](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/p1060545-scaled-e1729638254982.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-a-push-to-use-the-deposit-return-scheme-to-fund-a-life-saving-project/) ### [In Balbriggan, a push to use the deposit-return scheme to fund a life-saving project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-a-push-to-use-the-deposit-return-scheme-to-fund-a-life-saving-project/) Aidan Whelan plans to put out orange bins, ask people to put in bottles and cans, return them, and use the money to buy defibrillators and train first responders. by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 23, 2024November 8, 2024 [ ![Council Briefs: Setting the local property tax, access to Balbriggan Beach, and pressing for community childcare in Donabate](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/balbriggan-beach.png) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-briefs-setting-the-local-property-tax-access-to-balbriggan-beach-and-pressing-for-community-childcare-in-donabate/) ### [Council Briefs: Setting the local property tax, access to Balbriggan Beach, and pressing for community childcare in Donabate](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-briefs-setting-the-local-property-tax-access-to-balbriggan-beach-and-pressing-for-community-childcare-in-donabate/) Here’s what Fingal councillors have been debating at their recent meetings. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 16, 2024October 16, 2024 [ ![Near Portmarnock Dart Station, growth of footpath parking forces residents to walk on the road](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/eanans-wood-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/near-portmarnock-dart-station-growth-of-footpath-parking-forces-residents-to-walk-on-the-road/) ### [Near Portmarnock Dart Station, growth of footpath parking forces residents to walk on the road](https://www.dublininquirer.com/near-portmarnock-dart-station-growth-of-footpath-parking-forces-residents-to-walk-on-the-road/) Ciarán Ó Baoighealláin has tried to get Fingal County Council to intervene, he says. But to no effect. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 16, 2024October 21, 2024 [ ![Why is one of Ireland’s biggest landlords evicting so many of its tenants?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/lrc-evictions-story-1-scaled-e1727815238582.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-one-of-irelands-biggest-landlords-evicting-so-many-of-its-tenants/) ### [Why is one of Ireland’s biggest landlords evicting so many of its tenants?](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-one-of-irelands-biggest-landlords-evicting-so-many-of-its-tenants/) Figures suggest that Luxembourg fund LRC RE-1 has been issuing eviction notices at a much higher rate than peers – and at a greater rate than in the sector overall. by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 9, 2024November 8, 2024 [ ![Fingal councillors criticise planning officials for failing to make developer provide universal, reliable access to Clongriffin Dart station](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/clongriffin-dart-station-temporary-structure-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-criticise-planning-officials-for-failing-to-make-developer-provide-universal-reliable-access-to-clongriffin-dart-station/) ### [Fingal councillors criticise planning officials for failing to make developer provide universal, reliable access to Clongriffin Dart station](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-criticise-planning-officials-for-failing-to-make-developer-provide-universal-reliable-access-to-clongriffin-dart-station/) “It’s totally unacceptable. Can you see that it’s unacceptable?” by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 9, 2024November 8, 2024 [ ![In Porterstown, a proposal to demolish a 19th-century cottage fuels worries about the erosion of the village’s character](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/keanes-cottage-porterstown-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-porterstown-a-proposal-to-demolish-a-19th-century-cottage-fuels-worries-about-the-erosion-of-the-villages-character/) ### [In Porterstown, a proposal to demolish a 19th-century cottage fuels worries about the erosion of the village’s character](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-porterstown-a-proposal-to-demolish-a-19th-century-cottage-fuels-worries-about-the-erosion-of-the-villages-character/) Keane’s cottage isn’t listed, and a developer wants to knock it to build 100 new homes. But some residents say they’d mourn its loss. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) October 2, 2024October 2, 2024 [ ![In Portmarnock, a call for the council to buy and open up an underused community hall](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/portmarnock-adventure-club-hall-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-portmarnock-a-call-for-the-council-to-buy-and-open-up-an-underused-community-hall/) ### [In Portmarnock, a call for the council to buy and open up an underused community hall](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-portmarnock-a-call-for-the-council-to-buy-and-open-up-an-underused-community-hall/) The Portmarnock Adventure Club Hall on the Strand Road is only used by the local boxing club, three days a week. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, cycling lessons get kids with disabilities pedalling](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2seiodinandhylandandmikeconnolly-scaled-e1726009404306-jpeg.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-cycling-lessons-get-kids-with-disabilities-pedalling/) ### [In Fingal, cycling lessons get kids with disabilities pedalling](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-cycling-lessons-get-kids-with-disabilities-pedalling/) “I want this one,” says Seoidín Hyland, spotting a hot pink bike. “It’s my favourite colour.” by [Sunni Bean](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sunni-bean/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 [ ![Council Briefs: Letting media back into Fingal SPCs, removing parklets in Howth and Malahide, and swimming pool plans](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/the-entrance-to-the-council-chamber-at-fingal-county-hall-in-swords--photo-shamim-malekmian.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-letting-media-back-into-fingal-spcs-removing-parklets-in-howth-and-malahide-and-swimming-pool-plans/) ### [Council Briefs: Letting media back into Fingal SPCs, removing parklets in Howth and Malahide, and swimming pool plans](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-letting-media-back-into-fingal-spcs-removing-parklets-in-howth-and-malahide-and-swimming-pool-plans/) These were some of the issues Fingal county councillors discussed at their September monthly meeting. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 [ ![Council Briefs: Pushing for faster housing in Dunsink, pop-up CCTV, and interrogating delivery drones](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/drone-base-in-clonsilla-1-scaled.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/) ### [Council Briefs: Pushing for faster housing in Dunsink, pop-up CCTV, and interrogating delivery drones](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/) Here’s a sample of what came up at a recent council meeting for the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Castleknock and Ongar areas. by [Lois Kapila](https://dublininquirer.com/author/lois-kapila/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 11, 2024November 8, 2024 [ ![In Donabate, council okays more homes despite concerns about lack of accompanying services and amenities](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ballymastone-site-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-council-okays-more-homes-despite-concerns-about-lack-of-accompanying-services-and-amenities/) ### [In Donabate, council okays more homes despite concerns about lack of accompanying services and amenities](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-council-okays-more-homes-despite-concerns-about-lack-of-accompanying-services-and-amenities/) “They just seem to be very much housing at all costs, and everything else later.” by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 [ ![Irish Soup Kitchen Centres refused charity status due to uncertainty over counting cash](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/irish-soup-kitchens.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/irish-soup-kitchen-centres-refused-charity-status-due-to-uncertainty-over-counting-cash/) ### [Irish Soup Kitchen Centres refused charity status due to uncertainty over counting cash](https://www.dublininquirer.com/irish-soup-kitchen-centres-refused-charity-status-due-to-uncertainty-over-counting-cash/) “Absolutely everything was above board,” says Mark O’Neill, the founder of Irish Soup Kitchen Centres. But it has now closed, he said. by [Laoise Neylon](https://dublininquirer.com/author/laoise-neylon/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [Karina Cantu](https://dublininquirer.com/author/karina-cantu/?ref=dublininquirer.com) September 4, 2024September 4, 2024 [ ![In Hartstown, a writer and musician imagines the eeriness of the Dublin suburbs of the near future](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/richard-howard-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-hartstown-a-writer-and-musician-imagines-the-eeriness-of-the-dublin-suburbs-of-the-near-future/) ### [In Hartstown, a writer and musician imagines the eeriness of the Dublin suburbs of the near future](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-hartstown-a-writer-and-musician-imagines-the-eeriness-of-the-dublin-suburbs-of-the-near-future/) “Hub”, his latest album of stories told over ambient music, “casts a jaundiced eye on Ireland as a tech and financial services node”. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 28, 2024August 27, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, councillors call for more transparency in how council is tackling coastal erosion](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sutton-beach-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-councillors-call-for-more-transparency-in-how-council-is-tackling-coastal-erosion/) ### [In Fingal, councillors call for more transparency in how council is tackling coastal erosion](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-councillors-call-for-more-transparency-in-how-council-is-tackling-coastal-erosion/) No record of a Fingal Coastal Liaison Group meeting has been published publicly since 11 September 2019 – although there have been meetings since then. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 28, 2024August 27, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, a trio of councillors proposes reopening strategic policy committee meetings to media and the public](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/fingal-county-council-offices-closed-gates-swords-source-michael-lanigan-1.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-a-trio-of-councillors-proposes-reopening-strategic-policy-committee-meetings-to-media-and-the-public/) ### [In Fingal, a trio of councillors proposes reopening strategic policy committee meetings to media and the public](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-a-trio-of-councillors-proposes-reopening-strategic-policy-committee-meetings-to-media-and-the-public/) The county’s councillors voted through rules late last year that ended access. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 21, 2024August 21, 2024 [ ![Local residents raise concerns about health impacts on asylum seekers of living under a busy airport flight path in tents at Thornton Hall](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/a-plane-flying-over-thornton-hall--photo-shamim-malekmian.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/local-residents-raise-concerns-about-health-impacts-on-asylum-seekers-of-living-under-a-busy-airport-flight-path-in-tents-at-thornton-hall/) ### [Local residents raise concerns about health impacts on asylum seekers of living under a busy airport flight path in tents at Thornton Hall](https://www.dublininquirer.com/local-residents-raise-concerns-about-health-impacts-on-asylum-seekers-of-living-under-a-busy-airport-flight-path-in-tents-at-thornton-hall/) For some locals suffering in houses because of the noise, it’s a genuine concern. For others, is it a cover? by [Shamim Malekmian](https://dublininquirer.com/author/shamim-malekmian/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 21, 2024August 21, 2024 [ ![In Porterstown, a public garden offers a template for residents who want to attract more critters to the area](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mairead-stack-at-the-wildlife-exhibition-area--credit-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-porterstown-a-public-garden-offers-a-template-for-residents-who-want-to-attract-more-critters-to-the-area/) ### [In Porterstown, a public garden offers a template for residents who want to attract more critters to the area](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-porterstown-a-public-garden-offers-a-template-for-residents-who-want-to-attract-more-critters-to-the-area/) The Riverwood Biodiversity Group has shaped the patch to tempt solitary bees, hedgehogs, and others. They hope neighbours will take inspiration from it. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 14, 2024August 14, 2024 [ ![Council orders Clonsilla drone delivery service base removed](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/manna-clonsilla-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-orders-clonsilla-drone-delivery-service-base-removed/) ### [Council orders Clonsilla drone delivery service base removed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-orders-clonsilla-drone-delivery-service-base-removed/) It issued the owner of the Clonsilla Inn with a planning enforcement notice on 19 June, giving two months to remove the landing pads. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 [ ![In Clonsilla, residents say council should finish plan for the village before further development is okayed](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/clonsilla-lrd-site-notice-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clonsilla-residents-say-council-should-finish-plan-for-the-village-before-further-development-is-okayed/) ### [In Clonsilla, residents say council should finish plan for the village before further development is okayed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clonsilla-residents-say-council-should-finish-plan-for-the-village-before-further-development-is-okayed/) Fingal County Council hasn’t said when it expects the vision it is working on to be done. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 [ ![Flying drones are delivering food in Dublin, so where are companies allowed to build drone bases?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/drone-base-in-clonsilla-2-scaled.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/flying-drones-are-delivering-food-in-dublin-so-where-are-companies-allowed-to-build-drone-bases/) ### [Flying drones are delivering food in Dublin, so where are companies allowed to build drone bases?](https://www.dublininquirer.com/flying-drones-are-delivering-food-in-dublin-so-where-are-companies-allowed-to-build-drone-bases/) Neither the Fingal development plan, nor the Dublin city one, set out where drone bases are allowed and where they aren’t. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 24, 2024July 26, 2024 [ ![In Balbriggan, a weekly meet-up for artists that’s “like a warm hug”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/sketchbound-source-michael-lanigan-scaled.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-a-weekly-meet-up-for-artists-thats-like-a-warm-hug/) ### [In Balbriggan, a weekly meet-up for artists that’s “like a warm hug”](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-a-weekly-meet-up-for-artists-thats-like-a-warm-hug/) Artist Alison O’Grady has been running Sketchbound on and off for 12 years now. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 24, 2024July 23, 2024 [ ![Dublin Airport might breach its passenger cap this year, and the blame game has already begun](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/dublin-airport-jpeg.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-airport-might-breach-its-passenger-cap-this-year-and-the-blame-game-has-already-begun/) ### [Dublin Airport might breach its passenger cap this year, and the blame game has already begun](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-airport-might-breach-its-passenger-cap-this-year-and-the-blame-game-has-already-begun/) Airport operator DAA is pointing the finger at the Irish Aviation Authority, but the IAA says the company that runs the airport is ultimately responsible. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 17, 2024July 18, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, the journey to the top of the social-housing list is painfully slow](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/image-4643.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-the-journey-to-the-top-of-the-social-housing-list-is-painfully-slow/) ### [In Fingal, the journey to the top of the social-housing list is painfully slow](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-the-journey-to-the-top-of-the-social-housing-list-is-painfully-slow/) Homeless since 2021, Michael Conway was granted medical priority last September and shot up the list. But nine months later he still hasn’t reached the top. by [Laoise Neylon](https://dublininquirer.com/author/laoise-neylon/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 [ ![Council Briefs: Boycotting HP-branded products, quietening the M50, and pushing for more social housing](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/john-burtchaell-and-ruth-coppinger-fcc-meeting-source-fingal-county-council.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-boycotting-hp-branded-products-quietening-the-m50-and-pushing-for-more-social-housing/) ### [Council Briefs: Boycotting HP-branded products, quietening the M50, and pushing for more social housing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-boycotting-hp-branded-products-quietening-the-m50-and-pushing-for-more-social-housing/) These were among the issues Fingal county councillors discussed at their July monthly meeting. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 [ ![An artist coaxes music out of stone and metal in Balbriggan, building lithophones and metallophones](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/darren-rogers-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-coaxes-music-out-of-stone-and-metal-in-balbriggan-building-lithophones-and-metallophones/) ### [An artist coaxes music out of stone and metal in Balbriggan, building lithophones and metallophones](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-coaxes-music-out-of-stone-and-metal-in-balbriggan-building-lithophones-and-metallophones/) Darren Rogers “has an engineering mind, an architectural mind”, says local filmmaker Aidan Whelan. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 3, 2024July 3, 2024 [ ![With journalists and the public shut out of some Fingal council committee meetings, they’re left to rely on terse minutes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/fingal-county-council-offices-closed-gates-swords-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-journalists-and-the-public-shut-out-of-some-fingal-council-committee-meetings-theyre-left-to-rely-on-terse-minutes/) ### [With journalists and the public shut out of some Fingal council committee meetings, they’re left to rely on terse minutes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-journalists-and-the-public-shut-out-of-some-fingal-council-committee-meetings-theyre-left-to-rely-on-terse-minutes/) In the official record, 20 minutes of presentation and discussion can be reduced to just two short sentences. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 3, 2024July 3, 2024 [ ![Efforts continue to take the job of regulating Dublin Airport noise away from Fingal County Council](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/an-airplane-landing-at-dulin-airport--credit-sam-tranum.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/efforts-continue-to-take-the-job-of-regulating-dublin-airport-noise-away-from-fingal-county-council/) ### [Efforts continue to take the job of regulating Dublin Airport noise away from Fingal County Council](https://www.dublininquirer.com/efforts-continue-to-take-the-job-of-regulating-dublin-airport-noise-away-from-fingal-county-council/) The council is too entangled with the airport to be independent, critics say. Labour TD Duncan Smith has introduced a bill to give the EPA the job instead. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 3, 2024July 3, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, a teenage aviation journalist leads the national media](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/shaun-dunne-watches-an-airplane.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-a-teenage-aviation-journalist-leads-the-national-media/) ### [In Fingal, a teenage aviation journalist leads the national media](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-a-teenage-aviation-journalist-leads-the-national-media/) But 17-year-old Shaun Dunne says he’s aiming for a career as a pilot, not in the media. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 26, 2024June 25, 2024 [ ![Post-election, a group of Fingal county councillors have formed a ruling alliance – but what are their policy goals?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/councillors-in-the-council-chamber-on-monday--screenshot.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/post-election-a-group-of-fingal-county-councillors-have-formed-a-ruling-alliance-but-what-are-their-policy-goals/) ### [Post-election, a group of Fingal county councillors have formed a ruling alliance – but what are their policy goals?](https://www.dublininquirer.com/post-election-a-group-of-fingal-county-councillors-have-formed-a-ruling-alliance-but-what-are-their-policy-goals/) Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Green Party voted together to choose the lord mayor and divvy up committee chairs. by [Sam Tranum](https://dublininquirer.com/author/sam/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 26, 2024June 26, 2024 [ ![Time to reopen Balbriggan’s council help desk, councillors say](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/balbriggan-town-hall-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-reopen-balbriggans-council-help-desk-councillors-say/) ### [Time to reopen Balbriggan’s council help desk, councillors say](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-reopen-balbriggans-council-help-desk-councillors-say/) Now, residents must travel 18km to Swords, or 37km to Blanchardstown if they need to sign forms or speak with a council official face to face. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 26, 2024June 25, 2024 [ ![In Fingal, developers planning more homes often argue there’s no need to add community amenities to go with them](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ballymastone-site-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-developers-planning-more-homes-often-argue-theres-no-need-to-add-community-amenities-to-go-with-them/) ### [In Fingal, developers planning more homes often argue there’s no need to add community amenities to go with them](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-developers-planning-more-homes-often-argue-theres-no-need-to-add-community-amenities-to-go-with-them/) Of 18 recent social infrastructure audits, 13 concluded no more was needed in areas such as Howth, Donabate, and Swords. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 19, 2024June 19, 2024 [ ![New documentary looks at how Balbriggan has been shaped by artists ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/aidan-whelan-in-the-lark-theatre-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-documentary-looks-at-how-balbriggan-has-been-shaped-by-artists/) ### [New documentary looks at how Balbriggan has been shaped by artists ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-documentary-looks-at-how-balbriggan-has-been-shaped-by-artists/) Aidan Whelan’s 68-minute film “A Destination for the Arts” is due to premiere this Friday, 21 June. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 19, 2024June 18, 2024 [ ![In Clonsilla, residents petition a developer to save the chimney stack of an old lodge](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/clonsilla-lodge-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clonsilla-residents-petition-a-developer-to-save-the-chimney-stack-of-an-old-lodge/) ### [In Clonsilla, residents petition a developer to save the chimney stack of an old lodge](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clonsilla-residents-petition-a-developer-to-save-the-chimney-stack-of-an-old-lodge/) It was built for Captain Steeds, who lived nearby in Clonsilla House, and whose horses were the victims in the Clonsilla Poisoning of 1887. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 12, 2024June 11, 2024 [ ![Vacancy Watch: A row of six buildings lying derelict on Main Street in Rush](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/upper-main-street-rush-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-a-row-of-six-buildings-lying-derelict-on-main-street-in-rush/) ### [Vacancy Watch: A row of six buildings lying derelict on Main Street in Rush](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-a-row-of-six-buildings-lying-derelict-on-main-street-in-rush/) A director of the company that owns them says he’s been trying for years to build homes and an Aldi there. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) June 5, 2024June 6, 2024 [ ![Developer says it doesn’t need to build new community facilities along with housing at big Donabate scheme, as there’s already plenty](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ballymastone-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-says-it-doesnt-need-to-build-new-community-facilities-along-with-housing-at-big-donabate-scheme-as-theres-already-plenty/) ### [Developer says it doesn’t need to build new community facilities along with housing at big Donabate scheme, as there’s already plenty](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-says-it-doesnt-need-to-build-new-community-facilities-along-with-housing-at-big-donabate-scheme-as-theres-already-plenty/) Like the indoor swimming pool at the community centre, the developer’s report says. Only problem: there isn’t one. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) May 29, 2024May 30, 2024 [ ![Fingal Briefs: Keeping tenants in-situ, affordable housing at St Ita’s, and battling coastal erosion](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/st-itas-portrane-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-briefs-keeping-tenants-in-situ-affordable-housing-at-st-itas-and-battling-coastal-erosion/) ### [Fingal Briefs: Keeping tenants in-situ, affordable housing at St Ita’s, and battling coastal erosion](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-briefs-keeping-tenants-in-situ-affordable-housing-at-st-itas-and-battling-coastal-erosion/) These were some of the issues councillors discussed at a recent meeting of the council’s Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) May 22, 2024May 22, 2024 [ ![In Skerries, flooding leaves much-needed GAA pitch unusable for much of the year](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/skerries-town-park-gaa-pitch-source-michael-lanigan.jpg) ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-skerries-flooding-leaves-much-needed-gaa-pitch-unusable-for-much-of-the-year/) ### [In Skerries, flooding leaves much-needed GAA pitch unusable for much of the year](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-skerries-flooding-leaves-much-needed-gaa-pitch-unusable-for-much-of-the-year/) “And to watch a pitch like that lying idle is a travesty,” says Ronan Rasdale, an under-8s coach. by [Michael Lanigan](https://dublininquirer.com/author/michael-lanigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) May 15, 2024May 14, 2024 ### Privacy and cookies URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/privacy-and-cookies/ Last updated: 2025-04-23T21:52:02.000Z ## I. 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If you have any trouble, email sam@dublininquirer.com and I'll sort it for you. ### How do I cancel my subscription? If everything's working properly, you should be able to do it from your account on our website. You can also just email sam@dublininquirer.com, and I'll cancel it asap, no questions, no hassles. ### ### Summer School 2026 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/summer-school-2026/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T12:27:21.000Z Join us for this year’s Dublin Inquirer Summer School, on Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June. In six sessions, members of our team will work with groups of up to 15 people on skills and knowledge that could be used in journalism, but also just by people who are involved in their communities and trying to make them better places. Classes will mostly be held at 10-13 Thomas Street, in the Digital Hub, in Dublin 8 – although there's one session that'll be a walking tour, and another that'll be online. Participants are also invited to an end-of-school meet-up on Sunday afternoon, just down the street at Arthur’s Pub. You can sign up now, via this page, for any or all of the sessions. Tickets are €50 per class, and the money will go into [our budget](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-look-at-dublin-inquirers-finances/) to keep running Dublin Inquirer. If the price doesn’t suit you though, we’ve a few free places available, just let us know. ## The Sessions ### Day 1 - **Navigating local government.** Trying to figure out who is responsible for what and how to contact them to push for change and improvement can be difficult. Dublin Inquirer editor Sam Tranum will offer a primer on the structure of local authorities like Dublin City Council, the difference between what council staff do, and what elected councillors do. How to find out who your councillors are and watch them at work on committees and during full council meetings. What information the councils publish publicly, and how to find it. And more. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 10am to 11.30am, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* **Sold out.** - ***Walking tour:* Local government in concrete.** Walk along with Dublin Inquirer deputy editor Lois Kapila on a tour around the Liberties, visiting a series of locations that illustrate how local government works, debates and responses. The locations will include: The Eight Building in Newmarket, Bridgefoot Street Park, the council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay, and the Oliver Bond flats. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 12 to 1.30pm, starting at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/walking-tour-local-government-in-concrete-tickets-1989223412776?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - **Who even owns that?** Have you been wondering who owns that vacant or derelict building in your area? In this class, Dublin Inquirer deputy editor Lois Kapila will show you how to start to satisfy that curiosity, by using public records to answer questions about your neighbourhood, and offering insight into the changing rules around ownership transparency. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 2pm to 3.30pm, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/who-even-owns-that-tickets-1989223801940?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - ***Free online event:* Tracking your local councillors’ votes.** A few years ago, we launched a platform recording how councillors vote on key issues in the Dublin City Council area, with [CouncilVoteTracker.ie](https://councilvotetracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Since then we've expanded to cover Fingal County Council too.But we can’t do every council area in the country – perhaps you want to help? Join Sam Tranum to learn how to use our platform to track what your local councillors are voting on, and how each individual councillor is voting – and make it easily publicly accessible and shareable on social media. *This class will be online on Saturday 27 June, from 4pm to 5pm.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tracking-your-local-councillors-votes-tickets-1989224218185?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). ### Day 2 - **Master FOI and AIE:** Freedom of Information requests and Access to Information on the Environment requests are two useful tools to get records out of public bodies. Dublin Inquirer reporter Laoise Neylon will walk you through how to make an initial request, how to file an appeal for an internal review, and how to appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner, offering tips and examples from her years of experience with this process. *This class will be on Sunday 28 June, from 10am to 11.30am, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/master-foi-and-aie-tickets-1989224977456?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - **Launching your own small publication.** From finding a market, to choosing a platform, and means of distribution, and possible ways of making money from your effort, and the nuts and bolts of running a company. In this class, Dublin Inquirer co-founder Sam Tranum will talk through the practicalities of starting a small publication, in print, on a website, on social media, or as a newsletter. *This class will be on Sunday 28 June, from 2pm to 3.30pm, at 10-13 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here.](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/launching-your-own-small-publication-tickets-1989226720670?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com) **School social:** If you participate in any of these sessions, you'll be invited to join us at one of the pubs near the venue, from Sunday 28 June at 3pm till whenever. Come and meet people from across Dublin, for a casual debrief and chats. ## The people **Lois Kapila** is co-founder and deputy editor of *Dublin Inquirer*. Before that, she wrote for *The Statesman* in Kolkata. She was shortlisted for Orwell Prize for Journalism and Prix Europa's European Journalist of the Year in 2019\. **Laoise Neylon** is a journalist with the Dublin Inquirer with an interest in housing, homelessness and social affairs. Together with Lois Kapila, she contributed to an international investigation on the financialisation of housing, which won a European Press Prize Innovation Award in 2022\. She has also written for the *Sunday Times* and *The Journal.ie.* **Sam Tranum** is co-founder and editor of *Dublin Inquirer*. Before that, he worked as a reporter for daily newspapers, covering local government at the *Charleston Daily Mail* in West Virginia and the *South Florida Sun-Sentinel*, and then as a reporter for energy business newsletters from Energy Intelligence in Washington DC, before taking a role as a sub-editor at *The Statesman* in Kolkata, and teaching journalism at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek. ## Directions Most sessions will be in Studio 2, in 10-13 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, D08 PX8H. It's on the Digital Hub campus, near-ish the corner of Crane Street, on the south side of Thomas Street, across from the Masonry Building. It's a short walk down the road from the James's Luas stop, or across the river from the Smithfield one. It's on several bus routes. And there's plenty of bike parking around. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-eba7f547-b231-420c-b9c8-30b8c23257b7.png) ## Posts ### Dublin City Council, again, bans poster to spare US president's feelings URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-again-bans-poster-to-spare-us-presidents-feelings/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:47.000Z The Irish Neutrality League (INL) are holding a national demonstration this Saturday, protesting the visit of US President Donald Trump. So, naturally, they wanted to let people know about it, and what exactly they are protesting, says Sara O’Rourke, of the INL. Drawing on the Irish people’s constitutional right to freedom of expression, they wanted to explain, succinctly why they felt Trump should not receive anything close to a warm welcome. The initial design featured a sketch of Trump's head, with a red circle around it and a red line through it – and the words "Not Welcome" above it. And then the words “Warmonger”, “Racist”, “Epstein Class”, “Genocide Complicit”, and “Climate Denier”, wrapped in a circle around all that. Dublin City Council rejected that design, she says, without explanation. “So, then we assumed it was because of ‘warmonger’, ‘racist’, and all these things,” she says. They sent another version, the same layout, but without the descriptors. No joy there either, she says. A version which made no direct reference to Trump and removed his image, and simply read: “No welcome for warmongers” was also turned down, again with no explanation, she says. Another which maintained Trump's image, and read “Not welcome”, was not allowed either. “What’s vulgar or offensive about ‘Not welcome’?” asks O’Rourke, referencing the council’s own [posters protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614290-posters-protocol-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). The version eventually accepted reads: “No to war and militarism. Yes to Irish neutrality.” No mention or allusion to Trump. This is not the first time that Dublin City Council has censored protest materials that directly call out an American president either, says Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, leader of People Before Profit. Boyd Barrett was chairperson of the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) – with whom the INL are aligned – during the Bush-era, when America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were ongoing. They hit the same walls with Dublin City Council then, he says. Meanwhile,the original draft of the Trump poster, rejected by Dublin City Council, is currently flying without issue in places under the jurisdiction of both Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council, Boyd Barrett notes. ## Vulgar or offensive The council has its own [posters protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614290-posters-protocol-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), published in 2022, that sets out the rules for hanging them around the city. There are criteria for how the information is presented, like “the poster must have at a minimum 75% of the poster layout detailing the details of the meeting and this content must be clearly visible to members of the public”. But the Trump poster seemingly broke the rule against content deemed to be “vulgar or offensive”. A council spokesperson declined to comment when asked if it was the council’s position that describing someone as a racist, warmonger, or climate denier on a poster could constitute "offensive" content under the protocol, even if it is all true. “It's serious censorship of the right to protest and promote a protest that they are refusing permission to the anti-war movement and the Irish Neutrality League and other groups, the wide coalition of trade unions and civil society groups, to advertise a protest against Donald Trump and to itemise the crimes that Donald Trump has committed,” Boyd Barrett says. “In terms of supporting Israel's genocide, the war they've launched in the Middle East, the impact on the cost of living, his implication in the Epstein scandals, and many, many other horrors that he's visited on the world,” he adds. Boyd Barrett says it’s "shocking" that the council would try and censor the promotion of such a protest, but that it doesn’t surprise him. “The Irish government are so subservient to the United States in particular, and you know that subservience to the US has led them to facilitate US war mongering at Shannon for several decades now, and this is another instance of that subservience,” he says. ## Which part of the protocol counts? The poster protocol which says that vulgar or offensive material will be rejected, has a second part. “In the event of such an issue arising, we (City Council) will discuss the issue with the Chairperson and as many members as possible of the Climate Change, Environment and Energy SPC, before making a decision regarding the issue,” it says. So, was the chair and “as many members as possible” of the now-renamed Climate Action and Urban Resilience Strategic Policy Committee, consulted? But there are 10 councillors on the committee, and six have confirmed that they heard nothing about the approval process for the poster. Chairperson Declan Flanagan, a Fine Gael councillor, said via email that it was “an executive function, councillors are not involved in it”. But not consulting the chair and the committee members is not actually in contravention of the protocol, according to the council. “Waste Management received the initial poster application on the 03rd September," says a response that Flanagan shared, which appears to be from council staff. "On review it contained language that would be deemed vulgar or offensive, the applicant was receptive to making changes for resubmission and as such there was no requirement to consult the Chairperson of the Climate Action and Urban Resilience SPC," it says. “When the applicant changed the poster and resubmitted it later that day for a decision, it contained an image \[a simple sketch of Trump's head\] that would be likely to cause offence and as such this was not granted," it said. “The applicant subsequently changed the poster again and reissued it for a third time. This was accepted as it did not contain language or an image that would likely cause an offence,” it said. The message continued: “Dublin City Council did not have an issue with a protest being organised, the issue was how it was presented on the posters and if it was placed on public property, in public place. “When evaluating poster application Dublin City Council must be conscious of all its citizens and visitors to ensure that the poster would not be offensive. In this case Waste Management deemed that it could be construed as causing offence and as such the applications were denied.” ## Stop Bush Deputy Rory Hearne of the Social Democrats was the national organiser for the Irish Anti-War Movement back in 2004. The group organised a [protest](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30153582.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) against a visit by US president George W. Bush in June of that year. A [poster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stop%5Fbush%5Fdublin%5Frally.JPG?ref=dublininquirer.com) featuring a cartoon of Bush carrying a US flag, with a large dollar sign replacing the 50 stars, and the words “Stop Bush”, was banned by Dublin City Council. Hearne says that in light of the current Trump-poster rejections, he is disappointed that little has changed since the 2000s. “I think it's unfair and of course the issue of posters and public displays need to be carefully monitored so as not to be inciting hate, but these are posters outlining reasons for a peaceful protest and should have been allowed,” he says. Back in 2004, the council relied on the [Litter Pollution Act, 1997](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/act/12/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) to take down posters. But the council voted to [revoke](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/councillors-lift-ban-on-erecting-posters-in-city-1.1006991?ref=dublininquirer.com) its ban on postering public notices in 2006. Boyd Barrett recalls that posters were hung around town all the time in 2004, and that the removal of certain ones seemed selective. The Stop Bush campaign even registered as a political party so that they could hang posters, as parties were exempt from the Litter Act. However, it was deemed that the posters were not relevant to any election, so they were still disallowed. Again in 2008, ahead of Bush’s visit to Belfast, and when the lies on which his invasion of Iraq was based had been well brought to light, the IAWM were denied permission to hang posters promoting a protest. The various groups coming together for Saturday’s protest against Donald Trump represent a “mad coalition”, says Sara O’Rourke of the INL. “There's the usual anti-war suspects. There's all the left parties, all of them. There's the Rape Crisis Centre. The latest group that joined is Mammies for Trans Rights,” she says. “It’s all of these groups that, in my memory, have never been together in a coalition,” she says. “It’s quite something.” The protest is due to meet at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm on Saturday 12 September. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Despite angry row at City Hall, local councillors all back proposed Finglas boxing club move URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-angry-row-at-city-hall-local-councillors-all-back-proposed-finglas-boxing-club-move/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:38.000Z The shouting erupted at the Dublin City Council meeting on [Monday night](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5839&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) after independent Councillor Gavin Pepper proposed a "topical issue" entitled “Halloween Youth Diversion through Boxing Programme”. "Finglas United is willing to make 2 dressing rooms available for local boxing club. In the run up to Halloween and increasing concerns regarding fireworks and antisocial behaviour I am asking DCC to urgently facilitate this proposal," [it said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28613612-topical-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But not enough councillors voted to discuss the issue at the monthly meeting of the full 63-member council at City Hall, which already had a full agenda – so it didn't make the cut. Local issues should be dealt with in the local area committee, not at the full council, said Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan, who, like Pepper, represents the Ballymun-Finglas area. “If a club is willing to give dressing rooms to another club, for whatever purpose, there is no need for every councillor in Dublin to talk about something that is relevant for Finglas West,” he said. The building is owned by Dublin City Council, so the move requires the agreement of the council parks manager, according to councillors. Pepper later brought up the issue again, and verbally attacked councillors who had voted against holding the discussion. To which they responded robustly. The Lord Mayor, Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, who was chairing Monday's meeting, tried to call for order a few times. At times, he threatened to suspend the meeting. In the end, Barron offered to arrange a meeting between the boxing club, the local area manager in Finglas, and the local councillors for the council's North West Area. All local councillors say they support the idea of the boxing club moving to share space with the local football club in Kildonan Park. During the meeting, one councillor accused Pepper of using the full council meeting as a stunt to create content for his social media. Indeed, after the meeting Pepper posted about the issue on social media, which is a common thing for councillors to do – but he also posted a [digital poster](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28613617-799958647-1394690222770624-6162020490941233451-n/?ref=dublininquirer.com) attacking specific councillors. "They voted against youth diversion" it says in big letters. "Shame on you four politicians", "Remember this at the next election", it also says. No one voted against youth diversion, or the boxing club. Some councillors voted against discussing a "topical issue" regarding a local youth diversion programme for Halloween at the full council meeting. In the end, Pepper says he's happy he was able to get the issue the attention he believes it deserves, and satisfied with the result. ## The issue The background to all this is that West Finglas Boxing Club needs a home of its own. The club is based in a shared community centre two nights per week and can't train more due to a tight timetable of activities in the centre. Finglas United Football Club has offered to share space with the boxing club, in a facility which it currently uses for dressing rooms in Kildonan Park. Brendan Fitzpatrick, a coach with West Finglas Boxing Club, says that getting access to the facility in the park would transform the club’s future “a million percent”. "The club is going from strength to strength," he says. "Where there is poverty, boxing thrives." At the moment all their best boxers leave to go to other clubs as most clubs have their own premises where they can train as often as they want, he says, and it's heartbreaking and frustrating for coaches to watch them leave. “Any of our boxers that show promise they leave,” he says. John Fox, chairman of Finglas United, says he first offered to share the dressing room space in Kildonan Park with the boxing club around 20 years ago. He wants to progress the idea to benefit around 50 local children in the boxing club, he says. “This is for the local kids in the area,” he says. Fox says an extension may be required to fit the boxing ring into the building, but Fitzpatrick says the club will work around that issue and could get a smaller ring if needed. ## What is a topical issue? There are a few ways for councillors to press issues. Councillors can submit questions to the local area manager or the council’s chief executive, to which they get responses. They can also submit motions to the meetings of their local area committees, or to the full council meeting for a vote. If agreed, motions should cause council officials to take action –if they cover an issue that falls under councillors', rather than officials', powers. If a councillor has an urgent issue, they can submit an emergency motion to the full council meeting. Any such matter must be under the council’s control, and urgent or an emergency, [says the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606336-draft-standing-orders/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council rule book. But the rules also allow councillors to submit a "topical issue" for discussion, with no definition of what counts as a topical issue, but with a vote required on whether to discuss each topical issue. So all councillors could submit all their local issues as topical issues, and councillors from all over the city would have to vote at the full council meeting on whether to discuss these. If councillors agree by a two-thirds majority to accept the topical issue, then the motions on the agenda are suspended and the topical issue gets debated instead. On Monday there were [38 motions on the agenda](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28611938-motions-on-notice/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the oldest of which were submitted in March 2025\. Since topical-issue discussions take up time that could go to motions, many councillors have expressed dissatisfaction in the past with the process. The majority of councillors wanted topical issues scrapped, say the [minutes of the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28608809-report-no-1462026-of-the-protocol-committee-minutes-of-the-meeting-held-on-the-28th-may-2026-c/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council's protocol committee in May. But that didn’t happen. In [June,](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5838&ref=dublininquirer.com) councillors agreed a new set of rules for meetings that kept topical issues. Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham said the standing orders sub-committee would continue debating the issue of what to do about topical issues. ## Why was it discussed? On Monday, 35 councillors voted in favour of the topical issues discussion, and 22 against. Since that didn't reach the two-thirds required, the issue should not have been discussed at the meeting. But Pepper raised the issue later in the meeting under the section for the report for the sports, arts and culture committee. This is common practice. Councillors regularly find ways to bring their issues into the meeting anyway, after being officially refused an airing. “I have so much support for this and I was wondering would the management go down and meet with the clubs?” he asked. He thanked Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors for supporting the proposal to discuss the issue. Then he turned to those who didn’t back the discussion taking place. “It was absolutely shameful to see champagne socialists who turned up to events in relation to something like this and vote against it cause of their own personal issue with me rather than the communities,” said Pepper. “To vote against a boxing club for young children is shameful.” Barron, the Lord Mayor, who was chairing the meeting, tried to move on from the issue and back to the meeting agenda. But then other councillors said they had a right to respond to what Pepper had just said, which independent Councillor Cieran Perry called a “rant”. “Does Councillor Pepper not understand that topical issues … they don't have status, they are not a motion?” he said. “He’s just doing that for his videos online,” said independent Councillor John Lyons, “making a nonsense of this chamber.” By phone on Wednesday, Pepper says he has also raised the issue of the boxing club locally. On 31 August, he submitted a motion to the local North West Area Committee, which will come up at its next meeting, which is next Tuesday, he said. Dublin City Council's press office has not yet responded to queries about this motion, and about the plans for the boxing club. Pepper said he wanted to bring the issue to the full council because it's important and the full council meeting on 7 September was sooner than the local area committee meeting on 15 September. “It's an urgent issue,” he says. He doesn’t think the council officials are deliberately dragging their feet, he says. But “it hasn’t been moving as fast as it should be”, he says. ## A shouting match in the chamber On Monday evening the meeting, at times, descended into a shouting match. Several councillors said local issues should be dealt with locally. Some said the council should scrap topical issues altogether. Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne asked where Pepper had been when he was arrested during the water charges protests. “If you call that champagne socialism there is something wrong with you.” Social Democrats Councillor Cat O'Driscoll said that the issue could be raised at the local community safety partnership as well as the local area committee. “Much as I love champagne I’m more of a prosecco girl,” she said. Pepper tried to come back in on several occasions. “Lord Mayor, I’ve every right to respond,” he said. “I’m not going to be shouted down.” “Lord Mayor there is people online,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan, who had joined the meeting via video link. Barron called on her to speak. “Councillor Boylan, then Councillor Connolly,” he said. “That's discrimination,” said Pepper. “It's not discrimination. It's absolutely somebody ...” Boylan started. “It is discrimination,” Pepper cut in. “It is discrimination. Champagne socialist.” “What you want to do is scream from the sideline and go into every other community that you possibly can to come up with a story,” said Boylan. “Of course we support communities, and of course we support boxing.” “A topical issue is a mechanism to discuss something; it goes nowhere else after we discuss it, and everybody knows that,” said Boylan. Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly who represents the area said he voted in favour of the discussion going ahead. “I welcome any attention to Finglas,” he said. “I am interested in the manager's response.” Local Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan said she too voted in favour of the discussion taking place, because it was in her local area. “I’d just like to end this conversation, congratulating the amazing people who work for the community, on a volunteer basis, John Fox and his team at Finglas United,” said Callaghan at the meeting. “They do an incredible job.” But the spat spilled over online, after the meeting. **###After the meeting** In his [digital poster](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28613617-799958647-1394690222770624-6162020490941233451-n/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Pepper said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, independent Councillor Cieran Perry, Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley, and Green Party Councillor Janet Horner “voted against youth diversion”. Perry posted [a video](https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1J3pHjEZ7m/) on Facebook in response to Pepper, in which he called Pepper a “clown” and said that discussing items as topical issues is pointless, and a proper councillor would table a motion. Motions, at least in theory, spur council officials to take action, while topical issues just get discussed. But Pepper says he is happy with the result of his intervention. “I wanted to bring it to the top levels of the city council so that all members could listen and have a debate,” he said by WhatsApp message on Wednesday. “What came out of it is that the Lord Mayor will meet the group that I was representing.” Local People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy, who voted in favour of the discussion, says that he and local Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis have attended a series of meetings in an effort to find a space for the local boxing club. Connaghan, the localSinn Féin councillor, said by phone on Wednesday that he strongly supports the council working to secure long-term premises for the boxing club. Connaghan says he has also spoken to council managers about the situation and understands that they are working with the club to assist it to develop the structures it would need, in case it needs to apply for sports capital grants. Fox, the chairman of Finglas United FC, says that around six or seven weeks ago he again raised his idea – which he originally came up with 20 years ago – to share the space in Kildonan Park, with the boxing club. He wants this to happen and is keen to push it forward so he spoke to Brendan Fitzpatrick in the boxing club and he spoke to three of the local councillors, Reddy, Pepper, and Connolly. Fox says the only potential issue with the plan that he can see is that the current building might not be big enough for a boxing ring. “I don’t think the room is big enough,” he says. There are two rooms, says Fox, but there are showers in between them so they cannot easily be knocked through, and the wall could be a supporting wall. “The best bet in the long run would be to do a small extension to it,” says Fox. He says he discussed this problem with Reddy and they talked about the possibility of the council seeking funding to do an extension and whether an architect would be required. Fitzpatrick, the coach with West Finglas Boxing Club, says the members and coaches are buzzing about the idea of getting dedicated premises, regardless of what size it is. At the moment they have to take out all the punching bags every time they train and install a fold-out ring, he says and they can only train twice a week. They have good coaches, he says. But it is hard to retain voluntary coaches when all the best fighters leave to go to clubs that have better facilities. “It's frustrating,” says Fitzpatrick. Training twice a week is not sufficient for boxers who want to go pro or represent Ireland, says Fitzpatrick. But despite the lack of facilities the club is growing and currently has around 50 members. “I personally think Finglas is a sleeping giant for boxing,” he says. ### Council's effort to install bike bunkers is facing pushback from car owners URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-effort-to-install-bike-bunkers-is-facing-pushback-from-car-owners/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:29.000Z Dublin City Council's programme for installing secure on-street bike parking has been running into opposition from car owners who don't want it to replace a car parking space with one of these "bike bunkers", a council executive says. "As you can imagine, you've got 20 parking spaces, and we come along and say we're going to take out two of them or something like that to give spaces for people on bikes, it doesn't go down particularly well," said Brendan O'Brien, the council's executive manager for traffic, at a council committee meeting yesterday. Government and council policy is to push more Dubliners to take fewer car journeys, or abandon their cars altogether. One alternative – along with public transport and walking – is to travel by bike. This means less car traffic on the roads, less competition for car parking, and – for those who would instead have driven cars with internal combustion engines – less air pollution, and fewer carbon emissions. But for people who live in the denser parts of the city – in terraced homes, or over shops, for example – finding a place to store their bikes safely at night or whenever they're not in use can be a problem. So, the council looked for a solution and piloted the bike bunker back in 2014–2015. In 2023, [council officials said they'd decided](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-question-details-of-new-bike-bunkers-effort-lateness-of-new-road-safety-strategy-and-name-of-ballyfermot-housing-project/) to launch a programme of installing a large number of these lockable bike boxes around the city. They then [awarded a contract to Bleeper](https://bleeper.ie/blogs/news/bleeper-to-operate-dublins-bikebunkers-service?srsltid=AfmBOorZj5BqA84565YvVWFI1z5b-LstOhCgt9-RtqGuKSjsYTxL8c5v&ref=dublininquirer.com) late last year to install and manage 300 of them, and the company – overseen by council staff – has been doing that. At yesterday's meeting of the council's Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee, O'Brien said that "from the point of view of a scheme, we think it's successful". People who want one near them can request that [via a website](https://bikebunkers.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). So far, people have requested 3,384 spaces in bike bunkers, according to a report O'Brien presented at the meeting. Then the council looks at demand and available space, and decides where and when to install them. Each one can hold six bikes, and the council charges users €100 a year per parking space inside them. So far, the council has provided 336 spaces in [56 bike bunkers in the city](https://bikebunkers.ie/pages/bunker-map?ref=dublininquirer.com). "There's only two bike bunkers at the moment that we've out there that has space in them, so all the other ones are fully subscribed," O'Brien said. However, there's been pushback on some streets, from people who haven't been thrilled about the installation of one or more bike bunkers there, O'Brien said. "Bike bunkers are really for locations where people don't have driveways, garages, etc.," he said. "Where people don't have them, it tends to be they have no place for a car either, so traditionally the car is outside the door, and also traditionally there is less space on the street than everybody wants." So far, most installations have gone fine, but "some of them have generated quite a few complaints", he said. The team installing them does not "want to be in a situation of fighting every single street over and over again the same kind of battle". So he suggested coming up with some sort of formal policy for allocating limited "kerbside space" to the various uses competing for it: private car parking, shared car parking, bike bunkers, trees and flowers, and others. This could be something the team could point to when dealing with car owners who aren't happy with losing a parking space on their street. ## A hierarchy of kerbside uses At the meeting yesterday, O'Brien asked councillors on the committee for their thoughts and ideas on what such a policy should look like. He opened the discussion by suggesting that, "it may be that we're saying 10 percent of spaces could be removed, but no more than 10 percent. Or no more than 15 percent or whatever." Bike bunkers haven't really come up as an issue in Ballymun-Finglas, said Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan, who represents that local electoral area. "It doesn't really affect my area," Connaghan said. "We're just outside the canals, or maybe it will. I've only ever had one person on to me about bike bunkers several years ago." For other committee members, though, it was an issue that did seem to have come up. Siobhan McNamara, of Dublin Cycling Campaign, who is a member of the committee, questioned why cars always come first. "It seems at the moment the kind of default is that public space is for cars, and then any other competing, you know, use has to come second to the car," McNamara said. Jason Cullen, of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, who is a member of the committee, said that the council should look at "percentage of use of public space globally on a street". "I don't know what the number looks like, is that 50 percent of the space on a street should be for the public good, and 50 percent can be for private use? I don't know. Maybe that's a discussion that should be had," Cullen said. "I certainly think that the vast majority of space on the street should be for public use, and not be for the private storage of personal vehicles," he said. If the council is having trouble finding places for bike bunkers, it should just ask residents on a street, said Caoimhe Clarke, of Irish Doctors for the Environment, a member of the committee. "I'm in one of those areas where someone was upset because it was in front of their house," Clarke said. But "I'm more than happy to have that sit in front of my house instead of a big car". Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, who represents the north inner-city, said he opposed a fixed percentage, but that he wanted the policy to include "a clear hierarchy for kerbside space", so it's clear what happens when different competing uses come into conflict with one another. On that list of potential uses that might be in competition with each other for kerbside space on city streets, "there's no mention of healthy space", said Cullen, of the Dublin Commuter Coalition. "You know what's way better in a car parking space? A swing set for children to play on would be amazing," he said. "So I'd love to see some reflection of play in there, or benches, or things like that." ## Costs Another issue that councillors brought up during the meeting was the cost to users of the bike bunkers. A bike-sized space in a bunker is €100 a year. Whereas a driver can get a full car parking space [for ](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/apply-or-renew-residential-parking-permit/apply-residential-parking-permit?ref=dublininquirer.com)[€](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/apply-or-renew-residential-parking-permit/apply-residential-parking-permit?ref=dublininquirer.com)[40 a year](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/apply-or-renew-residential-parking-permit/apply-residential-parking-permit?ref=dublininquirer.com) via a residential parking permit. "I choose not to have a car because I've got car share. I've got a bike bunker, and I can use public transport," said Clarke. "And yet, my bike bunker space costs double the price of the car parking space." Yes, "It would nearly be cheaper for a person to buy a van that was unroadworthy, put a tax disc on it, take the wheels off it and adapt it into a place to park your bike – in terms of the cost per space, you know," said Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney, who represents Clontarf. At current prices, each bike bunker is going to be generating €600 a year, said Cullen. "If we have such a huge, what is looking like revenue income from this now, we should look at dropping that price." O'Brien did not respond at the meeting to committee members' concerns about the costs of the bike bunkers. However this issue has been raised repeatedly over many years. In 2019, Shane Waring, who led the Dublin City Council Beta Projects team that piloted the bike bunkers all those years ago, [detailed the costs](https://www.dublininquirer.com/should-bicycle-parking-cost-more-than-car-parking-should-it-cost-anything/) involved in buying, installing and maintaining them. Without a subsidy from the council, it would cost €165 a year for a space, rather than €100, Waring said. So “it’s already subsidised so the question is how much it’s subsidised for”. The plan now is for O'Brien and other council staff to formulate a draft policy, bring it back to committee for more discussion, and eventually bring something back to the full council at one of its monthly meetings for final approval. ### It's time to commemorate the 14th-century Bruce campaign in Castleknock, councillor says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/its-time-to-commemorate-the-14th-century-bruce-campaign-in-castleknock-councillor-says/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:18.000Z "I'm a bit of a history buff myself," said Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy at last week's meeting of the Blanchardstown area committee. Hence his interest in the Bruce campaign, the three-year military expedition across Ireland, from 1315 to 1318, led by Edward Bruce – brother of the rather better-known Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. The campaign was a significant event in 14th-century Ireland, which may not be on the radar of all councillors, he said. It was an attempt to reverse the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, Leddy told others at the meeting, and – here was the kicker for him – involved a fight in Castleknock in 1317. But "to my knowledge, there isn't even a plaque to it, anywhere in Castleknock", he said. "I think that's something we should look at." He wants to see something to mark the moment, Leddy said. His motion called on the heritage officer to draw up a strategy "to mark the historic significance of Castleknock's role". Exactly how significant the events at Castleknock were in this curious interlude in medieval history is debatable, said Christine Baker, the council heritage officer, at the meeting. Any commemoration would do well to consider different historical interpretations and the wider context, Baker said. But her workload is mammoth at the moment, she said. So, it would not be this year, she said, and [her written response suggested](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28612070-castleknock-and-the-bruce-campagin-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) tying any project in with the European "2027 The Year of the Normans" [cultural initiative](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/cabinet-approves-cross-government-participation-in-2027-the-year-of-the-normans/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Other councillors on the council's local area committee for the Dublin 15 area said they were still eager to pursue the idea. It fits with a broader [push by area councillors for greater](https://www.dublininquirer.com/trips-along-the-howth-summit-walk-have-almost-quadrupled-data-suggests/) promotion of tourism spots and heritage in their neck of the woods, in the west of Fingal, to counterbalance the council campaigns that pull visitors to the beachy east. Said Mary McCamley, a Labour councillor: "I think this would be great for part of the tourist strategy that we're embarking on at the moment." ## The Bruce invasions Current consensus is that the Bruce campaign in Ireland was part of the wider Scottish wars of independence against the English, says Joanna Richardson, who holds a doctorate in history from the University of Edinburgh. Many modern historians think the motivation was to open up a second front in the war to drain resources, she said. "It helps divert." "King Robert the Bruce is the big guy in Scotland. He has an ongoing campaign against the English, trying to establish his own kingship," she said. It's his brother, Edward Bruce, who comes over to Ireland, she said. Edward Bruce landed in the north of Ireland at Larne in 1315, marking the start of the campaign. His death in 1318 at a battle in Co. Louth was its end. Richardson's own research has focused on the representation of Edward Bruce in [John Barbour's *The Bruce*](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44292/44292-h/44292-h.htm?ref=dublininquirer.com), an epic poem in Scots. There are other conflicting reasons given for the campaign, in documents from the time, she said. "One is that Edward Bruce is a bit of a, how do I say this nicely, he just wants his own kingship basically." In that telling, he just wants the glory and to be King of Ireland, she said. But there's also [a letter from the time](https://historyireland.com/remonstrance-irish-princes-1317/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Domhnall Ó Néill and other Irish chieftains, she said. "They write to the Pope and say, the reason why we're making Edward Bruce our king is that we don't like the English, they're very tyrannical. We want Edward Bruce, because he is also one of us." This aspect of the Scots and the Irish being the same people is an interesting thread, she said. "So there are these interesting ideas in the mix." Not everybody agreed, of course. "It is also true that a lot of the Irish chronicles at the time say well, actually, they just came for three years and pillaged and destroyed and we hate the Scots even more than we hate the English," said Richardson. The campaign did coincide with famines, and many people died, she said. "They do a lot of destroying food as they go." So another interpretation is that this was just the next lot of invaders to come, and the rest is an excuse, she said. There are of course arguments that accounts are coloured based on which side the author is on, she says. How historians and the public interpret the importance of the Bruce campaign today is also coloured by which of those ideas they believe was behind it, she said. ## In Castleknock At the council meeting, Leddy, the Fine Gael councillor, focused his motion on how the campaign had come to Castleknock, and – more specifically – to Castleknock Castle. Today, what is left of Castleknock Castle sits on the grounds of Castleknock College. The college would have to be on board with any project, said Baker, the heritage officer at the meeting. But Baker cautioned that what went down in Castleknock may not in itself have been that momentous. The historian F.E. Ball, [who chronicled the](https://archive.org/stream/historyofcountyd06ball/historyofcountyd06ball%5Fdjvu.txt) Castleknock area, gives it five lines in his work, she said. He writes that Edward Bruce made his way to Castleknock, took over the castle and took the baron and his wife prisoners until a ransom was paid – and then quickly retreated towards the Salmon Leap. So, they should look at historic interpretations of the campaign in the bigger picture, said Baker. "That's my thoughts on it." Richardson, the historian, says the battle in Castleknock was in 1317 during Edward Bruce's second campaign, a leg that involved his more famous brother, Robert the Bruce, too. At this point, Edward Bruce was trying to move from his secure base in Ulster, which he gained during the initial invasion in 1315 and where he had the most support, and cement his rule over the whole of Ireland, she said. "Whilst he engages in several successful battles and burns much of the countryside, he ultimately fails to gain much of a foothold outside of the north, which arguably ultimately leads to the failure of the whole enterprise," said Richardson. In a way, the events at Castleknock and Dublin can be seen as rather typical of the campaigns, she said, "as they contain a success (taking Castleknock) combined with a failure to capitalise on such success (the Bruces ultimately decide not to besiege Dublin and instead carry on south despite having thrown the panicked inhabitants into some hasty defences of the city)". ## Marking it Richardson said she thinks there are few reasons why the Bruce campaigns aren't that well-known, to those outside the field at least. One is that it's a bit of a random offshoot in history, she said, that Edward Bruce suddenly jumps over to Ireland for three years. "I think it's just a bit weird." It doesn't fit neatly into many people's ideas about things either, she said. It's also a bit awkward in the context of Scottish independence, if it's seen as the Scots invading somebody else while also resisting the English invasion themselves, she said. "There's that probably." At last week's Blanchardstown meeting, Leddy threw out a few ideas for how he would like it to be marked in Castleknock. There's a town in southern Germany that he often visits for personal reasons, where they have outdoor models of what the town looked like in medieval times. "I'd be in favour of something significant like that." But at least a plaque or memorial, he said. Richardson said that there is a diorama and interactive exhibits at Bannockburn, the site of the pivotal battle in Scottish independence. "I think you can even play out the battle yourself," she said – see how well you do as a medieval military strategist. And as a literature student, studying history through literature, she would advocate reading contemporaneous poetry and literature around the Bruce campaign, she says. "They're easier to get into." At the council meeting, Aontú Councillor Ellen Troy, who was born in Edinburgh, said she thought Leddy's motion on the Bruce campaign was great. "Especially because he is a Scotsman, that's great," she said, with a laugh. ### Luke: Everybody Digs Bill Evans is “a fascinating, beautiful and impressive feat of filmmaking” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-everybody-digs-bill-evans-is-a-fascinating-beautiful-and-impressive-feat-of-filmmaking/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:05.000Z Smoke fills the frame and dances along the beam of the spotlight lighting up the stage at the Village Vanguard. There’s applause as the Bill Evans Trio start into a performance of “Jade Visions”. The tempo is slow but deliberate and driving. Evans (Anders Danielsen Lie) and the Trio’s bass player, Scott LaFaro (Will Sach), share glances that become stares as the interplay between them intensifies. The camera cuts with the movement and posture of the musicians as they play and spar and feed off of one another. It cuts in time with the music, rapidly enough that the sequence builds to a mesmerising collage of recording equipment, fingers and hands on fretboards and keys, brushing and tapping at drums. The neck of LaFaro’s bass cross-fades to images of dimly illuminated road markings. A tape recorder’s spinning reel blends into the wheels of an out-of-control car. The last note from LaFaro’s bass rings out with a dubbed-in crash. Ten days after the recording session recreated in this sequence, LaFaro would meet an untimely end. There is a bubbling apocalyptic intensity to this scene – opening with throat clearing and those lightest of Evans’ caresses on the piano keys, and ending with screeching tyres, crushed metal and death – that is maintained throughout director Grant Gee’s feature debut, *Everybody Digs Bill Evans.* ## *Intermission* In the aftermath of LaFaro’s crash, Evans hid away from the world. There were doubts over his future as a musician. From the jazz world, those closest to him and Evans himself. In the words of the real Bill Evans: “When you have evolved a concept of playing which depends on the specific personalities of outstanding players, how do you start again when they are gone?” Gee and screenwriter Mark O’Halloran based *Everybody Digs Bill Evans* on Owen Martell’s novel *Intermission*, which explores the musician’s torment in this particularly dark period in his celebrated career. Gee initially conceived it as a stream-of-consciousness non-narrative film stylistically closer to his documentary work. That opening sequence with its swirling imagery and montaging gives a small taste of what that film might have looked like. Much of the film is more conventional in staging and execution. But fluctuations in tone and style signal that doom is never far away. Film strips burn and explode into colour sequences as the film takes us through other tragedies in Evans’ life. It’s a narrative that orbits death, and is anchored in a gnawing sense of finality. The non-Evans pieces featured on the score by Roger Goula hit with the same intensity as that car crash bass note. The score intrudes on the action with force. It’s moody, out-of-time with the period setting. Like an electronic dirge. ## Leaving town At a loss in New York and with his girlfriend Ellaine (Valene Kane) taking time away from the city to kick her heroin habit, Bill goes to stay with his brother Harry and his wife Pat (Barry Ward and Katie McGrath). At Harry Jr’s home, and later when he visits his parents Harry Sr. and Mary (Bill Pullman and Laurie Metcalf) in Florida, we see Evans in a childlike state. Harry Jr. and Pat worry for Bill, and treat him extremely delicately. There’s not much difference between how the couple interact with Bill and how they treat his niece, their daughter Debby. In these scenes Evans is put on the same level as Debby. Shots match their eye lines, and he becomes a playmate for her in some amusing sequences where she bounces and rough-houses in his unmoving presence. Lie’s performance as Evans is one of delicate subtraction. It’s absorbing in its lack of showiness. The film treats Evans as a sort of blank space. He is so tormented by LaFaro’s death, and worn out from going off heroin cold turkey, that much of the performance is in thousand-yard stares. The spectre of that opening number is never too far away, the slightest noise or gesture calls us and Evans back to that world ending car crash bass note from the beginning of the picture. Gee shows us the ripple effects and recurrences of trauma throughout Evans life and career. Death punctuates the film and leaks into the frame. Turning the black and white photography to colour, splashing up out-of-place digital video effects. LaFaro’s death caused a rupture in Evans’ career but it also disrupts and pushes the film’s narrative out of sync. ## Great man *Everybody Digs Bill Evans* is effective in shrinking the great man biopic down to a much smaller scale. We don’t see much of Evans playing the piano. Lie is an accomplished musician, but isn’t asked to pantomime his way through performances much. Instead, the performance pulls us in and is absorbing in the way it forces us to look elsewhere for evidence of Evans’ reputation. There’s a slightly comic tone to the frequency at which side characters recognise Evans and call him “great”, “brilliant”, “famous”. Ira Gitler’s liner notes for the Trio’s 1961 album *Sunday at the Village Vanguard* say: “‘Everybody Digs Bill Evans’ was used as one of his album titles and the phrase became a literalism.” And this plays out in the film. Pullman as Harry Sr reads from these liner notes in a tone that perfectly captures that proud but confused tone that parents have when they don’t quite understand a child’s achievement. Metcalf and Pullman – as Evans’ parents –really give Gee’s film shape. Pullman’s glasses are lit up bright white to obscure his eyes, the same as his son, and in these moments there is a view of a possible future self. Harry Sr is a man who speaks of regrets, and in rehearsed narratives. Someone who has the luxury of revising his own history, and now owns up to mistakes when it’s too late to correct them. Mary is honest to a fault with Bill, she says things and shows favouritism in a way that mothers aren’t supposed to. But her children are grown-up, and one of them is famous, and even as he lies in his childhood bedroom shaking and sweating out heroin Mary looks on like he has a common cold. Knowing the truth of things but not caring, and loving no matter what. Viewers seeking a beat-by-beat summation of Bill Evans’ career will be disappointed by Gee’s film. This is a sketch. A suggestion of something. Drama and fiction fill in the blanks of a difficult and dark time in Evans’ life. Just as Martell did in his novel. *Everybody Digs Bill Evans* avoids the usual biopic traps. It cannot show us a great man at work. It doesn’t really capture the man at all – some things are impossible to convey. Gee’s sketch is filled in by what’s in the edges of the film: the supporting cast, the stories that intertwine and fade in and out of time, space and colour. What’s here is a dissatisfying biopic but a fascinating, beautiful and impressive feat of filmmaking. ### Time for new planning controls on vape shops, council says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-new-planning-controls-on-vape-shops-council-says/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:35:54.000Z Dublin city councillors are being urged to back calls for new planning controls on vape shops which would give local authorities greater powers to restrict their numbers and prevent clusters of outlets developing in urban centres. Louth County Council passed a [motion](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=53849&ref=dublininquirer.com) seeking the new powers earlier this year. That's been shared with Dublin city councillors, in the hope they will join a wider push for local authorities to pressure the government to change national planning regulations. Darragh Moriarty, a Labour party councillor for the south-west inner-city, said he agrees that something needs to be done, urgently. He was recently frustrated to find a new shop had opened in Inchicore, near Inchicore National School and Grattan Crescent Playground. “It has all of these kind of colourful, shiny marketing materials in the window, and very much, you know, ‘Come in here, teenagers,’” he says. He consulted with the HSE’s Environmental Health office, given the proximity to the school and playground, to see if there was anything that it could do to intervene. Alas, he says, the HSE told him that, as there was no legislation the shop was falling foul of, there was nothing that could be done. A study published in *The Lancet* last year [found that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540344-evolution-of-nicotine-product-use-in-ireland-2015-to-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 2015, people aged 15–24 had the lowest odds of e-cigarette use, but by 2023, they had the highest. The call from Louth councillors to their contemporaries across Ireland has taken on added significance following comments by Taoiseach Micheál Martin this week that greater controls are needed on the proliferation of such shops. Speaking at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Tullamore, Martin said members of the parliamentary party had raised concerns about the number of outlets appearing in towns and on individual streets. “A number of deputies said in some streets and towns around Ireland you have a proliferation of them,” he said, adding that “there needs to be some control of that.” Martin's intervention came as two separate pieces of legislation aimed at tightening regulation of vaping products and how they are advertised at the point of purchase are progressing through the Oireachtas. However, neither addresses the planning status of vape shops or defines what precisely constitutes a “vape shop” for planning purposes. In fact, while the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) [Bill](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2026/36/eng/initiated/b3626d.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) 2026 proposes restrictions on the packaging and appearance of vaping products and how they are advertised and displayed, specialised vape shops are not covered. “This section shall not apply to a premises or a website (or otherwise online) which wholly comprises the sale of nicotine inhaling products or mainly comprises the sale of nicotine inhaling products,” the bill states. ## Louth tries to rally the troops nationwide The planning issue was formally raised by independent Councillor Ciarán Fisher at the March meeting of Louth County Council, where he proposed changes to the Planning and Development Regulations. His motion expressed concern about the “ongoing proliferation of vape shops in our town centres”, reducing economic diversity and contributing to a decline in the “vitality, pull, and dwell factors of our streetscapes". It also highlighted public health concerns, particularly the exposure of young people to vaping products in shops close to schools and residential areas. These retailers should be treated more akin to bookies and off-licences, the motion says. At the heart of the issue is that vape shops do not have their own distinct planning use-class and are instead treated as "general retail use". Fisher's motion therefore called for a distinct use class for vape shops and comparable premises, with a change to such a business treated as a material change of use, requiring full planning permission. It also sought explicit powers allowing councils to refuse applications where another vape shop would result in an over-concentration of such businesses, taking account of density, location, public health impacts and “the need to maintain a balanced retail mix”. Fisher’s motion also called for it to be circulated to other local authorities, “for their consideration and support”. ## But what *exactly* is a vape shop? Any move to create a new planning category, however, raises another potentially difficult question: what legally constitutes a “vape shop”? There is currently no specific definition of a vape shop in the national planning regulations. That matters because vaping products are not sold exclusively by specialist vaping retailers. Convenience stores, newsagents, sweet shops, phone and accessory shops and other retailers can sell vaping products alongside a much wider range of goods. Some businesses may predominantly sell vapes and e-liquids, while for others they represent only a small part of their overall stock. “Is 51 percent of the sales vapes and therefore they’re considered a specialist? I don't know, and I think there's a bit of ambiguity there around defining that,” says Moriarty. “There's a kind of mishmash of things that these shops are selling to make them attractive to a certain cohort of the public.” A new Cochrane [report](https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/news/vapes-help-more-people-quit-smoking-other-methods?ref=dublininquirer.com) published last month found that vaping offers smokers a better chance at quitting than any other replacements, like nicotine gum or patches. But the big issue is around vapes as a gateway to smoking. Kids who vape [are more likely](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540357-electronic-cigarette-use-and-tobacco-cigarette-smoking-initiation-in-adolescents/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to smoke cigarettes in the future. Moriarty says he doesn’t think a person who's “embarking on a smoking cessation journey”, and wants to use vaping to get off cigarettes, is necessarily going to be the target market for those types of shops. [Even as more legislation looms, the rise of “candy and vape” shops continuesIs it okay to sell the two together?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-3624c78b-2339-40c1-afbc-97474a40cc3c.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Mars-Mix-in-Rathmines.-1-a9a24893-535a-491c-beaf-5f9c3ba0c5e1.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/even-as-more-legislation-looms-the-rise-of-candy-and-vape-shops-continues/) The Louth [motion](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=53849&ref=dublininquirer.com) calls for a distinct category for “vape shops and comparable premises” but does not set out a detailed threshold defining when a retailer would fall into that category. ## Sex shops 2.0 Dublin has a history of attempting to distinguish particular forms of retail activity for planning purposes, says Councillor Dermot Lacey, a member of the city council’s Planning and Urban Regeneration Strategic Policy Committee, and a Labour Party colleague of Moriarty's. More than two decades ago, concern focused on adult and sex shops, Lacey says. [Where’s a Good Place for a Sex Shop? - Dublin InquirerPoliticians who successfully opposed the opening of a sex shop in Drumcondra say they want to ensure that adult stores aren’t build anywhere near schools or playgrounds. Would that effectively ban them from the city?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-5e5973c8-74d6-47ff-a936-08673e02b814.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-3306-8751589a-8929-4a46-9200-15b796bc7824.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/where-s-a-good-place-for-a-sex-shop/) Dublin's [2005–2011 Development Plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614343-2005-plan-0/?ref=dublininquirer.com) contained a policy seeking to prohibit adult shops close to residential areas. The issue highlighted a problem similar to that now facing vape shops – sex shops were generally treated as ordinary retail premises under planning rules, meaning an existing shop could become a sex shop without necessarily requiring fresh planning permission. Dublin councillors subsequently called for national legislation to close what was described at the time as a planning loophole, says Lacey. Dublin's approach to adult shops has since become more developed. The current Dublin's 2022–2028 Development Plan expressly [defines](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/glossary-and-acronyms?ref=dublininquirer.com) “adult shops” as including uses such as sex shops and head shops. Under [Policy CCUV14](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614345-final-1-07-the-city-centre-uv-and-retail/?ref=dublininquirer.com), there is a “presumption against adult shops, betting shops and gaming arcades in proximity to residential areas, places of public worship and schools and similarly, there will be a presumption against an excessive concentration of such uses having regard to the existing presence of such retail outlets in an area”. Separately, the [Development Standards](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2026-07/15-development-standards.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) chapter states it is an aim of the council to “prevent an over concentration of betting offices / adult stores in the city, thereby, ensuring the number of units in a city street, district or neighbourhood centre is not disproportionate to the overall number of community facilities and shop units”. That provides a potential precedent for Dublin developing a policy towards vape retailers. But the experience also highlights the distinction between having a Development Plan policy restricting a particular type of business, and having national regulations which require that business to obtain planning permission in the first place. “I think it puts an enormous burden on the local authorities to try and work out something that is, you know, within the law, within the constitution, and so forth,” says Lacey. “And I think it would be far better if the government brought in legislation defining what a vape shop was and then allowed local authorities to restrict them to certain areas or restrict a number of them," he says. “That, to me, would be the way to deal with it, rather than trying to ask each local authority to have, you know their own definitions and so forth,” he says. South Dublin County Council (SDCC) highlighted the problem [last year](https://meetings.southdublin.ie/Home/ViewReply/86573??ref=dublininquirer.com) when then-Sinn Féin Councillor Niamh Fennell sought restrictions on vape shops close to schools. Council planners there warned that even introducing a vape-shop policy into the Development Plan would have “very limited effect on the ground” because existing planning exemptions allow numerous commercial and retail premises to become shops, including vape shops, without requiring planning permission. The council concluded that the current planning system was “unsuited to the management of vape shops”. The Louth proposal, now shared with Dublin city councillors and councils across Ireland, is intended to close that gap by changing national regulations and giving local authorities greater control. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Buying homes to turn them into social housing, the council displaced eight tenants in recent years URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/buying-homes-to-turn-them-into-social-housing-the-council-displaced-eight-tenants-in-recent-years/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:35:38.000Z Dublin City Council has bought 116 second-hand homes in nine locations in the city under Part V legislation since 2021, instead of buying new-build homes in new developments. That accounts for 7 percent of the 1,662 homes the council bought under the law that prompts it to buy a percentage of homes in big new private developments for social, and more recently affordable, housing. This is supposed to contribute towards greater social mix within communities, as well as deliver new social housing. Those purchases included 40 existing homes in Northbank in the north Docklands, which the council bought in 2022 instead of buying new-build homes in nearby Coopers Cross, show [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28613390-letter-foi-second-hand-part-v/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. A council spokesperson said that most of these homes in Northbank were already empty. But tenants were living in eight of them, they said. Those eight tenancies are mentioned in a Residential Tenancies Board tribunal report issued [earlier this year.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534792-1243-tribunal-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) In the case before the tribunal, the tenants had lived in their homes for 15 years and [contested the eviction](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-north-inner-city-tenants-of-15-years-evicted-so-council-can-buy-their-home/). The council spokesperson said that all eight households were offered alternative accommodation. “All tenants left without issue other than one resident who remains in a 3-bed apartment, but is leaving in the coming weeks,” says the council spokesperson. “This private tenant was offered alternative accommodation but refused it.” The RTB tribunal report says that the tenant rejected the offer because the alternative accommodation was too small to be suitable for the household and described the alternative offered as “very basic”. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty says that the council should probably have a policy on displacement. It's been an issue also, when homeless accommodation is being created, he said. “Tathony House was obviously owned by a private operator, who mass evicted everybody, and it's now a DRHE facility,” said Moriarty. “I don’t think we do have a policy on displacement,” says Moriarty. “But there probably should be something in light of the private rental market being so volatile and so precarious.” ## Displacing tenants “The council shouldn’t be acquiring units and displacing sitting tenants,” says Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin. “While in this instance it is clear the council’s understanding was that the tenants were offered alternative accommodation, the council needs to really satisfy itself that nobody is being inappropriately displaced because of the acquisition of second-hand units,” he said. As well as Tathony House, which Moriarty mentioned, in at least three other cases in Drumcondra, Rathmines and Terenure, sitting tenants have complained in the past of being evicted and their former homes turned into homeless accommodation. [Time and again, long-term tenants evicted and their homes turned into homeless accommodationA spokesperson for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said its priority was “to ensure there is an adequate provision of accommodation for people experiencing homelessness”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-f0600e17-b3b9-45ef-b099-97209de424c2.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/madeleine-johansson-outside-tathony-house-197f5f0e-b5ca-4f50-bc2f-f77985403595.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-and-again-long-term-tenants-evicted-and-their-homes-turned-into-homeless-accommodation/) In the case of Tramco in Rathmines, tenants were fighting their eviction while others were being moved into their building as emergency accommodation. A spokesperson for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said in 2025 that its priority was “to ensure there is an adequate provision of accommodation for people experiencing homelessness”. The council should formulate a clear policy to ensure that people are not being displaced for the council to buy homes under Part V legislation or to open new homeless accommodation, says Moriarty. ## Part V for second-hand homes In most cases the second-hand home purchases were in the same area as the new build development that they were in lieu of, except for Capital Dock and Rathgar Road. In 2022, Dublin City Council bought 39 homes in Herberton in Rialto in Dublin 8 instead of new-build homes in Capital Dock in Dublin 1 and Clancy Quay in Dublin 8\. Moriarty says he believes the flats in Herberton, which is in his area, were long-term vacant when bought. Also in 2022, the council bought 15 homes at Longboat Quay in the south Docklands instead of new-build homes at Lime Street in the same area. Fast forward to this year, and so far the council has bought five homes in Saoirse House in Cork Street, Dublin 8, instead of buying new-build homes on the Rathgar Road in Rathmines. And it has bought three homes in Merrion Village instead of new-build homes at Herbert Park and Pembroke Place. Meanwhile, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has bought 34 second-hand homes under Part V legislation since 2021\. One of those was a bulk-sale of 28 existing homes in Stillorgan, [records show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614011-dlr-response/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Fingal County Council bought 44 second-hand homes under Part V since 2021, according to [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614009-fingal-response/?ref=dublininquirer.com). South Dublin County Council says it hasn’t bought any second-hand homes using the legislation during the time period, according to a [letter.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28614010-sdcc-response/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## The purpose of Part V “The purpose of Part V is for the State to capture a portion of the increase in land value resulting from the granting of planning permission for residential development,” according to the [Housing Agency.](https://www.housingagency.ie/supporting-and-enabling-social-housing/part-v/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “The use of the land for the delivery of social, affordable purchase and cost rental housing satisfies a policy objective of encouraging integrated development and reducing housing segregation,” it says. Part V is supposed to be for councils to buy homes in new developments, says Ó Broin. The legislation allows councils to buy them elsewhere in certain cases, he says. In his view, those “should be really exceptional cases, and should not in any way become more frequent or become the norm”, says Ó Broin. “This approach has only ever been used in a very limited number of circumstances and we would typically avoid this wherever possible,” says the council spokesperson. The116are the second-hand homes which are purchased off site, but the council also buys new-build homes in a different location, in lieu of the Part V for developments in expensive areas. Moriarty says that overall the number of Part V homes being purchased off-site in Dublin is too high. He talks to council housing delivery managers and they explain that they can buy more homes, if they look at lower-cost areas. He understands, but “that does fly in the face of the intended social mixing of Part V.” It means that three are fewer new social homes being delivered in some areas of Dublin, particularly expensive and affluent areas. “It doesn’t serve people in certain parts of the city, where there is just no prospect of ever being a successful social housing applicant really,” says Moriarty. If the council doesn't want to cough up the high prices for new-build apartments in the city centre, it has other options, says architect and housing commentator Mel Reynolds. Under Part V legislation, it can also buy land at a discount from the developer, he says, and build it out itself. ### Things To Do: See a gothic circus, celebrate a catastrophic avant-garde holiday, read a frustrated writer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-see-a-gothic-circus-celebrate-a-catastrophic-avant-garde-holiday-read-a-frustrated-writer/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:36:56.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Artaud in Ireland** Back in 2023, Ranelagh Arts launched Artaud in Ireland, a project which looked at and celebrated the work of avant-garde artist Antonin Artaud through the lens of his ill-fated trip to these shores. Artaud visited Ireland for a six-week period beginning in August 1937\. With him, he brought a cane which he believed to be the staff of Saint Patrick. He was arrested on the grounds of the Milltown Jesuit College, due to "erratic behaviour, trespassing, and being a destitute and undesirable alien". He was taken to the Garda station in Donnybrook, and then briefly Mountjoy Prison before finally he was deported back to France where he was transferred to a psychiatric facility. This week, Ranelagh Arts is pairing up with GalleryX to launch the second edition of Artaud in Ireland. This evening, Ranelagh Arts will be presenting Artaud x Feminism, an exhibition which celebrates the work of American artist Nancy Spero. Running until 27 September, the show examines Artaud’s influence on Spero and second wave feminism. The exhibition is set to feature the late Spero’s artwork "Artaud Head", and will also include screenings of two films that examine Spero’s work: the 1992 documentary *Nancy Spero in Derry Northern Ireland* and the 1973 short film *The Art of Nancy Spero*. Meanwhile, over on Hume Street, GalleryX is marking the occasion with a group show, simply titled Artaud in Ireland, and featuring works by Alex Boyd, Graham Dolphin, Olwen Fouéré, Tim Robinson and Jackie Roantree. The GalleryX group show will be running until 26 September. If you’re planning to attend the launch of Artaud in Ireland today, the proceedings will officially start in Ranelagh at 6pm. Then, “a pied piper” is scheduled to lead the attendees through “a psychic journey” that will conclude at GalleryX. The psychic journey is a 24- minute walk, or 14 minutes if you take the Luas. Attendance is free, but booking [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/galleryx/2391980?ref=dublininquirer.com) is advised. **Substance to Shadows** Meanwhile at the TØN gallery in Temple Bar, Norwegian artist Kyrre Mogster will be presenting a new exhibition, Substance to Shadows, this evening. Substance to Shadows looks at hedonism and human folly – two nouns synonymous with the Temple Bar area – with Mogster using “excess, indulgence, and collapse as an allegory for what results from dogmatic thinking”. Through ink and oil sticks on canvas, Mogster’s work here draws inspiration from the writings of sociologist Alvin Gouldner, specifically when he addresses the dangers of failing to confront and interrogate ideological biases. Substance to Shadow launches at 6pm today, Thursday, 10 September, and will run until 30 September. **Frustrated Writers Group Vol 3, Fri** Down in the Douglas Hyde Gallery tomorrow (Friday, 11 September), the [Frustrated Writers Group](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-stoneybatter-a-group-of-frustrated-writers-find-an-audience-each-other/) will be launching their latest anthology of work. Since it was set up in [April 2022](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-stoneybatter-a-group-of-frustrated-writers-find-an-audience-each-other/), the group has met on a monthly basis to share and discuss the contributions of its various members, be these pieces of prose or poetry. The group has compiled these works and released them as a volume, initially semi annually with the first of these appearing in 2023, and the second in 2024, which you can read [here](https://frustratedwriters.group/frustrated-writers-group-vol-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The third volume finally lands this week, making it a biennial publication. It will feature contributions from Doireann Ní Dhufaigh, Niamh O’Connell, AJ Ó Dubhda, Cathal McGuire, Jo Morrigan Black, David Slattery, Ashanti Wheeler-Artwell, Matthew Tallon, Gale Aitken, Katie Burke, Abby Connolly, Conor Crummey, Sofie De Smyter, Rachel Enright-Murphy, Gwenhwyfar Ferch Rhys, Shreya Gupta, Eoin J. Barry and the group’s founder Tom Roseingrave. The launch starts at 7pm, with readings from the new anthology beginning at 7:30pm. For more information, follow the Frustrated Writers Group on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/frustrated%5F%5F%5F%5F%5Fwriters/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dublin City Council Liffey Festival** The 106th Liffey Swim is happening this Saturday, and to celebrate the iconic event, Dublin City Council is hosting a brand new festival in honour of the river across the weekend. Beginning with the swim itself at midday on Saturday, the Dublin City Council Liffey Festival will consist of gigs, jet-pack displays, vessel visits, maritime talks, street theatre and walking tours among many other attractions around Custom House Quay George’s Dock and Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Some of the highlights on the Saturday include a sean-nós dance and singing workshop, a talk with Flossie and the Beach Cleaners on maritime life and their discoveries while scrubbing the coast and a lecture from historian Pat Liddy on the Liffey’s role in shaping the city, and a lesson from artist Jane Groves on how to create a nature book using reed pens and charcoal from Liffey willow. Then, on Sunday, there is a flotilla, a conversation with Dublin Port Heritage director Lar Joyce, a live set from the ballad singing quartet Landless, an open tour of the *RCC Cosaint* vessel, and a talk with research archaeologist and author Rebecca Boyd on the Vikings of Dubh Linn. Visit the festival’s website [here](https://dublin.ie/whats-on/dublin-city-council-liffey-festival/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a full breakdown of the schedule across Saturday and Sunday. These events are free. But booking is advised in many cases. ***West Meath Gothic*** And finally, while we’re in the middle of the Dublin Fringe Festival, one to keep an eye out for is *West Meath Gothic* in Project Arts Centre. Opening on Wednesday, the multidisciplinary show is written and performed by actor Kate Finegan. *West Meath Gothic* is billed as a dark fever dream which offers up a shadowy celebration of rural life. The show will blend together aerial dance and physical theatre which pulses under an original electronic score composed by electronic artist Brian Dillon. If you’re keen to visit this “one-horse town with a one-channel TV” circus, then it might be worth grabbing a ticket. *West Meath Gothic* opens on Wednesday evening, 16 September and will run until Saturday, 19 September. Tickets are available [here.](https://projectartscentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873688323?%5Fgl=1%2Auy2zi0%2A%5Fga%2AMTMzMjMwOTA2Mi4xNzg3NzMzODAy%2A%5Fga%5FC4WSKCHMDZ%2AczE3ODkwNDgyMzQkbzIkZzEkdDE3ODkwNDgyNzckajYwJGwwJGgw%2A%5Fga%5FQCXK9ZPKTK%2AczE3ODkwNDgyMzQkbzIkZzEkdDE3ODkwNDgyNzckajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com) Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Sing Along Social** This evening, Sing Along Social’s second Lil Sing Along Social will be held at McGowans in Phibsboro, with the hits of Pitbull being pitted against those of Celine Dion. If you want to pledge allegiance to Mr Worldwide, or belt out a rendition of "My Heart Will Go On", then secure your tickets [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/singalongsocial/2327457?ref=dublininquirer.com). Doors are at 7:30pm To see what else is lined up for Sing Along Social, follow them on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/singalongsocial/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Anti-Donald Trump Protest March** The Irish Neutrality League, United Against Racism, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Extinction Rebellion and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre will be holding a march in protest of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the city on Saturday, 12 September. The march will begin at 1pm from the Garden of Remembrance. ***The Promise Love Story*** Fingal-born singer-songwriter and producer Paul Redmond is bringing his original musical, *The Promise Love Story*, back to the stage in Balbriggan on Saturday, 24 October. The musical, inspired by five interconnected love stories set against a turbulent period of Irish history, explores love, loss, loyalty, secrets and forgiveness. Tickets for the showcase staged concert at the Lark in Balbriggan are available [here](https://thelark.ie/event/the-promise-love-story-showcase-concert/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ### Public transport drivers tease out how to respond to a future of automated trains and buses URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/public-transport-drivers-tease-out-how-to-respond-to-a-future-of-automated-trains-and-buses/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:37:02.000Z In a conference room on the eleventh floor of Liberty Hall on Monday morning, a couple dozen drivers of buses, trains and trams, and SIPTU union officials, gathered for a seminar about the automation of public transport. "In the past five or six years there's been an explosion of autonomous vehicles all over the world," said Stephen Millane, SIPTU Dublin Bus representative, giving a presentation from the front of the room. He went through examples of robotaxis in San Francisco and autonomous buses across cities in China. He showed a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f631m0itRg&ref=dublininquirer.com) entitled "China’s Next‑Gen Buses That HUMILIATE Western Transport Tech". And then he moved closer and closer to Dublin, highlighting similar developments in Hamburg ([shuttle buses](https://www.hamburg.com/heat-17268?ref=dublininquirer.com)), Oslo ([shuttle buses](https://ruter.no/en/planlegg-reise/selvkjorende-shared-autonomous-transport-on-demand?ref=dublininquirer.com)), London ([taxis](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/03/london-first-self-driving-taxis-for-hire-wayve-uber?ref=dublininquirer.com)), and Belfast ([shuttle buses](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3791xy45po?ref=dublininquirer.com)). "It's very, very close to here and it's only a short step before it could be introduced in the Republic of Ireland," Millane said. Perhaps first in MetroLink. Millane explained that "automated" can mean a lot of different things – there are scales. The one for things that run on rails goes from [zero to four](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic%5Ftrain%5Foperation?ref=dublininquirer.com). The plan is for MetroLink to be "[fully automated](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/minister-ryan-announces-transformative-metrolink-project/?ref=dublininquirer.com)", [level four](https://www.metrolink.ie/en/news/procurement/metrolink-announces-contract-for-supplying-trains-tracks-and-stations-and-operating-service-for-25-years/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A 2020 [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606037-appendix-g/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), a section on the benefits of automation says, "Computers are better at driving trains than humans". And it includes [a table](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606037-appendix-g/?ref=dublininquirer.com) showing how automation can be used to reduce the number of people required to run the system, and thus the staff costs. Staff account for about 48 percent of the costs of running public transport, said Greg Ennis, SIPTU's deputy general secretary. It's only a matter of time before other parts of Dublin's transport system get automated, Millane and other speakers at the event said. "It's not something that's going to happen 10, 20, 30 years from now – it's a real thing that's going to affect good, well-paid jobs imminently," said SIPTU transport sector organiser John Murphy. "What do we do about this as a trade union?" asked Ennis, SIPTU deputy general secretary. "We're not going to be able to stop it, but we need retraining with teeth." As well as regulation of autonomous vehicles that protect workers, passengers and the public, he said. ## Pros and cons Eleven floors down, five would-be bus passengers are waiting at stops on the footpath. The last bus on the 27 route hasn't showed up on schedule and some are frustrated, and have settled in for a long wait for the next one. One guy is looking from a text on his phone confirming a doctor's appointment time, to the digital sign at the bus stop with timings for the next buses. Ghost buses have been reported on the 27, 27A and 27B routes hundreds of times via [noshowbus.ie](https://noshowbus.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), since we set up the tracker in late 2024. It's not just these routes either. Routes across Dublin are plagued by cancelled buses and no-show buses, and the National Transport Authority has said that staff shortages are often one of the causes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Dublin-Bus-on-Eden-Quay--with-We-are-hiring-sign.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.jpg) Dublin Bus on Eden Quay. Photo by Sam Tranum. When a bus is cancelled and doesn't run – because a driver called in sick, or whatever – but the company operating that bus doesn’t take it off the real-time passenger information system (RTPI), which feeds data to the digital displays at bus stops, and the apps, [so the bus appears to be on its way but never shows, then that is a ghost bus](https://www.dublininquirer.com/waited-for-a-bus-in-dublin-and-it-never-showed-up-please-tell-us/). Apps like TFI Live “cannot display a service as cancelled if it has not received the appropriate cancellation message from the operator and as a result it reverts to showing the timetabled time that the bus is due to arrive at a stop”, Eamon Ryan [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-bus-tracking-system-to-tackle-ghost-buses-and-disappearing-buses/), when he was Minister for Transport. Of course, a bus service that does not involve drivers could not be sent off kilter by a driver not showing up, or a driver showing up late. At the seminar in Liberty Hall, when Millane asked participants what the benefits to automation of public transport might be from a user's perspective, reliability was one of the first mentioned. But taking the drivers out of buses, trains and trams in the city would have negative effects too, says Sinéad Cuthbert, who was waiting for her bus on Eden Quay that same day. Her first thought is safety, she said. "With no driver, no human on the bus, my worry would be for women, for children, for vulnerable users," Cuthbert said. "The driver is a very valuable person." They can be a friendly face for older people who might not see many others in a day, she said. They can help if someone needs it. They can respond to unexpected situations better than automated systems. And, of course, they are people, who need jobs, and – often – have others who depend on them having jobs, several attendees at the SIPTU seminar said. "The potential benefits from our perspective would be a very very short list," said Ennis, the deputy general secretary. "AI is moving into transport at a very rapid rate and it's coming for our jobs." ## Strategy The state regulates and controls transport in a variety of ways. For example, when it comes to the prospect of fully automated robotaxis plying the streets of Dublin without human drivers, the state will decide whether to allow them. And it even decides whether to allow lower levels of automation in vehicles, such as [Tesla's "full self driving"](https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2026/0510/1572395-tesla-ireland-fsd/?ref=dublininquirer.com) driver-assistance software – which sits at level 2 automation. The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is "engaged in technical and administrative activities in relation to an application involving advanced driver assistance systems, including functionality described as 'full self-driving (supervised)'", Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, a Fine Gael TD, [said in June](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-17/60/?ref=dublininquirer.com). For buses and the Luas, the National Transport Authority (NTA) awards contracts to operators – Dublin Bus, Go Ahead Ireland, and KeolisAmey – to run those services, which specify how they should run them. Through similar arrangements, the state controls the way Bus Éireann, the Dart and rail services operate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/The-Luas-stop-on-Abbey-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) It is unclear exactly what the government's strategy will be, in terms of allowing automation of any of these types of transport. What level of automation will it allow, how soon, with what human oversight? In 2020, the Department of Transport ran a [public consultation](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/consultations/public-consultation-on-connected-and-autonomous-mobility-in-road-transport/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on "connected and autonomous mobility in road transport". It was "seeking to develop a new cross-Government national strategy which will set out the steps to be taken over the coming years to facilitate the development and deployment of connected and autonomous mobility in Ireland," a [public consultationit said.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606103-national-cam-strategy-consultation-paper/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "This public consultation, led by the Department, marks the first key stage in this process, with a view to the strategy being issued by Autumn of next year," the 2020 document said. That National Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles is "well advanced and it is expected to be published later this year", a Department of Transport spokesperson said on Tuesday. It'll have a particular focus on connected and automated vehicles/mobility on roads, the spokesperson said. And on "laying the groundwork for the safe testing, piloting and trialling of connected and automated vehicle technologies". "After publication, further work is likely to be necessary on preparation for higher levels of automation beyond Level 2 and discussions with stakeholders are envisaged before the trialling or deployment of any such automated vehicles or systems," the spokesperson said. For the moment, "there are no current plans or active discussions taking place for automation (i.e. driverless operation) of Luas, heavy rail, DART or buses in Dublin". And "there have been no approaches to the Department to launch" robotaxi "services in Ireland". A spokesperson for the National Transport Authority said there are no plans to automate "rail-based public transport in the foreseeable future". "Luas lines are considered open systems and therefore technology is not mature enough to fully automate their operation," she said. "ETCS \[European Train Control System\] Level 1 is being implemented nationally with the TPS \[Train Protection System\] National Rollout programme on Irish Rail network, but it cannot be considered full automation as it does not replace the train driver but supports them in avoiding over speeding and signals passed at danger," she said. ## Mitigation Whenever it arrives, though, the introduction of automation into public transport shouldn't be done without the consent of the unions, said Adrian Kane, another SIPTU deputy general secretary, at the seminar on Monday. And any newly automated systems should still be overseen by humans, Kane said. Maybe something like what's happened with aviation, said Millane, who was leading the seminar – where planes are highly automated, but pilots are still there overseeing their operations. For the people who oversee these systems, the working conditions can be an improvement, said Philip Freeman, the European Transport Workers' Federation's policy officer for urban transport and mobility, who was at the seminar. In a pilot project in Finland, people still supervise the operations of the automated buses, by remote, Freeman said. Rather than going out on the roads in the cold and driving the buses, they stay in an office, where there's a toilet nearby, and "they're not going to be punched or spit at", he said. But the number who'd be needed to oversee automated systems would be smaller than the number needed now, speakers agreed. So the union should push for retraining for people who lose their jobs, and also push to elongate the transition period during which humans are phased out of these jobs, said Ennis. "A bus or a train driver can't just become an AI engineer tomorrow," he said. In pushing for these goals, the union should carefully consider its communications strategy, said Ethel Buckley, another SIPTU deputy general secretary. It should not assume it has the public's support in resisting automation, Buckley said. "We don't want to appear to be just protecting our jobs, or to be luddites," she said. ### On an inner-city walking tour, an artist scatters fragments of history URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-an-inner-city-walking-tour-an-artist-scatters-fragments-of-history/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T15:41:08.000Z A couple of people in the pink singlets for Dublin Fringe handed out small green receivers, each along with a single headphone and a lanyard. Lunchtime neared on Sunday and a small crowd had gathered beside the circular green on Father Mathew Square off Beresford Street. The group, about 10 people, put the lanyards around their necks and popped headphones in their right ears. Alongside the stewards was the artist Nina FitzGerald Graham with a black iPod in her hand. She pressed play, and it transmitted audio to the devices. This was Ruderal Infrastructures, it told attendees, a walking tour that blended site-specific installations with performance. Each attendee got a black and dark green pamphlet with a map showing the streets around the border of Dublin 1 and 7 – Church Street, North King Street, Bolton Street, Dominick Street. Before anyone could carefully inspect the maps, FitzGerald Graham set off, saying little as she led her audience through the north inner-city. They strolled around the corner where a silver-haired man in dark glasses and a navy suit sat on a fold-out chair outside a red-brick terraced house. He was studying a small utility cover in the pavement made from tin and debossed with the word “rupture”. The man didn’t linger too long on the utility covering. Nor did he say a word. Instead, he folded up his chair and led the curious crowd on a march onwards, to more locations where FitzGerald Graham had installed similarly enigmatic sculptures. Her fascination was with these pieces of infrastructure in locations that were historically significant, FitzGerald Graham told the tour a half an hour later, as their walk concluded on Dominick Street. These “openings” were ways of resurfacing historic events, like the collapse of two four-storey tenement houses on Church Street in 1913 or how a lot of radical newspapers and republican material from the revolutionary period was created in a printers on Yarnhall Street, off Bolton Street, she said. Tenement collapses helped to fuel the revolutionary movement, she said over the sound of squawking herring gulls. “I wanted to note these important places and this idea of what comes up when things rupture.” ## **The City Doesn’t Explain Itself** FitzGerald Graham grew up in the north inner-city, she said while drinking a flat white outside Mish Mash, a cafe at the top of Capel Street. Her mother’s side of the family lived over on Mountjoy Street, she said. “They lived for four generations in the same tenement.” Despite that fact, there aren’t a lot of people who knew or remembered her family in the neighbourhood, she said. “I didn’t know any of the people who lived in my neighbourhood, but I felt so connected with their personalities, their stories just from being in the same place.” As she developed Ruderal Infrastructures, she was thinking about the street as a place where strangers with a shared history come into contact with each other, she said. “I was just maybe trying to draw some attention to those shared experiences and how we contribute to the identity of the place.” In a sense, the walking tour was a glimpse into local history, but one that wasn’t explicit about the events it was referencing, she said. “The city doesn’t explain itself.” As the silver-haired tour guide, whom she calls an “angel”, and who is played by her father, walks down Church Street, taking care to avoid every crack in the pavement, his voice plays through the audio devices and into the ears of those who follow. It describes a plume of dust all around, and disorientation until it settles. That was taken from an eye-witness account of the collapse of tenement houses on Church Street, FitzGerald Graham says. “There are lots of little pieces that are taken from direct instances of things that happened. But I only gesture at them really.” Similarly, her installation of a tin lid in a small water meter hole on Bolton Street titled "Rebel Sigil" is intended to allude to Mahon Printers, a nearby print house that was used by a lot of political radicals in the early 20th century, she said. "All kinds of ephemeral materials from the revolutionary period was made there" It is an abstract design based on the lettering, she said. “And then I spliced these together to create a symmetrical shape, and sigils are these abstract symbols with protective qualities.” “I was interested in the idea that this abstraction creates a mythology,” she said. “Like, there is something significant about this place. I just don’t directly know why.” ## **Retiling Dominick Street** Towards the climax of the tour, the navy-suited guide stops at a sign mounted to a wooden doorframe on Dominick Street. It is a hand-written site notice, signed by FitzGerald Graham and dated 5 September. As he acts out reading the paper, a recording of his voice plays in everyone’s headsets: “Site notice. Notice the pavement. Notice the fresh concrete.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Site-Notice-by-Nina-FitzGerald-Graham-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.JPG) Site Notice, by Nina FitzGerald Graham. Photo by Michael Lanigan. The text goes on to say that the artist is seeking permission to permanently install a small concrete tile, inspired by the work of city architect [Daithi Hanly](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-coombe-an-exhibition-recalls-plans-for-totalitarian-christian-capital-city/) and created from the rubble of the demolished [St Mary’s Place flats on Dorset Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-dorset-street-council-pushes-forward-with-regeneration-of-a-long-neglected-housing-complex/). Above the sign is the round tile itself into which FitzGerald Graham had cast 12 leaves, jagged as if from a dandelion. These flats were an example of the city’s effort to address housing issues in the mid-century, she said. “And I wanted to see how a trace of this piece of Dublin could be kept.” She had salvaged a few parts of the buildings, she said. “The actual physical material is important to me as a way of accessing social memory.” She hopes that, down the line, the tile will be installed somewhere on the street, she said. “I’ve been in touch with the Dublin City Arts Office, and they said it’s interesting.” A spokesperson for the council didn't respond to a query on Monday about the idea. It would need an actual site notice, FitzGerald Graham said. “They’d need to get an engineers report on the structural integrity of the concrete, and all these kinda things.” ### Brushing Up: The geometric petlife stuck up around the city URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/brushing-up-the-geometric-petlife-stuck-up-around-the-city/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:37:09.000Z Stuck on a utility box on Constitution Hill is a poster with simple lines in orange and blue. They trace the face of a giddy dog. Here is that pooch again pasted on a post box on Nassau Street. There's another on College Street – the dog's ears are triangles, its face two rhombuses – on the boarded-up window of the old Irish Yeast Co. A cat drawn, made of similar geometric shapes, stares down passersby on a bustling Grafton Street. On the shelf of a desk inside an old building on leafy North Circular Road sits a fat stack of those cat and dog prints. The desk is inside the home studio of Magnus Mudrack. He draws the pictures with a dabber – the kind of markers people use to play bingo, he said. He always uses just two colours, Mudrack said. On a recent morning, he wore a black jacket over a yellow shirt and brown pinstripe trousers. He’s tall with a serious face with a beard, greying in some places. The origins of the pet portraits now found around the city go back about eight years ago, said Mudrack, as he pored over long-ago sketchbooks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/On-College-Street.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) On College Street. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. In 2018, he filled a whole sketchpad with geometrical birds just out of an ache to draw, he said. At the time, he was hustling to set up his graphic design studio and running exhibitions, he said. “I was doing a lot of logistical stuff, and I wasn’t doing much image making”. He yearned for old-school drawing, he said. Later, he moved on from birds to simple portraits of real-life dogs and cats, he said. As a former graffiti kid, he shared them with all Dubliners, said Mudrack. He loves it if it gives people a “nice little pep” as they set out to overcome a new day, said Mudrack. “And they’re curious, like ‘What the fuck is that about?’” But it is also a “fun little game” that colours his own life, said Mudrack. “Like I go to the shop from here and back, then I go for a run three times a week. Then I go to the market. And that’s it,” he said. It can get lonely, Mudrack said. ## **The people’s art** The simple geometry of his pet portraits is a nod to mid-20th century modernist cartoon illustrations, said Mudrack. Think *Top Cat* or *The Pink Panther.* He walked over to a jammed bookshelf in the corner of his studio and picked up a giant book. It’s filled with hand-drawn cartoons in that style. He paged through it, pausing on a pencil-drawn illustration of a smiley army general with a rhombus-shaped head, eyes closed and mouth open, and one hand thrown up in the air as if caught mid-speech. “Jesus fucking Christ, look at that, that’s amazing,” he said. Mudrack grew up in the Dublin 7 area on social assistance and felt worthless a lot, he said. As a teenager, he took shelter in painting graffiti in Dublin. He was good at it, which gave him a reason to feel proud, said Mudrack. He met graffiti OGs he looked up to in jam sessions up in Drogheda and felt star-struck, he said. “Jesus Christ, it was great. It was going from being shit at everything – particularly in school – to being patted on the back by the people who you not just admired, but worshipped,” said Mudrack. Now that he’s older, Mudrack – who is 40 – has outgrown his roots, he said. He wouldn't class his pet portraits as street art either because that’s often political. His project isn't, Mudrack said. Still, he has fun reading other people’s political slogans whenever they appear on the posters though, he said. On Basin Lane, at the former site of an anti-immigrant encampment, someone has spray-painted Mudrack’s name “Magnus” in black, all over one of his pooch prints, covering the dog’s face except for the circular nose. “D8 says no” – an anti-immigrant slogan – is scribbled underneath it. Mudrack laughed when he heard about it. Over time, he's grown stoic about the fact that these things are out of his control, he said. “If you wanna put something on the street, it’s not yours anymore; it can get drawn over, picked at,” Mudrack said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/On-Grafton-Street.-Photo-by-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/On-Nassau-Street.-Photo-by-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) On Grafton Street; On Nassau Street. Photos by Shamim Malekmian. His unauthorised stickers could land him in trouble with property owners and the city, he said. But if someone asks him to take a poster down, he always does. Though it's rare, he said. “There’s almost no people who hate it,” Mudrack said. Paddy Peyton delights in catching sight of these posters whenever they crop up as he strolls through the city, he said recently. “I enjoy how simple and creative they are.” They sprinkle colour onto the city and perk him up, said Peyton. “They always catch my eyes." Mudrack says that what he really hopes is that people who grapple with homelessness and addiction feel a touch of comfort when they spot them around. People who can’t afford art, he said. As he recalled, sat on a sofa on his home-studio, an encounter with someone struggling who liked his project, Mudrack began to cry. He'd felt she was terribly alone, he said. ## **Back to basics** Now people commission him to draw their pets' portraits in the same minimal clean style. “Models wanted. Illustrator seeks pretty pooches, meandering mutts, bounding bowwows, for drawing project,” says a large poster in Mudrack’s home studio. “To enter, tag @magnus\_mudrack in a picture of your pooch along with a story about their antics. Win: Pooch print.” The dog on the poster has a circle for a face, triangles as ears and half a square for a muzzle. In the age of AI spit-outs, Mudrack finds reprieve in back-to-basics drawing, a style that’s fading fast, he said. “The kind of very naive style of things.” It feels zany and cool, he said. “Like how does it make sense, how does this look like a dog, it’s just a triangle and a square.” He had felt like that during pandemic lockdowns too, when there weren't many cars to roar by and blot out the “birds and the insects and the crickets and the gravel going down the tyre of a bicycle”, said Mudrack. Stripping things down can be cathartic right now, he said. “We’re living in the middle of a tumultuous time, and if I can bring some joy and some happiness, a little respite," he said, "then, yeah, be nice.” ### What's the plan for squeezing more library into Howth? asks a councillor URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-the-plan-for-squeezing-more-library-into-howth-asks-a-councillor/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:37:15.000Z Howth’s library wasn’t particularly busy on Tuesday morning. One woman had come in to use the computers after the front doors were opened by staff at a quarter to nine. Its two librarians were sitting at the reception desk next to the entrance. One organised a few files. The other leafed through a stack of books. Above the shelves of books, newspapers, CDs, DVDs and board games, there were pictures of local sights, including paintings of the harbour, a sketch of the former Baily Court Hotel. The hotel, which looked out on [Balscadden Bay](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-years-of-campaigning-theres-still-no-safe-access-to-howths-balscadden-beach/), once occupied the site next to the library on the peninsula’s sloping Main Street. But today, that hotel is a construction site after developer Balscadden GP3 Limited was [granted permission](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/313133?ref=dublininquirer.com) by An Comisiún Pleanála in March 2023 to demolish the building and build 180 apartments. The village’s library is a quaint, single-storey art deco building with white pebbledashed walls and sky blue quoins which sits between this construction site to its north, and a two-storey block of offices to its south. Similar to Dublin city’s art deco-style libraries in Inchicore, Ringsend and Drumcondra, almost the entire facility is contained within a single room. The library isn't capable of meeting Howth’s needs Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins said on Tuesday morning. “If you compare Howth library to Baldoyle library or Malahide library, which is massive, huge. They’ve even got a room where you can learn how to cook, and that should be the benchmark,” she said. According to its [capital programme for ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606141-combined-report-outturn-2024-and-3-year-capital-programme-2025-2027/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p24)[2025 to 2027](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606141-combined-report-outturn-2024-and-3-year-capital-programme-2025-2027/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p24), published in October 2024, Fingal County Council had allocated €187,000 to carry out a feasibility study on the possibility of expanding the library. The feasibility study has been completed, according to [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606467-councillor-j-hopkins-details-of-feasibility-study-for-howth-library/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Lilian Whelan, Fingal’s acting county librarian. But the council hasn't decided on a course of action. There isn’t a timeline or project team associated with works on the library yet, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday afternoon when asked if the feasibility study has been completed. ## **Slow consideration** The Howth Library was built in 1933. It isn't listed by Fingal County Council as [a protected structure](https://www.fingal.ie/sites/default/files/2024-03/record-of-protected-structures-and-acas-2023-2029.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), but its unusual architecture and social history makes it a building of special interest, says the [National Built Heritage Service](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11359020/howth-public-library-main-street-howth-howth-co-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). In addition to the money set aside for the feasibility study in its last three-year capital programme, the council has allocated [€687,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606146-capital-programme-2026-2028/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p27) in its current one, which stretches out to 2028 for "improvement works" at the library, "subject to funding availability". However, Hopkins says she has yet to see the feasibility study. At a meeting of the council's Howth-Malahide local area committee on 2 September, she asked for a copy of the study, and details of plans to provide an improved library service for Howth. The council has undertaken a feasibility study and several options were explored, including adding an additional floor and expanding to building to take in the entire site, according to a [report](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s119405/Item%2006%20Councillor%20J.%20Hopkins%20-%20Details%20of%20Feasibility%20Study%20for%20Howth%20Library.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Whelan. But, "The site and its available options present significant challenges with limited additional floor space to the existing building," she said. “In this context, consideration continues to be given to possible options that can lead to the upgrade of library facilities in Howth.” ## **What is feasible?** It should be feasible to add something like a small annex to either side of the building, Hopkins said. “Or even an outdoor garden space. In Baldoyle, they had an outdoor space that was turned into a sensory garden with an awning covering. An additional space for kids to do readings or play,” she said. The library has a small garden on its southern end that is “sizeable” enough, she said. “You could easily put another community room extension there.” While the Howth Library upgrade remains at "an exploratory stage", similar tasks of upgrading of other libraries of similar vintage in Dublin city have proven challenging. The 1935 art deco library in Inchicore was approved by Dublin city councillors for refurbishment in January 2020. But [its temporary closure in March 2020](https://www.dublininquirer.com/path-forward-for-renovating-former-inchicore-library-and-opening-it-up-for-community-use/) became indefinite as the old building began to severely deteriorate once vacant. Over in Ringsend, the long-slated extension and rejuvenation of its own art deco library is inching forward, with a tender for construction set to be complete by November, according to a July [report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/g5813/Public%20reports%20pack%2013th-Jul-2026%2014.30%20South%20East%20Area%20Committee.pdf?T=10&ref=dublininquirer.com) to Dublin City Council's South East Area Committee. A contractor is due to be appointed during the second quarter of 2027, with the estimated build time expected to be up to two and a half years, the report says. For Howth, the worry is that any upgrades will stall because its limitations are deemed a challenge by the council, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey on Tuesday evening. “It’s frustrating for the councillors and the residents because there are going to be more who are moving into its new apartments,” Haughey said. “We just want to match that population increase with facilities being increased,” he said. ### Council hit with tax bill of millions, for failing to develop residentially zoned land URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-hit-with-tax-bill-of-millions-for-failing-to-develop-residentially-zoned-land/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T23:07:06.000Z For last year, Dublin City Council was hit with a bill of €6.3 million for 62 sites across the city that it owns where housing could theoretically be built, but hadn't been. That was what it owed the Revenue Commissioners in Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), which is currently levied at [3 percent](https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/rzlt/charged-paid/index.aspx?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the market value of a site that is zoned residential but remains undeveloped. "The principal purpose of the tax is to encourage the timely activation of zoned and serviced residential development land for housing," the council's [website explains](https://www.dublincity.ie/planning-and-land-use/active-land-management/residential-zoned-land-tax-rzlt/final-residential-zoned-land-tax-map-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). The council has paid €3.9 million of that to the Revenue Commissioners so far, according to [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28597324-rzlt-lands-council-owned/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council has released under the Freedom of Information Act. It has applied for deferrals in respect of the remaining €2.4 million, according to a [letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28597323-foi-letter-rzlt/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released with the records. A landowner can defer paying for [a few reasons](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28597364/rzlt-quick-start-guide.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), like if they've started developing the site. If they finish building in time, they wouldn't have to pay – but the tax stays hanging over their head until then. The purpose of the tax is to change behaviour, said the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Fine Gael TD, Simon Harris, in a [Dáil statement](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-07-07/243/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in July. "To encourage the use of residential zoned and serviced land for the purposes of building homes," he said. But some councillors say the new tax won’t motivate the council to develop land faster, because the cumbersome process for it to get funding for new housing is outside the council officials' control. Often, they can't build projects any faster, even with millions in penalties hanging over their heads. “Dublin City Council do hold some blame, but they are also victims of government policy,” says People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy. Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne says that in those cases, there's another solution. If the council can't develop the land, it should sell it to someone who can, he said. ## A major owner of vacant land Dublin City Council owns too much vacant, residentially zoned land, said Byrne, the councillor. The Revenue Commissioners collected around €58.8million via the Residential Zoned Land Tax from landowners across Ireland in 2025. Dublin City Council says it paid €3.9 million of that, which would mean it accounted for around 6.6 percent of the national take. And Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, says some Dublin City Council-owned sites might not be accounted for yet, because the council is just in the midst of mapping all the land it owns at the moment, he says. [Looking ahead, Dublin City Council starts to map where the next decade’s housing should goOne outstanding question, though, is whether any of the sites it identifies will be earmarked for Traveller accommodation.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-2fe6262c-387d-4e3a-aef3-0f95e012f415.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/File-photo-of-vacant-land-in-Ballymun-by-Lois-Kapila-1-3c6203b0-3e42-48c0-ba64-46ec0b68ed91.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/looking-ahead-dublin-city-council-has-been-mapping-where-the-next-decades-housing-should-go/) However, it appears that the council is already building on some of the sites in the list it got taxed for in 2025, such as the former St Teresa's Gardens site off Donore Avenue, and the Bluebell Waterways Phase 1 site, for example – both with the Land Development Agency. Also, the council has plans in the works to build homes on many other sites on the list, according to its most [recent housing supply report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28597590-report-no-662026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-housing-supply-and-delivery-april/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Of course, there are other sites on the RZLT list that don't appear on the council’s housing supply report, at any stage of development. Dublin City Council didn’t respond to questions about this in time for publication. ## Will it motivate action? Sinn Féin Councillor Séamas McGrattan says that in some cases, when a site is not on the housing supply report, the council is carrying out local consultation informally to try to progress development. In his experience, each time he inquired about a vacant site in his area it turned out the council was trying to develop it. “There are often reasons why sites are not being developed,” he says. “Every site has a different story.” The council has to apply to the Department of Housing for funding to develop land and securing that funding takes a long time, says McGrattan. “The fine \[the RZLT\] won’t incentivise the council to go more quickly, I just think it's a pointless exercise,” McGrattan said. “Ultimately that money would be better spent on building." Of course, only 3 percent of Dublin City Council staff [currently work in housing delivery](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-dublin-city-council-had-more-than-3-of-its-staff-working-in-housing-delivery-would-more-homes-get-built-in-the-city/). Although the council has applied for more staff in that department. McGrattan, who chairs the finance committee, says the council’s budget is tight. Most funds are already allocated to a purpose, so he doesn’t know where the council found €3.9 million to pay the tax. Since the council cannot afford the tax, managers might well advise councillors to sell some of the vacant sites to avoid being hit with the RZLT on them, he says. That is also a concern, says Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor. Central government has been pushing the council to rezone more land for housing, which it has been doing. As this continues, the council's bill for the Residential Zoned Land Tax is also likely to increase, Reddy says. That, in turn, could lead to more arguments in favour of the council selling off public land, he says. “The management do want to do more disposals at the moment,” Reddy says. “They are trying to de-toxify the idea of selling public land.” At one stage, most councillors were against that idea of selling public land, but recently some are shifting in favour of the approach, he says. Reddy only supports the council selling property in very specific cases, he says. “Once it's gone, it's gone,” he says. Danny Byrne, the Fine Gael councillor, said the figures show the council is sitting on too much vacant land, and so it needs to sell some of it. “How can we preach to others when we are sitting on sites and properties that should be brought into use?” he says. “DCC needs to lead by example and be decisive and develop these sites or dispose of them to others to develop.” If the council builds homes on its own land, most of them are usually social and affordable homes. Whereas if it sells the site to a private developer, most of the new homes are likely to be market-rate. Reddy says the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, is partly responsible for directing limited council resources towards projects which, in Reddy's view, should not be its main priority. Instead, he should focus his efforts on building homes on these vacant, residentially zoned sites the council owns, Reddy says. “We have very [limited borrowing capacity](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/),” says Reddy, so the council shouldn’t be [borrowing to build new offices for itself](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/), in a €600 million+ project that is likely to be very complicated. “That demonstrates a choice on behalf of the CEO,” says Reddy. [Does the council’s site at Camden Yard really have to be offices – and should it be?As plans for the council to build it out progress, there remains something of a split among councillors as to what would be positive, and what would be possible.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-62326d2f-c91e-48aa-a98b-11ecf7d7b87f.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/P1080580-1-a4e8ab03-c791-40b3-b0f1-6081826b4936.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-the-stalled-out-site-at-camden-yard-really-have-to-be-offices-and-should-it-be/) ### Councillors vote down motion to prune back plan to develop housing in Dunsink URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-vote-down-motion-to-prune-plan-to-develop-housing-in-dunsink/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T23:07:14.000Z On Thursday, most councillors at a [meeting](https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1116823?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the local area committee for the west of Fingal voted against a motion to shrink the area marked for development in the Draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan. That plan [maps out](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519292-260617-draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) what should be built in the years ahead on 425 hectares, a giant triangle inside the M50, west of Finglas, and north of the Navan Road. It foresees about 18,500 homes there, built in phases over time. The plan carves the Dunsink lands up into eight areas, and charts out transport links, different uses, amenities and greenspaces, and rough building heights. At Thursday's meeting, National Party Councillor Patrick Quinlan put forward a motion to call on Fingal County Council to cut one of those eight areas, the "Dunsink East" bit, from the plan, "and to retain the lands concerned as undeveloped open ground and habitat". On the plan's maps, Dunsink East is north of Tolka Valley Park, south of Dunsink Lane, and bordering on the homes on Westwood Avenue, Westwood Road and other residential streets west of Ratoath Road. Quinlan said he had been out speaking to people protesting against the plan, about the heights and about the importance of biodiversity in this area, which is mentioned too in the plan itself. Dropping Dunsink East from the plan would only cut out 2,500 homes, Quinlan said. That's not a massive impact, he said. A member of a party that "advocates a policy of remigration", Quinlan has also framed his criticism of the plan through an anti-immigration lens, talking in other fora about who the homes eventually built at Dunsink will be "actually for". "The plan still contains no clear tenure breakdown and no enforceable commitment that local Irish people will be able to buy or rent these homes," he [recently told *Gript*](https://gript.ie/who-will-actually-live-in-irelands-newest-city/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell seconded Quinlan's motion. But only to allow the debate, Burtchaell said – because he was against the idea of dropping Dunsink East from the plan, and voted against the motion at roll-call. "We have a historic opportunity here, in the face of a catastrophic housing crisis," Burtchaell said. The vast majority of the site is in public ownership, he said, so they should have social and genuinely affordable housing with council mortgages. "We can't just go on, with the homeless numbers rising, with children going into emergency accommodation," he said. That doesn't mean trampling over existing communities, he said, and it doesn't mean overdevelopment and high-rises looming over two-storey homes. He agrees with that, he said. But they need the homes supported by "green infrastructure", he said. In the end, 13 councillors voted against Quinlan's motion, with only him voting in favour. ## The discussion More than 1,000 submissions poured into the public consultation on the plan, which ran from 19 June until 31 July. The point of the plan is to encourage sustainable and compact development, it says. More broadly, "a residentially led, mixed-use urban quarter that integrates housing, employment, community, infrastructure and green infrastructure in a coordinated manner". But there has been pushback – around the impact of traffic and the transport network, about the loss of biodiversity, and about the heights of planned new buildings near long-standing low-rise communities. [As locals wrestle with details of big plan for Dunsink, city councillors call for more time to consultDublin city councillors say outreach about the major project has been to residents in the Fingal County Council area – leaving locals in affected city neighbourhoods, such as Finglas, without a proper voice.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-04e352bf-57e3-4ac4-877b-fb7ecd468a2b.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Conceptual-image-from-Dunsink-Urban-Area-Plan-1-d621f456-30e0-4f0b-9e2d-f9229f6f34ab.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-locals-wrestle-with-detail-of-big-plan-for-dunsink-city-councillors-call-for-more-time-to-consult/) At Thursday's meeting, Deirdre Fallon, a senior planner with Fingal County Council, said her team is now going through submissions that came in through the consultation. Next, they'll prepare what is known as the "chief executive's report" responding to any issues raised, and making recommendations as to whether to change parts of the plan to accommodate those issues or not. They hope to issue that report by next Friday 11 September, said Fallon at the meeting. Any changes they suggest will be up for discussion at a special full council meeting in October about the plans, said Fallon. Members can bring forward motions at that meeting too, she said. John Walsh, a Labour councillor, said that process was one of the reasons why he wasn't backing Quinlan's motion before the committee. It wouldn't mean the plan was amended even if they agreed it, Walsh said. It would be giving residents the impression councillors had changed it, when that couldn't be done at this meeting, said Walsh. The council needs to build housing in Dunsink, he said. And they can do that while listening to legitimate concerns from residents about the impact on homes and the loss of green spaces, said Walsh. Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy said he opposed cutting Dunsink East, which was basically phase one of the plans. But also, councillors hadn't yet seen what council planners were coming back with, since the public consultation. "It's a premature motion," he said. All councillors are getting calls from people with concerns about Dunsink, Leddy said. But he would urge people to keep in the front of their thoughts people who are in danger of homelessness, who are homeless, who are living at home with their parents in their 30s, said Leddy. "They're the kind of people I would be thinking about first and foremost," he said. [As council plans new town for Dunsink, how does the old landfill there fit in?The plans envision it as a park, not a site for housing. Environmental monitoring reports detail its impacts on surface water and ground water, as well as the gases it is emitting.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-de31fe34-d569-4ab5-9360-cc275285bbdd.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/View-from-the-top-of-the-Dunsink-landfill-site.-No-attribution.-1-00509006-73ad-4ff1-aeb8-3986c02ce4ca.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-council-plans-new-town-for-dunsink-how-does-the-old-landfill-there-fit-in/) ### Amidst housing crisis, employers push unusual ways to house their staff URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/amidst-housing-crisis-employers-look-for-solutions-to-house-their-staff/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T23:07:48.000Z There's a "To Let" sign fixed to the front of Camac House, advertising a "high spec own door office". On 5 August, Dublin City Council planners [bounced back a](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/176135?ref=dublininquirer.com) planning application from property owners Liam and David Hanlon, for a kind of co-living, guesthouse accommodation for staff at the National Children's Hospital, on the first floor of this building on Bow Bridge. They needed more info, they said, on the project just over the Camac River from James's Hospital in Kilmainham. It's not the only permutation of "staff accommodation" that has been proposed to council planners over the summer. On 25 August, Helgian Limited – whose director owns the SuperValu on Lorcan Avenue in Santry – filed for planning permission to build three modular buildings, [tucked behind the](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/177456?ref=dublininquirer.com) supermarket for staff accommodation. The applications show a couple of the different approaches being taken by employers navigating the affordable-housing crunch in the city, and its impact on staffing. Planning documents for Camac House [show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596462-preapplication-consultations-for-1-to-3-bow-lane/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council planners continue to grapple with how kinds of "staff accommodation" fit within types of accommodation that are permitted in the city – which standards this proposal should have to meet, what controls there would be on how the spaces are used. As well as asking for more detail, planners mooted an alternative idea too. Could the applicant not consider just putting in apartments instead? [they wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596584-further-information-request-for-bow-lane/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "which would provide better quality living standards for workers and would be more suited for longer stay period if necessary. The applicant is requested to submit any revised proposals they may have in this regard." Liam Hanlon, the owner of the office space at Camac House, said on the phone on Wednesday that he wasn't ready to talk about the planning application right now. ## At Camac House The idea is that the first-floor office space at Camac House would be converted into temporary accommodation for staff anticipated at the new National Children's Hospital, [says the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596659-planning-report-for-camac-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com) planning application. Plans show eight en-suite bedrooms, and shared facilities. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Existing-and-proposed-floor-plans-from-the-Camac-House-planning-application.png) Existing and proposed floor plans from the Camac House planning application. Children's Health Ireland supports the idea of "studio-type residential accommodation", [said a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596660-childrens-health-ireland-letter-for-bow-bridge/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Shane Russell, the deputy chief executive, filed with the application. Once open, the new National Children's Hospital (NCH) is anticipated to have 5,000 staff, the letter says. "That increase in staff working in the area will naturally bring an increase in housing need," Russell said. So, "Children’s Health Ireland is supportive in principle any measure which makes accommodation more available and affordable". The site is a short walk from the hospital campus, and there will be high demand for this kind of accommodation from hospital staff and other campus users, they said, while there is a "scarcity of modern, compact accommodation of this type in this area". A spokesperson for CHI didn't respond before deadline with answers to queries sent on Wednesday about why this kind of accommodation would be needed, in particular, rather than standard apartments. An account in the planning file of the pre-planning discussions [says that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596462-preapplication-consultations-for-1-to-3-bow-lane/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "it is noted that the applicant has been approached by NCH to provide accommodation for staff of this hospital". The CHI spokesperson didn't respond to queries as to whether it is correct that the project had been initiated by CHI, or they had just chimed in, in support. John McCamley, the sector organiser in the health division at the trade union SIPTU, said that healthcare workers are struggling to find affordable accommodation in the city. "It is something we've raised over and again." So "people are travelling massive distances for work," he said. Meanwhile, the public transport infrastructure also doesn't work well-enough for a lot of people, he said. He isn't familiar with the application for Camac House, he said. But in general, SIPTU would favour long-term affordable homes, he said, over short-term accommodation where people could easily end up stuck for longer than intended anyway. ## Why this? Council planners, meanwhile, have been grappling with what type of staff accommodation, exactly, is being proposed for Camac House, the documents show. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/1-3-Bow-Bridge-1-1.JPG) Camac House. Photo by Lois Kapila. Just as they did two years ago, when the tech company Phorest [applied for permission for](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-tech-company-appeals-councils-refusal-to-let-it-install-sleeping-pods-in-its-city-centre-office-building/) overnight pods for remote-working staff to kip down in when they come in for meetings. That application was ultimately refused. But at the time, several councillors raised concerns about an underlying current of falling housing standards. During pre-planning discussions around Camac House, planners [asked questions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596462-preapplication-consultations-for-1-to-3-bow-lane/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as to what kind of homes exactly were being proposed – and how they fit with the council's current city development plan, and national guidelines. The applicants would need to submit details for how the development would operate, how long staff would stay there, and what facilities would be on-site, it says. If the floor is to be a hostel, the type of hostel has to be defined – which is usually either a tourist hostel or emergency accommodation, it says. If it's to be short-term lets, meanwhile, that proposal would need to be assessed in line with the development plan, too – which is done on a case-by-case basis, based on location, and housing-stock availability, it says. Following these pre-planning discussions, the final application the Hanlons put in [said that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596659-planning-report-for-camac-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com) hospital staff would stay there for up to two months while they hunt down long-term accommodation. It isn't a hostel, they said, so it doesn't fall at all under that definition "and instead seeks planning permission to provide limited-term staff accommodation". But there's no specific policy guidance for a special type of staff accommodation, they said, so the council should consider it a kind of co-living and guesthouse proposal rolled into one. Those are "considered partially relatable to the subject proposal", they said. But also, "it is not considered that the proposal is representative of the shared accommodation/co-living model", it says. There's a presumption against granting planning permission for those, [in the](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-5-quality-housing-and-sustainable-neighbourhoods/55-policies-and-objectives?ref=dublininquirer.com) city development plan. Indeed, the proposal has been designed with regard to the Registration and Renewal of Registration Regulations for Guest Houses 2003 and the Fáilte Ireland Guest House Classification Scheme (2019), [the application says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596659-planning-report-for-camac-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "and so will provide for a guesthouse of a high standard providing high levels of amenity to the occupiers". ## In Santry There were a few parking spaces and bins tucked down the side of the big SuperValu on Lorcan Avenue in Santry on a recent Tuesday. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/The-Supervalu-in-Santry-1.JPG) Photo by Lois Kapila. On 25 August, Helgian Limited [filed for](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/177456?ref=dublininquirer.com) planning permission to build three modular buildings on the site as staff accommodation. They're needed because staff sometimes face long commutes right now, and the affordable-housing crisis has made hiring and retaining staff a struggle, [says a supporting letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596861-planning-application-for-modular-buildings-at-lorcan-avenue/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the owner of the SuperValu in Santry, Ian Mc Donnell. One of the units would be two-bed and 59sqm. Two of the units would be one-beds at 47sqm – [so about the](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-15-development-standards/1511-house-developments?ref=dublininquirer.com) same size as required for houses under departmental guidelines and the development plan. It's a bit unclear from the plans how much open amenity space there is. But the landscaping shows green and blue roofs, and a green wall, and plants all around – chives, lavender and sea pink. For the Camac House project, one of the points of further information that council planners [have asked for](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596462-preapplication-consultations-for-1-to-3-bow-lane/?ref=dublininquirer.com) is how the accommodation would operate in practice. How it would remain temporary, and "particularly how occupancy would be restricted to hospital workers, including details of any legal agreements, management arrangements, or other enforceable mechanisms proposed to ensure compliance with such occupancy restriction", they said. Neither planning application mentions what the rents would be for the accommodation, and who would cover them, and what kind of contract the renter would have with the landlord. Mc Donnell, the SuperValu owner, didn't respond to attempts to reach him. But his letter with the planning application [emphasises how](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28596861-planning-application-for-modular-buildings-at-lorcan-avenue/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the cost and scarcity of rental housing in the area is a struggle for staff hiring and retention at the shop – and says having the housing on-site would bring well-being improvements for staff. Key personnel have to start work early, at 4am, his letter says, and accommodation on-site would get rid of long pre-dawn commutes, and reduce fatigue-related safety risks, among other benefits. Also, the shop has extended hours, it says, and night-shift personnel could rest in their safe, secure on-site accommodation, "significantly improving roster reliability and health and safety compliance regarding rest periods". ## "Tied accommodation" Graham Martin, the representation lead at the housing charity Threshold, said that "tied accommodation" – as accommodation that is linked to a job is often called – does fall as a tenancy under the Residential Tenancies Act. But it is precluded from the bit of the act that relates to security of tenure, Martin said. "The security of tenure of a tied accommodation agreement is usually linked to the person's contract of employment, which may be in writing or verbal, depending on the employment," said Martin, by email. "Some employment, like hospitality, can be fairly casual and accommodation may be provided while the employee is carrying out their duties, but if employment is terminated, so is access to the accommodation tied to it," Martin said. Also, there are cases where those living in "tied accommodation" don't have tenancy rights though, Martin said. "Tied accommodation may also deny the client exclusive access to a self-contained dwelling," he said. "In these cases, the rental may also be defined as a licensee, and therefore not come under the Act at all." [In hundreds of apartments rented out by the same company, renters are on licences with few rights - Dublin InquirerWhat’s going on?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-b603a1cd-fe09-4bb6-9509-93132829ac85.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/leevin-ireland-offices-on-north-great-georges-street-c24f1f22-f379-4a9f-a848-028de812a2c2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-hundreds-of-apartments-rented-out-by-the-same-company-renters-are-on-licences-with-few-rights/) But if the employee gets exclusive access to a self-contained dwelling as part of their job, "then the other part of the Acts relating to the right to submit a dispute are intact on issues such as breaches of the landlord’s obligations, for example standards, repairs and rent", Martin said. Just not on termination of the accommodation, where this is linked to the employee’s ongoing contract of employment*,* he said. ### In new city-centre apartment complexes, thieves target "secure" bike storage within car parks URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-new-city-centre-apartment-complexes-thieves-target-secure-bike-storage-within-car-parks/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T23:37:24.000Z At around 4.45am on Tuesday morning, Lize Jackson was awoken from her sleep by the screeching sound of an angle grinder. Her apartment is above an open grate on the roof of the indoor, ground-floor car park shared by various neighbouring apartment blocks of the new Montpelier development in Dublin 7. The car park also has several lock-up cages for bicycle parking scattered around its periphery. For the second night in a row, people had broken into the car park, and the cages, and were stealing bicycles. “We heard the grinder, came down and could just still smell it,” says Jackson. By then, though, the thieves were gone. They left behind cut cables, broken locks and scattered parts – saddle posts, wheels, and the remains of cheaper bikes that hadn’t been worth taking. Just 24 hours previously, in the early hours of Monday morning, people had also gotten entry to the bikes, and several had been stolen. Jackson doesn’t think they had an angle grinder the first night but came back better equipped on Tuesday. The exact number stolen across both nights isn’t fully clear. Some residents estimate upwards of 20, but at least six people have confirmed that their pricey bikes were lifted. Gardaí said Wednesday that they'd had reports about two. Montpelier was “Designed for People, Not Cars”, [according](https://montpelierdublin.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to its website. Typical of the modern planning shift away from catering for motorised vehicles in new developments, [Montpelier](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28597032-public-reports-pack-17022026-1000-central-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com) has just 76 car parking spaces planned for its 1,046 total residential units across 10 blocks. Plans do, however, include 2,000 bicycle parking spaces. So far, phase one has been built – with 376 homes. “It looks secure – and that’s part of the problem,” says Sabin Costea, whose brand-new e-bike was stolen within weeks of moving in. “If you actually knew it wasn’t secure, you would treat it differently,” Costea says. On a development that’s worth so much money, "they can’t design a good bike park", he says. Both Felipe Campezoni and his partner’s e-bikes were lifted earlier this week. “I saw my lock broken far from where I left my bike, so I knew,” he says. For Campezoni, the loss has meant his commute to work for Irish Ferries has more than doubled. ## Zooming out Montpelier is not the only low-car new city-centre apartment complex that's been hit by bike thieves. Grand Canal Harbour, in the Liberties, near the Guinness Storehouse, has nearly 600 homes in several high blocks, 50 car parking spaces, and 895 bike parking spaces. Many of these are in bike cages with fobs on the wall outside, in an underground car park, the car entrance to which is routinely left open and easy to slip into. Thieves have lifted residents' bikes from Grand Canal Harbour too, according to a resident, and a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28598001-list-of-anti-social-events-leading-up-to-installation-of-fences-and-gates/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the management company. In July, resident Mirna Hernandez [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/keep-fences-and-gates-around-liberties-apartment-complex-for-now-council-tells-owner/) that the previous night, more than a dozen bikes had been robbed from the secure bike storage in the complex. Overall, in Dublin the number of bike thefts reported to Gardaí has declined in recent years from 3,293 in 2023 to 2,790 in 2025, [according to](https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2026-02-24a.1796&ref=dublininquirer.com) the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, of Fianna Fáil. Too few people report to the Gardaí that their bike has been stolen, Joe Gilligan, a spokesperson for Dublin Cycling Campaign, [has said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/of-184-bikes-stolen-in-start-of-this-year-six-have-been-returned-to-owners-show-garda-figures/) in the past. “Because they think it might be a hopeless venture. You know, that they might never get it back, that the guards won’t help,” he said. Dublin Cycling Campaign encourages everyone to report it if their bike is stolen, he said. “Because if they did, you know, there is the off chance that it will be recovered. And the guards are working hard.” ## Low security At Montpelier,a wide gap in the large entrance gate from the street into the car park means someone could easily push through a stick or tool to reach an internal sensor meant to open the gates to let cars out, and open it. Residents are unsure how the thieves got into the compound initially, but suspect it was by that method. Or simply by following an unwitting resident as they entered. The main pedestrian entrance to the basement, used for both bins and bike access, is supposed to shut automatically. In reality, it often sticks part‑open unless someone pulls it shut by hand, residents say. “That door doesn’t fully close properly behind you,” says Costea. “Unless you physically pull it, it will remain open.” Several videos and photos taken from different times in July and August have been shared around the Montpelier residents' WhatsApp group and show the gates into the car park left ajar. Once inside the car park, access to the bike cages is controlled by fob readers to get inand internal sensors to get out. The thieves ripped the external fob units off the wall outside the cages.But they didn't necessarily need to do that to get in. On Wednesday morning, resident Alice Chambers, whose own bike wasn’t stolen, showed how the door of a bike cage can be opened from outside by sliding a piece of paper through the bars to trigger the internal sensor. “This is how I got my bike out in the morning,” she said, with the usual method of using her fob no longer possible. According to Costea, a garda who visited the scene on Tuesday described the system to him as a “faulty design”. There are multiple companies involved in managing the Montpelier complex. Hooke & McDonald, the property management company who look after common areas, and Tuath Housing who manage things for the social and cost-rental tenants, were both asked why the issues with the entrance to the car park were not addressed sooner, despite residents' warnings. Neither have responded to that question. Nor did they reply when asked if residents whose bikes were robbed would be compensated. On the walls next to the bike cages, a large sign reads: “Bicycles may be left here at the owners risk. The management will not accept responsibility for any damage, accident or loss.” Beside that sign, another reads: “CCTV in operation for your personal safety and security.” Vitoria Villalta’s husband had his bike stolen too, which he had only spent money servicing last week. It has also upended his daily commute plans. Villalta is worried about what this means not only for bike security, but personal safety. “If this is happening with the bikes, what’s next?” she asked. Another video shared around the WhatsApp group on Monday shows a resident who had just managed to reclaim his own bike, stolen just hours earlier. A man passed him by, and when asked about the stolen bike, said he had just bought it for €300. When the rightful owner told him it was his bike, the man immediately dropped it on the ground and left the scene without a word of argument. The resident, who doesn’t want to be named due to personal-safety concerns, said on Thursday that he knows the guy who was on the bike to see from around the neighbourhood. Correspondence from Hooke & McDonald sent to residents after the second break-in said: "The estate is currently patrolled by mobile security personnel three times each night at periodic intervals. "In light of the recent incidents, additional nightly patrols have been arranged. "Security personnel have been instructed to place particular focus on the Ashford House car park, bicycle storage areas and all associated access points." The email added that, although there had been requests for "static on-site security", the associated cost of that - around €300 per night, would "ultimately be borne by owners through their service charge". ## Sliver of silver Lize Jackson says that amid the gloom, there has been one piece of silver lining to the whole ordeal. It has brought residents of the new development, the first tranche of whom only moved in in July, together, she says. “One good thing out of all of this is how everybody in this block's been responding as a community,” she says. A spokesperson for Tuath Housing, who manage the social and cost-rental tenancies, said on Thursday that it is “aware of the incidents and is engaging with the management agent and relevant authorities on this matter.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In third attempt to revamp Mountjoy Square, council adds "play zone" and second half-basketball court URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-third-attempt-to-revamp-mountjoy-square-council-adds-play-zone-and-second-half-basketball-court/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T23:07:28.000Z Dublin City Council has made a couple of small changes to its plan for the redevelopment of Mountjoy Square – adding a new play zone for young children, and a second basketball half-court. But confusion over two big issues remains: whether kids will be allowed and able to play soccer on the park's new main lawn, and whether there'll be a fenced-in playground for small children. Council executives are seeking to restore the historic park in line with its Georgian heritage, creating a large central lawn area, restoring its railings and adding 84 “oil” lamps around the park’s edges. To do that, they need to get planning permission from councillors via the council's internal planning permission process, known as the Part 8 process. The [details of this new version](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/177076?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the plan are on the council's planning database, and currently out for [public consultation](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8-2?ref=dublininquirer.com) until 11 September. Earlier this year, local councillors [supported](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-looks-set-to-agree-plans-to-revamp-mountjoy-square-despite-pushback-from-local-sports-clubs/) a previous version of the plan at their May meeting. Then, when the plan went to the full 63-member council at their [monthly meeting on Monday 8 June](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-approves-plans-for-mountjoy-square-park-but-there-is-still-confusion-over-playgrounds-and-sports/), executives pushed them to approve it fast. But the report the chief executive gave to councillors about the project in advance of that meeting didn't include a detailed and representative run-down of public feedback on the plans. And most of the actual submissions to the public consultation hadn't been uploaded to the council’s planning database for councillors to review until 6 June, the Saturday before the Monday meeting. Then, at that meeting, officials pushed councillors to pass the plans in a hurry, providing [incorrect advice](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-says-his-team-gave-wrong-timeline-when-they-hurried-councillors-to-vote-on-mountjoy-square-redesign/) about the legal deadline for the councillors to make their decision. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, a local councillor who supported that plan, says the council had to abandon that planning application because of those issues. “No one is defending the previous process,” she said by phone on Thursday. So the council started the Part 8 planning application again. Horner said she wants the redevelopment to go ahead but that the process needs to be done properly. ## Third time lucky? This is now the third time the council has applied for planning permission to revamp Mountjoy Square in recent years. Despite agreement among local councillors in favour of the plan to revamp the square in line with its Georgian heritage, the council hasn't been able to get an application across the line. In 2019, the council abandoned a planning application for the square amid [tensions](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-mountjoy-square-disparate-visions-for-a-park-s-future/) between conservationists, who wanted to see the park restored in line with its Georgian heritage, and others who wanted to retain sports facilities. That issue doesn’t appear to have been resolved since. But the council seems to have come down more on the side of conservationists. In January 2026, it unveiled its [new proposal](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-plans-for-mountjoy-square-contested-by-those-who-want-more-sports-facilities-added/) to reimagine the park in Mountjoy Square within the context of its original 1802 design. The plans show big grassy lawns, trees, paths to walk on, benches to sit on, as well as a public toilet – and the creche still there. But the current tarmac sports area, basketball court, and existing playgrounds were gone. Instead there was a half-court basketball hoop, an outdoor gym, and pieces of play equipment dotted throughout the park. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/image.png) A large lawn area in the design could be used for general recreation, events or sports, a council official said in May. That 2026 plan was agreed by the full council in June but the council chief executive decided to [pull it entirely and start again](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-first-try-goes-wrong-council-to-re-run-planning-process-for-mountjoy-square-park/). So with that process abandoned, the council is now re-running the slightly different plan which is [currently out for public consultation. ](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8-2/1?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## New plan, outstanding concerns The 196 submissions that people took the time to send to the council as part ofthe previous public consultation are void because this is a new plan with a new public consultation process, says Horner and Sinn Féin CouncillorSéamas McGrattan. Horner, the Green Party councillor, said the council has written to all those who submitted last time to invite them to submit again. Jack O’Brien, a community co-ordinator with Bohemian Football Club, who runs football activities for children in the park throughout the summer months, says he got that communication. He plans to write another submission to the new public consultation process, and he knows other sports and community groups that and are doing that again. “It's frustrating,” O'Brien says. “It's a total mess.” O’Brien runs Bohs Play, a football programme for children aged 6 to 12 living in the north inner-city. The programme organises small football matches for kids, in council flat complexes and on Mountjoy Square Park, which is the only space big enough to allow them to run multiple matches at one time, says O’Brien. “There are extremely limited options for a part of the city with thousands of people who want to play football,” he says. He usually has two to four games going at once, and often community gardaí help referee the games, he says. Many of the children live in emergency accommodation and IPAS accommodation, he says, and often Bohs Play is their only after-school activity. Before he writes his new submission, he wants clarity from council officials as to whether Bohs Play would still be able to use the park after the redevelopment, under the latest version of the plans. “We’re still left in the dark about it,” says O’Brien by phone on Wednesday. “It feels like the wording is very vague.” He said he welcomes the addition of another half-court for basketball in the new plan, and the council’s commitment to improving the small pitches in some local flat complexes, he says. The latest report says that the council will refurbish "existing courts, pitches, multi-use games areas (MUGAs), and playgrounds within the surrounding Dublin City Council housing developments" and that capital funding has been set aside for those works citywide. Horner says she thinks informal football games would be allowed on Mountjoy Square Park's new lawn area, but that space won’t be available for booking, so organised sports, like training and matches, won’t be able to take place, she says. There's also the issue of the playgrounds in the park. At the moment, if you walk into Mountjoy Square Park, there are two playgrounds: a fenced-in one for very small children, and a fence-less one for slightly bigger little ones. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Mountjoy-Square.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1-1.webp) Photo by Sam Tranum. In the previous version of the redevelopment plan, the one councillors approved back in June, before it was scrapped, both playgrounds were gone. Council officials said the plans actually included more things to play on – they were just scattered around the park, along a play trail. But Geraldine O'Driscoll, a manager with the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which runs an early years service on the square, had said that wouldn't work well for them. Playgroups and early-years services that use the park [need a fenced-off small kids playground](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-approves-plans-for-mountjoy-square-park-but-there-is-still-confusion-over-playgrounds-and-sports/), O'Driscoll said. “We use that park as our outdoor space; it is essential for us,” she said. Because small kids can run off in different directions. "The play trail won’t work for us,” she said. The new report keeps the play trail and promises a “dedicated toddler play zone” but doesn’t say whether the new play zone would be fenced in. ## What do people want? For all Part 8 planning permission applications, the council chief executive’s report “must contain a detailed list of the persons or bodies who made submissions or observations with respect to the proposed development", says a spokesperson for the Department of Housing. But the [council executive's report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28225599-public-reports-pack-08062026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the full council meeting in June didn't detail all the people who made submissions. The chief executive's report must also "summarise the issues raised within these submissions, including the response of the chief executive regarding same”, the department spokesperson also said. The chief executive's report back in June did give a summary of submissions, and executives' responses to those. “The most common themes across responses were a desire for improved maintenance and cleanliness of Mountjoy Square Park,” says the report. “Overall, the main trends are strong support for redevelopment, a desire for improved accessibility and amenities (especially a café/tearooms), enhanced safety, preservation and expansion of sports facilities, and a call for higher-quality, more context-sensitive landscaping,” it says. Some councillors wanted to see the actual submissions for themselves. Speaking in July, Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said that she was initially refused access to the majority of the public consultation submissions sent in to the council, on data-protection grounds. Just five of 196 submissions were loaded up to the council's planning portal in February and March of this year. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner said she pushed on the issue too, which resulted in the remainder of the public consultation submissions being uploaded on the Saturday before the full council vote, on Monday 8 June. This week,reviewing the 196 submissions shows that the most common themes by far were support for the restoration of the park in line with its Georgian heritage, and objections to the plan on the grounds of loss of sports or playground facilities. Seventy-one submissions (about 36 percent) were mostly in favour of the council's plan. Many of these were passionately in favour of the restoration of the Georgian heritage. Some of those added ideas for tweaks. Eighty-three submissions (about 42 percent) were mostly opposed to the plan. Most of these were concerned about the reduction of sports facilities and elimination of the playground. Some of them said they supported the redevelopment of the park, but that they were against the plan as it was proposed. Eighteen submissions were mixed, noting aspects of the plan they liked and other aspects that they didn’t like. Fifteen of those also expressed concern about the loss of playground space and/or sports facilities in the park. Twenty-four responses were unclear, irrelevant or difficult to categorise, including some that referred to other correspondence that was not included in the summary. Several raised concerns about crime, drug use and anti-social behaviour in the park, but didn't say whether they thought the proposed redevelopment would help or hurt. ### Theft and drug crimes dominate re-offending as research points to addiction link URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/theft-and-drug-crimes-dominate-re-offending-as-research-points-to-addiction-link/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:13:01.000Z Theft and drug offences are among the most common crimes committed by people after leaving Irish prisons, show new Central Statistics Office (CSO) [figures](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-pros/prisonre-offendingstatistics2023/detailsof1-yearcustodialre-offending/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Overall, the percentage who left prison and reoffended within a year dropped a touch in 2023, compared to 2022, the figures show. It went from 44 percent, to 42 percent. But, the offences committed by those who returned to crime were heavily concentrated in a small number of categories. Of the 1,251 people who re-offended, almost two-thirds committed offences involving theft, public order or controlled drugs. Theft was the largest category, with 373 re-offenders, followed by public order offences at 319 and controlled drug-related offences at 124. The figures do not establish that drug or alcohol dependency caused those offences. But international research shows a strong association between the same types of “acquisitive offending” – meaning a crime, like theft, aimed at acquiring property – and serious drug dependency. Given that the Irish Prison Service estimates that upwards of 70 percent of incarcerated people have some form of substance addiction, the figures mirror the research. Criminologist Keith Adams, penal policy advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ), says that these types of “crimes of need” are common among people in the throes of addiction. Addiction is of course not the only driver of such behaviour, he said. “If they are ultimately crimes of a need specific to that person who commits the offence," he says. "If that material need isn't met, then there's nothing really to kind of prevent those offences happening again after they're released." If they haven't got the resources to provide for themself and their family, or if they haven't got help to get over their addiction, "then it's very unreasonable for us to expect those crimes to end by a short prison sentence”, Adams said. “That's not going to solve it,” he says. “It's more than likely going to just exacerbate it as well.” ## Theft offenders have high re-offending rate The CSO figures, published in July, show that people originally imprisoned for theft were themselves particularly likely to return to crime. Some 578 people were released from sentences for theft offences in 2023, the largest single offence group among the 2,987 releases examined. Of these, 338 – or 58 percent – re-offended within a year. Only those released after public order offences had a higher re-offending rate, at 67 percent. Burglary also stands out in the figures. Among people who re-offended, those originally imprisoned for burglary were among the groups most likely to be sent back to prison: 44 percent received another custodial sanction. The CSO stresses that the crime for which somebody was originally imprisoned is not necessarily the same type of offence they subsequently commit. Nevertheless, the latest statistics show theft and drug offences occupying a prominent place in the pattern of repeat offending. ## International evidence of drugs-crime link One substantial [study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359178908000037?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the relationship between drugs and offending was a 2008 meta-analysis by criminologists Trevor Bennett, Katy Holloway and David Farrington, published in the peer-reviewed journal *Aggression and Violent Behavior*. The researchers examined 30 previous studies and found that the odds of offending were between approximately three and four times greater among drug users than non-drug users. The relationship varied substantially according to the drug involved and was strongest among crack cocaine users. Significantly, the association remained across acquisitive offences including burglary, robbery and shoplifting – as well as prostitution. A subsequent systematic review of research into opiate use and offending, published in 2017, examined 20 studies from the UK and US. It found evidence from individual studies of increases in acquisitive offending following the onset of opiate use, including theft, burglary and robbery. Large-scale research in England has also found a particularly strong relationship between opiate use and acquisitive offending. A 2017 [study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871617304106?ref=dublininquirer.com), "Insights into the link between drug use and criminality: Lifetime offending of criminally-active opiate users", compared the offending histories of almost 19,000 people who tested either positive for both opiates and cocaine or just opiates, with about 79,000 offenders who tested negative for both opiates and cocaine. It found that opiate-positive offenders already had higher offending rates before beginning opiate use, but that the difference increased further following the onset of opiate use. The increase was particularly pronounced for non-serious acquisitive offences, such as shoplifting, rather than more serious offences such as burglary. A Norwegian study of about 3,800 dependent heroin users provides another picture of the types of crime involved. Researchers linked treatment records with national conviction data and examined just over 24,000 convictions recorded during the three years before participants started [opioid maintenance treatment](https://www.dublininquirer.com/could-an-alternative-to-methadone-give-people-in-recovery-more-control-over-their-present-and-future/). Acquisitive crime accounted for 55.9 percent of all convictions. When drug offences were added, the two categories represented 77.4 percent of convictions – the majority of which, the study says, were “less-aggravated offenses”. Criminologist Robert Cullen notes that, as a measure of success, the reoffending rate is problematic. “It legitimises the need for prison rather than focusing attention on preventing the first offence, which is what we really need to do,” he says. There's a huge number of people who have undiagnosed neurodiversity in prison, which can be heavily linked to addiction, he says. “Then there's the trauma of poverty, and community violence exposure that happens within communities that are generationally systemically deprived,” he says. There are systemic factors that contribute to people becoming homeless, engaging in theft, and being left in addiction, he says. “If we really want to measure success, we should be measuring it off how many children we can prevent from going on to become addicted, to become homeless, you know, and then ultimately ending up in a prison and having offended,” he says. Cullen says that the evidence shows prison is “criminogenic”. “Like prison increases people's chances of committing more crime,” he says. ## Irish context A [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28597866-iprt-from-punishment-to-prevention-final-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) published this year, which Cullen worked on as a researcher, also identifies substance dependency as a pathway into repeated contact with the criminal justice system. The report, "From Punishment to Prevention: Poverty, Inequality and Pathways into the Irish Criminal Justice System", says substance dependence can act as a “key mediator in pathways from poverty into criminalisation”. “In communities experiencing deprivation, drug use can function as coping in the context of chronic stress, trauma, exclusion and limited access to timely mental health and addiction supports,” it says. It adds that a positive Irish policy reaction to this is the HSE’s 2023 Model of Care for Dual Diagnosis. But, it says, “recent evidence suggests dual diagnosis remains a practical barrier to support, with mental health, addiction, housing and justice services still often operating in isolation and high access thresholds continuing to exclude some of those with the most complex needs”. The report notes that some people offend to finance a dependency, while intoxication can contribute to risk-taking and public order incidents. Drug debts can also pull people further into offending. “Research in Dublin’s North-East Inner City described people being forced to ‘work off’ debts by carrying items, running errands, or taking drugs from A to B, tasks that deepen exposure to criminalisation,” the IPRT study says. Crucially in the context of re-offending, the report argues that substance use and criminalisation can reinforce one another, drawing people into “repeated cycles of enforcement, instability and imprisonment” which can make recovery more difficult. It also points to a broader socioeconomic trend. Irish research cited in the report, which focused on the post-financial crash era, found that a 10 percent rise in unemployment was associated with a 5 percent increase in thefts and burglaries. Addiction is widespread among the prison population itself. The Irish Prison Service has estimated that upwards of 70 percent of people committed to prison have a drug and/or alcohol addiction. The most recent available [figures](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-900-people-are-on-waitlists-for-addiction-supports-in-irelands-prisons/) from last September showed that over 900 people were on waiting lists for addiction supports across the Irish prison estate, with the largest number, 242, in Mountjoy Prison — a quarter of its entire population. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Darndale FC juniors left out of youth football league URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/darndale-fc-juniors-left-out-of-youth-football-league/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T09:05:54.000Z In August, Darndale FC under-13s team held their annual award ceremony for the previous season. There were prizes for things like “top goal scorer of the year”, “player of the year”, and “player’s player of the year” – where members of the team vote for the person who made the biggest impact across the season. Some of those boys had been playing together since the age of four, in the club’s juvenile academy, the “Darndale Dribblers”, says Ian Currie, secretary of the club’s junior teams. But, while the lads enjoyed the ceremony and the craic with their mates, there was more than a hint of sadness in the air, says Currie. After so many years playing together, the now-under-14s team, as well as the club’s under-11s, no longer have a competitive league to play in. So, before the next competitive season starts in spring, the players have gone their separate ways. Darndale FC juniors had been playing in the North Dublin Schoolboys/Girls League (NDSL). But earlier this year, that league merged with the North-Eastern Regional League (NERL), which serves Meath, Louth, Cavan, Monaghan, and Westmeath. The newly merged NERL has no room for Darndale, says Currie. After first being told they would be welcome in the NERL, the clubs involved in the league decided amongst themselves they wouldn’t travel past exit 5, Balbriggan, on the M1 for away games. Darndale is further south, closer to exit 3\. So a number of clubs in north Dublin were jettisoned, including Darndale FC, Grange Woodbine FC, Portrane Athletic FC, Willows FC, and Artane Beaumont FC. The obvious move seemed to be for those clubs to join the Dublin and District Schoolboys/Girls' League (DDSL). But they hit a wall here too. The DDSL would only accept clubs that had a minimum of five competitive junior teams – and Darndale FC only had two. While most of the ex-NDSL teams met the five-team-criteria, Darndale FC and Grange Woodbine FC didn’t, says Currie. Why can't a club with two teams play? General manager of the DDSL Mick Kennedy said on Wednesday that, while he was not familiar with the Darndale FC situation, there has to be some criteria. “We can only deal with so many players and so many clubs, and there has to be a criteria for clubs coming in,” he said. “It's as simple as that.” Kennedy recommended contacting another DDSL email address for more information. There was no response from that address. Independent Councillor John Lyons said on Tuesday that the fiasco "leaves the kids in one of the most deprived communities in the state, without their local football club". ## Disappointment Lyons, who is also chairperson of Darndale FC, says he has been appalled at the lack of support for their junior sides. “I've said it in emails to the Schoolboys FAI \[SFAI\], to the Leinster FAI pointperson, and to everyone else, that I find grassroots football administration convoluted, opaque, and completely mind-bogglingly untransparent,” Lyons said on Tuesday. It seems as if the governing body for the sport, the FAI, has little or no power or oversight of what goes on at juvenile club level, he says. “Which means we've had a merger of two leagues, one of which was the one that Darndale was in, and there was no, it seems, responsibility to ensure that the clubs transferred into the new league,” he says. “No guarantee or any such thing.” It was "quiteshocking**"**, he says, that there's seemingly no oversight and governance procedures in place for when such mergers happen, formal or otherwise. The club is in its 50th year, which is "a hell of an achievement", he says. “Given some of the difficulties we have with, say, the home pitch in the \[Darndale\] park that's been taken over by drug dealers and irresponsible horse owners,” he says. For the club to have done all it can to keep things going, albeit struggling, to then be faced with a situation where they, suddenly, are without leagues for their under-14s and under-11s is devastating, he says. The importance for young people to play for a club that has their own community's name on it, can’t be underestimated he says. Now, the kids have, as far as they’re concerned, been told that to the SFAI, FAI, DDSL, and NERL, their team and all their hard work over the years meant nothing, he says. “And to my mind, as chairperson of the club, that just sends a message to young people in the area that the adults don't care enough,” he says. For a club that's been running for 50 years, providing training and competitive matches week in week out, every season for five decades, to be in this position, is beyond disappointing, he says. Currie, the club junior side's secretary, says this sadly echoes what happens to Darndale's under-14 girls team two years ago. They had been competing in the Dublin Metropolitan Girls' League (MGL), which collapsed in 2024. The girls of Darndale were also let down to learn they didn't have the necessary five teams to join the DDSL, so they disbanded, Currie says. Lyons says that while Darndale FC juniors will continue running their academy for four- to seven-year-olds, it hopes this latest league mess is not permanent. They will continue to fight to get the young people of Darndale recognised by the football powers that be, he says. In the meantime, Lyons says some clubs in neighbouring areas have been very helpful in offering places to the Darndale FC players, for now. “Which has been lovely.” A spokesperson for the FAI declined to comment, saying that it was a matter for the SFAI. Neither the SFAI nor the DDSL have responded to emails asking why the five-team-minimum rule is in place, or if they can help clubs like Darndale FC from this happening again in the future. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Celebrate 11 red cards, cheer on the masters of honey, discover the enduring language of spirals URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-celebrate-11-red-cards-cheer-on-the-masters-of-honey-discover-the-enduring-language-of-spirals/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:13:23.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Sent Off** When Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa released their film *Saipan* last year, one of the greatest surprises to emerge from their highly-fictitious football biopic is the fact that this wasn’t the first time a version of Roy Keane appeared as a character on the silver screen. Actually, it was the second. Author and filmmaker Dave Tynan, in 2014, shot a short film titled *Rockmount*, which travelled back to Cork in the early '80s as a young boy named Roy attempted to get on the starting line-up of a local club. And so it was that, on the eve of 2026, the Roy Keane Cinematic Universe was born. Now, nine months later, it is exciting to discover that the endearingly truculent midfielder is about to become a muse once more. This evening, up in Hen’s Teeth, artist Seánie Harte will be opening his first solo exhibition, titled Sent Off. It’s a wonderfully simple premise. Harte has created a series of oil pastel artworks inspired by every single red card Keane has earned on the field. That’s 11 in total. If you want to catch, in vibrant colours, the time he stomped on Gareth Southgate or the time he broke Alf-Inge Haaland’s leg, Harte’s exhibition launches tonight at 6pm (Thursday, 3 September). Sent Off will run until 26 September. **Do It Together** Pallas Projects turns 30 this year, and to mark the anniversary, they will be launching the first of a two-part celebration over the autumn this evening. Do It Together features works both new and restaged by artists that represent significant moments in Pallas’ history, which began on Foley Street before later moving up to the Coombe. Among those set to contribute are the artists Katie Holten, Brendan Earley, Jesse Jones, Brian Duggan, Sarah Brown, Gareth Kennedy, John Smith, Ruth Clinton, Niamh Moriarty and Venus Patel. Like any great birthday party, this event will take place in two phases, with the first opening at 6pm today. Phase One, which runs from 3 to 26 September, will see Pallas collaborating with other artist-run organisations, both national and international. Among these are PUBLICS, a curatorial and contemporary art commissioning agency with a dedicated library, and exhibition space in Vallila, Helsinki, and the Carlow-based project Muine Bheag Arts. You can then pencil Phase Two into your calendar for next month. That will take place between 1 and 24 October, and is set to feature works from artist Jennie Moran and the Belgian experimental arts centre Kunsthal Gent. Across both phases, there will also be a brand new commission by collaborative art practice Forerunner (Andreas Kindler von Knobloch, Tom Watt and Tanad Aaron) which will feature “an architectural intervention” that vows to transform the Pallas gallery space in unspecified ways. There will also be a number of talks, events and screenings during October. For more information, visit the exhibition event page [here](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/do-it-together-exhibition?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Guru Guru Meguru** Because we have you in the area, we’re going to direct you over to the Throwing Shapes pottery and ceramics studio on Mill Street. This evening, the studio’s artist-in-residence Teruri Yamawaki is launching her new exhibition of ceramic sculpture, titled Guru Guru Meguru, which explores cycles, transformation and “the enduring language of the spiral”. Inspired by the sacred spirals that are found in ancient monuments in Ireland and in Japan, Yamawaki brings together these two distant landscapes into a conversation through clay. Guru Guru Megure opens today (Thursday, 3 September) at 6pm. The exhibition will be free to visit on Friday between 10am and 6pm, before it concludes on Saturday at 1pm. For more information and to see Yamawaki’s work, visit her Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/teruri.yamawaki/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Inis Records and Friends Market** Back in July, Fontaines D.C. drummer Tom Coll announced that he was launching Inis Records, a new independent label, with Michael Roe of Adebisi Shank and Richter Collective and Ken Allen of Faction Records. On Friday, 4 September, they will be hosting a pop-up record market in Hen’s Teeth. The market will feature stalls from labels including Bohemia, Faction Music, Out On A Limb, Pizza Pizza Records, Strange Brew and Ten Spot Records. Also, on the day, there will be a live set from Cathal Mac Gabhann of the Altered Hours and a DJ set by Donal Dineen. The market kicks off at 5pm, and will run until late. For more information, visit the Inis Records website [here](https://www.inisrecords.com/?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAaeA0-VNL3yCQNVE5QvWwHsefNUDXGoMbm9-KTBH6N35LIDVmpXA9Xliou2CGQ%5Faem%5FJEWL7AGn-nihTle-vzta-w) or follow them on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/inisrecords/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Phoenix Park Biodiversity Festival and Honey Show** It’s impressive. Even when we direct you towards an event on the north side, somehow it remains within the Dublin 8 area. On Saturday, the Phoenix Park Biodiversity Festival and Honey Show will be returning for its tenth anniversary. The family-friendly festival comprises tours, talks and workshops, as well as exhibitions and demonstrations that focus on Irish honey, beeswax, mead and bee-related crafts. From midday, there are talks scheduled at the Visitor Centre in Ashtown Demesne. Jim Ryan of the Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations will be discussing the benefits of bees and wasps. Taylor Maslanka of the Irish Midlands Ringing Group will talk about bird ringing. Claire Kelly of Teagasc will explain microbial food safety. Other highlights to catch are the Honey Show competition and a tour of the restored Victorian Walled Garden. The festival starts at 11am and will run until 4pm. For more information, and to see a full breakdown of the line-up, visit the Phoenix Park website [here](https://www.phoenixpark.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***A Thought Without Collision*** On Tuesday, 8 September, we will finally give you permission to leave Dublin 8. That evening, writer and artist Adrian Duncan will be launching his new novel *A Thought Without Collision* in Books Upstairs. Split into two parts, *A Thought Without Collision* begins in the summer of 1923 when its central character, six-year old Catherine Carolan has grown restless on her parents’ farm, and is intellectually outgrowing the two-room schoolhouse across the fields. Later, in the summer of 1951, it trails Carolan after she has become a professor in Oxford, and is summoned by one Dr Josef Alois to ease him through his final days. The book has been lauded by the Times Literary Supplement as a “beautifully sad novel of unpursued love and wasted lives”, and to celebrate its release, Duncan will be in conversation with *Breakdown* author Cathy Sweeney at 6:30pm. Attendance is free but booking is essential. You can reserve a spot [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-a-thought-without-collision-by-duncan-conversation-sweeney/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* It is National Cinema Weekend this coming weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September. Tickets to all normal screenings are priced from just €4 in cinemas nationwide. In Dublin, Cineworld, IFI, Movies@, Lighthouse, Odeon, Omniplex, Savoy and Vue cinemas are all set to participate. More information [here](https://www.cinemaweekend.ie/home?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Hechyeomoyeo** Non-profit art project The Hechyeomoyeo is coming to Dublin later this month. Ahead of their exhibition in FLUX Studios, which opens on 24 September, they have issued a call-out to all artists and creatives to join their movement. Artists working in all mediums are welcome to submit their works [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1jUNUDfHHW3vfRR0eQrTP4Y2wKSdgXkMHxSgxWiVS4MPJsg/viewform?ref=dublininquirer.com) with all who register getting the opportunity to feature in their magazine, receive a lifetime membership, and contribute to the ten day festival. For more information follow the Hechyeomoyeo on their Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/thehechyeomoyeo/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **There is No Planet B: an IFSC Walking Tour in a Time of Climate Breakdown** This Culture Night (Friday, 18 September), Financial Justice Ireland will be leading a walking tour of Dublin’s Docklands to explore how the financial district drives ecological breakdown. The tour begins at 5pm at the James Connolly Memorial Statue opposite to Liberty Hall, and will continue until 7pm. Tickets are free and available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/there-is-no-planet-b-an-ifsc-walking-tour-in-a-time-of-climate-breakdown-tickets-1998363562209?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Do you have a connection to Benburb Street?** Researchers, with support from approved housing body Tuath Housing, are looking for people with memories of, or connections to Benburb Street. Anyone with stories or photographs from Benburb Street, a connection to the Dublin Corporation Artisan Dwellings (now Ellis Court) and community life in the area is encouraged to get in touch with Eimar Rosato at e.rosato@tuathhousing.ie. Contributions could feature in an exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks. Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### Competing visions for Dublin's bikeshare emerge ahead of new contract URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/competing-visions-for-dublins-bikeshare-emerge-ahead-of-new-contract/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:13:30.000Z Attendance at the weekly staff meeting at Bleeper's office in central Dublin was lower than usual on Friday. Eight people sat in orange chairs in a small conference room with the shade drawn so a projector's image would be sharp and clear on the white wall, as chief executive Hugh Cooney went through tasks and metrics. Several others, though, were off at a warehouse in Inchicore, unpacking some of the 750 new electric bicycles Bleeper is adding – doubling the size of its fleet of shared bikes across the city and suburbs. "There's five bikes in each cardboard box, so they need to unpack them, put the pedals on, and do an inspection," said Cooney, sitting behind his desk in his office after the meeting. As well as expanding, Bleeper is one of the companies that'd like to get the next contract – due to go to tender next year – to run Dublin City Council's bikeshare scheme, Dublin Bikes, which has until now been operated by the company JC Decaux. Of course, Bleeper is not the only company that might want it. JC Decaux, Lyft and Lime have also shown interest, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, chair of the council's transport committee, said on Monday. But if Bleeper did win the contract, wouldn't its own current network be competing against the Dublin Bikes network it got the contract to operate? No, that's not the plan, says Cooney, sitting behind his desk in his office across Bridge Street from the Brazen Head pub on Friday. He has a different vision for the future of Dublin Bikes, than what has come before – just as other company owners are putting their own ideas forward, too. ## **Docked vs dockless** The Dublin Bikes scheme was launched in 2009, and has 1,600 bikes, which users can pick up from or park at 115 dedicated stations, according to a May council [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28592403-replacement-of-dublin-bike-scheme-in-2027-brendan-obrien-executive-manager-traffic/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The scheme has been confined largely to inside the canals, despite repeated requests from councillors and residents to expand it further. This would require changes to the council's contract with JC Decaux, council managers said. Dublin Bikes moving across the city over the course of one day. Visualisation by Willy Simon. In 2018, Bleeper launched its own service, and another company, Moby, launched a bikeshare service in the city in early 2020\. They filled in gaps where Dublin Bikes wouldn't go. And brought in slick smartphone apps for their bikeshare offerings. Part of the reason they could expand to new areas is that they don't use dedicated bike stations or "docks", like Dublin Bikes does. Instead, users can use their apps to find a bike at a public bike stand, pedal to where they want to go, and look in the app to see where there's a stand they can lock the bike to, and leave it. Since these services require less infrastructure than Dublin Bikes, they are more flexible, and can add bikes where they see demand. So at the moment, there are three services, with three apps, and pricing structures, and types of bikes, for users to navigate. Dublin City Council controls all bikesharing in the city, through its contract to run Dublin Bikes, and also by licensing "station-less" bikeshare operators Bleeper and Moby. ## **The council's emerging vision** The council is not one thing or one person, and its various cubbyholes have not finished deliberating on what the future of bikesharing in the city might look like. Early-ish signs point toward an expanded scheme like the current Dublin Bikes, with dedicated stations, and far more bikes than the current version. But with the council owning more of the infrastructure, which is now owned by JC Decaux. "DCC believe that in a new bike share scheme the city council should own the bike stations and potentially the bikes themselves with a model where there is an operational, maintenance and upgrade contractor appointed," said the May report from senior executive engineer Jennifer McGrath. "It is intended there would be one operator across the City and that there is a combination of classic (non-powered) bikes and e-bikes with a fleet or around 4,000 bikes," it said. So that's from the executive side of the council. The other side of the council is the 63 councillors, whose job when it comes to the bikeshare programme, is setting out a high-level strategy or vision. The transport council's committee – formally, the Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee – held a workshop, out of public view, about the future of Dublin Bikes, back in April. "The elected members are involved in setting the aspiration, but we don't... we're not overseeing the actual contract," Horner, the committee's chair, said Monday. She said she'd like the council's bikeshare scheme to continue to use docks. "I think the the station bikes are important because I think there's sort of a reliability of knowing where they are," she said. Jason Cullen, spokesperson for Dublin Commuter Coalition, who also sits on the transport committee, said similar. A lot of people have consistent travel patterns, "So, if people know that they have a dock, a couple minutes walk, they know it's usually well serviced, they can go every day and take their bike," he said. Bike stations can also charge electric bikes, potentially, which would be less complicated – once set up – than keeping stationless electric bikes running. At the moment, Bleeper keeps a bunch of batteries charging in their headquarters, monitors battery levels remotely in all its electric bikes on the road, and then staff go out and replace batteries that get low with fresh ones. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Juan-Aranda-replacing-a-battery-on-a-Bleeper-bike.-Photo-courtesy-of-Bleeper-1.jpeg) Juan Aranda replacing a battery on a Bleeper bike. Photo courtesy of Bleeper ## **An alternative** Cooney, chief executive at Bleeper, said that his vision for the future of bikesharing in Dublin is different. It's a version with less infrastructure, and more competition. In the city centre, there could be some council-owned bike-docking stations – like the current Dublin Bikes ones, but they could be used by multiple companies' customers. Further out, users could get bikes from, and drop them at, public bike stands, as they do with Bleeper and Moby bikes now. That way, it would be easier for providers to add spots, or take them away, depending on customer demand. Sitting in his office, on a screen behind his desk, Cooney shows the dashboard available to him, on which he can see where people were when they opened the Bleeper app, whether they then hired a bike, and from where, and where they later parked it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Hugh-Cooney-at-his-desk-in-Bleeper-HQ.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.jpg) Hugh Cooney at his desk in Bleeper HQ. Photo by Sam Tranum Bleeper staff spend time rebalancing bikes, to ensure there's the right number – enough, but not too many – in bike racks designated as parking spots, Cooney says. However, if bikesharing in the city were left to the private market, the cost of using a shared bike in the city would rise significantly. At the moment Dublin Bikes costs just €35 a year for a subscription, and then the first 30 minutes of each ride are free. Bleeper and Moby are more expensive. The solution? The council could subsidise the costs of these services down to whatever price point they wanted to offer the public, Cooney said. It could also add conditions about what areas the companies had to serve, he said. This approach would be a lot cheaper for the council than paying for the installation of loads of new bike stations across the city to replace the current aging ones, the purchase of thousands of bikes, and the signing of a contract for an operator, said Thomas O'Connell, the chief executive of Moby. "You know, if you watch what's gone on in a lot of other markets in in Europe – and we operate there – there's a lot of questions being asked of why a city would put taxpayers money towards a bike share scheme when the private market can fund it," O'Connell said. It's not a question of whether the council is going to provide a not-for profit bikeshare scheme as a public service, or outsource it to a private company which takes a profit and then provides the service, says Cooney. "It was already outsourced," Cooney says. Instead, the council is looking at what model of outsourcing it wants to choose, he says. The council could spend the money it saved in the bike-sharing programme on "bike library" or "social leasing" schemes, to get more people buying and riding their own bikes, said O'Connell, of Moby. If the fundamental goal of bikeshare schemes is to get people to switch from driving cars, to riding bikes, then such schemes are very effective, he said. In these schemes, someone might get a bike for free, or at low cost, to try out. Maybe a fancy ebike, maybe an electric cargo bike. The hope is that they will find it suits them, and buy one in the end. Bleeper works with companies in Dublin to offer such schemes to their employees, and Cooney said about 50 percent of people who try, buy. ## **More or less competition** The council executive's report talks about "one operator" for the Dublin Bikes scheme. Cooney talked about the council owning the stations, but multiple companies operating bikes that could be parked in them. Horner said she didn't think the members of the transport committee, as a group, had a very strong view on whether there should be one operator or multiple operators for the Dublin Bikes scheme. "As I recall from our conversation, it wasn't necessarily one that we came down heavily on," she said on Monday. "It was like, look, if you can get better value for money, a better offering from for the customers, one way or another, it's not one that is, is like total make or break for us," she said. But "I think a preference has been indicated by elected members to have multiple providers" of bikeshare schemes in the city, Horner said. "So keep Moby and Bleeper and get a new provider for the stationed ones." However, Lyft, one of the companies interested in the Dublin Bikes contract, has in other cities preferred to be the exclusive provider of bikeshare services there, said O'Connell and Cooney. The company [sued](https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/supervisors-to-weigh-330-000-settlement-with-lyft-over-bikeshare-dispute/article%5Fc2754cf5-48b0-5849-beaf-800e79269395.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in 2019, saying the SFMTA had breached its contract when it went out looking for applications from potential stationless bikeshare operators. The two sides settled, and Lyft kept a monopoly, which it maintains still. "Yeah, I just think the idea of Lyft is creating a monopoly, and we all know what happens when there's a monopoly, I don't think the customer will win," said O'Connell, chief executive of Moby. Would Lyft be looking for a monopoly, if it were to come to Dublin? A spokesperson for the company, which says it operates 55 bikeshare schemes across 14 countries, did not answer that question directly in an email response on Monday. “Lyft has been engaging with various Dublin stakeholders to learn about their needs for the next generation of the dublinbikes program,” the spokesperson said. “We believe there is a real opportunity for Dublin to think ambitiously about what comes next and what a modern, city-wide bike-share network could look like for Dublin and Dubliners,” they said. "We have a proven track record of replacing ageing systems with best-in-class charging stations, pedal bikes and ebikes, including Barcelona, where ridership grew by over 50% after our equipment was introduced," they said. It's not clear what JC Decaux's vision would be for the future of the Dublin Bikes scheme, or bikesharing in the city more broadly. When asked, a spokesperson declined to comment. "Unfortunately we are not in a position to answer your questions at this point as we are waiting for DCC to decide how they want to move forward with the procurement process," they said. ## **Next steps** So far, the council has been talking to bikeshare companies, to figure out what is possible, and what the operators would want to get out of a potential deal, before issuing a tender for the next Dublin Bikes contract. For example, Lyft visited Dublin last year to demonstrate their bikes for councillors, *The Journal* [reported](https://www.thejournal.ie/lyft-bikes-dublin-bikes-6838578-Oct2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the time. And Cooney said Friday that Bleeper had invited councillors to drop into their HQ, in the coming days. Eventually, council managers, presumably taking councillors' high-level vision into account, will put out a tender telling companies what they want, and asking those that are interested for bids. The hope is to have the new contract in place within about 12 months, Horner said. “It’s going to be an interesting 12 months waiting to see what the council is going to do about Dublin Bikes,” said Cooney. Horner said she didn’t think the council had been getting enough input from the public on what people who live in Dublin want the future of Dublin Bikes to look like. “They've gone to market, and they've gone to us as elected reps,” she said. “But the council hasn't really put out the feelers to the public on it.” So the Green Party has organised a public meeting on the issue for 7pm, 9 September, at the Academy Plaza Hotel. Questions that came up for discussion at the committee’s workshop in April included: should the scheme be limited to people over 18 years of age? Should helmets be required? Also, said Cullen, of Dublin Commuter Coalition, how can Dublin City Council's scheme operate across local authority borders, so a person could get a bike in town, and ride it out to Seapoint – which is in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's area –for a swim of an evening, then leave it there and take the Dart home? ## **Bike parking** In the meantime, there’s a more immediate problem to deal with. There’s already a shortage of bike parking at certain locations in the city at certain times of day – big transport hubs, and parts of the city centre where lots of people go to work. And Bleeper doubling its fleet is likely to make that problem worse. “There isn't enough space in the city to cope with both the growth in private bikes and bikeshare bikes, and more space needs to be allocated to it,” said Cooney, of Bleeper. “Cycling is becoming a victim of its own success.” O’Connell, from Moby, said that his company had written to the council “a few times for more bike stands”. “I think definitely, as the operator adding more bikes, there needs to be – definitely in the high demand areas – more bike stands,” he said. The council has been putting in more bike parking, said Horner, the chair of the transport committee. “We are expanding, but I think the major crunch points are around public transport hubs and certain parts of the sort of central shopping district,” she said. ### On his new record, Robbie Stickland grapples with an adulthood that hasn't gone to plan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-his-new-record-robbie-stickland-grapples-with-an-adulthood-that-hasnt-gone-to-plan/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:13:37.000Z Robbie Stickland sat over a decaffeinated latte in the sheltered outdoor dining area of the Cloud Cafe on North Strand Road. It was a grey and windy Saturday afternoon at the end of August. His third album, *My Life’s A Lunch Break*, had just come out the Wednesday before. Set against a backdrop of jangly distorted indie, it is a record that grapples with weighty personal issues. It draws on past relationships, job prospects, and receiving a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Stickland says. “It has grief in it and concerns about the future,” he says, slowly accentuating each word. “But it also has a self-acceptance quality.” Tucked away behind his left ear was a rolled-up cigarette. He had, as one of the album’s tracks titled "It’s Cool To Start Smoking In Your 30s" suggests, taken up smoking after his thirtieth birthday, he said. "It's not something I'd condone. It is this joking, pathetic image too, coughing all the time and saying 'it's cool.'" In the song, he playfully laments how the rock ‘n’ roll dream “didn’t quite go to plan”, while wondering if he should have a family or steady career by this stage. Getting a midlife diagnosis prompted Stickland to examine many things about himself, he said. “I realised that I was shooting to be someone or something that I was never going to be able to actualise.” Lighting the odd cigarette was a regression, he said. “But it’s been tough, and this was kinda a symbol of meeting yourself where you’re at. And yeah, it’s weird to start at that age. But my whole way of moving through the world has been weird.” ## **Conversations with yourself** Stickland began developing *My Life’s A Lunch Break* in the aftermath of releasing his second record, *Lastingness*, in February 2024, he says. That earlier record hadn’t really been about anything specific, he said. “More like, there were lots of symbolism and ideas in it. Whereas this is pulled more from real, fresher experiences, maybe going into greater detail on real experiences.” He was doing a lot of home recording, he said. “And I found I was having a lot of fun, making all these effects. It just unravelled naturally.” The two records feature one song in common: "At Least I Have My Friends". It wasn’t for any particular reason, he said. “It evolved as I played it live, and I had an instinct to go back to it.” He had given up on trying to start afresh with each release, he said. “I like re-recording, and seeing things become what they’re supposed to sound like. Like this is the skin it’s supposed to have.” “I see it as having a conversation with myself, and yeah, trying to get one thing right as opposed to always moving on to the next thing,” he said. It’s the record he’s most proud of, he said. “Not to discredit the others, but I feel like they were a cry for help with guitars. I was shooting for something very specific and I missed, which is a fine thing.” “There’s a real magic in shooting for something and landing elsewhere,” he said. “But I took more time with this one. I just had lots of fun.” ## **Gently into the world** *My Life’s A Lunch Break* didn’t start out as a highly personal piece of work, he said. “It revealed itself to me over time, because I was probably drinking from something that I didn’t realise.” Really, it only struck him once he was finished mixing the record, he said. “I drove out to Howth and listened to it in the car, and suddenly I was welling up. I realised there were so many memories, people and places attached to it.” “Whatever way I laid out the songs, suddenly there was this story that I hadn’t heard while I was making it,” he said. “The words and melodies, suddenly were aglow with meaning.” It’s an album that looks at break-ups and feeling lost in the world, but it doesn’t try to be hopeless and miserable, he says. “If I’m delving into something difficult, I don’t mind going into the shadow canyon, but I do like to come out of it as well, and a lot of my songs follow that kinda rhythm.” It’s the same with therapy, he says. “The objective is to ask: how did we get here? Where are we? How do we not go here again?” As he departs, Stickland sparks up the cigarette. Unlike with previous releases, he’s celebrating this album quite simply, he said. “There’s no plan.” He’ll do one solo gig on 19 September outside the Marlowe and Co. store in the Tenters, he says. “My beloved place of work. It’s the gift I’ll give myself.” There won’t be much more promotion after, he said. “I just love the record. It’s my message in a bottle to the ocean. Whoever finds it, great. It’s out there, and for me that’s enough.” ### A collective of immigrants from Jordan delve into shared history in their new home URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-collective-of-immigrants-from-jordan-delve-into-shared-history-in-their-new-home/ Last updated: 2026-09-05T11:06:22.000Z The five men met in a WhatsApp group, said four of them on Sunday, sitting at the café of Fitzwilliam Hotel on Stephen’s Green. They’re Shogaa Alkatatbeh, Mohammad Alfanatseh, Ghaleb Ghreiz and Ahmad Daggamseh. The fifth guy lives in Cork, so he couldn’t make it, they said. Alfanatseh and Daggamseh are younger, shyer guys with short black beards. Alkalalbeh and Ghreiz are older and mellow. They were all born in Jordan and moved over to Ireland around three years ago. The WhatsApp group had been set up to support Arabs across Ireland, as they navigated bureaucratic hurdles. Later, Alkatatbeh, Alfanatseh, Ghreiz and Daggamseh decided to form a collective for Jordanian immigrants, said Alfanatseh in Arabic. They compare notes with each other not just on immigration problems, but also on questions around setting up businesses and filing taxes, said Alkatatbeh. The Jordanians in Ireland Forum – which now has around 200 members and growing – was set up just two weeks before Ahmed Al Saqar, a Jordanian citizen, became a person of interest in the killing of Jamey Carney, he said. Carney, a mum, born in the United States, had been dating Al Saqar, having [met him](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2026/07/10/partner-of-jamey-carney-booked-flight-to-turkey-after-leaving-her-home-in-killarney/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Killarney in Co. Kerry, where they both lived. Online anti-immigrant commentators have, as they often do, honed in on the nationality and ethnicity of Al Saqar, using his status as a “person of interest” to cast stigma on immigrants and people of colour writ large. In the aftermath of the violent attack in Parnell Square in November 2023, Algerians in Ireland [said they had](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aftermath-of-a-violent-attack-in-the-city-algerian-dubliners-worry-about-a-cloud-of-stigma/) felt shame and stigma, because of their shared citizenship and background with the suspect, who was later [convicted](https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2026/0701/1581221-riad-bouchaker-court/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of attempted murder of three children and stabbing a childcare worker who was trying to protect them. Alkatatbeh and others in the new Jordanian forum say they lay low, in the aftermath of Carney's murder. They condemn such violence, they said. The forum did post a letter of sympathy and support to Carney's family on their social media, he said. And, a few days after the murder of Carney, the new group met with the Jordanian ambassador to brainstorm ways to magnify shared history and understanding with Irish people, Alkatatbeh said. They decided to go back to basics – to organise to meet up and talk to people, feel the kinship of each other’s company and show they’re not boogeymen but ordinary guys who try their best and enjoy gabbing, good food and hanging out with friends. Their first big plan is an event slated for 19 September in a Co. Tipperary town that, the folkloric story goes, holds fragments of Jordan. ## **Goin' down to the River Jordan** Clogh Shiúrdáin, or Cloughjordan in English, means “Stone of Jordan”. One origin story of the town's name is that a few centuries into the Anglo-Norman reign over Ireland, De Marisco, an Anglo-Norman knight, went on a Crusade and brought back a stone from the River Jordan to lay on his castle in present-day Cloughjordan, which led to its name. Since 2019, a sculpture [also stands on](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2019/10/04/friendship-stone-art-piece-unveiled-in-cloughjordan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Main Street in Cloughjordan shaped with a stone from the River Jordan – where the Christ was baptised, said Ghreiz – to mark closeness between the two countries. In recent years, people in both Jordan and Cloughjordan have been building relations and companionship, around the story of the memento from the River Jordan. In 2019, the [*Nenagh Guardian* reported](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28590253-ngd-2019-10-2616/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that 30 people from the Cloughjordan village travelled to Jordan in search of sameness in things that looked different. “In a world where important political leaders pursue polarisation and fear of the 'other', the Cloughjordan community trip at its heart embraces cultural curiosity and the sharing of values and culture between peoples of faraway places,” said the article. Again last year, “a large group from the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage of Jordan (FoAH) visited Cloughjordan as part of their Irish study group tour”, the paper [reported](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28590248-ngd-2025-09-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## **Kind to each other** Daggamseh, who has worked in Arabic-language media for the past nine years, said he got involved in the new forum's committee to offer his media skills. They have already made a promo video in Arabic and need to make an English one, they said. At the gathering, attendees will be able to taste Jordanian cuisine like mansaf, a Jordanian dish made with slow-cooked lamb, rice and a yoghurt sauce called jameed, said Alkatatbeh. They plan to share souvenirs from Jordan, too. Like the sea mud that’s good for the skin. Alfanatseh smiled and pulled up the product on his phone. Alkatatbeh kept stressing that the group is paying for the event out of their own pockets. No groups or charities subsidise it, he said. The forum's future plans include donating blood as another effort to show their goodwill towards Irish people, Alkatatbeh said. Aren’t they thinking that they shouldn’t have to go to such lengths to be embraced? And that people who are demonising them right now aren’t going to change their minds anyway? Alfanatseh said he is sure that trying to grow closer to people and showing kindness works, sometimes even on people with calcified views. “I have a friend who was racist to me when I came here,” he said. When they got to know each other, said Alfanatseh, his attitude shifted. They’re good friends now, he said. ### The mystery of the man, the black stuff, and the chimney stack URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-mystery-of-the-man-the-black-stuff-and-the-chimney-stack/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:13:50.000Z Michael Ellis, a tenant of Dublin City Council, shouldn’t have to change the filters on his sleep apnoea machine as often as he does. They should last a month, he says, but after a few days, they turn from bright white to pitch black. The filters of that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine are not the only things in his apartment affected. Around his walls and floors, around the light fitting in the ceiling, a strange black residue has gathered. It’s in wardrobes, cupboards, in his fridge, inside CD cases, all over his Dyson air purifiers, and large blotches of it are even visible inside the screen of his television. He lines the mask part of the CPAP machine with toilet paper to try and further filter what he is breathing in. The toilet paper also turns black in no time, he says. "It's in my spittle in the morning." The black stuff seems to accumulate most intensely around heat sources, like lightbulbs, or the small air vent on his thermostat. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Photos-by-Lois-Kapila-and-Eoin-Glackin-2.png) Photos by Lois Kapila and Eoin Glackin. Ellis, now 78, lives in The Pump House complex in Irishtown. The development, as its name suggests, is a former facility for pumping sewerage from one place to another. Today, the apartment block sits in a U-shape, with a large, disused chimney stack in the middle of its courtyard. The black substance seems to resemble soot or fly ash, that could become dislodged from a chimney stack like the one at the Pump House. But a spokesperson for the council said on Tuesday that it has tested the substance twice, and while they wouldn’t say what it is, they did say it is not soot. When asked if the substance might be coming from the huge chimney stack and blowing into the apartment, the spokesperson said, “This is extremely unlikely.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/P1080759-1.JPG) Photo by Lois Kapila. ## Sooty An independent analysis of the substance was inconclusive. However, it confirmed the stuff was carbon-based – like coal, soot, or mould would be. Is it mould? Well, while mould is carbon-based, results from an air-purity test organised by the council in early 2023, say that the levels of Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) – which is the gas that things like mould, but not only mould, can release – were “fine”. The manner in which the black stuff is concentrated in certain places, like around heat sources, seems to be consistent with how soot would react. Dense soot staining around heat sources can be indicative of “[thermophoresis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophoresis?ref=dublininquirer.com)”. This is where microscopic airborne particles are driven towards and deposited on cooler surrounding surfaces by differences in temperature. Ellis says he suspects it is rising in from underneath his ground floor apartment, from an old coal bunker. During the planning process about 20 years ago, an industrial heritage survey conducted by Mary McMahon makes reference to “underground chambers”, and also says that “a coal shed was located beside the entrance to the complex, next to the boiler house”. But, if it was entering his apartment that way, it is likely it would also be affecting at least the apartments of his next-door neighbours. Valerie McDonagh, who lives next door, said on Wednesday that it hasn’t impacted her home. The council spokesperson similarly said, “We are not aware of this issue in any other apartment”. The council has tested the substance twice, and "it wasn’t soot in the samples", the spokesperson said. ## Nowhere to hide Ellis began contacting the council about this issue around five years ago, he says. "I said, 'My filters on my machine are turning black.'" In that time, the council has since offered him three other apartments to move to. When he visited them, he says, none were accessible for him – they were up flights of stairs, or had small spaces within which he would be unable to manoeuvre his wheelchair. Ellis suffers from peripheral arterial disease, a circulatory problem where narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the limbs. Recently, he says, the lower part of his right lung collapsed. Other older council tenants have also [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-senior-citizens-complex-in-raheny-is-due-to-be-knocked-and-rebuilt-but-some-tenants-are-hanging-on/) they've been offered homes unsuitable for their conditions. Ellis is currently fifth on the council’s medical priority transfer list, but that fluctuates, he says. “Every time I ring up, I’m seventh, I’m thirteenth.” “People are joining the queue ahead of me because they're more of a priority because I have a place, and I'm left here to suffer,” he says. The council has also offered to have the apartment cleaned. Ellis says that after any attempts to clean the stuff, it eventually gathers again. So, a council engineer told him that they wanted to install two extractor fans in the wall of his sitting room. As a former aircraft engineer with Aer Lingus, he says, he doesn’t believe extractor fans will sort the problem. But that it will simply let the council off the hook, and leave him to continue breathing in the black substance. "I already have four fans sucking in dirt, what's two more going to do?" he says. Against the advice of the council's engineers, he's refused so far to let them put in the extractor fans. ## Medical concern A letter for the council from St Vincent’s University Hospital Heart Failure Unit dated 20 March 2023 asked the council to urgently review Ellis’ housing situation. “As you know, Mr. Ellis had recent admission to St. Vincent's Hospital due to trouble in his breathing. He was thoroughly investigated with a conclusion that his lungs were affected due to the presence of black soot in his house to the point that his CPAP filters were full-with black material,” it says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Photos-by-Lois-Kapila-and-Eoin-Glackin.png) Photos by Lois Kapila, Eoin Glackin and Karl Ellis. “It was concluded that his breathlessness was related to the chemical exposure of that material. “He is known case of Heart Failure with reduced efficiency and has internal Defibrillator as well. We strongly recommend finding a solution to his housing condition which is affecting his general wellbeing as soon as possible,” it says. Again, the council says it tested the black stuff, and it's not soot. Another letter from St Vincent’s, dated 2 May 2024, says Ellis was “undergoing treatment for a medical condition that is sub optimally managed due to persistent chemical environmental exposure at his residence”. It asked that alternative accommodation be provided as soon as possible, “to improve his health”. A letter to the council from the Sleep Disorder Clinic in St Vincent's from September 2022 says Ellis has "obstructive sleep apnoea" and requires a CPAP machine. “He has informed us that his apartment is covered in a thick mold," the letter says, though the council's later tests suggested the substance was not mould. “He applies a filter to his device on a regular basis and because of the mold and damp the filter is becoming black within a number of days," it says. “To be honest I have not encountered a case like this in seventeen years looking after patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. I strongly support his request for alternative accommodation,” the letter concluded. Among other letters of concern from medical professionals, is one from a HSE public health nurse, dated 28 March 2023. “I called to review Michael today for home supports and was shocked to see the dire state of his ground floor apartment," it says. “I observed back substance all over the walls, inside cupboards, wardrobes and presses," it says. “This black substance was also seen in the filters of his heater, sleep apnoea machine and in filter in the fan in bathroom." The nurse then informed the council that she was so concerned about the environment he was living in, that she would not even allow her staff to enter the apartment. She said his apartment in the Pump House was not safe for Ellis, given his “multiple chronic health and breathing issues”. If the material's not mould, and it's not soot – what did the council's two tests identify it as? The council spokesperson wouldn't say. "We are aware of the issues and measures to address these are being considered but cannot comment publicly on the specific details of the matter," they said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In a north-inner city complex, parents push back on strict rules for kids playing in the courtyard URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-north-inner-city-complex-parents-push-back-on-strict-rules-for-kids-playing-in-the-courtyard/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T15:45:55.000Z The shared plaza sits like a canyon between the mid-rise apartment blocks just off Hill Street, not far from Mountjoy Square in Dublin 1\. It's paved, and a strip of wide benches and palms in planters runs through it. On Friday, late in the afternoon, it was empty. For kids who live in The Courtyard apartment blocks either side of the plaza, hers among them, it's a space to enjoy, says Claudia Ichim. "The kids play here, inside our courtyard." The play is innocent, she says – the oldest kid is around nine years old. And, they're not out there all the time. "Kids are here when it's good weather, you know. Not every single day, and usually only in the afternoon," says Ichim. Still though, some of the other residents in The Courtyard complex – and in the neighbouring apartments of Belvedere Court, which sits over a low boundary wall to the north – complain about that, and the noise. Fraught confrontations on the plaza have ramped up in recent times, says Ichim – and she is unhappy with how the board of The Courtyard's owners' management company (OMC) has dealt with it. And a sign appeared earlier this summer listing new, stricter rules for the shared space, which apartment owners as a group hadn't been consulted on, she says. Those are being amended now, she says. But for her, it's all an extreme response to kids playing, she says. After all, the council's development plan underlines the importance of families living in the city, and children being allowed to play here too – even [as most homes](https://www.housingagency.ie/data-hub/housing-supply-coordination-task-force-dublin-pipeline/?ref=dublininquirer.com) being built these days are apartments. The Courtyard was built 20 years ago, said a response from board members at George's Court Management Company, which is the OMC for The Courtyard, sent via their managing agents. "In that time, there have been changes in the age profile and the diversity of the population of the local area," the email said. "Our community has always been very welcoming to all, and we certainly value the variety of cultural influences & the positive impact." They have a four-step process to resolution – moving from informal conversations, to formal reviews of house rules – which has worked well over the years, they said. "Residents raised concerns about the risk of certain activities potentially causing damage to property, &/or elevating the risk of injury. There were also concerns expressed about noise disturbance in the complex," they said. Aoife Kelly-Desmond, the chief executive officer at Community Law and Mediation, says this sounds like the kind of situation that would really benefit from community mediation. Mediation has to be voluntary, rather than forced, Kelly-Desmond said. But it's basically people coming together, agreeing to sit down with an impartial professional person who can facilitate a conversation around the different views, she says. "Hopefully in a way that allows people to listen to each other and hear each other and move forward." Belvedere Court Management CLG, the OMC for neighbouring Belvedere Court, hasn't responded to queries sent on Wednesday about the tensions and response, sent via their managing agents. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/The-shared-outdoor-space-at-The-Courtyard-off-Hill-Street.JPG) The shared outdoor space at The Courtyard off Hill Street. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## Sharing space Tensions between residents over the use of the courtyard have been building for about two years, said Ichim, last Friday. "It's only got, over time, worse and worse," she says. First off, residents in the nearby flats at Belvedere Court complained about the noise, she said, with one resident regularly shouting at the kids. "Using bad language." Later, some residents in the complex where they live too objected to kids playing in the shared space, she said. The parents tried to get the kids to play a bit quieter, she said, and the kids did begin to hush each other a bit because they were scared. They take them to nearby playgrounds when they can, she says, but they need it as a place to play. The tensions continued to escalate, she says, with confrontations in the courtyard. [Despite Policies, Many City Apartment Complexes Don’t Have Good Places for Children to Play - Dublin InquirerGovernment policies and plans talk about the need to encourage compact city living, and apartments that are for families and those with children, as well as singles.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-1401625d-936b-4b3c-8138-b5469b682b53.jpg)Dublin InQuirerClaudia Dalby![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5250-028c0566-635f-495a-80ee-885f95f12b25.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-policies-many-city-apartment-complexes-don-t-have-good-places-for-children-to-play) A resident in the neighbouring block installed a mosquito alarm – a device which emits a high-frequency and discomforting sound that can only be heard by young people – on a balcony, she said. That was later taken down. She isn't sure if her kid heard it or how much, as he is five, she says. He gets headaches but she doesn't know if those were prompted by that, or just normal, she says – and she couldn't hear it if it went back up. "We can't really tell, you know." Another resident put up a sign in the window, saying it was a nightmare to live where they did. Ichim emailed into the company that manages that block and it was removed, she said. Over the summer, a sign went up on one wall in the courtyard. "No ball games", it says, "no loud noise", and "no wheeled play", "for the comfort, safety and quiet enjoyment of all residents". Young kids must be supervised too, it says. The sign and rules had been issued on behalf of the owners' management company, George's Court Management Company, it says. An email to a resident in August from Apleona Ireland, the managing agent, said George's Court Management Company had had complaints from residents about children playing, using balls, bicycles and scooters, and the noise and disturbance from that. They had also had legal correspondence from Belvedere Court, about children using the shared space. On Thursday around midday, none of the residents who opened their doors at Belvedere Court wanted to talk on the record about tension arounds kids playing. The sign was an effort to provide clear guidance on the shared use of the courtyard, but kids could still use the communal areas, the email from Apleona said. But were those new house rules? Section 23 of the Multi-Unit Development Act lays out the process that OMCs [must follow, before they](https://www.lawreform.ie/%5Ffileupload/RevisedActs/WithAnnotations/HTML/en%5Fact%5F2011%5F0002.htm?ref=dublininquirer.com) change house rules. New rules have to be considered and approved at a meeting of the homeowners, it says. Property owners must have at least 21 days' notice of any such meeting, and a copy of any draft rules. Another email in August from Apleona said it was happy to clarify the management company's – George's Court Management Company's – position on that. The sign wasn't a new house rule, but a "temporary management measure", it said. The management company and board would follow the process, if they planned to bring in or amend house rules, they said. ## Kids in the city Dublin City Council's current city development plan [talks about](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2026-07/05-quality-housing-and-sustainable-neighbourhoods.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) the importance of supporting family living in the city. It talks about supporting "play friendly communities" – that provide time and space and permission for "everyday street play", opportunities and experiences and play in urban public space. And, it mentions its play strategy, which advocates for children and young people to enjoy and fully exercise their right to play. Ichim says she wasn't sure where to go with her concerns that her kids' right to play wasn't being met. The board of the OMC, the George's Court Management Company, did set up a meeting this past Tuesday, for residents to meet and talk about solutions. It wasn't a formal meeting, under Section 23. They reached an agreement at that meeting, said Ichim. "Children can continue to play in the courtyard, but only soft balls will be allowed, while wheeled toys/play equipment will also be allowed. They also agreed to remove the sign that had been put up," she said, the day after. By email, the board members at George's Court Management Company said that: "The primary objective of all is to ensure “safe play” and a safe environment for all." But Ichim still feels frustrated about how it was all handled, and how they were treated by the board, she said, and has unanswered questions. How many complaints had they actually had? How could the rules on the sign not be considered new house rules? How old does a child have to be before they can sit out unsupervised? They talk about safety, she said, but Airbnbs with turnover of visitors operate unbothered in the complex. Kelly-Desmond, the chief executive officer at Community Law and Mediation, says neighbourhood relationships are very intimate and if there are conflicts, community mediation can really have a positive impact to de-escalate situations. Community Law and Mediation offers a free service for this, she said. But overall, community mediation is under-resourced, as a thing. [After the council quietly closed its mediation service, a new report highlights a growing need for mediation in the communityEarlier this year, Dublin City Council closed its service to defuse low-level tensions between tenants in its housing.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-2539891e-bf35-45e2-9af5-2bac9c4fb69f.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Aoife-Kelly-Desmond--CEO-of-Community-Law---Mediation--and-Dr-Heidi-Riley-at-the-report-launch-in-the-IHREC-office-last-week.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1-e6fe0d03-85aa-4120-b316-0faf0080cb63.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-the-council-quietly-closed-its-mediation-service-a-new-report-highlights-a-growing-need-for-mediation-in-the-community/) Mediation is often associated with couples separating or commercial disputes, she said. But there is a gradual growing awareness of its relevance for community disputes too, she said. "We see a huge value on it in Ireland," said Kelly-Desmond. It's valuable to those individuals stuck in escalating disputes, and it's a valuable way to avoid conflicts reaching the courts, she said. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes, ahead of the formal set-up of the government's Mediation Council of Ireland, she said. "The next phase will be for the council to be established. It is moving." *\[UPDATE: This article was updated on 28 August at 10.35am to include responses from the George's Court Management Company, sent this morning.\]* ### Young people in prison 50% more likely to spend their days confined to their cells URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/young-people-in-prison-50-more-likely-to-spend-their-days-confined-to-their-cells/ Last updated: 2026-09-01T22:42:44.000Z If you are under the age of 21 in the Irish prison system, you are 50 percent more likely to be on a restricted regime – akin to solitary confinement – than the prison population as a whole. For criminologist Kevin Warner, this points to a worrying trend of young people falling between the cracks of the justice system. “These youngsters are treated much worse,” says Warner, former national co-ordinator of education in the prison system. “And no doubt the impact on people so young is likely to be even more severe." The most recent figures from the Irish Prison Service (IPS), released in July 2025, say that 14.7 percent of all people incarcerated across the prison estate were on restricted regimes – which overlaps with, but doesn't map directly onto, whatis known in other jurisdictions as solitary confinement. But a higher share – 21.6 percent – of people aged 18 to 20 in prison are on such a regime, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, of Fianna Fáil, said in a July 2026 [response ](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-07-15/298/?ref=dublininquirer.com)in to a question from Jennifer Whitmore TD, of the Social Democrats. The same question, asked by Whitmore in [April 2024](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-04-09/899/?ref=dublininquirer.com), showed a similar share. This means they spend 19 to 23 hours a day in their cell, according to responses Whitmore got. “They are about 50 percent more likely to be confined in that way," Warner says. “These are, you know, the lost boys." ## Getting on a restricted regime The majority of people on heavily restricted regimes in Ireland have requested it, on the grounds of personal safety. But others might be put on such regimes by the authorities. [Rule 63](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2007/si/252/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com#article63) of the Prison Rules 2007 allows a prisoner to be separated from others who may pose a significant risk to them, at their own request or by a governor, based on information from An Garda Síochána or other intelligence sources. “Prisoners on Rule 63 may associate with others in compatible risk groups and are therefore not necessarily considered to be in solitary confinement,” an IPS spokesperson [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/too-many-prisoners-are-kept-in-their-cells-between-19-and-24-hours-a-day-says-chief-prison-inspector/) in July. Mark Kelly, chief inspector of prisons, notes that while people on heavily restricted regimes may share a cell with other people due to overcrowding, this can make the psychological impact worse on those people, not better. However a person gets there – on the authorities' initiative, or at the prisoner's request – restricted regime takes a toll. This was also noted in a 2016 report on young people in the justice system from the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ), [*Developing Inside.*](https://www.jcfj.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Developing-Inside-June-2016.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Whether punishment or protection, severe confinement such as this is likely to have negative psychological, emotional and physical effects on the person ... and is likely to compound the effects of other adverse circumstances such as cell sharing and inadequate sanitation,” the report says. It may also restrict opportunities for purposeful activity such as training, education, and work, it says. A spokesperson for the IPS said there is extensive international research documenting the negative impact of prolonged confinement. And that a “systematic review synthesising this research is currently being completed by a UCC researcher in collaboration with the Irish Prison Service”. ## Protection or punishment? The Children Act, 2001 brought major changes to how young people are treated by the justice system here, said Warner, the criminologist. It brought a range of positive new responses for dealing with people under the age of 18, like youth diversion, he says. But it also meant that those between 18 and 21 were no longer treated as juveniles. Previously, they would have been sent to Fort Mitchel prison on Cork’s Spike Island, the low-security Shanganagh Castle open prison in Shankill, or St. Patrick’s Institution in Phibsborough. Now, they are sent into the adult system. That under-21s are more likely to be on restricted regimes suggests that they feel more vulnerable and at risk in the prison environment, says Keith Adams, penal policy advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ). “It probably suggests gang affiliation too, and concerns for their own safety,” he says. “My sense is that the young men, particularly, are more likely to be of the low-level kind of drug offences too,” he says. “They've just accumulated over time, and the judge is probably sick of it.” Siobhán Buckley, whose 2022 doctoral thesis for Maynooth University, [*Contrasts in Tolerance*](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28584280-sbuckley-thesis-october-2022-final-online/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), looked at the punitiveness in adult and youth criminal justice systems. While in the last century, 18- to 21-year-olds were regarded as “young adults” and sent to a separate kind of institution, now 18-year-olds are treated as fully grown adults, she says. “Which can be in conflict with neuroscientific developmental research, which states we are still developing up to the age of 25,” she says. “There is a need to rethink how we are approaching young adults and the fact that there is very much a cliff edge in Ireland at the age of 18 when it comes to youth and adult justice,” she says. The transition from youth to adult justice is very harsh and punitive, she says. “Which does result in kind of behavioural issues.” Other jurisdictions, she notes, like Scotland and Northern Ireland, still have young offender institutions for 18- to 21-year-olds. While prisoners in Ireland might be put on restrictive regime for their own protection, it doesn’t justify only letting them out of the cells for an hour or two, or less, a day, says Kelly, the inspector of prisons. Rather, the regime should be better for people in this situation, given their lives are going to be more limited, he says. “They should be offered additional activities or additional visits to compensate for the more restricted conditions under which they are held,” he says. ## Education According to Warner, the former national co-ordinator of prison education, one of the most important reviews of the Irish justice system remains the [Whitaker Report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28584326-whitaker-report-report-of-the-committee-of-inquiry-into-the-penal-system-1985/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), published in 1985. It was highly critical of how young offenders were treated, and recommended a move away from incarceration as much as possible. While the Whitaker Report recommended a greater range of educational, work, and skills training for all incarcerated people, it stressed that “juveniles” – which included those up the age of 21 at the time – be given an even greater focus. Referring to youngsters on heavily locked-up regimes, it said that “the sense of isolation easily leads to psychological deterioration”. “It is important that our recommendations be applied in the most liberal way to juvenile offenders,” said the report*.* The prison service did not respond directly when asked if special provisions are in place for those under the age of 21 who are on heavily restricted regimes. ## Work ethic The IPS provides prisoners with different levels of daily “gratuity” payments, depending on their behaviour, engagement with services, and whether they work. As of 2024, the levels are €1 for basic, €1.80 for standard, and €2.54 for enhanced. They can further earn 50 cent a day if they work a day’s shift somewhere like the kitchen. The 2016 [report](https://www.jcfj.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Developing-Inside-June-2016.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the JCFJ, says that those aged below 21 were more likely to be on a basic level. “Young adults in particular may have difficulty maintaining the behavioural standards necessary for progression owing to their psychosocial immaturity ... and lack of coping skills and resources,” it says. “For these same reasons, they may also be disproportionately impacted in a negative way by the loss of privileges such as family contact." “In fact, compared to the overall adult population, there is a disproportionate number of young adults on basic and standard regimes. Reasons for this might include maturity levels and ‘acting out’, serving short sentences and not ‘progressing’ to a higher regime standard,” the report says. This echoes the findings of the 1985 Whitaker Report which said that “any work discipline a young person may have had on entering St. Patrick's is likely to have evaporated by the time he leaves, making it more difficult for him to hold a job”. ## So what do they do all day? There is a serious lack of information on what activities people on restricted regimes actually participate in, chief prison inspector Mark Kelly said last month. Prisons keep a “Restricted Regimes Record Book” that is meant to include a high degree of detail about the daily lives of everyone who is on Rule 63 (regime for protection), he says. What the prison inspectors found in Mountjoy, which is common across the prison estate, Kelly says, is that the book only records what prisoners on Rule 63 are offered – not what they take up. So, the IPS figures for July 2025 mean, really, that 216 people on 22-hour regime were offered up to two hours out of their cell every day. If there's no accurate recording of whether or not they actually take up that offer, nobody has a really complete picture of what's happening, he says. “And in reality, what we find from visiting these places, also talking to prisoners, is that after a while on this regime, there tends to be people who lose the will to leave their cell and go and take their exercise," says Kelly. “Because their lives are so restricted that after a certain time, they don't really see the point in doing it, and that's quite often not being recorded," Kelly says. Warner says that access to addiction and mental health treatment, as well as education courses can also be miniscule for those on heavy regimes. A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said on Thursday that the status of each prisoner on restricted regime is regularly reviewed. “If possible, prisoners can be transferred to other institutions where a restricted regime would not be necessary.” ## Harm Younger prisoners are more likely to self-harm, according to the [annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28584723-ips-annual-report-2025-english/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from the IPS, released this week. It states that in 2024, there was a rate of 2.9 self-harm episodes per 100 male prisoners, and a rate of 12.7 per 100 in female prisoners. The highest rate of self-harm occurred in the 18–29 age cohort, with 5.3 episodes per 100 for men, and 14.3 per 100 for women. The report says that 42 percent of all self-harm episodes were associated with various degrees of suicidal intent. Half of all episodes occurred between the hours of 2pm and 8pm. While the three now-closed institutions – Spike Island, Shanganagh Castle, and in particular, St. Pat’s – had their problems, says Warner, the participation in [education and training courses](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28585022-lorenz-education-spike-island/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) were around 90 percent by the time they were all wound down in the 2000s and 2010s. “Even though St Patrick's was problematic, what replaced it seems to me to be vastly worse,” he says. The most recent [figures](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-pros/prisonre-offendingstatistics2023/detailsof3-yearcustodialre-offending/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show thatmore than three-quarters – 77 percent – of those aged less than 21 released from custody in 2020 re-offended within three years of release. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council okays plan for a new sports pitch at, but not solely for, a school in the Liberties URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-okays-plan-for-a-new-sports-pitch-at-but-not-solely-for-a-school-in-the-liberties/ Last updated: 2026-09-01T22:42:37.000Z There's a black gate, locked most of the time, on the boundary between St James' National School and the linear park near Fatima. The other side of the high wall is a school play area, part grassy field, part concrete space. But earlier this month, on 5 August, the school [was granted planning permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/176150?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Dublin City Council to turn this play area into an all-weather pitch. It's to serve not just the school's own students, but also many of the Liberties community sports groups and clubs – whether soccer, rugby, or Gaelic – who have been desperate for more, higher standard, sports spaces to train and play. The project is a partnership between St James’s National School, Sporting Liberties, and the Liberties Community Project, says the application. The pitch itself will be much bigger than the grassy field used by clubs at the moment, with two overlapping playing fields, say plans. The gate will be widened slightly to allow controlled access for community groups, and commercial operations, who have booked it, they say. The application for the new pitch is now in the standstill period, during which the council's positive decision can be appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála. But it attracted only a flurry of submissions in support when it went in – from local politicians, Gardaí, and members of clubs who had partnered up on the application and said they were eager to use the space. In one submission, Bryan Patten said his kid plays with Liberty Saints, the rugby club, which currently trains on the ground as is – uneven and stony, with space enough for drills but not for practice matches to round off sessions. His son dreams of the club being able to host a home game, wrote Patten. "A dream of having people over for a game and some crisps after doesn't seem unreasonable." The application said that the outlined operating hours had been structured "to balance community access with the protection of residential amenity". There'll be a structured booking system, with half of the hours allocated to commercial, paying users, and half to community groups for free, it says. ## What's in the plans? The lack of all-weather sporting grounds in the Liberties has been a major challenge for the community, the application says. The area is awash with of school-age children, sports clubs, and youth organisations, it says. But local clubs and groups often have to travel outside the area to access facilities, they said, which is a barrier for kids to get involved, and stay involved, in sports. At the moment, the site in question is already an important open space but it's in a bad way, the application says. The surface is in poor condition, the drainage and lighting are bad, and there's a lack of supporting infrastructure it says, which means "it cannot reliably accommodate structured sport, training sessions or community recreational activity throughout the year". The approved plans show [a brand new](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28582870-design-statement-for-new-pitch-at-st-james-national-school-on-basin-view/?ref=dublininquirer.com) sports pitch, in an upgraded landscape. At 2,400sqm, it will be bigger than the current grassy field. And, around it, is space for access, circulation around the pitch, and some planters and cycle parking. Groundworks will even out the playing surface for the pitch, too, the application says. There's to be a paved seating area at the northern end, with some benches, it says. Site access will remain the same – via the existing gate in the south boundary wall, it says. For the school, students can access it via the school complex to the north, it says. The project [is being bankrolled](https://www.sportingliberties.ie/press-releases/mediolanum-expands-philanthropic-collective?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Fondazione Mediolanum, the philanthropic organisation connected with asset-managers Mediolanum International Funds Limited. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/P1080799-1.JPG) The gate from the linear park. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## How will it be used? The new facility will be managed by St James Primary School, with assistance from the Liberties Sports Infrastructure Committee – made up of the Liberties Community Project and Sporting Liberties, [the operations plan says.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28582869-operation-plan-for-new-sports-pitch-in-the-liberties-at-st-james-national-school-at-basin-view/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The all-weather pitch will be used from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, from 9am to 10pm on Saturdays, and from 9am to 9pm on Sundays, says the operations plan. "Outside of these hours, the facility will be securely locked and all floodlighting will be switched off," it says. There'll be 36 slots a week available to book, it says. It won't be an unmanaged open-access space. That means there will be priority access for local clubs and young groups during peak training hours, it says, with open community access during designated times to make sure the wider public can benefit too. The facility will be run on a not-for-profit basis, it says. But to make sure it's sustainable, half of the available hours are to be designated for paid commercial bookings for somewhere between €100 and €150 an hour, the application says. The other half of available hours are to be reserved, free-of-charge, for community, youth, and local club use, it says. "Revenue from paid bookings will be reinvested directly into maintenance and community programming," it says. ### Dean: On Blimp’s neon-lit electric wonderland URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-on-blimps-neon-lit-electric-wonderland/ Last updated: 2026-09-01T22:42:30.000Z We welcome a new golden age of the airship, transporting you to an electric wonderland of neon-lit urban sprawl, hazy nightclubs and amethyst skies. At the forefront of the movement is Blimp, real name Shane Smyth, a Dublin DJ and producer who, intentionally or unintentionally, elicits an aura of great mystery. You see, details on the artist are scant. With the exception of some brief notes posted to [his Bandcamp page](https://blimp797.bandcamp.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), I’ve yet to read a quote attributed to Smyth. But creating in the shadows hasn’t stopped him from forging a body of infinitely listenable electronic music that pays homage to several different forms of the genre. These moves have culminated with new album *Our Wires*, likely to be my Irish electronica release of the year. The music is atmospheric, emotionally rich, lovingly crafted. It appreciates the nightclub, but also understands the streets outside the club, and all their rain-streaked drama. This Blimp took off in 2023 with a series of exciting loose tracks. Smyth’s greatest early victory came with the song “Real”, a collaboration with Good Luck that used ambient synth patches, tippy-tappy hi-hats, clipped vocal loops, and an urban-chic atmosphere that works as well in a cocktail bar as it does in the club. This general vibe was evoked once more on “Do You Do This Often?”, from the EP of the same name, which added a more extended vocal performance edited with some soulful computer software tweaking. Last year saw the release of full-length *The World is Yours*, an “odyssey” inspired by the photography of Jason Evans and “urbanized cityscapes and a love story of two people separated by circumstance”. Smyth cited deep house, French house, disco and lo-fi as his primary influences and they meld into a collection of breezy club beats. Songs such as “Can’t Keep Me From Your Love” boast the necessary glitter ball shimmer, while “Moonlight” bears an exciting nineties R&B influence. Now we get the album *Wires*, an android drama that runs a broader emotional gamut than any of Blimp’s previous works. As before, this is genial, inviting electronic music, but with a darker edge than the more pop-friendly *The World is Yours*. Here, it’s the dancefloor at 3am that is Smyth’s domain, when the room needs a little more ambiance to ride out the high. Each beat is a beautifully constructed machine, an eco-system of complimentary sounds. The arrangements are deep and dense, but, crucially, never feel convoluted. No element attempts to elbow any other out of the mix. You feel Smyth’s guiding hand at all times, mastering the sense of space as he playfully matches a pinging loop to a shuffling beat, a heavy bassline to a tweaked synth riff. So you get a song, “Promised”, which shuffles along with a drum ‘n’ bass-esque rhythm section and clicking keyboard riff, while a heavy orchestral synth comes in and out like a vast alien spaceship descending from the sky. Every sound has its purpose, and that overall sense of clarity is as warmly comforting as a heartbeat next to your own. *Wires* runs through nine cuts in a sprightly 30 minutes and highpoints are all around. There’s an industrial music tint to “Say What’s on Your Mind”, while the dreamier synth pings of “In My Bubble” could score a 16-bit fantasy video game. Still, *Wires* is an emotionally intelligent piece. On the single “Playing With My Heart”, for example, the soft utterances of “I’m so tired” are punctuated with a tweaked keyboard motif, punctuating the sense of helplessness, another of the album’s neat little flourishes. One of the most prominent elements of each cut are, indeed, the vocal samples that float above the instrumentals, adding a melodic feature that often reminds me of 2000s UK garage music. There’s an android soul to these voices, a pulse in the tin body. “Want U” revolves around the refrain, “Want you, I want you, I want you”, on repeat. It’s easy to picture a barely-lucid clubgoer finding themselves lost in someone on the dancefloor, minutes drifting by like seconds, with that one thought running through their hazy mind. Yet I’ve actually found myself most enjoying *Wires* not late at night, but in the morning. It’s at sunbreak when the tranquillity that Smyth’s production exudes can be most valued. ### Things To Do: Things to eat, find out if you're normal, Maud Gonne's rebel picnic, and Sunday afternoon poetry URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-things-to-eat-find-out-if-youre-normal-maud-gonnes-rebel-picnic-and-sunday-afternoon-poetry/ Last updated: 2026-08-28T09:39:42.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* This week Michael is on holidays, so I am stepping in to help with this newsletter, which he usually writes. I thought that would mean I'd have a free hand. In fact, it turns out he is sort of a micromanaging newsletter auteur, and so has left me his recommendations, which I am under orders to relay to you. And am happy to do it, it's great when someone has a vision. But I can't resist also adding a couple of things to eat at the top here, because one of my favourite things to do in Dublin is eat some of the delicious things on offer. I often check All The Food's [five things to eat](https://www.allthefood.ie/single-post/5-things-we-want-to-eat-in-dublin-this-week-139?ref=dublininquirer.com) – a mortodella and peach sandwich from Morso on Drury Street, and the Golae chicken skewers at Temple Bar Thai spot Achara caught my eye this week – and aspire to go try them but usually find I just eat what I happen to be passing. And this week, while I was walking to a meeting on a sunny afternoon, I happened to be passing Mini India on D'Olier Street, and had this delicious and affordable and hearty lunch there of samosa chaat – crispy samosas crushed up and smothered in chana masala (chickpea curry), with a tamarind sauce wiggled across the top. Which I'd definitely recommend. –Sam ***The Most Normal Woman*** This Friday, Tramp Press will be launching Roisin Kiberd's new collection, *The Most Normal Woman: Essays on Appearances*. In the book, Kiberd dissects the business of attaining perfection – or even normality – through consumption and body modification, the publisher says. Linking her personal experiences with Botox and eating disorders to broader phenomena, she explores subcultures including the underground drag scene and competitive dog shows to better understand how differing groups define and judge excellence. From Westport to Paris, Dublin to Berlin, Versailles to the Ringsend Recycling Centre, Kiberd takes us on a journey of obsession with an unanticipated answer to the question: am I normal yet? The book launch will be tomorrow evening, Friday 28 August, from 6pm at Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street. **A Conversation on American Politics** Look, I just want to reiterate that these are Michael's recommendations, not mine. I would not willingly subject myself to an evening of discussing how Donald Trump is ruining America, and the world. Cringingly peeking through my fingers at headlines in US papers is about all I can stomach at the moment. But I can see how it's hard to look away from a car crash, and, of course, how what happens in Washington impacts the rest of the world. So, with that in mind, if you might want to go over to Trinity's Long Room Hub tomorrow evening (Friday, 28 August) for this conversation between *Irish Times* columnist Fintan O'Toole and US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (a Democrat). Among the questions they will touch on, it seems, are: How has Donald Trump transformed the American political landscape? How has the Democratic Party sought to resist the country's slide toward right-wing authoritarianism? And what are the chances that the US might follow a different, more progressive path in the future? The event is set to start tomorrow evening at 6pm and you can get your (free) [tickets for it here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-conversation-on-american-politics-with-pramila-jayapal-and-fintan-otoole-tickets-1998348397852?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Guggi** Also tomorrow evening, there's a screening of the film *Guggi,* at the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar. A portrait of the Irish artist, from his anarchic days in 1980s Dublin with the post-punk, boundary-pushing band the Virgin Prunes, to his quiet life as a contemporary painter dedicated to the pursuit of beauty and the creation of paintings and forms that radiate calm. Filmed over two years in Dublin and the Provence, and blending rare archival material and interviews, director Ian Thuillier follows the artist in his studio, on the road, and in candid moments with long-time friends Bono, Gavin Friday, Jim Sheridan, and Sean Scully. The film will be on at 6:30pm at the IFI tomorrow evening, Friday 28 August, and will be followed by Q&A with Guggi, director Ian Thuillier and producer Gabriella Janni, hosted by poet Gary Jermyn. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/guggi/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Maud Gonne and the Patriotic Children’s Treat** If you are not too worn out after the book launch/politics talk/film you went to on Friday evening, there's an "illustrated lecture", you might want to check out on Saturday afternoon. James Curry, one of Dublin City Council's historians in residence, will be discussing the life of Maud Gonne (1866–1953), who the *Dictionary of Irish Biography* [describes](https://www.dib.ie/biography/macbride-edith-maud-gonne-a5110?ref=dublininquirer.com) as an "advanced nationalist, political activist, and subject of most of the love poetry of W.B. Yeats". This will include the story of the [Patriotic Children’s Treat](https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2024/0630/1457377-patriotic-childrens-treat/?ref=dublininquirer.com), an event she helped to organise in Drumcondra in 1900. When Queen Victoria visited Ireland in April of that year, a children's event was put on in Phoenix Park. "Nationalists criticised the event and claimed only 5,000 of the 35,000 children in the city 'had allowed themselves be used for a Unionist demonstration'," according to an RTÉ [article](https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2024/0630/1457377-patriotic-childrens-treat/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about the event. Later that year, in July, Gonne and others put on a picnic in the park for children who hadn't attended the queen's version. Curry's talk on all this will be at Dublin City Library on Charleville Mall from 2.30pm to 3.30pm Saturday. You can [book your spot here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=26672781&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Shades of Red* and *Once*** On Sunday, Books Upstairs on D'Olier Street is hosting an afternoon of poetry reading, from 2pm. Vivienne McKechnie will be reading from her newest collection, *Shades of Red*, and Jo Slade from hers, *Once.* The poems will explore a range of themes, from loss and the Irish landscape, to trauma, the climate crisis, and what it means to be a poet and an artist in these times. Attendance is free but booking is essential. You can get [your ticket here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/poetry-reading-mckechnie-and-slade/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Technologies of Peace** The new exhibition [Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe, 1989–2026](https://imma.ie/whats-on/the-technologies-of-peace-1989-2026-exhibition/?ref=dublininquirer.com), is opening Friday 11 September from 6:30pm–8:30pm at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham. The exhibition "aims to explore the concept of peace, the tools of peace and how they are deployed through an artistic lens". It will focus specifically on the period between 1990s to the present day. You can [RSVP for the opening here](https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=4G3k3mkrLUKjeNYOGPOnXX18AMOeq4tLubdArfHNQo5UM1ZLMU5ZM1FBTTJFNldaVUsyWTBOWDBNQS4u&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Darndale Sentiment Survey** If you live in Darndale, Belcamp or Moatview, Dublin City Council wants to hear from you. It's running a survey, asking about your experience of living in the area, your thoughts on current services, and what the council should prioritise going forward to make the area an even better place to live. You can [weigh in here](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/darndale-sentiment-survey?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Mapping Ireland’s Creative Mycelium // Ealaíonrú East** Many creative people struggle with conventional networking, finding it performative shallow and isolating, write the organisers of "Mapping Ireland's Creative Mycelium". In this next session they are finding inspiration from the mycelium networks of mushrooms. The workshop is on 3 September, and you can get your [tickets here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/mapping-irelands-creative-mycellium-tickets-1998527850600?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAadSEbqDiIFwlLbKn75FHESUSwswTnKvzb8RDTc0kpUfB9KudA2XADvRzv6G3A%5Faem%5Fj%5F4mVDH3lM08rsNmrRMNYw&utm%5Fid=97760%5Fv0%5Fs00%5Fe0%5Ftv3). *CORRECTION: The online version of this newsletter was updated at 2.55pm on 27 August 2026 to reflect that Technologies of Peace does not open on 1 September, but rather 11 September. Apologies for the error.* Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### How Brazilian cuts of meat found a place in Dublin butcher shops URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-brazilian-cuts-of-meat-found-a-place-in-dublin-butcher-shops/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T23:18:22.000Z There was a lull in customers so Manuela Carvalho had a minute. She stepped out from behind the window of the post office counter, right at the back of the Centra in Terenure, to chat. It had taken her a couple of years to stop in at The Brown Pig – the butchers shop just a few doors down from where she works – to ask if they sell Brazilian cuts of meat, she says. "I never thought of it, actually," says Carvalho. She had been looking for quality picanha, the tender cut of rump with a thick layer of fat that is one of the pieces favoured by Brazilians for churrasco, for barbecues. Brazilian cuts of meat differ from traditional Irish cuts. So, it wasn't usually available in the pack-and-play shelves of Irish supermarkets. That was a while back. Now, she's like the picanha dealer, said James Kenny, who runs the butchers. "People text her. She has a burner phone and all." Yep, says Carvalho, keeping up the patter. She buys picanha from Kenny by the kilo and she drives it over to friends in Dundrum, and to friends in Tipperary, she says. Enquiries from new customers have helped the business to keep evolving, says Kenny. They learn from each other, he says. ## **Butchery in time** Training as a butcher, Kenny would learn the backstory of cuts that he was taught, usually involving some lord somewhere, he says. "You do learn the history." Take chateaubriand, the French cut and recipe which uses tenderloin, he says. It is widely [thought to have been](https://www.britannica.com/topic/chateaubriand?ref=dublininquirer.com) created by Montmireil, the personal chef of the François-Auguste-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, a French aristocrat and diplomat. "Imagine having a cut of meat named after you that goes on for generations, you know," Kenny says, laughing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/An-old-photo-on-the-wall-of-The-Brown-Pig.-2-1.JPG) A photo on the wall of The Brown Pig. Brazilians cuts, meanwhile, have been shaped by environment, technology, commerce and colonialism, says Oscar Broughton, a teaching fellow at SOAS University of London who researches the history of Brazilian meat markets. There's the cut known as cupim, he says. "This is a particular cut which is basically the hump of the Zebu cattle. So we don't tend to find this in Europe so much." Zebu cattle comes originally from India, says Broughton. But in the late 19th-century, Brazilian entrepreneurs travelled to India – at that time, part of the British Empire – to learn the latest in imperial science around cattle breeding, he said. There, they came across Zebu cattle, he said. "They had things like long eye-lashes, quite thick skin which made them more resistant to the sun and the dust and tropical pests." They exported them to Brazil, where they did better than other cattle in the hot and tropical climate, says Broughton. That cupim cut is fatty and delicious and ideal to barbecue, says Broughton. "It's very very tasty." "It also is quite prominent in Nigeria, because it's a similar story there of Indian cattle migrating, or being moved over there, because of colonial forces," Broughton says. ## **Changing foodscape** When he arrived in Ireland 10 years back, finding Brazilian cuts of meat was tricky, said Wesley “Tatu” Corrêa, last week. Translating what he was looking for was a barrier, he says. "It was hard for us to explain," Corrêa said. A friend eventually pointed him towards Brady's Butchers on Belvedere Road in Dublin 1, where he got picanha, he said. Others describe a similar obstacle. During her early years in Ireland, Lily Ramirez-Foran would be looking for cuts for Mexican dishes. She runs the Mexican food store and cookery school, Picado, which has two outlets – on South Richmond Street and Cork Street in Dublin. She would to drag her husband into the Brady's Butchers in South Dublin that her Irish in-laws relied on, she said, and prod at his body parts to show which cuts she wanted. "This! This part of the pig I need!" These days, the Brazilian shops scattered about town – Real Brazil on Thomas Street, the store at Wasabi on Dorset Street, and others – hold vacuum packs of Brazilian cuts for barbecue: maminha, and fraldinha, and of course, picanha. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/At-Wasabi--on-Dorset-Street.-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/To-go-with-barbecue--at-Wasabi-on-Dorset-Street.JPG) Skewered cheese and seasonings, at Wasabi on Dorset Street. Photo by Lois Kapila. "There are lots of Brazilians working in the companies of the meat. So they do this for us now," said Kenia Ferreira, who runs the store in Wasabi on weekdays. She works through the different kinds that sit on the refrigerator shelves, explaining which are for barbecue, which are for stove cooking. ## **Right for the grill** By the time Carvalho came into The Brown Pig, the team knew what she was talking about, said Kenny. He had begun to get people asking for Brazilian cuts a few years earlier, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. Many South Americans work in tech, and those in the area were working more from home and so cooking more at home, Kenny said. People began to come in and ask for different cuts, he said. "They were actually nearly teaching us as well." When something is new, they will hop onto Google with a customer, he says. "They're saying, 'No, this part!' And we're like, 'Oh yeah, we can do that for you!'" Nowadays, he gets three or four enquiries a week for Brazilian cuts, he said. Both picanha and maminha are part of the rump, he says. In Ireland, butchers would generally have called it all the rump and sold it whole, he says. "But they separate it into the different muscles." Costela ribs, meanwhile, are beef ribs that are cut the width of two or three rashers, and – if you imagine the ribs are a ladder – sawn from top to bottom as if through all the steps, he says. Traditionally in Ireland, he would cut ribs along the bone, as if on a ladder step – to continue the analogy, he says. That makes the thick short-ribs, that are nicknamed Jacob's Ladder in the trade. But Brazilian cuts make sense for barbecues, he says. Picanha is tender, he says. "It has the right fat content." And the costela ribs cook faster, he says. "They cook quicker, because you're going against the grain." ## **The story of picanha** Go back to the late 19th century and early 20th century and Brazil was actually a small producer of beef globally, says Broughton, the teaching fellow at SOAS University of London. But as more countries industrialised and urbanised, and populations grew and grew, so did demand for beef and other economies in the region, such as Uruguay and Argentina, started to specialise in it, Broughton says. Brazilians looked over at their neighbours and saw a lucrative business to get in on, he says. That took investment, which came from big American and British meat-packing companies, he says. Alongside Brazilian elites who were diversifying away from coffee plantations, he says. The investment built slaughterhouses and shopping lanes and refrigeration units, he said. Refrigeration meant fresh meat, rather than the dried salted beef or carne sec, that has been around since the start of the colonisation of Brazil in the 16th century, when the Portuguese used it to feed enslaved populations in the sugar plantations. The two world wars create further demand for both beef and leather for soldiers, Broughton said. In Brazil, beef production expanded into new areas of the country, he said. Broughton talks about the "protein frontier" and the encroachment of cattle pastures into the Amazon basin, and accompanying spread of soybean plantations. These days, agrobusiness is a powerful force in the Brazilian National Congress, and activists, researchers and journalists who look into some of these companies are at risk, he says. But it was on the wave of all this, in the 1950s or '60s, that picanha was invented, Broughton says. Its backstory is a tale of business rivalries, he says. "It's really a commercial story." As the beef industry grew, restaurants serving it spread. Many were set up by immigrants from beef-producing regions in the south of the country, Broughton said. "They take with them their sort of knowledge of cooking, of aesthetics of the south, and gaucho kind of culture," he said. Picanha was born in these restaurants, he said. It "becomes this very, very popular dish because of this competition between different restaurant owners basically," says Broughton. Picanha is one of the most popular cuts in Brazil today, Broughton says. "It seems to have a very prestigious place in people's minds." But as prices have gone up, many working- and middle-class people are turning to cheaper cuts, he says. "They just can't afford picanha on a regular basis." That's been a big issue in Brazil, Broughton says, one marbled with national identity and politics. In the last election in Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is now president, campaigned on giving back to every Brazilian beer and barbecue basically, Broughton says. Because for many Brazilians, to eat barbecue is short-hand for living the good life, he says. Although, not for all, of course. Maurício Brunner is from the south of Brazil, he says. His family would barbecue every Sunday growing up, he says, and his house – as others – had a built-in grill. But he became vegan about 10 years ago, before he moved to Dublin, while still living in Brazil, he says, as he read more about food production. "It was quite gradual." He doesn't feel any tension with his Brazilian identity, he says, and still goes along to barbecues – just with vegetables to grill, or watermelon. "Culture, you bring certain things, you change certain things you don't agree with anymore." ## **Tell me more** Don't forget linguiça sausages on the barbecue, says Matt Sant, on the small shop floor at Real Brazil on Thomas Street. "Some people like to cut the sausage in half and put a slice of cheese in the middle." Kenny has been working on a new version of this pork sausage, he says. "We've infused it now, we're trying to put an Irish twist on it, so we've put Irish mature cheddar cheese chunks into the sausage." For Kenny, requests from customers about different cuts – and sausages – is a way to learn and evolve, he says. Of course, it goes the other way too. "Brazilian people and South Americans have started to buy our cuts and our sausages as well, so its crossing over a lot as well," he said. It's good for trade and it's good for staff, says Kenny, who has been a butcher since a summer holiday job in Payne's Butchers in Ballyfermot when he was 16 years old and he found himself drawn to the hard-working and passionate mentors at the block. "You have to be innovative, otherwise you stand still," he said. Newer arrivals to Ireland have helped to revive butchers, and cuts traditional to Ireland too, says Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, the food historian and lecturer at TU Dublin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Picanha-in-the-foreground-of-FX-Buckley-on-Moore-Street-1.JPG) In the window of FX Buckley. Photo by Lois Kapila. He regularly sends students down to FX Buckley's on Moore Street to look in the window and count types of offal, he says. "A lot of this stuff was about to disappear." As families in Ireland got wealthier, and women started to work, and evening meal prep had to go faster, these bits and bobs had been going out of fashion, he says. But they're still around, he says. At the back of the Centra in Terenure, Carvalho has been trying to convince Kenny to get in some chicken hearts for her. She wants to barbecue them, she says. He isn't too into the idea. He has questions, he says. Being able to speak to a butcher about what you want is so important, says Ramirez-Foran, who runs Picado. For example, a chef came to trial at Picado recently, she said, and asked for "coulette" – another name for picanha. It's pricey for a trial, though, she said, so the butcher advised her on slightly cheaper equivalents. Supermarkets can't offer that, she says. "You have a relationship with your butcher," says Mac Con Iomaire, the food historian and lecturer at TU Dublin. "We all had a pattern of shopping that you would buy this from there and that from there, and trust from there," he says. "The supermarket knocked a lot of that on the head." Knowing the provenance of meats too, he says. "Quite often butchers were farmers as well, or else the animals were coming from the neighbourhood." Kenny is clear where [the meat he sells come from,](https://thebrownpig.ie/the-butchers-suppliers/?ref=dublininquirer.com) he has relationships built over years: beef from Gordon Quinn, organic chicken from Margaret McDonnell, both in Kildare. Ramirez-Foran has to know what she is buying is local and organic, she says, to know how the animals are treated and fed. "So they've led a very happy life." Carvalho had planned to dip the barbecued chicken hearts in farofa, she tells Kenny. She brushes her hands together, as if coating the palms. "What is it? It's like a ... a butter?" says Kenny. "No, no, no, no," says Carvalho, quickly. "It's like a bread, you could say it's more like a stuffing that we have here." "So it's a breadcrumb?" he says, his head tilted a little. He keeps asking questions. So you dip into it? You add herbs? "See how much you learn about," says Kenny, still trying to wrap his head around the request. "I'm only learning about this now." ### They're not undocumented. But they can't prove it right now. URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/theyre-not-undocumented-but-they-cant-prove-it-right-now/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T23:18:28.000Z Ayyoub Ismaeel was in the passenger seat of a car when cops sidled up to it recently, he said. “They just stood beside the car and said, ‘Give me an ID’,” said Ismaeel. But not just any ID. They wanted proof that he was not undocumented, he said. Ismaeel, who has appealed an initial rejection on his asylum claim, has been waiting on its outcome for 16 months, he said. So, on paper, he should be able to show that he has the right to live here while it’s pending. But Ismaeel has also been waiting on the International Protection Office (IPO) to renew his out-of-date asylum card – formally known as the Temporary Residence Certificate (TRC) – for nearly a year now. “I applied in September last year”, he said. Emails show that he’d followed up with the IPO twice, most recently on 7 July of this year, when he forwarded the original renewal email from September 2025 to its TRC reactivation unit again. But he didn’t hear back, Ismaeel said. That day, when officers approached him in a car, Ismaeel showed them a photo of his expired asylum card on his phone, he said. But they wouldn’t relent. “They said, ‘We should bring you to the Garda station to do some processing to be sure you have no criminal history,’ and they want to be sure about my identification,” said Ismaeel. After all that, they let him go, but it was a pain, he said. Failure to present a passport or immigration permission to government officials on demand is a criminal offence, under Section 12 of the [Immigration Act 2004](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28573584-pdf-5/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Police can ask to see documentation during stop and searches, but that's not the only situation when those seeking asylum may be asked to show it. Those with permission to work need it to keep their jobs or take up new ones, too. Khaled Alzubaidi said he had a decent job offer recently but it hinged on showing a fresh TRC, which he couldn’t do. “But my work permit is up to date." Alzubaidi, who said he’s homeless, had pinned his hopes on getting that job to be able to afford rent. He’s been waiting to get his TRC renewed for five months, he said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that “TRC renewals are currently taking longer than normal to process”. They did not say how big the backlog was. ## **Living precariously** The Department of Justice has come up with an “exceptional” support measure so people aren’t left unable to renew their work permits, too, said its spokesperson. From 18 August to 27 November, its “Labour Market Access Unit” will accept proof of application to renew a TRC, and process work permit renewal requests on its back. “Acceptable evidence includes the email confirmation received in response to a TRC renewal application,” they said. Lucky Khambule, of the Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI), said the problem is that some members say they haven’t gotten that confirmation email. The special process doesn't aid people like Alzubaidi, whose work permits are still valid, either. He can’t get a job without having his asylum card and work permit together, he said. It doesn't help Ismaeel either, who is not allowed to work because his asylum case was processed and rejected before he could qualify for a work permit, he said. When applicants are rejected within five months of applying, they don't get the right to work. It can leave them grappling with poverty, if they decide to appeal that first decision. It’s unclear if people can use proof of TRC renewal applications to keep working if their work permits still stand. Though, not all employers would accept it. Muath Nsairat said he sent his completed TRC renewal form to the IPO “more than once”. His asylum card expired in early May. He’s also in the appeal phase of the asylum process. His case will be heard in two weeks, said Nsairat, last week. Nsairat needs a new asylum card because “it’s my work and everything”, he said. He’s watched some get their cards renewed quickly and that has compounded his frustration. “How come most people get cards and I don’t?” Ifeoma Igbonoba, who applied to renew her TRC in April, said she’s at risk of losing her job, and there hasn’t been any clear communication about what people in her situation can do. Igbonoba did hear back from the IPO at one point in May about a backlog prompted by “paper card printer” issues, she said. Though these delays have impacted people who have applied already like Igbonoba, the Department of Justice spokesperson said it won’t be a problem going forward. It has recently rolled out a digital asylum card, they said. It’s called International Protection Applicant Certificate (IPA Cert) and would replace TRCs, the spokesperson said. It will be issued immediately after someone lodges a new case and will stay valid “for the duration of their asylum claim”, they said. People can download the new IPA Cert right away, save it on their phones or add it to digital wallets, the spokesperson said. “This prevents loss of a paper or plastic card and ensures instant access for stakeholders and the holder,” they said It needs to be updated more frequently than the current TRCs, though, to account for changes to people’s rights as their asylum case progresses, the spokesperson said. ## **What have I got?** In the meantime, though, these processing delays put people’s lives on hold whether they’re in the asylum system or immigrants on different kinds of immigration permissions. The Department of Justice [has also struggled](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-delays-with-permit-renewals-an-immigrant-doctor-in-ireland-cant-travel-to-visit-his-seriously-ill-mother/) to renew applications for non-asylum residence permit cards in good time, in recent months. Both Ismaeel and Igbonoba said they’re also unable to pick up their driving licences despite passing the driving test because they don’t have solid proof to show that they’re not undocumented. Ismaeel said he is also homeless after refusing two offers of accommodations from the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS). Once because of poor living conditions and overcrowding that could worsen his respiratory disease, he said. The other time because of distance to Dublin where his doctors and support networks are, Ismaeel said. He sleeps on friends’ couches and he’s lucky to have them, he said. All he wanted was a new asylum card and he couldn’t get that either, he said. Igbonoba said the wait is pressing on her mind, her life divided into before and after she had her asylum card. “You can’t leave people in limbo. I don’t know. It’s sad,” she said. ### In Blanchardstown, another data centre looks to pipe hot water to heat nearby buildings URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-blanchardstown-another-data-centre-looks-to-pipe-hot-water-to-heat-nearby-buildings/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T23:18:35.000Z A Dublin-based company is working on a new project to use extra heat from data centres in the Blanchardstown area to heat water and pipe it to surrounding businesses – dialling back fossil-fuel use for that. As [part of](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28576335-pure-dc-sustainability-statement-dub01b-eth-zz-xx-rpt-hswe-60001-1-4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a [planning application](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/103545?ref=dublininquirer.com) to expand its operations out in Dublin 15, data-centre operators Pure DC said they plan to reduce carbon emissions in part by signing up to a district heating project being developed by HeatGrid Ireland. "Pure DC are currently under an exclusivity agreement to work closely with Heat Grid Ireland ... to provide waste heat from the DUB01B project as key input to the development of a Heat Network in the area," the application says. HeatGrid CEO David Connolly said by phone on 17 August that the company is "in the very early stage, the concept stage" with this project. But it's looking good so far, he said. District heating projects involve a lot of upfront spending, in this case to build an energy centre to boost the temperature of the warm water coming out of the data centre to the level needed – and to install a network of pipes to deliver it to customers, among other expenses. In terms of finances, HeatGrid is [supported](https://www.heatgrid.ie/about?ref=dublininquirer.com) by [Asper Investment Management](https://asper-im.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "a specialist investment management firm" focused on financing things like windfarms. It is also hoping to get some financing from the €50 million to €100 million the government last year [set aside](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/press-releases/minister-obrien-drives-forward-legislation-to-roll-out-district-heating-in-ireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for district heating infrastructure, Connolly said. Although district heating – warming a network of buildings with a common heat source – is common in some European countries, it is still nascent in Ireland. There's a [pilot project in Tallaght](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-progress-to-warm-dublin-homes-with-leftover-heat-from-data-centres-and-the-like/) up and running, using waste heat from a data centre to warm surrounding buildings, and some other projects in early stages. Dublin City Council is [slowly moving](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-look-at-plugging-community-facilities-in-ringsend-into-district-heating-system-early-in-roll-out/) forward with a large project to use waste heat from the Poolbeg waste-to-energy incinerator to warm buildings. And Fingal County Council [has been looking](https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-of-fingals-eu1-43bn-new-capital-programme-to-go-to-housing/) at a €58 million project to use waste heat from data centres in Dublin 15 to warm buildings around there too. On the west coast, HeatGrid on [10 August](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28576345-galway-district-heating-scheme-approved-8a087c79-372f-4100-9675-f62b92dae717/?ref=dublininquirer.com) got [planning permission](https://www.eplanning.ie/GalwayCity/AppFileRefDetails/2560339/0?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a large district heating scheme in Galway. When the government begins allocating grants to help support projects, "that's when schemes will begin to crystallise", said Connolly, who is also chair of the Irish District Energy Association. Along with its push to decarbonise the electrical grid, by adding more wind, solar and batteries, and its push to decarbonise transport by increasing active travel and getting more electric vehicles on the road, the government has been working to reduce the use of fossil fuels for heating buildings by supporting district heating. It's all, of course, an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to try to blunt the pace of climate change, and so reduce its impacts on everything from biodiversity loss, to sea level rise, to extreme weather. ## **District heating in Dublin 15** Pure DC has a data centre campus in Ballycoolin, near Blanchardstown. The company designs, builds and operates data centres in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. And it's backed by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Which in turn is [owned by](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/08/03/3337342/0/en/Brookfield-Completes-Acquisition-of-Oaktree.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) the much larger New York-based Brookfield Asset Management, which [says it has](https://bam.brookfield.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "over $1 trillion of assets under management across infrastructure, energy, private equity, real estate and credit". This planning application to Fingal County Council out in Dublin 15 is part of the global buildout of data centres to host everything from the cloud-based document-collaboration software this was written on, to backups of our photos, to Elon Musk's Grok AI as it gives snarky answers on X and undresses women and children in photos on demand. In Ireland, these data centres are using [more electricity](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-dcmec/datacentresmeteredelectricityconsumption2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) than all homes in the country's urban areas. As part of its planning application, Pure DC included a "sustainability statement", written for it by Ethos Engineering. "The proposed development amalgamates \[data centres\] DC2 and DC3 into a single refined DUB01B scheme, leveraging recent technological advances to enhance operational performance with increased on-site renewables, new grid connection for stability support, future district heating integration, and 100% renewable energy commitment," the document says. The design includes measures to make the project ready for a future district heating scheme, should it be built, the document says, including buried pipework. "District heating pipework is not included in the current scope of works but remains future-ready to accommodate expansion when demand and network availability align," it says. But "any ongoing or adjacent construction activities will account for this heat recovery potential, ensuring space and access for pipework, fittings, and accessories as required". Pure DC has signed an exclusivity agreement with HeatGrid to export about 10MW of waste heat to its proposed adjacent district heating system, it says. [Are data centres reliable sources of heat for Dublin’s planned district heating systems? - Dublin InquirerWaste heat from a data centre is already helping warm buildings in Tallaght. There’s a similar plan for Blanchardstown.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-bcabc219-f787-4a3e-8e2e-3c44a03333d8.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/construction-at-the-edgeconnex-site--photo-by-sam-tranum--1-49c38ba4-2f49-4e14-bb01-b3ac5eba0f10.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-data-centres-reliable-sources-of-heat-for-dublins-planned-district-heating-systems/) Is the HeatGrid district heating system in Ballycoolin a real project, or just something for Pure DC and other data centres trying to get planning permissions to put in their sustainability statements to make them look "greener"? It's very much a real project, in early stages, which HeatGrid is trying to develop, Connolly said, pointing to the company's success in getting planning permission for the scheme in Galway as evidence of its seriousness. ## **Competition?** HeatGrid's proposed district heating project in Dublin 15 isn't competing for the same customers as Fingal County Council's one, Connolly said. They're near each other, but with separate proposed sources of heat, and customers for that heat. [Fingal's plan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-weighs-up-whether-to-press-ahead-with-district-heating-scheme-in-blanchardstown/) has been to get waste heat from data centres – it mentioned an Amazon one – and, in phase one, pipe it to TU Dublin's Blanchardstown campus, Connolly Hospital, the National Sports Campus and other customers. Phase two would connect it to pharmaceutical plants, the IDA business park, and social housing in the area. HeatGrid's plan, meanwhile, is to take waste heat from the data centres in Ballycoolin, and sell it to customers in that same industrial estate, Connolly said. The reason these projects rely on waste heat from data centres, is that getting the heat as cheap as possible helps make the projects economically viable, and keep costs down for their customers, Connolly said. The bills for customers of the Tallaght district heating project [show they are currently paying](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-district-heating-is-the-future-for-dublin-how-much-will-it-cost-customers/) a bit more monthly than they would if they were heating their homes with gas – although it reduces big-picture, global and societal costs in the long-term. [If district heating is the future for Dublin, how much will it cost customers?The shift to a lower-carbon heating system would reduce big-picture costs, like, global costs, societal costs. But how would it affect customers’ bills?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-d873171e-0038-465e-8e13-88f7a9e7f389.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Innovation-Square-apartments-e3ff2ece-fc75-499e-ba33-e92216cbd296.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-district-heating-is-the-future-for-dublin-how-much-will-it-cost-customers/) A trash incinerator like the one at Poolbeg would deliver water at a relatively low cost and high heat, Connolly said. A data centre can deliver water at relatively low cost and a lower heat – meaning the district heating system operator has to spend money to make that water hotter (probably with electric heat pumps) before delivering it to customers. Engineers [have mapped](https://www.dublininquirer.com/engineers-are-mapping-where-geothermal-energy-may-work-in-dublin/) where there's potential to drill down into the earth under Dublin to find geothermal energy, which is constant (unlike wind and solar), and basically carbon-emissions-free (unlike gas). And TU Dublin's [been drilling for it](https://www.tudublin.ie/explore/about-the-university/sustainability/about/news-and-events/geothermal-energy-breaks-ground-at-tu-dublins-grangegorman-campus.php?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its Grangegorman campus in Dublin city. But geothermal energy would cost more to get than waste heat from incinerators and data centres, and come out of the ground at a lower temperature, requiring more money to raise it before selling it on to customers, Connolly said. There's also more risk, he says. "Who's going to guarantee you that if you drill the hole you will get the temperature you think you're going to get?" he asks. Connolly said HeatGrid is working on multiple district heating projects across the country, and expecting to apply for further planning permissions before too long. ### Join us for a family table quiz URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/join-us-for-a-family-table-quiz/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T12:23:28.000Z For years we've been running table quizzes from time to time, usually in a pub, in the evenings, and it's been great fun. But recently, Louise O'Connor, who's always written these quizzes and emceed the events, suggested we do one that kids can take part in. Since she and I both have young kids these days, we agreed that this would be a great idea. So Louise is writing a family table quiz, for teams of up to six players – you can bring fewer – at least one of whom should be 12 or under. We know families come in all shapes and sizes and configurations and, of course, all are welcome. If your family includes some younger kids, four years of age and under, who you want to bring along, you can bring them too and not count them among your players. Although I'm sure they will be helpful. We'll be asking questions to test the knowledge of kids throughout the ages, so there will be a role for everyone's strengths. (Remember how much you knew about dinosaurs, Enid Blyton, and space when you were eight?) We'll also have some fun interactive rounds to test the whole team's art and physics skills. It'll be upstairs in the Loft at Rascals, the brewery and pizza place in Inchicore, on Sunday 4 October from 2pm to 5pm. A table of six players (and any smaller hangers on) will cost €40 if it's a subscriber paying, and €60 for a non-subscriber. [Get a Table Now](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/dublin-inquirers-first-and-best-ever-family-table-quiz-tickets-1998925043615?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com) For parents and carers with pals on other teams, we know how precious an afternoon "out" is. So let us know if your friends are on a different team and we'll do our best to arrange to have you sitting close together – as long as you pinky promise not to cheat! And for those of you without kids to bring, or who have kids you'd prefer to leave at home for a night, we're planning to have one of our regular pub quizzes in November. ### Drug-policy book club, anyone? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/drug-policy-book-club-anyone/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T23:18:42.000Z It's hard to make time to read behind the headlines, we know. But if you've had it in your mind to wrestle a bit more with the future of drug policy in Ireland, we would love it if you would join us for a "book club" on the question. The idea is for participants to read at least the summary of evidence, and recommendations – but as much as they want – of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use's [final report](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/34/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fdrugs%5Fuse/reports/2026/2026-06-24%5Ffinal-report%5Fen.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), which recommends decriminalisation of possession of drugs for personal use. Then, we'll come together (in person) at a venue in the city centre, to talk, in good faith and with care, about the recommendations, the concerns, and the realities. We announced this book club on Friday in our *Dublin News* newsletter, and so already have a small group signed up already. If you'd like to join us, please let me know by replying to this email, or contacting me at sam@dublininquirer.com. We'll come back to you in a few days with a date and venue, and then you can get to reading, and preparing your thoughts and questions for the day. ### Now that he can do it, DAA has formally written to the minister asking him to lift the Dublin Airport passenger cap URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/now-that-he-can-do-it-daa-has-formally-written-to-the-minister-asking-him-to-lift-the-dublin-airport-passenger-cap/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T12:23:39.000Z Now that Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien [has the power,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568798-dublin-airport-passenger-capacity-bill-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) DAA – the company that runs Dublin Airport – [has written to him](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568491-cover-letter-and-main-application-document%5Fdaa-application%5F5-august-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) asking him to lift the passenger cap from 32 million people per annum to 40mppa. And the minister could also choose, under a new law passed in July, to "vary" what DAA has requested – and rather than raise it, eliminate the cap entirely. "If the Minister decides to vary daa's proposal to revoke the passenger capacity conditions, daa would be delighted to provide any information requested by the Minister", says the 5 August letter, from the airport's deputy chief executive, Nicholas Cole. There has – in theory, if not in practice – for years been a cap of 32 mppa on the number of passengers who can travel to and from the airport. It was a condition of the planning permissions for the two airport terminals, granted in 2007 and 2008. Now, bear in mind that DAA could actually have applied for planning permission at any time to amend or remove that cap, said Gareth O'Brien, who lives in flyover country in Ashbourne. "Given 17 years to do that, DAA has singularly failed," says O'Brien, who is also a member of the North Runway Technical Group, a voluntary group of aviation professionals set up to act as a watchdog for how DAA has been operating since it opened its northern runway. But DAA waited until December 2023 to apply to Fingal County Council, at which point it asked for [planning permission](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-to-expand-dublin-airport-clash-with-global-effort-to-slow-climate-change/) to expand the airport's infrastructure [to handle](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/96644?ref=dublininquirer.com) 40 mppa and to permit that number. The council hasn't yet decided on that application. So, under pressure from airlines that want to run more flights into and out of the airport, the minister has stepped up with legislation on demand, said Gareth O'Brien, to allow himself the power to remove the planning condition that says, simply, make a planning application. DAA's application to the minister says that the cap now needs to be lifted urgently because of a pending judgment in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). That ruling is likely to say that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is required to take the passenger cap into account, when it allocates flight slots for airlines – which it had been blocked from doing, by the lawsuit. That change would mean 4.4 mppa fewer passengers allowed to travel this year, compared to the number who travelled in 2025\. A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said on Thursday afternoon that the application from DAA is being considered. Before the minister can issue any order, though, An Coimisiún Pleanála has to carry out independent environmental assessments, in line with EU Law, said the spokesperson. "The Minister is required to consider the outcome of those assessments when making an Order." The process and any consultation from here is important, said Green Party TD Roderic O'Gorman. "Throughout the whole process, there was a lot of ... commitments to residents that their concerns about noise in particular would be taken into account during this new process." "Now we'll see whether this actually happens," he said. Whatever happens now though, with the minister's order, under [this new legislation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568798-dublin-airport-passenger-capacity-bill-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – if Fingal eventually approves DAA's infrastructure application, that'll take precedence, says Gareth O'Brien, of the North Runway Technical Group. The act prohibits the planning authority, which is Fingal, and An Coimisiún Pleanála from setting any passenger cap for Dublin Airport going forward – but [carves out an](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568798-dublin-airport-passenger-capacity-bill-2026/?q=Fingal&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11) exception when it comes to that live planning application. ## What was it for? Government and aviation bodies have given different reasons as to why the cap of 32 million passengers came in two decades ago, emphasising that it wasn't brought in an a climate measure. "It was to address local traffic impact primarily," said Miriam Ryan, DAA's chief governance and strategy officer, [before the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28567832-iaa-before-the-committee-on-transport-about-the-passenger-cap/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport in March. Declan Fitzpatrick, chief executive of the Irish Aviation Authority, said that the figure had flowed from the council's local area plan (LAP) in place at the time. That envisaged a third terminal on the western end of the airport, he said, and the idea was that terminals 1 and 2 on the east side of the airport should cater for a maximum of 32 million passengers. "So that there would be sufficient future passengers to use this terminal 3 and, thus, the airport would develop in the manner envisaged in the 2006 LAP, with balanced development on the east and west sides," he said. But even if it wasn't brought in as a measure to combat climate change by limiting carbon emissions, the original intent is irrelevant, said Jerry McEvilly, of Friends of the Earth, at a later hearing of the same committee. "The passenger cap functions as a de facto mitigation measure," McEvilly said. "Any removal would require the Government to implement equivalent alternative actions to reduce emissions." In reality, the cap has pretty much been on paper only, said Gareth O'Brien, of the North Runway Technical Group. "The passenger cap has never restricted the capacity of Dublin Airport." Indeed, despite the 32 mppa cap, there were 33.5 mppa passengers in 2023, about 34.6 mppa in 2024 and 36.4 mppa in 2025, according to DAA's application to the minister. And, it's currently subject to a High Court stay. In its application this month, DAA stressed the urgent need for speed in lifting the passenger cap. If the CJEU rules that the cap has to be taken into account, that risks "significant economic and social harm" with "substantial foregone employment and Gross Value Added, together with adverse impacts on tourism, connectivity and national competitiveness", its application says. As Gareth O'Brien sees it, "They're trying to prevent the court from ruling". If the Minister activates the legislation, they can run back to the High Court and say they can call off the CJEU case, he said. The ruling in that case would have a much broader impact, he said. "It would basically give a voice to communities all over Europe who are affected by aircraft noise," he said. Because it would say that a local planning restriction is a "legitimate constraint" when it comes time for the slot authorities to calculate and dole out the slots, he said – it would be a green light for them to take those planning restrictions into account. ## Assessing the environmental impact The new Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026 [lays out the process](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/act/2026/25/eng/enacted/a2526.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) that kicks in, now that DAA has made its application to the minister. Now that DAA has applied, the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, should consider that, and let DAA know whether he intends to do. Then the minister "may direct" DAA to provide a bunch of environmental reports, "for the purposes of carrying out an environmental impact assessment". The act provides for a period of public consultation on those reports, and it'd be An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) that would carry out any environmental impact assessment – and the minister can't issue any order before that assessment is done, it says. In its application, DAA argues that a full environmental impact assessment by ACP isn't actually needed, because the issue in play is changing the passenger cap rather than any physical construction. Still, though, DAA has been working on an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), Natura Impact Statement, and Water Framework Directive Assessment**,** and they are well advanced, it says. They compare for the most part, it says, a "do nothing" scenario with a passenger cap of 32 mppa still in place with the impact of a "do something" scenario with the 40 mppa cap in place, the application says. DAA hasn't addressed a query sent Thursday asking whether the "do nothing" baseline is based on the real situation, with the 32 mppa cap in place but being breached, or a scenario in which DAA is complying with the cap. While these assessments have to be finalised, there are already key findings, the DAA's application says. Based on the work so far, "no likely significant residual environmental effects have been identified", it says. "Across the remaining environmental topics, effects are either not significant or can be appropriately managed through existing operational measures, airport infrastructure, environmental-management procedures and statutory regulatory controls," it says. Despite DAA's caveated position, Sorcha Tunney, senior manager at the environmental NGO Opportunity Green, said that its view is that an EIA *is* required, under the EU directive. "This obligation applies regardless of the absence of new building or construction works. The Directive is explicit on this point," she said. She pointed to Annex II, paragraph 13(a), which captures "any change or extension of projects listed in Annex I or this Annex, already authorised, executed or in the process of being executed, which may have significant adverse effects on the environment". ## Getting there and back As part of this whole process, DAA has been working on a Traffic and Transport Assessment looking at how an increase to 40 mppa would affect the surrounding transport network – big roads such as the R132, M1 and M50, as well as the junctions around the airport. It indicates so far that "the proposed order will not give rise to likely significant operational effects on the external strategic or local road networks, or on the internal road network". Effects are localised to the "airport surface access network" it says, and are "direct, long-term and reversible". "A moderate negative operational effect" is forecast at the evening peak hour for traffic exiting the airport at the Airport Roundabout, and a slightly negative effect for traffic entering the roundabout from the M1 link during the morning peak. Also, a moderate negative operational effect is also forecast at the Ground Transportation Centre, DAA says. That's where the buses and taxis do pick ups and drop-offs. Impacts can be "accommodated through the existing and committed transport network" and there's already monitoring of transport and key performance indicators (KPIs) to meet under its "Surface Access Monitoring Framework", it says**.** One of the KPIs that isn't currently being met is for staff travel, it says. So, they will aim for "mitigation measures" to target staff travel demand, which may include more remote working, staff parking restrictions during peak periods, variable tariffs for staff parking, and incentives to encourage a shift from private cars to public transport. ## Air, water and carbon emissions When it put out its May report on the bill to remove the passenger cap, then still a draft, TDs on the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Transport flagged slight unease about the independence of environmental assessments. "The Committee noted that officials confirmed data for environmental assessments under the Bill will be collected by the daa and provided through the Minister to An Coimisiún Pleanála. Members expressed concern regarding the absence of independent data collection given the daa's role as the subject of those assessments," said their final report. DAA's application gives a window into how the environmental assessments that it has commissioned are are going so far. Forair quality, DAA's assessment looks at the potential effects "from changes to emissions associated with airport operations", the application says. The proposed order "would result in no significant effects on air quality or odour", it says. "Against current National Air Quality Standards, impacts range from neutral to slight adverse and are not significant," it says. Against the new EU Air Quality Directive values, "moderate to substantial adverse impacts are predicted at a limited number to receptors close to the airport for annual mean NO2". But, taking into account the "limited spatial extent, precautionary modelling assumptions and projected improvements in emissions over time, the overall effect is concluded to be not significant", it says. Electrification projects, and reduced emissions from the airport's energy centres will reduce emissions, it says. For the water quality, the assessment so far indicates that the "proposed order is not likely to give rise to significant residual effects on the water environment". Effects on surface water and groundwater have been assessed as "localised, long-term and of negligible magnitude, with no deterioration in water body status predicted", it says. For biodiversity, increasing the cap "is not likely to give rise to significant effects on biodiversity at County or greater geographical scales", it says. Operational effects are predicted to be "localised, long-term and of negligible magnitude", it says. For climate, it looks at potential affects arising from greenhouse gas emissions associated with airport operations – and resilience of airport operations to future climate change. The assessment so far indicates that "the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the proposed order are compatible with the relevant emissions trajectories and remain consistent with applicable carbon budgets", and is consistent with national and international climate policy. It takes into account the carbon-reduction measures the airport has in place, and its carbon reduction strategy. And, it has regard to assumptions about aircraft fleet modernisation, and sustainable aviation fuel uptake. No additional mitigation, monitoring, or control measures are needed, it says. ## Noise Standing in front of a small house on the R121 in Shallon, on Monday, about 2.5km north-west of Dublin Airport's runways, Pat Farnham said he didn't really have a problem with plans for a vast solar farm next door. "The planes are much worse," said Farnham, who said he'd live in the area for 50 years. As if on cue, an airplane taking off from the airport roared over the golden farm field, over his house, and across the R121, climbing into the poofy white clouds above and disappearing. "They weren't supposed to come this way," Farnham said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Airplane-flying-over-Shallon-2-1.jpg) Photo by Sam Tranum. But with plans to lift the passenger cap, there are likely to be more and more flights passing over his home, he said, and more noise. "It's only going to get worse." In DAA's summary of its environment assessments so far, it also looks at aircraft noise and vibration. It models current operations, as well as future "do nothing" and "proposed order" (with the higher cap) scenarios, it says. The assessment to date "indicates that the proposed order is not likely to give rise to significant aircraft noise or vibration effects", taking into account Aircraft Noise Competent Authority's (ANCA's) Noise Abatement Objective, it says. Under "mitigation, monitoring and controls", it says "existing aircraft noise management measures include the North Runway Relevant Action, Noise Abatement Objective, Night Quota Scheme, fleet modernisation and a wider aircraft noise management regime". In its summary of the impacts from airport operations on population and human health, should the cap be raised, it says it looked at the effects from "employment, economic activity, tourism, community amenity and health pathways associated with environmental effects identified in other technical assessments". The assessment to date indicates that the order would give rise to "long-term beneficial effects in relation to employment, economic activity and tourism". While effects on residential amenity and human health "are predicted to be localised and of negligible magnitude, with no likely significant adverse effects identified". No extra mitigation, monitoring, or control measures are required, it says. ### Solar farm big enough to power 25,000 homes planned for fields in north county Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/solar-farm-big-enough-to-power-25-000-homes-planned-for-fields-in-north-county-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T09:33:15.000Z Shallon Solar Farm Limited, a [subsidiary](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568250-ultimate-parent-company-of-shallon-solar-farm/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of solar company Grianworks, has [applied](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/105412?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents) for planning permission to build an 85-hectare solar farm at Shallon in the Ward in north county Dublin. If it is built, the panels would produce enough renewable electricity to power about 25,000 homes in the region, according to a [planning document.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568728-planningandenvironmentalstatement-solar-farm/?ref=dublininquirer.com) As yet there aren't any commercial solar farms in County Dublin, says Fei Wang, an analyst with the Green Collective, which tracks renewable energy supply in Ireland. But there are some other planning applications pending, she said. There is a lot of solar farm activity in Co. Meath, Wang said. But “obviously, land is very precious in Dublin and with solar farms, you do need a certain amount of land”. Renewables in Ireland make up around 35 percent to 40 percent of electricity supply, Wang said, but most of that energy production is from wind turbines, often in the west and southwest of Ireland, where it is windiest. “But a lot of demand is in Dublin. So you need to get that energy into Dublin, which creates a lot of congestion issues,” she says. ## In Shallon On Wednesday, standing in front of a small house on the R121 in Shallon, Pat Farnham said he didn't have a problem with the plans for the solar farm. "A lot of people won't like it," Farnham said, "but I don't think it'll make that much of a difference to me." One [submission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565862-fw26a-0308e-r3-submission-sean-costello/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the planning application, from Séan Costello, says that the project site ends 30m away from his home. “The development would have a serious and unacceptable impact on my residential amenity, visual outlook, rural setting, and safety,” he said. He said it shouldn’t be allowed for a number of reasons, including because the area is in a greenbelt. The [Fingal County Council development plan](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/draft-fingal-county-development-plan-2023-2029/chapter/chapter-13-land-use-zoning?ref=dublininquirer.com) lists things that are allowed and are not allowed in the greenbelt. Solar panels are not mentioned in either category. Cork County Council [previously knocked back](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/corkcoco/application-details/987644?ref=dublininquirer.com) an application for a solar farm in a greenbelt, but An Coimisiún Pleanála overturned [that decision](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/317994?ref=dublininquirer.com) and allowed the solar farm to go ahead. Wang, the analyst with the Green Collective, said it is good to produce green energy close to where there is high electricity demand as the energy is less likely to be wasted. “It's good to get renewables closer to the demand, so that the energy doesn't get lost in a sense,” she says by phone on Thursday. Sometimes the grid has to refuse renewable energy because at peak production times it doesn’t have the capacity to accept all the energy that is being produced, says Wang. Producing the electricity closer to where it will be used helps to ease that problem, says Wang. This application includes battery storage too, she says. That has only been approved for use recently and is a smart addition, she says. “Honestly, solar plus storage is more economically sensible,” she says. ## Solar needed in Dublin Wang says the first commercial solar farms in Ireland were connected to the grid in 2022\. Since then, solar has taken off. During peak solar production, on a sunny day in summer, around 35 percent of electricity supply on the grid could come from solar farms at one point in time, she says, “which is quite impressive compared to other places, and we only started a few years ago to really get these solar farms online”. In July this year, around 8 percent of electricity used in Ireland throughout the month came from solar power, she says. Although, that drops off in winter, so overall throughout 2025 around 2.8 per cent of electricity on the island of Ireland came from solar farms, says Wang. Those figures don’t include the solar electricity that people produce themselves to supply their homes, farms and businesses. The location of the proposed solar farm is in the townlands of Shallon, Broghan and Bishopswood, which is part of a green belt, according to Fingal County Council [maps. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568663-material-alterations-sheet3/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Costello said in his observation to the planning application that the development “would industrialise a rural area, erode the open character of the greenbelt, and impose an intense utility-scale energy installation immediately beside long-established homes and farm holdings”. Farnham said he has lived in the area for 50 years and he might prefer a solar farm to the existing agricultural use. The house and its garden are surrounded by a hedgerow and trees that block the view of the vast farm field beyond that would be covered with solar panels. Farnham said he doesn't think the solar farm will be that visible behind this green wall. "And at least the field won't be getting ploughed up anymore and dust everywhere," he said In his observation, Costello also flagged concerns about potential glare from the panels. The company's own glint and glare assessment [says that it doesn't ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568739-glintandglareassessmentreport/?ref=dublininquirer.com)expect "any significant reflectance or hazard effects generated from glint and glare". But independent Councillor Joe Newman said by email that he thinks glare could be an issue. “There is a glint and glare from these arrays,” he says. Newman says he is against the building of solar farms in the green belt. “I think they are a blight on the landscape and are used by companies for greenwashing,” he says. “I think the gain from solar is minimal and in time will need to be replaced, which means more material for dumping or recycling.” Ireland reached 7.7GW of renewable generation capacity at the end of 2025 and 1.1GW of that came from grid-scale solar. But the roll-out needs to speed up even more, [said a ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568745-ccac-ar2026-2-electricity-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) May 2026 report from the Climate Change Advisory Council. Only 0.6 GW of new solar capacity and 0.2 GW of new wind capacity were added in 2025, "far less than the 2 GW that needs to be added each year until 2030 to hit Climate Action Plan targets", it says. ### Court judgment clears way for Dublin City Council to proceed with new parking-enforcement contract – for now URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/court-judgment-clears-way-for-dublin-city-council-to-proceed-with-new-parking-enforcement-contract-for-now/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T12:23:52.000Z The High Court has cleared the way for Dublin City Council to award a €51.2 million parking-enforcement contract to APCOA Parking Ireland. If that happens now, it would mean the council leaving its long-time clampers Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS). The council's contract with DSPS's parent company was due to expire this year, and it tendered for a company to take on the new parking-enforcement contract. The case arose after Q-Park – ultimateowner of DSPS, which has been the city's clamper since 2004 – challenged the outcome of this procurement process, in which APCOA [emerged as the winner](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-the-first-time-in-decades-dublin-city-council-looks-set-to-change-clampers/). Q-Park claims the process was unlawful because, among other things, there should have been greater transparency in the way the council evaluated the tenders. In a 30 July [judgement](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568117-2026-iehc-552/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Mr Justice Michael Twomey emphasised that the court was not deciding whether Q-Park's challenge to the procurement process would ultimately succeed. Instead, the hearing concerned whether the automatic suspension triggered under procurement law should remain in place until the “substantive judicial review is finalised”. It should not, he decided. The judgement found that the “balance of justice” favoured allowing the contract to proceed while a procurement challenge by the unsuccessful bidder and incumbent contractor, Q-Park Ireland, continues. Neither Dublin City Council nor APCOA responded to queries sent Wednesday asking whether they would now proceed to sign the contract and work together on parking enforcement in the city. But some Dublin city councillors are keen to put Q-Park in the rearview mirror. “We've had issues with Dublin Street Parking Services for quite a number of years,” says Councillor Keith Connolly, of Fianna Fáil. “Whether it be the scandal about the easing off time when they get [so many clamps done](https://www.dublininquirer.com/although-council-once-pushed-to-terminate-it-scheme-letting-clampers-knock-off-early-if-they-met-quotas-remained/),” he says, “or whether it be the fact that regional bases don't exist, i.e., [suburbs are less attended](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-clampers-to-expand-their-hunt-beyond-the-city-centre-into-the-suburbs/), or when you call in, it [takes a very long time](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-you-report-a-car-parked-illegally-in-the-city-its-unlikely-to-result-in-any-enforcement-action-records-show/) to call out.” Connolly says he hopes that the new contract, yet to be made public, will include improvements in those realms. ## Real-life effect of exceptionally powerful tools The judgement repeatedly emphasises that procurement disputes are not merely legal arguments but have immediate commercial consequences. Justice Twomey noted that under procurement law, simply issuing judicial review proceedings automatically prevents a public authority from signing a contract with the successful bidder, regardless of the eventual merits of the case. “If one is to bear in mind the commercial realities of these legal proceedings, this is one important issue,” Twomey said. Because Q-Park is the incumbent operator, the suspension had already required Dublin City Council to extend its existing contract until the end of October 2026. If the suspension remained in place while the litigation ran its course, the judge said the existing contract could be extended for as long as two years. "Judicial review of a public procurement process is therefore an exceptionally powerful tool," he said. This, he said, represented the practical consequence of the proceedings. "This is the real-life effect of the judicial review taken by Q Park." He estimated that an extension of the existing contract during the litigation "could be worth millions of euros" to Q-Park. However, he also made clear that “there is no criticism of Q Park for issuing the proceedings". As the courts “operate in the real world”, he could not ignore the commercial consequences when deciding whether justice required the suspension to continue, he said. ## Pound of flesh A central issue is APCOA's proposed vehicle pound on Botanic Road, which formed the basis of its successful tender. The council on 24 June [granted](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/174845?ref=dublininquirer.com) Botanic Business Centre Ltd planning permission to change the use of a warehouse there to a car storage facility. APCOA held an option to lease the site, but that option is due to expire on 30 September 2026, the judgement says. The company argued that it could not justify paying between €200,000 and €250,000 annually for premises it could not use while the litigation remained unresolved, particularly when procurement cases commonly take around 18 months to conclude. Twomey acknowledged this as “dead money” for APCOA. The court accepted that this issue extended beyond a simple delay in signing the contract. If APCOA lost access to the Botanic Road site, it might not be able to perform the contract on the basis of its winning tender. Twomey accepted the council and APCOA’s submission that “the continuation of the Suspension may render the tender process moot”. The judge also rejected Q-Park's argument that APCOA could simply substitute another vehicle pound. "It is not for a losing tenderer to say that the winning tenderer can simply get another pound," he wrote. Further, according to the council, if this all results in the need to hold a new tender competition, it would mean a “complete waste of public funds”. ## No compo An important aspect of the judgement concerned Q-Park's refusal to provide APCOA with an undertaking – a legally binding promise – for damages. While Q-Park stood to benefit commercially if the suspension remained in place, APCOA faced paying up to €250,000 a year merely to preserve access to the Botanic Road site, with no guarantee it would ultimately receive the contract. "In this Court's view, this failure is a factor which weighs in the balance of justice against the grant of the injunction,” Twomey said, in his written judgement. The judge also described the competing financial impacts on the two parties as fundamentally unfair. "For this Court, there is an injustice (to APCOA) arising from the two contrasting financial positions of Q Park and APCOA, arising from the continuation of the Suspension.” The judgement suggests this may become an important consideration in future procurement disputes. Drawing on English case law, Justice Twomey said that where a successful tenderer stands to suffer significant financial loss, the absence of an undertaking in damages from the unsuccessful challenger can properly influence the court's decision on whether to continue an automatic suspension. ## Legal challenge continues The ruling does not determine whether Dublin City Council conducted the procurement process lawfully. Q-Park's judicial review will proceed in due course, and the court made no findings on the merits of its allegations concerning the tender evaluation. Instead, Justice Twomey concluded that, at this interim stage, justice favoured allowing the procurement decision to take effect. Accordingly, the automatic suspension was lifted, allowing Dublin City Council to proceed with awarding the contract to APCOA while Q-Park's broader challenge to the procurement process continues. The case will be before the court again on 13 October, “to deal with any final orders and costs”. ## Changes coming? However, some city councillors hope that if APCOA takes over under a new contract, it will lead to a change not only of company, but of policy. They have been [pushing for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-push-for-changes-in-the-way-parking-enforcement-is-done-in-the-city/) for the council executives, who decide these things, to change the terms of the new parking-enforcement contract. Councillor Feljin Jose, of the Green Party, said he would like to see a greater focus on towing in the next contract. For example, he says, in Phibsborough there are a lot of laneways behind buildings that lead to residents' private car ports. Often people will park blocking the mouth of the laneway, thinking it’s okay to plonk themselves there as it’s in off the road – but subsequently blocking people from being able to leave from their car port. This means residents become weary of using the parking spaces behind their homes, in the lane, and park in the front, leading to more parking pressure on the main road. These are the parking issues that people go through every day, that can go unaddressed, Jose says. “There’s more to life than 10 minutes overstay on a parking space in the city centre, which seems to be the main, the main priority,” he says. Like Councillor Keith Connolly, of Fianna Fáil, Jose is also eager to see a commitment in the new contract to spreading parking enforcement across the city, and not just hyper-fixated on the low-hanging fruit of the inner-city. Connolly said he wants to see a broad shift away from clamping, and a greater emphasis on fixed penalty notices, and towing where needed. Indeed, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said that Dublin City Council is the [only local authority still using clamping](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-and-researchers-question-the-effectiveness-of-clamping-cars-as-fines-gain-in-popularity/) as a parking-enforcement method. This despite years of questions about clamping's effectiveness, and calls for an end to its use, and a focus instead on fines and towing. The council's press office has repeatedly declined to answer questions about what changes, if any, drivers and other people in the city are likely to see under the new contract. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### New play unfolds in a playground, decades after a Dublin housing estate riot URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-play-unfolds-in-a-playground-decades-after-a-dublin-housing-estate-riot/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T12:24:00.000Z At the height of the pandemic restrictions, director Veronica Coburn and writer/actor Louise Lewis met for a socially distanced outdoor coffee, on a park bench in the Iveagh Gardens. Lewis told Coburn about an image that she had stuck in her head. It was of a 10-year-old child standing on a hill in the middle of a Dublin housing estate in 1989, looking down into the green, as a riot is unfolding, Coburn recalls, as she sips another coffee – this time in the café of Blanchardstown’s Draíocht arts centre on Wednesday morning. “There's fire brigades, there's young kids, but there's no police cars, because the police won't come, and then because it's getting out of hand, army tanks arrive to control the situation,” Coburn says. Lewis asked Coburn to help her develop that central image into the new play, *Thérèse –* running in Project Arts Centre from 5–12 September as part of the [Dublin Fringe Festival](https://www.fringefest.com/festival/whats-on/therese?ref=dublininquirer.com). From it grew a story about grief, classism, womanhood, generational trauma, and the weight of a life watching injustices stack up on top of each other. ## Rehearsal Inside the rehearsal room in the Draíocht, a large wooden swing sits in one corner. A wooden ladder rests against the wall in the opposite corner, and in the middle, a sort of ramp/seesaw-hybrid. Because this story unfolds, in its various layers, in a playground – decades after that housing estate riot. But before they get to work, the cast and crew all start the day with a game of keepy-uppys. The aim is to get to 50 passes of the football without a drop, but heading into their third week of rehearsals, they haven’t hit the target yet, they say, all laughing. “The script began as a single text for one person and it’s grown to include this feminine chorus,” says writer Lewis, who also plays the lead, Thérèse. Thérèse, the child on the hill now grown-up, is coping with the unexpected, untimely death of her young brother, and there to help her are three other women, each minding kids. The chorus is played by Aoibhe Beaumont-Walsh, Amy Conroy, and Orla Fitzgerald. Conroy’s character is in the playground looking after her grandson, Fitzgerald’s character is there with her own child, while Beaumont-Walsh, the youngest, is minding somebody else's kids. At times, the individual women are there in the present with Thérèse, chatting, reassuring, supporting. As Thérèse’s mind suddenly slips back into an uncomfortable memory, like that estate erupting years earlier, the chorus actors fade into the background, their murmuring voices phasing in and out, evoking that battle between past and present that our lead is in the throes of. At times the chorus voices, in the present, will also unite and speak in unison. They are representing the experiences of all women in those moments, says Coburn. Elsewhere, Thérèse points her questions, her frustrations, upwards at “the gods” – the play’s stand-in for the Irish state’s political leaders. “Because all of those injustices, like the societal injustices that we're all dealing with, are a result of the decisions that are made by the powers that be, and in our play, we call the powers that be the gods,” director Coburn says. As the loose, thin veil between past and present begins to slip, Thérèse is back again on that hill watching the horror. She calls to her mother. “It’s the army mam!” she says. “They’ve never sent the army before.” “It’s tough to raise kids in estates that have been forgotten,” Conroy’s voice says, peeling out of the murmuring chorus. “The upper echelons pretend we're not here on this island, this capital,” Thérèse responds, seething. “No politician has to pass through here to get to their house, so we're not here. We don't really exist,” she says. Politicians only act when everything “explodes”, and they need to stop it spreading out of the working-class areas, like a “disease”, says Thérèse. People see war as just something on the telly, happening in other countries, she says. “They don't believe what we have is also a war.” “Children going to bed hungry, abandoned, practically rearing themselves. Abuse, drugs, fear of going anywhere after dark,” she says. “Anti-social behaviour is a war, isn’t it?” Conroy’s voice softly cuts through. “Yeah, it’s just a different type,” responds Thérèse. ## Collaboration “We are figuring out costumes,” said actorOrla Fitzgerald, well-known for her starring role in Ken Loach’s *The Wind That Shakes the Barley,* before the rehearsals got underway. “Am I wearing a dress? Am I wearing trousers? So I brought in a dress from home today,” she says. While the three chorus players aren’t named in the original text by Lewis, each actor is given the space to develop their own character and backstory. Fitzgerald has decided her character will be named Maeve. The three women’s job, she explains, is to help Thérèse, who is “stuck in grief”, to move on. “We've all sorts of reasons where we all kind of connect with Thérèse in our own way,” she says. “We've all suffered grief.” Fitzgerald’s Maeve is the more middle-class of the bunch. The others scoff when she mentions her favourite brand of cheese and onion, as if she should consider herself above eating regular old crisps. But Maeve, whose father died young, is more “middle class poor”, Fitzgerald says. “It was scrimping and scraping.” “There's assumptions made about me that I am very middle class from a middle class upbringing,” she says. “Whereas I'm like, ‘no, you don't know my full story.’” This all-get-stuck-in approach is the “heartbeat” of the production, says Lewis, the writer who also stars in the eponymous role. “It’s been very collaborative in how the chorus has grown through the different development stages,” she says. When she had the idea for a new play, she knew Coburn was the person to bring it to – to start teasing things out. “Her response to the image of the child looking at these tanks was full of wonder and positivity and it’s continued that way through this whole journey to production,” she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/20260819_105253.jpg) Photo by Eoin Glackin. ## Like keepy-uppys … on a surfboard The play runs for 90 minutes, with no interval and no separate acts, like a feature length film shot in one take. It flows on seamlessly, while also jumping back and forth across decades, between memory and the present moment. It takes a lot of concentration to keep the energy up, because the piece is so alive, says actor Amy Conroy. “You can't just say words; you have to feel your way through it.” Ultimately the goal is to get to the point where the cast bounce off each other, guiding and harnessing each other’s energy, like that warm-up game of keep-uppys, she says. “Or it’s like a surf board, we all just have to get on the board at the same time and then the wave of it will take us wherever it takes us,” she says. While they are now in full rehearsals, the cast and crew have been working behind the scenes in the development phase, on and off, for several years now, says Aoibhe Beaumont-Walsh. The youngest of the troupe, Beaumont-Walsh graduated from a drama course in TU Dublin in 2024, and was offered the gig by Coburn, who had spotted her in college. She has been involved in the show’s development for the last two years, as Coburn and Lewis were still figuring out exactly what they wanted it to look like. Is she nervous about the 90-minute non-stop performance? “I don't find it that nerve-wracking because I always have felt like the piece breathes,” she says. “It really moves, like it carries itself almost.” “Also, we've got each other's backs,” she says. From that pandemic coffee chat in the Iveagh Gardens to a full stage production, Lewis says it’s incredible what has grown from that first seed of an image – that young child on a hill in a working-class Dublin estate watching horror unfold. Of the wider cast and crew, says Lewis: “The talent, experience and kindness they bring to the room has allowed us to push the boundaries of the performance of this script way beyond where I thought it could go. “To be performing alongside them in *Thérèse* is definitely the cherry on top of this incredible journey.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### As Tusla struggles with shortage of places for kids, a mostly-empty home had to stop taking children because of staffing problems URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-tusla-struggles-with-shortage-of-places-for-kids-a-mostly-empty-home-had-to-stop-taking-children-because-of-staffing-problems/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T12:24:07.000Z As a private company contracted by Tusla struggled to provide sufficient and stable staffing in a children's home, a kid who'd lived there for two years left and refused to return. This worsened the problem, because the company was then providing outreach to this young person at another location every second day. The remaining child still living at the home then complained about "the level of different staff members being in the centre". A Tusla inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28566340-inspection-report-child-refuses-to-remain-living-in-childrens-home-due-to-failure-of-consistent-staffing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on that children's home, with a capacity for four kids aged 13 to 17,found it had issues with high staff turnover, including at managerial level, and it ran the home using a lot of agency staff and borrowing staff from one of its other homes. After the lone remainingyoung person in the home raised their concern about staffing, Daffodil managers said they would ensure that at least one staff member that the child knew was on shift each day – but didn't achieve that, the report says. “The inspectors found that with the change in management over the past few months combined with the staffing deficits and increase in agency staffing across the centre that there was not sufficient experience or stability among the team to provide safe and effective care,” says the report, based on an inspection in March. High staff turnover led to other issues in the home too, the report shows. There were problems with the reporting of some serious incidents, and with the way the home ended a child’s placement. Some staff didn’t have some necessary training, including for behaviour management and recognising the signs of child sexual exploitation. The recently appointed manager intended to leave again, saying they only took the job for six months. The person assigned to provide on-call support, that is to give advice to frontline staff, often in a crisis, wasn’t suitably experienced, according to inspectors. “This is a shocking litany of failures,” says Terry Dignan, a social care manager and spokesperson for charities that run children’s homes. “Many children come from chaotic home environments and the children’s home is supposed to be a nurturing, warm, safe and secure space,” he says. “This is not what care is, this is just containment.” Tusla didn’t formally attach any conditions to the registration of the home, but Daffodil agreed not to take in any more children until the staffing issues were resolved and a further compliance review meeting takes place on 1 September, according to the inspection report. Even as this home remained mostly empty, Tusla has been struggling for years with a shortage of placements for children who need them – resorting to [placing them in unregistered homes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tusla-says-its-an-offence-to-run-an-unregistered-childrens-home-but-it-places-children-in-them-anyways/). A spokesperson for Tusla said on Thursday that they were working on responses to queries about this situation. Daffodil did not respond in time for publication to queries sent on Wednesday. ## Building relationships After the remaining child in the home raised their concern about unfamiliar staff working in the centre, “The centre had implemented a risk assessment in relation to the use of agency staff,” says the inspection report. The assessment recommended that one staff member known to the young person should be rostered on shift each day, but that didn’t happen every day “as there was not sufficient core team members available", it says. On the day of the inspection, inspectors witnessed the interaction between staff and the last remaining child living in the centre. The staff member on duty didn’t attempt to engage with the young person, including while the inspectors were present, the report said. “The inspectors observed the interactions of one staff member with this young person, and it was clear that the young person did not engage with the staff member, nor did the staff member make any efforts to engage with them and remained using their personal phone while the inspectors were present for over a thirty-minute period,” says the [report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28566340-inspection-report-child-refuses-to-remain-living-in-childrens-home-due-to-failure-of-consistent-staffing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) National standards [stress how](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26220433/national-standards-for-childrens-residential-centres.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) children’s homes are supposed to be run by staff who get to know children well and build relationships with them. Relationship-building is crucial to trauma-informed care as well as supporting children with attachment issues. “Effective residential centres need processes to ensure that there are sufficient staff available at the right time, with the right skills, diversity and flexibility to deliver child-centred, safe and effective care and support to each child living in the centre,” say the standards. The Daffodil homes are based on a model of care called systemic therapeutic engagement model (STEM), which provides a framework for positive interventions, says the inspection report. “STEM draws on a number of complementary philosophies and approaches including circle of courage, response ability pathways, therapeutic crisis intervention and daily life events,” according to a different [inspection report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28566343-inspection-report-centre-id-039-2022-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a Daffodil centre. The circle of courage is a model of youth development which has four main parts, the first of which is belonging. “Belonging: The universal longing for human bonds is nurtured by relationships of trust,” says an [article](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12664157/?ref=dublininquirer.com) published in the [journal*BMC Primary Care*](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12875-025-03066-8?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Effective residential care is relational and based on building trusting relationships with young people,” says Dignan. “Consistency and continuity is the essence of this, which means minimising staff changes or turnover.” The home failed to meet the standard for staffing, according to the inspection report. The standard says: “The registered provider plans, organises and manages the workforce to deliver child-centred, safe and effective care and support.” Tara Ćirić, a lecturer in Maynooth University says relationship-building is essential to any therapeutic model. "In my opinion, many of these models function in name only if the service cannot guarantee adequate and stable staff," she says. The Department of Children is working on developing a National Policy Framework for Alternative Care, she says, which she hopes will include a consistent therapeutic model of care across residential care services in Ireland. "It would be in the best interest of young people for a model of be chosen and fulfilled to the best of the services ability, including staffing, so that young people experience consistent stable support no matter what placement they are in," she says. ## A ripple of problems The Tusla inspection report of this particular Daffodil home flagged issues with high levels of managerial staff turnover, and managerial duties being assigned to workers who didn’t have the necessary qualifications and experience. Inspectors found that the person designated for on-call duty, in other words for frontline staff to call in an emergency or if they didn’t know what to do, covering five children’s homes,didn’t have the expertise for the role. “The decision to give this staff member on-call responsibilities lacked good oversight and governance,” says the report. As well as that, a recently appointed manager planned to leave the role after six months. They had only agreed to a six-month contract, they report says. A recently appointed regional manager was responsible for internally auditing records. “The inspectors found that records were of poor quality, were not up to date, sequential and were disorganised,” says the report. This was partly because staff couldn’t print anything out, an issue that had been ongoing for four months, and which the regional manager had been aware of, but wasn't fixed, says the report. The regional manager was also new in the job said that they were working through the gaps in documentation. Meanwhile, inspectors found that some significant events hadn't been reported, or hadn't been properly followed up on. A lot of child protection concerns were also not dealt with in a timely way. "The inspectors found that while some follow up had been completed to address this issue by centre and external management it was inconsistent and sporadic." “Overall, the inspectors found that due to the inconsistent staffing team incidents had not been effectively identified, managed or reported in line with the organisation's policies and procedures,” says the inspection report. However it also says that the standard for reporting of significant events was met. Tusla did not respond to queries about this in time for publication. ## The cost of caring Children’s residential care is expensive. That high cost is supposed to come with a high level of in-house care services. In [tender documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565878-1-rft-provision-of-childrens-residential-services-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) this year, Tusla set a “fair price” providers must commit to for each child placement. For-profit companies are allowed to charge 10 percent more than charities, resulting in rates ranging from €6,600 per week to a maximum of €19,500 per week for “complex high-dependency” children who must be placed in single-occupancy units with tailored support. Some, although not all, private children’s homes providers pay managers significantly less than they would earn doing the same job in the public sector or for a charity. A Tusla residential care social care manager, at the top of their scale is paid €22,000 a year more than the same managerial role in Daffodil. The social care manager in Tusla is on a salary scale of €69,000 to €79,000 a year, according to an [online job advert](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565867-screenshot-2026-08-19-112413/?ref=dublininquirer.com), while the same role in Daffodil is [€52,000 to €57,000.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568101-screenshot-2026-08-19-112257/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A deputy social care manager in Daffodil starts at €45,000 a year, according to [online job adverts](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565872-screenshot-2026-08-19-112025/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The same job role for Tusla started at €59,000 a year in 2024, according to a[ job specification. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568106-crs-deputy-social-care-manager-confined-2024-updated/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A [survey by Social Care Ireland in 2021](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28568555-recruitment-and-retention-report-sci/?ref=dublininquirer.com) asked social care workers what were the main challenges to recruitment and retention in the sector. They said low pay (31 percent), respect and recognition (16 percent), hours (14 percent), support (12 percent), stress, burnout and bullying (10 percent). The solutions to high staff turnover says Ćirić, the lecturer at Maynooth, are adequate pay, competitive compensation and job stability, safe and respectful working conditions, realistic workloads, and involving staff in decision making. The sector also needs to provide high quality supervision and support for workers, she said, especially for those in their first five years as social care workers. ### Things To Do: Celebrate the horse, hold frame, reminisce about a chipper URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-celebrate-the-horse-hold-frame-reminisce-about-a-chipper/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:07:29.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Earth, Solace and Blight** This evening, painter John Noel Smith will be launching Earth, Solace and Blight, his new exhibition in the LAB Gallery on Foley Street. Smith, the non-figurative contemporary artist and member of Aosdána, continues his exploration of “personal memory, cultural history and the formal language of abstraction” in Earth, Solace and Blight, which is described as a collection of works that “speak of the persistence of conflict and global challenges”. Curated by Margarita Cappock, the exhibition will be launched by Róisín Kennedy, associate professor and head of the School of Art History and Cultural Policy at UCD. It opens at 6pm this evening, and will run until 19 September. On 10 September, Smith will be in the gallery to discuss the exhibition with art critic Aidan Dunne at 1pm. For more information, visit the LAB Gallery website [here.](https://visualartists.ie/events/earth-solace-blight-john-noel-smith-at-the-lab-gallery?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Shakalak** One of the summer’s standout singles was an ode to Dublin’s chip shops which came courtesy of five-piece psychedelic hip-hop group Shakalak. Simply titled "Chipper", the single was musically reminiscent of the acid house-influenced indie of Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, while lyrically it brings to life the contrasting innocence of kids skipping out of school during lunch to grab a bag of chips and the indulgence of late-night clientele drunkenly scuffling over a bottle of ketchup. The track comes from the group’s forthcoming album *Kulture Bikki*, described by the artists as a “global, local, lyrical, musical, rhythmic trip”. On Friday night, the band will be launching the record in the Grand Social. The gig starts at 8pm, and tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/shakalak-kulture-bikki-album-launch-tickets-1990231538106?ref=dublininquirer.com). You can also stream and pick up copies of the LP over on the group’s Bandcamp [here](https://shakalak.bandcamp.com/album/kulture-bikki?ref=dublininquirer.com). **A Celebration of the Horse in Dublin and the Evidence Left Behind** On Saturday morning, historian Cathy Scuffil will be giving a talk on inner-city horses at the Central Library. A Celebration of the Horse in Dublin and the Evidence Left Behind is Scuffil’s exploration of the social history behind the city’s horses and their owners. Looking at the care and welfare of these animals, as well as their role in various trades and industries, the talk seeks to highlight how our equine friends helped to shape Dublin today. Scuffil’s talk starts at 11.30am. Admission is free, but places are limited, and can be reserved [here](https://www.dublincity.ie/events/celebration-horse-dublin-and-evidence-left-behind?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Holding Frame** Out in Howth, artist Tallon McGinn will be unveiling his new solo exhibition on Saturday in the College Lane Gallery. Anyone who attended the most recent Art Riddler group exhibition in late May might be familiar with the work of McGinn, also known mononymously as Tallon. His portrait of a young boxer, "All the Prayer Beads in the World" was among the standout entries in this year’s competition. Echoing the beautiful brutality of the artwork that adorned the covers of various Smiths singles and albums and resembling a more urban grounded version of Francis Bacon, McGinn’s painting was a compelling juxtaposition of intimacy and aggression. Now, this weekend, the Louth artist will be launching Holding Frame, his first solo exhibition in Dublin since his BFA graduate showcase at the National College of Art and Design in 2022. Holding Frame is the end-product of a year-long residency at College Lane Studios, and is described by the artist as “part of an ongoing exploration of edges, ends and our limitations”, in which he investigates “surface and depth”, “agency and impotence”, and “the materials themselves and the space they occupy”. The exhibition opens at 4pm on Saturday, and will run until late September. For more information, follow College Lane Gallery on Instagram [here ](https://www.instagram.com/college%5Flane%5Fgallery/?ref=dublininquirer.com)for updates. ***Amanda*** On Wednesday evening, the Irish Film Institution will be hosting a special screening of the documentary *Amanda* as part of its ongoing Irish Focus series. Directed by José Miguel Jiménez, the 2025 film takes as its subject the artist Amanda Cullen who has been painting in isolation for years, using art as both an expression and refuge. Cullen had been institutionalised in her teens with her body of work intended to reclaim that story and evoke the chaos of her experience growing up. Jiménez followed Cullen as she prepared for Alchemist Dreaming, her first retrospective which opened in the Complex during 2024, and focused on her work over a 10-year period. As the day of the opening draws closer, her story is featured in national newspapers, and she navigates the vulnerability of sharing both her art and truth. *Amanda* will be showing at 6:30pm on Wednesday evening, and will be followed by a Q&A with Jiménez and Cullen. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/irish-focus-amanda-qa/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Brigid Mae Power** Back in July, Hen’s Teeth brought back their live music and conversation series 6 Tracks, in which a different musician sits down to talk through – as the event name strongly implies – six tracks of theirs. Hosted by DJs Sally Cinnamon and Laura Twagirayezu, otherwise known as Big Cheeks, the first installation in this latest edition featured songwriter Sorcha Richardson. Next up on Thursday, 27 August, is Brigid Mae Power whose most recent record, 2025’s *Song For You* is a minimalist, atmospheric covers album that is dedicated to her father, and features reinterpretations of artists including Neil Young, Roy Orbison, Cass McCombs and the band Television. 6 Tracks will be held monthly in Hen’s Teeth until November with Efé and Saoirse Miller among the guests on the bill between now and then. For more information and to secure tickets for the Brigid Mae Power session, visit the 6 Tracks event page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/6-tracks-with-brigid-mae-power-tickets-1992779024707?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&%5Fgl=1%2Afutg53%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AOTIwODMzNzAyLjE3ODI4OTkzMTA.%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3ODI4OTkzMTAkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODI4OTkzMTAkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Oliver Bond 90th Anniversary** On Sunday, 23 August,the residents of Oliver Bond will be celebrating the flats’ 90th anniversary. Beginning at 12pm, the day will include afternoon tea at 3 Usher Street, activities for the younger community and live music at Oliver Bond. Admission is free, and the event will run until 4pm. **Dublin Maker 2026** This weekend, Dublin Maker, Ireland’s annual celebration of the maker movement returns to Leopardstown Racecourse. On Saturday, 22 and Sunday 23 August, makers, inventors, artists and technology enthusiasts from all walks of life will convene at the festival to showcase their projects. Over the course of the weekend, there will be workshops, over 90 exhibitors, 75 maker stands, 15 outdoor exhibits, food vendors and a repair café, giving broken and much-loved items a second life. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Dublin Maker website [here](https://dublinmaker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### Council to look at plugging community facilities in Ringsend into district heating system early in roll-out URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-look-at-plugging-community-facilities-in-ringsend-into-district-heating-system-early-in-roll-out/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:07:38.000Z Community facilities in Ringsend and Irishtown could be connected into the Dublin District Heating Project during its first phase of works, council officials have said. They'll look at it, at least. The plan for the flagship district heating system, long in the works, is for it to take heat from the Poolbeg rubbish incinerator and use that to heat water, which would be piped into buildings’ radiators around the north and south Docklands. It's a way of reducing the amount of fossil fuels like gas and oil burned to heat buildings in the city, to help reduce carbon emissions, and help blunt ongoing climate change. In earlier discussions, officials had said that under phase one of the project, they [envisioned](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-district-heating-scheme-to-connect-to-shiny-north-docklands-first-ringsend-much-later/) heating residential and commercial buildings in the Docklands area, including the Irish Glass Bottle site, the Central Bank’s North Wall Quay campus and the Convention Centre. Ringsend locals, [in October](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-district-heating-scheme-to-connect-to-shiny-north-docklands-first-ringsend-much-later/), voiced their dismay that their community — so close to the plant — was being bypassed. “We get the waste and somebody gets the energy,” said Joe Donnelly, of the Fair Play Café, a community hub that was also serving as the base for the Ringsend Irishtown Sustainability Energy Community. More recently though, the council's chief executive said that the team behind the project are “very happy” to consider an early pilot connection to existing community facilities around Ringsend and Irishtown, according to [a report to the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28563438-minutes-of-the-south-east-area-committee-meeting-held-on-080626/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p7) South East Area Committee. Connecting up large anchor tenants like the big public-sector offices in the Docklands is necessary to ensure that the system is economically viable, said Patrick McKee, a Fianna Fáil local area representative for the south-east inner-city, on Tuesday morning. “But it’s even more for the council to ensure that the local community is not forgotten here.” [If district heating is the future for Dublin, how much will it cost customers?The shift to a lower-carbon heating system would reduce big-picture costs, like, global costs, societal costs. But how would it affect customers’ bills?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-a3d68ce3-fa09-47fc-b46e-f55902a33fbf.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Innovation-Square-apartments-6d29bb2f-fc83-4102-b92a-38702af6949f.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-district-heating-is-the-future-for-dublin-how-much-will-it-cost-customers/) Facilities that are used on a daily basis like the Ringsend-Irishtown Community Centre are essential to the project, he said. “While the initial benefits can be seen with large anchor tenants, if we are going to successfully deal with our climate targets, we are going to have to get local communities on board here.” A feasibility assessment of the possible pilot will be carried out by the council’s project team at the detailed design stage of phase one of the project, the report from the chief executive said. ## **Chipping along** At the 8 June meeting of the council's South East Area Committee meeting, Karen Kennedy, a council senior engineer and project manager gave local councillors notice of the council’s intention to commence the [Part 8 planning](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s53288/DDHP%20SEA%20Committee%20Part%208%20Notice.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) process for the first phase of works – meaning the council would apply to itself for permission. This phase of the project was proposed to be completed in two separate phases, the notice said. Phase 0 would involve the installation of 8.5km of district heating pipes and the establishment of a heat utility to operate and maintain the network, [it said](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s53288/DDHP%20SEA%20Committee%20Part%208%20Notice.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then, Phase 1 would include the construction of an energy centre and thermal storage on a site to the south of the Poolbeg incinerator, [Kennedy told the meeting,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/due-to-delays-councils-district-heating-project-wasnt-ready-to-warm-irish-glass-bottle-apartments-as-planned/) noting that it would be subject to a separate planning application. The council’s plan was to commence the Part 8 proceedings in June, she said, with members of the public invited to make observations until August – after which the project team would return to the full council in September with a recommendation. But, that consultation hasn’t been initiated yet, McKee, the Fianna Fáil local area representative said on Tuesday. Due to delays in getting the district heating project built, it has [missed hooking into](https://www.dublininquirer.com/due-to-delays-councils-district-heating-project-wasnt-ready-to-warm-irish-glass-bottle-apartments-as-planned/) a couple of phases of the massive Irish Glass Bottle apartment complex as they've been built. So, instead, those are being warmed with electric heat pumps – at least for now. At that June area committee meeting though, McKee had inquired about a possible early pilot connection for existing Ringsend and Irishtown facilities to the council’s chief executive via his party colleague Councillor Rory Hogan, Hogan said on Tuesday afternoon. It would be great if the Ringsend community could be the first to benefit from this scheme, Hogan said. “And what we’re trying to do is co-ordinate with community centres, schools, all sorts of entities to see how they can build connections to it when the district heating network comes near their premises.” While McKee hasn’t yet engaged with local community groups on linking them into the network, he wants to bring them into the fold ahead of the consultation process, he said. “And then, subject to the feasibility, hopefully we can get the pilot scheme up and running, which will show some community benefit during the initial phase," he said. "That’s very important.” [Dublin District Heating scheme to connect to shiny North Docklands first, Ringsend much laterIt’ll use waste heat from the Poolbeg incinerator, instead of fossil fuels, to warm buildings.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-0d6997c2-8364-49cb-9e79-0cff611b38be.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Shelbourne-Plaza-apartments-district-heating-pipeline-source-Michael-Lanigan-3-efcfa584-b310-4850-8655-dfba684d2058.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-district-heating-scheme-to-connect-to-shiny-north-docklands-first-ringsend-much-later/) ### Above Merrion Square, two artists are hoarding the Revenue Commissioners' archive URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/above-merrion-square-two-artists-are-hoarding-the-revenue-commissioners-archive/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:07:47.000Z The first-floor reception room in the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI) on Merrion Square was filled with pale pink plinths. Some of the plinths were shaped like ramps. Others were stacked like steps. Each hosted a few objects. There were piles of old pound coins on newspapers, patinated copper trinkets in the shape of sting rays and angler fish, and copies of magazines for metal detectorists. Bundles of newspapers — *The Sun,* *The Racing Post* — were pushed up against the walls. Around the room, there were bookshelves holding the archives of journals including *The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography* and *The Montgomeryshire Collections*, an annual journal produced by a Welsh historical society. Also, copies of *Survive*, a magazine devoted to emergency preparedness, and the Revenue Commissioners' print publication known as *RevInniu.* “They don’t make hard copies anymore,” said artist Cóilín O’Connell, referring to*RevInniu*. It was hard to tell where the RSAI’s collection ended and Only Handle It Once, the new exhibition devoted to the concept of hoarding by artists Cillian Finnerty and O'Connell began. Behind one of the bookshelves, somebody had left a sunburst comb. O’Connell leaned down to inspect it. It wasn’t installed by them, he said. “That’s just a comb.” ## **Hoards, caches, mirages** Only Handle It Once is the latest installation in Finnerty and O’Connell’s ongoing project known as Permanent Mirage. The project, which began with a show in Amsterdam during 2024, scrutinises the dual meanings of the terms “hoard” and “cache”, Finnerty said on Wednesday afternoon. They are flexible, subjective terms, Finnerty says. “It’s the degree of organisation that defines hoarding. Like, like if somebody has one thousand stamps, that’s a collection.” The word “hoard” can refer to an invaluable trove in some cases, he says. “Like the archaeological hoard.” Value gets sucked out of the objects that a hoarder gathers in their home, he says. “Things lose value there. But in wealth hoarding, things appreciate in value.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Only-Handle-It-Once-installation-Moschino-shoes-and-Ireland-s-Own-source-Michael-Lanigan-2-1.JPG) The second installation in the project, [Finite Space and Limitless Possibilities](https://www.coilinoconnell.net/finite%5Fspace%5Flimitless%5Fpossibilities.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) was a digital exhibition composed of PDF files that included essays on clutter, and collages of old comic strips and photo archives from the Criminal Assets Bureau’s Facebook page. This latest installation, their third in the series, shifts direction, Finnerty says. “It’s morphed slightly more towards questions of value, especially in terms of sources of value that are hoarded away. Like archives, for instance.” A lot of their work in Only Handle It Once is focused on the Revenue Museum in Dublin Castle, O’Connell. “An incredible museum. They lent us a lot of objects from there.” ## **Mysterious and important** O’Connell and Finnerty stand over a small plastic box of Revenue-branded floppy discs. “They have so many forms of data in there that can no longer be read,” Finnerty says. As part of the exhibition, the duo published a book which shares its name. It features images from within the Revenue Museum’s store room, of files blackened by toner ink and oversized versions of the floppy disc known as diskettes. They can only be read by a tiny number of computers now, Finnerty says. “There’s probably only a handful of computers in the country that could like work out what’s on them.” It’s a fascinating archive to be in, O’Connell says. “Because it’s kind of chaos but it’s also the history of the state.” They stroll through the reception room, and approach a hexagonal glass and metal box next to a few copies of *RevInniu*. Inside was a horizontal golden bar with what resembled a dark metal arrowhead at its top. The two artists took a while in the Revenue archive to work out what, exactly, that was for, Finnerty says. “We worked out that it’s like a finely tuned weighing scale for when a tax is charged on particular materials.” This enigmatic and arcane weighing scales was used to detect whether a material is forged, he says. “It looks like an atmospheric reader. But it actually looks at what is real and what’s fake. What’s valuable and most valuable.” They like that the purpose of certain objects in the exhibition were forgotten over the years, he says. “There is this thing of knowing that this was important to the narrative of the state, but nobody knows what it is, or where it came from.” ### Frustrated with Dublin's glitchy app for public transport, a guy opts to build his own URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/frustrated-with-dublins-glitchy-app-for-public-transport-a-guy-opts-to-build-his-own/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:07:56.000Z Oluwadamilola Adebayo would often notice when bus passengers opened the TFI Live app on their phones, he said, recently. His own experience of the app hadn't been great, he said. “It’s just so slow, so buggy.” And, travelling around Europe and using other countries’ public transport networks last year, Adebayo – an engineering graduate – began to tinker with the idea of putting together an alternative to TFI Live, he said. As a public-transport regular, he really cares about making others' commute experience just a little bit easier, he said. When this year rolled around, said Adebayo, his resolve for doing his bit grew stronger, he said, sitting at a city centre café. By April, Adebayo had launched GoÉire [for iPhone users](https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/goeire/id6760436176?ref=dublininquirer.com). A couple of weeks ago, he rolled out a [version for Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goeire.app&hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). It’s not the first time someone has offered an alternative to TFI Live. There's also [Transit](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thetransitapp.droid&hl=en%5FIE&ref=dublininquirer.com), the commercial app which covers cities around the world. Meanwhile, on the Google Play store, TFI Live has a meagre 2.3 stars. A reviewer in July complained about “invalid request” errors, saying also that “in general the app is clunky, does not work well and feels like it was designed by a committee that hadn’t a clue”. Feljin Jose, a Green Party councillor, said that back when the TFI Live app first launched in 2023, he made a presentation to the National Transport Authority (NTA) – at the time, on behalf of Dublin Commuter Coalition – pitching ideas on how to upgrade it. His slides flagged several issues, from design inconsistencies to faults with the map’s data. But a spokesperson for the NTA said last week that the TFI Live app has not been “functionally updated” since it first went live in April 2023\. The NTA did spend “considerable time” talking to its developer, [Naviquate ](https://naviquate.com/about-us/?ref=dublininquirer.com)– formerly Trapeze group, whose parent company is the [Modaxo ](https://modaxo.com/index.html?ref=dublininquirer.com)– “to initiate a number of functional and user interface improvements”, they said. But its efforts have failed because of “vendor resource constraints and proposals that lacked the necessary detail to give us confidence of success”, the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Naviquate has not yet responded to queries sent on Thursday, including one asking about challenges it faced on deploying functional updates to the app. But the NTA spokesperson said it is now chewing over its options. ## **Just getting started** Adebayo’s GoÉire uses the same open-source data first published by public-transport operators, and then republished by the NTA. It's the same live feed that scrolls across bus-stop screens, said the NTA’s spokesperson. But he focused on making his app work faster and minimizing glitches, Adebayo said. GoÉire is minimalist. Users open straight onto a map, marked with their location and all of the public transport points around them. Users can toggle public transport modes on and off. That it goes straight to the map, with what she needs in easy reach, is why Ana Iris Ramgrab likes it, she says. She has been using GoÉire for a few days, she says, having discovered it through an invitation to test the app posted on Bluesky. “With TFI Live I usually have to go between several screens to see how to get somewhere, and if it is in an area I'm not familiar with, it gets even harder,” she said. The app doesn’t yet have a journey planner, a way to input a destination and see the best routes. But that's in the works, said Adebayo. “It’s still in its early phases, it’s not a mature app yet,” he said. But even at this early stage, around 1,000 people use it each day, Adebayo said. He has had positive reviews on the app stores, and good feedback on Linkedin including from the NTA which wished him luck, he said ## **Let me know you’re not coming** Beyond glitches and ease of use, there is another big complaint that comes up about TFI Live: that it shows buses on the way, getting nearer, about to arrive – and then, they disappear. Adebayo, whose app also uses the same data as TFI Live, said that’s a challenge he faces too at the moment. “On that front we can’t really solve the issue of ghost buses.” [No-Show Bus TrackerWaited for a bus in Dublin and it never showed up? We want to know.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Shrugwide-2fefef29-1481-463f-9736-82b70d7c4a1a.png)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Shrugwide-ca0ab34d-2ff0-470d-9508-ef6b03b47188.png)](https://noshowbus.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) It's true, that's not related to the app, said a spokesperson for the NTA. A “ghost bus” happens, when bus operators don’t update the system known as "Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL)" to account for a cancellation, they said. “Meaning that TFI Live does not receive an update that the service has been cancelled and by design displays the expected timetable arrival time for the bus,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Dublin Bus said a volley of factors play a role in why the AVL for its buses aren’t sometimes up-to-date. “One reason can be human input. The others are technical reasons which are being tackled through two different projects,” they said. One is a next-generation AVL system, the spokesperson said. The other is “a project to retrofit the entire Dublin Bus fleet with new antennae which will give better accuracy in tracking buses while they are in service”, they said. ### An online, and unfunded, encyclopaedia of Dublin's architectural history celebrates 30 years URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-online-and-unfunded-encyclopaedia-of-dublins-architectural-history-celebrates-30-years/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:08:02.000Z Where Parliament Street meets Cork Hill in the shadow of Dublin Castle, is where City Hall now stands. But there's an alternative timeline in which there's no building there at all. In that version of Dublin, the [Wide Streets Commission](https://iar.ie/archive/wide-streets-commission/?ref=dublininquirer.com), set up by a 1757 act of Parliament to reduce congestion in the city centre, cleared the area. And they left it as a wide-open plaza called [Bedford Square](https://www.archiseek.com/bedford-square-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). This possibility is memorialised on the [website Archiseek](https://www.archiseek.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), an online encyclopedia whose founder has built up thousands of entries cataloguing the architectural history of the city – mostly buildings that were actually built, but also some that weren't. Among that second category, along with Bedford Square, Archiseek also highlights the [giant star-shaped citadel](https://www.archiseek.com/1685-proposal-for-citadel-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that military engineer Thomas Philips in 1685 proposed building near where Merrion Square now stands. As well as Charles Vignoles' 1837 plan for an [elevated railway](https://www.archiseek.com/1837-proposed-railway-colonnade-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) along the south quays, and Edwin Lutyens' plan for a [gallery on a bridge](https://www.archiseek.com/1912-liffey-bridge-gallery-proposal-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) over the Liffey to house Hugh Lane's art collection. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/Proposed-railway-colonnade.png) Proposed railway colonnade through Dublin, by architect Charles Vignoles. Courtesy of Archiseek. "My niche is the unbuilt and lost buildings," says Paul Clerkin, who founded the site, which celebrates its 30th birthday this year. "I think the site is unparalleled for that." ## Beginnings Way back in 1996, Clerkin was finishing a master's degree at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), with a thesis on Busáras, the city's central bus station. Late one evening, he was printing out three copies of the thesis and it kept jamming and it was taking forever and ever. He was bored so he started poking around on the internet, which at the time would have been too expensive for him to do at home, he recalled Monday, speaking by phone. "And there was nothing about anything I was interested in," Clerkin said. He was sceptical of whether this whole internet thing really had a future, but a couple nights later, in a pub – it might have been the Ginger Man, Clerkin says – a friend who was much better at predicting the future sold him on the idea that this new technology might be around for a while, and could be useful. So Clerkin decided to build a GeoCities website about his thesis. And then he just went on from there. "I decided I should build a website on Dublin. I thought I'd be done in three or four months," Clerkin said, laughing. "But it just never stopped, I just kept finding things to add to it." The website won an award for best non-commercial website in the Golden Spider Internet Awards in 1997, which was [mentioned](https://archive.irishtimes.com/titles/irishtimes/5088/publications/31213/pages/4?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the *Irish Times*, all of which encouraged him to continue. ## Expansion Clerkin eventually expanded the site to include entries not just in Dublin, but also in Monaghan, where he's from. "That got Cork people annoyed," Clerkin says, so he started adding entries for Cork. Then he and his wife in 2004 moved to Canada, where she's from, and settled in Winnipeg. "I didn't want to live in Lucan," Clerkin says. By which he means, living in the city itself was getting more and more expensive, and he didn't want to live in the suburbs or an outlying town, he says. Did he think of leaving the site behind when he relocated to Canada? No, says Clerkin, he'd been working on it for years by then. Also, "I hate to use the words defines me, but it kind of defines me," he said. "I never really gave much thought to quitting." These days Archiseek has over 12,000 entries detailing Irish built heritage, says Clerkin, and he's still working on it daily, editing old entries, adding new ones, solving mysteries, finding and documenting connections. "That's the way the thing works is I just keep going down rabbit holes," Clerkin said. There was also lots of backend work to do over the years, moving the site from "basic HTML into a relational database with live geolocation mapping", replacing old low-resolution photos with newer bigger ones, Clerkin said. Or dealing with crises, like when Yahoo named it site of the week, and it was overwhelmed with traffic. Or when his Google AdSense account was hacked and Google shut it down, he says. These days he doesn't have ads on the site, and doesn't want to bring back the automatically chosen/placed Google ones, he says. "I actually kind of like it a lot better without the ads, looks much cleaner," he says. But he'd be happy to have a single sponsor for the whole website he says, with ads that'd look well and have a consistent look across the site. ## The future Archiseek doesn't pay Clerkin's bills, and over the years has done a lot of things to make a living. Some web development work. Graphic design. Running a brewery. Working in retail. During that time, belying Clerkin's early scepticism of it, the internet has grown quite a lot. At the start, Clerkin's website was "unique, and there was no other place to go really to kind of find out that kind of information", says Emmett Scanlon, architect, curator, and director of the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF). Over the years though, there's been a lot of investment in, and development of "architecture – let's call it 'infrastructure' – and I don't mean buildings and things, but I mean kind of cultural infrastructure". So the landscape has "changed over the last 10 years quite radically", Scanlon said. With work by organisations like the IAF, and publications like [Architecture Ireland](https://www.riai.ie/discover-architecture/architecture-ireland?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [Type.ie](https://www.type.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). And the National Built Heritage Service's website [buildingsofireland.ie](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). "I'm not 100 percent sure, I mean, that \[Archiseek\] is the most publicly known anymore, partly because it perhaps doesn't have a lot of funding behind it, or a lot, you know, a lot of institutional power or capital behind it," Scanlon said. "But I do know that if you Google a building and start to look at \[Archiseek\], it's still up to date and a very useful and important repository to find out about the built world," he said. Yes, says Clerkin, the founder of the site, it's still very much in use, including being cited in things like architectural impact statements that submitted with planning applications to councils. Although it's harder these days to get the word out, Clerkin says. Twitter, when it existed, used to be a great way to disseminate information, and nothing that's come after it has worked as well, he says. And he struggles to get everything done on the site by himself, Clerkin says. "It really should be a team of three or four people," he says. Despite the obstacles, he is still happily plugging away at the project and plans to keep on doing so. "The site will go on," he says. ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #125 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-125/ Last updated: 2026-08-20T16:49:03.000Z My illustration features a bird watcher at Bull Island. I’m from Clontarf and feel lucky to live so close to one of the best bird-watching sites in Dublin. I thought this would be a nice subject for the cover of a Dublin-based magazine. I’m Hannah, an illustrator and animator from Dublin. I studied at Cambridge School of Art and have since been working in the animation industry and as a freelance illustrator. You can see more of my work at [hannah-vernon.com](https://www.hannah-vernon.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), or get in touch at hannahjanevernon@gmail.com. ### In the north inner-city, tenants of 15 years evicted so council can buy their home URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-north-inner-city-tenants-of-15-years-evicted-so-council-can-buy-their-home/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T00:08:11.000Z Tenants in Northbank in the north inner-city are being evicted from their home of 15 years so the developer can sell their apartment to Dublin City Council. Two tenants challenged their eviction at the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and lost the case. Under the rules that governed their tenancy, landlords are allowed to evict tenants to sell the home. Their home is one of 40 that their landlord, a fund, is selling to Dublin City Council to meet its obligations under Part V legislation, according to the RTB [tribunal report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534792-1243-tribunal-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 is a mechanism for councils [to clawback some of the](https://www.housingagency.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/25-05-16-Part-V-Resource-Pack-4th-edition-website-1.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) uptick in land value that comes from a grant of planning permission, and turn that into social and affordable homes. Councils can, among other options, buy zoned land from the developer, buy some of the homes in the new development, or it can buy off-site homes, whether new or second-hand. The RTB tribunal report says the adjudicators are satisfied there is a contract between the landlord, KW PRS ICAV to sell 40 homes in the development to Dublin City Council. It is not clear how many of the 40 were already empty when the agreement was struck and whether more than nine eviction notices were issued. The tribunal report doesn’t mention the issue of mass evictions from the same building, which is not permitted under law. [KW PRS ICAV](https://registers.centralbank.ie/%28S%28atb1s1eysq1bdt45cyzep0nm%29%29/FundRegisterDataPage.aspx?fundReferenceNumber=C176756®ister=9&ref=dublininquirer.com), a fund, was controlled 50/50 by Kennedy Wilson and Avicdale Limited, according to [a 2024 filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1408100/000140810025000109/kwe2024auditedfinancialsta.htm?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Kennedy Wilson with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Kennedy Wilson also manages the development, and has not responded to queries sent Monday in time for publication. Architect and housing commentator Mel Reynolds says that under Part V legislation, developers can offer councils second-hand homes elsewhere to meet their social housing obligations for new-build developments. But deals that displace existing tenants are counterproductive, he said. Councils shouldn’t do that, otherwise effectively the council's social housing programme is outcompeting other working families, he said, "adding to housing insecurity and quite possibly driving families towards homelessness”. Independent Councillor Cieran Perry said he struggled to believe the council would do that deal and wondered whether the council knew the homes were occupied. However, this issue has arisen before, albeit with slightly different shades. In the past, in different buildings around the city, tenants have been evicted to clear out properties so they could be used by the council as homeless accommodation. [Time and again, long-term tenants evicted and their homes turned into homeless accommodationA spokesperson for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said its priority was “to ensure there is an adequate provision of accommodation for people experiencing homelessness”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-1b51715c-077c-4dc0-a7ba-7d63c960aa88.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/madeleine-johansson-outside-tathony-house-13bc3437-d33f-400d-844b-742650e210ab.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-and-again-long-term-tenants-evicted-and-their-homes-turned-into-homeless-accommodation/) ## At the tribunal At the RTB tribunal in January, the parties agreed that the tenancy in Northbank started in 2011 and that the rent was €1,837 per month for the three-bedroom apartment. Northbank is a large residential development in the north docklands, off Sheriff Street and Castleforbes Road. The tribunal report said that the notice of termination was issued in February 2025\. The tenants told the tribunal that they struggled to find suitable alternative accommodation. So they filed a dispute with the RTB, they said. The landlord, KW PRS ICAV, said it had offered the tenants an alternative property, which the tenants told the tribunal was not big enough for their household. They described it as “very basic”. The landlord was represented at the tribunal by four people, including a barrister and solicitor, a representative for Kennedy Wilson, which manages the complex, and a staff member for the Lansdowne Partnership, which is the estate agent for the sales of the homes. The Lansdowne Partnership staff member told the tribunal that the sale to the council was subject to vacant possession, and that the deal was done before notices of termination were served on the tenants. “The developer was fulfilling that obligation by way of an agreement with Dublin City Council for the purchase of 40 apartments over a period of time as and when they are vacated by sitting tenants,” according to thelandlord's representativesays the report. The tribunal report indicates that the members weresatisfied that there is a contract between the landlord and the council. “The Tribunal is satisfied that this is a bona fide intention on the part of the landlord, having regard in particular to a Part V Agreement entered into on 30 January, 2025 between KW PRS ICAV and Dublin City Council for the acquisition, subject to the exchange of contracts, by the latter of 40 apartments at Northbank House, Castleforbes, Dublin 1.” A Dublin City Council spokesperson later confirmed this deal. The council took those apartments at Northbank in lieu of apartments at another complex, he said. "In October 2022 , the City Council agreed to acquire second hand apartments off-site in Northbank House, Dublin 1 as off-site Part V compliance for City Block 3, Dublin 1," the council spokesperson said. "In the first instance 32 units were acquired, with a further 7 acquired at a later date," he said. "One tenant is due to leave in September and Dublin City Council will acquire the last remaining apartment." ## Could cause homelessness “It would be a bizarre scenario if, in their attempt to house people on the social housing waiting list, Dublin City Council was to be involved in the potential eviction of existing tenants,” says housing lecturer at TU Dublin Lorcan Sirr. “It's very strange,” says Perry, the independent councillor. In his experience, Dublin City Council doesn’t usually buy homes where tenants are already living, “because of the possible consequences of people being made homeless”, he says. He doesn’t think the council should do deals that involve anyone being evicted from their homes. “I’m assuming the council don’t know that they are still occupied,” says Perry. Tenants have [previously been evicted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-and-again-long-term-tenants-evicted-and-their-homes-turned-into-homeless-accommodation/) from Tathony House in Dublin 8, the Tramco building in Rathmines, and a converted warehouse in Glasnevin, as part of efforts to lease them to the council for use as homeless accommodation. The council does tender for vacant properties, a council spokesperson has said. But it doesn’t appear to have a way to check and ensure that they are not powering evictions and the displacement of long-term tenants. If it does buy apartments with people living in them, though, maybe the council could let the tenants stay, says Reynolds. Were the tenants at Northbank assessed as to whether they qualified for one of the tenant-in-situ schemes? he wonders. Reynolds says the council and the Department of Housing should carry out an analysis of the costs involved when people are displaced from their homes. If any of those households become homeless, it could cost the council more for homeless accommodation, or Homeless HAP payments to help them rent private accommodation, than it saved on the Part V discount when buying the homes, he says. “In this instance it would appear that DCC may have been better off not doing Part V at all,” says Reynolds. “At least the long-term tenants would have stayed in their affordable accommodation.” Reynolds says that if the council doesn't want to cough up the high prices for new-build apartments in the city centre, it has other options. Under Part V legislation, it can buy land at a discount from the developer, he says. One issue that the tribunal report doesn't go into is whether the Tyrrelstown Amendment comes into play at all, in the Northbank sales and evictions. The tribunal report says the council is buying 40 apartments in Northbank. Under the Tyrrelstown Amendment, [if a landlord](http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2016/act/17/section/40/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec40) intends to sell 10 or more “units” inhabited by tenants, within a single development, within a certain period, the tenants have the right to remain in their homes even though they’re sold. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 16.26 on 20 August 2026 to include a response from Dublin City Council received that day, to queries sent on 3 August and 5 August.* ### Even as more legislation looms, the rise of "candy and vape" shops continues URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/even-as-more-legislation-looms-the-rise-of-candy-and-vape-shops-continues/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T22:54:39.000Z Passersby on Thursday late morning occasionally paused to glance at the window poster, announcing the new shop at the southern end of Rathmines. Inside were ladders and empty white shelves. Mars Mix, an American snacks and vape shop, is "Opening Soon!", says the sign in red, white and blue. A sister store is already open in the north inner-city on Bloom Lane, with displays stocked with bags of crisps in all kinds of flavours. There are cheese and ketchup Cheetos, and "xtreme" lime Takis. There are bags of Jellylicious peelable gummies, and fridges of energy drinks. Behind the counter, meanwhile, is an unbroken wall of vape packets – Lost Mary, IVG, and so on – in a kaleidoscope of colours. Earlier this summer, a different outlet, MaxCloud Mart, opened on Emmet Road, in Inchicore advertising a similar combo of products: candy and vapes. Last September, XMania vape and American sweet shop opened in Clondalkin. The appearance of the shops in and around Dublin with bright displays of vapes, alongside vast bags of American sweets and crisps, is perhaps surprising for the timing. The Department of Health has in recent years rolled out more robust laws aimed at protecting young Dubliners, children and teenagers, from being drawn into vaping. More legislation is in the works, too. A pending bill won't stop vapes being sold alongside other products in "mixed retail", said a spokesperson for the Department of Health. But it does restrict the advertising, display, and flavours of "nicotine products", they said. The government's past and pending changes are really welcome, said Dr Paul Kavanagh, chair of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI) Clinical Advisory Group on Smoking and E-Cigarettes. After all, a study published in *The Lancet* last year [found that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540344-evolution-of-nicotine-product-use-in-ireland-2015-to-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 2015, people aged 15–24 had the lowest odds of e-cigarette use, but by 2023, they had the highest. "That prevalence at a very young age has really increased at an explosive rate in the last 10 years," he said. Meanwhile, there's ample evidence that kids who try out vaping are [dramatically](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540357-electronic-cigarette-use-and-tobacco-cigarette-smoking-initiation-in-adolescents/?ref=dublininquirer.com) more likely to start to smoke cigarettes, he said. It's also important to understand that the tobacco industry is increasingly involved in making "novel nicotine products", such as vapes and pouches, he said. That's an industry valued at about $1 trillion per annum globally, which is practiced at evading regulation and sustaining profits, he said. "I suspect the industry already has plans to evolve again." But it makes those profits selling a highly addictive product that kills almost two in three long-term users, said Kavanagh. ## Popping up Mohsin Khan Shahzadagul, who is the owner of Mars Mix, says that what he offers in his stores is not dissimilar to any corner store. "Our vape collection is the same like Centra," he said. Yet, people focus more for some reason on small businesses, he said. But he doesn't sell alcohol, say. Besides, vapes aren't his priority, he said. The priority is soft drinks and snacks that are novel in Ireland, he said. "I have 30 flavours in Monsters. I'm more focused to be honest on soft drinks or crisps that are very rare to find." "I'm really thinking what new I can bring to the area. What will be good, you know. Good stuff," he said. Indeed, it's just like a Spar, says Jan Fiderak, the owner of XMania. "You get a sweet there, you get a snack there, you get a drink there, and you get a vape from behind the counter as well." He doesn't think the retail mix encourages young people to vape, he said. It's not like people will come for sweets and on the spot decide to get a vape as well, he said. "No way." The mix works because the business just has more to offer on the shelves, he said. "People spend more money in the shops." Still, changes coming down the line should dramatically change the presentation of vapes in stores – whether that's "candy and vape" shops, or big franchises. It's [been illegal since](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/press-releases/minister-for-health-bans-the-sale-of-nicotine-inhaling-products-to-children-with-immediate-effect/?ref=dublininquirer.com) December 2023 to sell e-cigarettes to children, those under 18 years. At the same time, the government brought in licencing and regulation around the sale of nicotine products. Retailers of tobacco and nicotine inhaling products had to apply for a licence by 2 August 2026, said a spokesperson for the Department of Health. They have to renew each year, too. If a retailer is convicted of two or more "Category A" offences, such as selling to a child, they can lose their licence, they said. A bill that passed [earlier this year](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2025/70/?ref=dublininquirer.com) bans single-use vapes. That takes effect from 24 January next year, said a Department of Health spokesperson. Kavanagh says that ban matters, given that health professionals have tracked how the massive uptick in kids vaping came as single-use vapes appeared on the market, he said. From 2015 to 2023, e-cigarette use increased almost three-fold (from 3.1 percent to 8.4 percent) in the general population, says the *Lancet* study. But it went up almost 20-fold (0.9 percent to 17⋅7 percent) among those aged 15–24 years, rising largely in the period post-2019, the study found. Meanwhile, an upcoming law takes aim at the advertising. "The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026 will prohibit the advertising of nicotine products in all retail premises," said a spokesperson for the Department of Health. Displaying nicotine products will be prohibited in all retail premises other than those that only sell such products, they said. "This is in addition to a range of further measures to reduce the appeal of nicotine inhaling products to young people," they said. The bill will restrict the appearance of nicotine inhaling products and their packaging, and flavours will be limited to "tobacco", they said. "There is no planned legislation to prohibit the sale of tobacco, nicotine inhaling products or other nicotine products in mixed retail premises," said the spokesperson. But the government's "Tobacco Free Ireland" policy is under review at the moment, they said. *"*This will include further consideration of the retail environment for tobacco and nicotine products, with the aim of ending the epidemic of harm caused by tobacco and continuing to protect children and young people from nicotine." Indeed, the changes already undertaken are big steps and welcome, said Kavanagh. "We would support all of them." Shahzadagul said they'll of course follow the rules as they change. "I can't say if they will impact me or not," he said. "If something is banned, we won't sell it at all." Fiderak said that XMania will adjust and implement any new laws of course, but what form they will take isn't yet totally clear. "Kind of it is, but when and how long." ## Responding to change Vapes themselves [are harmful](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540356-harms-and-benefits-of-e-cigarettes-and-heat-not-burn-tobacco-products-literature-map/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for users, said Kavanagh, the chair of the RCPI's Clinical Advisory Group on Smoking and E-Cigarettes. Nicotine is [categorised in law as](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2008/si/511/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com) a poison, he said. "We know it's highly addictive," he said. "It has effects on mood, concentration and impulse control." These days, kids may have a much greater vocabulary around mental health, and talk about it, he said – but then they may also have access to nicotine products. Also, inhaling substances, even if you just use common-sense, isn't good for lungs and heart, he said. But the other big issue around vapes and e-cigarettes is that there is ample evidence kids who vape [are more likely](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28540357-electronic-cigarette-use-and-tobacco-cigarette-smoking-initiation-in-adolescents/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to smoke cigarettes in the future, he said. They're between three and five times more likely, he said. "Smoking is just devastatingly harmful," he said. Meanwhile, the tobacco industry evolves and reacts as regulations change, he said. So, the government needs to remain agile and responsive, he said. And it needs to be working towards a "tobacco free future" – watching and responding to the spread of e-cigarettes, while doubling down on work to end smoking. It needs to look at a generational smoking ban, along the lines of that being rolled out in the United Kingdom, he said. Adults who smoke now would be unaffected by that measure, he said, and surveys show that the public in Ireland is behind it. Because each week in Ireland, there are still almost 100 people who die and over 1,000 people who are hospitalised due to tobacco product use, he said – with the burden falling on those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. By the end of today, and every day, another 10 people in Ireland will have sat before their doctors only to be told that they have cancer caused by smoking, he said. ### You won't have to trek from Crumlin to Lucan to pick up your parcels, An Post says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/you-wont-have-to-trek-from-crumlin-to-lucan-to-pick-up-your-parcels-an-post-says/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T22:54:02.000Z Sure, An Post plans to move its mail-sorting hubs from Crumlin, Dolphin's Barn, and Ballyfermot to near Lucan, said a spokesperson for the postal service on Thursday afternoon. But it shouldn't lead to residents who currently use those depots as pick-up points for packages that haven't been delivered trekking to Fonthill to collect them, he said. "Planning for these moves are well underway and there is much to be considered," said the spokesperson. But part of that preparation is to copperfasten which facilities in the local areas An Post will use to deal with undelivered mail, he said, which will be "mainly the local post office in each case". In other words, he said, customers should – after the changes – get a slip saying their package is at a particular local post office, while today the slip may point them towards the sorting hub which serves that postcode. "We are in consultation with our staff and unions on the details of the move," he said. An Post would share the schedule for the moves and local arrangements once they are finalised, he said. It's not just the southside, either, where sorting hubs are on the move. This is part of a larger plan to consolidate An Post depots across the city. "Among these will be the An Post delivery offices in Harmonstown, Dublin 5, and Griffith Avenue in Whitehall, Dublin 9, moving to a new north Dublin delivery hub," said Minister of State Noel Grealish, an independent TD, [in the Dáil in June](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-06-09/34/?ref=dublininquirer.com). "An Post states that the proposed move is scheduled for the second quarter of next year," he said. ## What's the plan? Local councillors hadn't had much information about the proposal to move the depots, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon and People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin on Thursday. Yesterday, de Nortúin set up a petition online calling on An Post not to consolidate its postal depots. The petition – which has attracted 1,500 signatures so far – raises two concerns. Number one is that locals in Dublin 8, 10, and 12 would have to somehow get out to Lucan to collect missed packages. Number two is that postal workers who have set up their lives around the existing depots will face long commutes to and from Lucan for work. A spokesperson for An Post said by email that changes are coming citywide over the next couple of years, driven by the changes in the postal services that customers use. "Over this year and next, a number of our Dublin delivery offices will be relocating to new delivery hubs which we need to deal with increased parcel volumes and upgrading our delivery network across the city," he said. "The huge growth in parcel volumes, driven by an increase in home shopping and ecommerce, means that we need larger and repurposed premises to cater for the needs of the business, our staff and the communities we serve," he said. "Many of our current delivery offices lack the space, car parking and general facilities for staff required by this higher volume of business," said the spokesperson. So, An Post's existing facility in Fonthill will be repurposed to house delivery offices for D12, D10 and D8. "Our D12 (Crumlin delivery office) is scheduled to move to Fonthill at the end of this year, with D8 (Whiteheather) and D10 (Ballyfermot) moving there in 2027," he said. The plan for the building in Whiteheather Industrial Estate, in Dolphin's Barn, meanwhile, is that it becomes the new base for the Rathmines post depot that has been in the old art deco building in that neighbourhood. Late last month, over-the-counter services moved from that Rathmines building, down the road to the Centra. [In Rathmines, the last hours of the old art-deco post officeWhat comes now?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-b81f0e5c-f347-4270-adaf-4bd7f95cd481.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Rathmines-An-Post-source-Michael-Lanigan-1-ce9e0c69-2232-4555-9e73-b010728e539b.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rathmines-the-last-hours-of-the-old-art-deco-post-office/) ### Government plans to introduce standardised national social-housing rents URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-plans-to-introduce-standardised-national-social-housing-rents/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T22:55:34.000Z The Department of Housing is reviewing social housing rents across the country with a view to standardising them nationally. This could affect around 250,000 social tenants nationwide, and would likely mean increases for many. Rents are currently set by councils, and so they differ from area to area – and sometimes, within council areas, between tenants of the council and tenants of housing charities. The government’s housing plan for 2025 to 2030, [Delivering Homes, Building Communities,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28536944-20251218-delivering-homesbuilding-communities-18-dec-web-version/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says it plans to smooth out the differences and develop a “fair and equitable social housing rents system”. The Department of Housing, together with the Housing Agency, is carrying out a detailed analysis of rents schemes to explore potential options for reform, a department spokesperson says. But some public representatives say they're not in favour of a standardised national system, which takes the power to decide rents away from local councils. “Government should set national parameters, and each council should determine the scheme,” says Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey. Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin says standardising rents across the country would be politically controversial, and he also favours leaving the power with councils. The main issue that should be researched and debated is how to fund councils to maintain their social housing, Ó Broin says. “The real issue isn’t the rent,” says Ó Broin. “The real issue is how do we fix the financing of maintenance for social housing.” ## Should rents be standardised? At the moment social tenants pay a differential rent, which is a percentage of their income. Each council sets the percentage and it can vary significantly. A 2022 [paper from ESRI](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28541075-rents-rs141-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), showed them ranging from 10 percent to 24 percent. Some councils bill everyone in the household for rent, while others mostly focus on the highest earner in the home. Councils cap the total rent for a household at different levels. The ESRI paper showed some counties with a maximum of €130 or €180 a week, while others did not have a maximum. Different councilsmake different assumptions about the incomes of their self-employed tenants. And some people who live in social housing managed by housing charities pay a different rent depending on the model of funding the charity used to finance the homes. The differential rent scheme “is a critical piece of the State's welfare apparatus”, says the Department of Housing spokesperson. While the system has strengths, “it is characterised by inequity”, he says. “Rents vary widely with disparate approaches meaning social tenants on similar incomes pay significantly different rent for similar properties merely because of the local authority area they reside in,” he says. That needs to be remedied, says the spokesperson. But People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy says he is totally opposed to the idea of a national social rent scheme. “I think it's a terrible idea,” he says. He thinks the move will involve increasing social rents to levels that will be unaffordable for many tenants, against the wishes of local councillors. “Anything that brings social rents closer to market rents is essentially undermining social housing," he says. Lacey, the Labour councillor, says he thinks the government should apply certain safeguards but let councils work out the details of their own rent schemes. Councils should have flexibility because different councils may face different challenges, he says. For example, other councils own a lot of newer houses, while Dublin City Council has a lot of older flat complexes. “We have to have a rent strategy that ensures the regeneration of those flats,” Lacey says. ## Rent to fund maintenance Dublin City Council raised rents [late last year](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/), with officials saying it needed the money in order to fund maintenance of social housing. Fingal County Council also raised social housing rents [late last year](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/), as did Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. "Local authorities have adjusted their schemes to meet the ongoing maintenance needs of current properties which have increased over the years," a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council spokesperson said. One argument in favour of a national rent model could be to help ensure a reliable funding stream which councils could use to better maintain social homes. Reddy says councils need more money for maintenance, but he doesn't think rent increases within the existing social housing system is the way to get it. Instead, he points to the Vienna housing model, a system of public housing available to people of all income brackets. As a result of including more higher earners, the rent intake would increase and then become sufficient to fund maintenance, he says. Another item on the department's agenda is to look at the possibility of merging social and cost-rental housing, into a single tenure. [Government to look at the idea of merging cost-rental and social housing in future“That is really, I think, what Nirvana is for the future,” says Fiona O’Driscoll, of the Irish Council for Social Housing. “It’s the dream.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-5aa7223e-fe03-4513-bd12-d6c0f0f3cbc9.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Emmet-Road-construction-site-1-cdcd8e36-7ccc-40ac-9333-55fea24664c2.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-to-look-at-the-idea-of-merging-cost-rental-and-social-housing-in-future/) Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin TD, says that councils definitely need more money to fund maintenance of social housing. “They don’t get enough money in the rent to maintain the properties and they don’t get enough from central government to maintain the properties,” he says. But recent increases introduced by Dublin City Council “will only raise a drop in the ocean” of what they need to regenerate the older council flats he says. He would like to see research done to work out how much funding would be needed to fix the problems. “What is the scale of the deficit?” he asks. Dublin City Council has started to catalogue conditions in its social housing with what is being called the ADDjust survey, a council official [said in April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-talks-of-more-contractors-for-social-housing-maintenance-but-should-it-hire-more-staff/]). As it does, council staff expect more funding to be released, gradually, by the department to carry out planned maintenance and resolve underlying issues. [Council talks of more contractors for social housing maintenance – but should it hire more staff?As the rent increase kicks in, councillors were briefed at recent meetings on plans for some maintenance in flats across Dublin city. Some asked who’s doing the works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-50cdeb13-3ca9-4fa8-b9d2-2fefe0e0424a.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Emmet-Buildings-3---lens-flare-was-intentional-1-7a4822bd-5b69-4b31-ba8e-a445cfb09a5d.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-talks-of-more-contractors-for-social-housing-maintenance-but-should-it-hire-more-staff/) Also, thereare around 68,000HAP tenants across the country, says Ó Broin. Those tenants [face rent hikes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-council-rents-and-private-rents-both-rising-hap-tenants-are-squeezed-from-two-directions/) when social-housing rents are raised, but won’t get better maintenance as a result. And many of those HAP tenants are also paying additional rent top-up payments to landlords, as well as the differential rent. “I’m not against government looking at the differential rent schemes,” says Ó Broin. But “unless there are very compelling reasons, those powers should be left with councils”. ## Will it happen? The recently published [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524275-local-democracy-taskforce-final-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the government's Local Democracy Taskforce mostly argues for increasing the councils’ powers. One of the key objectives is “local government that is more empowered with enhanced devolved functions”, says the report. But that doesn’t apply when it comes to rent-setting. Instead, the taskforce says the government plan to streamline social rents nationally “should be progressed expeditiously”. It also says councils should be empowered to deduct rent at source, from tenants' wages or social welfare payments. Lacey says he thinks national legislation should be introduced to allow councils to deduct rent at source, which he says would help people on low incomes, who cannot afford to get into debt. The idea of streamlining social rents nationally has been floating around for years, Lacey says. Ó Broin says the plan has been contained in every government housing plan for the last 10 years. It was included in the government's [Housing for All](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22089562-197237%5F29edec3e-6664-4e62-86b2-af2e77f2f609-8/?ref=dublininquirer.com) plan, brought in in 2021\. As well as Delivering Homes, Building Communities, which covers 2025 to 2030. But Ó Broin says he isn’t expecting any imminent changes to the system. “Its politically very controversial,” he says. The [government’s implementation plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524638-local-democracy-taskforce-government-implementation-plan-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for that Local Democracy Taskforce report says it will develop a “consistent national rent scheme” by the end of 2026\. But the spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the results of the review will be presented to the Minister later this year. After that, the government will consider any reforms, he says. “It is essential that any potential options place sufficient emphasis on achieving the best blend of equity, progressivity and sustainability,” says the spokesperson, “and critically, protect those on lowest incomes and at greater risk of poverty.” ### Things To Do: Liberate objects by hoarding them, have a Really Good Time, go to the opera with the council URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-liberate-objects-by-hoarding-them-have-a-really-good-time-go-to-the-opera-with-the-council/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T22:54:52.000Z It’s been one heck of a year, and next week, the Dublin InQuirer’s team is going to be taking our summer break. Unfortunately, that means the Things To Do newsletter will also be resting up for a few days. In anticipation of this, and to ensure that our loyal readers are not deprived of culture for a week, this edition of the newsletter is going to include a few events that are lined up over the forthcoming fortnight. Things To Do will return on 20 August. We miss you already and will see you real soon. ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Only Handle it Once** In May 2025, artists Cillian Finnerty and Cóilín O’Connell emailed out a URL link to an online exhibition about digital hoarding titled [Finite Space and Limitless Possibilities](https://www.coilinoconnell.net/finite%5Fspace%5Flimitless%5Fpossibilities.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). Finite Space… was served by the pair as a series of PDFs composed of essays and collages that were made from old comic strips, and pictures from messy apartments and the Criminal Assets Bureau’s Facebook page. That exhibition was one entry in Permanent Mirage, Finnerty and O’Connell’s ongoing project which takes as its starting point the dual meanings of the terms “hoard” and “cache”. Now, the two artists are returning with Only Handle it Once, a collaborative exhibition and publication which opens in the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland on Merrion Square this Friday. Only Handle it Once proposes the idea that a hoard liberates objects from their practical function and status as a commodity, and gives them the potential to produce new “associational and symbolic meanings.” In the exhibition, set against a backdrop of “rising toxic nationalism”, Finnerty and O’Connell explore the hoard as a means to create “surreal, mischievous and utopian proposals”, which blur the distinctions between “past, present and future, preservation and deterioration, living room and nation state”. Only Handle it Once is curated by Alice Quinn Banville and will open at 6pm on Friday, 7 August. The show runs until Sunday, 30 August, and will close with a newly commissioned, live performance by writer and performer Isadora Epstein at 6pm that day. An anthology of writing and images, edited by Eoghan McIntyre, will also be presented alongside the exhibition, featuring new texts by Finnerty, O’Connell, Epstein, Mark Von Schlegell, Chris Lee, Edith Bond and a photographic essay by Cáit Fahy. **Cara Coyle in the Cobblestone** Across town on Friday evening, singer-songwriter Cara Coyle and her band will be playing a headline gig in the Cobblestone’s backroom. Coyle first came on our radar with Bodies of Water, a group she formed with experimental [drummer Jason McNamara](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-heart-of-the-city-a-drummer-plays-the-streets/). On 1 May, the pair released [their eponymous six-track debut album](https://bodiesofwater.bandcamp.com/album/bodies-of-water?ref=dublininquirer.com), largely recorded in January 2025, and which is made up of improvised, loose and lo-fi ambient folk songs. A little over two months later, the group resurfaced with *black water*, their murkier, clarinet-driven sophomore album, which ups the ante on the grainy production quality, and features tracks recorded live on Parliament Street and by the Molly Malone statue. Coyle’s solo project differs somewhat from Bodies of Water, insofar as the more jazzy and avant garde facets of those records recede, while her ethereal and heartfelt voice are pushed to the fore. Listen to her live performance of ‘A Lullaby’ [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u052IHukLa8&ref=dublininquirer.com). If you haven’t yet caught Coyle, either as Jean Pack and the Slay Babies’ support act in Cleary’s Pub back in March, or out on Grattan Bridge in May, this Friday is your opportunity to put that right. Doors open at 7:30pm, and support comes from Jimmy Clarke. Secure your tickets [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/cara-coyle-band-the-cobblestone-backroom-support-from-jimmy-clarke-tickets-1987692768578?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep%5Ftld=true&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Really Good Time** Also on Friday evening, the dance punk trio and [South William Street flyposting pioneers](https://www.dublininquirer.com/while-vacant-buildings-sat-idle-for-years-their-hoarding-became-one-of-the-citys-best-events-noticeboards/) Really Good Time are releasing their long awaited debut album *Affirmations* on Friday. Anyone who tuned into RTÉ’s coverage of the World Cup should be familiar with the angular, buzzsaw guitars that drove their single ‘Do It’. Its riffs were as heavy as lines like, “my work history: post-graduate degree/ my dating app, it’s called [Daft.ie](http://daft.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com).” And by fusing the fuzzed up desert rock of Queens of the Stone Age with the manic grooves of Gilla Band, the group rendered the summer’s football viewing experience just that little bit more unsettling. To celebrate the album’s launch, the band will be over in Spindizzy Records in George’s Street Arcade at 6pm on Friday. Admission is free. But to reserve a space and to pre-order a copy of the record, visit the store’s website [here](https://spindizzyrecords.com/products/really-good-time-instore-signing-august-7th?variant=58354320834905&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Opera in the Open 2026** Each Thursday throughout August, Dublin City Council will be hosting a lunchtime open air operatic performance in their Wood Quay amphitheatre at 1pm. Opera in the Open is the council’s annual initiative which presents abridged opera productions, narrated in English and lasting one hour each. Earlier today, the council kicked off this year’s programme with a version of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Next week, on 13 August, they will be staging Henry Purcell’s *Dido and Aeneas*, followed by Jacques Offenbach’s *Orphée Aux Enfers* on 20 August, and finally a gala performance celebrating the work of Giuseppe Verdi on 27 August. Admission is free. But the ability to return from lunch with tales of the opera is priceless. For more information, visit the City Arts Office event page [here](https://www.dublincityartsoffice.ie/programmes-projects/opera-in-the-open?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Jerome O'Leary: The youngest victim of Croke Park's Bloody Sunday** On Saturday, 15 August, Dublin central’s historian-in-residence Dr James Curry will be delivering a lecture on the 1920 Bloody Sunday in Croke Park at the Central Library in the Ilac Centre. Curry’s illustrated talk focuses on Jerome O’Leary, a ten year old boy who was among the 14 people killed in Croke Park on 21 November 1920 during the War of Independence. The lecture will run from 11:30am to 12:30pm. Admission is free, but booking is required and can be done [here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=26609956&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Barbaric Genius*** In the next installation of its ongoing From the Vaults series, the Irish Film Institute will be screening the 2011 documentary *Barbaric Genius*. Directed by Paul Duane, *Barbaric Genius* offers an intimate portrait of John Healy, the author of *The Grass Arena*. Originally published in 1986, *The Grass Arena* was Healy’s autobiography, which documents the years he spent homeless, battling alcoholism, and then discovering, in prison, that he was a highly skilled chess player. Healy’s story first made it on the big screen in 1991 when the book was adapted into a film starring Mark Rylance and Pete Postlethwaite, and twenty years later. But, after this initial burst of success, Healy fell into obscurity and *The Grass Arena* wouldn’t be re-printed until 2008 when it was re-issued as a Penguin Classic. *Barbaric Genius* is a document of this lost period in Healy’s career, and this special screening of the film will coincide with the publication of *The Glass Cage*, which is the long-awaited sequel to *The Grass Arena*. The film will be screening at 6:30pm and will be followed by a Q&A with Duane, hosted by Tara Brady of *The Irish Times*. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/from-the-vaults-barbaric-genius-qa/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Create Your Own Illuminated Manuscript — Inspired by the Book of Kells** At 2am on Saturday, visual artist Maria Groot will be in the Pearse Centre to lead a hands-on workshop to show you how to create your very own illuminated manuscript page, inspired by the Book of Kells. No previous experience is needed. For more information and to secure a ticket, visit the workshop’s event page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/create-your-own-illuminated-manuscript-inspired-by-the-book-of-kells-tickets-1995451001662?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=wsa&aff=ebdsshwebmobile&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Uncovering Structure: The conservation of an Islamic Bookbinding** As part of National Heritage Week, Chester Beatty and the Trinity Long Room Hub will be collaborating on a special lecture on the conservation of an Islamic bookbinding. The lecture, which will be delivered by Cecilia Zoppi looks at the conservation of a fragile bookbinding enclosing an illuminated Arabic manuscript on occult science, produced in Cairo and dedicated to the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay. Attendees will gain insight into both the material complexity of Islamic bindings and the practical realities of hands-on conservation work. The talk will be held in the Neill Lecture Theatre in the Trinity Long Room Hub at 6pm on 19 August. Admission is free. The talk will be a hybrid event, and to either reserve a seat or get a Zoom link, visit the Long Room event page [here](https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/events-calendar/events/2026/uncovering-structure-the-conservation-of-an-islamic-bookbinding.php?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### As council plans new town for Dunsink, how does the old landfill there fit in? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-council-plans-new-town-for-dunsink-how-does-the-old-landfill-there-fit-in/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T23:12:01.000Z In a just-ended [public consultation](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-locals-wrestle-with-detail-of-big-plan-for-dunsink-city-councillors-call-for-more-time-to-consult/) on a long-term vision for a new town on the Dunsink lands in north-west Dublin, several submissions from residents raised concerns about risks from the old closed landfill there. "Building on top of a dump? Definitely red flags there," [wrote](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/submission/fin-c973-16?ref=dublininquirer.com#obs-21467) Jennifer Kane. "My main concerns are what toxic fumes will be released when it is disturbed," [wrote](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/submission/fin-c973-212?ref=dublininquirer.com#obs-21726) Susan O Beirne. But Fingal County Council's [plan](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan?ref=dublininquirer.com) laying out the shape of a new town on this site inside the M50, north of the Navan Road, and west of Finglas, does not propose that anyone should build homes on top of the dump. Instead, the Draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan – which sets out where in the 425 hectares of land the council would want homes, roads, parks, and more – envisions a large regional park covering the old landfill. At the moment, the landfill is a big hill, covered in grass, horses grazing atop it, with views to the east all the way to the Poolbeg smokestacks and the sea. Others residents just asked for more, better information about the state of the landfill, and the risks it might pose to future development in the area. "Publish, before the plan is adopted, the current environmental status of the former landfill: its licensing and aftercare position, the extent of capping, and recent landfill gas and leachate monitoring data, in a form ordinary residents can read," [wrote](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/submission/fin-c973-172?ref=dublininquirer.com#obs-21678) Karen Kearney. Indeed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which oversees the council's care and monitoring of the old landfill, has published [hundreds of reports](https://leap.epa.ie/licence-profile/W0127/compliance?ref=dublininquirer.com) since 2013 on its website. They look at its impact on groundwater, surface water, and gas emissions, as well as the stability of its slopes, and more. These are dense, detailed, and complicated. But they show how the council and the EPA have been monitoring and dealing with the landfill's environmental impacts on the area over decades. ## The plans For years, some local councillors have been [pushing for](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/) faster progress on planning out, and building on, the Dunsink lands. The council in 2022 published [a study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534528-feasibility-study-64f5369c-e7f8-4d5d-9e0e-43fb10abad54/?ref=dublininquirer.com) looking at the feasibility of developing the lands, which clearly considers the old landfill, but concludes that the Dunsink lands "can accommodate a new urban neighbourhood". More recently, the central government weighed in, ordering councils across the country – including Fingal – to make more land available for residential development. In response, Fingal councillors in April [rezoned a bunch of sites](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-rezone-enough-land-for-5-000-homes-eating-into-greenbelt/) across the county to make way for up to 2,500 homes. They also took the Dunsink lands out of their [strategic reserve](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no1-fingal-development-plan-2023-%E2%80%93-2029?ref=dublininquirer.com), and committed to come up with a local area plan for developing them – which was to make possible the construction of another 2,500 homes there by 2029. Later phases should see another 16,000 more homes on top of those, the draft Dunsink plans now show. This grand vision for the area carves the Dunsink lands up into eight areas, and charts out transport links, different uses, amenities and greenspaces, and rough building heights across them. Maps in the plan show the bulk of the housing planned for a belt running east-west across the lands. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/image-1.png) This belt now hosts the Elmgreen Golf Club, big stretches of open fields, and facilities like the Dunsink Observatory, National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, and Teagasc Ashtown Campus. To the south of this is belt is the existing Tolka Valley Regional Park, and to the north of the planned development – on the site of the old landfill – the maps show a new 95 hectare regional park. "Providing a mix of passive and active recreational facilities to serve the new and existing communities including a new recreational hub," it says. This kind of project is not new. The council is currently [turning another old landfill](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-forward-with-transformation-of-balleally-landfill-into-rogerstown-park/), Balleally, over towards Lusk, into Rogerstown Park. In its [submission](https://consult.fingal.ie/ga/system/files/materials/39295/40776/FIN-C906-686%20-%20Submission%20Draft%20Proposed%20Variation%201%20of%20Fingal%20Development%20Plan%202023-2029%20-%2028-01-2026%2002-28pm.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the just-closed public consultation on Fingal's vision for the Dunsink lands, Deirdre French of the EPA said it "supports the repurposing of closed landfills for public amenities, provided that Fingal County Council ensures compliance with all conditions of the waste licence". The new town next to the old landfill site could eventually fit as many as 18,500 new homes, the plan says. But even once this plan is done and approved, that won't get houses built straightaway. Council projects will need to be designed, and approved and funded by central government. For lands under private ownership, developers will have to take an interest in the area, find financing, and get planning permission and infrastructure in place – which is all likely to take many years, and happen bit by bit over time. ## EPA reports: water The council's reports to the EPA on the old landfill site look at how it impacts surrounding surface and groundwater, and keep an eye on the gases it is giving off as the waste inside the hill decomposes. "There is no dedicated stormwater collection system for Dunsink Landfill which is partially capped. Stormwater falling across the facility flows to the local surface water network," according to the council's [Annual Environmental Report (AER) for 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534516-feasibility-study-64f5369c-e7f8-4d5d-9e0e-43fb10abad54/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Stormwater from the site flows into the Scribblestown Stream and the River Tolka, the report says. On the way, it is monitored, looking at pH and dissolved oxygen, sulphate, boron, and more. In 2025, the annual surface water monitoring [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534661-surface-water-2025-9cd3eb68-0690-4506-9b90-ee3212509175/?ref=dublininquirer.com) noted that several things were high in surface water running off the site: suspended solids, ammoniacal nitrogen, and biological oxygen demand. There's also "leachate" that oozes out of the old landfill. There's a leachate lagoon on the site, which looks like a fenced-in pond. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/20260804_120514-1.jpg) There's a system to monitor how much methane there is dissolved in that leachate, and make sure it's not too high, the 2025 AER says. "There were no exceedances of the 0.14ug/l licence trigger level for Dissolved Methane at both Leachate Sump and NE Lagoon throughout all monitoring rounds in 2025," the report says. "Leachate from the leachate lagoon discharges to sewer over two days every week," it says. That flows into the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant, where water is treated and then discharged into the Irish Sea. In terms of groundwater, the 2025 annual [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534516-feasibility-study-64f5369c-e7f8-4d5d-9e0e-43fb10abad54/?ref=dublininquirer.com) found that, "Quarterly and annual groundwater monitoring data for the past 7 years indicated that the facility is not impacting the groundwater beneath the facility." ## EPA reports: gases The waste inside the landfill gives off gas as it decomposes. There's a power plant on the site that uses gas from the landfill to generate electricity that it feeds into the grid. "6,358 GJs \[gigajoules\] of renewable energy generated in 2024 and 6,246 GJs of renewable energy was generated in 2025," the [Annual Environmental Report (AER) for 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534516-feasibility-study-64f5369c-e7f8-4d5d-9e0e-43fb10abad54/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says. Meanwhile, the council is monitoring emissions from the power plants stacks, and gas rising from the landfill site, and keeping an eye on whether gas is seeping through the ground from the site to surrounding areas. "All parameter results from the Stack Emissions Test were 100% compliant," the 2025 AER said. There was also [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534671-surface-emissions-0c9a23cb-2e31-4095-946b-d97033dedc32/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by a consultant on surface emissions coming off the site into the air in 2025\. "There were twenty zones of surface emissions identified within the landfill facility that exceeded recommended trigger levels," the report found. This was up from "seven zones of surface emissions identified within the landfill facility that exceeded recommended trigger levels" in 2024, the report says. There is also the danger of landfill gases travelling underground and surfacing around the site. The council's 2009 Annual Environmental Report for the site [says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535046-2009-aer-090151b280347fad/?ref=dublininquirer.com) there were some problems with this back then that they dealt with. There's a bunch of boreholes in the ground for monitoring levels of gases including methane and carbon dioxide. In 2004, there were elevated levels of methane at sampling points in the sports grounds north of the closed landfill, and the northern boundary towards Dunsoghly estate, the report says. "A venting trench was proposed and agreed by the Agency for the remediation of landfill gas migration on the 'sports ground'", the report says. "These works went to public tender and the venting trench was commissioned during Q2 2005." Flash forward 20 years, in December last year, there were two dozen monitoring wells at the landfill, checked on monthly or quarterly, according to a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535049-december-2025-gas-monitoring-99f2a634-c6e4-4881-9abc-cc9708494cf7/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that month. They found lots of "exceedances" – readings high enough to trigger the EPA's attention – of carbon dioxide. "Most of the monitoring locations experienced at least one Carbon Dioxide exceedance," the report said. On the other hand, "Overall, there was one exceedance of the Methane Trigger level recorded at G45 in 2025," the report says. "No further methane exceedances were recorded at the perimeter wells during monthly/quarterly monitoring in 2025." Of course, that one exceedance was big. The "trigger limit" was 1 percent and the level at G45 in February 2025 was 7.2 percent the report says. Methane's especially tricky, of course, because it's flammable. That leachate lagoon, where the amount of methane dissolved in the ooze that comes out of the landfill? There's a fence around it and a sign saying "Danger: Explosive Atmosphere". The 2025 leachate [report](https://there%20%20were%20no%20exceedances%20at%20ne%20lagoon%20for%20any%20parameter%20throughout%202025./), though, says "There were no exceedances at NE \[north east\] Lagoon for any parameter throughout 2025." In the most recent available report, last month, the council [notified the EPA](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535072-leachate-lagoon-spike-1abf8098-64de-4459-a242-9d2170fa567b/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about a big spike in methane at the lagoon. "Result for dissolved methane at both locations are very high and have never been detected at these levels before." But it's apparently not clear if that's a real spike, or something wrong with the sampling. They [decided to](https://leap.epa.ie/licence-profile/W0127/compliance/incident/a0ef353f-9973-f111-8ed8-005056be4ac2?ref=dublininquirer.com) check the equipment, and techniques used for sampling, and get another sample. In response to a query about the sign around the lagoon, an EPA spokesperson said that "Warning signs may be used on landfill sites to identify areas where landfill gas may be present and where appropriate safety precautions are required. The presence of such signage does not in itself indicate a risk to the wider public." "While the EPA is aware of plans to develop the site as a park and recreational amenity, no detailed proposals have been received from Fingal County Council," the spokesperson said. "Any future proposals requiring EPA consideration would be assessed to ensure that potential risks to human health and the environment, including those associated with landfill gas, are appropriately addressed." The council has not responded to a query sent Tuesday asking for its response to the suggestion that building a regional park on this site might be risky. ## Protecting nearby homes With the danger of gases migrating off the site to surrounding areas in mind, when Greenwich Project Holdings in 2017 [applied](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/76813?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents) for permission to add 52 homes on to the Dunsoghly estate in Finglas, just north-east of the landfill, the council [asked](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535065-council-asks-for-gas-risk-report-eff1e5b54ce611e78b0e3464a9267529/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a risk assessment. "The presence of the Cappagh stream (and the trench excavated by Fingal County Council) located between the County Council lands and the proposed site will act as a barrier to gas movement towards the site," that [risk assessment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28534679-gas-risk-assessment-for-nearby-homes-example-aed2f67c710711e79ae23464a9267529/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said when it was completed. "Nevertheless, it is proposed that mitigation measures be implemented to negate any potential risks and these include the installation of a constructed floor slab with gas resistant membrane and a passively ventilated underfloor sub-space in all residential structures," it said. All the underground services and utilities, like sewers, gas mains, stormwater drains, and water pipes should be adequately vented so they don't become pathways for gas to move underground, it said. And fences should be put up between the housing estate and the landfill site, "to restrict infrastructure associated with the landfill including the leachate lagoon and the gas monitoring boreholes". Together, this should be "more than adequate to ensure no impact from landfill gases at the proposed development site", the report said. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 15.08 on 5 August 2026 to include comments from an EPA spokesperson.* *UPDATE: This article was updated at 10.16 on 6 August to include a line saying the council has not responded to a query for this story that was sent on 4 August.* ### After challenge from petrol station, planning body to reconsider a bit of a BusConnects route URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-challenge-from-petrol-station-planning-body-to-reconsider-a-bit-of-a-busconnects-route/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T23:12:10.000Z Traffic zipped up and down the Old Cabra Road as a white van pulled into the Go petrol station on the outskirts of Stoneybatter on Monday evening. There wasn’t any shop attached to the forecourt, which was covered by a red and white, vaguely Googie-style slanted canopy which glows at night [with its bright “Las Vegas lighting”](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-cabra-filling-station-s-las-vegas-lighting-is-ruining-the-neighbourhood-residents-say/). It’s a self-service station livened up by a few potted trees, and a pair of unoccupied kiosks which advertised Go’s energy and oil services. A couple of buses leaving behind the city centre and bound for Ongar rumbled by under the blue, cloudy sky. The Old Cabra Road forms part of the National Transport Authority’s (NTA's) planned bus corridor scheme, almost 11 kilometres long, linking Blanchardstown to the city centre It is one of 12 core bus corridors that make up the BusConnects redesign of the city’s bus networks, and one of at least seven that have, to date, been affected by[ judicial review proceedings.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-facing-decade-of-disruption-from-construction-of-big-and-long-awaited-transport-projects/) The goal of these corridors is to redesign the roads to clear the way for buses to run faster, more reliably, and more punctually – and while they are at it, to add better cycle lanes and footpaths. All of which can involve rerouting, or reducing private car traffic. In the case of this bus corridor, the designs did that in a way that would mean fewer cars passing Go. The operators of the petrol station, Lissan Coal Company Ltd, and site owner LCC Properties and Investments Ltd, challenged the scheme, arguing, among other things, that the planning process had not taken seriously enough the project's impact on their business. In April, High Court judge David Holland ruled in the companies' favour on this point, quashing the planning approval. On 14 July, Holland issued his final orders on the case, sending the project back to An Coimisiún Pleanála and laying out in more detail what should happen next. It’s a setback and it may slow down the project, said Green Party councillor Feljin Jose, the party's spokesperson on transport, last Tuesday. But the commission can still approve the project again, even after taking more seriously in its proceedings the impacts on the petrol station, Jose said. “It isn’t stopping \[An Coimisiún Pleanála\] from saying that’s something we’re gonna have to accept," he said. "That in itself isn’t a reason to reject it, because of the overwhelming positive impact of the proposal.” It is still too early to state whether the court’s decision will affect the timeline for delivering the corridor, a spokesperson for the NTA said. “No decisions have been made on any redesign.” ## **The plan and the station** An Bord Pleanála [granted](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/313892?ref=dublininquirer.com) the NTA approval to start the redesign with some conditions on 21 June 2024. The plan included, among many other features along the route, two bus gates on the Old Cabra Road.These would mean the only through traffic allowed would be buses and taxis. Local access would still be allowed, so technically private cars could still get to the petrol station. But the steady flow of car traffic along the Navan Road onto Old Cabra Road (and vice versa) would basically end. That August, Lissan Coal Company and LCC Properties and Investments launched a judicial review against the scheme, [court records show](https://courts.ie/high-court-search?caseRecordId=H.JR.2024.0001052&ref=dublininquirer.com). The owners and operators of the unmanned petrol station had, in August 2022, submitted objections to [An Bord Pleanála](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519709-r313892-1/?q=lissan&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p257) arguing that they would lose a majority of business as a consequence of the redesign and this had not been taken seriously enough in the process leading up to the scheme's planning approval. A traffic impact report was prepared for the companies by Tent Engineering, a structural and civil engineering consultant, which said [daily trade would be reduced](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519737-abp-313892-22-submission-lissan-coal-company-ireland-limited/?q=138&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p9) from 1,727 passing cars to 138. The companies called the works an “attack on private property rights” because they were not offered compensation, nor was the station considered for a [compulsory purchase order](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519737-abp-313892-22-submission-lissan-coal-company-ireland-limited/?q=cpo&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p10), the [ABP report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519709-r313892-1/?q=lissan&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p257). The ABP inspector’s report conceded that there would be a significant reduction in traffic, which would “undoubtedly” impact on the number of customers. But, given that the scheme would be of gain to the wider community and it would improve overall levels of accessibility into the city, it was deemed acceptable, [the report said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519709-r313892-1/?q=petrol&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p69). “The station can still be accessed and maintain operations albeit not as conveniently as at present.” ## **The ruling and orders** Lissan and LCC argued in their challenge that this was dramatically underplaying the scheme's impact on their business. And the judge, in [his ruling in April](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535161-april-2026-iehc-255/?ref=dublininquirer.com), agreed. If the bus gates are put in, "Broadly, all accept that, even though public access to the Filling Station by a circuitous route (Glenbeigh Road) will remain, the bus gates and traffic restrictions will in reality remove over 90% of the private motor traffic from the stretch of Old Cabra Road onto which the Filling Station fronts and so will remove over 90% of the passing trade on which its viability depends," he wrote. "The Inspector’s report did a euphemistic and diminishing disservice to Lissan’s proper expectation that the expected ruination of their Filling Station business would be adequately conveyed by the Inspector to the Commission," he wrote. This was a flaw in the process, the judge found. So he decided to quash the planning board's decision. Last month, he handed down his [final orders](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519708-2026-iehc-457/?q=eia&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p3), laying out what would happen as a result. The commission’s decision to accept the inspector’s “euphemistic description of the effect” was “irrational and unfair,” it says. The judge ordered that ABP’s decision be quashed "only as it authorises two Bus Gates on the Old Cabra Road" and sent it back to the commission to reconsider the impacts of the bus gates on the petrol station. An NTA spokesperson said, last Tuesday that they note the decision to remit these two bus gates on the Old Cabra Road to ACP for reconsideration on their impacts on the station. But, it is too early to say if this will impact on the timeline for delivering the corridors, as the reconsideration process is a matter for ACP, they said. “No decisions have been made on any redesign.” “The NTA will support the Board's reconsideration process and remains committed to delivering the Blanchardstown to City Centre Core Bus Corridor,” they said. ### A youth-led uprising in India stirs hopes of greater solidarity among Indian Dubliners URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-youth-led-uprising-in-india-stirs-hopes-of-greater-solidarity-among-indian-dubliners/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T23:12:20.000Z On O’Connell Street on 26 July, a tiny crowd clustered around a small memorial, two posters flanked by white candles. Priyanka Borpujari leant against the cream stone of the General Post Office, and read from her phone, leading the chants. "Chhattisgarh mein bhi," she said, her intonation rising. In Chhattisgarh, too. "Azaadi," came the reply. Freedom. "Manipur mein bhi," she said. She moved slightly to the beat of the call-and-response. "Azaadi." Not everybody agreed with or joined in the call-and-response, said Borpujari later. There are fissions within how Indians view the call "azaadi", she said, which shows how complicated and overlapping the issues in the air. But the group had come together, anyway. They were there to show support to a protest movement which had jumped from city to city in their country of birth, India – but had resonated beyond, too. Here in Dublin, it has brought together, and closer, Indian Dubliners from all kinds of backgrounds, kindling hope for greater solidarity, some members of the protest group said. ## A simmering discontent Back in May, the Indian government [annulled](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZufUkQDFvM&ref=dublininquirer.com) the results of a medical school entrance exam held across the country, because the questions had been leaked. Two million students must retake it, said then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The exams are competitive in the extreme. The preparation is gruelling, with private tuition pushing families into debt. The anxiety, and the high stakes, [can push students to suicide.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347491556%5FStudent%5FSuicide%5FLinked%5Fto%5FNEET%5FExamination%5Fin%5FIndia%5FA%5FMedia%5FReport%5FAnalysis%5FStudy?ref=dublininquirer.com) A repeat meant re-living that anxiety, said Rish Arora, sitting at a café inside the CHQ building in Dublin's Docklands, recently. For many, conquering the test is a ticket to upward social mobility in a society where caste disparity and stigma still linger, even if erased on paper, said Arora, who had been at the O'Connell Street protest. “That’s why it was so important to them, the dream of becoming a doctor, the dream of giving their family a good life,” he said. The national students' union in India organised a rally in protest, and some of its members were detained. Around the same time, India's Chief Justice Surya Kant called unemployed young people “cockroaches” who spent their days ranting and raving on social media. He later said he was talking about those with "fake degrees". But, in response, Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old [public relations graduate](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28529800-com-grad-turns-cockroach-insult-of-india-youth-into-massive-online-movement-college-of-communication/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at Boston University, [posted online](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28529799-cjp/?ref=dublininquirer.com): “What if all cockroaches come together?” It drew an outsized reaction, with thousands of likes and reposts. Dipke followed up with an invitation to join a made-up party, the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, a play on the name of the right-wing party that leads India's government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. The CJP's AI-generated logo is an enormous cockroach, rocking sunglasses, looming over a podium. Dipke [later said](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/world/asia/india-protests-cockroach-janta-party-abhijeet-dipke.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) he was goofing around. But the cockroach post grew into something far bigger than a viral joke. Just days after, the CJP’s account on Instagram had more followers [than the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28529801-cjp-followers-bjp/?ref=dublininquirer.com) BJP’s. The party has its [own website now](https://www.cockroachjantaparty.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com), too. “Voice of the lazy and unemployed,” a tagline says on the website. It has one million members and counting, it says. The CJP rallies – which [have been met with police violence](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98v349r9lro?ref=dublininquirer.com) and arrests – [brought about the resignation ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/25/dharmendra-pradhan-india-education-minister-resigns-cockroach-movement?ref=dublininquirer.com)of the country’s education minister, which was a first for Modi’s cabinet. The cockroaches’ movement at first centred on education reform, but it now embodies the nation’s demands for accountability in other big and small ways, said Arora, the Indian man in Dublin. “A lot of people joined the protests for their own reasons. Like someone doesn’t like the road system, someone doesn’t like the corruption that’s been happening,” said Arora. ## Who’s with me? Sana Diwan’s dad used to pick her up from maths tuition that ran past midnight, she said recently, sitting in Mooz Café in Stoneybatter. In India, studying hard is many people's only path to social mobility, she said. "Including myself.” For many young women especially, education is a lifeboat, said Diwan. It can save them from unwanted marriages and the loss of independence, she said. She understands the anger that students in India have been feeling, said Diwan. “It resonates.” Diwan joined the second protest – held on 26 July at the GPO –that was organised in Dublin in support of the youth uprising in her country of birth, she said. She has lived in Ireland for more than a decade but hadn’t linked up much with the wider Indian communities, she said. She wasn’t in WhatsApp groups or anything, Diwan said. Now, she has been added to the groups that took shape after the protests. “Group chats for me have been amazing; you just get to learn from people who have experienced life in a different way than yourself,” said Diwan. Srimoyee Biswas, who has also joined these groups, said she was hoping the new connections mean that people can see each other through shared struggles here too, like experiences of racism. “There is a conversation that is starting post these protests,” said Biswas. But it has also bared people who have been unable to get past deeply held beliefs to show camaraderie, she said. “There is a huge section of Indian population that’s upper caste, Hindu, male, and all of the things that sort of defines them,” said Biswas. That identity doesn’t mean all that much here, but the feeling of comfort that it used to bring follows some people halfway across the world, she said. So, “they have this nostalgic view of back home”, said Biswas, sitting at Mind the Step Café recently. So there are people who would not get behind the protest, who would heap scorn on others who did, she said. “I think this movement was a litmus test of sorts on who are your friends, who are your uncles and your aunties, who you can fall back on.” Diwan, the woman in Stoneybatter, said the current unity doesn’t mean people “underestimate the impact that caste has on all of us”. But she’s hopeful that it has sparked a dialogue, she said. ## My origin story Arora, the man in CHQ, said he used to be one of those Hindu guys who supported the BJP-led government because he was younger and believed everything it said. What makes the rise of the CJP and its origin story so salient and close to his heart, said Arora, is that it was about education reform. Getting educated is what prompted him to take a critical look at what the party was presenting and mine the details for himself, he said. He began to think that maybe BJP supporters were being a little cultish, said Arora. And that the party [weaponised Hindu nationalism](https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/hindu-nationalism-and-the-new-jim-crow/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and let democracy take the back seat. “What they do is use religion to influence people,” said Arora. And the party didn't really reform things as it had promised, he said. The BJP-led national and state governments have directly, and indirectly, fueled greater hostility towards marginalised groups in India, most notably Muslims. In 2024, the national government [enacted a new citizenship law](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/11/india-enacts-citizenship-law-criticised-as-discriminatory-to-muslims?ref=dublininquirer.com) excluding Muslim refugees from qualifying for citizenship. At the protest in Dublin on 26 July, a few people held white flowers, mirroring the young protestors thousands of miles away in cities across India who held them up – in the face of police tear gas and batons – as a sign of peace and non-violence. Arora said some of his friends were supportive of the protests in Dublin but didn’t tag along because they were afraid it would somehow impact their student status here. That’s partly why he wanted to talk. To show them it’s okay, he said. “They use your fear, they exploit that and then you stay silent,” said Arora. ### As costs to fit-out Dublin's new arts spaces come into focus, who should pay? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-costs-to-fit-out-dublins-new-arts-spaces-come-into-focus-who-should-pay/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T16:42:35.000Z On Railway Street in the north inner-city, a six-storey red-brick apartment complex occupies part of the site where Liberty House, a council housing project, [used to sit decades back.](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50011147/liberty-house-railway-street-james-joyce-street-dublin-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) In January 2020, Circle Voluntary Housing Association was granted permission by [An Bord Pleanála](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/129769?ref=dublininquirer.com), as it was then, to redevelop the lands here, as Railway Court. It now holds 47 apartments -- and a community space. The space is one of the latest to be cited by Dublin City Council as coming on stream through its “5 percent policy,” which it rolled out as part of its 2022 to 2028 city development plan in an effort to help fix the city’s shortage of cultural spaces. Yet, like others across the city, it's been a struggle to move from existence to activation. The cost of fitting out spaces in these new buildings remains a major barrier to actually using them, according to minutes from the Artists' Workspaces Committee, a subcommittee of the council’s arts strategic policy committee. While Circle Housing offers an affordable long-term lease, with a rent of just €600 a year plus charges, the costs to bring it up to a usable standard is about €60,000, [say the minutes of the committee’s meeting on 18 May](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535183-approved-minutes-of-the-artists-workspaces-committee-dated-18th-may-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A spokesperson for Circle Housing declined to comment on the record about the fit-out costs and who is to cover them. But they said, on Tuesday morning, that they are working with a local cultural organisation in the space. “We’re just waiting to finalise the lease agreement.” That €60,000 is also just a fraction of the millions being looked for, to kit out the spaces in other shiny new buildings in the city centre. ## **Time consuming and costly** As it currently stands, the council’s 5 percent policy applies to developments that are larger than 10,000 square metres, as long as they aren't mostly residential. It also applies in areas of the city known as Strategic Development Redevelopment Areas, and areas where local plans have evidenced a need for such spaces. [Council resurrects its right to demand cultural spaces in big developmentsIn July, the Department of Housing published new guidelines that appeared to have axed this council policy – but it apparently has risen from the dead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-3c76475d-e715-4d8c-bca4-6fee6731b17d.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Marshall-Yards-source-Michael-Lanigan-6f295868-daba-4865-ab31-2a788bdc070e.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-resurrects-its-right-to-demand-cultural-spaces-in-big-developments/) Elsewhere in the north inner-city, o[ver on Upper Sheriff Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-councils-5-policy-developers-are-delivering-arts-spaces-but-who-will-pay-for-the-fit-outs/), a four-storey cultural centre known as the Juno Building is being developed as part the Carriage Works scheme, a big complex with 700 apartments. Fitting out the Juno Building could cost approximately €5 million, [say the May minutes for the Artists' Workspaces Committee.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28535183-approved-minutes-of-the-artists-workspaces-committee-dated-18th-may-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A smaller cultural space within the neighbouring [Marshall Yards development](https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-councils-5-policy-developers-are-delivering-arts-spaces-but-who-will-pay-for-the-fit-outs/) is estimated to cost around €2.5 million. It all begs the question of who should pay. A fit-out could entail filling artist workspaces or a venue with very basic infrastructure, like water and electricity, says Siofra Murdock, the founder of Throwing Shapes, a ceramic studio that operates out of a ground floor space on Mill Street in the Liberties. When she took over the lease in the space in early 2024, it was a concrete space, she said. “We didn’t have floors. They were concrete slabs. Nothing had been finished.” Getting electricity meters in was a long process, she said. “It was time-consuming, we didn’t have any certs. And it was quite costly. I just used loans and my personal savings.” It took about two months, she said. “But I had about ten people helping me.” Karen Walshe, a creative producer with SoSimpatico, a creative consultancy that is assisting developers with the 5% policy said, in late May, that she is working with some developers where the fit-out wasn’t included in their original plans. That creates an issue, she said. “If it’s not included in the budget, it means we’re at a point of asking how are we going to fund it?” There isn’t a blanket solution for these vacant spaces, City Arts officer Ray Yeates said by phone on Tuesday morning. “We have to consider each one. Like Railway Court is a small fit out. Juno is a landmark.” Each case will need to be looked at on its own merits, he said. “Maybe, departmental funding. Maybe more from the developer. Maybe some from ourselves.” Railway Court is expected to be in use in the near future, he said. “It’s pretty far along.” But any fit out should really be included from the very outset of a development, Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney says. "I really don't see the point in having this in our development plan if it doesn't include the fit out. Like, basic things; lighting, toilet facilities, sinks, heating. We don't give planning permission for apartments without a bathroom." ### Dean: In Search of Lecs Luther’s “Fish & Chips” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-in-search-of-lecs-luthers-fish-chips/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T23:12:28.000Z Do you recall the name “Lecs Luther”? The ability to answer that question in the affirmative may qualify as “showing your age”. It’s a good 15 years now since Luther materialised out of the blogosphere with a series of raw, jazzy rap tunes; an MP3 apparition who distilled his love of Dublin through the internet’s weirdest filters. Luther would go on to repackage himself as Rejjie Snow, ink deals with major music industry firms, and spend more and more time off the island, rubbing shoulders with rap luminaries like Kendrick Lamar and [Future](https://soundcloud.com/a1ansh/rejjie-snow-product-feat-future-rich-the-kid?ref=dublininquirer.com). Of course, readers with a sharp memory may remember me mentioning Luther on these very pages earlier this year. While writing about the [emerging Dublin rapper Curtisy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-on-curtisys-boundlessly-imaginative-blog-rap/), I compared his scintillating song “Landmine!” to “Dia Dhuit”, Luther’s break-out track, from 2011. “What a monumentally important moment in Irish rap that was: a blog-era classic from a MF DOOM-worshipping ‘charming little rapper’… with a style that was already so dexterous, so fully formed, and presented in a bare-bones but visually arresting video that reflected how MTV had become old hat and YouTube was the future,” I wrote. Another thing about that “Dia Dhuit” video: It ends with a preview of the cover of what was to be Luther’s debut EP, *Fish & Chips*. So clearly inspired by such classic rap albums as The Notorious B.I.G.’s *Ready to Die* and Nas’s *Illmatic*, the artwork features a picture of Luther as a bright-eyed and mischievous child, photoshopped to be wearing three gold chains and a North Face jacket. “Buy that shit,” the screen caption suggests. The hype around *Fish & Chips* was immense. For her blog *Harmless Noise*, [Nay McArdle wrote](https://web.archive.org/web/20111216152625/http://harmlessnoise.entertainment.ie/2011/08/video-lecs-luther-azi-aishling/) that Luther “suddenly has everyone appraising the state of Irish hip-hop again … Needless to say, all ears will be on Lecs Luther when the *Fish & Chips* EP does drop”; it was “shaping up to be the most important release in Irish hip-hop history”, [*Hot Press* declared](https://www.hotpress.com/music/dia-dhuit-music-video-8247526?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the EP never happened. Luther quietly vaporised the project and shuffled on to new ideas. As far as I can tell, no details of *Fish & Chips* were ever revealed beyond that striking cover. And so it exists in the pantheon of never-to-be-released possible classics, its potential theoretically limitless. How formulated was *Fish & Chips* in the artist’s own mind? That remains open to speculation. But [speaking to him in 2016](https://www.totallydublin.ie/more/features-more/snow-day/?ref=dublininquirer.com), I tried to crack open the mystery. “It was so early, man. I look back and it’s a little cringey,” Luther, by then known as Rejjie Snow, told me. “I think some of them are great because the ideas are cool and it showed potential. \[*Fish & Chips*\] never really got released properly. It was just a bunch of random songs I guess people made up.” For many years, fans of The Beach Boys would try to piece together their own version of Brian Wilson’s abandoned masterpiece *Smile!* from the available fragments of the album. In the case of *Fish & Chips*, a similarly wonderful thing happened. I do not know who was the guiding hand, but at some point, at least a decade ago, a version of the project appeared online. Rather than an EP, it’s a 10-track suite of material released under the Lecs Luther moniker. You can [listen to it right now on YouTube,](https://youtu.be/ZW70RiBANm8?si=KQcrfGNIWEyCgc6g&ref=dublininquirer.com) as both a single video or playlist of the individual cuts, or [on music streaming platform Audiomack](https://audiomack.com/charles-ativa/album/fish-chips?ref=dublininquirer.com). The audio quality is all over the place, likely the consequence of the guerilla nature of an unsigned kid recording music any way he could, and evidence that these songs were never meant to be presented as a unified set. But who cares? This edit of *Fish & Chips* is 34 minutes of blog-rap bliss; slick raps and stray ideas over blissful beats and a sense of Tumblr-era teenage cool that will be instantly recognisable to disciples of Odd Future. I’ve listened to it so many times it’s embedded in my consciousness as the definitive version of the release. Yet the tracklisting is very curious. Apart from the opener “Harlem”, every song appears in alphabetical order. For nine consecutive tracks to be arranged in this way cannot be a coincidence; my theory is that it’s the result of the original compiler simply dragging and dropping MP3s onto a playlist with minimal effort. Whatever the case, the presentation really works! Song to song, *Fish & Chips* flows harmoniously. If “Harlem” broke free of the alphabetic quagmire, maybe it was because it felt too natural, too perfect, not to be positioned as the opener. *Fish & Chips* stirs to life with a sample of the dreamy 1970s cut “Prelude a (60round)” by French fusion jazz band Cortex. Luther immediately sounds at ease over the instrumental; his wordplay is stop-you-in-your-tracks stupifying: “He stood alone with a book and a camera/ Snap, snap, snap, put the ‘V’ in Viagra.” DOOM fans will recognise this penchant for rapping about oneself in the third person. But Luther further leans on the metal-faced supervillain by weaving in a myriad of left-field pop culture references into his rhymes. “Harlem” alone includes nods to, among other things, Charlie Chaplin, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dr. Seuss, *Slumdog Millionaire*, the Charleston dance, and “The Thong Song”. And in the middle of all this prismatic weirdness, Luther describes himself as having “green, white and orange in his fucking blood”, while, in a skit-like moment, a thick Dublin accent bumps its way into the mix to ask, “Here, shop keeper, where the hell are your signs gone?” He’d later (unfairly) receive plenty of sneer in his home city for abandoning the local scene, but *Fish & Chips* has Dublin coursing through its veins. The vibe of the tape remains dialed back until the lively “Dia Dhuit” (present here under the title “Luther”) is unleashed. “68” could have been recorded in an ancient tomb, with Luther’s voice tuned to a deeper, murkier flow that, as Rejjie Snow, would later become his favored vocal style. The simply titled “Freestyle” rides a smoky jazz sample, with Luther declaring himself “your granny’s favorite rapper”, while revealing the novel way he dealt with childhood foes: “I used to rip their braces out their faces with my shinbone.” Because if, like DOOM, you’re going to declare yourself a villain, you need a villainous command of language. Later, we get the masterful “Meddling Loops”, a bugged-out, haunting song featuring spots from obscure British rappers Crave Moore and Jesse James. Moore goes to great lengths to insist that he does not smoke weed (“Never smoked cannabis/ Tuna pickle sandwiches” while claiming its “Second hand smoke kinda clogging up my arteries”) but the vibes are of the most blissful smoke session. *Fish & Chips* also includes the best beat to come off the mixing desk of Blindboy Boatclub. The “Sally Skag” instrumental loops and swoops with both the drama and weirdness of a Saturday morning cartoon, with Luther, in full freestyle mode, rising to the occasion by adlibbing a pack of entertaining gibberish. There’s more bugged-out, psychedelic silliness with “NeverMore”. And, down the stretch, you get the impossibly cool soul-bop “Trumpets”, in which Luther awakens to survey the post-party wreckage. Complete with a narrative and chorus courtesy of Fergus Alan, it’s the most fully realised song the mostly rhymes-over-beats *Fish & Chips* has to offer. Cancelling the EP without announcement was indicative of the persona Luther would seek to construct. He’s been an artist who has enjoyed cultivating a sense of enigma around him; a now-you-see-me elusiveness that’s become increasingly rare in the crush of social media. I’ve spent some time in his presence and witnessed firsthand that the details he has provided about his life don’t always sync up with reality. It’s as though he’s always trying to wrap himself in two cloaks of mystery. A first official EP eventually came in 2013 with the gorgeous four-song jazz-noir suite *Rejovich*, introducing the world to Rejjie Snow. If you’re enamored by this era, there is also [a set titled *Dublin*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ8izL%5Fd86Q&ref=dublininquirer.com), purported to be an unreleased mixtape but almost certainly another fan-made set. And it’s exceptional, a set of dimly lit Slum Village-nodding jazz rap that bridges the gap between Luther and Snow, starting with “68” and ending with a couple of official Rejjie Snow singles. Some songs in the middle were likely recorded during his Luther era and, thus, might have added even more ripples to any unofficial *Fish & Chips*, should you be inspired to craft your own version. Five years slipped by. Label interference almost certainly shackled Snow, but, finally, in 2018, his long-awaited debut album *Dear Annie*, which [I liked very much](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/rejjie-snow-dear-annie-review-irish-rapper-joins-hip-hop-stellar-club-1.3390937?ref=dublininquirer.com), was released. Another period of limited output followed. A huge personal highlight for Snow came when he was afforded the opportunity to [collaborate with DOOM himself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3VcX0V7vM&ref=dublininquirer.com). But, by 2020, the scarce amount of new music had become enough of a puzzle for me to [write a piece on the drought.](https://districtmagazine.ie/music/catch-that-villain-on-rejjie-snows-latest-drought/?ref=dublininquirer.com) There’s been a couple of albums since. The pleasant *Peace 2 Da World* was released in 2024 but barely made an echo. The man who always sought unbrightened corners has almost slipped totally from view. Rejjie Snow may still reemerge with a more hardened resolve and fresh sense of purpose. Or maybe he won’t. But we’ll always have *Fish & Chips* – or, at least, the fan edition, a cobbled together classic. The will was too strong to let Lecs Luther sink without a trace. ### Too many people are kept in their cells between 19 and 24 hours a day, says chief prison inspector URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/too-many-prisoners-are-kept-in-their-cells-between-19-and-24-hours-a-day-says-chief-prison-inspector/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T18:53:21.000Z **This article mentions self-harm and suicide. If you or somebody you know might need help, Samaritans’ national suicide prevention hotline can be contacted at 116 123 and jo@samaritans.org. You can also visit the HSE’s website* [**here*](https://www2.hse.ie/mental-health/services-support/supports-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) *for a range of additional resources.* When Mark was sent to Mountjoy Prison for driving offences in 2019, he felt he needed protection inside from some other prisoners. He didn’t realise, he said on Thursday, that he was choosing between safety from danger and something just as destructive. Locked up in isolation for between 22 and 24 hours a day, his mental health rapidly declined. The pandemic was bleak for those incarcerated, he says. Out-of-cell time could be minimal. He began self-harming, he said, and eventually attempted to take his own life. Mark, who asked for just his first name to be used for fear that being fully identified here could hurt his job prospects, said that the environment he found himself in prison did nothing for rehabilitation. In Mountjoy Prison, the number of prisoners on restricted regimes – which overlaps with, but doesn't map directly onto, whatis known in other jurisdictions as solitary confinement – hovers at around 50 percent, says Mark Kelly, chief inspector of prisons in Ireland. It's the extreme end of restricted regimes, and solitary confinement, that is the most troubling. Under the United Nations’ [Nelson Mandela Rules](https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/70/175?ref=dublininquirer.com), "prolonged solitary confinement" is when a prisoner is locked up, without meaningful human contact, for 22 or more hours a day, and for more than 15 days in a row. The UN considers this akin to torture. But across Irish prisons, there are people who get out of their cells for as little as 15 minutes a day, says the latest Office of the Inspector of Prisons Annual [Report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524213-prison-inspector-annual-report-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), which was published this month. "While the Mandela Rules are not legally binding in Ireland, they inform Irish Prison Service policy development,” a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said on Thursday. The negative impact these regimes of prolonged solitary confinement have on the mental wellbeing of incarcerated people is hard to quantify, says Andy O’Hara, co-ordinator with UISCE, the national advocacy group for people who use drugs. He has spoken in the last two days with several formerly incarcerated people who he works with – the majority of whom were in for non-violent offences – about the effect these regimes had on them, he said on Thursday. Coming back into the community, after life on restricted regime, they each found that their ability to communicate with other people had deteriorated, says O’Hara. For some, relationships with partners and even children collapsed after their release, he says. “They were so used to being on their own that they actually struggled to build and maintain relationships with family," he says. People for whom anger issues had never been a problem before found themselves irritable, sometimes even aggressive, over simple things, he says. Society and prisons have to understand there is a cost when you deny people their human rights, he says. “I don't just mean in the immediate sense,” says O'Hara. “This creates trauma. This creates mental health issues. This creates problems when people are treated poorly.” The impacts ripple through the community, he says. “The first thing you do is you internalise it and whether you self-medicate or whether you just suffer with your mental health, but the next port of call after that is to impact family and the community," he said. “There's a social cost and a community cost to when we treat people in a particular way,” he says. ## An incomplete picture The majority of people on heavily restricted regimes in Ireland have requested it, on the grounds of personal safety. [Rule 63](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2007/si/252/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com#article63) of the Prison Rules 2007 allows a prisoner to be separated from others who may pose a significant risk to them, at their own request or by a governor, based on information from An Garda Síochána or other intelligence sources. “Prisoners on Rule 63 may associate with others in compatible risk groups and are therefore not necessarily considered to be in solitary confinement,” the IPS spokesperson said. In the past, the IPS has published a quarterly “Census of Restricted Regimes Reports” with figures on the use of such regimes. But its most recent was in [July 2025.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524384-july-2025-restriction-regime-census/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) Work is ongoing on the next, which will be published when finalised, said the IPS spokesperson. The quarterly figures available though, which cover from July 2022 to July 2025, show fluctuations quarter by quarter for those locked up for more than 22 hours. The figures do not reflect whether someone has been under such a regime for longer than 15 days. Overall, the number had risen from 755 in April 2025 to 810 in July 2025 – up by 7 percent. Of those 810 prisoners in July 2025, 779 were on a restricted regime for protection reasons, as per Rule 63\. And of those, 730 were so at their own request. The number of people on 22-hour restricted regime was 216\. Meanwhile, there were 97 people on 23-hour restricted regime. The number on a 24-hour lockdown was six. But these figures don’t paint a complete picture, says Kelly, chief prison inspector. For people on Rule 63, something called a Restricted Regimes Record Book is kept, he says, It’s meant to include a high degree of detail about the daily lives of each and every person who is on Rule 63, he says. What the inspectors found in Mountjoy, which is common across the prison estate, Kelly says, is that the book only records what prisoners on Rule 63 are offered – not what they take up. So the IPS figures for July 2025 mean, really, that 216 people on 22-hour regime were offered up to two hours out of their cell every day. If there's no accurate recording of whether or not they actually take up that offer, nobody has a really complete picture of what's happening, he says. “And in reality, what we find from visiting these places, also talking to prisoners, is that after a while on this regime, there tends to be people who lose the will to leave their cell and go and take their exercise," says Kelly. “Because their lives are so restricted that after a certain time, they don't really see the point in doing it, and that's quite often not being recorded," Kelly says. Record keeping needs to be improved, he says. That way, staff could identify people who “almost become hermits in their own cells”, says Kelly. That should indicate a need for more active engagement with that person to encourage them to leave their cell or to engage with others, he says. “The pattern is very clear that if you end up on Rule 63, you are likely to have really quite a limited life and to have rather little time out of your cell,” he says. According to the IPS spokesperson: “The Irish Prison Service is committed to continually strengthening the consistency of record‑keeping and reporting on restricted regimes across the estate, supported by the new national policy and standard operating procedures approved in 2026.” So, are there people being locked down for over 22 hours a day, without meaningful contact, for more than 15 days in a row, as warned against by the Mandela Rules? “Absolutely, there are,” Kelly says. There is also a subset of prisoners, classified as Protection of All Others (PAO), who are even worse off. This is a small number of people for whom it would be unsafe to be in contact with any other prisoner, he says. “These might be people, for example, who have given evidence against gangland figures and done a plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence,” he says. They could be former police or prison officers, he says. These prisoners can end up with as little as 15 minutes a day out of their cells for prolonged periods of time, he says. “That's a real concern.” ## Protection not punishment While prisoners might be put on restrictive regime for their own protection, it doesn’t validate only letting them out of the cells for an hour or two, or less, a day, says Kelly. On the contrary, the regime should be better for people in this situation, given their lives are going to be more limited, he says. “They should be offered additional activities or additional visits to compensate for the more restricted conditions under which they are held,” he says. That echoes what was in the July 2025 [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524661-cpt-prison-report-july-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, after its members visited Ireland. Confinement to a cell for 21, 22, or even 23 and more hours each day may have “an extremely damaging effect on the mental, somatic and social health of the prisoner”, it says. “Therefore, while pursuing their goal of ensuring that all prisoners can serve their sentences under safe conditions, the Irish authorities should minimise the negative effects of such segregation, especially where it continues for more than a few weeks (as in the majority of cases),” the report says. “Additional measures must be taken in order to provide them with appropriate conditions and treatment; access to activities, educational courses and sport should be feasible,” it says. The report says that it “underlined the need for change in 2019 and was disappointed to find a similar situation in 2024 in these respects.” Kelly says the prevalence of restricted regimes is one of the major systemic issues that remains unaddressed in the Irish prison system. “And to some extent, as an issue, it's tended to be masked or overshadowed by the issue of overcrowding that affects the prison system as a whole,” he says. “But it really is an absolutely critical issue.” The IPS needs to invest far greater efforts in ensuring that people who, on first committal, are placed on Rule 63 are able to transition to more normal conditions and a more normal regime in a way that's actively managed and encouraged by prison staff, he says. Mark, who was sent to Mountjoy in 2019 and was kept under a heavily restricted protection regime, says that in his experience, [access to mental health and addiction supports](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-900-people-are-on-waitlists-for-addiction-supports-in-irelands-prisons/) were very, very limited. He was released from prison 17 months ago and has been in recovery from addiction since, he says. The report from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment acknowledged that providing a meaningful regime for prisoners who feel they need protection from others is a “significant burden on prison management and IPS resources”. “This is compounded by the sheer number of prisoners in the Irish prison estate needing protection, and puts a massive strain on the prison system as a whole,” it says. The spokesperson for the prison service said there is extensive international research documenting the negative impact of prolonged confinement. And that a “systematic review synthesising this research is currently being completed by a UCC researcher in collaboration with the Irish Prison Service”. The IPS experiences staffing pressures at times, the spokesperson said. The increase in the prison population has a direct impact on the operation of prisons, including the redeployment of staff for court escorts and hospital appointments, they said. “These can influence the delivery of certain activities.” “However, prisons are required to meet the minimum out‑of‑cell time provided for in [SI 276/2017](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2017/si/276/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com) Prison (Amendment) Rules 2017\] and regimes are managed to ensure compliance with the Prison Rules,” they said. O’Hara, co-ordinator with UISCE, says that some of the formerly incarcerated people he works with tell him that they really struggled after life on restricted regime. “You get out, you're just out there, and it's suck it up and get on with things,” he says. “There's no awareness from people that you're engaging with.” One man told him that, after starting a job post-release, he soon found he simply couldn’t function in that environment. That former prisoner told him that he felt prison had stripped him of his social skills and abilities. Another person O’Hara spoke to told him that, having not been into drugs before, he started using on the outside to cope with his experiences on restricted regime. “He said there was very little sympathy for him.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In need of €439 million to reduce carbon emissions, the council got €70,500 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-need-of-eur439-million-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-the-council-got-eur70-500/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:28:21.000Z When Dublin City Council costed out its priority projects to reduce carbon emissions in two target neighbourhoods, they [put the bill at](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-finally-get-sight-of-plans-to-squash-carbon-emissions-in-ballymun-and-ringsend/) around €439 million. They recently got word that the Department of Climate has allocated €70,500 to help the projects along, said Darby Mullen, a senior executive engineer at the council. For now, at least. "It's not a lot of money," said Mullen, at a meeting of the council's climate action committee on Wednesday. It needs to be spent before the end of the year too, he said, so they'll have to plan carefully how to squeeze the most out of it. The idea of "decarbonising zones" first emerged in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Each council area had to chose one or two neighbourhoods to trial local projects to accelerate decarbonisation. Councils had to target greenhouse-gas emission cuts of 51 percent by 2030 – so within three and a half years from now – and then hit net-zero by 2050, in line with national targets. In Dublin, Ballymun and the twins, Ringsend and Poolbeg, were chosen. Months of consultation run by the council and Codema, the energy agency, with community groups fed into reports drawn up in February 2024\. Then came crickets. Funding the plans has been a challenge, Mullen [told councillors back in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-finally-get-sight-of-plans-to-squash-carbon-emissions-in-ballymun-and-ringsend/) January. He'd been making the case to the Department of Climate's Decarbonising Zone Advisory Group that councils needed cash, he said. At that point, the council had been told the idea was to tap into “indirect funding”, said Mullen. In other words, funding from the council’s stretched capital budget, and other already existing streams and projects – for initiatives such as public lighting upgrades, and retrofitting grants. As well as liaising with other agencies that pay for stuff, such as the National Transport Authority (NTA) on public transport. At Wednesday's meeting, councillors said that they weren't impressed with the amount that the department has now stumped up in direct funding. "It seems very very small indeed," said Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan, the committee chair. Indeed, it was great to see some recognition of the need to support the activities in decarbonising zones, years down the line, said Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne. But "I have to express my disappointment that this is basically funding for more talking". On the phone on Thursday, Byrne said she knows many of the projects put forward in plans to decarbonise Ballymun and Ringsend and Poolbeg do fall under the remit of other government bodies, which already have funding streams and plans – like active-travel infrastructure under the NTA. That fact also raises the question of whether the council can use any of the €70,500 on active travel infrastructure, Byrne said. "And the answer is probably not, as they have funding from the NTA," she said. But almost every project has a funding gap, she said. So any extra cash would ideally be used to fast-track those projects that have been long-fingered, she said – for interim active-travel measures, pending Bus Connects, or to retrofit people's homes, for example. Funding is complicated and must be accounted for, she said. But she was at that moment walking through Ringsend Park, and looking at the parched grass and thinking how the time for more talk is over, she said. "We just need to be seeing funding on the table for projects that we actively know are going to help us reduce carbon emissions," she said. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that it is "continuously reviewing funding streams that could potentially support the register of opportunities contained within the Decarbonising Zone plans". "Additional resources will assist in those efforts," they said. The Department of Climate didn't respond to queries about funding, sent on Wednesday. ## The groundwork Working out how to spend that €70,500 wisely will be the job of the council's Climate Action Team, said Mullen, at this week's climate committee meeting. The roadmaps put together by Codema in February 2024 for how to decarbonise [Ballymun](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513326-ballymun-dz-plan-draft-report/?q=grid&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p34), and [Ringsend and Poolbeg](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513327-ringsend-and-poolbeg-dz-draft-report/?q=HGVs&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11), ran to more than 100 pages each. They included breakdowns of where carbon emissions were coming from, and how much they'd have to be cut by to meet targets – by 21,820 tCO2 by 2030 for Ballymun, and by 8,780 tCO2 by 2030 for Ringsend and Poolbeg. And, the reports suggested a suitcase of measures to achieve that. Some of the measures were national – such as the wider electricity-grid decarbonisation, and bus electrification. Others were more specific. For Ballymun, the report listed [measures such as](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513326-ballymun-dz-plan-draft-report/?q=grid&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p34) "rooftop solar PV panels and home energy upgrades for about 3,652 homes with BERs between C1 and G". As well as installing heat pumps for big commercial users such as The Helix Centre for the Performing Arts at DCU, Musgraves Ballymun, and the Travelodge. And getting 12 percent of current car uses to move to more sustainable modes of transport. Community objectives were also included, based on votes from local residents. Changes such as expanding Buddy's Farmers Market to the centre of Ballymun, expanding community gardens, and improving public transport links. In Ringsend and Poolbeg, the report [agains suggested measures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513327-ringsend-and-poolbeg-dz-draft-report/?q=HGVs&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11) such as "installing rooftop solar PV panels and home energy upgrades to a B2 BER standard for about 2,408 homes", heat pumps for the top commercial uses, and shifting 14 percent of current car users to other sustainable modes. Community objectives also feature: such as redesigning Ringsend library as a climate-action hub, addressing heavy traffic, and developing neglected areas into climate-friendly spaces. ## Back to talking? At Wednesday's meeting, Mullen ran through with councillors what the department's current expectations are from the funding. "They're expected to be community driven," said Mullen, of the decarbonising zones. Councils are encouraged to take risks with the projects that they roll out, he said. This year is being called a "pilot year" for the decarbonising zones, he said. While the council gets €70,500 from this "demonstrator fund", he also noted that it does also get some money for local projects [through the](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/publications/climate-action-fund/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Climate Action Fund. How the funding from the demonstrator fund is to be used is pretty broad, Mullen said, and more flexible than sometimes. But they do have to spend at least €8,000 on community engagement, and run three events this year, he said. It's no sure thing more funding will be there in future years, but the outputs of this round could inform that, he said. Mullen said the money was to be focused on community outreach and small-scale projects. But councillors said they were unconvinced that much could be achieved with such a small sum. Flanagan, the Fine Gael councillor, asked what projects the Climate Action Team has in mind. Mullen said the decarbonising plans for the two areas have projects outlined in "registers of opportunities". But they are ambitious so the money won't go far on those, he said. He doesn't have a list right now as to what they intend to spend it on, he said. Byrne, the Green Party councillor, reasoned out loud that the €70,500 would be split evenly between the two areas. "Okay, that's not going to to go very far on capital projects," she said. The council has actually done a lot of prep work for these zones and what is needed, she said, so what is actually expected from the demonstrator fund. "Where's the impact? Where's the actual carbon reduction impact? Which is what the \[decarbonising zones\] were originally designed to do," she said. She can't speak for Ballymun but she knows residents in Ringsend just want to see things happen, said Byrne. "We're done talking, we just need to start implementing the project." Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore said she had similar concerns, that this bit of direct funding would be focused on talking and branding, rather than real delivery of climate action. How is it a "demonstrator" fund, she said, if it's not going to result in something people can see or experience? "Then what exactly is it demonstrating?" she asked. Mullen said they'll have to judge success on whether communities feel it was a worthwhile use of €70,500. ### Should the council have to pay taxes on city properties it owns and leaves vacant or derelict? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/should-the-council-have-to-pay-taxes-on-city-properties-it-owns-and-leaves-vacant-or-derelict/ Last updated: 2026-08-04T23:04:01.000Z At the moment, if the council owns a piece of [vacant land larger than 0.05 hectares](https://www.localgov.ie/services/planning-and-building/vacant-sites?ref=dublininquirer.com) in an area that is zoned as suitable for housing, it has to pay the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) to the Revenue Commissioners. But if the council owns a derelict site, it doesn't pay the Derelict Sites Levy, which it is responsibile for collecting from others, and gets to keep [the money from.](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-01-22/139/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Starting later this year, though, that levy is due to to be replaced with a Derelict Property Tax collected by the Revenue Commissioners – and it's unclear right now who that money will be passed on to, to spend. A recently published [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524275-local-democracy-taskforce-final-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Local Democracy Taskforce, which the government [set up last year](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/local-democracy-taskforce/?ref=dublininquirer.com), says that no matter who collects there, it should actually be councils that benefit. The council should benefit from the RZLT and the Derelict Property Tax and should ring-fence the money to tackle vacancy and dereliction, the report says. Even if the council itself sits on long-term vacant or derelict property, it should still get the cash back that it pays in taxes, the report says. “Should the local authority have a liability, ensure this liability accrues back to it as beneficiary of the tax,” it says. But if the taxes are intended to prompt owners to bring disused properties back into use, couldn't that work to motivate the council as well? Dublin City Council owns a lot of long-term [vacant, derelict and disused land and buildings](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-the-council-sitting-on-long-vacant-and-derelict-buildings/) across the city. It faces thousands in fines over a long-term [vacant site it owns in Kilmainham, for example.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-prominent-site-in-kilmainham-sits-vacant-council-liable-for-tens-of-thousands-in-fines/) Ciarán Cuffe, a former Green Party councillor, TD and MEP, points to a long-term vacant site on Bridgefoot Street and says the council should face taxes for disused land and buildings it owns, as a way to incentivise action on them. “I strongly think so,” he says. “All around the city there are Dublin City Council-owned sites that we could be making better use of, ” he says. “I think an incentive is needed to tackle the issue, and if the money goes back, the incentive disappears.” The council did face fines under the now-phased out Vacant Sites Levy for the [disused site](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524313-councillor-darcy-lonergans-question-re-site-to-rear-of-134-137-thomas-st-westdocx/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it owns at the top of Bridgefoot Street, near Thomas Street. And [2026 RZLT map](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28475947/rzlt-mape-2026-final.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4JBBEJ7KWPNZQB7I%2F20260730%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4%5Frequest&X-Amz-Date=20260730T231238Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=4ad66715afa87fb3d8e51182cb6873979b871720df70ad35a6227da6f8ccf50f&ref=dublininquirer.com) shows the site is subject to that annual charge too. Despite these incentives to do something with it, though, it's still vacant. People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy disagrees that making the council liable going forward too, and depriving it of the money, would change things. “As a principle, I think the money should go back into the local authority,” he says. The council can then use the money to build new homes or refurbish existing ones, he says. Usually when the council has long-term vacant homes for example, it's because there is no funding stream available to do them up, says Reddy. So there is no point in further starving the council of funds, he says. “Overall I’d favour the carrot approach rather than the stick,” he says. ## Councils need cash The Local Democracy Taskforce report says councils should have more capacity to raise revenue. “Local government that is more financially autonomous, with greater capacity to raise and optimise its own resources,” is a key objective, says the report.A big part of that is the ability to borrow more. But it also means getting more in taxes. As well as the Derelict Sites Levy and the Residential Zoned Land Tax, the report also says the council should benefit from the Vacant Homes Tax. Owners pay that on homes that were not lived in for at least 30 days in the previous year. There are [exemptions](https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/vacant-homes-tax/exemptions/index.aspx?ref=dublininquirer.com) where an owner has recently died, or the house is up for sale, among others. The amount of the tax changes depending on the value of the property. It is [seven times the Local Property Tax rate for last year. ](https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/vacant-homes-tax/apply/rate.aspx?ref=dublininquirer.com) It's unclear yet whether the government intends to take this recommendation from the Local Democracy Taskforce. The government's [implementation plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524843-local-democracy-taskforce-government-implementation-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the taskforce report's recommendations, published 22 July, says this would require new legislation, and will be considered as part of the ongoing development of Derelict Property Tax policy. Councils should be able to raise money by levying a tourist tax, introducing congestion charges, leveraging EU funding and “ensuring local authorities are the direct beneficiaries of land-use taxes”, the report says. ## Council-owned – disused or derelict In January 2024, Green Party Councillor Darcy Lonergan asked what the council was doing with the [disused site](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524313-councillor-darcy-lonergans-question-re-site-to-rear-of-134-137-thomas-st-westdocx/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it owns at the top of Bridgefoot Street, near the corner with Thomas Street. The council chief executive’s response indicated that it hadn’t decided yet. “The site is managed by Property Management and currently in use by the Council’s Parks Department as a temporary depot facility while options for use are considered,” says the written reply to Lonergan. On Thursday afternoon, the gates of the site were open. There were cars and vans parked there, and bushes were growing around the fences in places. In January 2024, Lonergan asked the council what it is doing with its land in Bridgefoot Street to bring it back from dereliction. The land is not on the [derelict sites register](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2026-07/derelict-sites-register-10.07.2026.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). But it was on the vacant sites register back in 2018, according to a [council report](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s20634/04a%20September%20City%20Council%20and%20Adjourned%20Minutes.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). The council has not yet responded to a query sent Thursday afternoon about what its plan is for this site on Bridgefoot Street. Over in the north inner-city, the council owns a long-term vacant [three-storey building at 19 Buckingham Street, ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-council-sits-on-disused-dracula-house-for-11-years-as-vacancy-sucks-the-lifeblood-of-the-city/)which is boarded up and with greenery growing out of it, which also doesn’t appear on the derelict sites register. If the home appears “ruinous”, “dangerous”, or “unsightly”, then the council can put it on the register. In 2018, the council painted Dracula-themed murals on the house and erected a plaque. Bram Stoker lived in a house nearby, at 17 Buckingham Street in the mid-1800s. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Dracula-House.-Credit_-Laoise-Neylon-1.webp) Photo by Laoise Neylon. Dublin City Council also owns quite a few homes that are on the[ derelict sites register,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524673-derelict-sites-register-10072026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Connaught Street, Fergusson Road, and Chapelizod, among other locations. It bought those homes because they were disused or derelict, said Robert Buckle, a council senior engineer at the Central Area Committee meeting [in April. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-a-bad-definition-of-derelict-partly-behind-the-bad-dereliction-in-dublin/) The council succeeded in restoring around 100 homes under the Buy and Renew Scheme, turning long-term vacant and derelict properties into social housing, Buckle said. But it got stuck with some houses that need more work and are too expensive to do up, he said. Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, was among a group on the council’s housing committee who recently visited some of those long-term vacant and derelict homes to try to work out what to do with them. Some need to be demolished and fully rebuilt, says Reddy. But “there is no funding stream available", he says. The solution, he says, is for the council to be provided with funds to do up or rebuild the homes. “What we need is much more decisiveness,” says Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne, who has been pushing for details of all council-owned vacant homes. “Whether it's a carrot or a stick approach.” Some of the derelict homes the council got stuck with were initially approved for funding, he says. Then, while the purchase was underway, the Department of Housing changed its protocols so the council no longer had a way to renovate the homes, he says. That, says Byrne, was not fair on the council. “It was incredibly frustrating for the council officials,” he says. “I blame the bureaucracy.” Regardless, he says the council must act to prevent dereliction because the buildings are deteriorating and it's detracting from the overall appearance of the city. If the council doesn’t have the resources to bring a home back into use, it should sell it on to another owner that can do the work, says Byrne. “If it's clear that we can’t do it up, we need to move it on immediately,” he says. Reddy say the council should be resourced to maximise its assets and do up the homes. ## Residential Zoned Land Tax At the moment, the council has to pay the Residential Zoned Land Tax, which is collected by Revenue. In Kilmainham, the council has [sat on a vacant site for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-prominent-site-in-kilmainham-sits-vacant-council-liable-for-tens-of-thousands-in-fines/), racking up thousands in fines, following issues over restrictions attached to the title, and the collapse of a charity housing plan for it. So the taskforce recommendations, if implemented, would mean a major shift in that the council would face no penalty for sitting on large tracts of residential land and failing to develop them. It would get that money back. Cuffe says one of the reasons sites get stuck is that the council doesn’t have enough senior project managers. It has a shortage of personnel who can take on a big project like tackling dereliction or developing College Green, he says. The solution is that central government should fund the council to hire the staff it needs, he says. But the council should have to face nonrefundable taxes if it fails to fix up its properties, he says. “You need to concentrate the mind and hitting them where it hurts is the way to do it,” says Cuffe. ### The council plans to crack down on people who leave their bins on footpaths all the time URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-plans-to-crack-down-on-people-who-leave-their-bins-on-footpaths-all-the-time/ Last updated: 2026-08-04T23:06:54.000Z Dublin City Council plans to tighten its waste by-laws to make sure households and businesses don't leave their wheelie bins out on footpaths day and night because they don't want to use up space inside, a council official said on Wednesday. To date, the council has been reasonably tolerant, said Derek Kelly, an executive manager, to councillors on the Climate Action and Urban Resilience Strategic Policy Committee on 29 July. But as the council bans putting out rubbish in bags in more and more bits of the city – part of its drive to clean up streets – it intends to clamp down on people who respond by switching to bins but leaving them out all the time, Kelly said. "We will be fining them," said Kelly. "We haven't to date because people have been trying to do the right thing. But the by-laws are clear: you are not allowed to store your wheelie bins on the public footpath." As part of its changes, the council is to start to revise its waste by-laws this year, he said. "They need upgrading because there's people finding loopholes." At the moment, some people leave bins out all the time, based on a seven-day waste collection agreement with their waste collector, he said. "And that's all because they don't want to store the waste inside, or in their yards." At the meeting, Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne had raised concerns about how the bag ban may lead to more clutter, and so blockages on footpaths for pedestrians and those with disabilities. She foresaw more people in smaller homes just leaving bins out all the time, she said. "People will and they already do." One solution would be to have big, shared bins or compactors that people could walk over to and throw their rubbish into. Then they wouldn't have to store it at home in bags, or bins. Byrne said she was frustrated that such big, shared compactors have recently been introduced in areas of the city centre, but not elsewhere, in residential neighbourhoods that could benefit. Installing shared compactors elsewhere just isn't possible right now, said Kelly. That's because of how the waste collection system is currently set up, he said. Shared compactors were possible in the city centre because there are fewer waste companies collecting there, so they could strike a commercially workable agreement. "In the city centre, we were dealing primarily with two operators," he said. But in areas with more operators, putting in shared rubbish infrastructure like this is a real challenge, he said. "The world we're living in is that the market is a side by side, open market. I can't change that, that's not within my gift," said Kelly. If the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment changes the waste management system after the review that it is currently doing, then new options would open up for the council, he said. But the current changes the council is bringing in are the best option right and it needs to do this to deliver a cleaner city, he said. His teams can't keep responding non-stop to ripped bags and rubbish strewn all over the street, he said. "We can't do the day job because we're responding to domestic waste being ripped open." Byrne said she was frustrated that shared compactors were off the table. "I find it really upsetting that it's a commercial decision, dictated by the private operators." [Government opposes bill to overhaul bin-collection system in effort to keep city’s streets cleaner and prices downThey’re still thinking about the best way forward, and that might be improving the current system rather than replacing it, said Alan Dillon, Minister of State with responsibility for the Circular Economy.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-55ed0ad3-cf4c-4104-b63d-5516ff7f87e0.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Bin-truck-1-1-c53d2a71-101b-447c-9489-04abb464ba92.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-opposes-bill-to-overhaul-bin-collection-system-in-effort-to-keep-citys-streets-cleaner-and-prices-down/) ## Following the plan At the meeting, Kelly ran through progress on the many changes that the council has been making to waste management and street cleaning in the city. It has more staff, better sweepers and street washers, and is upgrading its IT systems so the council can better check work that is done, he said. Preparing the reverse-register pilot – identifying which households don't have waste contracts, and targeting them for checks – is also moving ahead, he said. There have been GDPR challenges but now, software is being developed to enable secure transfer of the data from waste-collection companies to the council, he said. [Yes, waste-collection companies can legally give the council data on who doesn’t pay them for bins - Dublin InquirerConcerns have been raised about data protection, but an expert says the council can collate this data if it shows that it is necessary and proportionate.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-69a50f37-06c3-43a1-9b6d-2e4dd8627f40.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/illegal-dumping-on-north-circular-road-by-laoise-neylon-b7e8e765-abaa-4fbe-baec-26b0692224f4.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/yes-waste-collection-companies-can-legally-give-the-council-data-on-who-doesnt-pay-them-for-bins/) Also, though, the council intends to keep extending the removal of the derogation allowing waste to be presented in plastic bags on kerbside for collection, he said, with Dublin 7 still next in line in "phase three". "We hope to move as agreed, in October 2026," he said. The plan to force a switch from bags to bins has not been received well by some Dublin 7 residents. [Revolt continues in Dublin 7 over proposed shift from bags to binsThe change is part of the council’s efforts to stop foraging foxes and hungry gulls from from tearing open bags left out for collection, scattering rubbish.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-21811013-4232-4fa1-a349-d9ef35487fee.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Marie-Sherlock-and-D7-locals-at-public-meeting-source-Michael-Lanigan-1-881ba101-8817-452f-aa26-0b502bee0f66.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/revolt-continues-in-dublin-7-over-proposed-shift-from-bags-to-bins/) The bin-bag derogation has already been removed in two parts of the city. At the end of last year, in "phase one", the council [removed the derogation](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chugs-forward-with-bin-bag-ban-for-some-streets-in-the-city-centre/) for 90 streets in the south-inner city. In May, with "phase two" it [removed it for](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chugs-forward-with-bin-bag-ban-for-some-streets-in-the-city-centre/) 110 streets in the north-inner city. At the meeting this week, Kelly said the switch away from bin bags has made a major difference to cleanliness in the city centre. Crews no longer have to do so much tidy-up from bags ripped open and rubbish spread around. They're lifting 20 tonnes less of rubbish a month in the "phase one" area, because of the bin-bag ban, he said. They're only a couple of months into phase two, but expect the same there, he said. ## For all? In both "phase one" and "phase two", the council had negotiated with bin companies to put in place a few big waste compactors, for those who said they didn't have space for bins inside the homes. This way, they could lug their bags to the waste compactors and post them in. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Photo-of-the-waste-compactors-1.JPG) Compactors in Temple Bar. Photo by Lois Kapila. At the meeting, Byrne, the Green Party councillor, said she was still concerned about the impact of getting rid of the derogation in more places, especially in neighbourhoods with small homes and small apartments, without the option of compactors. "I understand all the reasons why we need to get rid of bin bags," she said. But street clutter is a major issue and there's the risk that people leaving wheelie bins out all the time will add to that, she said. "Why are we going back to that? And why can't we have shared bins?" she said. Kelly said the council can't force commercial operators to sign up to offer shared bins. In areas with loads of operators, the idea runs aground on questions around how to split revenue share, how billing works, how you give people access, he said. But the council has tried to negotiate solutions with waste companies, he said. "They're creating bespoke pricing models, pay per lift, annual costs." A big change is companies now offering smaller caddies – small stackable rubbish bins – of 45 litres, he said, which are easier for people to store. Households with a small amount of waste should go for that, he said. And, "if you have a huge amount of waste that you're producing, look at how you can reduce the waste that you're producing yourself, you know." Meanwhile, if a household is putting out three or four big black sacks a week, they're already storing them somewhere, and why not use a wheelie bin? he said. "I'd always ask that question: what are you doing with it at the moment?" Whether big waste compactors, as they currently operate, would be welcomed in more residential areas is also unclear. On Fownes Street Upper, among the busy shops of Temple Bar, Alan Cooke isn't convinced that the shared waste compactors just down the way are the solution to dirty streets. Yes, bin bags ripped by gulls were a problem, said Cooke, who runs John J Cooke & Co. Ltd, the silver jewellry and trophy shop. "I do agree, but this is not the answer." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Bags-piling-up-when-the-compactors-were-broken--l---leaking--r-.-Images-courtesy-of-Alan-Cooke..jpg) Bags piling up when the compactors were broken, and leaking. Images courtesy of Alan Cooke. Look at the footpaths, said Cooke, walking towards the compactors and pointing to black streaks across the pavement and shards of rubbish in the gutters. Those are from people dragging their bins to the compactors, he said. The stink is bad too, he said. Liquids and sludge can drip from the compactors, said Cooke. The machines break down sometimes, and bags pile up next to them, he said. "Seagulls are just camping out on the roofs, waiting for the compactors to break down," he said, pointing up a few storeys. Meanwhile, so many waste vehicles drop by the compactors to leave waste from businesses that there can be queues, said Cooke. "The compactor isn't doing what it said," he said. He has been writing to the council since before the compactors were put in with these concerns, most recently in the middle of this month, to Dublin's Lord Mayor, Fianna Fáil's Daryl Barron. In May, Kelly had written to Cooke, acknowledging his concerns about the pilot. "While challenges can arise in the early stages of implementation, we are actively monitoring performance and will make adjustments where necessary," he said. At Wednesday's council meeting, Byrne, the Green Party councillor, had talked too about the possibilities of putting waste compactors underground, in residential areas. There's a lot of infrastructure, pipes and wires, underground, said Kelly, while above ground it could prove hard to find a household that wants a waste compactor outside. But again, he said, the biggest barrier to shared compactors in other parts of the city, is the number of private operators and the system. ### The council is pushing ahead with plans to make the Tenters an architectural conservation area URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-is-pushing-ahead-with-plans-to-make-the-tenters-an-architectural-conservation-area/ Last updated: 2026-08-19T14:15:45.000Z As a young child, Marie O’Reilly says she noticed the unusual embellishments on the houses on her street and the neighbouring ones in the Tenters in Dublin 8\. She spotted that some of the houses “have these fabulous little red brick features”, she says. The houses on her street are similar, but they are not the same. Many of the houses in the Tenters have different detailing on the walls, roofs, gables, railings, windows and even on the rooftops. “The original character of the area is quite special,” says O’Reilly, by phone on Tuesday. “It’s a mishmash of design styles.” The Tenters area is officially called the Fairbrother’s Fields Estate and was the first estate in Ireland to use [garden-city design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden%5Fcity%5Fmovement?ref=dublininquirer.com), says O’Reilly. So the houses have generous gardens front and back. It was a public-housing project, and the local authority blew its budget, says O'Reilly. Her family moved in when the homes were completed in 1922and her mother still lives in the original family home. “We got really, really lucky,” she says. She is the fourth generation of her family living in the Tenters. O’Reilly is among the Tenters residents who campaigned for the area to be designated as an architectural conservation area (ACA) to protect the character of the buildings. The neighbourhood is on a priority list for the designation in the council's [city development plan, 2022 to 2028\. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28522256-final-1-11-built-heritage-and-archaeology/?ref=dublininquirer.com) And this week, a council spokesperson said that the council is pushing ahead with the plan. “It is anticipated that the statutory public consultation for The Tenters ACA will commence in September when a full suite of documents about the area will be published,” says the council spokesperson, “with a final decision by the Council in December.” The Tenters is a historic, low-rise residential area, but next door, a stone's throw away, the Blackpitts area is shooting up with high-rise student accommodation and hotels. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Oscar-Square-in-the-Tenters.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-2.jpg) Photo by Sam Tranum. ## The Fairbrother's Field Estate The Fairbrother's Fields Estate was the name of the original housing project, which was completed in 1922, according to a [Dublin City Council documentary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search%5Fquery=dublin+city+council+the+tenters&ref=dublininquirer.com) commemorating its centenary, in which O’Reilly is featured together with council conservation officers and historian Cathy Scuffil. The name "the Tenters" is a much older name for the area as it derives from the French Huguenots who lived in the area and were often employed in the weaving industry, says Scuffil in the documentary. When the housing project was completed in the 1920s, it was like winning the lotto for residents of public housing moving out of slum tenements, says Scuffil in the documentary. The new homes got front and back gardens, inspired by garden-city design, an urban planning movement at the time, and the architects designed different features on each house. In some streets, similar houses sit side by side but have different types of brick on the facade of houses; some have detailing in the windows. Some chimney stacks have ornate brick designs, and some front doors have stained-glass detailing. There are differences in the railings around the front gardens too. Some have plain railings while others have arched entryways, all of which is shown in the documentary. “This was a housing scheme for the general public, but there was a real aspiration to provide good quality architecture,” says council conservation officer John Beattie, in the film. Over the years, some homeowners have renovated in ways that erased some of the original design features, says O’Reilly by phone. She hopes that the new designation as an architectural conservation area will “retain the character of the variety of architectural features of the homes”. Designed and built by the British government, the estate fell into the hands of the new Free State government in 1922, and they used it as "one of the residential schemes for tenant purchase in the new state", said council conservation officer Niamh Kiernan, in the film. While some of the surrounding streets have been developed as high-rise, at times overshadowing the Tenters, none of those tall buildings is inside the new architectural conservation area, says the council spokesperson. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Blackpitts-1.jpg) Development in nearby Blackpitts. Photo by Sam Tranum. ## What does it mean to be an architectural conservation area? “An Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) is a designated area of special architectural, historical or cultural interest,” says the council website. The designation as an architectural conservation area could mean that some types of new development are not allowed, and it could restrict the changes owners can make to existing houses, says Ciarán Cuffe, a former Green Party councillor, TD, and MEP, who is also an architect. The detailed plan the council agrees will outline the specific rules, but he expects it could cover things like the heights permitted for new buildings and the types of materials that can be used when renovating the fronts of houses. “It might say you can’t lash in a six-storey building next to a two-storey house,” says Cuffe. The architectural conservation area also helps keep the council on track by outlining rules for street furniture, he says. Street furniture might be things like bins, benches, lighting, and signs. “It gives greater protection to an area,” says former council planner Kieran Rose. “There is an additional requirement to maintain the character of the building,” he says. The council will introduce a set of rules for any building that impacts the appearance of the street from the front, says Rose. The designation is totally different from a building being on the record of protected structures, though, he says, because the restrictions are “purely external”. There are no restrictions on what can be changed inside the building and the rules are unlikely to extend to the back garden, he says. “This is not a protected structure,” he says. “A protected structure is very strict.” Protected structures sometimes remain vacant for a long time because it is expensive to refurbish them. But Rose says he doesn’t think being a conservation area would significantly impact the cost of refurbishment work to homes. However, some work that is currently exempt from planning permission might not be exempt in the architectural conservation area, says Rose. For example, a homeowner won’t be allowed to remove sash windows and install PVC windows, because that would significantly alter the appearance of the house from the front, he says. O’Reilly, the Tenters resident, says she thinks the new rules will mean homeowners need to get planning permission to install a small porch, whereas in other areas they wouldn't. Whether things like installing solar panels are allowed or require planning permission would depend on the rules the council introduces, says Rose, the former planner. Cuffe, of the Green Party, says it is positive that the council is moving to protect the Tenters area but it's a pity that it hasn’t done more to protect the surrounding area, pointing to all the changes to nearby Newmarket. There has been a huge amount of development nearby, he says. “Are they closing the stable door after the horse has bolted? In some respects, yes,” he says. ## Adding more ACAs Dublin City Council currently has 25 architectural conservation areas. Under the [city development plan 2022 to 2028](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28522256-final-1-11-built-heritage-and-archaeology/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the council committed to prioritise the designation of 16 more areas as architectural conservation areas in total. They've already introduced an ACA in Iveagh Gardens in Crumlin [last December](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/g5680/Public%20minutes%2001st-Dec-2025%2018.15%20Monthly%20Council%20Meeting.pdf?T=11&ref=dublininquirer.com), leaving 15 more on their priority list. Local councillors recently agreed plans at the Central Area Committee to designate [Collins Barracks Museum](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28522271-with-reference-to-the-proposed-draft-variation-no-13-of-the-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-202-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) together with Arbour Hill and Croppies Acres park, as an ACA. That will come to the full council for the final seal of approval in September. The 13 areas that remain on the list are, in alphabetical order: Aungier Street; "Brú Chaoimhín & Environs" on Cork Street; Ceannt Fort in Kilmainham; the CIÉ Estate in Inchicore; Grove Park in Rathmines; Harold’s Cross; Henrietta Street; James's Street and the west end of Thomas Street; Marino; Moore Street; Parnell Square; "Rialto Court & Environs"; and Stoneybatter. “The Development Plan was adopted in December 2022, and we are progressing with the workload outlined in the plan as resources permit,” says the council spokesperson. ### Years on, danger spots for cyclists along Rathmines to city centre corridor persist URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-on-danger-spots-for-cyclists-along-rathmines-to-city-centre-corridor-persist/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:37:06.000Z About 2pm last Wednesday afternoon, Aitor Arribas was walking his bike along towards town along the footpath next to Lower Rathmines Road. He lives in the Docklands, but had been in Rathmines to pick up something from a shop, and was headed back into town, Arribas said. The route north past Lidl and the other shops, and up to this spot nearish the Spar and the canal, didn't feel safe, though, he said. "That's why I was actually walking." Indeed, a look at the map on [collisiontracker.ie](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?ref=dublininquirer.com), which includes years of reports from cyclists, as well as – recently added – years of data from the Road Safety Authority (RSA), shows a dense snake of yellow, orange, and black dots along this corridor from Dame Street down South Great Georges Street all the way down Rathmines Road. Each dot is a report of a hazard, near miss, collision, or fatality, from 2016 to present. Junctions that were trouble spots a decade ago continue to attract reports of dangers today. Like the intersection of Lower Rathmines Road and Richmond Hill and Military Road. "This is definitely an awful junction,” Colm Ryder of the Dublin Cycling Campaign [said back in 2015](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-here-s-a-place-to-avoid-part-ii/). "Repeated near misses at evening rush hour with car drivers turning right onto Richmond Hill," said [a report](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recs8Uxrul0PUTYGN&ref=dublininquirer.com) to collisiontracker.ie in 2024\. "Almost hit by a driver turning right from Rathmines Road," said [another report](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recuUruX29rs7A8ti&ref=dublininquirer.com), from April of 2026. Or the intersection between Lower Rathmines Road and Grove Road, at south side of the canal. At the time, Brian Reddy [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-here-s-a-place-to-be-careful-part-iii/) he often cycled near Portobello Bridge and it could be a scary spot for cyclists. And still today, it can be scary. "Car turned left into me at Rathmines Road while I was travelling straight on towards Grove Road on the bike lane," [says a report](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recB2HtvK9n3z7zNG&ref=dublininquirer.com) from April of 2026\. There have been some improvements for cyclists over the years along corridor, some segments of cycle lane protected by plastic bollards, for example. But the big change that's in the works is a massive revamp of the whole corridor, as part of the long-running, ongoing, massive BusConnects project meant to improve bus service in the city. The [Rathfarnham/Templeogue to City Centre Core Bus Corridor](https://templeoguerathfarnhamscheme.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which would go right up through Rathmines and into town, would reduce private car traffic through this segment, and add cycle lanes along most of it, segregated from vehicle lanes by kerbs. "The plans are good, generally speaking," said Ciarán Ferrie, a local resident, who has reported near-misses along the route to the collisiontracker.ie. "My main thing about the route is it can't come soon enough." However, although the National Transport Authority (NTA) [got planning permission](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/316272?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the project in December 2024, some residents affected by it have gone to court to challenge it. There are four or five cases, all to do with details of the project in Terenure and Rathgar, says Brendan Heneghan, one of the plaintiffs. He said he expects them to all be heard together later this year. 0:00 /0:11 1× The density of reports to collisiontracker.ie. By Brian Rogers. Note the line of tall towers down the Rathmines to city centre corridor. ## The plans for cycle lanes As part of BusConnects, the NTA is planning [12 core bus corridors](https://busconnects.ie/cities/dublin/core-bus-corridors/?ref=dublininquirer.com), radiating out from the city centre like spokes on a bicycle wheel. They're all meant to redesign the roads to clear the way for buses to run faster, more reliably, and more punctually – and while they are at it, to add better cycle lanes and footpaths. Combined, this is meant to make it easier for people to get where they need to go in Dublin while spending less time sitting in congested traffic, and producing fewer carbon emissions. This particular spoke would actually start in two places, Rathfarnham and Templeogue, and these two branches would converge in Terenure and then run together up through Rathgar and Rathmines onward to Dame Street. From the junction of Rathgar Road and Lower Rathmines Road, down by Slatterys pub and Kwality Foods, there will be two segregated cycle lanes: inbound on the left side, outbound on the right. The [drawings of the designs](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28524026-03-general-arrangement/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show the cycle paths going behind loading bays there, on the footpath side of them, so cyclists and delivery vans pulling out into traffic wouldn't clash. The kerb-segregated cycle lanes would run right up through Rathmines, going behind bus stops. In some spots they go behind loading bays, in others, where the footpath is narrower, in front. This would be a big change for cyclists. At the moment, the cycle lanes, where they exist, are painted onto the road, occasionally protected by bollards, usually not. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Cycling-on-Wexford-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Cycling on Wexford Street. Photo by Sam Tranum. And where they exist, they always go between loading bays/bus stops and motor vehicle lanes, leaving cyclists jockeying with buses and vans pulling in and out. These types of changes to cycle lanes continue all the way up this corridor to Dame Street. The [preliminary design report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28521984-templeogue-rathfarnham-preliminary-design-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the project, dated March 2023, says that between Rathfarnham and the city centre, at that time, going inbound, there was no segregated cycle lane, and outbound 5 percent of the route had segregated cycle lane. The proposed changes would put in segregated cycle lanes for 90 percent of the outbound route and 85 percent of the inbound route, it says. Running cycle lanes behind bus stops means pedestrians on the footpath who want to take the bus must cross the cycle lane. Several submissions said this endangers pedestrians, which the inspector for An Bord Pleanála, as it was then, addressed in [their report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28521986-inspectors-report-r316272/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the project during the planning process. "On approach to the bus stop island the cycle track is intentionally narrowed, with yellow bar markings also used to promote a low-speed single file cycling arrangement on approach to the bus stop," the inspector wrote. "To address the potential pedestrian/cyclist conflict, a pedestrian priority crossing point is provided for pedestrians accessing the bus stop island area," they wrote. In its [order](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28521985-board-order-d316272/?ref=dublininquirer.com) granting planning permission for the scheme, An Bord Pleanála paid special attention to these island bus stops in particular. "Prior to commencement of development, the developer shall agree in writing with the planning authority details of the precise design and layout of pedestrian crossing facilities over cycle tracks at island bus stops on a case-by-case basis which shall be informed by the Cycle Design Manual," the order says. Overall, all these new cycle lanes would probably help make cycling along the straight sections of the route safer. But many of the incidents recorded on collisiontracker.ie, both reports to the site, and RSA data, are clustered at intersections. In the experience of Ferrie, the sometimes cyclist, this is "absolutely" true. ## Restricting through traffic for private vehicles Alongside the new kerb-segregated cycle lanes, the project would also introduce changes for people driving private cars through this corridor. Perhaps the main impact of these would be that a person driving a private car could no longer just buzz along this route from end to end. At the moment, this is possible along most of this route – except for a short stretch between Harrington Street and Charlotte Way, where private car traffic is inbound only. Under the proposed changes, there'd be a "bus gate" on Lower Rathmines Road, between Richmond Hill and Lissenfield. So, just near the big sports pitch at St Mary's College. This "will restrict general traffic movements during the hours of operation of the Bus Gate (06:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week)", the preliminary design report says. Private vehicle through traffic would not be allowed to pass this point during those hours. Although "public service vehicles" (buses and taxis) would be allowed through, the drawings say. Also, going inbound along Lower Rathmines Road, at Grove Road/the canal, only buses and taxis would be allowed to continue on across the bridge over the canal towards town along Richmond Street. Private vehicle traffic would be required to turn left onto Grove Road along the south side of the canal, the planning documents say. From the canal to Harrington Street, there'd be bus lanes going both inbound and outbound, and cycle lanes going inbound and outbound – but just one lane for private vehicle traffic, going outbound. Then the direction of the private vehicle lane switches to inbound until Grantham Street. Then it switches to outbound. Then, from Cuffe Street/Kevin Street to Dame Street, two-way private vehicle traffic would again be allowed. If you are reading this, and you are confused, and it makes you think you would not want to use this route to get into or out of town, only for local access to homes and shops and things, that is the intention of the plan. "My initial thought is a lot like uuugh," says Sara Black, when told about these plans on the footpath across from Aldi in Rathmines on Wednesday. The changes would presumably reduce the volume of traffic along the corridor, something Ferrie, the local resident, says would help make the whole thing, including the intersections, a bit safer. When traffic is heavier, and drivers are waiting for long periods at lights, and frustrated, they are more likely to zoom through fast – and even after the light turns red, Ferrie says. Less congestion along the route should mean fewer frustrated drivers, and a bit less zooming through intersections and breaking red lights, he said. After her initial reaction, Black, who was unlocking her bike from the bike stand in Rathmines Wednesday on the footpath across from Aldi, thought about it again, she said. She drives the route a lot now, and had been thinking about the hassle the traffic changes would create for her as a driver. But she used to cycle it all the time, before she had a kid, she says, gesturing to the child seat on her bicycle. Then she felt it was just too dangerous to cycle it together, and started driving it more. Maybe after all the changes, she'd feel safe enough to switch back to cycling more, even with her little one, she says. However, the changes will have to wait a bit longer. − + Reset view Scroll or pinch to zoom · drag to pan ![Side by side comparison of planning-document map and satellite imagery of the street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Maps-Side-by-Side-2.jpg) ## The judicial reviews There are four or five cases in court taking issue with how An Bord Pleanála handled the process of reviewing and approving the NTA's planning application for this project, says Heneghan, a plaintiff in [one of the cases](https://courts.ie/high-court-search?caseRecordId=H.JR.2025.0000206&ref=dublininquirer.com). None of them have to do with this stretch up Lower Rathmines Road and the other roads to Dame Street, Heneghan says. For his own part, his is to do with a change in his area, a bit further out, on Rathgar Road, that would make it harder to access his home from the route, he says. As a result of one turn no longer being allowed, a one-minute trip to the supermarket will turn into a 20-minute detour and a trickier right turn. "And I don't want to be doing that for the rest of my life," Heneghan says. It's a minor issue, easily solved, which he raised with the NTA to no avail, he says. So, for lack of any other route to make himself heard, and get this detail changed, he's gone to court, Heneghan says, challenging the procedure by which the decision was made. If he wins, there might be an opportunity to get his turn issue addressed. The government, under pressure for not delivering housing and transport infrastructure fast enough, has recently been on the attack against judicial reviews, bringing in new restrictions meant to reduce their number. And suggesting they'd like to go even further. In April, Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure and some other things, [said in the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-04-16/11/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "I am against all judicial reviews." So how would Heneghan respond to critiques of judicial reviews in general, and to people who might feel he is holding up this transport infrastructure project in particular? He says he tried to resolve the issue without going to court, and would not even have a case if An Bord Pleanála had conducted the process correctly. With his court case, he says he's been prompt with meeting deadlines for filings – while the state has been much slower. So who is really holding up the project? he asks. Barrister Cathal Malone [has been outspoken](https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41887045.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in defence of people's right to challenge government decisions in court. "If something is being done by unelected bureaucrats behind closed doors, there's got to be a way to challenge that," Malone said Wednesday. "Surely, it's always in the public interest that the government follow the law." Ferrie, the local resident, says he thinks the government's efforts to keep people from being able to take judicial reviews are "tackling the problem from the wrong end". "I think a lot of them have been the result of a lack of meaningful engagement at the beginning, so judicial review is the only route left open," Ferrie said. Of course, on this project, the NTA held [multiple public consulations](https://templeoguerathfarnhamscheme.ie/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/09.-Templeogue-Rathfarnham-Planning-Doc-20.03.23-WEB.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the project, over several years, received [thousands of submissions](https://templeoguerathfarnhamscheme.ie/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/Appendix-C2-Rathfarnham-to-City-Centre-Core-Bus-Corridor-%E2%80%93-2nd-and-3rd-Non-Statutory-Public-C.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from individuals and groups on their views, issues, and suggestions, considered these, and responded. Still, though, some people obviously did not feel heard enough, or did not get the changes that they wanted. Now several people have taken legal action, and the project is before the courts. However, since none of these cases relate to the stretch from Rathmines to Dame Street, "it seems unfair that the entire project is being held up because of issues elsewhere", say Ferrie. The NTA has not responded to queries sent Friday about the judicial reviews, and whether there's any prospect of resolving them anytime soon. *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 08.33 on 31 July 2026 to reflect that Ferrie was no longer with the Rathmines Initiative at the time this article was published. Apologies for the error.* ### Things To Do: Haul a boat, let the past speak, choose a song about Sligo for karaoke URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-haul-a-boat-let-the-past-speak-choose-a-song-about-sligo-for-karaoke/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:42:37.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Echo from the Past – Speak** Below Hume Street in GalleryX this evening, photographer and visual artist Jana Bulochova will be launching her new exhibition, Echo from the Past – Speak. After contributing to The Art Shelter’s Chatham Row group show [How to Peel an Onion without Crying](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-enjoy-plenty-of-onions-browse-an-air-fair-hear-sean-nos-and-salsa-converge/) last year, Bulochova steps forward here with works that reflect on suppressed voices, fragmented identity and “the lasting impact of personal experience”. Described as an investigation of how trauma can be turned into beauty, Echo from the Past – Speak uses photography, handcrafted installation and performative self portraiture to examine “the emotional traces that remain beneath the surface of everyday life”. Echo from the Past – Speak opens this evening (Thursday, 30 July) at 6pm, and will run until 10 August. Also, on Saturday, 8 August, Bulochova will be in the gallery at 7pm to discuss the show with its curator, Ishmael Claxton. Admission is free. **PORTAGE** Also opening this evening, in TØN, is PORTAGE, a new group show which brings together paintings, sculptural forms, ceramic vessels and sculptural light to explore journeys shaped by wind, water, myth and memory. PORTAGE takes its title from the act of carrying a boat across land to reach new waters, and pays homage to Werner Herzog’s 1982 film *Fitzcarraldo* in which a steamboat was hauled over a mountain in the Amazon rainforest in pursuit of an impossible dream. In the exhibition, this same act becomes a metaphor for movement, risk and the persistence required to cross from one world to another. Featuring works by Abhainn Wheeler, Andrew Murphy, Gildas O’Laoire and [Mark Redden](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-western-invasion-of-dublin-water-sports/), PORTAGE reflects on the vessel in all its forms, be it as a boat, ceramic object, light source, and bearer of stories. The show opens this evening at 6pm, and will run until 6 August. **(O-O-O)** Last week, artist Vanessa Donoso López opened her new exhibition (O-O-O) in the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. (O-O-O) is an immersive installation which reflects on López’s experiences of growing up in Barcelona and living in Ireland for more than 20 years, while also looking at the idea that movement is a strategy for adaptation, resistance and transformation. Using clay, natural pigments, water and living plants, (O-O-O) is comprised of “microhabitats” that include ceramic vessels, objects, glazing and firing samples, dyed fabrics and research materials, all of which come together as “a sensitive ecosystem in a state of ongoing change”. (O-O-O) will run until 20 September. For more information, visit the Temple Bar Gallery + Studio website [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/exhibitions/vanessa-donoso-lopez?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Glibless** Earlier this week, Ukrainian noise pop artist Glibless released his debut album *Me and Ukraine*. *Me and Ukraine* offers up “abrasive psychedelic sound and mind-numbing rhythms”, according to the producer, who hails from Donetsk. Ghostly in its production, the album brings together autotune rap, folk song and spoken word, all set against a backdrop of minimalist, industrial beats and distorted, distant samples that sound like they were recorded off a malfunctioning radio. To celebrate its release, Glibless will be launching *Me and Ukraine* in Kirkos on Little Green Street on Friday night. Doors are at 7.30pm, and support will come from the Ukrainian Song Club. Admission is €10, and all profits will be going to aid Ukraine’s defence, Glibless says. For more information, follow Glibless and Kirkos on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/Da78KrusoVU/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Clara and Christina*** On Wednesday evening, author Andrew Cunning will be launching his debut novel *Clara and Christina* at the Irish Writers Centre on Parnell Square. The book, which won the 2025 International Debut Novel Competition, follows Clara, a young academic who has gone to a coffee shop in Belfast to interview Christina, an acclaimed novelist in her seventies who is working on her fifth novel. But, while initially, Clara is hoping that the sit-down with this reclusive novelist will lead to a major scoop for her own academic book, the conversation eventuates in an unlikely relationship wherein Clara questions the very logic of her life. The launch is at 6.30pm, and will be hosted by Patrick Holloway, author of *The Language of Remembering*. Admission is free, and you can reserve a spot [here.](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/clara-and-christina-novel-launch-tickets-1993533262653?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com) **A Disentailing Deed** Next Thursday, Project Arts Centre will be unveiling A Disentailing Deed, the new visual arts exhibition by Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty. A Disentailing Deed is Clinton and Moriarty’s exploration of how history has shaped popular ideas of "Irishness" and the implications for contemporary political, environmental and cultural issues, using video installation, sculpture, painting and live music performance. Among the works that will feature in the show are video installations that were originally commissioned for the 41st EVA International, Ireland’s Biennale of Contemporary Arts, one of which is presented as a bilingual karaoke-style video, featuring a newly composed song about land ownership and popular resistance in North Sligo. The exhibition is also set to feature a newly composed accompanying score that is inspired by marching tunes once played by the students of the Royal Hibernian Military School, which trained boys for combat in the British Army until the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The exhibition opens at 6pm on Thursday, 6 August, and will run until 10 October. As part of the launch, there will be a live concert in the centre’s upstairs space at 7.30pm responding to the show itself, featuring Clinton, Aoife Hammond of Surge and XtraVision, and Eleanor Myler of ØXN and Percolator. For more information, visit the Project Arts Centre event page [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/a-disentailing-deed/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Painting Air, artist talk with John O'Flynn** As part of painter John O’Flynn’s latest solo exhibition, Painting Air, in the Powerscourt Centre, this evening (Thursday, 30 July) the artist will be in discussing the ideas, inspirations and creative process behind his work in the exhibition space at 6.30pm. The talk will be hosted in the Ballroom on the second floor of the Powerscourt Centre. Admission is free, but booking is essential and can be done [here](https://www.sofinearteditions.com/artist-talk-john-o-flynn/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Join Balbriggan Sustainable Energy Community CLG** Balbriggan Sustainable Energy Community CLG is now open for membership. If you want to join them as they work towards energy efficiency actions and renewable energy use, you are now able to sign up [here](https://www.balbriggansec.com/?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz--dapAZ55x4lvZHdFAmZhylfJJGDGYeOOij8Ef5gSQ5OUPNDmnHbB%5FlXQT5iTksDkTTERKhbf5cqqspy4pnIfRGFXlP3emndZs1maIm7PWxQJlXHpk&%5Fhsmi=141515765&utm%5Fcontent=141515765&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail#membership). ***SYNAPSES*** After 28 years, Gúna Nua Theatre Company is officially closing, and to mark this final chapter, they will be staging their last production *SYNAPSES* in the New Theatre from 19 to 21 August. *SYNAPSES* is an intimate, electric piece about connection and memory, and follows a divorced couple who constantly argue about money, access and parenting styles. One fateful afternoon for the sake of their young son, they try to find a better way. It all goes wrong, it all goes right, and an electrical fault spins them and us back and forth through time in search of the truth. Tickets are available [here](https://thenewtheatre.com/event/2026/05/25/synapses/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### As locals wrestle with details of big plan for Dunsink, city councillors call for more time to consult URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-locals-wrestle-with-detail-of-big-plan-for-dunsink-city-councillors-call-for-more-time-to-consult/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:42:46.000Z The new Draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan [covers](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519292-260617-draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 425 hectares, a giant triangle of lands south-east of the M50 and north of the Navan Road, in Fingal. But the major developments that the plan forsees into the future will have a big impact on Finglas, and residents in the northern fringes of the Dublin City Council area too, says Niamh Lambert, a local campaigner behind the Dunsink Development [Group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039406881900464). And they've been overlooked so far, she said. Fingal County Council [put the plan out for](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan?ref=dublininquirer.com) public consultation on 19 June, giving until 31 July – the end of the day this coming Friday – [for submissions](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan?ref=dublininquirer.com). As part of that, Fingal officials held a public information evening at Blanchardstown library on 13 July. But no event was held for the people of Finglas, says Lambert. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Where-the-Dunsink-lands--1--1.png) Map from the Draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan. Lambert’s family home is on Scribblestown Lane. While part of the lane is under Dublin City Council control, the Lambert home is just inside the Fingal border, she says. She went to the Blanchardstown event with her sister and mother, who is in her late 70s. They were all totally shocked to see the extent of the plans for the site, she says. They always knew development was probably coming, but never expected something this massive, Lambert says. Meanwhile, other Finglas residents who made it to that event were also unhappy, she said. To try to make up for the gap in outreach, Lambert organised a public information evening for Finglas, in Rivermount Hall, last Thursday 23 July. “We took over three different rooms, and there were people waiting outside to come in to see the maps,” she says. “It was huge.” Local Dublin city councillors have said they think there should still be more public briefings for their constituents, and changes to weigh in, ahead of any plan being finalised. All six councillors for the city's North West Area – which includes Finglas – co-signed a letter to Fingal County Council asking for the submission deadline for the current public consultation to be extended, and for a public information event to be held in Finglas, in partnership with Dublin City Council. “In our view, meaningful, informed engagement from Finglas residents has been substantially limited in this context," the letter said. "The situation is made more difficult by the fact that we are in the middle of the Summer, when many constituents are away and less engaged than they would be at other times of the year,” it said. But a spokesperson for Fingal County Council said on Tuesday that it can't give more time for people to weigh in at this stage. “As the plan-making process is governed by statutory requirements and timelines, and the consultation period has been publicly advertised in line with legislative requirements, it is not possible to extend the consultation period,” they said. As of Tuesday lunchtime, 229 observations on the plan had been filed with Fingal and published on the council's portal. ## **Shaping north-west Dublin** The lands under scrutiny in the draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan make up one of the biggest underdeveloped landbanks in the Dublin area, [says the draft plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28519292-260617-draft-dunsink-urban-area-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com). At the moment, the Dunsink lands are a mix of greenfield areas, institutional uses and strategic lands with long-term development potential, the plan says. Peppered across the area are important facilities, too. The Dunsink Observatory, National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, Teagasc Ashtown Campus, New Cross College, the Royal Canal and the River Tolka corridor, it says. "A former landfill area within the northern portion of the lands presents both constraints and opportunities for restoration, landscape integration and recreational use," says the plan. For example, on the east side of the county, near Lusk, Fingal County Council is turning the old Ballealy landfill [into Rogerstown Park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-forward-with-transformation-of-balleally-landfill-into-rogerstown-park/). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Map-from-Dunsink-Urban-Area-Plan.jpg) Map from Draft Dunsink Urban Area Plan. The plans for Dunsink have been a long time coming. Back in September 2024, local councillors in Blanchardstown [were pushing for](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/) faster progress on planning out, and building on, the lands. That push dovetailed with orders from the central government to make more land available for residential development. Fingal councillors in April [rezoned a bunch of sites](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-rezone-enough-land-for-5-000-homes-eating-into-greenbelt/) across the county to make way for up to 2,500 homes. They also took the Dunsink lands out of their [strategic reserve](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no1-fingal-development-plan-2023-%E2%80%93-2029?ref=dublininquirer.com), and committed to come up with a local area plan for developing them – which was to make possible the construction of another 2,500 homes there by 2029. Later phases should see another 16,000 more homes on top of those, the draft Dunsink plans now show. The point of the plan is to encourage sustainable and compact development, it says. More broadly, "a residentially led, mixed-use urban quarter that integrates housing, employment, community, infrastructure and green infrastructure in a coordinated manner". It carves the Dunsink lands up into eight areas, and charts out transport links, different uses, amenities and greenspaces, and rough building heights. The entire area could eventually fit as many as 18,500 new homes, the plan says. But even once this plan is done and approved, that won't get houses built straightaway. Council projects will need to be designed, and approved and funded by central government. For lands under private ownership, developers will have to take an interest in the area, find financing, and get planning permission and infrastructure in place – which is all likely to take many years, and happen bit by bit over time. ## **Getting around** Lambert says she's not against housing being built on the Dunsink lands. “We do want housing,” she says. “We want it done sustainably.” Some common concerns have emerged already from residents on the Finglas fringe of the plans, Lambert said. Traffic in the area is already chaotic, she says. Indeed traffic is an issue, says Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis, who co-signed a lengthy submission to the public consultation along with his local party colleagues, councillors Anthony Connaghan and Leslie Kane. “They're talking about a number of entrances and exits \[for cars\] to this plan, right? Two of them are onto the Finglas end,” he said by phone on Monday. Surrounding roads, including the Navan Road, Ratoath Road and the Junction 6 of the M50, are already heavily congested, Ellis says. As he sees it, the planned development needs more access points and stronger public transport provision to avoid worsening traffic and pressure on neighbouring communities. “You know, they need to relook at that.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Conceptual-image-from-Dunsink-Urban-Area-Plan-2.jpg) Conceptual image from Dunsink Urban Area Plan. The draft plan does mention congestion, in its chapter on transport. It maps out more cycle and walking routes, new bridges and road upgrades, and mentions negotiation with the National Transport Authority on more bus routes. The plan also says the area will be serviced by a future Luas network expansion. But that might not arrive until after [2042](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/400/?ref=dublininquirer.com), according to government statements. "They have a picture of the Luas in the middle of their plans," Lambert says. "We're going, 'Jesus Christ, when's the Luas ever going to make it there? We're waiting a long time for it to even get to Finglas.'" ## **A green neighbourhood** Safeguarding local green spaces and biodiversity is also key, said Ellis, the Sinn Féin TD, and can be done without losing new homes. “We're not against the housing, but we want to protect certain areas, and the likes of Scribblestown Lane would be one of them,” says Ellis. There are concerns for the natural beauty of the area, Lambert says. “The biodiversity around here is ridiculous.” On a recent organised bat-walk with locals on Scribblestown Lane, they spotted at least three bat species, she said. “We got an expert to come out.” There are otters, foxes, owls and frogs, she said, around the land itself and by the Tolka River. The draft plan talks about "leveraging its location near Phoenix Park and Tolka Valley Park" which means that "Dunsink is uniquely positioned to become a central hub within Dublin’s metropolitan green infrastructure network." A chapter on "Green Infrastructure and Natural Heritage" charts a "vision and framework for protecting, enhancing and integrating these landscape assets as part of the future development of the area." This includes, it says, "plans to strengthen ecological corridors, improve access to waterways, create new parks and greenways and embed sustainable drainage and climate adaptation measures into the structure of the urban environment." ## The heights question Lambert says locals living along the eastern periphery of the Dunsink lands, where they touch Finglas, are also worried about their homes being overlooked. Plans along the northern edge of the lands show heights of between two and six storeys, while along the east they sketch out a mix of blocks of two to six storeys, seven and more storeys, and a few flagship "gateway" buildings of 15 storeys or more. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Heights.jpg) The draft plan suggests the 18,500 homes should be delivered in three phases. Phase 1 will see the construction of an initial 2,500 homes, with Phase 2 delivering a further 8,000 homes and the final phase adding another 8,000 homes, it says. A council press release added: "The development will include a range of designs and tenures including social, affordable purchase, cost rental and private sales." Lambert says that locals also want concrete assurances that any new development on Dunsink will come with community infrastructure, the important amenities that have lacked when similar builds have happened in other places. There are three horse and pony clubs in the area, of which the Lamberts operate one, she says. “And none of them have been talked to.” “They built developments up in the Charlestown, Meakstown, Lanesborough area – that's a Fingal development – but they didn't put in a proper school and doctors and all the type of amenities that should be there for a community,” she says. Lambert says that she already has to wait up to six weeks to see her doctor. “Which is nuts.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Merrion Square, park-goers are frustrated as construction on tearoom enters its third summer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-merrion-square-park-goers-are-frustrated-as-construction-on-tearoom-enters-its-third-summer/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:42:52.000Z A red crane towered over Merrion Square’s evergreen trees on Monday evening, swaying slowly, while some men in high-vis vests worked on the park’s tearoom below. The project remained very much a gravelly construction site. The building was surrounded by scaffolding. Parts of the roof were covered in a silvery tarp, and the brickwork on the cafe’s north facade was exposed. Ivy climbed upwards, close to hurdling the wooden hoardings. The gated entrance to the site was blocked off by temporary steel railings, and inside, there was a stack of orange insulation boards sealed in plastic. A big swathe of the park has been boarded up and out of bounds for the public for years now, said Kathleen Rhodes, who lives in the area, on Tuesday morning. “It’s distracting from the overall enjoyment of the area. It’s become a complete eyesore.” The hoardings are temporary, she said. “But it’s taken so long.” Beginning construction [in June 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-merrion-square-tea-rooms-and-toilets-and-the-latest-battle-for-moore-street/), Dublin City Council estimated that works would take 12 months. But after multiple delays, the project’s completion date was pushed further and further down the line. Although the council had earlier this year estimated the project would be finished during the summer, that's now pushed to autumn, said a council spokesperson on Tuesday. So, the tearoom should be open to the public either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2027, they said. ## **Runaway costs** The idea of a tearoom and public toilet in Merrion Square appeared in a 2014 conservation and management plan for the park, [prepared for the council by Howley Hayes and Associates](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-pavilion-for-merrion-square-but-what-will-it-be-used-for/). Once works finally started in the summer of 2023, the council estimated that the cafe would be finished by June 2024, costing about €3.4 million. But the pricetag nudged up. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Merrion-Square-tearoom-hoardings-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) In its capital programme for [2025 to 2027](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26098748-capital-programme-2025-2027-3/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=merrion&mode=document#document/p80), the council said it expected to spend €4.9 million on the building. An audit report by the Local Government Audit Service, published in November 2025 said the approved budget for the project was by then €6.1 million, funded by development levies. That audit also found that the project was not in compliance with council, national and EU procurement regulations when the cost of consulting architects increased from €246,000 to €655,000. At the council’s South-East Area Committee meeting in January, Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne tabled a motion asking for a delegation from the Parks Department to explain the cost overruns regarding the tearooms. Members agreed that the department would make a presentation to the committee, Byrne said on Tuesday, “Like, it seems an extraordinary among of money, and we need to be accountable to the taxpayers for every euro spent there.” There needs to be a “forensic, line-by-line” analysis on what was spent, he said. “Because it seems like runaway costs on millions and millions.” A council spokesperson did not respond when asked for an update on the estimated cost of the tearoom. ## **A new timeline** Rhodes, the Merrion Square area local, has written to the council seeking updates, and to complain about the length and cost of the project, she said. “Numerous times. Numerous times.” But she received no information, she said. The wait is frustrating, she said. “I like to walk into town. My usual walk is to walk through the park, and it means walking through a construction site.” A spokesperson for the council said on Tuesday morning that construction works are ongoing with an expected completion date in September or October. That includes new pavements, and new public lighting leading to the tearooms and Oscar Wilde sculpture, they said. “That quadrants of the park will be re-landscaped in accordance with the park conservation plan.” An operator for the tearoom is going to be appointed by the council “shortly”, they said. Meanwhile, the council is also moving forward with other similar tearooms elsewhere in the city. They will engage with a design team this year to [revive plans for a cafe in Bushy Park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-set-to-brush-off-plan-for-new-tearoom-in-bushy-park-chief-executive-says/), they said, noting too that a possible tearoom in Blessington Street Basin is also being considered for the next capital programme, which sets out how funding has been allocated for big projects in the years ahead. ### Luke: In new Irish-language film, a chance encounter leads woman down dark road of revenge URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-new-irish-language-film-a-chance-encounter-leads-woman-down-dark-road-of-revenge/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:42:59.000Z A chance encounter leads a troubled woman down the dark road of revenge in a new Irish-language psychological thriller, *An Mháthair*, from director Vincent Gallagher and writer Seán Keeley. This short film opens on a woman (Simone Kirby) looking down at undulating dark water. Reflections from the streetlights overhead glisten white for a moment before being swallowed by the bobbing waves. The woman discards something in the blackness of the water and trudges into town. Her head hangs down and she moves like a ghost. Like she doesn’t exist, or doesn’t want to. In a pub the barman greets her by name, Mary, and she takes a seat while he prepares her usual. Another “usual” occurrence happens when she tops up her gin and tonic with a bottle from her handbag. The barman turns a blind, rolling eye to the sound of the bottle unscrewing. Gallagher follows both Mary and the barman, finding focus on their faces. In the expressions they don’t show one another. Those scowls or darts of the eye that tell the audience of an understanding and a deep sadness in their acquaintance. The relative solitude of the bar room is broken when a group of young lads visiting from Dublin rock in and get shirty when they’re refused service. One of the group, feigning understanding, slams his hands on the bar before heading off. The barman is startled, and the lad leaves happy in his mischievous menacing. This is the first of many unsettling moments in *An Mháthair*, all involving a sudden burst of sound and violence. Gallagher builds into the film a growing sense of dread and discomfort. ## **The trial** The script was based on an incident in the director’s own life, and works within that tension and wariness of the unknown and unseen. Gallagher relies on misdirection and reframing of previous action. The film plays with what is known and what we think is known. The action moves from the grounded to the uncanny. Playing into this is the script’s use of Irish throughout flashbacks and present-day sequences – even in spots where it sounds odd or incongruous. But Irish and its prevalence locks us in with Mary’s perspective and worldview. The diegesis of the film becomes hyperreal. Places and situations read as real through CCTV footage and mundane locations and framing. Court scenes play out in the manner of courtroom sketches, framing faces as in the bar. The looks between heartrending speeches. Snatches of time and emotion. All are spoken in a hyper-specific, somewhat stilted, delivery that rhymes with the dreamy feeling throughout the film. Memories where emotion is laid bare and made more explicit than ever before. We are witnessing Mary’s subconscious come to life. The incident at the bar flashes Mary back to a time she’d like to forget but never can. Her son is involved in a violent assault and we see the aftermath of the attack and subsequent trial. Testimony and courtroom sequences are mixed with further flashbacks and cutaways that loop and intertwine to a poetic view of a harmonious mother-son relationship but short and irreconcilably changed. Gallagher works these sequences in a way that highlights the mistiness of memory. Purposefully shimmying and disorientating at times. ## **Revenge** That woozy, tense stylisation extends back into the present day as Mary, equipped with a knife swiped from the pub’s charcuterie board stalks the group from the bar through the town. Reds and oranges from brake lights and street lamps dance on Mary’s face and on the figures she follows through alleyways and winding streets. The red contrasts hard with the blacklight blue glow of a nightclub that sees one of the men hassle a girl and her boyfriend. Determined to do more harm, the group follows them out of the club after their altercation is broken up by a bouncer. Mary pursues both groups from afar. The action then culminates in a surprising reveal that runs up against the limits of revenge, as these stories so often do. It also calls into question cinematic perspective, framing and the preceding action. Gallagher builds the need to rematch and reassess the film and its psychology into the viewing experience. The viewer is made to construct a point of view that exists apart from the one offered up by cinematic language and form. *An Mháthair* cleverly and bluntly subverts expectations, and with its twist, opens a new way of seeing its narrative. It’s not subtle, but it is effective and like the preceding split seconds of violence. A moment, one moment, another “one” moment, that changes everything for its characters and for the film's audience. A final shock out of nowhere. Something that Gallagher wants us to expect, but knows it's never truly possible to do so. *An Mháthair* recently screened as part of the TG4/Screen Ireland Gearrscannáin: Tús & Céim Eile Showcase at the Galway Film Fleadh. Further screenings are forthcoming. ### Dozens of people from Gaza seeking visas to study in Ireland are denied entry URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dozens-of-people-from-gaza-seeking-visas-to-study-in-ireland-are-denied-entry/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:43:06.000Z Before the war started, Haneen Eshraim, an English teacher in Gaza, was hustling as hard as she could, she said, recently. “I worked in a school during the day while also running my own private English teaching centre,” Eshraim said. She wanted to make her own money and be independent, she said. Eshraim was born and raised in Gaza. “I have lived here my entire life.” She did her undergrad in English language education at Gaza’s public university, Al-Azhar, she said. And she was dreaming about doing her master’s in an English-speaking country, she said. In October 2023, after Hamas members killed over 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 people hostage, the Israeli government launched what became a relentless mass slaughter campaign, [taking the lives of about](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-military-reported-accept-death-toll-around-70000-gaza-2026-01-30/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 70,000 people – though that’s [probably a conservative estimate](https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s239.full?ref=dublininquirer.com). “I lost almost everything,” said Eshraim. “I lost my home, my teaching business, my source of income, many of my personal belongings, and people I cared about.” Now that that bombing has abated, people in Gaza are still navigating their own daily struggles. Even charging a phone involves a dangerous journey now, said Eshraim. “We have no regular electricity at all.” Despite all of this, Eshraim swung into action. On a patchy internet connection that regularly cut out, she said, she spent months applying to different universities. She’d a bunch of offers, she said, but decided to go with a scholarship from University College Dublin (UCD) to study a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) course. She is among a small number of young people in Gaza who have sought a reprieve from war and tried to restore in their lives something that resembles normality by applying for student visas through some universities’ humanitarian scholarship schemes. A visa is the thing that lets you get through border control and into the country, but you need to register it at the city’s immigration office and get an immigration stamp to live here. Travelling without a visa is expensive and dangerous, even more so for Palestinians who live under Israeli siege. Meanwhile Israeli citizens [don't need a visa](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28515897-israel-visa-isd/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to come here. Between 2024 to 30 June 2026, 305 Palestinian citizens applied for long-stay – that’s for people who want to stay in Ireland for more than three months – student visas, [according to Department of Justice figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28515201-tel-aviv-embassy-figures/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Of that 305 applications, 58 of them were rejected (but applicants had the chance to appeal) – roughly 19 percent. Eshraim, who got a rejection letter just last week, isn’t counted in that statistic yet, but she wasn’t alone in getting a refusal. In an email to those would-be students last week, a UCD worker wrote that “multiple students” had their visa applications thrown out. For others from Gaza, who have their student visa application approved, the reality of how shaky the immigration stamp is – that the system doesn’t automatically recognise their vulnerability – quickly sets in, they say. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said “there are no special arrangements for Palestinian nationals in place, nor are there any plans to introduce any”. ## The years of living precariously Ibrahim Abusaqer, another student from Gaza, is some ways along the path that Eshraim had hoped to take. He did his master’s in public health at UCD, he said, recently, sitting at a city centre café. But the question for him is what comes next. In another life, in Gaza he was a dentist, he said, but translating his qualifications involves moving through a maze of bureaucracy. He was wearing a black beaded wristband on top of another one with the pattern of the Palestinian keffiyeh. The closer they got to the end of term time, said Abusaqer, he and others felt the clock ticking down on their student immigration Stamp 2s. People in Abusaqer's position can move on to graduate immigration permission 1G – and time on it does count towards citizenship – for two years. And on that, try to find an employer who’s willing to sponsor a work permit. But it’s not easy, and sometimes dependent on chance and knowing someone who knows someone. In recent years, non-EU graduates who’d asked for some extra time on their 1G stamps to find work [have said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-woman-sees-herself-through-a-lengthy-stay-in-immigration-limbo-with-help-from-open-mics-group-therapy/) they grappled with poverty and unemployment as they lost their legal status for long stretches because the Department of Justice has been slow to review their cases. Abusaqer said that UCD staff went out of their way to help get people to safety out of Gaza. “They did impossible things even outside of their work,” he said. But people in his group scrambled to find a solution to steady their status and living situation once the term ended and they had to move out of student accommodations, he said. They wrestled with questions like should they get their 1G, hustle hard and hope for the best, or apply for asylum and join its system of accommodation. “I don’t want to mention other schemes, but for example, for Ukraine, I know we’re not an EU country, but we deserve something similar,” he said. The EU's Temporary Protection Directive unlocks the zone for those fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine, which means they can travel to Europe without visas and automatically get recognised as refugees without navigating the asylum bureacracy. They can work, set up their own business and access some housing aid, though the latter has [been dwindling](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-government-support-for-sheltering-ukrainian-refugees-dwindles-finding-somewhere-to-live-means-taking-more-risks/) in recent years. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said its student immigration stamp is for the most part for studying, though people are allowed casual part-term employment during the term and free to work full-time once it wraps up. Those who move on to its graduate stamp can continue to work full-time for as long as it’s valid, they said. Meanwhile, former students from Gaza who do apply for asylum see that the wait is not short-lived even when it’s broadly agreed they are in need of protection. Anne Connolly, a member of D6 for All, who hosts a student from Gaza in her home, said that when he first got here he was still too shaken to focus in class. So, he deferred the course for a year. But he has since applied for asylum and has been waiting months for an answer. “But he got his work permit, so he can work,” said Connolly. Ireland does offer a refugee-protection programme that’s different from its regular asylum system. Those who arrive [as “programme refugees](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-ireland-s-second-class-refugees-travel-to-other-countries-in-europe-is-much-more-difficult/)” don’t have to navigate the asylum bureaucracy. But Ireland’s admission intake through the scheme has been falling in recent years. Last December,Fianna Fáil’s Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan TD [told the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-12-04/88/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that “in accordance with the terms of the scheme the number of admissions available under the 2025 Programme was limited to 50”. He said application numbers were far beyond that so the state had to turn some people away which was naturally disappointing to those applicants, and a partner organisation held online sessions for them to soften the blow. He’s committed to welcoming 50 more programme refugees during 2026 and 2027, O’Callaghan said. The scheme prioritises evacuation of at-risk groups like reporters, LGBTQ people, and those who press for women’s rights, he said. Offering temporary protection status to citizens of countries experiencing conflict and volatility is not uncommon. The EU offers temporary protection to Ukrainians. Before Trump assumed office again in the United States, its government used to grant temporary protection to people from Syria and Haiti. ## "People with dreams and ambitions" Eshraim, the woman in Gaza whose visa application to come study in Ireland was rejected, said the refusal letter cited a volley of arguments. Things like her financial stability, gaps in her education and employment history, her past qualifications, “evidence of my English language ability”, her academic capability to undertake the master’s course at UCD, she said. Also, “whether my primary purpose for travelling to Ireland was genuinely to study”. Eshraim would have tried to do her master’s in a Western English-speaking country even if the war hadn’t thrown her off course, she said. The visa application was her refusal to let the war sum her up and unravel her life’s plans, she said. It was her only “realistic opportunity at this stage to leave Gaza safely and continue my education”, she said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said its officials work closely with staff at the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv to process visa applications submitted by Palestinian citizens as fast as possible. In reviewing them, officials aim to pin down whether someone has a “legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel”, they said. Zoë Lawlor, chairperson of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), said that it’s "appalling" that some people in Gaza who show so much resilience by applying to come here to study are turned away. This is while the Irish government “rightly acknowledges that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people”, she said. The students who came have been a positive addition to the academic community, said Lawlor, and it was lovely to see them meeting with President Catherine Connolly recently. The batch of recent visa refusals is another “example of a government that sometimes says the right things on Palestine but repeatedly fails to act”, she said. Eshraim, the woman in Gaza, said she isn’t asking for special treatment, just a fair shot to stay on track in life. “I hope people in Ireland understand that students from Gaza are not only defined by the difficult circumstances we are living through,” she said. “We are students, teachers, professionals, and people with dreams and ambitions.” ### Animation artists call for regulation of the industry as the AI transition looms large URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/animation-artists-call-for-regulation-of-the-industry-as-the-ai-transition-looms-large/ Last updated: 2026-07-27T13:59:12.000Z At least one animation studio in Ireland has started using AI in its animation work, says Jen Wayne, an area coordinator with the union the Animation Workers of Ireland. At the moment, “It's not capable of fully replacing us,” says Wayne. But fear is growing that some jobs will soon be gone, which makes it difficult to push for better working conditions in an industry that is already precarious, she says. And the job is likely to change too. “There is a fear that we could be required basically to function as correcting artists for AI-generated images,” she says. So the AI can do 80 percent of the job, and the artist finishes it off to meet the standard. The union is calling on the government to regulate the use of generative AI soon, to protect animation workers and the arts during this “crazy transitionary period”, says Wayne. “I wouldn't necessarily say we're looking at a looming full automation, but a really, really drastic shakeup is definitely on the horizon,” she says. “But that dramatic shakeup is going to come at the cost of basically anything worth looking at, listening to, or watching.” Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, who recently tabled a [private members' motion to the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-07-14/18/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to protect artists' rights in the era of artificial intelligence, says that the animation artists should be protected under the law. “They are the people who dreamed up the shape of the character,” he says by phone on Wednesday. “I'd be adamant that animators are artists and they should have the same protection as any other artists.” The Dáil agreed to Ó Snodaigh’s motion on 14 July on "protecting the copyright of Irish artists in the era of artificial intelligence". It calls for a major overhaul of copyright law, including barring from the market companies that use AI and do not observe copyright, and says that the government should ensure that state funding for art isn’t spent on AI-produced works, "and that the livelihoods of human Irish artists continue to be supported". A motion is not binding, though, it simply formally expresses, and puts on record, the opinion of the members of the Dáíl. By contrast, official government policy, the 2026 National Digital and AI Strategy takes a more positive approach to AI. It [aims](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/government-publishes-new-digital-ai-strategy-90-actions-to-strengthen-irelands-position-as-a-digital-leader-and-ai-hub/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to drive the adoption of AI across the economy, teaching AI "literacy" and "skills" to both employers and individuals. "We will put in place the building blocks to harness digital and AI opportunities for competitiveness and continued economic growth," it says. The animation artists say that, from their perspective, the benefits that would bring appear to be only for the corporations, and not for workers or society. ## Risks to animation industry Not all studios are diving in headfirst, says a spokesperson for the Animation Workers of Ireland. Some studio owners are mindful of the risks of transitioning to using AI. “Some do care about art,” she says. The area needs to be carefully regulated, she says, and she wants to dispel any myth that AI helps workers. “It seems to be benefitting only the people at the top.” Workers will suffer as positions are made redundant, in an already precarious industry. “Animation was the safe haven for artists in the past,” she says. “There is a small, highly skilled pool of really talented artists, says Wayne. “Artists have invested years and years of dedication and practice to hone their skills.” Studios too have invested heavily in training staff, and the Irish state has put money into the sector as well, she says. An animation studio is a place that brings artists together to work on a collective vision, says Wayne. If one artist has a weakness in an area, then another steps in, she says. “So that it's a big collaborative venture to produce something worth seeing.” If the studios can hand the artwork over to AI, then maybe the studio itself doesn’t need to exist, says Wayne. She thinks that AI seriously threatens the quality of artwork that will be produced. It is dangerous too, in terms of propaganda, if major corporations control the arts, says the union spokesperson. Elisa Beli Borrelli, representative for Dublin at the Animation Workers of Ireland, warns that studios that heavily invest in AI now could face much higher costs in the future. "It's not even cheaper now," they say. At the moment, the AI companies are offering the technology at a discount, but at some point they are likely to hike their prices to get a return on their investment, says Beli Borrelli. By then, the studios that made the switch will be heavily reliant on AI, they say – so it is a risky strategy. ## What could regulation look like? One possible solution, says Wayne, is that the Irish government decide that any use of generative AI is considered outsourcing for tax purposes. Film companies often base themselves in Ireland due to generous [tax breaks for film. ](https://www.revenue.ie/en/companies-and-charities/reliefs-and-exemptions/film-relief/index.aspx?ref=dublininquirer.com) “So there are lots of rules in Irish production law about how to qualify for tax breaks,” says Wayne. Classifying any use of AI as outsourcing would reduce the benefit to companies of transitioning to AI in favour of human workers. Wayne says that any transition to AI should be artist-led. So if there is a technology that can help artists in their work, they can request it, rather than company bosses saying it's time to start using this programme. “Ultimately, the creatives who actually produce the animation should be the voices of when and where AI makes sense in the pipeline,” she says. A clear definition of what constitutes AI is needed too, says Wayne. For example, as Adobe Photoshop increases its AI offering, at what point does a photoshopped image become AI-generated? Wayne says that universal income for artists can assist artists to continue to produce art, if the market shifts towards AI. “But it's just one part of a much larger puzzle that's going to involve lots of industrial relations, lots of negotiation, lots of collaboration between different groups,” she says. [To artists’ ire, a council poster shows the hands of AI - Dublin InquirerIt’s a good moment for a conversation about local and national policies to ensure state bodies don’t switch out artists for AI, says illustrator Eva Kelly.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-b4fa5d60-8dd4-4a8f-8f64-50cdae5a5a72.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/gvlek1di-jpeg-50f8e3b0-467b-4235-82db-9953902784df.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-artists-ire-a-council-poster-shows-the-hands-of-ai/) Artists are often pressurised to sign away their rights, says Ó Snodaigh. He thinks legislation should be introduced to ensure that they are protected. If someone can manipulate an existing cartoon and re-release it, they are effectively stealing from the artist, he says. “Where did the original artwork come from?” he says. “That is what we are trying to protect.” In his contribution to the Dáil, Ó Snodaigh said state agencies should stop using AI instead of human artists and pointed out that [An Post released an AI-designed stamp](https://www.anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/An-Post-Unveils-Irelands-First-AIGenerated-Stamp-Issue-A-fusion-of-tradition-and-futurism?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [Údarás na Gaeltachta held an AI film competition](https://www.thejournal.ie/torthai-chomotas-ai-fogartha-ag-udaras-na-gaeltachta-2-6983409-Mar2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The Department of Enterprise didn’t respond in time for publication to queries sent on Tuesday asking about the issues raised by animation artists, including how the transition to AI tends to benefit corporate entities rather than workers. The [announcement](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/campaigns/digital-ireland-connecting-our-people-securing-our-future/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the new National Digital and AI Strategy said that, "The Government recognises that the evolution of AI technologies brings new risks and challenges more broadly, including potential job displacement, as well as safety and privacy risks, and is committed to timely, robust and comprehensive responses as challenges arise." ### Dublin City Council is grappling with how to meet new government target for delivering social and affordable homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-is-grappling-with-how-to-meet-new-government-target-for-delivering-social-and-affordable-homes/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T06:36:53.000Z Dublin City Council has been set delivery targets of 10,158 social homes and 9,226 "starter homes" from 2027 to 2030, said a council official at last week's housing committee meeting. Ruth Dowling, an executive manager in housing delivery, also took a moment at the meeting in City Hall to explain to councillors what "starter homes" are. They're what used to be called affordable purchase and cost-rental. The Department of Housing has rebranded them, she said. Councillors threw the new terminology in, awkwardly, every now and then. The lengthy discussion that followed, though, was mostly about the work that the council is doing to give it a shot at reaching those targets, how officials are charting out what kinds of home are needed – what size, what breakdown of tenure – and what barriers there are to achieving that. The council's current tally of projects in its pipeline wouldn't get it to the goal, said Mick Mulhern, the council's head of housing. That is about 11,000 homes, [the chart shows](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508945-overall-social-and-starter-homes-affordable-homes-targets/?ref=dublininquirer.com), well short of the 19,400 target. But council officials already know some projects are missing from their published pipeline, Mulhern said. Still to add is housing on Land Development Agency-owned sites, such as its project at Clongriffin, and approved housing body projects that are likely to finish post-2028, said Mulhern. Some of the later Part V homes – the portion of big private developments which are bought by the council as social and affordable homes – aren't counted yet either, and those can be hard to predict, he said. So they'll be adding in those in the next few months, with the rationale that if some work isn't already underway on a scheme, it's unlikely to be finished within this period, he said. In September, they'll hopefully have a clearer picture of the gap, said Mulhern. "We'll either be alarming, or maybe we'll be a bit more optimistic about it." ## Assessing need The council's current Housing Delivery Action Plan, which runs from 2022 to 2026, [set a new-build target](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508899-dublin-city-council-housing-delivery-action-plan-july-2022b-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of 9,087 social homes, and a more modest figure of 4,021 affordable homes. By the end of 2025, it and its partners had delivered 3,719 social homes and 950 affordable homes, show [department](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508901-social-housing-delivery-by-local-authority-2022-to-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [statistics.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508903-schedule-6-affordable-housing-deliveries-la-2022-to-q4-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Now, the council is drawing up its next Housing Delivery Action Plan, said Dowling, at the meeting. They're looking at key questions as they do, she said. "Are we delivering the right quantum of homes? Are we achieving the right balance between social and affordable homes?" How's the current pipeline looking and does that match need? she said. The first step in answering those is drawing up what is called a Housing Need and Demand Assessment, she said. Work is already underway on that, she said. At the moment, one mismatch in current assessments of housing need by the Department of Housing, and by Dublin City Council, is what size social homes are needed. As officials in the Department of Housing [count it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28503130-delivering-the-right-social-housing-bedroom-mix/?ref=dublininquirer.com), about three-quarters of the new social homes to be built in Dublin City in the coming years should be studios and one-beds. As officials at Dublin City Council see it, just fewer than half should be. Dowling, head of housing delivery at the council, gently pointed to that difference. "As you'll see, there's a slight, well there's discrepancies right down the different bedroom mixes," she said. On screen, was a table. Pat Dunne, an Independents4Change councillor, said it was interesting to see the bedroom mix. He has been critical of that at council meetings, he said, as he couldn't see evidence that the council was prioritising three-bedroom homes. There's clearly more people seeking one-beds than three-beds, he said. "We accept that." But often, those who need three-beds are living in overcrowded conditions in family homes, with two or three children, he said. "So the case to prioritise three-bedroom homes is very, very strong." "Ideally we should be able to build everything that we need to build in terms of the right mix," he said. But they need to take those social factors into account, he said. Said Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham: "Do we have any understanding of how their social needs assessment is so different from our own?" Dowling said that the department's figures are based on its own model run by the department itself. "We haven't interrogated that model yet." The council's figures are based on its housing and transfer lists, she said. They'll be meeting with the department to talk it all through though, she said. Later, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said he thinks the department is always more bureaucratic, and trying to drive costs down. "I think they're constantly trying to restrict the size, the space, the standards for individuals. They're always going for the cheaper option." Still, exactly why the calculations differ is unclear. Dowling said that the council is grappling with how to increase the supply of three- and four-bed social homes. They are talking to the department about funding challenges with delivering larger homes, she said. They're meeting with the LDA and AHBs too, she said. "Its incumbent on us to be very clear in our interactions around what is that need." Dunne, the Independents4Change councillor, said the "financial contribution scheme" used to be a good way to provide three-bed social homes, he said. They should go to the department and pressure them to bring it back, he said. At the meeting, Mulhern said that agreeing with the Department of Housing ahead of time what bed mix is needed overall in the city should help move projects along faster, and help the department assess the funding need. "You can find yourself in protracted negotiations with the department about what the right bed mix is for a scheme," he said. But pinning it down now should change that, he said. "So in theory it should move it quicker." ## What and where? During the meeting, officials and councillors also ran through the challenges with the viability of affordable purchase and cost-rental homes in different neighbourhoods across the city. While the central government targets are for 9,226 "starter homes", it's up to the council to decide how that splits between affordable purchase and cost-rental homes, said Dowling. To date, there have been 530 cost-rental homes delivered in Dublin city, said Mulhern. But there are challenges, he said. Among them, getting the rents below 25 percent of market rate -- a threshold that cost-rentals must meet to get funding -- can be hard if rents in the surrounding area are relatively low, he said. "We're seeing that in places like Ballymun or Ballyfermot, which can be challenging." Also, the income cap is set at €66,ooo in Dublin, and that isn't index-linked, said Mulhern. So, in five years time, with inflation, the cohort who are eligible will have shrunk, he said. Councillors talked about whether projects shake out as actually affordable at the moment, given delivery costs have risen. Increased subvention should be looked at to bring rents down, said independent Councillor Cieran Perry. "We spent absolutely billions on the likes of HAP", he said, referring to the Housing Assistance Payment, a subsidy for low-income renters. Jim Baneham, of the Housing Agency, was at the meeting to give an overview of cost-rental model. "I think if our department was here, they might say that they have sought some increases in subvention," he said, "and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, I know they have a longer name now, but effectively, the kind of Jack Chambers side of things are not keen to allow that to happen." Financial sustainability is important for the future of the sector too, he said. Dunne, the councillor, asked what could be done to help those who fall through the stools of earning too much for social housing, and too little for cost-rental. The council should make the case with the department that social housing limits should be upped, or people should be allowed to spend more than 35 percent of their income on cost-rents, he said. "We need to look after those people who fall between those two stools." [Government briefings include worry that lower-income renters could be priced out of “affordable” cost-rental homes - Dublin InquirerRising costs of delivery pushed the government to open up schemes to higher-income renters – but with possible side effects.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-edd55607-a1f5-4402-8e79-41f094f0a57a.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/pexels-photo-101808-jpeg-e8282506-e7b3-4eb6-a8f0-f1428060effc.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-briefings-worry-that-lower-income-renters-could-be-priced-out-of-affordable-cost-rental-homes/) Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney called for more affordable purchase. The council has about 1,000 affordable purchase homes in the pipeline at the moment, said Mulhern. And, "it's just us that are currently doing it at the moment", said Mulhern. Not AHBs and the LDA, he said. Demand is mostly for houses rather than apartments too, although affordable-purchase apartments have been successful in Montpelier, he said, referring to new development on the former O'Devaney Gardens site in Dublin 7\. Dowling said high construction costs, and "abnormals" – which can mean the need to divert infrastructure, or deal with other legacy issues with a site – are creating issues for that tenure, too. It's challenging in lower-income parts of the city, she said. Said Mulhern: "How we up that level of affordable purchase delivery over the next period I think is probably one of the biggest challenges that we're going to face in our Housing Delivery Action Plan." [In Ballymun, plans called for developers to build high-density private homes – but large swathes of land remain vacant - Dublin InquirerIt’s time to shift strategies, some say, and ramp up lower-density affordable-purchase housing there instead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-15094f4b-c3fd-477f-b627-679475515bef.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/vacant-land-in-ballymun-2-scaled-e1727814266151-fd30531c-7b99-4677-9013-cf75ea755d8f.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-plans-called-for-developers-to-build-high-density-private-homes-but-large-swathes-of-land-remain-vacant/) Alan Robinson, who represents the Docklands Business Forum on the committee, said that 78 percent of people in the city live in private accommodation according to the last census. "Is there any effort in this exercise to facilitate those citizens?" "And is this an opportunity to redress the socio-economic balance of housing within the canals, north and south of the river, and encourage people with middle and high incomes to return to the centre of the city to live and spend?" he said. Mulhern, the council's housing manager, said that the Housing Delivery Action Plan is solely about the delivery of social and affordable housing, or "starter homes". "Outside of that is the private delivery." Within what the council is planning, part of the challenge is what is the right balance between social and starter homes delivery in neighbourhoods, he said. "How do we spread that balance right across the city?" ### Fighting on O’Connell Street has never been so fun URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fighting-on-oconnell-street-has-never-been-so-fun/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T11:32:05.000Z Midday on Sunday, O’Connell Street hums as people in Limerick and Galway jerseys wander in droves, getting ready for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling final show-down in Croke Park starting at 3pm. Beneath the statue of Father Mathew, behind the Spire, another battle is brewing. Five men sit in a row, each with a musical instrument. On either end, one beats a tambourine, another pounds a hand drum called an atabaque. In between them, three others play bow-like instruments called berimbaus. As they hammer out a steady, march-like rhythm, one chants “Me dá meu dinheiro!” – to which the growing crowd around them answer “Me dá meu dinheiro, valentão!” “Literally, it’s about asking for what is rightfully yours, but in capoeira, it also reminds us to respect the art, honour its traditions, and not take advantage of it or of the people who live it,” says Wesley “Tatu” Corrêa. Corrêa and those assembled by the feet of Father Mathew are capoeiristas, practitioners of the Brazillian martial art and game, capoeira. For the last few weeks, since the heatwave took hold of the city, Corrêa and friends have been taking their capoeira training sessions out of Erin College on North Great George's Street, where they are usually held, to the open-air of O’Connell Street. And, on Sunday, there were capoeristas dropping in unexpectedly from different clubs and counties, and some from no clubs at all, just to play. ## A game, a fight, a dance As the curious crowd around them continues to grow, so does the intensity of the music and the movement. "Troca a guerra pela paz, Troca a raiva pelo amor," one musician chants. It means, “Replace war with peace. Replace anger with love." The crowd answers, "Só não troca a capoeira, Que nunca me abandonou.” That translates to, "But never replace capoeira, because it has never abandoned me.” It reflects what capoeira means to him, says Corrêa. "It speaks about peace, love, resilience, and how capoeira has guided me throughout my life," he says. The rhythm of the music dictates the pace of the game that is about to be played, says Marc McEntegart, from Dublin, who has been practicing capoeira since 2006. So, is it a game, or a fight? “It’s a game, it’s a fight, it’s a dance, it’s a lot of things,” he says. They chose this particular spot because, in the statue, Father Mathew is holding a pose – one hand raised to the sky, the other extended waist-high to his front – that resembles a ritual position that capoeiristas take before a bout, McEntegart says. “It lets people know you want a friendly fight.” Eventually, two people emerge from the crowd that has formed a semi-circle around the musicians. They both crouch, facing each other, in front of the musicians, before exploding into an acrobatic display with kicks, sweeps, and headbutts – but with little to no physical contact. To the untrained eye, it’s an extravagant, entertaining dance. But, says McEntegart, when you know what you’re looking at, the combat is clear. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/20260719_123123.jpg) Photo by Eoin Glackin. ## Superman and the Armadillo While some of the dozen or so capoeiristas who assembled for the workout are Irish, many are from Brazil. Like, Corrêa, a lifelong practitioner, who moved to Ireland in 2016\. He was first trained at the age of four by his father, Nelcino, he says. He remembers his father, a metalworker and mechanical engineer, would bring him to work as they couldn’t afford childcare. "Whenever he had a break, we would train capoeira together," he says. "Those are some of my earliest and happiest memories of capoeira." That’s where his nickname “Tatu” came from, he says. It’s Portuguese for armadillo, which Corrêa would resemble as he hid under his father’s work desk to avoid the boss, he says. In capoeira, everyone ends up with a nickname, says McEntegart, who came to be called “Superman” among his Brazilian training partners. “I just have dark hair and blue eyes, and in my twenties, I did some writing work, so they put it all together and got to Clark/Superman,” he says. It can happen as easy as that, he says. “At some point someone nicknames you and they just stick, and then before you know it, it's been 10 years and you know a guy called ‘The Boy’ and you don't know why they call him ‘The Boy’, because he's 50 and that’s just the way it is,” he says. ## Community A report published by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in October, [*Faith-Based Communities in the North-East Inner City*](https://www.jcfj.ie/research/faith-in-the-north-east-inner-city/?ref=dublininquirer.com), argues that faith-based groups in the city's north side, rather than keeping immigrant communities siloed, can actually be vital in helping new-arrivals integrate into Irish society. These congregations act as lifelines for thousands of residents – many of them immigrants – providing everything from language classes and food support to emotional and spiritual care, the report says. Faith communities, the report explains, often become the “first port of call” for new arrivals seeking information on how to navigate any and all sections of officialdom, language help, or companionship. They facilitate access to healthcare, education, and trusted networks of connections for those learning to navigate their new environment. For some Brazilians in Dublin, the same can be said for capoeira, says Corrêa, who also works as a social support worker. He often guides his capoeira students on practical things like getting a PPS number, navigating visa issues, or sometimes even helping them in managing alcohol and substance use, he says. For others, capoeira is just great fun, and a link to the culture they left behind. Silvana Gotardi, who was getting stuck in on Sunday against McEntegart and others, trained as a teenager but eventually, she says, study, work and life got in the way. When she moved to Ireland a few years ago, she was drawn back to it. “I thought I didn't have the time to train, but then when you start training, you figure out the time,” she says, laughing. Likewise, for Raphael Lopez, when he moved to Dublin seven years ago, the first thing he did was search out somewhere to train capoeira, he says. A Google search led him to Corrêa. He is now Corrêa’s “right hand” in Dublin, Corrêa says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/20260719_125150.jpg) Photo by Eoin Glackin. ## Joining in So, while the O’Connell Street sessions have attracted a lot of experienced capoeiristas, has there been any negative attention? Not at all, says McEntegart. At one stage, a woman sat down among the musicians and started trying to referee the match unfolding in front of her, all in good fun, he says. Other times, youngsters have passed a few smart comments, but when asked if they wanted to get involved, they usually decline. One who did get involved, completely off-the-cuff, ended up displaying some surprising gymnastic ability, he says. “He was really extremely capable.” Ultimately, says Corrêa, the point in taking the session to O’Connell Street, aside from enjoying the heat, is to promote the art itself. For him, he says, capoeira was life-saving in more ways than one – and he wants to share its possibilities with anyone he can. Coming from a rough neighbourhood in Brazil, it offered him a positive path, he says. At the age of 14, he set up what he calls his “first social project” in his uncle’s garage, training other youngsters, helping them to stay off the same bad road he had been tempted by himself. Later, it helped him out of the occasional scrape when he was working as security in bars. “I’d sweep guys to the floor and hold them,” he says. “I didn't need to punch the face or traumatise people – I just needed to distract and control them.” ## Distraction and bravado That act of distraction is a big part of the combat aspect to a capoeira match, he says. “That's the fun, and that's the challenge. I need to distract you,” he says. How do you distract your opponent in capoeira? “Dancing. I use my tongue, smiling, doing the back flip, handstands, the performance, the performance makes you distracted, and then when you forgot about me, then I see the chance to get you,” Corrêa says. At its core, says McEntegart, the game is about bravado. “You're introducing these opportunities for someone to sweep you or to headbutt you or to knock you down,” he says. “The goal is to play as close to that fire as you can, like to give people these opportunities and then reverse them or take them away, or to offset a certain balance. “All those air movements and small acrobatics are about kind of setting the table for the person and saying like, ‘I'm so confident that you can't sweep me here that I'm going to do a handstand, I'm going to do a backflip’, whatever it is,” he says. Monday 3 August is Capoeirista Day, celebrating the history of the martial art, which was originally developed among enslaved people from African in Brazil and [made illegal](https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/10/capoeira-from-crime-to-culture/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for decades from 1890 before its eventual decriminalisation in the 1930s. The capoeiristas will be back on O’Connell Street at 1pm that day to dance, play, fight and mark the occasion. Capoeira sits alongside hurling, uilleann piping and Irish harping on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Campaign to engage voters in Belmayne provides a model to learn from, says a new report URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/campaign-to-engage-voters-in-belmayne-provides-a-model-to-learn-from-says-a-new-report/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T23:26:56.000Z Leading up to the local and European elections in June 2024, Michelle McGoldrick of the Belmayne Community Group had a feeling that something just wasn’t right. She asked herself: “How can someone's voice be heard when no one's even knocking at their door?” It was evident, she says, that many residents of Belmayne did not feel politically engaged. They didn't feel they had the ability to influence happenings in their own area, she said. And so the grassroots Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign was born, aiming to increase voter participation in the new area. On Tuesday, an event was held in the Oak Room of the Mansion House to launch a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508894-tasc-belmayne-social-inclusion-voting-campaign/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) by the Think-tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) on the campaign’s efforts. Among the speakers at the event was Lord Mayor of Dublin Daryl Barron, a Fianna Fáil councillor for the council’s administrative North Central Area, which includes Belmayne. Like many new communities, Belmayne has experienced a wave of home building, he said. “But alongside the growth came a real challenge.” “As more apartment developments were built, it became increasingly difficult for elected representatives to access every resident to have meaningful conversations to ensure that every voice had the opportunity to be heard,” Barron said. It’s important that people feel a connection with those who represent them, and that they feel they can speak to politicians, raise issues that matter and help shape the future of their communities, he said. So, in 2024, McGoldrick and the Belmayne Community Group decided to take simple but, as the TASC report shows, effective steps to help the residents of the area feel politically engaged. They ran information campaigns, delivered flyers, and promoted events on local social media groups. They held voter registration drives. They also collaborated with the Dublin Adult Learning Centre on a voter education programme called “Make Your Voice Heard”. They held coffee mornings and canvassing events so people who live in apartments, a few doors and floors out of reach of door-knockers, could meet local candidates face to face, and encouraged local candidates to set up constituency clinics. The tangible result, McGoldrick told the Mansion House crowd, was that 300 people registered to vote, and voter turnout in Belmayne increased. As Tiarnán McDonough, democracy researcher with TASC, said on Tuesday, when examining the campaign, there were obvious spikes in voter registration around the time that these activities had been clustered in the run-up to elections. “But also, kind of qualitatively, the people we spoke to reported that the programme had a really positive impact on those who participated,” he said. Residents were more engaged, and had a better understanding of how to lobby local representatives effectively, he said. This has already had a positive impact on the community, said McGoldrick. “A new playground has been installed, and we're in talks regarding a new community centre,” she said. “So, we have seen how valuable it is to engage with our elected representatives.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/image-3-1.png) Michelle McGoldrick. Photo by Eoin Glackin. ## Voter turnout in decline As the TASC report notes, voter turnout in local and general elections is dropping. Despite a major voter campaign by the Electoral Commission, national turnout for the most recent general election fell by 3.19 percent on the previous election in 2020 to just below 60 percent, the report said. Housing tenure is a major predictor for voter turnout, said McDonough. People who own their own homes are more likely to vote than those living in social housing or privately rented accommodation, he said. Housing tenure aligns with a range of other factors too, he said. “People living in social or rented accommodation are more likely to be single, living in an urban area, less financially secure, managing work or caring responsibilities that make voting more difficult, and particularly in the private rental sector, younger,” he said. While we know that these correlations exist, he said, there is less research on the specific barriers that discourage people in Ireland from voting. “As the Belmayne group identified, we need a better understanding of those barriers if we're going to address them and make democratic participation more inclusive,” he said. A [review and strategy](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25951428-belmayne-clongriffin-review-and-strategy-for-council-owned-lands/?ref=dublininquirer.com) document published by the council last summer forsees how the mix of residents in Belmayne is set to change. As of the 2022 census, 40 percent of homes in the area were owner-occupied, the council report says. Another 36 percent were private rentals, and 17 percent were social housing, it says. But that mix is changing fast, the report says. Planning permissions show many apartment schemes to be delivered for Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), it says – mostly social homes, with some cost-rental. “When these figures are added to the existing known figures the results show that 55% of all housing in the area will be social housing rental \[from the council or AHBs\] based on current known sites that are being delivered,” it says. Yet, politicians tend to focus canvassing in high-turnout neighbourhoods, meaning they often target areas that are less diverse, have more older residents and established community networks, says the new TASC [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508894-tasc-belmayne-social-inclusion-voting-campaign/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). “Residents in these areas are far more likely than those in low-turnout areas to live in houses and own their own homes,” it says. Belmayne meanwhile has high levels of people living in social housing, it says. And in apartments. “The Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign identified that the inaccessibility of housing blocks to canvassers exacerbates low levels of engagement between politicians and those living in them,” the TASC report says. “This contributes to persistently low levels of political trust among people living in social housing, who can feel forgotten and as though their vote doesn’t matter,” it says. McDonough told those gathered at the Mansion House how TASC’s research showed that the participants of the Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign felt that one of the most important elements of the campaign was the presence of strong local voices, who residents felt they could trust. Importantly to the campaign’s success, the Belmayne Community Group were seen as politically impartial, motivated by the needs and aspirations of local residents, rather than by political gain or careerism, he said. “Our research seems to suggest that that trust was essential to the take up and engagement with the programme,” he said. ## Far-right Until recently, Ireland has avoided the emergence of a significant far-right movement, unlike other European countries, said McDonough. “But I'm not sure that we can kind of confidently say that this remains true.” There is an emergent “politics of grievance”, he said. This is particularly concerning in the context of a decline in voter turnout, he said. “And kind of does indicate the dangers of political disaffection.” There's a belief among “many observers” that inequality and declining social cohesion are contributing to the rise of far-right politics in Ireland, he said. Together, he said, these factors can undermine trust within local communities and weaken people's sense that they're being heard. “The example of the Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign suggests that community-led responses can be important tools for rebuilding trust and solidarity,” McDonough said. These responses enable people to identify their own local needs, push for solutions, and organise themselves effectively, he said. ## Building for the future The Belmayne Social Inclusion Voting Campaign can serve as a model to be rolled out across the city and country, McGoldrick said. Directly off the back of what has happened already with their campaign, she says, the Electoral Commission has begun linking in with the AHBs which manage new apartment blocks. And while it can be difficult for some people to commit to a three-week voter education programme, the Electoral Commission have also now created shorter bespoke resources that AHBs can share with their residents, she said. There are just over 2,000 homes in Belmayne and neighbouring area Clongriffin that belong to five AHBs – Clúid Housing, Tuath Housing, Respond, the Iveagh Trust, and Oaklee, she said. They have all responded really positively, McGoldrick says, and have started facilitating leaflet drops from elected representatives. “We're not quite at the point where the AHBs are comfortable facilitating canvassing events just yet,” she said, “but I am hoping with the work that we do between now and the next elections that they will be at the point where they will facilitate canvassing events.” Over the coming years, McGoldrick wants to see the relationship between AHBs and the Electoral Commission continue to strengthen. As more and more apartment blocks spring up around Ireland, she says, “it's an issue nationally that needs to be dealt with.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### What ever happened to the plan to transform Dorset Street? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-ever-happened-to-the-plan-to-transform-dorset-street/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:35:05.000Z Councillors want to know what happened to a long-standing plan to transform Dorset Street. In 2018, with council support, a group of Dorset Street-area residents and businesses [held](https://www.dublininquirer.com/debate-on-future-of-dorset-street-deepens/) a pop-up public consultation on the future of the street. In 2021, two of the organisers [went before](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-dorset-street-have-plans-to-rejuvenate-the-community-included-all-voices/) the council's Central Area Committee to present the [detailed Dorset Street Together plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508222-with-reference-to-dorset-street-together-group-presentation/?ref=dublininquirer.com), drawn up by architects, to transform the street. That included designating it as an architectural conservation area, widening footpaths, installing a cycleway, and supporting businesses to revamp their shopfronts, among other things. Later that year, when they were putting together the city development plan for 2022 to 2028, several councillors [put in motions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28510757-to-confirm-the-minutes-of-the-special-meeting-held-on-22nd-june-2021-the-monthly-city-council-meeti/?ref=dublininquirer.com) suggesting that this blueprint for the city incorporate parts of this plan for to revamp Dorset Street. At the time, it nearly sounded like the wheels of the giant machine that is the Dublin City Council were turning, and beginning to push forward these ideas for Dorset Street. So when Green Party Councillor Janet Horner [tabled a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28510760-with-reference-to-motions-to-the-area-managers/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at Tuesday's Central Area Committee meeting, asking for a shopfront improvement scheme for Dorset Street, the conversation soon focused on why that – and the rest of the 2021 plan – hadn't already been done. “Its like Groundhog Day sometimes in this chamber,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan at a meeting of the Central Area Committee on Tuesday 21 July. “There were promises made, there were plans developed, the community came together, and they had a fantastic plan.” After the meeting, Tony Kelly, one of the organisers of Dorset Street Together, said that senior council officials had promised them that if they put the work in, together with the architects, the plan would be implemented. But, despite support from local councillors, they have not been able to get the council to act. “If we were an affluent area it would be different,” he says. At the meeting, council area manager Brendan Doggett said that the council had done a lot in Dorset Street. “A huge amount of work has been done and continues to be done." Shopowners on Dorset Street can avail of shopfront improvement scheme grants, Doggett said. The council has installed planters, and painted over graffiti, and it's been involved in the [re-opening of the Four Masters Park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-phibsborough-a-park-that-s-always-been-locked-may-soon-open/), which is attached to the Mater Hospital, he said. ## Shopfront improvements Horner's motion said that the street's shopfronts could look better. "There is currently a very haphazard approach to shop frontages which leaves the street looking tackier and less cohesive than it should,” it said. “Nobody is proactively keeping an eye on Dorset Street and ensuring that there is a cohesive vision for the street," said Horner at the meeting**.** Her motion said the area committee was calling for a shopfront improvement scheme for the street. The council's shopfront improvement scheme offers business owners a grant for half the costs of revamping their signage and the front of their building up to a value of €3,000\. At the moment, it is available in Ballymun, Finglas and the south inner-City, according to the [council’s website](https://www.dublincity.ie/business-and-events/supports-local-businesses/shopfront-improvement-schemes?ref=dublininquirer.com). The councillors on the committee agreed Horner's motion that Dorset Street shopowners should be allowed to apply for the grant too. The council executive's written response to Horner’s motion said there's no budget for that, but that the council is working together with local businesses to enhance the appearance of the street. “Initiatives have included improvements to shopfront shutters, support for Christmas lighting, improved management and maintenance of streetscape planters, and a range of public realm and environmental improvement measures,” it said. If there's enough demand for the shopfront improvement scheme on Dorset Street, they'll try to allocate some money for that in next year's budget, it said. Independent Councillor Christy Burke said at the meeting that council discussions about a shopfront improvement scheme for Dorset Street date back at least 20 years. “The shopfronts are deteriorating,” he said. “Its time for the city council to act.” Doggett, the area manager, said the council has offered businesses the scheme. At one stage, council staff went door to door to offer it, but often businesses don’t have the money to pay for their half of the work. “We have the funds," Doggett said, in apparent contradiction to the written answer to Horner. "Maria and I would always support any business that wants to improve their shopfront.” Indeed, Kelly, one of the organisers of Dorset Street Together, said that in the past some local businesses on Dorset Street did get council grants to revamp shopfronts. ## Who is included? Laura Amariei, who has run the [Laica cafe on Dorset Street Lower](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-family-business-offers-romanian-pastries-and-cakes-and-mini-breakfasts-too/) since 2018, says she was never offered a shopfront improvement grant. “I didn’t hear about that,” she says. Amariei has been in contact with the council staff because around seven years ago she applied for seating outside the cafe. Staff came out and took pictures, she says, but she never received a response to her application. Amariei says she didn’t know about the proposals to transform the area. No one from the council has approached her for her views, she says. But she said she was really grateful to the council for removing graffiti from her shutters recently. “I was like wow,” she says. “Finally something for free in this country.” Back in 2021, some other immigrant business owners on Dorset Street also said [they were not consulted on the plan for the area. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-dorset-street-have-plans-to-rejuvenate-the-community-included-all-voices/) The plan used pictures of takeaways on the street (the New Victoria Chinese and Thai takeaway, the Spice n Rice Indian takeaway, and the Welcome City Chinese) to illustrate what it says is a “lack of mixed-use”. Speaking in 2021 John Jiang, who ran Do-son, a Chinese takeaway on Dorset Street Lower, said he hasn’t heard of the Dorset Street Together group or the consultation around the street’s future. He said he thought it was good that there were lots of takeaways on the street. “I like that. It’s always better, you know.” ## An Architectural Conservation Area As well as the shopfront improvement scheme, there are lots of other ideas contained in the [Dorset Street Together plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28510755-with-reference-to-dorset-street-together-group-presentation/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which was drawn up by [Kelliher Miller Architects](https://kmarchitecture.ie/project/dorset-st-together/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in consultation with local residents and some of the street's businesses. It envisioned changes to the road layout, tackling vacancy, increasing the number of apartments, greening the street, and making the shop fronts look swankier and more uniform. Dorset Street has Georgian and Victorian heritage, as well as a[ rich history of literary connections](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-walking-tour-highlights-the-great-writers-philosophers-and-revolutionaries-from-the-dorset-street-area/) and should become an architectural conservation area, says the plan. That designation would mean that from then on, if an owner applied for planning permission to make changes to a building on the street, its new appearance would have to meet council guidelines. There are already a slew of architectural conservation areas [across the city](https://www.dublincity.ie/archaeology-conservation-and-heritage/conservation-dublin/architectural-conservation-areas?ref=dublininquirer.com), including ones for Grafton Street, Mountjoy Square, Fitzwilliam Square, Iveagh Gardens, and Marino Casino. But none of them cover Dorset Street. At the moment, new businesses there can make changes, and install “tacky signage”, says Horner. “There is nothing there to restrict or guide how a new business should do their signage,” she says. At the very least, the council should issue guidelines to new businesses about what type of signage would work with the historic nature of the street, she says. Back in 2021, the then area manager, Karl Mitchell, said the next step was for the Dorset Street Together proposals to be discussed at other council committees, like the planning committee and the transport committee. Dublin City Council has not yet responded to a query sent Wednesday as to whether those discussions at those committees took place. ## The city development plan However, various councillors [raised the plans](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28510759-public-reports-pack-22062021-1730-special-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) during the discussions about making the city development plan for 2022 to 2028. Independent Councillor Cieran Perry and Labour Councillor Joe Costello asked that the Dorset Street Together plan be implemented. The council's chief executive at the time, Owen Keegan, didn't promise to implement the plan, but he did say the council would consider creating a local environmental improvement plan (LEIP) for Dorset Street. "The principles of the Dorset Street Together Plan can be examined for inclusion as part of this category of plan," says the response. A list of 23 proposed LEIPs [in the development plan](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2023-02/Final%20Vol%201%20Written%20Statement.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) includes Dorset Street. But the council hasn't gotten to it yet. Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam asked for a targeted regeneration plan for Dorset Street. "The potential role of the north east inner city, including Dorset Street and the north Georgian core in contributing to the regeneration of the city centre is acknowledged," says the executive's response. Keegan said the council would look at the possibility of designating the north-east inner city as a Strategic Development Regeneration Area (SDRA). It hasn't got that designation, at least not yet. Social Democrats Councillor Patricia Roe asked that Dorset Street be designated as an architectural conservation area. "Areas proposed for ACAs, including Dorset Street, will be assessed using this methodology and priorities will be recommended according to clear architectural conservation and sustainable urban planning criteria," said the chief executive's response. It's not included in an ACA, at least not yet. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner asked that the street be improved, made greener and with safer cycling and walking space. The response referred to page 76 in a [report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s33002/133%20Chief%20Executives%20Report%20on%20Pre%20Draft%20Consultation%20Process.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) that contains a commitment to review local environmental plans and SDRAs, as well as a general statement about urban design and public realm. "Planning policy should continue to promote the development of public realm / greening strategies for our urban centres and investment in the urban environment," it says. "In order to achieve a network of active, attractive and safe streets and public spaces with a high quality public realm which allows ease of movement for the pedestrian, which are inviting and which include, as appropriate, seating." **Road layout changes** The Dorset Street Together planincluded proposed changes to the road layout, removing the central median, and using the space freed up by that to widen the footpath, install cycle lanes as well as installing disabled parking bays and loading bays. “A thoughtful re-design of the street, by removing the central median and using the gained space for greening and wider footpaths, will create a safer and healthier environment for the people who live here while also forcing travellers to use more sustainable modes of transport,” says the plan. Amariei, of Leica cafe, said she hadn’t heard about the Dorset Street Together plan, but that the proposed changes to the road layout sounded excellent. “That would be brilliant,” she says. “Widen footpaths and provide outdoor seating for local hospitality businesses,” is one of the actions in the plan, which is also relevant to Amariei’s application to put tables and chairs outside her cafe. Tony Kelly, of Dorset Street Together, says businesses need to get deliveries, and the current road layout makes it difficult. “You can’t run a business without an ability to load,” he says. Amariei said similar. She is on a corner, so her delivery drivers usually pull in around the corner, but she has seen trucks stop on Dorset Street and block traffic. Horner, the Green Party councillor, said that a few years ago the council decided to plant trees along the central meridian on Dorset Street. She objected because, under the Dorset Street Together plan, that central meridian was supposed to be removed and the trees planted instead on the newly widened footpaths on either side of the road. “The central meridian turns the street into more of a dual carriageway,” she says. The vision is to create an urban village, by changing the street and improving the pedestrian ambience, says Horner. But she says the council managers have not come on board with that plan. “It is frustrating and disappointing,” says Horner. “It is a very limiting factor for the atmosphere of Dorset Street that it continues to have that feel of a dual carriageway rather than a community street.” ### Irish Water scaled back tests on Balbriggan drinking water. Does it matter? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/irish-water-scaled-back-tests-on-balbriggan-drinking-water-does-it-matter/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T23:26:14.000Z In early 2024, testing at source ended for the "raw water" – the untreated source water – that's sent to the Bog of the Ring Water Treatment Plant, just southwest of Balbriggan. However, drinking water is still tested after it comes out of the treatment plant, and before it travels onwards to the 32,000 people who live in what is known as "Fingal Zone 3". And the water quality has been good the last few years, says Irish Water's [online database.](https://www.water.ie/help/water-quality?ref=dublininquirer.com) So does the end of the raw-water testing at source matter? It certainly raises some questions for Irish Water, says Puneeta Sreenivas, freshwater policy officer at the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN). The main one, she says, is: "Is there scientific proof or rationale behind you not doing this?" Current regulations require adequate monitoring of raw water, she said, but don't dictate how frequent that is or what is checked for. Those parameters can vary, but just need to be risk-based, she said. In this case though, it isn't immediately clear that was the case. "That's a concerning situation because the reason seems to be a change in contract," she said. "That's not scientific." Emails released by Irish Water in response to a request under Access to Information on the Environment Regulations suggest that the change came after outsourcing. "All regulatory and operational sampling in Fingal areas was previously done by staff of Fingal Co. Council and the samples brought to us for analysis," said the senior executive scientific officer at Dublin City Council's Central Laboratory, to a colleague at Irish Water, in [an email](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508897-bog-of-the-ring-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) last year. "Weekly sampling at Bog of the Ring was part of the operational work," they said. But in March 2024, the job of drinking-water sampling passed from Fingal to Uisce Éireann, which outsourced the work, they said. Operational sampling at Bog of the Ring stopped after that, they said. A spokesperson for Irish Water hasn't yet replied to a query sent on Thursday morning, asking if they had carried out a risk assessment before stopping the monitoring of the raw water. Sreenivas says monitoring raw water at source acts like an early warning system for drinking water safety. You can see trouble coming and you can up your treatment requirements within the plant accordingly, she said. "It is in the interests of public health to do that." Compliance with the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations is high in Ireland, meaning that its public drinking water is safe to drink, says the Environmental Protection Agency's [most recent annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508244-drinking-water-in-public-supplies-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The report does highlight the importance of resilience of the water treatment systems, though. Testing raw water would be part of that resilience, said Sreenivas. "To make sure the water is managed and monitored appropriately, in preparation for a future where there are alot more unknowns." **###What's the benefit?** Internal emails [show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508905-bog-of-the-ring-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a couple of requests from Irish Water analystsfor up-to-date data for "raw water" at Bog of the Ring. In [one of the requests](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28508904-bog-of-the-ring-3/?ref=dublininquirer.com), an analyst says that the data will help inform the "crypto monitoring rationale and how if any protozoal deficit will be addressed". Also, "the results of the raw water E.coli monitoring will inform the requirement for any additional treatment," it says. He got the historic data, up to March 2024 to inform that, the records show. "Internal requests for monitoring data are common," said an Irish Water spokesperson. "These specific requests were required to support risk assessment and safety planning for the water supply." Irish Water uses raw water data for several purposes, they said. "This can include risk assessment and safety planning; review of our maintenance programmes; research; and the scoping and/or design of new infrastructure." But also, they said, "The requirement for raw water monitoring is risk-based. Raw water monitoring is not currently required at Bog of the Ring." "Uisce Éireann regularly review our monitoring programmes and we may decide to include raw water monitoring at Bog of the Ring in future monitoring programmes, even if there is no regulatory requirement," said the spokesperson. **###The future** There probably isn't any big problem with the raw water feeding into the Bog of the Ring plant, said Sarah Zimmerman, a local Balbriggan resident and environmentalist. But still, she says, it seems that there would be benefits downstream to testing it. If contaminants in the drinking water are only picked up later down the line, it causes more hassle for the wastewater treatment plant, she said. "It would require less treatment later on." Also, it doesn't necessarily follow that because past monitoring hasn't thrown up any problems, it's okay to stop, she said. A spokesperson for the EPA said that the Drinking Water Regulations 2023 are mostly concerned with monitoring the quality of drinking water that comes out of the tap. That's the "point of compliance," they said. The regulations also say that an operational monitoring programme should be in place. The scope of that is supply-specific, they said, but must include what is called "turbidity", which is kind of cloudiness, at the water treatment plant. The Bog of the Ring plant has monitors for that, they said. "At the time of the latest EPA audit in October 2024 online turbidity monitors were in place on the raw water and the treated water." There are also "continuous online monitors" for the input raw water as it enters the treatment plant, checking pH and dissolved oxygen, they said. Other considerations are in play too when it comes to appropriate monitoring, they said. "Groundwater sources such as the Bog of the Ring boreholes are less susceptible to rapid changes in raw water quality compared to a surface water source," they said. "Therefore it is reasonable to expect that the frequency of raw water monitoring at the source boreholes could be reduced, particularly if there is a long history of previous monitoring and if raw water monitoring is in place at the water treatment plant," they said. A spokesperson for Irish Water said that its approach to raw water monitoring at Bog of the Ring is to be reviewed again in the coming months, as it draws up its 2027 operational monitoring plan. Sreenivas, of SWAN, says that, under the recast EU Drinking Water Directive, Irish Water has until July 2027 to carry out a risk assessment and risk management plan for catchment areas that feed drinking-water abstraction points. In other words, a formal analysis of the risks to raw-water quality in the area upstream of where it is taken. That doesn't mean that Irish Water has to, by law, be testing everything at this point in time, she said. "But the issue here is that they were testing and stopped it," she said. ### After shock closure of Axis café, Ballymun locals get a sliver of hope that it may not be the end URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-shock-closure-of-axis-cafe-ballymun-locals-get-a-sliver-of-hope-that-it-may-not-be-the-end/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T23:27:32.000Z In May, residents of Ballymun learnt that the café in the Axis arts centre was to close, with immediate effect. The closure was a total shock to staff and customers, said Erica Kiernan, a local activist who started the now-2,464-signature-strong "Save the Axis Café – Fund Our Community" [petition.](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/save-the-axis-cafe-fund-our-community?ref=dublininquirer.com) But in the last few weeks, there has been a renewed sense of hope that all is not lost, said Councillor Conor Reddy of People Before Profit on Thursday. In late June, Axis [announced](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1461568859332184&set=a.554484540040625) that it was seeking expressions of interest from people interested in operating the café. The new operator would have to offer "High quality meals, snacks and refreshments throughout the day", bar service in the evening, catering for conferences at the centre, and meals for kids in the creche there. That call is closed now. There's a “cautious optimism” among locals about what happens next, says Reddy. They're cautious because it's not certain what exactly, if anything, will come from the expressions of interest process yet, he says. Also, the community wants an offering similar to what was there previously, he says. “We want a community-focused café where prices are affordable, and anyone commercial that's coming in, that might run against their interests,” he says. There are concerns that the bar – which operates in the same area as the café, but only in the evenings when theatre shows are on – will become the focus of any third-party operator, as it is more profitable than the café. Members of the Axis board have assured Reddy that this wouldn’t be the case, he says. Ray Yeates, arts officer for Dublin City Council and Axis board member, also said that nothing is certain yet. The café was losing money, and was closed so that the board could review all options, said Yeates on Thursday. “There’s no guarantee, even if an operator comes in, that they will necessarily do any better, but they may manage it in a different way," he said. People who run arts and community centres aren’t necessarily café people, he says. “Maybe a café person would do better.” ## Gathering a crowd In May, after news had broken of the café's closure, Kiernan had organised a [public meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-locals-rally-to-save-axis-cafe-but-the-figures-look-grim/). A crowd of café regulars met with Declan Dunne, the voluntary chair of the Axis board, and Sorcha Keane, the facilities director and CEO. Dunne said the reality was that the café – whose staff were employed directly by Axis – had been operating at a significant financial loss for several years. It couldn't continue, said Dunne. Last year, the Axis experienced an overall loss of around €200,000, Keane said at the time. “The café is the lion’s share of that.” A spokesperson for the Axis later said by email that the café had been “impacted by rising operational costs, including utilities and insurance, alongside ongoing cost-of-living pressures affecting customer spending”. After all that, Reddy says he started a conversation with Eilish Davenport, founder of the Ballymun Food Forum and [Learn Local Cookery](https://www.learnlocalcookery.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which promotes food education. They kicked around ideas to bring some type of co-operative or social enterprise to the Axis, he says. “Where it'd be food education, and linking into community-supported agriculture and the different farms in North County Dublin,” he says. He points to [Duhallow Community Food Services](https://duhallowfoodservices.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Cork as an example. Set up in 1997, Duhallow Community Food Services offers “a subsidised meal service to those that are not able to cook for themselves and are isolated because of age, illness, lack of transport or other disadvantages that result in living in a rural area”, its website says. It also runs a restaurant and provides meals to local schools, sourcing ingredients from mainly local suppliers, it says. If a commercial body doesn’t grab the contract, this is just the kind of community-focused operation that locals would like to see move into the Axis café space, Reddy says. Anybody bidding for the space will benefit from the fully equipped kitchen that's already there, so they won't have the costs of starting from scratch as they may if they moved into a white box, he said. Yeates says that now the expressions of interest are in, they have to be studied. “Because the person making the expression of interest may not understand all of the costs involved.” Back in May, attendees of the public meeting told Dunne and Keane that they felt the board needed more local representation. They may be about to get their wish. Next Wednesday, the Axis will hold its AGM and it's expected, says Reddy, that himself, Erica Kiernan and Sinn Féin Councillor Leslie Kane will be elected onto the board. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Find meaning among the pigeons, visit the School of Hibernia, see the cinematic re-wilding of a farm URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-find-meaning-among-the-pigeons-visit-the-school-of-hibernia-see-the-cinematic-re-wilding-of-a-farm/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T08:29:15.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Obedience** We’re now halfway through the [Liberties Festival](https://thelibertiesfestival.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which kicked off on Monday evening, and if you’re looking for something to catch today, it would be wise to pay a visit to the former Books at One shop at the top of Meath Street. Obedience is the new group show by artists Ishmael Claxton, Hollie Gilson, Aoife Ward and Eve Woods, otherwise known as Con:Temporary Quarters, and filmmaker James Redmond. Co-curated by Woods and Claxton, Obedience explores the changing face of the city through photography, painting, mixed-media and large-scale mapping. It asks who shapes our urban future, and reflects on loss, regeneration, and the right to the city. Obedience is the second exhibition to take over the former book shop following the Paul Duane-curated retrospective of [artist Valerie Gannon](https://www.dublininquirer.com/exhibition-showcases-works-by-liberties-painter-valerie-gannon/) back in May. Among the highlights in the show are Claxton’s ghostly monochrome photos that line the shelf inside the window, and Gilson’s painting ‘We’re on the Road to Nowhere’ in which an inner-cityscape folds into itself inside a vivid yellow void. Like the festival, Obedience opened on Monday. But, at 6pm today (Thursday, 23 July) the artists will be hosting a drinks reception. Then on Friday, also at 6pm, there is a screening of Redmond’s latest documentary [*Displace: The Battle for Dublin*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-film-documents-dubliners-resistance-to-subordination-of-social-life-to-profit/). It won’t be the only opportunity to catch *Displace* though. Fortunately, Redmond has it looping on an old silver Philips TV in the shop too. So depending on your mood and schedule, you can either enjoy it as a film or appreciate it as an art installation. Obedience is free to visit daily between 1 and 5pm. The exhibition closes on Sunday, 26 July. **You and Me, Day and Night** [Artist Carl Hickey](https://www.dublininquirer.com/through-artistic-surveillance-a-painter-captures-people-s-transient-moments-on-the-city-s-streets/) returns on Friday with You and Me, Day and Night, his third solo exhibition in Herman’s Auctioneers on the Lower Rathmines. Following Double Swan, an intimate portrait of Hickey’s home in Clondalkin, back in October, You and Me, Day and Night widens the lens once more to reflect on his deep bond with the city as a whole, while also considering his relationship with the paintbrush. Hickey made a name for himself as an oil-on-canvas documentarian of the oddness in everyday urban life, drawing inspiration from the likes of Edward Hopper and Kendrick Lamar, and discovering his cast of eccentric subjects on strolls, bus rides or viral clips. Here, he looks to capture the city’s more quiet moments: “the shifting light of day, the atmosphere of evening, and the intimate dialogue between artist and place.” You and Me, Day and Night is Herman’s Auctioneers’ latest show to continue its new concept of pairing a physical gallery exhibition with a timed online sale. The exhibition will open at 6:30pm tomorrow (Friday, 24 July), and will run until 7 August. For more information, or if you want to register to bid visit the Herman's website [here](https://auctions.herman.ie/auctions/1-C6F1LW/you-and-me-day-and-night-carl-hickey?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***An Irish Atlantic Rainforest*** From Friday, the Irish Film Institute will be screening the new Gary Lennon-directed documentary *An Irish Atlantic Rainforest*. The film tells the story of Eoghan Daltun, the sculptor, conservator of sculpture and climate activist who is attempting to save native Irish rainforests in the face of climate change. An adaptation of Daltun’s 2022 memoir of the same name, Lennon’s documentary charts his life, from being raised in inner-city Dublin to his recent work re-wilding of an old farm out on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. While tickets for the advanced screening of *An Irish Atlantic Rainforest* this evening are sold out, the film will be showing daily in the IFI. Tomorrow (Friday, 24 July), Daltun will also be in attendance to introduce the 8:55pm screening. For more information on screen times and to secure your tickets, visit the IFI website [here.](https://ifi.ie/film/an-irish-atlantic-rainforest/?%5Fgl=1%2A1nyx92a%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AMTU3ODgzOTE5NC4xNzg0ODEzMjc4%2A%5Fga%5FFZNNMJKDPE%2AczE3ODQ4MTMyNzYkbzEkZzEkdDE3ODQ4MTMyODQkajUyJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com) **Vision** Earlier this week, a new contemporary photography exhibition celebrating the 27 member states of the European Union opened at Farmleigh Gallery, in the Phoenix Park. Organised by the Office of Public Works with the various embassies of EU countries and various cultural organisations across the continent, Vision comprises a single photographic work from each member state, and includes contributions from photojournalists, documentarians and artists. The Irish contribution is *The School of Hibernia (after Raphael)* by all-female artists collective Na Cailleach and photographer Ros Kavanagh. *The School of Hibernia…* reimagines Raphael’s 16th Century fresco, *The School of Athens* which depicted a congregation of 50 philosophers, mathematicians and scientists, among them Plato and Aristotle, and all of them, male. Kavanagh swaps the genders, and replaces Raphael’s subjects with major female figures in contemporary Irish society, including former president Mary Robinson, housing activist Rita Fagan, poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and the first Trinity female provost Linda Doyle. The exhibition forms part of Cultúr 2026: Sharing Ireland’s Culture, the Irish EU Presidency Culture Programme, and it will be free to visit in the Farmleigh Gallery until December. For more information, visit the exhibition page [here](https://farmleigh.ie/events/vision-contemporary-photography-from-eu-member-states/?ref=dublininquirer.com), or if you want to browse the collection ahead of any visit, take a virtual tour of Vision [here](https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=9z6jqinmABu&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***The Pigeon Factory*** Some descriptions will either sell a play to you in a second, or send you running for the hills. Aaron O’Neill’s one-man show *The Pigeon Factory* is exactly that sort of play. Currently being staged in Project Arts Centre, *The Pigeon Factory* trails after Walden. He has a pretty good life. He is happily married to a mannequin, and he works his pigeon children into the ground, feasting on their eggs for sustenance. He is doing everything that he is supposed to, and yet, he feels so empty. Can his fantasies about his pigeons sustain him, or must he face up to a great hurt done to him in the past? Written and performed by O’Neill, and directed by Dee Finn, *The Pigeon Factory* explores ideas like work, family and finding one's purpose in a broken society through an absurdist lens. It debuted at Cork Midsummer Festival back in 2024, and was subsequently taken to the Smock Alley Theatre that same year. The production will be staged this evening at 7pm, and then at the same time on Friday, 24 July and Saturday, 25 July. For more information, and to secure a ticket, visit the Project Arts Centre website [here](https://projectartscentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873686759?%5Fgl=1%2A10h57z2%2A%5Fgcl%5Faw%2AR0NMLjE3ODExMTQ2NzEuQ2owS0NRandscVRSQmhDQkFSSXNBTnJrcnhqSGVwTUxjdkVjS25VWHZhNUtONDdNQUVIazcxOXRQYXVGTEdTd3hJTTZBbERSM2VCOUJYc2FBdmR3RUFMd193Y0I.%2A%5Fga%2ANzMzOTYyMDAwLjE3NjgzOTIwMzI.%2A%5Fga%5FC4WSKCHMDZ%2AczE3ODQ4MTE4NzckbzI1JGcxJHQxNzg0ODExOTI4JGo5JGwwJGgw%2A%5Fga%5FQCXK9ZPKTK%2AczE3ODQ4MTE4NzckbzI1JGcxJHQxNzg0ODExODkwJGo0NyRsMCRoMA..&ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **The Season of Light** This evening, Ranelagh Arts is launching The Season of Light, a new group show curated by Dino Notaro and Caroline Cassidy. Featuring the works of Thomas O' Connor, Ishmael Claxton and Karen McLaughlin, the exhibition opens at 6pm today (Thursday, 23 July) and will continue daily until 1 August. For more information, follow Ranelagh Arts on Instagram [here](https://www.ranelagharts.ie/post/the-season-of-light-group-show?ref=dublininquirer.com). **We Love July** Dublin City Council is inviting sports fans, families and communities over to Fairview Park on Saturday, 25 July for the fourth and final event in their month-long celebration of the city’s culture, creativity and community spirit. Beginning at noon and running until 6pm, We Love July - Heart of Movement is a free celebration of sport, movement and community, timed to coincide with All-Ireland Senior Football Final weekend. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet some of Gaelic Games' best-known names, including Fiona McHale (Mayo), Padraic O'Hora (Mayo), Darren O'Sullivan (Kerry) and Aislinn Desmond (Kerry) joining host Michael Darragh MacAuley throughout the day for interviews and audience Q&As. **Join Balbriggan Sustainable Energy Community CLG** Balbriggan Sustainable Energy Community CLG is now open for membership. If you want to join them as they work towards energy efficiency actions and renewable energy use, you are now able to sign up [here](https://www.balbriggansec.com/?utm%5Fmedium=email&%5Fhsenc=p2ANqtz--dapAZ55x4lvZHdFAmZhylfJJGDGYeOOij8Ef5gSQ5OUPNDmnHbB%5FlXQT5iTksDkTTERKhbf5cqqspy4pnIfRGFXlP3emndZs1maIm7PWxQJlXHpk&%5Fhsmi=141515765&utm%5Fcontent=141515765&utm%5Fsource=hs%5Femail#membership). **Have your say about community safety in the city** The five Local Community Safety Partnerships in Dublin city, which were recently-ish set up, are running [a survey](https://dublincc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV%5F1M5VcaE9KjoMTK6?lcspid=lcsp&ref=dublininquirer.com) right now "to gather information to develop our local community safety plan that will be rolled out across Dublin". These [recently-ish set up](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-community-safety-forums-for-city-inch-closer-to-operation/) LCSPs are designed to be the main forums for councillors, senior gardaí, and a range of others to talk about how to make the city safer. They’re meant to replace and improve upon the old joint policing committees (JPCs) by bringing in a broader group of stakeholders. You can tell them what you think [here](https://dublincc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV%5F1M5VcaE9KjoMTK6?lcspid=lcsp&ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### Mention of “best interests of the child” quietly dropped from Department of Justice’s new family reunification policy URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/mention-of-best-interests-of-the-child-quietly-dropped-from-department-of-justices-new-family-reunification-policy/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T23:27:51.000Z On 12 June, the Department of Justice [officially rolled out](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28492507-amendments-to-policy-on-non-eea-family-reunification-immigration-service-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com) its fresh family-reunification rules. These govern whether someone settled in Ireland can bring family members to live with them, and if so, which ones, and under which conditions. The changes affected the rights of Irish citizens, people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) on different immigration stamps, and people who've come to Ireland seeking asylum. Much [has been said](https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/call-for-overhaul-of-family-reunification-rules?ref=dublininquirer.com) about these new policies. That they make family reunions more expensive. That they narrow the opportunity – and even, for some, take it away entirely – for people who have turned to the state for housing or other social support to live alongside their loved ones. “Minister \[Jim\] O’Callaghan \[of Fianna Fáil\] and Minister \[Colm\] Brophy \[of Fine Gael\] have, with a few strokes of a pen, made the intentional decision of keeping families apart, possibly forever,” said Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, in a press release, last month. But the new family reunification [policy document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28492451-family-reunification-policy-12-june-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) included a smaller tweak that went unremarked. It does not include considering “the best interests of the child” in assessing reunification cases. That was explicitly laid out in [the old ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28490085-policy-document-on-non-eea-family-reunification-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)one. “In cases involving a child, the best interests of that child will be a key consideration in any decision made,” that version said. Legal academics say committing to the idea that the best interests of the child are what matters the most in family-reunion cases flows from Article Three of the [UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child](https://web.archive.org/web/20260716185159/https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child) (UNCRC) – to which Ireland [became a signatory in 1992.](https://web.archive.org/web/20260719192246/https://childrensrights.ie/rights-in-the-uncrc/) “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration,” says the convention. In practice, it means the interests of the child prevail over state interests, including “control of borders or migration control”, said Patrícia Nabuco Martuscelli, lecturer in international relations at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson for Ireland’s Ombudsman for Children said it is “very concerned” that the best-interests principle was not referenced in the new policy. It recommends that the Department of Justice revise the document during its annual review “to ensure compliance with Ireland’s children’s rights obligations under the UNCRC”. “This includes the right to family life, and the right to have their best interest treated as a primary consideration, and their right to have family reunification requests dealt with in a positive, humane, and expeditious manner,” they said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it had “restructured” the old policy to change the rules for how much a person must earn before they can bring family members to come live with them to match the current cost of living and to align with a scheme for family reunification of refugees under asylum law. Officials still consider children’s best interests, they said, pointing to a clause in the new policy that mentions “child protection”. “In the case of children or vulnerable adults, ensuring that no child protection or other concerns arise,” that clause says. But Martuscelli said mentioning “child protection” is not the same as explicitly agreeing to prioritise children's best interests. It is broad and vague, she said, and can mean different things to different people. ## Once was In contrast, the Department of Justice does mention prioritising the “best interests of the child” in its [new asylum law](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28493663-pdf-3/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – including in the context of how the asylum process should treat children who are on their own here. Unlike the family reunification policy for immigrants from outside of the EEA, the asylum law had to be in step with the EU’s Asylum and Migration Management Regulation – better known as the EU Pact – which embraces the best interests principle. So, it is mentioned there a bunch, even in the context of detention. “It is assessed by the member or officer that the detention is in the minor’s best interests,” [it says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28493663-pdf-3/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in one place. Mark Klaassen, assistant professor at the Europa Institute of Leiden University in the Netherlands, said it’s possible that officials of a country never wrote down the best interest principle on paper but adhered to it in practice. “But it’s telling indeed that, like, first it was there, and now it’s not there anymore,” he said. When children’s best interests are guaranteed, it means there are kinder procedures that accommodate their needs, said Martuscelli, the academic at Sheffield University. Both Klaassen and Martuscelli said that leaving it out makes sense in the context of a new policy that takes a harsher view and narrows access to family reunification. Martuscelli said she’s been reading about Ireland's overhaul of the policies and how they prioritise state interests, which makes it more important to ensure that they won’t come before children’s needs. Kids with different circumstances and varied layers of vulnerability can be part of these applications, she said. “It can be Irish children, where one parent is Irish,” she said, and it can be immigrant kids who are alone here. ## Whose interests? Those with refugee status wouldn't normally apply to reunite with loved ones – unless they formed a relationship with them after they moved here – under the novel family reunification policy document. Instead, their cases for reunification with family membersare assessed under the [new asylum law](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28493663-pdf-3/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The text of that law says that “the best interests of the minor shall be a primary consideration”, in a section about the rights of those granted refugee status – which includes the right to reunite with a family member. The spokesperson for the Ombudsman for Children said the best interests principle outlined in the new asylum law should in practice apply to decisions on their family reunification cases, too. It has already flagged concerns with officials about hardened rules that narrow refugees’ rights to bring over close family members, they said. Under past rules, refugees had one year right after getting status to apply to reunite with close family without having to meet income thresholds laid out in the policy document for reunification of non-EEA immigrants who didn't have refugee status. But now [they have to ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28492507-amendments-to-policy-on-non-eea-family-reunification-immigration-service-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com)wait for two years after being granted sanctuary to be able to apply, make a certain amount of money – unless they are a child and can't get a job – and not receive social housing aid or live on social welfare paychecks. Martuscelli, the academic at Sheffield University, said that adding things like a waiting period of two years for every refugee means the best interests of their kids weren't considered in drawing up those policies. Prioritising children's needs means closing the space between them and their parents as soon as possible. Especially if they’re younger, Martuscelli said, so they won’t grow up carrying scars of childhood separation long-term. “We’re talking about child development. If a child is separated from a main carer, this can have very detrimental effects later in life,” said Martuscelli. ## Where is my mind? Even before the new policies kicked in, [parents had said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/west-african-nurses-question-why-they-must-wait-longer-than-others-for-family-to-join-them-in-ireland/) they faced prolonged delays in reuniting with their kids. Annie Ukegbu applied under the now-retired [International Protection Act 2015](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28497488-pdf-4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to bring over her children back in early May 2025, she said. The former [legislation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28497488-pdf-4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) did not feature the best interests principle as much as the new EU-based law does. But it still crops up, including at the end of a section on reuniting with a family member who is abroad or a loved one who lives in Ireland but may be undocumented or lack a stable immigration status. Still, Ukegbu keeps waiting for a decision on her application, even though her kids' situation is precarious, she said. Ukegbu had wanted to flee Nigeria to seek safety with all four of her kids, but she couldn’t afford the cost, she said recently. So, she came alone, leaving her kids under the care of a friend because her family is part of the reason why she had to get away, Ukegbu said. When she first applied for permission to bring her kids to Ireland to live with her, “they \[the Department of Justice\] stated that I shouldn’t contact them unless I’m contacted or I move address”, said Ukegbu. When she did move and reached out to let them know, she couldn’t help but ask for an update on the case, too, she said. “I asked them, ‘Please, what about my children’s application?’ They didn’t say anything about it," she said. Her youngest child was two years old when Ukegbu escaped. In September, she turns five, she said. Her friends can’t look after her kids for much longer, she said, and it presses on her mind all the time. “It has messed me up emotionally and psychologically; I’m always shattered; I’m always worried,” she said. It almost feels like she’s not really here, said Ukegbu. “Do you understand?” Just recently, she was Facetiming her nine-year-old boy when the kid burst out crying, asking when he could see his mama again, Ukegbu said. She took a screenshot even though it kills her to see it, she said. She sends the shot on WhatsApp. It shows a little boy gazing down. His mouth is open. Tears trickle down his cheeks. ### In Rathmines, the last hours of the old art-deco post office URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rathmines-the-last-hours-of-the-old-art-deco-post-office/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T23:27:58.000Z An early 1900s brown Milner’s safe sat securely on the back of a crane lorry parked outside the Rathmines post office on Friday afternoon. It was held in place by a long canvas strap and as the sun beamed down on the Upper Rathmines Road, its round brass plaque, which said it was fire-resistant, seemed almost golden. As lunchtime neared, an office worker wheeled a silvery blue deposit box out onto the footpath by the lorry with its safe door open. Two men strolled by, with one pausing to take a picture of the Milner's safe. “You love stuff like this,” his friend said. Somebody had left a large knock-off Barbie adventure trailer in the windowsill of the post office. In another, a member of staff had attached a slip of paper, informing passers-by that their Rathmines branch would be closing at 1pm that day. But An Post would re-open on Monday at 11am, 100 metres down the road in the Centra, their new permanent home, the notice said. It was 12.55pm. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the dimly lit service area. There wasn’t a queue. Yvonne Dunleavy, in a dark blue Hawaiian shirt, had gone in to pay an electricity bill. Her partner Mary Dunleavy walked up the road a few minutes later just as a member of staff approached the doorway. The staff member explained to her that they were finishing early for the day to accommodate the move. That was disappointing, she said. “It’s iconic.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/An-Post-Milners-safe-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) The old Milner's safe. Photo by Michael Lanigan. Yvonne Dunleavy stepped out onto the street. There was the dull thunk of the wooden doors closing, and slowly a crowd of confused locals started to gather as they processed that the art deco post office had officially closed. Even if they aren’t losing the post office's services, the scaling down of services is going to impact the area, Yvonne Dunleavy said. “Its going to be such a loss. There’s an awful lot of old people around here that rely on this place with their pension and everything.” Since An Post announced their intention to sell the 1930s post office more than two years ago, locals have been eager to keep the building in public use. The postal service has been engaging with possible uses for the property, a spokesperson for An Post said. But they still intend to put the building up for sale next year. Right now, the council is considering some interim uses between its closure and An Post putting it up on the market, South East Area manager John McEvilly told the South East Area Committee on July 13\. “They are essentially in agreement with giving us a licence.” ## **Apologies for the inconvenience** An Post announced in February 2024 that they were going to sell off six of its branches, including the [Rathmines post office](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-portobello-plaza-the-rathmines-post-office-and-flood-defences-on-the-dodder/). The post offices impacted by these sales would be transferred to “contractor offices” in Centra shops, An Post CEO David McRedmond told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Media Communications, [Culture and Sport on 25 June](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Farts%5Fmedia%5Fcommunications%5Fculture%5Fand%5Fsport/2025-06-25/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com#spk%5F140). It was the most financially viable move for An Post in the long-term, McRedmond said. “Whenever we do it, after we have done it, it gets the highest scores in customer satisfaction, customers liking their post office and what it does for the community.” Yvonne Dunleavy knew the post office was closing, she said while standing outside. “But I didn’t know when.” But, she noticed it as she was walking in, she said. “I could see all this pandemonium. That’s why they were doing up the Centra.” Just down the street, the Centra was filled with construction workers and a few people in An Post lanyards. There was a large sign inside the window. They were under new ownership, getting a new look and the post office too, it said. “Please bear with us during our renovations. Apologies for the inconvenience.” It’s a post office the Dunleavys knew their whole life, with Mary coming from Rathmines originally and Yvonne growing up in Rathgar, Mary said. “It’s absolutely awful, because this post office is so big.” Within 10 minutes of the doors closing, there were 12 people outside voicing their frustration. Two women were there to collect their pensions. One man had arrived to collect his social welfare. A pair of sisters approached the sorting office gate where a van was parked to inquire about picking up a package from the clothing marketplace Vinted. Yvonne Dunleavy was peering through one of the tinted windows. Yvonne was just told she was the last person they served and one of the staff hugged her, Mary Dunleavy said. “She said they’re in there crying.” ## **For sale** Mary Dunleavy said, on Friday afternoon, they cannot say that the art deco building wasn’t viable. “It’s so well used. And it’s not just used by old people.” The worry now is who An Post will sell the property to next, she said. “This is a public building that was paid for by public money. It’s well used. It’s needed, and now we’re going to be at the back of a Centra?” Local councillors have previously proposed that the art deco building be re-zoned as a [civic amenity](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-portobello-plaza-the-rathmines-post-office-and-flood-defences-on-the-dodder/). Residents of Rathmines have also suggested that it be used as a replacement for the former Citizens Information offices which vacated its premises nearby on [the Wynnefield Road in 2022](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rathmines-some-residents-eye-former-post-office-as-location-for-revived-citizens-information-desk/). An Post offered the building to the Land Development Agency, but they didn’t want it, McRedmond said at the committee in June. Dublin City Council also rejected it, he said. South East Area Manager John McEvilly explained to local councillors at their area [committee meeting in July 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-council-gives-rathmines-post-office-a-second-look-locals-push-to-set-up-forum-to-fight-for-community-spaces/) that they would only be able to use the downstairs area of the two-storey building. “We can’t use the sorting office for 10 years,” he said. Telecommunications company Eir currently has [a lease on part of the building's first floor.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-council-gives-rathmines-post-office-a-second-look-locals-push-to-set-up-forum-to-fight-for-community-spaces/) A spokesperson for An Post said on Monday that they continue to engage with Dublin City Council on a best possible use for the building “which An Post intends to place on the market for sale”. ## **Meanwhile use** On the Monday before its relocation, Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly sought an update on the future of the old post building at the South East Area Committee on 14 July. The council and An Post met in the last “probably” 10 days, McEvilly told the committee. “We’ve asked them essentially to give us a licence and then we could sub-licence.” The council’s chief valuer has written to them, he said. “We’re waiting on a response from them.” But, in the meantime, McEvilly said he will be working on expressions of interest in relation to “the retail unit as such”. “So I think it’s best we get a response before we have a meeting,” he said. When pressed for a “tentative date” for a meeting with An Post by Connelly, McEvilly said they could look at late July. “Probably before the August break, if that’s alright?” They need to do it because it would be a real tragedy if this public building was lost, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said. “It won’t cost An Post anything. They could still retain ownership just as we still retain ownership of the town hall, but the ETB use it.” “It’s a real win-win for the community,” he said. An Post is essentially in agreement to give the council a licence, but they do plan to bring the building to market as early as the first quarter of next year, McEvilly said. Anybody who goes in there next will need to be consistent with its current zoning, he said. “And that’s essentially zoned as a shop.” The council won’t have time to get together a planning permission, he said. “It’s a time critical element to it if they’re going to go to the market early next year. There’s very few months that someone would actually be occupying the building, but we’ll proceed anyway.” The councillors don’t actually want it to go to market, Lacey said. “We want them to transfer a public building from one arm of the state to another arm of the state.” ## **Out of hours** At 4pm on Friday evening, an An Post worker wheeled a few computer system units down the Upper Rathmines Road in a trolley. He greeted a co-worker who stood outside the Centra, and proceeded to push the units through the store, passing the deli and the shelf stacked with cleaning products. Down a grey corridor, the new post office was almost complete. The walls behind the counters were painted green. There were a few sweeping brushes and sacks of levelling compound lying around still. The new service will be open during regular post hours, but it will also offer some enhanced features like a self-service kiosk, an An Post spokesperson said on Monday. “The Centra store is also a PostPoint location enabling many extra out of hours features for customers.” An Post is also preparing to relocate several of their delivery offices this year and next, including the one currently located in Rathmines, they said. That delivery office will be moving to An Post’s Whiteheather facility on the South Circular Road in the second quarter of 2027, they said. It’s not going to be great news for elderly people collecting registered letters, Rathmines local Enid O’Dowd said on Friday evening as she stood outside the post office “Particularly if they’re on Zimmer frames.” Although there [are ways to avoid](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dread-an-posts-sorry-we-missed-you-slips-there-may-be-no-need-to-trek-to-the-depot-anymore/) trekking out to depots to get packages these days – such as having them delivered to the nearest post office, instead of home. O’Dowd and local activist Peter Dooley arrived outside the building at 4.30pm, unfurling a banner asking that the post office be saved, while the crane lorry was loaded up with more empty safes of all ages and sizes. It would be great to get the Citizens Information service in here, said O'Dowd. “But probably, it’ll be left empty for a while.” ### Government opposes bill to overhaul bin-collection system in effort to keep city's streets cleaner and prices down URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-opposes-bill-to-overhaul-bin-collection-system-in-effort-to-keep-citys-streets-cleaner-and-prices-down/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:34:26.000Z The government last week opposed a bill to overhaul how bin collections are done, in an effort to keep streets cleaner and prices down. It's still considering the results of a study of the idea commissioned in 2024 and finished in May, said Alan Dillon, a Fine Gael TD, and Minister of State with responsibility for the Circular Economy. The issue: whether to continue with the current free-market approach to bin collection by private companies, or make changes to allow councils to take more control of the process, hiring companies to cover certain areas, under certain contractual conditions. The bill was proposed by Labour TD for Dublin Central Marie Sherlock, and during [the debate](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-07-16/46/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on it in the Dáil last Thursday. "I introduced this Bill because I do not believe the issue of litter and dumping on our streets, particularly in the communities I represent, where the issue of litter has existed for many years, is hopeless," Sherlock said. "I do believe change can be made." "Inspiration can be taken from many European cities that have got their systems right," she said. "They have underground collection systems, compactors in their communities and innovative solutions. The way our system is set up ultimately does not allow for that investment, and I believe we need to change that." Mark Ward, Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid-West, Gary Gannon, Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Roderic O'Gorman, Green Party TD for Dublin West, and Paul McAuliffe, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North-West spoke in favour of it. However, Dillon, Fine Gael TD for Mayo, and Minister of State, said the government would not be supporting Sherlock's bill. "This is not about resisting reform, nor is it about defending the *status quo*. It is about ensuring that reform is informed by evidence," Dillon said. There've been a series of reports already published on the issue. In 2023, Dublin City Council [commissioned one](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-their-quest-to-take-back-control-of-bin-collection-councillors-plan-to-press-government-for-new-legislation/) from the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), which looked at what would be involved in the council taking back more control of bin collection (new legislation). Then in 2024, two reports – [from the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25245748-2024-10-15%5Freport-on-the-circular-economy%5Fen/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and [from the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25245749-download/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Taoiseach's Taskforce for Dublin – [recommended](https://www.dublininquirer.com/two-big-reports-recommend-dublin-city-council-get-back-control-of-bin-collection/) councils get back control over bin collection. In response, later that same year, Minister of State Ossian Smyth, a Green Party TD, asked Department of Environment officials to commission another study. That's the one Dillon said he's waiting for. It was "to explore the feasibility, potential benefits and risks associated with transitioning our waste collection system from its current competitive licensing system to a franchise tendering system for local authority areas or regions", a department spokesperson said at the time. "The timeline for completion of such a comprehensive study could be up to 12 months with appropriate procurement," she said. At the time, Conor Walsh, secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association, said the IWMA "opposed “competitive tendering or franchise bidding for household waste collection”. This would reduce competition in the market, Walsh said. As part of the process of putting together this additional study, the Department of Environment ran a [public consultation](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/consultations/public-consultation-on-the-feasibility-of-transitioning-irelands-waste-collection-market-from-its-current-side-by-side-licensing-system-to-a-franchise-tendering-system/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 2025, soliciting views on a potential change. It is unclear, however, who voiced their opinions via this consultation, or what those were, as the department [declined to release those submissions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28502858-decision-letter-foi-0209-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) under the Freedom of Information Act. This is in contrast to the approach of, say, Fingal County Council, which publishes submissions it gets in response to public consultations [right on its website](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/node/38601/submissions?ref=dublininquirer.com). In any case, whatever happened behind the scenes, about 20 months later, in May of this year, Dillon, [said that](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-05-14/178/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "The study has recently concluded and its recommendations are currently under consideration." There are no plans to take action on those recommendations this year, he said last Thursday in the Dáil. "The recommendations arising from that work will be considered as part of the updated waste action plan for a circular economy and the implementation of Ireland's second whole-of-government circular economy strategy in 2027," he said. ## How we got here Before 2000, Dublin City Council collected bins, but households didn’t pay a separate charge for that. When the council brought in bin charges, there were protests and loads of people [refused to pay them](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Bin%5FTax%5FCampaign?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then government policy allowed private operators to begin collecting waste alongside local authorities, in many cases offering lower charges to attract customers, according to the [report on the issue](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23695030/ipa-research-report.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the IPA. In 2008, the four Dublin local authorities got together and made an amendment to the waste management plan for the region, meant “to ensure that waste could only be collected by councils or contractors appointed by them”, the report says. Panda Waste Services took the four councils to court, which found that what the councils were doing was [contrary to the Competition Act 2002](https://ie.vlex.com/vid/neurendale-ltd-t-panda-793482117?ref=dublininquirer.com). Now that the councils were charging households, they were “undertakings” operating in a market – and what they were doing was anti-competitive. “Following on from this decision, local authorities around the country began the process of exiting domestic waste collection entirely, leaving it to operators in the private sector,” the report says. Dublin City Council left the household waste collection market in 2012, according to [a report by the council](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QM9x7ERESGOuNFNCPCSLQepU%5FnRXtqee/view?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the prospect of re-entering it. Today, any company that gets a waste collection permit from the National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO) can come to Dublin and offer its service to households. The council does not have control over the waste-collection companies, or how they operate in the city. However, things have changed since Panda won its case, Sherlock said in the Dáil last Thursday. The councils lost "because of EU competition law, but we believe the game-changer now is the 2014 EU concessions directive, which allows for tendering by a state, or an agency of the state, for services of general economic interest or general public interest, of which we believe waste is one", she said. Dublin city councillors backed a cross-party motion [in July 2019](https://www.dublininquirer.com/2019/07/03/council-briefs-on-council-run-waste-collection-and-feeding-the-poolbeg-incinerator) that the council should reclaim control over bin collection. Those who spoke in favour of it talked about multiple trucks clamouring down the same streets, challenges with illegal dumping, bins not being collected, and work practices, among other problems. Councillors set up [a subcommittee](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s32321/Draft%20Terms%20of%20reference%20Waste%20remunicipalisation.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to look at how to push that forward. That subcommittee, led by Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, commissioned the report from the IPA that was released in 2023. Among the report’s conclusions: if the council is going to get control of waste management in the city again – and either 1) pick up the bins itself, or 2) tender for a company or companies to do that – the Oireachtas will have to pass legislation to allow that to happen, legally. However, the last coalition's 2020 [programme for government](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24806368-programme-for-government-our-shared-future-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) made no reference to changing the bin-collection system, and neither does this current coalition's January 2025 [programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26300758-programme-for-government-securing-irelands-future/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In April 2025, Brian McHugh, the chair of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), wrote [an op-ed](https://www.ccpc.ie/news-and-media/news/article/2025/04/15/current-waste-market-structure-will-never-deliver-for-irish-public?ref=dublininquirer.com) saying that, "Having a choice of providers is usually a sign of a healthy and well-functioning market." "However, domestic waste collection is not a typical market. Some markets work much more efficiently when there is a single provider," McHugh wrote. "The current market structure will never properly deliver for the Irish public," he wrote. "A policy change is long overdue." ## The bill's proposed changes The [bill](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2026/14/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Sherlock, the Labour TD, who is not in government,is primarily [meant to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28503110-b1426d-explanatory-memo/?ref=dublininquirer.com) replace the current system of "competition in the market" to a system of "competition for the market". This would let Dublin City Council put out a tender for a company to provide bin-collection services for all of Dublin city, or multiple tenders for different parts. That could make it easier to install communal underground bins, or above-ground compactors, which might be useful in the inner-city, where people put out their rubbish in bags, which critters often rip to shreds on bin day, spreading debris around the streets. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Torn-open-yellow-bag.-Photo-by-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpeg) Photo by Shamim Malekmian. But where many residents do not want to switch to bins to solve this problem, citing their small houses and lack of bin-storage space, and the increase in costs involved in the change, among other issues. [Revolt continues in Dublin 7 over proposed shift from bags to binsThe change is part of the council’s efforts to stop foraging foxes and hungry gulls from from tearing open bags left out for collection, scattering rubbish.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-fd755a26-6219-4b9c-8523-dabbd109c0d3.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Marie-Sherlock-and-D7-locals-at-public-meeting-source-Michael-Lanigan-1-d755a724-47fe-41de-83da-29cdbe88f0bf.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/revolt-continues-in-dublin-7-over-proposed-shift-from-bags-to-bins/) At the moment, one of the obstacles to putting in these communal systems, which are available in other European countries, is that when multiple companies have customers in an area – how would they split payments, and which company would empty the communal bin or compactor? In the north inner-city, "when it came to the residential areas, I understand the council tried to negotiate with the bin collectors on the roll-out of shared collection systems, but to no avail", Sherlock said. Having just one company operating in an area could help solve this problem. In addition to helping with that problem, a council hiring a company to provide bin-collection service in a particular area could also include conditions in those contracts, for pricing, for conditions for workers, for picking up illegally dumped rubbish, for example. At the moment, prices for bin collection have been rising, Sherlock said. And "many of the private bin companies are effectively creaming profits from bin collection, with local authorities having to spend millions", she said. The bin companies service the customers who pay, the council has to pick up after the customers who don't pay, and instead illegally dump their rubbish on the street. Ward, the Sinn Féin TD, spoke in support of the bill. "The process of returning waste management to public control can begin with having one company per local authority," he said. "A single bin operator per local authority would reduce the number of bin trucks on streets and should reduce the incidence of illegal dumping," he said. "This would lead to a decrease in prices, which could be set out in the tendering process." O'Gorman, the Green Party TD, also spoke in support of it. "The solution is to rationalise the current system, put local authorities back at the centre of waste management processes and use this to get a better handle on pricing and illegal dumping through contracts that are right for each specific area," he said. McAuliffe said he wanted to see the bill continue to committee stage. He said that the Dáil should "enable local councillors to make decisions to put in place waste solutions that suit their areas". "We should be allowing Dublin City Council, if its elected representatives so choose, to establish both competition for the market and its own bin service if it so wishes," he said. However, McAuliffe also said he worried about what would happen if one company won all the contracts to collect bins all four Dublin council areas – would the other bin companies go out of business? Would there be any companies left to bid against the big winner the next time the contracts came up for tender? For his part, during Thursday's debate, Dillon, the Minister of State, said he recognised "concerns relating to affordability, service quality, consistency of provision and illegal dumping". However, he said it would be premature to pass the bill before the latest study on the issue is complete, he said. "The Bill assumes that replacing competition in the market with competition for the market will resolve many of the challenges facing household waste collection. However, that should not be taken as a given," Dillon said. "Better outcomes may be achieved by improving the operation of the current system rather than replacing it entirely," he said. ## Other provisions Another part of Sherlock's bill would also provide for a scheme for the waiver of household waste collection charges on grounds of personal hardship. And it would enable local authorities to make provision by bye-laws making it the responsibility of landlords to ensure their tenants have bin contracts. Dublin City Council has been working to identify people living in the north inner-city who do not have bin contracts, either because they don't know it's their responsibility, or because they can't afford it. [Council to use data from waste-collection companies to target people without bin contracts - Dublin Inquirer“We can then follow that up with cold calling, calling at houses, calling at properties and then we can then prosecute.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-0225bbe6-961a-41af-a140-0a8278b3632d.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/north-circular-road-credit_-laoise-neylon-scaled-1530f16d-310a-49bf-9423-989474f732dc.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-use-data-from-waste-collection-companies-to-target-people-without-bin-contracts/) Often, this results in people illegally dumping their rubbish on the street, for the critters to tear into, and the council to clean up. But, in the Dáil on Thursday, Dillon said making these changes would violate the "polluter pays principle". "This is a fundamental principle of European environmental law. It reflects the principle that those who generate waste should bear the costs associated with its management and that pricing signals should encourage waste prevention, reuse and recycling," he said. The government recognises that people face real financial hardship, he said. "The question is how support should be provided." "Waste charges are designed to recover the cost of providing the service while encouraging environmentally responsible behaviour," he said. "Introducing mandatory waivers through waste collection permits risks weakening those incentives." ## Maybe next time Sherlock said she was disappointed that the government would not support her bill. "If it is not going to accept our ideas, it \[the government\] should bring forward its own ideas but we did not hear any of those," Sherlock said. The Dáil did not vote on the bill on Thursday. "The division will be taken after the recess in September," said the Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy. "The Minister of State has the summer to change his mind," said McAuliffe, the Fianna Fáil TD. ### Artists in the old Filmbase building, owned by the council, say it really needs some visible upkeep URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/artists-in-the-old-filmbase-building-owned-by-the-council-say-it-really-needs-some-visible-upkeep/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T23:28:12.000Z The lights weren’t on inside the ground-floor exhibition space in the former Filmbase building, on Monday evening. The security desk was unmanned. Open windows on the upper floors were some of the only hints to people strolling along Curved Street in Temple Bar that the council-owned centre was occupied. Somebody had spray-painted a tag on one window. The corner of another was cracked. On the western end of the ground-floor exhibition space, a few framed paintings were on display but with no clear indicators as to who had created them. The eastern end of what is now called 2 Curved Street was far livelier. One of its three occupants, the organisation Visual Artists Ireland, had decorated two of the glass panels with a large pink, yellow and black banner stating that “art is punk”, and a third with a text known as "The Visual Artists Bill of Rights". But despite these efforts to vivify the ground floor, the place looks lifeless, tenants have complained to some councillors. They say the building looks kind of derelict, Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore told members of the South East Area Committee on Monday 13 July. “I was contacted a couple of months ago by another arts organisation who was kinda saying, ‘Look, it’s disgraceful to see that building left derelict when so many organisations are looking for space’,” she said. Moore had to explain that it’s almost fully tenanted, she said. “You just can’t tell that from the ground floor, and the optics of that in such a central spot in Temple Bar are really, really bad.” By phone on Monday, Green Party Councillor and Visual Artists Ireland member Donna Cooney said that the ground floor was supposed to host a youth theatre. “That hasn’t worked out because some works are needed.” That space needs to be animated, she said, “so it’s visibly used from the outside”. The Temple Bar Cultural Trust, the council-owned company that manages the building, is working up plans to refurbish and upgrade the ageing building, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said on Monday. This project is linked to the Department of Culture’s Space to Create funding stream, they said, and the trust is waiting for finalisation of that funding and the related agreement. ## **Activate the space** The council's City Arts Office first sought to re-open the former Filmbase building as new artist workspaces in 2022, four years after it had closed, according to its [Arts Plan for 2025 to 202**9**](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28504091-dcc-arts-plan-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Together with projects at Artane Place and Merchant’s Quay, the Filmbase plans would contribute to the council’s goal of giving workspaces to 50 artists in 2024 and 2025, the plan says. The council’s plans to create 20 new studio spaces in [Merchant’s Quay](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-forward-plan-for-20-new-artist-studios-and-a-revived-theatre-on-merchants-quay/) are still progressing. Artane Place and Filmbase, renamed 2 Curved Street, have been delivered. By February 2025, 2 Curved Street was occupied by three tenants – Visual Artists Ireland, Dublin Youth Theatre and Create – but its ground floor and basement weren’t yet in use, said John Foley, the council’s culture, recreation and economic services manager, at that [month’s arts committee meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-city-arts-plan-aims-to-provide-more-arts-spaces-and-more-money-for-artists/). “Because there are significant works to do.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/2-Curved-Lane-west-end-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) The western end of 2 Curved Street. Photo by Michael Lanigan. At Monday's council meeting, Moore, the Green Party councillor, said she had met with one of the sitting tenants earlier that day, who also talked about significant works being needed. They had noted a huge number of internal issues, and the fact that the building’s exterior looked derelict, Moore said, “It’s got street frontage on three sides – Curved Street, Eustace Street and Temple Lane – and frankly from all three angles, it looks really in rag order.” For the tenants, any degree of activation of the ground floor would lend the feeling that the building has life in it, she said. Could they use it for something? she said. “Whether it’s that we kinda keep exhibitions regularly in there, who would manage it, who would be responsible for booking it?" Social Democrats Councillor Noelle Brown, a playwright and performer, said she knew it as Filmbase, as a box office for the Fringe festival, and as a spot where people went for auditions. “And it has never had any love. And it’s a really busy place for the arts, and it needs to be looked at,” she said. ## **Difficult from day one** Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, a board member of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, said the building had been dilapidated when the trust took charge of it. “A lot of work has gone into that particular building.” It was “extraordinary” that the tenants didn’t engage with him, as a board member or local councillor, he said. Curve Street has been difficult since it was re-opened, he said. “The downstairs department, which is where the big windows are, we couldn’t get a tenant in to do that.” All of the electric works have to be redone, he said. “The basement area has to be done. The works within the building are gonna cost in excess of one million odd euros.” But the trust does everything in their power to make the building “fantastic", he said. Moore said that on her tour of the building earlier that day, there were some “really quite shocking” issues. “From black mould to rising damp to supposedly accessible toilets that nobody using a mobility aid would be able to access.” Could it just receive a bit of “extra love” in terms of cleaning and maintenance around the exterior? she asked. Flynn said the building needs a huge amount of attention and the artists who inherited the spaces “understood that situation”. “And what is really galling to me is that those individuals within that building never wrote to me.” By phone on Monday, Flynn said the Temple Bar Cultural Trust was equitable and transparent in the way they operated. “For someone to insinuate, from an arts organisation, that we’re not pulling our job, and that the buildings are in a terrible state is bullshit. Bullshit,” he said. No official in the chamber commented on the issue at the area committee meeting. But a council spokesperson said on Monday that the trust's refurbishment plans should address a range of issues associated with the ageing building ahead of any more cultural tenants moving in. A programme of works for the “first phase” of the project is ready to proceed, once the funding and "service level agreement" is finalised, they said. The trust continues to maintain and manage all aspects of the building, and recently completed cleaning works to the frontage, entrance areas and glazing, they said. “Significant fire and life-safety upgrade works have also been undertaken at the building in recent years,” they said. ### During heatwave, building manager warns Cork Street tenants not to open windows too far to cool their homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/during-heatwave-building-manager-warns-cork-street-tenants-not-to-open-windows-too-far-to-cool-their-homes/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T06:17:18.000Z As temperatures outside began to climb in mid-June, renters at Liberties House, a co-living building on Cork Street, got an email from the building managers. "We are writing to address a critical health and safety matter," said the email, from the team at Grayling Properties. "It has come to our attention that a number of window restrictors within the building have been deliberately disconnected or tampered with," it said. "Please be advised that window restrictors are legal safety requirements under Irish Building Regulations," the email said. Disconnecting them put renters in serious breach of their licence agreements, the email said. The landlord may evict those found to have "tampered" with window restrictors, it said. People living in the studios, the vast majority of which are 18sqm, had been disconnecting these to open their windows wider, to get some fresh air and try to cool down. Hence the conflict. The underlying issue isn't that the building regulations try to ensure safety in apartments, but rather that they don't deal much with measures to prevent overheating in the first place, says Jeff Colley, editor of *Passive House Plus* magazine. "There has been far too little attention paid to this issue generally." The United Kingdom's building regulations – on which Irish building regulations are largely based – [have a section](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28485369-part-o-of-building-regulations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that covers measures to prevent overheating in homes. But there isn't one in Ireland, says Colley. "It does get a bit hotter over there, but there's no excuse for it to not have it here." As the climate globally changes, Ireland is getting warmer. Overall, last summer was the [second warmest](https://www.met.ie/provisionally-warmest-summer-on-record-for-ireland?ref=dublininquirer.com) on record, according to Met Éireann, and [record highs](https://www.met.ie/climate-statement-for-june-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com) are piling up this summer too. Grayling Properties didn't respond to queries sent on 8 July about the need for renters to get more air during hot spells, and the rules around window restrictors. But they sent another email around to residents on 10 July to say they're looking at solutions. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing pointed to some of the building regulations around overheating that are in place. But also, "the Department is preparing a further report assessing overheating risk in dwellings under future climate change conditions using more extreme future weather files," they said. ## **The rules** The homes most at risk of overheating are "single aspect dwellings with large areas of west facing glazed areas that are unshaded and small window openable areas", says a [review](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28485371-overheating-risk-in-new-dwellings/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the consultancy AECOM, carried out for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in 2019\. Apartments such as this "will inevitably require consideration of appropriate mitigation measures or a design review", it says. Indeed, "over-heating in hot weather isn't just about comfort, it's also a significant risk to health", says Orla Hegarty, an assistant professor at UCD's School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy. At the moment, though, the building regulations that cover overheating are light and loose, said Stephen McGovern, director of the Cork Energy Consultancy. Part L of Ireland's Building Regulations [cover](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28485376-technical-guidance-document-l-conservation-of-fuel-and-energy-dwellings-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) overheating in a few paragraphs. Engineers run models using software called the Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) to check that the designs meeting parameters in the regulations, he said. If that throws up issues, designers can look to the guidance in another document, CIBSE TM59, on what to do, he said. But CIBCO TM 59 is just a recommendation at the moment, said McGovern. As he understands it, the Department of Housing is finalising a brand new Part L of the Building Regulations, which is expected to be finished this year and brought in next year. It should say more about overheating, he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Liberties-House-photo-two.jpg) Liberties House. Photo by Eoin Glackin. Ventilation, meanwhile, [is covered](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28485894-technical-guidance-document-f-ventilation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Part F of the Building Regulations, McGovern said. It says things like, if there's no mechanical ventilation, all habitable rooms must have a certain amount of ventilated area, he said. There are two main ventilation-related factors that raise the risk of homes overheating, according to [the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28485371-overheating-risk-in-new-dwellings/?ref=dublininquirer.com) AECOM review. First, the amount of "window openable area". If it's a big home with only a small bit of the windows that opens up to let in air, it's more likely to overheat. Second, if rooms are single-aspect. In other words, they only have a window on one side so a resident can't set up cross-breezes through the home. Changing apartment standards in Ireland have allowed for more and more single-aspect homes, though, as developers seek to fit as many homes as possible onto sites. Apartment standards [brought in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28478052-planning-design-standards-for-apartments-080725-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) last year reduced the share of dual-aspect apartments to a minimum of 25 percent in new build blocks, with discretion to lower that further in refurbishment projects. That overrides Dublin City Council's city development plan, which [tried to set](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28478053-briefing-on-design-standards-for-apartments-section-28-guidelines-for-planning-authorities-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) different standards. That [plan said](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-15-development-standards/159-apartment-standards?ref=dublininquirer.com) that typically, at least 33 percent of apartments should be dual-aspect in central areas of the city – although it tries to encourage more – and 50 percent in suburban areas. Hegarty, the assistant professor at UCD, said that window restrictors are generally fitted when there's a risk of people falling out. But "if this results in rooms that cannot be adequately ventilated the building operators should make modifications", she said. "Balconies in apartments overcome all of these problems, giving residents large opening sections for ventilation, shading from balconies above, a space to go outside, and a place to be rescued from in the event of a fire," said Hegarty. ## **Getting improvements** Outside Liberties House on Wednesday morning, in the baking heat, any window on the block that was open, was cracked just a few inches – which is what the restrictors allow. No resident felt comfortable talking on the record about the temperatures and ventilation in the building. As licencees, renters in co-living – alongside some renters in shared houses, and those who take up "beds in sheds" – are among the growing category of renters who fall outside of rent controls and security of tenure protections. A few people said they had bought fans to try and manage the heat, but anyone living in the south-facing apartments said it had been difficult. After its first email, with its warning to renters at Liberties House, the team at Grayling Properties sent a more conciliatory email to residents on 10 July. The earlier correspondence hadn't been "up to the standard of service and communication we aim to provide, for which we sincerely apologise", the second email said. "We appreciate that the current warm weather has created challenging conditions for some residents. Unfortunately, these restrictors are government regulations," it said. They had mechanical and engineering consultants investigating the issue, to determine whether any additional measures could be implemented to help comfort levels during the heatwave, it said. "In the meantime, a practical measure that may help reduce heat gain within apartments is to keep blinds or curtains closed during the warmest parts of the day, particularly where rooms receive direct sunlight," it said. And complimentary cold drinks would be available the following weekend, the email said. McGovern, the consultant, says that, generally in Ireland, overheating stems from design failure. In which case, generally, an "assigned certifier" – the person who signs off that the building has been built in line with regulations – would be considered responsible, he said. It would be down to the Building Control Section of the local authority to go in and check whether a building is overheating, and if it complies or not with CIBSE TM59, he said. But CIBSE TM59 is just a recommendation at the moment, he said. For renters themselves, putting out tall plants on balconies – if they have balconies – can help cool a place down, without annoying a landlord by hanging anything, said Colley, editor of *Passive House Plus*. Building owners might want to look at putting in shutters, or brise-soleil on the ground floors, to cut out the high-summer sun, says McGovern. There is a window rating – a "g-value" – which takes into account how effective glazing is at stopping the sun heating up a room, he said, but that isn't mandatory yet in Ireland. "We're very much looking at the heat escaping in Ireland." Another DIY option has been mooted, jokes Colley. You could [smear yoghurt](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4rg3nqq7go?ref=dublininquirer.com) across the windows. *Partly funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council should buy James Weir Home and pass it on to youth-services charity, councillors say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-buy-james-weir-home-and-pass-it-on-to-youth-services-charity-councillors-say/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T22:43:10.000Z As it stands, the HSE-owned James Weir Home for Nurses building, on Cork Street, looks set to [go on sale on the open market](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-07-14/35/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But members of Dublin City Council’s South Central Area Committee said Wednesday that they want the council to buy it instead, and pass it on. It should go to the Solas Project, a charity that operates youth services across seven locations scattered around the Liberties, some councillors told Wednesday’s committee meeting. At that meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair brought an emergency motion calling for urgent intervention from the council to stop any private sale. The motion said the HSE had offered to sign the Edwardian building, now a protected structure, over to the council for no charge. The council hasn’t yet responded to a question asked on Thursday as to whether this was the case or not. But in other similar instances, such as the Rupert Guinness Theatre just the other side of the Liberties, officials [have edged away from](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-much-would-it-cost-the-council-to-revive-the-rupert-guinness-theatre-in-the-liberties/) taking on old handed-off buildings that need a lot of work – and so a big spend. The council has [struggled](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-the-council-sitting-on-long-vacant-and-derelict-buildings/) too, to bring vacant or derelict buildings it has bought, [back into use](https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-a-bad-definition-of-derelict-partly-behind-the-bad-dereliction-in-dublin/) as homes. Still, “we meet with the local community all the time about the lack of community spaces, about the lack of community facilities in Dublin 8”, said Ó Meachair at the meeting. [As the South Inner-City Changes, Some Community Organisations Are Struggling to Find Space - Dublin InquirerSolas, a youth project in the Liberties, is currently scattered across three different buildings that aren’t suitable, says CEO Eddie D’Arcy.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-03e5dd4a-a243-4532-a1ed-b597818d32ba.jpg)Dublin InQuirerDonal Corrigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-4755-5763e11e-ba2f-475d-b12e-191e43f28ed8.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-south-inner-city-changes-some-community-organisations-are-struggling-to-find-space/) “Here is a prime piece of land in the heart of Dublin 8, on Cork Street, that's laying idle,” he said. As Cork Street is already bulging with hotels and student accommodation, he said, this building should instead serve the local community. Indeed, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Ammar Ali. “We need to take action.” To miss the opportunity to keep it the hands of the community is “the worst thing we can do for the next generation of the people, or this generation of the people of Dublin 8”, he said. ## A plan that fell apart Currently, the HSE manages the red-brick Weir Home building, on Cork Street between Marrowbone Lane and Urban Plant Life. Dating [back to 1903](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080728/the-james-weir-home-for-nurses-cork-street-dublin-8-dublin-city?ref=dublininquirer.com), it was once a place to live for nurses working in Cork Street Fever Hospital across the road, the complex now known as Brú Chaoimhín, still used by the HSE as a community health centre. In October 2022, [the plan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-aims-to-take-over-historic-quaker-burial-site-but-its-plans-for-the-land-off-cork-street-are-unclear/) was for the HSE to transfer the building and adjoining burial ground to the Peter McVerry Trust. The Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) hold title to the burial ground, but it is under the control of the HSE, [the council said](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24738035/sc-area-qa-march-2024.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). The Trust would then redevelop the Weir Home as social housing and transfer the burial ground to Dublin City Council, the plan went. However, following a well-publicised financial scandal, the Peter McVerry Trust withdrew from the project. The HSE [offered](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24738045-cork-street-public-consultation-note-23-12-21/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the building to other state agencies, like the Land Development Agency (LDA) and Dublin City Council. But none of them wanted it, Minister of State at the Department of Health Kieran O'Donnell TD, of Fine Gael, told Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins in the Dáil on Tuesday. "The HSE will now progress to disposal of this property on the open market," O'Donnell said. Dublin City Council had looked at using the building to deliver social housing, Bernard Kelly, executive manager for the South Central Area, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “But as a protected structure, only minimal structural intervention would be allowable, making it non-viable as a housing development,” Kelly said. Equally, to be considered for other usage, like a community facility, would require the building to meet standards in terms of accessibility and energy efficiency, without significantly altering its spatial layout, he said. Given it is on the record of protected structures, this would require “specialist-led conservation works” and a lot of investment from the council that it simply hasn’t budgeted for, he said. Also, said senior executive officer, Bevin Herbert, a community facility should, by its nature, be accessible to all. “I'm not sure if that building would be able to meet that requirement in terms of accessibility,” she said. Ó Meachair, who tabled the motion, later replied that “it might not be the most accessible building, but as it stands, it's not accessible to anyone”. ## Home for the Solas Project The former James Weir Home for Nurses should go to the Solas Project, said Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty, at Wednesday's meeting. “I don't know if anybody knows at the moment in terms of a detailed feasibility study as to how much it would cost to get this up to standard to be public-facing for a youth service,” he said. He suggested that the council acquire it from the HSE with a view to transferring it, in its current state, to the Solas Project. “Subject to them having the funding to do some renovations on it.” The council would essentially be a conduit, Moriarty said. To consolidate its operations into one main hub would be the dream, says Amy Carey, CEO of Solas Project. “We don't have a clear sense of cost involved, so we would need to get in and get it assessed,” she said by phone on Thursday. Private donors are on hand to help fund Solas Project in finding a new, centralised home, she said. “We just don’t have a full sense of what the scope of the work is.” Currently, the youth organisation is housed across seven different, privately rented premises, she said. “It's a real hodgepodge.” “There's no long-term security with it, and also just the cost and maintenance of several different buildings,” she said. The logistics of people moving across different premises makes things that bit more difficult to manage too, she said. Solas Project has been working hard for the last few years to establish a permanent, integrated youth space for the area, she said. “We're constantly on the lookout.” But the great challenge in Dublin 8, she said, is the lack of space available. “In and around 1,000 square meters would be what we're hoping,” she said. “So to get something of that size in this area is very difficult.” The ideal scenario would be to build a new premises on an empty site, she said. “But given that we're restricted by geography, that’s not an option at the moment.” She has spoken with the LDA, Diageo, Ballymore and others about finding a place, but nobody has anything in the size Solas Project need, she said. Social Democrats Councillor Lesley Byrne, who also works as a teacher, said she would love for the site to go to the Solas Project. “I've known them very well, even prior to being a councillor, from the work they do in the area with young people from my own school, and they absolutely desperately need their own space,” she said. Both Byrne and Moriarty raised concerns that if the council does take the site in charge for community use, and funds the necessary work itself, that it could mean deprioritising other projects. “I do think needs to be put in the context of our current capital programme,” said Moriarty, of the Labour Party. The [programme](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985/report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) already includes things like a multi-use pitch at Marrowbone Lane, stabilisation works on the still vacant and decaying Iveagh Market, refurbishing the long-vacant old Inchicore library building, and a technical assessment of what to do with Kilmainham Mill, he noted. ## Listed to death Ironically, said independent Councillor Vincent Jackson on Wednesday, having this building listed could actually, ultimately result in its destruction. “Because if it's prohibitive for anyone to do anything with it, it would just languish there until the roof caves in and everything else,” he said. “Somebody, unfortunately, will probably put a match to it some night." Jackson worries that the site would then be levelled and replaced by a modern block of apartments. Byrne, the Social Democrats councillor, asked at the meeting whether de-listing the property as a protected structure could be considered. “I don't think it's ever been considered, but it's already on the national register of buildings,” replied Kelly, the executive manager. “There would be a process there that I'm not aware of.” Ó Meachair, the Sinn Féin councillor, pointed to the [recent report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28490012-sl-south-west-inner-city-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1)**,** *A socioeconomic analysis of Dublin’s South West Inner City,* from Barra Roantree,Assistant Professor & Programme Director of MSc in Economic Policy in Trinity College**.** Roantree recommended that “the concentration of disadvantage highlighted in this report provides a compelling case for additional targeted investment in the SWIC”. Said Ó Meachair, the James Weir Home is a perfect opportunity to do just that. “It’s sitting there waiting for us.” “I think there's a path for DCC to acquire the building free of charge,” he said. “Community groups are willing to fundraise and put money into the building. DCC basically only has to act as an intermediary,” he said. There may not be much cost for Dublin City Council in the whole equation, he said. “I think we do need to act quickly because, as it stands, the building could be sold off, and Cork Street could have yet another hotel or student accommodation block,” he said. The committee backed Ó Meachair's motion to write to Anthony Flynn, the assistant chief executive of the council’s Planning, Property and Economic Development section, “to seek their support for ownership of the building to be transferred to Dublin City Council”. Ó Meachair has set up a [petition](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/keep-the-james-weir-home-on-cork-street-d8-in-public-hands?ref=dublininquirer.com) to "Keep the James Weir Home on Cork Street, D8 in Public Hands". *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### If district heating is the future for Dublin, how much will it cost customers? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-district-heating-is-the-future-for-dublin-how-much-will-it-cost-customers/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:27:49.000Z Motaz Abu and his family moved last year from Sandyford to the new blocks of cost-rental homes at Tallaght's Innovation Square. His home, and the others in the complex of 133 apartments, are connected to a council-owned district heating system, which pipes hot water to radiators in a growing number of buildings in the area. This is the first district heating network of its kind in the country, the council [has said](https://www.sdcc.ie/en/climate-action/spotlight-tallaght-district-heating-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – though they are common in other European countries. And they are a key part of the government's plan to heat homes and offices without using fossil fuels, helping to reduce the country's carbon emissions, to contribute to blunting climate change. The shift to a lower-carbon heating system would reduce big-picture costs, like, global costs, societal costs. But how would it affect customers like Abu? His energy bill hasn't gotten any cheaper since he moved here from there, he said outside his apartment on Wednesday. Another tenant, Jayme Pardini, who lives in his Innovation Square apartment alone, says that for one person, his heating bill feels far too expensive. He pays around €150 for two months of heating, he said on Wednesday. South Dublin County Council owns the cost-rental apartments at Innovation Square, and Heat Works, the non-profit energy utility which operates the system. But the council won't say how much exactly the tariffs and standing charges are for its tenants, customers of its heating system. However, a utility bill for one apartment in Innovation Square offers a behind-the-scenes peek. It cites a rate of 18.5c/KWh. The standing charge, meanwhile, is 78.4c a day. That's much higher than the unit rate and standing charge for gas outlined in a recent bill from Electric Ireland for a gas-heated terraced home in the city. That shows a rate of 10.3c/KWh, and a standing charge of 37.6c a day. Although, it also has a carbon tax of 1.15c/KWh. Cheaper, more carbon-intensive gas can be an option for heating for now. More homes in Dublin use that, rather than other sources. But regulations effectively don't allow gas heating in newbuilds. So perhaps the better comparison is with electricity rates, but that's a bit tricky. A recent electricity bill from Electric Ireland has a higher unit rate of 31c/KWh, and a lower standing charge of 63c a day, as well as a PSO Levy of €1.46. But how much heat a household would get per KWh would depend on whether that electricity is going into, for example, an immersion (not as much) or a heat pump (more). In any case, at the moment, there's no system to regulate the price of heat from district heating systems, and bring greater transparency to pricing, but the government is working on that. It announced progress last week on the next stage of a bill that would finally create a regulated market for district heating in Ireland. ## Rolling out district heating The district heating scheme in Tallaght [was switched on](https://archive.ph/eqRnw?ref=dublininquirer.com) in April 2023\. Water warmed by waste heat from an Amazon data centre travels to a nearby energy centre, where electric heat pumps lift the temperature further, before sending it around the wider neighbourhood. So far, the system heats the TU Dublin campus and sports building, the council's headquarters, Tallaght Library – and, more recently, the Work IQ building with its flexible office space, and 133 cost-rental homes at Innovation Square. By the council's count, the network saved about 1,265 tonnes of CO2 in 2024 and 1,422 tonnes in 2025. And, the council is now gearing up to for its second phase, supplying the area around Cookstown and the hospital, said a written response to independent Councillor Mick Duff in February [this year.](https://meetings.southdublin.ie/Home/ViewReply/88852?ref=dublininquirer.com) It was also doing a feasibility analysis looking at how data centres in Grange Castle Business Park might serve up the heat for a new scheme for homes in that area, the response said. Heat Works, the council-owned not-for-profit, wouldn't say how much it charges the landlord – which is the council – as it passes the heat on, as that is commercially sensitive, said a council spokesperson last Friday. But broadly, "heat bills are based on a cost-recovery model that reflects the costs of generating, operating and maintaining the district heating network", said a spokesperson. "In setting prices, consideration is given to the costs of comparable low-carbon heating technologies. Operational arrangements also require consideration of metering, billing, customer service, network maintenance and regulatory obligations," they said. "The standing charge is based on the fixed costs of operating the network along with a fixed charge applied by the billing agent," they said. "Again, this is commercially sensitive information and not publicly available." "The wholesale heat price is based on the cost of input electricity, together with the costs associated with recovering, processing and distributing waste heat through the district heating network," they said. "A private billing provider has been appointed by the managing agent to administer billing for individual tenancies within this cost-rental scheme," they said. That provider is Yuno Energy, according to a bill [and the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28488805-innovation-square-dhs-terms-conditions-of-heat-supply-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) company's website. Dylan Murphy, a PhD researcher on sustainability and data centres at University College Dublin, said that the rates laid out in the resident's bill make sense to him. "Sure, the waste heat is essentially free, but the standing charge is to recoup the capital investment in laying the pipes and associated infrastructure (€4.9 million of public finance in the case of Tallaght)," he said. "Also, while the Tallaght district heating system gets its baseload temperature from waste heat (water in this case)," it adds additional heat to top that up, he said. When you factor in that, plus "the electricity-powered pumps needed to move water through the closed-loop system, the €0.185/kWh rate would be a reasonable commercial rate to account for these variables", said Murphy. ## Setting prices for district heating Tariffs are set differently for district heating schemes, which heat a whole network, and communal-heating schemes, meaning those that cover just one apartment block, says Pauline O'Reilly, the chief executive officer at the Irish District Energy Association. For communal heating schemes at the moment, the systems are generally owned and prices set by the management company of an apartment block rather than a heat utility, O'Reilly said. "Although many of these companies employ another company to send out the bills and service the pumps and pipes." "Each of the communal schemes sets its own prices through a contract but without a regulator to oversee it," she said. "Communal heating in apartment developments is typically billed through management companies or energy service providers who do this on behalf of the management companies, often benchmarked informally against the cost of gas heating," she said. So that's communal schemes, for one building. For district schemes, which serve multiple buildings, the situation is different. "In practice, publicly led heating schemes such as the Tallaght District Heating Scheme operate on a cost-recovery basis," O'Reilly said. Customers of these systems already have some rights under EU regulations to information on the energy performance and renewable share of their network, she said. "But there is no common pricing framework." "This is what we expect to change, although prices will still differ across the country because it will depend on where the heat is coming from, they will have to be competitive because they are competing with individual heat pumps and gas," she said. Murphy, the PhD student, says that comparing district heating systems and heat pumps is, for him, a bit apples and oranges. "These systems have similar outcomes but achieve them through very different means." After all, air-to-heat pumps extract heat from the cold outside air while district heating systems reuse waste heat from, typically, industrial operations or centralised boiler systems, he said. "The main pro of a district heating system is its ability to deliver reliable heating at scale and to reuse otherwise wasted heat from co-located industries." "However, the systems are often cumbersome and expensive to get into place due to the complex network of pipes needed, and other standing costs," he said. And, there's the risk of depending on private industry and "greenwashing" their waste for them, he says. By comparison, air-to-heat pumps are decentralised, typically serving a single building, but require sufficient insulation and low-temperature heating (like underfloor heating) within the building for efficient use, he said. "Another pro of the heat pump is that you don’t have to pay the standing fee, just the electricity that you use." There's a flipside though, too. "The big con of heat pumps is the inequalities they expose, as schemes to date have not adequately targeted low-income houses, which could use them most due to upfront costs," he said. [Dublin District Heating scheme to connect to shiny North Docklands first, Ringsend much laterIt’ll use waste heat from the Poolbeg incinerator, instead of fossil fuels, to warm buildings.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-7fe57ec8-459e-4dde-bd20-efeab7fe04b3.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Shelbourne-Plaza-apartments-district-heating-pipeline-source-Michael-Lanigan-3-41a04f6e-a13b-4f33-8088-64f6b3eff1b7.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-district-heating-scheme-to-connect-to-shiny-north-docklands-first-ringsend-much-later/) ## Greater transparency? As South Dublin County Council looks to expand its up-and-running district heating system, and Fingal County Council [considers building one too](https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-of-fingals-eu1-43bn-new-capital-programme-to-go-to-housing/), Dublin City Council is still gearing up to launch its own Poolbeg District Heating System. In the early years of the scheme, the council plans for the Poolbeg district heating network to be operated by a contractor, the council's chief executive [said in February](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s52154/04.%20Draft%20Minutes%20February%20Council%20Meeting.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) as it pushes to prove its concept. It would likely run at a loss, as it scaled up customers, said the response. In March, Feargal O'Rourke, current chair of the IDA, who also sits on the board of Yuno Energy, [wrote to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28489057-yuno-energy-and-dublin-city-council-correspondence/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Dublin City Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare pitching Yuno as a partner for that project. Yuno Energy has about 90 percent of the district heating market at the moment, his email said. "We believe Yuno can get that delivered at scale and speed for less than the current estimates, in an economic model which would be beneficial for all sides," said O'Rourke. Yuno Energy hasn't responded to queries sent on Thursday morning, asking for detail of what it was proposing, and what it thought would be needed to improve affordability of district heating systems for end consumers. In Tallaght, the council's response to Duff did mention some measures underway that would improve affordability, though. The network would be adding a "Thermal Storage solution at the Energy Centre", which would "allow mitigation of demand fluctuations, improve response solutions, and increase access to low-cost renewable electricity supply sources particularly at night", it said. "Expanding the customer base and incorporating thermal-storage capabilities are crucial steps for the system to achieve maximum operational efficiency and lower costs to customers," it said. On 10 July, Minister for Climate Energy and Environment Darragh O'Brien, a Fianna Fáil TD, announced [that cabinet had approved ](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/press-releases/minister-obrien-drives-forward-legislation-to-roll-out-district-heating-in-ireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com)revisions to the General Scheme of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, which would put in place a regulatory framework for district heating in Ireland. An updated version of the general scheme hasn't been published yet. But the bill will bring in consumer protections for existing and new district heating and communal heating customers, through price regulation of supplier tariffs, according to a government press release. It will be based on "a step-in, principles-based approach to price regulation, and consumer protection requirements such as vulnerable customer registers, customer charters, codes of practice and complaint handling procedures", it says. How the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) would go about that is yet to be seen, said O'Reilly**,** of the Irish District Energy Association. But it broadly means that the regulator won't set tariffs upfront, she said. Instead, "operators will price their heat against clear principles – fairness, transparency and cost-reflectivity – and the CRU will have an expanded range of powers and administrative sanctions to intervene where pricing or conduct falls short", she said. Also, "vulnerable customer registers, customer charters, codes of practice and complaint-handling procedures will be mandatory, giving heat customers parity of treatment with gas and electricity customers under the same regulator", she said. "The revisions to the General Scheme approved by Government this month would move Ireland from an essentially unregulated market to a regulated utility model," says O'Reilly. *Partly funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* \[This article was updated at 2.30pm om 20 July to correct one comment from Dylan Murphy.\] ### Things To Do: Praise public infrastructure, dwell on digital photography, talk shop URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-praise-public-infrastructure-dwell-on-digital-photography-talk-shop/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T22:42:03.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Afterimage: Photography in the Digital Age** This evening, a new exhibition exploring the impact of digital technology on photography is launching in Photo Museum Ireland. Afterimage: Photography in the Digital Age brings together a selection of work by Irish and international artists who are looking at “the material and conceptual transformations that have profoundly altered our sense of what a photograph is and can be”. Taking as their subject matter the ubiquity of smartphone cameras, image-sharing apps and reality-bending generative artificial intelligence, the exhibition peers into how many ways a photographic image can now be made and manipulated. Curated by Darren Campion, ‘Afterimage’ features work by Alan Butler, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Luke van Gelderen, Gregory Eddi Jones, Maria Mavropoulou, Alan Phelan, Michael Schäfer and Linn Phyllis Seeger. The official launch is at 6pm today, Thursday, 16 July, and the exhibition will be showing until 23 August. For more information, visit Photo Museum Ireland’s website [here](https://photomuseumireland.ie/exhibition/afterimage/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Echoes of Shared Walls** We’re sending you back out to Clancy Quay Studio in Islandbridge this week. At the end of June, artist and Onion Boys lead vocalist James Carroll-Freeney launched his exhibition This is not a Table // This is a Table, which examined the idea that the past, present and future all exist simultaneously. This is not a table… only had a short run in Clancy Quay. The studio is an initiative set-up by the National College of Art and Design to provide year-long residencies to a selection of their graduates. But, on Friday evening, the studio is launching Echoes of Shared Walls, the final studio exhibition of the 2025-26 residents. Opening at 6pm, Echoes… will feature works from Carroll-Freeney, Andrew Scully, Clarissa Kelly, Donna Lawlor, Noor Farsakh and Scout McLeod. It will be free to visit until Sunday, 19 July. For more information, follow Clancy Quay Studios [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/Daxp-WKKGN4/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Camilla Grudova** On Saturday evening, Paddy Cosgrave’s venture The Whistleblower will be welcoming author Camilla Grudova into their hub of radical books, ideas and choices of paint in the hardware shop. Named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists in 2023, the Canadian author has garnered acclaim for her Shirley Jackson Prize-winning 2016 short story "[Waxy](https://granta.com/waxy/?ref=dublininquirer.com)", her 2017 collection of stories *The Doll’s Alphabet*, published by FitzCarraldo Editions, and her 2022 novel *Children’s of Paradise*, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Grudova will be in the South Anne Street café and bookshop at 6:30pm to talk about her literary influences and the importance of reading. Tickets are free and available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-writers-library-camilla-grudova-in-conversation-at-the-whistleblower-tickets-1993915666433?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&%5Fgl=1%2Arfw1ue%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AMzYwOTM2Nzg2LjE3ODQxMjQ2NjM.%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3ODQxMjQ2NjEkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODQxMjQ2NjEkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Value for Many** On Tuesday, the Irish Film Institute will be holding Value for Many, a special double bill of documentaries celebrating publicly-funded architectural projects. Commissioned by the Office of Public Works in 2025, the two films *Circle* and *Threshold* were directed by Patrick Voigt of [9sekunden](https://www.youtube.com/@9sekunden?ref=dublininquirer.com), a Germany-based studio that enticingly promises “atmospheric films about architecture, landscape, urbanism and corporate culture”. *Circle* takes the viewer down to see the Arklow Wastewater Treatment plant in Wicklow, which was opened in April 2025, roughly 35 years after locals were first promised the facility. The film looks at the €139 million Uisce Éireann facility, the architectural practice Clancy Moore, which is behind it, and the town as they celebrate its completion at last. Then *Threshold* heads further south down to Rosslare Europort as the OPW carries out its ambitious reconfiguration of the 20-hectare port in the aftermath of Brexit. Value for Many starts at 6:30pm on Tuesday, 21 July, and will be followed by a conversation led by Emmett Scanlon, director of the Irish Architecture Foundation. On the panel will be Voigt, Arklow resident Sandra Hall, architect Andrew Clancy and marine pilot Sean Boyce. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/irish-focus-ifi-opw-iaf-value-for-many/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Talking Shop** Finally, the Liberties Festival is returning on Monday and once again, the Dublin InQuirer will be dropping into a few local businesses to chat with their owners for the second edition of Talking Shop. Last year’s edition saw a few members of our team drop into spots like the Model Shop, Straffan Antiques and Little Flower Penny Dinners to discover some of the stories that shaped these businesses, and frame them within the larger cultural and social context of the Liberties, while also providing places like Noel’s Deli a chance to revive their famous sausage rolls. This year reporter Stephanie Costello, deputy editor Lois Kapila and I will heading out, beginning on Tuesday at 6:30pm in Hopeless Botanics on Dean Street, followed by Thomas House on Thomas Street at 7:30pm. Then, on Wednesday, we will be over in Some Neck Guitars on Francis Street at 6:30pm and Picado Mexican on Cork Street at 7:30pm. Finally, on Wednesday, we will be paying a visit to Martin Fennelly Antiques on Francis Street at 6:30pm, and Betty Bojangles on Thomas Street at 7:30pm. Each talk is free, but booking is required. To reserve a spot and to see the full festival line-up, visit the Liberties Festival website [here](https://thelibertiesfestival.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). advertisement [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/TalkingShop26_1080x1920_Story.jpg)](www.thelibertiesfestival.com) The Liberties Festival, one of the oldest community festivals in the country, returns across 7 days with over 70 (mostly free) events. Monday 20 July to Sunday 26 July 2026. [Find out what's on here ](www.thelibertiesfestival.com) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Summer in Dublin, Kerlin Gallery** On Friday, the Kerlin Gallery will be launching its new group exhibition Summer in Dublin. Running until 22 August, Summer in Dublin will feature works by Dorothy Cross, Samuel Laurence Cunnane, Willie Doherty, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Justin Fitzpatrick, Mark Francis, Guggi, Callum Innes, Jaki Irvine, Zhou Li, Stephen McKenna, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Isabel Nolan, Hazel O’Sullivan, Sean Scully and Liliane Tomasko. For more information, visit the Kerlin website [here.](https://www.kerlingallery.com/exhibitions/summer-in-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com#tab:thumbnails;tab-1:thumbnails) **Acid 87, The Gall and Enola Christ Metalizer** On Monday evening, 20 July, Kirkos will be hosting a night of performance art, sound art and the unexpected for those who refuse to settle for the ordinary. Doors open at 7:30pm, and among those set to feature in the venue at 1 Little Green Street is Acid 87, the Gall and Enola Christ Metalizer. The event is unticketed. It is also going to be loud. **Consultation on Aircraft Noise Regulation at Dublin Airport** The Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) is encouraging the public to make submissions and observations on planning application F23A/0781 that would see an increase in passenger capacity at Dublin Airport. The consultation is currently underway, and ANCA invites the public to make their submissions and observations until 3 September. These can be made online though the consultation portal [here](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/content/aircraft-noise-consultation?ref=dublininquirer.com), by email to [aircraftnoiseconsultation@fingal.ie](mailto:aircraftnoiseconsultation@fingal.ie), or in writing to Aircraft Noise Consultation, Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, Fingal County Council, County Hall, Main Street, Swords, Co Dublin, K67 X8Y2. Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### Echoing the Trump administration, some Dublin politicians push campaign against Somali immigrants URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/echoing-the-trump-administration-some-dublin-politicians-push-a-campaign-against-somali-immigrants/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T10:35:27.000Z They tried to laugh about it, said Abdi Farhan Hassan, recently. “But to be honest, it is really disappointing,” he said, sitting at a city centre café wearing shorts and a T-shirt. It was kind of funny that they couldn’t come up with a new charge and had to borrow Trump’s against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, said Hassan. “You know, they’re eating the dogs; they’re eating the cats.” Hassan was talking about reactions on a WhatsApp group he shares with lots of other Somali immigrants to recent posts ricocheting on social media about a dead dog in Ballymun. On 4 July, [a video](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/9d4bd802f27da76578a35b707ab0f365?ref=dublininquirer.com) of charred animal remains began popping up on anti-immigrant accounts. The video is of the aftermath, but a man’s voice off camera says, “I believe that \[Somalis\] cooked a dog up here, three of them,”. “Dirty bastards,” he says at another point in the video. A day later, Turning Point UK – the British version of Trump-aligned Turning Point USA – [shared it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28455267-w1we2e/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with a false claim that Somali immigrants were “caught cooking a dog”. So far, no evidence linking Somali immigrants to the incident has emerged. Gardaí [has said](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-investigating-deplorable-act-of-cruelty-as-dog-discovered-burnt-to-death-with-pole-lodged-in-body-in-north-dublin/a/158342699.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) it’s investigating it. Hassan had wondered maybe, because some Somali immigrants don’t normally pet dogs because that’s not a part of the culture they grew up with, they’re being accused of abusing them. But “it’s not in our culture to hurt dogs”, he said. The smear didn’t come out of nowhere, though. In recent weeks, efforts to demonise Somali immigrants in Finglas and Ballymun have ramped up. Those include rhetoric opposing [homeless Somali immigrants](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460310-redmond-pinned-post/?ref=dublininquirer.com) getting housed in the neighbourhood. Hassan said the hatred is definitely palpable and has people bobbing and weaving around others to avoid trouble. That they’re being singled out like this is bewildering and it sucks, he said. “We’re kind of confused as a community. And we’re feeling it, we’re feeling it,” said Hassan. Anti-immigration politicians in Dublin, like anti-immigration politicians in the US, have decided to specifically target Somali people. The reason? There's been an uptick lately in the number of people coming from Somalia – which as of late has seen an increase in political violence – and claiming asylum in Ireland, said independent Councillor Gavin Pepper. The 2022 census found that [about 2,400](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28464979-cso-census-2022-somalians-in-ireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (about 0.05 percent) of the 5.15 million people living in Ireland had been born in Somalia. That number has increased since then but is very likely still below 0.15 percent of the country's population. Asked about the campaign against Somali people in Dublin, a Garda spokesperson said that, "Ballymun Gardaí and the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau are working with migrant communities to provide reassurance, assistance and crime prevention advice." ## Somebody’s watching me On Sunday afternoon, some torn and tattered tricolours still danced on some lampposts in Ballymun. From what he’d seen, at least some of the rhetoric against Somali immigrants in the area came from Stephen Redmond, a National Party rep in Finglas, said Diarmuid “Dougie” Mac Dubhghlais, a local anti-racist activist. “\[He\] stood outside a house here, literally only down the road from me. He said he saw it was being given to Somalis,” he said. Redmond posted [a video](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/674ecec3942efad3cfc524020756281a?ref=dublininquirer.com) of that on 30 June. On Saturday, it was [still pinned](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460310-redmond-pinned-post/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to his X account. In it, Redmond seems to be salty that a family from Somalia is going to live in that home, and says that it should go to people on the housing list who are Irish. He says he has this information because someone stopped the family on the street and lobbed questions at them. “Somebody walking past happened to ask them, ‘Oh, how’s it going? Who are you? Are you moving into this house?” The family had been open, he said, saying yes, they’re moving into the home, and that they’d been homeless. “These people aren’t homeless. They’re homeless in Ireland, and the best way to solve that is to send them back home,” said Redmond. He names both the street the house stands on and the homeless shelter where the family allegedly stayed. Hassan, the Somali man, said that was not the end of it. A week later, a clutch of people turned up on the street [to protest](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460312-redmond-protest/?ref=dublininquirer.com), he said. “This family doesn’t want to be in the media. But it’s been reported to the guards to keep them safe,” said Hassan. Redmond [posted footage](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460312-redmond-protest/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from that protest on his social media, too. ## The bureaucracy of getting housed In a post about the protest, Redmond also said it was prompted by the “known fact that Somalians \[sic\], Nigerians, Pakistanis and all other people from outside of Ireland are skipping housing queues and are fast tracked into housing,”. This is not true, but Redmond was not the first person to complain about some Somalis getting housed ahead of White Irish people. Before Redmond posted his first video, on 27 June, Pepper, the independent councillor for Ballymun-Finglas, mentioned Somali people [at a rally](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/aa72171697de7e27f2500ea9c0a8f335?ref=dublininquirer.com). “People from Somalia, and these countries that come over here, after a few years in international protection centres, they put themselves on the homeless band list, and they get housed ahead of people that are on the list,” he hollered into a microphone. A few people in the audience wore green hats with “Make Ireland Great Again” on the front and a tricolour stitched on the back. Former asylum seekers granted some type of status to stay can navigate the same system as Irish and European citizens. That means joining the struggle to find somewhere to live in a country with an affordable housing crisis. If their income makes them eligible, they can then apply – like others – for social housing. In the Dublin City Council area, the council triages applicants based on the time they have been waiting and their housing need, using its [housing allocations scheme](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s52942/5b.%20Draft%20Amended%20Allocations%20Scheme%20of%20Lettings.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). [Councillors want sight again of who gets social housing in their areas, amid confusion about how lists work“There is just so much confusion,” says Sarah Lawless, who has been on the housing list for 20 years. “The whole system doesn’t make sense.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-ed98a4fe-4a3f-42af-af87-591d6f8002d9.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Bonham-Court-in-Dublin-8.-Photo-by-Michael-Smyth-1-96353bcb-f962-4b78-a04e-52afb32e867e.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-want-sight-again-of-who-gets-social-housing-in-their-areas-amid-confusion-about-how-lists-work/) [The Council Should Move Long-Term Homeless People Up the List to Get Social Homes Quicker, Some Say - Dublin Inquirer“They have got to use the social housing that is currently available to get people out of homelessness, otherwise we are banjaxed.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-f0ad3f31-5d7b-4632-89a1-38176281b481.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-94-a4f35207-487e-4773-a81d-88ee5f1471d4.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-should-move-long-term-homeless-people-up-the-list-to-get-social-homes-quicker-some-say/) In December 2014, after the death of Jonathan Corrie, who was sleeping rough near the Dáil, then-Minister for Housing Alan Kelly, a Labour TD, ordered that 50 percent of social housing placements should be reserved for homeless people. But in 2016, his successor, Fine Gael's Simon Coveney, [ended that policy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/50-of-social-housing-won-t-be-reserved-for-homeless-anymore/), amid reports that some people were making themselves homeless to get social housing faster, skipping to the front of the queue ahead of people who'd been waiting longer. These days, at least 21 percent of social housing allocations are “directed to households who are in emergency accommodation”, said a spokesperson for Dublin City Council on Tuesday. Last week, echoing that previous debate about people assessed as homeless jumping to the front of the social housing queue, because of the way applications are triaged, Pepper saidthat former asylum seekers who are assessed as homeless and go on “the homeless band which has priority over the other bands” squeeze out “Irish” people on the regular social housing list who’ve been waiting for years. Asked if he agrees that they navigate the bureaucracy meant for those accepted as homeless because that’s their situation, and whether he thinks they shouldn’t qualify for social housing aid at all, Pepper asked if it’s an “irrelevant coincidence that they all happen to end up in the same situation”. ## Searching for shelter It's true that it's not a coincidence that former asylum seekers can often grapple with homelessness. For long, people trying to move out of asylum centres and move on with their lives have said [it’s really hard](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-dcu-student-fights-eviction-from-a-direct-provision-centre-hoping-to-keep-the-life-shes-built/) to find private landlords willing to accept them as first-time tenants. As the Department of Justice and, before that, the Department of Children, ramped up efforts to free up space in their asylum centres, many with status still searching for a rental [faced two options](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-dcu-student-fights-eviction-from-a-direct-provision-centre-hoping-to-keep-the-life-shes-built/): accepting a transfer to a faraway, unfamiliar town or turning to their local council for homelessness aid where they work, go to college or send their kids to school. Some of them who have an illness or a disability try to convince the Department of Justice’s International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) not to move them out of Dublin and away from their support networks — though at that point IPAS has no legal obligation to accommodate them at all. A recent letter from an HSE worker, written on behalf of a man with refugee status, who is told to leave his asylum centre in Dublin city or accept a transfer to Castlebar in County Mayo, says he needs to stay in Dublin because he has Type 1 diabetes, is partially blind and needs to continue his treatment at Mater Hospital. “Such a move would be very detrimental to his health,” the letter says. People in that situation reach out to their local council, and if they overcome the bureaucracy and language barriers, they might be assessed as homeless, get a bed at a homeless shelter through the council, and, at some point, access social housing. They’re particularly vulnerable, said Conor Reddy, People Before Profit councillor for Ballymun-Finglas. “It’s people who go through very serious hardship,” he said by phone last week. Nobody is skipping any queues. If people with an immigrant or asylum background are more likely to become homeless, “it’s because they face the most precarity. Like, we know this,” said Reddy. They’re also more likely to be low-wage workers and “probably are less socially integrated”, he said. People born in Somalia didn’t create a shortage of affordable housing, Reddy said. “These things require a solution to the housing crisis; it requires people from all backgrounds coming together and putting pressure on the government and landlords, the architects of housing policy and housing failure,” he said. ## Why Somalis? By WhatsApp, last week, Pepper said he singled out Somalis because “they are representatives of asylum seekers in general simply because they make up by far the biggest cohort of new arrivals”. Up until recently, Pepper said, it was taboo to point out a specific group, “and some in the media still see things that way, but the public have moved on and are ready to discuss immigration”. It’s true that Somali citizens featured at the top of asylum-seeking statistics tables, but only for the period between [November 2025 and May 2026](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460435-2025-may-2026-ipo-stats/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – the last period for which data is publicly available. In that window, between 183 and 277 people per month were applying for asylum in Ireland. [Throughout 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460434-ipo-stats-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [for most of 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28460435-2025-may-2026-ipo-stats/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Somali citizens were not filing the highest number of asylum applications**,** although they were among the top 10\. Then**,** in 2025, Al-Shabab’s – the militant group in Somalia – attacks “using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide bombings, and shelling, as well as targeted assassinations, resulted in the highest numbers of civilian casualties,” according to a [country report](https://web.archive.org/web/20260712092103/https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/somalia) for the year from Human Rights Watch. And “repeated cycles of clan conflict, notably in [Luuq district](https://globalprotectioncluster.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/pau25%5Fprotection%5Fanalysis%5Fupdate%5Fsomalia%5Fluuq%5Fjune2025.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Gedo region and Hiraan [region](https://x.com/OCHASom/status/1952274954977988668?ref=dublininquirer.com), killed and displaced civilians,” it said. Pepper [sent some statistics](https://x.com/gavpepper85/status/2074209575222333684?ref=dublininquirer.com) he’d gotten from the council’s chief executive at the 6 July monthly meeting of the council. It shows the number of families – which included single parents –and lone adults who’d lived in asylum centres and then “accessed emergency accommodation in the last two years”. Between 2024 and 2025, about 680 single adults and 56 families, it shows. But the data isn’t broken down by nationality**,** so there's no way to tell how many of them were citizens of Somalia. ## **Everything is American** Both Hassan – the Somali man in Dublin – and Reddy said they believe targeting Somalis is also partly just repeating Trumpy talking points. “It’s straight out of Trump’s playbook, isn’t it?” said Reddy, who said he isn’t aware of many Somali people living in Finglas and Ballymun. Just like in Trump’s first term, the current administration [has cranked up](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/10/nick-brooke-shirley-maga-influencer?ref=dublininquirer.com) its demonisation of Somali immigrants, especially in Minnesota, in recent months. In November 2025, Trump [posted on X](https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1994272683387687053?ref=dublininquirer.com) that “Somalian \[sic\] gangs are roving the streets looking for 'prey' as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone”. More recently, on 6 July, he [stoked hurt and anger](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/us/politics/trump-somali-kindergartners.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) among the Somali community in Minnesota when he shared [on Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116873600025860413?ref=dublininquirer.com) a video of small girls – who turned out to be from a Somali background – singing on their kindergarten graduation day, wearing blue gowns and caps with white hijabs. He then [re-shared the video](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116873600928684662?ref=dublininquirer.com) with a quote post from an account named “End Wokeness”, which identified their kindergarten as located in St Paul and criticised the little girls’ hijabs. Hassan, the Somali man in Dublin, said people like him are a perfect target for some because Somali people are both Black and Muslim. That they’re being characterised as uncivilised and unworthy serves a purpose, though, he said. “They claim you’re a savage to normalise you being attacked,” said Hassan. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 13.22 on 17 July 2026 to include comments from the Gardaí.* ### Tending to Dublin’s street cats, a Brazilian network finds sense of purpose, and home URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/tending-to-dublins-street-cats-a-brazilian-network-finds-sense-of-purpose-and-home/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T10:02:54.000Z On a recent, sunny afternoon in an apartment on Bachelors Walk, João Fernandes Lelis is on a mission. He [navigates](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M7Enpam4-84xtxgHF38rW3HHVekZkU1d/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) through his rented flat toward the kitchen, grabs a can of wet cat food from the fridge, and locks eyes with Romeu. Romeu follows Lelis toward the glass door near the balcony. The windows are thrown wide open to battle the heatwave overtaking the apartment. But the stifling temperature isn’t the first thing you’d notice about the place. Rather, it’s the hundreds of Funko Pop collectible figurines all over the apartment. Lelis bends down to serve the feast. “Meow,” Romeu announces, instantly burying his face in the wet food. This is Romeu’s final day with Lelis before he goes to a permanent home following an adoption. Having fostered cats for about four years, Lelis is a long-time volunteer of a grassroots rescue network that started with just one person: Aline Serafini. Years ago, in 2018, Serafini began rescuing strays while crammed into a 25 sqm flat near Mountjoy Street. But her solo efforts didn't stay solo for long. She rallied a dedicated crew mostly from the Brazilian community, all fiercely committed to giving Dublin’s stray population a second chance. Today, this network is backed by a charity, the Cat and Dog Protection Association of Ireland (CDPA). Together they run a trap-neuter-release collaboration for stray cats in the city, feed colonies of stray cats, and rescue some from the streets, foster them, and find them permanent homes. ## The Mountjoy expansion Serafini’s cat journey in Dublin began with a bit of tactical landlord-testing back when she and her husband, Lucas Rossi, were living around Mountjoy Street. Noticing the landlord didn't put up a fight when she minded a friend's dog, Serafini found the gap she was longing for. In 2018, she adopted a cat named Jimmy – and informed Rossi of the decision while the cat was already en route to the studio, she says, in a cheeky, endearing voice. Like many street cats, Jimmy carried underlying health issues, and he passed away. Serafini channeled her grief into helping more street cats, she says. Rossi recalls how he regularly found himself out on the streets of Dublin at 1:30am, [helping Serafini feed strays](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYhTAAqN3cO/?ref=dublininquirer.com), he says. The night shift came with hazards: Serafini occasionally faced harassment from late-night passersby, says Rossi. And questions from gardaí. At first, guards routinely pulled over the couple's late-night operations to check what they were up to. But after a while, they became part of the landscape and they would just drive past, Rossi says. Serafini didn't have a vehicle. She ran the operation relying on Dublin Bus, her bicycle, a scooter, or the occasional lift from someone at the CDPA, she says. She managed several colonies across the city centre, feeding a group of about 35 neutered cats daily. Her “currency became cat food”, she says. With limited resources, every time she was thinking about buying something for herself, she started to think, ‘Oh, but with this money I can buy a week of cat food,’” she said. Serafini couldn’t just look the other way when she saw the state of the strays, she says. She was concerned about their hunger, how skinny they were, “the risk of them going out to look for food and getting run over”, she says. “I also have limited resources for this,” Serafini says. She earns “just a little more than minimum wage”, she says. She didn't compromise her livelihood or skip out on her rent; instead, she sacrificed her own disposable income, Serafini says. “I take away from myself to give to them – not from my basic needs, but from things that can wait, or things I won't die without, like having a top-tier phone, or spending money on beauty treatments or new clothes,” she said. “There were months when I spent more on them (including my indoor cats, of course) than I spent on my own rent,” she said. Does she worry that the cats she’s feeding will be eating birds and other critters trying to get by in the city? Their trap-neuter-release programme limits the number of cats, but beyond that, “these are things you just can't control, just like when people let their pet cats go outdoors. They will still hunt; it's just animal instinct,” Serafini says. “I also think that having a cat colony nearby prevents rat infestations, especially in those old, dirty, and abandoned places, and/or trash areas of houses, buildings, and gated communities,” she says. ## Finding an ally At the beginning, Serafini spent months cold-calling cat rescue organisations across the city, asking for traps and support to neuter local strays. Eventually, she connected with the Cat and Dog Protection Association (CDPA) – a registered, no-kill charity. The CDPA provides low-cost spaying and neutering, supplying affordable veterinary care for families when finances are tight, and runs trap-neuter-return programmes to stabilise street colonies, says Tanya Higgins,a director at the organisation. A huge part of their work is supporting independent rescuers like Serafini, Higgins said. The charity recognises that independent rescuers are the frontline of animal welfare, she said. Serafini has been connected with CDPA since 2019, Higgins says. “Her relationship with CDPA has grown into a trusted partnership built on shared values and a deep commitment to animal welfare.” By absorbing some of the medical costs and logistical weight, the charity allows local groups like Serafini’s to reduce pressure on traditional shelters and manage community cat populations, Higgins said. ## Fostering Once the cats are trapped, vaccinated, and neutered, the next job is finding them homes. For Serafini, turning to the Brazilian community was a natural choice. Language was a huge factor, but there was also a cultural alignment. “Brazilians normally tend to keep their cats indoors”, which is much safer for them, she said. The grassroots network relies also on people willing to get their hearts broken just a little bit every time a cat moves on. Letting go of the cats can be difficult, but Lelis says he has discovered a secret to coping with this. He says, with every new foster, he ends up liking the cat even more than the previous one, despite having thought that wouldn't be possible – and he holds on to this idea. Beatriz Oliveira, a volunteer originally from Portugal, [has fostered more than 70 cats](https://www.instagram.com/biasfosterkittings?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the space of just a year and a half, she says. “When the fosters leave, it's kind of bittersweet,” Oliveira says. “I'm happy that they are going to their happy forever homes, but with some kittens, it's just really hard.” Annie Ramos, who began fostering for Serafini in 2022, says “people end up being afraid to do it because they say they'll get too attached and won't be able to let go”. “But it's just a matter of getting used to it,” Ramos says. “There are several kittens I still miss to this day, but I get updates on how they are doing in their permanent homes, and that is more than enough to warm my heart.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Andrade-s-Foster.-Courtesy-of-Debora-Andrade-1.jpeg) Photo of a foster cat. Courtesy of Debora Andrade. Serafini also fostered some cats herself. Rossi, her husband, is fully on board with his wife’s mission, though he notes, dryly, that she sometimes lacks a stop button. “Aline will always double the target,” he says. At one stage, they had seven cats crammed into their 25sqm studio, Serafini said. “Lucas said the whole building was starting to smell like cat pee,” she said. In 2023, Serafini and Rossi packed up their urban operation and bought a house in County Kildare, which now serves as a full-blown sanctuary for more than 20 cats. Serafini named it [The Feral Farm Dream](https://www.instagram.com/theferalfarmdream?igsh=MWhkc3VlZXM0aTExaA==&ref=dublininquirer.com), a name born from her long-held vision of a sanctuary dedicated to the city's feral population. It serves as a refuge for the shy, the elderly, and the often-overlooked felines who might never find their way into an adoptive family home, she says. Most people, she says, do not welcome feral cats into their homes, she says, about 7pm on Monday, just after work when she managed to trap eight cats and was still pursuing a ninth in Kildare. That is why she traps and releases some of them, Serafini says. If the ones she just trapped are friendly, she will seek a foster home, she says. ## Community Serafini’s status as the community's go-to cat woman grew after she posted some advice in a Facebook group, encouraging other people to try independent rescuing. “After that, everyone just started tagging me in posts and reaching out,” says Serafini. Not even pregnancy could slow her mission. A week before her son Miguel was born, she was still out trapping. Serafini went into labour on a Sunday night just after organising a foster home for a newly rescued cat, she says. “I was pregnant, rescuing, almost giving birth, then I had him, and a week later I was rescuing again,” Serafini says. “It's something that can't be explained.” Today, the scale of the operation has grown beyond her expectations. They are rescuing over 100 cats each year, Serafini says. All while working a full-time warehouse job, while her husband works as a commercial photographer, and together they look after more than 20 cats in her home and raise a small baby, with some much-needed assistance from her mother. Both Serafini and Rossi work in Dublin, facing a 90-minute journey home to Kildare every evening, says Rossi. Serafini coordinates rescues and answers an endless stream of messages. “Sometimes I wish Aline would do a little bit less, because she spends hours on her phone solving cat problems,” Rossi said. For the volunteers who rallied to her side, the network quickly evolved from a practical rescue group into something resembling a family. “This community had a huge impact on my life,” says Manoela Martins, whose journey with the grassroots network offered comfort through a difficult period of depression following the loss of her cat, Sammy, in 2023\. “The project gave me a purpose again,” she says. Martins now helps with a bit of everything, coordinating the collection and transport of essential donations from Dublin’s northside to the Kildare sanctuary, while also providing hands-on support to foster homes, fostering herself, and managing the flow of daily administrative tasks that keep the mission moving, she says. Oliveira, the volunteer from Portugal, has also found purpose in the network, she says. “This community means everything to me,” says Oliveira. “Moving countries, I had a job, college, a place to live. But I didn't have a purpose. Now I feel like I have an impact and I know I have.” "I’m so grateful to be part of the group, because besides doing something that gives my life purpose, I found friends. People to talk about everyday things with, to vent to, and to count on. We help each other out a lot,” says Debora Andrade, who helps with fostering, social media and feeding stray cats. Ultimately, the grassroots movement isn't just about moving animals from a Dublin street corner to a Kildare sanctuary or an adoptive home, says Alessandra Dianin, who helps with social media. “Aline ended up creating this cat community and we formed this friendship based on this purpose of ours,” she says. “It's a daily motivation to wake up and connect with the girls.” It brings hope to both the cats in need and people who rescue them, and it also “means family”, Serafini says. ### After builder goes into liquidation, Crumlin social housing project stalls out URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-builder-goes-into-liquidation-crumlin-social-housing-project-stalls-out/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T05:19:47.000Z All four shopfront shutters were down at numbers 47 to 53 Keeper Road in Crumlin on Tuesday morning. Paintwork outside the closed businesses – once a tanning salon, a deli and a creche – was peeling, and the first-floor windows were boarded up. The properties, 47, 47b, 49, 51 and 53 have been slated by Dublin City Council for demolition for almost five years now. [In November 2021](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/143389?ref=dublininquirer.com), developer Teabrook Limitedreceived the council's approval to knock what is there, and to[build 41](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=79A707AE2CF411EC8131005056B85853&ref=dublininquirer.com) apartments, alongside a brand new creche and shop. Once built, the homes were to be bought by Oaklee Housing and turned into social homes, says a council report from [September 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476118-report-no-2222025-of-the-aassistant-chief-executive-d-oconnor-with-reference-to-disposal-of/?ref=dublininquirer.com), not long before councillors sold to Teabrook Ltd a nearby strip of nearby council land at half-price to help the project. But, any possibility of the project progressing was thrown into uncertainty when, on 27 April, the High Court appointed a provisional liquidator to Teabrook Ltd, [court records show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475933-teabrook-limited-e12-court-order-to-wind-up-appoint-liquidator-03-07-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The 41 homes are among 683 new social homes planned between now and 2029 for the South East Area. The area has, show [council reports](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476123-report-no-1432026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the slimmest pipeline of social homes in the coming years of all five city administrative areas. So, the set-back hurts the council's efforts to provide social homes, and leaves it with legal complexities over a past land disposal, and local site management risks, Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne said in a motion tabled at the South East Area Committee on Monday afternoon. The council should acquire the site and fast-track its development, Dunne said at the meeting. “It is the only way that we will have housing on this site anytime soon.” The liquidator of Teabrook Ltd determines what happens to these properties, said the council executive’s reply to Dunne’s motion. But, should the site be put up for sale, the council will consider buying it, they said. That could take years, Dunne said. “Liquidations often do. Let’s be proactive, and let’s get onto the liquidator and ask them what their plan is and express an interest.” ## Slow, slow Back in October at the full monthly council, Dunne had voiced frustration around the pace with which Teabrook Ltd had been moving to redevelop the site at Keeper Road. The site has been derelict for years, he said at the meeting. “Can you do everything possible to ensure construction starts for the much needed housing development?” At that meeting, councillors agreed to dispose of a laneway to the rear of the 47 to 53 Keeper Road for Teabrook to incorporate into the development. [In January,](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/173897?ref=dublininquirer.com) Teabrook had applied to extend its planning permission on the site. The clock [was due to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476136-extending-planning-permission-and-teabrook-limited/?ref=dublininquirer.com) run out on its existing permission in February 2027, said Teabrook Limited in its application. Enabling works would start on 1 May 2026, it said, and the homes would be done in June 2028. In March, the application to extend the planning permission for three years was approved by the council. But, the application notes, that extension lapses if works don't start before 19 February 2027. In April, Teabrook Limited went into liquidation. Housing is badly needed on the site, said Dunne, the councillor, at the area committee meeting on Monday. “But, as importantly, the residents on Keeper Road are looking at a derelict site for the last six, seven years. Totally unacceptable.” The council should now step in with approved housing body Oaklee Housing CLG to acquire the site, he said. And turn them into social homes, [as was the plan.](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=49939&ref=dublininquirer.com) It’s a turnkey development, Dunne said, speaking by phone on Tuesday. “Once built, Oaklee would buy it.” A spokesperson for Oaklee said they have engaged with the council on the situation at Keeper Road following Teabrook Ltd’s liquidation. “This engagement has focused on the current status of the site and the potential for social housing to be delivered there.” Ruth Dowling, the council's executive manager for housing delivery, said council officials will approach Oaklee and the liquidator about their positions on the site. “But I can’t make any guarantees or promises around it, because obviously there may be issues around it.” She couldn't guarantee that the council could buy it, she said. Dunne’s motion was agreed. ## Co-ordinating projects On Tuesday, Dunne said that there is an opportunity to link up the development at Keeper Road with one just next door. The former Father Lar Redmond Community Centre is slated for redevelopment too, he said. On Tuesday morning, the single-storey hall was cordoned off by steel fencing, with a lock on its gate. Moss grew on the concrete outside the front entrance, and a few shaggy pigeons huddled together on its roof. Respond Housing was granted approval by the council in October 2024 to build a five-storey block with 18 flats on the site, according to the July 2025 South East Area manager’s [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25997791-public-reports-pack-14072025-1430-south-east-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p82). At that time, the approved housing body was in the process of preparing a pre-tender cost estimate, the report says. “It is expected this will be completed by September 2025.” Both of these developments should’ve been going ahead simultaneously, Dunne said on Tuesday, and they should be linked. “They shouldn’t be managed separately. That’s the best way of proceeding.” ### After series of city-centre laneway closures, council aims to revamp one off Dame Street URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-series-of-city-centre-laneway-closures-council-aims-to-revamp-one-off-dame-street/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T05:19:56.000Z As midday approached on Tuesday, a steady flow of pedestrians were marching through the laneway between Dame Court and Dame Street. The sun lit the tight passageway. The warm rays were complemented by the light blue paint job outside the Mercantile Hotel on the left and the golden lettering above Sam’s Barbers on its right. This short-cut is the latest lane the council is eyeing up for a few improvement works, David Forde, manager at the council's City Co-ordination Office, said at a meeting of the South East Area Committee on Monday. For years, officials [have talked about](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-considers-opening-up-city-centre-laneways-for-people-to-play-cricket/) laneway projects in the city centre. They’ve been looking at a concept for this laneway with an architects' firm over the last couple of months, in similar vein to the council-led [project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-to-liven-up-dublin-s-laneways/) that aimed to revitalised Cole’s Lane and Talbot Lane, Forde said. “So we said we’d come over to the south side, and look at Dame Court,” Forde said. This latest laneway project is just a small-scale intervention which would feature music-themed lighting on the ground, and murals, and cost about €100,000, he said. This project to fix up the laneway off Dame Court comes after a series of council plans to abandon other laneways, including [Swan Alley](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-councillors-vote-to-close-laneway-off-thomas-street/), off Thomas Street, [Harbour Court](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-councillors-push-to-reopen-the-city-centre-laneway-they-closed-last-month-and-more/), off Abbey Street, [Ormond Place](https://www.dublininquirer.com/local-councillors-push-to-close-another-route-in-the-north-inner-city-due-to-anti-social-behaviour/), and [St Catherine’s Lane](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25171986-st-catherines-lane-extinguishment-area-meeting-april-2023-report-to-members?ref=dublininquirer.com). While welcomed, it was something of a surprise to local councillors, independent Councillor Mannix Flynn said on Tuesday by phone. “It comes out of nowhere,” he said. The Mercantile Hotel was renovated not that long ago, and as part of that project it restored, and [spread out into](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-say-they-fear-loss-of-public-park-as-hotel-spreads-out-seating-and-speakers/), a little council-owned plaza at the corner of South Great George's Street and Dame Lane. A spokesperson for the council has not yet replied to a Tuesday-morning email to find out whether it had engaged any local businesses on the project, or whether there was a timeline for these works. Nor did Pat Burke, the Mercantile Group's chief executive reply when contacted on Tuesday morning to see if the council has engaged with the hotel for this project. ## Raglan Road on Dame Street The council and Millimetre Design, an interior design and branding studio, are looking to explore a spoken word and music theme for this lane, Forde told the area committee on Monday. They came up with the name "Where Old Ghosts Meet" for the concept, referencing the Patrick Kavanagh poem "On Raglan Road", he said. Concept art provided to councillors shows the ceiling above the lane decorated with a golden ribbon on which the music and lyrics to "Spanish Lady", a folk song popularised by the Dubliners, are painted. On the walls, there are proposed murals of performers including Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew, Sinead O’Connor and Enya, [slides show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476261-presentation-love-the-lanes-dame-court-concept/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But those haven’t been confirmed yet, Forde said. “We’ll be linking in with the Traditional Music Archive in relation to that.” Some of the golden ribbon over pedestrians heads will be a painted mural, and other parts will be an aluminium installation, he said. “It’s basically laser-cut music notes." The concept also proposes more lighting embedded within the pavement which imitates the wavy golden ribbon, slides show. “Lighting would be installed on both buildings, shining onto the ribbon and reflecting at night, and giving it a nice image and brightening that whole space.” Details like the murals and theme are still at the concept stage and not yet finalised, he said. “But the actual guts of what we’re proposing is the ribbon and murals.” In principle it would be good to see the city animated, and the concept is “grand”, said Flynn, the independent councillor,at the meeting. “There’s a lot of younger musicians that are coming up, and again we should consider them rather than those who have passed away and had great careers.” He pointed to singer Radie Peat from the group Lankum as an example of someone to consider. The architects have engaged with a mural artist to finalise the design, Forde said. Sinn Féin Councillor Kourtney Kenny queried how much the project would cost, and how easy it would be to replace any of the installation should it get damaged. There’s nothing worse than seeing a lot of work going into projects like this, she said. “And then it gets broken, and it’s just left there.” It’s about €100,000 “all in”, Forde said. “Not a huge issue in relation to what’s being installed.” Any repair works would be falling back on the council’s City Co-ordination Office, he said. “So we would be maintaining that.” Fine Gael Councillor Patrick Kinsella asked if the council would consider running a competition for mural ideas. “Would we consider asking the students up in NCAD to put their hat in the ring?” That is something they’ll look at for future laneways, he said. “And if this works well, we’ll roll this out across the city centre.” ### As prominent site in Kilmainham sits vacant, council liable for tens of thousands in fines URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-prominent-site-in-kilmainham-sits-vacant-council-liable-for-tens-of-thousands-in-fines/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:37:38.000Z On a recent Wednesday, the land at 51A Old Kilmainham Road was a sloping field of high grasses and wildflowers hidden behind a black hoarding. This spot at the south-east corner of the junction with the South Circular Road has been vacant at least back to 2003, according to satellite imagery from Google Earth. The other three corners are busy with a Four Star Pizza, Cool Hand Coffee Roasters, and – until [it closed last year](https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/paul-dooleys-closing-time/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – the restaurant Urban 8\. Pat Galligan, who has lived near the site for about five years, says he'd heard there had been a plan for the Irish Prison Service to use the site decades ago. In any case, Galligan said he wasn't happy it was just sitting there vacant. "I'm surprised there haven't been a few of the lads down there with their ciders and bonfires of a Saturday," he said last Wednesday. Why has the site been vacant for so long? The main reason is that there are restrictions attached to its title, a Dublin City Council spokesperson said. The site is "the subject of on-going engagement" between the council and the Prison Service, a Department of Justice spokesperson said by email on Tuesday. "This work is nearing resolution," a Dublin City Council spokesperson said the same day, "and once finalised Dublin City Council will be in a position to move forward with plans for the redevelopment of the site and realise its full development potential for a supported housing scheme." In the meantime, the government owners – first the Minister for Justice, and more recently the council – have racked up tens of thousands of euro a year in fines for not doing anything with it. ## A long road to nowhere The Department of Justice spokesperson did not answer a query about what the Irish Prison Service's plan had been, decades ago, for the site in Kilmainham. "This matter is the subject of on-going engagement between the Irish Prison Service and Dublin City Council and in the circumstances, the Department is not in a position to comment further at this time," the spokesperson said in response to a series of questions about the site. Property [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475945-51a-old-kilmainham-leasehold-folio/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Tailte Éireann show the Minister for Justice as the owner of the site from 2010\. Since "owner" can mean different things, in this case, just to be specific, it means the minister held "good leasehold", a form of title that guarantees the leaseholder's own interest, but doesn't verify the original landlord's right to grant the lease. The Irish Prison Service falls under the Department of Justice, and at some point the IPS began talking to the council about transferring the site to it, for a nominal value, according to an An Bord Pleanála [inspector's report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475949-abp-vacant-site-levy-case-r303831/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The plan was for the council to then turn the site over to the [housing charity](https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities/sonra%C3%AD-carthanachta/?srchstr=novas%20initiatives®id=20041533&ref=dublininquirer.com) Novas Initiatives, to build social housing. In 2015, Novas Initiatives [applied](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/109376?ref=dublininquirer.com) – successfully – to build 11 apartments on the site, in a building reaching to four stories, with a commercial/retail space, presumably on the ground floor. Since all this was in train, the Prison Service said it was surprised when, in 2018, the council hit it with a €27,000 fine, since it had been added to the council's [Vacant Sites Register](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475951-vacantsitesregister-25082025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), according to the An Bord Pleanála inspector's report. It appealed this [but lost](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/303831?ref=dublininquirer.com). "DCC informed the IPS that they required freehold title to the site," the inspector's report says. "This was not possible as the site is a leasehold with approximately 750 years to run." "DCC are seeking confirmation from Novas as to whether a leasehold title would be acceptable," the 2019 report says. "On receipt of this confirmation, the site can be transferred to DCC." Property [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475945-51a-old-kilmainham-leasehold-folio/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show the leasehold for the site was transferred to the council in January 2020\. A council report says the deal was done [for €10](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476108-report-no-3282021-of-the-executive-manager-p-clegg-with-reference-to-the-proposed-assignment/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That left the council liable for the vacant sites levies on the site, should it remain vacant – and it did. When independent Councillor Nial Ring asked the council in 2023 about Vacant Site Levies on council-owned sites, the chief executives [reply](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s46438/04a.%20Minutes%20of%20Council%20Meeting%202nd%20September%202024.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) showed €77,000 demanded in relation to 51A Old Kilmainham. That's 7 percent of the €1.1 million market value of the site. Novas, meanwhile, appeared to be moving ahead with the housing project on the site. In 2020, it applied for, and got, a four-year [extension](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/140469?ref=dublininquirer.com) to its planning permission. In 2021, a council [report said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476108-report-no-3282021-of-the-executive-manager-p-clegg-with-reference-to-the-proposed-assignment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Department of Housing had "approved Stage 1 funding for this project under the Capital Assistance Scheme". In 2022, Novas put out [a tender](https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/231386/1?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a company to do the building works. But, "Following a detailed financial viability assessment in 2024, conducted at a key decision point for the scheme, NOVAS concluded that the project was no longer financially viable and would present an unacceptable level of financial risk for the organisation," a Novas spokesperson said today. "At that time, rising inflation and significant increases in construction and building material costs had substantially increased the projected development costs, creating a risk that the scheme could not be delivered within the funding available through existing support programmes, she said. [If Dublin City Council had more than 3% of its staff working in housing delivery, would more homes get built in the city?The County and City Management Association is “preparing a business case for the Department of Housing for additional staff for Housing Delivery across all local authorities”, a council spokesperson said.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-afb165b4-d329-40bf-ab1f-e5686ba96fb5.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/20260524_183127-0a733549-68e8-40dc-934f-eed1d89a4e33.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-dublin-city-council-had-more-than-3-of-its-staff-working-in-housing-delivery-would-more-homes-get-built-in-the-city/) Now, though, the council says,"The primary issue affecting the progress of development has been restrictions attached to the title," and that "These restrictions have limited Dublin City Council's ability to progress housing delivery on the site." The council has been engaging with the Department of Justice and the Chief State Solicitor's Office to "address these title matters", the spokesperson said. This work is "nearing resolution", he said. The Department of Justice on Tuesday declined to answer queries about who has the freehold title, and whether there were any terms in the Prison Service's lease on the site that restricted what could be built there. However, in the meantime, the planning permission for the site has lapsed. And Novas "withdrew from the project in 2024 and is no longer involved in proposals for the site", the council spokesperson said. A 17 June [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28476125-32-housing-delivery-report-sca-17th-june/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors indicates that the council still plans to develop the site with an (unnamed) housing charity, but that the project is "on hold" due to "title issues". In the meantime, the 7 percent Vacant Sites Levy has been phased out in favour of the Residential Zoned Land Tax. The [2026 RZLT](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28475947-rzlt-mape-2026-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) map shows 51A Old Kilmainham is subject to this annual charge of 3 percent of the land's market value. Which, if the site is still valued at €1.1 million, as it was in 2020, would amount to a 3 percent fine (€33,000) a year for the council to pay as the site sits idle. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/51A-Old-Kilmainham-2.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) The site, lying idle. Photo by Sam Tranum. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 19.58 on 15 July 2026 to include comments from a Novas spokesperson.* ### If Dublin City Council had more than 3% of its staff working in housing delivery, would more homes get built in the city? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-dublin-city-council-had-more-than-3-of-its-staff-working-in-housing-delivery-would-more-homes-get-built-in-the-city/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T23:10:01.000Z As of May, the Housing Delivery Unit of Dublin City Council had 167 people working in it, shows [a table](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28417641-dcc-staffing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. This accounts for less than 3 percent of its more than 6,000-strong workforce. On the face of it, this may seem a very low figure, given the ongoing affordable housing crisis in the city. But would more people employed directly by the council and assigned to housing delivery, mean more homes built? The council only directly builds a very small share of the homes built in the city, even when the focus is on just social and affordable homes. Last year, both independent Councillor John Lyons and Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan pointed to figures showing that the council was to deliver [only 14 percent](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-on-track-to-deliver-about-2-000-new-social-homes-this-year-says-housing-manager/) of the homes directly in the coming years. Instead of the council building homes, much of the job of providing them is outsourced to housing charities, the Land Development Agency (LDA), or private developers. Sure, it would be better if the council was directly building more of homes like it used to do, says Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, who chairs the council's housing committee. But adding more staff to the housing delivery unit wouldn’t necessarily bring more homes, she says. She says she has never heard of any complaints about a lack of staff in the housing department, but does hear complaints about a shortage in other areas – like public domain, housing maintenance, and litter wardens. The council could use more people working on homeless prevention too, she says. “They’re worth their weight in gold.” But Doolan, who also sits on the housing committee, disagrees. The fact that less than 3 percent of the council's workforce is in the Housing Delivery Unit absolutely has an impact on provision, he said. “The council has never recouped the staff to even the pre-austerity levels of 2009 when some of our best, most experienced managers left,” he said. Fast forwarding to now, the housing need is greater and homelessness levels are worse, he says. But the council is seriously lacking in planners, architects and project managers, he says. “They're the three things that deliver housing.” While the council no longer directly employs builders, and contracts out the work, that requires management, Doolan said. “We simply don't have the staff to be able to deliver the housing that's needed for the city." In explaining the current staffing level and allocations, a spokesperson for the council pointed at the central government. "While senior management \[at the council\] oversee day-to-day staff deployment, decisions on overall staffing levels are determined by central government, available funding and policy decisions," he said. The County and City Management Association (CCMA) – which is a network of the chief executives of councils, and the assistant chief executives of Dublin City Council – is working to convince the government to provide for more staff, he said. It is "preparing a business case for the Department of Housing for additional staff for Housing Delivery across all local authorities to deliver the targets as per the new Housing Plan ‘Delivering Homes; Building Communities’,” said the spokesperson. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said local authorities are independent entities, with responsibility for how they carry out their functions. Council chief executives are responsible for staffing and human resources, they said. ## What are the targets? The government's housing plan "Delivering Homes, Building Communities", which runs from 2025 to 2030, sets high-level targets for councils collectively. The goal is 12,000 new-build social homes a year, it says. That's a target for councils, the Land Development Agency, and housing charities to hit collectively. A July council report shows that 1,375 affordable and social homes were built in 2025 in the Dublin City Council area, and 865 have been built so far in 2026\. The council report projects that, by year's end, that figure will be more than 3,000 homes. The council appears to have been gearing up its ability to directly build more homes. In March this year, it announced a big Home Building Programme, for about 4,000 homes across 30 sites,[ noting that](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-launches-home-building-programme-deliver-4000-homes-across-city?ref=dublininquirer.com): "This initiative marks one of the largest direct build housing programmes undertaken by a Local Authority." Heney pointed to the launch last week by Dublin City Council of the procurement competition for its first package of sites through this new Home Building Programme. The first batch is to deliver new social and affordable homes on five sites of council-owned land, she says. The plan is to build 110 units at the Church of the Annunciation in Dublin 11; 77 units on Wellmount Road; 106 on Collins Avenue; 66 at Croke Villas and Sackville Avenue; and 288 units in Ballymun. Early enabling works are already underway on two of the sites, with construction on all five sites expected to get underway by early 2027, says a council press release. “We're now going out to the market, calling developers to come in and tell us what they can do for us,” Heney says. “It's that type of thing that will build more houses.” Still, says Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, even if central government give the council sufficient funds to build enough houses for Dublin, the problem remains that the level of project management to deliver those projects isn’t there. And, even if the council wanted to employ more people in the Housing Delivery Unit, it’s not simple, he says. “They have to go to the department \[of housing\] to seek sanction. They get the sanction, and then then the department says, ‘Oh yeah, we have to manage the whole process,’” he says. When the job description goes up, he says, it’s the same for Dublin as it is for Leitrim, Clare and everywhere else. The job for project management in Dublin is very different to that in some other counties, he says. “It's a different scale.” “But the department, not one mile down the road from Dublin City Council, says, ‘No, no, we need to do all that. We have to control all that,’” Doolan says. “It’s suffocating Dublin.” There are a lot of very talented people working for Dublin City Council, but there just isn’t enough of them, he says. The figures released under FOI suggested there are 29 sanctioned posts that sit empty, in the Housing Delivery Unit. A council spokesperson said it takes a strategic and proactive approach to workforce planning. “This ensures we have the resources needed to deliver the five-year objectives set out in our Corporate Plan, while also ensuring prudent use of available finances,” they said. The housing delivery team are responsible for the design, planning and management of the construction of new social, affordable purchase and cost rental schemes as well as estate regeneration, they said. The design of the schemes is carried out by internal teams within Dublin City Council and by procured external integrated design teams, said the spokesperson. “All construction is procured and provided by external contractors.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### At kiosks across the city, only a third of the phones worked – but all the attached advertising billboards did URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-kiosks-across-the-city-only-a-third-of-the-phones-worked-but-all-the-attached-advertising-billboards-did/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T23:10:15.000Z Dotted around Dublin city are 23 phone kiosks, owned by Eir, which replaced old-style phone boxes back in 2021. They pop up from the concrete footpaths like great big digital slabs in Cabra, Capel Street, Clontarf, Merrion Road, and Ballyfermot, among other locations. On one side of these kiosks there is an information touch screen and a pay phone. The other side is dedicated entirely to a large digital billboard. The advertising function of the kiosks is managed by Bauer Media Outdoor, which counts them as part of the 150-plus “roadside digital screens” around the country that they offer to potential customers on their [website](https://www.bauermediaoutdoor.ie/advertising/environments/roadside-advertising?ref=dublininquirer.com). Surveying each of the 23 kiosks this week, the phone was working on just eight of them – a third of the total. The digital advertising billboards, however, are fully-functional on all of the 23 kiosks. “They're simply using them for advertising. It’s an absolute disgrace, is what it is,” says Mannix Flynn, an independent councillor, “because it's not regulated in any way”. “You simply cannot just say you're putting out a phone when really what you're actually doing is you're putting out a massive advertising board,” Flynn said, “and only you can do that because you've got the monopoly because you're a telecommunications company.” A spokesperson for Eir said on Thursday that the company has plans to upgrade the phones. Neither Eir nor Bauer Media Outdoor responded when asked how much money these phone kiosks generate in advertising revenue, or where that money goes. ## End of universal service obligation In December 2020, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) decided that there was no longer a need for a public payphone “universal service obligation”. Universal service, according to [ComReg](https://www.comreg.ie/advice-information/universal-service-obligations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) is a “safety net to ensure that a set of at least the minimum services is available to all end-users and at an affordable price, where the risk of social exclusion arising from the lack of such access prevents citizens from full social and economic participation in society”. Previously, the commission’s position had been that public payphones were relied upon by disadvantaged and vulnerable consumers, so if they were used a certain amount, they [had to be kept](https://dublininquirer.com/2017/06/28/the-surprising-persistence-of-a-dolphin-s-barn-phone-box?ref=dublininquirer.com). The change means that whether a phone box is installed or not is now left entirely up to the company, and the the planning process. And it’s through the planning process that Eir secured their phone kiosks. Or, as described on the applications: “A new telephone kiosk with an integral communication unit and a 1.53sq. metre digital advertising display.” “These digital kiosks were introduced to provide a public communications and information service across Dublin and are currently being upgraded to a new SIM-based platform,” a spokesperson for Eir said on Thursday. “The upgrade will improve reliability and provide free calls to Irish landlines and mobile numbers for up to 15 minutes per call,” they said. Any kiosks not working properly are being reviewed and upgraded as part of this programme, they said. Since January 2022, more than 25,000 calls have been made from Dublin kiosks, the spokesperson said. Of them, 61 percent were to emergency or Freefone numbers, they said. That works out at less than one phone call made a day per kiosk. However, the spokesperson added that the public information touchscreens have been used almost 74,000 times – “demonstrating the ongoing value of the service”. ## Frustration In 2021, Damian O’Farrell, then an independent councillor, raised his [frustration](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-planners-assessed-new-payphones-as-advertising-says-councillor/) over how the advertising-phone kiosks came to be installed. Council planners looked at most of the applications primarily as [outdoor advertising](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21087346-dublin-city-development-plan-2016-2022-volume-2?ref=dublininquirer.com), but they should have been assessed as what the council calls “street furniture”, O'Farrell said at the time. If the planners had assessed them as street furniture they would have looked at how they contribute to clutter, he said. It’s the clutter that still irks David Donovan, a city centre resident. “That is the definition of just shite street architecture.” “Why are the ad boards working and the phone isn't? At least live up to your responsibilities,” Donovan says. He points to the kiosk on Mary Street, the phone function of which is currently broken, as a particular inconvenience for footpath users. “There is about 12 inches to one side of it, then the curb, then the street, and on the other side of it, there's maybe three feet,” he says. “You're not getting past that if you’re in a wheelchair.” Nobody has an issue with providing access to telephones in the city, but without the advertising panels, says Flynn, the independent councillor. “This whole issue of advertising in the public realm with digital advertising is a serious matter and needs to be robustly dealt with," he says. Any “loopholes” need to be closed off so that companies can't get away with it, says Flynn. “Because there's massive money to be made off of advertising on a public street.” “It’s another clutter on the footpath that we don't need in a packed city where you have up to 75 people going on a walking tour,” he says. “What space do you have?” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Vacancy Watch: Why isn't the site of the former Ormond Hotel on the derelict sites register? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-why-isnt-the-site-of-the-former-ormond-hotel-on-the-derelict-sites-register/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T23:10:23.000Z From the [1840s](https://www.archiseek.com/1840s-ormond-hotel-ormond-quay-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) until [2018](https://www.google.com/maps/place/7-11+Ormond+Quay+Upper,+North+City,+Dublin+7,+D07+YD54/@53.3459256,-6.2688758,3a,75y,330.15h,106.66t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sfUQWofA6UJQtfJVR4k2zCA!2e0!5s20180801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb%5Fclient%3Dmaps%5Fsv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-16.655473930722025%26panoid%3DfUQWofA6UJQtfJVR4k2zCA%26yaw%3D330.1539817465388!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x48670c28196db075:0x5a6f9223e6fccc68!8m2!3d53.3461182!4d-6.2690407!16s%2Fg%2F11c1y4qyd9?entry=ttu&g%5Fep=EgoyMDI2MDcwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D&ref=dublininquirer.com), the Ormond Hotel stood on the north quays in the city centre. With plans in the works to redevelop it, the hotel was demolished that year. Ever since, the site has sat empty, a missing tooth in the streetscape along Ormond Quay. It was, for years, partially hidden behind the hoarding hosting the "Do Not Remove" mural, until the council [removed it](https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-city-mural-removed-nfl-artwork-6825876-Sep2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) last year and replaced it with an NFL mural. The site is subject to the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), says a council spokesperson. That tax of 3 percent of a site's market value per year is meant to push owners of such properties to develop them. But it hasn't been put on the derelict sites register, a list of properties that, visually, bring a neighbourhood down – and which carries a higher 7 percent annual tax. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner asked the council recently why the site hadn't been put on that register, too. It's "in the direct eyeline of the chief executive’s office”, Horner said by phone on Wednesday, since the site is across the Liffey from the council's Wood Quay headquarters. “No one in DCC seems to have any curiosity.” This week, a council spokesperson said it is preparing notices of its intention to add the site to the derelict sites register: “Section 8(2) Notices are being prepared this week to serve on the owners and on the physical site.” "Communication with owners led the Council to believe that the intention was to implement the planning permission to develop the site and bring it back into active use," the spokesperson said. "The Council has given considerable time and engagement with the owners, however, given the lack of progress, the site will now be entered onto the Derelict Sites Register and will be removed from the RZLT maps with derelict sites levy being applicable from 2027," she said. ## Plans, plans, plans In 2014 Dublin City Council [refused](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/103496?ref=dublininquirer.com) a planning application from Monteco Holdings to redevelop the site with a new, six-storey hotel. “Its monolithic design and unsympathetic proportions, would seriously injure the surviving grain, rhythm and character of Ormond Quay Upper,” said council planners. But in 2017, [An Bord Pleanála](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/247365?ref=dublininquirer.com) gave the go-ahead to different designs for a five-storey, 121-bedroom hotel on the Ormond Hotel site, as well as some adjacent buildings. The Ormond Hotel featured in the Sirens episode of James Joyce's *Ulysses*. The [James Joyce Centre](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28439688-james-joyce-centre-objection/?ref=dublininquirer.com) requested the facade be retained when the old hotel was demolished, but that didn't happen. However, to retain some of the Joycean heritage, the owners committed to retain the name, the Ormond Hotel, and to erect a plaque referring to the links to *Ulysses*, according to planning records. In [2022](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/149115?ref=dublininquirer.com) and again in [2024](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/163441?ref=dublininquirer.com), Dublin City Council granted extensions to the planning permission, which now runs until next year, 2027\. ## Who owns it? A council official said in response to Horner’s question that the site was tied up in legal proceedings, and “was never added to the \[derelict sites\] register due to the complicated nature of the legal case”. It's unclear if it is the same case that the spokesperson is talking about, but Urban Entertainment Ltd, the operator of a restaurant in a neighbouring building, did take Monteco Holdings [to the High Court](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28444677-ww2courtsie-viewer-pdf-8ab4220e-eaac-4832-8b33-50f76be9bd69-2019-iehc-620-1pdf-pdfviewfith/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It was seeking, among other things, damages for what it said was disruption to its business from the demolition works. That case was last listed in the Court of Appeal, with an order[ issued in](https://courts.ie/high-court-search?proceeding=P&caseRef=&caseNumber=5703&year=2018&caseparty1=&caseparty1checked=Both&caseparty2=&caseparty2checked=Both&setDownVenue=&setDownType=&setdownNumFrom=&courtdate=&listtype=&appealcasereference=&supremecasereference=&page=1&ref=dublininquirer.com) June 2021\. Legal proceedings aside, the council also has to make a good effort to contact the owner of a site before putting it on the derelict sites register. The Dublin City Council spokesperson says the council has reason to believe the site may have been sold recently. “A ‘For Sale’ sign has been present on the site, and local knowledge indicated a change of ownership may have taken place,” she said. Previous notices, sent by registered post, were returned to the council, the spokesperson said, so they requested an updated title check. “The legislation requires the Council to take all reasonable steps to identify the owner and so if we are unsuccessful in this regard other avenues will be considered,” she said. The owner or occupier has a right to make representations before the site is added to the register, she said. The council is working on the statutory notices this week, she said. Monteco Holdings is still listed as the owner on the land registry records, but those records usually aren’t updated immediately when properties are sold. Emails sent to Monteco Holdings since 30 June bounced back and phone calls to their head office in Toronto this week were not answered. ## Who is responsible? Horner says the council needs to be more proactive at tackling dereliction, especially in prominent places in the city, and where they are within view of council offices. The case reminds her of the [Dracula-themed, disused house on Buckingham Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-council-sits-on-disused-dracula-house-for-11-years-as-vacancy-sucks-the-lifeblood-of-the-city/), within view of a council office, she says – although the council actually owns that one. At the Ormond Hotel site, the council has commissioned murals on the hoarding around the site, says Horner, but has not done enough to push the owners to develop it. Responsibility for collecting the derelict sites levy is due to move from the council over to the Revenue Commissioners later this year. “Hopefully revenue collection will be more robust,” says Horner. But she says the council will still be responsible for adding sites to the derelict sites register, so if the council doesn't add the sites, then Revenue cannot tax the owners. The current definition of [dereliction](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1990/act/14/enacted/en/print.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) is about the appearance of the building. A site is considered derelict if it “detracts, or is likely to detract, to a material degree from the amenity, character or appearance of land in the neighbourhood”. If a building or a site appears “ruinous”, “dangerous”, or “unsightly”, then the council can put it on the register. A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners said they don’t yet have the details of the new Derelict Property Tax, which was announced in Budget 2026, as the new legislation will be published in the autumn. ### Donnycarney remembers a trad music legend and the workshop that helped save uilleann piping URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/donnycarney-remembers-a-trad-music-legend-and-the-workshop-that-helped-save-uilleann-piping/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T23:10:36.000Z On Saturday morning, locals of Donnycarney gathered on Belton Park Road to pay tribute to its famed former resident, the renowned uilleann piper, pipe maker, teacher and activist, Leo Rowsome. A plaque was erected a few doors down from the house where he, his wife Helena, and their four children – Leon, Liam, and twins Helena and Olivia – lived. “My parents were married in 1934 and those houses were built about that time,” says daughter Helena Rowsome Grimes. Paddy Belton, who built the houses, was a family friend, she says – which, along with her mother working as a teacher on the northside, influenced her parents move from south of the Liffey. Leo Rowsome was originally from Harold's Cross. “A wonderful childhood we had, and the fact that my father had the workshop out the back of the house was just amazing,” Rowsome Grimes says. That workshop is now the stuff of legend, says Gay McKeon, piper, former student of Rowsome in the 1960s, and CEO of Na Píobairí Uilleann – the society of Irish pipers. “He was the go-to person for getting pipes made, getting pipes tuned, reeds being made, and he was the main teacher in the country – there were very few around the country teaching at that time,” says McKeon. When Rowsome, who learned the trade from his own father, died in 1970, there wasn’t another full-time maker of uilleann pipes anywhere in the world, he says. If not for the fruits of his workshop, over decades, piping might not have endured to this day, McKeon says. “It was precariously close to extinction.” But early on Saturday, the reel "The Bucks of Oranmore", recorded by Rowsome in the 1950s, poured from Sorcha Ní Scolaí’s uilleann pipes on Belton Park Road, before a crowd of around 40 people. ## Life in old Donnycarney “I must have been about two, but I remember standing up in the cot and hearing my father sound the reed in the chanter from the workshop,” says Helena Rowsome Grimes. He worked there from early morning straight through to three o’clock, she says. Then he would hop on a bus from Collins Avenue into town to teach lessons in the Municipal School of Music on Chatham Row until eight or nine o’clock, she says. He held that teaching role from 1920 until his death in 1970. When he got home again each night, he would still make time before his supper to practice and work on compositions, says Rowsome Grimes, who was also a pupil – like all her siblings – of her father. “He was a great, great father, great fun, but the man, he didn't have enough time. He really didn't,” she says. Aside from his workshop and teaching duties, Rowsome was also well-known for regularly playing the pipes on the radio for RTÉ and the BBC, she says. As well as his live concert performances. “One of my fondest memories is, myself and my twin Olivia, we'd wake up on a Monday morning, and there'd be a little lemonade or fizzy orange on the mantelpiece in the bedroom in Belton Park,” she says. Her father might have been down in Kilkenny, Carlow or further afield playing a concert or radio show and he'd always bring his kids back a treat, she says. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow also felt very present for his wife and children, she says. “My mother could see that he was a real gem, you know, that this was really something really important, and I think that my mother was definitely a factor in enabling him to do as much as he did,” she says. The house was always full of divilment, she says. Like, one day, local nuns were visiting for tea, as they often did. The kids, all smartly-dressed, hair combed, had to each perform their party piece and be well-behaved. One of her brothers tried to discreetly throw a ball to her sister, and accidentally knocked the head clean off a porcelain duck ornament. Thankfully, her mother didn’t cop what had happened, she says. Rowsome Grimes ran and got some bread, moistened with water – a combo they normally used as a makeshift pencil eraser – and somehow managed to stick the duck's head back on with it while another sibling shielded her from their mother’s view. Her father, who saw the whole thing unfold, unbeknownst to his wife or the nuns, said nothing but just smiled on, watching his children secretly handle the crisis. “He was always great, he’d cover up for us if we did anything naughty,” she says. However, soon thereafter, at one of the regular music sessions in their house, her mother, who had a beautiful soprano voice, got up to sing, “Oh, the Days of the Kerry Dancing”. “Absolute tragedy! It was the resonance of her voice on that high note, you know, the vibration made the head fall off the duck!” says Rowsome Grimes, laughing. It’s one of countless happy memories on Belton Park Road, she says. ## Mission to save tradition When Leo Rowsome’s father, William, was being stretchered into the hospice in Harold's Cross where he died in 1925, he turned to Rowsome and asked if he was sure there wasn’t anything else about the pipes he needed to know, Rowsome Grimes says. “That was the most important thing.” This great responsibility to preserve the art was something her father took seriously all his life, she says. “He was an activist,” says Gay McKeon, who studied as a child under Rowsome from 1966 until his death in 1970. “A lot of people don’t realise how important he was in the foundation of Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann along with his brother Tom Rowsome, who had a drapery shop in there in Thomas Street,” he says. Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann, founded in 1951, remains a non-profit dedicated to promoting and preserving trad music. Rowsome and Séamus Ennis were also the first two patrons of Na Píobairí Uilleann, founded in 1968. Decades earlier, in 1936, he had been the driving force in reviving the Dublin Piper’s Club, Cumann na Piobairí Uilleann, which had fizzled out during and after the civil war. “He was childlike in lots of ways, an amazing teacher,” says McKeon. “He empathised, and it was none of the greatness or whatever, he was just at your level and very humble.” “I've spoken to people like Liam O’Flynn and Peter Brown and Joe McKenna, who would have been students of his, and they all concurred there was something magical about his abilities when he was teaching,” he says. “And like, I wasn't the best at practicing, but he indulged me.” Unusually at the time, says McKeon, Rowsome would write out harmonies for tunes so all the students could play together. “There was a great sense of fun.” His ability to read and write music was quite rare for a traditional musician at the time, he says. Rowsome would write out tunes in his own handwriting, with all the embellishments and ornamentation, for every single student in his classes, he says. “So, we all learned how to read music.” Indeed, Rowsome Grimes remembers sitting on the bus home from a lesson in theSchool of Music on Chatham Row and her father jotting down the notes for a particular piece of music for her on the back of a cigarette package. “The best part of the lesson was coming home on the bus with him from the school, and the chat. I just loved it,” she says. Among his endeavours to promote uilleann piping, her father also became a recording artist, releasing albums for His Master’s Voice (HMV), Decca and Columbia, and was the first signing to Claddagh Records. His 1959 LP *King of the Pipers* is considered a seminal traditional Irish music recording. Rowsome also appeared in motion pictures over the years, playing his instrument. Like *Norah O’Neale* (1934)and *Broth of a Boy* (1959)*.* And while he was a man of great humour and wit, he was also very serious when it came to how Irish culture was depicted on the world stage, says Rowsome Grimes. She remembers once when he was making a film with a German company in some part of rural Ireland, and had to make a stand. “He was sitting, playing in this cottage, you know, an Irish cottage,” she says. “Next thing in come a whole lot of pigs, they were trying to put pigs into the kitchen, so they were trying to make it Irish,” she says. Rowsome politely walked off the set, and said he wasn’t going to be part of a backwards depiction of Irish people and culture, she says. “Don’t get me wrong, he loved pigs! But he couldn’t stand that.” Rowsome Grimes is in the later stages of writing her father’s biography, she says. Even after all this time, she still feels her father’s loss immensely, she says. She remembers him happily playing the pipes at her wedding in Our Lady of Consolation Church in Donnycarney. “It was a great, jolly day.” Sadly, just six weeks later, at the age of 67, Rowsome died suddenly of a heart attack. “That was the worst day of my life.” “He worked too hard, he really did,” she says. “I only wish I grew up to help him, because I was only 24 when I left home, and he died six weeks later.” “You know, I'm so privileged to be his daughter,” Rowsome Grimes says. Every February, ⁠Na Píobairí Uilleann host a Leo Rowsome Commemorative Event, but beyond that one day, it’s in the playing of his music and the uilleann pipes where Rowsome’s [memory truly lives on](https://shop.pipers.ie/products/joe-doyle-the-music-of-leo-rowsome-music-for-the-irish-pipes-vol-vi?ref=dublininquirer.com), says McKeon. “The biggest tribute that people can do is play his music and his instruments,” he says. The plaque on 5 Belton Park Road reads: “Leo Rowsome 1903 – 1970\. Uileann piper, manufacturer and teacher lived on Belton Park Road.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 12.o9pm on 13 July 2026 to reflect that the plaque is on 5 Belton Park Road, not 9 Belton Park Road.* ### Councillors back motion for sections of big parks to be set aside to let dogs run free URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-back-motion-for-sections-of-big-parks-to-be-set-aside-to-let-dogs-run-free/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T23:10:44.000Z All the other, more suburban council areas in Dublin have multiple areas in parks for dogs to run free and off-leash, said Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose at Monday's monthly council meeting. Fingal County Council has 10 parks with spots allocated for dogs off-leash. There are five parks in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown that allow it, and four in South Dublin, he said. At the moment, dogs and their owners living in Dublin city only have one – at St Anne's Park in Clontarf, he said. "We probably have a greater need for dogs off leash areas in the city compared to the suburban areas," Jose said. "We have smaller houses, we have people with smaller gardens, no gardens, dogs in apartments." He tabled a motion at the 6 July meeting, [asking that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28444556-motions-on-notice/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, provide a report in September, outlining a plan to provide at least one dog off-leash area in each of the city's 11 local electoral areas. Many councillors in the chamber said they had tabled similar motions at local area committees, with no follow-up – and all who spoke, back the idea. So, with support in the room clear, councillors honed in on how to make it happen, with talk of another "working group" drawing audible groans, and a slightly warmer reception for talk of a "workshop". ## Why not do it? There's already a second dog park planned for the city, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan, when the microphone switched on for him. Local councillors had put aside money from their discretionary fund, he said. That's a small pot for area projects, which councillors get to vote on how to divvy up. Indeed, the South East Area Committee has identified a spot in Herbert Park, which isn't well used, for it, said Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey. "The parks department seem to have it in their head that they don't want to supply and install dog runs," said Lacey, in general. "It's something that is needed." Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan said that the North West Area Committee had also proposed a location for a dog park several years ago, in Mellows Park in Finglas. He asked why that hadn't been actioned. If council managers were reluctant to provide the facilities, could they explain why? he asked. Fine Gael Councillor Clodagh Ní Mhuirí said she would like to see a dog park in each electoral area initially. But, "ideally, I would like to see that it would be a requirement in every park of a certain size", she said. Sinn Féin Councillor Kourtney Kenny said that at the moment people who don't have gardens are not allowed to adopt rescue dogs from charities. Perhaps in the future that could be revisited for those that live near a dog park, she said. It doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, said Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley. "There is not really any need to gold plate this stuff, it's really just a fenced-off area and some signage." ## Dog parks versus dog runs A dog run is a small fenced-in area where dogs can run and play off-leash, whereas a dog park is a section of a park where dogs can go free. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said that the dog run in St Anne's works well. There are two areas, dividing big dogs and small dogs. "If they are always kept on a lead, they don't get that opportunity to run around and socialise with other dogs," she said. "Their humans also get to socialise, so it's important that we put benches in these." However, Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, who chairs the animal welfare committee, said she doesn't think that the dog run in St Anne's Park is working well at the moment. "It's a very dangerous place for some animals and some small children," she says. She would rather see parks divided into sections, she said, allowing dogs to roam free in entire areas. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said that while some councillors mentioned dog runs in their contribution, the motion calls for areas in parks that allow dogs off-leash. Inner-city communities need more parks, and they need designated spots to let dogs off leads too, to reduce conflict, he said. ## Not another working group Eileen Quinlivan, an assistant chief executive, said that council management is happy to work with councillors on the issue. There have been lots of requests from local area committees over the years for designated areas in parks where dogs can roam free, she said. "There's alot of issues in this. I think it would be useful if we had a working group with members from each of the areas," she said. They could discuss the idea of designating parts of larger parks, she said. "That may or may not be workable depending on the size of the park, the park users and the behaviour of dogs." New by-laws would be needed, she said. Heney said there are already loads working groups. "I think talk to \[head of parks\] Les \[Moore\] and \[parks superintendent\] Fergus \[O'Carroll\] about what we proposed for St Anne's and get the by-laws redrafted" she said. Jose, the Green Party councillor, said he would rather push on too, and he asked the managers to bring a report to the next committee meeting. "I would prefer to sit down and tease through some of these issues," said Quinlivan. "Because it comes up frequently and it is something that we would like to engage with the members on to ensure that we have collective agreement." Jose suggested a one-off workshop. Not a new working group. Moriarty, the Labour councillor, who chairs the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), said he would work with Jose and managers to hold one or two meetings. “Then we can consider it and debate it openly at the SPC and something can come back to the full council,” he said. Lacey said that any workshop meeting should start from the position that the motion was agreed and so the workshop was exploring how to implement that decision. Not reopening the question of whether. "We talked about dog runs in 2014," said Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu. So she asked for a timeline for when the workshops would happen, and the decision would be implemented. Quinlivan said that the workshop could take place in September, and the motion was agreed. ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #124 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-124/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T23:16:38.000Z Stephen’s Green, overlooked by the shopping centre, is an iconic symbol of summer in Dublin to me. No childhood trip to the big smoke was complete without it. This nostalgia makes me think it is a huge shame to reconstruct the shopping centre and lose such a unique building for what is essentially a concrete block. My name is Órlaith Conlon and I’m an illustrator with a love for nature, people-watching and collage. If you are interested in seeing more of my work you can find me on instagram on [@orlaith.co.art](https://www.instagram.com/orlaith.co.art/?ref=dublininquirer.com), or for commissions you can reach me at orlaithconlonart@gmail.com. ### Things To Do: Await the Leaving Cert results, celebrate the hairstylists, touch everything in a gallery URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-await-the-leaving-cert-results-celebrate-the-hairstylists-touch-everything-in-a-gallery/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T23:20:06.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Pinky Ring** Last week, Scottish-Irish artist Struàn Bell launched his new solo show Pinky Ring. The sixth exhibition in Pallas’ 2026 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, Pinky Ring presents a series of plaster relief carvings that are shaped by “ideas of speculative function, symbolic architectures, and objects of personal affectation”. While the reliefs depict mundane sights like a chair in a spacious room or a cat, Bell imbues these with a “sense of private importance” by inserting faceted gemstones, or painting arrows into the scenes, the significance of which is left unresolved. Pinky Ring is primarily interested in how personal objects can absorb memory, attachment, and become charged with emotional weight. It will be on show until 18 July. But if you’re in the area this evening, Bell will be in conversation with its curator Katie O’Grady at 6pm. For more information, visit Pallas Projects’ website [here](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/struan-bell-pinky-ring?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Peer** On Tuesday, artist Amanda Jane Graham unveiled Peer, her new exhibition at The LAB Gallery, which explores how hairstylists have contributed to visual culture from the Renaissance to the present. Curated by Margarita Cappock, Peer uses sculpture, drawing and sound installations to explore the relationship between hairdressing and art history through visual arts, sociological research and Graham’s own 24-year career as a hairstylist. The exhibition takes its title from the eighteenth-century campaign led by Parisian hairstylists who sought recognition as artistic practitioners, and who published a hairdressing manifesto in 1768\. Graham runs with that idea, and expands it out to pay tribute to the hairstylists through the ages who are seldom recognised for their creative and artistic expertise. Presented by Dublin City Council, Peer will run in The LAB Gallery until 15 August. For more information, visit the exhibition page [here](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-presents-peer-amanda-jane-graham-lab-gallery?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Gallery Take Over** Starting today, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is hosting a found-day summer programme of projects and workshops devised by resident artists Alexandre Caretti, Tara Carroll and Kathy Tynan. Formerly known as Summer School, Gallery Take Over was conceived as a way to transform the gallery into a collaborative and creative space, with participants welcome to drop in at any time between now and Sunday. Caretti will be hosting "If the Glove fits", which invites you the chance to create your own unique pattern for a pair of paper gloves. Inspired by patterns and motifs discovered in the city’s streets and museums Caretti has assembled a collection of photographs and objects to inspire participants. For those who create a pair, they will be allowed to take one glove home as a personal keepsake, while the other is added to a textile artwork in the gallery created by Caretti. And if you’re interested, at 2pm on Saturday, Caretti will also be hosting a workshop called "How to Make a Shirt", in which he will lead participants on a journey that culminates in them making good on the title of the workshop. You can book a space [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/family-workshop-how-to-make-a-shirt?ref=dublininquirer.com). After this, artist Tara Carroll will be leading "Please Touch", in which participants collaboratively create a space to explore how touch is transferred across time, space and bodies. With "Please Touch", Carroll removes the classic gallery sign which says “do not touch” and puts up one instructing exactly the opposite. The central question then is how a gallery space and our experience of it changes once we are told to “please touch” the objects on display. On Sunday at 10:30am, there's a "Please Touch" workshop, which offers “a relaxed space to slow down and engage with the senses, inviting you to become an active part of the work". You can book a space for that [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/adult-workshop-please-touch-with-tara-carroll?ref=dublininquirer.com). On Friday at 11:30am, Carroll is hosting "Just There" an all-ages sculptural play workshop which promises “lots of soft cushions and cosy chats". They want to know if you feel your body has been considered when visiting a gallery, if you feel you can truly take your time and feel comfortable to engage with the work, and if you think there isn’t enough seating. You can book a space for "Just There" [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/adult-workshop-just-there?ref=dublininquirer.com). Finally, painter Kathy Tynan is organising "Painting the Present", which offers you the chance to take inspiration and reflect on your day-to-day surroundings through painting. In "Painting the Present", Tynan will guide participants on the various layers that make up an observational painting process, which includes photography and sketching, and which allows you to create a “collective painted display of everyday life” on the gallery walls. Tynan will be hosting the workshop ‘Painting a Home’ on Saturday at 11:30am, in which she shows children and young people how to paint in layers with reference to traditional steps in underpainting. You can book a spot [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/family-workshop-painting-a-home-with-kathy-tynan?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information on the Gallery Take Over, visit the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios website [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/gallery-take-over?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***The Last of the High Kings*** On Monday evening, as part of their From The Vaults series, the Irish Film Institute will be screening David Keating’s 1996 coming-of-age comedy-drama *The Last of the High Kings*. Set in Howth during 1977, the film follows Frankie Griffin (Jared Leto) as he awaits his Leaving Cert results, hangs out with his friends, listens to Thin Lizzy and tries to win the attention of two local protestant girls, Romy Thomas (Emily Mortimer) and Jayne Wayne (Lorraine Pilkington), something which displeases his staunchly republican mother, played by the late Catherine O’Hara. Based on the novel by Ferdia Mac Anna, and also featuring Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Rea, Christina Ricci and Colm Meaney, *The Last of the High Kings* is a lost nugget from a period when Leto was known only to the *Irish Times*’ Michael Dwyer as a Rob Lowe lookalike and the star of *My So Called Life*. According to Dwyer, Leto was “blandly unremarkable”, Byrne’s cameo was fleeting, O’Hara capsized the film with her “wildly over the top” performance, and Meaney plays a “leering, electioneering” Fianna Fáil-er. In essence, it is everything one comes to expect and adore from 1990s Irish cinema. Director Keating will also be in the house to introduce the digitally restored film. *The Last of the High Kings* will screen at 6:20pm on Monday, 13 July. Tickets are available [here](https://shop.ifi.ie/performance/111930/?%5Fga=2.249098951.177150298.1783536875-922003600.1768393426&%5Fgl=1%2A18gbrje%2A%5Fga%2AOTIyMDAzNjAwLjE3NjgzOTM0MjY.%2A%5Fga%5FFZNNMJKDPE%2AczE3ODM1MzY4NzQkbzQzJGcxJHQxNzgzNTM2OTUyJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Best Before Date*** Both this Thursday and next, filmmakers Ingrid Machado and Paula María Roldán are holding a fundraiser in Marrowbone Books for their new short film. Written and directed by Machado, who also curates the Solax Film Club, and produced by Roldán, *Best Before Date* is a dark comedy “inspired by immigrant life in Ireland and an urban myth from the Brazilian community about a ghostly immigration officer who decides your fate”. This evening at 8pm (Thursday, 9 July), they will be staging a gig in Marrowbone Books, with live sets from Siobhán Franks, Vaida Kasparavičiūtė and Henrique Nunes, and Luisa Annibali and Johnathan Batista. Then, next Thursday (16 July) at 8pm, the bookshop will play host to a spoken-word open mic session, in which they are asking people with migration stories to come in and share a tale or two. Donations start from €4, and can be sent to their crowdfunding page [here](https://www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/bestbeforedate?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGng%5FGa3ScqismeV-O-xTdad0gEieFjDNDc--VBYrJXpRTLTh90Fgs49TrCeXM%5Faem%5F2XXfp47dI0Me3vWcFqqaiQ). And if you’re eager to see what else the Solax Film Club has lined up over the next while, they will be in the Sean O’Casey Community Centre on Friday, 17 July to screen a collection of short films made by immigrant filmmakers. Tickets for Solax Film Club presents We Came This Far II are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/solax-film-club-presents-we-came-this-far-ii-tickets-1992946208759?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnQfICc1NJcYtzNTUZ-BjX6PJUnIc-fCwElpfgTIEEhCkcYBlnsXoWCWMDgYE%5Faem%5Fc-n6vt84QzAAGj5f6ARPyw&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&utm%5Fid=97760%5Fv0%5Fs00%5Fe0%5Ftv3&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=ig). advertisement [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Liberties-Festival-2026-ad-for-Dublin-Inquirer_pages-to-jpg-0001-1.jpg)](www.thelibertiesfestival.com) The Liberties Festival, one of the oldest community festivals in the country, returns across 7 days with over 70 (mostly free) events. Monday 20 July to Sunday 26 July 2026. [Find out what's on here ](www.thelibertiesfestival.com) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Back to the Pixels: Retro Computing & Gaming Day 2026** Tog is bringing its Retro Computing and Gaming Day back this weekend. On Saturday, 11 July, the Tog Hackerspace will be given over to retro computing for the afternoon, followed by a LAN party and open social with homemade pizza. Come see some working computers and games consoles from the 1970s through to the 2000s and appreciate that weird staticky feeling only a CRT TV screen can deliver. The Tog Hackerspace is located in Unit 1B at Motor City on the Kylemore Road. The event kicks off at 2pm. For more information, visit Tog’s website [here.](https://www.tog.ie/2026/06/back-to-the-pixels-retro-computing-gaming-day-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **The Stinging Fly 6-month Fiction Workshop** The Stinging Fly is offering four 6-month fiction workshops this year, all of which will run from late September 2026 until early April 2027. The aim of the workshop programme is to provide writers with the opportunity to work with a group of similarly motivated individuals towards developing their writing practice over an expanded period of time. Eight places are available in the online workshop and the hybrid workshop. Ten places are available in the in-person workshop. All workshop places will be offered by Friday, 21 August. For more information, and to apply, visit the Stinging Fly website [here](https://stingingfly.org/6-month-workshops/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### Luke: In new anti-Christmas comedy, father goes on one-man crusade against most commercial time of year URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-in-new-anti-christmas-comedy-father-goes-on-one-man-crusade-against-most-commercial-time-of-year/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T10:38:14.000Z It’s about that time of year again. A time when, slowly, steadily, but somehow always suddenly, signs of Christmas start to appear like snowflakes from a dark, cloudy sky. The dreaded shop-window changeovers seem to come earlier and earlier every year. I’ve seen with my own eyes Halloween decorations of cartoon ghosts in Santa hats out for sale on 1 August. And, for my own part, Christmas has always been a year-round concern for me. I recall many a scorching July day with *The Muppet Christmas Carol* beaming out of my grandfather’s tube TV. That delightful Dickens adaptation was one of a handful of videos available to rent from the newsagent in the village nearby. The other choices were *Surf Ninjas*, *Que Sera! Sera! The Official Irish World Cup Video* and *Basic Instinct*, which I was not allowed to rent. Now, here we are in early July, and a Christmas-related film is set to premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh, with a wide release is forthcoming. *Murphy Vs Christmas* is a new comedy about a father on a one-man crusade against that most commercial time of year. ## **Public enemy number one** Eoin Murphy (Johnny Elliott) is a struggling artist whose latest project, documenting the litter on every street in Dublin with his camera, has him looking down at the street, while he looks down on the world around him also. Eoin’s opening monologue is surprisingly poetic, and rehearsed, with the script keeping in on-the-fly rewrites of his bah-humbug take on Christmas time. What is clear, from his words and these opening moments following Eoin, head down in concentration snapping close-ups of cigarette butts, cinema tickets and condom wrappers, as Christmas lights hang overhead and pedestrians hurry by, is that he’s bowed out of the festivities and merriment in such a determined way that it’s anything but the most wonderful time of the year. His is a wholehearted offensive that extends to treats and cakes too. Eoin refuses to make rice krispy cakes for a Christmas party his daughter Anna (Maisey Crowley) is attending, instead making granola and jam buns. The sad excuse of a tasty treat sits soggy in the paper tray and looks especially unappetising through the film’s black and white photography. Eoin’s mission to undermine the party atmosphere in any way he can. It’s in this sequence, as he stirs the jam and granola, that he is visited by a distressing vision of a ghost from Christmas past. Flashes of his late father (portrayed by John Connors), a hard man and taskmaster, still holds a heavy sway on Eoin’s current life and sense of self. Spilling over into consequences for those nearest and dearest to him. In a moment of clarity, or madness, and through the influence of his father’s voice urging his grown son to “be a man”, Eoin snaps. He tells Anna the truth about Santa Claus and when she tells her schoolfriends the same, upending their lives, Eoin is called in by the headmaster to answer for his actions. The headmaster is also played by Connors. He plays all of the authority figures in *Murphy Vs Christmas*,employing a variety of accents and hairstyles both good and bad. Eoin is talked down to and belittled as in the film’s numerous flashbacks to a turbulent childhood under his father’s roof. His conversation with Connors as the headmaster does not go well. Eoin is steadfast in his belief that Christmas – its commodification, and Santa Claus in particular – is morally wrong. His next action is to take out a billboard advertisement outside of the school. Black capital letters on a white background: “SANTA CLAUS DOES NOT EXIST”. Eoin’s stunt makes him public enemy number one. The whole city is out to get him. He makes headlines, TV news, *Liveline* – the works. ## **To the courts** When the advertising company, themselves disgusted by the message, takes down the billboard, Eoin objects to it in court. An amused but ultimately disgruntled judge, played again by Connors, finds Eoin in contempt of court. When he refuses to apologise, prison looms. Murphy is alone against the odds, a self-sabotaging truth teller in a world that won’t listen. These scenes play like an anti-*Miracle on 34th Street*. He does have *an* ally in Clare (Tania Notaro), a barrister who takes up his case. Clare has a way of highlighting the absurdity of the situation. She is amused but also intrigued by Eoin, sensing the hurt that he carries along with all his bluster and grandstanding. Other figures who appear to be allies are shown to be bad actors. Outside the courthouse a friendly voice and smiling face asks Eoin to appear on a popular crime podcast to get his side of the story out there. The show is a trap. The host is of those 30-second ragebait types and ambushes Eoin with aggressive questioning and irate audience phone-ins. Eoin sees himself out of the studio deflated. Destined by chopped up into YouTube shorts and reaction GIFs. ## **From comedy to tragedy** Alex Fegan’s film is handsomely bleak in black and silver. There may be a nod to Christmas classics of old in the nitrate sheen. But there’s also a sense that like so much in Eoin’s life, stubbornness and circumstances have sucked the colour from the world itself. *Murphy Vs Christmas* is meditative in its pacing. Drawing from his documentary work, Fegan presents most of the action in a realist style. There are few cuts, the action is presented mainly in medium to long shots and always grounded by the black and white. Occasional stylistic flourishes stand out. Blurring time and reality, ripples of the past encroach on the present day with Eoin seeing spectres and doppelgangers of his father in every obstacle he faces. The way Fegan and Elliott’s script swings from comedy to tragedy in such an effortless and seamless manner is commendable. Although the comedic elements do get overwhelmed by the particulars of Eoin’s backstory in the film’s later stages. His battle against Christmas, seemingly rooted in a commitment to the truth at all costs, is shown to be rooted in deeper, darker places. There is, however, just enough bonafide Christmas sentimentality to pull the film together, even if the messaging and emotions get muddled along the way. ### Keep fences and gates around Liberties apartment complex for now, council tells owner URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/keep-fences-and-gates-around-liberties-apartment-complex-for-now-council-tells-owner/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T23:20:14.000Z The owners of the Grand Canal Harbour apartment complex should not have installed the fences and gates at its entrances, but can keep them for at least the next three years, Dublin City Council has decided. The developer of the apartment complex in the Liberties got planning permission with an application [promising "permeability"](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-council-finds-fences-installed-at-entrances-to-new-grand-canal-harbour-apartment-complex-an-issue/), meaning people could walk through it. But after the towers were built, fences were installed across the entrances, with gates in them. At first the gates were open, but eventually two of these were locked and a third monitored by a security guard. Residents from the surrounding area [began complaining](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-council-finds-fences-installed-at-entrances-to-new-grand-canal-harbour-apartment-complex-an-issue/), and the council in February 2025 issued a notice [saying the fences should be taken down](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-orders-fences-restricting-access-to-grand-canal-harbour-development-in-liberties-taken-down/). They weren't though, and so the council [started legal action](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-it-has-started-legal-action-over-fences-around-apartment-complex-in-the-liberties/) in the autumn. About the same time, [owner Atlas Avenue GP3 Limited applied](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28423959-planning-retention-permission-application/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the council for "retention" planning permission for the fences and gates, asking forgiveness for what they'd already done. Pat Crean, [founder and CEO](https://marlet.ie/about/leadership/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of developer Marlet, which lists Grand Canal Harbour as [one of its projects](https://marlet.ie/project/grand-canal-harbour/?ref=dublininquirer.com), is a director of Atlas Avenue GP3\. "The railings and gates were installed at the access points to the site as a necessary response to a series of ongoing security incidents on the site over the last year," said the October 2025 [planning application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28423957-october-2025-retention-permission-cover-letter-by-john-spain/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Atlas Avenue. "These incidents have included arson, theft, vandalism, and physical assaults on residents and staff," it said, providing a list of 19 incidents and dates between 16 April 2025 and 25 September 2025\. Last month, the council published its final decision on this application, giving permission to keep the fences and gates up for three years – after which, the idea is, the ground-floor office and retail spaces would be leased out and full, providing "passive surveillance" that would help reduce anti-social behaviour in the complex. "A temporary retention permission is considered to be reasonable compromise in this instance," says a council [planner's report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28423958-planners-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The gates must remain open from 7am to 11pm, though, [the order says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28423955-permission-granted-in-march/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Walking out the gate in the fence on the north side of Grand Canal Harbour on Tuesday morning about 8.30am, Mirna Hernandez, a resident, said anti-social behaviour continues to be a big issue in the complex. "It's been really bad," Hernandez said. Kids get in, trash common areas, break TVs. The day before someone had got into the secure bicycle storage area and robbed 13 bikes, she said. ## **Not in the plan** The large mixed-use development with nearly 600 apartments in blocks of up to 13 storeys sits between the Guinness Storehouse and St James’s Hospital. It towers over much of the surrounding area, which includes – outside its fences – long-established Liberties residential areas, and schools. At ground-floor level there's a Tesco on the Storehouse side, but most of the other ground-floor office and retail spaces are conspicuously empty. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Grand-Canal-Harbour-empty-ground-floor-space-7-July-morning-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Empty ground-floor space at Grand Canal Harbour. Photo by Sam Tranum. Grand Canal Harbour is in an area zoned "City Centre - Z5", with an objective "To consolidate and facilitate the development of the central area, and to identify, reinforce, strengthen and protect its civic design character and dignity", the planner's report says. "The retention of the of gates and railings and the proposed addition of planters, which restrict the permeability and openness of the overall site is not considered to be in line with the overall objective of the zoning", it says. Through the gates, inside the development, is a big, sweeping open space. In the planning permission for the development, this "was envisaged as being an accessible, high-quality public realm for the wider community, in addition to serving future residents as amenity space", the report says. One of the conditions of that permission "stipulates that ‘Where the public open space is not taken in charge the proposed public open spaces shall operate as public parks in perpetuity", it says. The permission "also sought to provide for a high level of pedestrian permeability through the site", it says. Walking out of Grand Canal Harbour on Tuesday morning, coffee in hand, Hernandez said she understands the vision, for the ground floor to be cafes and shops opening onto the plaza. That's good in theory, but in practice, the gates and fences are really needed, she said. Rónán Rogerson, with an address in one of the nearby streets, put in [a submission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28423953-ronan-rogerson-submission/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on that planning application, opposing the fences and gates, and taking a different view. "The Grand Canal Harbour Development was a very welcome addition of much needed apartments in our Dublin 8 community," Rogerson wrote. "We were very much looking forward to the promised new facilities which were to include cafes, a market space, public seating and recreation space." And so, he says, residents were disappointed when the fences and gates went up. "I have considerable sympathy for anyone who is a victim of this behaviour having been a victim myself," he wrote, but also, looking at the list of incidents included in the planning application, "I would like to point out that all of these incidents have happened after the railing were erected." Putting up the fences and gates "has created a sense of them and us, real disappointment that the regeneration of our city is happening for the benefit of institutional investors and not the community", he wrote. "I would make the case that the installation of the railings may have in part been responsible for some of the anti-social behaviour." ## **What's next?** On Tuesday morning, the fences remained, but the gates were open, and people were walking through the development. Atlas Avenue's retention application says that "It is envisaged that as the overall schemes comes into fuller occupation, there will be increased passive surveillance which may reduce the incidents." "The full scheme is being actively offered for tenants and occupation of the retail and residential components is anticipated in Q4 2026," it says. "Whilst the office element is also being actively marketed, there is no current programme for occupation." The council planner's report seems to accept this general reasoning, saying that "It is considered that as the occupancy of this mixed-use development increases, the increased passive surveillance on site will increase, which increases the safety of the wider site." The permission granted allows the fences and gates in the meantime, and also for the installation of planters in front of the fences. Meanwhile, the council appears to be continuing its legal case on foot of its February 2025 planning enforcement notice ordering the removal of the fences and gates. "There is a current live Planning Enforcement case before the District Court relating to this development," a council spokesperson said by email on Monday. What lessons does the council hope developers take from the council's handling of this case? "No further comment is appropriate to be made by Dublin City Council at this time," the spokesperson said. However, in his submission to the Atlas Avenue's planning application to keep the fences and gates it had already installed, Rogerson said he worried about the precedent the council allowing that would set. "With the plans for the redevelopment of James Gate I would be very concerned that the City Council would be setting a dangerous precedent if they grant retention permission for these railings," he wrote. The council in 2023 [granted](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/151381?ref=dublininquirer.com) a 10-year planning permission for developer Ballymore to build its massive mixed-use [Guinness Quarter](https://www.ballymoregroup.com/project/guinness-quarter?ref=dublininquirer.com) development across the road from Grand Canal Harbour. "Together we will create a truly mixed-use community, a place that will include 336 build-to-rent homes, two hotels – which will include a swimming pool and rooftop bar – as well as a 280-capacity performance space, food hall, marketplace, and workspaces," says Ballymore's website. "We’re also creating new public spaces and new squares." ### Land Development Agency publishes plans for more than 560 homes in the abandoned heart of Ballymun URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/land-development-agency-publishes-plans-for-more-than-560-homes-in-the-abandoned-heart-of-ballymun/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T12:28:57.000Z Earlier this week, the Land Development Agency (LDA) went live [with its proposal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28424895-lda-silloge-road-public-consultation-doc-july-2026-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for new apartments with some amenities on a chunk of the long vacant public lands in the heart of Ballymun. For years, the empty shell of the old shopping centre sat on the lands, a symbol of the broken promises and numerous false starts of regeneration of the area. Dublin City Council demolished the old shopping centre about six years ago. The lands are carved into two parcels, to develop: sites 1A and 1B. The LDA has taken on 1B – a rectangle covering 1.89 hectares that backs onto Silloge Road – where it now plans 564 homes, a creche and outdoor space for 100 children, playgrounds, 870sqm of community, arts, and cultural space, and commercial spaces, [a brochure says.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28424895-lda-silloge-road-public-consultation-doc-july-2026-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The LDA briefed local councillors on the plans Monday morning. Councillors had been pushing for progress. This week was the first time they've seen real detail of what the LDA has cooking, several councillors said, and they've been looking over the proposal to see if it matches what the area needs and what pain points are likely to come up as residents consider them too. One of the thorny policy questions over the years has been what mix of homes the council should encourage in Ballymun. Both Sinn Féin Councillor Leslie Kane and People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy said they think social homes should be part of the mix in this development. At the moment, they're all set to be cost-rental. "There are thousands on the housing and transfer lists in Area D," said Reddy, referring to the social housing waiting lists for that part of the city. (About 2,000, [as of](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=46176&ref=dublininquirer.com) July 2024.) One challenge in Ballymun, though, has been the low spending power which means [local businesses have really struggled](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-17-years-of-bustle-and-hustle-a-ballymun-supermarket-closes-its-doors/), said Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan. "Historically, businesses in the area can't sustain with the level of spending that was in the area. We do need to bring in more people in a higher income bracket," she said, "and income mix is important." Cost-rental housing is available to households with incomes too high to be eligible for social housing but also, in Dublin, earning no more than €66,000 a year. That there are no three-bed apartments or larger in the plans is disappointing too, said Kane, the Sinn Féin councillor, also. "So many of our young families need three bedrooms." The LDA is to run a public consultation on its plans on 15 July at the Axis Ballymun, its [website says.](https://lda.ie/projects/silloge-road?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## **What's needed?** In March 2022, Dublin City Council had [put out feelers](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-sound-out-if-developers-want-to-build-300-homes-and-more-on-vacant-lands-in-ballymun-s-centre/) for developers interested in building out the western side of the shopping-centre lands. But the council [wasn't happy with](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-not-happy-with-proposals-for-building-on-old-shopping-centre-site-in-heart-of-ballymun/) what it got back. By early July 2024, the council was [in early stage](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-in-talks-with-lda-on-building-housing-on-part-of-ballymun-shopping-centre-site/) negotiations with the LDA about it taking on the site, a council spokesperson said at the time. The plans released this week are the result of that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Image-of-apartments-at-back-of-site.png) Image showing LDA scheme on Site 1B on the right, and "indicative design" for Site 1A on the left. From LDA brochure. Robert Murphy, a local businessman who has long advocated for housing on the lands to bring in more people with more disposable incomes, said that the city is crying out for housing so he wouldn't expect anybody to be against it. He hopes that, given the LDA has taken the reins, the project will be delivered fast, he said. Government policy around what kinds of homes should be built in Ballymun has chopped and changed over the years, evolving from a ban [on new social housing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-ending-its-boycott-on-building-new-social-housing-in-ballymun/) and rent supports, to a finer-grain policy of looking at each patch of land. One of the major features of the scheme that councillors have been considering is that it is planned as solely cost-rental. That means homes, whereby the rents are set based on the cost of building, financing, managing and maintaining the homes over about 40 years. As an extra safeguard, the rents have to scratch out at at least 25 percent below market rates. Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, says he thinks there should be some social, and some affordable purchase, as part of this new LDA scheme in Ballymun. "I think there is already a lot of cost-rental in the pipeline." Reddy pointed to plans for Coultry Gardens in Ballymun, where Tuath Housing [has](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28424340-report-no-1432026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 222 cost-rental homes planned, alongside 224 social homes. The pipeline for homes in the North West Area – which includes both Ballymun and Finglas – currently includes 1,974 social homes, 288 cost-rental homes, and 308 affordable-purchase homes at various stages of development, shows a July [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28424340-report-no-1432026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Murphy, the local businessman, says all kinds of homes are needed in Ballymun. "We need everything," he said. The LDA plan is an opportunity for Ballymun, he said, and it could really help the local economy with more disposable income in the community. When councillors asked for ballpark figures on future rents, officials from the LDA [pointed to](https://tuathhousing.ie/properties/niven-oaks-santry/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Niven Oaks in Santry. One-bed apartments in that development are €1,350 a month, and two-beds are €1,585. That is cheaper than many private rentals in the neighbourhood. A two-bed apartment in The Maieston in the north of Ballymun, is [currently listed by](https://www.daft.ie/for-rent/2-bed-apartment-the-maieston-santry-dublin-11/6612647?ref=dublininquirer.com) Home Club, the letting agent for LRC Group, for €2,400 a month. But there are so many households on the social housing lists, said Reddy. He would see the all cost-rental scheme as an overcorrection away from social housing, he said. Kane, the Sinn Féin councillor, said it should definitely not be all cost-rental. "It does not match the needs of people from Ballymun." Another point of debate is the size of the homes. They breakdown as 91 studios, 190 one-beds, and 283 two-beds, says the LDA presentation. Reddy hasn't had any explanation as to why there are only studio, one-beds, and two-bed apartments, too, he said – and none bigger for families. In April last year, the LDA had [lobbied the](https://www.dublininquirer.com/just-4-of-private-homes-granted-planning-permission-in-dublin-city-last-year-were-three-beds-is-that-enough/) Department of Housing to change apartment standards, arguing that there isn't demand for three-beds and they hurt viability – even as approved housing bodies reported hundreds applying for three-beds that that put forward. Callaghan, of the Social Democrats, said she remembers all the talk years ago of how more one-beds and studios were needed, for those waiting for social homes. "The wait time for single men was dreadful in particular," she said. But there is a new need that she sees for three bed and four-bed homes, she said. She is not sure, though, whether the way to meet that is with these new apartments, or by making it easier for those who want to downsize to do that, she said. [Just 4% of private homes granted planning permission in Dublin city last year were three-beds – is that enough?The figure – which amounts to 83 homes – jumped out at a councillor, he said at a recent meeting.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-16c4ac4b-5eda-4578-8efe-da1c17f6a5b1.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/File-photo-of-for-sale-signs-on-Bridgefoot-Street-1-a992d200-a416-4e9c-9653-3dde2ba83ce9.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/just-4-of-private-homes-granted-planning-permission-in-dublin-city-last-year-were-three-beds-is-that-enough/) ## **Possible pain points** The site being plotted out by the LDA is only part of the vacant lands at the heart of Ballymun. There is also the front bit of the site – Site 1A – which sits on Main Street. The Ballymun Local Area Plan earmarks that site for 41,000 sqm of shops, offices or apartments at the eastern front where it meets Main Street. It's also where the Metrolink station is due to be put in. The council doesn't seem to have any timeline though for when that site will be planned and built, said Reddy and Callaghan. Callaghan said she understands the current thinking is for it to host the Metrolink, some social homes, and maybe shops on the bottom floors too. But there are so many shops in Ballymun that are vacant and shutdown already, she said. "The challenge is when you don't have the economic support in an area, the places can't survive." As she sees it, the council still isn't doing enough to tempt businesses to open in the vacant commercial spaces that it does have, by slashing rents and making deals. They may do it for some, she said. But "if they were doing it right, they wouldn't have those vacant units." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/image-2944.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/image-600.webp) File photo of the last Ballymun towers being demolished in 2015 (L). Photo by Caroline Brady; File photo of old Ballymun shopping centre (R). Photo by Lois Kapila. Reddy wants to see some shops as part of the LDA lands though, he said. Because it is unclear when the Site 1A lands will even be built out, he said. Meanwhile, Callaghan says she predicts another pain point for the LDA's blocks on site 1B may be the bulk of the scheme. The city needs more housing but the towers of up to 12 storeys really do go tall on the site, she said, and people have gotten used to walking dogs on that green space, and staring at the mountains in the distant. Architect and housing commentator Mel Reynold [has said that ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/some-areas-of-dublin-will-keep-some-of-the-higher-apartment-standards-says-council-planner/)the LDA has leant into lower standard and smaller, high-rise, apartments as it tries to make its numbers stack up for viable cost-rental. But building high-rise is always going to be expensive, he said. Government should accept that, and move to building high-density housing, at low- to medium-rise, he says. "It's a difficult one because we need housing but we need to do that mindfully," said Callaghan, the councillor. Indeed, he isn't opposed to high-rise but he is already getting that feedback, said Reddy. "That we knocked flats to put more flats is going to be hard to swallow." ### Why are car parks, with planning for 1,500 homes, exempt from tax meant to accelerate building? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-are-car-parks-with-planning-for-1-500-homes-exempt-from-tax-meant-to-accelerate-building/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T09:02:14.000Z There are three car parks in Fingal with planning permission for 1,511 homes but little sign that those will be built anytime soon, said Green Party Councillor David Healy on Monday. Two are outside the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, and another is used by employees in Swift Square Office Park in Santry, he said. They're being treated by the landowners as medium-term projects, he said to councillors at the monthly meeting of Fingal County Council. “I don’t think that’s acceptable at a time when we have a housing crisis.” At that same time, the lands aren't subject to the Residential Zoned Land Tax, a levy [brought in to](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/residential-zoned-land-tax/?ref=dublininquirer.com) nudge landowners to build out lands when they're suitable for housing – because they're used as car parks. That should change, said Healy at Monday's monthly meeting of Fingal County Council. He brought a motion, [saying that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28424821-councillor-d-healy-scope-of-residential-zoned-land-tax/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council should write to Minister for Housing James Browne, of Fianna Fáil, and ask him to amend legislation to remove this exemption. It was vital that the council propose the change and sites are brought under the tax, Healy said, “and we would incentivise their development for housing”. If the chamber passed the motion, the council would forward on the request to the minister, said Fingal’s Director of People, Corporate and Digital Services Mary Egan, [in a written response.](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s119154/Item%2026-%20Cllr%20D.%20Healy%20-%20Scope%20of%20Residential%20Zoned%20Land%20Tax.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) Councillors backed it. ## **Car parks and greenbelts** Healy had already circled the issue of Residential Zoned Land Tax exemptions, back in January as Fingal County Council was preparing to rezone 61.5 hectares of land [to make space for 2,500 homes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-make-way-for-more-housing-fingal-proposes-rezoning-11-sites-nibbling-into-greenbelt/). It had knock-on impacts for the county's greenbelt, he said. The council had audited how much land it had for homes already rezoned. But it had underestimated that, said Healy, in a written submission to Fingal County Council as part of its consultation for vary its 2023 to 2028 development plan, dated 28 January. The audit had omitted three important sites with permission for housing, he wrote. These included two car parks at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, for which developer Blanch Retail Nominee Limited was given approval by An Bord Pleanála – as it was at the time – in May 2023 [to build](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/315709?ref=dublininquirer.com) 971 homes, and in May 2024 [to build 348](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/314985?ref=dublininquirer.com). The other, just off Northwood Avenue in Santry, has permission [for 192 homes](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/95500?ref=dublininquirer.com). In March, the council [agreed to rezone](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-rezone-enough-land-for-5-000-homes-eating-into-greenbelt/) land across 11 sites, with the patches scattered in Clonsilla, Skerries, Lusk, Malahide and Clongriffin, as well as parts of the county’s greenbelt. But it made no sense to be rezoning unsuitable greenbelt lands when Fingal has car parks zoned for housing, said Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh at Monday’s meeting. Fine Gael Councillor Aoibhinn Tormey was more cautious. Healy hadn't specified where these car parks were located during Monday's meeting, she said. She was worried that there might be unintended outcomes from his motion, she said. “I mean, people need cars. People need to be able to park their cars.” But, ultimately she wasn’t going to support an issue where she was “totally uninformed”, she said. Róisín Burke, Fingal’s director of planning and development, said the car parks are [exempted](https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-22a/22a-01-01.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) because they are actively and lawfully used. The Blanchardstown Shopping Centre car parks weren’t temporary either, she said. "When the shopping centre was developed, this was the car park associated with it. It remains having a mixed-use town centre zoning, and it’s exempt from RZLT as it is in a lawful use that has permission.” Healy asked Burke to confirm that, given these sites were granted permission to be developed as housing, the relevant planning authorities deemed them appropriate to be converted into housing. The land was zoned Major Town Centre, and a further application was submitted for residential use, she said. “So the zoning hasn’t changed," she said. "The developer had suggested a change of use of the area and we have concurred with that because it complies with the policies and objectives of the development plan.” The motion was put to a vote and agreed, with 16 councillors voting in its favour, while Tormey voted against it, and eight councillors abstained. [To support removal of RZLT exemption for car parks with planning for homesPassed: 16 for, 1 against, 8 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-36a74d17-3555-4fd9-96fb-4697245c528b)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/8297c280?ref=dublininquirer.com) ### Fingal County Council hasn’t had an integration strategy in nearly two years URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-county-council-hasnt-had-an-integration-strategy-in-nearly-two-years/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T23:20:35.000Z It only crossed his mind recently, said Paul Mulville, a Social Democrats councillor on Fingal County Council. For Monday's monthly meeting of the council, “I was gonna ask the manager about, you know, what the plan is,” he said by phone on Friday afternoon. Mulville was talking about how he’d recently noticed that the council’s [last “Migrant Integration and Social Cohesion Strategy”](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28414332-migrantintegrationstrategy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – which covered a period between 2019 and 2024 – is out of date. And he hadn’t heard anything about a new one. In Fingal, almost one in four residents was born outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom, according to 2022 census [figures from the Central Statistics Office](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28414846-census-of-population-2022-fingal-county-council-all-themes/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Fingal County Council is not alone in lacking a concrete plan for helping residents settle in. The Dublin City Council [has worked without one](https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-after-promise-of-a-new-integration-strategy-dublin-city-council-still-doesnt-have-one/) for almost five years. That’s how long the national government has gone without an integration roadmap, too. The city council [has said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-after-promise-of-a-new-integration-strategy-dublin-city-council-still-doesnt-have-one/) it has been waiting for the nationwide plan to drop before rolling out its own. Last week, when Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy [asked ](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-07-01/39/?ref=dublininquirer.com)the Department of Justice whether there is a plan for “managing work and education visas” to keep immigration numbers “sustainable”, he got an update on the nationwide integration strategy. Colm Brophy, Fine Gael TD and a junior minister at the Department of Justice, told Carthy that civil servants aim to publish a “migration and integration strategy” later this year. In his reply, Brophy focused on the migration part of the strategy and said little about the integration part. He said the strategy's scope will be broad, including things like “labour market needs, legal pathways, international education and planning for public service provision including housing, amongst other issues relating to migration”. Though back in January, Jim O'Callaghan Fianna Fáil's Minister for Justice, [told](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-01-27/190/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Dáil that various cohorts, including immigrant communities had been surveyed about their views as part of ongoing work on the policy document. Mulville, the Fingal county councillor, said he had thought that since the current government hasn’t had a sympathetic stance on immigration, integration might have fallen to the bottom of its list of priorities – and that dulled enthusiasm for local authorities too. Meanwhile, James Humphreys, Labour Party councillor in Fingal, said it’s better to draw up a “work programme” for integration that details action plans, won’t expire and doesn’t rely on short-lived policy papers. He said the council can ask members of the Fingal Integration Forums to weigh in on drawing one up. “I much prefer that the council invest their time and effort into delivering work programmes”. A spokesperson for Fingal County Council didn’t explicitly say what the status of a new integration strategy is. But they said that “Integration from day one” is at the heart of its continuing work as the council waits to align itself with “the National Migration and Integration Strategy once it is published”. In the meantime, “our team is actively delivering inclusion, cohesion and participation initiatives and services through existing structures”. Things like maintaining its community integration forums “to identify issues, coordinate supports and develop local responses to integration challenges”, the spokesperson said. ## **You ask me to get along** At a [council meeting](https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1098972?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Monday, Mulville, the Social Democrats councillor, did ask the chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, about the integration strategy. His question went unanswered at the meeting. Mulville said in a text on Tuesday morning that he'd sent an email asking for a reply, though. The council’s 2025 [annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28416035-fingal-county-council-annual-report-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said it had completed its review of the past integration strategy in May of that year. It lists other integration actions from 2025\. Among these, it held 123 clinics at refugee and asylum centres; its integration forums met six times; and “\[three\] Fingal Talks events took place, attracting 50 participants”, said the report. Both Mulville and Humphreys said events like Fingal’s annual Africa Day – a celebration of African culture and heritage – are always pretty fun. But Mulville said that without an action plan, integration work can be ad hoc and scrappy. It’s crucial to ramp up efforts as support from the national government diminishes,Mulville said. He points to how it has pared back accommodation support for Ukrainian refugees. Irene Igiebor, a community well-being worker in Fingal working with marginalised communities, said that, based on her experience, the biggest challenge for settling is the struggle to learn the English language. And when people lose their accommodation, they drift away, lose access to their familiar local English classes. They have to start over with a new class in another area, she said. And she does help people link up. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/Irene-Igiebor.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Irene Igiebor. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. But if someone ends up grappling with homelessness, their chances of attending a different class dive, even if learning English was an important goal to them, said Igiebor. “If they’re homeless, they don’t have the stability to achieve their goals,” she said. A spokesperson for Fingal County Council did not address a query about how it helps deliver free English-language courses at the moment. ## **Know who needs you** Balbriggan Integration Forum is a volunteer body that focuses on fostering active citizenship of local immigrants, [according to its website](https://balbrigganintegration.ie/training-and-education/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Aoife Leahy, one of its workers, said there are different courses available locally. She sends [an example](https://web.archive.org/web/20260706193504/https://dublincollegebalbrigganswords.ie/the-course/esol-conversation-english-class/) of one delivered by Dublin College in Balbriggan and Swords, which is right now accepting applications for conversational English classes starting in September. The issue, Leahy said, is getting the word out about them and not missing enrolment periods. Staff at the council’s integration office and other units are pretty supportive of their work, she said. Their biggest challenge, she said, is that volunteers can only put in so much work. And they give so much already, said Leahy. But ultimately, they all have day jobs that they care about and “there are never enough hours in the day”, said Leahy. Igiebor, the community link worker, said it is crucial to nail down a policy document that charts the map of tangible integration goals and lays out a plan for meeting them. “Once you have your mapping, you know where you’re going; you know who needs you,” she said. ### Waterways Ireland is starting to plot what, exactly, should be built on its lands at Grand Canal Basin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/waterways-ireland-is-starting-to-plot-what-exactly-should-be-built-on-its-lands-at-grand-canal-basin/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T15:19:23.000Z On Sunday afternoon, under a clear blue sky, one of the yellow Viking Splash tour boats glided across the Grand Canal Basin. Hands waved from the amphibious vehicle to people sitting by the water, under shaded trees on Hanover Quay, most of whom ignored them. The tour had puttered into the water from its normal spot, a ramp on the graving docks that sit between the canal’s basin and the Dodder River. Between 2014 and 2024, one of the three old dry docks had held the crumbling vessel, the MV Naomh Éanna. But since its removal, questions about the site's future have grown louder. Councillors are frustrated, they say. They were being “absolutely sent on a merry chase”, said Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne on 6 June, as she tabled a motion at the council’s South East Area Committee to try to pry more detail out of Waterways Ireland on their long-term use Byrne’s motion asked that Waterways Ireland, the body in charge of the docks, give a presentation to local councillors, she said via webcam. “It’s terrible that I’ve had to put a motion down.” It asked the area committee to agree to invite the cross-border body into a meeting to address what exactly they planned for the graving docks. The council needed clarity, she said. So many visions have spun around, she said, a waterside park, a sauna, a Fáilte Ireland visitor centre at the end of the Dodder Greenway. Although a spokesperson for Fáilte Ireland said in April however that they had no record of any plans to turn it into a visitor centre. “And now it’s going to be a maritime museum,” Byrne said at the meeting. The city development plan at least has an objective to develop a maritime museum, she said. “But in the meantime, the space is left vacant and inaccessible to the local community,” she said. Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey asked Byrne whether the solution to her motion would be for Waterways Ireland to give a presentation to councillors or meet with them on a quarterly basis. “Whatever’s gonna be quickest, chair,” Byrne said. Lacey said he would write and offer them the two options. Meanwhile, as the councillors wonder about the future of the site, Waterways Ireland – its owner – is busy shaping it. ## **Procuring for plans** Waterways Ireland has taken a first, tentative step, towards developing the graving docks and surrounding site, together known as City Block 19 in [council planning documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28425504-north-lotts-grand-canal-dock-planning-scheme/?q=19&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p67). It is in the [process of procuring](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28425503-waterways-ireland-tender-document/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "preliminary property development advice" for City Block 19, the triangular piece of land between the Dodder and Grand Canal Basin, said John Tolan, Waterways Ireland's marketing and development controller, last Wednesday. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-033a94bd-236d-4780-a954-5d8a965977de.webp) Map showing City Block 19, owned by Waterways Ireland, with the graving docks at the tip of the triangle. This process is intended to procure “property development expertise”, Tolan said, “and as a way to understand the potential of City Block 19”. “The SDZ is prescriptive in terms of what the site can be used for,” he said. It has to be 40 percent residential, 30 percent commercial, and 30 percent community, recreational and cultural, he said. So for most of the site, the long-term plan is to build a mixed-use development, up to eight to 10 storeys tall, on most of the site, Tolan said. It's not clear yet how that would be developed, or by who, or what types of housing would be included in the development, he said. The model is what Waterways Ireland is currently seeking advice on, he said. The tender says the organisation is looking for advice on how to maximise the location's "value for public good", as well as "a clear recommendation on the commercial model for site(s) recommended for development". If Waterways Ireland decides the best way forward is to sell the part of the site destined for development, it would first have to offer that to other public bodies, Tolan said. But this is "speculation" because it has not decided to sell, he said. Waterways Ireland's remit is not focused on providing housing. “We’re primarily interested in, as an organisation, the 30 percent that has been allocated for community, recreational and cultural usage,” said Tolan. [In April.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/waterways-ireland-cools-on-plan-for-sauna-at-grand-canal-basin-graving-docks-considers-working-dry-docks-instead/) Michael Ingle, the chair of the Grand Canal Residents Association, had spoken of the potential to redevelop the docks as a boat repair workshop. Tolan said Waterways Ireland is open to and investigating that possibility. In addition to that, there's also a possibility that other parts of City Block 19 could be given "meanwhile uses", before the housing and commercial space are built, Tolan said. In October 2024, David Smith, co-founder of advertising company Micromedia and yoga studio The Space Between, brought to the Grand Canal Residents Association a [proposal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081329-graving-docs-proposal/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Smith’s idea for a “contemporary community wellness, recreation and cultural initiative” was intended to be rolled in phases, between late 2024 and early 2026. But Waterways Ireland haven’t been able to facilitate any short-term or meanwhile uses yet, said Tolan. Because they are carrying out major works to restore the three sea locks connecting the canal to the Liffey, he said. “We couldn’t simultaneously facilitate interim usage by the public of the site.” In late April, an orange sign attached to fencing cordoning off the locks informed locals that the works would conclude in May. On Sunday, the orange sign said it would be August instead. ### Greater use of red-light cameras on Dublin roads inches closer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/greater-use-of-red-light-cameras-on-dublin-roads-inches-closer/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T22:53:55.000Z The National Transport Authority (NTA) on Monday put out [a tender](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=8506026&ref=dublininquirer.com) for a newly created position – a "Camera Enforcement Subject Matter Expert". That'll be someone to help the NTA bring in more cameras to punish drivers for breaking the rules of the road. Whoever gets the job should have experience and expertise in "CCTV traffic monitoring", and enforcement of red lights, speed limits, bus lanes, yellow boxes, and parking rules, [tender documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28405622-1-rft-camera-enforcement-sme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) say. The problems of drivers breaking red lights, and other rules of the road, is widespread in the city, and gardaí can’t be everywhere to catch them. Even if they wanted to, which an April 2025 [independent review](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27915426-independent-review-of-roads-policing-crowe-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of roads policing suggested not all gardaí do. “Some Gardaí working in Roads Policing – a minority, but nonetheless a noticeable one – are unproductive and appear to be demotivated and unconcerned with doing an effective, professional job,” the report found. So, for some, the great hope for tackling the situation has been the installation of cameras to automatically read drivers’ licence plates and send them fines and penalty points. Like Gordon Cummins of the Harold's Cross Educate Together National School parent-staff association. “We talk about this a lot in the school, there's so many people now doing really dodgy stuff at lights all the time,” he said on Wednesday. “It is just becoming so prevalent that, unless we start policing it some way stricter, it's just never going to go away.” The publication of the tender this week, is just the latest step on what's been a [long, long road](https://www.dublininquirer.com/across-the-city-parents-snatch-their-kids-out-of-the-way-of-red-light-breaking-drivers/) towards the possible eventual introduction of more enforcement cameras. ## Concerns So far this year, 88 people have died on Ireland's roads, [show Garda statistics.](https://www.garda.ie/en/roads-policing/statistics/roads-policing-fatalities-to-date-for-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) That's up from 81 in the same period in 2025. Red-light cameras can prevent fatal collisions, according to the [Insurance Institute for Highway Safety](https://www.iihs.org/about?ref=dublininquirer.com) (IIHS), in the US. "An [IIHS study](https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/bibliography/ref/2121?ref=dublininquirer.com) found that cameras reduced the fatal red light running crash rate of large cities by 21% and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections by 14%," it says. There is a clear legitimate aim with these measures, says Olga Cronin, senior policy officer in surveillance and human rights with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) – to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads. “It appears there are also other planned actions such as, for example, identifying high-risk locations based on collision data; investing in new, or upgraded, infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists; upgrading junctions or crossings; and enhancing the ‘learning to drive’ programme based on evidence from international best practice,” she says. “This is welcome.” Camera-based enforcement to improve road safety can play a role, she says. But people should be aware of the limitations and error rates of AI, technology, and these detection measures, and how things can go terribly wrong, she says. There are also dangers and risks that can arise from any disproportionate and unnecessary surveillance in public spaces, she says. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) can lead to the collection of massive amounts of data concerning the movements of people at speed and at scale, she says. “We need to be alive to the concern that this kind of data collection, and even the very setting up of the infrastructure to collect this data, could be misused or abused,” she says. Cronin points to significant backlash in the US against the use of [Flock ANPR cameras](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/06/flock-cameras-privacy-concerns?ref=dublininquirer.com). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [has documented](https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/get-the-flock-out?ref=dublininquirer.com) how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) there has used Flock to go after immigrants without warrants. Also, police in [Kansas](https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/tracking-alpr-cameras/alpr-against-op-ed-writer?ref=dublininquirer.com) used it to pursue a man who wrote a critical op-ed about the police department; a [Colorado police officer](https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/flock-cameras-lead-colorado-police-wrong-suspect/?ref=dublininquirer.com) wrongfully accused a woman of theft based on a Flock hit and then refused to look at evidence proving her innocence; and a mother and her children were [held at gunpoint](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/license-plate-readers-alpr-mistakes/?ref=dublininquirer.com) because an ANPR camera wrongly flagged their car as stolen. There have also been reports of police using ANPR [to stalk their romantic interests](https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Cronin says. “We’re not immune to such misuse or abuse,” she says. “This is why we need robust oversight, transparency, data access controls, audits, limitations on data collection and compliance with our data protection laws.” For Cummins, of the Harold's Cross Educate Together National School parent staff association, he agrees that it's important to use the technology in a way that respects people’s rights. But he says, there is a grim reality on our roads that needs to be confronted in terms of driver behaviour. “Yes, we have GDPR. Yes, we have privacy concerns, but we also have this problem that is endemic around the country,” he says. If the technology can be used ethically, in a controlled manner, that also helps to make the roads and junctions around schools safer for everyone, he says, then he and his parent staff association comrades would fully get behind it. ## The contract The contract for the new Camera Enforcement Subject Matter Expert will be for four years with a maximum contract value of about €1.5 million, [the tender says](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=8506026&ref=dublininquirer.com). The new role will support the NTA in delivery of Action 6 of the [Phase 2 Action Plan 2025-2027](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/20250716%5FRSS%5FPhase%5F2%5FAction%5FPlan.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), of Ireland’s Government Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, it says. This Action 6 calls to “expand the efficiency and capability of camera-based enforcement to improve road safety by changing driver behaviour”. This means implementing the [National Safety Camera Strategy](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28403814-national-safety-camera-strategy-for-publication/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), which looks to enhance “the enforcement of speed management measures on Irish roads, and to further develop camera-based enforcement at junctions, bus lanes and cycle lanes”. Also, to consider the “use of camera-based enforcement to automatically detect mobile phone use and non-wearing of seat belts”. And to “expand in a sustainable manner the use of cameras for traffic management improvements and enforcement of other offences where road safety is likely to also benefit”. The [tender documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28405622-1-rft-camera-enforcement-sme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) say the Camera Enforcement SME would participate in "the drafting of legislation to support the introduction of camera-based enforcement systems". They would also help identify "infrastructure requirements, such as communications systems, power supplies etc.", and "priority areas for the use of camera-based enforcement technology". And then develop "a rollout strategy", as well as developing and implementing "procurement strategies", and particpating in "the tender evaluation and award process for competitively tendered contracts". So, this is a tender for a person to, among other things, help write tenders to hire companies to roll out more camera enforcement. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### After first try goes wrong, council to re-run planning process for Mountjoy Square Park URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-first-try-goes-wrong-council-to-re-run-planning-process-for-mountjoy-square-park/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T22:54:13.000Z Dublin City Council officials now plan to re-run the planning permission process for the revamp of Mountjoy Square Park, after councillors were pushed to pass the plans in a hurry in June, following [incorrect advice](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-says-his-team-gave-wrong-timeline-when-they-hurried-councillors-to-vote-on-mountjoy-square-redesign/) about the legal timeline. The vision has been to reimagine the square, restoring it in line with its Georgian heritage, which most councillors support – but the plans are controversial because they involve removing sports facilities and a fenced-in toddler playground, which many [locals say they need.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-approves-plans-for-mountjoy-square-park-but-there-is-still-confusion-over-playgrounds-and-sports/) Councillors were told at the [full council meeting on 8 June](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5838&ref=dublininquirer.com) that if they didn’t support the plans there and then they could lose millions in funding to redo the park. But they should have had six weeks to consider the chief executive’s report, according to legal timelines for the council’s internal planning permission process, known as part 8, in which council executives ask for the go-ahead from councillors. Last week, the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, wrote [to councillors](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28310779-mountjoy-square-update-on-incorrect-legal-advice/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to tell them that legal advice given at the meeting was wrong. This week, following a meeting, Eileen Quinlivan, assistant chief executive, wrote to councillors to say that the council will re-run the entire planning permission process from scratch. There might also be changes to the plan for the park this time around. “Consideration has also been given to the proposed amendments discussed,” [wrote Quinlivan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28405914-letter-to-councillors-re-mountjoy-square-part-8/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Given the conservation status of the Park, further examination of these amendments and how they might be accommodated appropriately in the design is required.” Some councillors say they want changes made to the plans, while others say they don’t want locals to get their hopes up, as there won’t be major changes. One councillor says a fenced-off playground for young children will be included in the new park, while others now want that promise in writing. ## Loss of confidence in the process At a meeting earlier this week, councillors expressed frustration to council managers at the inaccurate information provided to them around the timeline for the planning, say councillors who were there. “There was huge frustration and anger expressed by all councillors at the inaccurate information,” says Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty. “Confidence in the process was undermined.” “The process was not satisfactory,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll. “We can’t stand over the process.” So she says it is best that the council re-runs the planning permission process, in full. There was unnecessary secrecy at times, as well as the inaccurate information about the timeline, says O’Driscoll. At one stage a council official told her she couldn’t see the public submissions to the consultation process, because of GDPR, she says. That is not true, and those submissions are usually available, she says. “The planner’s report is available on request,” said council landscape architect Gareth Toolan at the [Central Area Committee, on Tuesday 26 May](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-looks-set-to-agree-plans-to-revamp-mountjoy-square-despite-pushback-from-local-sports-clubs/). “I’m not allowed to circulate that.” Then, at the full council meeting, the council's parks manager, Les Moore, said: "We are at the end of the planning process.” “If it's not approved tonight, then the Part 8 falls, and that puts the funding at risk,” Moore said. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, says she was surprised to learn the funding is not at risk despite the substantial delay caused by re-running the process. “The timeline for the funding keeps moving.” “I want to see this go ahead,” she says. “It should be a big priority project.” ## What is the problem with the plans? Most councillors support the plans to revamp Mountjoy Square, restoring it in line with its Georgian heritage. But some residents and community groups are concerned that the new plan means a reduction in sports facilities and children’s playground space, in an area starved of both. “We use that park as our outdoor space; it is essential for us,” said Geraldine O’Driscoll, a manager with the Society of St Vincent de Paul, who runs an early-years service at Ozanam House on Mountjoy Square. The new design won’t work for bringing groups of small children to the park, she says. The new planned park includes some play equipment scattered along a play trail, but organised groups need a fenced of small playground, for supervision, said O’Driscoll. “The play trail won’t work for us." Also, the park in Mountjoy Square currently has a tarmac multi-use games area. The plan for the rejuvenated square includes a lawn, which can be used for kickabouts, events and other sporting activities – but no designated pitch for field sports. Jack O’Brien, a community co-ordinator with Bohemian Football Club, who runs sports activities in the park said in June that he doesn’t know if his programme will be able to go ahead after the redevelopment. “I’ve been given mixed messages,” said O’Brien. “There are extremely limited options for a part of the city with thousands of people who want to play football.” Many of the children live in emergency accommodation and IPAS accommodation, he says, and often Bohs Play is their only after-school activity. ## Will there be changes? Moriarty, the Labour councillor, doesn’t represent the area but he chairs the council’s committee on community, sports and culture. He says the council didn’t take account of the concerns raised in most of the submissions to the public consultation process, on its plans for Mountjoy Square Park. He hopes that in the re-run of the consultation process those concerns will be incorporated, he says. In his own area, he and other local councillors [tabled amendments](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5404&ref=dublininquirer.com) to a Part 8 planning permission for the re-development of theBasin Street flats on behalf of the local community who wanted to retain a sports pitch, he says, [that worked](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s47634/Appendix%20B.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) says Moriarty. “If we want a fenced-off toddlers playground \[in Mountjoy Square Park\] we need to table an amendment,” says Moriarty. Councillors verbally expressing their views is meaningless, Moriarty says. They have the power to refuse the plans and to amend them, he says. “Sometimes as councillors we have to make difficult decisions,” says Moriarty. “Ultimately it is our call.” Horner, the Green Party councillor, says she wants to see the redevelopment of Mountjoy Square go ahead, and is open to the potential for changes. “We are likely to be able to make tweaks and changes through positive engagement." She hopes that, going forward, the council’s senior managers will focus on getting the details of this project right, she says. “How to balance the interest of a city heritage park and also a community park." Parks officials have given a verbal agreement that an enclosed toddler playground can be incorporated into the plans. “I think we can get that formalised,” says Horner. “That needs to be written into the plans.” O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor, says she doesn’t expect many changes to the plans, the next time around. But she does think the plans include a fenced-off young children’s playground, which council officials have already agreed to verbally, she says. “My understanding is that it is in the plans,” says O’Driscoll. “I was told that we could do that at detailed design.” Horner says the council should also consider clustering play equipment for older children in one area, even if that isn’t fenced off. The other major change that community representatives are pushing for is to retain a large basketball court in the park, says Moriarty. Horner says the existing basketball court is very well used. So she would be interested in working with the community to explore the possibility – although that is more complicated, she said. O’Driscoll says she supports the plans for Mountjoy Square Park, which councillors have been briefed on over years. “I really want the enhancements for the area.” And she doesn’t want the local community to be misled about the purpose of re-doing the entire planning permission process, she says. There is already a small basketball court in the plans, allowing for three people to play three others at a time, she says. The council should look for other spaces in the area to provide another full size basketball court, says O’Driscoll. “Its one park, it can’t do everything." ### Why's it so hard to find a bottle bank in the city centre? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whys-it-so-hard-to-find-a-bottle-bank-in-the-city-centre/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T22:54:22.000Z Stephen Bourke, who lives around the Docklands, used to drop his glass recycling down to the bottle banks on East Road, he says. Life was good, Bourke says. “Those bottle banks were there for donkey's years. And then at the start of this year they disappeared." The line he heard was that the council removed them because of illegal dumping at the textile and clothes bins, which were placed next to the bottle banks. But a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that's not quite what happened. Yes, councillors and residents had asked for years for them to be stripped out for that reason – but the council had resisted, the spokesperson said. "The banks were subsequently removed to facilitate private development works, as the facility was located within the red line boundary of the approved planning permission for the development," they said. Whatever the reason the council took it out, with it gone, Bourke had to look at other options to recycle his bottles. Dublin City Council now has just one glass recycling facility, or bottle bank, in the whole of Dublin 1. That's the North Strand Recycling Centre, tucked away on Shamrock Terrace. It's [open](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28405678-new-prices-north-strand-information-leaflet-feb-2026-0/?ref=dublininquirer.com) between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday, and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays. Far from ideal for many people scattered around Dublin 1, working different hours, says Bourke. So, where once he could walk, now Bourke's best option is to drive to Alfie Byrne Road in Dublin 3, he says. “It’s the other side of East Wall for me, whereas I used to just walk down the street with a bag,” he says. There's no plan though, to add any new bottle banks in the area, according to a draft [Litter Management Plan 2026-2028](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28400644-draft-litter-management-plan-2026-2028-barry-woods-head-of-waste-management/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) presented to councillors last November by Barry Woods, the council's head of waste management. The council is “committed to recycling and toproviding the best possible recycling infrastructure in a busy, urban environment”, a spokesperson said recently. But national planning legislation means it can't install glass bottle banks within 50 metres of residential properties, they said. “We are further restricted by access needs for service providers. Banks cannot be installed where there are overhanging trees or overhead wires," they said. “They cannot be installed where there is conflict with bus lanes or cycle lanes, and they must be directly accessible by HGV,” they said. Both sides of the city centre are unfortunately lacking in glass recycling facilities, said the spokesperson. There are simply no suitable locations to put them, they said. ## What are the rules? If a rule saying there can't be a bottle bank within 50 metres of a house is one of the major constraints on installing more of them in the north inner city, could that be changed? Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, who represents the north inner-city and has worked on this issue, says that that rule is not in a law, but from a regulation. She pointed to a response she got from council management in June 2020 to a question asking about providing more bottle banks to the Central Area. That response referred to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 ("SI 6o0 of 2001"). These [say that](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/si/600/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com) a "bring facility" will not be considered "exempted development" unless it meets certain conditions. Among those conditions? “No such receptacle shall be situated within 50 metres of any house, save with the consent in writing of the owner or occupier thereof.” If something isn't considered exempted development, then a full planning application is required to try to do it, and that application might or might not be successful. Bottle banks have been installed in the city, so it is possible. The council's website [lists](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28401821-copy-of-bottle-bank-locations-aug-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1)dozensacross the city. On the list are bottle banks outside the Spar on the Stiles Road in Clontarf. These receptacles back directly onto the garden wall of a house. It's well within 50 metres of it – and plenty of other dwellings. Also,Horner, the Green Party councillor, said that statutory instruments can be changed, and she'd like to see that happen. “I think it is a problem,” she says. “One of the things that I had put in at the end of last term was about micro recycling centres across the city, but the whole waste \[management\] unit, we can't seem to get even the most basic things out of them at the moment,” she says. Horner points to Copenhagen as a good example of a city making glass recycling much easier for its residents. The Copenhagen municipality has about 670,000 people. Residents in the Danish capital without a bin for recycling glass at home can use one of [550 public glass bins](https://international.kk.dk/live/housing/recycling-in-copenhagen?ref=dublininquirer.com) dotted about the city. The population of the Dublin City Council area is about 590,000\. It lists 77 glass recycling options on the city streets – with one in the north inner-city. ## Targets met? A spokesperson for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said on Tuesday that it has no role in the siting of bottle banks. That's down to councils, they said. But national glass recycling targets are being met, they said. The national glass recycling rate for 2023, the latest year for which official statistics are available, was 83 percent, said the spokesperson. Well above the EU target of 60 percent for that year – and also above the 70 percent target for 2025, and the 75 percent target for 2030, [according to the EPA](https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring--assessment/waste/national-waste-statistics/packaging/?ref=dublininquirer.com). About 73 percent of this comes from households, and 27 percent from commercial sources, they said. Still, says Bourke, the glass recycling rate could be better. There is low-hanging fruit being missed in his apartment block anyway, he says. A good chunk of the general waste bins in the basement are taken up with glass, he says. Asked previously about what happens to glass thrown in general waste bins, an EPA spokesperson said that, "We know that the amount of glass in the residual (black) bin is less than 3% of total waste." But also that, "They are not likely to be removed from the residual waste stream and are likely to go to incineration." To avoid binning his bottles, Bourke ends up stockpiling glass, along with the Re-turn scheme plastics, in his one-bedroom apartment because he only gets to the bottle bank maybe once a month. “It’s another job that I’ve got to take time out of the day for and generate traffic for, which is a little bit frustrating,” he says. Whatever about national glass recycling targets, says Bourke, it’s also about convenience for the average citizen. “What's the council doing for me? Nothing apparently but making my life more difficult for wanting to recycle,” he says. “You put me in the newspaper saying, ‘I want my bins back!’” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Campaigners in Meakstown push for their first school, to help build community URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/campaigners-in-meakstown-push-for-their-first-school-to-help-build-community/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T22:54:29.000Z Outside Meakstown Community Centre on Monday evening, a running group stretches. Inside, the sports hall is busy with volleyball training. The well-used community hub opened in November 2024, in this area south-west of the airport, north-east of Charlestown, and north-west of Ballymun. It took 20 years of fighting to get the centre built, says Neil Dowling, sitting in the meeting room just inside the centre’s front door. The same goes for the nearby playground, he says – both amenities were the result of a grassroots, volunteer-led movement. “All the people in the community came together.” It shouldn't take that, he said. “We shouldn't need to go with a begging bowl.” Butgiven they have to, to get what is needed,people in Meakstown community are now rallying around another goal, says Dowling – schools for the area. Meakstown has no schools, primary or secondary, right now. Its population is growing, says Dowling, a member of the Meakstown School Campaign. A similar complaint rumbles across other city neighbourhoods. So, the Meakstown campaign has allied with Educate D8, and the Killester Raheny Clontarf School Campaign, to challenge the Department of Education’s [recent announcement](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/06/01/coalition-row-looms-with-no-new-irish-language-schools-planned-to-open-until-2032/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it has no plans for any new mainstream schools until at least 2032. Some areas are fighting for non-denominational options for children. In Meakstown, people simply want a school – any kind of school, says Lynda Clarke, another campaign member. “We could really do with a primary and a secondary,” says Clarke. “Ideally, on the same campus.” The Department of Education takes a broader perspective when planning schools, said a department spokesperson. Meakstown is in the "[Finglas East-Ballymun D11](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28404091-school-planning-areas/?ref=dublininquirer.com)" school planning area, which stretches from the airport south to Glasnevin Cemetery, from Finglas Road east to Ballymun Road. Pupils in this broader area are served by 10 primary schools and one post-primary school, the department spokesperson said, "and also attend schools in the surrounding school planning areas where capacity has been provided to accommodate them". But campaigners in Meakstown say they want their own school, one they could walk or cycle to, to end long school runs by car or bus – and to help them build a sense of community in the area. ## Long school runs Clarke says her son attends a second-level Gaelscoil in Cabra. It takes him an hour to get there in the mornings, given the traffic, she says. Many routes to schools outside of Meakstown are too dangerous for youngsters to walk or cycle, Clarke says. Dowling’s daughter goes to a non-denominational school. She takes two buses, says Dowling. He knows a family who have to get one child to Cabra and another to Coolock in the mornings, he says. The need analysis points to a big cohort of single-parent families in the area, for whom organising runs to multiple schools in different areas is extremely difficult, he says. One local mother has just accepted a place for her child in a special school all the way in Dún Laoghaire, says Dowling. Any school or schools built in the area must include special classes and supporting infrastructure, he says. At the moment, kids from Meakstown will often end up in a lottery for small numbers of remaining school places in other areas that are stretched themselves, says Dowling. “It’s getting crazy.” The Dubber electoral district, which covers much of Meakstown, has grown from about 6,500 people in 2011 to about 9,000 in 2022, according to Fingal County Council's recent [Meakstown Needs Analysis](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28393101-meakstown-needs-analysis-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). Close to 19 percent – or one in five – families in the Meakstown area have a pre-adolescent child or children, it says. That’s 7 percent higher than the national average. “This indicates that, over the next five years, there will be a very considerable demand for places in second-level schools, along with a need for facilities, amenities and outlets for teenagers,” it says. But a spokesperson for the Department of Education pointed to the direction of travel for the 10 primary schools in the broader Finglas East-Ballymun D11 school planning area. "Enrolments in these schools are declining – there was 14% fewer Junior Infants enrolled than 6th class pupils in 2025," they said. ## Building a community There has long been an effort to build an identity for this part of Dublin. A couple of years ago, a volunteer at the local Tidy Towns, Yvonne Gregg, [was pushing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-meakstown-a-push-for-a-public-sculpture-to-give-the-area-a-bit-more-of-an-identity/) for Fingal County Council to install a public sculpture in the area to help. Because, “When you say ‘Meakstown’, a lot of people ask, ‘Where’s that?’” Gregg said at the time. Not having a school makes it harder to build a community identity, campaigners say. “Apart from obviously not being able to access education, it's very difficult to build a community when there's no school,” says campaign member Val Farrell. The area lacks cohesion, she says. Kids should know each other better, says Farrell, but as they all leave the neighbourhood for schools, that isn’t happening. “It's one of the most basic needs that a community should be met with before building more and more blocks of apartments,” she says. Nearby at [Pipers Square](https://www.cairnhomes.com/passive-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com) opposite Charlestown Shopping Centre, new blocks hold 598 apartments. Farrell, a full-time youth worker, says there is already a constant battle for services in the area. “We’re not in Ballymun, we’re not in Finglas, we’re not prioritised anywhere." “Nobody takes priority being from this area for any school list, for a GP place, for anything really," says Farrell. "We’re not being given the services, and a school is the groundwork for that – everything stems out from the school.” Meakstown are also totally underserved by youth and after-school services, she says. Fingal, as a whole, is the most rapidly growing area in the country, says Rob O’Donoghue, Labour Party TD for Dublin Fingal West. “And the youngest as well.” The area is chronically short on new school builds, he said by phone on Tuesday. “The capital spending for schools all over Fingal, including Meakstown, needs to be seriously looked at given the demographics of the constituency,” he says. ## Finding a site for a school Dowling says that before the development at Pipers Square was given the go-ahead, local representatives should have pushed for a school to be included in the plans. “There's enough land at the back of those four blocks up there, you could put a school in no problem,” he says. Another opportunity for a site for a school is in the area Jamestown Business Park. Just south of Meakstown, Dublin City Council has rezoned and masterplanned this 43 hectares of industrial estate. Lands “will be developed at an approximate ratio of 65 percent residential and 25 percent employment/commercial, complemented with community, education and ancillary uses”, the masterplan says. “A [new primary school](https://www.dublininquirer.com/thousands-of-new-homes-a-park-and-a-primary-school-planned-in-finglas/) is to be provided,” it says. Its final form is flexible, to be determined in consultation with the Department of Education, the masterplan says. If the department thinks its needed, land could also be set aside for a second primary or secondary school in the second phase of development of these lands, it says. But a site on a map for a potential school in the future is not the reassurance that the Meakstown School Campaign is after, says campaign member John Keogh. "That remains aspirational,” he said. “That probably won't be built in my kids' school years." In April, Jen Cummins, Social Democrats TD for Dublin South Central, [asked](https://www.oireachtas.ie/ga/debates/question/2026-04-16/218/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Minister for Education about a school for Meakstown. The Minister, Hildegarde Naughton, of Fine Gael, said requirements for school places are kept under review. If demographic data shows a need for more provision, the departmentprovides that in different ways, Naughton said. "Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools; Extending the capacity of a school or schools; Provision of a new school or schools,” she said. Expanding existing schools is consistent with the government’s Project Ireland 2040 aims “for an increased emphasis on compact growth”, she said. “New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure must be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase to ensure that every child has a school place,” she said. A Department of Education spokesperson said the department "is liaising with Fingal County Council to monitor the rate and pace of residential developments in the Meakstown/Jamestown areas". "This will inform the timing of additional school capacity when required to meet the needs of that area," they said. Keogh, of the Meakstown School Campaign, said half the area’s population are under 35 years. “So, lots of young babies, lots of more babies to be had, but no school.” Finglas was the same 50 or 60 years ago, says Keogh. “The people are there, the accommodation’s provided, but the facilities are not.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: See the cool air, get to the wake house, become a mystic URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-see-the-cool-air-get-to-the-wake-house-become-a-mystic/ Last updated: 2026-07-05T21:35:18.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Metabolic Intimacies** Last week, we were over in Phibsborough Shopping Centre for Richmond Road Studios’ final farewell to their space on the fourth floor of the tower. As part of the event, artist Lana Zubović launched her new solo show [The House of Complex: The Necromancer](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-phibsborough-an-artist-dives-into-childhood-memories-with-beeswax-and-human-hair/), in which she used beeswax, tattoo ink and human hair among other materials to explore memories from her childhood home. If you weren’t able to catch Zubović’s show before the Richmond Road members departed Phibsborough for their new home in Glasnevin this week, then we have some good news, because she will be bringing a few of the featured pieces over to Little Green Street for a group exhibition this week. Launching this evening in Kirkos, Metabolic Intimacies asks the question “what happens to intimacy when the self becomes data and connection becomes extraction?” Alongside Zubović, the show features works by cinematographer and film photographer Antonia Quintiliano and printmaker Ross Clancy. Metabolic Intimacies will open at 6pm today (Thursday, 2 July) and will be on view daily between 1 and 6pm at 1 Little Green Street until Sunday, 5 July . For more information and for updates, follow Kirkos’ Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/kirkos%5Fensemble/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Painting Air** Also opening this evening in Powerscourt is Painting Air, the new solo show by artist John O’Flynn. InQuirer readers might recall O’Flynn as the artist who creates [impressionistic paintings of Dart trains](https://www.dublininquirer.com/seen-a-painting-of-a-dart-train-in-dublin-it-was-probably-by-john-oflynn/), some on the sides of buildings and hoardings, others on household appliances, like toasters and microwaves. Last September, we sat down with him in his studio off Collins Avenue prior to Souvenirs, his previous solo show at Flux Studios. Presented by SO Fine Art Editions, and part of Dublin City Council’s new night-time economy initiative Dublin by Dusk, Painting Air is composed of semi-abstract works that draw inspiration from significant moments in O’Flynn’s everyday life. These, he says are moments in which he “found peace, excitement, hope and the ineffable”. O’Flynn’s new works invite the viewer to consider the challenge of capturing the invisible: “the warmth and coolness of the air and quality of light that surround and animate the physical world.” Painting Air will launch at 6pm today (Thursday, 2 July) in the SO Fine gallery space on the second floor of the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. The show will be free to visit throughout the month until 1 August. For more information, follow SO Fine Art Editions on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/sofinearteditions/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Æ **and Le Fanu in the Light of Swedenborg and Blake** This is a gentle reminder that William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, the Tate-curated exhibition of works by the artist and poet, as well as his contemporaries, will be wrapping up on 19 July in the National Gallery of Ireland. If you’re looking for a few talking points to loudly exclaim in the gallery at some point during the next fortnight, then we might recommend paying a visit to the United Arts Club this Saturday, 4 July. Patrick O’Donnell of the Æ George Russell Society will be delivering a lecture about how Blake and the Swedish author and mystic visionary Emmanuel Swedenborg influenced the works of writers Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and George William Russell, better known pseudonymously as Æ. Organised as part of the Æ George Russell Summer School, the event is free to society members. Otherwise, admission is €10 or €20, depending on ability to pay. You can book a seat [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/literary-talk-ae-and-le-fanu-in-the-light-of-swedenborg-and-blake-tickets-1992371209922?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). But attendees are asked to pay at the door. **IFI and Irish Modern Dance Theatre: Dancer from the Dance** Next week, the Irish Film Institute is teaming up with the Irish Modern Dance Theatre to present a programme of new Irish dance films as part of the Dancer from the Dance Festival of Irish Choreography. On Monday evening at 6:30pm, the cinema will be screening a selection of short films which gathers films by contemporary choreographers. Curated by IMDT director John Scott, New Irish Dance Shorts will feature works by Shawn Fitzgerald Ahearn, Emilie Leriche, Ghaliah Conroy, Jessie Thompson, Amir Sabra, Alex O’Neill and Ingrid Nachstern among others. Most excitingly, it will be one of the rare occasions where we’ll be able to see the Adam O’Reilly-directed music video for RÓIS and hhH’s single "[Did ye ever get The Ride at the Wake House?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6VzBVixwo&ref=dublininquirer.com)" on the big screen. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-imdt-dancer-from-the-dance-new-irish-dance-shorts/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then, on Wednesday, 8 July at 6:30pm, there is a screening of Nicky Larkin’s *To This I Belong*, a documentary which charts four different journeys of dance makers in their home regions and communities. *To This I Belong* follows the creation of an ambitious, island-wide dance project in which choreographers Tobi Omoteso, Lucia Kickham, Edwina Guckian and Dylan Quinn were commissioned to make site-specific works rooted in land, memory, and belonging. After the screening, Larkin will be in conversation with John Scott. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-imdt-dancer-from-the-dance-to-this-i-belong/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Rosaleen McDonagh and Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan on *Contentious Spaces*** Finally, next Thursday, writer, playwright and performer Rosaleen McDonagh will be in Books Upstairs to discuss *Contentious Spaces*, her debut novel. Released back in March, *Contentious Spaces* is a portrait of Traveller families living within the Saint Rita’s community as they are just a week away from being evicted by the council. As the day of eviction draws closer, the families struggle to preserve their dignity, and look to find strength within one another as they navigate an unknown future. And at 6:30pm, McDonagh will be speaking with Irish-Indian writer, performer and cultural consultant Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan about the novel, its themes and McDonagh’s artistic practice more broadly. The event will be taking place in the downstairs shop area which is semi-accessible for wheelchair users. If you have any queries regarding accessibility contact catherine@skeinpress.com. Attendance is free but booking is essential, and can be done [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/conversation-rosaleen-mcdonagh-and-chandrika-narayanan-mohan-contentious-spaces/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ADVERTISEMENT [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/07/1.png)](https://ifi.ie/ukraine-untold/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Discover powerful stories, bold new voices, and award-winning cinema at the Ukrainian Film Festival from Untold. From compelling documentaries to acclaimed feature films, the festival offers a unique opportunity to experience contemporary Ukrainian culture through the lens of its filmmakers. Don't miss this thought-provoking celebration of resilience, creativity, and storytelling. [Tickets ](https://ifi.ie/ukraine-untold/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Container Coffee Venezuela Earthquake Fundraiser** Container Coffee, the café at The Digital Hub, will be hosting a fundraiser on Friday, 3 July, for those impacted by the recent devastating earthquake in Venezuela Sadly, some of the Container Coffee team have close friends and family who have been directly affected by the recent devastating earthquake in Venezuela. Container Coffee will be donating 100 percent of Friday’s takings to help provide much-needed relief communities that were affected. Every purchase will go directly towards supporting those in need, and for anyone who can’t make it to Container Coffee, but would still like to contribute, the team has set up a GoFundMe campaign [here](https://gofund.me/fd1800c1e?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Anne Devlin Community Centre Soundsystem** On Saturday, 4 July, the [Anne Devlin Community Centre](https://www.instagram.com/annedevlincommunitycentre/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Dublin 8 will be putting on a day of music with a soundsystem by Bushwack. Featuring hip hop, dub jungle and techno, the event will run from 12 to 6pm, and attendees are advised to bring some clothes as Vice Grips will also be doing on-site screen printing. **Cherish** Also on Saturday, 4 July, at 4:30pm, GalleryX on Hume Street will be previewing Cherish, the debut exhibition of Síól Collective. Featuring eight artists who work in painting, sculpture and textile, Cherish will be opened by artist Vivian Hansbury, and will run until 17 July. For more information, follow Síol Collective on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/DYaOWlEsj7n/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ### A new plan envisions Dublin City Council helping to fill creche spaces with actual creches URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-plan-envisions-dublin-city-council-helping-to-fill-creche-spaces-with-actual-creches/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T22:54:36.000Z A [draft plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28368021-draft-3-childcare-as-social-and-community-infrastructure-report-2026-to-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) published recently envisions Dublin City Council getting more involved in trying to ensure empty creche spaces in apartment complexes get filled with actual working, not-for-profit creches. At [last week's meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=5826&ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council's planning committee, Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell presented the results of six months of work on the issue by himself and others. "Childcare is one of the foundations of a functioning city," Farrell said. It's important for kids, for their parents, for businesses, for communities, he said. Families in the city struggle to find places, and, even if they can find them, struggle to afford them, he said. "I think we all know it, and we hear about it on the doors," he said. "If we cannot provide childcare to our citizens, we cannot retain families or sustain our workforce." The draft plan that the council's Childcare Provision and Infrastructure Working Group produced is not meant to solve the entire childcare crisis, Farrell said. "This report is not meant to be a panacea, or an overall intervention by Dublin City Council taking on childcare," Farrell said. "We do not have national responsibility for policy, for funding, for 101 other things, that we know don't make the childcare sector operate in way that we want," he said. Instead, it's meant to use powers the council has, as well as [a new funding stream](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/press-releases/minister-foley-announces-new-135-million-programme-of-state-led-early-learning-and-childcare-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Department of Children, to try to make a difference, starting small, he said. If the effort works well on a small scale, the plan also includes possible more ambitious futures. "Together, DCC and the Department can create additional childcare supply in publicly linked buildings, operated by not-for-profit providers, in communities where new places are needed most," the report says. The Planning and Urban Regeneration Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) backed the report, giving general approval to the policy direction. Farrell said the plan would now go, for further consideration, to the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee in July, "and hopefully the full council at the beginning of September" . ## **The shortish-term plan** Planning rules require a developer to include a creche space big enough for the number of children expected to live in an apartment complex. There's a formula. There are at least two problems with this approach. First, this ends up forcing developers to deliver some creche spaces that are too small for an operator to actually use, said architect [Johnny McKenna](https://metwork.co.uk/team-member/jonny-mckenna/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a planning committee member, at last week's meeting. "Unless you're talking about a scheme of about 500 to 600 homes, you end up with a creche of about 300 square metres, which in our experience is not viable to run a creche," said McKenna. "That, I believe is why we see a lot of grey boxes just sitting empty because no operator can take them on," McKenna said. This is an issue that's reportedly being [worked on at the national level](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/housing-planning/2025/08/29/new-rules-could-see-developers-obliged-to-provide-workable-creche-buildings/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and not something the council can solve on its own. But even if the childcare space the developer delivers is big enough to run a financially viable creche in, turning it from a grey box to a workable space can be pricey. And if the council wants to get not-for-profit operator in to run a creche in a space, that operator might not have the cash to pay for the fit-out. That's where the plan presented at last week's committee meeting sees an opportunity for the council to step in and help. The working group identified five childcare spaces on the way as part of planned or under-construction housing projects, and recommended that the council choose one of these as a pilot to try to help fill it with a working childcare service. The possibilities include spots in housing projects the council is delivering on its own, or in with the Land Development Agency (LDA). These are the Donore Project on the former St Teresa's Gardens site in Dublin 8, Bluebell Waterways, An Droichead Órga on Emmet Road in Inchicore, Cherry Orchard Point, and a project in Ballymun. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-5eea0fad-91b3-4bcd-8710-ba1424787392.png) Whichever one of these the council were to choose as a pilot, the plan would be to apply to the Department of Children's State-led Capital Programme to pay to fit-out the grey box with floors, interior walls, lights, toilets, and all the other bits needed before it could be a working childcare facility. Of course, there is a lot of competition for that money. The department is only planning to fund a limited number of projects this year, according to its [press release](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/press-releases/minister-foley-announces-new-135-million-programme-of-state-led-early-learning-and-childcare-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about the new €135 million fund: "Up to eight buildings will be selected for investment this year." Minister for Children Norma Foley, a Fianna Fáil TD, said on 3 June on RTÉ 1's [*Drivetime*](https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22618541/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that "There's funding for eight this year, there will be more done the following year, and more the year after," Foley said. By email on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Children said the €135 million "will be made available between 2026 and 2030". "The Department has received project proposals from a number of sources since the programme was launched which, along with projects which the Department was aware of prior to the programme launching, includes over 90 potential projects across the country," they said. If the council can get some of that funding, though, and use it to fit-out a space in one of the DCC or DCC/LDA housing projects, the next step will be to bring in a not-for-profit operator to run a creche in it, the plan says. Why a not-for-profit? "A lot of the government policy, while welcome, a lot of it is subsidy-based, so we're ultimately subsidising a private sector that is later extracting those profits," said Farrell at the meeting last week, "and not actually creating new childcare spaces or true affordability". Committee member Aidan Sweeney, head of infrastructure and environmental sustainability at business group Ibec, took issue with this aspect of the report. It "is a little bit lopsided in terms of how it's being presented," Sweeney said. "I would suggest that the fact is that the private sector providers are providing a much-needed service for anybody right now due to the actual shortage of places and the critical role of childcare." Farrell said he agreed that private childcare providers are a "much needed and much welcomed, valued service", and recognised that some of the smaller ones are under financial stress, and struggling with all the admin associated with meeting regulations. "But I think, from our intervention, it has to be community nonprofit or kind of public-gain-facing," he said. ## **Longer-term, more ambitious** The biggest risk to the shortish-term plan, is "the constrained capacity of the non-profit sector to run these operations in a sustainable manner", the report says. So the report also suggests the council look at creating a "DCC-owned, arm's length childcare delivery company". "This would be a not-for-profit public-interest company, with DCC as the sole shareholder or member, independent governance, professional management and a clear social purpose," it says. The council has started other companies to deliver services. Farrell, at the meeting, named Swan Leisure, Dublin City Council Culture Company, and Codema, the energy agency. The report also mentions the planned [city centre regeneration special purpose vehicle (SPV)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/make-up-of-new-board-to-guide-city-centre-regeneration-suggests-focus-on-business-and-property-development/). The report suggests that the DCC Childcare Delivery Company could operate childcare services in DCC-owned buildings; centralise finance, HR, compliance, governance, and quality assurance; and more. "This option should only proceed following a full feasibility study and business case," the report says. This would be an attempt to apply a lesson the working group learned from looking at the non-profit [StarBright](https://www.startbright.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) childcare chain: it's hard to run a viable one-off non-profit creche, but a small chain with shared back-office services can make more sense. "StartBright matters because it demonstrates that scale is not only a private chain advantage. Scale can also be used in a community-based, not-for-profit, values-led model," the report says. Another option for a more ambitious approach would be to create a new company like this that's co-owned or jointly governed by the council and the Department of Children, the report says. Would the department be interested in that? "The Department understands that the report has yet to be finalised and approved by the Council and no formal proposal has been made to the Department in respect of any possible joint venture," the department spokesperson said. However, "As always, the Department is happy to consider any proposal from a wide variety of applicants to advance state led provision," they said. At the meeting, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said that overall, "I welcome this approach". But, Lacey said, "my only reservation is I would be – the option that I would least favour is the one that involves the partnering". "In my experience, both the department and Tusla intervene but don't help, interfere but don't help," he said. "So they should be servants, not decision makers, in my opinion." For her part, City Planner Emer Uí Fhátharta said that she'd only received the report the night before, and would give more detailed feedback later. "But I guess, I would also hope that anything that comes forward is agile to the needs of the community that there may be a period in the next 10-15 years where those creche spaces are actually, the demand for them goes down and that those spaces can evolve to become alternative community spaces rather than being lost to the community in general," she said. The committee agreed to back the report and its position that "childcare should be treated as social and community infrastructure within DCC's existing functions". Actual concrete steps, like setting up a new council-owned company, might come further down the line. "Any such decisions would require separate legal, budgetary, procurement, executive and reserved function processes," the report says. ### The Oireachtas leans into Microsoft for its comms, even as other European governments abandon US tech URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-oireachtas-leans-into-microsoft-for-its-comms-even-as-other-european-governments-retreat/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T09:17:26.000Z There isn’t a landline phone in the office anymore, Sinn Féin TD Máire Devine said, speaking via her mobile on Tuesday afternoon. “All gone. All gone.” The Houses of the Oireachtas have been moving their telephone system over to Microsoft Teams. But Devine says she isn’t even sure what she ought to call the new system. “Is it a telephone?” “It just all of a sudden, this appeared,” she said. The change-over is part of a wider shift over recent years in which the Oireachtas has been adopting Microsoft systems to handle the day-to-day tasks of parliamentarians, independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins said by email in early June. That has included using Microsoft software for emails, document storage and internal messaging, she said. “Even our telephone systems are now run through Microsoft products.” This dependence front-crawls against the tide, with European countries and bodies like the European Parliament charting paths away from reliance on US Big Tech, and searching for either home-grown or European alternatives to platforms and tools, wary that their use makes them vulnerable. This move gained momentum early in 2025, when US President Donald Trump [signed an executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court/?ref=dublininquirer.com) sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC), because it had [issued a warrant](https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the arrest of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan soon found himself disconnected from his Microsoft email, although the court as a whole apparently wasn't. A spokesperson for Microsoft on Tuesday said "at no point did Microsoft cease or suspend its services to the ICC". After Khan was disconnected, the ICC [confirmed it was moving away](https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor/news/international-criminal-court-invests-open-infrastructure?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Microsoft altogether to a German alternative. By November of last year, 27 EU member states – [including Ireland](https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/news-and-events/department-news/2025/november/20251118.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) – had signed the [Declaration for European Digital Sovereignty.](https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15781-2025-INIT/en/pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## In the Oireachtas Higgins, the senator, voiced her concerns about the widespread use of Microsoft software within the Oireachtas during a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence [on 21 April](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fartificial%5Fintelligence/2026-04-21/speech/58/?ref=dublininquirer.com), focused on defence, security and cyber security. The Oireachtas and a number of government departments were moving all of their telephone systems onto Microsoft Teams, she said. “Is that a security risk that we should be examining?” The use of Microsoft products in public, university and other organisations poses a tremendous number of threats, said Liliana Pasquale, an associate professor at the school of computer science in University College Dublin. These technologies aren’t secure, she said. “They have been aggressively integrated without sufficient testing, I believe, as demonstrated by recent attacks.” Take EchoLeak, said Pasquale by phone on Friday. That saw an attacker send a crafted email to trick large language models into providing confidential data, she said. The company can access personal data and potentially violate General Data Protection Regulation, Pasquale said at the committee in April. “There are also geopolitical threats because the US could be targeted by third countries, which could target US products that are also used in Europe.” A Microsoft spokesperson said their products are rigorously tested before deployment, fully GDPR compliant, and designed to give organisations full control over how their data is managed. "This is backed by contractual safeguards and commitments to store and process data in the EU." A spokesperson for the Oireachtas did not respond to emails sent on 19 and 26 June, asking about this switch and the reason why it was being rolled out. ## Careful consideration Replacing the old telephone system was first flagged in the Houses of the Oireachtas Service Action Plan 2024 as part of its effort to modernise its infrastructure. Led by the Oireachtas’ Information and Communications Technology team, the change was slated for delivery during the second quarter of 2024, [the plan says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28380693-2024-04-08-houses-of-the-oireachtas-service-action-plan-2024-en/?q=teams&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p36). Fianna Fáil TD Catherine Ardagh, a current member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission said, on Friday, that the move to Microsoft Teams pre-dated her appointment to the commission. Members of the Oireachtas have been using Teams for many years, including throughout the Covid period, she said. “Albeit, primarily on desktop devices rather than as the integrated telephony platform now in use.” Higgins, the senator, said she was used to Microsoft Teams as one way of communicating. “But the telephones really were something that was just a different level of concern.” Allowing the Oireachtas telephone systems to be dependent on a particular software provider is something that needs to be reviewed, Higgins said on Monday. “Until that has really been carefully examined, we need to have a question mark around moving these telephone systems online,” she said. ## Dependence It’s not simply using phones through Teams that needs to be examined, Higgins says. “Even the fact of having so many systems dependent on a single provider is in itself something that maybe might seem straightforward from a procurement perspective. But maybe it merits more consideration,” she said. Right now, Microsoft is the standard provider of software for the Houses of the Oireachtas, with each of its members provided a laptop and PC that include such products as Windows 10, Office 365, Outlook and Teams, according to the [Oireachtas website](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/working-in-parliament/connecting-parliament/networks-in-leinster-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Labour TD Robert O’Donoghue says his office uses Teams. "We still have a landline. I think it's set up to operate on Teams." Teams seems to function well, even if it's just handier to use his mobile when making calls, he says. "My staff sometimes use the landline. But I don't." But, he likes what is happening in France, he says. There, the French Directorate for Digital Affairs has mandated that the civil service wean off Microsoft Windows and move to the Linux operating system “to protect digital sovereignty”, he says. Linux is an open-source operating system, and one option for reduced reliance on major tech companies in the United States, he said. “And as a by-product, encourage the use of EU-based alternatives.” The issue isn't solely confined to Microsoft, said Pasquale, of UCD, on Friday. “This applies to any US vendor generally.” The US and EU have different regulations, she said, pointing to an example where, last June, at a hearing in the [French Senate](https://videos.senat.fr/video.5460497%5F6847c70b82594.commande-publique--audition-de-microsoft?timecode=1154000&ref=dublininquirer.com), Anton Carniaux, director of public and legal affairs for Microsoft France, [reportedly said](https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2025/07/25/microsoft-exec-admits-it-cannot-guarantee-data-sovereignty/458553?ref=dublininquirer.com) the company could not guarantee data sovereignty to European customers. It is a problem to be reliant on a provider from a country in which legislation differs from that within the EU, she says. “It’s not possible to guarantee that the data isn’t fully protected.” A spokesperson for Microsoft said the company does not provide any government with "direct, unfettered access" to its customer data. "Any data access request is subject to rigorous review, according to a strict process, by internal and external legal teams to ensure it is legally valid and compulsory, compliant with all applicable law, and strictly limited to specific account identifiers." ## Co-Pilot While O’Donoghue says his office uses Teams, his staff don't use Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot. Copilot has already been adopted by [staff in Dublin City Council](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-workload-gets-heavier-councillors-eye-up-ai-assistants/), which, as of June 2025, had seven licences for its use. [As workload gets heavier, councillors eye up AI assistants“You could get 500 emails, and I do recall my friend saying ‘God, why don’t you get Copilot?’”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-2c1e2000-6bf5-4561-b547-4f36f6c21d06.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/IMG-20260218-WA0000-1-1-c49b1038-b7df-44e0-8f8c-cb1b2c48c469.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-workload-gets-heavier-councillors-eye-up-ai-assistants/) More recently, [on 14 April](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-04-14/1681/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne confirmed that his department is trialing Copilot Chat via Microsoft Teams as a potential technology to assist in productivity. His department has both an AI policy and governance committee that provides guidance on its responsible use, he said. “AI training is also mandatory as part of this deployment." Pasquale, at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on AI back in April, said Copilot was a security risk, however. “Attacks to Microsoft Copilot and its related tools have already been documented.” It is also risky to be overly reliant on a single provider, she said on Friday. “It makes an exit strategy more difficult in the future.” ### Dublin City Council planner throws cold water on plea to publish info online about planning enforcement cases URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-planner-throws-cold-water-on-plea-to-publish-more-about-planning-enforcement-cases/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T09:17:33.000Z Dublin City Council should make its planning enforcement process more transparent to the public, as other councils in Ireland do, council planning committee member Sebastian Vencken proposed in [a motion at a meeting](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28376167-motion-on-planning-enforcement/?ref=dublininquirer.com) last Wednesday. At the moment, a person [can complain](https://www.dublincity.ie/planning-and-land-use/make-observation-or-complaint/make-planning-enforcement-complaint?ref=dublininquirer.com) if they think someone is building something without planning permission (a fence, a shed, [29 houses](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/06/04/twenty-nine-houses-built-without-planning-permission-must-be-removed-high-court-rules/?ref=dublininquirer.com)), operating a short-term let without permission, or has planning permission but isn't following its terms. The council has a planning enforcement section – with ["30 staff working" in it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28376208-to-confirm-the-minutes-of-the-city-council-meeting-held-on-11th-may-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p51), the chief executive recently told a councillor – which handles these complaints. They might find there's no problem, they might come to an agreement with the property owner to fix a problem, or they might even [take a property owner to court](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-it-has-started-legal-action-over-fences-around-apartment-complex-in-the-liberties/). But all of this happens kind of behind the scenes. There's no easy way for a member of the public to find out whether a complaint has been put in about something, whether the council's on the case, and at what stage of the planning enforcement process that case is. To find that out, people have to email the council, or go into the Civic Offices at Wood Quay to inspect the planning enforcement register. In his motion, Vencken made a slew of arguments about why putting this register online would be good: reduce admin and duplication for council staff, help deter property owners from doing the wrong thing, build trust with the public through transparency, and more. He also pointed out that other councils in Ireland already make planning enforcement register data available online. The response? Planning Enforcement Manager John Downey, hadn't made it to the meeting to give a planned presentation on planning enforcement, so City Planner Emer Uí Fhátharta stepped in to respond to the motion. "The motion is noted, but the planning enforcement system is an operational matter for Dublin City Council," Uí Fhátharta said at the meeting. In other words, how the executive side of the council handles this is up to them, and not something that councillors and other committee members have any power over. "We comply with the statutory requirements in maintaining a register, and there is no requirement to have it up online," Uí Fhátharta said. After the meeting, Vencken said by email that he'd found that response "unsatisfactory". The council's planning committee will discuss the issue further when Downey attends in September, said committee chair Cian Farrell, a Social Democrats councillor, at the meeting last Wednesday. ## **The case for transparency** In a 2023 "practice note" on planning enforcement, the national Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR), said that unlike planning applications – where complete planning files are open to scrutiny and available online – "many planning authorities retain the majority of the enforcement file as private documents". "The inability to access information can in some instances unnecessarily frustrate those engaging with planning enforcement sections including complainants, elected members and those parties that may be the subject of the enforcement action," the OPR practice note said. "The documents, as set out in the Development Management Guidelines, should be readily available to view with sensitive data retained as private by the planning authority," it said. "However, details which could reveal the identity of a person who has given information in confidence should not be disclosed." In support of his motion at last Wednesday's meeting of the Planning and Urban Regeneration Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), Vencken presented [his own arguments](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28374400-motion-provision-of-an-online-searchable-planning-enforcement-register-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If someone was concerned about a developer building, say, 29 houses without planning permission, and was considering complaining to the council, they could check an online register to see if the council already knew. If someone had put in a planning enforcement complaint, and wanted to know how the council's investigation and, if appropriate, enforcement efforts, were proceeding, they could check an online register. This would free up staff in the planning enforcement section from dealing with duplicate complaints, and repeated requests for status updates, said Vencken, of the Broadstone Basin Residents Association, who was elected to the committee via the [Dublin City Public Participation Network](https://dublincityppn.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). "I have frequently reported potential planning violations to the council and I find it cumbersome to have to follow up on cases individually by email, It must also be cumbersome for DCC officials to be constantly answering these emails," said Vencken. Being able to see how, and if, a case is progressing, would also build trust among residents concerned about an issue, that the council was dealing with it, said Vencken, who is also a member of the new North City Centre Residents’ Alliance. Also, putting the planning enforcement register online could act as a deterrant to bad behaviour, Vencken said. "Public visibility acts as a natural deterrent against unauthorised developments," he said. "This is this is also a civic matter as it concerns the public’s (incl SPC members’) access to information that they need to contribute to DCC policy and consultations," he said. Responding to his motion at the meeting last Wednesday, Uí Fhátharta stressed that the issue was "an operational matter", and said the council was already complying with its legal requirements. "Do we need to do it better? Yes. Are we looking at a broader digitisation of the planning service? Yes, there's a national digitisation programme underway and pretty well advanced," Uí Fhátharta said. "But in terms of Dublin City Council bringing forward a new system itself immediately we will be waiting for the \[national\] digitisation \[programme\]," she said. But some other councils in Ireland already put planning register information online, Vencken pointed out at the meeting. Later, he pointed to [Monaghan County Council](https://monaghan.ie/planning/enforcement/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which makes available on its planning enforcement web page a spreadsheet listing planning complaints, saying when they were received, what property and issue they were about, and where they are in the process. He also pointed to [Kilkenny County Council](https://kilkennycoco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=05af4c18c54e498091dc8c7d33c4b4aa&ref=dublininquirer.com), [Kildare County Council](https://webgeo.kildarecoco.ie/planningenquiry?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [Galway County Council](https://galwaycoco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3570e45b0e354cf0b740ecbc7505adb2&ref=dublininquirer.com) which publish information about planning enforcement on the same maps where they publish information about planning applications. Compared to Monaghan, this is more limited information: maybe just the planning enforcement case number associated with a property, maybe also the case status. If these other, smaller councils can do it, why can't Dublin City Council? "My guess is that there's no other real reason not to do this than avoiding potential lawsuits – which I think the council would be able to win," Vencken said by phone on Tuesday. ### Dean: HAVVK make anxiety sound beautiful URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-havvk-make-anxiety-sound-beautiful/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T07:14:25.000Z Artists who attempt to generate a feeling of anxiety in their music are a brave cohort. Pursuing the sugar rush is, of course, an equally noble deed; an ability to hit the mind’s pleasure centres is a blessed skill. But making more desperate sensations palatable for audiences poses different challenges. How do you engage a part of the brain that people fear, in a way that engrosses and rather than repulses? This was the question that must have swirled around HAVVK as they recorded *Time Will Kill*, an album that, its creators say, was motivated by a sense that time is slipping through their fingers. This unease was furthered with a creeping feeling of guilt – the world was in a downward death spiral, and HAVVK were spending their days working on tunes. Plenty of bands engage with socio-political themes, some acknowledge the privilege that allows them to make art about such issues, but few sound as burdened by that privilege as HAVVK do on *Time Will Kill*. Many of the 11 tracks are sprightly, doubling down on the band’s sense that there is no time to waste. Harnessing the raw power of 1990s metal and grunge, while adding in the righteous belligerence of punk, the album weeps at a high volume. It’s natural that a band with an activist spirit like HAVVK would come to feel unease about an increasingly cursed world. Having been established in 2012 by Julie Hough and Matt Harris under the name Hawk (this remains the pronunciation of the band’s name; Hough has at times also gone by the name Julie Hawk), they established themselves with songs that tackled serious issues in a serious way. Early single “Once Told” addressed Ireland’s pre-referendum abortion laws, with a striking video featuring a dead-eyed Hough standing vulnerable in a hospital gown: “What’s new? Smothering it in shame?” The emotive but tuneful “Mirror Maze” probed society’s expectations on women, while the murky “Take it Away” was inspired by a friend of Hough’s frightening experience of being followed home by a man after a night out. HAVVK’s journey has come to include stints in not just Dublin, but London and Berlin; additional members Chris Handsley and Sam Campbell made crucial contributions, Nigel Kenny filled in on the drums. But for *Time Will Kill*, the band’s fourth album, HAVVK’s official line-up represents their leanest form: a duo. It begins with one of the year’s great opening tracks. “Happening Again” is a vicious, slow-paced jam; an industrial zone of Harris’s howling guitars, Hough’s rugged bass, and punishingly thumped drums as the singer wails with primal urgency. The song opens a three-track salvo that showcases Hough’s vocal dexterity. Hers is a voice that never stays still, switching from bellowing, to tuneful, to half-spoken word performance and beyond, sometimes within the same song. This is important. On an album where anxiety is the octane, the moment Hough begins to falter could be the moment the tension becomes overwhelming. Fortunately, she carries the album with equal parts poise and power, never losing contact with the listener. Oh, and by the way, HAVVK *can* do sugar rush pop too: Highlight “Bad Look” connects the dots from 1960s girl groups to 1990s stoner bubblegum indie. Call it nostalgia for throwback American teen movies. *Time Will Kill* does, for the most part, strike a serious tone. “Idea 21” has the nervous energy of Radiohead while sharing Thom Yorke’s attention to environmental destruction (“Where did you run when the sky turned red?”). And on the excellent closer, “This Is It”, a breathy Hough instructs her audience to “smile” in a manner so sinister and derisory, it calls to mind horror movies where the scariest thing is the grinning villain. Lyrics are typically abstract. Press notes for the album explain that “Pick Your Poison” is about the expectation placed on social media users to choose a side of a debate without being fully informed. The lyrics “The road was mine to take/ But it’s better sitting on the fence/ I make the same mistake/ And expect a different consequence,” certainly sums up the feeling of emptiness that rises up when you’ve sunk time and energy into a comment thread discussion that went nowhere, but it does emphasise that HAVVK’s lyrics often do require provided context to be fully appreciated. More than anything, though, *Time Will Kill is* a triumph of the collaborative process. Hough and Harris remain creatively connected, even in their anxiety, which they, together, funnelled into an impressive, impactful piece of work. Because despite the tension, the album is enjoyable, as all music must be before it can be anything else. The world is becoming a flaming shroud, figurately and environmentally. Still, HAVVK should keep making music. ### Amid delays with permit renewals, an immigrant doctor in Ireland can't travel to visit his seriously ill mother URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-delays-with-permit-renewals-an-immigrant-doctor-in-ireland-cant-travel-to-visit-his-seriously-ill-mother/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T09:17:43.000Z In January, Rehman Faryal’s parents travelled to Ireland for a visit, he said, recently. Two weeks after they went back to their country of birth, his mum called. She had been diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer, said Faryal. Faryal, who’s a hospital doctor, planned to go on leave to be by her side, he said. At the same time, both Faryal and his wife were in the process of renewing their Irish Residence Permits (IRPs), a small card that gives people legal status to live and work here. Faryal logged into the immigration office’s [customer service portal](https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/?ref=dublininquirer.com), asking if it’s possible to speed up the renewal. If he left the country without a valid IRP, he wouldn’t be let back in. The immigration office closed Faryal’s request on the portal, “without responding after 10 days”, he said. He deferred his annual leave arrangement at work, sent another request via the portal and got a stock response, he said. “My mother is currently in chemotherapy,” said Faryal. His wait for IRP renewal is nearing four months now, said Faryal. He’s not alone. Processing backlogs has touched the lives of many immigrants [since earlier this year](https://www.dublininquirer.com/delays-in-residence-permit-renewals-put-lives-of-non-eu-immigrants-on-hold-again/). At the moment, people renewing Stamp 4 immigration permissions – a long-term stamp with better rights and entitlements than short-term ones – like Faryal, say they’re still facing them, costing them jobs and taking away their freedom to travel, including for emergencies. Meanwhile, stamp registrations and renewals brought in €79 million in revenue for the state in 2025, [according to Department of Justice figures](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-18/418/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Lots of people have to pay €300 to register or reactivate their stamps, though some are exempt depending on the basis of their immigration stamp. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the city’s immigration office is still grappling with a mountain of both first-time stamp registration and renewal requests. “And are exploring every avenue available to facilitate as many customers as possible and to increase processing capacity,” they said. ## **Life on hold** The spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it’s doing what it can to speed up and tackle the backlog. Its immigration office is now open seven days a week, and case processing should take six to eight weeks, or at least not longer than 16 weeks, they said. It considers requests to prioritise applications for “extenuating” situations on a case-by-case basis, the spokesperson said. It doesn’t have a breakdown of caseload by category available at hand, they said. But, generally, [77,000 renewal applications](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-23/534/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F534) are still pending, said Fine Gael's Colm Brophy TD, a junior minister at the Department of Justice, in response to a parliamentary question this month. In the meantime, people waiting feel the impact in big or small ways. Anjali Parmar’s loan approval depends on a fresh Stamp 4 immigration permission, she said. “As the bank needs IRP,” she said. She has already waited 10 weeks for a new residence permit card and had tried to check its progress by sending a query on the customer service portal, she said. But, “they just give me automated response”, she said. And she’s not hopeful, Parmar said. “With the current processing, I think it’s gonna take another two months.” Jędrzej Nowe’s partner is stuck in her country of birth, Turkey, where she’d travelled “to take care of her family”, he said recently. She needs to renew her permit while she waits for a decision on her citizenship application, said Nowe. “We thought it was a reasonable choice for her to leave,” he said. They’d reckoned that Nowe would get the new IRP in the mail and post it via DHL so she could use it to re-enter the country, said Nowe. What they hadn’t envisioned, he said, was that it wouldn’t be coming any time soon. They had tried to apply for an emergency re-entry visa, said Nowe. A visa is the thing that lets you get through border control and set foot into the country, but it doesn’t give you the right to live and work here. The first request for a re-entry visa, he said, was closed without any explanation. On the second one, “they replied that this is not a sufficient reason to get a re-entry visa”, said Nowe. Nowe’s partner, who had applied to renew on 6 March – the earliest time she could – is also a tech worker who was recently laid off by Meta and is set to join Google soon, he said. That also depends on her IRP coming through while the company’s offer still stands, said Nowe. “Her employment is basically hangs on the fact that her Stamp 4 is not being issued,” he said. They had both noticed that the timeline for Stamp 4 reviews had been stretching out, which had them worried that they might have stopped working on them for some reason, said Nowe. On Tuesday, Nowe texted to say it had progressed by just one day. Others have also reported issues getting their IRPs in the post after they’ve been successfully processed. An email from the immigration office to some applicants recently said it had “identified an issue where some recently approved \[IRP\] cards have not been successfully issued”. It has now resolved the glitch and reissued the permits, it said. Brophy, the Fine Gael junior minister at the Department of Justice, [recently told](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-23/553/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon that it outsources the IRP printing service to a “third-party provider”. Sometimes there are delays in printing them because of its “necessary and routine system maintenance”, but they’re short-lived, he said. It’s using an external supplier to free up civil servants so they can focus on processing actual applications, Brophy said. An IRP can also land at an old address if someone gets evicted or has to move homes in the midst of waiting for a new residence permit to come through, because at the moment the immigration office can take up to a month to update its files based on change-of-address requests. ## **With great (man)power** Nowe, the man whose partner can’t return from Turkey, looked for a TD in their area that he was sure didn’t hold anti-immigrant views, and contacted People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett, he said. Boyd Barrett is among [a handful of TDs](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-23/498/?ref=dublininquirer.com) who have been bringing up the IRP processing backlogs with officials at the Department of Justice. Fine Gael TD Colm Burke is one of them, too. By phone last week, Burke said bureaucratic immigration travails are something that his constituents grapple with all the time. And it’s not just IRP processing delays, he said. It’s also difficult to muscle through work-permit bureaucracy, getting turned down for small mistakes and having to start over from scratch, said Burke. As for IRP delays, Burke said the solution is to bulk up “manpower”. Earlier this month, Brophy, the Fine Gael junior minister at the Department of Justice, [told](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-23/534/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F534) Labour Party TD Eoghan Kenny that roughly 93 people work at its immigration registration office right now. Staffing levels are kept under “ongoing review” in the face of growing demand on the department's immigration service delivery units “generally“, he said. “It has to be more people assigned to it,” said Burke, the Fine Gael TD. ### In Phibsborough, an artist dives into childhood memories, with beeswax and human hair URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-phibsborough-an-artist-dives-into-childhood-memories-with-beeswax-and-human-hair/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T15:10:07.000Z The fourth floor of Phibsborough Shopping Centre was stuffed with people in business suits on Thursday evening. Not the ideal attire. It was 7pm and the temperature outside was yet to dip below 26 degrees Celsius. But the suggested dress code for the occasion was “office core”. The event, "Long Day At The Office", was the farewell exhibition thrown by Richmond Road Studios. It was a send-off as they move out of their studio space in the brutalist tower overlooking Dalymount Park. The artists had moved in after they were evicted from premises on Richmond Road in April 2022\. [But, on 22 June](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/175389?ref=dublininquirer.com) this year, Dublin City Council granted developer Stormborn Capital Acquisition Three Limited permission to redevelop the centre. The tower, plans show, is set to become a nine-storey, 150-bedroom hotel. In the main space, 11 sweaty performers – studio members and associates – performed a hypnotising dance, that of the mundane routine of office workers as they commute, hammer away on keyboards and slowly descend into a euphoric madness. Music was thrashed out by the experimental electronic collective Acid Granny. Telephones dangled from the ceiling, and attendees chuckled in the corner of the spacious room next to the front entrance, clutching onto the coldest drinks they could find at the reception. Meanwhile, in a room to the back, was a second exhibition. This one, by the artist Lana Zubović, who wandered through the repurposed office space with an A4 print-out of a red tie fixed to her t-shirt collar. Titled The House of Complex: The Necromancer, Zubović’s exhibition didn’t stick to the theme of “office core”. In the middle of the room was a black castle made of dyed beeswax and wood. Its turrets were made from candles, not yet lit. Hanging from the ceiling were five rectangular-ish wooden panels attached to each other with bookbinder rings, like pages from a sketchbook. Covered in beeswax, each one was decorated with detailed illustrations. Letters in silver ink, bicycle wheels, a naked figure whose body resembled a circuit diagram. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Beeswax-and-tattoo-ink-panel-from-Act-4-by-Lana-Zubovic-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.JPG) Beeswax and tattoo ink panel from Act 4 by Lana Zubović. “She used tattoo ink,” said one visitor, to a friend, as they inspected the panels. They noticed that the panel nearest to the ground had tufts of real blonde human hair sticking out of the wax at its bottom. That idea came from a time not too long ago when Zubović became obsessed with collecting hair, she said the following Saturday afternoon. "It was bought on Etsy, and it actually matches my hair colour. That was good. I didn't aim for that." The show, she said as she sat in a swivelling office chair, was exploring memories from her childhood home in Zagreb in Croatia. The sense of shelter that her bedroom provided, she said. “I’m just kinda thinking about my own growing up in that house, and talking about this kinda castle in the house,” she said. ## **Summoning the dead** The heatwave hung around still on Saturday as Zubović was once again up in the tower. The air was heavier now, though. A few light showers fell. Zubović was back to give a talk about The House of Complex with the artist and fellow Richmond Road member Aoife Ward. After this last event, the group would be moving to their new premises in Glasnevin Industrial Estate, Ward said. The talk was attended by a couple of other studio members. One brought along a big fluffy white hound who slumbered in a corner, behind the elaborate Acid Granny rig of synthesizers, guitar pedals, television screens and cables fixed to an old shopping trolley, wheelchair and Zimmer frame. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Aoife-Ward--left--Lana-Zubovic--right--in-Phibsborough-tower-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) Aoife Ward (left) Lana Zubović (right) in the Phibsborough tower. Zubović had embraced setting up site-specific installations for the show, she said. “I could try things I wasn’t able to do, like the candle that’s burning. I don’t know what gallery would allow that.” Ward said that it was probably good that others hadn't known she was going to light a candle in that small room. “Look, it’s an experimental place where we’re able to do these things.” The House of Complex was a continuation of Zubović’s 2025 graduate show, The Necromancer, in which, a pamphlet for the Richmond Road show says, she takes on the role of a person who can communicate with the dead to summon “seemingly dead” and buried memories. A lot of the work comes from the subconscious, Zubović said. “I have this kind of intuitive approach. It’s like so randomised. Something pops into your head.” The panels that hang from the ceiling were meant to be individual pieces, she said. “But they didn’t make any sense until I connected them like an artist’s book.” ## **Memory castle** After a half an hour of talking, Zubović led the attendants into the space itself. She approached the black beeswax castle and lit the 11 candles, big and small, that she had moulded into the model's towers and walls. The burning wicks crackled loudly beneath the room's fire alarm. She had started to work with beeswax in school as a teenager, she said. "I always like to pick very natural materials." The castle is what ties the show together, she said, standing over the beeswax structure. It was now illuminated by the warm glowing flames, and the stark white fluorescent lights. When Zubović started to conceive of the show in January, she was writing about her memories of her family home in Zagreb. “It almost became like a diary or memoir, and I didn’t know what to do with it.” Some people use an imagined castle or “memory palace” as a way to organise their thoughts, she said. “Like you store memories in every room. It’s a fictional thing that exists in your head for memory.” Castles too were a feature of many childhood tales, like *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland*, something the show alludes to, she said. Inside what appeared to be a former double door that was blocked off with large wooden panels, Zubović created an almost-life sized cardboard cut-out homage to the Lewis Carroll children’s novel. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Composition-1--Act-1-by-Lana-Zubovic-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) Composition 1, Act 1 by Lana Zubović There were two figures with blue ruffled collars and hearts for heads. Next to them was a teapot with legs that was filling a similarly anthropomorphised cup. “There is something very perverse and deviant about things like the tea party,” she says. In the background, ladybirds both red and black, and grey flew about, and fixed to the door, in a knot, she had created a caterpillar whose body was covered in blue, brown, green and orange letters. *The Very Hungry Caterpillar*, itself a story about eating to excess and retreating into a cocoon for weeks, was another tale she wanted to reference, she said after returning to the main office. “It was this child’s story,” she said, sitting in one of the old office chairs, while the sound of police sirens noisily travelled up from somewhere down below. “But it’s so weird, and I like playing with these things." ### Does Irish Water even know how much water data centres are using? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-irish-water-even-know-how-much-water-data-centres-are-using/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T23:17:58.000Z According to Irish Water, as of 2021, data centres across Ireland [drank about](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28322936-sdcc-q-and-irish-water-a-on-data-centre-water-2021/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 810 megalitres of water from the public mains a year – which is about 0.13 percent of overall national supply. But that same year, Meta [reported that it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28302051-meta-2025-environmental-data-index/?ref=dublininquirer.com) withdrew 928 megalitres of water for its data centres in Clonee in Meath. Planning documents [say that it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28302675-meta-clonee-operational-report-090151b280865119/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was to rely on water from the mains. That’s more than Irish Water said was consumed overall in the country that year. A spokesperson for Irish Water said on 19 June that it couldn’t lay out its methodology behind the 810 megalitres figure – or give more up-to-date figures on water use by data centres, since the AI boom. Data centres are just one type of non-domestic customer, said the spokesperson. “We don’t analyse them uniquely in planning for future demand as they would represent a very small percentage of current and future non-domestic use,” they said – “less than 1% of overall demand”. Much of the debate around data centres has focused on the climbing percentage of the country’s electricity that goes to data centres – [which had hit](https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/energy/datacentresmeteredelectricityconsumption/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 22 percent, as of 2024. But the gap in figures for water consumed by data centres in Ireland has also started to draw more attention – and breed mistrust. Environmental activists and politicians are missing key info as they try to navigate narratives around water use, and cooling technologies, and knock-on impacts, and how policy is taking this into account. When Jessika Roswall, the European Commissioner for the Environment, came to speak to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy on 11 June, she circled back to water use [a few times.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28318130-joint-committee-on-climate-environment-and-energy-on-11-june-2026/?q=data+centres&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p15) “This is a question that we also need to address, because data centres, AI and so on are really important for Europe for being competitive and secure, but we also have to be very mindful of how we distribute or use water in a smart and efficient way,” she said. Yet, there isn’t much detail available about water use of data centres in Ireland, said Labour Party TD Ciarán Aherne, who sits on that committee. He asked the Minister for the Environment on 19 June for figures on water use by data centres. But got back roughly the same overall figure for Irish Water that has been floating around for years. That it’s estimated at below 0.2 percent of total annual consumption. “I understand Uisce Éireann is currently carrying out a review of data centre businesses with a view to having updated analysis this year,” said the minister’s response. Elaine McGoff, head of advocacy with An Taisce, said it’s been frustrating trying to get a handle on how much water is used by data centres – and which water catchment they are in. Because talking about national supply isn’t that useful, given they’re concentrated in particular areas, she said. “How do data centres impact on this specific area?” ## Where’s it coming from? Back in 2021, industry analysts at Host [counted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28312846-host-report-on-data-centres-in-2021/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 70 operational data centres in Ireland, and another 8 under construction. Irish Water told a councillor in South Dublin County Council at the time that its 810 megalitres figure [was based on](https://meetings.southdublin.ie/Home/ViewReply/75396?ref=dublininquirer.com) 24 data centres being connected to the mains supply. And the others? For data centres that are cooled by water, that water may be drawn from different sources, says a spokesperson for Irish Water. “In respect of those Data Centres that are cooled by water, that water may be sourced from boreholes or from the public water supply (or a mix of both),” they said. Irish Water knows how much water it supplies daily and monthly across the country, they said. But “we cannot outline how much water is utilised cooling a Data Centre should a Data Centre have alternative sources of water.” As the public water supply in some areas becomes more stressed, data centre operators are exploring greater use of groundwater, to prevent competition between water for homes and water for data centres. But so far, there’s no public data showing how much it is already happening. The Environmental Protection Agency registers and tracks who is drawing water from groundwater with private boreholes. Anybody sucking up more than 25,000 litres a day [has to register](https://www.epa.ie/our-services/licensing/freshwater--marine/water-abstraction/do-i-need-to-register-or-apply-for-a-licence/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with the EPA, and possibly apply for a licence. But there aren’t any data centres on that list. “The register has been reviewed, and it can be confirmed that currently there are no data centres registered for groundwater abstraction or otherwise,” said an EPA spokesperson. A spokesperson for Irish Water said it couldn’t say how many data centres it counts as connected exclusively to the public water supply, how many are a mix, and how many rely solely on boreholes. “Uisce Éireann has no information in relation to the use of private water sources such as boreholes as that is outside the utility’s remit,” they said. McGoff, head of advocacy with An Taisce, said that she sees challenges with drawing from either the mains, or directly from groundwater, or rivers and lakes. “Each have problems,” she said. The Greater Dublin Area water supply is severely stressed. Uisce Eireann is struggling to meet the needs of residents from the Poulaphouca Reservoir, she said. [Hence the](https://www.water.ie/projects/national-projects/water-supply-project-east-1?ref=dublininquirer.com) Shannon pipeline project, Uisce Eireann’s plan to bring water from the Parteen Basin on the River Shannon to Peamount to supply the thirsty Dublin region. But encouraging data centres to pull from groundwater or water bodies, instead of through the mains, would have risks, said McGoff. Some data centres say that they switch to water cooling, from air cooling systems, when the temperature hits 25 degrees celsius, she said. But just as that’s when households need the water, it’s also exactly when these water bodies start to run low, she said. And when water levels drop in water bodies, it concentrates the pollution in the water, she said. “That’s when the ecological problems get amplified,” Said McGoff: “The pollution effect will be greater, the water will be warmer, the fish will die.” Whether it makes sense to draw from groundwater or mains depends on where you are, said Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. It’s the same as when people ask him about the suitability of hydropower, he says. “Immediately, I say, where?” Because the local conditions of the site are key, he said. “How much water do you have? Is it fossil groundwater or renewable groundwater?” And, what is the impact of any discharged water, he said. “If you are putting heating water back into a stream, it can increase the water temperature and damage the ecosystem.” ## Cooling considerations Irish Water’s data was based on 24 data centres connected to the mains, at a time when there were an estimated 70 operational data centres in Ireland. But that’s now far in the rear-view mirror. By 2023, there were an estimated 123 data centres in Ireland, [says a](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28302807-assessment-of-the-energy-performance-and-sustainability-mj0125107enn/?q=IE&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p25) European Commission report published in July last year. Under the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, data centres with power demand of 500kw and over [have been required to report](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/resources/preparatory-studies/minimum-performance-standards-eu-data-centres%5Fen?ref=dublininquirer.com) each year their annual water, and energy uses, to the European Commission. But operators for just 15 percent of these data centres in Ireland – 18 of them – submitted data to the commission, outlining water and energy use, [in the first round](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/publications/data-centre-energy-and-sustainability-performance-reporting-obligations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of data collection. Together, those 18 used 627 megalitres of water that year, they said. Water input [is defined](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28318194-oj-l-202401364-en-txt/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as water that enters the data centre boundary for operational purposes. A spokesperson for the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment said they couldn’t give an updated figure for how many data centres have now reported. “The Department is not in a position to provide a specific answer to this question, as the reporting process for all reporting cycles is ongoing and therefore not yet finalised,” they said. The regulation doesn’t include any penalties for data centres that don’t report, said the spokesperson. “However, it is intended that this will be addressed as part of compliance measures being legislated for in Ireland’s transposition of Article 12(1) of the \[Energy Efficiency Directive\].” Still, “it’s a shockingly low figure,” said Aherne, the Labour TD and spokesperson on climate, environment and energy, of the number that submitted figures ahead of that report. He doesn’t understand why the government isn’t publicly naming and shaming those that aren’t transparent about usage, he said. The European Commission report [said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28302807-assessment-of-the-energy-performance-and-sustainability-mj0125107enn/?q=IE&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p25), of the low submissions, that “Ireland struggled to implement the necessary systems for effective data collection”. Also, it said, data centres in “colocation” centres – where the operator is basically a landlord for rack space, and customers manage their own services and equipment – may not have access to the full set of indicators and data about performance, may collect data in different ways, or have had trouble navigating the reporting system. ## Cooling down Several data centres operators – including Equinix, ColoCrossing, and EdgeConnex – didn’t respond to queries for up-to-date figures on water use for cooling in their data centres in Ireland. But responses, and planning documents, do suggest vast variations in water use for cooling, depending on the technologies in the buildings. A spokesperson for Digital Realty – which runs eight data centres in Ireland – said it had carried out its reporting under the directive. But they wouldn’t share figures directly. But a spokesperson for Servecentric, a data centre services provider, said that it is based in a facility owned and operated by Digital Realty in Blanchardstown. They use a portion of the cooling for the facility they are in, they said, and the system in place means that it’s a small amount. “We utilise a closed-loop chilled water system, so our annual water consumption is negligible,” they said. “We have no plans to introduce any additional water cooling to the cabinet at this time.” Meanwhile, an AWS spokesperson said that its operations in Ireland withdrew about 109 megalitres of water in 2025\. That gives its centres a “water usage effectiveness” rating – the metric used to convey how much water is used per unit of computing power – that’s more than 40 times the global industry average, they said. A spokesperson for Microsoft didn’t give exact figures, but said it plans to share more detail over the coming weeks about water use at its data centre campus in Grange Castle. “Its water use is very low”, they said. “Our water use is low because cooling (and therefore water use) is only required at Grange Castle when the outside air temperature exceeds 29.4°C,” they said. That’s rare in Ireland, and so, for the vast majority of the year our cooling uses no water at all, they said. The Microsoft spokesperson said that cooling technologies are chosen carefully to take into account where centres are. “This approach is chosen specifically because it makes the most of Ireland's climate to keep both energy and water intensity low. They’re also shifting to zero-water cooling in new projects, they [said](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/12/09/sustainable-by-design-next-generation-datacenters-consume-zero-water-for-cooling/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – to closed-loop liquid cooling technology. A spokesperson for Pure DC – with [data centres in](https://puredc.com/dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ballycoolin – said it uses closed-loop water cooling at its campus there. “So there is zero operational water use,” they said. “Water use on site is for services such as staff kitchens, toilets, and showers and consistent with light commercial use from other sectors,” they said. “While we understand the public's concern about water use by data centres, most of the issues are in the US from older generation data centres, rather than the campuses across the UK & Ireland which are increasingly efficient,” they said. There are complexes in Ireland like Meta in Clonee, though, that use more than zero water – and they aren’t all old. A wide grey road runs through the IDA Business and Technology Park in Blanchardstown. On Monday late morning, the grass verges were uniform and trimmed, and the trees were evenly spaced. At its western end sit Equinix’s big data centres, with massive silver water towers, tall fat tubes behind a high fence. The data centre operator [finished its](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28301912-brock-mcclure02092025124156-equinix-data-centres-in-blanchardstown/?ref=dublininquirer.com) first big data centre building here in November 2022, and a second was up a year later. A third [is on the](http://newsroom.equinix.com/2026-03-20-Equinix-begins-construction-on-new-data-center-in-Dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) way. Once the trio are all up and running, they’ll probably consume about 300 megalitres of water a year, said Equinix, in planning documents [back in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28310780-equinox-db5x-dublin-xscale-data-center-fdea5ecbb63c11ea85e6005056926a5c/?ref=dublininquirer.com) April 2020. Using water-heavy cooling technology, though, means less electrical energy consumed by the site, saving 41,000 MWHr per year, the document says, “which is significant”. McGoff, of An Taisce, says she is conscious of the wider context that a data centre using little water may, on the flipside, be using more electricity. That it can be a trade-off, she said. The need to look beyond a single scrap of data about a data centre’s resource use – and consider different points altogether – is raised in a report by the European Commission [published](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28314823-assessment-of-next-steps-to-promote-the-energy-performance-mj0125123enn/?ref=dublininquirer.com) last October. Single indicators can mislead. A data centre may have high energy efficiency which looks great, but it may also rely on fossil fuels, it says, or it may rely on fossil fuels but reuse waste heat. And, “since the use of water-intensive evaporative cooling is a very effective measure for reducing energy consumption, there is a well-known conflict of objectives between water consumption and energy consumption,” it says. In other words, using more water can mean using less energy. All these complexities are why McGoff gets so frustrated with the lack of transparency about data centres, she said. The lack of verified and public data around how many data centres there are exactly, what technologies they rely on, how much water and energy they actually use. “If you’re not using very much, prove it,” she said. Indeed, the shortcomings of the conversation about water use, and how it is tracked, go further still, says Madani, the water scientist at United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. Public debate is obsessed with the water used for cooling, he said. But this is just one element of the water footprint of data centres, he said. How much water do data centres use? “It depends on which part of the value chain we talk about,” he said. There’s the water footprint from manufacturing semiconductors, from the construction, from mining the critical minerals, he said. “In every step, you have a water footprint.” It’s easy to confuse people with all the terminology, he said. But people should ask the question about water impacts across the value chain, he said, – it’s just not a comfortable question that people want to ask. If he tells people that the battery for his electric vehicle depended on mining lithium and worsening drought in parts of Bolivia, it sounds ugly, said Madani. “So, selfishly, we discard all this and take only a piece of the problem.” ### Make-up of new board to guide city-centre regeneration suggests focus on business and property development URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/make-up-of-new-board-to-guide-city-centre-regeneration-suggests-focus-on-business-and-property-development/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T23:18:27.000Z On 15 June, a new [16-member advisory board](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/inaugural-meeting-interim-advisory-board-dublin-city-councils-proposed-special-purpose-vehicle-lead?ref=dublininquirer.com) met for the first time in the Mansion House. The group is meant to guide the implementation of the Dublin City [Taskforce report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28318132-capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – which promised "10 Big Moves" to transform the city centre. The makeup of the board raised a few eyebrows: it includes councillors, business people, institutional investors and finance experts. But almost fully absent are the voices of the inner-city community development organisations, homeless and drug services, residents of social housing, Gardaí or anyone working in community safety. Dermot McCarthy, a former secretary general of the Department of An Taoiseach, who is also the chairperson of the board of St Andrew's Resource Centre on Pearse Street, is the only "community sector" representative. At the moment, it seems that the council's plan for the city centre is focused on tackling dereliction it is easy to forget that the Dublin City Taskforce was set up in the aftermath of the November 2023 Dublin riots. The taskforce, led by David McRedmond, who was then CEO of An Post, [initially had a focus on safety](https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2024/0509/1448174-taskforce/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and the [10 Big Moves](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28318132-capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it announced in October 2024 recommended that 1,000 extra Gardai be stationed in the city centre. The taskforce also called for the total regeneration of social housing flat complexes and an overhaul of services for vulnerable people, tackling dereliction and waste, sprucing up O’Connell Street, overhauling transport, and marketing the city centre as a destination. The Department of the Taoiseach [announced](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/process-to-redevelop-dublins-iconic-general-post-office-complex-agreed-by-government/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Tuesday that it had settled on a process for redeveloping the General Post Office on O'Connell Street. But neither the department, nor the council have responded to queries about progress on the other Big Moves. “At this stage, the focus is on the public realm,” says McRedmond, who is now chair of the advisoryboard, and former CEO of An Post. “Essentially what is under the council’s direct control (real estate; streetscape; litter, dereliction, etc.),” he said by text. “But as the SPV becomes established, it will deal with the other big moves,” he said, referring to the plan to set up a council-controlled "special purpose vehicle", a kind of company, to take charge of the effort. Mark Fay, a spokesperson for the North Wall Community Association, said he was sceptical that the taskforce would focus on the things that working-class communities in the city actually need or want. The needs of the working-class residents of the inner-city are often not aligned with the desires of the business community, Fay said. “Clean-up operations mean pushing problems out of the business districts into other areas,” says Fay. “It's all optics.” He also fears that the remit of the SPV is gentrification and the erasure of working-class communities from the city centre, he says. ## Who is doing what? The Department of the Taoiseach, council officials – and later councillors – decided that the best way to roll out projects in the city centre is not through the normal council channels but through a new council-owned company. So they started a process to set up an SPV to steer efforts. But instead of waiting for that all to be done, they set up a new Project Management Unit within the council, to get started in the meantime. What the Project Management Unit and the proposed SPV are being established to do really depends on who you ask. Council officials [have told councillors](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-happened-to-the-dublin-city-taskforces-promise-of-1-000-extra-gardai-and-the-total-regeneration-of-dilapidated-social-homes/) at meetings that the purpose of the SPV is solely or primarily to tackle dereliction. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner says councillors have been told repeatedly by council officials that the SPV is being established solely to buy up derelict properties, renovate them, and bring them back into use. “There have been constant warnings about mission creep,” she says. The makeup of the board appears to fit with that, says Horner. “This is where I’m just concerned about the whole entity,” she says. “It is trying to be a property development company, not a community development company.” The Department of the Taoiseach didn’t answer a question about whether it is progressing all of the 10 Big Moves, or which ones have been abandoned. The promise of much-needed council flat regeneration has been significantly watered down in the roadmap, and the promised 1,000 additional Gardaí are rarely, if ever, mentioned. More than 18 months on, Garda numbers show only about 40 additional gardaí stationed in the city centre. [What happened to two of the biggest moves put forward by the Dublin City Taskforce?“The implementation has fallen at the first hurdle, which was government funding,” says Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-9c1a3876-638f-4c7a-9b30-387ae84ff253.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/gardai-on-grafton-street-credit-sam-tranum-1-1-a63d8b34-6fc7-4947-bd48-a08c05b38a64.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-happened-to-the-dublin-city-taskforces-promise-of-1-000-extra-gardai-and-the-total-regeneration-of-dilapidated-social-homes/) The Department of Justice hasn't responded to queries on its plans to increase Garda numbers in the city centre further, and a timeline for that. A spokesperson for the Department of the Taoiseach redirected questions to the council, and pointed to a [Dáil statement](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-05-19/123/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Taoiseach in May. In it, Fianna Fáil's Micheál Martin, said that an oversight board, including all relevant departments and agencies, and chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, is overseeing [the roadmap](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28030231-roadmap-for-delivery-dublin-city-taskforce-report-june-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to deliver Dublin City Taskforce report. Fay, of the North Wall Community Association, says residents of Sheriff Street wonder if part of the planis to ultimately to [flatten their area](https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-on-sheriff-street-want-to-know-if-there-are-plans-to-raze-and-redevelop-their-area/) to make way for private development. In May of last year, McRedmond wrote in a *Business Post* column about plans to completely rebuild Sheriff Street. “If we transform the core, there are other amazing adjacent plans, such as \[property developer\] Ballymore’s, to completely rebuild the Sheriff Street area from Amiens Street to Spencer Dock," he wrote. In July of last year, McRedmond spoke about how he saw the regeneration of working-class areas of London as examples of successful regeneration. Although, others have seen changes in London as gentrification and displacement, with large numbers of social tenants having to leave homes and neighbourhoods, to make way for development. Independent Councillor Cieran Perry says he is backing the SPV as a similar initiative in Limerick has had success in tackling dereliction. “The idea is to provide housing for frontline workers, while also tackling dereliction,” he says. “I support it if it does what it says on the tin.” [The council has a new plan to regenerate the city centre “street by street”“We should be able to try these big things and not be afraid of failure,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell, who has spearheaded the initiative.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-4042f425-6008-436e-bbff-92c217830923.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/North-Frederick-Street.--main-image--1-948f447e-b766-4ef0-927e-6ce54274b54d.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) Other things, like social housing regeneration, could become part of the remit later, says Perry. He is worried that the SPV answers to the chief executive of Dublin City Council, not to councillors. “Ideally, it would be run by the councillors, but that is not the case,” he says. But he says the benefit is that it would be more agile and flexible than the council itself. Councillors want to buy the Moore Street Terrace, he says. There is a longstanding campaign to preserve the terraced houses on Moore Street, which were [used by the rebels in the 1916 Rising](https://heritageireland.ie/unguided-sites/14-17-moore-street/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to access the GPO. Perry says that he hopes that the SPV would be able to do things like that as well as provide housing more quickly. ## The make-up of the board A council official proposed, and councillors [in February approved](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-sit-on-the-advisory-board-set-to-shape-the-future-of-dublin-city-centre/), a list of the areas of expertise to be represented on an advisory board. People should be picked based on their backgrounds in finance, real estate, banking, “retail/new communities”, institutional investment, the law, and politics, they agreed. ****Members of the advisory board** Former An Post CEO David McRedmond chairs the advisory board, and the new Project Management Unit is led by Robert Watt, former secretary general of the Department of Health. The elected members on the advisory board are Fine Gael councillors Ray McAdam and Colm O’Rourke, Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell, Sinn Féin Councillor Kourtney Kenny, independent Councillor Nial Ring and Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney. The other members are Pat Burke, CEO of the Mercantile Group; Jason Murphy, CEO of [Centrus Advisors Limited](https://centrusfinancial.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com); Eva Pau, managing director of Asia Market and TV host; Deirdre Hayes, head of property for Irish Life Investment Managers; and Davina Saint, non-executive director with board memberships at Stripe, NAMA, Blackrock, Northern Trust Fiduciary Services and Nearwater Capital. As well as Dermot McCarthy, a former secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, who is also the chair of the board of St. Andrew's Resource Centre on Pearse Street; Anne Graham, former CEO of the National Transport Authority; Vincent Wall, former financial journalist and communications executive; and Kathleen Stokes, assistant professor in urban geography at Dublin City University. Noel Wardick, the CEO of Dublin City Community Co-op, an alliance of 12 grassroots, Dublin inner-city, community development organisations, says he is surprised that residents' groups and community groups are not represented. He welcomed the [appointment](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/dublin-city-task-force-robert-watt-to-head-up-project-management-unit-and-be-ceo-designate-of-special-purpose-vehicle/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of former Department of Health secretary general Robert Watt as CEO of the board. “We were very concerned for the last couple of years that the whole process appeared to be in limbo,” he says, so it is good to see movement. “However, we are disappointed that not all stakeholders appear to have a voice or representation on the board, and we would ask that that be addressed,” he says. “At the moment, it seems top-heavy on the corporate and commercial side of things,” says Wardick. “That is a huge component of the city, but also thousands of people live in the city, and it appears they have been overlooked.” Perry, the independent councillor, says he agrees that the overall makeup of the board is business, financial and developer-oriented, but he says councillors are there to represent the views of the community, and he has full confidence in UCD assistant professor in geography Kathleen Stokes, another member. Perry says he is putting his trust in the board that this is not a gentrification project, but he is concerned about councillors losing control of public land. “That is my biggest concern,” he says. [Could Dublin councillors be cut out of major plans for city centre – as councillors have been in Limerick?Dublin councillors were looking at Limerick as a model for regeneration. But there’s disquiet there now, with concerns about transparency, oversight, and control over development.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-4ff59823-9189-4ed6-8574-070d46602a65.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Opera-Square-site-by-Laoise-Neylon-e6ae1ab2-4929-41c0-88ec-4b1e74625f23.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/could-dublin-councillors-be-cut-out-of-major-plans-for-city-centre-as-councillors-have-been-in-limerick/) Fay, of the North Wall Community Association, says that in the past, initiatives focused on sprucing upthe business district in Dublin 1, and policing campaigns**,** only pushed drug dealing and anti-social behaviour into neighbouring residential areas like Sheriff Street and Sean McDermott Street, he says. In particular, he says, An Garda Síochána'sOperation Spire around 15 years ago made things worse in disadvantaged inner-city communities. “The people in the inner-city communities are becoming anaesthetised.” Fay says he currently sits on the Dublin Docklands Oversight and Consultative Forum, where it is evident that there are groups in the city centre community that are worlds apart in their thinking about what is needed. Forum members regularly discuss plans for an open-air swimming pool in George’s Dock, he says. “I'm at the table saying, hang on for a second here, lads, before we talk about George’s Dock, can I talk about Sheriff Street?” All that separates the two places is a thick wall, he says. “On my side of the wall it is bedlam and mayhem.” He is trying to get a community centre reopened for an early years service for toddlers, he says. And to get funding for drug counselling services that help people to get sober, and stay sober, he says. “Where are the priorities here?” says Fay. “I don’t see a line of people standing down Amiens Street in Speedos and bikinis.” “I do see two and three-year-olds growing up looking at drug dealing,” he says. “That conversation goes into the air.” ### What's put the brakes on plug-in solar in Ireland? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-put-the-brakes-on-plug-in-solar-in-ireland/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T23:18:07.000Z "Broadly speaking, responses to the optional provision to promote plug-in mini solar systems were negative," [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-02-25/15/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F15) Minister for Energy Darragh O'Brien, a Fianna Fáil TD, in the Dáil in February. He was talking about feedback [received by the](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-02-25/15/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F15) department 18 months earlier, during a consultation on a package of European Union-suggested measures [aimed at](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1711?ref=dublininquirer.com) dampening high energy prices for homes and businesses. One measure had been to encourage plug-in solar. Also known as balcony solar, these are handy, off-the-shelf solar panels which in some other countries, such as Germany, can already be bought in supermarkets and shops, carried home, and just plugged into a wall socket, generating and feeding in electricity the home can then use. At the moment, these kits are not really available, or encouraged, in Ireland. Earlier this month, the Department of Energy [published the](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/consultations/consultation-on-the-electricity-market-design-directive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 20 submissions it got during that consultation. Five bodies had weighed in on plug-in solar. All five were sceptical, or against. Mostly, these submissions pointed to broad safety concerns. But four of those five submissions did also come from utilities, or organisations representing bodies which could see their bottom lines dented by scaled-up plug-in solar. The Electricity Association of Ireland (EAI) – the industry body representing electricity generators, network operators, and energy suppliers on the island of Ireland – said it was against. As did, individually, some of the EAI's members – Energia, Bord Gáis, and Electric Ireland, which is the retail arm of ESB. ESB Networks – another member of EAI – also weighed in, asking for more consultation with the department on it. Ossian Smyth, the Green Party's spokesperson on climate and energy, said the fact that Germany now has more than a million households registered with plug-in solar – and given the UK government is moving fast now on it too – shows that safety concerns are easily addressable. "I don't think the Germans are known as the most reckless people in the world," he said. And, indeed, there has been more movement recently to enable plug-in solar in Ireland. In May, O'Brien asked ESB Networks to accelerate any changes needed to enable plug-in solar to be safely rolled out in Ireland. A spokesperson for ESB Networks said that it is working on this. It has reviewed options to speed the roll-out of plug-in solar, and looked at how other countries' are doing it, they said. They have identified changes to standards and procedures to help remove barriers to adoption for households, without compromising network integrity and performance, they said. "ESB Networks estimates that these changes will take up to 12 months to implement." ## Safety concerns In [his May letter ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28324931-darragh-obrien-to-esb-networks-433128a0-3736-4766-bb6e-e4ae20fcc3c4/?ref=dublininquirer.com)to Nicholas Tarrant, the managing director of ESB Networks, O'Brien pointed to progress in smoothing the way for plug-in solar in the UK. "Their move toward simplifying the connection process for small-scale plug-and-play devices suggests that a safe, standardized framework is achievable without compromising grid integrity," he wrote. Making sure any plug-in solar rollout in the UK – which has a similar electricity system to Ireland – is safe, is a bit more complicated than it was in Germany, said Mark Coles, head of technical regulations at the UK's Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). One reason is down to what are known as "residual current devices" (RCDs). RCDs are trip switches, basically, which cut off electricity if they detect a leak of current, he said. Germany banned alternating current (AC)-type RCDs in the mid-1980s, he said. While the UK and Ireland haven't. These AC-type RCDs can be blinded by direct current (DC) flowing into a circuit. So, that includes from the current that flows into the wires from plug-in solar. If blinded, they don't trip when they should, he said, risking electric shocks or fires. Germany requires RCDs rated for bidirectional devices – for electricity flowing into and out of the wiring, he said, and has rules that any electrical installers need to consider whether other input sources need to be taken into account. "Germany were steps ahead of us," says Coles. That's why in the UK, where many homes may have old wiring, the IET's position is to encourage people to get that checked before they plug in any solar panels to the sockets, he said. "Get your installation checked, to make sure it's suitable for the installation of power coming in." Part of the appeal of plug-in solar in Ireland has been that it can reach households who have missed out on the renewable energy wave, including renters who otherwise rely on green landlords to see it as within their interests to upgrade the energy sources in their homes. Coles says he is conscious that any need for prior checks does mean that if there are issues, it costs to fix them, and the concept of quick access is undermined. But he has been in meetings where fire brigades have said the last thing they want is to send fire fighters into buildings to deal with problems that should have been foreseen, he said. "It's got to be right." Another big issue is the need for product standards, said Coles, so that the kits that are sold behave in a uniform way. The guidance for consumers has to be clear, too. Duncan Mathews, a power-market modeller at MaREI, the research centre at University College Cork, said similar. "In the absence of precise definitions and standards it is necessary to consider unsafe practices that may arise." Imagine somebody picks up a plug-in solar kit, hot tub and a bunch of extension cords in the middle aisle, he said. "In the absence of guiding procedures, are you 100% sure it is safe to run the extension cords into the garden and plug in the hot-tub and solar multiple extensions away from the house with the cables criss-crossing across the lawn?" Coles puts forward another scenario. Imagine somebody goes down to a supermarket, and buys plug-in solar and takes it home and plugs it into an extension lead. "And then, you buy more because you're saving money – and you come home and plug them into an extension lead." If supply is lost to the building, a wired-in solar panel will see the loss of supply shut down. But multiple plug-in solar panels may not, as they see the supply from their friends, he said. "And the question is how long does that plug sit live for?" The UK wants to get around this, by saying that you should only have one plug-in solar unit per home for safety, he said. But some people are going to ignore that of course, he said, and shared houses are vulnerable to that. Mathews, the power-market modeller, says that it is important also to think about oversight of the overall system into the future too. "The electricity network is a large, interconnected machine shared by everyone. It is in all of our interests that it be managed an operated to high standards," he said. Its easier for network operators such as ESB Networks to do this if they know what generators are out there and feeding in, he said, including small ones such as plug-in solar. "That way, the network operators can better understand, for example, how much electricity demand is expected in a given area in summer versus winter and how is that evolving. From there, they can plan the network's needs," said Mathews. ## Surmountable problems Smyth, the Green Party spokesperson on climate and energy, said he was frustrated with the response from the minister, O'Brien, in February, which said that 18 months after the public consultation, more consideration was required. "They moved so fast on subsidising diesel and petrol," Smyth said, referring to the government's response to the fuel-price protests in April. Here's a measure that could take the edge off bills for people who live in apartments, and renters, who usually miss out on renewable-energy schemes, Smyth said. "It's very hard to have any renewable energy if you're a tenant or living in a flat." Coles, at IET, says that in the UK, his organisation isn't trying to stop the government there in its pursuit of clean and safe renewable energy. "We're just flagging the concerns as we see them." Then, policymakers can work through the list, Coles said, and address what arises. Indeed, said Mathews, at UCC. "I believe these problems are entirely surmountable and ultimately should not prevent the enablement of plug-in solar in Ireland – but they should be given rigorous consideration." He pointed to the findings of a recent independent report looking at the safety and compatability of plug-in solar in the UK. It found that "plug-in PV \[photovoltaic solar\] systems can demonstrate broadly safe and technically coherent behaviour", he said. But it also highlighted the need for well-defined equipment standards, a registration/notification process to inform the network operator of the intention to install plug-in solar, and "customer guidance for safe electrical operation and domestic installation". "I strongly echo the report's findings and recommendations, particularly that consumer facing information should form part of the control framework," he said. Maybe, presenting a registration certificate could be a condition of sale, he said. "This could ensure that systems are registered and consumers have been presented with guiding information about safe installation." ## Moving ahead? A spokesperson for Bord Gáis Energy, one of the utilities that had objected to plug-in solar during the consultation 18 months back, set out a different position now in response to a press query. "Bord Gáis Energy supports the introduction of plug-in solar in Ireland as a practical, low-cost way for more households to generate their own electricity and reduce bills. It has the potential to widen access to solar energy, particularly for renters and those living in apartments," said the spokesperson last week. "We recognise that these systems are already being deployed in other European markets," he said. "The priority now is to ensure Ireland has the right framework in place so they can be introduced safely and at scale." A spokesperson for Energia, though, said its position is the same as at the time of the consultation: "We believe that plug-in solar may not be appropriate due to safety concerns." A spokesperson for ESB Networks said that it is engaging with the Energy Networks Association (ENA) in the UK, to align approaches across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It supports the roll-out, they said, under certain conditions: that public safety is assured, network integrity is protected, devices sold and used are up to standard – and that the "distribution system operator" has sight of who has it connected, with a simple registration process in place. Changes to ESB Network's standards and procedures are under its remit. But setting how plug-in solar and battery devices have to be up to safety standards and meet a wiring-safety framework, that's not ESB Network's remit, said the spokesperson. "ESB Networks has therefore convened a cross-industry group, including representatives from the CRU \[Commission for the Regulation of Utilities\], NSAI \[National Standards Authority of Ireland\] and other relevant bodies, with a view to establishing a shared pathway to accelerate the deployment of plug-in solar," they said. "The first meeting of this group took place on 9 June, and a follow-on meeting has been scheduled," they said. Smyth, the Green Party spokesperson on climate and energy, says he thinks that one reason it has taken so long to get to this stage is that large institutions can be quite conservative. "They can be institutionally cautious." But it shouldn't take much to encourage a plug-in solar boom, he said – just changes to a guidebook. "It's an administrative change." ### New scheme to tempt parents to switch to re-usable nappies launches today URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-scheme-to-tempt-parents-to-switch-to-re-usable-nappies-launches-today/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T23:17:35.000Z Macarena Honorato, who lives in Inchicore, has a 20-month-old baby boy, still in nappies. Recently, her own mother pulled out some old pieces of muslin that she used for nappies when Honorato was a baby herself – along with the pins to fasten the nappies shut. “I was like, ‘This is not safe at all’. They were metal ones back in the day. How did we survive?” Honorato said by phone on Thursday, laughing. But reusable cloth nappies have come a long way since, says Kate Doyle of the Cloth Nappy Library Ireland. Now, they have an absorbent cloth layer, and a water-resistant outer layer. It's just like a disposable nappy but you put it in the washing machine, she says – and it can be used again over years if a parent has more children. “What's available today for parents is significantly easier than what your mum used to do,” she says. “It's a viable, practical solution.” Because there is a problem with the disposables. At [last count](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28324727-2022-household-municipal-waste-characterisation-booklet/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2022, about 10 percent of the waste in households' black bins in Ireland was disposable nappies. "It's a huge source of waste, the disposable, single-use plastic nappies,” says Abi O'Callaghan-Platt, director of policy with the environmental group Voice Ireland. “But it’s one people don't really consider because it's just such a norm." Voice Ireland has worked with councils across Ireland in recent years on schemes to try to renormalise cloth nappies, and tackle the nappy-waste mountain – and it's now launching one with Dublin City Council. Under the scheme, people can [apply](https://www.voiceireland.org/cloth-nappy-incentive-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com#apply) to Voice Ireland, as funded by the participating councils, for a free voucher for a cloth nappy starter kit. Inside, are 10 “birth to potty” cloth nappies, 12 reusable cloth wipes and a storage bag. Cloth Nappy Library Ireland also runs free workshops and support groups, to share how to properly wash and maintain cloth nappies. The modern cloth nappy isn’t as “fiddly” as they once were, says Doyle. “They come in a one-piece design. You pick it up and you put it on the baby in one step, there's no folding." ## Waste of waste So far, cloth nappy schemes have been set up by six other councils in Ireland. “The majority of them promote it through the hospitals, so if you go to a maternity hospital, there's a poster there in the antenatal clinic, and you can just scan the QR code and be taken to the website,” says O'Callaghan-Platt of Voice Ireland. But supplies don’t last long, she says. They're popular. Honorato says she had no idea that reusable nappies had progressed. She is now really keen to give them a try with her baby boy, she says. Those who do try generally find it positive, according to follow-up surveys by Voice Ireland, which everyone who participates in schemes must commit to. In Munster, 76 percent of participating households in a 2023 scheme more than halved their reliance on disposables, it found. More than 90 percent said they are likely to continue using cloth nappies, and more than 80 percent would recommend cloth nappies to others. O'Callaghan-Platt points to the research by the UK government on environmental benefits of switching to reusables. Reusables have a 25 percent lower carbon footprint than single-use alternatives, [found](https://www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk/Asset-library/15724-ev0493-nappy-lca-report-final.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) the UK Department of Environment's 2023 *Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies*. Also, reusable cloth nappies are cheaper over time, said O’Callaghan-Platt – especially if the parents and caregivers look after several kids. ## Options You don’t have to go fully reusable, says Doyle, of the Cloth Nappy Library, who also runs her own reusable nappy company, [EcoKinly](https://www.ecokinly.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “When you hear someone on the radio asking you to get the bus to work today, or cycle to school, they’re not telling you to sell your car and switch entirely to the bus – it’s kind of like that with reusables,” she says. Some parents might only use them at night time, or every other day, she says. Some people just use the reusable wipes, or reusable swim nappies, she says. But the more people know these are options, the better, she says. That's why the Cloth Nappy Library, a non-profit organisation, offers nappy loan kits, so people can try them for a while first off. Volunteers dotted around the country can hand over a try-before-you-buy kit, with a mix of styles and brands, for between €20 and €30. They’ll post them too, says Doyle. People can keep them for various lengths of time, depending how young the baby is. If going full-time with reusable nappies, people need between 20 and 25 in their rotation, says Doyle. But it depends if they still want to mix them with disposable ones, she said. Honorato says that while she is part of a parents' group who share toys and clothes, she isn’t sure about using borrowed library nappies – but is fully on board with making a switch to reusables. There is the savings sure, she says. But mainly for her, the attraction is environmental. “If we can try a little bit to not be part of that 10 percent,” she says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Leave the office, hit the quays for a hooley, study the kitchen table URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-leave-the-office-hit-the-quays-for-a-hooley-study-the-kitchen-table/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T23:18:17.000Z 💡 Come Join us for Dublin Inquirer Summer School 2026! This weekend, 27–28 June, we'll be running six sessions on how to get info from local government, about what it's planning/ doing/not doing in your neighbourhood, and how to annoy them into making positive changes. Attend as many or few as you want - [Learn more here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/). ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Long Day At The Office** On [Monday](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/175389?ref=dublininquirer.com), Dublin City Council granted developer Stormborn Capital Acquisition Three Limited permission to redevelop Phibsborough Shopping Centre with its brutalist tower slated to be turned into a nine-storey, 150-bedroom hotel. Ahead of the tower’s regeneration, Richmond Road Studios will be holding a “goodbye exhibition” and programme of events on the fourth floor this week. Long Day At The Office is the studios’ collective send-off to the tower which has served as their home over the last four years following their eviction from the original Richmond Road Studios in Fairview. The group exhibition features work from the studios’ members and will open at 6pm this evening. The dress code is “office core”. Also launching in the tower this evening is multidisciplinary artist Lana Zubović’s debut solo show *T*he House of Complex (The Necromancer). Zubović will also be up in the tower on Saturday 27 June, at 1pm to discuss the show. That isn’t all though. On Friday (26 June), at 6pm there is a special screening of [*Displace: the battle for Dublin*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-film-documents-dubliners-resistance-to-subordination-of-social-life-to-profit/). Directed by James Redmond, the black-and-white documentary explores the city’s housing crisis, decline in cultural spaces and activism. Among the stories Redmond points his lens towards is the April 2022 studio eviction, with the film featuring contributions from Richmond Road members [Maeve Brennan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-city-short-of-spaces-for-artists-to-work-painter-maeve-brennan-is-about-to-lose-hers/), [Aoife Ward](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aparthotel-art-gallery-that-replaced-the-tivoli-theatre-a-new-exhibition-critiques-hotels-pushing-out-dublin-8-cultural-spaces/) and [Taoiseach Shame](https://www.dublininquirer.com/though-unable-to-find-a-permanent-perch-painter-and-performer-taoiseach-shame-continues-to-create/). Finally, on Saturday at 11am, architect Cormac Murray will be up in the studios to deliver a talk on the history and design of Phibsborough Tower. The show will continue until Tuesday 30 June before Richmond Road relocates to their new location in Glasnevin Industrial Estate next month. All of the events are free. But please note that the tower will be closed on Sunday, and visits on Monday and Tuesday are by appointment only. To make a booking, contact Richmond Road Studios [here](https://www.instagram.com/richmondroadstudios/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **This is not a table // this is a table** Precisely one area code south of Phibsborough, artist and Onion Boys singer James Carroll Freeney will be launching his new exhibition This is not a table // this is a table in Clancy Quay Studio on Islandbridge this evening. In This is not a table… Freeney contemplates an object as ordinary as one’s kitchen table as a “site of profound human experience”, becoming a “place where conversations linger, absences become realised, and generations overlap”. This new collection veers towards the abstract, like a murkier version of Joan Miró, and draws inspiration from the concept of block time: the idea that the past, present and future all exist simultaneously. Using the kitchen table as a recurring motif, Freeney considers the ways in which fragments of ourselves remain in a place long after a moment has passed. This is not a table // this is a table opens at 6pm this evening, and will run in Chamber House until Monday 29 June. For more information, follow Clancy Quay Studio [here](https://www.instagram.com/clancy%5Fquay%5Fstudio/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Jessie and the Veil** Over in Marrowbone Books on Friday evening, folk rock group Jessie and the Veil will be performing a free gig at 7pm. Fronted by singer Jessie Dingle, the five-piece emerged with their bright, ethereal debut single, *An Bhfuil Tú i nGrá Léi*? back in February. Using Irish and English in their lyrics, the group blends the storytelling aspect of folk music with the theatricality of artists like Kate Bush and Florence & the Machine. There are no tickets. They’re operating on a “first come, first served” basis here, so you should probably head down a little early. If things don’t work out, however, there is still a chance to catch the band later this summer when they headline the Soundhouse on 6 August with support from Local Noise, Even Angels and Dollmen. Tickets for that gig are available [here.](https://thesoundhouse.ie/tc-events/jessie-the-veil-local-noise-even-angels-and-dollmen/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Western Girls’ Pride Hooley** Then, on Saturday night, “rowdy outlaw” DJ duo Western Girls are returning to Sin É for their annual Pride Hooley. For the occasion, DJs KWOO and Hag Trader have vowed to spin everybody from Eartha Kitt and Shania Twain to the Pet Shop Boys and CMAT, as well as a few obscure grooves and Dustin the Turkey floor-fillers (ideally anything off 1997’s seminal *Faith of our Feathers*). Joining them on the bill this year is the anarchic, stylophone-driven punk of Vulture Fun, a band that promises to put the “ass in asset management”, and the dreamy, clanging post-punk of Dose, whose debut EP [*Sycophantic*](https://dosedublin.bandcamp.com/album/sycophantic-ep?ref=dublininquirer.com) is a must-hear for fans of Warpaint, Dry Cleaning and '90s Sonic Youth. The hooley starts at 8pm, and finishes late. Admission is free, but booking is advised and can be done [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/western-girls-pride-hooley-sin-e-tickets-1991123015539?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***A*rtists’ Studios in Henrietta Street 1976-2026, Selected Works** Last week the Irish Georgian Society unveiled its new exhibition celebrating the Artists’ Studios in Henrietta Street. As the name strongly suggests, Artists’ Studios in Henrietta Street 1976-2026, Selected Works brings together works by a range of painters, printmakers and sculptors who lived or worked on the inner-city street over the past 50 years. Although, it is important to note that the exhibition itself isn’t on Henrietta Street. It’s at the IGS’ City Assembly House on South William Street. Rather than acting as a comprehensive study, the exhibition takes a look at 15 artists who were shaped by the street and its Georgian heritage since the mid-'70s. Curated by Francesca and Peter Murray, the show features works by artists including Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Eithne Jordan, Geraldine O’Neill, Diana Copperwhite, Mick O’Dea, John Kelly and Charles Cullen, as well as photographs by Anna Rackard, David Davison and Perry Ogden. Artists’ Studios… explores the street as a home, a workspace and a source of inspiration, reflecting on its tenement history, and the subsequent periods of restoration and renewal today. Admission is free. The exhibition will run until 10 July. For more information, visit the Irish Georgian Society’s event page [here](https://www.igs.ie/events/henrietta-street-and-its-artists-an-exhibition-curated-by-francesca-flowers?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Artists'%20Studios%20in%20Henrietta%20Street%201976%2D2026%20is%20co%2D,studio%20for%20over%20forty%20years.). **Billy Ramsell and *Render*** Finally, on Sunday afternoon, poet Billy Ramsell will be upstairs in Books Upstairs to read from his new collection *Render*. Published by Banshee Press, *Render* is set in Barcelona during the second half of the 20th century, and is presented as the selected works of a fictional poet, Alberto Cenas, “the lonely scion of a wealthy Catalan family”. As well as delivering a few readings from this lyrical character study, Ramsell will also be in conversation with poet and playwright Adam Wyeth. The event begins at 2pm, and admission is free. But, to repeat everyone’s favourite catchphrase, [booking is advised.](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/reading-billy-ramsell-discussing-reading-from-render/?ref=dublininquirer.com) You can also reserve a copy of *Render* [here.](https://booksupstairs.ie/product/render/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **A Study of Skin and Shadow** This weekend, artists Babs Daly and Declan Kelly will be putting on a new exhibition, A Study of Skin and Shadow at the Dean Docklands. Organised in partnership with Dublin Pride, A Study of Shadow and Skin will run from Friday 26 June to Sunday 28. For more information, follow [Kelly](https://www.instagram.com/%5Fdeclankelly/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [Daly](https://www.instagram.com/babsdaly/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on their respective social media pages. **SuperLoo** Drainage experts Dyno-Rod will be scouring the country to find the nation’s next SuperLoo. Originally run back in 1992 when it was won by Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan, the competition to crown a new champion of Irish bathroom excellence will make its return after more than three decades this summer. Businesses can nominate their bathroom [here](http://superloo.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), with these being judged on a criteria including cleanliness, comfort, accessibility, style, smell and ease of maintenance among other things. The closing date for applications is Friday 17 July. Adjudicators will review every application and shortlist 10 entries to face a public vote. **WE LOVE JULY 2026** Dublin City Council is inviting people of all ages to experience We Love July, a programme of four free events celebrating the city’s culture, imagination, heritage and community spirit. These free events will be taking place across four Saturdays in July from noon to 6pm. Beginning on 4 July in Smithfield, the first event *Heart of Play* promises “a joyful day of exploration, connection and shared experiences”, including live music, circus, aerial performances, workshops and more. The programme will then move to St. Patrick’s Park, Merrion Square and finally Fairview Park over the subsequent Saturdays. For more information, visit the We Love July 2026 event page [here](https://dublin.ie/whats-on/listings/we-love-july/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Pointing to process, council officials say they can't allocate bit of big masterplan lands for Traveller homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/pointing-to-process-council-officials-say-they-cant-allocate-bit-of-big-masterplan-lands-for-traveller-homes/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T05:37:18.000Z When a special planning meeting kicked off in City Hall on Monday night, Acting City Planner Emer Uí Fháthartaset the scene for the business on the agenda. First up, was the proposal to agree a masterplan, and rezonings, for a big swathe of industrial lands which sit at between Inchicore, Bluebell and Ballyfermot and could host 5,000 new homes. The goal is to create a thriving city for all and inclusive neighbourhoods, said Uí Fhátharta, not solely about increasing zoned land for homes. "Sustainable communities aren't just abstract ideas," she said. "They are felt in areas like shorter journeys to work and school, availability of creches, community centres, places for children to play in our neighbourhoods and places with vibrant streets and cleaner air." Later, People Before Profit Councillor Hazel De Nortúin pulled at that thread. She had listened to the planners' opening remarks, she said. "They talked about inclusivity, about residents of the city moving forward together, about everybody having access to services." "But I find that deeply disturbing in a way," she said. Because the council had been talking about redeveloping the Traveller accommodation at Labre Park – which sits just over the road from the masterplan lands – for 30 years without it happening, she said. The latest set-back came in April, when the council engineers said that flood risk – which had years earlier been raised, and Traveller representatives thought had been dealt with – meant that the promised new-build homes couldn't go ahead as planned. [Council breaks promise, again, of new homes for Travellers at Labre ParkAfter 30 years, the finish line for the project was supposed to be close. The cost of the u-turn will be even greater homelessness, said the coordinator of Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-a4724ab5-05ed-48fe-be07-2ded445b0cb8.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Labre-Park--Image-2--1-5268750d-7926-4b3d-9699-294d9d3adb00.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-breaks-promise-again-of-new-homes-for-travellers-at-labre-park/) So, De Nortúin had put in a submission to the latest round of consultation on the Kylemore masterplan, and put a motion down ahead of the meeting, seeking that some of the lands in the Kylemore masterplan be earmarked specifically for Traveller housing. But those were out of the scope of this stage in the process, said officials. "I think it's a slap in the face of inclusivity, of diversity of this city, if we can move to develop nearly 5,000 units and we can not even develop one new site of Traveller accommodation," said De Nortúin. The council and councillors shouldn't be moving ahead at all, if they can't do it inclusively, she said. ## **Flexibility for what** In one of his written reports, Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare [said that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28307256-report-no-1472026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-10-of-the-dubli/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as De Nortuin's change didn't relate to one of the material alterations that had gone out to public consultation, it couldn't be included in the masterplan now. But the council would review its development plan soon, Shakespeare wrote. "At which point submission can be made and the above matters" – one of which was De Nortuin's ask of earmarked land – "be considered". Also, Traveller housing can be built on any land zoned for housing, Shakespeare wrote, and there's no barrier in the masterplan to homes being built for that. The city development plan – drawn up every six years, but with occasional changes between times – maps out what can be built where in the city, and is also loaded with aspirational statements on how the council is to approach transport, housing, community spaces and such. Back in 2022, when the current development plan was being drawn up, the Office of the Planning Regulator [told the council](https://www.dublininquirer.com/show-the-sites-you-ll-use-for-promised-traveller-housing-planning-regulator-tells-dublin-city-council/) that it should mark out on maps which sites it was planning to use for Traveller accommodation. [Show the Sites You’ll Use for Promised Traveller Housing, Planning Regulator Tells Dublin City Council - Dublin InquirerIf the council can find land for deals with private developers, “why can’t it be found for Traveller homes?” asks Shay L’Estrange of the Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-ba577155-5f0b-441e-ad88-bd280bbbcb42.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5519-scaled-df347d0c-15d1-461d-83cd-c2e7e9c2f4af.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/show-the-sites-you-ll-use-for-promised-traveller-housing-planning-regulator-tells-dublin-city-council/) But then-Chief Executive Owen Keegan [batted that back](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-refuses-to-map-sites-for-traveller-homes-in-city-development-plan/), saying the council would keep working as it had been – just zoning lands generally for residential, which give them flexibility in where they put Traveller housing, he said. At the time, Traveller representatives said that, effectively, it gives the council the flexibility to put it nowhere. ## **Bringing forward more lands** The Kylemore masterplan and rezonings is one of a number of big rezonings which have been working through the council processes. The masterplan lays out the future blocks, heights, and uses of the lands, with capacity for more than 5,000 homes, schools, parks, community spaces, and a major centre with shop and office spaces around a new Kylemore Dart station. The changes have flowed from the national government's directive to local authorities to get them to rezone more lands, to drive up planning permissions, said Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin councillor at the meeting. He asked whether with the land rezonings, they're meeting targets, or surpassing targets, he said. Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey asked similar. "What is the land that currently is available, and could be developed should developers bother to do so?" he said. Deputy City Planner Malachy Bradley said that before the council began the most recent round of rezonings – Broombridge, Kylemore, and later Shanownen – it had calculated that there was about 600 hectares of land zoned for homes. These bring it up to 693 hectares, he said. It means capacity, at least, for 72,000 homes – up from 49,000 homes, he said. In his written response, Shakespeare said the council's housing department is assessing all housing development sites in the council area, and once rezoned from industrial to housing, they can look at the Kylemore masterplan lands too. "As part of this citywide assessment, sites that may meet the requirements for culturally appropriate accommodation will be identified and further investigated," he said. They hope to identify one new site on the northside, and one on the southside, he said. At the meeting, Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney asked if Bradley, the planner, could give any assurances to de Nortúin that Traveller housing would be accommodated somewhere within the Kylemore masterplan lands – even if the words aren't written in the masterplan. Said Bradley: "Unfortunately, I can't give any further assurances about actions maybe that would be better felt in the housing department maybe than planning," he said. It's not his role, he said. ## **Agreed, agreed** At the meeting, Bradley ran through the other issues that had come up during the latest round of consultations on the masterplan. There were 38 submissions. Issues raised included: making sure there is allowance for the Lucan Luas preferred route; the layout of community parks; the phasing of lands; concerns about heights being too tall; concerns about heights being too low; and traffic and transport routes. [Councillors fume over government delay of Dart line meant to serve thousands of homes planned for west Dublin“If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-d15055a4-90bb-4a03-9021-688884db894f.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/DART-ARRIVED-1-a750d5a2-c71a-4184-9548-e312410aeb37.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/) In his report on the submissions, Shakespeare recommended [no changes.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28308862-report-no-1122026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-10-to-the-dubli/?ref=dublininquirer.com) And, councillors agreed the draft masterplan and the land rezonings – with two dissentions, from De Nortúin, and her party colleague Councillor Conor Reddy. ### In Stoneybatter, an annual tour of local cats – from the gentle giant to the chicken thief URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-stoneybatter-an-annual-tour-of-local-cats-from-the-gentle-giant-to-the-chicken-thief/ Last updated: 2026-06-27T11:54:31.000Z On Saturday morning, a man crouched on the ground on Ostman Place in Stoneybatter, shaking cat snacks out of a packet. He was trying to lure his cat, Lucozade, from under a car. The kitty had visitors. The attention had thrown him a little, said his owner. A lanky black-and-white kitty, Lucozade, poked his head out. He sniffed the treats, then tucked in, and a handful of visitors went, awwwww. Lucozade was just one of the cats available for strangers to admire on this year’s self-guided “cat crawl”, organised as part of Stoneybatter Festival – a weekend of community fun and togetherness to celebrate the neighbourhood, put together by local volunteer group Pride of Place Stoneybatter. Those joining the cat crawl got a map marked with the cats' locations and names. Nearly 20 households took part. Crawlers could stop by anytime between 11am and 1pm, to grab a glimpse of kitties in the windows, perched on cat trees or curled up on cat sofas. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Lucozade-eating-dreamies.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Lucozade eating Dreamies. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. Cats being cats, they might refuse to show up. But visitors could still read about them and admire their portraits on printouts affixed to their homes’ windows, said Sinéad Davis, the crawl’s organiser. Since last year, Davis has been organising the cat crawl, after learning about a similar community event in Toronto, Canada, she said, on Saturday morning, stood inside An Síol community development project centre on Manor Street. Last year, it went really well, despite rainy weather, she said. “I have five cats in my house, and one of them is very friendly, so I was able to bring him outside,” Davis said. People took pictures and pet him, said Davis. “It's mad how passionate cat people are.” Like the previous year, those who enjoyed the kitty crawl could scan a QR code on the map to donate to the Cat and Dog Protection Association of Ireland (CDPA). “So, last year we raised €454,” said Davis. The crawl is pretty popular, this year too, said Catherine Quinn, another festival organiser, who was standing nearby. “Monitoring social media, we get more queries about the cat crawl than anything else." ## **Kitties from the block** At 17, Billy Edwards is the oldest cat of the crawl. When a few visitors arrived at her door on Murtagh Road, it was her lunchtime, and she had no time for much else. The door was open. Billy was in the kitchen, down the hall. She stood next to her mum and gazing up at her as she prepared her grub. The woman looked up and smiled at the visitors. Billy is an orange-and-white kitty who used to live on Manor Place with her sister, but the two fell out, so she moved on, her bio said. “She loves butter,” it said. On Ben Edair Road, a man has just spotted Kerry, who has finally decided to show up to do her bit for the cat crawl. “He’s slagging it,” said the man, chuckling. Kerry is a young tabby who's “always rubbing shoulders with his crew,” his bio said. Through the glass on Prussia Street, Nala, aged five, is perched on a navy-blue imperial-style cat sofa. A calico with five siblings, but she’s a queen on “her throne”, according to her bio. Nala was fast asleep. She loves to relax in quiet places, her bio said. A few doors down, Lír, an orange-and-white boy, looked irked as he stood on a cat tree, peering at his visitors, and later, he took a nap with his back to the window. He is a “famous chicken thief”, his bio said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Mary-Diamond-with-her-lego-lookalike-at-the-window.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Mary Diamond with her lego lookalike at the window. Photo by Shamim Malekmian On Arbour Hill Road, Mary Diamond, aged about eight – “best not to try and pin a number on such an esteemed lady”, according to her bio – stood next to a Lego lookalike. Her window overlooks the pubs and shops of Arbour Hill. Basically, “she’s in the thick of it”, and knows everyone’s tea, her bio said. Mary, who has a black coat with patches of white here and there, stood motionless at the window the whole time, fixing her gaze at her visitors – as if she was sizing them up. On Viking Road, Romeo, a formidable kitty with a thick, lustrous ginger coat, tilted his head at his admirers from a cat tree as they said hello and pulled out their phones to take his photo. He seemed into it. Romeo understood the assignment, a few crawlers said. “He’s a unit,” said local immigration solicitor and cat mama Wendy Lyon, who’d shown up for the crawl. Romeo’s bio described him as a “gentle giant”. Over and over, Romeo, aged two, who is half-ragdoll and half-Maine-Coon patted on a piece of paper attached to the window to play, almost undoing it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Visitors-take-photos-of-Romeo.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Visitors take photos of Romeo. Photo by Shamim Malekmian “Gently tap the window if we are not there,” the paper said on behalf of Romeo and his half-sister Penelope. Penelope was sprawled on a human sofa nearby, grooming herself with such care. Romeo loves Penelope, and “chicken”, their bios said. A Siamese cat with ocean-blue eyes peered out the window but wasn’t participating in the crawl, based on the map. A black-and-white kitty rolled on the sun-baked asphalt, then stood up and let out a wee meow before slinking away. Pets like that kept bobbing up throughout the walk. Lyon called them “unofficial cats”. ## **Won’t you stop by?** Neighbours who didn’t have cats or hadn’t enrolled their cats for the event had joined the festival in other ways. A knot of plant pots and flower boxes sat outside some homes. One resembled an An Post mail box. That’s part of the festival, too, said Quinn, one of the organisers, earlier. Some had attached results of the 1926 census onto their windows, telling passersby the story of their homes’ long-ago occupants. A few small boys sold old toys, faded Star Wars figurines, at a stall outside their home. With the money, they would “buy cash”, said the smallest boy. “That’s gambling,” said an older kid. He wanted to buy a “car or clouds” with the profits, he said. Back on Viking Road, cat crawlers kept doting over Romeo, the ginger half-Maine Coon. A woman with short white hair hollered from her car: “All morning, I see the people stopping at the doors, isn’t that lovely?” *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 12.41 on 27 June 2026 to reflect that it was the 1926 census not 1916\. We apoligise for the error.* ### A debut album finds inspiration in an evocative object, the breakfast roll URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-debut-album-finds-inspiration-in-an-evocative-object-the-breakfast-roll/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T05:37:39.000Z The red room above Anseo on Camden Street sweltered as it quicky filled before 9pm on Saturday night. Just inside the entrance, the artist Niall Cullen towered over a small table, on which he had laid out clear grip-seal sandwich bags with cassette tapes inside. The cassette boxes were white and decorated with a cartoon sketch of a jumbo breakfast roll. It was a monochrome drawing, except for the yellow yolk, and some red zig zags for ketchup. Wavy lines of steam rose from the top of the roll. Beneath it were the words, “Breakfast Bastard”. In the back of the room, Cullen was projecting eight identical images of former president Michael D. Higgins as he delivered a speech, which surrounded the message “Album Video will play at 9.15pm”. Once 9.15pm came, and the 30 or so seats had been taken by people chattering excitedly and clutching pint glasses – the condensation on which was rapidly evaporating in the heat – Cullen stood in front of the room, “There’s a bit of confusion from some people as to what this is,” he said, as the room burst out laughing. “This is an album under the name [*Breakfast Bastard*](https://breakfastbastard.bandcamp.com/album/breakfast-bastard-2?ref=dublininquirer.com), and this is a film for the whole album.” ## **Symbolic breakfast roll** Cullen switched the film on, and the room quickly stifled a laugh as a stern looking grey-haired, grey-suited male told Gay Byrne in a 1987 episode of the *Late Late Show* that he would never encourage his 28- or 21-year-old sons to wear condoms. Edited to resemble someone channel surfing, the film jumped over to a clip of Wham! performing "I’m Your Man", then a brief video of the 1980s computer-generated TV presenter Max Headroom, a variety of adverts, and then back to the *Late Late Show* condom debate, in which the man’s wife was saying the media encouraged people to “fornicate freely”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Niall-Cullen-in-Anseo-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) Niall Cullen in Anseo. Photo by Michael Lanigan. The collage-like film was composed of bootlegged *RTÉ* archives, footage from festivals, President Higgins delivering a speech applauding artists, old videos of O’Connell Street and Capel Street, a burger being mashed by a Luas, young priests eating dinner, and CGI renderings of the present-day Dublin cityscape. As the footage rolled on, it was accompanied by pounding, lo-fi dance music, the rolling snares of drummer Jason McNamara, hazy distorted synthesizers, a deep voice chanting to tear the city down, and wonky, almost clanging melodies that accompanied a high-pitched female voice expressing her love for an AI boyfriend. The debut album from visual artist Cullen, *Breakfast Bastard* which playfully processes –through gritty electronica and grainy visuals – questions of Irish identity, sexuality, spirituality and generational trauma with its recurring motif the breakfast roll. It’s an object of convenience and indulgence, Cullen said on Tuesday. “It’s an indulgent thing, a fry-up, rammed into a luxury baguette. It felt like such a symbol of contemporary Ireland, and the perfect identity for the project.” The roll is also an object that has adapted with the times, he says. “There was a moment when all the shops like Gay Spar and Centra did ‘recession buster’ rolls. You could get it or a chicken fillet roll for €2.” It is also an object that invokes a sense of nostalgia, something which the album and accompanying video examine in a multitude of ways, he says. “People being able to see a point in time in Ireland with contemporary music layered over it, like romanticising the way public space used to be.” ## **From burgers to breakfast rolls** Cullen gradually assembled *Breakfast Bastard* over nine years, beginning in 2017, he says. It was recorded in a flat off Pearse Street, a studio on Abbey Street, in bedrooms and his parents' front room, he says. “You can even hear at the end of one track, my dad walking into the room going ‘Hiya Niall’ and the door opening before the song fades out.” But the moniker "Breakfast Bastard" has been floating around for a lot longer, he says. “It could be 20 years ago. I published maybe a song or two on Soundcloud. Some bits on Bebo.” The early days of the album coincided with a separate skateboarding project which he created under the alias Kurb Junki, he says. “I was making all these experimental videos.” Similar to Breakfast Bastard, Kurb Junki’s recurring visual motif was [a hamburger](https://www.dublininquirer.com/meet-kurb-junki-the-guy-behind-those-graffiti-hamburgers/), often sketched in chalk. “Same drawing style,” he says. “And I was painting a lot of patterns around town.” While developing the Kurb Junki project, which he has now retired, he says, the intention was to always do a solo music project. “It always felt out of reach, but something I’d tap away at, doing improvised songs, gathering hundreds of quite lo-fi phone recordings.” As the album took shape over the next few years, the remaining question was how exactly he would put it out into the world, he says. “Like, would I just put it online, or do listening sessions, or actually learn to play it live?” On Saturday night, the set-up was very simple. The premiere of *Breakfast Bastard* was presented to a crowd like a film screening, which gradually developed into a polite sit-down rave, with a few audience members at the front dancing in their seats and subtly pumping a fist in the air. Putting it out simultaneously as a cassette felt appropriate too, he said, given that the aesthetic harkens back to fuzzy VHS tapes from the '80s and '90s. The aim is to incorporate a few more live elements into future outings, including a slot at Fuinneamh Festival in Dundalk this September, he says. “And I’m also planning to do a couple of very small, surprise screenings along the coast in Dublin at swimming spots on random evenings.” *UPDATE: This article was updated at 14.51 on 25 June 2026 to include a link to the album on Bandcamp, and details about the gig in September.* ### In Donabate, locals complain that their library has shrunk URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-locals-complain-that-their-library-has-shrunk/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T13:50:45.000Z As a steady stream of kids trundled down Portrane Road to school on Tuesday morning at 8.50am, the lights were on in the new library on the outskirts of Donabate, but it hadn't yet opened its doors for the day. Known as Ballisk House, the two-storey building had been the coastal town's credit union [until it closed in May 2021](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-council-plans-to-appoint-contractor-later-this-year-to-turn-ballisk-house-into-new-library/). After, it sat vacant for more than four years. Fingal County Council finally brought it back to life, relaunching it as the local library in January. Outwardly, Ballisk House has had minor tweaks. The council got it repainted, from yellow to fresh white. A large rectangular sign hangs over the doorway, where there used to be an oval one and a clock. Until last year, Donabate’s library was 200 metres east of Ballisk House, in the town’s community centre. And, in a town where locals have, for years, been asking the council to deliver more amenities, the council officials championed the move as an opportunity to free up space in the community centre so more activities can go on over there. But since the new library opened six months ago, more than a few locals have expressed disillusionment at how the project has fared. Ballisk House was supposed to be an improvement on the old library but it is falling short of what the town expected, said Ailbhe Cantwell, a local of Donabate since 2018\. “There is very little floorspace. The house isn’t fit for purpose. It’s all corridors, walkways and fire exits instead of usable space.” The upgrade seems more like a downgrade, says [a local petition,](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/give-donabate-back-a-suitable-libray?ref=dublininquirer.com) launched on 3 March, and which has to date gathered 259 signatures. “\[U\]nfortunately, the new library is 169 square metres – over 200 square metres smaller than the previous space.” The council still has plans to add an extension, says Labour Councillor Corina Johnston. But there's no clear timeline for when, she says. “It has to go through a planning process, designs, so I mean look it, it’s still a number of years away.” Many local readers are opting to trek to the libraries in Skerries or Rush instead of the one on their doorsteps, Cantwell says. “I’ve been down once in six months, and I used to go once a week. I have to go to Swords now.” ## **Rocky road to Donabate library** In August 2023, Fingal County Council [confirmed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-council-plans-to-appoint-contractor-later-this-year-to-turn-ballisk-house-into-new-library/) that it was redeveloping Ballisk House as a new public library for Donabate. They started work on the €2 million refurbishment in February 2025, [said a council press release](https://www.fingal.ie/news/work-commences-new-donabate-library-ballisk-house?ref=dublininquirer.com). That release also said the work was split into two phases. In the first, the council would deliver a library in the existing structure. In the second, it would “consider” building an extension to Ballisk House, planning for which had begun, it said. But, the project quickly came to a halt when DP Crossroads, a local campaign group asking for more community facilities in Donabate and Portrane, [sought a judicial review](https://www.dublininquirer.com/high-court-rebuffs-case-taken-by-donabate-locals-trying-to-push-for-more-community-facilities/) against An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant permission to Glenveagh Living Limited for phase two of its large-scale residential development in Ballymastone. DP Crossroads challenged the decision, arguing that Glenveagh should have delivered a community facility during the first phase of construction, in accordance with [Donabate's local area plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23910302-donabate-lap-2016-text-part-1/?mode=search&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p9), before ABP allowed them to proceed with the second. But, the campaign group withdrew their case that April. In response, Fingal’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-ballisk-house-is-to-go-ahead-as-a-library-councillors-vote/) the council would run a poll to see if locals wanted Ballisk House to be redeveloped as a library or a multi-functional youth centre. That May though, Farrelly cancelled the poll. It would only prolong the issue and divide the peninsula further, she said. Trying to get the library back on track, independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin [sent a letter](https://www.dublininquirer.com/majority-of-council-moves-to-force-fingal-to-get-on-with-moving-donabate-library-to-ballisk-house/) to Farrelly on 19 May 2025, co-signed by 22 other councillors, which demanded the council proceed immediately with the project under Section 140 of the Local Government Act – a rarely-used legal instrument that allows councillors to order the council to fulfill a request. [To get information out of council managers, councillor considers seldom-used “sledgehammer”-like power - Dublin InquirerCouncillors have been asking for months why the council decided to put its plan to install 350 shared on-street secure bike-storage lockers under review.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-6fb53753-a88a-4431-ae75-930f07acf3e7.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/ray-mcadam-at-the-july-monthly-council-meeting--screenshot-from-dublin-city-council-webcast-d235f3fa-563a-4594-a0c8-7364afb611c2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-get-information-out-of-council-managers-councillor-considers-seldom-used-sledgehammer-like-power/) That pushed the project over the line, Cantwell says. “The council had to do it right away, and there couldn’t be anymore sitting down and talking about it.” Johnston, the Labour councillor, speaking at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee on 11 June, said the council never made good on its promise to consult the public. Ballisk House was a financial institution that they wanted to change into a library, she said. “This in my view, was classified as a change of use, and planning permission and public consultation processes was required.” Finally, on 22 January, the council [declared](https://www.fingal.ie/news/new-chapter-donabate-library-opens-ballisk-house?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the library was officially open. ## **Potential phase two** On paper, Guerin’s letter asking the council to plough ahead with the refurbishment sounded good, Cantwell said on Tuesday. “But when you actually go and see the library, and were a member of the previous library, it falls short on every single aspect,” she said. So too said local councillors at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 11 June. Since its opening, Johnston said she has been “inundated” with texts, emails and phone calls expressing disappointment with the new library. Misinformation had been put out on social media, she said. People were told the extension would happen right away, she said. “There was going to be a massive extension to the library, and that the space was going to be much bigger than the space previously provided for in the community centre.” Sadly that wasn’t the case, she said. “Many families now have to go as far as Balbriggan. They believe the library has been downgraded.” Johnston, alongside local councillors Paul Mulville of the Social Democrats and Eoghan Dockrell of Fine Gael, tabled a motion at the meeting, asking Farrelly, the council's chief, to prioritise phase two of the library’s redevelopment. The public had less library space now the facility had moved from the community centre, their motion said. The Libraries and Architects departments are working on it, said Lilian Whelan, Fingal’s acting county librarian, in her written response to the motion. They are procuring a design team, Whelan’s report said. “The project is being progressed in line with the timelines set out in the Capital Programme 2026-28, which envisages the major expenditure taking place during 2027 and 2028.” But as a big project, the timelines will be dictated by planning and procurement, as well as obtaining fire-safety and disabled-access certificates, she said. “The overall development, while being actively progressed, will take some time to get on site.” ## **Bare minimum** Ballisk House isn’t equipped to deal with Donabate’s growing population, Johnston said, speaking by phone on Tuesday. “There’s genuine concerns, because it is one of the fastest growing areas in the country.” [As of the 2022 census](https://www.dublininquirer.com/even-as-donabates-population-balloons-hse-cancels-plan-to-build-primary-care-centre/), Donabate’s population is recorded as 11,700\. But due to the many major housing developments that are progressing in the area, this figure could reach 20,000 before the end of the decade, she said. [Standards put out by the Department of Rural and Community Development](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28311051-public-library-standards-and-benchmarks-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) say that a library for an area whose population is between 10,000 and 20,000 people should be between 801 and 1,500 sqm, she said. In a letter to Johnston [on 26 May](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28311356-fcc-2026-039267-n3t0f/?ref=dublininquirer.com), County Architect Fionnuala May said that the proposed area layout for Ballisk House, including the extension, had been revised to meet that and some. But even that extension, when it comes, may not be enough in and of itself, Johnston says. “That population is going to go over 20,000.” Cantwell said there should have been a consultation with locals. “But the reality is, if we had known, if we had seen a 3D model, floor plans, sizes, we would have put a foot down and said don’t move from the community centre.” ### Even as Ireland gets harsher with people seeking asylum, anti-immigrant groups rail against new asylum law URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/even-as-ireland-gets-harsher-with-people-seeking-asylum-anti-immigrant-groups-rail-against-new-asylum-law/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T05:37:50.000Z “High-quality information videos” walk applicants through the initial asylum process, the Department of Justice has said. And “legal clerks” are available in drop-in clinics to answer specific questions, they said. That is a new practice under the International Protection Act 2026, which carried over tenets of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. It went into force earlier this month. The pact [allows non-lawyers](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-offer-early-stage-legal-help-to-people-seeking-asylum-in-future-speedier-process-it-might-not-be-lawyers/) to offer what it calls “legal counselling” early on as people fill out forms and get set up in the system. Until a few years ago, people who came to Ireland and wanted to apply for asylum could pick up forms and seek a lawyer’s help in completing them, because getting small stuff wrong can jeopardise their cases. But as Ireland – and now the EU, through the pact – have sought to speed up the processing of asylum claims, and deportation of people whose claims have failed, applicants' access to lawyers also diminished. The Legal Aid Board [had struggled](https://www.dublininquirer.com/documents-say-asylum-law-centre-was-in-unprecedented-crisis-the-legal-aid-board-tried-to-hide-this-with-redactions/) to offer timely legal support to everyone under the previous asylum law in recent years as the Department of Justice sped up case processing for more people. The Department of Justice and the Legal Aid Board had for the past several months [been chugging away](https://www.dublininquirer.com/chatbots-considered-for-providing-legal-counselling-to-people-seeking-asylum-documents-suggest/) on a plan to cope with the demands of new procedures under the pact. Even as the state has become harsher with people seeking asylum, though, this has not calmed anti-immigrant groups, who are expressing outrage about the new law. Academics and politicians say that’s because, for a small cohort, there’s an existential risk in admitting to their audience that the rules have hardened. “They need to double down. Their political platform relies on this,” said Henrique Tavares Furtado, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of the West of England, Bristol. ## **New procedures** Legal counselling, said a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, is any “guidance, explanation, information or assistance” offered to applicants. The person offering it can be a Legal Aid Board staffer or a contractor for the board, “who is considered to be qualified by reason of knowledge, experience, qualifications, training, or expertise”, they said. This practice has [been criticised](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-offer-early-stage-legal-help-to-people-seeking-asylum-in-future-speedier-process-it-might-not-be-lawyers/) both by lawyers and human rights organisations. Among them, Fiona Hurley of migrants’ rights non-profit NASC, has said that they are “concerned that the proposed concept of legal counselling will fall significantly short of legal advice or representation”. Legal counselling will be [offered on-site](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28297055-legal-aid-board/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at Citywest “reception centre” — formerly known as the transit centre—in Saggart, a location that the government chose as a “screening centre” for those who file sanctuary requests under a novel regime. Help with other stages of asylum seeking, after the initial application is filed, will be offered as normal by the Legal Aid Board, the spokesperson for the Department of Justice said. Those arriving at the Citywest “undergo screening” there, but they aren’t detained \[there\], said the Department of Justice spokesperson. But their movement might be restricted, or they’d need to present to immigration officers or Gardaí, they said. The new asylum law [lays out the grounds](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2026/act/9/section/112/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec112) under which the state can hold some applicants in detention and “alternatives to detention”. Those include, among other things, trying to verify someone's nationality or identity, pinning down details of an asylum claim when it's not possible to do that without confining them or when someone has not shown up when asked by officials in the past and is likely to bounce, it says. But it would keep any detention to a minimum and inform those detained of their right to legal representation, said the spokesperson for the Department of Justice. After screening at Citywest, some people will be accommodated in restricted “asylum border procedure centres”. Their claims will be reviewed within three months, and if rejected, they should be deported within another three months, the government [has said in the past](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25503363-gov/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That can include those perceived to be a security threat, people from countries whose citizens’ asylum cases have a success rate of lower than 20 percent in Europe and those who’ve “misled authorities” – like by showing up without their documents – former Minister for Justice Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee [had said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25503363-gov/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Those not rerouted to the border procedure will be accommodated in asylum centres, as in the past. They can expect two different timeframes for an initial reply, said immigration barrister Cathal Malone. If their cases are being “accelerated”, they can expect an initial ruling on their application within three months; if not, they can get a first reply within six months, he said. The point of these rules, said the spokesperson for the Department of Justice, is to “ensure that applicants are treated fairly and humanely while also ensuring the effective and efficient operation of our international protection system”. Lucky Khambule of the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) said he hasn’t yet heard from new applicants since the new procedures kicked in earlier this month and worries that their voices may not be heard. ## **Hard to please** Even as these new procedures have come into effect under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, anti-immigrant groups have rallied against them. On 7 June, a few days before the pact kicked in, [a new petition](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28284757-petition-stop-the-eu-migration-pact-in-ireland-ireland-changeorg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) against it appeared on Change.org. It’s titled “Stop the EU Migration Pact in Ireland”. As of Saturday, it had collected 1,850 signatures. It says it was created by ÚnaDaly, one of several anti-immigrant influencers with a “digital creator” badge stitched onto their profiles on Facebook – meaning their accounts are in “professional mode” and potentially monetisable. Then, when anti-immigrant groups announced a protest in Dublin on the heels of racist rioting in Belfast [on 9 June](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%5FNorthern%5FIreland%5Friots?ref=dublininquirer.com) – spawned by a stabbing attack over which a man from Sudan [was charged with attempted murder](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddl031d8jvo?ref=dublininquirer.com)– [an AI-generated poster](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28279008-ai-poster/?ref=dublininquirer.com) called for a “referendum on migration pact” as one of their demands. Also, the political party Aontú has a [petition ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28284756-stop-the-eu-migration-pact-aontu/?ref=dublininquirer.com)of its own against the pact – with a title similar to Daly’s, and more than 65,000 signatories – and it has [submitted a bill](https://aontu.ie/aontu-submits-its-bill-to-remove-ireland-from-the-eu-migration-pact/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to “remove” Ireland from the pact. The party’s petition says the new law doesn’t address the border with the North. Under the pact, many people can still come, Aontú’s petition said. It blames them for the shortage of affordable housing and school places. It doesn’t say what the pact does to the asylum process itself, and how it aims to fast-track both case processing and deportation for lots of people, just that it would bind Ireland “to EU migration quotas”. However, the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan, [has said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-06-16/714/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ireland would pay €9.26 million next year to eschew those quotas imposed to support countries like Italy and Greece, where many people seeking asylum first arrive through the Mediterranean Sea. Later, [in a press release](https://aontu.ie/aontu-submits-its-bill-to-remove-ireland-from-the-eu-migration-pact/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Aontú also criticised that plan, as a “significant cost” to the country. “The Pact is of significant threat to this country and it’s wrong. It should be opposed even at this late stage,” it said, quoting the party leader Peadar Tóibín. A spokesperson for Aontú has not yet responded to queries sent on Thursday evening, including one asking what it would do differently. ## **Changing for the season** Patrick Costello, former Green Party TD and its spokesperson on justice, said that, for major opponents, the focus is on protesting the harsher asylum policy by misrepresenting it without offering any real solutions. That’s frustrating, he said. “A lot of people are opposed to the pact because it has been spun,” he said. Furtado, at the University of the West of England, said that, historically, meeting the demands of anti-immigrant hardliners has failed to satisfy them. They can’t admit that their agenda has become mainstream in the EU, and most countries in the zone have taken steps to please them. Last week, some members of the European Parliament clapped and [chanted](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/18/anger-send-them-back-chants-rightwing-meps-eu-migration-law-vote?ref=dublininquirer.com) “send them back” after voting to formally adopt a new deportation law, which [paves the way](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260611IPR45214/new-eu-system-for-return-of-illegally-staying-third-country-nationals?ref=dublininquirer.com) for shuttling people to countries outside of the EU to which they have no connection. Fine Gael MEPs Nina Carberry, Regina Doherty and Seán Kelly, and Fianna Fáil MEPs Barry Cowen, Billy Kelleher and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú [voted for the measure](https://howtheyvote.eu/votes/194134?ref=dublininquirer.com). Doherty sent out a press release to make sure everyone knew she was going to vote for it. Shortly before the vote, Maria Walsh, a Fine Gael MEP who voted against, posted [a short video](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/8f11056811f600e5d718ecce840d8488?ref=dublininquirer.com) explaining why she would oppose it. This law, she said, among other things, would shuttle people to countries they've never set foot in to hold them in detention for lengthy periods, and there's no promise that their human rights would be respected, she said. “There is also a possibility that families with young children could be held in these centres too,” said Walsh. In the United States, the Trump administration is [already doing this](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/world/africa/deportations-central-african-republic-migrants-iran-women.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). Sending some people from the US via Shannon Airport to third countries, with the Department of Foreign Affairs [unwilling to release information about](https://www.dublininquirer.com/department-of-foreign-affairs-wont-release-internal-records-on-ice-deportation-flights-via-shannon/) the flights, and Gardaí [unwilling to inspect conditions on board](https://www.dublininquirer.com/do-gardai-have-the-power-to-inspect-ice-deportation-flights-that-stop-in-shannon/). But anti-immigration extremists, “can’t stop and say, no, \[their agenda\] has become part of the political establishment,” Furtado said. Doing that means losing either political relevance or revenue made from pushing polarising content online, he said. Furtado points to newly adopted rules in Sweden, [which](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/proposition/starkt-atervandandeverksamhet%5Fhd03263/?ref=dublininquirer.com) mandate some public workers – like revenue office workers, among others – to report undocumented people they come across, as a cruel policy brought in to placate anti-immigrant groups, who are unlikely to be too impressed. “If reporting mandates – or ‘snitch laws’ – are introduced in public services, people will be afraid to use essential services like hospitals, care systems, schools, and public transportation, while putting at risk our members working in those sectors,” said Jan Willem Goudriaan, general secretary of the European Public Services Union, in a news release last week. ### Council chief says his team gave wrong timeline, when they hurried councillors to vote on Mountjoy Square redesign URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-says-his-team-gave-wrong-timeline-when-they-hurried-councillors-to-vote-on-mountjoy-square-redesign/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T09:04:29.000Z At the [full Dublin City Council meeting on 8 June,](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5838&ref=dublininquirer.com) a council manager told councillors that they had to pass plans to revamp Mountjoy Square, or the planning process would collapse and the council would risk losing the €7.5 million funding for the project. In other words, they would get nothing. "We are at the end of the planning process,” said council parks manager Les Moore, at the meeting. “If it's not approved tonight, then the Part 8 falls, and that puts the funding at risk.” The council plans to redo the park in line with its Georgian heritage. Most councillors support the vision and design, but some have also voiced concerns about losing the existing playground and sports pitches in an area starved of both. Dublin City Council didn’t respond to questions submitted on 10 June, citing a leaflet published by the [Association of Irish Local Government](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28225653-ailg-information-leaflet-1-part-8-planning/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which says that councillors should have six weeks to decide on the internal planning process, after they receive the chief executive’s report. But after a resident got in touch with her, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner wrote to officials three times to seek clarity on the timeline, she says. Yesterday, the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, wrote [to councillors](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28310779-mountjoy-square-update-on-incorrect-legal-advice/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to tell them that the legal advice given at the meeting was wrong. Rather than having to make a decision on the proposal for the park at their 8 June meeting, they actually had until 14 July, Shakespeare wrote. "The advices given at the meeting, were unfortunately, incorrect," he wrote. Said Horner: “I do believe in this project, but it is hard to stand over that when we were given unsound advice." “Having a process that we can all stand over is essential for us as councillors as well as for residents to trust the process,” she said. The plans will be discussed again at the next full council meeting on 6 July. Most councillors said they don’t expect any major changes to them. ## **What is the plan?** [In January](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-plans-for-mountjoy-square-contested-by-those-who-want-more-sports-facilities-added/), the council unveiled its [proposal](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-puts-out-new-plans-for-revamp-of-mountjoy-square/) to reimagine the park in Mountjoy Square within the context of its original 1802 design, according to a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222371-with-reference-to-notification-of-initiation-under-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-2001/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The plans show grassy areas and trees, and paths to walk on, and benches to sit on, as well as a public toilet – and the creche still there. But the current tarmac sports area, basketball court, and existing playgrounds are gone. The new design shows big grassy lawns, a basketball hoop, an outdoor gym, and pieces of play equipment dotted throughout the park. A large lawn area in the design can be used for general recreation, events or sports, a council official said in May. The council got 196 submissions to a public consultation on its plans for the park, with many welcoming the upgrade. But submissions also flagged concerns about the need for better maintenance and security, the protection of the existing sports facilities, and the need to expand and upgrade the playground, according to the council’s report. Playgroups and early years services that use the park need a fenced-off small kids playground,[ says](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-approves-plans-for-mountjoy-square-park-but-there-is-still-confusion-over-playgrounds-and-sports/) Geraldine O'Driscoll, a manager with the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which runs an early years service on the square. "The play trail won’t work for us,” she said. At the full council meeting, Moore said the council has secured €7.5 million from the government to invest in the park. “There is a great chance that if we don’t get this passed tonight, that we are going to lose that funding, it is URDF \[Urban Development and Regeneration Fund\] funding, it is timebound,” he said. Sinn Féin, Labour, and some independents, voted against the plans, which [passed 44 to 17\. ](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/f98d45b3?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## **What next?** Shakespeare said in the letter that he will hold an information session on the project next week and list the plans again for the next council meeting on 6 July. Councillors can still decide if they want changes to the plans, and they could still decide to go ahead as is, or against proceeding, he says. “I’m annoyed to be honest,” says Sinn Féin Councillor Séamas McGrattan, who had suggested at the full council meeting that the plans be looked at again by the Central Area Committee. “The whole process has been very unsatisfactory,” McGrattan says. The plans came before the Central Area Committee in the week of the by-election when many councillors were absent, he says. “There wasn’t agreement,” he says. “People weren’t there.” Then, at the full council meeting, councillors were pressured to agree to the plans when they were told they would lose the funding if they didn't. There doesn’t seem to have been the usual attempt to get a consensus, he says. “Normally with these things you can work it out,” says McGrattan. He doesn’t want residents to feel even more confused about what is happening, he said. He doesn’t think there will be any major changes, but councillors could use follow-up meetings to clarify issues, he says. “Its deeply, deeply frustrating,” says Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty. It's unlikely that enough councillors will change their minds about the plans to start the process over, he says – but councillors could decide to make small tweaks that wouldn’t trigger another full planning process. Moriarty and Horner say that as councillors, it is just not possible to fact-check every piece of advice or report that comes in front of them, so they rely on council officials being correct. “This wouldn’t have been caught had it not been for members of the public pursuing it significantly,” says Horner. She, in turn, pushed for answers from council management in three emails, she says. More than two weeks later, they admitted that the advice was wrong. Horner says she wants to see the plans for Mountjoy Square go ahead, but would support a deferral to address residents' concerns if that helped to build consensus. “So we could get clearer, binding guarantees as to how they would look at an enclosed area for a toddler playground,” she says. “And how they would make sure that the central lawn was a play space and a pitch space.” Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said by phone that she won’t change her mind about supporting the plans. “I support the re-imagining, and I believe that the issues that have been raised can be worked out at the detailed design phase and how we programme the space." She has been assured that issues like a toddlers' playground can be worked out later, she says. “We understood the community's concerns,” she says, “but there was a bit of misinformation about the green space being an ornamental lawn.” Moriarty says he is still convinced that, in the end, the rules in Mountjoy Square will mirror those of another heritage park in the city centre, Merrion Square, where sports are not permitted on the grass. "I don't believe sports will be allowed there." Horner says she is convinced sports will still be allowed on the lawn. But it feeds a wider problem now, in that some residents in the north inner-city don’t fully trust the council, says Horner. “They feel like Dublin 1 communities are dealt with, with less respect and less regard than communities in other parts of the city," she says. ### Councillors, after back and forth, vote to rezone lands in Finglas and Santry for housing URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-after-back-and-forth-vote-to-rezone-lands-in-finglas-and-santry-for-housing/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T06:12:37.000Z After contentious debates on Monday night, Dublin city councillors voted to rezone lands across the city, including in Finglas and in Santry. The move was a response to the central government's demands to councils across the country to zone more land residential, which it argues will translate to more homes being built – though some critics [disagree](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-councils-rezone-more-land-will-it-speed-up-house-building/). At a meeting that ran from 6.15pm Monday to about 12.10am on Tuesday, councillors in City Hall and those joining via video call talked through two "variations" to the city development plan. The development plan sets out, among other things, how each parcel of land in the city is zoned. That decides what kinds of things people are likely to be able to get planning permission to build there: homes, shops, offices, industrial parks, whatever. The first proposed variation of the night was to [rezone a big swathe of land](https://www.dublininquirer.com/draft-kylemore-masterplan-disrespects-the-citys-oldest-traveller-site-say-reps/) between Inchicore and Ballyfermot, which the council's calling Kylemore, and which it says could fit more than 5,000 new homes. [Pointing to process, council officials say they can’t allocate bit of big masterplan lands for Traveller homes“I think it’s a slap in the face of inclusivity, of diversity of this city, if we can move to develop nearly 5,000 units and we can not even develop one new site of Traveller accommodation,” said one councillor.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-95892e41-3041-4807-999a-4713fd12cb00.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Image-of-Kylemore-Lands-from-council-presentation-1-96bb3cba-b883-4b95-9068-91775ddde7a7.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/pointing-to-process-council-officials-say-they-cant-allocate-bit-of-big-masterplan-lands-for-traveller-homes/) The second variation was to rezone a grab bag of lands across the city that included sites at EastPoint Business Park in Dublin 3, at East Wall Road, at Finglas Business Park, at Greenmount Industrial Estate in Harold's Cross, and on Fumbally Lane in Dublin 8. As the hours passed, councillors voted these through, one by one. Then, towards the end of the night, they moved on to a proposed rezoning of lands at North Road in Finglas, and of the Shanowen Lands in Santry. In both cases, councillors pushed changes to the planned variations that they said were meant to force the construction of not only housing, but other infrastructure there too. On the North Road lands, local Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly proposed a motion that the council should not approve any planning permissions on those lands under the new zoning until the Luas Finglas is operational. On the Shanowen Road lands, leaders of seven groups or political parties on the council proposed an amendment to try to force the council to make a "framework plan" for the lands, and setting out a timeline for that. Which the amendment said, "in addition to having the potential to meet local housing need, also have the potential to provide for future local social, community cultural and economic opportunities in the area". ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Maps-showing-the-lands-in-two-proposed-variations.-Image-from-council-presentation..png) Maps showing the lands subject to the proposed variations. Images from council presentation. ## North Road Council managers proposed to rezone [7.1 hectares of land](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28311158-shanowen-and-north-road-lands-maps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the east side of North Road in Finglas from [Z6 to Z10](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-14-land-use-zoning/147-primary-land-use-zoning-categories?ref=dublininquirer.com). This is about rezoning the lands where the Lidl, Circle K and car showrooms are, between Finglas village and Charlestown. The current zoning favours planning applications for things that create jobs. The proposed zoning would favour more of a mix, including homes. There's loads of new housing being built or planned right nearby, including at the nearby 43-acre Jamestown Business Park, which was [rezoned a few years ago](https://www.dublininquirer.com/thousands-of-new-homes-a-park-and-a-primary-school-planned-in-finglas/). That has the potential for thousands of new homes, said Connolly, the Fianna Fáil councillor. And then, up the road in Charlestown, there's Piper's Corner, with [590 homes](https://affordablehomes.ie/rent/pipers/?ref=dublininquirer.com), he said. "I'm just very concerned about overdevelopment here," Connolly said. "At the moment, I'd have major concerns about congestion." So he proposed that approval of planning permissions on the North Road lands be put on hold until the [Luas Green Line is extended](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-towards-changes-to-finglas-village-with-works-due-to-start-this-summer/), as planned, from Broombridge up through this area to Charlestown. That scheme got planning permission last October, with construction due to start in 2029\. The Minister for Transport, Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O'Brien, [reportedly said](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/06/22/luas-finglas-line-could-begin-construction-in-2028-minister-says/?ref=dublininquirer.com) this week that construction could start sooner. "I am just amazed that a Fianna Fáil councillor would want to delay housing because the Fianna Fáil Minister for Transport isn't funding the Finglas Luas," said Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham. "It's mind blowing." "Perhaps he could speak to the Fianna Fáil minister for housing \[James Browne TD\] and between the two of them they could work it out," Cunningham said. Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan said there's viable businesses on the site, and there are already loads of homes being built in the area. The rezoning is just a "box ticking exercise", he said. "We want to do this just so the minister can tick and say oh look we have X amount of land ready," Connaghan said. He urged support of Connolly's motion. Dermot Lacey, a Labour councillor, meanwhile, urged approval of the rezonings as proposed. "I think we should be really careful about not giving the government or the minister or the department or the agencies any excuse not to support infrastructural development," Lacey said. "If we continue or start to block the zoning of land for residential use, the minister will come back and say to us, Well you're not playing your part, why should he?" he said. Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose spoke against Connolly's motion. Waiting for the Luas to arrive at the site would mean "we're talking about no planning applications until the second half of the 2030s ... so we're talking about no housing here until 2040s. I can't accept that," he said. When it came to a vote, 19 councillors voted for Connolly's motion to put a hold on planning permissions for the lands until the Luas is operational, and 34 voted against it. This debate echoed, in a way, [local councillors' anger](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/) at the government's delay of the Dart+ South West extension, which would stop in the centre of the Kylemore district that the council has been working towards rezoning for housing. “We have a government driving at us \[the council\] to try and deliver more housing and then the local necessary public transport network that would make that housing more liveable for the future inhabitants, the future residents, has been pushed out,” Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said at a meeting where that came up last December. ## The Shanowen Lands The Shanowen Lands are 4.3 hectares of publicly owned land on the Shanowen Road in Santry/Whitehall. On them sit "a Garda station, a Garda operated seized vehicle compound, warehouses for the OPW and an ESB substation", Kevin Moran, an independent TD, and Minister of State in the Department of Public Expenditure, recently [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-05-26/497/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the Dáil. Also, "A portion of the site provides a climate controlled environment for the storage of Tailte Éireann land registry documents and folios," he said. "All elements of the site are currently intensively use." Still, there've been efforts to make the site available for housing. Back in 2020, when the council managers proposed the rezoning of a slew of industrial parks across the city to clear the way for the development of housing on them, the Shanowen Lands [were on the list](https://www.dublininquirer.com/while-rezoning-16-industrial-sites-councillors-seek-control-over-what-can-be-built-there/). At the time, the council thought it could fit maybe 400 more homes. But during the public consultation period, the proposed rezoning was met with objections from local residents. There are issues with the capacity of the schools and transport infrastructure in the area to handle this many more residents, said Social Democrats Councillor Patricia Roe at the time. “The fear is that, as has happened many times, the planning will proceed without the infrastructure being put in place,” she said. Then in 2023 and 2025, the Shanowen Lands "were identified by the Land Development Agency as part of their reports on relevant public lands", Moran said in the Dáil. "The OPW have subsequently engaged with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, pointing out the current intensive use of the site," Moran said. Still, the council came back again to try to rezone the lands from Z6 to Z1, so that if the current users move on some day, housing could be built there. However, residents remain worried that a lot of apartments have already been built in the Santry area without supporting infrastructure or community amenities, Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan [said back in April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/santry-needs-more-than-just-more-apartments-so/). “They’re very piecemeal, and there’s no joined up thinking for Santry,” he said. A local area plan would help. Nearly all of the 292 submissions to the public consultation about this variation to the development plan were about the Shanowen Lands, and "the majority" opposed the rezoning, said Deputy City Plannner Malachy Bradley, at the meeting Monday. At the meeting Monday, Flanagan brought a motion about council managers' proposed rezoning of the Shanowen Lands. But seven leaders of political parties and groups on the council got together and put together an amendment that Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said superceded that. It said the council would commit to putting together a "framework plan" for the area, that the process would start during this calendar year, and that it would be completed during the lifetime of the current city development plan, which runs from 2022 to 2028. Chairing the meeting, McAdam said the amendment was signed by Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty, Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, Fine Gael Councillor Colm O'Rourke, and independent Councillor Malachy Steenson. Still, some councillors spoke up with concerns. "I don't find the language strong enough to reassure me that there will be a plan," said Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney. "The language is aspirational" rather than concrete, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Racheal Batten. Some said the plan for the area should have been put in place before the rezoning. "I think we've got the cart before the horse," said People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy. Independent Councillor John Lyons pointed to the proposal put forward by residents' group Santry Forum for the site. "It's a fantastic proposal", he said. Santry Forum's plan is for a [community quarter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063473-study-report-with-images-2026-final/?q=reuse&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p3), reusing the sawtooth-roofed industrial warehouse and the Garda station, and filling the area with not only homes, but the other stuff a commmunity needs. Their plan envisions a digital hub with co-working spaces, private offices, meeting rooms and a communal kitchen with a conference centre and cafe, it says. As well as a creche, a medical centre, artists’ studios, a gallery and rehearsal spaces, and a multi-purpose community hall. The council has committed to making a plan for the area, said Bradley, the deputy city planner, at the meeting. "The intent of the amendment here is to further strengthen that by putting defined timelines on that, which I think as an executive we would be comfortable with," he said. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, said he'd be supporting the amendment and the rezoning. "We have to deliver tens of thousands of homes for people in the city if we are to impact on those languishing in homeless accommodation, languishing on our housing list, languishing on our transfer list," Doolan said. "We need to build homes, and we need to build them as fast as we can." "Is it the perfect solution? It's not. Is it based on trust? Some of it. Residents quite rightly wanted a local plan? This amendment guarantees a plan," he said. Councillors voted 39 to 12 to back the amendment, with one councillor abstaining, and then put through the rezoning. At the end of the night, they backed a resolution to make the variation to the development plan, which went into effect immediately. ### Council should do urgent repairs for its tenants within five days. Why do logs show jobs taking more than six months? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-do-urgent-repairs-for-its-tenants-within-five-days-why-do-logs-show-jobs-taking-more-than-six-months/ Last updated: 2026-06-23T23:15:44.000Z Dublin City Council's target is to fix urgent repairs in its social homes in fewer than five days. But for Santry Cross, a big apartment complex in Ballymun, maintenance records list that 13 out of 59 urgent repairs over a 2.5 year-period, took six months or longer to close. The average time until an urgent request is marked "job done" during this period was 97 days, the logs show. That would suggest major shortcomings in basic council services. But any analysis of, and response to, those figures is frustrated is the fact that they might not be accurate. Ursula Donnellan, a senior executive officer at the council, told the North West Area Committee this week that record keeping for maintenance is spotty. Sometimes jobs are not closed off on the council's IT system even though the repair has been completed, she said. “We need to get people putting in the information in real time,” she says. “We are working on that.” The council is set to launch a new computer system for logging maintenance requests, which the council press office indicated would be used to provide accurate timelines for repairs. Although it has [been saying that for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-sets-annual-targets-for-dealing-with-its-tenants-maintenance-requests-but-cant-track-if-its-meeting-them/). Meanwhile, tenants in the apartment blocks at Santry Cross – where 22 of the more than 300 homes are social homes – say they are still [plagued by leaks and dampness](https://www.dublininquirer.com/leaks-plague-residents-in-a-ballymun-apartment-complex/). The build was poor, with structural problems. Council [maintenance logs](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28269216-foi-santry-cross/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show hundreds of repairs reported between December 2023 and April 2026. Jordyn Murray, a council tenant in Santry Cross, says that despite the efforts of council staff, the leaks and dampness in the complex are still really bad. “It looks like the walls are eroded,” she says. She scrubs the mould around the doors and windows with white vinegar twice a week, she says. And runs a de-humidifier all day in winter, she says. Dublin City Council staff have carried out work in her home, including putting new flooring on the balcony, installing some new radiators, and a smart system for the boiler, says Murray. However some longstanding issues have not been resolved, she says. Crucially her hot water doesn’t work properly and she thinks this is driving up her electricity bill. “The worker comes out, says he is the foreman, and tells you what needs to be done,” says Murray. “But getting them to actually do it is the problem.” Another tenant in the complex Janine Melia says, that in recent times the council has fully upgraded her apartment and responded quickly to her concerns. “In general, internal repairs are completed in accordance with Dublin City Council Tenants handbook”, said a Dublin City Council spokesperson. That is three to five working days for urgent repairs and up to eight weeks for routine repairs, he says. Dublin City Council officials told councillors the same thing in a [presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28269458-ca-housing-ops-reactive-maintenance-and-caretaking-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to local area committees recently. But without an accurate monitoring system, its hard to be sure. Some councillors said it is usually quicker, while others said they know tenants waiting much longer. ## **At Santry Cross** “There are currently no urgent outstanding repair requests for Santry Cross,” says the council spokesperson. Murray says she is grateful for some work council staff have done recently, but she says some things she reported a long time ago have not been fixed. Around six months ago, she reported an electrical fault because the electricity was tripping regularly, she says. Council staff came out and did some work on the fuse board, she says. They also changed one radiator. But she still has a leaking radiator in the living room, she says, and a faulty boiler. To get any hot water, Murray says that she has to leave the immersion on for a very long time, driving up her electricity bill. She currently owes €2,420 for electricity, she says. “It has to be that – it is the only thing it could be,” she says. “Even throughout the day, we are not really here.” She is grateful to have a place to live, but is also disappointed in her home, she says. “No one would accept these now.” Five of the privately owned apartments in her complex are subject to [prohibition notices](https://www.dublincity.ie/housing/advice-people-living-private-rented-accommodation/environmental-health-standards-private-rented-accommodation/prohibition-notices?ref=dublininquirer.com), says Murray. That is a legal notice issued by the council, if a rental home is in an really poor condition, and the landlord hasn't carried out the works to fix it that the council has flagged as needed. Landlords cannot rent to new tenants until they complete those jobs. Murray says she is worried she is developing sinus problems as a result of dampness. “Why did the council buy these?” she says, “I don’t understand.” Dublin City Council owns 22 homes, a counci spokesperson has said. It bought at least some of those under the tenant-in-situ scheme to prevent sitting tenants at risk of being evicted becoming homeless, but Murray was not one of those. Melia says that since [a previous article](https://www.dublininquirer.com/leaks-plague-residents-in-a-ballymun-apartment-complex/) about the difficulties facing tenants in Santry Cross, in December 2024, the council has really upgraded her home. They installed a new kitchen, serviced the boiler, installed a new smart heating system, too, she says. They put in new doors too, and a new floor on the balcony. “I can’t complain,” says Melia “they upgraded everything.” There is still some dampness, she says, but she thinks that is outside the control of Dublin City Council. ## **Timeline for repairs** Dublin City Council gets around 73,000 maintenance requests a year, according to a presentation provided to local area committees at recent meetings. These are usually fixed in three to five days for urgent repairs but can take up to eight weeks for routine repairs, said Donnellan. At the [North Central Area Committee](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1092986?ref=dublininquirer.com), Social Democrats Councillor Jesslyn Henry and Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha said some tenants are waiting much longer for repairs. “I have one lady who has been plugging her heating in for the last two and a half years,” said Henry. “Can’t set timers, can’t do anything.” In [Cromcastle Court](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-they-await-a-regeneration-residents-at-cromcastle-court-call-on-council-to-fix-up-their-complex/), council tenants frequently have no hot water and at times no water at all, she said. She also knows a tenant who has waited nine months for new hinges on a window, which doesn’t open or close, said Henry. Donnellan, the senior executive officer at the council, said that repairs shouldn’t take that long and offered to look into the cases Henry raised. “You gave a couple of examples there, Councillor, that definitely should not still be outstanding,” she said. “For a lot of the problems with maintenance, people have been waiting a lot longer than eight weeks,” said MacDonncha, the Sinn Féin councillor. The tone was different in the Central Area Committee, as independent Councillor Nial Ring said that in his experience, the routine repairs are done within a week or two rather than eight weeks. “They are generally done extremely quickly,” said Ring. At the [North West Area Committee,](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1093008?ref=dublininquirer.com) Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan asked how many of the 73,000 maintenance requests put in each year are completed, now. Donnellan said she doesn’t know, the council can’t track that. Also, logs could be flawed because sometimes staff don’t close the job on the system, once it is completed, she says. “Anecdotally, I’d like to think our percentage is up in the 90s,” she said. ## **Could new system track results?** Back at the North Central Area Committee meeting, Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley also awhether the council tracks outcomes. How many routine maintenance requests took longer than eight weeks to fix? he asked. The maintenance logs for the council homes in Santry Cross show an average of 14 weeks across all requests between when a request was logged, and it was marked "job done". At the meeting, though, Donnellan said the council didn't have the figures Stanley was looking for. It is launching a new computer system, which will allow tenants to log their maintenance requests online, she said. But she doesn’t think the new system will allow the council to track how long repairs took, she said. Although it could do that in the future, depending on other IT developments, said Donnellan. However, the council spokesperson indicated that the new system will help to track outcomes. “The current Housing Management IT system, which is in use for 20+ years, relies on a number of manual updates which can result in occasional discrepancies,” said the council spokesperson by email. “These issues will be addressed with the implementation of a new Housing IT system, which will have enhanced functionality to streamline workflows and improve data quality, monitoring, and statistical reporting,” he said. Also at the North West Are Committee, Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan asked whether the council gives tenants an appointment for the repair, so they can ensure they are at home when council staff come. “We’re very much aware that we are not perfect on this,” said Donnellan. Some depots are better than others, and she wants them all to communicate with tenants, she said. ### Council readies to apply for planning for new pitch at Donore Avenue URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-readies-to-apply-for-planning-for-new-pitch-at-donore-avenue/ Last updated: 2026-06-23T23:14:37.000Z Dublin City Council is about to launch the formal planning process for the next stage of its big project at Donore Avenue – which includes more homes, and a long-awaited pitch, and a park. The municipal playing pitch is to be 80 metres by 130 metres, while the 123 homes are to be mostly cost-rental and some social, said [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28271818-donore-avenue-phase-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors at the South Central Area Committee meeting on Wednesday. "This is brilliant. It's been long in the works," said Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty, his attention on the new pitch. "It'll be the most used and sought-after pitch in the entire city, I'd say." Social Democrats Councillor Lesley Byrne echoed that: "It's absolutely brilliant." Also, seeing the girls in the drawings in the report, playing on the sports pitch, was great for representation too, she said. After years of campaigning by local community groups and councillors, this is the second pitch now, that's moving from wish towards reality, in an area that doesn't yet have one. The council is [also planning a full-sized pitch](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-the-council-inches-towards-construction-of-a-full-sized-sports-pitch/) on the site of its depot on Marrowbone Lane. ## **From private to public** The planned site of the pitch off Donore Avenue sits on the much bigger patchwork of lands, some in private ownership, some public, which have long been earmarked for thousands of homes and new facilities. The developments on these lands are being built out in phases. Phase one of the project is already well underway. That has 542 new cost-rental and social homes, as well as “a new creche, community spaces, a café/retail unit” and “the new home for the Donore Boxing Club”, according to [updates](https://donoreproject.ie/faq/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Land Development Agency. The 123 homes, the pitch, and the park, are phase two. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-18-222518.png) Site layout plan from Dublin City Council presentation, with playing pitch and cost-rental apartments (DCC2) in north-east corner, and park and social homes (DCC4) in south of the site. Plans to get the pitch built have evolved. Council and community groups debated [a decade ago](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-puzzle-of-how-to-fit-a-sports-pitch-in-the-liberties/) how to get the pitch assured and how to fit it on the site. The council then struck a deal with a private developer to build the pitch, but that never happened – which led to the current proposal. At the Wednesday meeting, Byrne said she wanted to give a shout out to former councillors, who had pushed hard for the pitch years earlier, before she was even elected. "You read about those things, but then when you're actually in the middle of it, you realise how difficult sometimes that can be," she said. ## **A long history** In late 2020, the plan was for developer Hines – which owns the nearby Player Wills and Bailey Gibson sites – to build the pitch at Donore Avenue. Dublin City Council officials – who said they didn't have the cash to do it themselves – [cut a deal with](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-its-done-waiting-for-developer-to-build-a-dublin-8-sports-pitch-and-has-a-new-plan-to-get-it-done/) the real estate company: Hines would build the pitch, facilities and give some cash, and the council would give it two parcels of land worth €9 million, with space for more than 120 homes, in exchange. But the pitch completion date of the end of 2022 passed, and some, before officials said in March 2024 that they would take the project back, and [build it out with](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-its-done-waiting-for-developer-to-build-a-dublin-8-sports-pitch-and-has-a-new-plan-to-get-it-done/) the Land Development Agency. Meanwhile, developer Hines has still has planning permission for 416 built-to-rent homes on the Bailey Gibson site and 492 apartments on the Player Wills site, according to an LDA document. But Kennedy Wilson is on the cusp of taking control of that site. “Kennedy Wilson are still awaiting CCPC \[Competition and Consumer Protection Commission\] approval to take control of the fund that owns the development sites," said a spokesperson in May. ## **Details, details** At the meeting, councillors ran through a report, with some of the finer details of the plans. The municipal playing pitch is to accommodate a range of sports, the report says – football, rugby, Gaelic games. There'll also be an outdoor playground and outdoor gym in areas around the pitch, it said. Michael Pidgeon, a Green Party councillor, asked about the fence around the pitch. The report says it'll be 3 metres high, he said, but looks lower in the renderings given the figures in the images. "Unless, they're very very tall people." The fence will be different heights at different places, said Glen Murray, a council engineer and programme manager who was fielding councillors' questions. Murray went through some other aspects of the plan. The homes are to be built on two different plots, he said. On a constrained site next to the pitch, the LDA is to build out tower – part 15-storey, and part 16-storey – of 103 cost-rental homes, he said. Those are made up of 1 studio, 71 one-beds, and 31 two-beds, the report says. A second site is to have 20 duplexes in three-storeys, which will be the social homes. They'll have own-door entrances, and south facing private gardens or balconies, the report said, and include 2 one-beds, 1 two-bed, 7 two-beds, and 10 three-beds. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/From-Dublin-City-Council-plans.-View-south-of-DCC4.-1-1.png) From Dublin City Council plans. View south of DCC4. The park, meanwhile, which is for now called the Players Park, is to be a green open space linking the LDA/DCC Donore Project site, with the privately owned Bailey Gibson and Player Wills sites. The plans for it have raingardens, seating and feature paving, the report says. One question that residents in the past have raised is when changing facilities to go with the pitch are to be built, as [had been mentioned earlier](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-its-done-waiting-for-developer-to-build-a-dublin-8-sports-pitch-and-has-a-new-plan-to-get-it-done/). The rebuilt Donore Community Centre will have two changing rooms, but they should not be taken over as changing rooms for the new pitch, said Catherine McSweeney, a local resident, and Donore Project Consultative Forum member, [at a ill-fated consultation](https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-leave-council-consultation-on-fire-damaged-community-centre-wondering-what-just-happened/) about the centre recently. Lands by the church – which are among those lands likely to be transferred from Hines', to Kennedy Wilson's control – had been earmarked for those changing rooms, she said. The report to councillors doesn't mentioned changing rooms, as part of phase two. Dublin City Council hasn't responded yet to a query sent on Thursday early afternoon, asking if changing facilities are to be included. ### Kilmore West is still clogged with overflow parking from Beaumont Hospital, but is a solution in sight? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/kilmore-west-is-still-clogged-with-overflow-parking-from-beaumont-hospital-but-is-a-solution-in-sight/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T14:43:15.000Z Residents of Kilmore West have been struggling for years with overflow car parking by Beaumont Hospital staff clogging up their neighbourhood. At Monday’s meeting of the North Central Area Committee, Councillor Jesslyn Henry of the Social Democrats, who lives in Kilmore West, said there was a serious fire in the neighbourhood a few weeks ago. A fire truck was unable to get down the road and sort the blaze, she said. “This is how bad it’s gotten.” Last week, someone from the hospital parked in Henry’s driveway, she said. “And it was stuck there for the day.” Dublin City Council's response to repeated complaints about the situation has been that residents should back a pay-and-display scheme. That would mean residents would have to buy annual parking permits, and everyone else would have to pay for short-term parking. But residents say they shouldn't have to pay for annual parking permits because of what hospital staff are doing. Besides, pay-and-display parking fees wouldn't be enough to push staff to park on campus, they say, because the parking there is so limited, and also would be more expensive. Local residents and councillors are also sceptical of plans by the hospital to hire a company to provide hundreds of new parking spaces for hospital staff in satellite car parks, and a shuttle service back and forth to the hospital. At Monday’s meeting, independent Councillor John Lyons said he didn’t think people would choose shuttling in from Santry or Swords over the convenience of parking just outside the hospital grounds. If coming through Whitehall or across the Oscar Traynor Road, it would take a shuttle bus too long to get to Beaumont Hospital and add ages to their journey, he says. But so far, there don't seem to be many other ideas floating around. ## **On campus** Henry, of the Social Democrats, says SIPTU, a union that represents many workers in Beaumont Hospital, has raised the issue of staff parking with the hospital board many times. SIPTU has not yet responded to queries about this sent Wednesday**.** But recent planning permissions at Beaumont Hospital appear to show a planned erosion of the number of car parking spaces there, over time. In 2024, the council granted the hospital permission to build a seven-storey ward block including 95 patient rooms. This would include the reconfiguration of parking areas, resulting in the loss of seven car parking spots, according to a [letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28271812-2026-dcc-roads-and-traffic-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the council's Roads, Streets and Traffic Department. The same year, the council granted the hospital permission to provide an endoscopy unit with 18 patient rooms, plus treatment and recovery rooms. This would involve the removal of a car park, and the net loss of 70 car parking spots. In 2025, Beaumont [got permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/164244?ref=dublininquirer.com) to build a new two-storey emergency department, resulting in a “net reduction of 172 no. \[car parking spaces\]”, and [permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/163596?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a “single storey extension to the existing multi-storey car park”, which would “create an additional 146 no. parking bays”, replacing some but not all of those lost spaces. Still, the council's roads department, in its 2026 letter about a hospital [plan to extend](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/174969?ref=dublininquirer.com) the emergency department, said it saw no need to require additional car parking. The hospital is "highly accessible" by car, public transport and foot, although cycling options are "limited", the letter says. "Future Bus Connects routes will further enhance connectivity, linking the hospital to the city centre, surrounding suburbs and key locations such as DCU, Clontarf, and Santry," it says. In the end, it concludes that "the non-provision of additional car parking is acceptable". ## **Overflow** Meanwhile, staff who can't find parking at the hospital, have been squeezing their cars into on-street parking in the residential roads of Kilmore West. Lyons, the independent councillor, told Monday’s committee meeting that two months ago he walked up and down Cromcastle Green on a Tuesday morning. “Out of 56 cars parked on the road, residential road, where people live, 28 of the cars parked on the road had Beaumont Hospital permit parking stickers on the windscreens,” he said. As to why Kilmore West takes the brunt of the parking overflow and not the other surrounding areas of the campus, Henry says its simply more convenient. "The staff entrance is this side," she says. "It's also the fact that we're closer to the M50, we're closer to the M1, those things come into play." The council's repeated proposed solution to the issue has been the end of free on-street parking in the area. When Henry, the Social Democrats councillor, brought a motion to Monday's meeting about the issue, that's what the council manager's response suggested, again. But Cat Inglis, who runs the Bus Stop Shop in Kilmore West, says that from the many conversations she has had with her fellow concerned residents down the years, the majority don’t want pay-and-display or permit parking. Permit parking only [allows for two cars](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2024-07/parking%5Fpermit-1st-time-change-of-address-application-form-eng-%5F0.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) in each household, Inglis says. Because of the housing crisis, she says, there are lots of families in the area whose adult children still live at home, who also need their own cars for work and life. She knows households who have four cars between them, out of necessity. So it would make life harder for residents, and wouldn't even solve the problem, she said. Staff and visitors to the hospital are charged an hourly rate of €2.40 to park, or €9 for 24 hours. The cost of pay-and-display in the area, which is in the council’s orange zone, would be €1.2o an hour. There is no differentiation between costs for staff and patients, other than annual staff car parking discount in the multi-storey parking, a hospital spokesperson said on Thursday. It’d still be cheaper for a lot of people to park around Kilmore West, says Inglis. Not only that, but two hospital workers leaving the campus at 5 o’clock on Wednesday evening – who didn't want to be named criticising their employer –said that cost isn’t the main issue. Both were heading separately to their cars parked around Kilmore West, and both said that there were simply not enough parking spaces provided by the hospital on its grounds. One said driving to work was essential for her as she has to drop off and pick up her kids elsewhere before and after her shift. ## **Satellite parking** Last [April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-kilmore-west-residents-want-beaumont-hospital-to-do-something-about-its-staff-parking-everywhere/), a spokesperson for Beaumont Hospital said they were aware of Kilmore West residents' concerns, and were “committed to being a good neighbour”. After about a decade of pushing for a meeting, councillors finally had the opportunity to sit down with the hospital board last June. The idea was touted from the board that the hospital would lease out parking spaces offsite and shuttle bus people to Beaumont. The Omni Shopping Centre car park in Santry and the former Hertz site in Swords were potential options under consideration by the board, says Henry, the Social Democrats councillor. That hospital spokesperson also said last April that, “The hospital plans to convene a regular engagement with the local councillors on matters of shared concern which will inform communication and development of mobility management and other hospital strategies”. But, says Henry, after last June’s meeting, the trail seemed to go cold until last month. That's when Beaumont Hospital put out an [expression of interest](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28272713-beaumont-parking-published-call-for-expressions-of-interest/?ref=dublininquirer.com), looking for a company to provide it with around 500 car parking spaces within a five-kilometre radius of its main campus. Ideally, the document said, the successful applicant will have the capacity for an additional 500 spaces during the contract’s span – which could last up to 20 years. In addition to this plan, the hospital is also working on longer-term plans to provide more car parking on its campus, a spokesperson said Thursday. "The hospital has two projects on the HSE Capital Plan which will expand the provision for car parking services at the hospital," the spokesperson said. "These are complex projects requiring significant capital investment that are currently undergoing detailed design," they said. "The intention is that these proposals will meet the long-term need for the hospital." The hospital has now reached out to councillors with a view to meeting them in July to discuss any new developments, like the plan to begin shuttling people in from off-site car parks, the spokesperson said. “Beaumont Hospital understands the inconvenience and that it can make life difficult for residents and indeed staff and are looking to resolve matters to ameliorate same whilst ensuring care to patients is not indirectly affected,” the spokesperson said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Cherry Orchard, a park makeover moves closer – with a 400 metre running track, 500 trees, and more URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-cherry-orchard-a-park-makeover-moves-closer-with-a-400-metre-running-track-500-trees-and-more/ Last updated: 2026-06-23T23:15:51.000Z Overall, the sense from workshops and outreach has been that there just aren't public outside spaces in Cherry Orchard that match the strong community in the area, said Suzanne O'Connell, a senior landscape architect with Dublin City Council. The Cherry Orchard Community Centre– a hub which hosts all kinds of activities and classes in the west Dublin suburb, from toddler groups to indoor bowling – is really active, she said. But all that activity is inside. "Potentially, with this park, it's really about kind of making visible within the public realm all of that energy of Cherry Orchard," she said. Creating that central gathering place, she said. O'Connell's presentation at a meeting of the council's South Central Area Committee on Wednesday was the latest update on long-running plans that are about to move to the next stage. The council hopes to kick off the formal planning process for the new-look park soon – "Say, kind of early July" – with, among many other changes, a 400-metre running track, new astroturf pitch, and more than 500 new trees, she said. At the meeting, councillors pointed to how desperately the new version of the park was needed, especially given the huge numbers of new homes planned for the wider neighbourhood. The Land Development Agency's (LDA's) Cherry Orchard Point development is planned to have [1,100 new homes](https://lda.ie/projects/cherry-orchard?ref=dublininquirer.com), and the first phase is under construction. Dublin City Council, meanwhile, [is planning](https://lda.ie/projects/cherry-orchard?ref=dublininquirer.com) a mixed development with 171 homes, and a village centre with some shops – opposite St Ultan's school. "It does give the people of Cherry Orchard hope for the future," said independent Councillor Vincent Jackson, who chairs the area committee's meetings. "If ever an area deserved to get their day in the sun, it's this part of Cherry Orchard," he said. ## **Picked up again** As O'Connell ran through the latest version of plans for the new-look park in Cherry Orchard at the meeting, she talked about how feedback had been – and would keep being – taken into account. Drawings now show a 400-metre running track, after input from the Cherry Orchard Running Club, she said. "It will sit within the landscape." There's a similar style track in Dún Laoghaire at Kilbogget Park that has been really successful, she said, with a well-drained football pitch then in the middle of the loop. Plans also include a new astro pitch, she said, which they want to double as an amphitheatre and performance space, for community events. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Cherry-Orchard-Park-2-1.jpg) Image from council presentation. There'll be play areas throughout also, she said. "It's about the all ages," she said. That includes thinking about teenagers, she said. Her team also chatted with teenagers, who are among the most regular users of the park, she said, taking into account where they hang out and for how long – and their comments on the need for lighting. The designs try to get rid of heavy fences, she said, and cut down on the hostile defensive infrastructure. They also hope to add much more biodiversity, coordinating within the council on good long-term management and maintenance of the space, she said. They'll let the Irish meadow establish, said O'Connell, and let things grow. "We'll have an opportunity to plant, perhaps, 500 plus trees." ## **Timelines and money** Whether all the funding is there for the park – a key piece of the puzzle – should become clearer in a few months time, said O'Connell. The council has applied for €9 million [from the](https://web.archive.org/web/20260618134141/https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/minister-browne-announces-new-towns-and-cities-regeneration-investment-fund/) central government's Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund to pay for the park revamp, she said. To qualify, they have to be building by September 2027, she said, "So it kind of creates a good energy to keep this project going." While they wait for word on whether they will get that, they're moving on with the Part 8, she said, referring to the planning process that is used for council projects – which involves formal public consultation, and councillors voting on the plans. Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said that the project, and the engagement, has been great so far. But could the council, as all this ticks along, still reinstate a temporary astro pitch, he said, to replace the one taken away last December. The council tarmaced over the pitch, citing health and safety grounds. But "no other community would be expected to live without an astro," said Doolan. "It needs an astro." It'll be a couple of years before the park is done, which is too long a gap, Doolan said. "Let's get the astro back in place." O'Connell said that she and colleagues had been looking at how they can deliver the astro early, and the mechanics of that. They're teasing it out, she said. "We haven't been sitting on it." ### The RTB told a woman who is homeless that it will close her case because she can’t provide an address URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-rtb-told-a-woman-who-is-homeless-that-it-will-close-her-case-because-she-cant-provide-an-address/ Last updated: 2026-06-23T23:14:52.000Z Irina Artemjeva is homeless, ricocheting between between different bed and breakfasts, sometimes in different counties, using vouchers provided by her local council. In March, she filed a case with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) for alleged unlawful termination of tenancy, which she says is the reason why she is homeless. But staff at the RTB have repeatedly said they will close her case if she doesn’t provide an address. “I am homeless, I’m looking for accommodation,” says Artemjeva. “If I find a room tomorrow in County Sligo, and I have to go there, how will I get post from here?" “That is a real catch-22,” says Mike Allen, director of advocacy with Focus Ireland. “The very outcome you are complaining about becomes the reason you can’t complain.” A spokesperson for the RTB says that applicants can request to get most communication through email. But to issue legally binding documents, like a determination order, it needs to have an address, they said. “ It must currently be served by post at an address where the case party normally lives to ensure the dispute outcomes can be enforced,” says the spokesperson. But any address Artemjeva provides will not be the place she normally lives, because she is homeless and doesn’t normally live in one place. Ber Grogan, executive director of Simon Communities of Ireland, says that there is a [postal service](https://www.anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/An-Post-launches-new-Address-Point-Service?ref=dublininquirer.com) that homeless people can use if they don’t have an address, but that many people are not aware that it exists. “You should not be denied a service because you don’t have an address,” says Grogan. “Especially for a service that is accommodation-related.” ## **Case closed** After she moved out of her rented apartment in late February, Artemjeva paid for a B&B for the first few nights, she says. But her money ran out, she says, and she ended up sleeping in her car. Following advocacy from solicitors at the Mercy Law Resource Centre, Westmeath County Council then issued her with the vouchers, she says. With those, she can book into commercial B&Bs and the council pays. But it means she has to go wherever she can find a spot in a B&B that accepts the vouchers. That could be in another county, she says. She had to go to Kildare recently, because the B&B she was staying in was booked up. "It's very stressful," she says. In February, the RTB [closed one of her cases](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28277141-rtb-dispute-closed-over-payment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) because she didn’t respond to a request for payment within three days. The spokesperson for the RTB said that is its standard process. “RTB processes to ensure timely processing of all dispute cases include a requirement to respond to a payment request within 3 working days,” says the spokesperson. In exceptional circumstances, if the applicant cannot make the payment, they should contact RTB customer service before the payment deadline passes, he says. Artemjeva says that there was a technical issue with the RTB’s new payment system. After much tooing and froing, she put in a formal complaint and managed to get the case reopened, she says RTB staff told Artemjeva that her complaint about an invalid notice of termination was no longer applicable since she had moved out of the property. “In order to proceed, we need a new address for you,” says the staff member by [email](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28277296-dispute-closed-no-address/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “If we do not hear back from you in five days the case will be closed.” Artemjeva then asked to change the complaint to alleged unlawful termination of tenancy, she says. Since then, she has had several emails back and forth over the address issue, she says. Recently, RTB staff [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28277140-case-to-be-closed-15-june/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to her saying that if she didn’t provide a postal address by 15 June, they would close the case. As of Thursday, she says she doesn’t think it has been closed. But she is worried because she says it can be very difficult to open a new case with the RTB if it has already closed one for the same reason. So later if she has a permanent address, she might not be able to resume the case, she says. “I think that would be impossible to start the case again”, she says. ## **A post office address** An Post run a service called [Address Point](https://www.anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/An-Post-launches-new-Address-Point-Service?ref=dublininquirer.com) which allows people experiencing homelessness to get post sent to an address and collect it at their local post office. If they move areas they can change it to a different post office. Artemjeva says that RTB staff did not tell her that she could get a postal address through the post office. The RTB staff suggested she provide a friend's address as a "[care of" address. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28277146-care-of-address/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “This is necessary to ensure you receive all relevant documentation and updates regarding your case,” says the email. But Artemjeva says she doesn’t think it's a good idea to send important documents to a friend's address. “It's not a stable solution, maybe I'll go to Sligo one day, then maybe to County Cork,” she says. It would be better to communicate through phone or email, until she has a real address, she says. Allen, of Focus Ireland, says that the [Address Point service ](https://www.anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/An-Post-launches-new-Address-Point-Service?ref=dublininquirer.com)with an Post is good and very flexible, and works well for many people experiencing homelessness. Artemjeva should have been informed of that option, says Allen. “I’m really surprised that the RTB aren’t aware that An Post do that service,” he says. ## **Change could be coming** The RTB spokesperson said that sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, such as where a case party advises that they are homeless, the RTB may exercise discretion to allow the hearing to proceed without a postal address. “However, we will still require a postal address to issue the hearing report and Determination Order at the end of the case,” he says. An applicant can ask a housing charity to represent them and then consent to their postal address being recorded as "care of" their representative, he says. There could be change coming to the system in the future. "Recent legislative changes introduced the possibility of electronic service for RTB dispute documents," says the spokesperson. The RTB is currently working with legal advisors on new procedures for an electronic document service that will meet the required standards for proof so as not to compromise the enforceability of RTB Determination Orders, he says. ### For two years, North Central is the only council area without a boxing development officer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-two-years-north-central-is-the-only-council-area-without-a-boxing-development-officer/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:34:54.000Z At their meeting on Monday, councillors for the north-east part of the city agreed to send a letter pushing for the recruitment – at last – of a boxing development officer for the area. A big part of the role is working with the council in promoting the sport in schools and youth clubs, and making sure kids get a chance to try it out if they want. For two years, the council's North Central Area, hasn't had someone doing this work, in the swathe of the city that includes Kilbarrack, Raheny, Belmayne, Clongriffin, Donaghmede, Coolock, Clontarf and Fairview. "This is a matter of deep concern to me, at this stage," said Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, at a meeting of the North Central Area Committee on Monday. Kids need to be kept busy, and there are lots who aren't interested in football, rugby, hurling, or other team sports, Heney said. Given that, in extreme cases, [vulnerable children](https://www.dublininquirer.com/youth-workers-look-for-new-ways-to-fight-child-grooming-by-criminal-gangs/) as young as six or seven are being groomed by drug gangs and trafficked into criminality, boxing could be just the positive influence that a child needs in their lives, she said. “Is anybody looking out for those kids, is anybody providing a facility for them to be able to get up in the morning, go down to boxing, and be with their friends, and feel important, and feel they matter?” asks Heney. “I feel that the city council should be pushing really hard for boxing facilities for youngsters in our community,” Heney said by phone on Tuesday. It has the added advantage that kids don’t need pricey gear to start getting involved, she says. “You don’t need expensive clobber.” At the meeting, council senior sports officer Ciarán Farrelly presented [a report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s53308/06.%20NCA%20Report%20June%202026.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) suggesting there's progress being made towards filling the position. And on the phone later, Clare McAuley, chief operations officer with Boxing Ireland, said a boxing development officer for this part of the city is hopefully on the way soon. They are due to put out a job advertisement for the position “hopefully within the next week or two”, she said. ## **Building up** Boxing development officers work with the council, but are employed by Boxing Ireland – formerly the IABA, Farrelly told Monday's committee meeting**.** McAuley said there are boxing development officers in the council's other four administrative officers, but she can't speak to why the position for the one in the North Central Area has been left vacant for so long. “I've been in from October, so eight months, so I can't speak about historically why the replacements never happened,” she said by phone on Wednesday. McAuley’s sights are on the future, however – and Boxing Ireland has a lot in the works, she said. There is a new senior management team that has come into place over the past year, she says. “And one of the first things we did was reach out to Dublin City Council.” In addition to the plan to hire a new North Central Area boxing development officer, there are other new appointments on the way too, she says. Boxing Ireland is looking to recruit a new head of club support and participation and new regional club support and participation managers, she said. The Leinster regional club support officer will be a key point of contact for Dublin City Council once appointed, she said. “At the minute our aim is really to build our strengths and work together and have better systems with stronger governance and stronger working relationships on the ground,” she says. “There's a lot of dedicated volunteers within the sport, and I think if we listen to them and harness their enthusiasm and their dedication, and we as staff then sort of come in and complement that and make sure that we're doing the right things for the funders \[of which DCC is one\], I think the world is our oyster,” she says. ## **Hiring?** The reason a job advertisement for the new North Central Area boxing development officer wasn’t put out at the same time as the other posts they are recruiting for, she says, is that she wanted to “refresh the job description” – and working with the council to do so. While their boxing development officers have largely focused on schools in the past, she says, the youth club element has “probably been lacking”. Going forward, that will change, she says. They want to reach as many youngsters across Dublin, and the country as possible. The new development officer job spec and new development plan will make sure that youth clubs are a focus, she says. Of course, she says, boxing clubs already embedded in communities have been doing trojan work on their own in terms of supporting their members and their local youth. But Boxing Ireland now aims to support them even more than it has been doing – as well as reaching people who have never stepped foot in a boxing gym before, she said. It can be a community-based tool to help with many issues, McAuley says. “Particularly around drugs and like antisocial behaviour, so those are the areas that we will want to look at,” she says. “Looking at the crime statistics in the area to see actually is there antisocial hot spots, and where could we really be doing a bit of community work, working with local community groups to redirect people into our clubs,” she says. ## **Safety** To make the sport even more accessible to young people, and to assuage any safety concerns from parents, McAuley says she is also spearheading a medical governance reform for the organisation. Kids don’t start any contact until they are 11 years of age, she says. Before that, it's drills, pads, coordination work. “The training, the discipline and the dedication.” But once they do start even light contact, each child has a medical card that documents how much sparring and competition they have been doing. If a child has been active, coaches and officials can tell by the card that they need a break for a while. Now, Boxing Ireland is working on digitising this system, moving past the pen and paper, making them even more efficient and ensuring they are monitoring the safety of their members, of all ages, as closely as possible. After two years with no boxing development officer for the North Central Area, things need to shift soon, says Heney, the Fianna Fáil councillor. "We need to get our act together and get this thing moving," she says. "There's lots of new \[housing\] developments across the city," she says, "we need to make sure that kids are accommodated with sports, that includes boxing." *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Become a synth aficionado, watch a banned football film, go on the annual pilgrimage to Dalkey URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-become-a-synth-aficionado-watch-a-banned-football-film-go-on-the-annual-pilgrimage-to-dalkey/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:37:09.000Z 💡 Come Join us for Dublin Inquirer Summer School 2026! On 27–28 June, we'll be running six sessions **–* attend as many or few as you want **–* on how to get info from local government about what it's planning/ doing/not doing in your neighbourhood, and how to annoy them into making positive changes. [Learn more here](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/). ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* ***Home is where the art is*** This evening at TØN Gallery in Temple Bar artists Des Murphy and James Flanagan will be launching *Home is where the art is*, their new two-person exhibition which draws on their lived experience of homelessness. The culmination of their collaboration with [artist and boat-builder Mark Redden](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-western-invasion-of-dublin-water-sports/), *Home…* questions traditional notions of who is an artist and what place has art in contemporary society? Flanagan and Murphy’s work centres on the concept of home, not just as a physical place of shelter, but as a place of memory, dignity and belonging. Through pieces, created in non-traditional, non-studio spaces, the two artists look to challenge public perceptions of art and homelessness. *Home is where the art is* opens today, Thursday 18 June at 6pm, and will run until 30 June. **Bloop Group** If you, like most Dubliners, have a burning desire to play a synthesizer, then the Digital Hub is the place to be this Saturday. The Bloop Group, a synth-based community, is inviting electronic musicians and producers of all levels to hang out, play music and test out some gear. Hosted by [Caroline Swords and Gary Byrne](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-synthesisers-in-his-bike-basket-he-plans-to-perform-a-techno-set-on-every-major-cycle-route-in-the-city/), the meet-up is fundamentally a social space for synth-enthusiasts, whether or not you have amassed an armada of gear over the years. From 7:30pm, there will also be a few seasoned veterans in attendance, equipped with their modular synth cases to deliver some short sets of original music with accompaniment from visual artists who are going to make complementary visuals that will be projected within Bay 1 of the Digital Hub. The hang-out itself will begin at 5pm on Saturday 20 June. Tickets for Saturday’s meet-up are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bloop-groop-hang-jam-play-tickets-1990863593601?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGn4L4JcxN9OgY-P3OCkA-y1MfPq-cjKhGgawFRkzzuZ51fYGICGNgrmwRMTKw%5Faem%5FnvusF2E%5FMMn6dth1Rr6MRQ&utm%5Fid=97760%5Fv0%5Fs00%5Fe0%5Ftv3), and to find out more about the Bloop Group, give them a follow on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/bloopgroopdublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dalkey Original Print Fair 2026** The Dalkey Original Print Fair is returning this weekend, with its second edition featuring fine art prints by seven established Dublin-based printmakers. Hosted at Our Lady’s Hall in the centre of Dalkey Village, the fair will include etching, linocut, monoprint, carborundum, collagraph and drypoint works by Susan Early, Emma Fitzpatrick, Niamh Flanagan, Ann Kavanagh, Fran Keegan, Liza Kelly and David McGinn. Admission is free, and the works will be available for sale directly from the artists. The fair will begin at 11am on Saturday 20 June, and will run until 6pm on Sunday, 21 June. For more information, follow the Dalkey Original Print Fair over on their Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/dalkeyoriginalprintfair/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dalkey Book Festival** Since we’ve already sent you all the way out to Dalkey, it is only fair that we ensure you have a plethora of activities to choose from. This week will also see the return of the annual Dalkey Book Festival, which kicks off this evening Thursday, 18 June. Most of today’s events are sold out. But if you want to head out early, you can always pop into Loreto Abbey at 8:30pm to see a panel discussion on American culture, featuring authors Jeanine Cummins and Mary Cregan, economist Mark Blyth, and beloved columnist Finn McRedmond. Among the highlights on Friday is the talk "Obama to MAGA" at 4pm, in which *We Need To Talk About Kevin* author Lionel Shriver, Atlantic editor Cullen Murphy and *How To Lose A Country* author Ece Temelkuran will be unpacking American politics over the past ten years with Colm O’Regan. Then, on Saturday at 11am, Hisham Matar, author of *The Return* will be speaking with Roddy Doyle about Matar’s new novel, *My Friends*, an examination of friendship, literature and a life in exile during the 1984 Libyan embassy siege in London. Or if Ece Temelkuran becomes your new favourite expert on the looming threat of fascism, then she will be speaking about her latest work, *Nation of Strangers*, with Rick O’Shea at 1pm. Later, at 4:30pm, *Cameo* author and name frequently lost on the bookshelves among Roddy Doyle’s gargantuan back catalogue, Rob Doyle, will be chatting with *The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas* author and friend of Twitter John Boyne on the topic of “literary celebrity in the culture war era”. And at 5:30pm, Wendy Erskine will be talking about her new novel, *The Benefactors* with essayist and author of the forthcoming collection *The Most Normal Woman* Roisin Kiberd in the Heritage Centre. The Dalkey Book Festival will run until Sunday night. To get your tickets and see who else is on the bill, visit their website [here](https://www.dalkeybookfestival.org/thursday?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Solax Film Club** On Tuesday, the pop-up arthouse cinema Solax Film Club will be hosting a screening of the 1983 Brazilian sports comedy *Onda Nova* at Hen’s Teeth. Directed by Ícaro (Francisco C) Martins and José Antonio Garcia, *Onda Nova* (or *New Wave*) looks at women’s football in Brazil, which was banned until 1979, with women only being permitted to form teams in 1983, the year Martins and Garcia produced their film. Described as an “erotic and anarchic” comedy, *Onda Nova* looks at a group of young players who form Gayvotas Football Club, and face the prejudices of a conservative society as they prepare for an international match. Created with the support of footballers Walter Casagrande, Pita and Wladimir, all of whom make cameo appearances, *Onda Nova* was banned by the Brazilian dictatorship before its release. And this Tuesday 23 June at 6:30pm, you’ll be able to catch the 4K restored version of this cult comedy with an introduction and “relaxed” post-film discussion. Tickets for the screening are available to purchase [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/solax-film-club-presents-new-wave-tickets-1991730837551?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dublin Modular NCH** If you happen to catch the modular synthesizer bug over the weekend, might we advise you venture over to the National Concert Hall on Wednesday? To close out this year’s edition of NCH’s Metronome series, a celebration of electronica, experimental, improvised and contemporary music, queer artist-run electronic music and arts collective Dublin Modular will be fusing modular and hardware electronics with acoustic instrumentation and immersive digital art. Featuring multidisciplinary sound artist and Dublin Modular founder Tadgh Kinsella, composer Sonia Killmann, artist, designer and harpist Genevieve Howard, and Mark Bergin of creative audio studio Folding Waves, the event promises to “blur genres, sounds and worlds.” Curated as a celebration of queer identity, experimentation and collaboration, Dublin Modular’s Metronome session intends to give the NCH’s Studio a “vibrant snapshot” of the country’s evolving electronic music landscape. Metronome: Dublin Modular starts at 8:30pm on Wednesday, 24 June, and given the collective’s knack for selling out events, it would be wise to secure a ticket [here](https://www.nch.ie/all-events-listing/metronome-dublin-modular/?ref=dublininquirer.com) sooner rather than later. ***Stray Sod*** Finally, next Thursday at 6pm, the International Centre for the Image will be launching *Stray Sod*, the new book from Finnish photographer and artist Maria Lax. *Stray Sod* is an investigation into the Irish folklore phenomenon from which its title derives, and which describes a clump of grass that has been enchanted by fairies. In essence, those who dare to step on the patch of land will be led astray by this, a curse so mild in the age of Google Maps. Lax’s publication draws from first-hand accounts that were unearthed in the National Folklore Collection, with these stories describing instances in which individuals are forced to navigate a world characterised by sudden shifts into unfamiliarity and strangeness. Lax then draws parallels between these stories and the destabilising effects of the fast-changing political and technological environment of today. You will be able to order a copy of the photobook on the night or via the Library Project’s website [here](http://thelibraryproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Late at 118: MOVE** On Friday evening, 19 June, the Humanarium on St. Stephen's Green will be hosting its latest Late at 118 session, an after-hours celebration of movement in all of its forms. Among those who will be exploring how movement shapes our bodies this time are dancer Monica Loughman, athlete Michael McKillop, DJ Little O and Masamba Samba. Late at 118 starts at 6:30pm. Admission is free, but booking is essential and can be done [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/late-at-118-move-tickets-1990950799436?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dublin 8 Mega Yard Sale** After hugely successful events in previous years, the Dublin 8 Mega Yard Sale is back this Saturday (21 June) from 12 to 4pm. The clutter-clearing community extravaganza is a great opportunity to snag a bargain and raise money for charity. Residents are encouraged to set up a stall outside their house or on their street corner to sell unwanted goods. You can register your stalls [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQk9DLcrW9h0W8z6CxC3lUzVRPGtrNaSALBx7VEBWFw0ZdxQ/viewform?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information contact [whatsupindublin8@gmail.com](mailto:whatsupindublin8@gmail.com). **Hedgehog Rescue Dublin** Hedgehog Rescue Dublin is seeking volunteers for a few shifts from Mondays to Fridays. Volunteers must be over 18, with the work suiting a vet nurse or animal care student with some animal experience (not necessarily wildlife). Duties will include cleaning cages to a high standard, weighing and feeding hedgehogs and birds, laundry, washing dishes, floors, updating records and charts. If you are interested, contact Yvonne on WhatsApp at 0868810492. **Grey Squirrel Feasibility Study** Would you like to see the red squirrels return to the parks and gardens of Dublin and Wicklow? Biodiversity Ireland is carrying out a feasibility study on the landscape scale control of the invasive grey squirrel and are asking you to have your say. For more information and to complete the survey, visit Biodiversity Ireland’s website [here.](https://biodiversityireland.ie/grey-squirrel-feasibility-study/?ref=dublininquirer.com) If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Barred by EU sanctions from exporting hi-tech chips to Russia, Ireland is sending them in heaps to Israel URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/barred-by-eu-sanctions-from-exporting-hi-tech-chips-to-russia-ireland-is-sending-them-in-heaps-to-israel/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:37:18.000Z Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has imposed package after package of sanctions on the country. Among these were restrictions on exports from EU countries to Russia of certain electronics. Top of [the list](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28258979-list-common-high-priority-items-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com)? "Electronic integrated circuits" with the HS code 8542.31. These were among the "dual use" – meaning they could be used for either civilian or military purposes – and "advanced technology items used in Russian military systems found on the battlefield in Ukraine or critical to the development, production or use of those Russian military systems". Exports from Ireland to Russia of goods identified in international trade by this code quickly dropped off to zero, [suggests](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28258983-ireland-to-russia-exports/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the United Nations' Comtrade database. Meanwhile, on 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked southern Israel from Gaza, [killing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October%5F7%5Fattacks?ref=dublininquirer.com) more than a thousand people, most of them civilians. In retaliation, Israel has bombarded, invaded, and blockaded Gaza, [killing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%5Fwar?ref=dublininquirer.com) more than 70,000 people there, most of them civilians. But the EU has not imposed trade sanctions on Israel. "No matter what war crime the State of Israel commits, EU institutions proceed with business as usual with it," said Patricia Stephenson TD, the Social Democrats spokesperson on foreign affairs. And exports of these very same advanced technology items, with the same code – which cannot be sent to Russia for fear of aiding its war on Ukraine – continue [at pace](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28258982-ireland-to-israel-exports/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Ireland to Israel. In fact, the value of exports of these chips from Ireland to Israel has risen bumpily from about $520 million in 2021 to about $1 billion in 2025, according to [Comtrade data](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28258982-ireland-to-israel-exports/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That's the year the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry [found that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28262152-2025-report-from-un-independent-intl-commission-of-inquery-on-palestine-n2522052/?ref=dublininquirer.com), "Israeli authorities deliberately inflicted conditions of life on the Palestinians in Gaza calculated to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza, which is an underlying act of genocide". Why does the Irish government continue to allow exports of these chips to Israel? Neither the Department of Trade and Enterprise, nor the Department of Foreign Affairs have responded to queries about this sent Friday and Monday. In the Dáil recently, though, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, pointed to Intel's economic importance to Ireland, the thousands of people it employs here, and the danger of angering its patron the United States. "We have to take everything on board and be sensible about it," he said. But Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday that "civilians are still being killed and the expansion of illegal settlements continues". And, "In such a context, Ireland should not be exporting goods which can be used for weapons of war to Israel," Ó Laoghaire said. Israel-based defence contractor [Elbit Systems](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28268792-etc-mk7/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [advertises](https://elbitsystems-uk.com/what-we-do/land/network-combat-warfare/networks-and-c2/etc-mk7.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) an "advanced tactical computer", "designed for use by infantry, Special Forces and command personnel", which it says uses an "Intel i7 Quad Core processor", illustrating the dual-use nature of Intel products – although it's unknown where the specific chips it uses were made. ## Sister plants Intel has a plant in Leixlip, and says [it employs](https://www.intel.ie/content/www/ie/en/company-overview/intel-in-ireland.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) 4,900 people in Ireland. The company has "invested over 30 billion euros in the Leixlip campus, creating a ‘Silicon Isle’ where we make leading-edge processors that power our digital world", its website says. A major employer and taxpayer, Intel's senior executives meet pretty regularly with senior government figures in Ireland, according to lobbying records. Tanaiste Simon Harris [visited](https://www.lobbying.ie/return/140974/intel-ireland-limited?ref=dublininquirer.com) Intel's HQ in California recently and met with CEO Lip-Bu Tan. When Minister of State Thomas Byrne [visited](https://www.lobbying.ie/return/135321/intel-ireland-limited?ref=dublininquirer.com) Intel's plant in Leixlip, on the agenda was "Intel's potential host a major event during the Presidency of the EU Council". Intel also [has a large presence](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/intel-in-israel.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Israel – styling itself "the largest private employer in Israel's hi-tech sector" – with [more than 11,000 employees](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265446-nick-collins-proposal-for-ethical-impact-assessment-a2025proxystatementfinal/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p88) and a manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat, a city about 60km south of Tel Aviv. The relationship between these two plants was [flagged by](https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41644330.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) Irish academics Patrick Bresnihan (Maynooth University) and Patrick Brodie (UCD) in the *Examiner* last year. So, were last year's exports from Ireland to Israel of $1 billion worth of goods with the HS Code 854231 shipments from Intel's plant in Leixlip to its plant in Kiryat Gat? "With a global manufacturing footprint, Intel routinely conducts intra-company shipments between our wafer fabrication facilities, assembly and test, and advanced packaging sites," a company spokesperson said on 5 June. "These shipments are a standard part of our supply chain operations, representing the next step in our end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing process," she said. Ian Cutress, [chief analyst](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancutress/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at [*More than Moore*](https://morethanmoore.substack.com/), which covers the semiconductor industry, including Intel, says "A good amount of intra-company transfer goes on between the two facilities." "On top of this, both sides have sizable R&D facilities, sharing knowledge, people, and equipment for test runs – Israel moreso than Ireland but still both significant," Cutress said. "So hardware, people, tools, spares, manufactured goods, can go either way," he said. "Not only that, but optimized testing tools, testing methodology, and assets to ensure scalability and production milestones." ## Code of Conduct Intel has a code of conduct, which, among other things, [says it is](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265287-intel-code-of-conduct-english/?ref=dublininquirer.com) "committed to respecting and promoting human rights in our operations, supply chain, and business relationships, and do not support or tolerate Intel products being used to violate human rights". But Nick Collins, a [former Intel employee](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-collins-68888a/?ref=dublininquirer.com), says it is not living up to that code of conduct when it comes to Israel. Last year, Collins brought [a proposal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265446-nick-collins-proposal-for-ethical-impact-assessment-a2025proxystatementfinal/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p88) to the company's annual meeting that shareholders ask the board to do a report – a "comprehensive ethical impact assessment" – on the company's involvement with Israel. This should specifically address, among other things, "The moral and legal implications of Intel maintaining corporate operations in a context of present alleged systemic human rights violants and alleged genocide." And "The extent to which Intel corporate presence potentially provides economic legitimacy to actions condemned by most international and some Israeli human rights organisations." The board opposed Collins' initiative, arguing that reducing its presence in, or leaving, Israel, would cause "significant harm to the company and its stockholders". So doing the requested report wouldn't help the board or stockholders "in decision making in this regard", its brief on its reasons for oppositions said. "The company's existing programs on human rights, enterprise risk management and compliance and regular engagement with stockholders remain the appropriate approaches for the board's consideration and actions", it said. When it came time to vote last year, Collins' proposal [failed in a landslide](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265445-vote-fails-in-2025-intc-20250506/?ref=dublininquirer.com). He came back again, this year, with [a similar proposal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265448-nick-collins-is-back-2026-and-mentions-occupied-territories-intc-20260323/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the company's May shareholders' meeting – which again [failed in a landslide](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28265447-vote-fails-in-2026-intc-20260513/?ref=dublininquirer.com). By email on Monday, Collins said to just have a read of Intel's Code of Conduct. "Anyone reading that would come away thinking there is no way that a company that believes in that can turn a blind eye to apartheid/genocide. But yet, here we are," he said. "Ireland and all countries need to stop enabling this version of Israel in any way, since that only enables them to continue their expansionism, abuses and war crimes," he said. Indeed, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has [pointed to](https://www.bdsmovement.net/Press-Release-BDS-Launches-Boycott-Intel-Global-Campaign?ref=dublininquirer.com) Intel's decision to not only maintain its presence in Israel, but invest $25 billion in expanding it. A 2023 [statement](https://www.gov.il/en/pages/b%5Fpress%5F26122023?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Israeli government about the investment called it "the largest investment so far by a company in the State of Israel". The statement said Intel's investment in Israel "will yield significant macroeconomic benefits for the economy" and "the investment has direct fiscal benefits for the state". Or, as a [BDS statement put it](https://www.bdsmovement.net/Press-Release-BDS-Launches-Boycott-Intel-Global-Campaign?ref=dublininquirer.com), Intel has been "aiding and abetting Israel’s apartheid for decades, feeding its war chest, and now it is directly feeding its war chest while it continues its unspeakable genocide". The Intel spokesperson this month did not respond to a query asking for comment on the BDS call to boycott Intel. ## The Ireland-Israel link Cutress, the analyst at *More than Moore*, says that "Intel won't pull out of Israel any time soon". "It's a strong hub for semiconductor talent and research, in part because of when Intel built its business there decades ago and built the ecosystem around it," Cutress said. "Realistically, it's difficult to buy an Intel product today (consumer or enterprise) that hasn't either (a) been designed in Israel, or (b) manufactured in Israel, or (c) contains in part designs from engineers at Intel Israel. It's a core part of the company," he said. If Ireland blocked Intel from exporting to Israel, "then Intel Israel would otherwise source its needs from Intel USA, Intel Malaysia, or other parts of the supply chain". Still, Ireland should be blocking the export of potentially dangerous goods to Israel, said Ó Laoghaire, the Sinn Féin TD on Tuesday. "We saw recently revelations of the Department of Entreprise giving licences for trade of some 20m€ \[in dual-use exports\] to the IDF – utterly unacceptable," Ó Laoghaire said, referring to [a report](https://thecurrency.news/articles/226977/revealed-ireland-approved-e20m-in-dual-use-exports-to-idf-and-israeli-defence-ministry-at-height-of-gaza-war/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in *The Currency*. "Similarly, we need to ensure products produced in Ireland do not contribute in any way to the slaughter and erasure of the Palestinian people," he said. "While pushing the EU is an important element of this, clearly we need action at an Irish level given the EUs reluctance to act," Ó Laoghaire said. There are no sanctions preventing EU countries from exporting "electronic integrated circuits" (HS 8542.31) to Israel, because EU member states have not put them in place. "The EU responses to the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza have been widely divergent," said Stephenson, the Social Democrats TD on Tuesday. "No sanctions have been taken against Israel by the EU – financial or otherwise." "Breaches of international law are not contingent on the identity of the aggressor," she said. "They should be prosecuted and sanctioned equally." In the [Dáil recently](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-05-26/7/?ref=dublininquirer.com), People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin, of Fianna Fáíl, "Will the Government stop the hypocrisy and actually bring forward a Bill that imposes serious sanctions on Israel for its criminal violation of international law, for genocide and for apartheid?" Amidst the back-and-forth between the two that followed, Martin asked, "Does he \[Boyd Barrett\] want Intel to stop dealing with its sister company in Israel?" "Yes," Boyd Barrett replied. "Fine. Talk to the thousands of workers in Ireland working with Intel. What happens there?" Martin asked. "Has Deputy Boyd Barrett worked through the implications of it? Has anyone in the Opposition done an assessment of what it would mean economically?" Martin asked. What about what the US might do to Ireland, if Ireland moves against Israel? he asked. Ireland has been a leader in Europe on Palestine, Martin said. But "We have to protect our national interests and people at the same time", he said. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 12:13pm on 17 June 2026 to add information about the use of Intel products in Elbit System products.* ### Gardaí’s budget for PR and communications has boomed. Is that good? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/gardais-budget-for-pr-and-communications-has-boomed-is-that-good/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:37:33.000Z An Garda Síochána's spend on PR grew nearly sixfold between 2019 and 2026, [show figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28241286-ags-comms-office-budget-increase-calculation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. During that period, the annual budgets of its Corporate Communications Office (CCO) grew from €62,000 to €358,000. Gardaí also [bulked up](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28241288-personnel-figures-comms-office/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the press office’s staffing, from 19 members in December 2019 to 31 in April 2026 – an increase of 63 percent. Besides fielding questions from the press and sending out news releases, “An Garda Síochána's Office of Corporate Communications maintains the organisation's social media presence on Facebook, Twitter \[X\] and Instagram,” [says the Gardaí’s website](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28241493-social-media-garda/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said its budget upsurge was needed to ensure that the guards are “effectively” communicating with the public across a variety of channels. It has expanded its in-house skills, they said, adding more social media content creators. The office also pushes recruitment drives and crime-prevention campaigns, they said. Also, the press office sends out notices – last year it issued seven – to counter falsehoods and misinformation, whose target is often vulnerable groups, the spokesperson said. [Surveys](https://www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/office-of-corporate-communications/press-releases/2025/november/communities-continue-to-maintain-trust-in-an-garda-siochana-garda-public-attitudes-survey-2024.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) show higher trustin the Gardaí, they said, quoting Andrew McLindon, the Gardaí’s director of communications, as saying that messaging is important to hold the public’s trust. "As well as supporting Garda operational activity that keeps people safe,” McLindon said. Ciáran O’Connor, senior analyst at Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) – an organisation focused on probing hate and extremism online – said he has seen an improvement in Gardaí’s online messaging. In the last two or three years, Gardaí have started to step in more at critical moments – like shortly after an incident unfolds – to refute common untruths and misinformation that carom through social media. “We have seen the Gardaí become more vocal, more proactive in their communications in the immediate aftermath of events,” O'Connor said. Meanwhile, some policing academics say inflating the police communications budget and expanding its press office isn’t entirely positive. It depends on how it is used. If output steers the public’s perception of social issues in ways that demonise ordinary people – who can be struggling – that isn’t a good use of public money, they say. An underlying problem, they say, is that An Garda Síochána, as an organisation, just isn't transparent enough. It's rare for the public to glimpse how things play out behind the scenes, including how the PR wing spends its money. ## **Setting the record straight** In October 2024, independent city Councillor Gavin Pepper [shared a video](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/ee06541af8fb10b19d304dfb3e1ebc49?ref=dublininquirer.com) of himself, talking to his phone’s camera, saying a “foreign national” had been confronted by a crowd of parents in Finglas – and that he’d been hauled away by the cops. “The facts will come out later of what it was. But it is alleged that he was possibly talking to some of the kids, and it was the parents of the kids who had him surrounded until the police came,” he said. Shortly after, An Garda Síochána sent out [a notice](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28247108-dz32pgy9xrsd1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A young man who struggled speaking English needed help contacting his family. He had been asking passersby near a school in Finglas if he could use their Wifi to make contact, its statement said. “This request for assistance was misinterpreted and led to a call from onlookers to the Gardaí,” it said. Officers took him away to help him contact his family, it said, and not because he had done anything wrong. The statement urged public representatives, the general public, and the media to “independently verify the source of their information”. O’Connor, the senior analyst at ISD, said the guards also stepped up when [false allegations](https://www.waterford-news.ie/news/waterford-woman-fueled-racial-tension-with-false-sexual-assault-claim%5Farid-43049.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) of sexual assault against immigrant men in Dungarvan in Co. Waterford floated on Facebook, and when all kinds of wrong information about a shooting in Carlow made it into social media feeds. “I think it signals an improvement in their strategic communications and how they respond to potential information vacuums,” he said. Cian Ó Concubhair, associate professor of criminal justice in Maynooth University, said that based on what he's seen, Gardaí's messaging hasn't dramatically improved. But a polarised world made a strategic adjustment to proactive social media messaging inevitable, he said. In the past, “they usually wouldn’t have responded to ongoing incidents”, he said. Still, Ó Concubhair said, Gardaí were much slower than police in other countries to embrace this pivot. It's been standard for as long as a decade in some places, he said. “The police saw that they have a responsibility to go on social media in order to correct the record as a kind of authoritative source of information." ## **Paying for** “**copaganda**”**?** In his book, *Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate our News*, American civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis says that journalists all over should ask police forces how much they spend on communications. Police communications staff – alongside sympathetic reporters – can create content and place stories that inflate the significance of petty violations and crimes and largely ignore white-collar misdeeds and corruption, he says. “There is a complex, and often hidden web of relationships – funded by public money – that manufactures and places police propaganda in the news,” he wrote. Here, Gardaí have in past years placed stories – [sometimes with video footage](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/7c136b2686859706fa43e044f289c45e?ref=dublininquirer.com) – about [immigration arrests](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0526/1451302-border-immigration/?ref=dublininquirer.com) via checkpoints at the border with the North, saying how more people are using it to cross. Underneath one such video, a comment reads: “People were labelled far right when they suggested deportation a few month's back, are the government far right now”. Gardaí allowed the *Irish Examiner* [to video](https://web.archive.org/web/20260614130731/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41743455.html) a deportation process last year – even while a[human rights observer report](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27019376/human-rights-report-june-2025-nigeria.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) of a deportation last year suggests that, at least for observers and escorts, recording the routine is not allowed. At one point in 2023, Garda press office issued a statement about how, as part of a campaign to tackle inner-city crime and enhance safety, officers would carry out immigration checks in Dublin city. At the time, Luna Lara Liboni, then a senior policy officer at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), [said that](https://www.dublininquirer.com/would-getting-rid-of-gardais-role-in-registering-immigration-statuses-get-rid-of-one-point-of-friction-with-immigrants/) the news release gave the impression that immigration and crime were intertwined – a common anti-immigrant trope. In an email last week, Karakatsanis, the author of *Copaganda*, said the most basic functions of police in an unequal society “are to control the most vulnerable and to preserve the wealth and power of those groups and institutions who benefit from unequal social arrangements”. Police need money to influence the public’s perception and distract from that, he said. Ó Concubhair, who has read *Copaganda*, said he has a more optimistic view. It's good to have a police force that is good at communicating with the public, he said. Still, he finds things like “war on drugs” agendas and media campaigns distasteful and not a good use of public money, said Ó Concubhair. He said the communications office can work to thwart unfavourable leaks, “control the flow of information” and nudge the press to promote its narratives. “And leveraging their authority over journalists,” Ó Concubhair said. Claire Hamilton, head of the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University, said that hyperfocusing on what people say about Gardaí on platforms such as X can also create a perception that people in real life don’t have any faith in the police. And that Gardaí need to spend a lot of money to change that, she said. While satisfaction with its performance isn't as high, trust in the force is still strong compared to other European countries because “the guards are still very much associated with the establishment of, you know, the Republic, the Free State”. Another problem, said Ó Concubhair, the other policing academic, is that aside from costs and personnel data, it’s not possible to scrutinise the politics and agendas of Gardaí, and hold them accountable. Only records relating to those limited categories of information are available through access requests under the Freedom of Information Act. “Which is absolutely ridiculous,” he said. Most government agencies struggle with transparency under FOI law, he said, but they still have to comply. The transparency problem, Ó Concubhair said, "is most acute in the Gardaí". ### Twelve years in, experimental metal band Earthslayer are ready to take their apocalyptic sound to the live circuit URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/twelve-years-in-experimental-metal-band-earthslayer-are-ready-to-take-their-apocalyptic-sound-to-the-live-circuit/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:37:44.000Z It’s close to a decade since Earthslayer released their debut album, said bassist Simon Bird as he sat in a swiveling chair in his recording studio below Herbert Street on Monday evening. They've been a band for 12 years, he said. “We’ve only played one gig." Beside Bird was a desktop laden down with synthesizers big and small, an arsenal of guitar effects pedals, computer monitors, a tangle of colourful cables and a smiling Fisher Price toy telephone. Relaxing on the couch beside him were his two bandmates, Sam Burton and Tom Morris. That gig was six weeks ago, said Sam Burton, the experimental metal outfit’s lead vocalist. “It was in Anseo, and we didn’t really tell anyone.” Their friends only showed up because Burton’s dad had told a bunch of people, he said, chuckling as he leaned forward on the couch. “So my dad leaked the gig entirely." It was a "trial gig" before they start performing live more regularly in the near future, guitarist Tom Morris said as he sipped from a can of cola. “We just kinda wanted to break the ice, and check that it was okay.” They were surprised that people enjoyed it, Burton says. "It was one of those gigs where it goes much better than you expect and then you're like annoyed you didn't tell everyone." On and off since 2016, the trio have been preparing their follow-up album, he says. “It has some really interesting moments. There are backing vocals from 10 years ago and lead vocals from recently.” “There’s also, like, a minute and a half song that took 10 years to make,” he says, bursting out laughing. ## Soundtrack for another century Earthslayer formed in 2014 when guitarist Tom Morris had an idea to perform a live soundtrack for *Häxan*, a 1922 Swedish-Danish silent horror documentary by director Benjamin Christensen, Morris said. “We said let’s just cut down the film to its best bits and perform the soundtrack to that.” They wrote and recorded their own score for the film over 2014 and 2015, he said. “Ultimately, we decided not to go ahead with the gig.” “We were really unprepared for the gig,” Morris laughs. “It took a lot longer than we thought.” Their score for the film was released, ultimately, on 31 October 2016\. It is an elaborate piece of work, with distant pianos, droning ominous guitars, creaking violins, stomping drum machines, and a wide timbre of vocals, including guttural black metal roars and gentle lullabies. Bird stuck their version of the film on the flat screen, skipping ahead to a lively dance scene in an underworld, with skeletal horses and a line of people who each, happily, kiss a devil’s posterior. The lively orchestral score that usually accompanies the film is replaced with gothic clanging percussion and Burton’s throat singing – a technique that generates two different pitches. He can’t do the whistling overtones that throat singing generates anymore, he says. “And I do a lot of choral chanty stuff. A lot of made-up languages.” They were always called Earthslayer, but the original version of this was EORÐESLAJYR, he said. “We obfuscated the name to make it a bit more on brand with the project.” “It looked cool in text,” Morris said. It did, but nobody really knew how to pronounce it, Bird said. “And anyone who hears it was going to spell it wrong.” ## Not *The Wizard of Oz* Once they completed the *Häxan* soundtrack, they got to work on the follow-up, he says. “Sporadically, not constantly.” They were all living apart. Bird was in Dublin, Burton in Leipzig, and Morris in New York, he said. “We’d record parts, build out the structure and work on the mix.” While releasing a short EP in 2020, recorded four years earlier, and apocalyptically christened *The Earth Shall Be The First To Die*, the band took a break in 2018, he said. “I was like, maybe we pause until the guys are back in the country.” They resumed work on their forthcoming album in 2023, he said. “What?” Burton says. “Wow. Jesus, the time.” Similar to *Häxan*, the new, as-yet-untitled sophomore record was written in response to an unspecified, but slightly more recent horror film, Bird says. “The style is more industrial, and that’s in response to the film.” Writing in sync with a film creates limits that help their process, he says. “Songs are the length of scenes. It enforces a framework that you have to compose and design around. It’s personally what I like doing.” Ahead of the release of the studio album, the trio are previewing an alternative version of their new track ["The Daydream Flinch"](https://vimeo.com/1201812462/4099fc0068?ref=dublininquirer.com) recorded at Daylight, the volunteer-run arts and community space located in Glasnevin. Featuring experimental drummer [Jason McNamara](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-heart-of-the-city-a-drummer-plays-the-streets/), the new track opens with an extreme call-and-response of soft, rumbling rhythms created by Bird on the bass that are interrupted by explosive, rapid bursts of grindcore: a hybrid genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk. As quickly as it starts, McNamara switches to a smoother, almost jazzy beat while the trio harken back to 1970s heavy metal before everyone abruptly stops. Bird pulls up the studio version. It is a drastically different, shorter take on the track. It features trembling, high pitched synthesizers, the grunts and screams of Gilla Band vocalist Dara Kiely, and electronic drum beats, which clatter in unison with Burton’s singing. Whereas *Häxan* was very “soundscapey”, dark and heavy, the newer material has more hooks, he says, laughing. “More conventional song structures. Actually, like quieter. Not so…” “Doomy,” Morris says. They are unsure if they’ll release a version of the unspecified horror film that features the second album, primarily because they want the new record to stand up on its own, Burton says. “But I like the idea that you know there is a film somewhere out there that goes perfectly with this record.” “But you have to keep playing it with different films until you figure out which one it is,” he says with a grin. “It’s not *The Wizard of Oz*,” Morris says. ### Revolt continues in Dublin 7 over proposed shift from bags to bins URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/revolt-continues-in-dublin-7-over-proposed-shift-from-bags-to-bins/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:37:56.000Z The Aughrim Street Scout Group hall was jammed with Stoneybatter locals on Monday evening. More than 300 people crammed into the centre’s gymnasium. Some stood inside an open fire exit. Many more leaned against the walls inside a corridor that led out to the front entrance. They were to talk about Dublin City Council's proposed changes for how they'd put their rubbish out on bin day. Labour Party TD Marie Sherlock, who was hosting the meeting, addressed the room. Poor consultation and communication by the council were to blame for the situation, Sherlock said, stood below a climbing wall and next to a Labour banner. “The reality is that we have a dysfunctional bin collections, waste management here in Dublin,” she said. The crowd applauded. A curly-haired retriever barked and its owner tried to calm it, saying, “Shush, it’s nothing to do with me.” The hall was warm. The air was heavy. The atmosphere was tense. A woman entered the room wearing a white recycling bin bag as a cape and a yellow compost bag as a headband. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/At-Monday-s-meeting.-Photo-by-Brian-Rogers-1-1.jpeg) Photo by Brian Rogers. Sherlock had called the meeting after bin company Greyhound [informed](https://greyhound.ie/changes-to-waste-bag-collections/?ref=dublininquirer.com) locals in late April that they would need to switch from plastic waste bags to bins by 6 July. “That is when people became aware of the changes," Sherlock said. "There had been no official correspondence from Dublin City Council to residents.” This change had been a long time coming. About two and a half years ago, council officials [said they were](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-to-push-more-city-residents-to-switch-from-bags-to-bins-for-rubbish/) reviewing which streets in the inner-city still used bags – and which could be switched to bins. [Council plans to push more city residents to switch from bags to bins for rubbish - Dublin InquirerIt’s part of an effort to keep streets cleaner, by reducing the number of bags available for seagulls, foxes and other creatures to tear open, a council official says.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-24ec8d4b-f712-4001-a9a2-f059acbb759a.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/collecting-rubbish-bags-in-inchicore-credit-sam-tranum-8375be26-5647-4d4d-a11c-f7b2bef9b3bc.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-to-push-more-city-residents-to-switch-from-bags-to-bins-for-rubbish/) At meetings since, councillors [pushed for progress](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-ask-when-long-standing-plans-to-reduce-rubbish-on-the-city-streets-will-be-live/), to prevent waste from being strewn about city centre streets by foraging foxes and hungry gulls. And the council has been rolling out the switch in phases, across the inner-city. Now, it has reached phase three, which covers Stoneybatter, Smithfield and Grangegorman. And, that kicked off the current backlash. Many houses in the area are small and don’t have the space for a wheelie bin, said Ashley Palermo, who lives in the area, at the meeting. “People only have a small space in the back garden if they have one,” Palermo said. In many cases, there is little space in front of houses around here too, she said. “And people don’t want to have the bins in front of the house. It’s an eyesore.” Residents also say the switch will cost them more money, because bin plans are pricier than buying bin bags at the local shop as needed. Rather than a blanket switch, there need to be alternative options available, Sherlock said after the meeting. "Some people inside here may want to continue with the bags," she said. "But there mightn't be a one-size-fits-all for every street. There may be different solutions for different streets. A bit like the parking." ## Finding a response For now, the deadline for the changeover has been delayed. The day after the meeting, Barry Woods, Dublin City Council’s head of Waste Management Services told the Central Area Committee that the phasing out of bins will now happen on 4 August. But council will not be robustly enforcing the bin mandate in this area until 4 September, he said. “So that’s giving people nearly three months between now and the start of September before we enforce the change in the bye-law,” he said. Managing waste from bin bags left on kerbsides has been a big challenge in the city, said [a 12 June report from Woods](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28267144-20260612-report-to-central-area-cllrs-waste-management/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Central Area Committee councillors. Bags are torn open by birds, vermin and, more recently, people digging through for containers eligible under the Deposit Return Scheme, he wrote. “This results in littering, contamination of waste streams and unhygienic conditions on public streets.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Torn-open-yellow-bag.-Photo-by-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpeg) Photo by Shamim Malekmian. But the decision to roll out wheelie bins or waste receptacles, “and no other option” was being decided without consulting with the Dublin 7 community, Sherlock told the public meeting on Monday night. Cost was a big issue, she said. “We know that people will end up paying a lot more under the new proposals. For some people, it could double in a year.” A pack of three yellow Greyhound bin bags from a shop in Dublin might cost about €14, and a pack of six white ones about €12. A bin plan from Greyhound, including black, brown and green bins, might cost €23.50 to €31.50 a month, depending on how much you put in the black bin. So a household would have to put out a yellow bag and a white bag each week, for the cost to be comparable to a bin plan. The existing system of putting out a bag incentivises people to reduce waste, Sherlock said. With the new system, "those incentives go out the door”, she said. Not only that, but the community is facing the prospect of wheelie bins being kept out on their streets as locals might not have yards to store them in, she said. “I don’t think any of us want to see our streets lined with bins that stay there Monday to Friday, Monday to Sunday, seven days a week, week in, week out.” Sherlock’s public meeting on Monday night lasted more than an hour. Towards the end, she said she would be writing to the council’s head of waste. “But I think as well, we need to start perhaps organising a demonstration outside Dublin City Council offices.” As the microphone was passed around, a handful of attendees suggested going a few steps further. One proposed not paying the forthcoming fees. Another said they should bring their bin bags to City Hall. Sherlock said she couldn’t condone those responses, emphasising instead the need for a demonstration to “support” local councillors in their effort to resolve the problem. Palermo**,** the local resident,after the meeting, said it wasn’t great that the council didn’t consult with the community. “Everyone cares, everyone loves this area.” The current system of plastic bags works, she said. “Everyone can lift them. It’s lightweight.” Lugging wheelie bins in and out of small houses was, on the other hand, a “biohazard” in some cases, she said. “And if you’re gonna have three bins, how many times can you boil your kettle to clean your bins every week?” The scoutmaster then loudly clanged a bell, and the packed room quickly emptied out. ## Improving communications At the Central Area Committee meeting on Tuesday morning, each of the local councillors expressed their dissatisfaction with the council’s failure to adequately consult locals. The lack of consultation has damaged this transition, not only in Dublin 7, but also in other areas where the council needs to remove bin bags from the streets, said Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose. “We’ve ended up with a situation where we’ve jeopardised this through the really poor communication.” Woods’ written report said the council recognised these concerns, and had carried out a leaflet drop on 6 June, outlining the proposed changes. But, it also recommended that the council improve its communication campaign ahead of the delayed implementation of the switch on 4 August. Woods’ report also noted that waste collectors told the council that they will offer a “pay per lift” option for reusable bins. That would be an option for households which produce less waste, said Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, speaking by phone on Tuesday evening. "They're only paying every time it's collected, as opposed to paying a standard monthly charge, which doesn't do anything to incentivise people to reduce their waste," she said. According to [Woods' report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28267144-20260612-report-to-central-area-cllrs-waste-management/?ref=dublininquirer.com), unspecified waste collectors have advised the council that they will be offering a pay-per-lift option, which costs €39.99 in the first year, alongside lift fees of €5.50 for residual, €4 for organic and €4.50 for dry mixed recyclable waste. Jose, the Green Party councillor, said at Tuesday's area committee meeting that Greyhound is the only company offering a pay-per-lift service, right now. But the service fee rises to €100 per year after the initial payment of €39.99, Jose said. “That’s a significant difference.” That service fee is outside the council’s scope, Woods said at the meeting. “We will take it to the waste collectors and I’ll come back to you on that.” To help the transition from bags to bins, the council will also be considering the installation of a residual waste compactor on a temporary basis at the Grangegorman Bring Centre, Woods’ report says. That way, instead of leaving them on the street, people could carry their bags over there, and throw them in the compactor. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Waste-Compactors-on-Marlborough-Place.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Waste compactors on Marlborough Place. Photo by Sam Tranum. They are looking at that, he said at the meeting. “It’s just there’s an issue with space there at the moment.” They may have to take out a garden waste compactor to replace a residual waste compactor, he said. “If we had to do it, it’s a matter of a couple of hours to switch compactors in and out.” ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #123 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-123/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T08:20:39.000Z June is deeply associated with Áine, the Irish goddess of summer, fertility, love, and sovereignty, whose presence is especially felt around the midsummer season. Closely linked to the landscape of County Limerick and the sacred waters of Lough Gur, Áine embodies both the life-giving warmth of the sun and the cyclical mysteries of the moon. In this artwork, she is represented through a selection of symbolic flowers: golden canola blossoms, meadowsweet, and primroses. The bright yellow florals evoke her solar aspect, reflecting sunlight, abundance, and the flourishing of the land at the height of summer, while the softer primroses and meadowsweet connect her to the natural beauty and folklore of the Irish countryside. Encircling these blooms is a four-phase moon frame, honouring Áine's lunar dimension and the rhythms of growth, renewal, and feminine power. The rich blue background recalls the waters of Lough Gur, her legendary dwelling place, creating a visual balance between sun and moon, land and water, and celebrating Áine's enduring connection to June and the vibrant energy of the Irish summer. I am a designer and illustrator who draws inspiration from the natural flora and fauna around us, as well as local tales and stories, to create artworks steeped in symbolism and storytelling. You can find me on Instagram [@ells\_art\_design](https://www.instagram.com/ells%5Fart%5Fdesign/?ref=dublininquirer.com), where you can see more of my work. ### Six months on, the renamings of two Dublin parks are still stalled out URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/six-months-on-the-renamings-of-two-dublin-parks-are-still-stalled-out/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:35:18.000Z Six months after Dublin city councillors were pulled back from denaming Rathgar’s Herzog Park, they are still awaiting news on what happens next, they say – and their queries are being ignored. The issue was raised again at last week’s meeting of the council’s commemorations and naming committee. Councillors on that same committee had [initially voted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-rename-herzog-park-and-name-a-park-after-terence-wheelock-councillors-decide/) to remove the name of Dublin-raised former Israeli PM[ Chaim Herzog](https://www.dublininquirer.com/did-the-council-follow-the-correct-process-to-name-herzog-park-back-in-1995/) from the park last July. They had also put forward a proposal, at the same time, to rename Diamond Park in Dublin 1 as the Terence Wheelock Memorial Diamond Park – for the 20-year-old who [died while in custody](https://www.dublininquirer.com/19-years-ago-terence-wheelock-went-into-store-street-garda-station-alive/) in Store Street Garda Station in 2005. At the last minute, in December, the council chief executive Richard Shakespeare had put a halt to both proceedings. He cited issues with the regulations for the naming process for public parks. "The authority to change a placename is contained within Part 18 of the Local Government Act 2001,” he[ said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28226170-04b-december-minutes/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p2) in a statement at the time. “The process involves the adoption by resolution of a proposal to substitute a new placename by the elected members, the holding of a public consultation and a secret ballot of qualified electors should a proposal be approved,” he said. “While the provisions of the Act were commenced in 2019, the regulations required to govern the process for a secret ballot are not yet in place,” said Shakespeare. Frustratingly, says Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney who chairs the naming committee, they are still seemingly nowhere on the issue. Cooney wrote a letter on 7 April to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, asking for an update, she said Monday. “We were looking for when the legislation might be passed, because we can't do anything due to the legislation,” she says. They haven’t had a response, she said. She sent a follow-up email, again, to crickets, she says. “You'd normally get something from the private secretary to say, you know, I'll bring this to the attention of the minister, but nothing,” she says. “It’s very odd.” The decision at the naming committee meeting last week was for Shakespeare, the council’s chief executive, to write to the minister, and request a response, she says. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said on Wednesday that untangling the park-naming situation “may require primary legislation”. “The matter will be considered further by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in consultation with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht,” said the spokesperson. “There are a number of policy decisions that will have to be finalised between both Departments, and considered by Government,” they said. “This is a complex matter to which careful consideration is being given.” ## **Councillors to take legal action** Diamond Park holds deep and warm memories of Terence Wheelock, his brother Sammy said on Tuesday. The family remembers him playing summer football competitions and taking part in open air boxing tournaments there through the years, he says. “That’s why this means so much to me and my family,” he says. Renaming the park in his honour would be a powerful symbol of his memory, for the family and wider community, who roundly support the renaming, he says. Despite the silence from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Sammy says they are resolute in pushing forward. “We’re not backing down from it.” “Because of what happened to him, just a 20-year-old boy, the way this happened to him, it was so unfair, it was cruel, it was wrong,” he says. At a protest in Terence’s name this week, Councillor Conor Reddy of People Before Profit said that in a couple of weeks, cross-party councillors intend to take Minister James Browne to court over his department’s seeming inaction on regulations governing the renaming of parks. “It's to unblock what they tried to put in our way, it's to get that renaming moving forward, something that the overwhelming majority of people in this community supported, something that the family have been calling for, for a very long time,” he said. Having the park named for Terence would help to drive the campaign to get the Department of Justice to initiate an independent public inquiry into his death, said Reddy. “That puts it up to the state when you have a name forever on the maps of this city, on a street sign ‘Terence Wheelock Memorial Diamond Park’ to keep this campaign alive and his memory alive as well,” he said. Reddy told the crowd that Terence's story resonates across the north inner-city. “There's something that we can see in it, and it's how I think working-class young men, in particular, are treated by this state, brutalised by this state quite often, and never given the compassion or the support that they deserve in their communities,” he said. “I think when we fight for Terence, for a lot of people it's about a lot more than just getting justice for a family who's been denied it for over 20 years, it's also about turning the page and fighting for something better,” he said. “Fighting for a society that values young people, that values working-class communities, that looks to support rather than punishment, that funds youth work, that funds community work, and that aims to prevent rather than punish,” he said. ## **The details** The Department of Housing spokesperson explained in more detail what, they said, the legal issue standing in the way of park namings is. Provisions relating to placename changes in Part 18 of the amended Local Government Act 2001 were commenced in early 2019, they said. Previous provisions were repealed. And provisions in the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011, amending Part 18 of the 2001 Act, were commenced, they said. Part 18 provides that Regulations can be made for the holding of plebiscites to change placenames. But before Regulations could be made, issues were identified in respect of the interaction of the amended Part 18 of the Local Government Act 2001 and provisions contained in Official Languages legislation, said the spokesperson. “It is expected that a resolution to the legislative complexities that exist between the Local Government Acts and Official Languages Act may require primary legislation to resolve,” they said. There are policy decisions to be made, “particularly in relation to the role of the Council and the role of the Minister with responsibility for the Official Languages Act and the Placenames Commission,” they said. “Work is continuing with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht on the resolution of the placenames issue, with a view to agreeing revised policy and identification of any required legislative change,” the spokesperson said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### At Labre Park, residents wait for word on what they need, and will get, to protect from landfill gases URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-labre-park-residents-wait-for-word-on-if-they-need-and-will-get-protection-from-landfill-gases/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:35:26.000Z “It really is worth noting that I am very concerned about the possibility for gases coming up through these existing homes,” Shay L’Estrange [told](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fkey%5Fissues%5Faffecting%5Fthe%5Ftraveller%5Fcommunity/2026-05-21/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) an Oireachtas committee last month. “That is a really big concern for me, even if we set everything else aside,” he said. L’Estrange – coordinator of Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project – was before the committee to talk about the failure, again, to progress the years-long plan to fully regenerate Labre Park in Ballyfermot. The regeneration of the Traveller site – realising a plan for 12 new-build homes and significant upgrades to 18 existing homes – had seemed on the cusp of starting earlier this year, after decades of promises. Until L’Estrange got a call in April from Dublin City Council’s head of housing, Mick Mulhern, to say that flood risk – an issue he thought had been put to bed a few years earlier – meant the new builds couldn’t progress. Retrofitting and refurbishing the existing homes would go ahead, Mulhern said – which he told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community. At issue still, though, is what that retrofitting and refurbishment is actually to mean – and whether it should and will include protection from historic-landfill gases. Environmental surveys [dating back years](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232883-tes-report-090151b280081842/?ref=dublininquirer.com) have said that underneath Labre Park, and the lands around it, is some kind of old dump. Past reports have recommended greater investigation of its contamination, and the rate and routes by which gases such as methane may still be rising up. Consultants in June 2019[put down some](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232886-september-2019-causeway-and-wyg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) boreholes, at the request of the housing association Cluid, which at the time was leading on the regeneration project. They concluded from the results that the level of gases released were low-risk, says their report, “in the absence of further appropriate monitoring data”. There hasn’t been any further monitoring done. L’Estrange says he has serious concerns that – even though the council has been aware that Labre Park was built on a historic dump for a number of years – they haven’t done much monitoring for existing residents. He also pointed to how a later risk assessment, [done in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232888-august-2024-tier-1-report-by-rps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) August 2024, said that the potential for ground gas exists on all brownfield sites, so all buildings should have appropriate gas protection measures. But nothing has been done, he said. “It’s unacceptable.” A spokesperson for Cluid said, back while it was still working on the project, it had adjusted its designs and plans based on the surveys that it commissioned. That meant – for where the new buildings were planned – including provision for “the removal of contaminated soil and the use of membranes where soil would be disturbed”, they said. But “at the point of handover, a full risk assessment had not been completed for the existing homes on the site”, they said. “This would typically be completed at detailed design stage.” Given they handed it back to the council, it was envisioned that they would carry out those risk assessments at that stage, they said. “If the risk assessment determined that remedial measures (such as barriers and/or increased ventilation) were required, these would then be included in the Works requirement.” At the Oireachtas committee, Mulhern – who noted that he had only been in his role for about 18 months – told TDs that the council is talking to the department about remediation funding for the landfill. Echoing the Cluid spokesperson, he said the council had planned to include membranes to deal with gas emissions and radon within the 12 new builds. And, they have also now committed to further survey works for the current 18 homes to determine exactly what was at issue and what measures would be required, he said. “Those surveys had not been done in those homes at that time to determine what membrane or whatever – I am not an engineer – would be required,” he said. “We are still fully committed to that.” TDs meanwhile pointed to a pattern. “It is no coincidence that Labre Park was built on a dump,” said Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis. “We also have St Joseph's, which is built beside a dump.” “It seems they have done this in the case of a number of Traveller sites and it is totally unacceptable that has happened over the years,” he said. “My local Traveller site in Limerick would be Longpavement. That has been built on a dump as well,” said Limerick TD Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan. “It seems to be a pattern across the state to build sites on dumps,” he said. ## **What gases are there?** About 20 years ago, Dublin City Council had plans to put a civic amenity centre – a recycling and waste depot – on the lands just to the south-west of the homes at Labre Park. TES Consulting Engineers [took a closer look](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232883-tes-report-090151b280081842/?ref=dublininquirer.com) beneath the land. They found construction and demolition waste, municipal waste and loose fill overlying natural soil and subsoils below the surface, their report says. That was from historical dumping, it said. “Historically, waste and debris was used as a means of raising the topographic elevation of lands, which were low lying and waterlogged, as was the natural setting of this site and surrounding area.” An environmental impact statement had [said that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232946-soils-and-geology-eis-090151b28008184a/?ref=dublininquirer.com), before any development, the council should sample the soil and check for contamination, monitor for landfill gases, and check the groundwater quality. After tests, TES Consulting Engineers concluded that: “The detailed analysis of the soil and groundwater samples indicates that the materials deposited within the site have not resulted in gross contamination of the soil or groundwater environment. “ They didn’t monitor for gases. But, in the end, an Environmental Protection Agency inspector who weighed in on the licensing for the civic amenity centre said that, “It is also my opinion that the production of landfill gas at this site would be low based on the type of fill historically deposited at this site.” They set, in the recommended decision, the need to vent for any trapped gases as a precautionary measure when the facility was built. It didn’t go ahead in the end though. ## **Later testing** In 2019, as Cluid, the approved housing body, was working on its plans for the regeneration of the Traveller homes at Labre Park, it too asked consultants to take a look at how to manage the lands. Cluid looked at a slightly different area to the lands that had been considered for the civic amenity centre. This survey was done on the bit of Labre Park where new buildings were planned, closer to the homes, said a spokesperson for Cluid on Thursday. In a risk assessment, environmental consultants at WYG looked at what several pits, and three boreholes for gas monitoring, had found. The WYG consultants said that there were a number of contaminants in the soil, which could “present a potential risk to human health assuming a future residential land use”, and “some of which are considered to pose a site wide risk following statistical consideration of the applicable contaminant data sets”. So, “an appropriate detailed remedial strategy” should “be developed to address the potential risks identified”, their report said. “The design of future remedial measures will be informed by the final proposed development layout,” it said. Also, “low level ground gas was detected which was classified as low risk following consideration of the data as presented”, they said. “Concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide were high across the monitoring rounds and often exceeded the recommended threshold values,” it said. But given fluctuations and a review of materials from the boreholes, they thought it was low-risk, they said. “It is therefore recommended in the absence of further monitoring data that specialist ground gas protection measures be considered within future development,” it said. Soil contaminants could be an issue if there is soft landscaping, it said, and low-level ground gas can present a risk to future site visitors and buildings “via service entry and accumulation within sub floor voids”. A spokesperson for Cluid said that on the basis of this assessment, it had included in its plans the removal of contaminated soil and the use of membranes where soil was disturbed as part of its designs. But when it handed the project over to the council, “Clúid did not have sufficient information to advise on whether membranes were an appropriate course of action for each individual home being redeveloped,” said the spokesperson. In October 2023, the council had also asked Clúid to commission a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Assessment – [which it did](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28232888-august-2024-tier-1-report-by-rps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from RPS, relying on the past ground investigations. “Overall, the risk was considered relatively low, largely due to the historical period during which the site was used as a waste facility,” said the Clúid spokesperson. The RPS report did also recommend progressing “to Detailed Site Assessment (DSA) in accordance with the EPA’s Guidance on the Management of Contaminated Land and Groundwater at EPA Licensed Sites (EPA, 2013).” “It is recommended that further intrusive investigation focus upon the c.12,000m2 area at the southeast of the site, which has not been assessed to date,” that report said. It is also recommended that groundwater and leachate monitoring boreholes are installed on the site to enable assessment of potential risks from leachate migration. And, due to the brownfield nature of the site – with extensive areas of “made ground” – it is recommended that future developments incorporate appropriate gas protection measures in accordance with current guidance and standards to prevent risks to human health, it said. At the Oireachtas committee, Green Party Senator Malcolm Noonan asked whether there was currently gas monitoring on the site. “No, not currently but that is one element of the further site investigations and surveys that will be carried out in the near future,” said Stephen Wearen, a Dublin City Council official. ## **Sounder land** What should happen next with the overall regeneration of Labre Park depends partly on what comes out of any future monitoring on gases and contamination, said L’Estrange, of Ballyfermot Travellers Action Protect. But also – given that flood risk has killed any talk of adding new homes and expanding the site where it is – the council and councillors have to step up and rezone some of the lands just a whistle to the east of Labre Park for more Traveller housing, he said. That's where a large swathe of industrial lands is currently being carved up, and rezoned, by the council, as part of the [Kylemore masterplan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-on-plan-for-5-000-homes-on-lands-between-inchicore-and-ballyfermot/). At the Oireachtas committee, when Ellis, the Sinn Féin TD, asked about the possibility of a site for Traveller housing as part of that, Mulhern said it is being looked at. “The Kylemore masterplan is currently going through its process,” said Mulhern. “Other councillors have raised that process and our planning team are actively considering that exact issue at the moment about the identification of land for Travellers,” he said. The draft masterplan is due to go back before councillors sometime in June or July, he said. ### Does the council's site at Camden Yard really have to be offices – and should it be? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-the-stalled-out-site-at-camden-yard-really-have-to-be-offices-and-should-it-be/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:35:35.000Z There is an image of one future on the tall hoardings around the stalled construction site on the corner of Kevin Street. It imagines how the office buildings would look if built to the current plans, with suited figures outlined in the windows of the upper floors. Behind the hoardings, the thick concrete bones of the building’s lower floors are already rooted in place. In December, news got out that Dublin City Council [was lined up to buy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-would-become-of-the-civic-offices-on-wood-quay-if-the-council-relocates/) this stalled site – with planning permission for a mix of homes and offices – and finish it off, rent out the apartments, and install its own headquarters. Much of the focus of [debate](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/new-hq-for-dcc/) that followed has been on the future of the council’s current headquarters at Wood Quay, which it would leave behind. But as the plans progress, there remains something of a split among councillors as to whether pressing ahead with the Camden Yard build as is, is the best way forward. Part of the challenge is that the design of the building, already reaching a bit into the sky, is so inflexible. ## **At Camden Yard** Councillors have welcomed how council chief executive Richard Shakespeare jumped to buy the Camden Yard site. The deal was attractive, said Karl Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor. And, it would have been awful for that prime plot to be left derelict for years, he said. Buying it is good stewardship of the city, Stanley said. “Not leaving residents of Kevin Street looking at a carbuncle for decades.” Shakespeare’s plan is now to finish building out that 3.6-acre site in line with the current planning permission. So, with a net floor area of about 36,400 sqm of office and commercial space, and 299 homes (119 studios, 146 one-beds, and 34 two-beds). To fill the office space, Dublin City Council would then move its staff out of Wood Quay – and a few other rented buildings in the city centre – and into two blocks, with 25,500 sqm of the office space. It would sublet the remaining block of 10,900 sqm. But Stanley has been digging more into the amount of office space that he estimates the council needs, he said. He asked council officials why they need an office building with space for 2,800 staff – as presentations have said. After all, the busiest day in Civic Offices over the past few years saw 1,309 staff members in the building for work, show figures released to him. Many staff have the option to apply to work two days a week from home. Meanwhile, about 500 staff members are scattered around other buildings in the city centre, excluding area offices. So, he wants to interrogate that need a bit more, he said. And one suggestion he wants examined, he says, is for the council to build out the Camden Yard project as planned, with all the offices, so it doesn’t fester – but to sell those offices. Shakespeare’s current plan is not to retrofit the council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay and stay there, because of the cost of all the work. But a chunk of that cost is the price of decanting staff, said Stanley. So why not build out Camden Yard, and put staff into there temporarily during that refurb, he said, and then empty it and sell it. “You don’t get the housing gain from Wood Quay,” he said. Shakespeare’s plan includes building hundreds of homes there after the council leaves. But you get the homes at Camden Yard, a space to decant, and then they should be able to flip it at a profit. “That’s a thing I would like to explore,” Stanley said. Donna Cooney, a Green Party councillor said she had asked officials if it would be possible to sell the Camden Yard offices. They said there wasn’t really a market for that, Cooney said. Relying on being able to lease out one of the office blocks – the one the council doesn’t need – is also risky, said Cooney, given the current climate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-437ed647-1579-4fc8-a75b-10336b29ef7c.png) Image from Central Bank presentation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-3649c335-426a-432d-8525-d12b42b0acce.png) Image from presentation by Joseph Kilroy, of the Chartered Institute of Building. Yes, said Joseph Kilroy, head of policy and public affairs for the Chartered Institute of Building. The lower uptake of office space across the city has only become more embedded in recent times, he said. “I just don’t feel it’s the kind of environment where you want to be in a position to let out offices.” As office vacancy began to rise, some commentators suggested that only older office space wouldn't be in demand, he said, and that newer, more efficient builds still would be. “But given more new office space has come on stream, it’s a flat fall-off in demand at this stage,” he said. Stanley, though, doesn’t think councillors have the capacity to stop the proposal to build out Camden Yard as is, as mostly offices – even if councillors have to vote to approve any borrowing to backfill the money earmarked to buy and build it out. To not go along with it would be irresponsible, he said. And officials are moving at speed with the project, said Stanley. “I think they can create facts on the ground faster than we can discuss it.” Not all councillors are against the current plans, either. Labour’s Fiona Connelly says that after going into a meeting with officials earlier this week, she and her party colleagues feel good about the proposals for Camden Yard. Budget constraints can mean that the city council has lacked ambition sometimes, she said. So she is happy to see this big-picture investment, she said. She is also enthusiastic about the 299 homes that the Camden Yard site is to deliver, under the current planning permission, she said. “The housing crisis is the biggest problem and it permeates every aspect of everybody’s lives in the city,” said Connelly. The plan for Camden Yard seems fairly clear, said Clodagh Ní Muirí, a Fine Gael councillor. And a library extension and the homes are welcome as part of that, she said. All that said, she would like to see a bit more detail on the demand for office space in the city though, she said. If demand for the extra office space is high, great, but if not, maybe some of it could be tweaked for housing, she said – although she is unsure, she said, how much scope there is for that. ## **What about housing?** On Thursday morning, Kate Dwyer was just over the road from the stalled construction site. Residents have voiced a few main concerns to her, said Dwyer, who chairs the residents’ committee in the Iveagh Trust flats just the other side on New Bride Street. Her small dog scampered around at her feet. She tried to placate it with a tennis ball as she talked, but it really wanted a sausage. She is planning to properly survey neighbours, she said, but has a read on on broad thinking so far. Residents have always been worried about the buildings –which are to run up to 14 storeys – blocking light in some flats, she said. A bit lower would be good, she said. They’re worried about transport measures too, she said. Making sure it’s safe for all the kids who walk to school, given the underground parking and the already busy junction. And, some would prefer to see it just redesigned, and built out as apartments and amenities, rather than moving the city’s headquarters to the site, she said. When it was Dublin Institute of Technology, it had a swimming pool where many in the area learnt to swim, she said. Going back to the drawing board and tweaking the project would slow it down, she said. But “I would rather it was done properly, that the public is consulted”. Cooney, the Green Party councillor, said that she too wants to see the plan for Camden Yard redesigned as apartments. Give the council architects a run at that, she said. There are great architects in Dublin City Council, she says Office spaces are just too risky in the current climate, she said, and she doesn’t want to see the council move out of Wood Quay and those buildings demolished. They could start to build the 299 apartments at Camden Yard, while they redraw plans for the rest of the site, she said. Council officials have told her that a new or amended planning permission could take 10 years given the possibility of legal challenges, she said – but she is sceptical. “They would say it would be no problem if they wanted it,” she said. “I would still be urging that they would go for housing.” Complicating that, though, is how much of the building has already been built – and its design. ## **How possible is it?** Kilroy, of the Chartered Institute of Building, has a view of the Camden Yard site most days. What has been built so far isn’t suitable to just retrofit into quality housing, he said. The Camden Yard site has low floor-to-ceiling heights, and load-bearing partitions, he says. Buildings that are adaptable have high floor-to-ceiling heights, and are open floor with non-load-bearing partitions that can be moved around as needed, he said. In England, office blocks with load-bearing partitions that have been retrofit as apartments have ended up with rooms without windows, and hallways turned into bedrooms and bathrooms, he said. Ciarán Molumby, of Islander Architects, says the biggest challenge to conversion would be the depth of the floor plans. “Often, in order to maximise the site coverage to cover the risk of speculating on a real estate development, architects are asked by the owner of the land to design building typologies that can utilise deep floor plans more easily,” he said. “Offering the greatest number of units more easily on a site is likely to be one of the reasons for the continued interest in developing new office buildings, even at a time when newly built options remain vacant across the city,” he said. That, he said, and the government reliance on foreign direct investment. “But in architectural terms, the building typology of a modern office is largely reliant on electric lighting and mechanical ventilation to overcome the dark, stale core that is a byproduct of a deep floor plan,” he said. Kilroy says that if the idea is to make it into housing, he said, he would struggle to see a world where the existing concrete frame and slabs wouldn’t have to be knocked. Molumby, of Islander Architects, said he and colleagues were conscious of the Camden Yard site, as they worked on their [Demolition Take Down](https://www.islanderarchitects.ie/demolition-take-down?ref=dublininquirer.com) project a couple of years ago. “The fact that this particular site, or collection of sites, have endured at least two large-scale demolitions already, within a 120-year period, is significant to the story,” he said. Islander Architects’ project highlighted how the Irish construction industry generates about 48 percent of all waste produced in Ireland. “We had a notion that there are buildings emerging from the ground today that are already becoming empty, unused, and more likely to be demolished in the near future,” he said. ## **Planning for then, not just now** The inflexibility of Camden Yard is exactly the kind of issue that Kilroy is trying to press the city and central government [to address](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28231834-adaptable-buildings-presentation-from-ciob%5F26-may-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com), with a recent proposal that politicians embed adaptability requirements into planning and procurement. Among his recommendations are that big city-centre developments have to use standardised tools to guarantee that spaces are flexible for future uses. And planning applications should have to submit future-use scenarios – to show how offices could transition to homes, for example. Camden Yard isn’t the only development that has stalled because a developer paid buckets for the site, and then the office demand fell away, he said. “The point we make is that this wouldn’t result in mothballed projects, if there were directions or mandates as to building more adaptably,” he said. If there had been a world in which Camden Yard had been built in a less rigid way, other scenarios could have pertained, he said. Maybe, the original development wouldn’t have gone bust, he said, as it could have been switched. Or, the council could take up office space that it needed if it did want to move there, he said, and easily adjust the rest to housing. ### An uilleann piper, with one eye on tradition, takes to the big stages URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-uilleann-piper-with-one-eye-on-tradition-takes-to-the-big-stages/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:35:43.000Z Seán McKeon sits in the front room of his house in Whitehall, a set of uilleann pipes wrapped around him. His fingers resting along the holes of the chanter, the bellows pressed between his waist and elbow, the drones and regulators partly resting on his lap just out to his side. “That's my dad, that's him as a kid, learning from Leo Rowsome,” he says, gesturing to the wall. It’s a large framed photo of a very young Gay McKeon, his own fingers resting on the chanter of another set of pipes. Rowsome, the legendary player, teacher and maker of pipes originally from Harold’s Cross, looks on, pointing to Gay’s fingers – instructing. Seán McKeon smiles widely as he talks about the characters in the picture. He knows he is a link in a long and proud chain of traditional Irish musicians who have worked to keep a precious tradition alive, through hard times and good. McKeon started on the tin whistle when he was six, and the uilleann pipes when he was eight. “I used to leave the pipes out on the table and tell my sisters to tell Dad that I had been practicing,” he says, laughing. Now, at the age of 40, for the first time, he has decided to go full-time with music – taking a career break from primary-school teaching from this summer on. In the last year, McKeon has appeared on huge stages around the world playing in the bands of Damien Dempsey, Amble, Christy Moore, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello. As well as his own solo shows, promoting his recent album [*Salamanca*](https://seanmckeon.bandcamp.com/album/salamanca-2?ref=dublininquirer.com), released last September. It’s a collection of songs he’ll be showcasing at [a gig in the Sugar Club](https://tickets.thesugarclub.com/events/thesugarclub/2138120?trackingConsent=1&ref=dublininquirer.com), next Friday 19 June. “I never wanted to be doing gigs and it turn into a grind,” he says. “It's been like 16, 17 years of cultivating relationships and being around music,” he says, “a lot of opportunities have come up this year.” And it’s all stuff he really wants to do, he says. ## *Salamanca* On his last solo album, 2013’s *To the City,* he included some backing guitar on the arrangements. For 2025’s *Salamanca,* he left the focus purely on the pipes, and nothing else. “They're a really unique instrument you know and I suppose the history of them is that, like, they were a solo instrument,” he says. “I love that thing, there's something very vulnerable, where you see somebody just on their own, and it's them pushing and pulling the rhythms, the tempos,” he says, “they're trying to create a moment, it's like a tight rope or something.” He practices a lot, he says, “technique, orientation, all that kind of stuff”. He found himself really enjoying just getting stuck in alone, and wanted to showcase what the instrument can do on its own. McKeon recalls Jake Clemons, saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and nephew of E Street original Clarence, trying to knock some sound out of the pipes. Thinking his saxophone fingering might give him an advantage, he borrowed McKeon’s instrument. Eventually a confused Clemons exclaimed, “What the fuck is this?” “It’s particularly unique,” McKeon says. While there are forms of pipes around Europe and elsewhere, the uilleann pipes are a distinctly Irish creation, he says. Other pipes were war instruments, but as uilleann pipers need to sit down to play, it kept them from the front lines, he says. “We were the lazy ones. We weren’t going out in front of any army, we were happy to sit back and just entertain afterwards,” he says. As an instrumental album, there are obviously no lyrical themes weaving through *Salamanca*, but each piece of music carries weight and meaning for McKeon, he says. Some of the pieces are hundreds of years old, and can stand up beside anything Mozart ever composed, he says. “They’re dripping in beauty.” So, he wanted to make sure he treated them with respect, while adding his own personality and creativity to them. “You wouldn't be putting something in just because it's difficult to do, but it's like, can you put something into the melody, that's going to enhance it in a way,” he says. He recalls a story that piper Robbie Hannon would tell of McKeon and his older brother Conor, when they were children. Hannon was staying in their family home and passed the two brothers as they were playing Nintendo, carrying his pipes in a case. According to Hannon, the brothers pointed at his case and said, “See those, we hate those!” McKeon laughs. “Like, we were having the greatest musicians in the world staying in our house and playing, and we had zero interest,” he says. “But what I'm saying is that, like, you become quite reflective later, like access of opportunity is just so important,” he says. Conor McKeon grew up to be a gifted piper, and [won](https://www.tg4.ie/en/other-brands/gradam-ceoil/previous-winners/young-musician-of-the-year/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the TG4 Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2001 – a prize Seán would claim himself four years later. The second piece on *Salamanca*, the centuries-old “Trim the Velvet*”,* was one he would hear his father and mother Mary, a gifted fiddle player, play in the house around that same time, he says. The personal connection to that piece, to his youth learning from his parents, compelled him to include it, he says. The title piece, “The Salamanca*”,* is a well-known traditional Irish reel, and would have been recorded by a lot of well-known pipers down the years, he says. “So even that itself was like, right, I'm gonna have a crack at this,” he says. “I want to put a stamp on it and challenge myself for it not to be the same as how Séamus Ennis recorded it, or how all these great pipers came before recorded it.” ## **Uilleann piping, then and now** In the not-too-distant past, the future of uilleann piping seemed in dire peril, says Gay McKeon, Seán’s father. There was a serious shortage of uilleann pipe makers, so youngsters couldn’t get their hands on a set to learn. “When I was a young fella learning in the ’60s, there were less than 20 young people in Ireland playing the uilleann pipes, and less than 100 in total in the world, including adults,” he said by phone on Thursday. When Leo Rowsome died in 1970, there wasn’t a full-time maker of pipes anywhere in the world, he says – but thankfully that has all completely changed. Today, there are around 10,000 pipers in the world – with more outside Ireland than in it, he says. “And we teach in about 24 locations every week throughout the country,” he says. In 2011, Na Píobairí Uilleann, of which Gay McKeon is CEO, established PipeCraft, a pipe-making and training centre in Clonshaugh. “So, there's more and more pipe makers emerging in Ireland,” he says. “The whole scene has changed dramatically, beyond all recognition.” In 2017, McKeon was instrumental in getting uilleann piping inscribed on[ UNESCO’s](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/uilleann-piping-01264?ref=dublininquirer.com) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Given uilleann pipes are often referred to as the “sound of Ireland”, the next milestone on McKeon and Na Píobairí Uilleann’s list is to build a “Sound of Ireland Experience” on the site next door to their current HQ on Henrietta Street, including a visitor centre and a theatre. They hope to have it up and running by 2028. Meanwhile, McKeon says it gives his wife and him enormous pleasure to see their son on huge stages – like playing to 20,000 people with Amble in St Anne’s Park last month – and following his passion and creativity using the tools that they passed on to him from a young age. And he says he knows well when Seán had practiced and when he had just told his sisters to say he had practiced. ## **Passion** Last summer, Seán McKeon was sitting in a hotel restaurant on Inishbofin about to have dinner with his wife, two children and father-in-law, when the phone rang. He stepped outside to take it, in the howling island wind, it was singer-songwriter Declan MacManus – better known as Elvis Costello. “I was outside and the wind was swirling, there was pockets of the conversation I just couldn’t hear, but I thought ‘This could be the one and only time I have a chat with Elvis Costello,’” he says. Philip King, of the band Scullion and producer of TV series *Other Voices*, had given Costello his number. He invited McKeon to play with his band in Vicar Street. “I literally met him on stage for the sound check,” McKeon says. The whole thing was emblematic of what McKeon respects so much about Costello – that at this stage in his legendary career, he is still taking risks and not afraid to fly by the seat of his pants. The Grammy winner later brought him to Chicago to play, and McKeon will be back next to Costello later this year. But for McKeon, his “second family” has long been Damien Dempsey and his band. First, his brother Conor had been playing pipes here and there with the Donaghmede bard, but due to his schedule as a sports journalist, he couldn’t commit. The gig passed to Seán in 2009, and he has been a regular fixture in Dempsey’s live and recording outfit ever since. “That's probably led to all the other stuff, you know, that I’m doing with other people now as well,” he says. Playing with Dempsey and the band taught him how to expand his playing style out of the strictly traditional, and at times play the pipes like an electric guitar solo. “It was great, brilliant for that. And then, like, they're the best in the world,” he says. Seán McKeon plays the[ Sugar Club](https://tickets.thesugarclub.com/events/thesugarclub/2138120?trackingConsent=0&ref=dublininquirer.com), next Friday, 19 June along with some special guests. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Based in the north inner-city, Mums Hub supports parents to get back to paid, and more flexible, work URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/based-in-the-north-inner-city-mums-hub-supports-parents-to-get-back-to-paid-and-more-flexible-work/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:35:51.000Z A few years ago, when Karla Dragić was at home breastfeeding her baby, she also wrote a children’s book. “That was about my cat, while I had my craft business, and he was my shop security cat,” Dragić says. Unfortunately, by the time she published the book, *Bongo the Shop Security Cat*, Brexit changes had kicked in, which caused complications with tariffs and shipping, she says. Dragić is sitting on a bench at the Blessington Street Basin fountains on Tuesday, as her now-four-year-old son excitedly feeds rice to the pigeons. After that, she figured she needed to get a real job, she says. “I did the digital marketing course, and then I started a virtual assistant business,” says Dragić. She was determined to regain her financial independence, but it was really difficult to find work that fitted around looking after her son, she says. “In September, when my son started pre-school, I wanted to do something with those two and a half hours that I had,” says Dragić. “So I kept looking at different jobs, but there was nothing there.” And that is how she came up with the idea for [Mums Hub](https://www.mumshub.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com),an initiative to support parents to get back into the workforce. “For many mothers, the issue is not a lack of ambition,” says Dragić, “it is wanting to work without being absent from their children’s everyday lives.” The solution, as she sees it, is for more employers to offer flexible hours so mums can work while kids are in pre-school or school. She has already found some employers to work with, who that kind of arrangement works for. ## **A huge talent pool** Dragić says she used to follow online chats where mums were brainstorming on how to make money from home. Lots of people suggested they start selling used clothing on Vinted, she says. They were well-intentioned, but there are so many problems with that, says Dragić. “It's a ton of work,” she says. “Where's your PRSI, where's your job security?” There are many people with talent, skills and energy stuck at home. “There is this huge talent pool,” she says. “I have mums who were in senior positions. I have mums who were in entry-level positions,” she says. “I have mums who upskilled during their motherhood journey while they were at home with kids.” Dragić says that while the initiative is called Mums Hub, she is also open to working with fathers who stayed at home with kids and are looking to get back to work. For parents who have childcare responsibilities, they are often not counted as unemployed for job-seekers’ benefits, she says, so they cannot use the back-to-work supports available through Intreo. Some European countries are more advanced in assisting mums get back to work, she says. For example, in Germany, every child has a right to a childcare place from age one. In the Netherlands and Austria, there is a culture of job sharing, she says. ## **Preparing people** Confidence can be an issue for people preparing to go back to paid work, says Dragić, so she also runs confidence-building programmes as part of Mums Hub. “I'm going to work with mums to get them ready for work so that they have their CVs updated,” she says. “We will have mock interviews so that they're more confident to attend interviews.” The Mums Hub website is also packed with [resources](https://www.mumshub.ie/mums-resources/how-to-talk-about-your-caring-years-when-applying-for-work?ref=dublininquirer.com) for mums who are working managing the home, and want to get back into paid work – including information about childcare, pension contributions, and how to describe the work they did in the home. “I just get relief from being a busy mum, and then the next child comes and then again, I’m a busy mum,” says Olga Barinova, who has three children aged between five and 14\. Barinova worked outside of the home before, but that was more than 14 years ago, she says. When her youngest started school, “I thought it's time to come out of my shell,” she says, in the Royal Canal Bank playground on Tuesday. Before she started looking for a job, she trained in payroll, she says. She is looking for jobs in administration and would like to start back part-time, she says if possible. “It is not easy,” she says. “I’ve been looking since September.” A friend recommended she talk to Dragić. “I’m very happy to be part of Mums Hub because she is organising a lot of confidence-building,” she says. “I understand now that I’m not the only one in the same situation.” Some friends have seen her posting about Mums Hub and asked her how to join too, she says. “You can just send your CV and be part of it,” says Barinova. It is great that some employers are coming on board, she says. “It's doing something important for all women,” she says. “It’s always mum who has to put down her ambitions.” “We want to be a part of a society,” she says. Dragić says it is totally free for mums to sign up. She did a crowdfunder to get started, and Dublin City Council matched the funds she raised, which covered the website, as well as bits like insurance and phone bill, she says. The North East Inner City Taskforce is funding the confidence building course she is running for the mums, she says. ## **Employer’s blueprint** Wellbeing in the workplace is not just about providing a gym membership, says Dragić. She is working on a blueprint for employers who are willing to implement family-friendly workplace policies. “We need flexibility. We need to be able to be there for our kids while still being able to access work,” she says. “And so that doesn't mean that we're not going to work hard – or twice as hard as somebody else,” she says. Dragić will sell the blueprint to the employers creating a funding stream for Mums Hub, which is a non-profit, she says. She wants to match women with real employment opportunities, she says. So far, two companies, a home care company called Platinum Homecare and Lady Cab, a women-focused taxi company, have agreed to offer hours to suit mums with kids in school or pre-school. To do the taxi driving, mums need to register as self-employed, she says, so she is working on resources for that. ## **A louder voice** Jennifer O’Donnell, a director of Mum’s Hub, used to work in geo-science consultancy, she said by phone on Thursday. She had to leave work because she couldn’t find suitable childcare for her two young children, she says. Not everyone can afford to do that, says O’Donnell. Childcare costs are high where she lives in South Dublin, and some creches don’t accept the state subsidy schemes, she says. “It's a constant battle from the day they are born.” O’Donnell says Mum’s Hub is also developing a platform for advocacy, to push for solutions. “It's about time someone started shouting and roaring about this.” ### Youth workers look for new ways to fight grooming of children as young as six by drug gangs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/youth-workers-look-for-new-ways-to-fight-child-grooming-by-criminal-gangs/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T08:09:43.000Z With children as young as six now being groomed and trafficked into criminality by drug gangs, new tools to combat this are needed, says Belinda Nugent, of the Inner City Organisations Network (ICON). **“**It is getting younger, but there is also a lot of work being done on the ground,” said Nugent, ICON’s Community Development Programme project leader. Nugent and her team have been working with youth organisations around the city, like Swan Youth Service, Belvedere Youth Club and Bradóg Youth Service, to address what they consider to be a deepening crisis of child exploitation. “The dialog that's going on at the moment around the table is everybody's just feeling powerless and under-resourced,” she says. Now they are working together on a new training manual that can be used by schools, youth services, and families to help educate youngsters of the warning signs of grooming, she says. “A teacher, a youth worker, a family support worker, an addiction recovery worker can open this manual and say, ‘Okay, let's try this,’” she says. The manual will also complement ICON’s 2024 [animated film](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-short-animated-film-tells-the-story-of-a-dublin-child-trafficked-for-criminal-exploitation/) set in Dublin, [*The Runners – a Trafficking Timeline.*](https://www.runnersfilm.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The 20-minute film is narrated by the childhood friend of a young person named Reece, who struggles at school and then later gets exploited by a criminal gang. Nugent wants to get into schools to show the film – broken down into short bits for younger kids. They will involve different playful aspects, she says. Like a quiz, asking things like, “Can you name the two boys? One of them got into trouble, who was the one? What happened?” she says. ## **Younger and younger** Currently, under the[ Youth Work Act, 2001](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/42/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com), youth work in Ireland only kicks in for kids once they reach the age of 10. Youth diversion programmes (YDPs), which are a little different, can start working with kids slightly younger than that. The Department of Justice [has said](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/collections/youth-diversion-projects/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the mandate for youth diversion programmes includes “early intervention” work with at-risk 8- to 11-year-olds. Youth[ diversion](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/children-and-young-offenders/garda-youth-diversion-programme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) applies to young people who have already come to the attention of An Garda Síochána and the justice system, aiming to prevent them from further engaging in criminality. It looks at a young person’s risk factors, says Amanda Shaw, youth diversion project leader with Bradóg Youth Service. “The trauma that impacts their offending behaviour, the diagnosis that might impact their offending behaviour in a much more individualised case management way, and meeting the needs of a young person in a wraparound support,” she says. Youth work targets a bigger number of youngsters, she says. Due to funding constraints, youth workers don’t have the capability to dedicate five hours a week to a child who is at a point of needing crisis intervention, she says. “That's why the YDP is the best place for that type of work to be happening,” she says. “It's much more specialised.” Also though, the primary youth work needs to be funded to reach kids from the age of 7 onwards now, to prevent them ever getting to the point of criminality in the first place, says Nugent. Youth work is funded primarily by the Department of Education, while youth diversion work is funded by the Department of Justice. It is a sad reality that these gangs are identifying vulnerable children and beginning to recruit them into drug dealing networks from that age, says Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon. “The logic is cruel and deeply disturbing.” “The kids oftentimes are from very vulnerable families, they're from places where there might be addiction, trauma, and that concept of ‘one good adult’ doesn't exist for them,” he says. According to the[My World Survey](https://www.ucd.ie/research/impact/casestudies/myworldsurveyimprovingyouthmentalhealthinireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a cross-sectional study of youth mental health in Ireland carried out by UCD in 2021, support from just “one good adult” in their lives can have a profound impact on how a child copes with problems. This is the role that youth workers can fill, says Gannon, but they need to be funded adequately. ## **Building awareness** Working with Nugent and ICON on the new manual are the team at Bradóg Youth Service, including Amanda Shaw. “Community organisations are usually well ahead of government coming in and supporting us in any way,” she says. Bradóg have been working on their new Grooming Awareness Programme (GAP), which will also be part of the new manual, says Shaw. “What we are seeing is young people, as young as six, being groomed,” she says. This can mean the young people are given gifts and payments for doing certain things, she says. “When you offer a six-year-old something like going to the shop for sweets, when they come from poverty, they'll do what you ask of them,” she says. Their new Grooming Awareness Programme involves a Monopoly-like game that shows the risk-taking behaviours and what they can lead to in real life scenarios, Shaw says. “We've worked with the children's courts around this to really put the consequences of sentencing, like the real-life stuff that young people will face,” she says. ## **Reaching more young kids** The GAP is currently going through accreditation with Queen’s University Belfast, Shaw says. It’s something that they hope could be rolled out nationally eventually by the Department of Justice as an evidence-based model, she says. Although, a spokesperson from the Department of Justice said by email on Thursday that it did not foresee that at the moment. “The Department are aware of the Grooming Awareness Programme (GAP) in Bradóg Youth Service but have no current plans to introduce this Programme in further YDP locations,” the spokesperson said. “The programmes implemented by YDPs are highly dependent on the needs of the local community and the Department expects that YDPs identify interventions to effectively support the needs of children and young people in their communities,” she said. And a spokesperson for the Department of Education, asked if that department would support the GAP, and when it might be rolled out, also demurred. “The policy of the Department of Education and Youth is not to endorse publications, products or services from individual, commercial or other providers,” he said. Instead, it “allows schools and teachers to determine the most appropriate programmes for their pupils”. Asked about measures taken by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to combat grooming of children as young as 6 or 7 years of age into drug dealing by criminal gangs, neither spokesperson named a programme that appears to include, or focus on kids that young. Although they did point to a range of both educational resources, and youth diversion programmes, for kids that are a bit older. Such as the primary school wellbeing strand, and the junior cycle’s SPHE curriculum. Or the Greentown Programme, which includes parenting guidance, and provides kids with positive things to do. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council approves plans for Mountjoy Square Park, but there's still confusion on future of playgrounds and sports there URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-approves-plans-for-mountjoy-square-park-but-there-is-still-confusion-over-playgrounds-and-sports/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T09:10:32.000Z Dublin City Council approved a plan on Monday to revamp Mountjoy Square, but there’s still some confusion and apprehension about how the new park will work for the local community. The plan is to restore the park in line with its Georgian heritage but allowing for contemporary uses, said Gareth Toolan, the council landscape architect. Toolan said at the meeting that a new central lawn will be 4,000 square metres and will be “a multi-use flexible space that all can use, rather than one group or team owning it.” Still, many locals say that the design means less space in practice for sports and playgrounds, in an area starved of such amenities. “We use that park as our outdoor space; it is essential for us,” says Geraldine O’Driscoll, a manager with the Society of St Vincent de Paul, who runs an early-years service at Ozanam House on Mountjoy Square. Lots of the children live in homeless accommodation, she says. At the moment, four staff can take around 22 of the kids aged between two and five to the playground at one time, says O’Driscoll. But that only works because the playground is concentrated in one corner of the large park, and the part of the playground that is for toddlers is fenced in. The council’s new plan for the park does not include a designated playground. Instead, it [envisions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28225599-public-reports-pack-08062026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com), “The strategic installation of engaging play elements along the historic park’s serpentine paths, creating an innovative play trail.” “The play trail won’t work for us,” says O’Driscoll, by phone, and they told the council that in a submission to the public consultation. She also thinks the new design won’t work for large families. “Kids will run in lots of different directions,” she says. At Monday’s meeting, most councillors voted for the plans, 44-17\. The Labour Party, Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and some independent councillors voted against. [To revamp Mountjoy Square with council’s Georgian-style designPassed: 44 for, 17 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-0038a361-a545-4823-b420-b14b3e09b261)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/f98d45b3?ref=dublininquirer.com) After the vote, O’Driscoll says she still isn’t clear if there is still a chance the council will include a fenced-off playground after all, because some councillors said changes could be made later at the “detailed design” stage. Another thing that remains unclear, even as the plan moves forward, is whether organised sport will be allowed on the park’s big, new grassy lawn. “I’ve been given mixed messages,” says Jack O’Brien, a community co-ordinator with Bohemian Football Club, who runs sports activities in the park. ## **The plans** The council has been working for years on plans to revamp Mountjoy Square Park. The park currently has big grassy areas and trees, paths to walk, and benches to sit on – and there’s a creche inside it. There’s also a big tarmac area for sport, some outdoor gym equipment, a basketball court, and a playground – part of which is designed for smaller kids and is surrounded by a low fence. There’s a fence around the perimeter of the park, separating if from the roads that surround it. [In January](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-plans-for-mountjoy-square-contested-by-those-who-want-more-sports-facilities-added/), the council unveiled a [proposed project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-puts-out-new-plans-for-revamp-of-mountjoy-square/) to reimagine the park within the context of its original 1802 design, according to a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222371-with-reference-to-notification-of-initiation-under-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-2001/?ref=dublininquirer.com), restoring its railings and adding 84 “oil” lamps around the park’s edges. The plans show grassy areas and trees, and paths to walk on, and benches to sit on, as well as a public toilet – and the creche still there. But the current tarmac sports area, basketball court, and existing playgrounds are gone. The new design shows big grassy lawns, a basketball hoop, an outdoor gym, and pieces of play equipment dotted throughout the park. A large lawn area in the design can be used for general recreation, events or sports activities, a council official said in May. The council received 196 submissions to a public consultation on its plans for the park, with many welcoming the upgrade. But submissions also flagged concerns about the need for better maintenance and security, the protection of the existing sports facilities, and the need to expand and upgrade the playground, according to the council’s report. “We are going to put forward dedicated staff and gardeners that can maintain the park at all times,” said Toolan, at the meeting. ## **Confusion about playgrounds** The existing playground is extremely well used by local parents, local primary schools, early years services and after-school services, says O’Driscoll. “The play trail doesn’t serve the same function as the playground, in an area that really lacks playgrounds,” she said. Diamond Park, about 350m south of Mountjoy Square, used to have a playground, but someone [burned it down in May](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2026/05/17/dublin-city-centre-playground-damaged-by-fire-for-the-second-time/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and now it’s gone. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Mountjoy-Square-playground-with-fence.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) A current playground with fence in Mountjoy Square. At the meeting on Monday, Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said she shared those concerns, but she backed the plans, saying that more children’s play spaces can be incorporated at the detailed design phase. “While there isn’t currently a space \[in the plans\] where you can bring in more than two or three children,” she says, she hoped that could be addressed later. But Kieran Rose, a former council planner, said later by phone that, “Whether there is a separate playground in the scheme is not a matter of detailed design.” Both the play equipment and the fencing-off would usually be part of the core design, not the detailed design, Rose says. Dublin City Council didn’t respond yet to queries sent Wednesday, including whether it will provide a fenced-in children's playground at Mountjoy Square. Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley, who voted for the plan, said by phone on Wednesday that he thinks some more play equipment could be incorporated into the plans, but he doesn’t think the council will install a fenced-off playground. The vision for the park is just quite different. The park is not ornamental, said council landscape architect Gareth Toolan. But “we should be supporting soft play, tactile play in nature”, he said. There will be more pieces of play equipment in the new park – going from six pieces to 20, he said. ## **Confusion about sports, still** At the meeting Monday, most of the conversation about the park plan surrounded whether sports can be played on the big grassy lawn. This has been an ongoing saga since last November, when *Dublin Live* reported that the [plans included a “FIFA-grade pitch”. ](https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/mountjoy-square-park-reimagined-fifa-32860047?ref=dublininquirer.com) That came after Toolan, the council landscape architect, said at a council meeting that the “pitch-lawn area” would have FIFA-grade grass. It is still not clear whether organised sports or training will be allowed on the large, grassy lawn. But the park is intensively used for sports at the moment. “We’ll be doing football throughout the summer at Mountjoy Park,” says O’Brien, who runs Bohs Play for kids aged six to 12. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Mountjoy-Square-tarmac-sports-area.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Mountjoy Square tarmac sports area. Photo by Sam Tranum The programme is funded by the North East Inner City Initiative and takes place in council flat complexes and on Mountjoy Square Park, which is the only space big enough to allow them to run multiple matches at one time, he says. “There are extremely limited options for a part of the city with thousands of people who want to play football,” O’Brien says. He usually has two to four games going at once, and often community gardaí help referee the games, he says. Many of the children live in emergency accommodation and IPAS accommodation, he says, and often Bohs Play is their only after-school activity. The basketball court at Diamond Park is also extremely well used, says O’Brien. “There is serious competition for spaces.” O’Brien says he still doesn’t know whether the Bohs Play games will be able to continue on the grassy lawn at Mountjoy Square Park after the redevelopment, because different councillors and council officials have told him different things. Because the park is so well used, he doesn’t know if sharing space will work, he says. Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor, said he has been told that local sports clubs can bring in movable goals and train children on the new lawn. “My understanding from all the conversations was that children’s under-12 academies can take place there,” he said. This seems, though, to clash with the council report, which says that “informal sports” would be permitted on the lawn, together with other uses. Council managers did not clarify this situation at the meeting on Monday. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, who voted for the plan, said her understanding is that people can kick a ball around, maybe run drills with kids, but since there will be no booking system, clubs running training won’t be possible. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty, who voted against the plan, said at the meeting his party could not support it, as it reduces access to sports facilities. “I appreciate the motivation behind trying to restore Mountjoy Square Park back to a former Georgian garden,” Moriarty said, but “communities have had to make do with very limited community resources and very limited green spaces.” He doesn’t think the central lawn will be available for football. If families are having picnics, how can sports groups move them off? he asked. Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor, said that in Marino, clubs bring movable goals and share space with other park users. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said the same at the meeting. Labour Party Councillor Alison Field said her son goes to school in the north inner-city, and there’s such a shortage of pitches that it’s trying to get an astroturf pitch installed on its roof. About half the kids in his school live in emergency accommodation, she said. Toolan, the council landscape architect, said that “what we are trying to do with the multi-space lawn area is to create a space for everybody and a focal point while respecting the historic design principles of the space”. ### Things To Do: Stand at a bus stop, browse some rare books, curate a magazine, spend the weekend watching movies URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-2/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:55:13.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Dublin Rare Book Fair** This weekend, the Dublin Rare Bookfair will be setting up shop at Flux Studios on Chatham Row. Beginning at 11am on Friday, 12 June and running through until 5pm on Saturday, 13 June, the fair will bring together 20 book dealers from Ireland and the United Kingdom, with each exhibiting a wide range of antiquarian and second-hand books, maps, prints and other ephemera. Up for sale will be rare and collectible books by a variety of Irish authors from the 19th to the 21st and current century, together with a huge range of books from around the world. Among the exhibitors expected are Joe Collins Rare Books, Stokes Books, Temple Bar Books, Swan River Press, Kelleher Rare Books, P & B Rowan, Worlds End Books and Black Gull Books. The event is free, but the books will cost you, with prices ranging from €10 to over €10,000. For more information, visit the Dublin Rare Book Fair website [here](https://www.bloomsdayfestival.ie/event/dublin-rare-bookfair/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Bloomsday Film Festival** For those of you who are sorely missing Arthur’s Day, we have some great news. Bloomsday is coming this Tuesday, and if you’re eager to kick off the festivities a bit early, the Bloomsday Film Festival is launching in Belvedere College on Friday. At 5pm, the Belvedere townhouse will be screening a selection of short films and documentaries set in or about Dublin. The programme will feature works by filmmakers Sophie Meehan, Luis Avery, Cara Gaynor and MK Quane among others. The must-see is Renata Lima and Silvio Severino’s *The Peculiar Saga of Gubu Man*, an experimental documentary, which follows the story of a former Dublin writer who is debilitated by a severe LED light sensitivity. Hindered in his ability to continue writing in a digital world of computer screens and smartphones, the “Gubu Man” – as he identifies himself – turns instead to the art of making clay dolls as a way to carry on creating novels through physical objects. Tickets for the Dublin Short Stories event area on sale [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bloomsday-film-festival-2026-dublin-short-stories-tickets-1990485529802?ref=dublininquirer.com). Afterwards, at 7pm, there will be a special screening of autobiographical filmmaker Caveh Zahedi’s *Ulysses, New York*, a 24-part adaptation of James Joyce’s *Ulysses*, which attempts to do to the tome what Joyce did to Homer’s *The Odyssey* by transposing a canonical work into a new time, place and form. In other words, Zahedi reimagines the events of 16 June, 1904, as having taken place on 16 June 2022 in New York City, on the centenary of the novel’s publication. Featuring eight actors performing in a Bloomsday stage production of *Ulysses*, Zahedi’s film moves between Joyce’s chapters onstage and the corresponding hours of the actors’ real day. This special presentation features a work-in-progress version of the introductory episode, and will be followed by a discussion with Zahedi on the challenges of adapting Joyce. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/ulysses-new-york-an-introduction-with-director-caveh-zahedi-tickets-1990486238923?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). The Bloomsday Film Festival will continue until Tuesday, 16 June. For more information and to see the full programme, visit the event page [here](https://www.bloomsdayfestival.ie/bloomsday-film-festival/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Queer Spectrum Film Festival** Gosh golly, it’s just raining film festivals this week. Over in the Irish Film Institute, the third edition of the Queer Spectrum Film Festival will also be starting on Friday. Ireland’s first film festival dedicated to LGBTQIA+ people of colour and migrant voices, this year’s event will be based around the theme of “tender migrations: queer journeys through desire, transition and healing” to explore how queer lives are continually reshaped across borders, generations and identities. Running until Sunday, 14 June, the festival will open with the Irish premiere of *Treat Me Like Your Mother* by Lebanese filmmaker Mohamad Abdouni. Screening at 6.30pm on Friday, Abdouni’s documentary uncovers the intimate histories of transfeminine experiences in post-war Beirut. Using a blend of personal archives and storytelling, the film traces decades of visibility, survival and social integration within the city, and preserves histories that are often erased from public memory. Abdouni will also be making an appearance to discuss the film afterwards. Then, on Saturday, at 2.30pm, the cinema will stage the Irish premiere of *Out Laws*. Directed by James Lewis and Lexi Powner, the film follows Namibian activist Friedel Dausab as he challenges laws criminalising same-sex love, and confronts the colonial legacy behind anti-queer persecution. Afterwards, there will be a 30 minute panel discussion with director Lewis. At 4pm, Japanese director Anshul Chauhan’s drama *TIGER*, an exploration of family expectations, queer intimacy and self-reinvention, will be getting its Irish premiere. And finally, to close out the festival on Sunday, Xiaodan He’s *Montréal, ma belle* will be showing at 7.40pm. The story of a Chinese immigrant and mother living in Montreal, He’s work is described as a journey of forbidden love and long-overdue self-discovery. It too will be followed by a discussion with director He. To see what else is on the festival docket, and to secure your tickets, visit the IFI website [here](https://ifi.ie/2026/05/programme-announced-for-queer-spectrum-film-festival-2026-at-the-irish-film-institute/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **On the Way: An Artist’s Sermon** Next week, [performance artist and writer Day Magee](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-bodyjam-you-learn-to-use-your-body-as-material-to-make-art-with/) will be bringing their new production, *On the Way: An Artist’s Sermon* to Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. The sermon is described by Magee as follows: “You are at a bus stop waiting for a bus – in short, you are following the rules. The bus is due, but has yet to arrive – the game itself is not following the rules. “You are approached by a fellow passenger-in-waiting, who begins to tell you a story about a bus driver. As to where the story goes, you will have to wait and see. It would appear that, either way, waiting is the name of the game.” In *On the Way*, Magee will be delivering an artist’s sermon to their fellow artists, “a preaching to the choir”, on the rules that artists are expected to follow and break, and the rewards and punishments that they may seek. Magee will be presenting their sermon at 7.45pm on both Tuesday, 16 and Wednesday, 17 June. Leap Cards aren’t accepted. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873685963/events?%5Fgl=1%2A13x7avd%2A%5Fgcl%5Faw%2AR0NMLjE3ODExMTQ2NzEuQ2owS0NRandscVRSQmhDQkFSSXNBTnJrcnhqSGVwTUxjdkVjS25VWHZhNUtONDdNQUVIazcxOXRQYXVGTEdTd3hJTTZBbERSM2VCOUJYc2FBdmR3RUFMd193Y0I.%2A%5Fga%2ANzMzOTYyMDAwLjE3NjgzOTIwMzI.%2A%5Fga%5FC4WSKCHMDZ%2AczE3ODExODM3NjckbzIwJGcwJHQxNzgxMTgzNzY3JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..%2A%5Fga%5FQCXK9ZPKTK%2AczE3ODExODM3NjckbzIwJGcwJHQxNzgxMTgzNzY3JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..&ref=dublininquirer.com). **BLAB** Back in March, journalist Barry Landy launched the high-concept music quarterly *BLAB*. A celebration of the Irish music scene, each edition features interviews with four rising musical acts and features an eight-track cassette compilation. As a tie-in, Landy organises a gig in the Grand Social in which all four acts perform, and is followed up with a second gig, its line-up composed of groups or artists recommended by the featured acts. On Wednesday, 17 June, the second issue of *BLAB* is set to launch in the Grand Social, and features the groups Telekura, Cable Boy, Eppie and For Nina. Each act has contributed two tracks to the *BLAB002* tape, including demos and previously unreleased songs, and the magazine comes in four different versions, so you get to pick which group will be the cover star. To get a copy of the magazine, the tape or a ticket to the gig, head on over to the *BLAB* website [here](https://www.blab.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Or, you can follow them on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/blabdotie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Flow** Finally, and to come full circle *Finnegan’s Wake*\-style, we let the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, bringing us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to Flux next Thursday. As part of Pride Month, Flux will be hosting artist collective Flow’s first group exhibition. Featuring more than 30 artists, including photographers, designers, illustrators, musicians and DJs to celebrate queer inclusivity through creativity, self-expression and connection. Among those on the bill are Tan Bridgerman, RJ the DJ, Sara Ribeiro, Patricia Moura, Morgane Fasola, Khia the Asylum, Johannah Fennessy, Jwy, Francis H. Rust, Cleide Regina, Betzy Nina and Caroline Porto. Supported by Flux Studios, the Flow group exhibition will be held at the Clink i Lár hostel on Abbey Street Upper. The evening will also be supporting Belong To Youth Services by helping to raise funds and awareness for LGBTQ+ young people across Ireland. Doors open at 7pm on Thursday, 19 June. For more information, follow Flow over on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/flowcollectivedublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Summer-School-advert-animated.gif)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Come join us!** In seven sessions, members of our team will teach skills and knowledge that could be used in journalism, but also just by people who are involved in their communities and trying to make them better places. Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June, mostly at 10-13 Thomas Street, in the Digital Hub, in Dublin 8\. Tickets are €50 per session – pick as many or as few as you like. [Learn more ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Maria Butterly releases Transatlantic single "The Last Ship to Shore"** Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maria Butterly has joined forces with Quebec guitarist and producer Martin Larose for the new single "The Last Ship to Shore". Co-written with arranger Frank Corneau, the song is about longing to belong and setting out across deep ocean waters in search of a place to finally call home. Listen to the single [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWtW62I9no&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Matt Kennard's *Irregular Army*** On Wednesday, 17 June, author and journalist Matt Kennard will be launching an expanded edition of his book *Irregular Army* at the Whistleblower on South Anne Street. In *Irregular Army*, Matt Kennard delivers an exposé of how the US military’s recruitment crisis during the War on Terror opened the ranks to some of the most dangerous elements in American society: white supremacists, neo-Nazis, gang members, and convicted criminals. This updated edition deepens the original’s urgent warning, connecting those recruitment policies directly to the rise of MAGA extremism, Trumpism, and the global resurgence of fascism. The launch is at 6.30pm. Reserve a seat [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/book-launch-matt-kennards-irregular-army-tickets-1991266722370?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnN5pSwMZ6lNyQEreGh6BLuKHUYV-anNuJWjFbxKxY8XGCUfri3Fn1g2dGKN0%5Faem%5FmvPjFyw-S2nOUkznNDr0KQ&utm%5Fid=97760%5Fv0%5Fs00%5Fe0%5Ftv3). **Pinky Ring** On Thursday, 2 July, Pallas Projects will be presenting Scottish-Irish artist Struàn Bell’s Pinky Ring, the sixth exhibition of its 2026 Artist-Initiated Projects programme. Pinky Ring is composed of a series of plaster relief carvings shaped by ideas of speculative function, symbolic architectures, and objects of personal affection Accompanying Pinky Ring is a commissioned text by Cork-based curator Katie O’Grady who, on Thursday, 9 July, will be in attendance to discuss the exhibition. For more information, visit the Pallas Projects website [here](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/struan-bell-pinky-ring?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Department of Foreign Affairs won’t release internal records on ICE deportation flights via Shannon URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/department-of-foreign-affairs-wont-release-internal-records-on-ice-deportation-flights-via-shannon/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:55:23.000Z The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has refused [to release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28195453-foi-req-26-140-final-schedule-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 205 pages of documents, relating to the United States’ use of Shannon Airport as a stopover on its flights to deport immigrants. The United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used Shannon Airport to refuel its planes on the way to send people forcibly to places [like Palestine](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/05/revealed-private-jet-owned-by-trump-friend-used-by-ice-to-deport-palestinians-to-west-bank?ref=dublininquirer.com), and South Sudan. The documents – requested under the Freedom of Information Act and dating from between June 2025 and late April 2026 – are mostly briefing materials and correspondence, according to a “schedule of records” from the DFA. The document lists a volley of existing records, but the DFA won’t [release any](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28195453-foi-req-26-140-final-schedule-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of them, even in part. It refused to release many of the documents with the argument that the department is deliberating [on the issue](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/2014/act/30/section/29/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) – although that ground is sometimes applied together with another clause, such as security concerns, fear of harming bilateral relations, and, in a handful of cases, worries about prejudicing an investigation. Fred Logue, solicitor and managing partner at the law firm FP Logue LLP – who specialises in information law – [recently said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/documents-say-asylum-law-centre-was-in-unprecedented-crisis-the-legal-aid-board-tried-to-hide-this-with-redactions/) that public bodies often turn to the deliberations clause because it’s convenient. From their point of view, he said, they’re always deliberating on something. But for it to fly, public bodies have to also argue that releasing the information “would be contrary to the public interest”. Concealing how the issue is playing out behind the scenes is unfair, say activists and TDs worried about the treatment and fate of people detained on ICE deportation flights. John Lannon, a member of [Shannonwatch](https://www.shannonwatch.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com), said the schedule of records and the correspondence it lists suggest that the Irish government has been aware of ICE's stopovers in Shannon. “Despite this, requests made by Shannonwatch to the gardaí to inspect known ICE flights when they were at the airport have all been ignored,” he said. Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney said the lack of transparency around ICE’s use of Shannon Airport must end. “If they need to redact security information, then by all means, redact it, but not releasing any documents at all doesn’t instil confidence in the system here,” she said. It’s vital, Gibney said, that “we get transparency from decision makers when we see Irish airports being used by the Trump regime to execute their cruel immigration policies”. ## What happened to Nyo? [Gillian Brockell](https://bsky.app/profile/gillianbrockell.com?ref=dublininquirer.com), a former *Washington Post* reporter who now freelances with *Mother Jones* and other publications, has been tracking ICE’s deportation flights for a little over a year now. Irish people have a right to know what their government did or didn’t do, she said. One night in May last year, Brockell had called the guards, asking them to check on an ICE aircraft holding men in shackles at Shannon Airport. They were being shuttled away from the US “against federal judge Brian Murphy's orders”, she said. A Garda supervisor told her she would send someone to check, Brockell said. “I asked her that night if their illegal transfer and the inhumane conditions they were being held in might violate Irish human trafficking laws,” she said. A question she still doesn’t have an answer to, Brockell said. Irish people have a right to know if the “Trump regime” is pressuring the Irish state to “allow these transfers to continue and to ignore the calls from Irish citizens”, she said. The guys who were hauled away that night in May of last year first landed in Djibouti and were held in a US military base, [according to Amnesty International](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28202650-south-sudan-further-information-deportees-ongoing-detention-is-unlawful-nyo-myint-and-enrique-arias-hierro-amnesty-international/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Later, in July 2025, they were shuttled to Juba in South Sudan, where they’re being [held in detention](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28202650-south-sudan-further-information-deportees-ongoing-detention-is-unlawful-nyo-myint-and-enrique-arias-hierro-amnesty-international/?ref=dublininquirer.com) indefinitely, without being charged with any crime, Brockell said. “They are arbitrarily detained in an undisclosed location with limited and monitored access to their lawyers,” [Amnesty International](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28202650-south-sudan-further-information-deportees-ongoing-detention-is-unlawful-nyo-myint-and-enrique-arias-hierro-amnesty-international/?ref=dublininquirer.com) has said. Brockell points to Nyo Myint, one of those guys. “The last time Nyo Myint was allowed contact with the outside world, [he said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28202650-south-sudan-further-information-deportees-ongoing-detention-is-unlawful-nyo-myint-and-enrique-arias-hierro-amnesty-international/?ref=dublininquirer.com) he was having suicidal thoughts.” Obviously, the “Trump regime” is responsible for that, said Brockell. But “it needs collaborators to carry out this cruelty”, she said. ## The public interest? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Department-of-Foreign-Affairs-on-Stephen-s-Green.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian........jpg) Department of Foreign Affairs on Stephen's Green. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. A spokesperson for the DFA said that in processing any FOI request, it follows the law and applies its relevant exemptions, “along with a public interest test”. A request for an internal review of the refusal – basically, an appeal – has been lodged with the department. If that’s unsuccessful, there’s the possibility of a third appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). But those can take a long time. When the DFA refused to release its feedback to the Department of Justice on whether Algeria was a safe country – as the government sought to classify it as such – it took a little over a year for the OIC to [partially overturn](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dfa-argued-that-releasing-feedback-on-decision-to-label-algeria-as-safe-would-hurt-diplomatic-relations/) the DFA’s decision last year. The Department of Justice pressed ahead with the decision to categorise Algeria as a safe country of origin, two years ago – which makes it harder for its citizens to be granted asylum here. The DFA had argued that publicising its opinion about Algeria's safety would harm diplomatic relations with its government. It managed to sway the OIC – whose draft decision had fully rescinded DFA’s refusal– to keep some paragraphs private. Still, what it had to release pointed to security challenges in the country. Meanwhile, the Legal Aid Board had recently relied on [the ground of ongoing deliberations](https://www.dublininquirer.com/documents-say-asylum-law-centre-was-in-unprecedented-crisis-the-legal-aid-board-tried-to-hide-this-with-redactions/) to withhold on-the-ground accounts of the impact of a staffing crunch at one of its asylum law centres in Cork. In that case, botched redactions led to disclosure anyway. ## Behind closed doors That ICE has arrested and deported people who held green cards and legal statuses and has mistreated people in its custody is well-documented. When some immigrants went on hunger strike in protest of conditions at Delaney Hall detention centre in Newark, New Jersey, in recent weeks, ICE officials claimed they were all dangerous criminals. But “people with criminal convictions account for just a fraction of the detainees at the Newark centre”, [according to the *New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/nyregion/delaney-hall-ice-detainees.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). As of 10 March, of the 844 people detained at Delaney Hall, “about 12 percent were convicted criminals”, it said, citing data analysed by Austin Kocher, a political and legal geography academic. Of the 99 people with a conviction, “none had been found guilty of homicide, sexual assault or drug trafficking”, Kocher told the *Times*. Between October 2025 and this April, 29 people have already died in ICE custody, [according to *NPR*.](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/17/nx-s1-5789092/deaths-of-migrants-in-ice-custody-hit-record-high-under-trump?ref=dublininquirer.com) A recent [memo](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/05/ice-deaths-data-memo?ref=dublininquirer.com) instructed ICE to stop reporting and probing deaths of people who’d been newly released from its custody also– reversing a Biden-era protocol. In Ireland, independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins said the government has chosen an “eyes wide shut approach” by actively refusing to listen to members of the public who want it to inspect ICE deportation planes. These planes likely carry firearms on board, too, Higgins said. It “is particularly worrying given the vulnerability of the people involved and the legitimate concerns of potential human rights breaches in our jurisdiction”, she said. Policing academics [have said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/do-gardai-have-the-power-to-inspect-ice-deportation-flights-that-stop-in-shannon/) that while it is difficult to search ICE’s deportation flights as part of a criminal probe, cops have broad powers to enter an aircraft to check whether its security and safety is up to code. An Garda Síochána had [previously referred](https://www.dublininquirer.com/do-gardai-have-the-power-to-inspect-ice-deportation-flights-that-stop-in-shannon/) queries about that to the DFA and the Department of Justice. The latter said it can’t comment on police operations, the former didn’t respond. It is in the public interest to at least learn more about what goes on behind the scenes, said Higgins, the independent senator. Gibney, the Social Democrats TD said, it’s a shame “that we aren’t any closer to getting any kind of reassurance that we’re taking our human rights obligations seriously”. ### It's time for Fingal to take legal action to stop Manna drones flying from Coolmine base, councillor says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/its-time-for-fingal-to-take-legal-action-to-stop-manna-drones-flying-from-coolmine-base-councillor-says/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:55:33.000Z It's time for Fingal County Council to take legal action to stop Manna from flying its delivery drones from its base at the Coolmine Industrial Estate, said Aontú Councillor Ellen Troy on Thursday. Manna's CEO Bobby Healy [has said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/flying-drones-are-delivering-food-in-dublin-so-where-are-companies-allowed-to-build-drone-bases/) the company does not need planning permission to put down the rubber mats its drones take off from and land on, or to fly drones. And, indeed, there was no planning permission for Manna to set up and operate its drone base behind Nawab Indian Cuisine, and a row of bins, and a spiked metal fence. But council planners disagreed. The council issued a planning enforcement notice against the base last autumn, said Fearghal McSweeney, an administrative officer, in the council's Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Department. Around the same time, Manna applied for "retention" planning permission, asking forgiveness, since it hadn't asked permission. But the [council rejected that](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-refuses-manna-permission-to-continue-flying-drones-from-base-in-coolmine/) last month – citing noise concerns. It said the drone base was "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and in addition to being prejudicial to public health". On Tuesday about lunchtime, there were no drones on the launch pads at the Manna base at Coolmine. The company, though, says it's still flying from the base. "Regarding planning, Manna is currently reviewing its position and considering the next steps available to us," a company spokesperson said on Tuesday by email. It could appeal Fingal's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála. It's time to ground Manna's drones in the meantime, said Troy, the Aontú councillor, at the [4 June meeting](https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1090678?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council's Blanchardstown area committee. "I think it would be great if, immediately, it was initiated legal proceedings to cease all drone operations from Unit 14, Porters \[Avenue\], and to seek injunction relief if necessary to immediately halt flights pending any appeal process," she said. McSweeney, from the council's planning department, suggested that the council is considering something along those lines. "In general, where an enforcement notice has expired, a further site notice would take place, which has happened in this case, to determine whether or not the enforcement notice has been complied with," he said. "Thereafter, then consideration will be taken to any sort of actions in terms of legal actions, and that is where the file's at at the minute," he said. Manna has one operational base at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, with a three-year planning permission due to expire in August. It set up bases in [Clonsilla](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-orders-clonsilla-drone-delivery-service-base-removed/), [Junction 6](https://www.dublininquirer.com/rules-on-installation-of-drone-food-delivery-bases-in-dublin-remain-in-dispute/), and Coolmine without planning, and the council has told them to shut them all down. "I call it tech-bro privilege, you know that he \[Healy\] just runs roughshod over the community," said Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell, at the local area committee meeting. ## At the meeting On the agenda for last Thursday's meeting, there was a pair of motions about drones. Troy had tabled [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28220878-councillor-e-troy-national-policy-framework-for-unmanned-aircraft-systems-in-this-lea-ai108514/?ref=dublininquirer.com) asking about the council's understanding of the 2025 National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). "What steps can be taken by the Council, in this Local Electoral Area, with respect to: the level of noise, number of drones, number of operators, and number of locations/hubs?" she asked. The policy framework was issued last August, said Enda Hoey, a senior executive scientist in the council's Environment, Climate Action, Active Travel and Sports Department. Since then, there's been no further update from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) about setting up a working group to establish "UAS Geographical Zones (portions of airspace where UAS operations are facilitated, restricted or excluded", Hoey said in his written response. Also, the Department of Transport has yet to set up a national "U-Space Steering Group" with the IAA "to develop a traffic management system for drones", Hoey said. That may soon change. After Manna started flying in Cork, in Taoiseach Micheál Martin's constituency, the Fianna Fáil TD reportedly [told the *Echo*](https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-41847054.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) late last month that there was a need for more regulation of drones. After Troy's motion, Burtchaell, the Solidarity councillor, had [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28220879-councillor-j-burtchaell-drone-base-planning-enforcement-in-coolmine-ai108544/?ref=dublininquirer.com) asking for a report from the council on what enforcement measures had been taken with respect to Manna's Coolmine base. "Planning enforcement section have been very active in investigating this, warning letters were issued, an enforcement notice was issued in October," McSweeney said. Labour Councillor John Walsh said he supported both motions. "There's been an attempt to argue, quite persistently, that whether drone bases require planning is a grey area," Walsh said at the meeting. "It's not a grey area, it's a black and white issue, and Fingal council has now affirmed three times, that planning is actually required, and three negative decisions have been given." "Planning is not just a nice to have," he said. "It is a legal requirement, but it's also important because it gives communities a voice, and if individuals or companies effectively avoid, try to avoid the planning system, then they're denying people a voice, and that's grossly undemocratic, and unfortunately that's what happened here." Burtchaell said that "There's socially useful aplications for drone delivery but fast food and retail, you know, in residential areas, isn't one of them." On Tuesday, by phone, he said there was no need for Manna's delivery service. "Ten years ago, no one was thinking, If only I could get my burger delivered by drone," he said. And this is just "the thin end of the wedge", he said. What happens when it's three or four companies delivering by drone in Dublin? he asked. Amazon Prime Air [has started delivering](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/innovation/prime-air-drone-deliveries-uk?ref=dublininquirer.com) by drone in the UK, and is reportedly looking to expand to other countries in the region, though there's been no mention of Ireland specifically. Burtchaell said he'd like to not only see Manna's Coolmine base shut down, but also the Blanchardstown one, once its planning permission ends in August. The Manna spokesperson, in his email response to these discussions at the committee meeting, pointed to the company's staff and thousands of customers. "For representatives who claim to stand with workers and local communities, it is disappointing to see more than 50 Dublin 15 workers dismissed as 'tech bros' and thousands of local residents who have chosen to use and support the service written off simply because they hold a different view," he said. "The people at the centre of this debate are not Silicon Valley executives," the Manna spokesperson said. "They are local men and women, local families and local residents. Whatever people’s views on drone delivery, their livelihoods and opinions deserve respect." ### Due to delays, council’s district heating project wasn’t ready to warm Irish Glass Bottle apartments URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/due-to-delays-councils-district-heating-project-wasnt-ready-to-warm-irish-glass-bottle-apartments-as-planned/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:55:43.000Z Dublin City Council is to begin the planning process this month to build the first phase of its long-promised district heating project, a council official says. The project is meant to use waste heat from the Poolbeg incinerator to heat water, and then pump that through pipes into buildings’ radiators to heat them. Fossil fuels, then, would not have to be burned, or additional carbon emitted, to heat the buildings hooked into this network, is the idea. Early plans, dating back at [least to early 2020](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-progress-to-warm-dublin-homes-with-leftover-heat-from-data-centres-and-the-like/), included providing district heating to the thousands of new homes planned for the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend. However, the district heating project has faced delays. In 2022, a council official [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-setting-up-a-new-district-heating-company-and-repairing-a-medieval-church-in-finglas/) there’d be homes linked up to it by 2025, reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent in those areas connected in – but no such thing has happened. Meanwhile, construction has gone on at the Irish Glass Bottle site. Towers full of apartments [have been built](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ringsend-176-new-social-homes-sit-empty-due-to-funding-paperwork-delays/) already there, and more are on the way. At a meeting of the council’s South East Area Committee on Monday, Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne wanted to know how quickly the Glass Bottle apartments could switch over to the district heating system given all of the delays to the project. The buildings are “district heating enabled”, meaning they could be hooked up to the network, Byrne said. There had been significant delays to the district heating project, with the primary barrier being funding, said Karen Kennedy, a council senior engineer and project manager, at the meeting. This means the district heating project has missed a couple of phases [in the Irish Glass Bottle site](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ringsend-176-new-social-homes-sit-empty-due-to-funding-paperwork-delays/), she said. “They are utilising heat pumps.” However, now the district heating project is on track, and really getting started this time, Kennedy said. “We are at a stage at this point where we are confident we can proceed with this initial stage,” she said. If the district heating system’s offer is attractive enough, there is nothing to stop the Glass Bottle site buildings from connecting to the system later, she said. “That will all have to be negotiated at that point.” ## Part 8 Kennedy appeared in the chamber this week to give councillors [notice of the council’s intention](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s53288/DDHP%20SEA%20Committee%20Part%208%20Notice.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to start the Part 8 planning process, in which the council will apply to itself for planning permission, she said. “Phase zero” of the project will entail the installation of approximately 8.5 kilometres of pipes from the waste-to-energy incinerator through port lands, the Glass Bottle site, Ringsend Park, across the Dodder river and over to the north docklands, she said. As a part of phase one, the council intends to construct an energy centre and thermal storage on a site to the south of the incinerator, she said. “But that’ll be subject to a separate planning application, which will probably have to go to An Coimisiún Pleanála.” But first, it is the council’s intention to commence the Part 8 process later this month with the public invited to make their observations until the end of August, she said. Hopefully then, the project team would come back before the full council’s September meeting with a recommendation, she said. ## Flagship project The purpose of the project is to contribute to Ireland’s climate and energy targets, Kennedy told the committee on Monday. “It’ll have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the heat sector.” As a flagship project, it will pave the way for other similar district heating systems in areas like Fingal, South Dublin, Limerick and Cork, she said. “And it will also improve air quality because it will reduce the number of gas boilers in the catchment.” Although South Dublin County Council has the first phase of its own district heating system, in Tallaght, [up and running](https://www.codema.ie/our-work/tallaght-district-heating-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a few years now, using [waste heat from a data centre there](https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-data-centres-reliable-sources-of-heat-for-dublins-planned-district-heating-systems/). And Fingal County Council has been [mulling over](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-weighs-up-whether-to-press-ahead-with-district-heating-scheme-in-blanchardstown/) a larger, €58 million district heating scheme in Blanchardstown, also using data centre waste heat – and has allocated €1.9 million for the preparation of a detailed design in [its capital programme for 2026 to 2028](https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-of-fingals-eu1-43bn-new-capital-programme-to-go-to-housing/). For the Dublin District Heating Scheme, in 2022 the council [was estimating](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-s-new-capital-programme-includes-lots-of-projects-that-sound-familiar/) the cost at €70 million. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has committed to €50 million in funding, Kennedy said Monday. “So we have funding in place for the very initial stage to the North Docklands. But future funding will be required and will need to be confirmed,” she said. Green Party councillor Claire Byrne said she was thrilled to see the project finally progressing, but wanted to know what the district heating team is doing to co-ordinate with agencies like EirGrid and Uisce Éireann, to prevent any hold-ups. “Like, how can we minimise the disruption to the local community?” The team has had extensive co-ordination with all of the utility companies, including EirGrid Uisce Eireann and the Dublin Port Company, Kennedy said. “And we’ve done our utmost to ensure that there’ll be minimal disruption.” They will be installing pipes with EirGrid, she said, “possibly on the North Docklands, on the North Quays”, she said. Byrne then wanted to know how the project was going to proceed in the absence of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, which will seek to introduce a regulatory system from district heating. The bill hasn’t been published yet, Kennedy said. “That is a problem.” Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien said at a Dáil energy policy debate [on 26 May](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-05-26/320/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that a number of revisions are currently being developed for the original Heads of Bill that were approved by the government in October 2024\. “It is intended to seek Government approval for these revisions shortly.” Kennedy, at the area committee meeting said the team is “happy” and have received legal and planning advice to install the project under the Waste Management Act. The initial target for the project is going to be high-density, high-rise buildings in the area, Kennedy said. “We want the network and business to be commercially viable as quickly as possible,” she said. They want to reach a stage where they can connect residential homes, she said. “We will, but that isn’t envisaged in the early stages.” This decision to initially bypass homes in Ringsend and Irishtown, near the incinerator, to connect to shiny new high-rises, [has faced criticism](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-district-heating-scheme-to-connect-to-shiny-north-docklands-first-ringsend-much-later/). “We get the waste and somebody gets the energy,” said Joe Donnelly, who runs the Fair Play Café, a community hub that also serves as the base for the Ringsend Irishtown Sustainability Energy Community, last October. ### Despite car-park fee increase, more people taking train from Clonsilla, Irish Rail says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-car-park-fee-increase-more-people-taking-train-from-clonsilla-irish-rail-says/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:55:54.000Z Despite fears among local councillors that an increase in fees at the council's car park near the Clonsilla train station would discourage people from parking there and travelling by train, an Irish Rail spokesperson says numbers have actually risen. Fingal County Council brought in new parking control bye-laws [on 16 February](https://www.fingal.ie/fingal-county-council-parking-control-bye-laws-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). The changes included [increases](https://www.dublininquirer.com/apartment-dwellers-in-fingal-should-be-able-to-get-resident-parking-permits-for-their-area-councillor-argues/) in on-street and off-street parking charges. Since then, the council's average gross monthly income from car parking at Clonsilla train station has doubled – from €3,412.48 to €7,332.37 – according to a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28220238-councillor-j-burtchaell-on-street-parking-revenue-at-clonsilla-ai108611/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the 28 May Blanchardstown local area committee meeting, in response to a motion from Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell. "We see the massive increase in revenue taken," Burtchaell said at the meeting. "What we're looking at here is a captive market of commuters who take the train to work and have no real choice but to bring their car down to Clonsilla, park it there, and you know, we stung them badly here." At the [March meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/reconsider-increase-in-parking-charges-at-clonsilla-train-station-councillors-ask/) of the same committee, Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly and Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom Kitt both brought motions asking council managers to reconsider the increase in parking fees in Clonsilla – and the committee backed their motions. At the May meeting, Donnelly asked what the council had done in response to those motions. In March, and on 28 May in response to Donnelly's, and also in response to Burtchaell's motion, the response has been consistent: council managers have no plan to go back and reduce the parking fees at Clonsilla train station, or anywhere else. "These bylaws were adopted unanimously by the full council," said council administrative officer Niamh Russell. ## Discouraging train use? Burtchaell, at the meeting on 28 May, during the discussion on the car park fees at Clonsilla, said "We shouldn't be discouraging public transport use. These people are doing the right thing, they're taking the train to work." It's quite difficult to get to the Clonsilla train station from several areas around it, so people have to drive to it and park nearby, if they want to commute by train into town, he said. "Really, we're hammering people here, who have no other choice." During the same discussion, Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy said that, "anecdotally, the evidence is very, very strong that more and more people along the Maynooth line \[the train line at Clonsilla station\] are deciding to – they've done the calculations and they've decided to drive". This goes against the council's efforts to try to get more people to travel by public transport, or by bike or foot, and fewer using private cars, Leddy said. But in response to a query about trends in train use from Clonsilla station, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said on 8 June that, actually, "Comparing February to May 2026 with February to May 2025 indicates that journeys from Clonsilla Station have increased by c. 9%." Was Leddy surprised by these figures from Irish Rail? "Yes and no," he said by phone on Tuesday. "There's been signfiicant developments in the area so that might be a factor." Also, he said he didn't mean just use of the train from the Clonsilla station, "I suppose what I was thinking of was the wider Maynooth line," he said. He pointed, in particular, to the Navan Road Parkway Station, a few stations further towards town, in Ashtown. That one's [managed by Apcoa](https://www.apcoa.ie/location-overview/location/dublin/navan-road-parkway-train-station-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com), not Fingal County Council. The problem there, Leddy says, is that cars keep getting broken into at that car park – he provided an (anonymised) email from a car park user, and a couple of photos to support this – so some people are becoming reluctant to park there and take the train. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Navan-Road-Parkway-car-park.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Navan Road Parkway car park. Photo by Sam Tranum. ## A mistake? Burtchaell said the increase in long-stay car parking fees in Fingal from €2/day to €5/day is yet another increase in cost of living. "We're in a cost of living crisis and we've had increases in council rent, we've had increases in recycling fees, and now parking charges," he said. "I mean the council shouldn't really making people's lives harder, we should be moving to try to you know improve people's quality of life." Yes, said Donnelly, the Sinn Féin councillor, "I do feel we've let people down and I think sometimes we need to remember that we're a society and a community and it's not Fingal Inc." Labour Councillor John Walsh said he didn't think this particular increase "was the intention, like what has happened here is a mistake was made, like a mistake was made in the bye-laws, this was inadvertent, it was not something anybody intended". "Point of order," said the committee's chair, Fianna Fáil Councillor Eimear Carbone-Mangan. "It wasn't a mistake. There was no mistake." "Maybe I'll reword that, alright, I think what has happened was an error," Walsh said. "It's something that arose inadvertently. It's not the result of a deliberate policy and we should simply take it up again and reverse it." Burtchaell called it "an unintended consequence, at least from the councillors' point of view, that it wasn't comprehended that we weould be hammering commuters like this". But Russell, the council administrative officer answering councillors' questions about the issue, said the process of amending the council's parking control bye-laws had been long and in-depth. The charges hadn't been increased in 15 years, and there was "extensive consultation" on the proposed changes, she said. Among other changes, the amendments to the bye-laws increased fees at long-stay car parks. There are four, she said, in Clonsilla, Skerries, Rush and Malahide. "I said to everybody the reason we were doing this was because we're looking for increased resources for parking wardens", Russell said. The plan, she said, was to increase from six full-time equivalent parking wardens to nine, Russell said. The additional wardens would "patrol areas outside of pay and display \[parking areas\] where there is problematic and persistent illegal parlking", she said. Reopening the bye-laws would be a huge piece of work, Russell said. "In order to make changes to one element of the bye-laws, it requires a full statutory public consultation, public engagement again, and it needs to go to the council meetings, to SPC \[strategic policy committee\], to CPG \[corporate policy group\], so there is a very large volume of work involved," she said. There's no plan to do that this year, Russell said. "I can't speak about the programme of works for next year, because we haven't started looking at that at this point." Donnelly, the Sinn Féin councillor, who'd got a similar response to her own question at the meeting, said she was "quite surprised at the response". "I think it's fair enough that the work plan has been done for 2026 but I think the answer should have said it will be on the work plan for 2027," she said. "And I think when we as councillors pass motions or ask for something, it shouldn't be a case of no we're not doing that." For his part, Burtchaell suggested a way to reduce costs on parkers at long stay car parks in Fingal, including in Clonsilla, without reopening the parking control bye-laws. What about a rebate or voucher scheme, where if a driver spends, say, €100 on parking at a Fingal car park in a seven- or eight-week period, they could apply for vouchers for free parking for an equivalent amount? "Something to ameliorate the damage we've done to commuters here," he said. Burtchaell said he'd plan to bring a formal proposal along those lines to the table in future. ### In Fingal, council raised rents weeks before telling its tenants what their new rates were URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-raised-rents-weeks-before-telling-its-tenants-what-their-new-rates-were/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T05:56:05.000Z Council tenants in Fingal weren’t told how much more rent they would be paying until two weeks after the rate had increased in April, council officials said last Thursday. Councillors agreed, [in November](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/), to increase rents – which the council [said](https://www.fingal.ie/differential-rent-scheme?fbclid=IwY2xjawSVIntleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAzTTl3ZzVJWndXalFjaUZ2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHozdFmNRvgfWnKNQrUnr1VmDjdsNvcd6Szn7gXaGfe%5FdVB0ltqBZSUdTClKu%5Faem%5FewsmRgD9nT24K2jYjti1XQ&ref=dublininquirer.com) had not gone up since 2013 – from 12 percent of a tenant’s income to 14.5 percent. The council issued an initial letter on 11 March outlining the general changes to the scheme, according to a [written answer](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s118645/Item%20No.13%20-%20A%20Donnelly%20-%20Report%20on%20Rent%20Increases%20Information%20in%20this%20LEA%20-%20AI108767.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from council staff to Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly, at Thursday’s meeting of the Blanchardstown area committee. The new rates came into effect on 25 April, said the answer from Sara McAvoy and Mark McGinty, senior executive officers in the council’s Housing Department. “And changes to the scheme were also communicated via social media and website updates,” they said. But it wasn’t until 11 May that the council sent a second letter to its tenants, telling them their new individual rents, the answer said. The decision to [raise council rents](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/) – justified in part by the need to fund [better maintenance](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-talks-of-more-contractors-for-social-housing-maintenance-but-should-it-hire-more-staff/) of social homes – continues to be contested by some councillors on both Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council. On Monday, Donnelly issued a statement saying the rent increases demonstrated a lack of awareness of the struggles faced by those renting in the county. “Residents in Fingal are now facing increased property tax, council rents, increased HAP differential payments, increased gas and electricity bills, as well as increased oil and fuel costs,” she said. ## IT troubles Fingal County Council posted a notice to its Facebook page on [23 April](https://www.facebook.com/fingalcoco/posts/pfbid0ehd5WgugpnoSUtkv7DtwzCfXRcZVqAZRFioE7L2RfHy1LaSaUrMUeyKzqUuTieVEl), two days prior to the new rates taking effect, including a link to the [scheme’s webpage](https://www.fingal.ie/differential-rent-scheme?fbclid=IwY2xjawSVIntleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAzTTl3ZzVJWndXalFjaUZ2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHozdFmNRvgfWnKNQrUnr1VmDjdsNvcd6Szn7gXaGfe%5FdVB0ltqBZSUdTClKu%5Faem%5FewsmRgD9nT24K2jYjti1XQ&ref=dublininquirer.com). But, it was appalling that residents were not sent a letter specifying their new rates until nearly three weeks after they had come into effect, Sinn Féin Councillor Donnelly said at the full council meeting on Monday evening. Tenants were in arrears for weeks before the second notice was issued, she said. “After all the conversations we’ve had in the chamber, to tell tenants three weeks after the scheme came into effect, what the new rent is, I think is really poor.” Paul Carroll, the council’s director of housing, said the council had problems with the IT system which led to the delay. “But we have resolved that now, and if there’s any issues, we’ve engaged with any tenants to kind of make sure that that doesn’t cause any difficulties for individual tenants,” he said. Under the new rental rates, a household’s primary earner pays 14.5 percent of their weekly net income, while a subsidiary earner pays the same but with a cap of €60 per week, according to [the council’s website](https://www.fingal.ie/differential-rent-scheme?fbclid=IwY2xjawSVIntleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAzTTl3ZzVJWndXalFjaUZ2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHozdFmNRvgfWnKNQrUnr1VmDjdsNvcd6Szn7gXaGfe%5FdVB0ltqBZSUdTClKu%5Faem%5FewsmRgD9nT24K2jYjti1XQ&ref=dublininquirer.com). The website also notes that the lowest-income household will pay around €36.83 per week, while the average rent is €111 a week. [Back in mid-April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-vote-to-pause-planned-rent-increase-but-its-unlikely-to-happen/), Sinn Féin Councillor Malachy Quinn tabled a motion asking councillors to support his request for the council to pause the rent increase. Quinn’s motion was agreed by 19 votes to 14\. [To pause the council’s planned rent increasePassed: 19 for, 14 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-3712fb65-a4e4-45f8-a06e-d92d55602b27)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/b7fb50d0?ref=dublininquirer.com) But, a council spokesperson on 14 April would not comment on whether they would heed the motion and pause the increase, saying instead that they acknowledged concerns raised by councillors and noted the intent of the motion. ### Through her small Collins Avenue vineyard, a winemaker finds her family roots URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/through-her-small-collins-avenue-vineyard-a-winemaker-finds-her-family-roots/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T23:41:04.000Z When Mary Llewellyn opened a box posted by her son on her sixtieth birthday and saw two grape vines, she was a bit stunned. One was a red grape, a zinfandel, and the other was a white, a vitis vinifera muscat. Llewellyn lives in a housejust metres from the buzzing traffic of Collins Avenue. “I thought, what in the name of God does he think I'm going to do with this?” she says. “Like, I grow roses, what does he think, I'm going to grow wine?” But, she figured, why not plant them. See what happens. Little did she know that her terraced house in Donnycarney would soon become her own personal winery. Nor could she have known that her newfound hobby would lead to a lost relative coming into her life – united by their common passion for wine making. Her front garden is south-facing, so it gets plenty of sun, she says, looking out on her vineyard on Wednesday, early evening. First, she erected a wooden pergola for her fledgling vines and waited to see what came. She learned quickly that growing grapes isn’t straightforward, she says. Early on, the vines looked a bit barren, she says, so she planted some sweet peas next to them, to bring some colourful flowers in the summer. “My French friend came for a visit, and she said, ‘You do not plant legumes and grapes, my God, there will be too much nitrogen in the soil. Stop, stop, stop!’” Llewellyn recalls. She had no grapes to harvest that first September. The following summer was extremely dry, so she gave her new vineyard a good watering, she says. Bad news then followed when a Spanish friend came to visit. She says her friend told her: “You don't think we're hanging out the side of mountains watering grapes, do you? They find their own level; they find their own water. Don't, don't, don't!” Llewellyn discovered that she had drowned her grapes. The third year, she did as she had been told by her French and Spanish advisors and left them alone. “I totally ignored them and they thrived, absolutely thrived,” she says. Soon, her single pergola was not enough, so she put up a second – and, eventually, a third. She thinks a fourth may be soon needed. In her cupboards are buckets, demi jars, pipes, bottles and other trinkets she uses in her wine making. It’s a scientific process, but she says she wings a lot of it. Wine makers have a gadget that measures the sugar levels of the grapes, so they know when they are perfectly ripe and ready to harvest, she says. She doesn’t bother with one. She was told early on by someone that you should harvest your grapes around September, after the first frost of the season, she says. “But I have found that if you wait till after the first frost, the birds will eat the hole out of them and they’d be gone,” she says. So, as soon as she sees the birds attacking them, she knows they are sweet enough, she says. “I'll take them in, put them into the freezer to make sure they’ve got their first frost,” she says. She isn’t too sure if her method is precisely correct by other wine makers' standards, but it works for her, she says. ## Family reunited Llewellyn says that all her life, hers was the only Llewellyn family in Ireland that they knew of. “Like I was a midwife in the Rotunda, and I'd be delivering somebody's baby, and they might look up at your name badge, and they'd say, ‘Oh, are you related to Catherine or Theresa?’ \[her sisters\] because the name was just not usual here at all,” she says. Then one day, at the weekend market in St Anne’s Park, a friend of hers noticed some fruit-based products labelled as Llewellyn’s. They asked the seller, [David Llewellyn](https://www.dublininquirer.com/from-vine-to-wine-in-county-dublin-lusca/), who makes wine professionally from his own vineyard in Lusk, if he was anything to Mary from Donnycarney, “because she makes this kind of stuff as well”, she says. The two Llewellyns eventually made contact with each other, out of curiosity. Mary says she asked him had they anything to do with each other, and David wasn’t sure. So, they did some digging through the family tree and discovered that the pair share a great-grandfather. They have since become pals, says David, sharing their love for wine making. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Llewellyns-1.jpeg) Photo courtesy of Mary Llewellyn. “It was just funny that she had this really keen interest in growing grapes, and found out that she has a relative that's actually doing it professionally, you know, just down the road from her,” he says. Mary recalls attending a wine event in Trinity College last year with David. “It was all wine influencers, wine connoisseurs, wine masters, wine cellar people,” she says. There, she accepted her own wine title, she says. “I am a hobbyist,” she says, laughing. “People were asking things that I didn't even understand the question, never mind the answer,” she says. She heard people asking each other how much “dosage” a particular wine has – “do-sage”, pronounced in a posh, French way, she says. Turns out it refers to how much sugar a wine has in it, she learned in real time among Ireland’s finest wine professionals. “Then they’d say, ‘Oh, we give it a very small dosage’, and I'm going, ‘What's very small? Is it an ounce? Is it a pound of sugar? I don't know!’” she says. ## A hobbyist David continues to give his relative advice, she says, and she’s always keen to learn more. She remembers opening a bottle of what she thought was her homemade rosé for friends at a party. Someone commented, “Oh, we have sparkling rosé.” Llewellyn says she thought, “What? That’s not meant to be sparkling. That’s a problem!” Turns out she had bottled it before it was fully fermented, so it carried on fermenting in the bottle, she says. David told her he had once done something similar, and the bottle ended up exploding. “I had carried that bottle in my suitcase to Jersey, over to my son,” she says, “and I thought, ‘What if that had exploded on the plane!?’” Unlike David, Mary Llewellyn doesn’t sell her wine – it’s only for friends and family, she says. Her wine is bottled at home and adorned with labels paying tribute to old Donnycarney, she says. The labels for both her red and white were designed by her friend Stephen Browne. Collins Avenue was once known as Puckstown Lane, she says. So, her red label features a goat. The white label features a drawing of her own front door and vineyard. “It's a talking point, it's brilliant, and I love it, and I get tremendous pleasure out of all of it,” she says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### A documentary follows the ripples of the 1981 hunger strike to the California prison system URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-documentary-follows-the-ripples-of-the-1981-hunger-strike-to-the-california-prison-system/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T23:41:13.000Z Bobby Sands died on hunger strike in the Maze Prison in Co. Down on 5 May 1981. In the following months, nine more republican hunger strikers would lose their lives in a final act of protest against the British government. The 10 men were fighting to be recognised as prisoners of war rather than criminals. Thirty years later, their story reached prisoners of the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison, in California. Many of them had been dumped in that solitary confinement facility for decades, on the decision of the prison not the sentencing judge, because they were suspected – sometimes based on dubious criteria – of being gang members. What happened next is the subject of [*The Strike*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3nnMZD6QHE&ref=dublininquirer.com), a documentary film due to be screened in Dublin, Belfast and Cork this month. Like the Irish republicans in the Maze decades earlier, the inmates of Pelican Bay SHU would use the only tool at their disposal, hunger strike, to draw attention to the injustice. Pat Sheehan, one of the 1981 Irish hunger strikers, said on Thursday by phone that “to think that they began their protest after learning about the protest here in 1981 is, you know, something that I would be particularly proud of”. At one point in 2013, there were 30,000 people on a co-ordinated hunger strike across the Californian prison system, protesting against the practice of endless solitary confinement. “In 2013, to me, at that time, I was witnessing such a powerful movement,” says co-director and producer Lucas Guilkey. “I knew it had to be a documentary.” It was a labour of love for over a decade for Guilkey and his co-director and co-producer JoeBill Muñoz, Guilkey said on Wednesday by phone from California. The film includes interviews with prisoners themselves, who endured years and decades in solitary confinement – a practice [called](https://www.ohchr.org/fr/press-releases/2011/10/un-special-rapporteur-torture-calls-prohibition-solitary-confinement?ref=dublininquirer.com) torture by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez. It also includes interviews by people who organised on the outside on behalf of their loved ones, and people working in the prison system at the time. The broader story is about the damage done by the state of California, said Muñoz by phone from New York on Wednesday. “These crimes are committed by the state systematically over a long period of time, and that, you know, took legal action to sort of name it a crime and reverse it,” he says. Closer to home, the film may also focus minds on the impact of solitary confinement, more commonly referred to here as “restricted regime”, in the Irish prison system, says Keith Adams, penal policy advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. People often fall into a trap of looking over to the United States and thinking it’s all over there, said Adams, a member of the [Irish Penal Abolition Network](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-group-seeks-to-push-the-case-for-abolishing-prisons-in-ireland/) (IPAN), which has organised the screenings. “Thinking the things that happen in American prisons are so extreme over there, they couldn't happen here, but actually it does,” said Adams. “It happens in pockets, maybe unknown to us as well.” The screenings are scheduled for 17 June in [Dublin](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-strike-film-screening-and-panel-dublin-tickets-1989027751548?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com), 18 June in Belfast, and 20 June in Cork. ## **Closer to home** Solitary confinement means that people are locked up in a small cell for between 22 and 24 hours a day, with no meaningful human contact. The United Nations “[Nelson Mandela Rules](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28194571-brochure-on-the-un-smrs/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1)” for prisons say that nobody should be in solitary confinement for more than 15 days. But in California, the days were stretched into decades. Those incarcerated didn’t have to openly commit any act to be given “gang validation” by the prison and sent to the SHU indefinitely. The criteria may have been associating with the wrong person, or possessing literature on the Black Panthers in the case of Black people, or Aztec artwork in the case of Latino people. In Ireland, people are put on “restricted regime” to – officially – maintain order in the prison, to protect vulnerable people, for medical reasons, or for disciplinary reasons, according to the most recent “Progress in the Penal System” [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28195444-iprt-pips-2024-report-final-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). Saoirse Brady, executive director of the IPRT, said on Wednesday that it’s concerning that the Irish Prison Service (IPS) does not release sufficient data on the use of restricted regimes here. The Council of Europe anti-torture committee published its most recent[ report](https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-cpt-publishes-report-on-its-2024-periodic-visit-to-ireland?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Irish prisons in July 2025 and among its “serious concerns” were people being held in cells by themselves for long periods, and the lack of adequate record keeping on the practice. Indeed, “due to the lack of data published by the IPS, it is impossible to determine the number of people subjected to solitary confinement in Irish prisons, or the length of time they may have spent in solitary confinement,” the IPRT’s “Progress in the Penal System” [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28194570-iprt-pips-2024-report-final-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). To raise the awareness of how toxic and damaging solitary confinement can be on the individual isn’t the only reason IPAN want to bring *The Strike* to audiences in Ireland, says Adams. There is a powerful resonance with Irish history as well, he says, in that the Pelican Bay movement was heavily inspired by the Irish hunger strikes of the 1980s. “That was a very key moment in the Northern Irish conflict as well, where it really changed public sentiments against the UK government,” he says. “I think anyone with an interest in Irish history should be particularly interested in this too.” ## **Organising, nonetheless** *The Strike* doesn’t shy away from the fact that these men were sent to prison for committing crimes, as seen in the story of Jack Morris. Morris was incarcerated after he stabbed a young man to death in a street fight at the age of 18\. Morris continues to grapple with it every day, he says in the film. However, he was sentenced to prison, not to the 30 years he endured in solitary confinement. “We're focusing on the use of indefinite solitary confinement, which had nothing to do with people's commitment crimes for why they were in prison,” says Guilkey. As *The Strike* documents, prisoners in the Pelican Bay SHU found ways of organising themselves in an environment where contact with each other was forbidden. They shouted into the toilets of their cells, the pipe system carrying their voices and words to their neighbours. The prisoners overcame historic racial divides to work together for a common aim, says Guilkey, the filmmaker. A non-hostility pact was signed by rival gangs, who, in the eyes of the prison service, would always be at odds. The pact helped get representatives of the hunger strikers, prisoners themselves from different backgrounds, before prison officials to negotiate for better treatment of prisoners and an end to the regime of indeterminate solitary confinement. Sheehan, the 1981 Irish hunger striker, said on Thursday that he congratulates those who undertook their own strike and achieved their own political aims against the Californian prison regime. That they were able to organise and collectively and collaboratively work together to take on the establishment while enduring such brutal isolation is an incredible feat, he says. “It’s one of the things that sort of set Republicans aside here in Ireland, that there were hundreds of us together, the British couldn't send us to all different prisons throughout Britain and Ireland, so we were gathered together, so we had that sort of collective strength,” he says. “When I hear of others, involved in prison protests, and maybe don't have that collective strength together, maybe only in small numbers, it's all the more remarkable,” he says, “and they would have my deepest respect for being able to do that.” Sheehan points to the writing of Bobby Sands while on hunger strike. As his own fate drew near, Sands wrote of his admiration for republican hunger strikers who had gone before – Frank Stagg, who died in Wakefield Prison in 1976, and Michael Gaughan, who died in Parkhurst Prison in 1974. [Wrote Sands](https://www.bobbysandstrust.com/writings/prison-diary/?ref=dublininquirer.com), 11 days into his 66-day protest which would eventually claim his life: “I have come to understand, and with each passing day I understand increasingly more and in the most sad way, that awful fate and torture endured to the very bitter end by Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan. “Perhaps, — indeed yes! — I am more fortunate because those poor comrades were without comrades or a friendly face. They had not even the final consolation of dying in their own land. “Irishmen alone and at the unmerciful ugly hands of a vindictive heartless enemy. Dear God, but I am so lucky in comparison.” Sheehan notes that even Sands was thinking of the hardship of prisoners in isolation and the remarkable strength it takes to face up to the prison establishment. The prison regime in America can be notoriously brutal and degrading, he says. ## **“Documentary gold”** Previously unreleased footage of the meetings between Pelican Bay hunger strikers and prison officials is included in the documentary. Footage that Guilkey calls “documentary gold”. “It fell off the back of a truck”. Although, as the film shows, it was through a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by prisoners from across backgrounds and past divides, that the goal of ending indeterminate solitary confinement in California was officially achieved. For the directors, the film is about collective struggle against oppression, says Muñoz. “We find a lot of inspiration and unexpected hope in this story, and we hope it can inspire folks around the world about the power of people power, about the power of solidarity, the power of organizing, and what grassroots struggles can accomplish when folks come together,” he says. Guilkey echoes his film-making partner’s sentiments. “Bobby Sands inspired the Pelican Bay hunger strikes,” he says. “Pelican Bay hunger strikes are hopefully further inspiring, maybe folks in Ireland, maybe other folks around the world.” These are “histories from below”, says Guilkey. “It's so important to create a record of them, and not create a record of the top bureaucrats and prison officials, but by the people on the ground, the everyday people who experienced it,” he says. “These social movements are so important, and they're happening amongst grassroots communities all over the world, and we need to uplift and amplify and share them, because we need to inspire each other, that you know, grassroots movements are often the answer,” he says. IPAN will host a screening of *The Strike* at the Maxwell Theatre in Trinity College Dublin at 2pm on Thursday 17 June. Tickets are available[ here.](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-strike-film-screening-and-panel-dublin-tickets-1989027751548?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com) It will be followed by a panel discussion with film makers JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey, and formerly incarcerated activists, including Jack Morris. There will also be screening and panel events in Ulster University, Belfast on 18 June, and University College Cork on 20 June. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### While in Dublin, a journalist offers a talk on using Instagram to document ethnic cleansing in the West Bank URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/while-in-dublin-a-journalist-offers-a-talk-on-using-instagram-to-document-ethnic-cleansing-in-the-west-bank/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T23:41:24.000Z “There are a lot of buzz words that people abroad hear,” says journalist Leila Warah, who lives in Bethlehem, “like they’ll hear checkpoint, or apartheid or occupation.” “But there is no image in their brain of what that looks like, or how that plays into daily life,” she says. Getting across those realities fast is the focus of her work, she says. Hence her 60-second video clips on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/leila.shw/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) showing the ongoing [ethnic cleansing](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/ethnic-cleansing-concerns-in-gaza-and-west-bank-amid-intensified-violence-and-forcible-transfers-by-israel-un-human-rights-office-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the West Bank. The videos by the Palestinian-American journalist document life in the West Bank, in the face of the Israeli settler colonial project. In each short, Warah chooses one experience of life under apartheid and focuses on it, she says. “Here is one feature of it, and this is how it plays out,” she says. “I try to make things easy for people to see.” An audience has tuned in. She has more than 184,000 followers on[ Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/leila.shw/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). In one recent video, she [films](https://www.instagram.com/p/DTx2U4kE7MP/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) people packing up and leaving their homes. These Palestinian people are leaving their village, she says, after two years of violence, their animals stolen, and without water after the Israeli authorities cut off the supply. Warah is due to talk about her work in the Pearse Centre on Pearse Street in Dublin on Tuesday 9 June at 6:45 pm (no registration required) together with another Palestinian journalist, Zena Tahhan. Tahhan is a writer and TV reporter. Her work focuses on life under occupation in Jerusalem, and how Israel’s system of military occupation operates through legal structures that undermine basic freedoms. ## Documenting ethnic cleansing Warah grew up in the United Arab Emirates, but her father was born and raised in a refugee camp in Palestine, she says. That was after his family were evicted and displaced from a village called Dayr Aban, in the district of Jerusalem, during the Nakba in 1948, she says. Some of her family still live in refugee camps in Palestine. At times, they feature in her short films. In one video, Warah shows her [artist uncle](https://www.instagram.com/p/CrtPCYiJ0Ka/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) using Israeli tear gas canisters to make wall hangings. Warah studied journalism in Bristol and writes articles as well as making the videos. It is handy that she speaks English fluently and physically resembles many in her audience, she says. “I grew up abroad, I know what Western audiences don’t necessarily understand.” Some of her recent videos are in collaboration with *Mondoweiss*, a US-based news website that is critical of Zionism. Mainstream news reporters cover the major events, says Warah. But important things also don’t make the headlines. Big military operations and arrests of well-known people will be reported, said Warah, but the arrests of those less known, and smaller military operations and evictions, might not be well documented. “Things happen really fast,” she says. She gets tips through WhatsApp and Telegram groups and from local contacts, and she collaborates with other journalists. “I wouldn’t have the career I have without other Palestinian journalists,” she says. Palestinian journalists tend to work in collaboration, not competition. “With Palestinian journalists, there is much more of a camaraderie,” says Warah. Journalists are focused on getting the stories out and will work together to reach wider audiences, she says. She thinks she faces less harassment than some of her colleagues because she has a US passport. But “I also work with a fully Palestinian crew”, she says. ## The talk on Tuesday The two journalists are visiting Ireland as part of the [Genarration](https://www.mundubat.org/mundubat-launches-genarration-project-to-empower-jerusalems-youth/?ref=dublininquirer.com) project, which is organised by the Spanish NGO Mundubat. “The goal is to raise awareness about the situation of Palestinians, young people living under occupation in Jerusalem,” says a spokesperson for Mundubat. “To have a conversation about human rights, solidarity and encouraging connections with the audience,” they said. The experience of Palestinian people living in occupied Jerusalem can be overshadowed, or the narrative often dominated by the Israeli perspective, she says. As well as the public talk on Pearse Street, delegates are also meeting with public representatives, academics and community leaders while they are in Dublin. Warah says she sees the public engagements as an extension of her work, to illustrate what life is like in Palestine under apartheid. “It's a space for people to ask questions, be curious and get a better understanding of what life is like on the ground,” she says. The economic situation in the West Bank at the moment is dire, she says. Many are struggling to survive and the Israeli occupation is becoming more suffocating. “Right now, there is no work; the job market has completely crashed,” she says. Many people who were working inside Israeli territory had their permits revoked after 7 October 2023, she says. On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked southern Israel from Gaza, [killing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October%5F7%5Fattacks?ref=dublininquirer.com) more than a thousand people, most of them civilians. In retaliation, Israel bombarded, invaded, and blockaded Gaza, [killing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%5Fwar?ref=dublininquirer.com) more than 70,000 people there, most of them civilians. Where Warah lives in Bethlehem, about 150km north of Gaza, many people relied on tourism, which has also collapsed since the start of the war, she says. And of course the farmers are being pushed off their lands. “A lot of them cannot access their land because of Israeli land grabs, Israeli settler attacks and Israeli restrictions on accessing private land,” she says. Warah says she sometimes feels as if she is just contributing to a media echo chamber. People share her work, but sharing information is only the first step in the process, she says. “We need direct action, economic boycotts,” says Warah. “To make change, there has to be direct action in the physical sphere.” ### Could a promised scheme for stylish shopfronts change O’Connell Street? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/could-a-promised-scheme-for-stylish-shopfronts-change-oconnell-street/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T23:41:33.000Z For years, Dublin City Council has offered grants to shopkeepers [in the](https://www.dublincity.ie/business-and-events/supports-local-businesses/shopfront-improvement-schemes?ref=dublininquirer.com) south-west inner-city, Ballymun and Finglas, to do up shopfronts. Soon, businesses on O’Connell Street are likely to come under its remit too. That’s according to a council [roadmap](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28194580-dublin-city-centre-rejuvenation-roadmap/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the regeneration of the city centre, published in February. “If Dublin is a city centre that needs urgent intervention, O’Connell Street is the emblem of that,” says the [Dublin City Taskforce report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187422-capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com), published in 2024. Extending the shopfront improvement scheme to the main thoroughfare would mean potentially faster changes in the look of the street than there has been in the past. To date, the council has taken a much slower approach, through its planning regime: if an owner applies for planning permission to make changes to a building on the street, its new appearance will have to meet council guidelines. The roll-out is also part of the much broader plans to give more attention to the look of the city centre for those strolling through or lingering – exemplified by councillors’ proposals for [street by street regeneration](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/), with North Frederick Street and Middle Abbey Street up first. The idea has long circulated that the government needed to appoint a [champion for O’Connell Street,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-o-connell-street-need-a-champion/) the capital’s main thoroughfare. Now, Robert Watt, a senior civil servant, [has been tapped](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/04/21/senior-civil-servant-robert-watt-to-lead-dublin-city-regeneration-body/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to lead the regeneration of the city centre – including O’Connell Street. “Somebody needs to knock heads together,” says Ciarán Cuffe, a former Green Party MEP, and architect with an interest in O’Connell Street. Cuffe was in Venice recently, he said, where the streetscape is precisely managed. “We’ve got to raise the bar in terms of the shopfronts,” he said. ## A different approach The council has had rules around what the public frontage along O’Connell Street should aspire to. The street, and its environs, became an [architectural conservation area](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187431-01-o-connell-street-aca-adopted-090701/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 2001\. It has had special planning rules [since 2003, too.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187429-scheme-of-special-planning-control-oconnell-street-and-environs-2016/?ref=dublininquirer.com) But the shopfronts on the street still appear mis-matched, and at times garish, and illuminated signs – which aren’t allowed under architectural conservation area rules – can still be seen in some parts of the street. Partly, this is because of what it means to be an architectural conservation area. The council can refuse applications for new ugly signage, but it can’t change existing shopfronts. So, arguably, change has been slow since the [2001 report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187431-01-o-connell-street-aca-adopted-090701/?ref=dublininquirer.com) described a mess of advertising and a future of carefully designed shopfronts. Although there has been some change. A new shopfront on the Carlton Cinema building is plain black and gold, replacing the images of rolling dice and roulette wheels. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Carlton-Cinema-Building-1.jpg) The Carlton Cinema building on O'Connell Street. Council planners recently set [conditions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187424-conservation-report-mcdonalds-62-oconnell-st/?ref=dublininquirer.com) around signage and lighting for McDonald's, after it sought permission to revamp its building at 62 O’Connell Street. The council’s conservation section had vetoed a new “M” logo lit up from the inside, asking instead for a softer lighting. The restaurant decided not to make any changes to that signage, instead, keeping its existing illuminated M, it has told the council. If the council brought in a shopfront improvement scheme for O’Connell Street, assuming that it works like the [current one for the south-west inner city](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28195500-details-of-scheme-shopfront-improvement-scheme-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com), would mean businesses that want to upgrade their shopfront could get a grant for half the cost of the work, up to €3,000. ## Considering ideas For years, Klaus Unger, a retired architect, called for the [national government to](https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-o-connell-street-need-a-champion/) appoint a champion to regenerate the street. On the ground, not much has changed since, Unger said. “I still feel the state should take a strong role in the care and guardianship of the main street of the capital,” he said, by phone on Wednesday. He says he hopes that senior civil servant Robert Watt – the recently appointed [head of the project management unit](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/dublin-city-task-force-robert-watt-to-head-up-project-management-unit-and-be-ceo-designate-of-special-purpose-vehicle/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the city centre – helps to push the rejuvenation of O’Connell Street. The decline of heritage streets is an issue seen elsewhere – with responses to draw inspiration from, too. Between 2020 and 2024, Historic England – a public heritage organisation – spent £103 million, to restore hundreds of shopfronts and historic buildings across 67 high streets, according to its own evaluation report of the project. In [Harlesden in London](https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/heritage-regeneration-value-revealed/??utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com&ref=dublininquirer.com), the heritage group had success, its report says, in making the high street more attractive, without changing the nature of the businesses. Unger says that, often in other European capitals, where major thoroughfares are successful, they are places where people really want to live. O’Connell Street used to be full of homes. “It's essential we turn it back into a living street,” he says. The regeneration of O’Connell Street is one of the ambitions in the [Dublin City Taskforce report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28187422-capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Empty and neglected buildings, traffic congestion and a lack of significant investment have led to a dysfunctional and unappealing street,” says the report. Other suggested changes in the report include allowing fast-track planning for mixed-use developments including homes. The state should buy vacant buildings to bring them back into use as homes too, it says. The taskforce report envisages Dublin City Council rejuvenating the street, through street upgrades, pedestrianisation and laneway development and creating a cultural hub. The council’s roadmap for the regeneration of the city centre, published in February, also promises to “develop and roll out a Special Outdoor Dining Scheme to facilitate high quality day/evening uses on O’Connell Street”. ### Things To Do: Pin the blame on indie sleaze, visit a bungalow, see the Dead Zoo in blue URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-pin-the-blame-on-indie-sleaze-visit-a-bungalow-see-the-dead-zoo-in-blue/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T23:41:43.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* ***Black Noise*** Below Hume Street in GalleryX, artist and curator Ishmael Claxton is launching *Black Noise*, a new group exhibition this evening at 5pm. The exhibition was born of Claxton’s frustration at seeing artists of colour in Ireland being overlooked, misrepresented and marginalised for years, as well as his desire to create something “constructive and collective”. *Black Noise* is described as a celebration of the African diaspora and wider Black communities across Ireland. Drawing inspiration, in part, from the spirit of AfroPunk, it looks to explore how creativity can bring people together during moments of uncertainty and social fracture. Twenty artists, including Claxton, Kofi Jezille, O.A., Salem Anowe Chukwuezi, Rebecca Ruth Ewnetu, Tessy Ehiguese and Winifred Otowa will have works on display. Moreblessing Chigwedere is the show’s assistant curator. *Black Noise* is dedicated to George Nkencho, and will run until 25 June. For more information, follow Claxton [here](https://www.instagram.com/ishmaelclaxtonphotos/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and GalleryX [here](https://www.instagram.com/galleryxdublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Make Strange* by Niamh Campbell** Also this evening, Rooney Prize-winning author Niamh Campbell will be in Books Upstairs to launch her new book *Make Strange*. Her third novel, *Make Strange* is about a young couple, Lena and Odhran, whose four-year-old daughter Sunny claims to remember her own death. Her parents are left desperate for answers as, over the course of the next year, Sunny refers repeatedly to her past lives and how they ended. Is their daughter suffering from disassociation or has she been contaminated by her parents' haunted histories: Lena’s time as a musician in the indie sleaze era or the shady legacy of madness in Odhran’s family? All of this, and more will be revealed at 6:30pm today, Thursday 4 June, with author Anne Enright dropping in to introduce the novel. To reserve a seat, visit Books Upstairs's website [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-make-strange-by-niamh-campbell/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **re:verb** On Friday and Saturday, experimental poet and former member of the Fingal Libraries team Christodoulos Makris is piloting re:verb, a new festival of contemporary poetry and the verbal arts. Organised as a series of live readings that will take place this Friday in Kirkos on Little Green Street on, the inaugural session will feature poet and *Dwelling* author Máighréad Medbh, and poet and Dublin City University English lecturer Kit Fryatt at 5pm. Then, at 7:30pm, poet, theatre translator, theatre-maker and performer Mai Ishikawa, and cross-disciplinary artist and writer Suzanne Walsh are billed to appear. On Saturday 5 June, poet and writer Jazmine Linklater and multidisciplinary writer Joanna Walsh will be appearing at 2:30pm, followed by author Alice Lyons and writer and songwriter Maija Makela at 5pm. Finally, at 7:30pm, poet Ellen Dillon and assistant progressor of creative writing in University College Dublin and *Pattern-book* author Éireann Lorsung will see the festival off. Unfortunately, the full two-day festival tickets have now sold out. But, there are still tickets available for each individual event [here](https://www.citizenticket.com/organiser/kirkos/?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information and for updates, follow Makris on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/c%5Fmakris/?ref=dublininquirer.com) or on his Blogspot blog [here](https://yesbutisitpoetry.blogspot.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***These Four Walls*** On Saturday afternoon, a terraced bungalow in The Coombe will be the site of a new group exhibition which explores the increasing scarcity of domestic, social and creative spaces in Dublin. Hosted and curated by Sadbh O’Brien, *These Four Walls* uses a DIY approach to highlight the potential of creative work in alternative spaces. Featuring pieces by visual artists Matthew Coll, Alex de Roeck, Alex Keatinge, Jack Ó Meara, Eileen O’Sullivan and Joanne Reid, the artworks “enter a dialogue with the tensions arising in the contemporary lived experience of late stage capitalism”. The exhibition will run from Saturday 6 June to Wednesday 10 June. To get the address, contact O’Brien via her Instagram here. Visiting hours will vary as the bungalow has limited space. To book an appointment and for more information, visit click [here](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ3eIRx2%5FAYPHUos13jqfkeaNfViP5y9fvu66FOqvA9PG83-Tb3FaTBQoLGLyIprHWDsPIyAGmKB?ref=dublininquirer.com). *These Four Walls* opens at 12pm on Saturday. At 7pm, O’Brien and co will be holding a drinks reception at 7pm at Lucky’s on Meath Street. ***The Dead Zoo in Blue*** Remember Ishmael Claxton? That’s right, he’s back again. The artist and curator is also currently staging an exhibition of his photo series *The Dead Zoo in Blue* at the Dead Zoo Lab in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks. Published as a book earlier this year by The Library Project, *The Dead Zoo in Blue* book saw Claxton immerse himself in the spaces and collections of the Dead Zoo, bringing his own unique perspective as an African American living in Ireland to the images he captured. Through the use of blue-tinted filmstock – a reference to the Irish term for black person “duine gorma” or “blue person” – this considered medium portrays an atmosphere that normal photography cannot evoke, and proves a new visual perspective on the animals and spaces. This considered medium and careful lighting “paints” an atmosphere that normal photography is unable to evoke, providing a new visual perspective on the animals and spaces – creating something unique. And, between here and Sunday 7 June, you will be able to see the works themselves on display in the Dead Zoo Lab. For more information on the Dead Zoo Lab, visit its website [here](https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Decorative-Arts-History/Exhibitions/Dead-Zoo-Lab?ref=dublininquirer.com), and to get a copy of Claxton’s *The Dead Zoo in Blue*, head on over to the Library Project’s shop [here](https://www.thelibraryproject.ie/products/dead-zoo-in-blue-ishmael-claxton?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Acts of Defiance*** Last week, photographer Rose Comiskey launched her new photobook *Acts of Defiance*, a visual record of the Irish Women’s Movement and the collective acts of protest that shaped modern Ireland. The images compiled in the book were taken by Comiskey between 1984 and 1992, and capture protests from the reproductive rights campaign, Ronald Reagan’s visit to Ireland, and the Dunnes Stores strike against goods from Apartheid-era South Africa. Alongside these photographs, Comiskey includes testimonies from people who participated in these struggles such as Ivana Bacik, Pauline Conroy, Ita Gannon, Paula Meehan, Rosemary McCluskey, and Kate Shanahan. You can purchase a copy of *Acts of Defiance* [here](https://shop.photomuseumireland.ie/products/acts-of-defiance-rose-comiskey-pre-order?srsltid=AfmBOoo7kVpEZUagD-uLqsOY2JhAfFycMsSVeHFQ0X-CGwhWJMzOl-li&ref=dublininquirer.com). [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Summer-School-advert-animated.gif)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Come join us!** In seven sessions, members of our team will teach skills and knowledge that could be used in journalism, but also just by people who are involved in their communities and trying to make them better places. Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June, mostly at 10-13 Thomas Street, in the Digital Hub, in Dublin 8\. Tickets are €50 per session – pick as many or as few as you like. [Learn more ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* ***The Strike*** On Wednesday 17 June, there will be a screening of the feature documentary *The Strike* at the Maxwell Theatre in Trinity College. *The Strike* tells the story of a generation of Californian men who endured decades of solitary confinement and, inspired by the Irish hunger strikers, launched the largest hunger strike in U.S. history. The screening will include a post-film panel with the filmmakers and formerly incarcerated strike activists. *The Strike* will screen at 2pm. Tickets are free and can be reserved [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-strike-film-screening-and-panel-dublin-tickets-1989027751548?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Curepedia – The Story of the Cure*** On Sunday 14 June, ahead of the Cure’s sold out Marlay Park show, music writer Simon Price will be interviewed by Dan Hegarty about his book *Curepedia – The Story of the Cure* at the Pavillion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire. The conversation will begin at 2pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Tickets are available [here](https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/the-story-of-the-cure?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Ringsend Bloomsday 2026** Ringsend District Historical Society, with support from Dublin City Council’s South East Area team, will be hosting their annual Bloomsday celebration from 11 to 16 June. Among the events planned is the society’s launch of its book *Our Writers in Bloom*, a tour of St. Patrick’s Church, a lecture on the history of Irishtown Garda station, a boat cruise of Dublin Bay and a Joycean procession, For more information, contact the society at [ringsenddistricthistorical@gmail.com](mailto:ringsenddistricthistorical@gmail.com) or visit the Bloomsday festival event page [here](https://www.bloomsdayfestival.ie/event/bloomsday-villages-ringsend-irishtown-writers-adventure/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **St. Edmundsbury re-zoning protest** On Tuesday 16 June, locals in Lucan will be protesting the rezoning of lands at St Edmundsbury, Liffey Valley. The meeting will take place at 3pm just inside the main entrance to St. Edmundsbury. For more information, visit the Save St. Edmundsbury campaign’s Facebook group [here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1634550870908974/). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Risk that more survivors of torture will be denied asylum in Ireland, as a vital service is frozen URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/risk-that-more-survivors-of-torture-wil-be-denied-asylum-in-ireland-as-a-vital-service-is-frozen/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T11:56:20.000Z Spirasi, the national centre for survivors of torture, is “temporarily pausing” its “medico-legal” referral service, it has said in an email to asylum lawyers. Solicitors used to refer clients who said they had endured physical or psychological torture to Spirasi to examine their wounds and issue findings in a [medico-legal report](https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitors/knowledge-base/Practice-Notes/Medico-Legal-Reports/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That could be used as evidence in asylum cases. “Due to current funding and capacity limitations within the service, we will be temporarily pausing medico-legal referrals from 29 May,” said the recent email from a Spirasi worker. But it will continue to assess and offer “high-quality medico-legal reports” to "individuals currently on our waiting list”, it said. The service for survivors of torture had already been under strain for years, with lengthy waiting lists. “It takes a very, very long time, many months,” said immigration solicitor Albert Llussà by phone, last week. Some clients would only get reports in time for appeal applications, Llussà said. Others would miss even that deadline, he said. The government has centred rhetoric around immigration in recent years on [talk of “firmness” and “fairness](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/collections/statement-of-strategy-2025-2028-goal-4-a-fair-and-firm-immigration-system/?ref=dublininquirer.com)”.But whilethe pace of the asylum process has picked up for many applicants, the services helping them to make their cases and tell their stories have lacked the resourcing to keep up. That disconnect is likely to accelerate, too. Processing asylum claims is set [to speed up further](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-plans-new-system-to-detain-some-people-who-come-to-ireland-seeking-asylum/) under the EU’s Migration and Asylum pact, which is due to kick in – through a new domestic asylum law – on 12 June. The suspension of Spirasi's medico-legal referral service will leave genuine victims of torture unseen and their trauma unrecognised, say Llussà and others. A spokesperson for Spirasi hasn’t responded to queries sent on 25 May, including one asking about the suspension, whether it had requested more funding and when it could resume the service. Spokespeople for the Department of Children and the HSE – who [are listed among](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28176777-our-funders-and-partners-spirasi/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “funders and partners” on Spirasi’s website – said queries about funds for its medico-legal support should be sent to the Department of Justice. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not explicitly say it was funding the service or whether it had stopped, just that it’s aware of “Spirasi’s recent decision to pause referrals for medico-legal reports”. “Department officials are engaging with Spirasi regarding potential future funding opportunities, and on the development of a new strategic plan for the organisation,” they said. ## Out of reach Spirasi, registered as Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative, was set up by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) [in the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28178274-spiritan-irish-province-one-heart-one-spirit/?ref=dublininquirer.com) late 1990s. “It was a response to the evolving migration and asylum situation in Ireland and was in line with the Spiritan charism of working with and for those who are oppressed or on the margins of society,” says the Spiritans’ website. It’s now the national centre for survivors of torture, and its “remit is determined by the [UN Convention Against Torture](https://web.archive.org/web/20260531142801/https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading)’s definition of torture”, it says. The biggest chunk of Spirasi’s financial backing has come from the state, at least in the past decade, [show records with](https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities/sonra%C3%AD-carthanachta/?srchstr=Spirasi®id=20062095&ref=dublininquirer.com) the Charities Regulator. But its government funding [had shrunk](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28177103-spirasi-funding-23-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from about €1.4 million in 2023 to just shy of €900,000 in 2024, the last period for which figures are publicly available. Clíodhna Murphy, associate professor of law at Maynooth University, said an [academic study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28175533-mu-academic-research-report-r5-1-002/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that she co-authored found that in 2023, applicants with medico-legal reports had a much higher shot of success in their appeals. They won 67.8 percent of the time, versus 30 percent on average across all cases. Of course, a medico-legal report alone is not enough to win a case, she said, but it helps. During [the research](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28175533-mu-academic-research-report-r5-1-002/?ref=dublininquirer.com), most participants noted that medico-legal reports were often not available for an initial asylum interview, Murphy said. That was a key problem, she said. “Secondly, the lack of availability of medico-legal assessment throughout the system is a significant problem,” she said. Drafting medico-legal reports, said Murphy, is a complex and lengthy process. The service offering them needs adequate funding and sufficient time for doctors to carry out their assessments, she said. That was one of the findings of their research. Llussà, the solicitor, said he didn’t know who was funding medico-legal assessments, but the service was invaluable, professional and independent – albeit slow and understaffed. “They’re a fundamental part of the administration of justice in international protection claims,” he said. ## From now on Llussà worries about new clients arriving to seek sanctuary in the whirl of a new asylum regime in just a few days, he said. “The time limit would be drastically shorter, might be 12 weeks.” Under the pact, at least on paper, the government has committed to process and close most asylum cases in three months. Llussà doesn’t know of any other organisation like Spirasi, he said. “The absence of, you know, reputable authoritative medico-legal reports may result in victims of torture being deprived of their right to be recognised as such,” he said. Those seeking an alternative to Spirasi more likely have to turn to private medical professionals, Llussà said. For those arriving from 12 June, who end up stuck at the state’s “screening centres” under new rules, that could be difficult. Those “screening centres” are places where people seeking asylum are to undergo “further security, identity, health, and vulnerability checks”, said Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, a Fianna Fáil TD, [last month in the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-05-19/714/?ref=dublininquirer.com). They’re set up under the International Protection Act 2026, which translates tenets of the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact. O’Callaghan described who would be involved in these centres. “The screening centre will have staff from asylum processing, appeals, returns, reception, HSE, Department of Social Protection, legal representatives, and other agencies co-located and engaging with applicants onsite,” he said. The pact relaxes rules so that asylum seekers no longer have to get professional lawyers as legal representatives during the early stages of the asylum process. Now, others can act as “legal counsellors”. Officials [had explored](https://www.dublininquirer.com/chatbots-considered-for-providing-legal-counselling-to-people-seeking-asylum-documents-suggest/) the feasibility of using “chatbots” to offer legal counselling, documents show. [Understaffed and under pressure](https://www.dublininquirer.com/documents-say-asylum-law-centre-was-in-unprecedented-crisis-the-legal-aid-board-tried-to-hide-this-with-redactions/), the Legal Aid Board has struggled to assign lawyers to everyone in good time, in recent years. ## Now you see me Aisling Hearns, a psychotherapist specialising in complex trauma, steered Spirasi’s psychotherapy team for a decade, she said by phone recently. It’s “devastating” that its medico-legal referral service has ceased for now, she said. “They always struggled with waiting times, even when I was there, there was such high demand,” Hearns said. Clients often “overwhelmingly meet the diagnosis for complex trauma”, Hearns said. Some embody the “triple trauma paradigm”, she said. They carry wounds – “scarring, whip marks” – inflicted in places of birth and those collected on a perilous journey out, she said. Here in Ireland, they could be undone by poor “reception conditions” or “racism”, said Hearns, or just struggle to feel at home again. Those assessments and medico-legal reports are more than just sound evidence to support an asylum claim, said Hearns. To see an official report that validates one’s pain is to emerge from the shadows of dismissal and feel seen, she said. “There’s something very much about, you know, being believed and having that restorative justice piece as part of the healing,” Hearns said. ### Council investigates chemical "attacks" on beach grass in Balbriggan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-investigates-chemical-attacks-on-beach-grass-in-balbriggan/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T11:56:29.000Z The sun had drawn a few people out to bathe on Balbriggan beach on Thursday afternoon. A couple of teenagers lay on towels, a family set up a picnic as a young girl built a sandcastle, and behind them, a crow was waddling across a sand dune covered in dead lyme grass. While the eastern and southern sides of the dunes were surrounded by chestnut fencing, which Fingal County Council erected [in September](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1180972417393524&set=a.307059454784829&id=100064423310255) to help the small hills trap sand – now their northern and western sides were blocked off by orange plastic netting. The council had unspooled the nets earlier in the week, after issuing a statement [via Our Balbriggan](https://www.facebook.com/ourbalbriggan/posts/pfbid0c4ccRAVKwh8d1xErT54qxxMKuVh8ZVWWXDTnc91XWEwnk8SM6o1ky1FQCEvZ2P9Zl), its local rejuvenation project, condemning an “alleged unauthorised use of harmful chemicals in wanton attacks” on the grass. They were investigating the matter and also examining mitigation measures, the post says. “It is not harmless behaviour – it is the premeditated, attempted destruction of a key environmental asset.” The lyme grass had become a point of controversy over the past three years. This apparent attack on the grass isn’t the first, said independent Councillor Tony Murphy. “This is about the second time that somebody has taken it upon themselves to go down and spray themarramgrass.” The council says this natural occurrence helps to create dune systems, which protects against erosion. But some locals have led an ongoing campaign demanding its removal and arguing that it spoils the [beach’s picturesque “golden sands”](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-the-spread-of-beach-grasses-has-become-a-flashpoint-in-a-changing-town/). That debate had evolved though, when the council set up a new committee to facilitate constructive dialogue between local groups on how best to manage the beach moving forward. A council spokesperson said on Tuesday that it had referred the lyme grass case to An Garda Síochána, but they couldn’t give an update on the case or on any alleged chemicals used. “As it is a live investigation the Council has nothing further to add at this time” A Garda spokesperson did not comment when asked on Thursday about the investigation. ## Getting everyone around the table The lymegrass has been divisive in recent years, said Murphy on Thursday morning. “There has always been a difference of opinion with regard to whether the marramgrass should be allowed to grow.” Historically, the council raked the beach, he said. “It meant then that anything that was growing wouldn’t really be able to stay.” But in more recent times, the council has switched and now only rakes the beach’s foreshore, he says. “As a consequence of only foreshore raking, the marram grass propagated and self-propagated.” In September 2023, Balbriggan local Jo Thompson [shared a petition](https://www.change.org/p/save-balbriggans-front-beach-return-it-to-its-golden-sandy-beauty?ref=dublininquirer.com) saying that a beach once known for its “soft golden” sands has been allowed to disappear under coarse grass that is “uncomfortable to sit on or walk upon.” The council had refused requests to remove it, Thompson wrote. “No more sand castle building or enjoying the fun of the day at the beach.” To date, the petition has 442 signatures. It also sprouted a local campaign group known as SOS Save Our Sand. A spokesperson for the council in October 2023 said the grass was naturally occurring and had not been planted, nor did they have any intentions of removing it as it played a beneficial role in protecting the beach. The dunes can help to protect the beach from future storm events, they said. “The council is also keen to allow for natural processes such as dune formation to take place, to protect the beach from the effects of coastal erosion and climate change into the future.” Just north of the beach, a small cliff collapsed during stormy weather [in February](https://www.dublininquirer.com/bit-of-land-chosen-for-balbriggan-swimming-platform-has-been-swept-away-in-storms/). But, Balbriggan beach itself is an area where coastal erosion is “clearly not an issue (presently)”, [according to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28181891-balbriggan-beach-a-futures-assessment-beach-management-plan/?q=committee&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p13) an assessment report on the beach done last December by Kevin Lynch, a lecturer in University of Galway’s School of Geography. Commissioned by the council, Lynch’s report observed that, “based on limited historical imagery and local knowledge”, any erosion on the beach is counter-balanced by deposition during fair weather conditions. At the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting in February, Lynch said that the east coast has experienced a lot of erosion, but the dunes formed by the grass on Balbriggan beach were controlling it here. “So it actually prevented erosion further back in towards the railway line and back towards the upper part of the beach,” he said. Lynch, who is also member of a consultancy group called the Dune Futures Agency, said he didn’t want to comment on the current situation. Lynch’s report recommended that the management of the beach – and settling on the allocation of space, to people and nature – would be best served by a cross-community management committee, which the council had committed to back in June 2025, [the assessment says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28181891-balbriggan-beach-a-futures-assessment-beach-management-plan/?q=committee&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p13). Thanks to that committee, the future of the beach had become less heated, with everyone sitting around a table, Murphy said on Thursday. “We had come to the point where we were in that conversation, and then some massive clown decided that he’s going to do his own thing.” ## Compromised amenity An amenity has been compromised here, Murphy said. “Pets who run around the beach could get sick, and moreover, you have children that are down on the beach.” On Friday, SOS Save Our Sands posted on social media that they did not support or condone the alleged deliberate damage to the grass. “As a community, we believe that everyone wants the same outcome – a beach that is clean, viable, accessible and enjoyable for everyone.” The group did however say that they remain strong advocates for the removal of the grass, “which serves no natural purpose”. They didn’t respond to a query about why they believe the grass has no natural purpose. According to Lynch’s report, the new dunes are dominated by lyme grass, but there is also a diversity of grasses and flowering species present. That biodiversity of plant life will be paralleled by a diversity of fauna, he wrote. “These insects and other tiny creatures feed on the living plants, including pollinators, and help to break them down in the decaying process after the plants die.” Everybody within the beach management group is appalled by what has occurred, Murphy says. “They were working very hard at the stakeholders meeting for the committee to come to a reasonable compromise.” It was an abhorrent act, he said. “It’s a sad day for Balbriggan and the community to think that somebody thinks that this is a good thing to do.” ### Council identifies Clongriffin as potential site for a new cultural and artistic centre URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-identifies-clongriffin-as-potential-site-for-a-new-cultural-and-artistic-centre/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T11:56:39.000Z Dublin City Council has identified Clongriffin as the potential site for a new cultural and artistic centre, officials say. A 2021 cultural infrastructure audit [found that](https://www.dublininquirer.com/here-s-what-the-draft-city-development-plan-says-about-the-council-s-vision-for-developing-more-cultural-spaces/) there was a big swathe of the northeast of the city that did not have any cultural buildings nearby. In 2024, Dublin City Council City Arts Officer Ray Yeates [said he would support](https://www.dublininquirer.com/its-time-to-get-moving-on-building-an-arts-venue-in-the-northern-suburbs-area-councillors-say/) the move to develop an arts and culture venue somewhere in the council’s North Central Area administrative area. Since early 2025,a council subcommittee has been devoted to identifying a new potential arts centre in this area, which also includes the northeast part of the city, Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said on Friday. “It’s coming from our awareness of a lack of cultural space in the area.” Meanwhile, a council-commissioned social needs infrastructure audit for Clongriffin and Belmayne identified a strong need for artistic and cultural facilities in the area, according to an email sent to councillors by the North Central Area manager Bruce Phillips on Friday. The demand is most noticeable in Clongriffin, where the council is set to provide a library and community centre, Philips wrote. “There is further opportunity here for a flagship Cultural and Artistic Centre in Clongriffin.” ## A growing area Clongriffin might be ideal for the northeast’s new arts centre, said Cooney. “We’re talking about the population increasing greater than anywhere else. Basically in a few years time, it could be as [large as Drogheda](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182846-clongriffin/?ref=dublininquirer.com).” The Land Development Agency is working on two large-scale residential developments in this corner of the city – on either side of the Clongriffin Dart Station. To the east of the tracks, [within Fingal](https://www.dublininquirer.com/lda-details-revised-plans-for-nearly-2-000-homes-near-clongriffin-dart-station/), the LDA has permission to build 1,931 homes. Meanwhile, to the west, on the Dublin city side, they are currently in the first stage of construction on an estimated 2,000 homes. On 21 May, the [LDA applied to the council](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/175812?ref=dublininquirer.com) for permission to proceed with phase two of this development, which includes 711 homes, a childcare facility and spaces for shops, shops, cafés and restaurants. Their application also includes a proposal for community, cultural and arts spaces within the new development, an LDA spokesperson said on Tuesday evening. The cultural and arts spaces would be integrated into mixed-use ground floors alongside the spaces for shops, restaurants and cafes, the spokesperson said. But, the LDA spokesperson did not comment when asked on Friday whether any of these proposed spaces would be used as a flagship arts and cultural centre as is currently being sought by the council. ## Scouting for sites In [March 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-the-former-school-of-wrestling/), the council held a public meeting in Coolock Library with a view to set up a steering group, identify potential sites, and find funding streams to develop a new arts centre in the North Central Area. According to [the minutes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28164146-draft-minutes-of-arts-and-cultural-advisory-group-dated-23rd-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council’s Arts and Cultural Advisory Group on 23 March, they appointed a new project manager to the North Central Area Arts Centre Development Committee, whose role it would be to audit, map and rank potential new-build and adaptive re-use buildings for cultural and community use. The [working group](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-resurrects-its-right-to-demand-cultural-spaces-in-big-developments/) has been considering one potential location for community, arts and sporting facilities on the Oscar Traynor Road. Early stage discussions are underway on a mixed-use development, the minutes say. But no decisions have been made yet. Officials told the committee that their current work is focused on setting up guiding principles – like questions of public and private use, accessibility and revenue requirements – before any proposals would be brought to the members, the minutes say. It is promising, however, that the council could begin preparations for a site visit to Clongriffin now that the area audit has identified a demand for an arts centre, Cooney said on Friday. “Knowing people want something like this is really good, because you’re not just saying ‘Here’s an arts centre,’” she said. ### Council looking into causes of small landslide in Strawberry Beds earlier this year URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-looking-into-causes-of-small-landslide-in-strawberry-beds-earlier-this-year/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T11:56:48.000Z Along the narrow Lower Road, west of Chapelizod, west of the Angler’s Rest, there are a series of homes set into steep, wooded hillside, overlooking the river. On 13 February, with a sound some local residents thought was thunder, part of the hill slipped down towards the Lower Road in Strawberry Beds, near where the [Guinness bridge](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-west-dublin-residents-are-still-asking-for-a-deck-less-bridge-to-be-fixed-up-and-reopened/) spans the Liffey. It had been a rainy winter, with Storm Claudia in November, Storm Bram in December, Storm Chandra in late January and more flooding in Dublin in early February. The ground was saturated. The slip had started up near Ardmaroon House, a private house at the top of the hill, and then slid down across steep, tree-covered land owned by another person. The dirt and trees and brush and rocks then settled on council-owned land behind a stone wall and blue metal fence. The council [closed the road](https://www.facebook.com/fingalcoco/posts/a-section-of-the-lower-road-r109-at-strawberry-beds-approximately-west-of-the-an/1316748410482590/) for about a week, to clean up, and ensure everything was safe. At a meeting of the council’s Blanchardstown area committee on Thursday, Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy tabled [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182298-councillor-t-leddy-safety-and-integrity-report-at-liffey-valley-lands-ai107386/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to ask the council to do research into, and issue a report on, “the safety and integrity of the land on the northern slopes of Liffey Valley”. “The residents living there and people that use that road need to know that it’s safe,” Leddy said at the meeting. Some areas above the Lower Road have “dramatically changed” in recent years, Leddy said. “You look at the Castleknock Hotel, the Castleknock GAA club, Diswellstown Manor, the redevelopment of Porterstown Park – there’s been a huge amount of activity there, and for all we know that has had some sort of an impact on drainage,” he said. Yes, said local resident Leonard Skelly, sat by the brown river late Tuesday morning as it rushed east under blue skies and sunshine, towards the sea, all the development in the area is definitely affecting the way the water moves down into and through this valley. “There has always been flooding in Strawberry Beds, and people who lived here have lived with it, and are in touch with the land – developers are not,” Skelly said. “The farmland has all been bought up and there’s nowhere for the water to seep away.” The problem is set to get worse, Skelly says, if South Dublin County Council rezones lands upstream near Lucan [at St Edmundsbury](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2026/05/25/john-magnier-and-jp-mcmanus-face-rich-returns-on-4m-liffey-valley-lands-under-rezoning-proposal/?ref=dublininquirer.com), [as it has proposed](https://consult.sdublincoco.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no-2-south-dublin-county-development-plan-2022-2028?ref=dublininquirer.com), so that [540-ish](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182303-mccutcheon-halley-submission-on-proposed-variation-no-2-to-the-south-dublin-county-development-plan-2022-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) new homes could be built there. “That’s going to affect us all downriver,” he says. ## At the meeting At the meeting on Thursday, Aontú’s Ellen Troy, Fianna Fáil’s J.K. Onwumereh, and Labour’s John Walsh all indicated their support for Leddy’s motion. “That side, the steep slope, it’s really steep,” said Troy. “I think it’s a serious issue.” “That general area really really looks troubling in terms of the topography and the possibility of landslide,” Onwumereh said. In response to Leddy’s motion, Hugh James, a senior executive engineer at the council, wrote up a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182298-councillor-t-leddy-safety-and-integrity-report-at-liffey-valley-lands-ai107386/?ref=dublininquirer.com), explaining the landslide and road closure. At the meeting, James said he didn’t have much to add. “The weather was the major cause of that, which was sort of unprecedented,” James said. The council got some consultants in to look at the situation, James said. “We have received a report from the consultant but we have had queries and we have gone back to them for clarifications and further information and also have requested a second inspection there following the clearing out of the debris material,” he said. That’s great that the council got a consultant in to look at the issue, Leddy said. When the report’s done, he’d like to see it, he said. There’s a [Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO)](https://www.fingal.ie/council/service/special-amenity-area-saa?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the area, he said “which is the highest level of protection, so if that requires extra protection, extra care and attention”. Said Walsh, the Labour councillor: “I would also like to see the consultants’ report.” Actually, the council is going to be talking with the private landowners involved before releasing any report to councillors or the public, said Fingal senior executive officer Vanessa Carey, at the meeting on Thursday. The landslide began near the driveway to Ardmaroon House. Past planning documents say Marian Dalton in 2017 got [permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/77688?ref=dublininquirer.com) to build a one-storey extension to that house, and was [refused permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/78481?ref=dublininquirer.com) to also convert a garage into “living accommodation”. The landslide then crashed downhill through undeveloped, forested land that, from photos and maps, appears to be owned – according to [property records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182300-strawberry-beds-top-of-the-hill-folio/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – by Alan Adams, of Castleknock. “I think we want to deal with the third parties first,” said Carey, the council senior executive officer. Mark Sinnott, chair of the Strawberry Beds Residents Association, said on Tuesday that they “look forward to seeing the findings when available”. “The Strawberry Beds is a unique area of significant environmental, landscape and heritage value, and any measures that improve understanding of potential risks and help protect the area for residents, visitors and future generations are to be welcomed,” Sinnott said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/20260602_095113-1.jpg) The site of the landslide, on Tuesday. Photo by Sam Tranum. ### Frustrated by longer wait for green man at Blackhorse junction, people dash across in front of moving cars URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/frustrated-by-longer-wait-for-green-man-at-blackhorse-junction-people-dash-across-in-front-of-moving-cars/ Last updated: 2026-06-04T11:48:58.000Z The junction near the Luas’s Blackhorse stop looks a bit like a lopsided asterisk from above. Feeding into it from different directions are Davitt Road, Naas Road, Tyrconnell Road, the Luas’s Red Line, the Grand Canal, and the cycle paths alongside the canal. On Tuesday morning about 8:10am, cyclists following the canal towards town arrived one by one on the west side of the junction and stopped to wait for the green man. Pedestrians arrived too and stood listening to things via earbuds, or clicking on things on their phones, or just staring across at the red man, willing him to turn green so they could cross in time to catch the Luas. Lights for the snakes of drivers in cars waiting in queues in the various arms of the junction changed: green, orange, red, green, orange red. The small crowd of people on bikes and feet grew and grew, as the drivers’ lights cycled through their colours and the red man stayed red. Eventually, people gave up hope and started to dart across between moving cars and trucks. It was about 150 seconds before the man turned green. In the evening, at 5:40pm, the scene was about the same, but with more bike and foot traffic headed west than east now. Niamh Stephens, on her bike, stopped on the east side of the junction and waited for the light to change so she could head west along the cycle path. Something changed about six weeks ago, and now this junction’s “a disaster”, she said. “I think it’s broken,” Stephens said. “I’ve actually started breaking the light, which I hate to do – but I know the cycle of the lights and I’m like, ‘I should have gone already.’” The maximum cycle length at junctions is usually 100–120 seconds, which allows all phases to run, said a Dublin City Council spokesperson on Tuesday. But in some cases, including at Blackhorse bridge, “where the Luas has its own priority phase, the total cycle length can be higher”. The council recently “made adjustments to this junction involving the operation of the Luas, which at certain times of the day has inadvertently resulted in longer wait times for pedestrians across Blackhorse Bridge”, the council spokesperson said. But once council staff realised this, “we implemented changes at this crossing to shorten the wait time for pedestrians, in the interim before we can implement a longer-term solution. We will continue to monitor the junction closely over the coming weeks.” On Tuesday, the time between when the light for the east-west pedestrian/cycle crossing man turned red, and when it turned back green again varied widely over eight cycles, from under 30 seconds to nearly 180 seconds. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/06/Blackhorse-junction-2-1.jpg) Photo by Sam Tranum. ## The junction’s future There may be more changes coming to the junction as well, in the longer-term. The council’s Portobello to Blackhorse Active Travel Scheme “is currently at the Concept Development and Option Selection stage”, the spokesperson said. “It is anticipated that bike signals for this crossing will be included in the design for this junction,” the spokesperson said. That scheme would run 4.4km alongside the Grand Canal, between Richmond Street South in Portobello, and the Blackhorse junction, [according to](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/south-central-area/portobello-blackhorse-active-travel-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council. “It will provide a continuous and segregated cycle route with connectivity to local roads, schools and sports clubs,” [according to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182734-report-no-762026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-c-barrett-quarterly-report-of-the-active-tr/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a March report from the council’s Active Travel Programme Office. “The Emerging Preferred Option was submitted to the NTA in March for approval,” the report says. The National Transport Authority (NTA) [allocated](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182733-active-travel-investment-grants-2026-allocations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) €1 million for the scheme for 2026. Between this year and 2028, there’s €4.3 million in the council’s [capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28182735-dublincitycouncil-capitalprogramme-2026-2028-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – its budget for big once-off construction projects – for the Portobello to Blackhorse Active Travel Scheme. ### Why don't councillors talk as much about homelessness at meetings anymore? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-dont-councillors-talk-as-much-about-homelessness-at-meetings-anymore/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T23:04:21.000Z In January 2025, Dublin City Council announced that it planned to [introduce by-laws](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-says-it-doesnt-plan-to-ban-soup-runs-just-regulate-them/) to regulate on-street food services, also known as soup runs. Many councillors said they supported some regulation, but that the rules shouldn’t be so onerous that they deter the groups from operating. People in a queue for food outside the GPO on O’Connell Street at the time said they opposed the regulations. “They’re a disgrace,” said Joey Malone. “People rely on these services because of the cost of food.” Speaking by phone on Tuesday, Lorraine O’Connor, founder of Muslim Sisters of Éire, which operates a food service outside the GPO, said she hasn’t heard about it at all since. These planned regulations, which the council had been pursuing [for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/groups-giving-out-food-to-people-on-the-streets-would-need-to-get-permits-under-council-plan/), don’t show up on any of the recent agendas for the council’s housing committee. A council spokesperson said this week that it is still working on drafting those bylaws. This is not the only homelessness-related issue that has faded away. Oversight of this whole area of council operations has kind of slipped off the agenda of the committee. Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, who has chaired the housing committee since after the local elections in June 2024, and as chair [reduced how frequently](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-housing-committee-set-to-hold-fewer-public-meetings/) the committee meets in public, disputes this. She says the committee is consistently working on homelessness, together with the director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). “It's something we are constantly working on with Mary Hayes,” says Heney. “She is there at every meeting.” But others say they’ve noticed the change in the prominence of the issue at this council committee and want to see it reversed. “It should be a standing item on the agenda,” says Ber Grogan, executive director of Simon Communities of Ireland. Yes, says Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, the committee should meet each month and discuss homelessness each month because housing “is the number one issue facing the city, it is the number one crisis and number one challenge”. Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu, who used to chair the homeless subcommittee, when it existed, says she wants to see it re-re-established. “I can’t help but wonder if this has turned into somewhat of a political football,” she said. ## Slipping down the agenda Regular homeless reports at the committee started in [November 2016](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28165636-homeless-update-nov-2016/?ref=dublininquirer.com), when 5,146 people had stayed in emergency accommodation in the previous week, and Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, was chair. Up to June 2024, the housing committee met [dozens of times](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListMeetings.aspx?Act=later&CId=153&D=202402141100&MD=ielistmeetings&ref=dublininquirer.com) – monthly, generally – and homelessness was an item on its agenda for most meetings. This continued through the 2019 local elections, after Labour Councillor Alison Gilliland took over as chair of the committee. A report on homelessness was presented at the meetings up until [April 2023](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28165747-homeless-report-april-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The regular homelessness reports outlined the number of people in homeless services, whether the households were single people or families with children and how long they were spending homeless. From mid-2023 to mid-2024, these reports disappeared from the agenda, but at the time there was still a regular standing item for homelessness because the homeless sub-committee, which had been established in February 2021, regularly reported back to the full committee. In June 2024, there were local elections, and Heney, the Fianna Fáíl councillor, took over as chair of the committee. By then, homelessness was slipping down the committee’s agenda, not featuring on it with the same consistency. After the election, the homeless sub-committee was not reconstituted. Heney [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-housing-committee-set-to-hold-fewer-public-meetings/) she planned to hold six public meetings of the housing committee each year, but that she would also organise more workshops and site visits as well. From June 2024 to May 2026, the committee met 10 times, and homelessness was an agenda item at three of the meetings, and formed part of [an agenda item](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=153&MId=5756&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) at a fourth. Meanwhile, more and more people were becoming homeless. The most [recent figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28166511-homeless-update-73-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show 12,465 people homeless in Dublin. A DRHE spokesperson says that the agenda for the housing committee is decided by the chairperson in consultation with council staff. Last June, there was a workshop dedicated to homelessness for committee members, she says. “These workshops provide members with the opportunity to engage in more detailed consideration of key areas relating to homelessness, including accommodation provision, outreach services, NQSF \[National Quality Standards Framework\], and research,” says the spokesperson. The spokesperson didn't directly answer why the homeless report was taken off the agenda. “The DRHE circulates a detailed monthly report to all Councillors each month and publish it online,” she says. ## Outstanding issues As well as the increasing numbers of people who are homeless, there are other items the council has committed to pursue. There are the soup run bye-laws. A spokesperson for the DRHE says it is still working on the by-laws to regulate on-street food services, following a [review it did almost five years ago. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28170463-review-of-on-street-services-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Once the draft is finalised for public consultation, and in accordance with legislative requirements, the bye-laws will be advertised in newspapers and made available for public viewing in an appropriate public space,” says the spokesperson. There is also an effort to improve homeless services. Last summer a [review](https://www.dublininquirer.com/homeless-hostels-in-dublin-are-chaotic-and-lacking-basic-dignity-with-patchy-or-no-coordinated-supports-finds-review/), carried out by the Centre for Effective Services, found that there was “strong dissatisfaction” with standards in homeless accommodation, which was described as "chaotic and lacking basic dignity.” A spokesperson said that the DRHE continues to improve quality standards across both charity-run and privately-run hostels. “There are unannounced inspections held in the services along with inspections held as part of our Independent Inspectorate,” says a council spokesperson. The inspection reports are published on the DRHE website, she says. Also, the council’s [homeless action plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28168728-drhe-homeless-action-plan-2025-2027-2025-11-19-171028-taco/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2025 to 2027, included among the things the council wanted to achieve: “Reduce the reliance on the Private sector for emergency accommodation.” Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, says that with the regular public committee meetings only every second month now, the agenda becomes “very weighty” and some issues are not being discussed in real time. But Heney, the Fianna Fáil councillor who chairs the committee, says homelessness has not slipped off the agenda under her watch. “Absolutely not,” she says. Chu and Doolan say the council should bring back the homelessness subcommittee, as the best place to thrash out all of the issues. Chu says she approached the council housing manager, Mick Mulhern, and the manager of the DRHE, Mary Hayes, and asked them to re-establish the subcommittee. “They didn’t give me a clear answer,” she says. Having a homelessness subcommittee or taskforce puts homelessness more central on the main committee’s agenda, says Chu. “Having something that is on the agenda monthly … means that the issue is a priority.” Doolan said he would “suggest that we should meet every month and have those DRHE stats and also reconstitute the homeless sub-group as well”. The monthly subcommittee meetings, which were not held in public, were valuable for facilitating open discussions and exploring detailed policy responses, he says. Which the subcommittee would then report back regularly to the main committee, as a standing agenda item. ### Council looks set to agree plans to revamp Mountjoy Square despite pushback from local sports clubs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-looks-set-to-agree-plans-to-revamp-mountjoy-square-despite-pushback-from-local-sports-clubs/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T17:32:33.000Z Last Tuesday, councillors on the Central Area Committee noted council [plans](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8?ref=dublininquirer.com) to restore Mountjoy Square as a Georgian Square. The plans are now set to go to the full council for a vote in June, and despite concerns raised by local sports clubs, councillors say the revamp is likely to be agreed. Sports clubs say the council’s plan would mean that they lose facilities, in an area that has no full-sized sports pitches. The park in Mountjoy Square currently has a tarmac multi-use games area. The plan for the rejuvenated square includes a lawn, which can be used for kickabouts, events and other sporting activities – but no designated pitch for field sports. The clubs want the plans altered to include designated playgrounds and several small astroturf pitches, says Paul Flynn, chairperson of Dublin City Sports Club Network, an umbrella group representing around 50 sports clubs in and around the north inner-city. Flynn says he is surprised that the council’s plans are unchanged following the public consultation. “This is power at its very worst,” he says. “The vast majority of residents support us.” The council received 196 submissions, according to [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28169881-with-reference-to-a-report-on-the-part-8-for-the-re-imagining-of-mountjoy-square-park-dublin-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from its parks department provided to committee members for their meeting Tuesday. The submissions flagged the need for sports facilities, playgrounds, and security measures, among other things. Independent Councillor Nial Ring says that all the local councillors have agreed to the parks department’s plans from the beginning. He supports them “100 per cent,” he says. The councillors are aware of the sports clubs’ concerns, says Ring. “It was discussed at the early committee, and all councillors agreed to the plan as is,” he says. He expects the plans to be approved by the full council in June, he says. The full council still has to vote, but usually goes with the decision of the local area councillors. Flynn, of the Dublin City Sports Club Network, says the sports clubs, as well as some other community groups, are organising a meeting next Thursday. “This is not over yet,” he says. ## **Balancing diverse needs** Mountjoy Square is a hotly contested space because it is the pretty much the only green space in an area with a huge population. The council is trying to balance a diverse set of needs and requirements, says the parks department’s [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28169881-with-reference-to-a-report-on-the-part-8-for-the-re-imagining-of-mountjoy-square-park-dublin-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)to the Central Area Committee on 19 May. “The community is diverse, and this is represented in the different desires and issues raised,” says the report. “The proposed design seeks to balance varied community needs within the available space, ensuring the park becomes a more inclusive and accessible resource for everyone.” “The planner’s report is available on request,” said council landscape architect Gareth Toolan. “I’m not allowed to circulate that.” But the report the parks department gave the committee doesn’t outline any changes to the plans as a result of the public consultation. Submissions flagged a desire for a tea room “to increase footfall and improve atmosphere”, the report says. That’s “beyond the scope of this phase”, the report says. Submissions requested upgraded and extended “play facilities”. “The proposal significantly expands and upgrades the park's existing play facilities, shifting the focus toward nature-based play for all abilities.” Submissions flagged “Concern about the loss or reduction of sports facilities”. Actually, “the proposal significantly expands the park’s recreational value”, the report says. “The outdoor gym will increase from a single unit to a 10-station facility, while the current 2,000sqm hardstanding area will be replaced by a 4,000sqm high-specification constructed lawn,” it says. “Engineered to withstand compaction, this level, well-drained, and irrigated surface will facilitate everything from events, picnics and gatherings to informal games,” it says. The report says that the majority of respondents support the redevelopment of Mountjoy Square Park, “recognising its potential to become a landmark open space in the north city centre”. It wasn’t possible to fact-check this as the planner’s report was not published, and the [planning file](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/SearchResult/RunThirdPartySearch?FileSystemId=PL&Folder1%5FRef=5016/26&ref=dublininquirer.com) shows only five of those observation letters. Four of those oppose the council’s proposed redesign: a child asks the council not to change the playground she loves, the Belvedere Football Club emphasises the importance of sport, local resident Roland Bosbach urges the council to improve what’s there rather than overhaul it, and the North Great George’s Street Residents’ Association says similar. The fifth submission, from the Mountjoy Square Society, formed to defend the square’s Georgian architecture, supports the “inspirational plans”. ## **The pitch for sport** In a [presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26498566-with-reference-to-a-presentation-from-the-dublin-city-sports-club-network/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in January, the sports network said it would like a large indoor studio for dancing, drama and martial arts, as well as two astro-turf pitches, new tennis courts, and upgraded basketball courts. There is a shortage of places to play and train says Flynn and children are not getting involved in sports due to a lack of facilities. “We really need to build academies,” he says. They could do that on several small astroturf pitches, in the absence of full-sized pitches, he says. So far the council has not proposed any plan to provide a full-size soccer or GAA pitches anywhere in Dublin 1\. Anto Perry, secretary of Hardwicke FC, says that locals are concerned that without organised sports activities in the park, the large grassy lawn will be used in an anti-social way. Bringing in security guards doesn’t work in the north inner-city, he says. “Locals police their own stuff themselves,” he says. “It doesn’t work with security.” Yes, there is a desperate need for pitches in the north inner-city, but there is also a desperate need for recreational space for informal play, sitting around and walking space to cater to all potential park users, said Green Party Councillor Janet Horner in January. Graham Hickey, CEO of the Dublin Civic Trust, said that since the square is an [Architectural Conservation Area](https://www.dublincity.ie/archaeology-conservation-and-heritage/conservation-dublin/architectural-conservation-areas?ref=dublininquirer.com), “any proposal for development of the square would have to be guided by the architectural heritage protection guidelines”. “There is a huge amount of kids’ play scattered the whole way through the park as well as in designated areas,” he said. The new designs include a basketball hoop too, and a sensory garden, Hickey said. ## **At the Central Area Committee** At the Central Area Committee’s meeting on 19 May, Horner, the Green Party councillor, asked how sports uses can be facilitated together with general recreation space in the new design. She suggested lines or nets to indicate that the lawn can be used for sports. “This seems to be a recurring theme that people think it's an ornamental lawn,” she says. Toolan, the council landscape architect, said that: “We’re going to create a constructed lawn that can facilitate events and casual sporting for the whole community.” All the responses highlighted that there is a very diverse community, he said. The park is 100m square, so by keeping the uses flexible, more people can use the park, he said. There should be an enclosed area for toddlers, too, Horner said. Toolan agreed that many observations flagged concerns around toddlers in the park. “Through detailed design … we think we will be able to facilitate an enclosure for toddlers,” he said. Ring, the independent councillor, said that “196 submissions show the interest in getting this re-imagining done”. Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll, who is chair of the central area committee, said she thought “the concerns about sporting facilities do need to be looked at”. “Are there solid changes happening to the plan, and when do we get to see those?” she asked. Independent councillor Christy Burke asked about costs. Toolan said the works, including installing new pedestrian crossings, should cost around €7 million, and he hopes that construction will start next year. The committee agreed to note the report. “It is now the intention to present this proposal and the Chief Executive's report at the June City Council meeting for formal approval,” says the report. ### Some Drimnagh residents want the council to buy the old, frequently arsoned, G4S site URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/some-drimnagh-residents-want-the-council-to-buy-the-old-frequently-arsoned-g4s-site/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T23:05:09.000Z What most locals call the old vacant G4S site in Drimnagh – but if you’re Savills, [you call](https://search.savills.com/ie/en/property-detail/1fc4fb91-dedb-4f21-8a9b-9022281b1940?ref=dublininquirer.com) Canal House in Rialto – has smashed windows, an abandoned old chair out front, and a for-sale sign tickled with weeds. But perhaps the biggest issue in recent times, say residents, has been the regular fires. On the phone on Tuesday, Patricia Ryan says she counted as many as four fires in the previous five days – set, it seems, by bored young teenagers. For those living and working around the site, it isn’t just frustrating, said Ryan, who runs Dynamic Drimnagh, a local residents’ group. It’s also worrying, she said, given the potential for fire to spread and for somebody to be hurt. Ryan has tried to reach the owners of the site but had no direct engagement, she said. She has been on to the guards and the council, she said. “The main thing is here, that Herberton Road \[Development\] Limited are just sitting back, they’re just ignoring it,” she said. Property records show the site’s owner as Herberton Road Development Limited, a development company owned and administered by the investment firm Elkstone Capital Partners. The company has for two years had an idling planning permission for 113 apartments, and spaces for a medical facility, cultural and community events, and café or retail uses. Ryan says that it’s time for the state – whether Dublin City Council or the Land Development Agency (LDA) – to look at taking control of the land and build it out itself. At a meeting in March, Fiona Craven, a council official working on housing, [had talked ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/looking-ahead-dublin-city-council-has-been-mapping-where-the-next-decades-housing-should-go/)about how the council is seeking out plots to buy in the city, so that it doesn’t run out of places to build homes. It expected to make as many as 10 applications to buy sites with the help of a fund run by the Housing Agency, she said. It’s too soon to say if the old G4S site would be a good pick for the council but it’s something to look at, said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. “It’s something I’ll be raising.” In the meantime though, the owner needs to take responsibility for the safety of the building, said Doolan. “Just because it’s not being used and is up for sale, they don’t abdicate responsibility.” A spokesperson for Elkstone didn’t respond before deadline to queries sent on Wednesday, asking about the fires and its plans for the site. ## **A long-running problem** To one side of the old G4S site is a row of terraced homes. To the other, a lane into the Glenview Industrial Estate. Inside the quiet estate is Rialto Beds, and Crown Motors, and The Playground, a complex for recording, dance and music. During one of the larger fires a couple of months back, black smoke blew over the industrial estate, said Ivan Klucka, owner of The Playground, as he rushed between meetings on Wednesday. The fire brigade had to cut the electricity to the estate, he said. It’s just a bit too close for comfort, he said. At the moment, the fire brigade is coming out every second day, he said. “I feel like nobody is taking responsibility for it.” A spokesperson for Elkstone hasn’t responded to queries as to what has held it back from developing the site, given it has had planning permission since June 2024. Ryan, of Dynamic Drimnagh, says that, as she understands it, there is little that Dublin City Council can do. But her main aim is to see the site built out, she says. And, given it’s been for sale– currently listed for €8.25 million – but hasn’t sold on the private market, it would seem time for the state or an approved housing body to step up, she said. It could be built out as social housing or cost-rental homes, she said, and help relieve the huge housing need in the area. A spokesperson for the LDA didn’t come back with responses to queries about what it looks for in a site, before deadline. Dublin City Council didn’t respond to queries, either. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, said the council should be buying much more land for its own future projects, to keep its pipeline of homes going. “Because we’re running out of land.” But also, Herberton Road Development Limited needs to properly secure the site, before more kids start to set copycat fires, and somebody gets injured or worse, he said. “It’s too late then.” ### The revived Newmarket Flea could really do with an indoor space, says its operator – like that vacant one there URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-revived-newmarket-flea-could-really-do-with-an-indoor-space-says-its-operator-like-that-vacant-one-there/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T23:05:21.000Z Ian Dowling is into his second summer running the revived Newmarket Flea in the Liberties, he says. He is stretching out the market season. It ran through June, July and August last year, he said, and this year, it’s from May at least through September. “And we’re probably going to do October as well.” They are amping up vendors, too. They had 34 stalls this month and hope to have 40 in June, he said. So, the market now stretches further west along Newmarket Square, to outside The Eight Building – where the ground floor has planning permission as an indoor market space but remains empty. The irony is, essentially, that stallholders are left staring into darkened windows, said Dowling. And what Dowling – an antiques trader and markets-lover, who also runs the business Rare Irish Stuff – would really want, he says, is to be able to rent that indoor space so that the monthly market can run year round. But his overtures to the leasing agent for Patrizia, the German fund that owns it, were at first ignored and later – when he put forward an opener offer for what he could pay – rebuffed, he said. It’s frustrating, he says, because this could be the best market in Dublin if they had that space. “It would put that building on the map. It would make it a cultural HQ of Dublin.” Other businesses around the square have chipped in to help with the outdoor market roll-out, funding gazebos. Teeling Distillery also lets visitors use the toilets, he said. The markets are good for everybody, he says – most importantly for the community, which funds and investors have themselves marketed aggressively in their own promotional materials for real-estate projects in the neighbourhood. “You can feel it here on market day,” he said. Yes, sellers make a few quid and people go home with a little treasure, he says. “But the value is really the sense of community that it brings about.” ## **False teeth** The history of markets in Newmarket makes the empty space at the bottom of The Eight Building particularly resonant. But the dynamic of stagnant vacancy on the ground-floor of tall buildings isn’t new. Across the city, there are empty creches, community spaces, and even a [mill museum](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-ever-became-of-the-planned-mill-museum-in-islandbridge/). The Department of Housing hasn’t responded to queries about whether it is looking at changes to planning laws to force landlords to drop rents, so that community and commercial spaces are rented out. But it needs a kind of approach that recognises that certain spaces within towns and cities serve deep social, cultural and community functions, and aren’t just financial assets, said Dowling. Perhaps, along the lines of new measures in the United Kingdom, [whereby](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-street-rental-auctions-non-statutory-guidance/high-street-rental-auctions-non-statutory-guidance?ref=dublininquirer.com) local authorities can auction off leases in vacant commercial properties left vacant for more than one year. Dowling says he still hopes there is room for a partnership with Patrizia, he says. “It also feels damaging from a placemaking and streetscape perspective to see a regenerated square with its intended community use sitting boarded up and inaccessible,” he said. ## **A fair rent?** Dowling said he is the kind of person who just gets along, paddling his own canoe. But he cares deeply about markets and the market heritage of Newmarket, he says. So, he took note in October 2024, when Patrizia [put in an unsuccessful](https://www.dublininquirer.com/owners-of-newmarket-building-ask-for-permission-to-drop-market-space/) planning application to change the use of the indoor market space at the bottom of the office building, and put in “convenience retail”. Dowling put in a submission to the proposal, opposing the switch. He asked Patrizia’s letting agent about the terms to rent out the space, he said, and later got in touch directly with Patrizia’s head of investment management in Ireland, David Egan, too. The proposed rent was €10 per square foot, which worked out at around €66,000 per annum for the space, said Dowling – which was benchmarked off leisure, storage and warehouse rents in the city. But those aren’t the same as a community market, he said. “It’s like apples and oranges.” On top of that, there were requirements around audited accounts, deposits, fit-out expectations, he said. Dowling says he thinks he could find a way to meet many of the conditions. But he can’t offer as much as the €66,000 annual rent, he said. No community market could, he said. So the price tag undermines the use, he said. “The market hall was intended to form part of the social and community element of the development, rather than simply another conventional profit-driven retail unit”, he said. “You’re putting it on par with a seven day a week commercial operation that has nothing to do with markets,” he said. Dowling offered much less, he says. Because they wouldn’t be using the space most of the time, including weekdays, so as not to disrupt office workers above – which he got the impression was a big consideration. Egan, head of investment management in Ireland for Patrizia, said by email that they were approached by a Dublin-based market operator last year. “But that operator was only offering to pay a nominal rent for his business to occupy the premises,” he said. Patrizia would still be delighted to see the space occupied and operated by a suitable operator, he said, and continues to seek a tenant. “However, I’m sure you can appreciate that such an operator must meet certain standards, which is the norm for any commercial real estate lease,” he said. Stephen Coyne, the council’s economic development officer in the South West Inner City, said that he thinks that neither Patrizia nor Dowling are being unreasonable. The old flea and food markets at Newmarket were possible because of the peppercorn rents, which were possible because of the scrappy old buildings and future redevelopment, said Coyne. Now, it’s a purpose-built market space, and occupying and fitting that out is just more than a community market can cover, he said. Patrizia has an expectation for the rent and Dowling has a proposal at a certain price point, he said. “They just don’t match.” Dowling said that reasonable rent for a community market should have been priced in, when Patrizia bought the building. “Patrizia bought that building knowing that the market hall, that the planning for the market hall had to be delivered upon and the council and the community expected that,” he said. ## **The not-so-distant past** Dowling has been reading up [on promises made](https://www.dublininquirer.com/newmarket-developers-say-markets-will-stay-after-changes/) back in September 2017, he said earlier this week. Looking back on how Martin Creedon, then a big landowner through the Newmarket Partnership, had promised there would be more market space than before, after the square’s redevelopment. And how the indoor market space would be versatile, with doors that open out onto the square, merging with any market there. It would be flexible enough to host a rotating cast of markets – a fish market, vintage clothes, jewellery maybe, Creedon had said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/20260517_152526-1.jpg) Photo of the stalls outside The Eight Building, courtesy of Ian Dowling. Dowling spent some time drawing up a pitch for Patriza, which he submitted, he says. An architect diagrammed out how he could use the space, with 45 stalls. He costed a fit-out, with a toilet. He put together a pitch for how the indoor market would create a year-round cultural destination, to add to the seasonal outdoor stalls. It would bring all kinds of extra benefits, he wrote in the document – helping small independent traders, bringing footfall and spending to other local businesses around the square, and strengthening community cohesion. It would also bring community goodwill and buzz for Patrizia, he wrote. After all, a post on Patrizia’s website talks about “slotting in Dublin’s coolest neighbourhood” with the Eight Building, said Dowling, on Wednesday. “Nestled in an area teeming with food, drink, nightlife and culture, its digital and sustainable capabilities state the case for ticking the community spirit, resilience and sustainability ‘coolness reference points’,” the post reads. Said Dowling: “They’re leveraging that to attract tenants into their office space.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080554-1.JPG) Patrizia is a publicly listed German property investment company [with around](https://www.patrizia.ag/en/news-detail/patrizia-fy-2025-financial-results-strong-ebitda-growth-and-increase-in-dividend-per-share-1?ref=dublininquirer.com) €56 billion in assets under management. Patrizia’s company reports also talk about its commitment to sustainable cities and communities, and support for the United Nation’s sustainable development goals. Patrizia “aims to fulfill the human need for community when investing or developing assets”, one report says. Egan, Patrizia’s head of investment management, says that the development already adds to the neighbourhood. “The Eight Building, including the market unit, is contributing to the recent regeneration and increased activity in Newmarket Square,” he said. The building is now 65 percent occupied, providing local jobs, and bringing hundreds of office workers to the area who support local businesses, he said. “We look forward to seeing the market unit in operation once a suitable operator is secured.” ## **In the Dáil** “What can be done when things are part of planning permission and are granted on the basis of planning permission and then they are being priced out of it?” asked Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins [in the Dáil in March,](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2026-03-05/40/?ref=dublininquirer.com) during a topical issues debate. Her Dublin constituents have been raising the loss of an indoor market at Newmarket with her for two years, she said, “and people are really angry”. Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy, minister of state for finance, [commented on the rent](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09/?ref=dublininquirer.com): “That is excessive by any stretch of the imagination for someone to conduct a market.” “It is clear to me that what the developer is trying to do is to be able to go back to Dublin City Council and say there is no demand for a community market, but if you price something so high you will not get a demand,” said Troy. She should tell Dublin City Council, he said. Cummins, on the phone on Thursday, said that she has followed up to ask with the minister about the way forward in these situations. She would like to see Dublin City Council take a stronger approach towards its planning enforcement, she says. But she isn’t really sure if there is a current mechanism in planning to force the stand-off at Newmarket towards a resolution, she said. Across Dublin 8, developers have put up big new buildings, and the ground floors are left vacant for ages, she said. Leaving them long-term vacant shouldn’t be possible, she said. “There needs to be a tax or levy on the vacancy that actually has teeth. That actually makes a difference.” Cummins’ clinics are filled with two groups, she says. People in dire housing situations and people asking about community spaces, while all units lie vacant, she said. “It makes no sense.” One lever the council has is to set as a planning condition the phasing by which a space has to be occupied – so apartments can’t be filled until a ground-floor space is leased out and in use, for example. But its past enforcement of such provisions has been poor. Another lever is setting the commercial rates that owners pay to the council on vacant properties. The council used to give a discount when a commercial space was empty – but it [hasn’t done that](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2025-11/dublin-city-council-adopted-revenue-budget-2026.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) since the 2023 budget. ## **Valuation** Renting the ground floor for less than it would get if it were a Spar or a gym may lead to the building being worth less on paper, if it is valued with those rent-rolls in mind. But the market use was already there from the start of the project, clearly, in planning, says Dowling. Dowling says that [a recent approach](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-street-rental-auctions-non-statutory-guidance/high-street-rental-auctions-non-statutory-guidance?ref=dublininquirer.com) – still in its early days in the UK – of granting powers to councils to auction long-vacant private spaces on high streets to local businesses and community groups could be interesting to mirror. Make CIC, a social enterprise, has found that the existence of these powers has brought more landlords of vacant spaces to the table, [according to a post](https://www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and-ideas/news-and-events/what-were-learning-from-high-street-rental-auctions-and-how-they-can-be-a-catalyst-for-change/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by its regeneration innovation co-ordinator, Louise Cross. They have also found that there can be a lack of demand for some spaces from tenants, and that providing fit-out grants – rather than shopfront improvement grants – can also help to get them back in use, she wrote. But giving councils in Ireland the power to auction long-vacant spaces would take longer-term and bigger changes to the law. Dowling said he is still hopeful Patrizia might reopen the conversation, and understand the market as a prize. He is only looking for what was promised to the community, he said. “That’s all that we’re looking for. They’ve done extremely well out of the Liberties.” ### Dean: “Supergroup” Chuck Squires make country music that’s shamelessly nostalgic URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-supergroup-chuck-squires-make-country-music-thats-shamelessly-nostalgic/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:36:14.000Z A Dublin variant of the Travelling Wilburys, anyone? Press notes announcing the arrival of Chuck Squires describe the band as an “exciting new project, which some may refer to as a supergroup”. And why not? Each member has done some very worthy things in the local scene. There’s David Tapley, feather-touch frontman of the eternally underrated alternative rock group Tandem Felix; Daniel Fitzpatrick writes open-hearted tunes under the name Badhands. They’re joined by Chris Barry, seasoned engineer, touring musician and head of Ailfionn Studios. Completing the line-up is drummer Ken Mooney of The Mary Wallopers. They are, according to those same notes, among the city’s “most revered songwriters, musicians and producers”. When titans like this unite under one flag, they must be judged on whether the music adds up to the sum of the band’s parts. Supergroups don’t always work out like they should. Monsters of Folk – made up of genre stars Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Mike Mogis and Jim James – recorded just one album and left no discernible pop culture footprint. And the question of how Dr. Dre, Nas, Foxy Brown et al fumbled their much-hyped 1990s rap collective The Firm continues to keep hip-hop scholars awake at night. But the Chuck Squires project seems to be built on a clear motivation: a mutual love for classic country music. Their new album *The Late Great Chuck Squires* consists of songs that individual members have been hoarding for years – material just waiting to be developed when the scenario was just right. As you might have detected from the band’s inflated declarations, they are having fun with this. There is even a backstory: Chuck Squires, they say, is the group’s elusive leader, unseen as he’s on the lam from pursuing cops and debt collectors. (It’s a yarn that immediately reminded me of the[ project ](https://jeremiahsand.bandcamp.com/album/lift-it-down?ref=dublininquirer.com)released in 2020 that was purported to be a lost ’70s LP by Jeremiah Sand, the cult leader from the movie *Mandy*, dropped with a crazy backstory with no acknowledgment that the whole thing was, y’know, fiction.) Here’s the thing, though: The band’s sense of humour runs counter to the fact that *The Late Great Chuck Squires* is an album that evokes classic Americana of a certain vintage. Unlike CMAT’s wry but loving update of Nashville, Chuck Squires’ nostalgia for country music is straight down the line. The vocals are shorn of any detectable Irishness to instead mimic the cadences of the throwback Southern stars of transistor radio. Cowboy hats are the assigned uniform; the colour palette is autumnal. The song “Saturday Morning (Makes a Fool Out of Me)” literally contains the lyric, [“I hear the train a-comin’”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly0DTRNaCzU&ref=dublininquirer.com). Rejecting the more precise production habits of their previous work, the band keep things as simple as possible. Arrangements feel appropriately rickety, with everything covered in a thin layer of dust. But the easy-going nature of *The Late Great Chuck Squires* doesn’t obscure the high level of musicianship being displayed by a group in complete harmony with one another. Take the excellent opener “One Last Roll of the Dice”, written and sung by Fitzpatrick. The piano is jaunty, the slide guitars sing, and the melody is warm and welcoming. This is music for a bar that serves just two drinks: beer and whisky. Equally comforting is Tapley’s Neil Young-jacking “Walk on By”, while “Pissed it All Away” covers classic country subject matter: a down-on-his-luck bum stewing on regrets (“I want to know where the love is gone/ Or if it’s really real at all, good Lord”). Leaning into a more cinematic vision of the Wild West, “I’ll Wait On” is reminiscent of both the movie scores of Ennio Morricone and the band Shivaree’s dusty turn-of-the-millennium hit “Goodnight Moon” in its ability to conjure widescreen images of lonely cowboys and suns setting across frontiers. And in the chipped guitar chords of “Pink Buffalo”, I can detect The Beatles’ expansions into the same acoustic country sounds that Chuck Squires now take inspiration from. (As a matter of fact, Peter Jackson’s *The Beatles: Get Back* docuseries has been cited as an influence over the project.) Yet there are occasions when the band feel confident in warping their influences. Most ambitious is “That Nightlife!”, penned by Tapley, which begins as a relatively simple ditty before the guitars, piano, bass and drums gradually intensify, elevating the arrangement beyond the dusty trail and into the stratosphere. These contortions add fascinating extra ripples to *The Late Great Chuck Squires*, but the selling point here is the timeless fundamentals, lovingly handled with cowhide leather gloves. The Late Great Chuck Squires *is released on Thursday 28 May, with the band performing at The Workman’s Club the following night.* ### Things To Do: Hear some early music, solve a riddle, use fiction as a verb URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-hear-some-early-music-solve-a-riddle-use-fiction-as-a-verb/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T09:21:44.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **This Land Bears Our Name** Today, the community archive Éireann and I launches its new show, This Land Bears Our Name in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. Commissioned for the Bealtaine Festival, This Land Bears Our Name continues Éireann and I’s work of chronicling the stories of Black life in Ireland by exhibiting a photo series that comprises the personal archives of its participants with newly produced images made during a sound walking workshop, in order to explore older migrants’ relationships with the city. This Land Bears Our Name asks who are the most visible people in the city, and for whom were particular spaces designed? The exhibition opened at 11am today, and is free to view until 6pm daily until Saturday evening. For more information, visit the event page [here.](https://bealtaine.ie/bealtaine-event/eireann-and-i-present-this-land-bears-our-name/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Art Riddler 2026** This evening, Dublin’s anonymous patron of the arts, the Art Riddler, is back for his latest group exhibition. Opening at One Charlemont Square today at 6pm, this year’s exhibition (and the second since 2024’s “final riddle” at which no true identities were revealed) is set to feature work from artists including Sean O’Rourke, Emma Scully, David Hedderman, Nathan Lowry, Diane Magee, Sophie Gough, Laura Cronin, Helen Cody, Hollie Gilson and [Jordan Cassidy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fairview-an-artist-elevates-his-chosen-icons/) among many, many more. The exhibition will run until Sunday evening. But the opening night is usually the best time to go as the room waits to see which artist will win a cash prize of €10,000. **Fictioning and the Posthuman Imaginary** On Friday evening, Pallas Projects will be presenting a screening programme which brings together works by the artists David Burrows and Maggie Roberts. Curated by Katherine Waugh, Fictioning and the Posthuman Imaginary explores art practices that operate within the field of “fictioning”. “Fictioning” is a word used by Burrows and artist Simon O’Sullivan in the book *Fictioning: The Myth-Functions of Contemporary Art and Philosophy* to describe the way in which making, writing and thinking intersect to reframe questions of intelligence, subjectivity and non-human agency. No, I don’t think I fully understood that either. But, really, that should motivate us all to go along. Beginning at 6pm, the evening will open with a trio of film screenings, which represent the practices of speculative narrative, philosophy and moving image. Burrows’ film *Black Hole Ontology* is narrated from the perspective of a black hole that was produced by the Large Hadron Collider when it was opened in 2010\. Roberts’ work *Miasma* is a response to texts by Reza Negarestani and Mark Fisher. Finally, Orphan Drift’s film *If AI Were Cephalopod* reimagines AI through the model of octopus consciousness, and their second piece *Green Skeen* rather promisingly unfolds “as a ritualised fiction in which techno-animals summon and pursue a speculative entity through urban space”. The screenings will be followed by a discussion between the artists and the curator. Admission is free. Education is priceless. Tickets are [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/screening-fictioning-and-the-posthuman-imaginary-tickets-1989391402237?aff=oddtdtcreator&%5Fgl=1%2A11u46id%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2ANDY5MzE3MTU5LjE3Nzk5MDYzNzM.%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3Nzk5MDYzNzIkbzEkZzAkdDE3Nzk5MDYzNzIkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Jaipur Literature Festival** The Jaipur Literature Festival, once dubbed the “greatest literary show on earth” by former *New Yorker* and *Vanity Fair* editor Tina Brown, is arriving in town this week. Ongoing since 22 May, the festival has staged events in Belfast, Armagh and Dundalk so far, with the Dublin run set to bring together a line-up of writers and intellectuals including historian William Dalrymple, *The Heat Will Kill You First* author Jeff Goodell, politician Shashi Tharoor, and poet and journalist Tishani Doshi. The Dublin leg of the festival will begin on Friday evening at 6pm in Trinity College’s Examination Hall where historian Roy Foster will be speaking with Gopalkrishna Gandhi, scholar, former diplomat, and the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. In conversation with publisher and former editor-in-chief at Penguin Random House India Manasi Subramaniam, the two will be looking at the lives of [poet Rabindranath Tagore](https://www.dublininquirer.com/brushing-up-rabindranath-tagore-on-st-stephen-s-green/), one of his great admirers W.B. Yeats, and Mahatma Gandhi, and reflecting on how their work shaped the Irish and Indian cultural landscapes. Among the highlights on Saturday, acclaimed pianist Utsav Lal will be performing *Ragas to Reels*, a creative dialogue between Indian classical and Irish traditional music. Writer Jan Carson will be in conversation with poet and novelist Jeet Thayil, and Gopalkrishna Gandhi will be speaking with journalist Fintan O’Toole about India’s journey from independence to the present. Finally, on Sunday, Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride will be performing their 2025 book *For and Against A United Ireland* live in its entirety, and authors Ruchir Joshi and Sineád Gleeson will be discussing the alchemy of writing. For more information, and to view the full programme, visit the Jaipur Literature Festival 2026’s website [here.](https://jlflitfest.org/ireland/schedule?ref=dublininquirer.com) ***F(AI)ct or F(AI)ction*** If you’re down in Temple Bar at lunchtime tomorrow, Project Arts will be hosting a talk on artificial intelligence and literature. Part of this year’s Bealtaine Festival (because you can’t spell Bealtaine without AI), the panel titled *F(AI)ct or F(AI)ction* will explore the use of science fiction in literature, and how influential sci-fi or speculative fiction books have informed real life. The conversation is also set to look at the increasing ubiquity of AI in our daily lives, and what that means for writers and readers. Historian and author Conor Kostick will be chairing the panel which includes writers Jan Carson, Joanna Walsh and Derek O’Connor. *F(AI)ct or F(AI)ction* starts at 1pm tomorrow, Friday 29 May, in Project Arts Centre’s Cube. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/faict-or-faiction/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Two films from the Bodyverses series** Cinemagoers romanticise the midnight double feature. But, this Saturday, it’s time to one-up them with a midday double bill in the Irish Film Institute. The IFI in partnership with the Bealtaine Festival and experimental film platform Aemi will be presenting two films from the Kilkenny-based artist-filmmaker Juana Robles’s Bodyverses series. Bodyversesis Robles’s ongoing series of filmic works, which she has been creating since 2024, and which primarily uses 16mm and Super 8mm film. Featuring both established and emerging performance artists, the films reflect on the significance of performance art itself and explore themes of overcoming both collective and personal trauma. This weekend’s double bill will be followed by a discussion with director Robles, and performance artists Frances Mezzetti and Alastair MacLennan. Book your tickets [here](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-aemi-bealtaine-homerun-two-films-from-the-bodyverses-series/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Kaleidoscope Night** On Wednesday night, the genre-blending music series Kaleidoscope Night is returning to the Bello Bar below Portobello, with its June edition promising “high-octane hard bop jazz” and some early music. Appearing at this month’s gathering is the newly formed jazz quintet Emergent Ensemble, followed by Ceol Ársa Cláirsí (Music of the Harpers). Featuring Eamon Sweeney on the lute, Ceol Ársa Cláirsí is an ensemble that honours the legacy of 17th- and 18th-century Irish harpists like Turlough O’Carolan. Then, there is Gregory Walkers, an early music collective that “navigates the playful, rhythmic frictions between Renaissance melodies and contemporary percussion”, and also features Eamon Sweeney on the lute. Finally, the main event, billed as a major milestone for the Irish early music scene, will be the launch of multi-instrumentalist Eamon Sweeney’s album, *Plucked from History*, which breathes new life into forgotten melodies on the lute and early guitars. Doors open at 8pm, with the music starting at 8:30pm. Secure your tickets [here](https://buytickets.at/kscope2026/2230049?ref=dublininquirer.com). [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Summer-School-advert-animated.gif)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Come join us!** In seven sessions, members of our team will teach skills and knowledge that could be used in journalism, but also just by people who are involved in their communities and trying to make them better places. Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June, mostly at 10-13 Thomas Street, in the Digital Hub, in Dublin 8\. Tickets are €50 per session – pick as many or as many or as few as you like. [Learn more ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert with an image/gif or whatever, like the one above, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Cruinniú na Cleasaithe** Dublin's newest Irish-language theatre company, Na Cleasaithe, will be meeting at 7pm in Fringelab, Temple Bar on 3 June to workshop and develop new Irish-language plays. All levels are welcome. Please contact nacleasaithe@protonmail.com if you want to know more. Follow Na Cleasaithe on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/nacleasaithe/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Irishtown Sports and Fitness Centre public consultation** Dublin City Council is currently taking submissions and observations in relation to its proposed redevelopment of the [Irishtown Sports and Fitness Centre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-irishtown-plans-for-a-new-sports-centre-with-two-swimming-pools-are-taking-shape/). The deadline for written submissions is 4:30pm on 4 June, while those made online must be in for 11:59pm on 4 June. For more information, and to make an observation, visit the council’s consultation page [here](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/irishtown-sports-fitness-centre-irishtown-stadium-dublin-4-part-8-planning-consultation?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Land meets Sky* – Mellow Tonics summer concert** Join Mellow Tonics choir for a joyful celebration of colourful feathered friends and four-legged companions in St Bartholomew's Church on Saturday 6th June 2026, at 7.30pm. Allow the melodic sounds wash over you as we shower you with sugar lumps and soothe your broken wings … Tickets are available [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mellowtonics/2206625?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Priorswood Deis Plus school set to lose teacher and face larger class sizes for want of one student URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/priorswood-deis-plus-school-set-to-lose-teacher-and-face-larger-class-sizes-for-want-of-one-student/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T09:21:54.000Z On Wednesday morning, Aileen Plunkett walks the hallways of St Francis Junior School in Priorswood. Outside, from the yard, the sound of giddy children playing in the sun. Inside, students, teachers and special needs assistants potter past. Plunkett engages with each child. “Hello, pet,” she says to one youngster who, Plunkett says, is just learning to talk. “Hiya, dote,” she says to another, who is sat at a table in a makeshift play area in the corridor, getting some one-on-one maths help from an encouraging teacher. But sitting in her cosy office – the walls covered with dozens of bright cards, notes and memories – Plunkett says the school is facing a major challenge. It’s set to lose one of its 10 mainstream class teachers for the upcoming academic year, 2026-2027, Plunkett says. On 30 September each year, schools must submit the numbers of students they have enrolled for the following school year. Teacher allocations are based on these figures. On that date, St Francis JS had 165 kids enrolled – just one student shy of the 166 threshold they needed to retain all their current staff. “We are losing a teacher because we were one pupil short on that magical night of the 30th of September,” she says. This, despite the fact that St Francis JS was one of just 121 primary and post-primary schools in the country **–** 63 in Dublin **–** to be designated Deis Plus this year. This new scheme is [meant](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/press-releases/minister-naughton-announces-48-million-investment-in-new-deis-strategy-and-deis-plus-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to provide enhanced supports to “schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage”. One of the key measures included in the scheme, for those selected, is “more teachers, more support staff”, the government press release says. Plunkett has already appealed the decision – with no luck. Now, local residents and TDs are calling on the Department of Education to intervene. Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan said the situation is a “very harsh way for departments to be dealing with it”. Sinn Féin TD Denise Mitchell said the decision “simply flies in the face of Deis Plus’s aims of improving educational outcomes for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds”. In response to a query asking if anything can be done to ensure St Francis Junior School does not lose a vital teacher, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said, essentially, no. The system for determining the level of staffing is "clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally", the spokesperson said. And "The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Minister and the department and its decision is final." ## One hand gives, another takes Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton, a Fine Gael TD, said in a March [statement](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/press-releases/minister-naughton-announces-48-million-investment-in-new-deis-strategy-and-deis-plus-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) announcing the Deis Plus scheme that it is meant, among other things, to provide more teachers to these schools with kids that need more help. But St Francis JS is looking at losing a teacher, and pushing up its student-teacher ratio from 17:1, which is the Department of Education’s own recommended amount for Deis Plus, to 22:1, says Plunkett, the principal. That may not seem like a big deal to some other schools, she says, but for a Deis Plus school, it can have a dramatic impact. The Department of Education’s hands are somewhat tied, though, says Plunkett. In 2002, the department[ established](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163255-1902/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) the independent Staffing Appeals Board, to “adjudicate on appeals from Boards of Management on mainstream staffing teacher allocation of primary schools”. Plunkett has already appealed to the board, she says – but her plea was rejected. Simply, she says, her appeal was based on the fact that they had only missed the threshold by one student, and asked that accommodations be made given the schools Deis Plus status. She explained in an accompanying letter that their school will always get enrolments up to the beginning of the school term in September, she says. “Their email says that they are separate from the Department of Education and Youth, and that their decision is final,” she says. ## Impacts Now, the students will suffer, she says – not to mention the extra stress on staff. The school lost a teacher last year, also, she says, and had to amalgamate three junior infants classes into two senior infants classes. The impact this has on the progression of the children is undeniable, she says. To lose another teacher for next year means again amalgamating three junior infants classes into two senior infants classes, and three first classes into two second classes, she says. “It's going to be at least 22:1 or more in those two classes, along with children in those classes who have complex needs,” she says. “We don't have enough SNAs either.” “So now we're going to have much bigger class sizes, and yet we have to deal with all of the complex needs,” she says. It can take almost all of the year of junior infants for staff, for teachers to figure out who might have a learning disability, she says. “Who maybe needs to go down the road of an assessment, who may be on the autistic spectrum,” she says. “Because many of the children who come to us haven't been to early years, haven't been part of the ECCE \[Early Childhood Care and Education\] schemes, haven't been involved in anything like that at all,” she says. The whole idea of Deis Plus is that it's meant to be inclusive and empower children, she says, to help to bridge the gap between those that are from middle-class areas and those that aren't. “So how can we bridge the gap if now we're going to have much bigger classes?” she says Some of her staff have told her, she says, that this blow almost negates the good of receiving Deis Plus status. “It’s disgusting,” says Carol McCarthy, an SNA with the school for over 20 years. “What’s worse, is this is a disadvantaged area, this is where the problems are in schools,” she says. To take a teacher away, over such a small margin, can be so damaging, she says. “Bigger numbers, bigger problems.” ## Community St Francis Junior School is at the heart of the Dublin 17 community, and the education and support it offers to pupils and families are a source of pride, says Mitchell, the Sinn Féin TD. The reason this school is part of the Deis Plus scheme is because some pupils come from quite disadvantaged backgrounds, she says. It is also a school with a significant proportion of students from a Traveller background, she says – around 40 percent, says Plunkett, the principal. Whether it loses a teacher next year or not, though, she says, the school and community will make it work somehow. Sitting behind her desk, she recalls a challenge a few years ago that arose seemingly from nowhere. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the first wave of Ukrainian refugees arrived in Ireland, a staff member knocked on her office door to tell her there was a crowd outside. There were around 40 Ukrainians there, asking if she would take their children on and educate them. She had no Ukrainian or Russian, and they had very little English, she says. But one of them spoke Spanish, they figured out. Plunkett arranged for them to come back the next day and asked her son, fluent in Spanish, to translate. The school agreed to accept the children, and offer the parents whatever support they could. “It was just amazing, what went on in this school, like it was just mad,” she says. “We had about 45 Ukrainian children here,” she says, “and it took the government a long time then to get the supports in place.” The kindness that the local community showed those families was incredible, she says. Now, potentially with a fresh challenge on their hands, says Plunkett, they’ll get through it together. ## What now? The decision by the Staffing Appeals Board must be revisited and reversed, says Mitchell, the Sinn Féin TD. “I wrote to Education Minister Naughton last week outlining my serious concerns that the impact of removing a mainstream teacher would have on pupils, and asking her to personally re-examine this decision,” she says. Minister Naughton assured Mitchell that she is looking into the matter, she says. “I hope she takes onboard the concerns of teachers, students, local elected representatives and the broader community and stops this counterproductive cut from going ahead,” she says. Despite pledging to reduce primary school class sizes in the Programme for Government, says Mitchell, there has so far been no reduction. “And, as this decision shows, in some schools the trend is going in the opposite direction, which is unacceptable,” she says. O’Callaghan has been looking for answers too, he says. In response to a parliamentary question he submitted, though, the minister's response was that, "The appeal submitted by the school was unsuccessful. The Appeals Board operates independent from the Department and its decision is final." Beyond this one school, though, O’Callaghan also suggests the system might need to change. Especially in the case of Deis and Deis Plus schools, the Department of Education needs to find ways to allow more flexibility, he says. “Maybe making changes over, you know, long-term trends, rather than dropping a student, and in one year resulting in a teacher being gone,” he says. Plunkett says the school can appeal one more time to theStaffing Appeals Board in June, but she isn’t confident that the response there will be much different, she says. A [petition](https://c.org/YjmFZCsyx8?ref=dublininquirer.com) was launched four days ago, on behalf of the school, on Change.org. By 26 May, it had almost 700 signatures. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *UPDATE: This article was updated at 15.29 on 28 May 2026 to include a response from the Department of Education to our queries, and also to Cian O'Callaghan TD's parliamentary query.* ### Under council’s "5% policy", developers are delivering arts spaces – but who will pay for the fit-outs? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-councils-5-policy-developers-are-delivering-arts-spaces-but-who-will-pay-for-the-fit-outs/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T22:36:26.000Z As the sun beamed down on Upper Sheriff Street on Sunday afternoon, the smoky smell of somebody’s barbeque wafted through the area. Much of the northern side of the street was a fenced-off construction site, for a series of apartment complexes, which according to a brown metal sign, fitted with a screen, made up Carriage Works, a new build-to-rent residential development. The screen within the sign flashed up a QR code, inviting passers-by to book a viewing for one of its apartments. In the middle of the towering scheme stood a four-storey block, which the large white letters on its flat roof said is known as the Juno Building. Unlike many of the surrounding apartments, the interior wasn’t fitted out. Its front facade was still partially obscured by scaffolding and hoarding. The ground-floor interior, while not bare, was filled only with construction materials, more unassembled metal scaffolding, bins, cardboard boxes, and a lime green scissor lift. The Juno Building, according to the [minutes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28164145-draft-minutes-of-the-artists-workspaces-committee-dated-23rd-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of Dublin City Council’s Artist Workspace Committee meeting from 23 March, is a four-storey cultural centre that is being developed in tandem with the 700 apartments that make up the Carriage Works scheme. It is, the meeting minutes say, a key example of the council’s current “5 percent policy", introduced by the council as part of its 2022 to 2028 city development plan, and which is intended to help remedy the deficit of cultural spaces in Dublin. The policy applies to developments larger than 10,000 sqm, andthe Juno Building is one of the first projects that can properly demonstrate how they can work with this requirement, said Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll. “It was from the design stage that this was being looked at.” Unlike [Marshall Yards](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-resurrects-its-right-to-demand-cultural-spaces-in-big-developments/), a neighbouring housing development, which includes plans for an exhibition space within the ground floor of one of its buildings, the Juno Building was specifically built for cultural purposes, O’Driscoll says. “It wasn’t built and then retrofitted to suit a cultural space.” But, one of the dilemmas that the council is encountering is the question of who will actually pay to fit-out these spaces. Even in cases where artists believe they can make a space functional, finding the money tocarry out works like doing up the floors, ceilings and lights could create an impediment, says O’Driscoll. “Even if they could agree to a rent that isn’t the commercial rent, they are looking at the fit-out being absolutely extortionate.” The expectation may be that the council or the Arts Council would step in and pay for the fit-out, she says. “But, it’s never been in the conversations of how we fund organisations up until now.” “So we’re seeing that as a barrier,” she says. ## Heap of interest In 2021, An Bord Pleanála gave developer Glenveagh Living Limited its [approval](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/308827?ref=dublininquirer.com) to build 702 apartments on the site of the former Castleforbes Business Park. Among the nine buildings that would make up the development, the application included retail and restaurant space, crèche and a cultural and community building, according to the ABP inspector’s [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28164177-r308827/?q=cultural&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p5). Later, in August 2021, real estate, development and asset manager Eagle Street Partners announced on [their website](https://eaglestreet.com/2021/08/26/eagle-street-partners-signs-e78-5m-contract-for-castleforbes-site/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that they had signed a €78.5 million contract to buy the site. Practical works were completed in the third quarter of 2025, Eagle Street’s [website ](https://eaglestreet.com/projects/?ref=dublininquirer.com)says. When the council’s Artist Workspace Committee convened on 26 March of this year, the cultural building, now referred to as the Juno Building, came up in their discussions, the minutes from that meeting show. It was, the minutes say, cited as a key example of the 5 percent policy being put into practice. Right now, “a whole heap” of potential tenants from Arts Council-funded organisations are expressing an interest to operate on different floors, Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said on Monday. “I think that’s the model that they’ve decided to operate rather than have a single tenant,” he said. ## Financial barriers Among the issues that the workspace committee is attempting to grapple with are establishing appropriate levels of rent, and whether the leases should reflect community and cultural use, rather than commercial rates, the March minutes say. During the committee’s previous meeting, in November 2025, [the minutes show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28164147-draft-minutes-of-artists-workspaces-committee-dated-3rd-november-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that its members were worried that the cost of fitting out the spaces provided under the 5 percent policy could be a barrier to activating the spaces. Marshall Yards, in East Wall, which is also owned by Eagle Street, and had been viewed by up to 40 arts organisations, is estimated to cost €2.5 million for its floors, ceilings and lighting, [those minutes show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28164147-draft-minutes-of-artists-workspaces-committee-dated-3rd-november-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Developers build the shell, but the spaces themselves are blank, says O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor. “They don’t put in, maybe, water fixtures, a bathroom, outlets.” Fitting out Juno could “amount to several million euro”, the minutes from the March committee meeting say. A spokesperson for Eagle Street did not comment when asked on Monday about who would cover the fit-out costs in Juno and Marshall Yards, nor did they respond when asked if they had a timeline for when the spaces would be occupied. But, according to the minutes from the March workspace committee meeting, the developer is keen to see Juno occupied within the year, “creating a level of urgency around resolving these issues”. It is possible that developers may look for the council to get involved by contributing towards these fit-outs, City Arts Officer Ray Yeates said on Monday. “But, with so many of these proposals being made now, they all have to be considered strategically and with the elected members as to how we go about it,” he said. ### A woman sees herself through a lengthy stay in immigration limbo with help from open mics, group therapy URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-woman-sees-herself-through-a-lengthy-stay-in-immigration-limbo-with-help-from-open-mics-group-therapy/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T22:38:27.000Z On a recent Tuesday evening, the dingy basement of Pawn Shop, the bar on Dame Street, was crowded and bustling. Nervous comics were huddling in the back, studying their material. It was a comedy open mic – but there was no microphone in sight. Participants had to fill the room with their own voices. At one point, the roar of a vacuum cleaner out the door swallowed some half-baked jokes. Jaishree Malik sat at a table chatting and laughing heartily. She was wearing a pink jumper. Black curly hair framed her smile. When the emcee called her up on stage to do a five-minute set, she flew into a routine all about an eight-month-long limbo looming over life. That’s how long she’s been waiting for a decision on her request for a few more months on an expired graduate immigration stamp 1G, so she can apply for a work permit and steady her status. “Most men process their feelings faster,” Malik said, on stage, of her eight-month-long wait. The joke met with peals of laughter. “I have a joke about how if pregnancy is nine months, I could have almost had a child by now,” she’d said that morning, sitting at a city centre café, nibbling on a pastry. Malik is not a comedian. She used to work at Trinity College Dublin’s law school as an event organiser before all this. “So, conferences, seminars, workshops, that sort of thing,” she said. Immigration solicitor Imran Khurshid has [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/seeking-a-few-more-months-to-steady-their-immigration-status-some-university-graduates-fall-undocumented-and-lose-jobs/) that until mid-2025, requests for more time on a 1G stamp for some non-EU graduates of Irish universities – who have paid thousands of euros to study here – were processed faster than they are now,and were viewed with understanding by the Department of Justice. But in the past year, he’s noticed a pivot, he said. People wait [much longer](https://www.dublininquirer.com/seeking-a-few-more-months-to-steady-their-immigration-status-some-university-graduates-fall-undocumented-and-lose-jobs/), dip into their savings, grapple with poverty, and are often rejected, he said. For Malik, the eight months of limbo, the sense of being here – grocery shopping, paying rent, meeting up with friends – but also shut out, that her life is reduced to a possibility, highlights the absurdity of immigrant life, she said. As her days of idleness have stretched into months, she has tried to rise above the uncertainty by talking about it in group therapy. And at night, she sometimes jokes about the ordeal in comedy clubs. “It *is* funny. I mean, it’s very very Beckett, it’s very *Waiting for Godot*,” said Malik. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said its Immigration Service Delivery unit aims to process applications as fast as possible, but a myriad of factors – like the number of cases at hand, their complexities, the need for more information – can stymie its efforts, they said. It understands how frustrating the wait can be, the spokesperson said. ## So close and yet so far Right now, said the spokesperson for the Department of Justice, it’s reviewing “extension of student conditions” cases submitted in October. That’s when Malik filed hers. There are about 2,700 applications on hand, they said. Not every student from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) is eligible for a graduate immigration stamp after their studies wrap up. It’s introduced for people who have graduated from often expensive, high-quality bachelor's, master’s and PhD courses. Those who have finished an undergraduate course at Level 8 have one year to look for a job and a work permit sponsor. Master’s and PhD graduates have two. Malik has already found a sponsor, who can apply when she has a valid short-term Irish Residence Permit (IRP), she said. She can also accept the job offer and start working on the extension as she waits for her work permit to come through. But the Department of Employment normally rejects work permit requests from people who apply without an active IRP. The Department of Justice had also [previously said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/seeking-a-few-more-months-to-steady-their-immigration-status-some-university-graduates-fall-undocumented-and-lose-jobs/) that those waiting on a decision on an extension request can’t keep working for up to 12 weeks after their IRP runs out. That policy only applies to people who are renewing an expired permit, they had said. Malik said she’d been working part-time while a student – and full-time after – in TCD, paying taxes and contributing the whole time. Before taking up the job at its law school, “I was working with the global office. I was the student support officer. I was working directly with students as they were figuring out international exchange and study abroad,” said Malik. ## Tough luck The Department of Justice’s statement seems to suggest Malik has been wasting her time navigating the limbo, for the past eight months. Needing more time to apply for a work permit, they said, is no reason to stretch out an expired graduate stamp. That pathway “is intended for unforeseen or unusual circumstances”, the spokesperson said. Back in February, Khurshid, the immigration solicitor, said that doesn’t exactly line up with his experience of applying for clients in the past. He said the Department used to grant a few more months to his clients without any exceptional reason, unless they’d run-ins with the law here. Ivana Bacik, Labour Party TD and its leader, to whom Malik had turned to for help, said people reach out to her office a lot about processing delays of immigration applications generally, these days. As for extension applications, “it is particularly difficult for young graduates, who in many cases are waiting to take up job offers,” she said. It’s really unfair for people who play by the rules, “and submit their applications in good time, only to be left in limbo due to institutional delays,” said Bacik. Malik had applied for an extension about two months before her IRP expired, she said. Bacik has heard from people who lost job opportunities, she said, missed a family funeral, and “experienced great distress” and became “technically undocumented”. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has hardened its immigration rules in a bid to slow population growth, [said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26789158-new-migration-curbs-aim-to-cut-irelands-population-growth-rate-says-jim-ocallaghan-the-irish-times/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, last year. Bacik said she and her party, "unequivocally" condemn “the Government's rightward shift in tone and policy”. It’s showing less and less flexibility to immigrants who follow its rules “yet the Department is showing itself immense latitude for its own administrative failing and mishaps”, she said. Shashank Chakerwarti, a peace commissioner in Dublin, who’s been campaigning on behalf of graduates like Malik for the past several months, also said he’s worried about just how devastating the impact of a prolonged wait on graduates like Malik can be. It can be a dangerous undertow, pulling people into poverty and “informal employment and exploitation”, he said. ## I try to laugh about it At the recent open mic night on Dame Street, Malik joked about her experience of helping students – in her old job – who weren’t from the fringes of the world and moved with such abandon. Like they didn’t sense the pressure of needing any reason to leave their place of birth, except that a feeling overcame them, she said. When she told an American guy he probably needs a visa to move here and study, “He goes, ‘Huh, Mastercard should work’”, she joked on stage. The audience laughed. One liberating facet of telling jokes at open mics, she said that morning, is not having to invent herself for a job that qualifies for a work permit. And in a parallel universe, she could be a comedian, a writer, a filmmaker here, Malik said, like an EU citizen could if that’s what they wanted. Besides dabbling in comedy, these days, she’s been throwing community events for job seekers so people can come together and help one another apply for work. “Because job-hunting can be so isolating otherwise,” said Malik. But it feels weird not being able to work, she said. And of course, the government misses out on the taxes she could’ve paid, said Malik, who’s paying off a student loan that she’d taken in India on top of paying rent here. At one point, she said, if the government isn’t keen to grant extension requests from people like her, it should probably just remove it as an option. “Make it a policy, declare it,” she said. “What \[the Minister for Justice\] is doing now he’s setting precedent that these applications are going to take six to eight months if not longer, and it’s going to dissuade people from applying even if they meet conditions,” said Malik. That feels underhanded, she said. Meanwhile, Malik, whose set received one of the warmest applauds at the open mic night, has been finding success on stage. A few nights after the event, she texted to say, “One of the guys at the gig on Tuesday thought I was very funny and asked if I like to perform at his club tonight”. “I believe they have real mics,” she wrote. ### What ever became of the planned mill museum in Islandbridge? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-ever-became-of-the-planned-mill-museum-in-islandbridge/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T22:33:57.000Z On Tuesday morning, the sunshine reflected off the big windows of Block C in the Bellevue complex of more than 200 apartments, in Islandbridge. To the north of the complex, the Liffey rushes by on its way through town and onwards to the sea. To the south, behind the four-storey Block C, the waters of an old millrace are shallow, dark and placid, shaded by trees. The bit between these two waterways, Mill Island, has been “associated with milling since at least the 12th century”, according to [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163270-archaeology-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the council’s archaeology section. “The medieval mills and fishing rights were owned by the Knight Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, whose priory was located nearby at Cill Maigneann,” the report says. So when Zoe Developments got [planning permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/18029?ref=dublininquirer.com) in 1997 to build a 90+ apartment phase of the Bellevue complex here, in six two- to five-storey buildings, the plans included touches meant to provide reminders of the area’s milling history. “Two of the buildings are reconstructed existing mill buildings,” the planning application said. The buildings of the new complex “surround 2 restored mill bonds and existing mill races and sluices are to be restored”. And there was supposed to be a mill museum at the bottom of Block C, according to a council planner’s [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163285-dcc-planning-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from last year. “Arrangements for the display of material, access by the public and management of the exhibition space shall be submitted to and agreed with the Planning Authority prior to the completion of Building C,” says [a condition](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/18029?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the 1997 planning permission. That museum, however, has never been completed. The space where it was supposed to be is still just an empty box, whose centrepiece is a “mill pit”, meant to hold a mill wheel. And then last year, its current [owner](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163259-planning-app-form-with-ownership/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Logical Development and Consulting Ltd, [applied for planning permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/172213?ref=dublininquirer.com) to put four apartments into the space, leaving just a small rump of a museum/community room. In December, Dublin City Council [refused](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/172213?ref=dublininquirer.com) this application, finding it went against the original planning application, and various elements of the city development plan. On 12 May, An Coimisiún Pleanála [refused](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/500632?ref=dublininquirer.com) Logical’s appeal of this decision. Walking by the empty space on Tuesday, Bellevue resident Nazar Golianych said that more homes would be good, of course, given the shortage of them. But there’s not a lot to do around the area, so a museum would be good too, he said. “And if you commit to do it, and get planning permission, and you don’t do it – that’s not right,” he said. Of course, the problem of developers building empty boxes and not filling them with promised amenities is by no means limited to Bellevue. Across Dublin, there are empty – [creche](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developers-must-build-promised-creche-spaces-and-find-operators-to-run-them-fingal-motion-says/), [arts](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-cultural-space-off-francis-street-meant-to-compensate-for-the-loss-of-the-tivoli-theatre-is-still-mostly-used-as-storage/), and [market](https://www.dublininquirer.com/landlord-appeals-council-refusal-to-scrap-newmarket-market-space/) – spaces. ## Rejection The [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163286-developers-planning-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) submitted to the council last year on Logical’s behalf, in its bid to get permission to put four apartments into the mill space, does not say why the original developer did not open the mill museum. It does include [drawings](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163432-drawings/?ref=dublininquirer.com) showing the proposed redesign of the museum space: two 37sqm studio apartments and a 24.6sqm museum/community room on the ground floor, plus a 48sqm one-bed and a 50sqm one-bed on the first floor level. The planning application included a [letter of support](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163256-submission-omc-chair-john-mannion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from John Mannion, who is identified in the letter as the chair of the Bellevue owners’ management company. “The proposed development represents a significant improvement to a currently underutilised and deteriorating structure, which has remained vacant and in poor condition for an extended period,” Mannion writes. Putting apartments into the space “will not only enhance the overall character and safety of the development but also contribute positively to local housing supply”, he writes. There are also two letters from Bellevue residents. The space has “remained unfinished and is effectively an empty shell for over 20 years”, writes Bellevue resident Bryan Patten. When a liquidator transferred the common areas of the complex to the owners’ management company in 2019, it “removed the Museum from the common area and took ownership of the building”, and later sold the building, Patten writes. The “current applicant holds no responsibility for the failure by others to meet the planning requirements”, he writes. “But they did purchase the site with those conditions in place, and they do have an obligation to put forward a plan that is appropriate in that context.” Patten writes that he has “no objections to additional apartments being provided for in the space”, but that the proposal for the “does not create viable space for real use”. Maybe, he suggests, a bit more museum, and a bit less housing in the space? “The dedication of the entire ground floor of the development as an exhibition or community space would seem appropriate in scale,” he writes. From the drawings, that would mean a museum/community space of nearly 100 sqm, rather than the proposed 24.6sqm. And there should be a “clear plan of use and a way of sustaining its use”, Patten writes. “Another empty void for another 20 years is not progress.” Another [letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163258-submission-keogh-canning-and-dixon/?ref=dublininquirer.com), from Jane and Dominic Keogh, and Bernadette Canning and Richard Dixon, all with addresses at Bellevue, argues that the planning application included mistakes, and it should be rejected. ## Appeal After the council turned down Logical’s planning application last year, the company appealed that decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála. The “existing cultural space has been redesigned into a reduced floorspace unit in order to promote its use as a cultural/community room due to the vacant nature of the existing unit”, the [appeal says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163535-first-party-appeal/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The plan is to put a glass window in the floor to the mill race beneath the building, and put up a “specially designed display informing the public about the mill race”, it says. “The proposed development represents the more efficient and sustainable use of the existing vacant and underutilised building that provides an appropriate response to the use of the site, whilst also providing for a high standard of residential accommodation for future residents,” it says. But An Coimisiún Pleanála’s inspector disagreed with Logical’s approach. The museum was required “in return for allowing the proposed apartment development”, and neither Logical’s application nor its appeal “adequately explained why the parent permission conditions cannot be implemented”, the [inspector writes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163287-acp-inspector-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Yes, the space is under-utilised, but that’s because it’s an empty box with no museum in it – or, as the inspector puts it, “because of the failure to adhere to the relevant conditions of the parent permission”. Logical’s proposed redesign of the space – with four apartments plus a small museum/community room – wouldn’t meet the planning requirements, he writes. “The retention of the entire ground floor would be required to facilitate heritage protection of the mill pit and provide a useable museum/community facility,” he writes. Also, “the double height space” – the ceiling in the museum space is [more than 6 metres high](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163287-acp-inspector-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – “was originally provided to accommodate the remnants of mill wheel”, the inspector writes. “The retention of the entire unit would … be required to accommodate the original intended heritage displays for the unit,” he writes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/20260526_090621.jpg) The view through the front windows of the mill museum space, with the mill pit in the floor. Photo by Sam Tranum. Allowing the conversion of most of the museum space into apartments would set a precedent that would be “deleterious to archaeological preservation in the future as it could encourage the non-provision of spaces for such preservation”, he writes. But even if the redesign was going to be allowed, the proposed apartments would have bedrooms that are too narrow, would lack storage space, and one would likely lack sufficient daylight, he writes. “Overall, in my opinion, the proposed apartment units would be deficient relative to the Apartment Standards,” he writes. In the end, An Coimisiún Pleanála, followed the inspector’s recommendation and turned down Logical’s appeal. The plan to shrink down the museum would break the planning condition, go against several provisions of the city development plan, and set an “undesirable precedent” the [commission decided](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163580-acp-order-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ### How much would it cost the council to revive the Rupert Guinness Theatre in the Liberties? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-much-would-it-cost-the-council-to-revive-the-rupert-guinness-theatre-in-the-liberties/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T14:15:28.000Z Partly, it’s nostalgia that makes Rob Murphy want to see the Rupert Guinness Theatre re-open. But mostly, the city is in need of a venue like it, the associate artist in Tallaght’s Civic Theatre said on Tuesday morning. “Not only in Dublin 8, but Dublin in general. We’ve had so many theatres close and not re-open.” He lists a few off over the phone. The SFX Hall on Upper Sherrard Street. Andrew’s Lane Theatre near Dame Street. The Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street. Opened in 1951**,** and capable of seating 600 people, according to the [National Built Heritage Service](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080028/rupert-guinness-theatre-guinness-brewery-watling-street-dublin-8-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com), the Rupert Guinness Theatre on Watling Street was last used as a venue for theatrical productions in the early 2000s. In 2015, owners Diageo [loaned it](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-liberties-business-forum-locals-lack-a-voice/) to the National College of Art and Design as a lecture hall. But, they [stopped using it](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-a-push-to-breathe-life-back-into-the-empty-rupert-guinness-theatre/) just prior to the pandemic. It is hugely frustrating that this mid-sized venue has been sitting largely unused for years, Labour Party Councillor Darragh Moriarty said at Dublin City Council’s arts and culture committee meeting on Monday. “It hasn’t been public-facing in any meaningful way in about two decades,” he said. Moriarty tabled a motion at the committee meeting, asking for the council to engage with and seek a contribution from Diageo to help fund a feasibility study to rejuvenate the theatre. Everyone needs to approach any potential rejuvenation as realistically as possible by figuring out how this project could be funded, Moriarty says. “We need to get the costings for all of this, and that’s missing.” Diageo has shown that they want to invest in the community, he says. “I think a show of good faith from them would be that they would contribute towards that feasibility study.” A spokesperson for Diageo said they want to see the theatre restored as a cultural and community venue: “Engagement with relevant stakeholders continues as we work towards this goal.” ## In some state for the state Murphy, the artist, recalls performing in many of the Liberties’ now closed venues. He acted in the Tivoli’s annual Christmas pantomime for more than a decade, he says. “I was the Tivoli panto dame, so I still get a bit emotional when I drive down Francis Street and just see the Staycity apartment block.” And as a child, he performed in the Rupert Guinness too, he says. It was a competition known as Mini Tops, a kids’ version of the John Player Tops of the Town talent show, he says. “We entered a number of years from a school in Inchicore that I was in.” Community groups flocked to it for their productions too, he says. “It was a gorgeous theatre. It was really comfortable as well.” These days, the theatre is not in such good condition. In May 2025, the council’s City Arts Office met with Diageo to view the theatre, City Arts Officer Ray Yeates [reported](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28163544-q-a-may-2025/?q=rupert&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11) to the South Central Area Committee that month. The theatre was in disrepair and would need careful restoration and modernisation with funding and management, Yeates said at the time. “Diageo said they wished to consider the matter further and this was the last contact.” There are a couple of big issues with the venue right now, Yeates said on Monday evening. “First of all, the size of the stage is quite small for the modern theatre.” The whole stage would need to be rebuilt if it were to be a 500-seater venue that could accommodate an event as part of something like the Dublin Theatre Festival, he said. “And it’s a protected structure.” On 14 April, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, Fianna Fáil TD, said during a Dáil Éireann debate on architectural heritage, that the City Arts Office and Arts Council were engaging Diageo. Responding to a query on the status of any planned conservation works for the theatre – put forward by Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman TD – Browne said he wasn’t aware of any. But, Diageo had indicated that they were open to transferring its ownership to the state, Browne said. Dublin City Council’s “position in this regard is that a full study of the building, including a feasibility study on its future, would be required as a first step in any such process”, he said. ## Feasibility Moriarty’s motion, seeking funds for this feasibility study, was intended to get the ball properly rolling to figure how much its rejuvenation would cost, the Labour councillor said at Monday’s meeting. “Are there other uses we could find for that space? Is it just a theatre? Is there more scope to what we can deliver on a creative campus on the Rupert Guinness site?” he said. People Before Profit Councillor Hazel De Nortúin said Diageo don’t want the building, and they are looking to give it back to the community but the issue is how much this will cost. “It’s going to need governmental intervention.” Moriarty said it shouldn’t only be public money spent on restoration. “This is Diageo’s building, this is Diageo’s problem that it has gotten to the state it has, and Diageo seems keen to put the price of a pint up every other week.” The committee shouldn’t be running to the council or any department to fund this rejuvenation, he said. “I don’t think Diageo should be able to gift it to the city, and walk away from their responsibility.” **###Aspirations and Goodwill** Yeates, the City Arts Officer, said Monday that right now there is an aspirationamong the committee members to rejuvenate the theatre. “The next phase is policy. It’s not implementation.” He pointed to a July 2023 [feasibility study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23886247-2-a-report-on-500-seat-venue-final-draft-for-issue/?ref=dublininquirer.com), undertaken on the council’s behalf by planning consultants Turley, and Arrow, a Danish architecture firm, with film producer Arthur Lappin, which assessed the demand for a new mid-sized – 500 seater venue – in the city. The study [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-further-into-idea-of-a-new-500-seater-venue-in-the-city/) there was no theatre in the city that was regularly available for production companies and festivals that could seat between 180 and 1,100 people. This conceptual feasibility study looked at policy development, but there isn’t yet a policy that says why the council believes there should be a 500-seater venue in the city, Yeates said. “And there isn’t one nationally either. There’s just an aspiration and a feasibility study to develop a policy,” he said. It could take up to 10 years just to bring the theatre back into use, he said. “People simply don’t face up to this. They think that, ‘Oh it’s going to be open next week.’” If people are serious about this, then it needs to be approached in a serious way, Yeates said. “We don’t even know if we’re serious until we study, say, the size of the stage, like is it suitable? We’re not sure. Will it actually be usable? We’re not sure.” “So until the feasibility is done to add to the feasibility that is in policy development, we’re kind of just having a chat about an aspiration,” he said. That’s what the motion tries to do, Moriarty said. “Because, I’m conscious of ministerial visits and walkabouts, and nothing actually happening after them.” There is a lot of goodwill in the council chamber and on the Diageo side, he said. “They are embedded and rooted in the Dublin 8 community.” Eileen Quinlivan, the council’s assistant chief executive for culture said, in a written response to Moriarty that if the motion is agreed, the council would engage with Diageo as requested. Moriarty’s motion was agreed by the committee. Rob Murphy, the associate artist in the Civic Theatre, says he hopes, as everyone weighs up the future of the building, that they realise it has a lot of potential to contribute to cultural groups beyond simply being a stage for performances. It’s a large venue, he says. “I know a lot of people who write stuff, and can’t find a place to develop the work. There could be scope here for studio space to have that development work, as well as performance work. That would be ideal.” ### Concerns about continuity of care as Tusla changes 3,000 children’s social workers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/concerns-about-continuity-of-care-as-tusla-changes-3-000-childrens-social-workers/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T22:39:26.000Z In the first two months of this year, Tusla changed the social workers for 12 percent of its cases, according to a Tusla spokesperson. The move, done as part of a major restructuring, means that 3,049 children lost the social worker who they had built a relationship with. Some of those children are in the care of the state. Others are living with their own families. Even before this sweep of change, many children will have had multiple social workers, given high staff turnover in the organisation, says Aisling Bruen, who has experience of care and is also a social care professional. But vulnerable children rely on those relationships. “If you read any research with care-experienced voices, every piece of research talks about the importance of continuity of care,” she says. “This is literally your ABC of social care,” says Bruen. “We learn this in the first year of college.” A Tusla spokesperson says that the agency needed to make the changes to improve access to services and to share out caseloads fairly. They also needed to make sure young people in long-term care in an area got a social worker from the local area, they said, “enabling access to local services and to provide more integrated support to them”. Caroline Strong, CEO of the Irish Association of Social Workers, says children in care often move, so the approach could mean more changes in social workers in the future. “A lot of placements break down,” she says. “That's the care experience, unfortunately – every time a placement breaks down it disrupts attachment and causes trauma.” On top of that, in some cases, children have lost out on therapy after they moved to a new area, because Tusla doesn’t fund those supports in all areas, she says. The Social Democrats TD and spokesperson on children, Aidan Farrelly, says social workers have contacted him concerned about how the changeover was handled. Some were struggling to track down the new social worker, he said. “The volume of social workers in Tulsa who have gotten in touch and expressed their concern about recently undertaken reforms is a cause for urgent concern,” he says. ## **The restructuring** Until January this year, Tusla divided the country up into 17 geographical areas. Now, it has shifted to 30 smaller areas, which it calls “networks”. “The new networks are designed more evenly, taking into account population and local disadvantage, so children and families have fairer access to our services,” said a Tusla spokesperson. Tusla used deprivation index data to carve up the new areas, says a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139743-performance-activity-report-february-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued in February. “Local teams are now more integrated and efficient, bringing together early support, child safety and children in care professionals, so children and families get the right help based on their needs,” said the spokesperson. But Strong, of the Irish Association of Social Workers, says that hasn’t always happened in reality. For some children, “the new area did not support therapeutic services the child was midway through and the support was ceased with no preparation or warning”, says a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139962-briefing-document-minister-foley-apr26-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the association prepared for Minister for Children Norma Foley, a Fianna Fáil TD. Strong says that back in January when the changes were introduced – at the same time as a new computer system – Tusla social workers were under pressure. “There was kind of a push that all of this had to be done by a certain date.” In some areas, local managers pushed back on the timelines, she said. Some social workers she has talked to in Dublin are still concerned, she said, "but it's not as rushed as they feared”. The Tusla spokesperson says “a transition plan was implemented to ensure a safe transfer of allocation, as is normal practice when there is a change in social worker”. But Farrelly, the Social Democrats TD, says social workers have told him there was no proper handover process. Some couldn’t even work out who the new social worker was for some children, he said. Tusla still needs to answer questions on the restructuring, he said. “Can they guarantee that all of those children now have a new social worker?” Said the Tusla spokesperson: “We are confident that the implementation of these reforms will ensure more timely and equitable access to services and promote better outcomes for young people and families availing of our services.” Strong says some social workers now have heavier caseloads. She is worried about potential burnout, she says. “We are concerned about the number of social workers either leaving or planning to leave Tusla thus exacerbating the crisis.” Even before the restructuring, there was a lot of turnover, says Bruen, and burnout in child protection teams was already high. “It’s an exceptionally heavy experience for any individual to shoulder.” ## **Continuity of care** The Tusla statement doesn’t mention continuity of care as a concern, as such. “A change can occur at any time," says the Tusla spokesperson. For example, the social worker may get a new job, or they could be reassigned to another child with greater need, or Tusla could change the social worker at the request of a child, parent or carer, she says. But children usually don’t like it when their social worker changes, says Strong. “It means they have to re-tell their story to new people, and build the trust, and wonder how long this person will be around.” For many young people, this won’t be the first time they get assigned a new social worker. But for some who have had the same social worker for years, they could be devastated by losing them, says Bruen. Farrelly says continuity of care is vital for children in care. “It is that trust piece,” he says. “For young people who have experienced trauma, we cannot just assume they will be willing and able to enter into a relationship with a new social worker.” Families too have built up trust with a social worker and allowed them into their homes and their lives, he said. Changing social workers undermines that engagement and could affect outcomes too, he says. Bruen says she struggles to understand why senior management in Tusla don’t appear to understand the value of relationships. “It's just mind-boggling that they would move away from such a foundational aspect of their social care provision,” she says. ### Corporate landlord dinged for breaching rent-setting laws in four properties URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/corporate-landlord-dinged-for-breaching-rent-setting-laws-in-four-properties/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T22:39:35.000Z It’s unclear if current tenants in an apartment on Patrick Street know the rents were set too high in the past – and whether they’ve been dropped back since. The intercom didn’t seem to be working on Thursday morning, and a note under the door earlier in the week went unanswered. Vestry Limited Partnership – the big landlord that owns the apartment – was sanctioned by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in October last year for not following rent-setting laws. It’s one of four orders against Vestry for breaching the rules for rent rules, affirmed by the Circuit Court, [and recently published](https://rtb.ie/compliance/investigation-outcomes/search-investigation-court-orders/?%5Fcourt%5Forders%5Fyear%5Fof%5Fpublication=2026&ref=dublininquirer.com) in the RTB’s database. The sanctions total €26,000 across three of the cases, including a penalty of €10,000 for the Dublin rental, the records show. The other two cases were for properties in Kilcock and Galway. In another case, for a property in Newbridge, Vestry was just issued a written warning for the breach. RTB decision makers can fine up to €15,000 for each breach, but set the rate [depending on several factors](https://rtb.ie/compliance/how-investigations-work/decisions-and-sanctions/?ref=dublininquirer.com) such as any acknowledgment of improper conduct, the seriousness, cooperation and steps taken to fix any loss. An RTB spokesperson said that it couldn’t comment on investigations, beyond what it publishes online. So, they wouldn’t say if, and if so in which cases, Vestry acknowledged its improper conduct, and whether it lowered the rents, and reimbursed any affected tenants. ## **Different layers** Since setting up in September 2019, Vestry has gathered a portfolio of more than 1,000 properties across Ireland, show land registry records. That includes about 250 properties, which as of April last year, were rented to accommodation provider Leevin Ireland, which then sublets them on to renters in mostly shared rooms. The apartment on Patrick Street was previously one of those properties. But it hasn’t been since August 2025, said Eduardo Gonzago, executive director at Leevin, by email. He didn’t directly answer a query as to whether Leevin Ireland was the tenant that Vestry had been found to have overcharged. [In hundreds of apartments rented out by the same company, renters are on licences with few rights - Dublin InquirerWhat’s going on?![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/leevin-ireland-offices-on-north-great-georges-street-8add5d25da77b05678bd1d58c9155031b9b15dd86c3e9b8c066bf9dae91b42c9.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-hundreds-of-apartments-rented-out-by-the-same-company-renters-are-on-licences-with-few-rights/) A spokesperson for Vestry didn’t respond to queries, including, around how these rent breaches had come about, and whether the rents had been lowered as a result, and if it had reimbursed affected tenants. ## **Who gets to know?** The RTB’s investigations and sanctions process – which involves gathering evidence, response periods, and going to court – can take years. So, exactly what period the breaches cover isn’t clear from the information published by the RTB on its website. In March last year, the RTB’s chair, Rosemary Steen, wrote to the Housing Agency – while it was reviewing rent-setting rules – flagging how long and complex the current sanctions process is. She also pointed to how the RTB is limited in the kinds of sanctions it can issue. “Currently, the sanction decision cannot compel a landlord to refund or reset the rent, nor can it inform the tenant that their rent is in breach,” she said. [RTB still can’t compel landlords to lower rent if investigators spot illegal hikesChanges to make it possible were to be included in a new law, when first announced. But they were dropped.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-f004fce29f698e5a5a4bf2ac6fb6b8f992ba9b9b1b64315b13d30b1750586018.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Tent-in-front-of-the-Department-of-Housing.-File-photo-by-Lois-Kapila-1-9a82e2867db9aa152b9245bf83324e4c78dea82bda9918970d3cce2d0ed536f9.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/rtb-still-cant-compel-landlords-to-lower-rent-if-investigators-spot-illegal-hikes/) “This means landlords who do not engage with the investigation process may continue to breach after receiving a sanction,” she wrote. “Decisions should be able to compel landlords to change their rent,” she wrote. But the government pulled back from making changes to sanctions processes or powers as part of the recent round of big changes to rental sector law. ### Fingal refuses Manna permission to continue flying drones from base in Coolmine URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-refuses-manna-permission-to-continue-flying-drones-from-base-in-coolmine/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T22:39:44.000Z In another setback for the drone delivery company Manna, Fingal County Council has refused it permission to keep flying from a base at Coolmine Industrial Estate in Dublin 15\. On 30 September, Manna applied for “retention” permission to keep flying from the base there. That’s like asking forgiveness if you didn’t ask permission in the first place. “Our client is currently operating a drone delivery service from this location,” the [planning application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139537-planning-statement/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says. Manna wants to “continue the operation of its aerial delivery hub maintaining hours of 9am to 9pm, seven days a week”, serving an area within a 3km radius, it says. The drones take off from Coolmine, cruise at about 65 metres to where the customer has asked for their delivery,drop down lower,hover above the delivery site, lower the package to the ground, and then return to base. One of the main issues residents have raised in objecting to Manna’s drone operations has been noise, and that was the key issue here as well. In response to queries sent Thursday, including whether it will appeal Fingal’s decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, a Manna spokesperson provided a statement that did not directly address that. “Manna continues to operate from Blanchardstown and employs 50 staff living in the area, out of its 180-person workforce in Ireland,” the statement said. “It has served roughly 80,000 people in Dublin 15 since commencing operations in the area in 2024,” it said. ## **Manna’s noise assessment** In November, the council asked for further information on Manna’s retention application – crucially it [asked for](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139540-ces-order-november-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “a comprehensive Noise Impact Assessment”. In response, Manna submitted a 36-page [noise impact assessment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139538-d251213rp1r3noiseimpactassessmentreport/?ref=dublininquirer.com). There are two landing pads at the Coolmine base, it says. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Saturday was the base’s busiest day, with an average of 26 flights a day and a maximum of 42 flights per day, it says. When cruising at 50 metres, a Manna drone sounds at 60 decibels for a listener on the ground, said an IAA official [in May 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-delivery-drones-whirr-through-the-skies-of-dublin-15-councillors-consider-further-regulating-them/). When lower for delivery, the sound is about 65 decibels, he said. Manna’s [website says similar](https://www.manna.aero/community?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the noise assessment Manna commissioned for this planning application found noise levels from drones a bit higher than that. It found Manna drone noise levels in transit at 66 “Average LAmax dB”, with “LAmax” identifying “the loudest moment of an operation”, which “is useful for describing audibility and short-duration prominence”. And when the drones reached their destination and did their delivery, the document found noise at that point was 78 average LAmax dB. Still, the report found that, averaged out over time, basically, these noise levels don’t really stand out against existing ambient noise levels. For transit, the predicted noise level averaged over 12 hours, “is substantially less than the existing ambient noise at the quietest NSL \[noise sensitive location\], resulting in imperceptible or insignificant change”, it says. On delivery, “the predicted maximum level is within the range of short‑duration maximum noise events already occurring in the receiving environment due to local traffic,” it says. ## **Local reactions** The idea that drones do not create a significant amount of noise, “From my perspective this is completely untrue,” wrote Angela Dunne, with an address in Dublin 15, in a submission to the council about the planning application. “I live on a quiet cul-de-sac and these drones are significantly noisier than any passing car, which is primarily those of residents,” she wrote. Greg and Bozena Dubiel, also with an address in Dublin 15, also took issue with the noise generated by the drones. “It is important to note that the drone deliveries always intensify at the very times people want to relax and use their outdoor spaces: Saturdays, Sundays and evenings, especially when the weather is nice,” their submission said. A submission from “Schaarschmidt Family”, also in Dublin 15, suggests that a relatively small number of customers are impacting a large number of their neighbours. “A single drone may overfly 300 properties for a single delivery creating noise pollution along its outbound and return paths,” their submission says. On the other hand, the Manna spokesperson provided a spreadsheet of what he said were “customer feedback messages”. "It means weekend coffee and donut is dropped in our back garden, leaving us space to chill and have family time without having to leave the house, it's a family weekend treat,” said one (there are no names attached). “We have young kids and Manna is an essential time saver at weekends. It also teaches them about innovation,” says another. “Btw our neighbours lawnmowers and pressure washers are louder and last longer.” “I live in the flight path of the drones and I would see them coming and going all day but it’s like the airplanes – you get used to it,” says a third. ## **Council’s response** The council’s Air and Noise Unit reviewed the Manna-commissioned noise impact assessment, and Fingal’s planners [found the document lacking in several respects](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139543-ces-order-19-may-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com). For example, the study used 2014 guidelines for environmental noise assessment, from what was then known as the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), in the UK. But these “criteria assume that any additional noise being introduced is materially similar to the existing soundscape”, Fingal’s response to the Manna-commissioned noise impact assessment (NIA) says. “This is not true for Manna drone noise assessment, as the current soundscape is dominated by road traffic, and drones are known to exhibit a vastly different acoustic character to road traffic noise,” it says. Also, “The NIA assessment does not appear to have considered the cumulative noise impacts of the simultaneous operation of the two Manna delivery hubs at Coolmine and Blanchardstown. This is particularly important for areas and communities that are serviced by both drone delivery hubs,” it says. On 19 May 2026, Fingal County Council [refused permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/102570?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents), saying that the NIA “does not provide sufficient evidence to robustly determine that adverse noise effects associated with the aerial delivery hub can be avoided”. “In the absence of sufficient evidence, the aerial delivery hub by virtue of its operation results in serious noise pollution,” the council found. Approving the retention permission “will set an inappropriate precedent for other similar forms of development”, the council found. “The development is therefore contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and in addition to being prejudicial to public health,” it said. The planning permission for the other base in Dublin 15, Manna’s larger, busier spot one at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, was granted on 22 August 2023 for three years. So, ending about three months from now. The Manna spokesperson didn’t directly respond to a query as to whether there is a plan to apply for planning permission to extend its operations there. ### AI is not just coming to newsrooms in Ireland, it’s already here URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/ai-is-not-just-coming-to-newsrooms-in-ireland-its-already-here/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:47:49.000Z Mediahuis – which owns the *Irish Independent*, among other titles in Ireland – is experimenting to find out “at what level we can automate first line news”, Ana Jakimovska, its head of AI strategy, [reportedly said](https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/regional-newspapers/mediahuis-trials-use-of-ai-agents-to-carry-out-first-line-news-reporting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on stage at a conference in London. Reach Plc – which owns *DublinLive*, the *Irish Mirror* and other titles in Ireland – has built its own AI tool, Guten, for its journalists to use, and roughly half of them in Ireland do, says Michael Marsh, Reach’s editor in chief for Ireland. Breakingnews.ie, a website owned by the *Irish Times*, [says](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ai-at-breakingnews-ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it is experimenting “to see how Generative AI (GenAI) tools can support our production processes”. A journalist at *The Journal* has been using Claude to help translate his articles from Irish into English, says managing editor Susan Daly. AI is not just coming to journalism in Ireland, it’s here, in newsrooms, in use by journalists for things like recording and transcribing interviews, searching through large troves of documents, translation, polishing the writing in articles, suggesting headlines, speeding up the publishing process, and more. AI tools can make journalists’ jobs easier, and give them new capabilities, but their use damages the environment, can lead to mistakes that hurt news organisations’ credibility, and can help companies employ fewer journalists, journalists say. “Different news organisations are embracing it at different speeds,” says National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Irish organiser Ian McGuinness. “Some aren’t even touching it yet. There's some, what you would call early adopters.” “I'd be amazed if it’s not used in some form everywhere now,” said Marsh, the editor in chief at Reach Ireland. ## Early adopter: Reach One of the media companies leaning into the use of AI is Reach Plc. The UK-based company with “[120 brands](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/reach-plc-delivers-impactful-journalism-with-ai-driven-guten-powered-by-aws/?ref=dublininquirer.com)” has titles in Ireland including *DublinLive*, the *Irish Daily Star*, and the *Irish Daily Mirror*. “As part of their mission to free up journalists to focus on high-value and impactful journalism, Reach’s Data Science team developed Guten,” according to [a July 2025 post](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/reach-plc-delivers-impactful-journalism-with-ai-driven-guten-powered-by-aws/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “co-authored by Lewis James, Senior Data Scientist at Reach plc and Dan Taffler, Group Director of Data and Analytics at Reach plc”. “Guten optimises every part of Reach’s editorial workflow including ingestion of news wires, wire article suggestions, article idea recommendations, and content generation,” they wrote. “For Reach’s Content Hub, a dedicated team of journalists produce traffic-driving content for multiple national and regional brands,” they wrote. “Guten provides the ability to take a piece of Reach content and redraft it in the style and tone of their other publications without needing to rewrite every version of the same article from scratch,” they wrote. Indeed, going big on AI is a core part of the company’s strategy. In the company’s most recent [annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28136323-2025-annual-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com), in a note dated 3 March 2026, Reach Plc chairman Nick Prettejohn writes that the company’s “three key priorities are Connecting with Audiences, Accelerating the use of Tech and AI and Diversifying Revenues”. The annual report sits in the [“investor” section](https://www.reachplc.com/investors?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the company’s website, suggesting that that is its main audience. So what is the day-to-day reality of the use of AI in Reach newsrooms in Ireland? In Reach’s Ireland operation, Guten is “one of our kind of approved AI tools”, said Marsh, editor in chief for Ireland, on a video call on 29 April. “I don't care if people use it or not,” Marsh said. “We don't say, right, you have to do eight stories a week using Guten, you know, there's nothing like that.” “Some people might use it a couple times a day. Some people might use it once a month. It just depends, really,” he said. “One of the benefits of it is it can help get things into our CMS \[content management system\] really quickly.” So if someone at Reach in Ireland wants to take an article from another Reach publication, or the Press Association (PA) newswire, and publish it on a Reach website, it takes some of the “heavy lifting” out of it, Marsh said. If they’re looking at their personal dashboard, which would include recommendations based on what they’ve been interested in the past, “there might be something around, alright, okay, this is an interesting story from PA”, he said. “You can then hit a button that’ll then upload into the CMS, words, pictures, as it appears on PA.” “You then can ask it to rewrite or tweak certain elements of the copy or the headline on that, but generally speaking, most people would just put it in without the rewrite option, and then you can then edit within our CMS,” he said. Whatever role AI takes in creating an article, though, before it’s published, “somebody would have to read, go, right, I'm happy with this, and then press the button”, Marsh said. “It would be up to the journalists, the individuals, to kind of do the checks and balances, kind of in the old-school way,” he said. “It's up to the person pressing the button is responsible for, you know, making sure that it's, it's legally sound, it's accurate, it complies with the Press Council.” Journalists at Reach also use other AI tools, Marsh said. “Don't ask me to name them, because it's a very long list, but we have an approved AI list,” he said. But the big one besides Guten is Google’s Gemini, he said. “Google’s Gemini ‘AI assistant’ product is now available for all colleagues, with over 40% of our people actively using it,” according to a 3 March note in the company’s most recent [annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28136323-2025-annual-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Reach Plc chief executive Piers North. People at Reach in Ireland might use Gemini to summarise long council reports to pull out the six key points, Marsh said. Or to help them come up with article ideas, he said. “So, if I went in now and said, give me a story suggestion about Temple Bar that is likely to resonate with people aged 18 to 24 and that is a fit with a *DublinLive* audience, it would give you, Oh here’s three ideas that might work,” he said. A lot of the benefit of all this is speed. Reach publishes tens of thousands of articles each month in Ireland alone, Marsh said. So shaving some time off the monotonous tasks associated with each of those – downloading photos from one place and uploading them to another, that kind of thing – can make a big difference, and free up journalists to do more stuff they’d like better. “People want to be interviewing. They want to be on the road. They want to be maybe doing a good long read on whatever it may be,” he said. Is that really what happens though, does the use of AI really free up journalists to go out and interview people, and write long reads? “It depends on the role,” Marsh says. “Some journalists, we allow – that depends on their role and their expertise. Others are in roles where they're more desk based.” In a small online survey I ran in March, asking journalists working in Ireland about their use of AI, a respondent said they had worked in a Reach newsroom. Their account chimes,somewhat, with Marsh’s. “A typical shift would consist of churning out 10/12 low effort local stories, with a significant amount being 'brought over' from other Reach sites in UK and Ireland,” they said. “You copy a link from another Reach site's story (one that has been noticed by the editor as doing well for views) into Guten and it will re-produce it with suggested tweaks to optimise SEO variables and article tone,” they said. Could AI have done their job? “That job, yes, probably because much of the work was regurgitating Facebook posts and adding hundreds of words from other articles so that a short two sentence Facebook post about a café opening could be 400 words – long enough to reach ad optimisation targets.” ## Early adopter? Mediahuis Mediahuis has also positioned itself as an early adopter, leaning into the use of AI. It’s [based in Belgium](https://www.mediahuis.ie/about-us/who-we-are?ref=dublininquirer.com) and has [titles in Ireland](https://www.mediahuis.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) including the *Independent*, *Sunday Independent*, *Sunday World*, and more. In her presentation at the News in the Digital Age 2026 conference in London in February, Jakimovska, Mediahuis’s head of AI strategy, talked about how the company could use AI. It could create a huge database – newswires, social media, other sources – and then employ a series of agents to create content, she said, according to [notes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28136304-ai-and-the-business-of-journalism-the-two-paths-to-resilience-ana-jakimovska-head-of-ai-strategy-mediahuis-ft-strategies-notes/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the presentation made by a member of the team at FT Strategies, which [co-hosted](https://www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb/insights/news-in-the-digital-age-2026-key-takeaways-from-each-panel?ref=dublininquirer.com) the conference with the Google Digital News Initiative. This seems to support reporting in the [*Press Gazette*](https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/regional-newspapers/mediahuis-trials-use-of-ai-agents-to-carry-out-first-line-news-reporting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about Jakimovska’s speech at the conference, which says that “Under an experimental project [AI](https://pressgazette.co.uk/subject/artificial-intelligence/?ref=dublininquirer.com) agents are involved in the writing, fact checking, legal checking and editing of news stories under the plan but a human would always check the finished product before it is published.” Then, according to the notes on the event, a monitoring agent would highlight readers’ reactions to the breaking news to build “signature content”. Or, as the *Press Gazette* quoted Jakimovska as saying, “When the polarisation becomes high, or when there’s different opinions, it triggers an opinion skeleton to send to an editor to say ‘this might be a really interesting thing to cover for a \[piece of\] signature journalism’.” Basically, it appears to be a vision of AI taking over the work of writing the kinds of articles that some journalists, sitting at desks all day in Dublin, are [expected to write](https://www.dublininquirer.com/sam-how-many-articles-do-journalists-in-ireland-have-to-write-each-week/) five to eight of, from online sources. This, the pitch goes, would free up journalists to instead leave their desks and go out into the world to write more in-depth, “signature journalism”, knocking on doors, reporting from the scene, and doing other things that AI can’t do (yet). In response to a 16 March request for an interview about how Mediahuis uses journalism now, and its future plans, Jakimovska on 20 March suggested a couple of possible days: “I have some availability next Wed or Thursday if that works for you?” But then she became unavailable. Perhaps connected, at about the same time, unbeknownst to me, on 19 March, the newspaper *NRC* in the Netherlands [had reported](https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/03/19/hoe-een-journalist-uitglijdt-op-door-ai-verzonnen-citaten-a4923445?ref=dublininquirer.com) that Peter Vandermeersch had messed up while using AI. Vandermeersch, who was chief executive of Mediahuis Ireland [from 2022 to late 2025](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-vandermeersch-a4381b30/?ref=dublininquirer.com), had then been appointed the company’s [Media and Society Fellow](https://www.mediahuis.ie/news/corporate-news/mediahuis-fellowship-journalism-and-society-introducing-a-new-role-at-mediahuis?ref=dublininquirer.com). He was writing a Substack newsletter called [Media and Society](https://pressanddemocracy.substack.com/). But, as Vandermeersch [put it](https://pressanddemocracy.substack.com/p/i-am-admitting-my-mistake), while writing on 19 March about the mistakes in his work that *NRC* had revealed, “I summarised reports using AI tools and worked from those summaries, trusting they were accurate. In doing so, I wrongly put words into people’s mouths, when I should have presented them as paraphrases.” “It is particularly painful that I made precisely the mistake I have repeatedly warned colleagues about: these language models are so good that they produce irresistible quotes you are tempted to use as an author,” he wrote. “Of course, I should have verified them. The necessary ‘human oversight,’ which I consistently advocate, fell short.” A Mediahuis Ireland spokesperson also didn’t respond to requests in mid-April for an interview with someone in leadership here, about the company’s use of AI in Ireland. In any case, there appears to be some distance between the aspirations and experiments Jakimovska talked about at the conference, and the reality in Mediahuis newsrooms in Ireland. In my small online survey in March, two responses were from people who said they write articles for Mediahuis titles. One said their employer did not allow them to use AI, and they did not use it. The other said they are allowed to use AI in their work but they do not. Anything else to add, the survey asked? “Fuck AI,” one of the respondents added. ## Slower movers: *The Journal* *The Journal*, based in Ireland and [owned primarily](https://ireland.mom-gmr.org/en/media/online/outlet/the-journal-ie-117130/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by brothers Brian and Eamon Fallon, has not moved quickly to formally adopt the use of AI in its newsroom in Dublin. Conversations about AI, and whether it was going to take journalists’ jobs, have been floating around the industry for a long time, says managing editor Susan Daly. But recently, there’s been a “tipping point”, with people integrating AI into their lives, and “other, I suppose parts of the industry adopting it very, very quickly”, Daly said. “That makes it kind of a conversation about, have we gotten past the point of talking about whether we use AI at all, or is it now table stakes, and how do we use AI?” she said via video call. “I think there's probably the ethical discussion about the use of AI at all, which – the environmental impacts, I think about a lot, for example – I think that that ship has sailed for a lot of journalists,” she said. The team at *The Journal* hadn’t had “any comprehensive discussion about it internally”, she said on 14 May. “But certainly, a month ago, we had kick started a process which was to have an objective, to have a very specific AI usage policy for content.” She wants to make sure the approach they settle on is “a very truthful approach for us, that we’re not trying to get anyone ringfenced by something that they don’t believe in, either the use of or the non-use of”. She wants to guard against “reputational risk”, and ensure that everything *The Journal* publishes is up to its standards, Daly said. “And also look at, okay, are we looking at opportunities here as well to improve the offering for readers in a way that makes sense to us and them,” she said. Not speaking for *The Journal* as an organisation, or for its newsroom, Daly said that perhaps there is an opportunity for journalism in AI. “We – like the media industry, and journalists – have been just so restrained by resource scarcity that we are finding it difficult to invest resources into the journalism that's really deep and that's really helpful to people,” she said. *The Journal* has its investigations, and its fact checks, Daly said. “We’ve had to be really thoughtful about how we resource those and funds we pursue for those things.” So maybe the use of AI could help small teams of journalists dig more effectively into huge troves of documents, like the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice, Daly said. “There’s loads of examples of, kind of, data journalism that can be improved by the use of an AI tool.” “So I think we’re really open to all of that,” Daly said. But she is just at the very start of a process of consulting with the journalists at *The Journal*, and nothing’s been decided yet, she said. Why has *The Journal* been more cautious than other media companies about adopting AI? “If journalism is the core, leading thing for you, then the issue is that AI, we can see the huge risk to journalism in it, and we can see the huge risk to information integrity for the public,” Daly said. “Therefore we're going to have a more cautious and thoughtful approach to it than somewhere else where it’s kind of stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap kind of a thing – and that’s no shade on anyone,” she said. On 5 May, not long before this interview, *The Journal* had published an article that included at the bottom [the text](https://web.archive.org/web/20260505223837/https://www.thejournal.ie/a-sinn-fein-minister-has-stepped-in-to-save-a-project-after-a-dup-minister-was-blamed-for-cutting-its-funding-7031927-May2026/) “Sonnet 4.6 Claud is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check responses”, which someone noticed and [posted](https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/1t51upe/oh%5Fdear%5Fthe%5Fjournal/?ref=dublininquirer.com#lightbox) about on Reddit. That bit of text was quickly removed, and a [clarification](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28136538-the-journal-clarification/?ref=dublininquirer.com) appended to [the article](https://web.archive.org/web/20260505223837/https://www.thejournal.ie/a-sinn-fein-minister-has-stepped-in-to-save-a-project-after-a-dup-minister-was-blamed-for-cutting-its-funding-7031927-May2026/), saying that the original article had been written by the journalist, Concubhar Ó Liatháin, in Irish, and then Claude had been used to translate it into English. “In March, I suppose, he started using Claude, and he explained to us it was giving good context versus other translations,” Daly said on 14 May. They put a process in place where the reporter would read over the translation, and it would also be reviewed by a human editor, “so two, two sets of human eyes afterwards”. But there was an update to the story, “later in the evening”, and the new version was translated again, “and an editor didn’t see it, and that little line that indicates that Claude had been used was left in”. They weren’t labelling the English versions of Ó Liatháin’s articles as having been translated with the help of AI, because they hadn’t finished their process of making an AI policy and which will include, “how do we talk about it to our audience”, Daly said. But now they are labelling his articles. The English translation of his [article from 19 May](https://www.thejournal.ie/-7044307-May2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) includes a line at the bottom saying, “This article was originally written in the reporter’s native Irish and has been translated into English here. AI was used as part of the translation process before final edits.” ## Slower mover: *The Irish Times* The *Irish Times* is, according to the [Media Ownership Monitor: Ireland](https://ireland.mom-gmr.org/en/media/online/outlet/irishtimes-com-117174/?ref=dublininquirer.com), from DCU, “operated by The Irish Times Group DAC which is ultimately owned by The Irish Times Trust CLG”. The editor of the *Irish Times*, Ruadhan Mac Cormaic, [in an interview](https://thecurrency.news/articles/226971/most-of-my-day-is-spent-thinking-about-digital-that-is-the-future-of-the-organisation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with Alan English for *The Currency*, published on 15 May, talked about his approach to AI at his paper. “At the moment, I’m happy not to be first mover. I’m happy to observe what’s happening,” Mac Cormaic is quoted as saying. “That’s not to say we’re not experimenting, that we’re not looking at it all the time. We really are,” he said. “If AI can help us to free up journalists to work on the things journalists can do, but that AI can’t, I’m all for that.” He talked about trying to create “an intelligence search engine that you can interact with in a Q&A format” to explore the *Irish Times* archive, “that delivers you answers and then provides you with the links to the original pages”. “The other thing I’m quite excited about is its potential to unlock new forms of investigative journalism for us,” he said. “AI can certainly give us access to data sets that we couldn’t otherwise access in any practical way. And we’re already playing around with that in our investigations.” This is not to say AI is not being used by some journalists at the *Irish Times*. One of them said recently that they’d been sent a video on how they could use AI. Breakingnews.ie, which “is owned and operated by The Irish Times Group”, according to the Media Ownership Monitor, has been quite public about its use of AI. There’s a page on its website, although it’s not clear when it was published, [that says](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ai-at-breakingnews-ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “In recent months, we’ve been carrying out a pilot project to see how Generative AI (GenAI) tools can support our production processes.” This involves, it says, “taking a selection of articles and requesting that an AI tool offer several headline suggestions and SEO tag suggestions. These are then reviewed by journalists who ultimately create the final headline and tags.” “We’ll be gathering data on how well the tools perform, where they fall short, and the production benefits they deliver,” it says. ## Slow movers: *Dublin Inquirer* It would hardly be fair to dig into what all these other news organisations are doing with AI and not tell you what we are doing with it ourselves. We do not have any in-house tools or official AI policy. Some of us – including me – do use AI tools in our work. For example, I recorded the interviews I did for this article on Otter.ai, which automatically transcribed the audio. There are lots of mistakes in the transcripts, but even still, it’s a lot easier to search through the text – by reading it, or using the search bar – to find the bits I want to use, than it would be to search through an audio-only file. Then I can easily listen to the audio of just the few seconds or minutes I want to use, and properly transcribe those to use in my article. Also, I find Google less and less useful, so I also use Claude, and Kagi, to help me research things on the web, find the sources I am looking for, and give me links to them. I have also used Claude to write complex (to me) formulas to use in Excel or Google Sheets to help me clean and/or analyse big data sets. I once used Microsoft Copilot to generate an image for an article by Michael Lanigan about Dublin City Council moving towards deploying AI tools – to [demonstrate its capabilities](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-moves-towards-deploying-ai-tools-to-increase-staff-productivity/). And I used Claude Code to “vibecode” some updates to our [councilvotetracker.ie](http://councilvotetracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) website, to get it back online after a yearslong hiatus, and expand it so it can now be used to track votes on any council – not just its original Dublin City Council. I’ve also had a freelancer whose first language was not English tell me they used Grammarly to help polish up their article before submitting it to me. Lois Kapila here also uses Claude for research, particularly to help parse company documents, and has used it to translate documents from other languages into English so she can understand them for her reporting. Other members of the team here do not use AI at all, they tell me. ## Jobs, jobs, jobs AI has the potential to be “labour saving”, said Ian McGuiness, the NUJ organiser, in a 30 April video call. But isn’t “labour saving” just a way to say it’s a way of not hiring someone, or making someone redundant? “We don't mind labour saving if it's not replacing journalists,” McGuinness said. “In other words, if it's not a), making journalists redundant, b), essentially taking jobs of freelancers.” “If it's used to try and replace journalists, and it has been used to replace – there have been redundancies in places like Reach, which is using AI, and we're absolutely convinced that that's no coincidence – if it's used to replace journalists, that's a danger,” McGuinness said. The average number of people employed by Reach overall in “Production and editorial” fell from 2,587 in 2024 to 2,494 in 2025, according to its [most recent annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28136323-2025-annual-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). *RTÉ* and other media reported in September on [potential job losses](https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0908/1532430-reach-media-jobs/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Ireland. Not in response to these particular numbers, but in general, does Reach Plc’s adoption of AI allow it to employ fewer people and have lower costs? “I wouldn’t say it was allowing us to – I wouldn’t say that,” said Marsh, the editor in chief for Reach in Ireland. “The industry is challenged bigtime at the moment,” he said. “I wouldn’t say our newsrooms are smaller because of AI as such, I think there’s multiple factors that play into that, if I’m being honest.” In any case, for journalists in newsrooms in Ireland, the introduction of AI can make life harder and more unpleasant, said McGuinness. “You start off with a newsroom which was already under pressure. You then have a certain number of redundancies,” he says. Then the people who are left behind have to do their own job, plus the work of the people who’ve left, he says. “And then you add in AI. I mean, those people are struggling to keep their head above water as it is doing their non-AI jobs, and now they have to oversee AI, which sometimes hallucinates or writes absolute garbage, so they have to rewrite it,” he says. ## Credibility Beyond the potential for companies to employ fewer journalists – not hiring new ones, or cutting existing ones – and make the jobs of remaining journalists worse, the use of AI also has the potential to undermine readers’ trust in media, McGuinness says. “The problem with AI is, you know, people have said this to me, you know, friends of mine said this to me, how do we know that this has actually been researched and written, double checked by a journalist, and authenticated?” he says. News organisations should tell readers how they are using AI, McGuinness says. “We want everything that is AI-created or partially created, labelled as such,” he says. “I think where AI is being used to create something, certainly, whether it’s text whether it’s images, whatever,” that should be labelled. And even if it’s just used as a tool, that readers should be told about that too. “Even if it’s something as simple as AI was used to analyse the data mentioned in this article – that simple,” McGuinness said. Said McGuinness: “We’re not saying, you know, all AI is bad and all use of AI is bad, it’s just that we have to try and be careful about how it’s used.” However, there are still some types of journalism that AI cannot yet do, says McGuinness. It can’t cultivate sources, who’ll pass on tips and information with a quiet word or quick message, McGuinness says. “It can’t go and cover something out in the field, so, you know, it can’t go out where there’s a car crash and talk to Gardaí and ask what’s going on, it can’t go to protests which turn violent and tell you what’s going on there,” he says. “It's not intelligent with a capital ‘I’, in the way of human beings, and it’s unable to physically be there and to do certain things that human beings can do,” he says. But “who knows where it will be in 10 or 20 years time”. There may well be a backlash against the introduction of AI into journalism, though, says McGuinness. “I think it could be, sooner or later, that the scepticism of readers, listeners, viewers is going to be such that they're going to want, possibly want, less AI and more journalists’ boots on the ground, because that's the only thing that they know they trust,” he said. Because, for example, how can you make a complaint against something that’s written by an AI? It doesn’t care, he says. You won’t see the writer around and have a chance to give out to them about what they’ve got wrong. “And how can AI speak truth to power when it’s literally owned by the most powerful people in the world?” he says. ### A new coalition tries to lay out what a “health-led” drug policy could actually mean URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-coalition-tries-to-lay-out-what-a-health-led-drug-policy-should-actually-mean/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T22:39:53.000Z When Anne Connolly was a child, she suffered abuse in her home. The trauma would eventually lead to her developing addiction issues, she told the inaugural public discussion held by the new Irish Coalition for Drug Reform last week. In the mid-2000s, Connolly would spend numerous spells in prison for drug offences. She would also meet a lot of the same faces over and over. All vulnerable people, she said. “We weren't getting the help that we needed,” she said. The event room in Buswells Hotel, a few hundred yards from the Houses of the Oireachtas, was packed, with another hundred or so people watching online as Connolly spoke. “I was in and out for little things, stupid things like a bag of weed, and it was a fine, if you didn't turn up in court, there was a warrant out for your arrest,” she told the conference. During one spell of incarceration, she joined a methadone programme, she said later, by phone on Thursday. But she wasn’t linked up to outside services upon release, she said, and ended up back on drugs soon after. Connolly has now been in recovery for several years, and is a peer-support worker and team leader with Uisce, who advocate for people who use drugs. While her own children ended up in the care system for a while, she considers herself blessed that they never went down the road she did, she said. They are now both adults and thriving, she said. But many people she met across stints in prison were not as fortunate, she said. They watched their own children traumatised by the same experiences and systems that traumatised them. She saw friends have their children placed in the care system, and grow up to get involved in criminal activity and drugs, and eventually end up in prison themselves, she said. The social stigma and criminalisation of drug use need to end, she said. Connolly was one of four speakers addressing the event on a health-centered approach to drug policy – and what that actually means. The Irish Coalition for Drug Reform is a national collaboration aiming to facilitate community organisations, people with lived and living experience, academics, and practitioners to support informed discussion on drug policy in Ireland. “We're actually at a pivotal moment in Ireland with regard to our drug policy,” said another speaker, Claire McEvoy, head of policy and research at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use is about to make a series of recommendations, based on the findings of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use, she said. The citizens’ assembly said Ireland needed to pivot from the status quo to a comprehensive health-led response to drugs, with decriminalisation, she said. The central question of the coalition’s event was, she said, “What is a health-led approach?” The concept has been widely adopted in Ireland for the last decade, she said. “We have language on it from the citizens’ assembly, from the Oireachtas committee, from the programme for government from 2025,” she said. Still, the concept isn't well understood. “And its implementation is contradictory,” she said. “It's confusing, and I go so far as to say it's very illogical,” she said. “We seem to speak out of both sides of our mouth when we talk about health-led response to drugs.” Because you cannot profess to have a health-led response, while at the same time, prosecuting loads and loads of people for possession of drugs for personal use, she said. ## Section three The Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 [criminalises](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1977/act/12/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) personal possession of substances like cannabis and cocaine. ICCL is proposing a repeal of section three [of the act](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1977/en/act/pub/0012/sec0003.html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec3), titled “Restriction on possession of controlled drugs”, said McEvoy. And section 27.1, which outlines[ penalties](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1977/en/act/pub/0012/sec0027.html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec27) for prosecution under section three, she said. “And this would decriminalise possession for personal use – in other words, no criminal charges could be brought.” There were almost 4,000 convictions for a section three offense in the District Courts in 2025, she said. In the last six years, there have been over 20,000 section three convictions, she said. More than 17,000 people were issued with a charge or summons specifically for cannabis possession between December 2020 and February 2024, said speaker Cian Ó Concubhair, assistant professor of criminal justice at Maynooth University Those dates are important, he said, because the adult cautioning scheme was expanded in 2020 to include cannabis possession, yet large numbers are still being prosecuted for it. It didn’t have to be this way, said Ó Concubhair. How did Ireland end up with the [Misuse of Drugs Act 1977](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1977/act/12/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com)? asked a member of the audience, honing in on the law that criminalises personal possession of substances like cannabis and cocaine. Its roots lie in the influence of the United States, said Ó Concubhair. Over the Atlantic, the “War on Drugs” was set in motion by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, said Ó Concubhair by phone on Thursday. But it was during the 1969–1974 presidency of Richard Nixon – who poured federal funding into it, which seeped down to local law enforcement – that it really ramped up, he said. During Nixon’s tenure in the Oval Office, the United Nations created the[ Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139528-convention-1971-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). Other “Western bloc” countries were concerned that if they didn’t abide by international agreements that the United States cared about for its own geopolitical interests, they could face economic or political sanctions. So, Ireland fell in line, he said. Today though, even the United States has rolled back on the drug policies, domestic and international, that it so stridently pushed decades ago, he said. Meanwhile, China and Russia – which were also heavily in favour of the 1971 convention at the time – remain its main flag bearers today, he said. People seem to assume that this is how we've always done things in Ireland, said Ó Concubhair. But it isn't. “We did not have personal possession penalties like section three before the 1977 Act,” he said. ## Beyond section three Under ICCL’s proposals, while section three should be gone, the definition of “controlled drugs” in section two would remain, McEvoy told the coalition audience. All dealer activities, the sale, supply, cultivation, manufacture, preparation, import, etc, will all remain illegal, she said. Meanwhile, the expansive garda powers, in Section 23, to undertake searches, along with the powers of arrest would remain too. “Gardaí would still have the powers that they need to tackle the illegal drugs trade,” she said. There will be discussion as to what amount counts as personal use, and what for sale and supply, she said. “That conversation can be had.” “But it needs to come from a point of departure where criminalisation of people who use drugs is taken off the table,” she said. A truly health-led response cannot be delivered while still criminalising the individual, she said. However, it is also not enough, she said, just to repeal section three. The state must also pile in serious investment in health, treatment, and social services for people who use drugs, she said. It's important to rule out coerced engagement with treatment, said Ó Concubhair, who recently[ co-authored](https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/zmb23os3/release/1?ref=dublininquirer.com) a paper on changing drug laws in Ireland*.* “Which we know doesn't work, but it satisfies some of those, kind of deep puritanical urges which remain very prevalent,” he said. ## **Undoing criminalisation** Repeatedly at the event, speakers highlighted the lingering impact that a drug conviction can have on a person’s life – on their ability to work and travel, with stigma often lasting a lifetime. There must be a conversation about spent convictions, said McEvoy. “People's lives have been devastated.” The Criminal Justice Rehabilitative Periods Bill 2018 – which [aims](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/141/eng/memo/b14118smemo.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to amend the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 to provide for broader and fairer access to spent convictions – [has just gone](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2018/141/?ref=dublininquirer.com) through the second stage in the Dáil, she said. “It's extremely important that those convictions are spent and that people can fully participate in the workforce and in society,” she said. McEvoy said that ICCL has just released[ research](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28137323-iccl-drugs-policy-paper/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) looking at the literature, both from Ireland and internationally, on decriminalisation. The evidence is clear, she said. “Criminalising people who use drugs is a policy failure and it needs to change.” Criminalisation does not reduce drug use, she said, and fails to account for the reality of drug addiction and the situations people find themselves in. “It's anchored in moralistic notions about the need to punish people instead of providing the help that they actually need,” she said. It’s no surprise that the legal framework around criminalisation dates back to the 1970s, she said, when the impacts of drug policy and addiction were less understood. “What we found is that it compounds trauma and stigma and stigmatisation of those people in society who need help and are least likely to be able to access it,” McEvoy said. The research is also quite clear that decriminalisation does not lead to an increase in drug use either, she said. “And, in fact, can lead to positive health outcomes if accompanied by investment in health systems,” she said. ## Compassion and medical supervision Connolly points to the country’s first medically supervised injection centre (MSIF) in Dublin as a shining example of how things can be when the drug user themself is no longer criminalised and compassion takes over. Its initial 18-month pilot phase comes to an end in the coming weeks, said Geoff Corcoran, head of operations at Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI), at the event in Buswell’s. An Coimisiún Pleanála [granted](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/500670?ref=dublininquirer.com) the facility permanent planning permission on 15 May. The centre is a place where people can come and inject drugs they've sourced elsewhere, in a safe, clean, and dignified environment, overseen and supported by project workers and nursing staff, Corcoran said. In the 18 months, he said, about 1,750 people have used the facility across more than 21,000 visits. “What’s striking about that is well over 60 percent of those are people who are rough sleeping, are in emergency or unstable combination,” he said. “They are people who otherwise would be using on the streets, using toilets, bus shelters and hostels, who now have somewhere clean, safe, warm, that they can come in and use, and get a bit of food afterwards,” he said. “If they want to link into other services, they can.” More than half the people who've visited have come back and used it again, he said, with many coming on a daily basis – showing the trust that has been nurtured. Peer workers with Uisce – like Connolly – who MQI partnered with, have played a huge part in building that trust, he said. Despite concerns and local opposition, the last 18 months has not seen any uptick in anti-social behaviour in the area that many were worried about, he said. There has been no “honey-pot effect” – people coming in from outside the area, gathering there, using or dealing drugs openly – Corcoran said. A study around drug paraphernalia found that drug litter in the area fell by over 20 percent in the first six months, he said. A report by St James's Hospital found that overdoses, and people presenting to the hospital for overdoses have fallen, in general, by about 40 percent from three months before it opened to three months after, he said. “So even in terms of the impact on the wider health system, it's just shown that has had a really positive impact,” he said. Also, though, they are aware that women aren't visiting at the same rate as men, he said. They make up about 25 percent of service users, he said. As the MSIF moves towards permanency, the team has to figure out what the blocks are, and how to tackle that, he said. Young people also aren't using it, he said. “Less than 1 percent of people who use it are under 25, so there's a huge gap there.” This aligns with drug trends, he said. Younger people are not injecting drugs as much. If someone drops in wanting to smoke crack cocaine or smoke heroin, he said, they cannot currently do that. A facility is needed that allows people to consume other drugs that don’t involve injection, he said. To do so, legislation will have to change, he said. And change moves very, very slowly – here and elsewhere. The event at Buswells last week was MC’d by youth worker Eddie D’Arcy. The coalition was not downplaying the harmful impact that drugs can have on people’s lives, he said. Many organisations funded by the state to work with those who are struggling with drug addictions are members of, or support the work of, the coalition, he said. “You can't say this is just a gathering of liberal minded people who just want to change the law for the sake of change,” he said. “We are fully aware of the harm that drugs cause, the suffering, but we're just saying that, unfortunately, criminalising it adds to that,” he said. ## Decriminalise vs Legalise Ó Concubhair and McEvoy each stressed that they were not advocating for legalisation. That’s separate from decriminalisation. Legalisation is the regulated lawful access to drugs – similar as Ó Concubhair noted, to current regimes governing tobacco, alcohol and prescription medication. Sale and supply would remain criminal offences, he said. From the audience, Glenn Shekleton, said he was “in the cannabis business” in America and Canada. “Why are we just settling for the low-hanging fruit of criminalisation?” he asked the room. To stop short of full legalisation leaves money in the hands of criminals, he said. The state has no control over the quality of the drug, who sells it or who they sell it to, he said. He also said there was an issue with the “umbrella term, drugs”. He asked whether they shouldn’t compartmentalise drugs, differentiating between cannabis and cocaine, for example. If looking to decriminalise all drugs, surely it makes the endeavour more difficult, he said. Independent senator, and coalition member, Lynn Ruane responded to Shekleton from the audience. Decriminalisation refers to the individual, she said, not the substance. “We don't lock the substance up in prison.” Opening conversations as to what types of drugs are decriminalised can reinforce a class issue, she said. If they’re legalising just cannabis, it becomes “another middle-class endeavour”, she said. It further alienates communities most harmed by the use of other drugs – like cocaine and crack cocaine – or more affected by stop and searches by An Garda Síochána, she said. In her own closing remarks, Connolly said that, at the end of the day, this is about human beings, dignity, and keeping people alive. People who use drugs are still mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters, she said. “Most are carrying trauma people never see.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 15.30 on 22 May 2026 to make clearer that the coalition is not a campaigning organisation, although some of its members are campaigning for changes.* ### Council says it does intend to reopen long-closed playground and coffee kiosk at Bridgefoot Street Park URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-it-does-intend-to-reopen-long-closed-playground-and-coffee-kiosk-at-bridgefoot-street-park/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T22:40:02.000Z Two of the main attractions in Bridgefoot Street Park in the Liberties are off limits at the moment. Metal fences block off the playground in the western corner of the park**,** which opened in 2022\. Some of the railings, around the giant slide, have collapsed. That playground was closed for planned maintenance in January, “for a couple of days”, said a Dublin City Council parks post on Facebook. Across the other side of the park, the black shipping container which used to host the Mug Shot coffee kiosk is shuttered. That was closed too, at the end of last year, with the operators PACE pointing to an uptick in drug dealing around the amenity. So, on Thursday morning, there weren’t many people around. Most were just cutting through, heads down and headphones in, as they walked between Bonham Street and Bridgefoot Street. Tracey Sands, one of those passing through, said she regularly asks Dublin City Council what its plans are with the closed amenities and the park. “I am regularly emailing them,” she said, pausing to talk. She pushed her sunglasses, with chunky chains, up onto the top of her head. She tags them in TikTok videos, too. But she hasn’t had much of use back, she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080450-1.JPG) A written response issued to Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair a day earlier said the council is currently in its “final stage of post-installation certification” for the playground. That should be done by the end of June, it said. And, a council spokesperson said on Thursday that it is “in the process of engaging a new cafe operator for the unit”. But what the park also really needs in general is more regular events going on, said Gayle Cullen Doyle, chair of the Oliver Bond Residents Group. “More positive stuff needs to happen in it.” ## **A much-campaigned for amenity** Ó Meachair, the Sinn Féin councillor, said that the current problems in the park are particularly frustrating given the thirst for green spaces and playgrounds in the wider Liberties area. Indeed, “it’s an incredible park. It’s a park that was hard-won,” said Labour Party Councillor Darragh Moriarty on Thursday. Residents and councillors campaigned for more than a decade for a park to be built on the site, rather than all housing, as had been the plan. Moriarty wonders though – with all the great benefit of hindsight – if some of the design elements were as thought-out as they could have been, he said. There are many hidden areas which make it hard to police, he said. Cullen Doyle, chair of the Oliver Bond Residents Group, said she is still frustrated that small sport pitches, which would have been added amenities, disappeared [from early designs](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-unveils-plans-for-housing-and-park-on-bridgefoot-street/) to the later ones. And also the safer road crossings, [mentioned during](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139724-bridgefoot-st-design-rationale-rev-c-part-8/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the planning process, have never happened either, she said. A zebra crossing across big, busy Bridgefoot Street would help kids in her complex to use the amenity, she said. “That should have been put in before the park opened.” They also just need more organised events for the park, like a monthly market, she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080460-1.JPG) Ó Meachair said that the council has been looking at trialing a security guard in the park, as part of a wider pilot across a few city green spaces. That pilot is underway, said a council spokesperson on Thursday. The council’s Parks Management has procured a mobile park warden service, they said. Bridgefoot Street Park is one of 12 parks in the city centre patrolled by private security from Bidvest Noonan. “This service liaises with the Gardaí when necessary and its visible presence and regular patrols have had a positive effect deterring drug dealing and other anti-social activity,” they said. Ó Meachair said that he is reserving judgment on the idea, for now. When the council trialled patrols to stop tourists from groping the Molly Malone statue, it didn’t really work, he said. But “I’m willing to see a trial of it, and I would like to see it go well.” Meanwhile, the guards have tried to be present more around Bridgefoot Street Park in the last few months, he said, to discourage drug dealing. But “if it moves out of Bridgefoot Street Park, it’ll go somewhere else,” he said. Residents around Bridgefoot Street deserve some respite though, he said. Cullen-Doyle, and others, though still stress the importance of more activities to invite people into the park. The best way of curbing anti-social behaviour is having pro-social behaviour, said Moriarty, the Labour councillor. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080452-1.JPG) On Thursday, there were neat rows of potato plants and lime-green baby strawberries and purple-topped chives in the corner of the park given over to the Taplin Field’s community garden. There were also posters still up for last September’s free fitness classes on poles. Sands, who was passing through, says that there are people in the community who work to get things happening into the park. She too brings people into the park. She runs playful walking tours, she said, of green spaces in the area, for grown-ups and kids called “Our People, Our Parks, Our Past”. They often start on Bridgefoot Street, she says. As she sees it, reopening the playground would change a lot in getting the space busy again, she says. Indeed, “shutting the playground that length of time is an absolute disgrace,” said Cullen Doyle. “And now we’re coming into the summer.” Ensuring that the park thrives won’t happen overnight, says Ó Meachair, the councillor. It requires the Gardaí, and youth intervention, and the council to play a role too, he said. “It needs more multi-agency engagement on this.” ### Short-term contracts and low pay are making careers in animation unsustainable, says union URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/short-term-contracts-and-low-pay-are-making-careers-in-animation-unsustainable-says-union/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T14:35:03.000Z Gregory Wayne said that in his first job as an animator, he was asked to register as self-employed so he could be paid as a freelancer. The job only lasted a few weeks, he said. Afterwards, he struggled to access social welfare because he was registered as self-employed, he said. A recent whiparound survey of members by the union Animation Workers of Ireland found that this kind of precarity is a widespread problem. “It’s extremely rare to be permanent,” said Wayne, the area co-ordinator of Animation Workers of Ireland, on a recent video call. Many artists in the animation industry in Dublin can’t plan their lives or get mortgages because of the short-term contracts in the sector and few permanent posts, say union representatives. “Getting into this industry was a dream come true,” wrote an animation artist, in one survey response. “Now with its short contracts and sporadic employment, it's basically impossible to buy a house and start a family.” That echoes findings in a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28132849-animation-report-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) commissioned by the industry group Animation Ireland, published in 2025: *Ireland’s Animation Industry: Workplace Demographics.* For that report, animation studios were surveyed, and 74 percent of respondents “agreed that job stability is the greatest concern for people working in the sector”. Meanwhile, despite increases in the cost of living in recent years, many workers have not seen pay increases, say union representatives. In 2024, only half of the studios increased salaries, said the report, *Ireland’s Animation Industry.* So, half didn’t. Animation Ireland, a representative group for the industry, which published the report, said it couldn’t answer questions on behalf of the sector. “Animation Ireland is a trade representative organisation,” said CEO Ronan McCabe. “Our role is to advocate for the animation industry on policy matters both nationally and at EU level.” He suggested asking individual studios about employment arrangements. Several large animation studios also didn’t respond to queries in time for publication. Meanwhile, animators already struggling with precarity and low pay also now face the looming threat of AI – [expected to take a](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28139532-ai-advisory-council-impact-of-ai-on-ireland-s-creative-sector/?ref=dublininquirer.com) significant toll on the creative sector. ## **Precarious working and layoffs** Elisa Beli Borrelli, representative for Dublin at the Animation Workers of Ireland, says that regardless of how talented or experienced an animator is, they could face unemployment at the end of their current contract. That’s because the number of jobs in the industry is contracting, they said. It's common for people to move abroad for an eight-month contract and people from other countries could come here for an eight-month contract, they say. “It's kind of rare to work for a studio solidly without a contract finishing,” says Cora McKenna, another union member. Figures in the industry report on demographics suggest the animation workforce is young. Many studios didn’t answer questions about ages, but for those that did, only 17 percent of staff were aged over 45\. Union representatives say this is likely because of the precarious nature of the work and low pay, which makes it unrealistic as a long-term career. One of the biggest problems with working contract-to-contract is that you cannot get a mortgage. For those with a partner, it can mean feeling their career choices are holding them both back. “It's not sustainable”, says Beli Borelli. “The reality is it's really hard to get a mortgage when you're laid off for X months every year.” Some small studios are genuinely struggling to survive from project to project, they say – but there are also larger profitable studios which, they feel, could provide better job security if they wanted to. ## **Real value of wages** Another side of the precarity comes from chopping and changing pay, said Wayne. From one contract to the next, somebody can move between similar roles in the same studio but on a lower salary, he said. “It's not uncommon for salaries to fluctuate project to project, and many studios will attempt to get people to sign onto lower wages between productions even if they are working there continuously,” he says. Wayne says that in the studio where he works he makes €32,500 as a background artist, while a grade up – a key background artist – makes €34,500\. But living costs are growing. Not only is the real value of wages declining, say the union reps, but gross pay can also go down not up. Sometimes salaries decline because people have to accept less senior positions to stay in work, says Séan Nolan, the union's sub representative for Dublin, by email. “They can't see work of their current level coming down the line,” he said. Often contracts change every six months, he said, so many people are working at a level below their capability. “That results in workers facing an uphill battle as they fight to maintain their deserved pay,” he said, “let alone negotiate raises as someone progressing through their career would expect to see.” ## **Still, burning out** On paper, many studios have policies that say you shouldn’t work overtime, but in reality there is pressure to meet deadlines, union representatives also say. Workers often do unpaid overtime to meet those deadlines, they say. In severe cases, workers are pushed to burnout, says Beli Borelli. They joined the union when they worked in a studio where a senior management mistake led to workers being placed under massive strain to meet impossible deadlines. People had to work late and work through breaks. “Depending on your role you had to book five minutes to go to the toilet,” they say. Some workers were seriously stressed. “Some of them were genuinely psychologically distressed and close to breaking point,” they say. “All because of making cartoons.” In that job workers who were burned out were laid off and then went on to be successful in other companies, says Beli Borelli. “If only there was better upper management.” ## **Looking to the future?** The impact of artificial intelligence is likely to erode employment opportunities further, even if it hasn’t kicked in yet, said McKenna. “The tools aren’t advanced enough yet, but some studios are investing,” McKenna said. Many artists won’t be happy to find their drawings fed into AI, she said, but that isn’t something they can control. The studio owns the copyright. “Its not your drawing anymore, they own your drawings,” says Eoghan Sellier, the union's representative for Kilkenny. In the meantime, the union is pushing to ensure that all contracts are fair and legal and calling on workers to get in touch. “The union can read your contracts and help you out,” says Beli Borelli. Sellier says that the reliance of Irish studios on American streaming services for work is also a problem. He would like to see the sector booming with more internal funding, he said. “We need to nurture the talent pool we have. We have people coming from all over the world to work here.” Beli Borelli says the industry is so insecure that some animators have trained as tattoo artists, as a fall-back. “I learned how to tattoo in case I get laid off. I'm not kidding.” ### Things To Do: Unpack the Fingal seaweed war, debate the golden age of the Irish short story, swim operatically URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-unpack-the-fingal-seaweed-war-debate-the-golden-age-of-the-irish-short-story-swim-operatically/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:47:22.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* ***The Swimming Diaries*** This evening at 6:15pm, the Irish Film Institute will be holding a special screening of the experimental documentary *The Swimming Diaries*. Showing as part of the cinema’s Irish Focus series, the documentary is an adaptation of director Susan Thomson’s memoir of the same title. The book, penned during the month when Thomson’s mother was dying, is a reflection on grief and swimming, and the cinematic re-imagination brings those pages to life through musical theatre, opera and the video archive of musicals directed by Thomson’s mother. The IFI has described it as “a feminist exploration of matrilineal creativity” which traces one’s journey from life to death. To offer further insight, Thomson will be in attendance to discuss the work with Daniel Fitzpatrick, director and co-founder of the experimental film platform *aemi*. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/irish-focus-the-swimming-diaries-qa/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Silent Light*** Also this evening, the Olivier Cornet Gallery on Denmark Street is launching *Silent Light*, the new exhibition by artist Conrad Frankel. Frankel’s fifth solo show, *Silent Light* is the culmination of five months that the artist spent in two “north-lit rooms”, one in Italy, the other in Ireland, where he observed and painted objects mostly in the afternoon and evening time. 3pm tended to be the best time for concentrating in a more restful way, Frankel writes in his artistic statement. “Somehow, the light has matured and muted after lunch, and I can relax into a long painting session.” The works on show are about the paint, the brushes and the surfaces, as much as they are about looking. They don’t have any meaning, he says. “They are only there to be enjoyed, for people to rest their eyes on, as I have been doing during the process of creation.” If you’re up for simply enjoying art that is inspired by good lighting and a solid daily routine, then your best bet is to head on over at 6pm. The exhibition will be introduced by Irish Times critic Max McGuinness. *Silent Light* runs from Thursday 21 May until Sunday 14 June. ***W(o)ar*** Out in Loughshinny’s boathouse on Saturday, multidisciplinary artist Maria McSweeney will be opening her studio to the public from 12pm. *W(o)ar* is an open studio event, in which McSweeney will be presenting works that explore the cultural history and speculative futures of seaweed in Fingal, referencing the seaweed wars of the 1800s and contemporary seaweed aquaculture. If it is news to you that there was a seaweed war in Fingal, don’t fret. Even this reporter – a Fingal correspondent no less – has only just learned of this historic event. According to [Rush Tourism](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=478036770782128), in 1878, farmers in Rush travelled to Skerries to get seaweed, known locally as “woar”, to fertilise their crops but a local landlord, Ian Hamilton, tried to stop them, thus kick-starting a 20-year legal battle. As part of the open day, Lorraine Bull, Fingal’s biodiversity officer, will be hosting a walking tour, starting at 12pm. *W(o)ar* will continue until 5pm. For more information, follow McSweeney on her Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/mariamcs%5F%5Fphotography/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***333* at the Devlin** Way out in Ranelagh, the music and food festival *333* is returning to the Devlin Hotel this Saturday. From the basement to the roof, there will be film screenings, talks, DJs and live performances between 3pm and midnight, at which point the people who booked rooms will regrettably need to be prioritised once again. Among the highlights on this year’s bill are live sets from electronic artist Pippa Moloney and sound artist Brian Dillon, otherwise known as The Line; a talk featuring producer Rory Sweeney, rapper Denise Chaila, DJ and artist Aidan Kelly, and DJ Aoife Nic Canna; DJ sets from Andy Bell of shoegaze pioneers Ride and Bohemian FC sponsor Oasis, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, Billy Scurry, Emmy Shigeta, Nic Canna and Nialler9. There are still a few tickets left. You may book them [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/333-festival-by-arveene-x-the-devlin-tickets-1984967269537?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Is this a Golden Age for Irish short stories?** On Sunday, the International Literature Festival in Merrion Square will be wrapping up, and one event that may be worth checking out on the final day is the panel discussion: “Is this the golden age of the Irish short story?” Presumably the answer is “yes”. But the real thrill is in hearing the panel elaborate on this statement in a detailed and eloquent fashion. Authors Lucy Sweeney Byrne, Eoin McNamee and Lucy Caldwell will be speaking with Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing Christopher Morash on whether or not this is the short story’s apex, and they will be reflecting on why the short has outlived predictions of its demise. That is at 1pm, and you can book your tickets [here](https://ilfdublin.com/whats-on/festival/type/conversations/is-this-a-golden-age-for-irish-short-stories-lucy-sweeney-byrne-eoin-mcnamee-lucy-caldwell/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then, if you return to the square at 7pm, Colm Tóibín will be speaking with journalist Alex Clark on the subject of his latest collection of short stories, *The News from Dublin*. *The News from Dublin* explores the lives of characters living far from their homes: an Irishman seeking anonymity in Barcelona, haunted by the crimes he has committed; a young man who travels from Dublin to Enniscorthy to ask the Minister of Health for a special favour; an undocumented worker in San Francisco; and many more. You’ll be able to quiz Tóibín on the book and the status of the Irish short story during the Q&A session at the end of his conversation with Clark. And remember; all questions should be short, punctuated with a question mark, and should not contain an extended extract from your own autobiography. Tickets are available [here](https://ilfdublin.com/whats-on/festival/type/conversations/the-news-from-dublin-colm-toibin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Celebrating Bealtaine** Finally, on Tuesday, the North Central area’s historian-in-residence Elizabeth Kehoe will be giving a talk in Coolock library as part of the Bealtaine Festival. The talk, which starts at 2pm, will see Kehoe explore the myths and legends that surround the festival, as well as its pagan heritage. Places for the talk are limited, and booking is required. Reserve a seat [here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=25112345&ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert [like the one](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-search-for-ufos-admire-the-vampires-reluctantly-return-to-the-golden-age-of-hong-kong-cinema/) in this previous newsletter, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Aungier Street Community Focus Group** On Friday 22 May from 11am to 1pm, the YMCA Dublin would like to invite local residents in the D2 and D8 area to chat about the strengths, struggles and future possibilities of community-led services in the South Inner City. The event will take place in the hall on the second floor of the YMCA. For more information and to reserve a spot, visit the event’s page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/aungier-street-community-focus-group-tickets-1989461268208?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Lord Arthur Savile's Crime*** Dublin Shakespeare Society will be putting on a production of Oscar Wilde’s *Lord Arthur Savile's Crime* at The Teacher's Club on Parnell Square in Dublin 1 next week. Opening night is Tuesday 26 May, and the dark comedy will run nightly at 7pm and 9pm in the club until Saturday 30 May. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-tickets-1988962001889?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Luke Kelly Festival in Smithfield this weekend** This weekend, Smithfield Square will come alive as Dublin City Council brings back its Like Kelly Festival for a fourth year. Beginning at 12pm on Saturday 23 May, the two-day event has a programme of live music, storytelling, film, arts, and family-friendly entertainment, including performances from Gemma Dunleavy, A Lazarus Soul, Muireann Bradley and the Dubliners Encore. For more information, visit the festival’s page [here.](https://dublin.ie/whats-on/listings/luke-kelly-festival/?ref=dublininquirer.com) If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Still hurt by Bertie Ahern singling out Congolese people, loss of a community member opened a fresh wound, they say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/still-hurt-by-bertie-ahern-singling-out-congolese-people-loss-of-a-community-member-opened-a-fresh-wound-they-say/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:47:12.000Z It reminded him of [George Floyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George%5FFloyd?ref=dublininquirer.com), pinned to the ground and dying under the knee of a cop on the streets of Minneapolis, said Jude Hughes, a Black Irish community activist. “It’s literally George Floyd on the streets of Dublin. I can’t believe that scene and that guy with his knee on his neck,” he said, in a Zoom meeting on Monday night. The emergency meeting was organised by the Africa Centre for Black people across the country to come together and process their feelings about what had happened on Friday – and strategise on how to respond. More than 100 people had joined. On Friday, Yves Sakila was pinned to the ground on Henry Street by a few men, a video circulated on social media showed. At one point, one of them, an older man in a black suit, throws himself onto his neck and pushes down with his right knee. A few seconds later, he removes his knee, but keeps pressing on his neck with his hands. Someone else is pinning his head to the ground. Other men press on his body. You can hear Sakila grunting and moaning amidst the chatter of the passersby. By the end of it, he seemed unconscious. He was later pronounced dead. Gardaí [has said](https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0519/1574115-yves-sakila-death/?ref=dublininquirer.com) there will be a post-mortem to officially determine the cause of his death. That would aid its criminal probe, too, they have said. Sakila is accused of stealing from the nearby Arnotts store. If convicted, he could have faced jail time – but there is no death penalty in Ireland. It later emerged that he was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At the meeting on Monday night, attendees said how hurtful it was that he’d died like that. It has come at an already distressing time, not long after former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Bertie Ahern [singled out](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0515/1573548-bertie-ahern/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Congolese people, but also Africans in general – during a bye-election canvas – as the group of immigrants who worry him the most. His comments were captured on video. He later walked back his remarks, but also said, “It’s a sad day if you’re jumped on for talking about immigration,” according to the *Irish Independent*. Of course, the guys pressing on Sakila’s neck didn't know he was born in the DRC. “Your average person on the street, who is not African, does not know the difference between a Ghanaian and a Kenyan. All they see is a Black person,” said Yemi Adenuga, a Fine Gael councilor at Meath County Council – and Ireland’s first Black woman elected to public office. Still, it hurts so much, said Kembetia Bissa of Congolese Community in Ireland (CCI). But what had happened to “our brother”, he said, offers an opportunity for togetherness and solidarity amongst not just Black people who were and weren’t born here, but all immigrants, to push back against hate. “Fight this together,” said Bissa. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Flowers-at-the-site-of-Sakila-s-death.jpg) Flowers at the vigil for Yves Sakila. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. ## The reality of now At the meeting on Monday night, people agreed to lay flowers on the spot where Sakila died on Tuesday noon, and gather outside Leinster House on Thursday. To hold a press conference and talk to TDs. On Tuesday at noon, Arnotts had shuttered its Henry Street entrance. “As a mark of respect these doors will remain closed this afternoon,” read a paper attached to the door. Its entrance on Abbey Street was open. A tall Black guy was chatting to a cop in leather trousers just before the vigil began, saying how he’s never seen something so upsetting in his 30 years here. The officer bobbed his head, gazed down and pressed his lips into a line. Dublin Central by-election candidates – the Labour Party’s Ruth O’Dea and People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin – turned up. Former People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith hugged a bouquet of flowers. Reporters clustered around the spot where people laid flowers. One of them kept asking what Sakila was like, and was told that he was “nice”. At one point, a woman, his stepmother, – said Africa Centre’s Lassane Ouedraogo later – crumbled at the site of his death, on the flag of the DRC, crying with anguish. She spoke mostly in French. But she said “Why? Why?” in English, sobbing. Shane O’Curry, director of the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR), who’d come to the vigil, said he was troubled by reports that the guards had still put handcuffs on Sakila, even though it seems he was unconscious by the time they arrived. ## The weight of words Meanwhile, anti-immigrant groups are already demonising Sakila, underlining that he had been homeless and that he had stolen before. In his book, *Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News*, American civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis writes that petty crime like retail theft is commonly weaponised to justify violence towards ordinary people, “and promote punishment as a solution”. Instead of focusing on better investment to address “poverty, lack of affordable housing and healthcare”, he wrote. Sakila’s social media suggests he'd been repairing laptops and phones as a job at one point. At the meeting on Monday night, Bissa of CCI said he’s been troubled by the racist rhetoric amplified and growing in recent years. And the comment by Ahern, the former Taoiseach, was a reflection of how normalised that kind of talk has become. He worries about that a lot, he said. Nothing can bring back Sakila, Bissa said, and he and his community will fight for justice. In a press release, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) called for “swift, thorough and transparent investigations by An Garda Síochána and Fiosrú to establish what happened, ensure justice is done for Mr Sakila and maintain the confidence of ethnic minority communities”. More than anything, though, Sakila’s death should give rise to a greater sense of solidarity and organising among immigrants to push back against hate, said Bissa, of CCI. “This time we want to organise as one voice, one community,” he said. Adenuga, the Fine Gael councillor, who hosted the Zoommeeting on Monday evening, said it is time to build a lasting support network and be there for one another, rather than just pulling together at times of unbearable loss. “I cannot tell you how much I cried watching that video,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/At-the-vigil-for-Yves-Sakila-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg) At the vigil for Yves Sakila. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. ### Council has been paying €285,000 a year for three empty warehouse units, plus parking URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-has-been-paying-eur285-000-a-year-for-three-spaces-plus-parking/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:47:02.000Z Dublin City Council has been paying about €285,000 a year for three empty warehouse units, plus parking, in a north Dublin business park, councillors heard on Monday. The council’s housing department was using them as depots – a paint depot, a steel depot, and a fleece depot – council senior valuer Helen Geoghegan told them. But “all these depots have all relocated so these buildings are lying there empty”, Geoghegan said, at a meeting of the council’s North Central Area Committee. So Geoghegan asked the councillors to approve [a plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28133941-surrender-of-leases-n4-m4-and-m5-north-ring-business-park-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the council to pay €859,000 to break the leases on these left-behind spaces at the North Ring Business Park, pay for damages and deterioration (“dilapidations”), and walk away. “These are massive amounts of money,” said independent Councillor Kevin Breen, after hearing about that plan at the meeting. “We’ve so little,” said Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney. “We just heard about how little we have for the resurfacing of roads, and how stretched we are for any money.” Indeed, a previous item on the same meeting’s agenda was the area office’s [programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28133955-north-central-area-roads-programme-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for resurfacing roads and fixing footpaths in its part of the city. One by one, councillors made their pitches to council managers for works they thought were really important across the north-east part of the city. “Do we have any further budget? The answer is no,” executive engineer Ronan Connolly said. “Particularly in the current climate with the prices. In the end, councillors declined to pass the report on surrendering the leases onwards to the next monthly meeting of the full 63-member council – yet. “I want a standalone meeting,” said the committee chair, Fianna Fáíl Councillor Daryl Barron, to dig further into the issue. Cooney, the Green Party councillor, also questioned whether there is a bigger issue with the council paying for spaces it’s not using – pointing to a similar situation at the closed Coolock Swimming pool. “We can’t be making these mistakes and entering into long-term leases where this, you know – and then having to fork out money for nothing,” she said. “We just don’t have it, to be wasting.” ## Relocations One of the projects of the previous chief executive of Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan, was to consolidate lots of little council depots all over the city into two big new ones. Back in 2018, the council [had 33 of these smaller depots](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-suggests-selling-off-some-land-to-fund-super-depots/), which 1,400 council workers used as bases to run the city – whether overseeing road maintenance, waste management, public lighting, or other services that keep Dublin ticking. Keegan’s [plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28135048-report-no-1612018-of-the-chief-executive-o-keegan-proposed-consolidation-of-the-city-council/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was to merge most of these down to two “super depots”: one near Ikea on the north side, and another on Marrowbone Lane in the Liberties on the south side. This would provide staff with more modern facilities, create efficiencies, eliminate duplications, allow the council to sell off sites to raise funds, and free up land to build housing on, he said at the time. Under Keegan, the council built the northside super depot, formally the North City Operations Depot (NCOD). It cost more than €74 million, and [opened in June 2023](https://web.archive.org/web/20230628200254/https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-opens-new-north-city-operations-depot). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/One-of-the-buildings-at-the-council-s-North-City-Operations-Depot-campus.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.jpg) One of the buildings at the council's North City Operations Depot campus. Photo by Sam Tranum. The three housing maintenance depots – for paint, steel and fleece – relocated about 2km west to the NCOD, leaving those spaces at the North Ring Business Park. Keegan [retired in September 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-hasnt-owen-keegans-replacement-been-chosen-yet/), and Richard Shakespeare, his deputy, took over as the new chief executive of the city council. The council has not built the South City Operations Depot on Marrowbone Lane. A version of it is [still in the works](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28135047-appendix-a/?ref=dublininquirer.com), but community campaigners and councillors pushed for the council to build a sports pitch on the site first – a project it appears to be [moving forward on](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-the-council-inches-towards-construction-of-a-full-sized-sports-pitch/). Meanwhile, Shakespeare has started his own major council infrastructure project, this year spending [€104 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/) to buy the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street as part of a plan to build a [new headquarters for the council](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/new-hq-for-dcc/) there. The council is still working on a plan for what might become of its current headquarters on Wood Quay, once it transfers its staff to the planned new offices. ## Vacancies It’s not clear how long the spaces at the North Ring Business Park have lain vacant after their staff and functions were transferred to the new super depot. A June 2023 council [statement](https://web.archive.org/web/20230628200254/https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-opens-new-north-city-operations-depot) about the opening of the NCOD said it brought together “operations from” departments including housing maintenance. But the council has not yet responded to queries sent Monday asking when exactly these particular housing maintenance depots made the move, and how much rent it has paid on the North Ring Business Park units since they left. “The three units were no longer required from the housing department we were asked to assign them, they did not want us to get any other department to use them,” Geoghegan said at the committee meeting on Monday. But the council couldn’t get anyone to take over the leases, she said. “We’ve been paying rent with no one in these units for some time I believe,” she said. So the next option was to surrender the leases, and that – according to the council’s lease, came with penalties of about €385,000, she said. Then there’s the question of the “dilapidations”, the cost of repairing damage or deterioration of the spaces over the 20 years or so the housing department had them. The landlord, M7 Real Estate, wanted about €622,000 for that, but on behalf of the council property firm CBRE negotiated that down to about €475,000, Geoghegan said. So, to walk away, the council will need to pay the break fees, as well as the dilapidations, a total of about €859,000. ## Councillors’ concerns Is that really the best option? councillors at the meeting asked. One way or another the council is going to have to pay for the wear and tear on the units, the dilapidations, Geoghegan said. If it doesn’t pay the break fee and leave, it’s also going to have to pay the rent for the remaining three and a half years on the lease, she said. “Which means that we were going to have to pay, in rent, close to €1 million, and then the dilapidations on top of this,” she said. If the council wants to avoid that, it has to pay the €385,000 in break fees, she said. How did the council get itself in this situation? independent Councillor John Lyons asked. Why wasn’t the move to the NCOD handled in a way that didn’t leave these units sitting empty with the council still paying for them? he asked. “I just would have thought that would have been factored in as part of the transition and consolidation,” he said. Geoghegan, from the City Valuer’s Office, directed these kinds of questions to a different council department. “With regards to how they were managed, they are all questions for the housing department, I can’t really help you there,” she said. What if there’s a third option, other than breaking the leases or continuing to pay but leaving the spaces empty, suggested Cooney, the Green Party councillor. “Has it been put before the arts and culture as a possible use? Has it been looked at for sports?” she asked. “Are there other things we could do with it rather than paying out a lease and getting nothing in return for it?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/image.png) Councillors and council staff at Monday's meeting of the North Central Area Committee. ## A bigger issue? Cooney also questioned whether there is a bigger issue with the council paying for properties it’s no longer using. “What are the learnings?” she asked. “Because it seems to be the same with the swimming pool in the Northside \[Shopping Centre\] that we’re left with a lease that we still can’t get out of.” When the roof of the Coolock Swimming Pool, atop the shopping centre, was badly damaged in December 2024 by Storm Darragh, the council was forced to close it down. Barron, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said in March that the council remained locked into a lease with the landlords there. And, in fact, the council [put out a tender](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-still-paying-for-upkeep-of-coolock-swimming-pool-it-has-closed-and-likely-never-intends-to-use-again/), in January with an estimated value of €130,000, to fix the roof – even though it appears it will never reopen the pool. How much longer does the council’s lease on the space run? And how much is it paying for the un-used space in the meantime? “The amount of rent paid by Dublin City Council is €88,000 per annum,” a council spokesperson said. “No further comments will be made on Coolock Pool.” The council has not yet responded to a query sent Monday asking whether it has a list of properties it is paying to lease, but is not using. ### Bit of land chosen for Balbriggan swimming platform has been swept away in storms URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/bit-of-land-chosen-for-balbriggan-swimming-platform-has-been-swept-away-in-storms/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:46:50.000Z Steel fencing cordoned off nine spaces in the car park beside Balbriggan’s Martello tower on Monday morning. Fingal County Council had erected them to block off what was left of a small grassy ledge overlooking the northern end of the beach, a sizeable chunk of which had collapsed. The small cliff fell into the water during a spate of stormy weather back [in February](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-an-effort-to-bring-anti-beach-grass-campaigners-into-the-fold/). Unfortunately, this is exactly the spot where a swimming platform that Fingal County Council had been planning was to connect to the headland, said Declan Ryan, a Fingal senior executive officer, at a meeting of the council’s Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee on Thursday. “So this does cause a problem for us with this particular project,” said Ryan, who works in the council’s Economic, Community and Cultural Development Section. They have spent a lot of time gaining expertise and consulting local groups, he said. “I suppose now we are at a little bit of an impasse.” In [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28134728-councillor-t-murphy-swimming-platform-balbriggan-beachfront-ai108370a/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the meeting, independent Councillor Tony Murphy suggested the council look again at how to build a swimming platform at the spot, but one that could serve a dual purpose as a coastal defence against erosion too. ## Concrete action The bit of coast next to the Martello tower is the perfect site for a swimming platform, says John Moore, chairperson of the Balbriggan Amenities for Sea Swimmers group. “It has enough water there to swim and it wouldn't be tidal,” he said on Tuesday. “If you want to swim off the front beach, you pretty much need to go down at high tide.” Plus, a concrete platform could protect that stretch of the coast from erosion, said Murphy, the independent councillor, on Monday afternoon. “You’re gonna have to do something anyway. They can’t just leave the bank as it is.” This was “an area which used to contain about 40 car parking spaces which has now become dangerous”, he’d said at the meeting. A feasibility study for developing a swimming platform in Balbriggan was carried out by Langan Engineers, Ryan, the Fingal senior executive officer, wrote in response to Murphy’s motion at the meeting on Thursday. But it did not assess whether this could have a coastal protection function, Ryan said. “This study is available to the Operations & Strategic Infrastructure Departments, within whose remit coastal protection resides.” “I have no remit for erosion per se,” he said. ## Still feasible The swimming platform project has been through the design and feasibility phases, Ryan said. Almost four years ago, the council allocated €50,000 to carry out a feasibility study that would look at whether to build a tidal pool on the coastline beside the Martello tower, according to a council press release [from August 2022](https://www.fingal.ie/news/new-funding-help-boost-outdoor-activities-fingal?ref=dublininquirer.com). The feasibility study was published in the summer of 2023, says Moore of the Balbriggan Amenities for Sea Swimmers. “It had a fantastic tidal pool and also a swim platform.” In January 2024, Ryan told the area committee that they would need a second consultation report and a foreshore licence, estimating at the time that such a facility would take between five and seven years to deliver. But, when the council’s local rejuvenation project, Our Balbriggan, published its plan for [2025 to 2030](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28133984-05-our-balbriggan-rejuvenation-plan-2025-2030-200x287mm/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in May 2025, it said an early-stage concept design had been completed for only a swimming platform area **–** not the tidal pool. The general area where this platform could be developed has been affected by the stormy weather from earlier this year, however, Ryan said on Thursday. “I suppose, in its simplest form, the swimming platform would not require a redesign or a repositioning per se.” But the access path down to the platform would need to be reassessed because the piece of headland where that connection was intended is no longer there, he said. They were stuck right now, he said. “So I look forward to basically seeing where this goes if there are any solutions that would suit all our needs with regards to delivering these type of projects, this type of project in particular.” The design is going to have to change here, Murphy says. But, more broadly with climate change affecting the whole coastal area, the council will need to step up the amount of funding that it is putting into protecting its coastal area, he said. “In the meantime, if there’s a public amenity that we can actually deliver on that, sure that’s a win-win for everybody,” he said. ### In Drimnagh, Bosco youth centre looks for ways to expand to meet growing needs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-drimnagh-bosco-youth-centre-looks-for-ways-to-expand-to-meet-growing-needs/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T22:46:39.000Z As Patricia Ryan strolled through thecorridors and rooms of Saint John Bosco Youth Centre in Drimnagh, it quickly became apparent that the building does even more than the name suggests. Ryan, the liaison officer of the local community network Dynamic Drimnagh, proudly pointed out their podcast and recording studio, and a large, colourful mural depicting different users of the centre. “The youth did that,” she said. As she climbed a small stairs into the main body of the building, she pointed to one doorway, saying until late last year, the Philippine Embassy’s outreach operated out of there. Walking down one of the centre’s many corridors, she greeted a tall man in a black tracksuit as he pushed a bike through a set of double doors. Inside, there were rows of gym equipment, benches for weightlifting and treadmills. The gym is open from 5.30am until 9pm seven days a week, and funds about 30 percent of the centre’s general running costs, she said. Then, she entered an echoey hall with shiny wooden floors. Many groups used this room as a space to hold masses, she said. “They will be here over the weekend; Friday, Saturday, Sunday, because there is little space elsewhere.” This was a part of the original building which was built in 1946, she said. “Everything is block, and there’s very little insulation.” It’s an old building, she says, as she continues the tour, pointing out damp spots in the roof. “We’re getting to that point where: will it be viable in the next ten years?” The building is going to require renovations to bring it up to modern standards, says Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne. “And there isn’t a proper community facility that could include the youth services, and indeed services for all the community.” One of the many challenges, though, would be keeping services going as they build a new place. Local councillors and members of Dynamic Drimnagh approached the Dublin City Council officials in late April to propose a land swap. The group, which works with the centre, suggested that they take over a council depot site just down the road where the council plans to build 70 homes, Dunne says. Although the council deemed this idea premature – the depot is still a functional facility – they have agreed to support a feasibility study to decide on the best possible outcome for the centre, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. That report is expected to be completed within a year, they said. ## Super depots and housing projects At the council’s South East Area Committee meeting on 11 May, Dunne, the councillor, told chief executive Richard Shakespeare that St John Bosco’s needed a bigger, modern facility to cater for Drimnagh’s growing population. The centre’s board have said before that they were willing to offer the council a land swap for the current site next to the Luas stop once they could transfer their remaining 150 year lease, Dunne said in a [written question to the executive](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28134192-replies-without-details-may-2026-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Can a feasibility study be arranged to look at this possibility?” he asked. Dunne’s question pointed to the council-owned waste management depot, just 600 metres away, also on the Davitt Road. A swap could help create a new civic and sports centre on the current youth centre site, Dynamic Drimnagh’s submission to the council’s development plan for [2022 to 2028 says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28135113-dynamic-drimnagh-plan-2030-dcc-development-plan-2022-2028-2/?q=depot&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p46). “The new centre could also have a bigger community creche, senior facilities and could be used for music and art facilities which are currently lacking in Drimnagh,” it says. The Davitt Road depot site, according to [the council’s May 2026](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28134383-south-east-area-11th-may/?ref=dublininquirer.com) housing delivery report for the South East Area, is earmarked for the development of 70 homes. But, the report also notes that the date of completion for these remains to be confirmed, nor does it specify whether the council or an approved housing body will lead the delivery of this project. However, at the moment, the depot is both fully operational and required for the council’s operation needs, Ruth Dowling, the council’s executive manager for Housing Management, said in a written response to Dunne’s query. These lands had been flagged as suitable for housing when work was done [in 2018](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-suggests-selling-off-some-land-to-fund-super-depots/) towards consolidating many of the council’s smaller depots into two “super depots”, she said. The idea was for the northern part of the city to get one, and the south would get another. But the South City Operations Consolidated Depot project in Marrowbone Lane has changed significantly since then, she said. [There’s a pitch planned](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-the-council-inches-towards-construction-of-a-full-sized-sports-pitch/) for part of that site now, and a depot on the rest of it – although decisions around what operations will be run out of that new depot haven’t been made. For the Davitt Road lands to be developed for housing, the waste management depot there would either need to re-locate to a consolidated depot on Marrowbone Lane, or an alternative location, she said. ## What is feasible The original idea for a land swap probably isn’t viable, and the centre’s board need to re-consider their options, said Ryan. They could rebuild on this existing site, she says. “But if that’s the case, you lose your services for two years. So what do you do?” Even without a feasibility study, they know the area needs a bigger community centre, she says. They aren’t looking for something as major as the civic centre over in Ballyfermot, she says. “We’re looking for something on this plot of land that could maybe go up three storeys.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Patricia-Ryan-in-St-John-Boscos-source-Michael-Lanigan.jpg) Patricia Ryan in the Saint John Bosco Youth Centre. Photo by Michael Lanigan. On 27 April, council officials from both the South East and South Central areas met with local councillors and representatives of Dynamic Drimnagh to discuss the Bosco, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. It was agreed, during the meeting, that the council would support a feasibility study, they said. Dowling, in her response to Dunne at the area committee meeting on 11 May, said this study would examine potential locations, funding, demand, needs, multi-purpose usage, future demographics and overall financial viability. ## Support facility Ryan climbs up a staircase and enters a spacious room which is used for Dynamic Drimnagh meetings, she says. “Board meetings, whatever.” She strides across the room to a set of windows that face west across a vacant, slightly overgrown site with some shipping containers. There are only some gulls there, all of whom are facing south as they rest until a fox and its cub slink across the yard, prompting the birds to scatter. All of that land is owned by the Health Service Executive (HSE), she says. The HSE has plans to turn the campus into a facility for outpatients and diagnostics, as well as an acute mental health inpatient unit, according to their [2026 Capital Plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28134745-hse-capital-plan-2026/?q=davitt&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p64). The project is currently at the detailed design stage, the plan says. The community centre here could play a vital role in supporting that facility, she says. “Knowing that you have a gym here, they could do a referral service for physio, particularly with the likes of COPD \[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease\] projects, and cardiovascular and just general fitness.” “But, in terms of the community space, we’re restricted with this particular space,” she says. *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 12.39 on 20 May 2026, to reflect that the gym funds about 30 percent of the centre's general running costs, not 60 percent. Apologies for the error.* ### In Ballymun, locals rally to save Axis café, but the figures look grim URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-locals-rally-to-save-axis-cafe-but-the-figures-look-grim/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:10:57.000Z “This is my second home,” says John Jervis, sitting in his usual seat in the café in Ballymun’s Axis – the beloved local arts and community centre. Every morning, he says, his daughter picks him up after the school run and brings him to the café where he has his breakie. He has mobility issues, he says, so this is his social outlet for the day. He has gotten to know the café staff over the years, he says. They look after him, they ask him how he is, they cheer him up, he says. It’s Wednesday morning, and while a lot of familiar faces are bustling about, things have changed. The space is open, but, as of last Thursday, the kitchen is closed. Dozens of regular customers have gathered to speak to Axis management, to understand what has happened, and get a handle on how dire the situation is. The closure came as a total shock to staff and customers, says Erica Kiernan, who organised the gathering. Some in the crowd have brought coffees and teas from the nearby Centra with them. Others have brought a loaf of batch bread and are making up sandwiches. Suddenly, the crowd erupts in a rousing cheer. It is for Linda Fleming, one of the longtime staff, who had just appeared, having left a meeting with management. With her came Declan Dunne, the voluntary chair of the Axis board, and Sorcha Keane, the director/CEO. The financial news is not great, says Dunne. The café has been operating at a significant financial loss for several years, and that can’t continue, he says. Last year, the Axis experienced an overall loss of around €200,000, Keane said by phone on Thursday. “The café is the lion’s share of that.” On Monday, a spokesperson for the Axis said by email that the café has been “impacted by rising operational costs, including utilities and insurance, alongside ongoing cost-of-living pressures affecting customer spending”. A loss of €200,000 would be a significant deterioration of the finances of the charity that runs Axis compared to 2024, the last year for which accounts are available [on the Axis website](https://www.axisballymun.ie/new-page?ref=dublininquirer.com) and via the [Charities Regulator](https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities/sonra%C3%AD-carthanachta/?srchstr=ballymun%20arts®id=20046248&ref=dublininquirer.com), which show a loss of €8,463 on income of €2.5 million. Those [accounts](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28124470-ballymunartsandcommunityresourcecentreclgtrusteesreportandfs1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show café and bar sales of €130,077, but they don’t show how much it cost to run the café, so it’s not possible to see how much of a surplus or loss it was making at that time. ## **Frustrations and fears** A frustration voiced by many among the crowd at the café on Wednesday morning was that nobody had heard the amenity had been in trouble until Thursday lunchtime. “It's a community space, but we weren't told about it as a community,” said Kiernan, addressing Dunne and Keane. Regulars saw the staff called out from behind the kitchen on Thursday to the office, and then leaving soon after, shutting the café early. “The staff didn't know it was closing. Like you have your job one day and you go upstairs and it's gone,” Kiernan says. “We were all sitting here when it happened. That shouldn't have happened like that.” If the place was losing so much money, says Kiernan, management should have told the community before it got to this point. “If it needed funding, we could have all grouped together and fought for the funding, but if we didn't know about it, how are we meant to do it?” she said. The Axis has been here 25 years, says Dunne, who rejoined the board in November, having also served on it several years ago. At that moment, a voice in the crowd adds, “My son got christened here 24 years ago.” The good news, says Dunne, is that over the last 25 years, Axis has made money, and has had money in the bank. Much of the centre’s money comes via grants from various arms of the government. In 2024, the charity that runs Axis [reported](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28124470-ballymunartsandcommunityresourcecentreclgtrusteesreportandfs1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) grants from the Department of Children and Pobal (there’s a creche), the Arts Council (there’s an arts centre), and Dublin City Council, among others – and also trading income from renting out space, and the café and bar. Its accounts on the Charities Regulator’s [website](https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities/sonra%C3%AD-carthanachta/?srchstr=ballymun%20arts®id=20046248&ref=dublininquirer.com) show losses some years, and surpluses others. For example, a surplus in 2023 of €14,153, a loss in 2022 of €41,619, and a surplus in 2021 of €330,734. But with losses of nearly €200,000 last year, Dunne says, the back-up funds will be gone by the middle of next year. “Unless we do something about it.” And what needs to be done, he says, is cutting costs drastically, and getting more money in. “I am committed to doing everything I can to raise more money to get into this place, and we have to do that,” says Dunne. “Look, it's been here 25 years, it’s going to be here another 25 years.” A great deal of the losses the Axis is experiencing are coming from the café, said Dessie Ellis, a Sinn Féin TD, who was at the café Wednesday, by phone on Thursday. Cutting costs, to save the whole Axis complex in the long term, seems to point towards cutting the café, he says. ## **Doors closing all over Ballymun** The old Ballymun Shopping Centre was [torn down](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-sound-out-if-developers-want-to-build-300-homes-and-more-on-vacant-lands-in-ballymun-s-centre/) in 2021\. Businesses have been closing across Ballymun[ for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-have-some-shop-spaces-in-ballymun-stayed-empty-for-years/), with nothing replacing them, as unit after unit lies idle. In November 2023, the local SuperValu[ shut its doors](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-17-years-of-bustle-and-hustle-a-ballymun-supermarket-closes-its-doors/), after 17 years. Last year, the[ Grían Café](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-a-sunny-new-cafe-took-off-so-fast-they-had-to-expand-the-kitchen-after-a-week/) closed up, having opened in 2023. Investors haven’t been willing to build a new shopping centre in Ballymun, as they don’t see enough income in the area to support one, local Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan [has said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-in-talks-with-lda-on-building-housing-on-part-of-ballymun-shopping-centre-site/). Callaghan, and longtime Ballymun for Business chair Robert Murphy – who ran the SuperValu and runs the Centra – have both said that the area needs more housing to bring in more potential customers if shops are going to thrive there. Opening more businesses with the same population and income levels “is just ludicrous”, Murphy said in 2024\. It is in this difficult business environment that the café at the Axis centre has been trying to keep operating. Conor Reddy, a People Before Profit councillor, said on Wednesday that while the café has apparently been in financial trouble for several years, the recent council [rent increase](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/) on its tenants were immediately felt by businesses across the area. In an area with a significant amount of social housing, many local residents all of a sudden found themselves with that bit less to spend. One shop owner told him, Reddy says, that their takings dropped over 5 percent in the first week the rent increase came in, and have not come back up. For many local tenants of Dublin City Council, it took a chunk of their disposable income, says Reddy. On Wednesday morning, rumours swirled around the Axis that the Sweet Paradise Café on the Ballymun Road was about to close too. Speaking on Thursday morning, Sweet Paradise owner Kasia Betanska said they aren’t closing, but things are getting tougher and tougher. They survive on passing trade from a nearby hotel, and the “lovely local families” who eat there. “I am not a big, huge booming business,” Betanska says, “I really go day by day.” Betanska says the Axis offers a different experience than her business, as Axis has more space for people to gather and pass a few hours. It will be a tragic loss for the community, but someone has to intervene with funding somehow, she says. “Because Ballymun has nothing without the Axis.” Indeed, as one person in Wednesday morning’s crowd shouted: “If you close this, you’re ripping the heart out of Ballymun.” Elsewhere in the neighbourhood, Firehouse Pizza unexpectedly closed this month and hasn’t reopened. It’s unclear if the closure is permanent. There is so much development happening in Ballymun, says café regular Lorna Higgins. “But they’re sucking everything away from us,” she says. “We’ve no shops, and we’ve almost lost here now.” ## **Staff** A major concern of the crowd gathered on Wednesday was the welfare of the four café staff members, some of whom are working there 20 years. They are at the centre of everyone’s concerns, said Axis director Sorcha Keane. “The really important thing about all of this is that the staff are currently undergoing a consultation process,” she said. This means they are currently still staff of Axis and being paid as normal, she said. “The café is closed at the moment to allow them to get advice, to allow them to get information, and to allow them to come to those meetings with me in the most fully informed way possible,” she said, “so they can advocate for themselves and their roles and their rights.” When asked by the crowd why the café wasn’t allowed to stay open during this consultation process, board chair Dunne answered that they couldn’t expect the staff to continue to work through it. One crowd suggestion was to only open a few days a week, and reduce hours. Keane replied that these are the kind of ideas that the consultation process is about looking at. But management couldn’t just decide to take away a huge chunk of the staff’s jobs and hours without discussions. Ray Yeates, Arts Officer with Dublin City Council, and an Axis board member, said on Thursday by phone that various proposals will come out of the consultation process, both from staff and the community. “And the board are very open to that.” No decisions have been made on the future of the café, but the reality is that it’s a heavily subsidised venture, he says. What's been happening over the years, is the “costs are outstripping available funding”. ## **A big family** The community needs to get organised in a way it hasn’t yet, says Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor. “If you look at the \[council’s\] capital funding, there's two percent of it went to the North West area, 28 per cent went to the South East area,” he says. [Ballymun-Finglas councillors want answers on figures suggesting low council investment in their areaThe area has been allocated just 2 percent of the city’s capital spend on projects outside of housing, over the next three years, according to council figures.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-710.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/North-west-area-committee-1-3.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-finglas-councillors-want-answers-on-figures-suggesting-low-council-investment-in-their-area/) “So, there's far less money coming into communities here, we have far greater needs, but we need to speak up,” he says, “they're getting that money because they're speaking up and they're organised, and they go for every grant available.” The people of Ballymun need to get organised as a community, get behind the Axis, and start banging on the doors of the Arts Council, the government and the Dublin City Council arts office, for greater funding, he says. While the Axis café is a commercial endeavour, says Reddy, it has much broader value to people. Twelve years ago, Mandy Whelan became homeless with her two children. She was in emergency accommodation, but had to vacate her room during the day. She came to the Axis every day, where she met the staff – the two Lindas, Ellie and Marcella – who took care of her. “They gave me a shoulder to cry on,” she says, “they really looked after me.” “If it wasn’t for here, God knows where I would have been mentally and emotionally,” she says. Erica Kiernan, who works with people with special needs, says the café is also of huge importance to local community groups, like St Michael’s House, who provide services for people with disabilities. Their group are familiar and at ease with the staff, and that can take a long time to develop sometimes, she says. “They have built up independence for themselves here.” The staff are patient and nurturing with them, she says, in ways that regular cafés don’t have the time or physical space to do. “They can have meltdowns, they can scream. It’s no problem here,” she says. You can’t put a price on a community service like that, she says. Says long-time staff member Linda Fleming: “We love them all coming in”. “We’re all like one big happy family,” she says, “Aren’t we Lorna?” she says, turning to Lorna Higgins. Higgins agrees. “Our kids have grown up around these girls,” she says. “My seven-year-old granddaughter was in tears the other day when she found out.” Says Fleming, “It's just a big family community that we’ve lost here.” ### Council shoots down proposal for emergency solar panels on council homes before winter URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-shoots-down-proposal-for-emergency-solar-panels-on-council-homes-before-winter/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:11:16.000Z Dublin City Council should chart out a real plan to roll-out solar panels for its tenants to tackle fuel poverty, said Social Democrats councillors this week. The council has a programme to retrofit social housing. But many low-income social tenants still live in cold and draughty conditions, plagued by damp and fears of rising energy costs. “We have a bit of time before winter comes when people are really going to start facing difficulty,” said Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan, at a meeting of the council’s housing committee on Monday. “We want to see if there's anything that the council can do to fast-track in terms of making life easier for people this winter,” she said. A motion, [put forward](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115643-emergency-motion-in-the-name-of-social-democrats-group/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by party councillors, called for a clear implementation plan for this to be published within 12 months. Low-income and energy-poor households should be up first, said Callaghan. Solar panels could save households €500 a year on electricity bills, says the [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115643-emergency-motion-in-the-name-of-social-democrats-group/?ref=dublininquirer.com). At the meeting though, council housing manager Mick Mulhern said that the council doesn’t have the money to install solar panels. It is rolling out its retrofitting programme, getting to around 500 homes each year, he said. That retrofitting includes new windows and doors, improved ventilation, heat pumps which cost around €20,000 each, said the [council’s written response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115644-2a-shane-hawkshaw-housing-spc-emergency-motion-no-2-11526/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Shane Colclough, the CEO of Energy Expertise Ltd and a chartered engineer, said he is not sure that the prioritisation is right. Solar panels are a fast, cheap and effective way to get immediate savings on energy bills, says Colclough, a renewable energy expert. More insulation, plugging drafts and decent windows are essential works, he says, but solar panels at the moment are cheaper and more effective way to impact bills than heat pumps. “For me, installing solar panels is a quick win.” Callaghan, the Social Democrats councillor, says she thinks “plug-in solar” could also help council tenants in old flat complexes, who have been largely left behind in the council’s energy retrofitting programme. Ossian Smyth, the Green Party’s climate spokesperson, says the same. “They are good for tenants and apartment dwellers who generally get left out of climate-change measures.” You can’t just plug in the panels and go, in Ireland, even though millions of other EU residents use them, picking them up in supermarkets and installing themselves. Smyth says he has been assured by experts that plug-in solar panels are safe. He has ordered them for his own balcony, he says. ## **Panels or pumps?** To roll out solar panels across 25,000 to 30,000 social homes would likely cost the council between €195 million and €230 million, says the Social Democrats' motion. “If you are looking for a big, quick hit, probably it is easier to do it with PV \[photovoltaic solar\],” says Colclough, who recently completed a PhD in renewable energy and has researched social housing retrofitting. The retrofitting should still go ahead, too, he says. “You shouldn’t forget that by upgrading the energy efficiency in the homes, that is a never-ending gift as the comfort is increased for the lifetime of the building.” And, every house is different, he says. But if he had to choose between heat pumps and solar panels, he would usually choose the solar panels, he says. “If it were me, I’d go for the quick win.” “Everything else being equal, if you swap out a heat pump for a gas boiler, in a house that is suitable for both, you won’t save that much because electricity is so much more expensive than gas,” says Colclough. The European Commission’s energy directorate [says that](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/5-things-you-should-know-about-heat-pumps-2025-12-05%5Fen?ref=dublininquirer.com) in countries where electricity is more than three times the cost of gas, heating with a gas boiler can shake out cheaper than a heat pump. In Ireland, electricity has been about three times more expensive than gas, [show figures](https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/prices?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. Solar panels can also be installed in a day, and the householder starts saving money instantly, says Colclough. Dublin City Council is to spend €73.9 million on energy efficiency in social homes over the coming three years, [shows the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985-report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) capital budget. Current retrofits are guided by department rules, says the response issued to the Social Democrats councillors. Homes must be insulated to a standard for a heat pump, it says. For detached and semi-detached homes smaller than 55sqm, the standard is a bit lower – and in that case the department does recommend some solar, it says, but it has to be funded from the allocation for heat pumps. The council spends €20,000 to install a heat pump in each home and gets a grant of €16,000 from the government, so they already have to stump up to cover that gap, says the response. There’s no money for solar on top from that pot, they said. And, they haven’t done many homes smaller than 55sqm anyway. Mulhern, the council housing manager, said it cannot just decide to spend the money in a different way, even if the solar panels are cheaper. “The installation of solar PV remains under consideration going forward, subject to the feasibility of installation and Departmental funding for same,” says the council’s written response to the Social Democrats’ motion. ## **Targeted supports** The Social Democrats motion also calls on the council to provide solar panels for those tenants who need them the most first. Louise Bayliss, head of social justice and policy with St Vincent Depaul, says that as electricity costs rise, the real value of supports for households in fuel poverty falls. The fuel allowance is €35 per week in winter. That buys far less electricity than it did five years ago, she said. “The increasing electricity price is eroding those as meaningful supports.” Government should consider ways to target energy supports to those people with the lowest energy ratings, says Bayliss, as they have the highest fuel costs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Solar-Panels-2-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) The council’s written response to the Social Democrats motion, however, [says that it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115644-2a-shane-hawkshaw-housing-spc-emergency-motion-no-2-11526/?ref=dublininquirer.com) cannot target support to tenants who need them most first. One reason it gives is GDPR. “In order to prioritise low-income and energy-poor households, we would need to obtain certain information on our tenants, which are GDPR issues,” it says. The General Data Protection Regulation does not prevent public bodies from processing information. It just requires that information be processed for the intended purpose. At the meeting, Mulhern also said that picking out those most in need would reduce efficiency. “We do about 500 homes a year,” he said. “Where we get our efficiencies is where we go into an area, and do an area. It’s completely inefficient to pick properties in different parts of the city.” ## **Plug-in solar panels** Later on the phone, Callaghan, the Social Democrats councillor, said the rollout of the councils' retrofitting and insulation programme is “disappointingly slow”. Dublin City Council has upgraded more than 10,000 homes so far, according to the council's response to the motion. Mulhern, the manager, said that they are doing 500 homes a year at the moment. The council should offer more solutions for tenants in old run-down flat complexes, Callaghan says. It could provide plug-in solar panels for balconies, she said. Smyth, the Green Party’s climate spokesperson, has been [calling for the government](https://www.greenparty.ie/news/green-party-calls-immediate-approval-plug-solar-combat-soaring-energy-bills?ref=dublininquirer.com) to make plug-in solar panels – those already certified in other EU countries – legal for households to buy and install themselves. “You just hang them on your balcony and plug them in,” says Smyth by phone on Thursday. They can help to power ordinary household appliances for free at times when the sun is shining, he says, making them the ultimate sustainable form of energy. Most governments support “don’t reach tenants and don’t reach people who live in apartments”, he says. The council absolutely should provide its tenants in social housing flat complexes with plug-in solar panels, he says. In February, Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman [asked](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-02-25/15/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F15) the Minister for the Environment, Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien, when plug-in solar will be permitted in Ireland, without professional installation. Officials in the Department of the Environment ran a consultation starting in September 2024, said O’Brien. “Broadly speaking, responses to the optional provision to promote plug-in mini solar systems were negative,” said O’Brien. “Concerns arose where such mini systems could be purchased and installed, but do not meet the required manufacturing, installation, or operational standards,” he said. Smyth says he has consulted experts, including university professors, who assured him that there is no relevant difference between electrical systems in Ireland and Germany. Two million people in Germany is a sufficient pilot, he says. “The Germans are not wild people who take massive risks,” says Smyth. He is not waiting for the go-ahead, he says, and has ordered panels for his own balcony already. ### In Beaumont, a branch of woodturners invites others in to learn the craft URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-beaumont-a-branch-of-woodturners-invites-others-in-to-learn-the-craft/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:11:29.000Z The hall quietens as Kieran Reynolds starts to talk. He has demoed at the chapter for a couple of years, he says, mic-ed up with a rig that is hooked around his ears. In the past, he’s gone for gimmicks, off-beat items, he says. Today, he is reflective. “I kind of want to go back to what I love in woodturning,” said Reynolds, a woodwork teacher by day at a secondary school in Crumlin. Back to the time he first saw a natural-edge bowl, he says, and paused on it and thought: “How in God’s name did the person do that?” When Reynolds started to turn, it got to him, he says, working a tree branch into a smooth shiny bowl with a flat top. “You’re almost twisting the soul of the wood.” A natural-edge bowl seemed the answer to that, he says, still letting nature have its say – and so that is what he plans to demo today. He holds a bowl he made earlier. It is fluted, not round and he passes it between his two hands as he talks. He shows it to the audience bowlside up, and side on. It’s carved of golden yew, always found, never bought, with an outer band of yellow sapwood – and a thin rim of rough bark. It’s that bark that he loves, he says. “You all know when you look at that, that that comes from a branch.” Reynolds hands the bowl to one of the men sat in front of him to pass around. There are four rows of seats set out for today’s seminar, filled by members of the East Central Chapter of [the Irish Woodturners’ Guild](https://www.iwg.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The chapter meets at 2pm on the second Saturday of every month, at the Santry Scout Den in Beaumont. It’s a big hall used for all sorts, with one wall covered with climbing holds, and “save the bees” posters taped to another – and today, a big lathe on wheels and cameras and screens. ## **The guild** Woodturners share, says Cathal Ryan, chair of the chapter, later during a break just outside in the sunshine. “You don’t get that with a lot of good crafts.” People want to be top dog, says Chris Hayes, standing opposite, his hand on a walking stick to steady himself. “A professional once said to his pupil, ‘I’ve taught you all you know, but not all I know.’” That’s what happens sometimes, he says. Well, making a living off something, you need to keep an edge, says Ryan. But “not many people are making a living off wood-turning”. Joe O’Neill pipes up. “There is! The toolmakers!” he says, with a grin. The origins of the Irish Woodturners’ Guild make it different, says Ryan. It was set up to spread the craft, to bring scattered enthusiasts together to grow. From its [earliest days in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28117417-25yearsoftheiwg-compressed/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 1983, it welcomed all. Beginners and pros. And gradually, affiliated chapters spread across the island of Ireland, from the 1980s through the 2000s, from Cork to Down. Today, there are 18 chapters. The East Central Chapter first met in 2005, says Hayes, who helped get it going. It branched off from the South Dublin group in Templeogue, he says. “It got very crowded.” The chapter had 10 members at first, says Hayes. That’s the minimum for an affiliated chapter. It’s more than double that now. It’s been up and down. Covid knocked them back, Hayes said. Their members are older, he says, so they sadly lost several during the pandemic. Membership is rising again now, though. “It’s grown like anything in the last year or two,” he said. More women and younger folks [would really be welcome](https://www.iwg.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), says Kevin McLaughlin, another chapter member. The room skews grey, but there are young turners too, he says. ## **Sharing knowledge** Since its earliest days, members of the Irish Woodturners’ Guild have brought in demonstrators to learn from – and shared their own skills overseas. Early seminars brought in names such as American artist [David Ellsworth](https://ellsworthstudios.com/about-david?ref=dublininquirer.com) and British craftsman Ray Key, [says a history](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28117417-25yearsoftheiwg-compressed/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of its first 25 years. Irish co-founder Liam O’Neill, meanwhile, went to lecture in Utah. Ireland has a long history of utilitarian turning. But, with the exchanges, artistic turning has grown in recent decades too, the history book says. Seminars with demos have stayed at its heart. Last month, the East Central Chapter was visited by Emma Cook, the Tiny Turner. A wood artist from Yorkshire, her works are splashed with colour. Coming up is a seminar led by Tom Windross, from Waterford, who is already known already for his elemental bowls and burnish. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080431-1.JPG) Kieran Reynolds talks through his process. Photo by Lois Kapila On Saturday, at the front of the hall, Reynolds narrates all that he does. How he measures the log. How he takes note of a small burr. “Can you see on the camera there?” he says, angling the branch. There are two big television screens on poles, set up to one side. One shows a view of the lathe from above, the other side on. Reynolds locks the branch on the lathe. He swings the wood around to check the balance, and that each end is the same height, grazing the log against the tips of his fingers. There’s talk of tools too. The ⅜-inch bulb gouge is his favourite, he says, but the ½-inch is good for roughing out the wood. He turns on the lathe. He starts it slow. “Step away,” he says, stepping back. He crouches a little, down to lathe-height. “Who’s in line?” he says, with a laugh, looking through the plastic sheet to the audience. Who would get hit if the wood flies off that way. The wood clicks as he starts to take the corners off. He’s using a push cut, he says. “I have the chisel nice and low.” Watching on, the audience throws out questions. “Have you ever actually had a reaction to yew?” Cathal Ryan calls out from the side. His arms folded, casual. “No,” said Reynolds, looking up for a moment. But “laburnam, yes”. He would wear a mask, working with both, he says. Which stays better on the piece, winter bark or summer bark? asked McLaughlin. Winter bark sticks better, says Reynolds. Gathered when the cambium layer is harder and the sap isn’t flowing. Bit by bit, Reynolds speeds up the lathe. He tucks the gouge close to his body, the handle at his waist. It gives more control that way, he says. Reynolds watches the silhouette. The click of the wood becomes a hum, and the thin bowl’s edges turn to air as it spins. “I can go in now, and start taking the centre out of that,” says Reynolds, after almost an hour of demonstration. He adjusts the lathe. Gets a smaller gouge and gently starts to carve out the walls. Moments later, the edge of the bowl snaps. The audience groans. “That’s what you don’t do,” says Reynolds, stepping back. “Anyway, right.” He rallies quickly though, and moves on to explain how to finish the bowl’s base. He had just caught the pith, he says, the soft spongy core. “These things happen.” ## **Gifts and goblets** A while back, Des Harborne made a chess set for his sister’s husband, says Harborne, another founder of the chapter. It took months. “She gave me a year’s notice, thanks be to God,” says Harborne, during the coffee break. “I only had it ready about a week before his birthday.” Jim Cashin makes modest objects, he says, pulling two pens from his pocket. “I have a very small lathe.” They’re rosewood perhaps, he says. He can’t quite remember. “The pens make presents, gifts,” says Cashin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Natural-edge-bowls-by-Kieran-Reynolds.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/P1080446.JPG) Natural bowls; and the competition table. Photos by Lois KapilaKiKieK Beside Cashin, on a table, are entries to the chapter’s monthly competition. There are two tall candlesticks with ridges, and a small cup and saucer with ribbons of blue, and a wooden tulip in a vase. Each competition has a theme. This month is a contrasting pair. June is a gavel and block. When the break ends, members drift back to their seats. Reynolds – who is seminar coordinator for the national guild too – is again at the front of the hall. He is telling people about a bursary opportunity. It’s not meant for professionals, so don’t rule yourself out, says Reynolds. It’s for anybody who has a vision for stepping up their craft, he says. “You’re looking at, you want to move yourself forward somehow.” ### Clontarf seafront needs to be more fun, a councillor and locals say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/clontarf-seafront-needs-to-be-more-fun-a-councillor-and-locals-say/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:10:38.000Z Clontarf promenade on Tuesday evening, the tide is moving in, the sea air is blowing fresh and steady. Dave Griffin, a new father, strolls along the path, opposite the mouth of Vernon Avenue pushing his six-month old son, Finn. They walk the route every day, Griffin says. Looking around, he says, it would be good to have a few bits and pieces for kids to play with, when Finn is a little older. “I know they have the gym equipment dotted along,” he says, “but it’d be nice to have little stuff to help the kids too.” Griffin is responding to an idea from local Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney, who is calling on the council to install “playful interventions” along the promenade. Not a traditional playground, Cooney said by phone on Tuesday, with normal swing sets, slides and climbing frames all centralised in one place. They can be simple items built into the green space, like mounds for children to climb up and down, she says. Or more elaborate things like playable sound installations on the promenade path that kids can make music out of by jumping and dancing on, she says. As opposed to one playground where everyone congregates, where younger and older kids, or even teens hang out, all competing for space, the interventions would be spread out, she says. Families can move from one to the other, and kids can expend a bit of energy moving along the trail, she says. Cooney also wants to see items that encourage “intergenerational play”, like chess boards or table tennis tables – that people can bring their own equipment down to use. And it’s time to stop waiting for the forever-promised new permanent flood defences to be installed along the promenade before putting in these new play places, Cooney said. She has a motion due to be tabled at next week’s meeting of the North Central Area Committee, asking “That temporary play features are put in soon rather than waiting over another decade when children are adults by then." ## **Support** At last month’s meeting of Dublin City Council’s North Central Area Committee, Fergus O’Carroll, senior executive parks superintendent, gave a presentation including plans for play at St Anne’s Park. His team conducted a consultation with children at last year’s Rose Festival, he said. The parks team heard that they wanted more playful items dotted around the landscape of the park, and not all focused in the main playground by the Red Stables. It’s something they intend to act upon, O’Carroll told the meeting. This is what Cooney wants for the Clontarf seafront too, she says. She [tabled a motion](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=4721&ref=dublininquirer.com) to the North Central Area Committee in June 2022, proposing something similar. Play features with “a maritime/battle of Clontarf theme by the sea”, which “could also be multi-functional as flood barriers”, as well as “table tennis tables and games tables”. O’Carroll’s [response](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=4721&ref=dublininquirer.com) at the time was that Clontarf had been identified “as an area of deficit of play facilities and the prom would seem to be an ideal location to deliver same”. These scattered “playful interventions” along the prom are exactly what the Clontarf Residents Association want too for the seafront, said chairperson Deirdre Nichol, by phone on Tuesday. “We would prefer that to a playground, interactive stuff,” she said. “It's a good way to encourage children to engage with the environment.” But the second half of O’Carroll’s response in 2022 to Cooney’s idea points to a problem. “The Parks Service is more than supportive of the approach to integrate play facilities or playful landscapes within the proposed flood defences and will raise the issue in the context of the design of these flood defences,” he said back then. Those permanent[ flood defences](https://www.dublininquirer.com/goodbye-sandbags-clontarf-gets-first-look-at-new-temporary-flood-defence-measures/) for Clontarf have been delayed further and further. The council has instead just been adding more and more [interim measures](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-new-temporary-flood-defences-for-clontarf/). Now, with permanent flood defences possibly delayed until 2033, says Cooney, the children who use the promenade shouldn’t have to wait any longer. ## Playful cities The kinds of “playful interventions” that Cooney’s asking for on the prom are already being installed in other parts of Dublin – she points to Rockfield Park in Artane. There, Aaron Copeland and his team at [A Playful City](https://www.aplayfulcity.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – which specialises in turning areas like parks, neglected laneways, and streets into playful, engaging spaces – recently worked with residents on ideas for features to add around the park. They received close to 300 responses to a community consultation, Copeland said by phone on Tuesday. “And what became really clear was that the community were saying that the space is a play space, like the whole space,” he said. So, the team mapped out all the areas where children were already playing and adults were playing with their children. And also, teenagers were hanging out, he says. “So, it was like little mud paths. There was swings that had been put up onto trees, there was little fairy doors at certain sections,” he says. “There was all sorts of little clues as to where it was being utilised as a play space.” Rather than swimming against the tide, trying to channel all the play to one spot, they worked on ideas to emphasise areas already in use. Some of the ideas have already been installed, some have yet to be, Copeland said. One item now installed is a hexagonal “huddle swing” set, allowing the people using the swings to all face each other, without colliding. Their research shows that these are popular with teenagers, especially girls, he says. “Those kinds of spaces really suit just hanging out." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Hexagonal-huddle-swing-in-Rockfield-Park.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin.jpg) Hexagonal huddle swing in Rockfield Park. Photo by Eoin Glackin. It also helps avoid conflict where you've got teenagers messing about in the playground that a parent wants to use with their four-year-old, he says. Elsewhere in Rockfield Park, another of their suggestions, more suited to younger kids, has already been implemented – a willow tunnel. As the name suggests, it’s a winding tunnel constructed out of willow branches, that youngsters can play in and around. These are just the first of a few little bits that are planned for the space, he says. Ultimately, says Copeland, people need to move past seeing traditional play equipment as what children are really after. And it doesn’t take much either, he says. “You can introduce hills, long grass, hedgerows, boulders, really important play elements, but not play equipment per se,” he says. Says Cooney, for Clontarf promenade, given the ever-looming flood concerns, it is important “to increase sustainable urban drainage with green infrastructure”. So, ideally, whatever natural “playful interventions” are decided upon for the prom, she says, should also work in that regard. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Phibsborough, pilgrims gather at a shrine to the housing gods URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-phibsborough-pilgrims-gather-at-a-shrine-to-the-housing-gods/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:36:34.000Z The handwritten note is weighed down with two house keys. “Help us find a home. We just need a safe space,” it reads. It’s one of dozens of messages, and trinkets, and household bits and bobs that make up Alison Byrne’s *Shrine to the Housing Gods*. There is a wine bottle and glass, a chicken baster, a clock, a teddy bear, a screwdriver, and a houseplant. Sitting over it all is a Lady on the Rock statue – Byrne’s chosen housing deity. Byrne, the award-winning glass artist behind [WildBird Studios](https://wildbirdstudio.ie/?srsltid=AfmBOorvfMMF%5FLJ000aUqAUH6be07ZlcFvEs3Kp3rHs7RD9u2nEp5rwK&ref=dublininquirer.com), was showcasing her latest work outside Phibsborough Library on Saturday morning. It was part of Phizzfest 2026, the local community and arts festival. “Feels sometimes like we’ve a housing devil in this country, not a god,” says Tom Davis, a pilgrim to the shrine. At the age of 26, Davis says he is one of the only people he knows who isn’t living at home with parents and hasn’t emigrated. “We've had about five leaving parties in the last month,” says Davis. He rents in Phibsborough with his girlfriend and fellow pilgrim, Aoife Newman. Between them both, they can just about afford to share, they say. It is tiny, rundown, and overpriced, they say. But they feel like “the lucky ones”, says Davis. For most in their own age group and above, they say, there is just no hope that they’ll ever afford to own their own home – when renting gobbles up so much of their income. Byrne, the artist, is 40 years old, and she says she has already tried the emigration thing – and it doesn’t seem that long ago. She left Ireland during the recession in the early 2010s to live and practice in the United Kingdom, she says. When she saw the Irish economy starting to recover, she moved back home to her parents’ house and started to grow her business. It went from strength to strength. But rents did, too. She was back with her parents for eight years, she says, and currently rents with two younger cousins in their twenties. To hear young people today – just as they did just 15 years ago – saying they see no way to build the life they want here, is heartbreaking, she says. ## **The shrine** The shrine started with a chicken baster, says Byrne, which she would take with her to house viewings for luck. She would get excited again and again, she says. But always be outbid. “I have a witchy woo-woo friend, and she was like, ‘Buy something for your future house,’” she says. As a fan of a roast dinner, the baster seemed the trick, she says. “Roasts, they're like a real kind of home thing.” She wondered what people thought of her, she says. “Looking at me clutching a chicken baster, walking around the house. And I just laughed at the absurdity like, ‘What am I actually doing?’” But she discovered that others also had rituals for their home-hunts. One person would bury a coin in the garden, she says. Another would splash holy water on the corner stones of the house they were after. One person, she was told, would relieve themselves – number one! – on the land when the coast was clear. “I didn't go that far, but I sucked up some river water that was beside one of the houses with my chicken baster and flung it at the house,” she says, “because why not?” The idea for the shrine, a grotto like those to the Virgin Mary found around Ireland, grew in her mind, she says. Her studio at the time was in The Liberties. She would pass the famous [Lady on the Rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady%5Fon%5Fthe%5FRock%5F%28statue%29?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=The%20Lady%20On%20The%20Rock%2C,residential%20homes%20in%20Dublin%20city.) statues in windows regularly. “So, I thought, she's a perfect deity to work with,” says Byrne. Scattered in front of the Lady on the Rock are other offerings, from Byrne and other pilgrims. “I started collecting bits and pieces that I thought represented needing a home or what you can't have if you're in a rented home,” says Byrne. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/The-drinks-are-on-the-house-s-of-the-Oireacthas-.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) The drinks are on the house(s of the Oireachtas). Photo by Eoin Glackin A teddy bear for being able to have a family and raise children somewhere safe and secure. A booklet of paint colour samples for those who dream of being allowed to decorate their own spaces. A wine glass and bottle for the dinner parties that people want to have but can’t. She got her hands on a bottle from the Houses of the Oireachtas, branded as such. “I just thought, they have their own brand of wine, and I don't have a house to have a bottle of wine in,” she says. “It's just, it's so bizarre.” Elsewhere, a mantlepiece clock represents running out of time. As a symbol of the disappointment that people, like her, face in getting constantly outbid and seeing dreams evaporate, there is a print-off of a house listing in Miltown Malbay in Co. Clare. The asking price was €165,000. She stopped bidding at €197,000. The property sold for €293,000. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/20260509_135918.jpg) Other people have left other trinkets: keys, coins, precious stones, feathers, acorns, shells, and candles. They have left notes, too, asking the housing gods to look favourably upon them. “It is my intention to build the family home of my dreams with Eoin, for our boys. Thank you, so it is,” says one. “For women’s safety never to be less important than housing regulations,” says another. Across from it, one says, “Ready to receive my home and child x.” Words written on a small glass house read: “We beg for affordable houses and rents. We will manifest our dream homes. We ask to be heard.” Byrne stands over her creation, “People have left artwork as well, and some little kids have drawn little houses,” she says. “And that breaks my heart.” ## **This shouldn’t be normal** Shrine pilgrims Tom Davis and Aoife Newman say they’re regularly perplexed by the “property porn” TV programmes that never seem to be off the air. There's a bizarre mentality with older people who like shows like RTÉ’s, *Cheap Irish Homes*, says Newman. “Where they bring a young person, a young couple around to look at these dilapidated houses in the middle of nowhere, and they're like, ‘You can buy it, and it's only, €250,000,” she says. “And you’re watching like, ‘It doesn’t have a roof, what are you talking about?’” she adds. Davis says it bugs him that people he knows who have been able to move out, including themselves, have to almost celebrate getting to live in overpriced run-down places. “This shouldn’t be normal,” he says. Byrne, the artist, agrees. “Our baseline for what's okay has completely warped.” A previous project of hers dealt with [hidden homelessness](https://wildbirdstudio.ie/pages/hidden-homeless?ref=dublininquirer.com). She interviewed people who were themselves hidden homeless and a through-line emerged across the conversations. She named it the “guilt of resentment”, she says. “Like everyone was saying how privileged they were to be able to live with their parents,” she says. “Yet they felt guilty for being angry about the situation.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/20260509_135825.jpg) Byrne is one of those prospective buyers who has decided to go the route seen on *Cheap Irish Homes*. She went sale agreed on a derelict house in Co. Clare, about 18 months ago. The rural house had previously been passed around through handshakes, so getting the paperwork sorted has dragged the process on. She lives with the worry now that it will fall through, she says, and she’ll be back to square one. But she is optimistic for the life that may be waiting for her out west, she says, despite being “generationally Dublin”. “I’ve no family outside the Pale,” she says. She made a checklist of things she wanted to gain if she is to leave Dublin. One was to be near the seaside and another was to find a creative community. Lisdoonvarna in West Clare ticks both boxes, she says. While her own housing journey rambles on, Byrne says the true cost of this crisis continues to be untold. It has impacted everyone, she says. “It's just not sustainable for a population to be under this much stress all of the time.” Ultimately, she says, with her Shrine to the Housing Gods, she hopes to remind people that they aren’t alone in this madness. “These are not our failures,” says Byrne. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council gives no timeline to reopen seven bays it has blocked at a Traveller accommodation site in Ballymun URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-gives-no-timeline-to-reopen-seven-bays-it-has-blocked-at-a-traveller-accommodation-site-in-ballymun/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:33:49.000Z Turning right on Monday at the entrance to St Margaret’s Park in Ballymun, the streets were tidy. There were mostly modern mobile homes on that side of the Traveller estate, with decking and cars parked outside. Young children played on worn-out playground equipment on a green. Turning left, the scene was dramatic. Homes were ripped apart or burned out. Gardens were filled with muck, the streets filled with mounds of rubble. Rubbish was piled in black bags and scattered around. Following a feud on the site, Dublin City Council evicted some people, including tenants not involved in the feud but who had been subletting, says People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy. They also blocked off bays by dumping piles of rubble on them. “They’re taking a fairly blunt approach to this,” says Reddy, “And I wouldn’t support that.” A council spokesperson said the council had closed off part of the site and has no timeline in mind to reopen it. “A number of bays have been secured with soil placed in the bays and secure blocks preventing entry to them following consultation with the relevant statutory bodies,” they said. Council staff had removed illegal dumping from the site on Tuesday, he said. They are also reinstating the green space, they said. Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, says the council should clear up the site and relet the accommodation, given the many Traveller families who are desperate for homes. “I think this is a bit drastic and a bit disproportionate,” said Collins. If there is anti-social behaviour in a housing estate, the council doesn’t decommission houses, he said. ## **It’s not working** In February, during a violent feud, homes were damaged at St Margaret’s Park. Dublin Fire Brigade was called out to deal with a blaze, [according to](https://www.fm104.ie/news/fm104-news/major-fire-breaks-out-in-north-dublin-as-emergency-services-respond/?ref=dublininquirer.com) FM104\. Collins says he understands that Dublin City Council, after this, closed off seven of the 30 bays in the housing estate. But they should re-open the accommodation and re-assign the homes urgently, he says. “It's absolutely incredible in the middle of a housing crisis that \[the council\] would decommission bays.” “We have about 1,600 Traveller families, equating to about 7,800 individuals, who are effectively homeless,” he said. Those national figures include people in overcrowded and unsafe conditions, says Collins. It includes people living “on the side of the road” – so with nowhere to park up a mobile home permanently – and those in emergency accommodation. Bernard Joyce, director of the Irish Traveller Movement, says the council should change the way it manages Traveller accommodation to involve tenants more. “The current approach by Dublin City Council needs a fundamental shift in perspective,” he says. Withdrawing essential services isn’t effective management, says Joyce. “For St Margaret’s to be sustainable, the residents need to be partners in how the site is run,” he says. “They need a framework that provides tenants with the resources to participate in estate management effectively.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/St-Margaret-s-Park---by-Laoise-Neylon-1.jpg) St Margaret's Park. Photo by Laoise Neylon. The council spokesperson says that some of the bays that were closed off were already unoccupied. “It should be noted that any families who contacted the Traveller Accommodation Unit due to being displaced were engaged with,” said the spokesperson. On Monday at St Margaret’s Park, homes were getting their electricity from a generator, placed outside the disused community centre. The ESB disconnected the electricity to the site on 18 March, said the council spokesperson, “due to a significant health and safety risk”. The council supplied the generator, said the spokesperson. It has since completed all maintenance works and submitted documentation to the ESB so that the permanent electricity supply can be reinstated, they said. The tenants are responsible for liaising with an electricity support to set up or reactivate accounts, they said – and they had sent two letters explaining that. ## **The opposite of new homes** The council’s previous [Traveller Accommodation Programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28123629-dublin-city-council-traveller-accommodation-programme-2019-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which ran from 2019 to 2024, mentioned that plans for redevelopment of St Margaret’s Park had been approved by councillors, and would be sent to the Department of Housing. In their submission to that plan, the St Margaret’s Travellers Community Association mentioned the impact of overcrowding, poor maintenance, and the regular withdrawal of council services on residents of the site. Under the council’s current [programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28123165-report-no-2182024-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-the-traveller-accommodation-prog/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which runs from 2025 to 2029, St Margaret’s Park is listed for regeneration. The idea has been to convert the halting site into a group housing scheme, the report says. But the council and residents haven’t been able to agree a design, it says. A spokesperson for the council said on 30 April that “there is currently no immediate plan to regenerate St Margarets Park.” The council is reviewing this and will liaise with tenants, and Traveller groups in relation to it all, they said. The council has no plans to sell or develop the land for other uses, they said. ### Things To Do: Really get to grips with the blackbird, celebrate referees, spend too much time in Trinity College URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-really-get-to-grips-with-the-blackbird-celebrate-referees-spend-too-much-time-in-trinity-college/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:33:56.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* ***Thread Lightly*** This evening, TØN Gallery in Temple Bar is launching *Thread Lightly*, its latest group exhibition. Featuring the work of four artists – Alicia Donnan, Eva Vitkute, Fiona Somers and Sophie Scally – *Thread Lightly* explores themes such as memory, grief and loss. Through photography, oil painting, woven tapestry and illustration, each artist reflects on how these shape sensations, identity and our relationship to the environment. The exhibition isn’t about offering resolutions, but instead inviting its audience to move through “emotional landscapes, to sit with their own reflection and to consider the ways in which we navigate our inner worlds”. The exhibit opens at 6pm this evening, Thursday 14 May, and it will wrap up on 25 May. For more information, follow on TØN Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/tondublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***The Fifth Sun*** Over the past two weeks, this year’s edition of the Dublin Dance Festival has been in full swing, and has pulled off the unimaginable feat of turning Bewley's into a nightclub. This evening, as the festival draws to a close, performer and choreographer Mufutau Yusuf will be over in the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College for the world premiere of his new show *The Fifth Sun*. Inspired by the tradition of keening – a wailing lament sung at funerals – *The Fifth Sun* unfolds as both a eulogy and a renewal, reflecting on the past, confronting our turbulent present, and leaning cautiously towards an uncertain future. A collaboration with Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company, *The Fifth Sun* opens this evening at 7:30pm, and will also be staged on Friday and Saturday evening. More more information, and to book tickets, visit the event page [here](https://www.dublindancefestival.ie/events/programme/the-fifth-sun?ref=dublininquirer.com). **An Lon Dubh – The Blackbird** There is no need to oversell this. Trinity College’s Long Room Hub will be given over to a day-long conference devoted to the blackbird on Friday. Organised by the Department of Irish and Celtic Languages, the conference will be delivered in both Irish and English, and will celebrate the blackbird (or *lon dubh*) and its presence in literature, music, culture, and of course, nature. Among the talks ecologist Timothy McCarthy will be giving an ecological overview of the Eurasian blackbird; Christina Cleary, assistant professor of Early Irish at TCD, will be talking about feathered figures in medieval Irish literature; Nicholas Carolan, director emeritus of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, will look at the blackbird’s presence in traditional music; and author Barry Lewis will be talking about the blackbird in early Welsh literature. Yes, this is extremely niche, and yes, this is an excellent use of your annual leave. The talks begin at 9am, and will continue until 5pm. You can register [here](https://www.tcd.ie/Irish/gaeilge/nuacht/comhdhala/Comhdhail-2026-Lon.php?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels*** Once you’re done at the day-long blackbird conference, a good idea would be to trek across Trinity’s campus to the Joly lecture theatre in the Hamilton building on Westland Row. At 5:45pm on Friday, the Saints & Scholars Militarism and Neutrality Club will be hosting a special screening of the 2022 documentary *Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels*. Directed by Serbian filmmaker Mila Turajlić, *Non-Aligned* delves into the work of the cameraman and photographer Stevan Labudović, and his work documenting the Non-Aligned Movement, a largely Yugoslav-led forum that opted to stand neither with the Eastern or Western Blocs during the Cold War. Shot in Belgrade, New York and Algeria, the film dives into Labudović’s newsreel footage from the 1961 Non-Aligned summit in Belgrade, before becoming “a love letter to a vanished country” and a document of the affinity Turajlić feels towards Labudović. As part of the event, there will be a panel discussion on Yugoslavia and the Non-Aligned Movement chaired by Harun Šiljak, and a special screening of artist Petra Matić’s short documentary *The City That Has Peace*. The 2023 Croatian documentary revisits the legacy of Zagreb’s International Student Friendship Club, which was active between the 1960s and 90s, through the experiences of Palestinian and Sudanese alumni. Matić will be in attendance to introduce the film. Admission is free. To book a seat, visit the event page [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saints-scholars-present-non-aligned-2022-tickets-1988072998857?ref=dublininquirer.com), and for more information on Saints & Scholars, you can sign up to their mailing list [here](https://subscribepage.io/wIVdXU?ref=dublininquirer.com). **New Irish Works 2026** On Saturday, PhotoIreland will be hosting a guided tour of its 5th edition of New Irish Works over at the International Centre for the Image in Dublin 1. The triennial exhibition, which opens on Friday 15 May, brings together – as the name strongly implies – new works by 10 selected artists and photographers. The 10 for this instalment are Austin Hearne, Billy Kenrick, Ciara Richardson, Debbie Castro, Dorje De Burgh, Emily O’Connell, Garry Loughlin, Kate Nolan, Mandy O’Neill, and Miriam O’Connor. And as part of the launch, the artists will be in the centre on Saturday at 12pm to lead visitors on a walk through the show, offering insights into their process and the projects behind their respective works. The artist tour is free, but booking is essential and can be done [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/artist-tour-new-irish-works-2026-tickets-1988624880550?aff=oddtdtcreator&%5Fgl=1%2A148g4rt%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AMTExNDM4MDE0MC4xNzc3NjQxNTQx%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3Nzc2NDE1NDAkbzEkZzAkdDE3Nzc2NDE1NDAkajYwJGwwJGgw&keep%5Ftld=true&ref=dublininquirer.com). New Irish Works 2026 will run until 9 August. For more information on the exhibition, read the full programme [here](https://image.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NIW2026%5FImage%5FMuseum.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Women of the South City Market** If you’re around Anglesea Road on Wednesday afternoon, it would be wise to head into the Pembroke library where historian-in-residence Antonia Hart will be giving a talk about the women who worked in South City Market. Now the home of George’s Street Arcade, the market was built in the late 19th century, and Hart will be looking at its female traders. In particular, she will be re-telling the story of how, in 1892, the stalls and shops were destroyed, and how the business community came together to rebuild the market. Hart, in February 2025, shared the story about the fire on RTÉ’s *Sunday Miscellany*, which you can listen to [here](https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22488938/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But if you want to learn more about the market and its women, Hart will be in the library at 1pm on 20 May to deliver this new lecture. For more information contact [pembrokelibrary@dublincity.ie](mailto:pembrokelibrary@dublincity.ie) or telephone them at 01 222 4840. **The Charlie O’Leary Story** Finally, on Wednesday evening Draíocht arts centre in Blanchardstown will be screening the documentary about the referee and former kit-man of the Irish national football team: Charlie O’Leary. Directed by Joe Lee (*406 Days: The Debenhams Picket Line* and *May-17-74: Anatomy of a Massacre*), *The Charlie O’Leary Story* charts the life of its titular subject, an inner-city football icon. Born on Townsend Street in 1924, O’Leary, as a teenager, founded the street football league for teenagers in East Wall, before becoming one of the country’s first FIFA-affiliated referees. Over the course of his career as a ref, he oversaw matches at the national, European club, and international levels, before, in 1986, Jack Charlton invited him to become the national team’s kit-man, a role he would hold during the 1990 Italian World Cup. *The Charlie O’Leary Story* will screen in the centre’s main auditorium at 7:30pm, and afterwards, there will be a Q&A with director Lee, producer Fergus Dowd and O’Leary. Book your tickets [here](https://www.draiocht.ie/whats-on/the-charlie-o-leary-story?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ****Want to spread the word about your upcoming event?** If you [let us know about it](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com), we're happy to include a listing for free in the noticeboard below. And if you want a flashy advert [like the one](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-search-for-ufos-admire-the-vampires-reluctantly-return-to-the-golden-age-of-hong-kong-cinema/) in this previous newsletter, we're happy to sell you a spot. Email amy@dublininquirer.com. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Howth Maritime & Seafood Festival** The Howth Maritime & Seafood Festival returns this year with a new summer slot, taking place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May, moving from its traditional September slot. Running daily from 12pm to 6pm, along Howth promenade and harbour, this year’s edition will feature a live cooking stage, workshops, and live music from acts including The Wren, Havana Roots, Luka Bloom and Kíla. For more information, visit the festival’s website [here](https://www.eventsinfingal.ie/howth-maritime-festival?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Somewhere*** On Friday 15 May, author Jessamine O’Connor will be launching her debut novel *Somewhere* in Dubray Books on Grafton Street. The launch begins at 6:30pm, and O’Connor will be joined by fellow author Una Mannion as guest speaker. *Somewhere* is published by Lilliput Press. For more information, visit their website [here](https://www.lilliputpress.ie/products/somewhere?srsltid=AfmBOopXWDd6%5F7tdnvN1BbQ27LFGBOiIhvg8nnQma0xnVV2EQtHgtLsj&ref=dublininquirer.com). **O'Czytani Polish Literary Festival** The O'Czytani Polish Literary Festival, Ireland's largest Polish literary festival, is returning for its sixth edition this year. The festival, which will be taking place in Inchicore and Trinity College, brings together writers, artists and readers from Ireland’s Polish community, and will be headlined this year by Szczepan Twardoch, author of the novels *Morphine*, *Drach* and *The King*. Launching on 26 May at Biblary Community Centre and Library in Inchicore, the festival will take place on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June. For more information, and to reserve a spot at one of its many talks, visit the festival Eventbrite page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/6-festiwal-literacki-oczytani6-literary-festival-oczytani-tickets-1985471374328?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Mayor’s Fest** On Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June, Fingal mayor Tom O’Leary will be hosting Mayor’s Fest, a two-day family festival at Skerries Mill. Beginning each day at 2pm, Mayor’s Fest will include a Taylor Swift tribute act, live sets from the bands Smash Hits and Risky Business, and a Disney Princess Show. Mayor’s Fest is free to attend. Visitors can unwind at Mayor’s Fest with food and refreshments at the on-site Windmill Café or at the additional food concessions operating throughout the weekend. Please note there will be no parking onsite at Mayor’s Fest. For more information on Mayor’s Fest, visit the Events in Fingal website [here](https://www.eventsinfingal.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Gardaí press charges against a man for a poster on the gates of Iranian embassy URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/gardai-press-charges-against-a-man-for-a-poster-on-the-gates-of-iranian-embassy/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:34:03.000Z Morteza Najafi grabbed his phone and played a video. It shows the moment on 26 April when he crossed the street and placed a poster on the gates of the Iranian embassy on Mount Merrion Avenue in Blackrock. As he strides over to the other side, he smiles and flashes a peace sign to other protesters, the video shows. [The poster](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28110463-whatsapp-image-2026-05-10-at-120344-pm/?ref=dublininquirer.com) featured an upside-down photo of Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime’s former leader, who was assassinated by the US on 28 February, marked with a red X sign, and the caption: “Rest in Piss”. He didn’t do anything extra to affix the poster onto the gates, said Najafi, who was granted refugee status here several years ago. “Just wedged it between the bars,” he said in Persian, sitting at a city café recently. He meant to take a few pictures of the sign up there and take it off after the protest, he said. “But we actually forgot. I didn’t want any trouble, you know how they are.” Someone’s kid put a few “Free Iran” stickers on the gates after, Najafi said. But that has nothing to do with him, he said. Inside Iran, insulting the country’s supreme leader [is an offence](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/08/death-iranian-activist-burned-picture-supreme-leader-omid-sarlak?ref=dublininquirer.com) under article 514 of Iran’s “Islamic Penal Code (discretionary and preventative punishments)”, punishable by a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years imprisonment. Here, of course, it’s not. When cops from a Dún Laoghaire garda station showed up at his home two days after the protest, Najafi said, he was thrown by it. “They said, the embassy has made a complaint.” This is not Najafi’s first time getting in trouble over the embassy, he said. He had to pay a fine when, after the death of Mahsa Amini – a Kurdish woman who died in 2022 after a forceful arrest by the “morality police” – he was so fired up that he pulled down the embassy’s sign. He paid a fine for that, Najafi said, and didn’t complain then. But this time, he wouldn’t have thought he’d done anything wrong even if he had left the poster up on purpose, he said. “I didn’t damage anything, I didn’t break anything.” Najafi’s charge sheet says he is accused of displaying at the embassy “a poster which was threatening, abusive, insulting or obscene with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace might have occasioned”. He’s charged under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act as amended, it said. He said the embassy had apparently said that they’d been “emotionally scarred” by the poster. Najafi said he’s dismayed that the guards would press charges over a poster on behalf of the embassy and aid Iranian authorities’ efforts to silence dissent abroad. A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said last week that its press office was making inquiries to answer questions about the case, but has not yet addressed them. A spokesperson for the Iranian embassy has not yet responded to queries sent on 7 May, including one asking why it decided to make a complaint to the Gardaí. ## Uncivil disobedience Others agree with Najafi that prosecuting the case is overreach. A spokesperson for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said that while not absolute, the Irish Constitution largely protects freedom of expression. “It can be limited in certain circumstances, including for the prevention of disorder or crime and the protection of the rights of others,” they said. In reality, though, the threshold is pretty high, the spokesperson said. And the European Court of Human Rights [has ruled](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28108573-case-of-handyside-v-the-united-kingdom/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that protection “is applicable not only to ‘information’ or ‘ideas’ that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population”. That means that any restriction or penalty imposed on speech should be “proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued”, said the spokesperson for ICCL. Besides that, they said, ICCL has been vocal about its concerns around broadly worded offences in the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, they said. For someone to be found guilty under section 7 of the law, they must have done something to deliberately breach the peace, or have shown a recklessness as to whether a breach of the peace could occur. But the law doesn’t say what counts, said the ICCL spokesperson. A 2008 case defined it as “conduct which immediately threatens a person or could cause a reasonable person to feel threatened,” they said. Or it can be shoving, fighting, stampeding or “flying missiles”, the spokesperson said. “The use of Section 7 in this case is concerning, given that the poster was displayed at a peaceful protest. It is crucial that people are allowed to express political opinions in a democracy,” they said. Nothing happened during the protest, said Najafi. And they had gathered there on a Sunday when the embassy was closed to the public, he said. ## In the shadow of the war Local Councillor Maurice Dockrell, of Fine Gael, said he’s familiar with the case. His personal view is that prosecuting it is probably an “overkill”. He said he hasn’t looked closely at the poster, but believes the guards should have exercised their discretion not to bring a case. “My concern is that the embassies of totalitarian countries are not always entirely benign,” he said. Dockrell has had his own back-and-forth with the embassy. On 12 January, he [had brought](https://dlrcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1053572/start%5Ftime/8307000?force%5Flanguage%5Fcode=en%5FGB&ref=dublininquirer.com) [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28109337-motion-from-the-floor/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the chamber at Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council to condemn the [mass killing by security forces and militias of thousands of](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%5FIran%5Fmassacres?ref=dublininquirer.com) unarmed civilians in Iran at the time. His motion also called on the government to summon the Iranian ambassador. On the same day, Dockrell, who’s also a barrister, sent [a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28109338-12-january-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Iranian embassy addressed to Ambassador Kazem Sharif Kazemi. “There can be no moral ambiguity where unarmed civilians are beaten, imprisoned, and killed for peaceful protest. I shudder to think of the fate of the more than 11,000 protestors who have reportedly been arrested,” his letter said. A few days later, he got a polite response that came with a “fact sheet” from ambassador-designate Eshagh Al-Habib. Al-Habib’s letter said that the United States and Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad had entered peaceful protests to foment chaos, and that’s why things took a violent turn. It also drew comparisons between Iran’s security forces and the Gardaí. “The Iranian security forces and police, like those of all countries around the world, including the Irish police (Garda), who dealt forcefully with anti-immigration protests in October 2025, acted in accordance with their inherent and legal duty by firmly confronting these terrorist groups with force,” it said. Dockrell said he didn’t accept that narrative and thought the comparison didn’t make sense. “I wrote back and made the point that Irish police did not use live ammunition on people, and I never got a response to that,” he said. He agrees, Dockrell said, that the United States and Israel’s war in Iran – which he said is probably illegal and he’s against wars in principle – has overshadowed the bloodshed in January. “But I don’t think they should be conflating the war and human rights abuses; you can still speak out against human rights abuses and how dissident opinion is treated in Iran,” Dockrell said Ireland’s response to the mass killings in January has been broadly “muted”, he said. Amidst the war, Iranian authorities have [sped up](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/04/iran-executes-men-january-anti-regime-protests?ref=dublininquirer.com) the pace of execution for people who were arrested in January. “Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks,” according to the *Guardian*. ## Let my people go Meanwhile, Mahya Ostovar, co-founder of the [Iranian Democratic Diaspora Network in Ireland](https://web.archive.org/web/20260510112233/https://iddni.com/) (IDDNI) – a “non-partisan” group of Iranian academics and professionals supporting a democratic Iran, according to its website – said she sees the case against Najafi as part of the regime’s transnational efforts to silence and intimidate. The Gardaí’s decision to bring charges against Najafi is in contrast with IDDNI’s experience of reporting incidents of harassment to the guards and struggling to get support. On WhatsApp, she sends a video of a man launching at Iranian protestors in Galway with a closed fist. The man is part of what appears to be a small anti-war protest. Some of its handful of participants are carrying the flag of the Islamic Republic. A photo from the protest shows a man holding up his phone with an image of slain Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasim Soleimani on its screen. Nasim Soleimanian said it was her that the other man launched at because she was filming them. “They’re doing this to take our voices away.” It was difficult to get the guards to take it seriously, and they only paid attention when she and her partner, Niall, kept badgering them to watch the video, Soleimanian said. Najafi – the man who’s being charged for displaying a poster at the embassy – said he avoids protests at the city centre for the same reasons. No one bothers them like that outside the embassy in Blackrock, he said. “Cause of the distance and all.” Najafi – who used to be a professional judoka in Iran and [joined](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28109344-morteza-najafi-ijforg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ireland’s national Judo team when he moved here – said he’s risking a lot in attending protests here, but he does it anyway because “that’s all I can do”. As a refugee, he hasn’t been to Iran in almost two decades, he said. But his wife and daughter had travelled to access healthcare, just before Israel’s 12-day war on Iran, he said. They’ve been stuck there ever since. “Their passports expired, and they hadn’t been able to renew them,” he said. He believes that his activism here is the reason, Najafi said. But he’s undaunted, he said. “I just want my Iran to be free.” ### In its case for leaving Wood Quay for new HQ, council is ignoring retrofit grant, says councillor URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-its-case-for-leaving-wood-quay-for-new-hq-council-is-ignoring-retrofit-grant-says-councillor/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:34:11.000Z “This is only dealing with Camden Yard,” said Rory Flannery, the council’s head of finance, at Monday’s monthly meeting of Dublin City Council. Consulting on the future of Wood Quay would kick off soon with councillors, he said – as he went through [a presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116097-report-no-1052026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-camden-yard-civic-offices-a-strateg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the council’s current strategy. But the fates of the two massive city centre sites are connected, said councillors. After all, Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare’s argument for the need to transplant the council’s headquarters from the Civic Offices to the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street is in large part based on the massive sum – about €500 million – he says would be needed to retrofit the Wood Quay buildings. One leads to the next. If it were substantially cheaper to fix up the current Civic Offices and stay at Wood Quay, it wouldn’t make financial sense to spend the estimated €338 million to build new offices on the purchased Camden Yard site. So, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner wanted to know why the council hadn’t factored a central government grant for retrofitting public buildings into its calculations on how much staying at Wood Quay would cost, she said. The Department of Environment has said it will fund up to 50 percent of the costs of retrofitting projects for public buildings that need to see their BER improved, she said – based on a response [to a parliamentary question](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-03-18/69/?highlight%5B0%5D=retrofitted&ref=dublininquirer.com) she had prompted. Shakespeare, the council’s chief executive, had told her that he doesn’t believe the Department of Environment, Horner said at the meeting on Monday. But council officials urgently need to interrogate that properly, she said, and incorporate that into the options. But she hasn’t heard back anything from council officials on looking into that more closely, she said at the meeting. “We desperately need to be, to investigate that.” Flannery, the council executive, said they need to follow up with the department on the fund as they need more information on it. “We don’t think the fund is that big.” Later, Horner said that she hasn’t heard a good answer for why they haven’t looked seriously at it. “I think that is a massive gap in their analysis and their logic on the financial side of things,” she said. “I think it is wild.” It’s also unclear, though, which of the elements that make up the council’s estimated costs would be eligible for that pot. Reports showing what is stuffed into the €500 million-ish cost of retrofitting and refurbishment works for Wood Quay – which include not just energy efficiency measures but other changes – still aren’t public. The only report into upgrades at Wood Quay that is public is one drawn up in July 2019 that listed 11 changes that could be done to make substantial energy savings. At the time, those would cost about €1.7 million, [that report says.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515177-foi-released-2019-study-dcc-civic-offices-energy-audit-report-draft-v3/?ref=dublininquirer.com) At the meeting, Flannery and his colleague Aidan Blighe said a meme-able number of times that councillors were really welcome to come in for lengthy one-to-one private briefings on the reports that haven’t been released publicly. They’re commercially sensitive as officials are talking to contractors, they said. But many councillors said they just don’t have the expertise to understand and analyse each detail in giant technical reports – and said there’s need for much greater scrutiny. They need those reports to be public, so they can provide oversight and check them, working with independent experts who they trust, they said – and ensure the public are clued into any decisions too. ## Is this just about energy? Estimates of the works needed to Wood Quay are now magnitudes higher than the €1.7 million – which centered on responses to an “energy audit” – laid out in July 2019. At the meeting, Flannery said an early high-level estimate of the necessary retrofit work, carried out by Arup Consulting, had come back with a figure of about €250 million. Drilling deeper, Flannery said, another group of consultants had then estimated the cost at between €487 million to €504 million, depending on whether all the construction was done in one go, or if it was phased. This can be compared to the estimated costs of the proposed Camden Yard project. The council has paid [€104 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/) to buy the site, and a presentation Shakespeare gave councillors in February [estimated](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/) it would cost €338 million to build the new council offices, €102 million for the additional offices they plan to let out, and €141 million to build some housing on the site. Aside from the financial, the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116097-report-no-1052026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-camden-yard-civic-offices-a-strateg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Flannery presented to councillors on Monday lay out the other arguments for moving the headquarters to planned new-build blocks at Camden Yard. Key elements of the Civic Offices on Wood Quay are approaching the end of their useful lives, and the council has ambitious climate targets to meet by 2030, the report says. If they stayed, the council couldn’t consolidate staff from several buildings into the one, and services would be disrupted during all the works on Wood Quay, it says. And, if the headquarters stays at Wood Quay, the council couldn’t build more than 500 homes there instead, it says. Some councillors are suggesting that officials look at building out the Camden Yard site as all homes, as an alternative – but officials say the change in planning permission that would take would add years to the project. Still though, said Fine Gael Councillor Clodagh Ní Mhuirí, many people just don’t understand why Wood Quay can’t be retrofitted. Two blocks were built in 1981, and two other blocks were built in 1994\. “How can a building that is relatively new not be meeting standards?” said Ní Mhuirí, relaying what constituents have asked her. The council needs to it explain much better, and why retrofitting isn’t seen as an option, she said. “I think we need to be a lot clearer as to, kind of, what are the actual issues with that.” Blighe, an assistant chief executive for human resources and corporate services, said again that officials would be happy to take councillors through detailed reports during one-on-one or group meetings. But he listed some of the issues, then and there. “We’ve major issues with all our \[...\] heating systems, electricity breakers, the windows, the roofs, the lifts are constantly out of order, they all need to be replaced,” he said. “Even some of the facade is breaking down.” The council plans to spend to fix some of those issues, anyway though, regardless of the move, the capital budget suggests. There’s €10.3 million in the capital budget [for the next three years](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s52661/78.%20DCC%20Capital%20Programme%202026-2028.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) for upgrades to Civic Offices at Wood Quay – including €600,000 on lift replacement, and €600,000 on mechanical and electrical capital upgrading works. Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley said that, in his glance at the reports – that have not been publicly released, but councillors have been able to review – he had noticed that there was €6 million for an IT system included. “That’s got nothing to do with refurb,” he said. What this says to him is that the business case is being stuffed with numbers to make one option look good and another – the retrofitting – look bad, he said. “We’re not stupid. Please do not do that.” One big line item in the retrofitting costs that the council has broken out in presentations is how much it would cost to relocate staff away from Wood Quay while works were done. That could be between €97 million and €158 million – depending on the phasing, says the strategy report. But that figure is based on assuming staff would have to move to A-grade office locations for up to 15 years, said Stanley. That’s what councillors were told, he said. He understands that office moves are difficult, he said. But that’s ludicrous and a solution could be found, with staff working from home for a while, or piecemeal moves, he said. ## Up to what standard? A certificate in the Codema-commissioned report from 2019 said the Civic Offices’ BER at that time was D1. Driving up costs is the idea that they have to bring Wood Quay up to a BER rating of A1, said Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor. They don’t have to do that, and could look at a lower target, he said. It’s unclear how the 11 upgrades costing €1.7 million in the July 2019 report – such as more solar panels, heat pumps, new LED lighting, and air system upgrades – would impact the building’s BER ratings. But under one scenario, that report predicted a drop in annual electricity use from about 4,030,000 kWh/year to 660,000 kWh/year. Although, that scenario also forsaw annual gas use go up from 3,300,000 kWh/year to 4,890,000 kWh/year, it says. There are a couple of targets floating around that relate to upgrading public buildings. One set by the Irish government is to upgrade all public buildings to B2 by 2030. Another, in the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, is to ensure that 3 percent of publicly owned buildings with a total useful floor area of more than 250sqm are retrofitted each year – or the equivalent alternative. The Irish Government has opted for an alternative, [said a response to](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-03-18/69/?highlight%5B0%5D=retrofitted&ref=dublininquirer.com) a parliamentary question issued to Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman. It has said it will ensure that the equivalent projected energy savings are achieved in buildings owned by public bodies by the end of 2030, it says. It’s bringing in a “renovation passport” – whereby retrofit measures can count towards the target as part of a longer pathway towards zero-energy buildings, the response said. The department, along with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), is supporting that with two programmes – the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Programme and the Pathfinder Programme. The first offers supports, andbest-practice sharing to support bodies to deliver energy efficiency improvements, it says. The second of these includes support for major retrofitting projects, by councils, and in the healthcare and education sector, “offering up to 50% funding for projects, ranging from shallow retrofit to deep decarbonisation”. The department hasn’t responded to queries about whether the council has engaged with it in relation to these programmes and Wood Quay. On the phone the day after the council meeting, Horner, the Green Party councillor, said that if the department is investing in measures, across public buildings, they can get efficiencies of scale. If the councils and other public bodies all go it alone, she said, the state could end up with far more expensive projects releasing mega-tonnes of embodied carbon and knocking old buildings. There has to be a national strategy on how to meet these directives, she said, looking at it all across the portfolio of public buildings, and assessing them holistically. At the monthly council meeting on Monday evening, Lesley Byrne, a Social Democrats councillor, said she understands the argument that council executives can’t release the retrofitting reports, with estimate costs, because of commercial sensitivity. But the council has told the public the headline figures for its costs to retrofit Wood Quay, she said. And, a peer of hers, a quantity surveyor, told her that it would be, by sqm, three times more than the most expensive office fit-out in Dublin city in the last 15 to 20 years, she said. She can’t name the surveyor, she said with a slight smile. “Her name, identity and buildings, that’s commercially sensitive too.” By this point in the meeting, Flannery, the head of finance, was whipping through the responses to councillors. “It’s not all fit-out,” he said, to Byrne of the cost. ### Dublin Inquirer Summer School 2026 tickets are on sale now URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-inquirer-summer-school-2025-tickets-are-on-sale-now-2/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T05:24:33.000Z Join us for this year’s Dublin Inquirer Summer School, on Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June. In six sessions, members of our team will work with groups of up to 15 people on skills and knowledge that could be used in journalism, but also just by people who are involved in their communities and trying to make them better places. Classes will mostly be held at 10-13 Thomas Street, in the Digital Hub, in Dublin 8 – although there's one session that'll be a walking tour, and another that'll be online. Participants are also invited to an end-of-school meet-up on Sunday afternoon, just down the street at Arthur’s Pub. You can sign up now, via this page, for any or all of the sessions. Tickets are €50 per class, and the money will go into [our budget](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-look-at-dublin-inquirers-finances/) to keep running Dublin Inquirer. If the price doesn’t suit you though, we’ve a few free places available, just let us know. ## The Sessions ### Day 1 - **Navigating local government.** Trying to figure out who is responsible for what and how to contact them to push for change and improvement can be difficult. Dublin Inquirer editor Sam Tranum will offer a primer on the structure of local authorities like Dublin City Council, the difference between what council staff do, and what elected councillors do. How to find out who your councillors are and watch them at work on committees and during full council meetings. What information the councils publish publicly, and how to find it. And more. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 10am to 11.30am, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* **Sold out.** - ***Walking tour:* Local government in concrete.** Walk along with Dublin Inquirer deputy editor Lois Kapila on a tour around the Liberties, visiting a series of locations that illustrate how local government works, debates and responses. The locations will include: The Eight Building in Newmarket, Bridgefoot Street Park, the council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay, and the Oliver Bond flats. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 12 to 1.30pm, starting at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/walking-tour-local-government-in-concrete-tickets-1989223412776?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - **Who even owns that?** Have you been wondering who owns that vacant or derelict building in your area? In this class, Dublin Inquirer deputy editor Lois Kapila will show you how to start to satisfy that curiosity, by using public records to answer questions about your neighbourhood, and offering insight into the changing rules around ownership transparency. *This class will be on Saturday 27 June, from 2pm to 3.30pm, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/who-even-owns-that-tickets-1989223801940?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - ***Free online event:* Tracking your local councillors’ votes.** A few years ago, we launched a platform recording how councillors vote on key issues in the Dublin City Council area, with [CouncilVoteTracker.ie](https://councilvotetracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Since then we've expanded to cover Fingal County Council too.But we can’t do every council area in the country – perhaps you want to help? Join Sam Tranum to learn how to use our platform to track what your local councillors are voting on, and how each individual councillor is voting – and make it easily publicly accessible and shareable on social media. *This class will be online on Saturday 27 June, from 4pm to 5pm.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tracking-your-local-councillors-votes-tickets-1989224218185?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). ### Day 2 - **Master FOI and AIE:** Freedom of Information requests and Access to Information on the Environment requests are two useful tools to get records out of public bodies. Dublin Inquirer reporter Laoise Neylon will walk you through how to make an initial request, how to file an appeal for an internal review, and how to appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner, offering tips and examples from her years of experience with this process. *This class will be on Sunday 28 June, from 10am to 11.30am, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/master-foi-and-aie-tickets-1989224977456?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). - **Launching your own small publication.** From finding a market, to choosing a platform, and means of distribution, and possible ways of making money from your effort, and the nuts and bolts of running a company. In this class, Dublin Inquirer co-founder Sam Tranum will talk through the practicalities of starting a small publication, in print, on a website, on social media, or as a newsletter. *This class will be on Sunday 28 June, from 2pm to 3.30pm, at 10-13 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, at 10-13 Thomas Street.* [You can get your ticket here.](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/launching-your-own-small-publication-tickets-1989226720670?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com) **School social:** If you participate in any of these sessions, you'll be invited to join us at one of the pubs near the venue, from Sunday 28 June at 3pm till whenever. Come and meet people from across Dublin, for a casual debrief and chats. ## The people **Lois Kapila** is co-founder and deputy editor of *Dublin Inquirer*. Before that, she wrote for *The Statesman* in Kolkata. She was shortlisted for Orwell Prize for Journalism and Prix Europa's European Journalist of the Year in 2019\. **Laoise Neylon** is a journalist with the Dublin Inquirer with an interest in housing, homelessness and social affairs. Together with Lois Kapila, she contributed to an international investigation on the financialisation of housing, which won a European Press Prize Innovation Award in 2022\. She has also written for the *Sunday Times* and *The Journal.ie.* **Sam Tranum** is co-founder and editor of *Dublin Inquirer*. Before that, he worked as a reporter for daily newspapers, covering local government at the *Charleston Daily Mail* in West Virginia and the *South Florida Sun-Sentinel*, and then as a reporter for energy business newsletters from Energy Intelligence in Washington DC, before taking a role as a sub-editor at *The Statesman* in Kolkata, and teaching journalism at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek. ## Directions Most sessions will be in Studio 2, in 10-13 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, D08 PX8H. It's on the Digital Hub campus, near-ish the corner of Crane Street, on the south side of Thomas Street, across from the Masonry Building. It's a short walk down the road from the James's Luas stop, or across the river from the Smithfield one. It's on several bus routes. And there's plenty of bike parking around. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-eba7f547-b231-420c-b9c8-30b8c23257b7.png) ### Fingal pitches in to help Portmarnock swimming pool fix its roof URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-pitches-in-to-help-portmarnock-swimming-pool-fix-its-roof/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:34:30.000Z Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Club (PSLC) is set to receive an emergency grant of €500,000 from Fingal County Council to help re-open its swimming pool. Councillors approved the funding at their full monthly meeting on Monday. The club had been forced to shutter the swimming pool due toissues with their roof [on 13 March](https://www.dublininquirer.com/portmarnock-pool-closed-indefinitely-due-to-problems-with-its-roof/). An engineering audit had found extensive structural deficiencies with the roof, said David Storey, Fingal’s director of environment, climate action, active travel and sports. “The closure of the pool is obviously an ongoing impact on communities,” he said. According to the PSLC’s [website](https://pslc.ie/update-pool-closure?ref=dublininquirer.com), the closure affected nearly half of the staff it has working in the facility. PSLC proposed to the council a series of works that include waterproofing measures, remedial works to the pool tank and drainage infrastructure, health and safety upgrades, and enabling and preparatory works, according to a council [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116176-portmarnock-sports-and-leisure-club-pslc/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Obviously it would be a large financial commitment, and PSLC is going to have to get some funding itself, Storey said. But, in light of the cost and their contribution to the community, Storey said the council was looking for its elected members to approve the grant of €500,000. ## Jimmy Guerin didn’t learn to swim in the PSLC The PSLC is a not-for-profit pool, and one of only 10 pools in the county, all of which are either private or not-for-profit, according to the council’s audit of its sports facilities [in April 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-residents-need-better-access-to-pools-and-pitches-new-sports-facilities-audit-says/). Councillors have approved plans to build a new municipal swimming pool up in Balbriggan – which would be the first [publicly owned pool in Fingal](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-plan-that-balbriggan-swimming-pool-would-come-before-surrounding-housing-it-looks-unlikely/). Until March, the PSLC had “thousands” of weekly swimmers, Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey said at the meeting. “It caters for all the local schools, providing swimming lessons and many of the local sports clubs.” This closure brought about an emergency situation, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Eoghan O’Brien. “I’m absolutely delighted to see the proposal here this evening so quickly to help what is an absolutely essential local amenity.” But, maybe the council could encourage PSLC to install photovoltaic solar panels, said Green Party Councillor David Healy. The municipal pool in Balbriggan is to get solar panels, he said. “I think it’s the right time to try to include the solar energy generation as part of their project.” Independent Councillor Tony Murphy didn’t want to pour cold water onto this support, but he wanted to know what gains the community would make from this investment. “And the other question I have is concerning the setting of a precedent,” he said, “that we don’t fall foul of other private entities coming into Fingal County Council looking for financial support.” About 2,500 people use it, said Storey. “I think there’s 10 or 12 different clubs that you don’t have to be members of. They’re all using the pool as well.” About 80 percent of its users are non-members, Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan said. “So it’s effectively a public facility.” How much of the repair costs still needed to be covered on top of the council’s contribution, said Sinn Féin Councillor Malachy Quinn. “How much is the PSLC and central government bringing to the table?” Ryan said the cost would be in the region of €1.2 million. “The \[Department of Culture, Communications and Sport\] apparently are just footing €100,000.” Independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin said for his 30th birthday, his wife gave him swimming lessons in the club, “which didn’t work”. But, for his 40th birthday, he was elected as club chair, “still not being able to swim”, he said. “Whilst it is not owned by Fingal, they have stood in and filled the vacuum for the last 40 years.” Guerin was meant to be selling this grant to people, said Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth. “Not saying that you went swimming and they didn’t teach you how to swim.” This grant was to come from the community fund available to non-council owned community facilities, said John Quinlivan, Fingal’s director of economic, community and cultural development. Since 2020, €1.4 million has been transferred into it, he said. While 24 grants have been paid out between 2021 and 2025, he said. “Those grants, in total, have valued €550,000.” This grant is significant, he said. “But it will leave €417,000.” These are special circumstances, he said. “It’s a major piece of recreational infrastructure.” The grant was agreed. ### Luke: New documentary charts journey of Cavan punk band URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-new-documentary-charts-journey-of-cavan-punk-band/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T22:34:38.000Z It’s the mid-1980s and in the bordertown of Bailieboro, Co. Cavan there’s not much for a teen boy to do beyond eat chips, sneak drinks and get into fights. Four school friends – Justin Kelly, David Meagher, Noel Larkin and Paddy Glackin – raging against their one-horse town existence, form a band, the Panic Merchants. From there, they dream of fame, fortune, bright lights, big city. But it doesn’t quite turn out like that, as we see in the new film [*Once We Were Punks*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELM091%5Fof8&ref=dublininquirer.com). Justin Kelly, the Panic Merchants’ vocalist and lyricist was the son of disgraced Army Captain James Kelly who was [at the centre of the Arms Crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%5FKelly%5F%28Irish%5FArmy%5Fofficer%29?ref=dublininquirer.com) of 1970\. Captain Kelly was tried for trying to illegally import arms for the Provisional IRA, [a scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms%5FCrisis?ref=dublininquirer.com) that led to the dismissal of then cabinet ministers Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney. Although he was eventually acquitted, the fallout meant a big move for the Kelly family away from Dublin to quiet Bailieboro. Much of the fire and vitriol in the band’s lyrics came from Justin grappling with his father’s treatment by the state. Channelling these feelings into music comes off as somewhat accidental. Like all great teenage bands, the group came together by happenstance and cajoling: “You’ll play the drums, doesn’t matter that you don’t have a kit.” *Once We Were Punks* is a relatable, moving and hopeful portrait of a group that disintegrated in a very un-rock ‘n’ roll way. Life happened for the boys. Careers, family and travel. The Panic Merchants faded away before they could burn up. This was not a case of almost famous, or could-have-beens or has-beens because they never were. ## Beginnings Early sequences in the film plot the band’s formation, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it rise, and parting of ways. Kelly and Meagher, on vocals and guitar, are the most serious about the band. But by their own admission, they weren’t all that serious about it. The consensus from all members of the Panic Merchants, and their family members, is that it was a fun time but ultimately the talent and drive wasn’t there. Their last official gig was at Meagher’s wedding. A suitable end to a dream that got overtaken by other more tangible dreams and desires. Kelly reads over some of his old lyrics with much embarrassment and some nostalgia. The lyrics are the sort you’d find in the margins of foolscap journals. Raw and unashamed. A kid’s idea of adulthood. Seeing Kelly now in his fifties reading the thoughts of his past self is quietly moving. The film’s director, Frank Shouldice ([*The Man Who Wanted to Fly*](https://ifi.ie/man-who-wanted-to-fly/?ref=dublininquirer.com)) closes in on the stirring of memories within his subject. The camera moves in on Kelly's face, as if to catch him by surprise and capture the space between his fully formed thoughts. Glimpsing that place where raw emotion comes through, the rapid blinking of an eye, the welling of a tear, almost imperceptible. There and gone again, but caught in the swivel and zoom of the camera before a cut brings us back to the ’80s, or further along in the film’s present concerns. When Kelly and Meagher reconnect at a funeral 25 years after the band parted ways they have a jam for old time’s sake. Playing the old songs feels good. There might be something here for them. ## Another chance What could have been a once-off reminiscence becomes a new lease on life as the band reforms through the magic of email. They swap lyrics, vocal lines and music. Writing new songs in bits and pieces. The DIY spirit of their punk beginnings hasn’t been lost. Somewhat improbably, the years between iterations of the group, now called The Sons of Southern Ulster, have worked in their favour. Meagher is an accomplished musician and amateur producer. Kelly, sheepish as he is about his past lyrics, writes now with one foot in the past. Kelly mines the life and times they had in Bailieboro in songs that filter the thoughts of a young man through the lived experience of the subsequent years. The raw emotion is there, and so is that vitriol, but with a new perspective and gravitas. In one song, “They Say I Live in the Past”, Kelly sings that he’s “dedicated himself to history”. He is a folk-punk historian shouting his way through space and place and memories of bordertown living. Kelly doesn’t really sing his lyrics. He belts out melodies here and there but with a strain in his voice. Mainly the stories and vignettes of local characters and situations from his youth are delivered in a sharp and snappy spoken-word style. Carrying a notebook on stage he looks like one of the alternative comedy set or a slam poet as he recalls sticky bar room floors, local widowers, and the boot factory where most of the characters will work “all \[their\] fucking life”. The Sons of Southern Ulster generate buzz with independent releases and one song “Fear my Scorn” (“Do not fear my fist but fear my scorn/My silence my disdain/The howling mob that brays and points shall haunt you every day”) catches the attention of producers and promoters alike. Here is another chance, maybe a first chance, at greatness. The band reunites, coming from home and away to play a gig at Whelan’s in Dublin. There’s disagreement between the bandmates as to whether or not they’ve played Whelan’s before. But the gig feels much more like a first lap than a victory tour. David Allen, the booker at Whelan’s, is sceptical. The Sons themselves have doubts as well. Their songwriting process, as captured by Shouldice and his crew, is studio-led, cut and paste; they're not a live band at all. They were barely a live band 25 years ago. We sit in on practice sessions in the run-up to the concert. The atmosphere is surprisingly chill. The bandmates all get along and frustrations don’t spill over into rows. The expected drama of egos and walkouts never comes. These are men who enjoy one another’s company. An ever-present multipack of Tayto in the rehearsal space really sells the ambling amiable vibe that the band has going. *Once We Were Punks* is a much more grounded film than *The Man Who Wanted to Fly*, but the director still manages to show off some excellent highflying camerawork. As the gig approaches, practice sessions stretch on into the night. The steel shed rehearsal space is the only building lit up for miles, glowing warmly in the night. The camera rises and flows with the music sounding out into the quiet country air. ## The gig That same cinematic treatment is carried over to the gig itself. Shouldice employs all the concert-film tricks. Frequent shots of the audience, embedded footage from behind heads. We see people head banging and swaying to the songs. It’s a packed house. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/OWWP_STILLS_14_11075003_01001753-1.png) Image courtesy of Igloo Films. And despite some last-minute drama with a sore throat, The Sons of Southern Ulster play a gig that is worth waiting their whole lives for. It struck me when watching the gig that Kelly, Meagher, Larkin and Glackin are working a spell on the audience. The songs are rich in local detail but not nostalgia. Overstuffed with the sounds and sights and smells of their youth. They meet the past head-on. Grappling with the same feelings that Justin and the band felt as teens, they rewrite and write new meaning into these experiences. Not missing these places or things necessarily, but longing to be those people again, the way they were. Only, you watch the performance, the rehearsals and the interactions among The Sons of Southern Ulster and you see they are those kids, whether they realise it or not. *Once We Were Punks is due to be in cinemas from 15 May.* ### Councillors give nod for long-awaited pool in Balbriggan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-give-nod-for-long-awaited-pool-in-balbriggan/ Last updated: 2026-05-12T23:04:29.000Z Fingal councillors have granted planning permission for the council to build the county’s first public swimming pool. The long-awaited community pool in the Castlelands area just south of Balbriggan was given the council’s green light by councillors at their monthly meeting on Monday evening. The plans are for the pool to be 25 metres long, have six lanes, and be housed within a single-storey building with a viewing gallery, said [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115656-part-xi00725-chief-executive-report-pursuant-to-part-xi-of-the-planning-development-act-2000/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from chief executive [AnnMarie Farrelly](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115656-part-xi00725-chief-executive-report-pursuant-to-part-xi-of-the-planning-development-act-2000/?ref=dublininquirer.com), put forward to councillors as part of the internal planning process known as Part 8. They also include solar panels, a biodiverse green roof, parking, cycle facilities and pedestrian links. In an earlier iteration, the pool was set to have a consistent depth of 1.35 metres. But, following public consultation, the council has changed the design so that it has shallow and deep ends. It was a really good day, not only for Balbriggan, but for the county, said independent Councillor Tony Murphy at the meeting. “This is the first municipal pool that Fingal County Council are delivering and I’m sure there will be more.” Construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and take 15 months, said David Storey, Fingal’s director of environment, climate action, active travel and sports. “But that is subject to tender, subject to costs.” ## Building out Castlelands The new municipal pool is set to be delivered within Castlelands, a future neighbourhood where Ballymore is currently building [817 new homes](https://lda.ie/projects/hamptondemesne-balbriggan-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the Land Development Agency (LDA). It’s known as the Hampton Demesne project. The pool is to be built on a 0.589 hectare greenfield site within that, and is to benefit from the new Castlelands Link Road that the LDA is delivering, said Pat Boyle, a council senior architect, at the meeting. There would also be 41 car parking spaces, five motorcycle spaces, and a coach space, with the pool, he said. And, 40 sheltered cycle spaces, he said. “Safe access is also provided by segregated cycle and pedestrian routes, which create a strong permeability through the site.” The facility itself is to have a “changing village area” with private cubicles and two group changing rooms, he said. “A dedicated [Changing Places](https://changingplaces.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) room, highly equipped room to provide for enhanced universal access is provided near the main entrance to the building.” The pool is designed to accommodate competitive swimming with six starter blocks, and is also to have a pool hoist system for people with a mobility impairment, he said. It will be a fully electric building system, he said, “with no fossil fuels used to heat the building or pool”. ## Consultation In February, the council ran a public consultation for the Castlelands pool. They got 148 submissions, one of which had multiple signatures, Boyle told the meeting. Some highlighted the lack of gym and wellness facilities in the plans, he said. But “the proposal is intentionally focused on delivering the dedicated swimming facility where there is a gap within the county”. There are existing leisure facilities locally, he said. “The intention is to complement rather than duplicate them.” Another submission, authored by Bernard Sweeney, chairperson of the North Dublin Winter Swimming Club, queried the council’s proposal to build a pool with a fixed depth of 1.35m. While this would be suitable for certain recreational uses, the depth would limit the pool’s ability to host water polo, competitive swimming, artistic swimming and lifeguard training, Sweeney wrote. “A modular hydraulic floor would address this limitation by allowing the depth to be adjusted.” Instead, the council decided to amend the depth to be 1.1 metres deep at its shallow end and 1.8 metres deep at the deep end, Boyle said. Both the shallow and deep ends will be 8 metres long, he said. The project and the changes made in response to the consultation were largely welcomed by councillors. But, how did the project compare to Dublin City Council’s plan to redevelop its old swimming pool and leisure facility out in Irishtown? Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan asked. Designs for the [new Irishtown leisure centre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-the-councils-markievicz-leisure-centre-moves-to-irishtown-itll-leave-a-pool-sized-hole-in-town/) show a 25-metre six-lane swimming pool, a learners’ pool, a 100-station gym, three studios and changing rooms at an estimated cost of €43 million. Balbriggan on the other hand is “wet only”, Ryan said. “So to what extent was that a budget constraint?” The project is currently estimated to cost just below €12 million, said Boyle. Modifying the pool depth will push costs up by approximately 2.5 percent of the overall development cost, he said. It is significantly below Dublin City Council’s plans out in Irishtown, he said. “The cost was constrained, but also our ambition was to deliver a swimming pool that met the needs of the community.” They looked at models that included dry facilities, he said. “But this worked out better.” The operational costs are estimated at €235,000 per annum, he said. “The operational models are still under consideration.” Fianna Fáil Councillor Darragh Butler asked if the pool would be able to hold competitive meetings. It would be low-level competitions, Boyle said. “Local competitions, county competitions. It has been provided with starter blocks which will be very useful for training purposes, for events.” Storey, the director of sports for Fingal, said that the next step will be to bring to the council in June a proposal for a loan to fund the pool. If that loan is approved by the council,[and the Department of Housing and Local Government](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-wants-to-borrow-hundreds-of-millions-to-fund-flagship-projects-in-the-city-will-central-government-let-it/), Fingal County Council will go to tender and construction, he said. ### Council plans changes at Sandymount Green URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-changes-at-sandymount-green/ Last updated: 2026-05-12T23:03:07.000Z Dublin City Council is getting ready to seek approval to make Sandymount Green more accessible for pedestrians, council officials told the South East Area Committee on Monday. The scheme could see wider footpaths, a one-way street, improved crossings and bike parking introduced on the north-eastern side of the triangular green, according to a [presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116107-presentation-notification-of-the-initiation-of-the-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-200/?ref=dublininquirer.com) shown to local councillors. Focusing on this particular street – with its row of local businesses including a cafe, pharmacy and bar – would give the council an opportunity to deliver public realm improvements quickly, Liam Morrissey, the council’s senior executive architect, told the meeting. Right now, it’s a two-way street, and its footpaths are very narrow, he said. “So it’s quite a constrained street as it currently is.” The street will become more pedestrian-friendly, he said. But “it’s not going to be a fully pedestrianised street”. While there won’t be any permanent pedestrianisation, the street will, for its sixth year, be pedestrianised on weekends over the summer from 29 May to 30 August, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey told the meeting. There were “some difficulties”, but the council reached an agreement with locals once again, he said. Next week, the council intends to commence the process of seeking Part 8 approval for the proposed changes, which means the council will apply to itself for planning permission, Morrissey said. Ideally, the council officials would be bringing this before councillors to decide on in September, he said. ## Things move fast in Sandymount Back [in April 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-group-pushes-for-more-permanent-pedestrianisation-of-part-of-sandymount-green/), members of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association (SAMRA) were carrying out early investigations into whether the north-eastern side could be permanently pedestrianised. They were working with an architectural firm to draw up plans, chairperson David Turner said at the time. But, in April 2025, council senior executives met with the residents association and told them that they would develop a scheme to improve the north-east side of the green, with this project including traffic calming, according to the SAMRA [website](https://www.samra.ie/village%5Fideas%5Ftimeline?ref=dublininquirer.com). The council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, and his project team met with SAMRA again in September to show their initial proposals for the street, which included a new one-way road with parking, while also retaining it as a pedestrianised area in the summer, the website says. The footpaths are to be widened on the street and the carriageway narrowed, Morrissey told the South-East area committee on Monday. “But access deliveries and servicing, as well as parking will be facilitated on the street.” They are aiming to declutter the street, he said. “Include some public seating, improved lighting and as many upgrades as we can.” But it will also allow the summer pedestrianisation to continue into the future, he said. While currently, vehicles park on the northern, retail side of the street, the designs shown to councillors are proposing that the parking bays be relocated to the southern side that runs along the footpath outside the green, according to [the slides](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116107-presentation-notification-of-the-initiation-of-the-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-200/?ref=dublininquirer.com) shown at the meeting[.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28116107-presentation-notification-of-the-initiation-of-the-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-200/?ref=dublininquirer.com) There would be two universally accessible parking spaces, Morrissey said. “The current ones are very narrow.” New tactile paving at pedestrian crossings will be provided, he said. “And then we also get to implement some cycle parking, some public seating and some low level in-ground planting at each end of the street just to give that sense of a pedestrian priority environment.” To date, the council has held “quite extensive” consultations with a disabled persons organisation, he said, as well as a non-statutory public consultation in December. According to the report, the council received 281 submissions, 79 percent of which were in favour of the proposal. Once the council commences the Part 8 planning process on 19 May, it will be open to public submissions and observations until the end of June, he said. Depending on the number of submissions, they are hoping to seek councillors’ approval at their meeting in September, he said. “And our aim is that, if we can get that done and start on site early in 2027, the target would be to have the works completed by the summer of next year.” ## Improvements inside and out If the area around the green could be improved, could the council also think about fixing up paths inside the green itself? Lacey, the Labour councillor, asked. “Because they’re not very pleasant.” Morrissey said the council’s parks department was looking at this separately. “I’m not sure what the status is of actually a full upgrade to the park and the paths in the area.” But it is something the parks department will consider in the future, he said. It was a very welcome proposal with only one parking space being lost, said Fine Gael Councillor David Coffey. There is a lot of talk about reducing street clutter, but will the widened northern side of the street need bollards to prevent people from parking there, he said**. “**If they’re necessary, they’re necessary, and if they’re not it would be ideal if we could keep that part of the footpath as clear as possible.” They will look to install retention socket pieces for bollards, he said. “Our aim is actually that we would not need the bollards along the street.” They hope to omit the bollards, unless people continue to park up on the footpaths, he said. Right now, the estimated cost is €490,000, he said. “All going to plan, we get the Part 8, there is funding there to move forward with this project under the Transport and Public Realm Department.” The committee agreed to initiate the Part 8 process. ### For the first time in decades, Dublin City Council looks set to change clampers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-the-first-time-in-decades-dublin-city-council-looks-set-to-change-clampers/ Last updated: 2026-05-12T23:02:39.000Z Dublin City Council looks set to decide not to hire the company Dublin Street Parking Services to clamp and tow cars in the city for the next several years Since 2004, each time the council awarded a new parking enforcement contract – generally for five years, with extensions possible – DSPS has won it. But on 1 May DSPS operations manager Darren Harris advised staff that “we have been advised that we were unsuccessful in our recent tender submission”. “The DSPS contract is scheduled to expire on 31st July 2026\. We have been advised that the successful tenderer is intended to assume responsibility for the service thereafter,” he wrote. “If and when the transfer of the contract is confirmed, we will engage constructively with the successful tenderer to ensure as smooth a transition as possible,” he wrote. A DSPS representative declined to comment. Neither the council, nor the company Apcoa replied to multiple queries on whether Apcoa is the preferred bidder. Dublin City Council has not replied to queries sent on 4 May, 7 May and 11 May asking why it decided to go with a different contractor this time, and what changes drivers and other people in the city are likely to see after the change. In response to written queries about the parking enforcement contract put to council managers by [Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115610-dsps-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28115609-dsps-q/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the council said the new contract went out to tender in February – and the old contract is due to expire at the end of July. ## Long push for change Councillors have been [pushing for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/debate-opens-around-who-clampers-should-target-over-the-next-few-years/) for change in the way parking rules are enforced in the city. DSPS [operated](https://www.dublininquirer.com/although-council-once-pushed-to-terminate-it-scheme-letting-clampers-knock-off-early-if-they-met-quotas-remained/) an “early-leave” scheme under which its crews could knock off early once they clamped or towed enough vehicles. Councillors complained repeatedly that there was too much clamping in the city centre and not enough enforcement in areas further out. An early-leave incentive scheme would give crews an incentive to head to places where they think they can find easy pickings to get their clamps in fast. Places like Merrion Square featured repeatedly in the top 10 streets for clamping. “Outside the city centre, there’s a sense of lawlessness when it comes to parking,” Social Democrats Councilor Catherine Stocker said at a 2024 [meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-push-for-changes-in-the-way-parking-enforcement-is-done-in-the-city/) about parking enforcement in the city. While the council has declined to say exactly what’s required in the new parking enforcement contract, some councillors [say they’ve been promised](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-clampers-to-expand-their-hunt-beyond-the-city-centre-into-the-suburbs/) that it requires clampers to get outside the city centre and spend more time putting manners on parkers in the suburbs more often. Although council managers, and some councillors, have long agreed that enforcers should [turn a blind eye](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-committee-decides-to-continue-to-allow-some-parking-on-footpaths/) to [footpath parking](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-is-the-council-looking-to-change-about-transport-in-dublin-next-year/) in some parts of the city, where drivers say they do not have any other option – because they don’t have a designated spot and parking with all four wheels on the street would block traffic. Aside from a push to spread enforcement across the city a bit more evenly, some councillors have also pushed for the new enforcement contract to focus more on keeping footpaths, cycle lanes and bus lanes clear – in addition to catching people who’ve overstayed in their paid parking spot. Meanwhile, the council has been moving towards [less clamping, and more fines](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-push-for-changes-in-the-way-parking-enforcement-is-done-in-the-city/), and the new contract may move further in that direction. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has said that Dublin City Council is the only local authority that still clamps vehicles. Several councillors – including Fine Gael’s James Geoghegan, before he was elected a TD in November 2024 – have [proposed ending clamping altogether](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-and-researchers-question-the-effectiveness-of-clamping-cars-as-fines-gain-in-popularity/) in the city. The council has not responded to multiple queries on whether the new contract will ask the winning company to clamp cars. ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #122 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-122/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T06:53:48.000Z This piece is called *Squares: North and South, Dublin*. The two top squares are Parnell Square and Mountjoy Square. The three bottom ones are St Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square. The fish in the river are mullet. I was born and educated in Dublin, before moving to Mayo and, later, Wexford. I’ve been making low editions of hand-burnished linocuts since 1990\. In 2012, I began painting in egg tempera, in the Giotto manner, and this gentle medium compliments my lino printing. I’ve been a full-time professional artist since 2009\. I travel and rent studios in Germany, the UK, and France. ### Why can’t a survivor of domestic violence stay in their social home, rather than the perpetrator? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-cant-a-survivor-of-domestic-violence-stay-in-their-social-home-rather-than-the-perpetrator/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T05:58:56.000Z Most women who flee to safe houses run by Sonas, a domestic-violence charity, have moved out of social housing, says Fiona O'Malley, the organisation’s chief executive. Because in cases of domestic violence, councils don’t remove the perpetrator from the home, she says. Victims are forced to leave instead, often with the children, she says. “That then leaves the women in a very precarious, detrimental position whereby they're forced into displacement,” says O’Malley Given the lengths of social housing lists, they’re not going to be able to get a new social home anytime soon – it can take many years. A Department of Housing [guidance document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28096410-guidance-for-housing-authorities-for-assisting-victims-of-domestic-violence-with-emerg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for councils on how to help victim-survivors suggests they should use supports like HAP to rent a home in the private market, but that can be a challenge, too. Things can be especially difficult for women who are not Irish citizens, and whose eligibility for housing supports depended on their partner, the guidance document says. So, following a stint in refuge, many victim-survivors become homeless, O’Malley says. Because of that, some women even lose custody of their children, she says. People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin says domestic violence is a major driver of family homelessness in the area that she represents of Ballyfermot-Drimnagh. Specific numbers are not available because statistics don’t break out domestic violence as a cause of homelessness, instead including it under the more general heading “relationship breakdown”. Two of Dublin’s councils – the other two didn’t respond to queries – say their hands are tied, they can’t do anything differently. Because they don’t have legal powers to remove a perpetrator of domestic violence from social housing. “At present, Fingal County Council is not authorised to remove either party's name from a joint tenancy without their consent,” said one spokesperson. South Dublin County Council “is not authorised to remove a tenant from a dwelling”, said another. De Nortúin, the Dublin city councillor, said the Department of Housing needs to provide a framework for assessing whether a case is domestic violence and give the councils the tools to evict the perpetrator. “It needs a national solution to keep families in their homes,” she said. Indeed, the law has to change, said Paul Dornan, managing solicitor with Mercy Law Resource Centre. At the moment, a victim-survivor of domestic violence can apply for a court order to bar a perpetrator from a property. But even once granted, those court orders are not permanent, he said. Meanwhile, councils can evict for ant-social behaviour. But a government circular published with the [1997 Housing Act](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/act/21/section/3/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec3) says that anti-social behaviour [differs from](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2011-07-21/488/?ref=dublininquirer.com) domestic violence, said Dornan. A Department of Housing spokesperson said that it has reviewed a different [circular](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28096410-guidance-for-housing-authorities-for-assisting-victims-of-domestic-violence-with-emerg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) which it issued in January 2017, and is finalising its recommendations on changes to guidance on handling cases of domestic violence and possible changes to legislation. “In cases where the household is in local authority tenancy, local authorities will be asked to support the victim to remain in the home or return to the home where it is safe to do so and is the victim’s preference,” said the spokesperson. The department also plans to introduce changes to allow survivors of domestic violence to transfer their social housing applications to a new area, said the spokesperson. ## **No legal mechanism** Mercy Law has been asked, many times, if there is anything that victim-survivors can do to have an abuser’s name permanently removed from a social-housing joint tenancy, or to seek to have the abuser evicted from the home, said Dornan. “The answer currently is that there is no appropriate or clear mechanism to allow for this,” he said. Both South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council said that they can’t remove perpetrators, under current procedures. It isn’t always easy for councils to assess the truth of allegations of domestic violence, said a spokesperson for Fingal County Council. Cases “are often complex and may involve multiple court orders, sometimes against each party”, they said. The spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said that victims of domestic violence can apply for court orders to remove the perpetrator from the home, which should be enforced by Gardaí. But, even with a barring order, the council won’t take the abuser's name off the tenancy, said the spokesperson. They stay on it until they formally surrender their interest in that tenancy, they said. O’Malley, of Sonas, said that an agency with expertise in domestic violence could assess the situation and provide a report to the council. Still though, councils have to go to court to evict someone, said de Nortúin, the People Before Profit councillor. So national government needs to bring in clear legislation and a framework by which councils can assess cases of alleged domestic violence and give them the power to evict perpetrators, she said. ## **Rejected by homeless services** As the housing crisis deepens, people fleeing domestic violence find that even homeless services are often full, said de Nortúin. “There is absolutely nowhere to go,” she said. “All these options are drying up as the crisis is getting worse.” Often, people fleeing domestic violence move into refuges in other parts of the country, in counties away from where they started out, she said. It might not be safe for them to go back to where they were living, said de Nortúin. Councils generally don’t accept people from other counties onto their housing list, because they have a [local connection test,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-are-unlawfully-refusing-people-access-to-homeless-accommodation-say-lawyers/) and they don’t have evidence of living for a long time in the area. That means domestic violence survivors are often turned away from emergency accommodation. Said Dornan: “The reality that we would observe is that where people face discharge from a refuge and do not feel that they can return to their homes, people often face barriers in getting a local authority to agree to provide emergency accommodation.” The Department of Housing spokesperson said that councils should offer housing support to domestic-violence survivors and allow them to apply in the county they are living in, regardless of where they started out. The department is working on a protocol with the councils, they said. In the future, domestic-violence survivors, who are also social housing applicants, should be able to transfer their years on the waiting list between council areas, said the spokesperson. ## **The ripples** O’Malley, of Sonas, said a council's failure to evict the perpetrator from the home often means that the perpetrator gets custody of children. Where there are court cases, some judges will rule that children would be better off at home rather than in homeless services, says O’Malley. “So they will often send the children back, back to the perpetrator.” If the person inflicting the violence has not hurt the children in the past, the judge might decide it's better to send them back, said O’Malley, but that misunderstands the nature of domestic violence. “When the children are on their own, with the perpetrators of violence, even if they don't have a history or don't initially intend to harm the children, they can often do it as a means of getting to the mother,” she said. Given this, many women return to their original home to try to keep the children safe, said O’Malley. All of this could be prevented if councils had the power to evict the perpetrators of domestic violence, she says. ## **Zero tolerance?** In June 2022, the Department of Justice published its national strategy on domestic violence, to run from 2022 to 2026, called [Zero Tolerance.](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/campaigns/zero-tolerance/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A key action of the strategy is to remove legal barriers that can prevent people experiencing domestic violence from remaining at home when it is safe to do so, said a spokesperson for the Department of Housing. “It is recognised that this is an important factor in preventing homelessness,” they said. But in reality the issues haven’t been addressed, said Dornan, even in cases where the state owns the property, where it is social housing. Contrary to [statements](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-11-10/97/?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued by the previous Minister for Housing, Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien, councils cannot use their powers to address anti-social behaviour in cases of domestic violence, he said. The circular issued by the Department of Housing in 1997, together with legislation, makes that clear, he said. It “expressly states that local authorities should not consider domestic violence as falling under the definition of anti-social behaviour”, he said. Those are to be dealt with under the Domestic Violence Act 1995, says that circular. Meanwhile, the January 2017 guidance issued by the Department of Housing, appears to envisage that councils would support survivors to get back into the home. But it doesn’t outline how they would do that. “In some instances, a victim, who is a joint housing authority tenant, may return to the family home with the justice system ensuring the exclusion of the perpetrator,” says that [guidance. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28096410-guidance-for-housing-authorities-for-assisting-victims-of-domestic-violence-with-emerg/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Councils could, in partnership with An Garda Síochána and domestic violence services, create a safe room in a council home once the perpetrator is gone, it says. “Works could include installing reinforced doors and bolts, lighting and a communications point to be funded via housing authorities’ standard improvement works programmes.” But Dornan says that the government needs to change the law. “There is currently no satisfactory legal mechanism to remove a domestic abuser from social housing,” he says. Yes, victim-survivors can seek various orders under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, he said. But “these orders are not always available immediately and often those seeking them are left unrepresented in court due to well-known pressures on the civil legal aid scheme”. It is not yet clear if the departmental review will result in a change in the law. “Further work is ongoing to consider the implications of the review, including whether legislative change is appropriate in such cases,” says the spokesperson for the Department of Housing. “This is a complex area and requires detailed and careful analysis, which is ongoing.” ### Changing of the guard in Ballyfermot Rock School as two of the originals stand down URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/changing-of-the-guard-in-ballyfermot-rock-school-as-two-of-the-originals-stand-down/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T05:59:09.000Z On Wednesday morning, in the arts block of Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE), Francie Conway sits in his classroom – the furthest one from the front door. It is here that the famous “Rock School” has operated from for the last 37 years. But this month, the last of the original staff are standing down. Outside Conway’s door, a sign reads: “Please keep the noise/sound to an acceptable level.” “I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that,” says Conway, chuckling in his distinct gravelly voice. Also in the room is Andrei Yolkeen, a second-year student. He is going through one of Yolkeen’s own songs. The bridge, or “middle eight”, needs some work, Yolkeen had said. Conway agreed to chat through it with him. Conway points to “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams as a reference point for a great bridge – helped along by Mutt Lange’s production, Conway says. The pair chat about the impact a good bridge can have, how it can change the point of view for the listener – and how the old Tin Pan Alley songwriters would use them. Conway looks over Yolkeen’s lyrics. “There’s a song in there,” he says, encouragingly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Teacher-and-student.-Francie-Conway-and-Andrei-Yolkeen-in-Francie-s-songwriting-classroom.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) Teacher and student. Francie Conway and Andrei Yolkeen in the songwriting classroom. Photo by Eoin Glackin This meeting of teacher and student may be Conway’s last in the hallowed halls of the Ballyfermot Rock School, where he has taught the songwriting modules since the course started in 1989. Both he and Hugh Buckley – another ’89 original – gave their final full classes last month. From here, it’s just the wind-down with assignment corrections and formalities. They were the last two remaining from the first crop of teachers. It’s a big change, says Buckley, sat in the room where he has taught courses like guitar, improvisation, and music theory, among others, down the years. But at the age of 67, it’s the right time to say goodbye, he says. “The great thing is, almost no matter where I go, I meet a former student. It’s amazing,” says Buckley, a well-known jazz guitarist. ## **Is this a joke?** In 1989, the then-principal of BCFE, Jerome Morrissey, came up with the idea of a first-of-its-kind course in Ireland, said Conway. It would teach students the ins-and-outs of the music business, as well as contemporary music performance and songwriting. Working with Keith Donald, the popular music officer at the Arts Council, the pair hammered out what was needed. Soon after, says Conway, the Rock School was born. Conway had been living in London where his label and publishers were based. He came home to Ireland still basking in a successful career as a songwriter, he said. “I had a few hit records, some covers under my belt, a good publishing contract, good record contracts.” When he got the call asking to get involved in the Rock School, he wasn’t quite sure, he says. “I thought, ‘Is this a joke?’” He said he would help out for three weeks, but that was it. “Then I met the team. I met Hugh Buckley, I met Matt Kelleghan, I met bassist Tommy Moore. I mean, these incredible guys,” he said. It suddenly felt so exciting, he said. In the 1980s, so many bands would move to London, and break up soon after, when they didn’t “make it”, says Conway. They didn’t realise there was also Germany, Holland, Sweden, he says. “All these huge markets to try out. The course was going to arm them with what they needed to know.” Kelleghan was a drummer, and known for his work with Moving Hearts, the folk-rock supergroup. He would teach drums and act as course administrator, the head honcho. Kelleghan stepped down from his role in the college a few years back, he said by phone on Thursday. “I was there from the start, and it was a big, huge undertaking.” Graduates of the Rock School now receive a Level 6 Higher National Diploma in Music. But to be accredited took research and module preparations, he said. Kelleghan fondly remembers a shopping spree to buy the Rock School’s first back line – amps, a PA system, mixers, instruments. “Jerome had the cheque book. I was there saying, ‘I’ll have that. I’ll have that JC 120 Roland amp,’” he said. “It was great.” Like Conway, Buckley thought he was only giving the course a small dig-out as it got off the ground. He didn’t imagine he would be there 37 years later, he said. He started off teaching just one hour a week on music theory, he says. His own curve had started as a rock guitarist, until in his twenties he began to drift into jazz, and so had to teach himself theory as he went along, he says. Suddenly, he was teaching to others what he had been teaching himself. His responsibilities soon grew into teaching the guitar class – and other courses, too. He was still an active touring musician at the time. The college management was cool with that, he says. “They were accepting of the fact that their teaching staff were also still working musicians,” he says. Looking back now, Buckley says the biggest challenge and the biggest joy was realising that you have to approach education differently with each person, he says. “Not everybody internalizes stuff in the same way,” says Buckley, “that might be the biggest lesson of the whole experience of teaching.” For Conway, the steadiness of the teaching gig became a blessing. His own touring career came to a sudden halt in the early 1990s. His son Rory was badly affected by meningitis at the age of two, and continues to need care, says Conway. Not being able to venture out into the world of live music as much anymore, he relished that live music was now coming to him, he says. For both, being a part of, and helping to build a whole new community of musos, was the great thrill. ## **Put at ease** From day one, says Kelleghan, the greatest excitement came from seeing the students they had walking through the door. For singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey, the Rock School altered the course of his life, he says. He was accepted after playing a song to Conway at the interview, he says. “And then acknowledged for my original style of songwriting and encouraged to keep going in the style I was writing in.” That really helped him in his formative years, he says. Conway taught him about the structure and formation and goal of songwriting and songs, he says. “That they can give people hope and validation and connection that helps people through life.” Conway says that the aim was to help students get out of their own way. To help them to be true to their own voice and instincts, he said. “The class here in Ballyer has always been about trying to find the individual.” In Buckley’s class, Dempsey learned scales, warm-ups and theory that opened up the fretboard, he says. “Like a can opener.” Buckley showed his students how to look at music mathematically, says Dempsey. “You can see chords and notes in your mind in a third dimension, that makes a guitar’s fretboard into a nirvana.” Buckley is a Kilbarrack man, said Dempsey, “which is the next parish over from me and was a tear-away in his youth as I was myself”. “But he thankfully channelled his wild energy, as did I, into something bigger and more beautiful than us,” said Dempsey. He was inspired by him, he said, as a person and as a musician. “His majestic playing and kindness and wisdom that he passed onto me, and his fun and slagging.” One formative moment was a concert for pupils, organised by the college staff, in the Baggot Inn. Dempsey sang his song “Rollercoaster” and, for the first time, he says, heard the room sing one of his choruses back to him. “It was like a lightbulb moment,” he says. “I thought, ‘I’m going to get people singing all the time, as one. Communal singing. As one big living, breathing organism – just singing all our cares away’.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/End-of-an-era.-Buckley-and-Conway-outside-their-classrooms-of-37-years.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) End of an era. Buckley and Conway outside their classrooms of 37 years. Photo by Eoin Glackin Looking out the window just outside his classroom, Conway points to the boundary wall. He remembers spotting a young Fiach Moriarty – the songwriter known for his solo work and as a guitarist with ALDOC and Horslips – hop over the college wall and leg it for class. Moriarty lived next door to the college. He couldn’t see himself going anywhere else, he said on Wednesday – much to his mother’s initial dismay, as he had been accepted to study history at Trinity College. Like Dempsey, the Rock School slowly brought him out of his shell. “I don’t think I spoke to anybody the first two weeks.” There were so many artist and performer types with bold personalities, he said. “I come from a place where big characters are seen with suspicion.” But devoid of any pretension themselves, the staff all made him feel at ease, he says. “They were just older versions of what we were going to become.” It wasn’t just the formal lectures, said Moriarty. Listening to staff stories – the successes, the mistakes, how they learned from them, how to work with other people – was an incredible education in itself, he says. After getting over his early shyness, Moriarty says, the Rock School is where he found his tribe. And, where he met his wife, musician Clara Hutchinson. They were students together. Now, they’re parents, raising two daughters in Carlow. Jennifer Healy remembers being encouraged by Conway to perform an original song in class, she says. Now also a music teacher, Healy has toured with the Orchestral ABBA Experience, sang at the Eurovision with Nicky Byrne in 2016, and fronts the event band Poplife. “I had never played one of my own for anyone before and in my mind it was very basic pop compared to the shoe-gazer songs from the other students,” she says. She told Conway that, she says. “He just simply said, ‘Well, we know that pop sells! So nothing wrong with pop once it’s good!’ Which gave me the confidence to perform it.” She had just turned 17 years old when she joined the Rock School, she said. “The only performance experience I had was musical theatre shows with the Billie Barry Stage School.” Buckley, she says, encouraged her love for “all things ear training”, which she carries with her now as a music teacher herself, a choirmaster, and as an arranger of vocal harmonies in studio sessions. “He was such a passionate teacher and always had a smile on his face,” she says. “I still see him at gigs and he somehow still remembers me and always asks me what I’m up to.” ## **Legacy** Eamon Brady took over as course administrator from Matt Kelleghan around 2015, he says. The departure of the last two originals is a big milestone, he said on Thursday by phone. “The last two from that original foundational year, 1989\. It's kind of amazing.” The school has changed, of course, over the last 37 years, said Brady. But Buckley and Conway have been a big part of those changes as well, he said. Brady says he remains in touch with some of the other college legends who have stood down over the years. People like Kelleghan and Pete Holidai, the punk rock icon of the Radiators from Space, who taught the music business modules for decades. Buckley and Conway have each left a mark that will be felt for some time, he said. “There's a lot left behind them in the members of the staff that they have influenced and that they have taught as well,” said Brady. And while retirement from teaching approaches, the music won’t stop, both say. Conway is putting the last touches to an album, one he has worked on closely with Matt Kelleghan for three years, he says. The new record, *It’s Not Rocket Science,* releases in August. Buckley is ready to get out and play live internationally more, and to focus again on his compositions. “I love travel, I love food, I love music,” he says. “If you combine them, I’m very happy.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Department’s counter-proposal for Oliver Bond flats has major flaws, residents and councillors say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/departments-counter-proposal-for-oliver-bond-flats-makes-no-sense-residents-and-councillors-say/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T05:59:20.000Z Under the first phase of the regeneration of the Oliver Bond flats, the home where Carly Wosser lives in L Block was to be split. Half was to be fused with one neighbouring flat to make that bigger, she said. The other half was to be added to the flat on the other side. “It was supposed to make, basically, three flats into two,” she said. “They were to move us out and we would get a chance to move back if we wanted.” She was happy enough with that, she said. Her home, where she lives with her husband and daughters, is so small and damp – partly because of where one wall meets a long-blocked rubbish chute on the other side. The sitting room fits a couch and a telly, she said. “But there’s nowhere to have a table to sit down and eat.” There are two bedrooms and a tiny bathroom. “It’s a small cubicle toilet, you wouldn’t want to be overweight,” she said. “In some flats, you can sit on the toilet and put your feet in the shower.” Now though, that idea of knocking flats together – years in the works – seems to have been canned. Earlier this week, residents learnt that the Department of Housing has batted back the council’s application to kick off the regeneration with changes to Blocks L, M and N – three of the 14 blocks in the flats. “The department cannot support such a large reduction in homes during a housing crisis,” said a letter to the council. “The costs proposed do not represent value for money.” Instead, the department put forward its own proposal for how the council and the community should go about the regeneration – which involves converting the two-bed homes into one-beds. The department’s proposal is just about numbers of “units” on spreadsheets – not even the number of people in each home – and ignorant of the context and realities of the inner-city flats, say councillors and residents. They have been calling on the Minister for Housing, Fianna Fáil TD James Browne, to come and see the complex for himself. “Does he want to do a house swap for a while?” said Gayle Cullen-Doyle, chair of the Oliver Bond Residents’ Group. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that the minister had previously visited the flats “and is acutely aware of the need for work to be carried out”. They’re arranging a meeting next week with the regeneration forum, they said, to talk about the status of the project ## Roll out the one-beds The proposal submitted last December by Dublin City Council was for the first phase of the planned regeneration – involving three blocks where there are currently 74 homes, with 188 bed spaces. Under these plans, those would be knocked into 46 homes, with 144 bed spaces, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. So, a 38 percent reduction in the number of homes – but a smaller, 24 percent fall in bedspaces, he said. Council officials have been aware of concerns at the department around reductions in numbers of homes in regeneration projects, said Pidgeon. But the council views these as necessary because the cramped flats just aren’t acceptable under modern housing standards, and such small sizes breed damp and mould, and they want to mix of sizes of homes too. So, they had noted in their application a plan to build out a new site nearby on Bridgefoot Street, with 39 new homes – with an expected 123 bed spaces – to offset some of the losses. If those were calculated in, it amounts to an increase in homes from 74 to 85, and an increase in bed spaces from 188 to 267, Pidgeon said. In its response, though, the department suggested the council opt for a deep retrofit instead and fit the household size to the apartment size – for example by turning the two-beds into one-beds. That wouldn’t take away from the number of homes. Larger households meanwhile, could be accommodated in the new Bridgefoot Street homes, it said, “and the rebuilding of the new blocks”. (It’s unclear what the last bit refers to.) Labour Party Councillor Darragh Moriarty says the department’s proposal is unsustainable. “The shortsightedness of units, units, units,” he said. Yes, the council’s proposal may have fewer than currently, he said, but what you get back in terms of quality of life and quality of community far outweighs the quantity of bed spaces. Creating so many studios and one-beds in the complex, as the department is proposing, wouldn’t be good, Moriarty said. He said he frequently pushes back against rhetoric against one-bed apartments, when the opposition appears based on uglier arguments of “transience” or people not contributing to community. But this isn’t that, he said. It is about a wider mix, with the forum all agreeing that the idea of concentrating lots of studios and one-beds in this complex is unsustainable, he said. Ammar Ali, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said he too supports the council’s plans, based on his knowledge on the ground. He understands the department’s concern about “units” but this is needed, he said, with housing and flats for families as part of it. “A community has everyone in it.” Pidgeon said that he too is often loudly banging the supply drum. “In some ways, I’m sympathetic to the thinking that it’s a housing crisis, we need more homes.” But he thinks that you have to look at the context, too. And in this case, the number of bed spaces as well as the number of homes. “I think the correct way to look at it is to have an awkward merging of the two.” A closer look at the size of the homes means that there could indeed – if the department proposal were followed strictly across the entire complex, and the entire regeneration was done the same way – end up being just one-beds and studios. The vast majority of the homes in the Oliver Bond complex, an estimated 252 homes, are two-beds at 49.7sqm on average. Meanwhile an estimated 128 are one-beds, which are mostly 39.1sqm save for a few which are 37.7sqm. There are seven three-beds, of which four are 59.9sqm and three are unclear. There are also four bedsits. To meet modern standards [under the city](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-15-development-standards/159-apartment-standards?ref=dublininquirer.com) development plan, the two-beds would have to either be made bigger or become one-beds, and the one-beds would have to either be made bigger or become studios. The three beds at 59.9sqm wouldn’t meet the expected threshold for a two bed, either – so could become one-beds, also. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that “the expectation or policy is not that there must be no loss of homes but that any necessary losses be minimised and adequately justified”. Also about 80 percent of approved applicants on the council’s housing lists are currently single adults or couples, the spokesperson said, which shows the need for studios and one-bed homes. A response to a media query on 22 April, through, was less circumspect. The department “will not support projects involving a reduction of the number of homes”, said a spokesperson, then. Wosser, who lives in L Block, pushed back at the idea that what is needed is studios and one-beds. “We actually think it’s ridiculous,” she said. Couples form up and have kids and should be able to stay in their homes, she said. There’s no point in studios as social homes unless people are just going to be bachelors for the rest of their lives, she said. ## This wasn’t the promise The Oliver Bond Regeneration Forum – made up of residents, council officials, councillors, and gardaí – had been working since September 2021 to come up with a proposal for how best to tackle the cramp, damp and mould. Cullen-Doyle, the chair of the residents group, said she had really thought that the regeneration was finally going to happen. “I really really this time had faith,” she said on Thursday. She had been trying to bring sceptics along with her too, she said. Much of her confidence stemmed from engagement with Darragh O’Brien, the Fianna Fáil TD and former housing minister, she said. He had been down to the flats for a walkabout. Forum representatives have been into the Dáil twice, she said. “He said the money was there. We were having great discussions.” Indeed, Dublin City Council wouldn’t have gotten this far along if there hadn’t been positive noises from the department on the general shape of its plans, said Moriarty, the Labour councillor. Both he and Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor, said they thought there had been a change in policy at the department since Fianna Fáil TD James Browne became housing minister. A spokesperson for the department disputed that. It hasn’t changed its policy or position, they said. “The funding commitment remains in place,” they said. The council just needs to submit a revised proposal, they said. At an entrance to the Oliver Bond flat complex on Thursday early afternoon though, all of the talk was of nixed regeneration plans and the let-down. Sabrina Woods was showing neighbours photos of floor-to-ceiling damp, as her four-year-old son rolled his balance bike back and forth. Damp in her small flat worsened when the new windows went in recently, she said. Some tenants had turned down the new windows, she said, saying they would wait for the full regeneration. She has battled leaks too, she says. “I had a leak in my house for seven years.” It was only fixed once she was seven months pregnant with her second kid, and she warned the council that if anything happened to them. “It was coming down my sockets,” said Woods. Jennifer Russell listens, sat on a ledge by black railings at the entrance, beside her mother, who still lives in the flats, too. She lives over the road now in better conditions, she says – what others in the group teasingly call “Cleaner Close”. Still, she knows the flats well. “Nobody is demanding one-bed flats around here,” she said. But as she sees it, the department wants quantity not quality, said Russell. Some families pay €300 a week for flats that you couldn’t swing a cat in, she said – and for the third time, a woman in the group suggests that a general rent strike is looking like a good choice right now. ### Developer argues for building five apartments on derelict Grotto House site in Inchicore, without planning permission URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-argues-for-building-five-apartments-on-derelict-grotto-house-site-in-inchicore-without-planning-permission/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T05:59:30.000Z Later this month, An Coimisiún Pleanála is [due to decide](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/324026?ref=dublininquirer.com) whether a developer can build five apartments on a long-term derelict site in Inchicore without planning permission. The boarded-up Grotto House building at 129 Tyrconnell Road was previously used for a [youth club](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-in-inchicore-a-former-youth-club-has-sat-vacant-and-derelict-for-years/). In June 2023, Dublin City Council added it to its [derelict sites register](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23990655-derelict-sites-register?ref=dublininquirer.com), and local resident Suzanne Corcoran said it had been sitting there rotting for nearly 20 years before that. Pathway Homes Ltd owns the site. Last year, [it applied](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/166962?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Dublin City Council to ask if it could develop the existing buildings into four apartments, without seeking planning permission. Planning [rules](https://www.dublincity.ie/planning-and-land-use/planning-application-rules-and-exemptions/si-no-648-2025-exemptions-change-use-commercial-residential?ref=dublininquirer.com) allow some vacant commercial premises to be turned into homes without planning permission. But in this case, the council planner said the proposed development was not exempt from planning because the previous use was community use (a youth club), not a commercial use. A few months later, Pathway [applied again](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/173093?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a decision on whether it could build apartments on the site – this time five – without planning permission. Again, the council said no, and for the same reason. This time, Pathway appealed that decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, saying the last permitted use was a retail use – a shop selling religious items, in the 1960s. The building is long-term vacant, says the appeal. “The client has clear intentions to bring the building back into active use, and it will provide much needed, high-quality accommodation to the area.” But even if the appeal is successful, the company has other, bigger problems. Cathal O’Connor, one of its owners and directors, has been sentenced to prison for two years, from 1 July. O’Connor received a five-year prison sentence last week, with three years suspended, for assaulting, threatening and falsely imprisoning two 13-year-old boys in March 2024. According to [*RTÉ*,](https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0501/1571346-businessman-jailed-for-imprisoning-assaulting-three-boys/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the court heard that O’Connor choked a 13-year-old boy to the point that he passed out for about 10 seconds, punched him repeatedly and hit him in the face with a pole. O’Connor didn’t respond to queries sent on Tuesday and Thursday as to how this is likely to affect the development projects he’s been working on – whether there was someone else who could take over and continue to push the projects forward. He’s owner and/or director of multiple companies, [according to *The Currency*](https://thecurrency.news/articles/225802/auto-draft-76/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and employs more than 100 people, [according to *RTÉ*](https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0501/1571346-businessman-jailed-for-imprisoning-assaulting-three-boys/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Pathway Homes Ltd has two other owners and directors, Mary O’Connor and Declan O’Connor, who each own around 40 percent each of the company, who may well push ahead with the project. Pathway Homes parent company Beldare has not yet replied to an email query sent Thursday. ## Grotto House Fronting onto Tyrconnell Road, Grotto House was built in about 1930, according to a Dublin City Council planner’s [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23990674-planners-report-on-2010-application-for-129-tyrconnell-road-00307937?ref=dublininquirer.com) from 2010. It’s one storey facing the road, and two storeys behind, as the ground slopes down to the Camac River. Even further down the slope, connected by a stairwell, is a single-storey sports hall on the riverbank. There was a time when the shop at 129 Tyrconnell Road sold rosaries, prayer beads, and rosettes for girls taking their first communion, said John McGrath in September 2023\. “Like a gift shop for the church,” he said. There was the youth club too, says McGrath, who grew up in the area. Well, first it was a boys’ club, but girls were allowed in from the 1980s, said Corcoran, who says she started going there when she was 16 or 17 years old. When the owner, William Joseph Lacy, died in 1961, his will said Grotto House was to be held in trust for the use of “St Joseph’s Boys Club, attatched \[sic\] to the Conference of Mary Immaculate Inchicore, of the Society of St Vincent de Paul”, according to a copy of a [solicitor’s letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23990691-letter-about-will-20230925%5F145419?ref=dublininquirer.com) from 1967 provided by Corcoran. If the club ceased to exist, Lacy wanted the premises to be used for other youth work, or if that wasn’t possible, “as a Saint Vincent de Paul Social/Welfare Centre”, the letter says. If that wasn’t possible, the property should be sold “and the procedes \[sic\] given to the Conference of Mary Immaculate, Inchicore of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for the benefit of the poor of the district”, it says. The club kept going in the centre for decades after Lacy’s death, until a fire inspector judged the centre unsafe in about 2005, Corcoran says. McGrath said the building “was looked after, but it had its time”. Corcoran said it was in fine shape and doesn’t think it should have been closed. “I saw it with my own eyes. There was nothing wrong with it,” she said in 2023\. ## Exempted development? In its most recent application to the council, Pathway Homes Ltd proposed that it would retain the two existing buildings on the site and reconfigure them internally to deliver five new apartments. In December 2025, it asked Dublin City Council to assess whether it needed to apply for planning permission, because turning vacant commercial buildings into housing is sometimes exempt. In January, the council said that the proposed development was not exempt and would need to go through the planning permission process. The [planner’s report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28099915-planners-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says that the building had previously been a community facility and not a commercial premises. The fact that one part of the building was once commercial was irrelevant, says the council planners' report. Since the plan is to develop the entire building, the whole building would need to have been in commercial use. “Partial or historic use of a minor portion does not satisfy this requirement,” it says. “While some retail use may have occurred on the site (as indicated by a previous application in 2010 and online historical records), no evidence has been submitted to confirm that retail/Class 1 was the sole use at one stage,” says the report. But Pathway Homes [appealed that decision](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28099911-appeal-129-tyrconnell-road/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to An Coimisiún Pleanála, through its agent Foundation Management Consultants, arguing that a change of use planning permission was never granted to convert the building from retail to community use. “The nature of the building having a limited planning history does not give rise to the assumption that the most recent use was indeed an approved or authorised one,” says the appeal. There was no planning permission application to change the building to a community use, says the appeal, so it argues that it was an unauthorised use. The building was used as a shop before 1964, when modern planning permission requirements were introduced, so the consultants argue that the retail use is the only authorised use. “It would set a dangerous precedent if an unauthorised use were to establish a new baseline use,” it says. ### In Belmayne, challenges with parking complicate efforts to take in charge an estate URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-belmayne-challenges-with-parking-complicate-efforts-to-take-in-charge-an-estate/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T05:59:40.000Z Residents in Belmayne and Clongriffin have been asking for years when estates in the area – built out by Cairn Homes and Gannon Homes – would finally be taken in charge by Dublin City Council. Until that process is completed, the council isn’t responsible for the roads and other public areas, so residents can struggle to get [ramps put in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clongriffin-a-private-developer-removed-much-needed-speed-bumps-and-nobody-will-put-them-back/) to slow traffic, or [traffic lights put in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-since-rathborne-rose-up-there-are-still-poles-with-no-traffic-lights/) to regulate it. Some of the estates in the area were never meant to be taken in charge by the council, and so weren’t designed and sold with that in mind, said Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha. “The idea was that management companies would rule the whole thing,” he said. “But of course, that hasn't worked out.” Others, like Parkside, were always meant to be taken in charge by the council, but it just hasn't happened yet, said Fine Gael Councillor Supriya Singh. At a meeting of the council’s North Central Area Committee last month, Derek Dixon, a council executive manager, gave an update on progress towards taking estates in the area in charge. A major sticking point when it comes to the Parkside development, built by Cairn Homes, is the fate of the on-street parking, he said. Cairn had assigned parking in the estate to residents, he said, which the council – once it takes it in charge – intends to make public. Last week, residents said they were unhappy with the proposed shift. “We knew we would never own the sidewalk outside our front door,” said Maria Mello. But “when we bought the house, we thought those two spaces would always be assigned”, she said, pointing towards the road. Singh, the Fine Gael councillor, said she's heard from many residents about the issue. They've "reached out to me stating that communication regarding the parking space was not clear to them and they had an understanding that parking belongs to them when they bought the house", she said. ## **Parking problems** It’s worrying, said Daiga Balmaka last week, stepping out of her front door. “If I pay rent, these are my spaces. That’s what we were always told.” Balmaka was on her way to the car with her son, taking him to football training. “This would be very bad news,” she said. Before people start panicking just yet, said Councillor Daryl Barron, of Fianna Fáil, nothing is set in stone as to how this change will play out. “We are going to try to find an arrangement that suits everyone.” The council’s hope is that people can retain the spaces, but that a new arrangement will have to be reached, he said. The taking-in-charge process can be a slow-mover, said Barron. Indeed, a 2017 letter from a Cairn subsidiary to another Parkside resident says the company was talking to the council about the taking-in-charge process. Among the issues was “the ownership or permanent use of the allocated on-street parking spaces”. In the meantime, the company said it would grant the resident “an exclusive licence to use two designated on-street parking spaces, the location of which will not change”. Nearly a decade has passed since then. Things are now finally gaining momentum in Belmayne and Clongriffin, Barron said. “We're going to have to have it case by case, with all these tenants around their car parking spaces.” Said Singh, the Fine Gael councillor: "I understand that process is quite lengthy and residents have significant concerns regarding the future management of on-street parking spaces, and it is important that clear communication and practical solutions are provided as this process progresses." A big issue is what lies under those parking spaces, said Barron. “There's wires, there's water, there's gas services, there's services that we may need in an emergency to have access to,” he said by phone on Tuesday. There can’t be a situation where people are squabbling over who has the right to access a spot when work needs to be done, he said. For Parkside, it’s up to Cairn Homes to engage with the residents and the local councillors and to agree a legal procedure for unfettered access to those spaces if the council is to take the area in charge, he said. “It's quite contentious. It's quite difficult to do. It doesn't mean that it can't be done,” he said. Dixon said that Cairn Homes had told him earlier that day, 20 April, that after some complications getting the paperwork together, it had a letter “ready to go”. This would first be sent to councillors, before engaging with residents. However, it was more positive news than negative when it comes to taking-in-charge of Parkside, said Dixon. “The vast majority of the estate is in very, very good condition, and it's built differently, say, to old Belmayne,” he said, “in that there are kerbs, there are grass margins, there are footpaths of a reasonable width, the public lighting is okay.” “The issue is how we go about getting it taken in charge because of the fact that they have assigned the car parking,” he said. Ultimately though, residents will have to accept that some sort of change is coming in terms of the parking arrangement, said Dixon. “Residents will either accept it or they won't. That's the way it will work,” he said. There are some places in the area, around apartment blocks, Dixon said, where parking will remain assigned. Because an apartment block must have an owner management company (OMC) as a multi-unit development, he said. “It's essential, because you have shared services, you've got shared units.” However, for the 200 or so houses around the area for whom on-street parking was assigned, “that’s not the norm”. “Parking should not have been assigned.” Whatever happens next, said Dixon, “residents need to be part of that conversation”. A spokesperson for Cairn Homes said last week that it is “aware of concerns raised by residents at Parkside regarding the continuing use of dedicated on-street parking spaces”. “Cairn is working with the Council and residents to put in place a solution which will enable residents to maintain the use of these parking spaces,” the spokesperson said. That same 2017 letter from the Cairn subsidiary to the resident said that once the council “has made its decision on taking in charge and if such agreement permits” it would sell the resident “the freehold interest in the two on-street parking spaces outright for no additional consideration”. “Alternatively, your client will continue to occupy the spaces on an exclusive licence and may be required to sign up to a simple form of management company structure,” it said. In that case, the company would “attend to the costs and formalities”. At April’s North Central Area Committee meeting, independent Councillor John Lyons asked Dixon for a timeline to be sent around, about taking-in-charge processes in the area. It should lay out what needs to be done so that progress can be monitored, and people can be held to account, he said. Dixon agreed but added that it would have to be a provisional timeline, as certain things remain up in the air and out of the council’s control. “We’re takers of this, not makers of this.” The next move is for the developer to make, said Dixon. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *UPDATE: This article was updated at 18.17 on 8 May 2026 to add in comments from Councillor Supriya Singh.* ### Things To Do: Subvert Pokémon Go, observe a 40-hour work week, prepare for a weekend of festivals URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-subvert-pokemon-go-observe-a-40-hour-work-week-prepare-for-a-weekend-of-festivals/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T06:03:22.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Phizzfest** Phizzfest, the annual Phibsborough community and arts festival, returns this weekend, with the proceedings kicking off this evening. At 6:30pm today, Thursday 7 May, the Mater Hospital will be celebrating the life’s work of artist and Phibsborough resident Albert G. Power, the leading sculptor of the Irish Free State. As part of the event, which takes place in the hospital’s Pillar Centre, Power’s great-granddaughter Sharon O’Meara will be present to discuss his legacy, and art historian Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch will offer some more insight into his life and work. There are still some tickets available [here](https://phizzfest.ie/event/celebrating-the-life-and-work-of-sculptor-albert-g-power-1881-1945?ref=dublininquirer.com). On Friday evening at 7:30pm, All Saints Church will be hosting ‘شرود Seachrán’, a new project that brings together Irish, Palestinian and Lebanese music and dance, with Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Loor Amin, Niamh Keady-Tabbal and Sarraj Alsersawi coming together to explore stories of exile, emigration, love and resistance. You can pick up tickets [here](https://phizzfest.ie/event/seachran?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then, on Saturday at 8pm, the Mater Hospital’s Pillar Centre is marking the 100th anniversary of F.W. Murnau’s silent film *Faust* with a new live score by Unshaped Form, featuring Cameron Doyle, Lioba Petrie, Aislinn Ennis, Sam Perkin and special guest Iarla Ó Lionáird. Tickets for that can be secured [here.](https://phizzfest.ie/event/faust-with-live-quintet-and-special-guest-iarla-o-lionaird?ref=dublininquirer.com) And finally, running throughout the weekend, the artists in Richmond Road Studios will open their doors to the public for a group show. Among the artists who will be putting their work on display in Phibsborough Tower are [Maeve Brennan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-city-short-of-spaces-for-artists-to-work-painter-maeve-brennan-is-about-to-lose-hers/), [Aoife Ward](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aparthotel-art-gallery-that-replaced-the-tivoli-theatre-a-new-exhibition-critiques-hotels-pushing-out-dublin-8-cultural-spaces/), Sam Burton, Adam Gibney, [Taoiseach Shame](https://www.dublininquirer.com/though-unable-to-find-a-permanent-perch-painter-and-performer-taoiseach-shame-continues-to-create/) and Rosie O’Mahoney. Their exhibition will open at 6pm on Friday 8 May, and will close at 5pm on Sunday 10 May. Those are just a handful of highlights though. The line-up is loaded with walks, talks, gigs, community cycles and screenings between here and Sunday. To see what else is lined up, visit the Phizzfest website [here](https://phizzfest.ie/phizzfest-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The 40-Hour Work Week** Over a three week period, artist Helen Kirk resided in Temple Bar’s TØN and used it as a work space in a bid to clock 40 hours of creative work per week. During the creative experiment, Kirk, as a living installation, has sought to investigate “the fault line between \[the\] modern capitalistic understandings of labor, value, and time, and the ancient codes which drive human beings to create art”. Now, at the end of this residency, Kirk will be inviting audiences into the gallery on Friday at 6pm to see the results of this experience. The 40 Hour Work Weekwill remain on display until this Sunday 10 May. For more information, visit the TØN Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/tondublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Twayblade** Everybody is experimenting with art this week, and Herman’s Auctioneers in Rathmines is no exception. On Friday 8 May, the auction house on the Lower Rathmines Road will be hosting Twayblade, the debut solo exhibition by painter Liam Murray, which will be paired up with a timed online auction. The winner of the 2024 RHA Whyte’s Award for best emerging artist, Murray uses his studio, from which the exhibition’s title is derived, as a loose framework for this collection of dreamy, almost collage-like figurative works. They are drawn from everyday encounters, and according to the auctioneer, “move between moments of direct engagement and more internal, absorbed states”. In other words, the art speaks for itself. Twaybladeopens tomorrow, and will run until 7pm on Friday 22 May, at which point the auction will close. For more information, or if you want to register to bid, visit the event page [here](https://auctions.herman.ie/auctions/1-CDGONZ/twayblade-liam-murray?ref=dublininquirer.com). **A Matter of Time III** The Liberties’ annual festival Culture Date with Dublin 8 is still tipping along this weekend, and if you’re up for combining a lovely stroll with an exhibition that celebrates local business, then A Matter of Time III would be right up your alley. Artists Ishmael Claxton, María Baez and Jye O’Sullivan have created a self-guided map that brings festival goers to different shops, cafes and studios in the locale where various pieces of art are currently on display. Each piece depicts and celebrates the participating businesses, with the walk aiming to get its audiences to think about that type of labour that happens within them “as a means of understanding the different sociocultural ecologies that constitute the place”. A Matter of Time III is a response to the impact of the cost of living crisis on small businesses, and strives to build a tangible connection between the festival goer and the local participants. Taking inspiration from the Pokémon Go app, which according to the [*MIT Technology Review*](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/10/1134099/how-pokemon-go-is-helping-robots-deliver-pizza-on-time/?ref=dublininquirer.com), is being used to train robot replacements for delivery workers, the trio of artists want to invert this logic. “Rather than crowdsource data, we have built longstanding relations with workers in the area and, opposed to training their replacements, we seek to bring folks to them,” the artists say. Between now and Sunday, you should wander through the likes of Meath, Francis and Thomas Street to see the various pieces of art, all of which are accompanied by streamable or downloadable field recordings. Among the participating businesses are Timepiece Antique Clocks, Betty Bojangles, Fusco Cafe, James Fagan Tailor Communion Suits, Marrowbone Books, and Thomas Dry Cleaners. For more information, visit their event page [here](https://www.culturedatewithdublin8.ie/whats-on/a-matter-of-time-iii?ref=dublininquirer.com), the interactive map is available [here](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1OJh%5Fu3Ixa2VT5dcrRcFqctpOzpZplPQ&ll=53.34060996864444%2C-6.272118476194756&z=17&ref=dublininquirer.com). **CeLiberties** While you’re in the area, another highlight of the Culture Date with Dublin 8 festival is CeLiberties, the new exhibition by artist Duc Van Pham. Currently in The Bank on Thomas Street, and showing until Sunday 10 May, CeLibertiesis a celebration of the area that Van Pham has called home for the last 15 years. Described as a celebration of the old and the new, the artists depicts the spirit of Dublin 8 through surrealist portraits and swirling brushstrokes that capture the energy and essence of the place and its inhabitants. For more information, follow Van Pham over on his Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/ducvanphamart/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Island of Imagination** Finally, on Wednesday evening, Fingal County Council will be celebrating the re-opening of their recently refurbished Carnegie Library in Skerries. To mark the occasion, Laureate for Irish Fiction Éilís Ní Dhuibhne will be hosting a conversation with writer Caitriona Lally about her fiction writing, her most recent novel *Wunderland*, and her recently published memoir *Home Economics*. The talk is part of Ní Dhuibhne’s ongoing series Island of Imagination: A Literary Tour of Ireland, and will begin at 7pm. Attendance is free and open to the public, but booking is essential. To reserve a ticket, you will need to contact Skerries Library directly on 01 8905 671 or email skerrieslibrary.library@fingal.ie. Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Creative Places Balbriggan** Fingal Arts Office has officially launched the ‘Creative Places Balbriggan Strategy 2026-2027’, together with a brand new funding scheme for Balbriggan called ‘Making Waves’. The ‘Making Waves Seed Funding Scheme 2026’ will provide seed funding for creative programmes that involve community members working collaboratively with an artist to develop new ideas and creative activities. The fund is now open to individual artists, community groups, and community organisations. Funding of up to €5,000 per applicant is available. The deadline for applying is Friday, 26 June. For more information, visit the Creative Places page [here](https://www.fingal.ie/creative-places-balbriggan?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Little Lilliputian Family Morning Rave** Cheeky Piglet Café will be hosting a fun early morning family rave as part of Culture Date with Dublin 8 this Sunday 10 May. The rave, which promises coffee and feel good hits for parents and kids, will kick off at 6:30am and continue until 8:30am. Featuring DJ Billy Scurry, the rave is €10 for general admission, or €20 for a family ticket (two adults, two kids). For more information and to book a ticket, visit the event page [here](https://www.culturedatewithdublin8.ie/whats-on/the-little-lilliputian-family-morning-rave-at-the-cheeky-piglet-caf%C3%A9?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Harbour Cinema Club** Harbour Cinema Club is a free monthly film night bringing international cinema and global stories to the Seán O'Casey Community Centre in East Wall. On 18 May, they will be screening *The Old Man (Shal)*, a Kazakh film by Ermek Tursunov which reimagines Ernest Hemingway’s novel *The Old Man and the Sea*, within the landscape of Kazakhstan. After the screening, there will be a discussion about Kazakh culture and snacks. The screening is at 6pm. To book a ticket, visit the Harbour Cinema Club event page [here.](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/harbour-cinema-club-the-old-man-shal-kazakhstan-edition-tickets-1988480232905?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&%5Fgl=1%2A106971y%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AMjEwMTYyOTMxNi4xNzc3NzQzNzMy%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3Nzc3NDM3MjkkbzEkZzAkdDE3Nzc3NDM3MjkkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com) If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Brushing Up: A seven-metre garden shark on Clontarf Road URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/brushing-up-a-seven-metre-garden-shark-on-clontarf-road/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T06:03:36.000Z On the corner of Haddon Road and Clontarf Road, a long black basking shark looked to be swimming along by the bushes in somebody’s front garden. It was suspended above an upturned currach, acting as its base, partially concealed by some weeds and long grass. The nose, dorsal fins and the top of its tail was splattered with white seagull droppings. It has lived outside this particular red-brick two-storey home, which looks out on the Clontarf Promenade, since the summer of 2019, according to Google Street View. The shark has swum around a few times. First, it was beached on the gravelly driveway near the footpath. Later, it moved in towards the hedges, with its gaping mouth directed towards the semi-detached home itself. On Wednesday, its mouth was pointed towards the Clontarf Road. It’s called *Craiceann*, the Irish word for skin, and a nod to the mythological sea creature known as the kraken, says John Coll, the sculptor who created it from parts of an old currach boat. *Craiceann* is something of an outlier for Coll, who tends to work with bronze. He didn’t create it for any particular exhibition, he said over the phone on Thursday. “It was just my own, y’know, madness.” Trained first as a marine scientist, Coll has always been fascinated by the maritime world, he says. “It seeps into everything I do, and I had just wanted to have a go at making a big shark.” “So yeah, it was, I think my ego took over and I started,” he says. ## Maritime youth Coll was born in Galway city in 1956, and grew up in Taylor’s Hill, he says. His mother was a primary school teacher, and his father taught chemistry in the University of Galway, known then as University College, Galway (UCG), he says. “We all went to university, because in those days, if you’re the child of one of the staff, you got in for free.” Coll ended up studying zoology, he says. “I was one of those guys who was mad into nature, nature studies, birds and animals. And in Galway, the emphasis was, of course, on the marine side of things.” After graduating, he got a job working at the Carna Research Station – an aquaculture research and development facility – in south-west Connemara, he says. “And worked away there for six or seven years.” Throughout all of this, he was working as an artist on the side, until, aged 27, he decided to give sculpture a go, he says. “I decided ‘Right John, you’d better see if you can make a career out of something other than fish farming.’” He enrolled in a foundation art course at the Regional Technical College, Galway, he says. “I went for a year. That confirmed my suspicions that I would be a better sculptor than a fish farmer.” It was there that he encountered the sculptor John Behan, he says. “John introduced me to welding, and brought me up to Dublin and showed me the bronze casting foundry.” “I decided that yes, metal was the way to go,” he says. ## Bronze and boats Coll’s bronze statues are scattered throughout the city. His monument for the author Brendan Behan sits on a bench by Binn’s Bridge next to the Royal Canal, and over at the Grand Canal beside Wilton Park is his Patrick Kavanagh. On South King Street, beside St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, sits his life-sized Luke Kelly, playing the banjo. The basking shark was a rare instance where he decided against bronze casting. He conceived of it during a phase in which he was examining materials that are used by people in their interactions with marine environments, he says. “Tar and canvas would be one of them.” Currachs were a big point of interest, he says. “I did a thing around this time where I got a couple of lobster pots, tweaked them, and the lobster pots became a currach.” Coll bursts out laughing down the phoneline at this point. Being from the west of Ireland, he had memories of going out to the Aran Islands and seeing currach boats upturned on the beaches, he says. “Going up, smelling the tar, feeling the lovely surface. They have an almost animal-like hide to them.” Around 16 years ago, he caught wind that somebody had a currach out in Dún Laoghaire, he says. “He wanted to get rid of it. He was gonna burn it.” Coll bought it for €150, he says. “I thought it was going to be a two-man currach. It turned out to be a four-man currach.” It was long, he says. “So here I was. I had this currach, and I always had it in my head that I’d do something with that lovely skin of the currach. ## Tar is a bitumen to work with Around the time he got the currach, Coll had also been thinking a lot about basking sharks, he said. “You know these guys are hunted, and I thought to tie the two things together.” Their population around Achill Island was almost wiped out in the 1950s and ’60s, says James O’Connor of the boating tour guide agency Achill Seascapes. “The population has been good in the last 20 years.” Up until the 1970s, some of these sharks would be hunted by people in currachs, Coll said. “And here I was using the skin of the currach to make the shark.” He began with a small model, about two feet in length, he says. “It was plaster and then cast in bronze.” Then, he scaled up the model, and created a skeleton for the shark out of steel rods, he says. “I put a galvanised mesh, and then over the mesh I started to work with the tar.” “Terrible pun, but tar is a bitumen to work with,” he says. “Oh god, I had so many pairs of clothes that got ruined. Once you get it on you, you can’t get it off.” It was roughly seven metres long, he says. “The size of the currach would be a juvenile basking shark. But there’s a record off Achill where the record one was 11 metres.” Once completed, he kept it at his studio on Leeson Street, where it caught the eye of John Reynolds,one of the foundersof Electric Picnic, he says. “He happened to be coming by, and stuck his head in and said, ‘Oh, I like this, could you bring it down?’” It went to the festival in 2011, he says. “I got a free ticket, and it was fascinating watching people interact with it. Selfies were taken, and eventually they started getting into the mouth of the shark.” When Coll relocated to a studio on Sheriff Street, *Craiceann* joined him, he says. “Jaysus, I was stuck with this thing.” Naturally, when a friend out in Clontarf offered to take it off his hands, he leapt at the chance, he says. “Great. Because it was a big, long, unwieldy thing.” The whole shark took only about two months to make, he says. “It came together fairly pronto. Once you’ve made the frame, it was just basically a matter of heating the tar felt, and blending it. Just like putting on bloody wallpaper.” “I’ll never do it again,” he said. “It’s horrible.” *Note: Our Brushing Up series tells the stories behind pieces of art on display across Dublin, from paintings in pubs to mossy sculptures. So you can pretend you know your art.* [*You can read more of the pieces here.*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/brushing-up/) *If you've a suggestion for a piece to feature, we'd love to hear it: info@dublininquirer.com.* ### A new film carefully explores the interpersonal toll of falling for hate URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-film-carefully-explores-the-interpersonal-toll-of-falling-for-hate/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T06:03:48.000Z Sometimes it happens when you’re grabbing coffee with an old friend, said Alan Hopkins recently. “And they just mention some, like, mad thing that you can’t believe that’s where they’re at, you know what I mean?” Or it’s your loving partner or spouse. Someone you thought you knew better than anybody, he said. In *A Knock At Your Door* – Hopkins’s latest short film – James, portrayed by Diarmuid Noyes, says something to his partner, Florence. A subtle anti-immigrant remark muttered while bantering with Florence, an English Black woman, played by Yemisi Oyinloye. It can be played off as a joke, and Florence thinks it is. “You cheeky fucker,” she said, laughing. “You love it,” said James in response. They're both chuckling. But it gently sets the tone for what’s to come. “It’s kind of foreshadowing that this is the start of the kind of the stuff that’s washing into his lexicon,” said Hopkins by phone, recently. Portraying the jarring discovery that the people we are close to have changed as they begin to embrace divisive rhetoric is difficult, Hopkins said. It can easily go wrong, he said. It can come across as preachy, corny or dispassionately pointing at the problem and denying people their humanity and complexities, he said. He has tried to walk a careful line and sidestep all that, he said. “What I tried to do was that two different people could watch this movie, and have two different reactions,” he said. There are some “hardliners”, said Hopkins, and he can’t change their minds with his film. For others, though, he is hoping to delicately nudge a degree of soul-searching and at least a conversation, he said. ## **I thought I knew you** In *A Knock At Your Door*, Hopkins evokes Emmett Till to create revelatory moments between two people whose ideas of one another have receded. In 1955, Till, a 14-year-old Black boy in Mississippi, was kidnapped and lynched **–** tortured and shot **–** after being [falsely accused](https://eji.org/news/emmett-till-accuser-admits-she-lied/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Carolyn Bryant, a 21-year-old White woman, of coming on to her. His memory is still invoked to tell modern-day stories of racial injustice. Recently summoned by Percival Everett in his 2021 novel [*The Trees*](https://web.archive.org/web/20260502132753/https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-trees). Given her background, Hopkins said, Florence’s character is keenly aware of that history. Her partner stands at a safe remove. “James’s character probably isn’t thinking on that level,” he said. In the film, Jonathan Heed portrays Alex – it’s not his real name, but he likes it because it’s convenient for others to call him that, he tells Florence. “Ayobamidele is my real name.” Florence can relate, she tells him with interested sympathy. He’s a Black boy living in an asylum shelter in a Dublin neighbourhood, accused of raping a girl in a local park by a knot of men who beat him up. Blood stains dot his white shirt. Alex seeks shelter in James and Florence’s home, having twigged from a sticker on her car that a nurse probably lived there. There’s no evidence of wrongdoing, but James’s WhatsApp group is hopping as his partner cares for the kid in their kitchen. A “citizen journalist” has bobbed up at the door, and a scrum of angry people is growing outside. James is paranoid, and then he’s angry, too. Florence begins to see the gulf between them. It hadn’t hit her before. Hopkins points to how he’s been thinking about [an attempted-rape accusation](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl9kd2pne2o?ref=dublininquirer.com) against two Romanian teens, which triggered [racist rioting](https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/filipino-families-flee-northern-irish-home-after-night-anti-immigrant-violence-2025-06-11/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Ballymena and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, last year, but the charges were later dropped. Heed, a blossoming young actor and a graduate of Bow Street Academy – the Rathmines-based acting school – has little dialogue in the film, which he said he preferred. It helped him avoid coarsening its message. “For a performance like that, if I start to send a message and play a message, it stops feeling real,” he said, sitting at a city centre café recently. ## **Community as resistance** When he was reading the script, said Heed, it summoned up childhood stuff that he’d almost blotted out. From back when he was growing up as an Irish Black kid in Tallaght. “People used to bang our door down because of the colour of our skin,” he said. And the film really stirred things up for him. “When we got a rough cut of the movie, it was kind of like reliving the moment. I was watching it in my room, and I was shaking a bit.” Heed said he wants to keep acting, hoping to inspire more Black people in the country to pursue it if that’s what their heart wants. “I know it’s a crazy thing to say, but I want to be one of the greats,” said Heed with a shy smile. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Jonathan-Heed.-Photo-by-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Jonathan Heed. Photo by Shamim Malekmian Husni Hafid of Hal Pictures Ltd is the film’s producer. He also produced Hopkins’s 2023 film *Jungle*. They’re good friends, he said, and co-founders of Hal Pictures. It was important to be a part of *A Knock at Your Door*, too, Hafid said, recently. He was born in Libya and worries about the growing voices of prejudice in the country. “I’m scared they might eventually take my \[Irish\] citizenship away, the way immigration is talked about in the news,” he said. He was instantly drawn to the story, he said. “How people can be sucked into these narratives.” Like Hopkins, the writer and director of *A Knock At Your Door*, Hafid said it’s hard to probe the topic and stay faithful to people’s actual relationships and their nuances. “I think when you’re trying to do a story like this, authenticity is so important, doing research, like, doing the story justice, is so important.” All of that takes money, too, and so they’re lucky that Screen Ireland funded their film, both Hafid and Hopkins said. And while making it, Hopkins, who’s from Clondalkin, said he rediscovered the joy of community by spending more time with his friends, family and neighbours to tell a story about the dangers of drifting apart. The angry mob in the film? They were all “my neighbours and friends and their dogs playing a rabid crowd”, said Hopkins. *A Knock at Your Door* is set to premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh on 11 July. ### Residents leave council “consultation” on fire-damaged community centre wondering what just happened URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-leave-council-consultation-on-fire-damaged-community-centre-wondering-what-just-happened/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T06:04:01.000Z In June 2021, a fire broke out on the roof of the community centre on Donore Avenue, in Dublin 8\. At the time, Fearghal Connolly, manager of the Donore Community Drug and Alcohol Team – which had run the Targeted Responses with Youth (TRY) project out of the building – [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/burnt-out-community-groups-hope-to-be-back-in-donore-avenue-youth-centre-in-six-months/) they hoped to be back in and back to work there in six months. His was one of the many groups and services that operated out of the centre. For example, St Catherine’s National School used to use the hall for its end-of-year concert, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-donore-avenue-area-kids-are-left-to-their-own-devices-among-derelict-council-owned-buildings-and-vacant-lots/) Karen Jordan, the principal. A year after the fire, the centre was still closed, and residents protested outside it. Afterwards, Jen Cummins and Monica Grogan [talked about](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-year-after-the-donore-community-centre-burned-locals-gather-to-demand-council-move-faster-to-reopen-it/) how their sons were going to be missing out on the centre’s summer project that year. Nearly four more years later, the centre is still not back open – although it is finally under construction, surrounded by scaffolding and blue netting. There’s about €11.6 million in the council’s budget for the works. Stuck on the building are little flyers announcing a “public consultation” at Scoil Treasa Naofa. “This is an opportunity for local residents, community groups and centre users to hear about the plans and share their views on how the space can best serve the community into the future,” the flyer said. That meeting, led by Dublin City Council staff members, was last Thursday evening. Gerry Dempsey, a local resident, attended it, he said by phone on Tuesday. “I’m 69\. I’ve been to more meetings than you’ve had dinners, so I know how they’re supposed to go,” he said. “I have never been at such a disaster.” The event was not well advertised to residents of the area, it seemed the council already had a plan they did not intend to vary and didn’t really want ideas from residents, and the presenter did not seem well prepared, Dempsey said. Usually at these events, the plans for the thing that’s being built will be put up on the walls of the hall where the meeting is, so people can examine them, said Catherine McSweeney, another local resident who was there Thursday evening. And then the architects who came up with the plans, and are well familiar with them, will be available to explain them, McSweeney said. But this event wasn’t like that, she said. The main speaker from the council seemed unprepared, there were no mics so everything was hard to hear, and the plans shown during the presentation were hard to decipher, she said. “Usually they do them much better.” Cummins, who back in 2022 was at the protest, lamenting the continued closure of the centre, has since been elected a local councillor and then a TD. She too was at the meeting last Thursday “People were really really unhappy,” Cummins said Tuesday. “I mean really unhappy.” She said she’d written to the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, and area manager Bevin Herbert, “to say that a community consultation has to take place which actually consults people”. The council has not responded to a query sent Tuesday morning asking if they were aware that some residents were unhappy with the event last week, and whether there are plans to try again. ## Zooming out The fire at the community centre appears to have been caused by accident, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-donore-avenue-area-kids-are-left-to-their-own-devices-among-derelict-council-owned-buildings-and-vacant-lots/) Stephen Rourke, chair of the [Donore Project Consultative Forum](http://dpcf.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), back in 2023\. “There was a police inquiry and the police inquiry found that there wasn’t malicious intent,” he said. “It was an accident. I think it happened in the roof garden area.” Rourke says the police inquiry and the insurance issues “were probably sorted out towards the tail end of that year”. As the years have passed, and the rebuilding project was delayed again and again, Rourke has pushed for information on the causes of the delays – and for action to get the centre rebuilt and back to serving its community. “Some people in the community have been saying this wouldn’t all have taken as long in a more middle-class, salubrious part of Dublin,” Rourke said. Meanwhile, the area has been changing. The Land Development Agency (LDA) is now in the midst of building its Donore Project. On the site, adjacent to the community centre, the cranes are high and the apartment buildings are rising. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Donore-Project-cranes.jpg) Cranes over the LDA's Donore Project site on Tuesday. Photo by Sam Tranum. Phase 1 of the project, the bit now under construction, is 542 new cost-rental and social homes, as well as “a new creche, community spaces, a café/retail unit” and “the new home for the Donore Boxing Club”, [according to](https://donoreproject.ie/faq/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the LDA. The first homes are due to be completed in November, [it says](https://donoreproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). These community spaces will be “Flexible spaces designed to support a range of community uses and activities”, according to an April 2026 LDA [document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28094773-lda-donore-project-phase-2-april-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Phase 2, for which the council on 1 May launched a [public consultation](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/public-consultation-opens-donore-project-phase-2?ref=dublininquirer.com), is to include about 124 “affordable and Social homes” – some in a “15/16-storey over basement apartment block” – as well as “a full-sized GAA championship-sized pitch”, and a new public park with areas for children and teenagers. There’s an informational event about that [planned for](https://donoreproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Thursday 7 May from 5pm to 8pm at the Wisdom Centre, Sophia Housing, 25 Cork Street. Next to the community centre and the Donore Project, there are also the privately owned Player Wills and Bailey Gibson sites, where developer Hines got planning permission to build hundreds more homes. The plans for the Bailey Gibson site include 416 build-to-rent homes, and the plans for the Player Wills site include 492 apartments, according to the April LDA document. “The plans for development will keep and modify the existing Player Wills Factory and provide space for community, arts and cultural exhibition space, retail, café/bar/restaurant, co-working office space”, it says. Although the LDA document says the sites are “now being developed by Kennedy Wilson”, a spokesperson for Kennedy Wilson said on Tuesday that this is incorrect. “Kennedy Wilson has not taken control of the sites in question,” he said. What are Kennedy Wilson's plans for the two sites? Does it plan to proceed with the existing planning permissions, or go back to the drawing board? “Kennedy Wilson are still awaiting CCPC \[Competition and Consumer Protection Commission\] approval to take control of the fund that owns the development sites,” he said. “Therefore, Kennedy Wilson is not in a position to comment in relation to the direction of these developments.” In addition to the privately owned developments on the Player Wills and Bailey Gibson sites, the community centre, and the Donore Project, there’s another piece to the puzzle, said McSweeney, who is a member of the Donore Project Consultative Forum. “There's a remaining planning permission to go in, and it's for the last bit of the Player site and also the church lands that were sold to them \[Hines\],” McSweeney said. This is a small bit of land between St Teresa's Church and the community centre, where there’s a plan to build a “six-room, two-storey” building housing changing rooms for players at the big new pitch to use, she said. “So we hope it's that, but, you know, but that's not guaranteed until it's actually on the actual plans,” she said. ## Concerns All this development on the sites is set to bring thousands more residents to the area, McSweeney said. However, there are no plans for new community centres in the Donore Project or at the Player Wills or Bailey Gibson sites, she said. Still, the community centre is being built back the same size as it was before any of this happened, not bigger, McSweeney said. At the meeting, residents tried to suggest to the council staffers how to maybe tweak the re-built community centre so it’ll work as well as possible. “I worked in the community center as a volunteer, doing summer camps, drama groups and stuff like that,” McSweeney said. “So we've known the workings of it and the way it's run first-hand, like, over many years.” Also, they wanted to make sure that in the gap in time between when the community centre is reopened, and the new changing rooms are built on the church lands, the community centre isn’t used for changing rooms. “There is two changing rooms in it already, and what we want is that, basically they're not going to be the changing rooms for the pitch, because it's such a small community center, and if they start being used at the changing rooms for the pitch, there'll be that forever,” she said. But, said Dempsey, the local resident, people who attended the meeting and tried to make suggestions did not feel heard or understood. So what’s needed is to try again, said Cummins, the Social Democrats TD. The community hasn’t had a community centre for years now, she said. “And we haven’t all been together to discuss it, and really, there needed to be a what happened, how it happened and then, you know, where we are now, and what we want in the future type approach to that and it didn’t happen that way,” she said. So she’s going to be pushing “a proper consultation for the community on that. That may not just be one session, that may be a couple of sessions,” she said. *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 10.27am on 6 May 2026 to reflect that the church lands in question are next to St Teresa's Church, not St Catherine's Church. Apologies for the error.* ### Exhibition showcases works by Liberties painter Valerie Gannon URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/exhibition-showcases-works-by-liberties-painter-valerie-gannon/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T06:04:12.000Z Paul Duane first encountered the work of artist Valerie Gannon around the Liberties during the 1990s. He would pop into the fruit and vegetable shop run by Jack Roche on Meath Street, Duane said on Sunday afternoon while drinking a coffee with Roche outside the Bakeology cafe nearby. “He’d have these mad colourful paintings with text on the walls,” he said. “I’d say to him, ‘Who are these paintings by?’ and Jack would tell me about Valerie Gannon.” She painted a lot, and would take them to the Oxfam shop just over on Francis Street, Roche said. “She never actually sold a painting to her knowledge.” “Most of them went to the charity shop,” he said. There are probably paintings everywhere, because she’d give them away to everybody, Duane said. “She’d go to the Wexford Opera Festival every year, and Paris, and give them to train drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers. She was just very prolific.” Gannon’s name however, slipped from Duane’s memory until a friend asked him six months ago if he knew of any Liberties-based artists, he said. “I couldn’t remember her name, so I texted Jack.” Roche told him that many of Gannon’s paintings were in the possession of Noel Fleming, the owner of Noel’s Deli just a few doors down the street, Roche said, chuckling. “I’d a few. But he had a big collection.” “Noel must have 70,” Duane said. “He started pulling out boxes and boxes and boxes.” “Oh jaysus, he must’ve bought them all,” Roche said. When Duane realised the sheer extent of Fleming’s collection, he reached out to the organisers of the local festival Culture Date with D8, he said. “There was no venue. So we put our heads together.” They came up with the idea of using the old Books At One shop at the bottom of the street as a venue to host Imaginationism, the first exhibition of Gannon’s work. “We have 50 up,” Duane says. “Which is a lot for a debut show.” ## Faces and places As the sun beamed down over Meath Street, Duane and Roche walked across the road to Books At One. Duane doesn’t know Gannon, he says. “I haven’t met her. I only know about her through Jack.” Gannon grew up not too far away from Meath Street, in Pimlico, and it does feel strange to be curating a show for a living artist who he hasn’t actually met, he says. “She’s only just up the road, and I’m learning about her in the same way as I would if she’s a long ago historical artist.” He wanted to approach it with sensitivity as Gannon has faced challenges with mental health throughout her life, he says. “I haven’t met the family. But all the communication with them is being done through Noel \[Fleming.\] Apparently they’re very excited about it.” But you see her personality in the works in the same way that one might see James Joyce in his books, Roche said. “She’s quite a character.” The shutters were down as they entered the shop, and the interior was almost wall-to-wall with her vivid paintings. Behind the old shop counter, more than 15 of her pieces, painted on sheets of paper, were attached to the walls. Some were highly abstract renderings of cityscapes: shop fronts, rooftops, cobbled pavements, archways, bridges. There was a Warhol-esque tribute to footballer Eric Cantona, and recollections of sights at Dublin Airport, like the rear end of a Go Bus and the prayer room. On a shelf inside the window, there were small framed pieces: self-portraits, portraits of her mother. Their skin was coloured purple, orange, green and blue. One was crying thick yellow tears. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Portraits-by-Valerie-Gannon-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) She gave that one to Roche, he said. “Having the fruit and veg shop, she did this face. But the tears are pears. Teardrops are in the shape of pears.” A lot of the works relate to people she knew, Duane says. “People’s names are worked into them. There are paintings of her mother’s history working at the drapery counter in Clerys.” In the far corner of the room were four large oil-on-canvas works. One was a smiling portrait of Thomas Dudley, a Dublin figure better known by the nickname [Bang Bang](https://www.dublininquirer.com/bang-bang-s-burial-and-the-hunt-for-a-headstone/). Another was composed of abstract shapes, in orange, brown, blue and maroon, and covered in green text that made reference to the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin. She references the news quite a bit, Duane said.“Her antenna was out there picking up all kinds of stuff.” Nearby was a painting of dogs, their bodies blending together like the wax in a lava lamp, and staring out at the viewer with enormous yellow eyes, white arching eyebrows. Most of them have no teeth, except one which has a single tooth. She has a fear of dogs, Duane says. “If I was afraid of dogs, I’d be painting their teeth. She just goes for the eyes. It’s quite unnerving the way they are staring out at you.” ## Intangible cultural heritage As six o’clock came around on the bank holiday Monday, Books At One filled up rapidly. Beside the four canvas works, Duane had set up a table where children were colouring in A4 print-outs of a black-and-white sketch Gannon made of the Liberties’ architectural features, including Christ Church Cathedral and Noel’s Deli. A few members of her family sat next to the kids as they coloured in the white spaces. Her aunt, Marie Gannon, laughed, saying it was always difficult trying to see any of her artworks, because she was always giving them away. “I had never seen any of these.” “If you were sitting in front of her on the bus, she’d draw ya, and then give it to you before you got off the bus,” she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Untitled-by-Valerie-Gannon-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) A few moments later, the room fell silent as Duane introduced the show. Gannon is a brilliant, naturally gifted artist, he said. “And is a typical Liberties person who travelled the world, always comes back here, loves this place, and her art is very rooted in the Liberties.” The next day, Noel Fleming pulled up a seat at the table to look at some of the A4 print-outs of Gannon’s impression of the Liberties. She drew it right after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the USA, he said, tapping his finger on the sheet of paper three times. “There was a picture in one of the Sunday papers of the New York skyline without the Twin Towers.” He asked her if she had ever thought of doing a picture of the Liberties skyline, he said. “Just threw it out there. The next day she came in with that, and I laminated it because it was on such thin paper.” She’s a highly intelligent person, he said. “And when she got motivated for something, that was it.” ### Community fund opens for Inchicore and Kilmainham groups URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/community-fund-opens-for-inchicore-and-kilmainham-groups/ Last updated: 2026-05-07T15:28:14.000Z Community groups and schools in Inchicore and Kilmainham have until 26 June to apply for money from a new community benefit fund. The fund was created as part of the council’s project of building An Droichead Órga, a big new housing development, on Emmet Road. It's is being provided by Elliott Group, a council spokesperson said. That’s the contractor that won the [€400 million](https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/805349-2025?ref=dublininquirer.com) tender to build the first big phase of the project, with 487 homes, a creche and a new library and community hub. The fund was a requirement in the tender process, the spokesperson said. Work has been speeding along on the site, with the builder’s newsletter for May telling local residents to expect, among other works in the coming weeks, foundations to be put in for the community hub and library and residential blocks. Once the whole scheme is built – expected at the moment to be in the first quarter of 2028 – it’s to have 578 cost-rental and social homes. The council didn’t address a question sent on 23 April, asking if any money from the community fund had already been allocated. But a note to councillors earlier this week said that a pot of €200,000 had been allocated for the fund. Of that, €5,000 has been allocated already to Core Youth services to mark its 40th anniversary, and €10,000 has been donated to St Patrick’s Athletic FC, it said. “Both donations arose from earlier engagement with these groups during the tender stage,” the note said. Going forward, a steering group has been set up to oversee the remaining €185,000 in the fund, with a subcommittee to assess and make decisions on the funding applications, it said. ## **Who can apply?** The catchment area for the fund basically covers Inchicore and Kilmainham, shows a map in the fund guidance note. So, the neighbourhoods nearest to the big development, north of the Grand Canal. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/05/Kilmainham-Inchicore-network.png) The catchment area for the fund, taken from the guidance document. Projects should be supported by their community, promote social inclusion, be accessible without discrimination, and demonstrate ambition and ability to deliver, the note says. They must fall within at least one of four priority areas, it says – whether “building stronger communities”, “greener communities”, “recreation, sports, arts and culture” or “education & skills”. In particular, they are looking for projects that “aim to enhance the lives of children and young people or promote cross-generational engagement”. A trio of judges will shortlist applications: two from Elliott Group, and one from the council’s community development team for the area. A larger steering group – which includes community representatives, council officials and a councillor, as well as the builder – is to okay the winners. The group is to consider geographical balance, variety, and relative disadvantage of an area, among other touchstones. The guidance note and application form for the community benefit fund is [here](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28094774-2026-elliott-group-community-benefit-fund-guidance-document/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [here](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28094775-2026-elliott-group-community-benefit-fund-application-form/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ### Would knocking Wood Quay for housing be complicated by the site’s Viking history? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/would-knocking-wood-quay-for-housing-be-complicated-by-the-sites-viking-history/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T05:45:33.000Z Archaeologist Patrick Wallace led the excavation of Wood Quay in the 1970s. Later, he wrote the book *Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations.* Around 1970, Dublin Corporation – as the council was known then – bulldozed part of the site, Wallace said. When he dug underneath the layer of earth that had been bulldozed, “I got below that and found the banks,” he said by phone recently. Under the rubble and dirt, he discovered the embankments of the original town of Dublin, from around 1,000 years ago. On the site where Dublin City Council’s headquarters now stands, Wallace’s team found thousands of artefacts from the Viking era and since. *Viking Dublin* features photos of Viking-era coins, jewellery, toys, and more. But the key discoveries were the foundations of buildings and the pathways through the original town, Wallace said. “It was my life's work, to paint a picture of the original Dublin,” he said. Dublin City Council’s management team is now [working](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/new-hq-for-dcc/) to move the council’s HQ to new offices it plans to build at the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street, which it recently bought [for €104 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/). Council officials told councillors recently that the move would allow it to [develop a big housing project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/) with 532 homes at the Wood Quay site. A council spokesperson said on Tuesday that it has not yet decided the future of the Wood Quay site, but it has the “potential to deliver substantial housing”. “But that opportunity must be progressed in a way that is legally compliant, properly sequenced and respectful of the site’s historic and archaeological importance,” they said. A large chunk of the site to the south of the old walls, however, has not yet been fully excavated, said Wallace, the archaeologist. So any effort to develop the Wood Quay site will inevitably face delays, he said. “There will be a slowdown, and there will be controversy, and there will be discoveries that will hold the job up,” he said. Councillors have been split on the big plans. For those who are wary, one major worry is what might happen to the Wood Quay site if the Department of Housing doesn’t provide funding to build housing there. ## **Digging up Dublin** Back in the 1970s, Wallace and his team of archaeologists were subjected to serious pressure to excavate the Wood Quay site quickly – because Dublin Corporation was impatient to press ahead with building its new offices, he said. “We worked weekends,” Wallace said. “We had floodlights and worked at night.” Luckily, they were young. “It was the best years of my life. I had great energy,” Wallace said. “And the staff I had were phenomenal.” But there are parts of the site that they never got to explore, and what is under the ground there could still help to paint the picture of the original town of Dublin, he said. Before Wallace’s dig began, Brendan O'Riordan had already led a very thorough excavation of part of the site, on the hillside by Winetavern Street, Wallace said. Wallace dug up the southern side along Fishamble Street. But a large part of the site still remains to be excavated. Much of the area to the south of the old walls, and along all of John’s Lane – between the Civic Offices and Christ Church Cathedral – remains untouched, he said. “It's a rich site, it's a graveyard, and below that graveyard is the remains of a late Viking town.” Where Fishamble Street meets John’s Lane is a crucial area that has not been excavated so far, says Wallace. While he would like to see the area excavated, Wallace doesn’t support the council knocking its offices down, and says it should not proceed with the plan without carrying out a public consultation process. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-dafb3c0a-f1bd-4154-8a38-2c0c40f15e29.png) From John’s Lane looking across Civic Offices grounds towards Fishamble Street. Photo by Sam Tranum. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-dc532c8c-71c5-48f4-9e34-375dc98e7b65.png) Corner of John's Lane and Fishamble Street. Photo by Sam Tranum. ## **A new plan for homes** Council executives’ plan for Wood Quay is to demolish all the Civic Offices buildings, according to [a presentation](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/) given to councillors at the Mansion House in February. In their place, the presentation shows, in a “design concept/capacity study”, blocks of apartments covering most of the site, with several courtyards and green spaces around and among them. A block to the south of the site would be social housing, it says. Three blocks to the north of the site would be cost-rental. “Design Option 05”, shows 401 cost-rental apartments, and 131 social apartments, for a total of 532 homes, and 1,229 bedrooms. If the existing buildings are to be demolished, Wallace said, it needs to be done very carefully. “They have to be careful of the city wall,” he said. “That is a sacred part of Dublin’s heritage.” That is the oldest town wall in Ireland and dates to the later part of the 11th century, he says. Part of it [can be seen](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wood-quay-viking-wall-goes-on-view-1.756537?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the council’s Wood Quay Venue, which is part of the Civic Offices. Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said that “one of the features of the Wood Quay building is that it's built on a platform which has preserved, albeit under the building, a significant portion of the archaeologically significant site”. High-density housing needs deep foundations, so preserving the old walls would add to the complexity, Ó Broin said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-66d28e97-d5a2-467b-894c-29056ad76063-1.png) Old town wall at the Wood Quay Venue. Photo by Sam Tranum. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-2ef25418-07cb-4df9-970d-dce0544b9da4.png) Old town wall in the Wood Quay Venue. Photo courtesy of the council website. It would take a couple of years to excavate the rest of the Wood Quay site if it is done carefully and properly, Wallace said. The council spokesperson says it cannot provide a timeline for demolition, excavation or redevelopment of the site. “The scale, complexity and archaeological sensitivity of the site mean that any future proposals will require detailed assessment, including archaeological evaluation, statutory approvals and engagement with relevant authorities,” the spokesperson said. Future proposals for Wood Quay “will be brought forward through the Council’s established statutory and governance processes, including engagement with Elected Members, and will be subject to the normal planning and consultation requirements”, he said. ## **Would it get funding?** Whether the council gets funding to build 500 and some homes on Wood Quay would depend on whether the government backs the project, said Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin TD. “My strong view is the department should not fund anything that would involve the demolition of the existing Civic Offices,” he said. The presentation the council executive gave councillors at Mansion House in February said the Wood Quay housing project [would cost more than €200 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/), and be classified as a “Major Project”. [That means](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/single-approval-process-for-social-housing-capital-projects/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it'll be subject to a different set of guidance, the [Infrastructure Guidelines](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/collections/infrastructure-guidelines/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The [guidelines ](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/infrastructure-guidelines-a-guide-to-the-strategic-assessment-and-preliminary-business.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com)for drawing up a preliminary business case require risk assessment and flag the potential for optimism bias. “Optimism bias occurs when project analysts overestimate the benefits and/or underestimate the costs and timings for a project or programme,” it says. In any case, Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney says the plans for housing at Wood Quay would obviously face major delays. She has asked council managers whether the Department of Housing would fund housing at Wood Quay, she said, and didn’t receive any assurances that they would. The Department of Housing is usually very conservative about which sites it agrees to fund, Cooney said. “I can’t see them saying, ‘Yes, we are going to fund that.’” If the council goes ahead and builds its offices at Camden Yard and then doesn’t get funding for housing at Wood Quay, then “we’re left with this huge, huge development of offices that nobody wants,” Cooney said. The council would also be in debt for the overall project, she said. “I think it would be very irresponsible to agree to fund that.” The council shouldn't take on any financial risk to build itself new offices when there is already an oversupply of offices in Dublin, Cooney said. “Nobody else wants to invest in office space at the moment, so why would Dublin City Council want to, using public money?” Cooney says the council could change the design of the Camden Yard site to build more homes there, which she thinks would be more likely to attract funding than homes at Wood Quay. “The social need is for housing,” says Cooney. The council shouldn’t build itself new offices at Camden Yard and redeveloping Wood Quay with housing, said Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin TD. Instead, it should retrofit its offices at Wood Quay and stay there, he said, and make the Camden Yard development 100 percent public housing – a mix of social, affordable purchase and cost-rental. The council has said it’d be too costly to retrofit the Civic Offices on Wood Quay, and so it makes financial sense to build and move to new offices at Camden Yard, but has [declined to share its homework](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/) on how it arrived at this calculation – even by request under the Freedom of Information Act and Access to Environmental Information Regulations. ### Council tenants ask why it can find money for a new HQ, but not to fix up their homes properly URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-tenants-are-asking-why-money-cant-be-quickly-found-for-social-housing-regeneration-but-can-for-new-offices/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T05:45:45.000Z Neighbours and other social tenants she spoke to were shocked to learn of the plans that Dublin City Council has to build new offices for itself, says Gayle Cullen Doyle. That it could [find hundreds of millions](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/new-hq-for-dcc/) to buy and build out the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street, to provide new offices for its own staff. “People are going ballistic,” says Cullen Doyle, on Tuesday on the phone. “It's really after rattling them.” “How are they able to pull money out for that?” said Cullen Doyle. “They are only working there a few hours a day, we are sleeping in the conditions and living here morning, noon and night.” She lives in Oliver Bond House, a council flat [ridden with damp and mould, which cause residents health problems](https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-of-councils-oliver-bond-flats-worry-theyll-be-left-for-decades-more-with-mould-damp-and-related-health-problems/). The complex was built almost 100 years ago. Flats are small and overcrowded, she said. She cannot fit in a kitchen table. Dublin City Council has long promised to regenerate the homes – “regeneration” can mean demolishing and rebuilding, or major internal renovation – but has not secured funding from the Department of Housing for most of that work, she says. Even if the upgrades eventually happen, in this case most homes are to stay the same size – small and cramped. “It's so, so frustrating,” says Cullen Doyle. Meanwhile, Frank Gibbons, who lives in the Basin Street flats, in the Liberties, said he thought the council building itself new offices at Camden Yard was “a waste of public funds”. The Basin Street complex is another that has been waiting years for regeneration. That complex is also plagued by [mould and damp](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-south-inner-city-the-council-plans-to-knock-down-redesign-and-rebuild-its-basin-street-flat-complex/). The works to knock it and rebuild it were to be funded through public private partnership, until that was scrapped at the last hour – and are now part of the council’s new Home Building Programme. The council should focus its resources on things that really matter, said Gibbons. “There are people living in horrible conditions with mould and dampness, and children with chest problems.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that the “investment in modern civic accommodation at Camden Yard does not displace or reduce the Council’s housing delivery programme, which is funded and progressed through separate capital, statutory and approval frameworks”. The development will improve efficiency, reducing operational costs, they said. The council “continues to deliver new social and affordable homes across the city through a range of sites, programmes and funding streams”. Time and again though, council tenants are told there isn’t enough money to make their homes healthy – leaving them to question in what office or offices the decisions are made that put them at such a low priority. ## **Awaiting rejuvenation** At a recent meeting of the [Central Area Committee,](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1083833?ref=dublininquirer.com) councillors said that the most run-down social housing complex in the city is Ballybough House. It would be a tough competition. But that flat complex isn’t even listed for regeneration because of a lack of funding, said councillors at the meeting. . The Basin Street flats, meanwhile, where Gibbons lives, were neglected and in limbo for years, which rolled into decades. On Thursday, Gibbons said the council is moving tenants out of some blocks at the moment, and the conditions are dire. But while the council has said the scheme will be done under its new Home Building Programme, he doesn’t think it’s a sure thing, he said. “The funding isn’t guaranteed yet.” Cullen Doyle said the council should focus its money and manpower resources on making sure its homes meet the minimum standards as a landlord. “The living conditions we are living in,” she says, “I thought we needed to be up to EU standards, we are nowhere near that.” In 2017, the [European Committee on Social Rights ](https://hudoc.esc.coe.int/eng/?ref=dublininquirer.com#%7B%22sort%22:[%22escpublicationdate%20descending%22],%22escdcidentifier%22:[%22cc-110-2014-dmerits-en%22]%7D)found that Dublin City Council was in breach of its tenants' human rights. At Oliver Bond, at least one resident [has been awarded damages](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amount-dublin-city-council-has-had-to-pay-out-to-its-tenants-for-mould-and-damp-in-their-homes-has-doubled/#:~:text=In%20November%2C%20Sinead%20Moran%2C%20who,according%20to%20the%20Sunday%20World.) due to damp and mouldy conditions of her home. Citywide, in 2023, Dublin City Council paid out [more than €1 million in damages ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amount-dublin-city-council-has-had-to-pay-out-to-its-tenants-for-mould-and-damp-in-their-homes-has-doubled/#:~:text=In%20November%2C%20Sinead%20Moran%2C%20who,according%20to%20the%20Sunday%20World.)to tenants for sub-standard living conditions. Cullen Doyle said more tenants began to join protests against the council’s [recent increase in rents](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/) for social tenants, once they heard about the plan for new offices. So too, said Gibbons. “They are absolutely fuming,” said Cullen Doyle. How does the council say it doesn’t have the money, she said, yet they can whip out €10m for upkeep or €500m to buy and develop offices at Camden Yard. “They will get their lovely offices, that site \[Wood Quay\] will be left idle for years and years, and we will still have damp and mould in Oliver Bond,” she said. ## **Is it fair to compare?** “I think it's a maddening situation and I can see why people are frustrated by it,” said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, who sits on the Oliver Bond regeneration committee. “It's much more important to regenerate the council flats than the offices, 100 percent,” he said. But there are different pots of money, which the council can get at in different ways for different kinds of projects, he said. “The council would be borrowing for Camden Yard,” said Pidgeon. “Whether you think it's a good or bad idea, that would be borrowing that would be approved by the national government.” He thinks that the central government wouldn’t approve borrowing to regenerate the flats because, at least in theory, the Department of Housing provides money for that, he said. To borrow for Camden Yard, council officials will present an economic case to say that they will save money by moving to Camden Yard, due to lower running costs, said Pidgeon. He would prefer the council invest in regeneration over the office development, he says. But “I just don’t think the two things are interchangeable”. “This is not the way it should be,” said Pidgeon. “But it's the way it is.” The Dublin City Council spokesperson said it can progress its new office development at Camden Yard and prioritise public housing projects, at the same time. “Both housing delivery and civic accommodation are essential public responsibilities, and the Council is progressing each through the appropriate governance and funding mechanisms,” she says. Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin says the failure to regenerate the council flat complexes is appalling, but it is due to decisions by the Minister for Housing not the CEO of Dublin City Council. “The problem at the moment is the Minister for Housing is point-blank refusing to fund those on the spurious grounds that it will lead to a reduction in the number of units,” he says. Like at [Pearse House](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-puzzle-how-to-modernise-a-listed-flats-complex-without-reducing-the-number-of-homes-in-it/), for example. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing has said it is “committed to supporting the Regeneration of Social Housing Flat complexes in Dublin City. However, it will not support projects involving a reduction of the number of homes.” Ó Broin said it's not possible to bring the homes up to minimum standards without knocking some through, and losing some homes. Size standards have changed over the course of the last century, he said. “I think the residents in Oliver Bond and Pearse House and Ballybough House and elsewhere are right to be furious,” he said. “Furious with the council, furious with government, and furious with the politicians who are imposing these decisions on them,” said Ó Broin. Whether the council borrows or uses capital funding for any development at Wood Quay, it will need to get ministerial approval, he said. The council plan is build more around 532 homes on the site, according to a presentation to councillors. In his view, the council shouldn’t borrow “for its entirely unnecessary demolition and rebuild on the Wood Quay site”, said Ó Broin. The plan is wasteful and will lead to unnecessary carbon emissions, he says, and he doesn’t support it. “There is simply far too much demolition and rebuild going on in Dublin city, which has a very negative impact on the urban fabric and the built heritage of our city,” he said. ### A new Bohemians initiative looks to help more Dubliners own where they work URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-bohemians-initiative-looks-to-help-more-dubliners-own-where-they-work/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T05:45:56.000Z Seán McCabe has a plan for some of the visitors who have rolled into town this week to help launch the Bohemians Football Club’s latest endeavour. He hopes to coax them onto a soapbox at Saturday’s community day at Dalymount Park, the club’s home ground. To stand up and make the case. “And actually tell people how the economy could be different,” said McCabe, the club’s head of climate justice and sustainability. McCabe was sat on the couch in one corner of the office of The Spark project, a community climate cooperative. The room is airy and industrial, on the second floor of the concrete Phibsboro Shopping Centre. Long strips of windows overlook the rumble of Phibsboro Road. “They’re here to tell the city, and anyone who might be sceptical, that there are alternative economic models that can work,” said McCabe. The guys include Ted Howard, the political activist and author and co-founder of The Democracy Collaborative in the United States, which aims to democratise wealth. He also helped architect the Evergreen Cooperatives, a network of worker-owned companies in Cleveland, in the United States. That is the main inspiration for the Bohemian Cooperatives CLG, the new entity that his team plans to set up, said McCabe. Its role will be to incubate cooperative businesses across the city. The deeper mission is to ensure decent work and stem the extraction of wealth, and to further just climate action, says the Bohemian’s Building Community Wealth Strategy 2026–2029\. The strategy, launched on Thursday evening, lays out how they plan to go about it, too. ## **The long game** The new Bohemian Cooperatives CLG won’t own businesses, said McCabe on Monday afternoon. Its role is to provide the resources and strategies that cooperative start-ups need, to help them to navigate the nitty-gritty – and to make sure the wider ecosystem is one that supports it. Indeed, said Katelyne Armstrong, project coordinator at The Spark. “This isn’t something that we want to own.” “It’s definitely something that requires a lot of hands on deck, and a lot of partnerships and a lot of people on board to see it through,” she said. The team has modelled its entity and strategy on what they saw during a study visit to Cleveland, said McCabe. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Sean-McCabe-in-Phibsboro-1.JPG) Seán McCabe. What has become known as The Cleveland Model grew out of the activities of a huge philanthropic foundation, said Howard, on the phone on Wednesday. In the years after the last financial crash, the folks at the Cleveland Foundation began to seek a new approach to economic development to take on the extreme poverty in the area, said Howard. They asked him to get involved, he said. The community-wealth building model that Howard came up with involves democratic businesses, but also tapping into public and semi-public procurement from big anchor institutions. Contracts with municipal governments, hospitals and schools, he said. “As they have such assets.” The Evergreen Cooperatives approached the largest hospital system in the state, he said. It washes millions of sheets and towels and doctors’ gowns each year. The Cleveland Clinic’s contract for all this laundry had been with the French multinational Sodexo, he said. “We worked to get the whole contract for Evergreen.” It takes time, conversations and trust to shift big contracts, he said. “Institutions traditionally are looking for the lowest cost per unit.” But there is also a growing attention to social procurement, he said. And at Evergreen, half the people employed had been incarcerated, and the cooperative had better environmental policies. In Cleveland, the model has also meant buying existing businesses, once they meet set criteria, and turning them into cooperatives, he said. They’ve bought a chain of coffee shops, and a small robotics company, he said. Both of these strands – targeting anchor contracts, and buying up what’s here already – are approaches that the Bohemian Cooperatives CLG hopes to develop and adapt for Dublin. ## **What could it mean?** The three-year Bohemian’s Building Community Wealth Strategy charts out two starkly different lines of businesses that the team wants to help nurture in the early years. One “pathway”, as the strategy puts it, follows opportunities within the city’s food systems. That seems like low-hanging fruit, said McCabe. Because there are clear “routes to market” with anchor institutions and contracts for school meals and institutional catering. The idea of community wealth building isn’t totally alien. Dublin City Council [has since](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28080449-report-no-142026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-r-flannery-community-wealth-building-update/?ref=dublininquirer.com)October 2021 had its own stream of work trying to use its heft to support community wealth building. It has run pilots around procurement and hirings. The Bohemians Cooperatives will complement that, said McCabe. They intend to look for ways to dovetail with the council’s goals, he said, but there are also many other big institutions across the city. The plan is to bring in a food systems expert for a year to develop that idea, its feasibility and possible partners, and what would be needed to move it into an enterprise start-up, the strategy says. Once set-up, the independent start-up would take on the costs and risks. It would also step towards restructuring Dublin’s food system “connecting public procurement, nutrition, decent work, local production and shared ownership in a way that is highly legible to partners and communities alike”. A second “pathway” is for an insurance mutual company. “We’re not preempting what it would look like,” said McCabe. Again, the plan is to hire an expert to refine the idea. But the pitch is for a new insurance company, owned by its policyholders, into which – as the strategy says – many people pay premiums so that the few can benefit when they suffer an unforeseen financial shock. The strategy sketches out an ambitious trend line, which sees the company hitting profitability in year three. The insurer would serve a wider purpose, said McCabe. They want to try to replicate how the Evergreen Cooperatives buys and converts existing businesses to worker-ownership, he said. “It’s a for-profit insurer, but all of the profits would recycle through the system.” The Cleveland Foundation gave €10 million to the Evergreen Cooperatives to scoop up and convert businesses, he said. But Bohemians don’t have that. McCabe said he could foresee investing about €1.5 million to €2 million in each company which meets certain criteria around employee numbers, and that can reach expected dividends of around €10,ooo a year within five years. “That’s kind of the parameters,” he said. Many pieces need to be put in place for all this to work, he said, including large amounts of money to capitalise it. They’re working to find those millions, he said. “But if it worked, it could be really transformative.” No system is perfect mind, said McCabe. One cooperative-owned factory that the team visited in Mondragón**,** in Spain, as part of a study trip made munitions.“They will be a reflection of the values of people that live within them.” ## **Seeing a different future** Not everybody wants to join worker-owned cooperatives, said Howard, cofounder of The Democracy Collaborative. “The plain truth is that lots of people would rather work for somebody and do 9 to 5 and earn an income,” he said. Others are drawn to cooperatives though, he said. “And interested in having a real voice and say in the company, helping to make decisions on allocation of finances, and board members.” There is, of course, a risk, he said. “Because you’re an owner of the company and you’ve capital in it.” Howard said that to find people to work at the Evergreen Cooperatives laundry service, they ran events, meetings in churches, and collaborated with an NGO which helps people who are long-term out of the labour market. They had a mural on the building too, he said, and hundreds of people knocked in to ask about jobs. “People knew something was happening.” They hired people and, in the first six months, worked out whether they were reliable and understood the cooperative spirit, he said. “And so they moved after six months, if so, to an owner of the company.” As with the Evergreen Cooperatives, McCabe sees the Bohemians Cooperatives CLG as working for those who are most excluded. One issue then becomes the buy-in, how owners can afford to buy shares. For the laundry, the buy-in was $3,000. There are ways to deal with cash-poor owners, said Howard. In the laundry, when somebody becomes a member of the co-op, they get a raise of $1 an hour in their salary, half of which is put into a fund towards the buy-in. Those working full-time earn their share in the company outright within three years, he said. When they retire, they get the $3,000 back and the company gets the share back, he said. Where he is working now in Amsterdam, they are starting a cooperative in the low-income neighbourhood of Nieuw-West. To start at least, they’re not even setting a share price, so people become members for nothing, he said. Meanwhile, owner-staff get dividends, some of which they pocket and some of which go into a capital account that builds up and they get when they retire or leave the company – but can often borrow against in the meantime. ## **Building a culture** McCabe has had a whole series of events running alongside the launch of the strategy this week – roundtables with councillors, TDs, and civil society groups. And, there’s the community open day on Saturday at Dalymount. There are to be stalls, inflatable toys for kids and the bar will be open, said McCabe – as well as the soapbox speeches. Howard says that one learning from Cleveland is that you can build a network of successful cooperatives that benefit those within them, but it won’t necessarily touch the whole community. Many in Cleveland don’t know much about it, he said. “That broad education and dialogue hasn’t really been done.” Visiting Mondragón**,** as part of the groundwork for this new strategy, drove home the importance of cooperative culture, said India Ryan, the climate cooperative office manager. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/India-and-Katelyne-1.JPG) India Ryan and Katelyne Armstrong. Education and outreach is to grow under the new Bohemian Cooperatives CLG. It builds on The Spark’s work so far, and its eight-week skills programme teaching bike mechanics, energy efficiency skills, and getting people to understand their own value within a community too. Soon, they’ll be kicking off “care and repair” teams, said Armstrong. Gathering people who have gone through Sparks Skills already to go door-knocking and volunteer to help out with small repairs and upgrades, she said. The team is expecting to move into a new space soon too. It’ll have more of a front onto the street, and be easier to find. They’re looking to expand its Democracy School, said McCabe, helping people to critically understand how the world is working and nurture spaces for people to come and have good-faith debates. “We haven’t fully worked it out yet,” he said. Howard said that if the team manages to grow that culture, they’ll have succeeded in a way that hasn’t really been done so far. “You want people to stand up and say we want the city to be investing in cooperatives that we own and community wealth building, and not just traditional economic development,” he said. It won’t come fast, said Howard. In Amsterdam, the community wealth building strategy takes a 20-year view, he said. “It takes time to rewire the very basis of an economy.” Arguably, part of the cultural change needs to happen not just within communities, but also in the chambers of government and the minds of investors and philanthropists. The Bohemian’s Building Community Wealth Strategy 2026–2029 includes a commitment to lobbying on policy. They’ll push for progress on moves such as the Co-operative Societies Bill, said McCabe. The Departmetn of Enterprise published the bill’s general scheme in 2022\. There are reasons it hasn’t crossed the finish line, said McCabe. It’s a massive bit of legislation, he said, but also nobody is that stressed about getting it through. But “we need people to prioritise it”. Meanwhile, investors need to buy in even if they could maybe make more money elsewhere, said Howard. Philanthropic donors can often also fund projects for a few years and move on with a new priority, said Howard. “That’s a big challenge.” But the idea isn’t to rely on outside money to prop up cooperatives and the network forever anyway, he said. It’s to use grants, loans, subsidies, to build profitable companies. “We can’t rely on being saved by some external forces,” said Howard. “We’ve got to do the work to become independent and stand on our own.” ### Stalwarts of Dublin's free-music scene are launching their latest album URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/stalwarts-of-dublins-free-music-scene-are-launching-their-latest-album/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T05:46:10.000Z Sure, they play for themselves but it doesn’t mean they don’t think of the audience, said Damien Lennon. People take a chance turning up to see an improv group, said Fergus Cullen, sat forwards now in his chair. “If something starts to sound bad, in the moment, I’m like how can I make it feel better,” he said. “Because there’s people here to see it.” What’s bad, though? How do you judge that in a group that performs totally off the cuff, with atmospheric tracks made sometimes of electric drips, and sometimes of repeated riffs of dark scratchy strings, and of everything in between. “Who says it’s bad?” said Jamie Davis, the drummer, looking towards Cullen. “You might think it sounds bad.” It’s a challenge, said Lennon, nodding, the other side of the table. “That’s actually the really hard thing to do in the moment.” There are four members of Zeropunkt, the free music, category-free, spontaneous composers. Lennon on bass, bass VI and effects, and Cullen on saxophones, keys, vocals and electronics, and Davis on drums and percussion, and Hugh O’Neill on trumpet and electronics, too. “You’re not always necessarily on the same page about whether something is good or not,” said Lennon. Look around during a gig at body language, and one person might look unhappy while another bops along. Everybody side-eyes Cullen, and snorts and chuckles escape around the table and the conversation gets louder, sentences and half-sentences flowing over each other. Okay yes, says Cullen. “There was one time we did a gig in Kilkenny and I just had to say to them \[the audience\], this is absolutely shit, if you want to go home, you’re absolutely welcome to.” “He was freaked out,” Cullen said, nodding towards Lennon. “That was Kilkenny wasn’t it?” “Yeah, I wasn’t happy about that – ,” said Lennon, measured. “– I love that,” said Davis, laughing louder now. The crowd seemed amused, he said. “– there’s trial and error too,” said Lennon, making his case. “I didn’t say they could have a refund! I said you can’t have a refund, but you can go home,” said Cullen, in mock defence. The table falls quiet again. “I saw Marshall Allen from the Sun Ra orchestra playing years ago in Los Angeles,” said Lennon. Allen, arriving off a flight from Philadelphia, was already in his 90s, Lennon said. He came in, walked on stage and threw his jacket down, picked up his saxophone and started to play, frenzied. “There was a moment in that gig where it dipped,” said Lennon. “It was kind of tinkering along, and there was this motif that was being circulated. And I just kind of thought, this is the dud, this is the dud.” “But they didn’t give up. They just kept probing it until they found the thing in it, and it just clicked and it was just amazing,” he said. “So there is that idea of oh, this is just shit. But there is also that idea of, well, we just need to ride it out, you know?” he said. Davis kind of nods, as if thinking on that switch from precarious to magical. “Well, that’s happening all the time in a way, isn’t it?” ## **A long road** Zeropunkt’s latest album, *Starry Dynamo in the Machinery of Night*, is just back from production. It’s the sixteenth compilation for the group, if you count the records put out by its predecessor, the group ¡NO! . Its members have been involved, separately and together, in free music for years. Lennon had moved out of Ireland in 1992, living in France for more than a decade, he said, where he played in Versaille with a freak absurdist freeform band called Ach Baby, named after the U2 song “Achtung Baby”. “Nobody got the joke because we were in France,” said Lennon. Versailles at the time was quite a rightwing monarchist Catholic town, he said, and that environment fed a closeness among nonconformists. “There was a weird underbelly there of kind of oddball artists who ended up in the same place.” Later, he moved to the United States and gave up music for a while, he said. He was working in bars and restaurants, including Cafe Steinhof in Brooklyn where he would see many big hitter musicians. “I was kind of intimidated,” he said. But he picked it up again, working with a friend – an acolyte of the Psychic TV realm – on some ambient sound and sound design for theatre in New York, and playing freeform alt folk with a neighbour. Davis, meanwhile, played with, among others, an improv band called Illuminati. He had a background in jazz drumming too, he said. Cullen has been part of the free-music scene in Ireland for decades. “I’ve been doing it for about 20 years or more now actually,” he said. He used to play in a band called the Electronic Sensoria Band, or ESB for short. Both he and Davis – the Zeropunkt drummer – played at times with Damo Suzuki, the Japanese singer and one-time vocalist with German Krautrock band Can, who later travelled the world playing improvised gigs with underground psychrock artists. By 2013, everybody was back in Dublin. They had gradually all met each other through work, and other bands. Davis had heard of Cullen, he said. “Read about me in the newspapers and magazines and books,” said Cullen. “Seen the documentaries about crimes,” said Davis. So he suggested an improv group together. Back then, when the group was ¡NO!, it included Graham Montgomery, who Davis had met in the library in Dún Laoghaire, over the CD collection. The latest record, though, has O’Neill on trumpet and electronics. “That makes a difference in previous sound and previous releases,” said Lennon. ## **The problem of categorisation** Their new record, *Starry Dynamo in the Machinery of Night*, is five tracks, following an intimate gig at Cleere’s Bar and Theatre in Kilkenny. They didn’t splice it or move the tracks around, Lennon said, as they have in other releases. “It’s maybe a bit more organic in the flow." The nature of free improv means that the group’s records are all pretty different, said Davis. *Future Present Continuous*, released in March 2020, is more low-fi, sound art with vocals. *Clap Your Hands And Say No*, released in October 2020, leans into guitar. We feel like we can do anything, Davis said. “We’re totally free to do whatever we’re doing.” “There’s no way you would think it’s the same group,” said Lennon. That does create its own issues. “You butt up against that problem of categorisation,” said Lennon. He remembers years back when he played with a free improv band in France and was trying to shop a record around to stores. “They were immediately like, where do we put it?” he said. “And I was like, just put it on the shelf.” “Put it in the local charity shop, when no one’s looking,” said Cullen, with a half smile. “Put a Coldplay cover on it,” said Davis. Cullen said that the issue of categorisation and the wider music industry largely doesn’t matter to them anymore. “We’ve been doing it for so long, we’ve made absolutely nothing out of it.” This is turning into The Mighty Boosh, said Cullen. “What’s your ambition? I want to be the greatest trumpet player in Yorkshire. Yorkshire is a state of mind.” “Well, Hugh, is the greatest trumpet player on the Iveragh Peninsula, I would think,” said Lennon. They’re not pretentious, said Davis, and their attitude and practices have changed. He used to record everything, not wanting to miss the best moments perhaps, he said. “I was just kind of so excited by it, you know.” He looks at it a little differently now, though, he said. “If you get precious about stuff, you repeat it. You hold onto it as if it is some bar to reach.” “If you just let it go, you do something fresh every time,” he said. ## **Where to listen** Zeropunkt is playing three gig gigs to launch its latest album. The first two in Dublin, at Think Punk in Inchicore on the afternoon and evening of 30 May, and one on 27 June in Kilkenny. They would love to get in an audience with a mixed and younger crowd, said Cullen. How the group plays, what they end up playing, how they start is shaped by how they may be feeling that day, but also by the venues and the sound, said Lennon. Sometimes you play loads, sometimes you step back, said Cullen. “You have to be able to hear each other,” said Davis. “It’s about not filling up all the space and balancing everything. You’re all part of it.” “I kind of genuinely think that listening is an ethical act,” said Lennon. Nobody listens much these days, he said. They’re too busy shouting. Lennon tries to listen better with his youngest kid than he did with his oldest, he said. Cullen said he feels trained to tune in to sound, attentive to the radio or to voices passing by. “Even if it’s only for a minute.” People have to listen differently at their gigs to others perhaps, said Lennon. “There are no choruses, nobody recognises anything, there’s nothing to sing along to.” The health of the free improv scene is really intertwined with venues, said Lennon on Wednesday, at the cafe at the back of Lilliput Stores. Next door was once The Joinery, where the trio used to play, he said. They would also play at Jigsaw, Block T, the Complex and the basement in the Twisted Pepper – all gone now. “We’ve closed many, many places,” said Davis, solemnly. Even before the Twisted Pepper became Wigwam, the scene there was changing, said Cullen. Everyone started to colonise tables with laptops. “I think we started to feel old at that point.” They would go around tables and invite people downstairs for a gig of experimental music, he said, but would get roughly the same response. “I’m on my laptop, leave me alone!” That event was also free. Bad plan, said Lennon. “That was ill-advised.” “Yeah,” said Cullen. “That’s why our CD is €500\. A pop.” ### In Hartstown Park, councillors sound alarm over growing number of scramblers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-hartstown-park-councillors-sound-alarm-over-growing-number-of-scramblers-2/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T11:44:36.000Z Strolling through the main entrance of Hartstown Park in Dublin 15 on Wednesday evening, the sun sits ablaze over the bustling football pitches. Parents watch their kids from the sidelines, while joggers and walkers make their way along the path around the park’s perimeter. As the path leads from one bit of green space to the next, another set of pitches opens up. A new sound cuts through. It’s the shrill rattle of a scrambler bike – now outlawed in public places. Two lads, mid-teens, fly past. The one on the back, without provocation, sticks up his middle finger and shouts some profanity as they pass on the narrow pedestrian path. A sign, to their left, stands ignored. “The use of motorised vehicles is prohibited,” it reads. At last week’s meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar Area Committee, Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly put forward a motion around the rise of scramblers in Hartsown Park. It called on the chief executive to “deploy at least one park ranger to Hartstown Park from 5pm to closing time”. Just for a few weeks, it said, “to try to stop the constant use of scramblers, surrons \[electric dirt bikes\] and electric scooters, which has reached epidemic proportions”. “I'm certainly not looking for park rangers to go and tackle these lads,” Donnelly told the meeting. Rather for them to be there acting as a conduit to the gardaí, she said. She and her council colleagues get almost daily complaints from residents, she said on the phone on Monday – about the scramblers, but also about what some feel is a peak in more general “anti-social behaviour”. In the park on Monday, joggers and strollers had varied views, but mostly said they don’t mind teenagers hanging around being teenagers. It’s the bikes, they say, that are the safety issue. Grace’s Law, named for Grace Lynch who was knocked down and killed by a scrambler in Finglas in January, came into effect at the beginning of April. The new legislation makes it an offence to drive a scrambler or similar off-road vehicle in public places, and gives gardaí the power to seize them on the spot. However, Donnelly told the council meeting that the force in the area is understaffed. “There aren't enough guards, probably in the whole of the K District, to solve this issue on their own,” she said. ## **At the meeting** At the council meeting, Stephen Johnson, an assistant parks and landscape officer, said that sending out a park ranger every evening wasn’t feasible. The council’s mobile rangers cover a large area, he said. “From Millenium Park, Hartstown Park, Corduff, down to Damastown.” He can’t guarantee one just for Hartstown Park, he said. They may need to respond to something elsewhere. “There’s no point me sitting here, making a commitment with you that we can't stand by,” he said. There have been more scramblers, surrons, scooters and e-bikes around the park recently, he said. “We’ve noticed the difference in them since probably January of this year,” said Johnson. “It’s been much worse, much earlier than sort of the usual patterns that we get with them in Hartstown Park.” The council has responded, he said. They have replaced benches and increased litter picks. “We've tried to do the usual things that we do to try and mitigate that behaviour.” They have also engaged with An Garda Síochána, holding a site visit with uniformed officers and council officials last Monday. “It was very well received by the public,” said Johnson. Donnelly said that she wasn’t looking for a permanent commitment for a park ranger to be there every evening. Just a temporary thing, “To try and disrupt the pattern of behaviour that is unfolding.” “If we had a storm tomorrow, finances and resources would be deployed to cleaning up after that storm,” she said. “If we had a cold snap, finances and resources would be deployed to salting the roads, to gritting the paths,” she said. She just wants more visibility for a few weeks, she said. ## **A mixed picture** Lads are there every evening without fail, said David Byrne, co-chairperson of Hartstown Huntstown F.C., which uses the park for matches and training. It is a problem, he said, how some intimidate passersby, and act entitled to the path ahead of pedestrians, bicycles and buggies, he says. “I've seen it where there's women with their children running for cover, if you want to call it that, because they're beeping and revving the bikes behind them,” he said. Donnelly said that she has heard from older locals who won’t go into the park at the moment, because they are frightened. Three residents’ groups have asked for a bench to be removed, because of the noise that the vehicles create when people congregate around the bench, she says. They have asked for kissing gates at all entrances, she said. But that would prevent access for people using wheelchairs, walkers, or pushing prams. At last week’s committee meeting, Councillor John Burtchaell of the Solidarity party, said that it had taken the tragic death of Grace Lynch for the government to act. Burtchaell says he fears a similar outcome is inevitable in Hartstown Park. “We need a government response as well as a council response.” The problem was raised at last month’s meeting of the Fingal West Local Community Safety Partnership, said its chairperson Philip Jennings. The partnership wrote a letter to the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, asking him to bring in a national registration system for scrambler bikes, to track their purchase, he said by phone on Tuesday. Youngsters copped on in recent years that you could buy a scrambler, or an on-road version that looks like a scrambler, without registration – meaning there is no paper trail back to who bought it. “You can give it to a child, and he can do what he likes,” he said. “These are mean machines we’re talking about.” Jennings is cautious to label young people and their actions as anti-social behaviour when often, he said, they don’t mean any harm. Others out and about in the park earlier this week took a similar view. The youngsters have never bothered him, said Robert Donnelly, out for a walk. “They seem to keep to themselves.” It’s the scramblers that people find intimidating, rather than the lads just hanging around, he said. Anthony Smyth, out for his stroll, said similar. That the lads have never bothered him directly, but he understands they are causing issues for others, he said. “The later it gets, people won't come into the park,” he says. “It's the old people you’d be worried about, not the likes of myself.” The rowdy teenagers do always get out of her way, said Melissa Jordan, who was out for a jog around the park with her friend. They’ve never said anything bad to her, she said. But she is nervous a child could be knocked down by the scramblers or scooters as they fly around at great speed, she said. If a child wandered out in front of one, she doesn’t think the bikes would be able to stop in time, she says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Across the city, people with disabilities have ad-hoc access to private car parking URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/across-the-city-those-with-disabilities-have-ad-hoc-access-to-private-car-parking/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T11:45:09.000Z After a lengthy battle, Brian McKenna [was allocated a disabled](https://www.dublininquirer.com/father-of-disabled-child-refused-access-to-a-disabled-car-parking-spot-in-his-complex/) parking space earlier this month for the Drimnagh apartment complex where he lives. The management company at The Davitt has agreed to lease a spot to him, so that he can care more easily for his disabled daughter, he said. He had been shut out. Because, while he was a blue badge holder, he was also a social tenant and the car park, the management company said, was just for the private tenants. Now, though, for €100 per month, he has a slot. While McKenna is relieved to have the essential space, independent Senator Tom Clonan says he finds the cost for it baffling. The whole debacle should never have happened, said Clonan. As he sees it, to create any barriers, including financial, between disability parking and someone who needs it is inexcusable. “Disabled people face so many obstacles in their day to day lives,” he says, “whatever their condition is or whatever their challenges are.” The Drimnagh issue does also highlight the ad-hoc approach to access to accessible disabled parking spaces in private car parks across the city. It is an issue likely to get more attention, as new apartment complexes [shrink car parks](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-tensions-grow-over-parking-around-new-apartment-blocks-some-councillors-look-for-change/), on foot of the push to shift people generally towards sustainable modes of transport and tackle the raging climate crisis. And the questions of how to allocate the scarcer spaces that are left, and the role of pricing in that, become more acute. ## **Different all over** At a meeting earlier this month, Dublin city councillors briefly touched on what the council’s approach is to be to car parking [in its new](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28085863-update-to-the-area-committee-regarding-car-parking-provisions-at-montpelier-former-odevaney-garden/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) Montpelier development, on the lands of the former O’Devaney Gardens. There are 279 parking spaces, for the 1,046 social and affordable homes on the site. Of those, the council is responsible for managing 110 spaces. It’ll allocate those based on need, says its parking strategy. That means those with a disability will be top of the list, it says. Next, spaces are to go to those who need them for work because of where they have to travel to and unusual hours. After that, they’ll go to households based on their size, and finally, based on mileage. It’s unclear whether the council is to charge social tenants for the disabled spaces. The strategy says the social car parking spaces are to cost between €0 and €50 (TBC) per month on a sliding scale, based on the household income and ability to pay. Elsewhere, some private apartment complexes don’t differentiate between social and private tenants in their access to parking. John Fulham is on the management committee for his own apartment development, The Gallery in Donabate, he said. Regular parking spaces aren’t assigned, he said, but anyone who needs parking gets it – whether they are social or private tenants. But that’s because the cost is swallowed in the management fees, said Fulham, who is advocacy manager for the Irish Wheelchair Association, and a four-time Paralympian. For social tenants, those fees are paid by the Approved Housing Body appointed by Fingal County Council to handle their tenancy, he said. In the Dublin City Council area, they won’t cover those fees – which is partly why McKenna was left out. In Donabate, people with mobility issues, who need a space near the building entrance, are provided with that, he said. Fulham doesn’t need that, he said. But as a wheelchair user, he does need a spot with room around it so he can open his door wide enough to get in and out, he said, and he gets that. Residents are accommodated according to needs, he said. “That's just what we do here,” he said. “There could be different rules applied by different people or different management committees, and that's the challenge.” ## **A wider review** In March 2023, John Lahart, the Fianna Fáil TD,[ asked](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2023-03-21/265/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the Dáil, “if a private provider can be compelled to provide disabled parking spaces?” Putting in and enforcing disabled bays in private car parks – such as shopping centres and commercial premises – is the remit of the car park owner, said a response. It came from then-Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, the Fianna Fáil TD. In April 2024, the Department of Transport [published a review](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/publications/review-of-the-disabled-parking-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) it had commissioned of the scheme that governs disabled parking. It was mostly focused on permitting and eligibility. But its release did say that it would be reviewing the law in the area. Lahart said on Monday that access to disabled parking spaces remained an active issue on his agenda. He had spoken recently to his party colleague, the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien about it, he said. “It’s more pertinent than ever because people are relying more and more on private parking,” said Lahart. A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said on Thursday that the department “has no statutory authority to legislate for privately owned car parks”. “The Department of Transport cannot interfere in the affairs of private landowners,” they said. The current Dublin City Development Plan [does say that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28085200-final-vol-2-appendices-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), for new developments, at least five percent of the parking spaces should be accessible, with a minimum of one accessible space. But a Dublin City Council spokesperson said that planning authorities, as it is, can only regulate the provision and design of spaces – not the charges. Clonan, the senator, said he thinks charging somebody to use a disabled parking space is akin to having a wheelchair ramp on a premises, and charging a tenner every time it is used. “Really, I think that's shocking,” he said. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner said the council is still feeling its way in the dark, when it comes to planning for disabled parking. McKenna lives in an apartment, which was bought by the council as social housing under the provision known as Part V. In big developments, a slice of the homes are generally sold for this. The council has to negotiate what the conditions are within those developments, said Horner. “So like, do they have access to the gym and the cinema, or those kinds of things included in the development,” she said. The council generally doesn’t pay for access to those. Social tenants don’t usually have an automatic right to a parking space either, she said. But if somebody has a genuine medical need, they should get one, said Horner, who also chairs the council’s Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee. “So, it's probably one of those things we just haven't thought about, but does need to be incorporated into the contract,” she says. To bring it in-line with on-street parking – which is free for people with blue badges – Horner thinks disability parking should also be free in private car parks. There has to be planning for the future too, said Horner. People may develop a disability over time, or have mobility issues with age, she said. A clear plan should be put in place now, she said, to address any future eventualities. Fulham, of the Irish Wheelchair Association, said that whether it is in private car parks or public streets in the city centre, disabled people remain an afterthought when it comes to parking. “Dublin City Council, they're reluctant to listen,” he says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Dissect Bunreacht na hÉireann, observe an Imaginationist, celebrate the Tolka River, buy a ticket for Capitalism URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-dissect-bunreacht-na-heireann-observe-an-imaginationist-celebrate-the-tolka-river-buy-a-ticket-for-capitalism/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T05:27:08.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **The Peace Process** Last Thursday, the Irish-Swedish electronic trio The Sei released a brand new EP titled *We Must Be Still Alive?* If you haven’t heard it yet, head on over to their website [here](https://thesei.ie/music?ref=dublininquirer.com) to give it a spin. And if that resonates with you, it may be worthwhile venturing down to Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar where their adjacent project, The Flora Fauna Project – composed of choreographer Maria Nilsson Waller and artist Stace Gill – is staging an ambitious multimedia performance called *The Peace Process*. This durational performance fuses dance, music, film and installation “to create a meditative ecosystem exploring cycles of evolution, conflict and harmony”. Directed by Nilsson Waller and Gill, and featuring an ensemble of dancers and designers, *The Peace Process* is described as a 10-chapter score that functions as a continuous loop or spiral which invites the audience to move freely through a unique, complex landscape. In short, you’re going to fulfil that lifelong dream of “becoming reflective participants in a shared ritual for our times”. *The Peace Process* began last night, and will run until 2 May. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/the-peace-process/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Imaginationism: An Exhibition by Valerie Gannon** This Bank Holiday Monday marks the start of this year’s annual Culture Date with D8 festival. To kick off the proceedings, over on Meath Street, *All You Need Is Death* director Paul Duane will be curating an exhibition of paintings by local artist Valerie Gannon. Gannon moved to Pimlico with her family around 40 years ago, and after studying in Trinity College Dublin, worked at St Patrick’s Mental Health Hospital for many years, all the while painting canvas after canvas, some of which she created in a small bedroom studio, and others while travelling. The paintings, which are bold, text-driven, richly coloured and visually striking, were rarely made for sale. Many of them she donated to charity shops. They reference world events, local Liberties landmarks, political imagery, opera, music and personal fears. Often, she painted subjects that preoccupied or troubled her, transforming them into dense, layered compositions of colour and commentary. Throughout much of her life, Gannon confronted challenges concerning her mental health. She has rarely exhibited, although in the late 2000s, her art was shown in former rugby player, pundit and “outsider” art collector Brent Pope’s Dublin gallery. Instead of showing in formal exhibition spaces, her works lived in everyday spaces, like Jack Roche’s fruit and veg shop, Noel Fleming’s newsagent on Meath Street, and the Oxfam on Francis Street, where she regularly donated paintings. Many of her works were quietly collected and preserved by Fleming, and on Monday evening, a selection of them will be shown as part of the exhibition titled *Imaginationisms*, which is the term Gannon uses to refer to her practice. *Imaginationisms* will open at 6pm at the former Books At One shop at 46/47 Meath Street. Brent Pope will be appearing as a guest speaker at the launch, and the exhibition will run until 10 May. **Capitalism: The Musical** This Monday, musician, writer and theatre maker Deirdre Murphy will be bringing her production of *Capitalism: The Musical* to the Teacher’s Club on Parnell Square. Part of the Wilde Stages Queer Theatre Festival, the musical offers a powerful, funny and catchy perspective on our economic system and the culture it creates. Interrogating the cultural moment we are currently experiencing, *Capitalism* touches on issues like homelessness, income precarity, the military industrial complex, corruption, the use of violence, whistleblowing, heroism and love. “It invites the weird and the surreal, and shines light on the power of women's wisdom through the ages,” writes Murphy, and tells a story which investigates class struggle, fascism, and freedom through archetype, myth, and music. Previously staged at the 2025 edition of Electric Picnic and as part of Culture Night, this latest run will start on Monday 4 May and continue until 9 May. Tickets are available [here](https://gaytheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873685123/events/129674246?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) **Off The Scéal** If you’ve been writing or expressing yourself in Irish or any other language recently, and have been keen to give these thoughts an airing with a receptive audience, then the Irish Writers Centre might be the place to be next week. On Tuesday evening, the centre up on Parnell Square will be hosting a multi-lingual open mic night. Off The Scéal is co-curated by poet, artist and spoken word performer Daniel Flynn, and broadcaster, writer and Gaeilgeoir Ola Majekodunmi, and was conceived as a space to facilitate multilingual and multicultural artists, poets, musicians, storytellers and comedians. For this installation of the open-mic night, there will also be special guest performances from the group IMLÉ and the singer Justine Nantale. The night will kick off at 6:30pm. Admission is free. Now you have a deadline to edit, sharpen, punch up, or actually write whatever piece of work you want to put out into the world. For more information, follow Majekodunmi and Flynn over on their Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/off%5Fthe%5Fsceal/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **State, In Relation** Between March 2024 and May 2025, writers and artists Clare Bell, Oein DeBhairduin, Sonya Gildea, Nithy Kasa, Nathan O’Donnell, Annemarie Ní Churreáin and Susan Tomaselli joined up to create a publication that took as its core subject the Constitution of Ireland. Each of them examined and responded to it as a historical document and as a present-day living text that sets out the legal relationship between the citizen and the state. The result of their workshops is *State, in Relation*, a self-published book, which offers “constructive reinterpretations” of the constitution. Through poetry, essays, fiction, visual writing and explorative non-fiction, the seven writers sought to subvert, reclaim, reinvent, and challenge our historical understanding of matters like community, family, religion, gender and bias. Its cover echoes Bunreacht na hÉireann’s design and typeface (which upon reflection bears a striking resemblance to every book published by Fitzcarraldo Editions), but makes slight alterations to comment on marginalised communities, like swapping out the harp on the actual constitution for one that was taken from a photocopy of Report of the Commission on Itinerancy, published in 1963. *State, in Relation* was originally released as part of the Dublin Art Book Fair 2025 back in December. But, on Tuesday at 6pm, its creators and collaborators will be in Books Upstairs to talk about, and read from the collection. Attendance is free but booking is essential. You can reserve a space [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/state-in-relation-readings-conversation/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Tolka, This is Your River** On Wednesday 6 May, Dublin City Finglas Library will be holding a screening of the documentary *The Tolka, This is Your River*. Directed by former Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, the documentary follows up the 2024 Dodder Action group-commissioned film *The Dodder, This is Your River*. Gormley’s documentary focuses on the work of the Tolka River Environmental Alliance – made up of activists from the Blanchardstown area – and looks at their efforts to stock the river with brown trout. It also delves into local history, biodiversity, the effects of climate change, flood risks and the impacts that farming has on water quality. The documentary will be shown at 6:30pm, and will be followed by a panel discussion with Gormley, Toby O’Mahony-Adams of the Treasure the Tolka volunteer group, and former Lord Mayor and Green Party councillor Caroline Conroy. There are still a few seats, but you may want to act fast. Admission is free, and you can book a spot [here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=25218360&ref=dublininquirer.com). ADVERTISEMENT [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/SIGN_GIF_DUB_INQ-2.GIF)](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ****SIGNS present:** ****Elikya** (Congolese 9-piece rumba/soukous) ****Cormorant Tree Oh** (experimental folk, drone, psych) ****Farah Elle** (alternative singer-songwriter) ****David DeBarra** (experimental folk 3-piece) \+ Telephones DJs, Pablo Santo, Kixx, Little O & more West African food by [Ibile](https://www.instagram.com/ibile%5Frestaurant/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com), 8–11pm. 3 May at The Sugar Club, Dublin 2 [Tickets ](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **The Tenters Story Exhibition** On Thursday 7 May, the Aloft Hotel on Mill Street will be hosting *The Tenters Story* as part of the Culture Date with D8 Festival. The exhibition features material related to the layers of history associated with The Tenters area and will look at the origins of the community, the Fairbrother’s Fields Housing Scheme, the local shops that served the community and how the “Emergency Years” of World War Two affected the neighbourhood. The exhibition, which is organised by The Tenters Celebrated Heritage Group, will be open to attend at the Liberties Suite at the Aloft Hotel from 2 to 4:30pm. **Dublin’s first energy advice clinic** On 7 May, Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre will be hosting a coffee morning to mark the launch of Raytown Energy Dock, Dublin’s first energy advice clinic. Established by energy agency Codema, the clinic will be open to the public every Thursday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm, and will offer a range of free services, including: tips on reducing energy use, advice on lowering energy bills and switching suppliers, information on grants for home energy upgrades, and access to a free Home Energy Saving Kit. The coffee morning will run from 10am to 1pm next Thursday. For more information, visit the Raytown Energy Dock page [here](https://www.codema.ie/our-work/raytown-energy-dock/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Wired: a neuro-friendly club night** A new neuro-friendly club night will be launching in Project Arts Centre in May. Created by a collective of DJs, designers and facilitators, Wired is a series of three unique club nights, which intend to bring a new accessible space to the city’s nightlife map. If you’ve ever wanted to go clubbing but get over-stimulated and need to have a quiet sit down and listen to Enya, then Wired may be the spot for you. The first night will kick off at 8pm on Thursday, 21 May. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/wired/?utm%5Fsource=Project+Arts+Centre+Mailing+List&utm%5Fcampaign=9f61a2840d-Open%5FDay%5F2025%5FCOPY%5F02&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F-9245fe3fe9-336849081&ct=t%28Open%5FDay%5F2025%5FCOPY%5F02%29&mc%5Fcid=9f61a2840d&mc%5Feid=2242a6bb14). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Waterways Ireland cools on plan for sauna at Grand Canal Basin graving docks, considers working dry docks instead URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/waterways-ireland-cools-on-plan-for-sauna-at-grand-canal-basin-graving-docks-considers-working-dry-docks-instead/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T05:27:18.000Z The front bar of the Marker Hotel was packed with people, chatting lively over drinks while icy gusts blew through Grand Canal Square outside on a Wednesday evening in mid-April. Nearby, in the reception, somebody had put up a small sign, telling members of the Grand Canal Residents Association that their annual general meeting would take place in the hotel’s vast conference room. Rows and rows of chairs were set out on a grey and black carpet that resembled cobblestones. A pair of women sat at a desk inside the door, taking the names of attendees, and passing out raffle tickets. Up at the front of the long white-walled room, some lanyards bearing the names of local representatives were resting on the yellow cushioned chairs. As 7.30pm came around, the association’s chairperson, Michael Ingle, took to the small black stage, standing between a lectern and a huge screen, onto which he had some slides projected. They had some “hot issues” to discuss, including the long-discussed future of the graving docks, Ingle said, once the meeting was underway. The docks sit on a tiny spit of land at the eastern end of Grand Canal Basin, between new Dublin and old Dublin, in a way. Between the shiny apartments and offices of the Silicon Docks, and – just over the Dodder – the long-established residential areas of Ringsend. While previously, the old docks had served as the final resting place for the *Naomh Éanna*, 18 months ago they were being considered as the site for a recreational hub with saunas and coffee trucks, he said. But the most important thing was keeping it in public ownership, Ingle said. “And keeping it available for people to experience and enjoy.” During his most recent engagement with Waterways Ireland, the state body that is in charge of the docks, he was informed that this would be the case, he said. More importantly, Waterways Ireland is now looking at restoring the graving docks to their original function as a facility for repairing boats, he said. “It’s probably a good thing, and I know the lads at Ringsend District and Historical Society will be very happy to hear that.” A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland, when asked about this plan, said they continue to collaborate with local stakeholders regarding proposals at Grand Canal Dock, “including the feasibility of restoring a graving dock for boat repair”. ## Forty storeys and capsized boats The Thursday morning after the residents association meeting, the graving docks remained in their usual state. They were cordoned off by steel fences and brick walls covered in graffiti tags with rusting barbed wire on top. While the northern and middle docks were still filled with water, the southern one was filled in with gravel. Its gates were open for people to browse about. A boy booted a football with two young men, and one of the Viking Splash Tour’s amphibious trucks rolled down a ramp into the Grand Canal Basin and glided through the murky waters towards the square. Opened in the 18th century, the graving docks are part of Ringsend’s Georgian maritime heritage, says Rachel Lopez of the Ringsend and District Historical Society. “They remain a living element of Ringsend and Dublin’s identity. They’re so integral to our history.” As such, in their engagements with Waterways Ireland, their recommendations for the docks’ future were coming from their position as preservationists, she says. “The best possible outcome, the best possible scenario, would be to return them to their former glory. Into a working condition.” But, while the District Historical Society was keen to preserve the docks as a site that honoured the area’s heritage, others had more elaborate proposals in mind. In September 2019, developer Harry Cosbie unveiled his idea for a 40-storey commercial tower on the site, known as “Block 19”. Crosbie’s idea, [he told the *Sunday Independent*](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/watch-a-fairy-fort-and-floating-playground-property-developer-harry-crosbie-reveals-his-plan-for-dublins-grand-canal-dock/38521270.html?ref=dublininquirer.com), was to turn one of the three docks into a heated pool and another, which at the time held the *Naom Éanna* ferry, into a cafe bar. The *Naomh Éanna* resided in the middle dock between [2014 and 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/salvaging-a-piece-of-ringsends-marine-history/). But, after the rusting vessel capsized in the summer of 2023, it was dismantled, with its stern relocated to the Ringsend Irishtown Community Centre to be restored and kept there on display. Once the ferry was gone, in October 2024, David Smith, co-founder of advertising company Micromedia and yoga studio The Space Between, brought to the Grand Canal Residents Association a proposal for a temporary use of the graving docks. Smith envisaged a “contemporary community wellness, recreation and cultural initiative” that would feature outdoor saunas, recreation areas, a yoga studio and event space, as well as a studio for an artist-in-residence, according to his proposal document. The whole project that he suggested would be rolled out on a phased basis between late 2024 and early 2026, [the document said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081329-graving-docs-proposal/?ref=dublininquirer.com)**.** When Smith brought the idea to the residents association, the “potentiality of a sauna situation” appealed to chairperson Michael Ingle, Ingle told the AGM on 15 April. “I kinda hitched my wagon to him, because my big thing is that it should stay in public ownership.” Being somewhere tranquil in the midst of a busy space, it should become something like a park, he said. “It should be open to everybody.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Michael-Ingle-at-Grand-Canal-Residents-Association-AGM-source-Michael-Lanigan.jpg) Michael Ingle at Grand Canal Residents Association AGM. Photo by Michael Lanigan. ## Renaissance Waterways Ireland had put the future of the graving docks on the long finger, Ingle said at the AGM. “We’ve been pushing them, pushing them. We’ve been having meetings. We kinda created a steering group.” During his most recent engagement with Waterways, they informed him that Smith’s proposed hub wasn’t going ahead, he said. “They put the brakes on.” Instead of adding those interim facilities in the short term, they would be devoting that time to replacing the [sea lock gates](https://www.waterwaysireland.org/news/sea-lock-gate-replacement-project-at-grand-canal-dock?ref=dublininquirer.com) next to the graving docks, he said. The Thursday after the AGM, the sea locks next to the graving docks were entirely fenced off. Locals were unable to cross over the lock bridge to enter Ringsend. The Camden Lock Pedestrian Crossing was closed for works from January 2026 to May 2026, read an orange sign fixed to green fences, which were held down by long concrete blocks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Camden-Lock-closed-source-Michael-Lanigan.jpg) Photo by Michael Lanigan. The three sea locks, which connect the canal to the Liffey, are being restored, a notice nearby said. This is intended to re-open the Grand Canal Dock to tall ships and other large sea-faring crafts, it said, “while maintaining, preserving and protecting a unique heritage asset”. Below one of these notices promising to bring about a new "renaissance", somebody had tagged one of the concrete blocks with the words “load of bollox” in black spray paint. The area around the graving dockswill be a working site for the next 18 months, Ingle told the AGM. But, the graving docks themselves will remain in public ownership, nor will they be built over, he said. Instead, the dry dock will become a functional space for repairing boats, Ingle said. “So the people who are on the liveaboards over there, on the barges, are gonna be able to have a place to go and do their repairs on their boats that they need to do.” A spokesperson for the Grand Canal Dock Marina Residents Working Group, when asked for comment, [provided a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28080454-grand-canal-graving-dock-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that says barges require drydocking every two to three years to clean and paint their hulls, to check for rust and to change the anodes which protect underwater metals from corrosion. The nearest dry docks for Dublin-region barges are in Athy and Mullingar – which are about five days away by barge – and Shannon Harbour in Offaly, a seven-day journey, the report says. There are approximately 35 barges in the Grand Canal Dock, and 165 more throughout the Dublin-Kildare area, it says. “When a barge goes into dry dock, it takes five to seven days to complete maintenance.” A functional graving dock would create a vibrant hub of activity, it says. “It would also be a logical solution to a huge problem that over 200 boaters face every three years.” ### Do Gardaí have the power to inspect ICE deportation flights that stop in Shannon? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/do-gardai-have-the-power-to-inspect-ice-deportation-flights-that-stop-in-shannon/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T11:06:40.000Z On 16 April, Mélina Sharp got wind that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation flight from the United States sat in Shannon Airport to refuel. She called Ennis Garda station, said Sharp, recently. “I asked, ‘Are you guys going to search it? It’s likely that there are people on it shackled.’” The officer got “defensive”, she said. He kept asking her how she could possibly know that there was an ICE flight on the runway, said Sharp. Sharp told him, she said, that there are groups like [ShannonWatch](https://www.shannonwatch.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and ICE flight trackers posting updates, and activists let each other know. The officer sounded sceptical, like what she was saying was far-fetched, Sharp said. “You know, as if it were a miracle of science,” she said, laughing. The cop finally put her on hold and forwarded the call to another department. A phone started ringing, and to her surprise, she said, someone did pick up. She repeated her request. This time, the officer asked for her address, Sharp said. “And at that point, I asked, ‘Well, who am I speaking to?’” She also asked for a PULSE number of her police report. The officer's tone shifted after that, Sharp said. He didn’t bring up anything about her address, again, she said. But “he was hardly interested”, said Sharp. He gave Sharp a PULSE number, she said, reading it out. Sharp is not alone in reporting stopovers. John Lannon, CEO of migrants' rights non-profit Doras, has called the guards twice about ICE flights in Shannon, he said. Once in February and again on the same day Sharp called them. He has PULSE numbers, too. In a [recent joint letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28074272-tg-eur-29-2026-7466-ireland-tg-us-ice-removal-flights/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Minister for Transport, Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien TD, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee TD, Amnesty International and [Human Rights First](https://humanrightsfirst.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) pointed to ICE planes that had stopped in Shannon Airport “during at least five separate removal operations”. “These included flights involving forced third country transfers of individuals to countries, such as South Sudan and Eswatini, where they have no ties to and where they have faced arbitrary and prolonged detention and other abuse,” the letter said. Among other things, their letter asked whether the Irish government is taking steps “to assess whether any individual on board faces a real risk of serious harm if transferred, or to detect any other breaches”. That’s what Sharp and Lannon were trying to get the government to do. So, do the guards have the power to step in? While it might be much harder to search the plane as part of a criminal probe, they have the right to enter an aircraft to see what’s going on for safety and security reasons, said Dermot Walsh, an expert on Garda powers and procedures, and author of the book [*Walsh on Criminal Procedure*](https://www.roundhall.ie/en-IE/product/walsh-on-criminal-procedure-3rd-edition-the-brehon-library-print-and-proview-ebook-bundle-/?sr=1&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána referred queries asking about citizens’ reports and whether it has the power to look into them to the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it doesn’t comment on Gardaí’s operations and referred questions to the Department of Transport. Spokespeople for the Department of Transport and the Department of Foreign Affairs did not respond to queries sent last week. ## ICE-capades in Shannon That ICE has arrested or deported people who held green cards or other regular immigration statuses in the United States – sometimes for things like [rebuking](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1pl1eldno?ref=dublininquirer.com) mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza – is well-documented. Between October 2025 and this April, [29 people have already died](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/17/nx-s1-5789092/deaths-of-migrants-in-ice-custody-hit-record-high-under-trump?ref=dublininquirer.com) in its custody, according to *NPR*. “Surpassing 2004's toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data.” On 16 April, the same day Sharp called the guards about one of its deportation flights in Shannon, ICE [announced ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28074630-ice-criminal-illegal-alien-detainee-from-cuba-passes-away-in-miami-ice/?ref=dublininquirer.com)the death of Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt in one of its detention centres in Miami, Florida, “pending immigration removal proceedings”. He was a 27-year-old immigrant from Cuba. “Carbonell-Betancourt died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of death remains under investigation,” said a [press release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28074630-ice-criminal-illegal-alien-detainee-from-cuba-passes-away-in-miami-ice/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its website. It calls him a “criminal”, but the news release only seems to allege that he’d been violent when approached for arrest, and doesn’t offer any details beyond that. Less than 30 percent of the people ICE has arrested during its major operations in 2025 had been convicted of a crime,the *New York Times* [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/04/us/ice-arrests-criminal-records-data.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) last year. And a “very small share” of those have been convicted of violent crimes, its analysis [of data](https://deportationdata.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) obtained through a lawsuit and made public by the Deportation Data Project revealed. The joint letter from Amnesty International and [Human Rights First](https://humanrightsfirst.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said that in January of this year, ICE had deported eight Palestinian men [to the West Bank](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/05/revealed-private-jet-owned-by-trump-friend-used-by-ice-to-deport-palestinians-to-west-bank?ref=dublininquirer.com), dropping them off at a military checkpoint. Its flight had made stops in Shannon and Sofia in Bulgaria. The plane touched down on Irish soil on the way back, once again, it said. “The eight Palestinian men on board were shackled for the entire journey by their wrists and ankles,” it said, citing the *Guardian*. Then again, in February, “aircraft N588AT took a second group of Palestinians from the United States to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, Israel”, it said. No one knows how many, according to the letter. Sharp said she was troubled by reports like that. She also became upset, she said, after hearing a story about how an airport maintenance worker had told someone about peering into one of those planes as it sat on the runway and seeing passengers lying on the ground “and other people walking across them”. She’s not sure if it’s true, but that’s why she wants the guards to investigate. “So you know, when we call Ennis Garda Station, and they just want to get rid of us. This is the reason we’re calling,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Words-at-the-hallway-of-the-Four-Courts.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Words at the hallway of the Four Courts. Photo Shamim Malekmian. ## When there is a will Walsh, the expert on Garda powers and procedures, said what the guards can do in response to citizens’ requests to check ICE deportation flights depends on circumstances. To kick off a criminal investigation, Gardaí should have “reasonable grounds” to suspect that a deportation involved an “arrestable offence”, he said. Just the fact that an aircraft is – or someone believes that it is – being used to deport people wouldn’t be enough, Walsh said. And they need to make a solid case before a District Court judge, who has the power to greenlight a search and issue a warrant, he said. Cian Ó Concubhair, assistant professor of criminal justice at Maynooth University, said there are exceptions, too. Like, “if they believe the perpetrator might escape”. But generally, the cops should have a good reason to believe that the deportation involves crimes like kidnapping, torture and sex trafficking and seek out a search warrant to probe it, said Walsh, the Garda powers academic. Ó Concubhair said similar. Like if the way someone is being detained on the plane, even if lawfully, is cruel to the point that it violates Irish law, he said, “that would amount to torture potentially and assault”. James Mehigan, barrister and criminologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, said it’s plausible that Irish law has been breached on a deportation flight. “But getting the evidence together sufficient to investigate and charge is not easy,” he said. There are other ways for an officer to step onto the plane to have a look, though, said Walsh. “A member of the Garda has powers to enter and inspect an aircraft.” That would normally involve checking whether its security and safety measures are up to code, based on standards set by the Department of Transport, if they exist, but probably “not wholly confined to that”, he said. And it’s not just guards who can enter the plane, Walsh said. “Authorised officers of the Commission for Aviation Regulation and the Irish Aviation Authority also have sweeping powers of entry, inspection and information gathering,” he said. Ó Concubhair said private airport police can also exercise duties similar to those of regular cops. It’s worth pointing out, said Walsh the Garda powers expert, that all the civilian flights coming into Ireland from outside of the EU have to hand over a passenger sheet in advance to the Irish Passenger Information Unit – overseen by the Department of Justice. “Arguably, this is a source that can alert the authorities to an issue as to the status of a passenger or passengers on the flight,” he said. Buta spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it only collects advance passenger information “for border control purposes in relation to passengers who have booked seats on commercial flights”. And any landing at Irish airports by private and commercial charters that are just “technical stops” and don’t involve dropping off or picking up passengers “do not require prior authorisation from the Department of Transport”. Meanwhile, Patricia Stephenson, a Social Democrats senator and its spokesperson on foreign affairs, said the government should not help the US endanger people’s lives by sending them to places of peril. “People have been deported to the West Bank,” she said. ### LDA details revised plans for nearly 2,000 homes near Clongriffin Dart station URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/lda-details-revised-plans-for-nearly-2-000-homes-near-clongriffin-dart-station/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T05:27:46.000Z As the Dart approached Clongriffin station at 8.20am on Tuesday, a crowd of some 30 people hurried to catch their train. Most marched up the ramped steps on the west side from the Clongriffin area. Only one woman and two kids came from the east side, climbing up the rusting steel tower that gave residents in Myrtle, the Coast and Baldoyle areas access to the platforms. The tower was only supposed to be a temporary connection for people living to the east of the tracks since the station [opened in 2010](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-baldoyle-residents-have-been-waiting-13-years-for-permanent-and-universal-access-to-their-local-dart-station/), But in the many years that followed, those residents time and again complained as its condition deteriorated, vandals damaged it, and its lift consistently malfunctioned. But the lift was working fine on Tuesday, and it has largely been a success since it was upgraded by the National Transport Authority in December, said Samantha O’Flanagan of Myrtle The Coast Residents Association. “We’ve had very few incidents. Maybe two occasions where we’ve had to phone the contractors who are looking after the lift.” There were no more limits on the hours in which it could be used either, she said. “That was so disruptive.” “So it’s been really fantastic to have full working access to the Dart station,” she said, “and to not have to worry about turning up and finding the lift out of service.” Just inside the tower, the Land Development Agency (LDA) had fixed a print-out of its newsletter from last summerto the cage-like walls. The slightly smudged newsletter told locals that the LDA had acquired 125 acres of land to the east of the station from developer Richmond Homes, including the site on which the tower stands, and they were in the process of redesigning an area called [Stapolin Square](https://lda.ie/projects/stapolin-square?ref=dublininquirer.com). Still just a vast stretch of grass with muddy paths, the Stapolin Square development lands currently have planning permission for 1,931 homes**,** as well as parks and a village centre with shops, cafes, a playground and more. But, on Friday, the LDA published a [document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081347-stapolin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) elaborating on what the regeneration project will entail for the village square and its surrounding apartment blocks. Among those amendments is a proposal to bulk up the village square leading up to the station, with a new sloping route set to replace the old tower. It has also hinted at revised designs for homes in the blocks to the east of Stapolin Square, with 596 homes expected rather than 528 – subject to an amended planning application being put in and approved. Adjacent to Stapolin Square, to the west, the LDA owns another site, where it is developing approximately 2,000 more homes on its [Clongriffin lands](https://lda.ie/projects/clongriffin?ref=dublininquirer.com). **A more Stapolin tomorrow** Re-designing the permanent access to the station is one of the key alterations in the LDA’s document. The previous landowner, The Shoreline Partnership, sought permission from An Bord Pleanála to alter an existing planning permission in June 2021, committing to knock the temporary tower outside the station. An Bord Pleanála approved their application [in September 2021](https://www.pleanala.ie/anbordpleanala/media/abp/cases/reports/310/r310418.pdf?r=279000564360&ref=dublininquirer.com), noting in its conditions that the proposed development would be amended to remove two public lifts within the village square. Instead, Stephen Rhys Thomas, a senior planning inspector said an alternative means of access for all, such as a ramp, should be provided. Now, the LDA is proposing to deliver a gently sloped, landscaped route that links the Longfield Road to Clongriffin to ensure universal access, its document says. This village centre will also feature shop and commercial spaces, a cafe and a playground at the Longfield Road end, with a planned creche set to be expanded from 539 sqm to 733 sqm. There will be a new bus ramp on the eastern side of the tracks to create a road that connects Stapolin to Clongriffin, it says. The LDA is also looking to increase the number of homes, including social homes and affordable cost rental apartments, from 528 to 596, with the widths of apartment blocks being reduced, it says. They have reconfigured layouts and the mix of units “to reflect current housing needs”, it says. Because of those adjustments, the document says, the agency is in a position to up the amount of semi-private amenity space from 5,357 sqm to 6,337 sqm, it says. It would be good if they might consider allocating more storage space in the planned car parking areas for every apartment, said Green Party Councillor David Healy on Monday evening. “For whatever outdoors activities they may have, like if they have golf clubs or a surfboard, goodness knows what to do with it in these modern Irish apartments,” he said. “If the LDA is building apartments for people to live in long-term, then these, which are kinda fundamental amenities of a permanent resident, need to be made available,” he said. “This is, you know, not rocket science. It’s the way apartment living works in other countries.” ## Workstreams and phases Due to the sheer scale of the project, the agency will be carrying out a series of workstreams concurrently, the document says.. The first of these, which it says is slated to commence during the second quarter of 2026 is “workstream two”, and that will entail the delivery of 279 apartments, Haggard Park, a “green link”, pocket parks, cost rental and social apartments, and a new foul pump station. During the summer then, the LDA plans to lodge its large-scale residential development application for “workstream one”, with a planning decision expected in the final quarter of the year, it says. That workstream comprises the village centre, a playground, a creche, the connective bus route, the new ramp up to the Dart station, as well as 596 apartments. The LDA is lining up to start construction work on those projects during 2027, it says. The third workstream concerns legacy issues at the station, like the lift, security and 24 hour access to the tower, all of which are interim measures that have been carried out**,** with further upgrades being implemented until the square itself is delivered, it says. At an unspecified time, listed under “future phases”, the LDA says it will carry out a review to look at more pocket parks, access to Racecourse Park, the creche and retail facilities, as well as more of its planned apartments, it says. They will also look at a potential primary health care centre, it says. The agency is set to put the new document on display at a pair of drop-in clinics in Baldoyle’s Racecourse Community Centre on Wednesday 29 April, and Wednesday 6 May. A spokesperson for the LDA said they also aim to develop a full public stakeholder engagement plan to communicate on their future plans in the coming months. ### Council moves towards changes to Finglas village, with works due to start this summer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-towards-changes-to-finglas-village-with-works-due-to-start-this-summer/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T05:28:04.000Z Unlocking his bike from a fence in front of the Mace on Main Street in Finglas on Tuesday morning, Mateusz Mrozinski said he’d never heard of the council’s planned Finglas Village Improvement Scheme. Sure, there’s lots of plans on the way for Finglas, Mrozinski said. There’s the [extension of the Luas](https://www.luasfinglas.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Broombridge north through Finglas to Charlestown, he said. That scheme got [planning permission](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/321278?ref=dublininquirer.com) last October, and construction is [due](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/df0ce05f/NDP%5FReview%5F2025%5FSectoral%5FInvestment%5FPlan%5Ffor%5FTransport.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to start by 2029. There’s the rezoning of 43 acres at the Jamestown Business Park a few years ago to allow for the construction of thousands of new homes, Mateusz said. Planning applications for housing in that industrial estate have been [filing in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/planning-applications-begin-to-file-in-for-homes-on-industrial-estate-in-finglas/) in recent months. Including [one](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/175118?ref=dublininquirer.com) that went in a couple weeks ago for 715 new apartments and townhouses. But the [Finglas Village Improvement Scheme](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com)? Nope, Mrozinski hadn’t heard about that one. This Dublin City Council plan has been in the works for years. Councillors have heard about it for so long that [at a meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-finglas-councillors-want-answers-on-figures-suggesting-low-council-investment-in-their-area/) of the council’s North West Area Committee on 21 April, when a council manager said works were due to begin this summer, Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan was dubious. “You have no idea how many years we’ve been hearing that,” she told him. But the project seems to be moving forward. The council yesterday [published a tender](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=7963045&ref=dublininquirer.com) seeking contractors to do the works. ## Broad strokes The council’s Finglas Village Improvement Scheme is basically about rejigging the roads and footpaths to make them better for walking and cycling. It’ll involve the segment of Seamus Ennis Road from its junction with North Road east to its junction with Clune Road. As well as Jamestown Road from the five-arm junction in the village south to Main Street. “The area is currently dominated by traffic and generally unfriendly to users of sustainable transport,” according to [a document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28080395-works-requirements-dact-3004-arp-pmg-ps-sp-ta-0001/?ref=dublininquirer.com) included in the tender package. “The scheme seeks to improve the sense of place in the village centre and safety and access for all road users.” The BusConnects rejig of the city’s bus network “will see additional services operating along McKee Avenue and Seamus Ennis Road and passing through the ‘five-arm’ junction which need to be accommodated”, it says. “The cycling facilities along Seamus Ennis Road will also form part of a more strategic orbital cycling route between Finglas and St Anne’s Park,” it says. That’d be the Finglas to Killester scheme, which is [at a very early stage](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-central-area/finglas-killester-active-travel-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) of planning. “The proposals will improve access to and from the proposed new Luas Finglas stop, west of the Village,” it says. The closest new stop is set for a site west of the Finglas Bypass, [in front of the Youth Resource Centre](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28080404-finglas-luas-landscape-drawings/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Mellowes Road. And the changes will help prepare the area for an increase in population as more homes are built on sites in the Jamestown Business Park, the tender document says. ## Details As part of the Finglas Village Improvement Scheme, the council is planning changes for the 135-metre bit of Jamestown Road stretching from where Mrozinski was standing at the Mace north to the five-arm junction. First on the left along this road is the [long-vacant Drake Inn](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-the-drake-inn-in-finglas/), which Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne and Finglas Tidy Towns are petitioning Dublin City Council to take over via a compulsory purchase order. On the right-hand side of the road is Finglas Village Centre, above which a [developer is converting](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/148394?ref=dublininquirer.com) the former office building [Raven House](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-pulls-offers-of-social-homes-in-finglas-development/) into 37 build-to-rent apartments. After the council’s planned changes, this stretch of road would be mostly for people to walk and cycle on, although [there’d still be local access](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com#a38534-38540) by car to and from the businesses there. There’d be a bollard at the north end so cars wouldn't be able to pass north into the five-arm junction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/image-2.png) A detail of one of the [drawings](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081153-drawings-dact-3004-arp-geo-ga-dr-zz-0100/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that was part of the tender package. Turning the five-arm junction into a four-arm junction will make it quicker for everyone to get through in all directions, because there’d be “one less traffic signal phase”, [council documents say](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com#a38534-38546). It’d also mean pedestrians could walk more easily through the junction on the south side of Seamus Ennis Road, because there’d be no need to wait for a break in car traffic. As for the stretch of Seamus Ennis Road between Clune Road and North Road, the plan is to have two lanes for people driving motor vehicles – one going east, one going west – and a footpath on either side of the roadway for people walking. But the new addition would be two lanes – largely segregated from the car lanes by kerbs and planters – for people on bicycles, one running east, one running west, according to [drawings](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081153-drawings-dact-3004-arp-geo-ga-dr-zz-0100/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the tender package. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/A-stretch-of-Seamus-Ennis-Road.-where-the-council-plans-to-add-bicycle-lanes-and-more.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Part of the segment of Seamus Ennis Road. where the council plans to add bicycle lanes and more as part of this project. Photo by Sam Tranum. There are more than 170 off-street car parking spaces in Finglas Village, and 18 car parking spaces will be removed as part of these changes, [according to the council](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com#a38534-38541). What did Mrozinski think of these plans, once he learned about them? “They should have done it years ago,” he said Tuesday, stowing away his bike lock and getting ready to head out. During a public consultation on this proposed scheme, “several submissions” suggested more pedestrianisation, according to a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28081258-finglas-village-improvement-scheme-consultation-report-may-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the results. “Proposals included the pedestrianisation of Main Street and Jamestown Road, creating a central village park, and implementing one-way routes for traffic,” the report said. But this “falls outside the scope of the current project”, it said. ## Funding Although the council has issued a tender for the Finglas Village Improvement Works Scheme, that tender says “this project is subject to funding”. Local TD Paul McAuliffe, of Fianna Fáil, asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, his party colleague James Browne TD, about funding for the project last July in the Dáil. Browne’s [answer](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-07-29/1391/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was that the project was to be co-funded by the council and the National Transport Authority (NTA). For 2026, the NTA [has allocated](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28080440-active-travel-investment-grants-2026-allocations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) €1.5 million for the project. As for the council's contribution, there’s money in its capital programme for the project, but there has been for the past six capital programmes and it still hasn’t been built. But that line about the project being "subject to funding" is only there "because the project is required to undergo a final approval stage when a preferred tenderer has been identified and prior to award of contract, in line with project governance and oversight requirements", a council spokesperson said Wednesday. ### Is a bad definition of "derelict" partly behind the bad dereliction in Dublin? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-a-bad-definition-of-derelict-partly-behind-the-bad-dereliction-in-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T05:28:16.000Z Who, or what, is to blame for the continued crumbling of the two red-brick terraced homes at 19 and 21 Connaught Street in Phibsboro depends on who you ask. Dublin City Council – its current owner – should never have bought them in the first place given the state of the buildings, said Robert Buckle, a senior council engineer, on Tuesday. They’re too rundown and too expensive to do up, said Buckle, at [a meeting](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1083833?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Central Area Committee. Builders have quoted around €1.7 million for both, he said. No, it absolutely should have, said resident Paul McCarthy, later on the phone. It should just have done it sooner, he said, before they were in such a bad way. That it hadn’t though, potentially highlights a short-coming that could also impact the council’s capacity to turn around dereliction in the city in the coming years, even as it looks to set up a “special purpose vehicle” – a new council-owned company – to focus on the job. The definition of dereliction in law is too heavily focused on what a building looks like from the outside, say some councillors and campaigning residents. The two homes on Connaught Street were put on the city’s Derelict Sites Register – an early step towards a compulsory purchase order (CPO) – in 2009\. But the then-owner fixed up how it looked on the outside, so the council removed it from the register in 2012\. It didn’t go back on the register until 2018. “The current focus on visible dereliction means action often comes too late, when buildings have already deteriorated badly,” said McCarthy. “Long-term disuse should be recognised as an early warning sign,” he said. ## **Between two stools?** At a meeting of the council’s planning committee on Wednesday, Darach O'Connor, a council executive manager, said in passing that the council is constrained by the definition in law of what is derelict. [It is](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1990/act/14/enacted/en/print.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) specific. A site is considered derelict if it “detracts, or is likely to detract, to a material degree from the amenity, character or appearance of land in the neighbourhood”. If the home appears “ruinous”, “dangerous”, or “unsightly”, then the council can put it on the register. But if the owner does some work so that it no longer appears derelict from the outside, then the council takes it off the register again – as it did on Connaught Street. “It is very superficial,” says Lorcan Sirr, a housing lecturer at TU Dublin, of the definition of dereliction. Properties can appear maintained from the front, with the facade intact, but be falling down at the back, he says. Legislation should be clarified to ensure that the overall state of the property is taken into account, he said. The Department of Finance is working on a new [Derelict Property Tax, ](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/derelict-property-tax/?ref=dublininquirer.com)which will be implemented by Revenue, he says. “The challenge there is to find a suitable definition of dereliction,” says Sirr. A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said that it is working with Revenue and the Department of Housing “to develop a definition of dereliction under which properties will be considered liable for the new Derelict Property Tax.” A Green Party private members' bill attempts to [extend the definition of ](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2025/24/?ref=dublininquirer.com)dereliction to include all properties that are permanently boarded and not habitable, those that are not adequately maintained and those that have been disconnected from utilities for two years or more. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner says that there needs to be robust debate around the definition of dereliction ahead of the proposed new tax. “Even if you are using a back room for storage,” she says, “you shouldn’t be allowed to leave the building to crumble.” McCarthy, the Phibsboro resident, says legislation should balance the rights of residents and communities with private owners' rights. “If intervention were possible earlier, many buildings could be brought back into use at far lower cost and with less disruption on communities,” he said. At the Central Area Committee meeting, Buckle said that the council has restored around 100 homes under the Buy and Renew Scheme, for long-term vacant and derelict properties. But he also listed other derelict homes that the council has bought that are in a prohibitively bad way. That includes two homes at8 and 10 Ferguson Road in Drumcondra, he said. “The two properties are structurally unsound, and there is no foundation within those properties.” They should probably be demolished and rebuilt, he said. But “the costs for this are astronomically high”. Buckle said the council faces a similar bind in Harold’s Cross. (This probably refers to 144 Harold’s Cross Road, which the council bought in 2018 and demolished, according to a council spokesperson [in October](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/).) McCarthy, the resident in Phibsoro, said there is also another long-term vacant home on Connaught Street that he and neighbours have been watching. They fear that it will slide into dereliction eventually too, he said. “From our perspective, it feels like a case of waiting for visible decay rather than preventing it.” ## **What actually is the approach?** Flick between Dublin City Council committees and it can be hard to follow exactly what the council and council officials are planning, in their push to tackle dereliction. “It's a civic crime to let properties sit there,” said O'Connor, a council executive manager, at the meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday. “In the last couple of months, we have adopted a zero-tolerance approach on dereliction,” he said. But also, the council has paused any CPOs of derelict homes – as raised at the Central Area Committee. [Dublin City Council has paused CPOs of derelict homes – but also promises “zero tolerance” on derelictionThe council promised to start taking legal action against owners of derelict homes who don’t pay the levy going forward.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/size/w1200/2025/10/11-Bass-Place-by-Laoise-Neylon.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/) That pause was not agreed by councillors, said independent Councillor Cieran Perry at that meeting on Tuesday. “I’ve spent years trying to convince the council to progress CPOs as a way to tackle dereliction,” he said. Despite many plans to tackle dereliction, they seem in reality to have stalled, he said. But changes are underway, said O’Connor at the planning committee meeting. “We are ramping up in terms of our inspections, our engagement and tracking down owners,” he said. The council plans to make it possible for locals to report derelict properties in their areas online, he said, and so councillors can see which homes the council is investigating. The council is also, of course, planning to roll out a special purpose vehicle (SPV), a kind of public developer for the city centre, with an unclear overall remit but that is to tackle vacancy and dereliction, [starting with](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) two pilot streets in the north inner-city. The difference between the current council system, and the SPV drive, is that the SPV will be funded, staffed and resourced, said Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell. It has €18 million for the two pilot streets, he says, and is seeking an additional €118 million. The SPV is to have a staff of 12 or 13 people, separate from 10 additional staff being hired by the council in the dereliction unit, says Farrell. Some derelict-property owners need help to bring the buildings back into use, he says. “They mightn’t have the capital, they mightn’t have the time, or the expertise.” Council staff can advise them, particularly on the complexity of doing up protected structures, says Farrell. [The council has a new plan to regenerate the city centre “street by street”“We should be able to try these big things and not be afraid of failure,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell, who has spearheaded the initiative.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/size/w1200/2025/10/North-Frederick-Street.--main-image--1.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) Going forward, the council will use a carrot and stick approach, he said. “We’re here to help, but if you refuse to engage with us or refuse the help we are going to come down on you like a ton of bricks and this is no longer acceptable.” In those cases, the council will pursue CPOs vigorously, and also bring any other relevant enforcement action that it can, he said. Of course, as it stands, any building would have to meet the arguably tight definition of derelict in the current law to be put on the register, and CPO-ed, or the council would have to try to stretch out that definition more than it has in the past. Farrell says he hopes that going forward, the council will deal differently with derelict buildings which it CPOs, but rules too expensive to do up. He hopes that councillors will agree to sell derelict sites withconditions attached that they be renovated, rather than leave them sitting. In the past, the council has stood back from enforcing such conditions. Councillors have agreed a policy by which, before selling any derelict homes, the council must explore if they are suitable for social housing or cost-rental, and offer first dibs on buying them to housing charities. If none of those options suit, it can then offer them for sale to private buyers. The council is going to start trying to sell derelict properties on the open market, said Margaret Mooney, the council official who gave the presentation on dereliction at the Central Area Committee. It will soon list some derelict homes it owns in Chapelizod, she said, and if that works out, it will move on to sell some of the others. The council has owned [seven houses at Mulberry Cottages](https://www.dublininquirer.com/maybe-its-time-for-council-to-sell-its-derelict-cottages-in-chapelizod-councillor-says/), in Chapelizod since 2022\. “It may be easier to move some of these properties rather than redevelop them,” she said. ### Stark rise in number of children under 12 living in children’s homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/stark-rise-in-number-of-children-under-12-living-in-childrens-homes/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T05:39:02.000Z Children as young as three are living in children’s homes in Ireland, amid a shortage of foster families. And the number of young children in residential care is increasing. At Tusla’s most recent count, there were 82 children under 12 years old living in registered children’s homes – up substantially from 56 in 2021. Nine more children were in unregistered residential placements, the youngest of whom was just eight years old, show [figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068909-records-for-release-cu2026-065/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. While the number of young children in residential care has risen, the overall number of kids in care has held roughly steady. At the [end of 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28069417-monthly-service-performance-and-activity-report-dec-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), there were 5,879 children in care, while in [2021](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068911-strategic-plan-for-residential-care-services-for-children-and-young-people-2022-25-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), there were 5,862.[ ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068911-strategic-plan-for-residential-care-services-for-children-and-young-people-2022-25-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “It is a concerning trend that increasing numbers of children under 12 are being accommodated in residential care,” says Wayne Stanley, CEO of Empowering People in Care (EPIC). Experts say children are better off in foster families, where possible. Two recent inspection reports for homes for young children found high turnover of managers, including, in one case, no manager or deputy manager for a time. “There was a lack of experience and competencies amongst the staff team who were responsible for providing safe and effective care and support to each of thefour young children living in the centre,” it says. At another home, which also had high turnover of managers, the staff didn’t consistently follow the policy to manage the children’s behaviour. “Inspectors found that there was an over reliance on the Gardaí to manage one child’s behaviour which in the inspectors’ view was an inappropriate response given the age of the child,” says the report. Tusla, the Department of Children, and the two private operators that run the homes have not yet responded to queries sent earlier this week. A recent [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28052056-oco-children-in-care-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com)by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office sounded the alarm around the suitability of these kinds of placements. “Children can be placed at further risk in private settings due to high staff turnover, which could lead to a lack of proper oversight and inappropriate supports and services,” it said. Proposed solutions put forward by Tara Ćirić, a PhD researcher at Maynooth University, include more investment in foster carers and kinship carers, which are much cheaper than residential care. Providing state-run facilities to improve staff retention, investing in salaries and specialist training for care home staff, and independent regulation of all children’s homes would also help, say Ćirić and Stanley. ## **Risk of high staff turnover** Tusla clocked in its [strategic plan for 2022 to 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068911-strategic-plan-for-residential-care-services-for-children-and-young-people-2022-25-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that “an increasing number of children younger than 12 years are being admitted”. That was when there were 56 kids in that age group in children’s homes. That number has since increased by 62.5 percent. Of the 91 children under 12 in residential care today, 73 are in privately run children's homes, only 13 are accommodated in homes run by Tusla, and 5 are housed by charities. Tusla publishes inspection reports for registered children’s homes run by private companies and charities on its [website](https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/registration-and-inspection-service/inspection-reports/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In an October 2025 [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068968-anns-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a home run by Ann’s Children’s Care Ireland, inspectors found a very high level of managerial staff turnover within the home and the organisation. From the time the centre opened in February 2025, to when it was inspected in July 2025, there were three changes in the named centre manager. At one stage during those months, there was no manager or deputy manager for the home so the agency’s compliance manager and the manager of another centre were supporting the inexperienced staff team, it says. “There was an overall lack of leadership, management and governance arrangements,” it says. No senior manager was overseeing the home because the regional manager had also been off since the centre opened, says the report. “The agency’s director of quality and compliance who took on the role initially in an acting capacity named to the inspectors that they did not possess the experience required of the role,” it says. The staff lacked the competencies and experience to provide safe and effective care and support to each of the four young children living in the centre, it says. Risk management issues at the home were reflected in other homes run by the same company, it says. “Actions relating to risk management had been consistently identified by ACIMS \[Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service\] inspectors since the agency commenced operating children’s residential centres in 2024,” says the report. The report did say that a suitably qualified manager was in post in the home at the time of the inspection. Ann’s Children’s Care Ireland didn’t respond before publication to queries about this sent to two email addresses for human resources sent on Monday evening. Meanwhile, an October 2025 inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28069253-odyssey-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a facility run by [Odyssey Social Care](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-gets-paid-eu270m-to-home-children-in-tuslas-care-and-how-do-they-perform/#6-odyssey-social-care), registered to house four children aged between 7 and 11, found that there was evidence of good use of rewards for positive behaviour. “This was evident to the inspectors who observed the care team responding to the children's needs and interacting with them in a warm and caring manner,” it says. However, there was a very high turnover of managers at the centre, and some staff also lacked experience, it said. “There had been four managers in post in the three months prior to the inspection which resulted in a lack of consistent guidance to the team, many of whom had limited experience in managing challenging behaviours,” says the report. Inspectors found that there was an over reliance on the Gardaí to manage one child’s behaviour, that was an inappropriate response given the age of the child, it says. “In a number of cases a more proactive approach or earlier interventions outlined in policies and behaviour support plans may have led to a de-escalation of behaviours,” says the report. Odyssey Social Care has not yet responded to queries about this inspection report, sent Tuesday evening. There was no agreement between the centre manager and the social worker as to whether physical restraint should be used on one child, says the report. “When behaviours of concern emerged, the centre management had been proactive in making efforts to arrange strategy meetings with all social workers to discuss the collective risks and group dynamics,” says the report, “but this had not always been successful due to the unavailability of some social work departments.” Tusla has not yet responded to queries about whether young children living in residential settings should be prioritised for access to a social worker. ## **Foster care and kinship care** “We know that secure and loving foster care homes provide positive outcomes for children in care,” says Stanley of EPIC. They are the best solution if the child cannot remain living with their own family, he says. “Where there are complex needs, the optimal solution is specialised foster placements, with sufficient supports and respite in place to prevent placement breakdowns,” he says. If the children cannot be accommodated in foster families, or if the placement breaks down, they should be accommodated in care homes that are run by Tusla and inspected by HIQA, he says. If a residential placement is needed for a child under 12 it should be under constant review with a view to returning that child to living in a family setting, he says. Another positive solution is more investment in kinship care for children, says Tara Ćirić, a PhD researcher at Maynooth University, referring to an arrangement when a child or young person is cared for by a relative or family friend. To encourage more of these arrangements, the Irish government should work with kinship carers and advocacy groups to develop a rights-based policy framework for kinship care, she says. Affording these children “access to the same supports and protection as those in foster care”, could help reduce the strain on other types of placements and is in the best interest of the child, she says. ## **Specialist residential care** Ćirić, the PhD researcher, who previously worked as an educator in children's homes in Canada, says that in that country, there are therapeutic care settings for traumatised children under 12\. Staff have specialist qualifications, she says. They might hold a master’s degree in a relevant discipline like psychology, and be trained to use trauma-informed methods to assist young children to learn to process emotions. “Children in those residential care systems would be children who experienced a massive amount of trauma,” she says, “and they need additional help.” Ćirić says that as far as she is aware, there are no specialist settings in Ireland for young children with serious trauma. “I don’t think we have a system that can respond in that way,” she says. “Calling the Gardaí is not a trauma-informed response.” There used to be high-support homes in Ireland that accepted young children, according to a [HIQA report from 2007](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28069393-report-12-and-under-inspection/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which says that there were five children under 12 in those homes, as well as one in secure care. ## **Reversing privatisation** Ćirić says that to reduce the high staff turnover seen in so many care homes, the state needs to invest in publicly run homes that pay social-care workers a rate that reflects the “significant physical, emotional and legal implications of their work”. “All of the international and national evidence shows that privatisation leads to worse outcomes for children in care, including putting them in significant risk of harm,” she says. The [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28052056-oco-children-in-care-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office also called on the Irish state to increase investment in publicly run residential care and to reduce the reliance on private providers. That is Tusla’s intention according to its last [strategic plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068911-strategic-plan-for-residential-care-services-for-children-and-young-people-2022-25-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), but the proportion of homes run by private companies grew instead throughout the duration of that plan. Tusla figures from September last year indicated that around 77 per cent of all children’s homes were privately-run. The Department of Children didn’t respond in time for publication to a query as to why the state doesn’t run more children’s homes directly, especially for young children, and whether providing homes through the public system would assist with staff retention. The government should also consider a method to cap the profits that companies can make in this sector in line with proposals in the UK, said the Ombudsman in his report. A recent government [report](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/1233/report.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the UK found that the cost of private children’s homes is unsustainable, having doubled in the last five years, with the largest companies making an average profit margin of 22.6 percent. ## **Better regulation?** Stanley and Ćirić both called on the state to find solutions for under 12s that don’t include unregulated placements. As well as that, the government should mandate HIQA to inspect all children’s homes, says Stanley, to ensure standards are the same in all homes. HIQA currently has responsibility for inspecting Tusla-run children’s homes and homes for children with disabilities. Tusla inspects privately run and charity-run children’s homes itself. “The transfer of the registration and inspection of all children’s residential centres to HIQA has been recommended by The Ombudsman for Children's Office and was a Government Commitment from the Ryan Report Recommendations,” says Stanley. But it has never happened, he said. A spokesperson for the Department of Children previously said that: “A robust regulatory framework exists for residential care services for children.” ### Council talks of more contractors for social housing maintenance – but should it hire more staff? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-talks-of-more-contractors-for-social-housing-maintenance-but-should-it-hire-more-staff/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T05:39:17.000Z At a meeting of the South Central Area Committee a few days ago, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan leafed through [an update](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062206-south-central-area-housing-maintenance/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on planned maintenance in social housing. He turned to the page on “key issues” that face Dublin City Council – the city’s biggest landlord – as it tries to move towards speedier and planned, rather than reactive, maintenance of its homes. The council has “significant procurement requirements”, the slides said, and “need to establish large number of framework agreements and panels to support the work of the \[planned maintenance department\]”. In other words, to build up its pool of contractors to which it can assign maintenance work. Doolan asked a bit more about that and challenges ramping up. “Is the challenge that it is not attractive enough financially for companies?” “Is the challenge that there is a glut of work in the private market, and that the city council’s contracts aren’t attractive enough?” he said. Robert Buckle, a senior council engineer, said that they already have three main frameworks for housing maintenance. One covers “voids” (refurbishing vacant social homes, between tenancies), another for minor works is for reactive maintenance, and a third relates to mechanical ventilation. But officials would like to grow those, he said. “There is a desire in our department or within housing as a whole to widen and increase the number of frameworks that we have,” he said – to extend what they cover, and how long they last. There are issues with resourcing though, he said, within contracted companies. But, he said, there are also issues with resourcing of the council’s in-house teams. Buckle has been doing the rounds of the area committees, updating councillors on what planned maintenance – rather than reactive as has been the norm in recent times – is scheduled for this year across the city’s social housing complexes. Works [such as](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28067977-south-east-area-planning-maintenance/?ref=dublininquirer.com) door upgrades in Mercer House, water pump [upgrades at](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062206-south-central-area-housing-maintenance/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Bernard Curtis House and so on, [across](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28067976-north-central-area-housing-area-committee-meetings-april-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062205-housing-maintenance-report-for-central-area/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [city](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28067975-north-west-area-planned-maintenance/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Several councillors for different areas sought to dig a bit more into, among many other questions, who would be carrying out the works – what is and should be outsourced, and what in-house, and what the direction of travel should be. Anecdotally, reliance on contractors does seem to lead to issues with the quality of maintenance work, said Conor Reddy, a People Before Profit councillor, earlier this week. He deals with about 20 requests for help with housing maintenance each week, he said, on the phone on Tuesday. Tenants will tell Reddy that a contractor came in, but the job was only half done, and they then have to wait for a council worker to come out and finish it off, he said. Meanwhile, Niall Shanahan, a spokesperson for Fórsa, said his union would have serious concerns in the event that the additional planned maintenance works are outsourced. “Strong protections against outsourcing are part of the current public service pay agreement (2024-2026), consistent with other public sector pay agreements dating back to 2010,” he said. “All public service bodies are required to engage with unions and representative associations in the development of any service delivery plan and must consult prior to the outsourcing of any service,” said Shanahan. “The current agreement (which expires at the end of June, after which a successor agreement will need to be negotiated) reaffirms the employer’s commitment to the use of direct labour ‘where consistent with efficient and effective public service delivery’,” he said. Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to queries sent on Monday asking how many direct-labour staff the council has to carry out maintenance at the moment, and their roles. It didn’t respond to a query asking why it is looking to establish more framework agreements, rather than hire more staff as direct labour. ## **Who is doing the work?** Protests by tenants – and Dublin City Council’s move last November to increase their rents – has put renewed focus on the quality of maintenance, and poor conditions, in social homes. It’s hard to find research comparing the quality and satisfaction with in-house maintenance of social homes at local authorities, versus contracted maintenance, for different works in Ireland. Spokespeople for the Housing Agency, and for the Department of Housing, said that they had never commissioned any. But greater use of in-house labour is something that councillors have asked for, said Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor. Rita Fagan, community development worker and housing activist, said she would much prefer that the council swing further towards in-house maintenance staff. She remembers a time when she would ring in and log an issue and somebody would be out within a couple of days from the council to assess the work, she said. Nowadays, though, responses are so much slower. Somebody in her block put in a complaint about a broken window four years ago, which is yet to be fixed, she said. “They have a piece of wood on the window.” Meanwhile, she has reported, three times, how the public landing lights in her block are on 24 hours a day. “There’s no need for them to be on 24 hours a day.” Electricians probably just have to come out and adjust the timer, she said. With bigger in-house teams, with more electricians, plumbers, carpenters, those kinds of jobs can get done faster then and there, she said. “Build up their teams there. Build up the depots that are left.” At a meeting of the North West Area Committee on Tuesday, Reddy asked how the council decides whether to use contractors or direct labour on a job. Both have different advantages, said Buckle. “There’s various pros and cons to both.” Direct labour is good for smaller senior citizens complexes, he said, if they’re doing up three homes within the same blocks, for example, and they don’t have to get a skip and can just use a council wagon. His team generally leaves it to the area maintenance officers to decide which to use, whether contractors or direct labour, he said. A spokesperson for Clúid Housing – the only approved housing body with an in-house team for maintenance works in its social homes – said it uses its own staff for day-to-day repairs, turnaround of vacant homes or voids, and specialist trade support. In-house, it has 48 operators who manage four jobs each a day, they said. It also uses contractors when it needs “specific skills or in geographic areas where it is more economical and effective”, they said. About 60 percent of its maintenance is done by staff, and 40 percent by contractors, they said. ## **A snapshot** Buckle’s presentations to council area committees in recent weeks have given a snapshot of who is doing the work to renovate “voids” – vacant social homes – right now, across the city. There are 866 voids on the programme across the areas, show his figures. Of those where works are currently underway, 243 are being done up by contractors and 74 are being done by council workers. What’s the rationale for so much less direct labour than contractors? asked Reddy, at the meeting of the North West Area Committee. Buckle said the figures were just a snapshot at a point in time. We’re still using both, he said. At the South Central Area Committee meeting on 15 April, Buckle also talked about staffing challenges within the council. His own technical team – which coordinates repair and maintenance of the council’s roughly 29,000 social homes – is made up of eight staff members, he said. (The whole council [has about](https://www.dublininquirer.com/unable-to-hire-and-keep-the-staff-it-needs-dublin-city-council-is-struggling-to-provide-services/) 6,000 staff members.) That’s six engineers, one building inspector, and one admin support. And there’s lots of turnover of staff, he said. “Four engineers are after getting promoted and have gone and moved on in the last four months,” he said. They get new people in and have to train them up again, he said. Buckle has been perhaps the once constant in recent years, he said. Later by phone, Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, said he would guess a couple of issues are at play when it comes to whether the council beefs up its framework for contractors, or relies more on direct labour. “I think it’s probably short-termism,” he said. Rather than have to employ people long-term, and pay wages, it’s easier to pay for a contractor, he said. But also, the council [has had problems trying](https://www.dublininquirer.com/unable-to-hire-and-keep-the-staff-it-needs-dublin-city-council-is-struggling-to-provide-services/) to recruit staff across the board, he said. Rates of pay are set in national-level agreements between the state and public-sector workers. Dublin council workers are paid the same as people employed in Limerick or Leitrim, said Doolan, despite higher living costs in the city. A lot of employment has to be cleared by the Department of Housing too, he said. Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, said similar. Managers may say it is difficult to hire direct labour, said Reddy, and that getting contractors in is a speedier way to respond right away to repair issues. But councillors have argued for the need to look, longer term, at the council’s capacity to do decent maintenance and value for money, he said. ## **Promises and expectations** On Tuesday outside Bernard Curtis House, the blocks of council flats in Bluebell, Audrey Currivan said she had been waiting about six months for a new door. “It’s old and worn out from the rain,” she said. Whether it’s contractors or council staff who call out, she said, she doesn’t really mind – she just wants the job to be done. “It’s all slow.” With the recent rent increases though, she would expect better maintenance, she said. That was the pitch for Dublin City Council’s [increase](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068441-differential-rent-scheme-2026-review-report-from-november-2025-budget-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in social rents. That it is going to be able to better look after its tenants, and spend more on social housing maintenance. Said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon [at the November debate on rent increases: ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/)“There's a clear direct line between the low rents we charge and the low crappy levels of maintenance we provide.” Other councillors argued the changes will harm households already struggling to afford the basics. Social Democrats Councillor Jesslyn Henry read out a note from a constituent: “How many of you have no heat and live on a bag of potatoes, bread and eggs?” The rent changes [are expected to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068442-dublin-city-council-adopted-revenue-budget-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) bring in €33.1 million more in a full year, and €24.8 million this year – because it kicked in this month. Last November, council officials said that [it would mean](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28068441-differential-rent-scheme-2026-review-report-from-november-2025-budget-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) an increase in the overall spend on housing maintenance and upgrades – so both reactive and planned maintenance – from about €146.9mn last year to €165.8mn this year. Funding for social housing maintenance is drawn from different sources. It comes not only from social rents, but from central government grants, other council funds, and – historically – borrowing, depending on the kinds of works. Borrowing, now though, has stopped. Last November, the council’s head of housing Mick Mulhern said that the council had to date borrowed €138 million to date for maintenance. It had cost €12 million to service that loan in 2025, he said. “So to get away from that is a financially prudent approach to take.” Overall, though, comparing the spend on social housing maintenance in the agreed revenue and capital budgets for last year, and those agreed for this year, is tricky. The figures are sliced in different ways. At the South East Area Committee, independent Councillor Pat Dunne asked Buckle how much more was to be spent on planned maintenance, specifically, as a result of budget increases. “We had roughly around €7.4 million last year. We’re just over €15 million in 2026,” said Buckle. What exactly that covers isn't clear. But a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that, overall, Dublin City Council is to spend €78.3 million of capital money on works to upgrade and refurbish social homes this year. That's about €20 million more than 2025, they said, and includes doing up "voids", capital upgrades, replacing gas boilers, improving communal areas, and delivering extensions. At area committee meetings, Buckle also indicated that more is likely to come directly from the Department of Housing for planned maintenance, in the coming years. ## **More coming?** Among the moves that Buckle listed as planned works for this year were surveys of the conditions in several social housing blocks. These ADDjust surveys, as they are called, are part of a reappraisal of the condition of social housing which has taken almost a decade to get underway. In late 2017, a working group at the County and City Management Association (CCMA) – a network of the chief executives of councils – began to look at, among other issues, the condition of social housing and stock surveys. A few years later – after meetings with the Department of Housing – it [submitted an outline](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292929-lgma-stock-condition-survey-it-system/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of what was needed, in particular an IT system, for councils to effectively carry out and record conditions in social housing and to move from the current system of reactive maintenance to planned maintenance. That IT system is now in place across councils, and all of them have been onboarded, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said recently. Councils have started surveys. They are expected to inspect all of their social housing by the end of 2030, the spokesperson said. At the Central Area Committee meeting on Tuesday, Buckle said that once these surveys are done, it should lead to extra funding from the central government for planned maintenance. The council’s plan is that once they have surveyed 85 percent of the homes in an area or complex, they will put in submissions to the department for money to solve underlying issues, he said. They have word from the department that they will fund, gradually, works required, he said. “So if a property you go into requires four or five things to be done, they might give us funding for one thing in 2026, two things in 2027 and so forth, if that makes sense,” he said. The idea is that rather than waiting for "voids" between tenancies to do significant works, the council in future could keep the homes in better nick, he said – leaving less to do when one tenant leaves to get a home into decent shape for a new tenant. ### Dean: Seamus Fogarty’s folktronica conjures the mood of the Atlantic coastline URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-seamus-fogartys-folktronica-conjures-the-mood-of-the-atlantic-coastline/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T05:39:32.000Z Seamus Fogarty’s music is often described as “folktronica”, a term that typically encompasses music that sounds like it was forged in a cabin in the woods by a plaid-shirted balladeer who had the wherewithal to bring not just an acoustic guitar but the machines to add beeps and blips. In the case of Bon Iver, this description is very literal – his still-brilliant 2007 album *For Emma, Forever Ago* was forged in the confines of an isolated cabin in Wisconsin, adrift from the world. Throughout his decade and a half recording career, Fogarty has often explored the same discipline. Synths and beats are adornments to more traditional sounds, ensuring the music retains a certain pastoral sensibility. Banjo plucks can be paired with field recordings, such as snippets of conversations caught on tape. His latest album, *Ships*, unites similarly disparate elements across nine songs that nonetheless feel organic, comforting and intimate. Though based in London for a good few years now, Fogarty has not shaken off his Mayo roots. *Ships* conjures familiar Atlantic coastline moods: skyscraper-sized sea cliffs; light rain hitting oceanic dunes at 6 in the morning. Much of the atmosphere is derived from Fogarty’s voice: rustic and tightly wound, you don’t need a superhuman ear to detect the confirmed influence of American alt-country hero Bonnie “Prince” Billy. The vocals lend *Ships* a feeling of being sparse and intimate. This is an illusion. In fact, serious support comes from a faction of first-class session musicians including drummer Chris Vatalaro (whose client list includes Anohni and the Johnsons), horn player Joe Auckland (Oasis), and Fogarty’s partner Emma Smith (a touring member of Pulp). With mixing by Brian Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams, the sumptuous arrangements frequently pulse and swell, though, crucially, they never overwhelm the sense of tranquillity that Fogarty’s best music tends to project. Take the title track, inspired by the English artist Tracey Emin and a pink neon sign of her words, “I never stopped loving you”, that decorates the entrance of [Droit House in Margate](https://turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/exhibitions/i-never-stopped-loving-you?ref=dublininquirer.com). Fogarty’s unfussy melody is at first supported by some chipped acoustic guitar chords and not much else, his eye for detail working the minutiae of “pushers on the street” and “corduroy trousers and blue puffer jackets” into the lyrics. The quietness is interrupted as more and more sounds are stacked onto the arrangement – warbling synth patches, well-honed drumming – until the whole thing crescendos with lilting strings that call to mind the work of celebrated pop producers Van Dyke Parks and Jon Brion. The extra sonic elements are sometimes more rasping. A pulsing beat underpins “I Passed Your House”, a dedication to a lost friend which finds memories flooding to Fogarty as he stands outside their “four-bed on a quiet country road”. Elsewhere, “Fire” pulls the neat trick of using a harsh synth sound to evoke a sense of dread that makes way for more comforting instrumental play, like the sun bursting through dark clouds. Most striking song is “They Recognised Him” and its John Cooper Clarke-nodding, half-spoken-word, half-lazily-sung, performance over a dusty trail of guitars and drums that is said to be partially inspired by hours Fogarty spent during various Covid-19 restrictions listening to early-90s hip-hop. (And is said, kids, to be Cillian Murphy’s favourite Seamus Fogarty song.) The wordplay is looping and eccentric: “They recognised him outside the pub smoking a fag, reading a book about Solzhenitsyn in the gulag,” Fogarty recites cooly. Though it’s already a couple of years old, the inclusion of “They Recognised Him” on *Ships* offers an interesting change of pace at the album’s midway point and a welcome sonic divergence for Fogarty that he should further explore. (Tagging the album as “experimental hip-hop” on [Bandcamp](https://seamusfogarty.bandcamp.com/album/ships?ref=dublininquirer.com), though, might be a stretch.) It’s closer “Doer Undoer”, however, that impresses the most. The vocals howl over a simple guitar motif before the band once more takes flight with layers of horns, percussion crashes, and audio distortion all spliced into the mix. It’s a triumph of holding back the dam, ensuring all the beauty on display isn’t washed out. Great folktronica relies on such instincts; only a most divine matchmaker can successfully bring together the seemingly incompatible so harmoniously. ### Things To Do: Search for UFOs, admire the vampires, reluctantly return to the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-search-for-ufos-admire-the-vampires-reluctantly-return-to-the-golden-age-of-hong-kong-cinema/ Last updated: 2026-04-28T22:31:02.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **A Note for Nature** To mark the twentieth anniversary of Coimisiún na Meán’s Sound and Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme, which supports broadcasters and independent producers, the Irish Film Institute is hosting a special screening of filmmaker Cepa Giblin’s 2023 documentary *A Note for Nature* this evening. Reflecting on the disappearance of nature in Ireland through spoken word and music, the film celebrates the country’s wilderness and the people who dedicate themselves to protecting it. [Described by Cepa](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2022/1220/1341359-a-note-for-nature-wild-ireland-celebrated-in-new-documentary/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as “both a celebration of wild Ireland and a call to arms”, the film brings together artists like Christy Moore, Niamh Regan, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Tolü Makay to perform in a variety of locations that connect the viewer with our fragile natural heritage. *A Note for Nature* screens at 6:20pm today, Thursday 23 April, and it will be followed by a Q&A with Giblin. Tickets are available [here](https://shop.ifi.ie/performance/109993/?%5Fga=2.136783984.1768639608.1776830569-922003600.1768393426&%5Fgl=1%2A4xjsfl%2A%5Fga%2AOTIyMDAzNjAwLjE3NjgzOTM0MjY.%2A%5Fga%5FFZNNMJKDPE%2AczE3NzY4MzA1NjYkbzI4JGcxJHQxNzc2ODMwNTg3JGozOSRsMCRoMA..&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Underground** Meanwhile, over in A4 Sounds Gallery, artist Kat Lalor is set to launch their new solo exhibition Undergroundthis evening at 7pm. Informed by Irish Vampiric Mythologies, the exhibition is billed as a recognition and celebration of “existence beneath the surface”, which entangles underground cultures, Queer infrastructures, and the quiet, regenerating presence of the vampire. Paying homage to Drag as a “resilient political power,” Lalor’s exhibition features a performative film “set within soil; the living renewing, connective tissue, humanised and tenderised by processes of decay”. It is a study of immortality, which makes reference to silent film, Queer Club and Ballroom scenes, and the “deep and unyielding” roots of community, activism and political resistance. Undergroundwill run until 24 May. For more information, visit the exhibition page [here](https://a4sounds.org/underground/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Artists at Work in Irish Health Research and Care** On Friday, UCD Parity Studios is hosting a day-long conference that will explore how contemporary art practices can operate within healthcare, health research, clinical and community contexts. Kicking off at 10am in the Trapdoor @ UCD theatre on the Belfield campus, this special event will bring together six artists with healthcare practitioners and health researchers to discuss the relationship between art, creative research and healthcare. Among those who will appear throughout the day are artists Lorna Donlon, Siobhán Clancy, John Conway, Yvonne Cullivan, Manuala Corbari and Emma Finucane, alongside Mary Grehan, the former Arts in Health Curator for Children’s Health Ireland and Dr Andrew Darley, Assistant Professor at theUCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. The conference will run until 4pm, and you can register to attend [here](https://events.humanitix.com/arts-and-health-symposium?ref=dublininquirer.com). Things to Do is free to read, but it's not free to produce. So we'd be grateful if you'd consider contributing a little bit each month to help keep it going. [€1/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabdc47eef0d000192fe0e/monthly) [€2/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69ca80b57eef0d000192fc2b/monthly) [€3/month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/#/portal/signup/69cabe107eef0d000192fe14/monthly) **A Phenomenon Only Slightly Strange** After collaborating with artist Cillian Finnerty on [an online exhibition about digital hoarding, clutter and memory caches](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-hoard-pdfs-explore-absurdist-ecologies-celebrate-10-years-of-marriage-equality-read-a-dictionary/) last year, Cóilín O’Connell has resurfaced with another wildly entertaining, thought-provoking deep dive into the “datacombs” of the internet. His new zine, *A Phenomenon Only Slightly Strange* casts its focus on the unidentified flying object, the history of these phenomena, the culture that has sprouted from them, their symbolism and spectral presence in media. Conceived of while on a research residency in Cyprus, O’Connell’s jumps down the rabbit hole when he learns that on 9 November 2018, there were reports of UFO sightings over both Larnaca in Cyprus and Kerry. From there, he processes this inexplicable event through the lens of postcolonialism. Parallels are drawn between the histories of Ireland and Cyprus as subjects of the British Empire. The presence of UFOs in Unionist murals in the North is explored, and amateur photographs of anomalous lights over Shannon airport are studied. Over the course of three short texts, O’Connell wonders “where are all our UFOs?” He studies Oliver Sheppard’s Cú Chulainn statue in the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, rediscovering the alien, shapeshifting powers of Cú Chulainn, and contemplating how an otter – that “greedy water dog” – who feeds off the dying “humanoid” might process their close encounter with this magical entity. Whether you are someone who wants to believe, or simply have a keen interest in left-of-field takes on art, history and mythology, this is a zine that should be put straight to the top of your reading list. You can read it here [here](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/601fdff033789301b0561414/t/69c67f49bfd50b145da20e52/1774616393319/A-Phenomenon-Only-Slightly-Strange-by-Co%CC%81ili%CC%81n-O%27Connell.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), and if you want to secure a copy, head over to O’Connell’s Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/c%5Fo%5Fconnell/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Substrata** Way out yonder in Dublin Port, there is currently a contemporary art group exhibition showing in The Substation. Presented in partnership with The Five Lamps Arts Festival, Substratafeatures new works by artists [Claire Halpin](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-temple-bar-a-new-exhibition-attempts-to-grapple-with-the-present-by-putting-it-side-by-side-with-the-past/), Katherine Sankey, Maree Hensey and Sohrab Uduman, and invites visitors to explore artworks that respond to the architecture, infrastructure and histories of Dublin Port. Each artist has created a new piece to reflect The Substation’s physical space and wider, industrial, environmental and social context. Through sculpture, painting, video and installation, Substrataexamines themes of migration, labour, trade routes, ecology and memory that are connected to the port and its surrounding communities. Substratalaunched earlier this month, but it will remain open to visitors until Thursday 30 April. Admission is free. A trip on the Luas’ Red Line, on the other hand, isn’t, unless you’re willing to pay a fine to keep a pandemic-era meme alive. **The Madonna of Asia** On Tuesday, the New Theatre in Temple Bar will be staging *The Madonna of Asia*, a new drama from playwright Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng. Inspired by the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, *The Madonna of Asia* weaves together live performance, projections and multi-lingual storytelling. At the heart of the play is Rin Asai, an actor who vanishes from the spotlight as she is on the brink of achieving global fame with the release of her first English-language film. Picking up in 2014 when Asari is in her forties and living in Dublin, she is forced to confront the life she left behind when she encounters Tara, a woman living in Hong Kong, who brings up the past that she tried to forget. The play will be showing in the theatre’s Fiona Hurley Auditorium from 28 April until 2 May. For more information and to book tickets, visit the New Theatre event page [here](https://thenewtheatre.com/event/2026/02/09/the-madonna-of-asia/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ADVERTISEMENT [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/SIGN_GIF_DUB_INQ-2.GIF)](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ****SIGNS present:** ****Elikya** (Congolese 9-piece rumba/soukous) ****Cormorant Tree Oh** (experimental folk, drone, psych) ****Farah Elle** (alternative singer-songwriter) ****David DeBarra** (experimental folk 3-piece) \+ Telephones DJs, Pablo Santo, Kixx, Little O & more West African food by [Ibile](https://www.instagram.com/ibile%5Frestaurant/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com), 8–11pm. 3 May at The Sugar Club, Dublin 2 [Tickets ](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Keep'er Lit: Meet the author event** Feminist and activist author Rosita Sweetman will be speaking with author and activist Fiona O’Rourke at the Arthaus Hotel in Dublin 2 on Sunday 26 April. The free-to-attend event will see Sweetman discussing her memoir *Girl With A Fork In A World Of Soup*. The interview will begin at 11:30am, and attendees are asked to meet on the ground level of the Arthaus. For more information and to book a spot, visit O’Rourke’s Keep’er Lit substack newsletter [here](https://fionao.substack.com/p/keeper-lit). **Palestine 36 screening and fundraiser** On 7 May, CIÉ Hall in Inchicore will be hosting a special screening of Annemarie Jacir’s film *Palestine 36* as part of Culture Date with Dublin 8. All proceeds will go to T.E.A Collective who are a Louth- and Dublin-based NGO fundraising for local initiatives in Gaza. The film will be showing at 7pm. To book a seat, visit the fundraiser’s Eventbrite page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/screening-of-palestine-36-tickets-1986525884396?aff=ebdsshsms&utm%5Fshare%5Fsource=listing%5Fandroid&sg=9e1cea8caeacf150e1c990612dbca8d51d87ac4d4fde2833cb0e7c12ab1bf2942fd280487bee4708974a5f64dc8e3c8227ed932bd147a0550040e5964f9b567495cfa41f2beed702f46bb3d3&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Emma Brennan and Thomas Wells – The House of Atreus** *The House of Atreus* is a collaborative project by Emma Brennan and Thomas Wells, exploring how working-class architecture reflects contemporary social and moral systems. This partnering of experiences intersects gendered labour practices, working-class identity and the entanglement of domestic and industrial spaces. *The House of Atreus* will launch in Pallas Projects/Studios on 9 May. For more information, visit the Pallas event page [here](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/emma-brennan-and-thomas-wells-the-house-of-atreus?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Wildlife Couch – Gulls of Ireland** On Wednesday 20 May, Kildare Wildlife Rescue will be hosting its next session of The Wildlife Couch as they explore the often misunderstood gulls of Ireland. Learn about the species as a whole and discover the many challenges they face in an ever changing world during this free online talk. The session will begin at 7pm. You can register to attend [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-wildlife-couch-gulls-of-ireland-tickets-1987813024266?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dalkey Original Print Fair** The Dalkey Original Print Fair will be returning this June. The fair, which brings together a small group of established, talented printmakers working across etching, drypoint, linocut, monotype and more will run from 20 to 21 June in Our Lady’s Hall, 40 Castle Street in Dalkey. It will open on Saturday from 11am to 7pm, and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. For more information and to keep up to date, visit the Dalkey Original Print Fair’s Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/dalkeyoriginalprintfair/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Council plans new temporary flood defences for Clontarf URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-new-temporary-flood-defences-for-clontarf/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T05:39:47.000Z Since it still hasn’t been able to strengthen the permanent flood defences in Clontarf, Dublin City Council is planning additional temporary defences before winter. Council officials have for more than a decade [been working on plans](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-coastal-flood-risk-rises-the-council-seeks-to-defend-property-and-residents-to-defend-their-landscape-and-nothing-s-been-built/) to strengthen the flood defences along the promenade. As the years pass, the sea level rises, and the frequency and severity of storms increases, though, it has not been able to get it done. Some residents and councillors have grown increasingly frustrated. At a meeting in 2023, council executive manager James Nolan [pushed back](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-years-pass-the-sea-rises-and-nothing-is-built-some-begin-to-doubt-the-council-can-defend-clontarf-and-sandymount-from-the-tides/) against criticism. “I think we can deliver and we will deliver,” Nolan said. “Within maybe 18 months we’ll be delivering the scheme in Sandymount along the promenade.” The Clontarf project, meanwhile, is a few steps behind the Sandymount one, Nolan said. But the council has not built either of those projects yet. And storms this past winter flooded the promenade, with water spilling over Clontarf Road too. So it’s now looking at raising a wall, adding a “beaver dam”, and installing barriers in gaps in existing walls – before the next storm-and-flood season arrives. Sitting at a picnic table outside Bold and Brass Coffee about noon on Monday, on the edge of the Clontarf Road, Eilis O’Brien, of the Clontarf Residents Association, discussed the merits of the council’s latest proposal – and the residents association’s alternative. “We’re not saying ours is better than DCC’s, because we absolutely recognise the immediacy of theirs, versus the time lag of ours,” said O’Brien, who is the association’s liaison to the council working group on flood defence in Clontarf. But if the council is going to accept that its permanent solution isn’t coming anytime soon, then it’d be nice to have a more attractive, lower-maintenance “interim” solution installed for the medium-term, O’Brien said. ## Storm and response Storm Claudia [hit in November](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/11/15/weather-ireland-storm-claudia-triggers-significant-flooding-and-impassible-roads/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Storm Bram [hit in December](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/12/09/storm-bram-live-updates-ireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and Storm Chandra [hit in January](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0128/1555446-storm-chandra-analysis/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In February, there was more flooding. [Videos showed](https://www.rte.ie/video/id/29608/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the sea engulfing the Clontarf promenade, and covering the Clontarf Road. In the wake of the February flooding, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, in Galway, said the weather has been changing, “clearly caused by climate change”, [according to](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0205/1556837-weather-warnings/?ref=dublininquirer.com) *RTÉ*. Some flood relief schemes are “taking too long to bring to fruition”, Martin, of Fianna Fáil, reportedly said. “We are going to do everything we can to accelerate these flood relief schemes, get decisions made ... but we need to look more at interim solutions as well.” Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney, in a written query, asked Dublin City Council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, “if he will be accessing funding for temporary flood defences for Clontarf from the OPW”. “Residents and businesses cannot wait” for the completion of the permanent flood defences “possibly post 2033”, Cooney said the query included in the reports pack for the council’s April monthly meeting. The chief executive’s [response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062204-donna-cooney-qa-re-clontarf-flood-defences-april-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was that, “While the long-term Clontarf Flood Defence Scheme remains the permanent solution, the Council recognises concerns regarding delivery timelines.” “We are therefore engaging with the Office of Public Works (OPW) to report on the recent overtopping and to seek support, where appropriate, for any additional interim flood defence measures required in the areas most affected during Storms Chandra, Bram and Claudia,” it said. The council has not responded to queries about this sent on 15 April, asking why it hasn’t been able to get the permanent defences built, and what these new temporary measures it is planning are. However, a [14 April update](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062208-clontarf-promenade-redevelopment-and-flood-defence-project-update-14-april-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Clontarf Residents Association details both the council’s short-term plans, and the association’s own alternative proposal. ## The council’s proposal The council’s plans, according to the residents association, include wooden or aluminium slats to insert between the mini-lighthouses that guard gaps in the low wall between the promenade and the Clontarf Road, to keep the water from flowing through. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Mini-lighthouses-in-the-road-side-wall-along-the-Clontarf-promenade.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) Mini lighthouses in the road side wall along the Clontarf promenade. Photo by Sam Tranum. Also, a “beaver dam” – a big snaky balloon that can be filled with water to create a wall, basically – would be used at Vernon Avenue “to run between the end of the existing kerbside wall in front of the pumping station as far as the kerbside wall at the bus stop/car park”, the update says. At the Clontarf Baths, where there’s a break in the roadside wall to let drivers pull into the semi-circular driveway, there would be additional defences too, the update says. “The existing low wall that runs from the inside of the cycle track towards The Baths will be raised by approx 300mm or replaced byJersey Barriers or replaced with a planted berm,” it says. “The gap across the sea side pedestrian walkway between this defence and The Baths will be filled with the wooden or aluminium barriers,” it says. Jersey barriers are the modular cement walls – used along highways in New Jersey and elsewhere in the States – that the council has installed along the Clontarf Road, down near Hollybrook Road, [to replace the big yellow sandbags](https://www.dublininquirer.com/goodbye-sandbags-clontarf-gets-first-look-at-new-temporary-flood-defence-measures/) that had been there for years. Sitting at the picnic table nearly across Clontarf Road from the Baths on Monday, O’Brien said that the beaver dam, and the slats, would take a lot of manual labour to install and remove each time. The residents association is proposing an alternative that would be more costly, and take longer to build, but then require less effort to use each time a storm approached and the waters began to rise, she says. ## The residents association’s proposal It’s just a wall. A nice-looking stone wall, about 750mm to 850mm tall, on the road side of the promenade, from end to end. Where gaps would be required to allow cars into car parks, for example, there’d be (flood) gates that local residents could walk over close without too much effort. The low-ish height of the wall is key, says O’Brien. Residents had previously opposed, successfully, plans for a higher wall, on the grounds that it would hide people at the seafront from the street, the houses, the shops – leaving sitters, walkers, runners, and cyclists isolated and less safe, O’Brien said. But the council has installed a lower wall, and has now proposed more low-ish wall. The Jersey barriers near Hollybrook Road are about 800mm tall, and the council has recently planted a holly hedge next to them, suggesting that the plan is to leave them there a good long while. So if a low-ish wall is good enough for the council now, the residents association would like to propose one too, O’Brien said. The Long Wall would take longer than what the council is proposing to get in before the next storm season, she said. “It would cost more and it would take longer,” she said. ## Longer-term plans In the longer term, the council is still working, slowly, on plans for stronger permanent flood defences along the promenade in Clontarf. In the meantime, though, Uisce Éireann is moving forward more quickly with its own plans for a [big water main underneath the promenade](https://www.water.ie/projects/local-projects/north-city-arterial-main-ncam?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Works on the Clontarf Promenade between Hollybrook Road and The Woodenbridge are expected to commence in 2027,” its project webpage says. O’Brien says she is worried that the placement of this water main underneath the promenade – either closer to the sea wall or closer to the road, could close down options for the eventual permanent flood defences. For example, she said, one possibility is to raise the seawall, and have a terraced promenade rising from the road to the newly heightened seawall. That way people running along the seawall would still be visible from the road, the homes, and the shops – and thus safer. That’s only one idea, there are lots of other possibilities, O’Brien said. “We do feel that this can be solved without destroying the amenity and without damaging public safety.” But if Uisce Éireann puts the pipe closer to the sea wall, the council couldn’t pile a bunch of earth on top to raise that side of the promenade – because then how would the water company reach the pipe underneath for maintenance and repairs? O’Brien says. “We just want to make sure there are as many options available as possible when we get to the design,” she said. There’s no design for the permanent flood defences yet, said Cooney, last Thursday. But, said O’Brien, “Uisce Éíreann say, ‘We can’t wait for you.’” *Note: The Clontarf Residents Association is running* [*a survey*](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28062560-survey-april-2026-with-qr-code/?ref=dublininquirer.com)*, asking residents their views on the council’s temporary proposal, the association’s alternative, and the longer-term future of flood defence on the promenade.* ### Santry needs more than just more apartments, residents say, objecting to rezoning of Shanowen Lands URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/santry-needs-more-than-just-more-apartments-so/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T05:41:42.000Z “No rezoning until Santry gets a plan,” said the sign on the green lamppost outside the Shanowen Road Garda Station on Monday afternoon. Two days earlier, this location, known by many as the “Shanowen Lands” had hosted [a protest by Santry Forum](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXPKkG1DHg2/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a residents’ group for people living in the Whitehall-Santry area. They had filed out to express opposition to [Dublin City Council’s plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063661-proposed-variation-no-11-final/?q=shanowen&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p35) to change the zoning on the site from Z6 (“Employment and Enterprise”) to Z1 (“Sustainable Residential Neighbourhoods”). The council is planning to do this to meet demands from the central government to rezone more lands for housing. In response to these demands, it looked at its residentially zoned land and [concluded](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288426-report-no-2372025-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-with-reference-to-the-incorporation-of/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it had enough to meet the government’s targets – but also committed to rezoning a bit more, to create some additional “headroom”. The site on the Shanowen Road was proposed for rezoning as part of a strategic review of lands, which has made similar suggestions for [six other landbanks](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063782-variation-no-11-planning-report-final/?q=shanowen&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p20) throughout the city, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. These proposed rezonings, along with the rezonings and creation of masterplans for [Broombridge-Hamilton](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-agree-to-rezone-big-industrial-estate-in-glasnevin/),published in January, and [Kylemore](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-on-plan-for-5-000-homes-on-lands-between-inchicore-and-ballyfermot/), could bring in 24,000 homes, the spokesperson said. The 4.3 acre Shanowen Lands site is publicly owned, [says a report prepared by Santry Forum](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063473-study-report-with-images-2026-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and its occupants are the red brick Garda station as well as a long-grey warehouse with a corrugated iron sawtooth roof. It’s an industrial unit that is worth retaining and reusing, says Frank Keoghan, a member of Santry Forum, speaking by phone on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s quite a visionary piece of work, very contemporary.” Ideally, members of the Forum would like to see this redeveloped for community or cultural use, said chairperson John Nolan on the same call. “We would recycle any material.” There are already a huge number of new housing developments in the area, he says. “The priority to just build units has not been matched or balanced with social infrastructure.” They need a local development plan, he says. “And that is at the forefront of us objecting to rezoning without a plan to rebalance that.” ## Making a plan Dublin City Council launched [its consultation](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no11-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its plan to vary the city development plan on 31 March. This proposes to change the zoning at [seven sites](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063782-variation-no-11-planning-report-final/?q=shanowen&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p20) – including lands in Finglas Business Park, Greenmount Industrial Estate in Harold’s Cross and Fumbally Lane – from employment and enterprise to residential, sustainable mixed-use and Strategic Development and Regeneration Areas, [the variation report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063661-proposed-variation-no-11-final/?q=1%2C200&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p12). As of Tuesday evening, 30 different groups or individuals have made submissions, 26 of which are directly related to the Shanowen Lands. These consistently cite excessive development, traffic congestion, and a scarcity of community infrastructure, with a submission by [one Thomas Fleming saying](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/submission/dcc-c64-13?ref=dublininquirer.com) “there are insufficient schools and creches that are already struggling greatly to tend the huge numbers of children”. The [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063661-proposed-variation-no-11-final/?q=santry&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p12) on the proposed variation to the development plan has also put forward the idea of preparing a framework plan for Santry which would both provide for new housing and support the suburb. But the problem here is that rezoning the Shanowen Lands before there is a plan, would open up the door “in an unrestricted fashion” for a development of up to 1,000 apartments on the site, Nolan says. “Santry has taken its fair share of residential developments.” Right now, residents are worried that a lot of apartments have already been built in the Santry area without supporting infrastructure or community amenities, said Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan on Monday. “They’re very piecemeal, and there’s no joined up thinking for Santry.” A local area plan could identify what the area needs, he says. “Such as a medical centre, a creche, employment opportunities, some digital hub, innovation centres.” Santry Forum has put forward their own vision of a [community quarter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063473-study-report-with-images-2026-final/?q=reuse&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p3) for the area, Flanagan says. This report has proposed redeveloping the Shanowen Lands as a mixed-use quarter, with both Z6 and Z1 zoning, it says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Shanowen-lands-industrial-warehouse-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) A warehouse on the Shanowen Lands. Photo by Michael Lanigan. The sawtooth-roofed industrial warehouse could be adapted and reused as a digital hub centre for Santry, including co-working spaces, private offices, meeting rooms and a communal kitchen with a conference centre and cafe, it says. It suggests retaining a smaller Garda station and creating a residential block consisting of a new eight-storey tower and two five-storey residential terraces, which would be intended for essential workers, step-down homes and homes for independent living. Meanwhile, buildings to the west of the site, including one currently used by the Revenue, could be repurposed for childcare, a medical centre, artists’ studios, a gallery and rehearsal spaces, it says. One of the industrial units could be done up to create a multi-purpose community hall, it says. Here, they also proposed the inclusion of 23 one-bedroom units, it says. Third, the report has suggested turning a piece of the site that is used as the Garda Carriage Office and a car compound into an eco enterprise sector alongside an area formore homes. The proposed new homes, of which there could be around 200, would be deliberately dispersed throughout the site, Nolan says. “It is approximately 50 houses per hectare.” They commissioned an architect to draw up the report, he says. “And we’re trying to balance out a usable space destination that has a variety of different services that would encourage footfall in the site and which would be a community space.” ## Getting a seat at the table Independent Councillor John Lyons raised the Santry Forum’s opposition to the rezoning proposal at the very start of the North Central Area Committee meeting on Monday. He and Sinn Féin Councillor Edel Moran had requested that the committee allow the Forum to make a presentation on the Shanowen Lands during the meeting, Lyons told the room. But due to a tight schedule, they couldn’t be facilitated, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, the committee’s chair. “I cannot set a precedent where some people would be allowed onto the area committee and some wouldn’t be.” If he could get the time to bring them into the committee between now and June, however, he would, he said. They had a good conversation with the group prior to the meeting, he said. “But, I think it’s about bringing in the planners and having a conversation about this.” Getting a meeting in May or June isn’t much use to Santry Forum because the consultation on the variations to the development plan closes on 28 April, Nolan says. A spokesperson for the council said that the Planning Department met with relevant stakeholders and councillors on these lands, including members of the Santry Forum, on 25 March. “The consultation process has been us going in and pitching to planners who basically weren’t interested,” Nolan said. “And pitching it not to a public meeting, but a private meeting.” Is any further engagement with Santry Forum planned? A spokesperson for the council said they will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders throughout the planning process. ### Short-notice postponement of citizenship ceremony upended some people's plans. Could it have been avoided? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/short-notice-postponement-of-citizenship-ceremony-upended-some-peoples-plans-could-it-have-been-avoided/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T05:41:54.000Z The prospect of Andrea Manning’s daughter travelling abroad for an internship hinged on the idea that she was going to be an Irish citizen in mid-April, said Manning. Manning’s daughter – who’s 20 years old – had landed a work placement in the Netherlands through the Erasmus scheme, said her mum. The programme offers a pathway to European young people to “study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad”, says [the EU Commission website](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28056397-erasmus-funding-programme-european-commission/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The placement was going to start on 1 July. Manning’s daughter would have had her Irish passport by then. And “she could freely work as an EU citizen”, Manning said. People get a certificate of naturalisation in the mail after their citizenship ceremony, and that takes a while to arrive. They can then use that to apply for an Irish passport, which takes “20 working days” to come through for first-time applicants, according to the [Department of Foreign Affairs website](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28058154-current-turnaround-times-dfa-irelandie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Manning and her daughter had booked a hotel in Killarney, Co. Kerry, where the citizenship gala was slated to happen on 14 and 15 April, Manning said. But on Saturday, 11 April – amid blockades organised in response to soaring fuel prices triggered by the United States and Israeli governments’ war on Iran – would-be citizens got a missive from the Department of Justice apologising and saying it had to nix it. “We are concerned that ongoing pressure on fuel, travel and transport services nationwide means that the event can’t go ahead this week,” said the message, which did not specifically blame the blockades. Including people in the next “available ceremony, scheduled for June”, is a priority, said the email. A day later, [*RTÉ* reported](https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0412/1567756-fuel-protests/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the Gardaí had mostly cleared the streets of blockades. Manning and others believe that there were other solutions besides cancelling the citizenship ceremony. For one, they could have switched to an online ceremony, like the ones held for people who were naturalised during the COVID-19 pandemic, they say. Or they could have gone ahead and “those who couldn’t attend could have been given the option for the next ceremony”, Manning said. “To cancel it till June was just so extreme,” she said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it "regrets the postponement” because it knows how many people look forward to attending. But “it was considered that holding an event with more than 4,700 people taking part, many accompanied by friends or family, would add to pressure on transport”, they said. It’s true that it has come up with alternative arrangements for these ceremonies “in exceptional circumstances and during the COVID-19 pandemic”, they said. But it’s been holding them in real life since things went back to normal. And that’s its "preferred format for conferring citizenship”, the spokesperson said. They didn’t directly address a query asking whether this would also delay the event for another group who were originally going to be naturalised in June. ## Almost there Meanwhile, RSVPing for the late June ceremony hasn’t been smooth for everyone. When the Department of Justice sent out a fresh invitation, some took to a Facebook group set up to help people navigate citizenship bureaucracy to say they couldn’t register. They got an error which said, “This is a private event. We were unable to find your record in the invite list.” It asked people to send an email requesting that their names be added to the docket. Dauda Owoyomi, who became an Irish citizen two years ago, has stayed on the Facebook group to offer tips and support to others, he said. Owoyomi said he believes the blockades and protests prompted the cancellations, and he gets how frustrating that must be. Manning, whose daughter was hoping to have her Irish passport for her Erasmus internship abroad, said that for her, it sort of felt like they were meant to get mad at the protestors. It’s unclear if the government was also worried about the safety of would-be citizens, as anti-immigrant organisers were alsotaking part in protests. Those influencers celebrated the cancellation of the citizenship ceremony as a win, online. Stephen Redmond, a National Party rep in Finglas, [shared](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28057453-redmond-x/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a headline announcing it on X, writing, “Maybe we should have more fuel protests”. It drew over 600 likes. Redmond and other members of the National Party had joined the protests all over the country, too. The National Party, which [advocates](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28057456-a-reprimand-for-remigration-sceptics-the-national-party/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for [“remigration” ](https://www.csohate.org/2026/01/20/remigration/?ref=dublininquirer.com)– now a cryptic term for forced deportation of non-White people regardless of their citizenship status – [wrote ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28057454-national-party/?ref=dublininquirer.com)on X that essentially the protests were “not about fuel or about taxation but about trust”, and then, among other things, brought up anti-immigrant talking points. ## Away from the crowds Wendy Lyon, immigration solicitor at Abbey Law, said not everyone enjoys attending a huge in-person event anyway. Lyon was naturalised before a District Court judge herself. She said that was just enough for her. “A two month delay in naturalisation means a two month delay after that in getting an Irish passport,” she said. There are people who may not have been able to travel outside Ireland for years. “Who thought they would finally be able to take a summer holiday, and may not be able to now,” she said. At the very least, Lyon said, an alternative option should have been offered to people. Manning said they were lucky that the hotel in Killarney was accommodating and waived cancellation fees, but if her daughter can’t take up the placement, they are probably going to lose money on flights. “This has caused such unnecessary stress and expense,” she said. ### In Loughshinny, council wants people to walk to planned new playground, but says building good footpaths isn’t feasible URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-loughshinny-council-wants-people-to-walk-to-planned-new-playground-but-says-building-good-footpaths-isnt-feasible/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T05:42:06.000Z Each car that roared south along the R128 from Skerries sent shudders through the few pedestrians who braved thesliver of pathway on Monday afternoon. Fixed to the gate at the end of every household’s driveway was a mirror toreflect oncoming traffic. The speed limit was 80 km per hour, said a sign just north of the Yacht Bar, which sits at a crossroads, which sends motorists south to Rush, west to Baldungan, or east to Loughshinny. While the traffic that travelled north and south tended to be cars and buses, most of the vehicles that rumbled east and west were tractors or lorries. It was a road that demanded everyone to practice a good deal of caution, especially those walking, because its footpaths were quite fragmented. On the road leading down towards Lougshinny, there was a long footpath on the northern side. But not the south. Similarly, on the R128 up to Skerries, there was a small piece of pathway, about 50m long on the west side, and a long thin one on the east, stretching for almost 330m before it ends at a bus stop. Locals have been campaigning for more than 20 years in some cases to extend the paths and make the road safer, said Robert Kelly, the chairperson of the Lougshinny Community Association on Monday. “We feel like we’ve been talking about safety as our number one issue, and we feel like a neglected village.” The village is in dire need of a proper pedestrian connection to Skerries, says Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan. “The address for Loughshinny is ‘Loughshinny, Skerries,’ and it is absolutely unbelievable that there is no safe means of pedestrians walking that distance.” Locals have staged protests, he said, asking the council for improved paths to help children in Brendan’s National School walk to and from their homes. The lack of decent footpaths has led to so many unnecessary car journeys, he says. “Even the daily commute to school. There’s no option for the kids to walk or cycle to school in a safe manner.” Last year, there was some hope among locals that the council might finally alleviate this stress. In November 2025, the council completed anactive travel feasibility study on these footpaths just outside the coastal village. But, while [it recommended](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063191-footapth-feasibilty-report-loughshinny-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) some traffic-calming measures and shared surfaces to be used by vehicles and active travel users, its main conclusion was that any new pathways would be too costly and time consuming, as they would necessitate the purchase of lands from private homeowners. The council’s plan to build a [new playground in Loughshinny](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-moves-on-plans-to-plug-in-play-areas-in-loughshinny-and-portrane/) has, again though, focused attention on the safety of getting around there without a car. It’s not a big ask to keep the village safe, Kelly says. “We feel like we’re being ignored on something reasonable like a playground. How are kids meant to walk to a playground if it’s cut off?” ## Not feasible Fingal’s Active Travel Unit looked at existing footpaths and crossing points in the Loughshinny area, according to the feasibility study. It was completed in-house by a “competent engineering team with a track record in the delivery of active travel infrastructure”, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. The report looked at three specific areas around Loughshinny: the road east to the harbour from the R128, and the road west to Baldongan, as well as the one that goes north to Skerries, it says. The road towards the harbour was very narrow, and it wouldn’t be feasible to provide separate active travel infrastructure by reallocating road space, the report said. They could carry out possible interventions, like traffic-calming measures or the implementation of shared surfaces to be used by motorists and active travel users, it says. But implementing any particular measure would require further investigation, and would cost an estimated €1 million, it says. Building segregated facilities would necessitate a compulsory purchase of sections of front gardens from private homeowners, it said. “\[And\] so would likely take a significant amount of time and money.” Meanwhile, the report similarly concluded that due to the geometry of the road up to Skerries and its traffic flow, it would not be appropriate to provide any active travel facilities within the current carriageway. Again, these interventions would require acquiring lands along the length of the road, it says. “This would take a significant amount of time and would likely be of significant cost.” The price would be somewhere in the region of €3 million, because there are bridge culverts and drainage in this area that would need upgrading, it says. It may not be necessary to compulsorily purchase land, however, said Ryan, the Labour councillor, on Tuesday. “According to the residents, they’ve approached some landowners who would be willing to play ball,” he said. ## Paths, play and parking On the western side of the R128, a sign had been mounted to a fence that wrapped around the large grassy park outside the Bartra Lougshinny Residential Nursing Home. It was a planning notice, informing passers-by that Fingal County Council intends to seek permission to develop a public play space on the site. The council had launched its public consultation last Wednesday, 15 April, according to [the council’s website](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/notice-proposed-development-planning-development-act-2000-part-xi-amended-planning-development-6?ref=dublininquirer.com). But, while local councillors welcomed the proposed design when it was presented to the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee [meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-moves-on-plans-to-plug-in-play-areas-in-loughshinny-and-portrane/) on 9 April, they were worried about how accessible this play space would be both for pedestrians and for motorists, as the plan only provides a single car parking space. The council would need to re-evaluate the need for proper access by foot to a facility like this, said Ryan, the councillor, at the meeting. The new proposed design would include an uncontrolled crossing, Oliver Hoey, Fingal’s executive parks superintendent said. There would also be a new footpath, which leads up to the nursing home’s entrance, and which allows users to access another path within the site to reach the bus stop, he said. With the provision of the playground, the council is trying to encourage active travel, Hoey said. The feasibility report, however, cast doubts on whether footpaths could be provided on the road as it continues past the nursing home and out towards Baldongan. These too would require the acquisition of lands, it said. “Works along this section are estimated to be approximately €2.5 million for land acquisition and construction.” One issue is that the road includes a railway bridge, it says. “Any intervention would require a Railway Order and the cooperation of Irish Rail.” The timeline for works to the bridge would likely be lengthy, it said, and would cost somewhere in the vicinity of €1 million. ## What next? While the active travel feasibility study didn’t provide the desired outcome for locals, there are still other ways to improve the footpaths in the area, says Ryan. Arguably, this shouldn’t be categorised as an active travel project, he says. “There are constraints in active travel.” They are funded by the Department of Transport, he says. “And basically they identify kind of particular pieces of infrastructure that are required, and they have certain criteria.” This should be handled by Fingal’s Strategic Infrastructure Department instead as a major project separate from active travel funding. “So that would be with the council’s own money. In that sense, we need to look beyond active travel, and in my view, as an infrastructure project.” It is “shameful” that there isn’t a safe pedestrian link from Loughshinny to Skerries, he says. “Council officials have got to accept that that has to be a priority in some way.” Fingal County Council wouldn’t comment on whether it would investigate any other measures to improve active travel in the area while it is making plans for the new playground. The Lougshinny Community Association have written to the National Transport Authority and the Minister for Transport, and they do intend to keep engaging with the council, says Kelly. “But ultimately, if we’re honest with ourselves, a protest action is not out of the question, which, at this stage, we really have to consider,” he said. ### A look at Dublin Inquirer's finances URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-look-at-dublin-inquirers-finances/ Last updated: 2026-04-23T10:10:01.000Z We met the other day as a team here, and went over our finances for 2025 and the outlook for 2026, so I thought I'd share with you, as I sometimes do, what we talked about. We ask people to subscribe to help us do what we do, so it only feels fair to tell you all where we are financially, and what we'd spend that subscription income on. First, the big picture. In our most recent annual accounts, filed in November with the Companies Registration Office, for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2025, we had a loss of €1,871\. In the previous year, we'd made a profit of €133. This is, essentially, breaking even in both years. That's kind of fine. It'd be nice to be hugely profitable, but what would we do with those profits anyway? We've no parent company or shareholders demanding them. So my goal is to spend basically all of the money we get on journalism. If it looks like there's going to be any "extra" money at the end of the year, I spend it. The main thing you need to make journalism, is journalists. So I raise salaries, commission more freelance articles, and provide tools that journalists need to do their jobs. Of course, I wish we had a bit more money, so I could pay our journalists more, and, importantly, have a cushion in the bank. I'm doing my best to get us there. ## Income In terms of income, our main source of revenue in 2025 was from readers, via subscriptions (and tips/small once-off donations). I think this is great, and that it gives us the right incentives: the people who pay (most of) our bills are our readers, who we believe just want us to do good journalism – which is what we want to do anyways. Synergy! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/image-1.png) You'll notice that grants also made up a big portion of our income. That's predominantly from Coimisiún na Meán via its Local Democracy Reporting Scheme. We got funding in 2025 to [hire two new reporters](https://www.dublininquirer.com/were-hiring-two-reporters/) to cover Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. And to run our [City Centre Crime Victimisation Survey](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tag/city-centre-crime-victim-survey/). We're small, and adding two reporters to the team was a big lift. It meant our reporters were writing more articles than our editors – Lois and I – could edit on a single evening. So, after publishing once a week (on Wednesday morning) since 2015, we moved to publishing twice a week (adding Friday morning). That meant two nights working until 1am or 2am, and getting up at 6.30am with the kids and going to work and trying to get through the day bleary-eyed. For us, it was also a test to see whether more articles would translate into more subscriptions, and a quicker runway away from grants and greater reader revenue, which is the grail. That hasn't really happened. A year ago we had 1,932 subscribers. Today we have 1,925 subscribers. So for 2026, while we applied for – and were offered – the grants to cover the same three things again (two reporters, one survey), we decided to take only enough for one reporter, and the crime survey. That means in next year's accounts you'll see a smaller share of our income coming from grants from Coimisiún na Meán. So that's the income side. Now let's look at spending. ## Expenditure Our main cost is employing people: salaries, payroll taxes, and since auto-enrollment for pensions came in last year, pension contributions. In 2025, the gross salary for a full-time staff member here was €2,625 a month – we all make the same, either in full, or pro-rated, for those who work part-time. In 2026, we're raising that by 3 percent, as the cost of living is rising. In January 2026, to pick a pretty representative month, we spent €23,221.44 to run Dublin Inquirer. Here's what we spent that money on: 73.3 percent on salaries and associated costs, 5.7 percent on freelance fees, 5.3 percent on mailout/postage costs, 4.8 percent on printing, and smaller bits on software, rent, accounting, and other costs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/image.png) So that's a peek behind the scenes at Dublin Inquirer Limited, headquartered in a room with four desks at the Digital Hub, on Thomas Street, in Dublin 8. ## Value for money The reason this company exists is not to make profits for a parent company, or shareholders, or owners. The reason it exists is to pay the salaries of journalists so they/we can do the kind of original, quality, independent community journalism we want to do – and that we think a healthy society, and democracy, require. We write articles about issues we think matter, and shape the lives of people in Dublin every day. Things like housing, homelessness, vacancy, dereliction, public transport, cycling, parking, immigrant life, film, music, arts, books, and food. Our articles let readers know what their government – local, national, and associated quangos, etcetera – is doing. Where we find problems, we try also to look around and talk to people involved, or experts, or look to other jurisdictions, to try to find solutions as well. We also try to not only cover the challenges faced by this city, and those of us who live in it, to help readers find ways to get out and get involved – with their neighbours – in their communities. And, with our weekly Things to Do newsletter, to get out and have some fun in town, as there's much to be had. More than 192,000 people visited our website in the past 30 days. Although, this was unusually high – more usual might be 120,000. Our two newsletters – Dublin News, with our headlines (by me), and Things to Do, with, well, things to do (by Michael Lanigan) – go out to about 10,500 people. Let's not dwell on who has a bigger audience, because it's Michael. Our articles are also picked up fairly regularly by other, larger media outlets, which spread them even further. And we can see them having impacts, feeding into public debates, prompting public officials to fix specific problems, helping people make connections and feel part of the community. Making all this possible, by providing the core of our revenue, are our 1,925 subscribers (thank you!). If you'd consider joining them [by subscribing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/membership/), and/or urging others to subscribe, we'd be really grateful. Since we're small, every [subscription taken out](https://www.dublininquirer.com/membership/), or [one-off donation given](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/), or [advert bought](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/) really makes a difference. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch, I'm easy to reach. All the best, Sam Tranum, Editor sam@dublininquirer.com 0873924797 ### Ballymun-Finglas councillors want answers on figures suggesting low council investment in their area URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-finglas-councillors-want-answers-on-figures-suggesting-low-council-investment-in-their-area/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:22:17.000Z Councillors for Ballymun and Finglas on Tuesday called for a meeting with the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, about the low level of council investment in capital projects in their areas. At the monthly meeting of the full council on 13 April, Enda Currid, the council’s head of management accounting, had given a presentation on the council’s latest [capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985-report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com), its budget for big once-off projects. That presentation included a [breakdown of spending](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063738-capital-spending-by-area/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for each of the council’s five administrative areas. The North West Area, which includes Ballymun and Finglas, is set to get only 2 percent of spend, outside of housing, it said. The South East Area, by contrast, which includes the Kimmage-Rathmines, Pembroke, and South-East Inner-City local electoral areas, is due to get 28 percent of capital spend outside of housing over that period, according to the presentation. Shakespeare, the chief executive, said, “Yep, in terms of investment, the North West doesn’t do well. I don’t know why.” At the monthly meeting, councillors from across the city [debated](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-and-finglas-to-get-the-least-council-investment-in-projects-in-the-coming-years/) the planned distribution of capital spend geographically across the city and whether it is appropriate. On Tuesday, People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy tabled an emergency [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28063725-conor-reddy-motion-on-2-percent-spend-in-nwac/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the North West Area Committee, calling for a meeting with Shakespeare, to discuss the area’s current and future needs. At that meeting, the motion said, Shakespeare should explain how the disparity arose, what steps will be taken to prevent it growing. As well as what measures can be taken to prioritise the North West Area for upcoming projects, “in light of the scale of need, historic disadvantage, and likely future population growth”. Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan said that, “I think we were all horrified that we were going to get 2 percent and other areas were going to get as high as 28 percent.” ## Digging into the numbers However, Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly, chairing the meeting, said the figures in the presentation at the monthly meeting were “flawed”. For starters, the other four council administrative areas have larger populations, Connolly said – and the 2 percent figure excludes spending on housing. Per capita, the North West Area is still [set to get](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXqkqn44Loqnw6Kljc8iIX-gsFjb--uof7T3vZZTjBk/edit?gid=0&ref=dublininquirer.com#gid=0) the least non-housing capital spend, by far: €475 per person, compared to the South East Area’s €2,208 per person. For all projects, housing and non-housing combined, the North West Area is top of [the table](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXqkqn44Loqnw6Kljc8iIX-gsFjb--uof7T3vZZTjBk/edit?gid=0&ref=dublininquirer.com#gid=0), on a per capita basis, just ahead of the South Central Area. That’s because the North West Area is set to get the [highest spend](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXqkqn44Loqnw6Kljc8iIX-gsFjb--uof7T3vZZTjBk/edit?gid=0&ref=dublininquirer.com#gid=0) per capita – by some distance – on housing. Yes, more housing will bring to the area more people who want and need more of the once-off projects that the council funds through [its capital programme](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/), like sports centres, libraries, and markets. But, Connolly pointed out, when private developers build big new housing projects, there can be “community gain” funds that come along with them. For example, the new Oscar Traynor Woods complex, in the neighbouring North Central Area, has come with [a pot of about €7 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-council-officials-trying-to-steer-coolocks-community-gain-fund-towards-what-they-want/) for projects for the surrounding area. Much of that money looks set to fund the council’s planned new Kilmore Recreation Centre, including a new swimming pool. Jackie O’Reilly, the Ballymun area manager, said the presentation that showed the 2 percent figure for the North West Area was “misleading”. The area *has* had significant investment, O’Reilly said. She pointed to the North City Operations Depot, the council’s new “super depot”, which it spent about [€](https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-council-officials-trying-to-steer-coolocks-community-gain-fund-towards-what-they-want/)[74 million](https://web.archive.org/web/20230628200254/https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-opens-new-north-city-operations-depot) to build in the area, near Ikea. That depot consists of a four-storey office block, warehouses, workshops, car parks and more. The council planned to relocate almost 600 staff members from other, smaller depots to this new one. (Of course, the council’s current capital programme includes the council’s plans to build a new headquarters, at Camden Yard, on Kevin Street, in the South East Area. Part of an approximately [€580 million plan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/) for that site which would also include housing.) Listing off big recent-ish projects in the North West Area at Tuesday’s meeting, O’Reilly also mentioned the “Balbutcher-Hampton Road infrastructure project”, possibly referring to the Balbutcher Lane Junction Reconfiguration, near Hampton Woods Drive. “You also have the Sillogue infrastructure upgrade project,” she said, which “is ready for the housing coming in”. Councillors asked the council managers at the meeting to come back with more detailed figures that they could all dig into, to try to get a clearer picture of capital spending in the North West Area, and how it compares to other areas. ## Promises, promises Among the analyses they want to see, is one that looks not only at promised spend in the area over time, but actual spend in the area over time. Callaghan, the Social Democrats councillor, pointed, in particular, to the [Finglas Village improvement scheme](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) – meant to improve footpaths and cycle lanes there – which has been in six successive capital programmes, but hasn’t been built yet. So that should only be counted once, in the figures – it shouldn’t be counted as if it was new spend in each new capital programme. “That’s not extra,” she said. “I’d love to see what were we allocated and what did we actually spend,” she said. “As far as I can see what we were going to do we didn’t do, so there should be a huge shortfall going back in time as well.” Bernard Kelly, executive manager, said that “They’re actually going to break ground on that this summer.” Callaghan replied: “You have no idea how many years we’ve been hearing that.” Kelly agreed to come back at next month’s area committee meeting with the additional figures and analyses the councillors had asked for. “If there is a huge disparity in spending in our area, compared to other areas, we absolutely have to do something about that,” Callaghan said. The committee agreed to back Reddy’s motion. ### Father of disabled child refused access to a disabled car parking spot in his complex URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/father-of-disabled-child-refused-access-to-a-disabled-car-parking-spot-in-his-complex/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:23:54.000Z Six disabled parking spots are scattered around the basement car park of The Davitt apartment complex in Drimnagh. For several months after he moved in, in October 2022, Brian McKenna – his blue badge visible through the windscreen – could park in one, no problem, he said. But the apartment blocks gradually filled up with new tenants, social in one block, private renters in others. Parking spaces in the car park are rented out, as an add-on. He began to find notes left on his car. “Please don’t park here. It may be a wheelchair space but it is being paid for by a resident," read one, a photo shows. “This is not your car park. Stop parking here,” read another. McKenna wonders if the disabled spaces are being rented out to general users, he said. He really needs to be able to park close to his apartment. His daughter, Jorja, was born with Jacobsen Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, which means that at the age of 10, his daughter has the cognitive ability closer to that of a three-year-old. She has very complex needs, McKenna says. Mobility issues, and heart issues, and a platelet dysfunction, so if she is cut, she can’t stop bleeding. This platelet issue, and Jorja’s innocence of any physical dangers around her, means McKenna has to be eternally vigilant, he said. McKenna is willing to pay to be able to park in his complex’s car park, he said. He has asked, again and again. But while there are disabled spots and he has a blue badge, as a social tenant in the block, he isn’t allowed. His home is owned by Dublin City Council but managed by the housing association Tuath. The wider complex and basement car park is owned by Herbert Park ICAV, a fund managed by Avestus Capital Partners which operates under the Havitat brand, and is under the management of Savills. McKenna has asked at the front desk to rent a spot, and been refused, and has asked through Tuath Housing and been refused, shows correspondence. The management company won’t allow it, he and others have been told, because Tuath has no agreement in place for car park access for its residents – but it’s unclear who exactly is making the final call. On Wednesday evening a bit after 8pm, some of the disabled spots were empty, while two had cars parked in them – without blue badges. That’s usually the case, said McKenna, that the cars that repeatedly park in the disabled spaces don’t even have those badges. A spokesperson for Tuath Housing said that the car park is overseen by the owner management company. They recognise the importance of accessible parking, they said, “and have raised this issue on a number of occasions with the relevant parties”. They remain committed to engaging to come up with a resolution, said the spokesperson. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council, likewise, said that it was committed to engaging with all parties to find a resolution. Two years ago, though, a written response to a query from then-councillor Sophie Nicoullaud said that council staff had been talking to the operator about access to accessible parking spaces, and its legal team was reviewing a proposal put forward which would see the council pay €75 a month for each space. Neither Havitat, nor Savills, have responded to queries. ## **A small ask** Disabled person’s parking permits are administered by the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association. They decide who is eligible for a permit, because they really need a special, accessible, place to park up – like McKenna, in his role as Jorja’s carer. This is a strange situation, said Richard Ryder communications manager of the Disabled Drivers Association. One issue is that blue badges are really only enforceable in public on-street parking spots. “The law extends to public places only,” said Ryder by phone on Tuesday. “Whereas like Tesco, Lidl, any of those places, it's down to the management company to police it.” That said, when it comes to a person displaying a blue badge, he said, “you'd imagine people would just respect them”. A spokesperson for the Irish Wheelchair Association said it hadn’t heard of a situation like the one in The Davitt before, either. “Irish Wheelchair Association would always fully support the operation and management of disabled car spaces in the manner that facilitates full access for motorists with disabilities, be they passenger or driver,” the spokesperson said. These days, McKenna tries to park on a strip of Galtymore Road just outside the southern gates to The Davitt, whenever possible, he said. But it often isn’t, he said. He is competing with overflow on-street parking from other tenants of the complex, and local residents in the wider area. So, sometimes, given Jorja’s needs, he still tries to park in the car park, out of necessity. Recently, he discovered his car had been clamped in the car park by the company hired to operate it, Apcoa. He paid the fine, he said – but then also applied directly to Apcoa for a permit through its online portal, which lets people upload their blue badge to prove they need access to disabled parking spaces. Apcoa obliged. They sent him one of their branded discs, so their staff would know to leave his car alone. But he was clamped again – with both the Apcoa disc and his blue badge visible. His Apcoa disc had been rescinded, he was told. “Declined at the request of the management company as you are not registered as a tenant of this location,” an email from Apcoa said. The idea that he is not registered as a tenant of The Davitt is ludicrous, said McKenna. But as he sees it, the statement reflects how social tenants are seen by building management, he said. “That highlights that they don't want us at all and is typical of their attitude.” The[ Mobility Management Plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28049198-mobility-management-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) drawn up for The Davitt in April 2021 as part of the planning process says of the six accessible parking bays: “Should residents with such needs require them they will be assigned accordingly." Well, this resident requires one and has been denied, says McKenna. All residents should have equal access to all resources and car parking, says Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. “Especially people with a blue badge and who need access to disability parking.” “The days of apartheid in housing should be over. It should be reduced to the rubbish bin of history,” he said by phone on Thursday. ## **Whither the council?** The segregation and unequal access to other amenities in The Davitt – and other complexes in the city with a mix of social and private tenancies – has been [raised in years past](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-apartment-complexes-across-the-city-social-tenants-are-segregated-into-separate-blocks-with-barriers-to-access-to-amenities/) in the Dublin City Council chamber. But the focus has been largely on the fees to access any shared amenities, and the exclusionary burden of that for lower-income social tenants. In this case though, it isn’t even about the necessity of paying that is in dispute. McKenna is more than willing to pay for access to a disabled parking space. But he just isn’t allowed to. McKenna’s issue in The Davitt exposes the deep problems in depending on private developers to deliver social housing, saysDoolan, the councillor. It highlights the need for the government to provide adequate funding to build housing to meet the needs of the city, he says. “This epitomises the worst of our dependency on Part V,” he said, “where we have to depend on the private developer to provide the housing that we need.” When there is a father who cannot access parking despite the fact that he's got a blue badge, despite the fact that he's got a child with disability, says Doolan, this crystallizes the need for a comprehensive public housing building programme in Dublin. Dublin City Council itself [has a strategic plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28050685-dublin-city-council-strategic-plan-housing-disability/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for housing people with disabilities. It cites a “person-centered approach”. Its mission, the document says, is to promote “equal access to housing by ensuring that people with a disability are placed at the centre of housing policy and by encouraging better communication and co-operation between all the relevant statutory and voluntary stakeholders”. One solution, said McKenna, could be to make a few of the on-street parking spaces to the south of the complex on Galtymore Road into disabled bays – and permitted for those in the social housing. The council hasn’t responded to a query asking about that proposal, sent on Thursday morning. But if he and his daughter won’t be accommodated with the disabled parking space that they need, he should be moved somewhere more suitable, said McKenna. He had put in to Dublin City Council for a transfer, requesting medical priority, given Jorja’s needs. The council informed him in January that his request had been denied. McKenna said there is something off to him about using the name of Michael Davitt on The Davitt complex. Not least, he said, because Davitt – the Irish revolutionary, famed for his involvement in the Irish National Land League – was also disabled having lost an arm in a childhood accident. The irony, says McKenna, is seemingly lost on some. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Despite fine words, some young people still face homelessness when leaving state care URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-fine-words-some-young-people-still-face-homelessness-when-leaving-state-care/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:24:03.000Z There are 90 young people, raised in the care of the Irish state, who are waiting for social housing from Dublin City Council and have priority status But last year, the council housed only six young people off that list. As well as the underlying desperate shortage of social homes, a barrier for those waiting is how various priorities are weighed. Another priority list seems to move more quickly. There are currently eight households with welfare priority – meaning their current living conditions are exceptionally difficult, with domestic violence or extreme intimidation, say – and 27 were housed from that list last year. Dublin City Council released the figures in response to questions raised by Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. A council spokesperson said both cohorts have top priority for homes, but the difference is that some with welfare priority joined the list a long time ago. “In general, these applicants will have a longer application date as a priority,” says a council spokesperson. Young people who turn 18 and leave state care are disadvantaged by a time-on-list waiting system for housing. That is why state agencies have developed policies, protocols and strategies to account for that, and to try to prevent them from becoming homeless. A Department of Housing [protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28051638-aftercare-joint-protocol-on-young-people-leaving-state-care/?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued in June last year tells councils to find solutions for young people leaving care, so they don’t become homeless. But it is still up to councils to decide whether to prioritise care leavers for social housing, it says. “It's a postcode lottery,” says Terry Dignan, chair of the Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association, an umbrella body for charities that run children’s homes. “Even if you have priority, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be housed,” he said. So too says Gordon Hill, a senior manager at the charity Crosscare, overseeing its children’s residential care and aftercare services. Aftercare supports are certainly better for young people who stay in education, he said. But “for those with higher needs, those that are a bit more traumatised from their care experience, at risk of homelessness, that has not improved”, said Hill. Despite policies to try to stop it, Tusla will in practice push children’s homes to move on a young person when they hit 18 years old, because it desperately needs the bed back for another, younger child. Some of those who are pushed out have nowhere to turn but to homeless services, joining a growing cohort of nearly 1,500 homeless people in Dublin aged under 25\. “You’re building the next generation of long-term homeless,” said Hill. A glimmer of hope is a new housing programme called [Supported Housing for Youth](https://www.cluid.ie/news-stories/the-supported-housing-for-youth-is-marking-its-first-anniversary/?ref=dublininquirer.com), he said. But that is not specifically aimed at care leavers. ## **Policy, protocol, practice** The [Youth Homelessness Strategy 2022 to 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25506329-youth-homelessness-strategy-2023-to-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com)failed. The number of young people homeless in the Dublin region rose by around 50 percent across the three years, show Department of Housing figures. In [November 2022](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25506394-244354-18644d00-1960-4c04-8893-55425162336f-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com),980 young adults aged 18 to 24 were homeless in Dublin. By [December 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28051553-homeless-report-december-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), that figure had risen to 1,496\. Care leavers are one of six groups of young people who are most vulnerable to becoming homeless, according to the strategy. Charities working with the homeless have long reported how many homeless people have a history of state care. However, this hasn’t been [properly tracked](https://www.dublininquirer.com/many-young-people-who-leave-state-care-end-up-homeless-but-it-s-not-clear-how-many/). In March last year, Dublin City Council tightened up [which care leavers could get housing priority](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-to-restrict-which-care-leavers-can-get-prioritised-for-social-housing/), saying it would prioritise only those coming from residential care, and engaging in Tusla’s aftercare service, in order to target support where it was most needed. Then last summer, a [joint protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28051638-aftercare-joint-protocol-on-young-people-leaving-state-care/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was issued by the Department of Housing and Tusla to clarify that councils have a responsibility to accommodate care leavers who are at risk of homelessness. “Housing Authorities should utilise all of the support options available to them so as to ensure that young people leaving State care do not become homeless,” says the [protocol. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28051638-aftercare-joint-protocol-on-young-people-leaving-state-care/?ref=dublininquirer.com) But it also goes on to say that it is up to each council to decide whether to prioritise the young person for housing. And when they are deemed to need social housing, “the provision of such social housing will be subject to availability and the operation of the relevant Housing Authorities' Allocations Scheme”, it says. Even with priority, young people could wait years for a home, living in homelessness in the meantime, said Dignan. Tusla is also signed up to the protocol, but when it comes to young people leaving state care and ending up homeless, the policy and practice don’t always align, say both Hill and Dignan. “The policy says we do not discharge people into homelessness,” says Hill. But in practice, if staff in a children’s home cannot find any other accommodation for a care leaver, Tusla will say it needs the placement for a child under 18, he says. Due to the crisis in placements, some transition housing for 17- to 19-year-olds has converted back to under-18s, say both Hill and Dignan. “They say no child can be discharged until they have an appropriate placement,” says Dignan. But Tusla managers have told him, he said, that homeless services are an appropriate placement. Said Hill: “If a young person is engaging, it shouldn’t be possible to go from care to homelessness.” ## **One step forward, two steps back** In 2019, as the housing crisis was deepening, advocates for care leavers [called](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-must-be-done-to-keep-young-people-leaving-state-care-from-falling-into-homelessness-some-say/) for safeguards to make sure young people didn’t leave state care and go straight into homeless services. Neil Forsyth, of the Irish Aftercare Network, said young people should remain in the care of the state until they could secure stable accommodation. Dignan says that the same problem still exists. As housing supply tightens, there need to be more homes delivered specifically for care leavers, he said. Youth homelessness is increasing but there is still no clear data on whether more care leavers end up homeless. “Anecdotally, from what I’m seeing around our services, I wouldn’t say it's better,” says Hill. One problem, says Hill, is that the aftercare budget is not ringfenced. “There are probably fewer aftercare beds now than previously,” he says. “Because of the ongoing crisis in under-18s and Tusla being a chronically underfunded organisation.” He points to the recent [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28052056-oco-children-in-care-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Ombudsman for Children, which found Tusla was severely underfunded. “You could draw a direct line between decisions made in D-PER \[the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform\] and where some kids end up,” says Hill. Many unaccompanied minors – children who arrive in Ireland from overseas without guardians or parents – are at risk of homelessness now, he says. But the problem also predates a significant number of refugee children coming to Ireland, he said. “That issue of kids going from care to homelessness has been going on for a number of years,” says Hill. The Ombudsman for Children’s report also raises the concern “that not all care leavers are receiving appropriate aftercare support, and aftercare supports and services are not being provided to all young people who need them”. For young people who remain in education, aftercare has improved. If no other accommodation is available, the state will often pay for student accommodation, says Hill. But then if the young person drops out of college, they could lose their accommodation too, he says. Some young people are excluded from aftercare because they came into care at 17, even if they have been known to Tusla for years, he says. In those cases, children’s home staff are still told to bring them to the council to register for homeless services, he says. “When aftercare works it’s brilliant,” said Hill, “and when it doesn’t work it’s horrific.” ### When his daughter’s fiancé hasn't heard of Italia ‘90, a Marino father senses something is off URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-his-daughters-fiance-hasnt-heard-of-italia-90-a-marino-father-senses-something-is-off/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:24:12.000Z Upstairs in the Irish Writers Centre on Parnell Square, 50 or so theatre fans trickle into the Benedict Kiely Room, until they fill every seat. Ahead is a rehearsed reading of playwright and novelist Michael J. Hartnett’s new work, *Milano to Marino.* It’s part of the Five Lamps Arts Festival, running from 11 to 19 April. The grand setting quickly transformed into the family living room of Peg and Fran, played by Pat Sullivan and Owen O’Gorman, and their last unmarried child, Susie, played by Heather Hennessy. The cast was reunited, following their turn last November in Hartnett’s [*Tropical Fish in the Tolka,*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-north-strand-family-plots-to-block-development-and-worries-about-tropical-fish-in-a-new-play-at-the-viking-theatre/) which ran for three weeks in Clontarf’s Viking Theatre. There is a familiar dynamic from the outset of *Milano to Marino.* It opens with Sullivan and O’Gorman playing a long-married couple in the midst of a good bicker. The performers have a warm chemistry. Peg knows some major news about Susie. But, sworn to secrecy, all she can tell Fran is that there is something she can’t tell him. The tension builds, with one more frustrated than the other. Eventually, Peg cracks. Susie is to be married to an Italian waiter called Alfredo – who she only just met on a holiday. “If only he had the bloody patience to wait a while,” Fran cracks. Fran realises that he met Alfredo at a party recently, without copping the connection to his daughter. The unimpressed father hints at something a bit off about this Italian. When Fran tried to chat to him about Italia ’90, the young man had never heard of it. Fran’s bewildered telling of the encounter brought laughs around the venue. But also hints to something revealed later. After all, how could anybody in Ireland or Italy not remember the glory of the Italia ’90 World Cup? ## **Testing it out** In the front row sits writer and film director Ronan O’Leary. His own vast credits include co-writing the screenplay for *Frankie Starlight*, starring Matt Dillon and Gabriel Byrne. He also directed and co-wrote *Driftwood,* starring James Spader and Anne Brochet. O’Leary is a huge fan of Hartnett’s work, he says. “Michael J. Hartnett is a Dubliner who writes for Dublin in his plays and in his novels,” says O’Leary. “The great value of readings like these is that it makes the work of Dubliners accessible to other Dubliners, with topics and situations that they can relate to,” he says. Next to O’Leary is Don Jordan, whose own credits include the screenplay for *Love Is the Devil*, a biopic of Francis Bacon, starring Daniel Craig and Derek Jacobi. Film critic Roger Ebert of the *Chicago-Sun Times* gave the film 3.5/4 stars. Jordan says events like this, and the Five Lamps Arts Festival, are important as it brings arts into the community. “And that’s a great thing.” “The arts don't have to always just be on a platform. They don't always have to be an event that is very formal,” he says. “You can have an informal reading, or whatever the art form is, locally and local to people,” he says. “That's one of the great things that’s brought me along.” ## **Almost two decades on** The Five Lamps Arts Festival was first brought to life in 2007 by Róisín Lonergan, a retired teacher of Marino College. Now, 19 years later, the festival is as exciting as ever, she said before *Milano to Marino* started. “I don’t really get any money out of it,” she says. “I’m the chief volunteer,” she says, with a hearty chuckle. “I’m also chief tea-maker, and chief cleaner-upper.” Sometimes, she is also chief bouncer, she said, as she checked tickets at the door. She is always amazed at the roster of talent the festival pulls together, she says. The return of celebrated play *The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong*, starring Don Wycherley, is one personal highlight, she says. And, there are family and children’s events across the week too, she said. Music and theatre events for local schools, a cushion concert from the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and Lego events. On Sunday 19 April, there’s a family day out in the Mud Island Community Garden, behind Cloud Café in North Strand – featuring live music, dance, circus acts, and children’s workshops. The festival is also a chance for those in the arts to meet and take stock, she says. On Thursday morning, there was a conference in Fáilte Ireland of festival producers, she said. “Listening to what others are finding difficult.” Theatre professionals are grappling with a loss of venues, said Lonergan. “We lost venues in the north-east inner-city, but the new International Centre for the Image” – run by PhotoIreland at the bottom of Kennedy Wilson’s Coopers Cross complex – “in North Wall, is amazing,” she said, an optimistic lift in her voice. Also discussed at length throughout the festival was the endless filling-in of application forms for funding, she says. ## **Milano to Marino** Front of house, though, the familial tensions continue to build in the reading of *Milano to Marino.* Peg decides their home needs a spruce-up, lest their soon-to-be Italian in-laws stop by. To give the place a bit of culture, a bidet maybe. That could go in the downstairs bathroom – a small space under the stairs they nickname “granny’s grotto”. With every suggested home improvement, Fran reminds her of how those down the years have ultimately landed on his shoulders. He just doesn’t want the fuss anymore. But Peg wants everything just right for their baby girl’s big day. In the latter half of the reading’s run, we are introduced to daughter Susie. We learn things have become rocky with her new relationship. Fran’s frustrations at any refurbishments evolve into concern. The loving, if at-times embattled, father sees the problem and, for his daughter’s sake, starts to formulate a solution. ## **Dipping in** Part of the fun of the Five Lamps Arts Festival is getting to try out new ideas like *Milano to Marino,* in a relaxed environment among supporters and peers, said Hartnett, after the show. “It gives you a bit of a showcase, to put your toe in the water and just see how it goes,” he says. “There's nothing like getting a live response, because then you know what's working.” What gets a big laugh can be a surprise, he says. Other times, it’s the reverse. “Something you think is terribly funny is a complete and utter disaster,” he said. Hartnett isn’t quite sure yet when *Milano to Marino* will get its full production, he said. But he knows now what needs tightening. “It felt a bit over-written in a few places,” he says. Just then, Ronan O’Leary, the director, pops his head around the corner. He has one suggestion. That moment before Susie appears on stage? Her parents should shush each other nervously, so the audience knows she’s coming. “It builds up her entry,” he said. Hartnett agrees, as the pair of stage and screen veterans give each other a smiling nod. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Residents with EVs told to remove their on-street electric car chargers, or else URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-with-evs-told-to-remove-their-on-street-electric-car-chargers-or-else/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:24:24.000Z In Kilcarbery Grange near Clondalkin, residents have been told they must remove electric car chargers from the footpaths outside their homes – after spending around €2,000 each to have them installed. The estate generally consists of terraces of two-storey townhouses, with small front gardens that abut the footpath and, on the other side of that, parking spaces. Subhash Mathew drives a hybrid, plug-in electric car. There is a parking spot right outside his house, but like most in his estate, it's a communal space – it’s not reserved for him alone, he said. At first, Mathew used public charging spaces that are provided within the estate, he said. But those are also outside people’s houses, so that caused conflict with those people, who also wanted to park in front of their own houses. So Mathew shelled out around €2,000 for a company to install a charger on the footpath outside his home. The cable goes under the footpath, not causing any hazard, he says. “There is no cable outside, there is no issue,” said Mathew, “everything is 100 percent safe.” In February though, residents got an email from the estate owners’ management company. On-street chargers are not allowed and must be removed before South Dublin County Council can take charge of the estate, it said. In many estates, the developer initially builds not only the homes but also the common areas such as roads, footpaths, green areas, and more. There is then, later, a “taking-in-charge” process, through which the council takes over responsibility to maintain those common areas. South Dublin County Council “fully supports the transition to more sustainable transport choices and recognises the increasing uptake of electric vehicles”, a council spokesperson said. But “where privately installed EV chargers remain within footpaths or communal parking areas, the Council cannot assume responsibility for the road, footpath or associated services”, she says. Hence the pressure on residents to remove their EV chargers. Meanwhile, the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment said in a joint statement that they are working together “to develop a solution to enable people without access to off-street parking to use a home charging solution for on-street parking”. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean these personal on-street chargers will be allowed in the future. A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council says the new draft legislation “makes clear that such infrastructure must be delivered through planned, regulated and coordinated solutions, subject to appropriate standards, permissions and oversight, rather than through ad-hoc individual installations in shared public spaces”. Sinn Féin local representative Derren Ó Brádaigh says there is widespread confusion about the issue among residents of multiple estates in South Dublin. “There needs to be more clarity in plain and simple language for the public,” he says. ## **Why not use public charging?** On Wednesday afternoon, around 3pm, Azeez Jimmy stood outside his house on Rowan Avenue in Kilkarbery Grange. His taxi was parked in front of his house, in a space across the footpath from his front door. At the head of the spot was a Zappi EV charger, which he says he had installed for about €2,000. Since taxi drivers cover a lot of ground, their shift to electric cars plays an important contribution towards slashing carbon emissions. Jimmy said he needs to charge his car every day. When he moved into Kilcarbery Grange, the planned public charging stations were not yet up and running, which pushed him to get his own charger, he says. Also, the public charging stations were in spots in front of other people's houses, he says – echoing Mathew – and that could cause conflict if the person who lived there wanted to use that spot. “The ones provided by management are right in front of people's houses – they're expensive, and there will be arguments, fighting,” Jimmy said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/One-of-the-public-commercial-chargers-provided-by-management-in-Kilcarbery-Grange.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) One of the public commercial chargers provided by management in Kilcarbery Grange. Photo by Sam Tranum Not only that, but the public/commercial chargers in the estate are about four times more expensive than the charger he has installed, he said. The public chargers cost around 60 cents per kilowatt-hour, while charging at a private charger costs 10 cents to 16 cents an hour, he said. Mathew, the other resident, said that when he parked outside someone else’s house in a public charging station, his car was vandalised. There are also not enough of the public chargers for the number of people who need to charge their cars, said Mathew. Multiple householders in Kilcarbery Grange have installed electric chargers themselves, in communal spots outside their homes. Many new housing schemes, including another massive development nearby at Seven Mills, have communal parking. But communal spots don’t work well with electric charging, Mathew said. ## **Is communal parking the problem?** Most houses have a parking spot outside, Mathew said, so if each had a space assigned, there would be fewer problems. “We’re still asking for assigned spaces for each house.” He doesn’t always get to park outside his house, but he said that is not a major issue. “When they remove the car, I will put it back, no issue.” At least most of the time, he can charge cheaply and easily in front of his own home. People have paid around €500,000 to €550,000 to buy their homes, said Mathew, and he thinks each home should have one designated parking space. Residents have contacted all the local politicians, but “we still don’t have any green signal”, he said. Communal parking aims to reduce car dependency, said the spokesperson for South Dublin County Council. These schemes were designed before the widespread use of electric cars, she said. By late 2010, the Irish government had [set a target](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2010-11-16/305/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 10 percent of all vehicles – 225,000 vehicles – to be powered by electricity by 2020\. The developer Adwood lodged a pre-planning application for Kilcarbery Grange in 2018 and got planning permission for it in late [2019](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/southdublin/application-details/57180?ref=dublininquirer.com). By 2024, about [4.5 percent](https://alternative-fuels-observatory.ec.europa.eu/transport-mode/road/ireland/vehicles-and-fleet?ref=dublininquirer.com) of passenger cars in Ireland were EVs, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. The Irish government’s goal is to raise that to [30 percent](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/ireland-reaches-major-milestone-in-the-transition-to-electric-with-196000-evs-now-on-irish-roads/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by 2030. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Kilcarbery-Grange.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.jpg) Kilcarbery Grange. Photo by Sam Tranum Councils need to review the preference for communal parking layouts, Ó Brádaigh said. But even for householders who have a designated parking spot, there is currently no process to apply for permission to install an electric charger space on-street, he said. The issue is popping up across estates, and the council tells people to use communal chargers. “The public charging infrastructure is wholly inadequate,” he says. It's unreliable, too slow, too expensive, and there are not enough charging stations in the area, he says. If big planned new housing estates are forced to use communal chargers only, there would be queues, Ó Brádaigh said, which could in turn discourage people from transitioning from fossil fuels. ## **Will it be allowed in the future?** Mathew, the Kilcarbery Grange resident, said he is confused as to whether government policy is in support of people switching to electric cars. If it is difficult to charge, fewer people will make the shift, he said. The estate management company told residents to remove the chargers by email in February 2026\. “Any chargers installed on OMC-managed areas or areas controlled by SDCC (South Dublin County Council) will be removed in the coming weeks,” the email said. “This is to make sure that these areas can be properly handed over to SDCC.” It is not clear whether residents like these will be allowed to install chargers on the footpaths outside their homes in the future. The joint statement from the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment says that it is working on “a solution to enable people without access to off-street parking to use a home charging solution for on-street parking”. “The Department of Transport expect to have this finalised later this year,” a spokesperson said. Cabinet has approved the private wires general scheme, he said, and pre-legislative scrutiny took place in February. The Department intends to enact the new laws by the end of 2026, says the spokesperson. “Private lines will be allowed where they are the solution to allow on-street charging of electric vehicles,” says a summary of the draft private wires bill 2025, on the Department of Environment’s [website.](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/publications/private-wires-bill-2025-general-scheme-and-regulatory-impact-analysis/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said it's a decision for councillors. The chargers don’t require planning permission, and it's up to the council to decide whether to allow this, he says. Taking charge of a road “is a reserved function of the elected members”, he said. “Charging points are exempt from the need for planning permission, so it is a matter for the land owner.” A council spokesperson said that: “Privately owned electrical equipment in the public realm presents operational, safety and liability challenges, including potential obstruction of footpaths, accessibility impacts for other users, and interference with underground services.” There is a risk of setting an unsustainable precedent, she said, which could lead to “the uncontrolled proliferation of other private installations within shared public spaces”, says the spokesperson. She acknowledged the government’s policy calling for electric charging, including on-street solutions in higher-density developments. Still through, such infrastructure must be coordinated, the spokesperson said. “Subject to appropriate standards, permissions and oversight, rather than through ad-hoc individual installations in shared public spaces.” ### Council managers push forward with plan for a smaller Bull Island Discovery Centre URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-managers-push-forward-with-plan-for-a-smaller-bull-island-discovery-centre/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T23:24:33.000Z The council appears to be pressing ahead with its plan for a new Dublin Bay Discovery Centre on Bull Island, while conservationists and some local councillors still aren’t totally convinced. Independent Councillor John Lyons asked for an update on the proposed centre at Monday’s monthly council meeting. Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare said a pared-back version of the original plan was in the works. “I know that that has been watered down, you know, in terms of size and scale,” said Shakespeare. “I think there still is a need to provide something.” In early 2024, the plan was for an €18.7 million centre but during a consultation on that, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage [raised](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24361469-public-reports-pack-10012024-1000-climate-action-environment-and-energy-spc?ref=dublininquirer.com) doubts about the viability of the project. “The Department is not confident that if the provision of the Discovery Centre were to attract more visitors to Bull Island that there might not be increased adverse effects,” according to a submission from the department’s Edel Griffin. Later that year, Lyons urged the council to drop the idea, and reallocate the money to community facilities in the wider area. At Monday’s meeting, in response to Shakespeare’s update, Lyons said that “thankfully the allocated budget is slightly reduced”. ## **Years in the making** For years, Les Moore, the city parks superintendent, had been pushing the project forward, and giving presentations to councillors on its progress. In 2015, the council published plans for a [three-storey discovery centre](http://www.henchion-reuter.com/projects/bull-island-visitor-centre?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the entry via the causeway. By 2019, that vision had been scaled down. “Fundamentally, through the Discovery Centre we want to help people understand and appreciate this special place \[Dublin Bay\],” according to the [2019 update](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24361895-unesco-dublin-bay-discovery-centre-nov-2019-update?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Moore and project manager Donncha Ó Dúlaing. A 2021 update on the project [said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24361913-discovery-centre-update-report-area-committee-may-2021-final?ref=dublininquirer.com) the island gets about 1 million visitors a year and the centre wouldn’t add much to this. “Modest visitor numbers being envisaged (45,000 in year 1 of operation) and the majority of these being those already visiting the Island.” However, local conservationists [have long raised concerns](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-proposed-visitor-centre-and-car-park-won-t-help-preserve-bull-island-local-conservationists-say/) about the impact on the island of building a new interpretive centre, and the visitors it would aim to attract. “The original thing was enormous and would be disruptive,” says Sean Byrne, a local who walks the island regularly. North Bull Island is a [special protection area](https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004006?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the conservation of wild bird species, and one of the 714 biosphere reserves – “learning places for sustainable development” – in [UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves](https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/about?ref=dublininquirer.com). It also hosts two [nature reserves](https://www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). Current footfall is already highly disruptive to local wildlife, Byrne said by phone on Wednesday. “If it attracted more visitors than are currently coming to the island, and they all went into the dunes or onto the beach or whatever. It would certainly pose a really great risk to the wildlife,” he says. This was among the points made by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Griffin when she [raised](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24361469-public-reports-pack-10012024-1000-climate-action-environment-and-energy-spc?ref=dublininquirer.com) doubts about the project in 2024. “The proposed location of this Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere Discovery Centre is within protected habitats such as Marram Dunes. The construction phase elements of this project is likely to have significant impacts on the receiving environment if incorrectly designed and managed,” Griffin’s submission said. “Moreover, it is well documented that Bull Island and the protected habitats are under severe threat from visitor movements and associated damage,” she wrote. The chief executive responded at the time to such concerns. “The Discovery Centre will promote responsible behaviour and stewardship within the local community. The Discovery Centre will be the hub for this one on-one engagement with locals and visitors alike,” his reply said. “At present the absence of such a facility to inform and foster appreciation for sensitive habitats is allowing the current adverse behaviours highlighted by the Department’s submission to persist,” he added. ## **Smaller and smaller** While it's somewhat welcome news that plans for the new discovery centre are for one of a further “watered down” scale, Byrne would still rather there wasn’t a new one on the island at all, he says. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney says she and others would rather see the old interpretive centre on Bull Island refurbished rather than knocked – as planned – than for a new building to be erected. But what local people really want, says Cooney, is – if there is to be a visitor centre – for it to be placed back in St Anne’s Park, rather than on Bull Island itself. Rather than bringing more people onto the Island, which can hardly deal with its current number of visitors, a place in St Anne’s – overlooking Bull Island – would do the same job, without the negative impacts, she says. People won't just go to the centre on Bull Island, they’ll then traipse around sensitive parts of the island, she says. “Like in terms of the salt marshes.” “The north of the island is the area you're not supposed to walk on – people or dogs,” Cooney says. “You've got the seals up there with their pups, and you've got the ground nesting birds, things like that.” But ultimately, she says, they’d rather nothing there at all interfering with the wildlife of the Dublin 3 nature preserve. If they are to move ahead with constructing a new centre on the island, Cooney says she at least hopes that the tall watch tower included in previous plans is scrapped. That is another thing that would be better suited to St Anne’s. People can view the island from the tower in the park, with binoculars, she says. So-called “tower viewers”, are binoculars mounted on stands and are found in tourist spots around the world. The council has not yet responded to a request to see any updated plans to the proposed new centre. It’s not clear what concerns from locals and conservationists have been heeded, and what have not. “The sum is about the feasibility and bringing whatever is appropriate through the planning process, but that will come out to the area committee in, you know, pre-Part 8 type of thing,” chief executive Shakespeare told Lyons at Monday’s meeting. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *CORRECTION: This article was corrected at 9.38am on 20 April 2026 to reflect that Sean Byrne is not a member of the Bull Island Action Group.* ### Things To Do: Acquire a cap, appreciate some video games, spin the water-based songs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-acquire-a-cap-appreciate-some-video-games-spin-the-water-based-songs/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:57:06.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **The Sei** On Thursday, the Irish-Swedish electronic trio The Sei is set to release their new EP *We Must Be Still Alive?* Following on from 2023’s *Bluebells.*, the group, composed of Stace Gill, Maria Nilsson Waller and producer Ross Dowling, returns with a hypnotic and delicate blend of soft pulsating synths, distant piano and guitar melodies, and ghostly vocals. Billed as the first of a series of scheduled releases for 2026, *We Must Be Still Alive?* draws from numerous places, including “the future, the out of bodies, the whales, a girl murdered by her husband for writing poetry” as well as migration, mountains, “pure live, time travel and endless nights”, according to the group. Ahead of its release next Thursday 23 April, the group already dropped its first single "Whale Song", which you can hear [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Qo4VEQ81k&ref=dublininquirer.com). The album will be available to purchase digitally over on Bandcamp [here](https://thesei.bandcamp.com/album/we-must-be-still-alive?ref=dublininquirer.com), and to stay up to date with The Sei, follow their Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/storyofthesei?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Bodies of Water** Last Friday, Bodies of Water, a new project from experimental drummer Jason McNamara and singer Cara Coyle, officially released its first single "that way". A raw but soothingly soulful track to get lost in, "that way" is guided by glistening synthesizers and McNamara’s atypical rhythms and eclectic mix of percussion, while Coyle’s tender, alto voice drifts over the sombre accompaniment for almost nine minutes. The single, which can be heard [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kQm59hViFA&ref=dublininquirer.com), precedes the release of the group’s first eponymous compilation album, which drops over on [Bandcamp](https://bodiesofwater.bandcamp.com/album/bodies-of-water?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 1 May. Made up of “improvised one-off pieces”, this first batch of recordings was assembled over the last couple of years, McNamara says. The group, he also notes, is “just whoever is in Cara's band at the time of the recordings”, and the line-up on the first record includes, alongside Coyle and McNamara, Patrick King, Alex Moore and Daniel Cregan. **On the Ropes** Spring is here, the sun is occasionally visible, and many people are browsing the aisles for a decent hat. But, for those in the market for a serious hat, the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios might be the place to go, because on Wednesday, the visual artist Léann Herlihy is launching a new cap design called *On The Ropes*. The concept behind the cap is inspired by Herlihy’s own artistic practice. It pulls references from unarchived fragments, found at the back of storage rooms, plucked from the virtual threads of online forums, and clipped from the female wrestling magazine *Fighting Gals Monthly: A Galaxy of Female Combat*. Even more intriguing and enticing, this cap comes with an inscribed pencil, and a custom-designed, 3D-printed pencil holder, which is inspired by those commonly found on construction workers’ hard hats. All of this is intended to encourage the wearer of the cap to appreciate the “transformative power of collapse”, a position which goes against the narrative that one must be “resilient” and simply “bounce back” through labour to meet daily demands. *On The Ropes* is a celebration of strained bodies, and those who resist flexibility, in favour of challenging the status quo and “shattering a system which never served us”" [The launch](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/events/launch-event-leann-herlihy-on-the-ropes?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=Invitation%20Lann%20Herlihy%20ON%20THE%20ROPES&utm%5Fcontent=Invitation%20Lann%20Herlihy%20ON%20THE%20ROPES+CID%5F9071bea09108d758ec06c4e730cfc4a9&utm%5Fsource=Email%20marketing%20software&utm%5Fterm=Lann%20Herlihy%20wears%20a%20canvas%20cap%20that%20reads%20On%20the%20Ropes%20in%20embroidered%20red%20text) is at 6pm on Wednesday 22 April, and honestly, this sounds like a really good cap. **A Quiet Love** Out in Blanchardstown on Wednesday evening, Draíocht is holding a special screening of the documentary *A Quiet Love*, the first feature-length film to be produced in Irish sign language. Directed by Garry Keane, the film looks at three deaf couples: a mixed-religion couple who share their experience of living through the Troubles; a same-sex couple who open up about IVF and parenting; and a deaf boxer and his hearing partner who reflect on a life-changing decision they are faced with. After the screening, producers Anne Heffernan and Sean Herlihy will hold a Q&A, which will include ISL interpretation. The screening is at 7:30pm on Wednesday 22 April, evening. Tickets are €7.50 and can be purchased [here](https://www.draiocht.ie/whats-on/a-quiet-love?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***CTRL*** Also next Thursday, *CTRL,* a new anthology book which examines the video game as an art form is set to be released by The Lilliput Press. Edited by Dean Fee, the essay collection reflects on how video games have been in our lives for over 60 years and formed a crucial part of many people’s lives – not only their childhoods, but adulthoods too. *CTRL* explores the good and the bad sides of gaming: how different games offer us a new way of looking at the world, and give the writers a chance to look at themselves by asking how this art form has affected them and influenced the way they write. It also wonders how the video game can evolve, and whether the medium can retain its artistic integrity in the face of our increased use of AI tools. Among the book’s contributors are Rob Doyle, [Donal Fullam](https://www.dublininquirer.com/living-in-an-angry-phone-box-and-playing-a-video-game-where-you-get-to-smash-up-the-docklands-at-a-new-exhibition/), Úna-Minh Kavanagh, Róisín Kiberd, Lisa McInerney, John Patrick McHugh and Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan. And if you’re looking for a reason to procrastinate in the name of “research” ahead of its release, the essays go deep on games like *Fallout: New Vegas*, the *Pokémon* series, *Disco Elysium*, *Red Dead Redemption*, and *Driver*, the latter being a PS1 game in which – despite having owned it for 27 years – I am still unable to pass my driving test during the tutorial level. *CTRL* can be purchased [here](https://www.lilliputpress.ie/products/ctrl-essays-on-video-games?ref=dublininquirer.com), and it will be officially launched in Books Upstairs on Thursday 30 April at 6:30pm. To reserve a seat, visit the store’s event page [here.](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-ctrl-essays-on-video-games/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ADVERTISEMENT [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/SIGNS-GIF-FOR-DUB-INQ.GIF)](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ****SIGNS present:** ****Elikya** (Congolese 9-piece rumba/soukous) ****David DeBarra** (experimental folk 3-piece) ****Farah Elle** (alternative singer-songwriter) ****Cormorant Tree Oh** (experimental folk, drone, psych) \+ ****DJ**s **Pablo Santo** & more 3 May at The Sugar Club, Dublin 2 | 20:00—03:00 [Tickets ](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Consultation launched for new Public Play Facilities in Loughshinny** Fingal County Council has launched a public consultation for a new public play facility planned in Loughshinny. The consultation is being carried out under the Part XI process, which gives the public an opportunity to view the proposals and share their views before the Council makes a final decision. Further details about the consultation and how to make submissions can be found [here](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/notice-proposed-development-planning-development-act-2000-part-xi-amended-planning-development-6?ref=dublininquirer.com). The deadline for submissions is 27 May. **Family Friendly Tour at Ardgillan Castle** Fingal County Council has officially launched a new family friendly tour of Ardgillan Castle in Balbriggan The self-guided audio tour is delivered through the voice of the 19th century matriarch Lady Marianne St. Leger Taylor. A significant community figure and socialite, Marianne kept daily diaries revealing daily life behind the Castle doors, which form the basis of the tour. The audio tour is available in five languages - English, Irish, German, Spanish, French and Polish. Open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm, the tour costs €10 per adult, €7 per child (under 18), €30 for 2 adults and 2 children, €8 seniors (65+). For more information, visit Ardgillan Castle’s website [here.](http://www.ardgillancastle.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Parallel Visions – an exhibition by Lily Abbas and Ema Carvi** On 7 May, Reds Gallery will officially launch Parallel Visions, a new two-person exhibition by artists Emanuela Carvisiglia and Lily Kassab. Through different languages, the exhibition explores the relationship between presence and transformation. The works establish a dialogue between figure and fluidity, with, on the one hand, images that emerge and dissolve through liquid surfaces, and on the other, forms of bodies that are constructed through layers of colour and memories. Parallel Visions opens at 6pm on Thursday, 7 May, and will run until 13 May. ***The Coast of Everything* launch** On 17 June, Guillermo Stitch will be launching his new novel *The Coast of Everything* in Hodges Figgis at 6pm. Stitch will be in conversation with June Caldwell, author of *Room Little Darker*, and David Collard, author of *Multiple Joyce*. You can find out more about Stitch’s second novel [here](https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/the%5Fcoast%5Fof%5Feverything/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and to reserve a space at the launch, visit its event page [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-for-the-coast-of-everything-the-new-novel-by-guillermo-stitch-tickets-1987031489675?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep%5Ftld=true&ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Ballymun and Finglas to get the least council investment in projects in the coming years URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-and-finglas-to-get-the-least-council-investment-in-projects-in-the-coming-years/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:57:14.000Z Ballymun and Finglas have been allocated just 2 percent of the city’s capital spend on projects outside of housing, over the next three years. The two areas – which make up Dublin City Council’s North West Area – have a smaller population than the other four council administrative areas. But even [accounting for that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045794-capital-programme-spend-by-area-source-dublin-city-council-figures/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the North West Area sits firmly at the bottom of the allocation for areas in the council’s capital programme [which runs from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985-report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 2026 to 2028. At the top is the South East Area. That stretch of the city – which covers local electoral areas Kimmage-Rathmines, Pembroke, and South-East Inner City – is to get 28 percent of the same pot over that period. Councillors disagree on the degree to which the stark difference is down to poorer areas getting less care than wealthier ones – or if that’s overly simplistic. At Monday’s monthly meeting of the full council – the bulk of which was given over to discussion of the city’s capital programme – Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan said the difference was distressing. “It is absolutely not acceptable,” said Callaghan, who represents the North West Area. Independent Councillor John Lyons – who said that the North Central Area which he represents, was also underallocated and had been in the past – gave his take on why the gap exists. “There are more powerful interests, there are our own unconscious biases,” he said, “which means that areas that have communities of severe disadvantage don’t get the same time and attention as more affluent areas.” Richard Shakespeare, the council’s chief executive, said he didn’t deny the gap. “Yep, in terms of investment, the North West doesn’t do well. I don’t know why.” “It’s nothing conscious from me,” he said, and it is something they can review. “It could be just a throwback from projects that just keep rolling on.” On the phone on Tuesday, Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey, who represents Pembroke, in the South East Area, said that it’s way too simple to just look at figures by area and draw conclusions from those. He doesn’t divide the city like that, he said, and doesn’t think that people outside the council chamber do either. Projects may sit just over the border of administrative areas, he said, or areas may have seen a lot of past investment or look from high-up to be wealthy but have pockets of lower-income communities. “You have to look at the context,” said Lacey. Callaghan, though, said she was still grappling with how an area that has been so neglected historically, with so much deprivation, gets so little. “I’m trying to get my head around it and trying to work it out,” she said. “But why is it that my area is particularly left behind?” At Monday’s meeting meanwhile, several councillors complained about how the whole plan is drawn up anyway at the moment at least – by officials under Shakespeare, with no formal way for councillors to feed in. [Councillors dig into plan for €3.88 billion in spending on projects in the cityFlagship projects include a new HQ for Dublin City Council, the redevelopment of Dalymount Park, and the refurbishment of the Fruit and Vegetable Market.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Victorian-Market-Smithfield---by-Shamim-Malekmian-1.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/) ## Where? On Monday evening, Enda Currid, the council’s head of management accounting, broke down how much each of the council’s five areas is expected to get from capital funding, with figures including the housing spend and without. He also broke out the Docklands as its own area, and citywide projects which capture spend on sprawling infrastructure such as footpaths and roads, he said. Big projects can also skew spending by area, said Currid at the meeting, as he caveated the figures. Take the renovation of the Fruit and Vegetable Market, the new library at Parnell Square, and the redevelopment of Dalymount Park, he said. “While the spend is being part of the Central Area, they are projects that deliver a citywide benefit,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Capital-spending-by-area-1.png) Source: Dublin City Council. At the meeting, Callaghan, the Social Democrats councillor, said the small amount of funding to the North West Area is “horrific”. Many projects listed in the capital programme for the area have been on it for several years, she said. Like the Finglas village improvement scheme. “It’s always next year, next year, next year,” she said. The scheme [aims to](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/north-west-area/finglas-village-improvement-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com#a38534-38533) improve pedestrian, cycling and public transport infrastructure in Finglas and make the village more of a destination. It is currently at the “detailed design” stage. On the phone later, Callaghan said she gets lots of calls around making Finglas’ Main Street look good. Somewhere people can hang out and meet, she said. “At the moment, a lot of complaints you get is that it is takeaways and nail salons,” she said. And, more recently, gambling shops too. Other urban villages in Dublin can be so bustling, she said. “It really is not fair that such a big population don’t have that basic nicety that the rest of the city seems to have.” Callaghan said there has been a lot of work over the years to really improve playgrounds and parks in the area. “But there’s still a great need in the community,” she said. The playground in Tolka Valley Park desperately needs attention, she said. Councillors have asked for skateparks and facilities for youth, in particular, to keep them occupied. “We’ve always been asking. I don’t know what is going on.” Said Callaghan: “When I saw that 2 percent last night, I was just really really saddened and shocked.” Finglas is also supposed to benefit from the Finglas Luas project in the coming years. That has planning permission – but not the funding yet. The central government has work only starting on that in 2029 in its sectoral investment plan for transport. Meanwhile, over in Ballymun, the future of the Ballymun shopping centre site is still being worked out after many false dawns. In July 2024, a council spokesperson said [that it had opened](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-in-talks-with-lda-on-building-housing-on-part-of-ballymun-shopping-centre-site/) negotiations with the Land Development Agency about the future of part of the site. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the LDA said that it “is progressing plans to submit a Large-Scale Residential Development planning application for the development of affordable housing at the Ballymun Shopping Centre site”. The LDA has started “early-stage pre-planning engagement” with Dublin City Council and this will continue in the coming months, they said. ## Other pictures Once population at the time of the last census is taken into account, the [rankings of areas by funding](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045794-capital-programme-spend-by-area-source-dublin-city-council-figures/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for capital projects, aside from housing, does change a bit. At the bottom is still the North West Area (€475 per capita) and the top is still the South East Area (€2,208 per capita). But second is the North Central Area (€1,965 per capita), followed by the Central Area (€1,684 per capita) then the South Central Area (€1,198 per capita), suggest figures. But it wasn’t just councillors for the North West of the city who raised concerns about the distribution of funding. Some drilled into areas within areas, or made other comparisons. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, who represents the North Inner-City, in the Central Area, said: “We don’t want to see equal division of where capital investment is spent.” But she is curious as to the northside and southside division, as road upkeep seems quite southside-heavy, she said. The council’s project at College Green is fantastic, she said, but it is going to exacerbate the inequality in the quality of public realm between the northside and the southside. “We need to invest more in the northside as well.” Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan, meanwhile, asked what is in the programme for Santry – in his North Central Area. There have been tens of thousands of apartments built in the area, but not the community amenities to support all that, he said. Councillors have asked for a community centre, co-working spaces, or a training centre for youth of the area, which aligns with talk of 15-minute cities, he said. “I would like to see some enterprise in that Shanowen area.” “It can’t just be large apartments with no facilities,” he said. Council assistant chief executive Anthony Flynn said they are looking to put in place some sort of plan for the Santry area, and are engaging with the local community on that. Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, meanwhile, said that it didn’t look to him as if there was enough, in particular, for Belmayne and Clongriffin. “My area is being left behind.” Shakespeare said the council is still waiting for feedback from the central government on funding for North Fringe, under the National Development Plan. ## Setting the capital programme The capital programme was largely welcomed by councillors. But running through the lengthy debate were also complaints about the way in which the whole budget for big projects is put together. People have to recognise that the capital budget represents preferences of the executive, said Lacey, the Labour Party councillor. That wasn’t a criticism of officials, he said. “But it’s recognition of the process that we’re in.” At the moment, council officials hold the power to set the capital programme. So when it came before councillors on Monday, it was for “noting” – for councillors to acknowledge that they have seen it. It’s not the way to adopt a capital budget, in this way with relatively brief, minutes-long speeches from councillors, said Lacey. It should be discussed at a special meeting, and it should be first discussed at strategic policy committees and area committees, he said. “I don’t disagree with a word you said, funnily enough,” said Shakespeare, to Lacey. That said, many of the projects included in the programme do stem from what councillors have said at those committees, and staff put them in, said Shakespeare. He isn’t the type of chief executive who wants it all his own way, he said. Changes to the split of powers between council civil servants, and elected councillors have been under consideration by the central government’s Local Democracy Taskforce. On 4 March, that taskforce’s report on local government reform was handed over to Housing Minister James Browne, of Fianna Fáil, and Minister of State for Local Government John Cummins, of Fine Gael. A plan based on its recommendations would go before the government in the coming weeks, said a statement at the time. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the same on Tuesday, in response to queries. Later on the phone, Callaghan said that however the capital programme may be done going forward, it needs to take into account deprivation, and proposed population growth, for different areas. There should also be some fairness over time, she said. “There should be a general balancing across different areas.” At the council meeting Monday, Shakespeare said he expects that the process around setting the capital programme will change as a result of the recommendations of the local democracy taskforce – and involve a larger role for councillors. “But until it’s published, who knows?” he said. ### Council should look, again, at London-style system to force companies to use safer trucks in the city, councillors urge URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-look-again-at-london-style-system-to-force-companies-to-use-safer-trucks-in-the-city-councillors-urge/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:57:23.000Z Dublin City Council should look at bringing in a new system to force companies to use safer trucks in the city, councillors agreed on Monday. “The most dangerous vehicles on our streets are heavy goods vehicles,” said Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham, introducing his [emergency motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28040915-hgv-emergency-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the council’s April monthly meeting. “As any pedestrian or cyclist knows, often drivers of these vehicles can’t see the pedestrians and cyclists around them,” Cunningham said at the meeting. His motion proposed requiring heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to meet requirements for better “direct vision” – how well the driver can see out of their cab through windows – before being allowed to operate in the city. He pointed to London’s [Direct Vision Standard](https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/deliveries-in-london/delivering-safely/direct-vision-in-heavy-goods-vehicles?ref=dublininquirer.com), which requires this – or, if a truck doesn’t meet this requirement, that it be retrofitted with cameras outside feeding images to screens in the cab, to compensate. This is not the first time there's been a proposal like this for Dublin. Back in 2020, Brendan O’Brien, the council’s head of traffic then (and now), [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-look-at-stricter-rules-for-hgvs-and-driver-blindspots/) it was looking to introduce stricter safety measures for HGVs, similar to London’s. It’s not clear what happened to that effort back then. The council hasn’t responded yet to a query sent yesterday afternoon asking that. At the meeting on Monday, O’Brien said that “the broad thrust of the motion is really welcome, you know we do want to make sure that the trucks that are used in our city are as safe as possible”. But he also raised several complications to Cunningham’s proposal and, in the end, councillors agreed to support the motion and – on O’Brien’s suggestion – to send it to committee for more discussion. ## The danger Cunningham’s motion said the death of Johnny Santos Xavier De Abreu recently “reminds us how vulnerable cyclists are, and how great a risk is posed – to cyclists and pedestrians – by Heavy Goods Vehicles”. Santos [died on 1 April](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/04/01/emergency-services-attend-incident-in-dublin-city-centre/?ref=dublininquirer.com) following a collision with a cement truck when he was [cycling at the junction](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recpXIpVN9ti9GZUx&ref=dublininquirer.com) of Middle Abbey Street and O’Connell Street. Back in 2020, when the council was previously looking at ways to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe from HGVs, the [discussion](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-to-look-at-stricter-rules-for-hgvs-and-driver-blindspots/) mentioned the death of Neeraj Jain. Jain had [died](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-killed-in-dublin-was-full-of-life-and-loved-cycling-1.4070754?ref=dublininquirer.com) when the driver of another cement truck hit him while he was cycling in November of the previous year, [near St James’s Hospital](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recyHBcSDuO6kYTdN&ref=dublininquirer.com). The Director of Public Prosecutions did not direct a prosecution of the driver of the truck, but the coroner [declined to rule the death “accidental”](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40975820.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). At the time, there were protests, including a “[die-in](https://www.thejournal.ie/cycle-protest-dublin-killed-cars-4881126-Nov2019/?ref=dublininquirer.com)” by dozens of cyclists, outside the Dáil, calling for better cycling infrastructure. Ciarán Ferrie, on behalf of the cyclist group iBike Dublin, [wrote that](https://www.broadsheet.ie/2019/11/04/this-death-marks-a-turning-point/?ref=dublininquirer.com), “We demand that the killing of Neeraj Jain marks a turning point – and that those responsible for safety on our streets ensure that no more cyclists are killed.” However, the injuries and deaths have continued. For example, on Saturday 8 April 2023, just after midnight, a woman was cycling east along the north quays and stopped for a light at O’Connell Street, next to an HGV. When the light changed, and they both set off again, the HGV turned left across her path and ran over her, she said, in a [report to ](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=rec4yOsRgf1LKAxhE&ref=dublininquirer.com)[collisiontracker.ie](http://collisiontracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “I was in hospital for months,” she [said later](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-drivers-turning-left-across-your-path/). “I couldn’t walk for six to seven months.” In November of that same year, Josilaine Ribeiro [died](https://www.thejournal.ie/inquest-brazilian-woman-dublin-6508198-Oct2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) after being hit by an HGV while cycling [at the Dolphin’s Barn Bridge](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=reci5eLZEGN90YoKV&ref=dublininquirer.com). [Danger for cyclists: Drivers turning left across your path - Dublin InquirerOf the nearly 1,000 reports of hazards, near misses and collisions, 10 percent mention a driver doing a “left hook”.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/size/w1200/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/left-turns-1-scaled-e1716934390230.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-drivers-turning-left-across-your-path/) ## The proposed safety improvement At the moment, HGVs with five or more axles [must have a permit](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/transporting-heavy-goods-dublin-city?ref=dublininquirer.com) to enter restricted areas of Dublin city – [mostly the city centre](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28041255-full-hgv-cordon-and-24hr-section/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – during certain hours. Cunningham, at Monday’s meeting, proposed that the council should use this existing system to enforce higher safety standards. Under the scheme he was proposing, when someone applied for one of these permits, they would have to put in the make, model and year of their vehicle. Based on that, the system would know how good the “direct vision” on the HGV was, and if it didn’t meet the standard, it wouldn’t get a permit to come into the city. The system would kick in next year, requiring at least a one-star direct-vision rating, with the minimum rising one star a year to reach five stars in 2031\. He pointed to Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Direct Vision Standard as a model. TfL has [said](https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2024/october/world-leading-direct-vision-standard-for-hgvs-strengthened-in-the-capital-helping-to-reduce-road-danger-and-save-lives?ref=dublininquirer.com) that programme has made the city safer. “In 2023, there was a 62 per cent reduction in the number of vulnerable road users killed by an HGV, compared to the 2017-19 baseline,” it said in 2024\. Seconding Cunningham’s motion, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner said she’d previously suggested something similar for Dublin. When she’d talked to Brendan O’Brien about it, he’d pointed her to the central government, she said, who pointed her back to the council. Horner told the story of a friend of hers who’d been knocked down on the quays by an HGV and suffered life-changing injuries. “It is urgent that we deal with it and I hope that this week when we see someone losing their lives in the street, we will not again be found wanting when it comes to the opportunity to actually improve safety for everybody,” Horner said. ## Into the weeds At the meeting on Monday evening, O’Brien, the council’s head of traffic, welcomed the motion, but raised several issues. For starters, the scheme Cunningham was proposing would not cover all trucks in all parts of the city, O’Brien said. Because the permitting system only covers trucks with five or more axles, so smaller ones wouldn’t be covered. Also, it’s only for the city centre, really, and only for 7am to 7pm (except in Sandymount, where it’s 24 hours a day). “So anything that’s four axle, three axle, two axle or anything that’s coming to the city at nighttime is not taken into account to the permit system,” he said. However, Cunningham said that haulage companies would still be incentivised to buy trucks with better direct vision. It wouldn’t make sense for them to buy certain trucks to operate in the city centre, and others outside that area – certain ones to operate in the day, and others at night, he said. In any case, in response to queries about this, a Department of Transport spokesperson said it was in the council's power to expand the coverage of the permit system. "Local authorities have clear statutory powers to restrict the movement of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on specific roads, where this is necessary for road safety or traffic management," the spokesperson said. "Decisions on when and where such restrictions are introduced are a matter for local authorities and the Department does not have a role in those decisions." O’Brien continued: “There is a number of EU legislation requiring for example the blind spot detection to be in all trucks, to be in all HGVs from 2024, and that is perhaps more of a mechanism that we need to look at.” Indeed, the EU brought in a 2019 regulation that, among other things, requires manufacturers to improve visibility on trucks if they’re going to operate on roads in the EU. Since 2024, they’ve been [required](https://etsc.eu/comparative-overview-eu-us-vehicle-standards/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to have “blind spot information systems” – cameras basically, transmitting to screens in the cab images of what’s happening in trucks’ blind spots. This only applies to new vehicles, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said. "Retrofitting of these technologies to older vehicles is not required by EU or Irish legislation and could be problematic in terms of compatibility." And only 10.6 percent of the "total HGV fleet under taxation as of 31 March 2026" was manufactured after July 2024, the spokesperson said. So the number of HGVs affected by the EU regulation requiring blind spot information systems is relatively small, so far. In any case, that’s “indirect vision”, not “direct vision”, says Green Party Councillor, and transport spokesperson, Feljin Jose. “Cameras are an improvement but it's not a substitute for actually being able to see around you.” The same EU regulation requires manufacturers to improve direct vision from the cabs of their trucks – but [not until 2029](https://etsc.eu/comparative-overview-eu-us-vehicle-standards/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Ireland’s [Road Safety Strategy](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28043137-government-road-safety-strategy-2021-2030-13th-dec21-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2021 to 2030 included among proposed “high impact actions”, was to “prioritise lifesaving technologies” including “direct vision for commercial vehicles”. That was in the strategy’s “[action plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28043138-rsa-safety-strategy-action-plan-2021-2024-13th-jan2022-final-online/?ref=dublininquirer.com)” for the first part of that period, 2021 to 2024\. But in the more recent [action plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28043136-20250716-rss-phase-2-action-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com), for 2025 to 2027, it no longer appears, Jose, the Green Party councillor, pointed out at Monday’s meeting. Neither the Department of Transport nor the RSA have responded to queries sent on Tuesday about why this is. ## View from the cab Eugene Drennan, deputy vice president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said on Thursday that he didn’t think Cunningham’s plan would really work. A lot of HGV drivers coming into the city are coming from abroad, and may not even know there’s a requirement for a permit to drive into the city centre, Drennan said. “A lot of others just come in and deliver and go,” he said. What if the new safety requirements were added to the current permitting system? “For the most part, they’d ignore it,” Drennan said. “Who would enforce it anyway?” But would improved direct vision on HGVs make the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists? Lots of the HGVs coming into Dublin already meet a high standard, because they also operate in London, Drennan said. They have cameras to show drivers what’s happening in their vehicles’ blind spots, Drennan said. Adding more cameras and screens could actually become a problem, he said. “There’s too much to watch, too much going on, it distracts the driver,” he said. What about bringing in vehicles with designs – windows down low on the sides, for example – that let drivers see more directly, eliminating blind spots? Those would leave drivers dangerously exposed when parking up at night to sleep on long hauls, Drennan said. The best thing that could be done to keep cyclists safer on Dublin’s streets, Drennan said, is to bring in a mandatory system of education for them, teaching them the rules of the road, and how to keep safe. And also an aspect to continuing education for drivers that emphasises taking extra care to look out for cyclists, Drennan said. That’s better than new regulations, he said. “Regulations that’ll be semi-enforced, half-enforced, it’s really not much use having it,” he said. ## Back to committee At the meeting on Monday, O’Brien suggested sending Cunningham’s idea to the council’s Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee for further consideration. “I do think it’s one of those items that we’d really like to see some progress on,” he said. “Perhaps the more appropriate way to deal with this is to actually bring it to Mobility SPC and to actually decide what we can do,” he said. Councillors agreed to back the motion, and to send it to the committee for further consideration. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 10.15am on 16 April 2026 to include comments from a Department of Transport spokesperson.* ### A woman and her child signed up for “voluntary return” – a homeless shelter in Mauritius was their option URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-woman-and-her-child-signed-up-for-voluntary-return-a-homeless-shelter-in-mauritius-was-their-option/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:57:35.000Z Talat Ogeer sounded exhausted. She was calling from a hospital. She’s 22 weeks pregnant, and she’s been bleeding, said Ogeer, last month. “I’m waiting for a doctor, I don’t know what’s happening inside of me,” she said. In 2021, Ogeer sold her jewellery and borrowed money from friends to afford travelling to Europe with her son, who was then four years old, she said in a letter sent about a week after the call. They touched down in the United Kingdom and then travelled to Ireland from there, her letter said. Ogeer and her son sought asylum here. But besides a brief victory at the court, their asylum case has passed through a carousel of rejections. Last summer, when her final refusal letter arrived in the mail, her lawyer suggested she sign up to the [Assisted Voluntary Return Programme ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/voluntary-return-schemes-good-for-state-but-might-not-for-asylum-seekers-activists-and-academics-say/)(AVRP), a repatriation scheme managed for Ireland’s Department of Justice by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Ogeer didn’t feel safe going back, but she contacted IOM out of desperation, she said. “And then I understand that I will go in a homeless centre,” said Ogeer during the phone call from the hospital, last month. A text message from an IOM worker to Ogeer sent in July 2025 says that's not a permanent solution either. “You are hereby also informed the shelter is a temporary solution, and you will need to seek accommodation elsewhere,” it said. Although voluntary return [leaflets](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26185308-20251011-125447-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) circulated in asylum centres around the country don’t spell out how much of the scheme’s promised money is paid in cash, the text to Ogeer says she can get €400 on the day of departure. The rest, meaning €1,600, “is in-kind (i.e. you need to come up with a business plan that will help you reintegrate in Mauritius. It can be used for both business and education, and it can be used both for yourself and your son,” said the text. Valon Junuzi of Malmö University in Sweden, who has just published [an academic paper](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28036277-mnag016-1-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) probing voluntary return programmes, said that even if the IOM spends the money on, say, equipment for a new business, people can’t sell it for cash, as part of their agreement with the agency. Ogeer decided to drop out of the scheme, she said. The IOM [does not](https://www.dublininquirer.com/sick-of-abuse-assault-and-homelessness-in-dublin-a-palestinian-man-whod-sought-asylum-here-wants-to-go-home/) return people to countries grappling with war and conflict. But Ogeer’s case suggests that it doesn’t advise against it even if people are going back to precarious settings and uncertain prospects. A spokesperson for the IOM has not yet addressed queries sent last week asking why. ## Don’t think twice, it’s alright Junuzi, whose research in part probes the scheme’s understanding of vulnerability, said it glosses over root causes. Reinforcing instead the “neo-liberal” notion that everyone can prosper with a bit of entrepreneurship and a small fund to support ambition, he said. But “they don’t question the context of vulnerabilities”, said Junuzi on a video call recently. That ties in with another problematic assumption at play, which is the idea that every person whose asylum claim was thrown out got a fair decision, he said. “Like, maybe in this case if the authorities decided that this woman doesn’t deserve asylum, maybe something went wrong, but the IOM doesn’t question the asylum procedure at all,” said Junuzi. That means people end up returning to troubles they had tried to get away from, he said. ## We don’t use the D-word here Much has been written by immigration academics about voluntary return campaigns, highlighting problems with pitching it to people who still have a shot at winning immigration papers. Or portraying those who choose to return – not the people who fight the current and try to stay – as resilient and empowered. The longer you stay the course, the lower the rate of your voluntary return fund, [leaflets ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/voluntary-return-schemes-good-for-state-but-might-not-for-asylum-seekers-activists-and-academics-say/)sent out to asylum shelters show. The scheme helps Western states save money on deportation and sidestep the negative media and public scrutiny it can bring, academics have said. “They just depoliticise expulsion,” said Junuzi of Malmö University. Unlike deportations, the programme faces little media scrutiny, too, he said. In the course of his research, Junuzi said, he’d studied how the IOM describes the process of return and reintegration to European immigration officials, who hire its services. He found that it portrays return and reintegration as a fraught, challenging process to those authorities, but smooth and filled with possibilities in campaigns targeting immigrants, Junuzi said. “In order to convince immigrants to go back to their countries,” he said. In response to previous queries, a spokesperson for the IOM had said that its assisted voluntary return scheme offers a humane, dignified pathway for people to return to their “countries of origin”. It doesn’t try to convince or pressure anyone, they said. “Through individual counselling, migrants are empowered to make an informed decision and can withdraw at any point before departure,” the spokesperson had said. The protection and well-being of immigrants is at the heart of its mission, they had said. ## When it rains At the moment, Ogeer and her son grapple with poverty in Ireland because she doesn’t have the right to work, she said. Her boyfriend, who lives in another European country, offered her a bank card, but she uses it sparingly – “for emergency, for medication” – because she is wary of the prospect of becoming too reliant on a man, said Ogeer. Back when she was still in the asylum process, she worked at a Spar. Her boss and co-workers were super supportive, she said. Her boss called her recently. “He said, ‘We need workers like you. You can come back when you get your things sorted,’” Ogeer said. He had put an endorsement letter on her application to stay, according to her final rejection letter. He had written that she’s "diligent” and “hard working”, always kind to staff and customers, the rejection letter says. There’s a pile of other character references too, showing that Ogeer had volunteered a bunch, as lots of people seeking asylum do. In rejecting the application, an asylum officer acknowledged that Ogeer and her son have found a community here and made lots of friends. But those connections were “formed during a time when her status was precarious and her length of residency cannot be considered lengthy or exceptional”, the decision letter said. Weighing Ogeer and her son’s case for staying in Ireland against upholding “the integrity of the immigration system” and the state’s right to “control immigration” and safeguard its “economic well-being”, the officer rejected their petition. A sentence at the end of the letter says they had considered the “best interest” of Ogeer’s eight-year-old son, Muhammad. Ogeer had tried to stop her deportation, but an email from the Department of Justice says she can’t file an application for that because she doesn’t yet have a deportation order. Stephen Kirwan, partner and solicitor at the law firm KOD Lyons, said in an email that yes, sitting on a negative final decision without a deportation order means total limbo. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that “if an element of an applicant’s permission to remain request is still ongoing, a Deportation Order is not signed until this process is complete”. Ogeer said maybe because she’d asked a few TDs to talk to the Minister for Justice about their case, that has kept it open. And she sees a glimmer of hope in that. She wants to stay and fight, for the sake of her son, she said. “I will do everything to give him a safe, loving life.” In the meantime, as uncertainty shadows over her life, she is left to wrestle with a fresh loss, too. A few days after calling from the hospital back in late March, she wrote to say she’d lost her pregnancy. “My baby passed away,” her text said. ### Fingal councillors vote to pause planned rent increase – but it’s unlikely to happen URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-vote-to-pause-planned-rent-increase-but-its-unlikely-to-happen/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:57:44.000Z Fingal County Council should pause its rent increases for social housing tenants, councillors agreed at their monthly meeting on Monday evening. The new differential rent rates, agreed by the council [back in November](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/), were due to go up by 14.5 percent this month. But, following a motion tabled by Sinn Féin Councillor Malachy Quinn, a majority of the chamber voted in support of his request for the council to halt the rise. A [similar motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045804-dcc-motions-on-notice/?ref=dublininquirer.com), seeking to review the rent increases at the earliest opportunity given cost of living, is sitting on the list in the Dublin City Council area, too. Quinn, in [his motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045641-councillor-m-quinn-the-pausing-of-council-rent-increases/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Fingal, asked that the freeze be carried out in conjunction with recent measures announced by the government, [on Sunday](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/government-announces-new-package-of-fuel-supports/?ref=dublininquirer.com), to defer a planned hike to its carbon tax and reduce excises on fuel. Their proposals didn’t go far enough, Quinn said, speaking at the meeting. “But we here in the council can make an impact on that, and we can accommodate and help our council tenants who badly need our help.” Raising rents would only add to the crippling costs of families struggling with energy poverty, a cost-of-living crisis and increased transport costs, he said. “I spoke to one of our council tenants yesterday, because she has been turning on the heating for an hour every day in the last seven days, because she simply has a choice to make,” he said. “It’s eat or heat.” Morally, it is the right thing to do, said Labour Councillor Breda Hanaphy. “It’s just postponing it for a couple of months, or as long as this cost of living crisis lasts. Although a majority of elected representatives supported Quinn’s motion, the council has given no indication that it intends to pause the increase. The council is very conscious of what its tenants are going through, said Paul Carroll, Fingal’s director of housing. “We do have a very active housing team who are very tuned into the needs and the situations of our tenants, and will deal very humanely and compassionately with any hardship cases.” But, there would be financial implications for the council in pausing these increases, as Carroll said. The council was counting on the rent increase raising millions, and it had allocated that projected income already. ## Supporting a pause Quinn’s motion was very carefully worded, Carroll said as he provided the chamber with a report. It did not ask for the council to freeze the increase. Instead, it asked that the council support a pause. “The setting of differential rents is an Executive Function,” Carroll wrote in a report, responding to the motion. That means it’s something the executives at the council get to decide on, not the elected councillors. The income from the new rental rates was incorporated in the council’s 2026 budget, which councillors agreed to back in November, he wrote. Differential rent is based largely on a percentage of a council tenant's income, and until the most recent budget, [that rate was 12 percent.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/) At the November budget meeting, the council proposed a new rate of 17 percent. But this split the chamber. Labour, Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Green Party, Solidarity and Independents 4 Change councillors tabled a motion to delay a decision, and draw up an alternative. [To delay vote on 2026 budget and find way to avoid proposed rent increaseFailed: 18 for, 21 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/2d480eed/og-image?v=1765275483)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/2d480eed?ref=dublininquirer.com) But that motion fell, and a second, introduced by independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin, proposing a rate of 14.5 percent, won out by a vote. [To approve the 2026 budget with a smaller rent rise than proposedPassed: 21 for, 18 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/f7f55ecf/og-image?v=1765275341)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/f7f55ecf?ref=dublininquirer.com) This was the first such adjustment to the Differential Rent Scheme since 2013, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday evening. “This is, in the context of a 50 percent increase in housing maintenance expenditure by the council since 2020, with maintenance costs expected to continue to increase in the future.” Expenditure on housing now accounts for 37 percent of the council’s spending, they said. The amended budget that councillors passed reflected an additional income of €3.3 million, said Oliver Hunt, Fingal’s director of finance, at the meeting on Monday. “That allowed us to facilitate increases in housing maintenance as well as other service areas across housing.” Tenants and other stakeholders have already been communicated with on the proposed changes via post, direct contact and social media, Carroll said at the meeting on Monday. ## Motion agreed During a discussion at the meeting on Quinn’s motion, Green Party Councillor David Healy proposed an alternative approach: adjusting the differential rent scheme based on the building energy ratings of the properties Fingal rents out. Tenants in retrofitted buildings have no difficulty keeping their homes warm, but there are tenants in older houses who find it impossible to heat them, Healy said. “That says to me that we should be differentiating our rents on the basis of the buildings.” Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly said tenants with disabilities are facing considerable issues too. “They have the additional cost of charging equipment, such as hoists and electric wheelchairs and honestly the term ‘heat or eat’ is a reality to them.” Fuel, food and heating bills continue to spiral, Donnelly said. “The price of heating homes is particularly hitting households in uninsulated, draughty, council homes. We need to give these families a break.” The council supports a retrofitting programme that will look to upgrade another 150 homes this year, said Carroll, the council’s director of housing. “Which will, in the long term, deal with the issues in terms of fuel poverty.” But Guerin, the independent councillor, said he wouldn’t be supporting Quinn’s motion. The council isn’t responsible for the war in Iran or the blockades that emerged fromfuel protests here, he said. “But what we are responsible for, is to provide the retrofitting and the work and improvements of the budget and delivering on the budget that we voted on.” People have been notified of these increases, he said. “And now we have to go and unfortunately collect these.” He understood that it would be difficult for tenants, he said. “But we have a responsibility as a local authority to provide well for our tenants in homes. And that means retrofitting. It means fixing boilers. It means doing windows, and we have to fund that.” ## Exceptional times The motion wasn’t challenging the executive function of Fingal’s management, Quinn said. “This is asking and looking for support from management in the pausing of rental increases. “We’re living in exceptional times, where we’ve just seen practically the breakdown of civil society almost in the last week, because people are hard pressed,” he said. “They’re pinned to their collar, whether they owned a haulage business or they’re a widow or widower living in a council property, they are all being affected in some shape or form.” Quinn’s motion was agreed by 19 votes to 14. [To pause the council’s planned rent increasePassed: 19 for, 14 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/b7fb50d0/og-image?v=1776197957)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/b7fb50d0?ref=dublininquirer.com) When asked on Tuesday if the council would heed the motion and pause the increase, a spokesperson for the council said they acknowledge the concerns raised by councillors and note “the intent of the motion discussed”. Fingal’s Differential Rent Scheme ensures that rents are income‑related and affordable, meaning that those households with lower incomes pay less rent each week, the spokesperson said.. “The Scheme also includes appropriate provisions to protect vulnerable households including the exclusion of certain income from rental calculations such as child benefit, carer’s allowance and fuel allowance,” they said. ### Luke: New film The Three Urns is “puzzling, haphazard, funny ha-ha, funny peculiar, and messy” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-new-film-the-three-urns-is-puzzling-haphazard-funny-ha-ha-funny-peculiar-and-messy/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T17:19:54.000Z At first glance, *The Three Urns* appears to be just another genial road trip through Ireland. The poster shows beaches and mountains with green fields, a lost man returning to his homeland, and the oh-so-typical flyover of the Irish coast opens the film. These are gestures at tried-and-tested fare. But soon, and very soon, these expectations are upended. *The Three Urns* is meandering, strange, perplexing, slow, shaggy, leisurely, confounding, puzzling, haphazard, funny ha-ha, funny peculiar, and messy. These – all together – are good qualities. A man, “The Man” (Ciarán Hinds) in the film’s credits, travels to Ireland to scatter his wife’s ashes and visit the significant spots from their life together. In slow pursuit is a mysterious French woman (Olga Kurylenko). In the way of both of their destinies are kilometres of higgledy-piggledy roads, bureaucracy and many encounters with strangers. ## Second outing *The Three Urns* reunites co-directors John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck with Ciarán Hinds following their successful collaboration on 2020’s *The Man in the Hat*. That film, a Sunday-drive road movie set in France, is something of a template for this Man’s adventures through Ireland. Although, *The Three Urns* is a talkier film than *The Man in the Hat,* where Hinds took on a Tati-esque physical role. Think *Les Vacances de Monsieur Hinds*, and you’re not far off the mark. The films are distinct, but the same spirit is alive in both of them. ## What can go wrong, will go wrong We don’t know much about The Man, but in the first scene he accidentally drops his smartphone in the sea before getting off the ferry. This is the first in a long series of gaffes and goofs that take place throughout his journey. The misfortune is frequent but mild and is smile-inducing if not laugh-worthy. Anything that can go wrong for The Man will go wrong. The Man takes it all in stride, sometimes moaning about the situation but always keeping on keeping on. Setback after setback come at The Man. The car he’s traveling in has its wheels stolen, and when he goes to retrieve the car with a tow truck he finds the car has been stolen too. This scene features a great reaction shot. The Man is not typically animated, and Hinds exclaiming in disbelief, “They’ve stolen the bloody car!” got a blurt of laughter out of me. For some portion of the film he drives an old Morrison-Electricar milkfloat, a comical vehicle in form and function. Later, the float is converted to solar power and looks like a mechanical housefly puttering along the country roads. Incidentally, the one bit of consistent luck The Man has is the weather, as his car doesn’t run out of juice. Another hitch later in the film sees the milkfloat undergo further retrofitting, and soon, The Man is using it as a horse and cart. ## Face each day with curiosity Seeing The Man ride stagecoach really sells Hinds’ moviestar quality even in a lowkey role. He’s got the look of a classic Spaghetti Western antihero, squinting through the screen as his face fills the frame. The sight gags are less pronounced than they were in the trio’s earlier collaboration but Davidson and Warbeck know when to hang a camera on something strange. Hinds’ performance is subtle but clearly comedic. There’s a very shaggy make-it-up-as-you-go-along quality to the dialogue and narrative that makes each successive episode, strange as they may be, feel natural. The scenes where he hums along to the last couple of bars of a song on the radio really sell the joy in the mundane that *The Three Urns* trades in. As the man goes about his journey he meets a disgraced priest, a fellow urn carrier with his own story to tell, mischievous folk singers, a member of the Choctaw tribe traveling to Ireland for a commemoration ceremony, and many others. None of these encounters change The Man. He’s had his arc. We are witnessing moments in time, episodes in people’s lives. The Man has done his growing and learning and what life has taught him is to face each day with curiosity. *The Three Urns’* narrative barely holds together. Only the thinnest of threads links episodes together. The woman pursuing The Man is equally hapless, and their chase is deliberately lackluster. ## Struggle between head and heart So many of the decisions that went into the presentation, structure and tone of *The Three Urns* seem baffling from moment to moment. But Davidson and Warbeck have a grand vision. We see a struggle between the head and the heart throughout. I’m not sure which of the co-directors is the head and which is the heart but the constant tension in the film’s tone and style is riveting. Warbeck also serves as the film’s composer and foregrounds music through a continuous use of diegetic scoring. So often, the camera will pan away from The Man to another character singing or playing an instrument, then we’ll be in a different mode for a minute or two. These sequences are always capped with a classic musical style crane shot taking in some majestic vista. Like so many aspects of *The Three Urns* it feels out of place at first, incongruous to the film as a whole. But then, the whole film is like this: a swirling soup of influences and incidents. The head struggles to make sense of it all, but the heart beats along with every haphazard second of it. *The Three Urns* is in cinemas nationwide from 17 April. ### Councillors dig into plan for €3.88 billion in spending on projects in the city URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-dig-into-plan-for-eur3-88-billion-in-spending-on-projects-in-the-city/ Last updated: 2026-05-07T08:08:01.000Z At their April monthly meeting on Monday, Dublin city councillors discussed and “noted” the council’s capital programme, its budget for big once-off projects. The [programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985-report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com), for 2026 to 2028, includes €3.88 billion in spending. As usual, most is allocated to housing and building (70 percent), followed by roads (11 percent), and culture, recreation and amenity (10 percent). Flagship projects in the programme include a new headquarters for Dublin City Council at Camden Yard, the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter (yet again), the redevelopment of Dalymount Park, and the refurbishment of the Fruit and Vegetable Market. Although some councillors noted that planned spending was deeply unevenly distributed, geographically, they said, overall, there was much to welcome in it. [Ballymun and Finglas to get the least council investment in projects in the coming yearsThe area has been allocated just 2 percent of the pot of capital funding – not including housing – over the next three years.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Axis-Ballymunjpg-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/ballymun-and-finglas-to-get-the-least-council-investment-in-projects-in-the-coming-years/) They also discussed the credibility gap created by the council putting some projects in its capital programme again and again and not delivering them. People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy asked whether there was any concern about cost inflation with projects and borrowings, given the war on Iran, and impact of energy infrastructure. The council reviews and “notes” the capital programme each year, said Enda Currid, the council’s head of management accounting. So they can keep sight of that and adjust, he said. ## Paying for Camden Yard New to this year’s budget is “Project Page”, which has seen the council [buy Camden Yard on Kevin Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/), a prominent site with planning for 299 homes and 50,000sqm of office space. Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare’s intention is to build that out, and move staff over from their current home at the council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay, which would in turn, the budget says, unlock that site for homes, a new community building, and an enhanced public realm. Where the council found the money for the purchase has been an open question. The capital programme says the council has now purchased the site for €104 million – with the money for that coming from “other income”. “Other income” includes transfers between the revenue and capital budget, housing capital receipts, car parking fees, capital reserves, Tom Clarke Bridge tolls, and “other sources”, it says. The total cost of developing Camden Yard is expected to be €581 million, the budget says. At the meeting, Currid, the council’s head of management accounting, said that the purchase of Camden Yard had been done using “other sources”. “That is in the short-term funded by cash flow and then once we get full approval for the full project it will then maybe be funded by loan borrowings,” he said. The housing side of it would be covered, as housing projects are, by central government grants, said Shakespeare. Karl Stanley, a Social Democrats councillor, asked for more information. “Did you say that €104 million for Camden Yard was paid out of cash flow?” And that the council would borrow to backfill that later? he said. “Do we get to vote on it? What happens if we don’t approve it?” “It feels a bit like asking for forgiveness rather than for permission,” he said. Councillors don’t vote on the purchase of lands or buildings. But they do have to vote to agree any borrowings – which then also have to be agreed by the Department of Housing. “Yeah, it’s kind of bizarre, you know,” said Shakespeare, in response to Stanley’s follow-up. “But again, I don’t write the rules, I apply them.” Shakespeare talked through how they’d all got to this point with his effort to buy Camden Yards and move the council’s headquarters there. Many councillors, including Stanley, had been at the meeting where Shakespeare first spoke to councillors about his plans, he said. He had said that if he got absolute dissent from councillors, he wouldn’t progress it, said Shakespeare. He didn’t get that, he said. “There was nobody jumping up and down saying don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.” So he thinks the council’s processes were reasonably okay, he said, and he didn’t try to buy it without the go-ahead. “I might be a bit of a cowboy but I’m not that bad.” ## Pulling out projects In the lengthy session of questions to officials, councillors pulled out projects that they were happy to see as line items – and those they were deeply disappointed to see dropped. It’s good to see €1 million for [the new pitch at Marrowbone Lane](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-the-council-inches-towards-construction-of-a-full-sized-sports-pitch/), said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. For years, local sports groups, councillors, TDs and others have campaigned for a full-sized sports pitch in the Liberties. “I imagine that’s a kind of holding figure,” said Pidgeon, of the amount. But he appreciates that it is in there and moving forward, he said. Fine Gael Councillor Patrick Kinsella welcomed progress on the Fruit and Vegetable Market in the north inner-city, for which the council is expecting to borrow €24.5 million this year and next. Refurbishment works on the market are expected to be done in the third quarter of 2027, the capital programme says, and procuring an operator to run a seven-day market is underway. Will that be done and ready for when Dublin is scheduled to host several of the Euro 2028 games? said Kinsella. “I would see that as a great launch pad for the food market.” Said Shakespeare: “I think it will be finished in time.” “But we are building these things for the citizens of Dublin. And if it’s right for the citizens of Dublin, it will work for tourists,” he said. ## Getting it done Darragh Moriarty, a Labour councillor said he could rattle off several projects and welcome them. But there have been clear issues with implementation, he said. Some projects have been on the programme longer than Shakespeare has been in post, he said, such as the Dolphins Barn Village Improvement Scheme. That project has had planning permission for years, but hasn’t moved. That creates a huge credibility gap, seeing a project sitting on a spreadsheet and not actually happening, said Moriarty. Shakespeare said he had tried to trim the capital programme down this year and only put in projects that are likely to move ahead. He too is worried about credibility and delivery, he said. “There’s too many hidden hopes.” He has also been working to improve delivery, he said. Implementation problems have been down to a lack of dedicated project managers, he said. “And we’ve been trying to address that.” They’ve relied too much on having one person managing loads of projects, he said. “So everything moves at a glacial pace.” They’ve hired more and hope to see faster movement, he said. Independent Councillor John Lyons said that a lack of project managers had come to a head a few years ago, when councillors twigged that the same person was over two big flagship housing schemes – at O’Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road – and unable to progress them both at once. ## Traveller housing At the meeting Monday, several councillors raised the failure of the council to progress its Traveller housing project at Labre Park. Said People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin: “I obviously have a huge frustration around the lack of delivery on Traveller accommodation.” During the week, councillors got notification that [Labre Park wouldn’t get new homes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-breaks-promise-again-of-new-homes-for-travellers-at-labre-park/) on the site, just retrofitting, she said – even though tenants have been moved out based on that understanding. She wants that project brought back to the table, she said. “Just to reiterate to people, the [Kylemore Masterplan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-on-plan-for-5-000-homes-on-lands-between-inchicore-and-ballyfermot/) is right across the road from Labre Park.” “So we are going out now to public consultation to build 5,000 units on so many hectares of land,” she said, “and we can’t build 20-something houses for Traveller-specific accommodation”. The council’s head of housing, Mick Mulhern said the council is at the moment building nine new homes for Travellers at Cara Park in Priorswood and three new homes at Avila Park in Finglas. There are also discussions around new Traveller accommodation in Kildonan in Finglas, he said. Mulhern said he was meeting with the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee on Thursday to talk about Labre Park. Labre Park was the biggest project on the Traveller housing programme, said Ray Cunningham, a Green Party councillor. If the new builds don’t go ahead, the council and councillors need to find another site to build substantial Traveller accommodation, he said. ## Revenue sources Funding for the council’s capital projects come mostly from central government grants (74 percent), followed by “other income” (12 percent), loans (6 percent), levies (6 percent), and development capital (1 percent). Fianna Fáil Councillor Racheal Batten asked what was being looked at to broaden the council’s funding base. “Has there been any strategy as to how we do that?” The council needs to be empowered to raise more revenue streams, said Shakespeare. The [visitor accommodation levy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-continues-to-push-hotel-bed-tax-for-dublin/) comes straight to mind, said Shakespeare, which depending on what you read, will lead to between €20 million and €40 million per annum depending on the rate. “But we need to be empowered to do that,” he said. Cat O’Driscoll, a Social Democrats councillor, pointed to the budget for minor works for roads – which also triggered a wider question around funding. Each of the council’s five administrative areas has €700,000 for 2026, and half in the following years, she said. “The roads aren’t going to disappear within that time,” she said. So, what is expected to happen? She had just learnt that the council repairs 1 percent of roads and footpaths each year, she said, so it’s easy to calculate how long it would take to get to all of them. Shakespeare said they should be resurfacing footpaths and roads every 30 years. But “we’re on a 100 year cycle”. They do prioritise based on a condition survey, he said, and they will fight for more funding centrally. But they, as one of the four Dublin councils, are blocked from the national funding pot of, [this year,](https://www.tii.ie/en/news/press-releases/ministers-for-transport-announce-over-15-billion-for-national-regional-and-local-roads/?ref=dublininquirer.com) €1.5 billion for national, regional and local roads. Everybody else gets to share that, said Shakespeare. “We get the square root of zero.” That’s because Dublin City Council is supposed to be self-funding through the local property tax. But councillors, and officials, argue that they don’t get nearly enough from that. Council staff put in a paper to the central government, making the case for Dublin to get funding from the national pot but they didn’t get it, said Shakespeare. “That won’t stop us continuing to try.” Dermot Lacey, a Labour councillor, said the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage is essentially stealing from the city. The “equalisation” measure through which the department would collect and share some of Dublin City’s local property tax with other counties is gone. But now, the department cuts grants by the same amount that the tax brings in – meaning there hasn’t been the gain that was expected from that change. Councillors should be standing up and saying give back our money and let us spend it how we want to spend it, said Lacey. ### Fingal moves on plans to plug in play areas in Loughshinny and Portrane URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-moves-on-plans-to-plug-in-play-areas-in-loughshinny-and-portrane/ Last updated: 2026-04-14T23:59:17.000Z Loughshinny could be getting a new playground, Fingal County Council officials said on Thursday. The council recently purchased a piece of land on the grounds of the Bartra Loughshinny Residential Nursing Home, according to Oliver Hoey, Fingal’s executive parks superintendent, at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee on 9 April. Just outside the village, the 1,000 sqm site was bought by the council from the landowner, JKP Nursing Home Limited, he said. And it could help the council to address the lack of play provision in one of the more rural and remote parts of the county. A 2023 [play audit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045708-fingal-playground-audit-6055-33-dec23-county/?ref=dublininquirer.com) identified that there was [a gap in play facilities in Loughshinny](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045709-fingal-public-play-facilities-audit-balbriggan-rush-lusk-swords-acmdec-2023/?q=loughshinny&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p9), he said. “There is no play provision there at the moment.” That [audit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28045709-fingal-public-play-facilities-audit-balbriggan-rush-lusk-swords-acmdec-2023/?q=loughshinny&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p9) noted that between 2019 and 2023 the topic of providing new play spaces in Loughshinny appeared as an agenda item at the local area committee more than any other location within the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords operational area. But before they can build anything, the proposed “play space” needs to go out to consultation in May, and come back to the council in July for its approval, he said. ## Not much parking In line with the council’s current play policies, the proposed new play space in Lougshinny is expected to serve and be accessible to people one kilometre within a 1 kilometre radius, Hoey said during the briefing. Their plan is to deliver a playground with 15 bits of play equipment, he said. “There’s natural elements in that. Sand play. Engineered wood fibre. Gravel paths. Water play.” Surrounded by maze-like hedging, the playground’s circular design is inspired by the local Martello Tower, he said, “which will give the space a strong local identity”. As well as including some benches and 14 parking spaces for bikes, there is the provision for one wheelchair-accessible car parking space, he said. That was cause for concern among the local councillors. Most people who are going to use it live three-quarters of a mile away downhill from this potential playground, said independent Councillor Cathal Boland. Grandparents who might bring their grandchildren to play there would likely use cars in some instances, he said, “because of the incline from their homes to the playground”. What consideration was given to that? he asked. The design looks really well but the lack of car parking spaces was a concern, said independent Councillor Grainne Maguire. “You would like to think that the majority of the people will walk to it because it’s for a localised community.” But playgrounds like this are popular, she said. “They will travel from Rush. They’ll travel from Skerries and Balbriggan to visit other playgrounds, so we need to be looking at that facility. So we need to be looking at that facility as to where people will park.” ## Active travel Loughshinny also needs a lot more active travel measures, said Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan. “So seeing this the way it is, we really need to re-evaluate the need for proper access by foot to the likes of these facilities which are very welcome.” Some locals have been campaigning for almost [30 years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-decades-residents-in-loughshinny-have-been-asking-for-a-footpath-so-they-can-walk-home-safely/) to get safer footpaths on its roads, which are small, but also busy enough to make a simple walk to school almost impossible. Fingal did its play audit to identify areas that don’t have play spaces so it can build them there and people won’t be travelling to regional playgrounds, Hoey said. “The provision of this is really for a local equipped area of play.” If they are to provide parking, it would reduce the quality of the play space too, he said. “We have provided one accessible space for parking which can also obviously be used as a drop off point for people to drop off kids.” Boland asked if the car parking spaces could be supplemented by way of the nursing home. But, the nursing home is on private lands, Hoey said. “So the only land which we got was that which we purchased from the nursing home.” There is a deficit here, Boland said. “It’s something that maybe your department could see whether there is some additional land which could be acquired now or into the future.” If the playground is a success, it will give the council more in its “armoury” to try and secure some land, Hoey said. The agreed budget for the play space is €350,000,he said. “And that is the budget we are aiming towards.” Councillors noted the report. ## Play trail After Hoey wrapped up the presentation for Loughshinny, he launched into a second presentation on another[**proposed play space**](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s117621/Item%20No.%2019%20-%20Portrane%20Play%20Trails-Part%20VIII%20Presentation%20BRLS%20ACM%20B%2009.04.26.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), on lands just north of Longstone Park in Portane. Similar to Loughshinny, Portrane was another area noted in the council’s [2023 play audit](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-council-report-identifies-areas-in-fingal-that-need-playgrounds/) as lacking in playground facilities, he said. “An analysis of the available open space was conducted at that point, and we identified two spaces which we felt were optimum for the delivery of some play provision in the area.” But, rather than provide a traditional playground, the council wants to make a “play trail” instead because of the layout of the land, he said. “So essentially it’s a walkway through with small play elements along with which people can stop and then move the space.” Designed for children up to 12 years of age, the trail will have about 17 play items, he said. There will also be bike parking, benches and a drinking water station, he said. “We’re also going to improve the entrance and access points.” The council, [in October,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-nudges-ahead-with-plans-for-playground-in-portrane/) held an informal public consultation, which was attended by 12 locals, many of whom raised concerns that the playground would attract anti-social behaviour, and that there were no children living nearby. But this isn’t just for Longstone Park, Hoey said at the meeting. “But for the wider area up to a kilometre away.” More recently, in February, they held a formal consultation, which received 25 submissions, 19 of which were generally supportive, with some highlighting a needfor a children’s play area, he said. There were requests for facilities for teenagers at the site, but the space wasn’t big enough for that, he said, noting that construction is underway in Ballymastone for a recreational sports hub. That, he said “is going to include a skate park, parkour, calisthenics and play facilities at that facility which is less than a kilometre away”. The proposed play trail looksfantastic, but the area does have a huge issue with anti-social behaviour, said Labour Councillor Corina Johnston. Were lights proposed on the trail? she asked. “I suppose that is something I’d like to see consideration given to.” There’s no lighting at this point, Hoey said. “But what we are doing is we’ll put in ducting so that if it’s found that lighting would be an advantage, it’s very easy to upgrade and slot in lighting.” Johnston also requested that the council carry out a review on how the trail is faring with residents. A one-year review with residents and children would be an excellent idea to see how to improve the area going forward, said Hoey. The next step for the play trail is that it will be brought before the full council for approval in the coming weeks, he said. Councillors noted that report too. ### Council breaks promise, again, of new homes for Travellers at Labre Park URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-breaks-promise-again-of-new-homes-for-travellers-at-labre-park/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T00:02:19.000Z In December, Dublin City Council officials [were talking](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26483780-public-reports-pack-12012026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=Labre&mode=document#document/p78) about how pleased they were with progress towards the construction of new homes at Labre Park, the country’s oldest Traveller site, in Ballyfermot. But then, last week, Shay L’Estrange, coordinator of the Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project (BTAP), got the call that the new-builds are off, he said. Better living conditions on the site, where overcrowding is acute, have been promised for almost three decades. Recent plans, agreed with residents, were for 12 new-build homes and the significant regeneration of 18 existing homes. The cost of the council’s failure will be even greater homelessness among Travellers and an even worse mental health crisis, said L’Estrange on Thursday. In the last six months alone, BTAP has arranged for three families to move out of Labre Park and into homeless accommodation, said L’Estrange. As the next generation forms relationships and has children, they just can’t stay, he said. “There’s just no room for them.” Other residents, meanwhile, have moved out with the promise that one of the new homes would be set aside for them, he said. The council evicted one man from a bay he had reopened, on the grounds that he was blocking the regeneration, said L’Estrange. “He was given a one-bedroom flat in Bluebell. It’s mentally killing him.” The council has decimated the community at Labre Park, said Hazel de Nortúin, a People Before Profit councillor. “They don’t even see the uneducated approach they’re taking on Traveller-specific housing rights.” The council is clearly following a programme of assimilation, she said. In other words, refusing to acknowledge and support Traveller culture and making Travellers live like settled people. De Nortúin said she plans to speak to all parties, councillors and the lord mayor, to seek their support to get the regeneration plan reinstated and moving. “Any councillor that doesn’t see the need to redevelop this site isn’t for cultural diversity within our communities,” she said. On Friday 10 April, the council's head of housing Mick Mulhern sent around an email to say that the homes are just on pause, and that the council is still committed to a housing scheme. L'Estrange said that he finds the council's current position to be disingenuous. ## **The given reason** Council officials, including Mick Mulhern, the head of housing, have said that the new homes can’t be built because of the flood risk, said L’Estrange. That’s not a new issue. It was raised before, [including by](https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/20407542-labreparkfra131120?ref=dublininquirer.com) senior council engineer Gerard O’Connell, in the council’s Flood Projects and Water Framework Directive Division. But BTAP and residents [were told](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-labre-park-the-promise-of-a-permanent-home-may-be-taken-away-for-some/) it was resolved, said L’Estrange. “They’ve changed their mind and put it back on the table again.” After the issue of flood risk had been raised in 2019 and 2020 by council engineers, Clúid, the housing charity – which was leading the project at the time – had agreed a new plan with the council. It wouldn’t build on the side of the site nearest the canal bank. Instead, it [would renovate existing homes, and build](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031907-labre-park-redevelopment-update-december-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) new homes on the other side of the site, where buildings once stood but have been knocked. They would also include some flood alleviation measures in the project. One proposal commissioned by Clúid had been to take from the canal bank and develop a sink, and kind of tub for water to flow into, to prevent Labre Park from flooding, said L’Estrange. But that was costed at **€**7 million or **€**8 million, he said, largely because they realised Labre Park had been built on a dump, so soil would have to be decontaminated Nobody – not the Office of Public Works (OPW), not the council, not the department – wanted to take responsibility for funding that though, said L’Estrange. Not for the number of homes in question, he said. The OPW has been criticised in the past for its narrow calculation of cost-benefit when assessing flood-remediation projects. Clúid came back with another plan anyway – building a simpler flood wall. That proposal was circulated within Dublin City Council a little over a year ago, said L’Estrange. It was sent around internally as part of what is known as the pre-Part 8 planning process, to get feedback from all divisions – including from engineers and drainage. It appeared to get the all clear, he said. And while Clúid left the project, the council had said it was still progressing it alone. Until last week, when L’Estange had those calls from the council’s Traveller Accommodation Unit, and from Mulhern too, to say that the new-build homes were to be scrapped. “So we’re back to square one, back to 1999,” he said. ## **What about the Camac flood scheme?** One objection to progressing Labre Park, raised in years past by council engineers, was that the whole area needed to be looked at as part of the Camac River Flood Alleviation Scheme. That’s a big project being progressed by Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, and the Office of Public Works. They have been looking at measures to protect as many as 1,352 homes in the Camac basin from flooding in the coming decades, said Gerard O’Connell, during a [presentation to councillors](https://www.dublininquirer.com/planned-flood-defences-would-protect-homes-and-businesses-along-the-camac-in-bluebell-inchicore-and-kilmainham/) in April 2024\. At that time, they were looking at three possible bundles of options. One option included, among other measures, the flood wall near Labre Park. That should help alleviate flood risk there, O’Connell told councillors at that meeting. “So that should be possible to develop that.” But while the flood wall was included in one of the package of options being looked at, exactly what interventions the OPW and councils have settled on as their favoured measures isn’t yet public. The OPW hasn’t responded to queries sent Thursday asking if that wall is planned as part of the Camac River Flood Alleviation Scheme, and if not, why not. It also didn’t respond to a query as to whether alternative interventions can be looked at to enable the homes at Labre Park, or whether any of its modelling shows what impact other interventions would have on the risk of flooding to these homes. In November, Dublin City Council [had put in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-decades-drag-on-dublin-city-council-finally-applies-for-funding-for-regeneration-of-traveller-accommodation-at-labre-park/) to the Department of Housing for funding for the Labre Park project. That included money to cover flood remediation and decontamination, according to a written response to a councillor in December, from Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare. That application is still under consideration at the moment, said a spokesperson for the Department of Housing on Thursday afternoon. But that hasn’t stopped council officials from telling L’Estrange that they are not moving forward with the new homes, that the flood risk is too great. ## **Not even the refurb?** Families at Labre Park have spent so much time engaging with the proposals, despite their disbelief that the council would ever come through, said L’Estrange on Thursday. When he told people the situation at a community meeting the night before, many reminded him that they had said it would never be done, said L’Estrange. That any promises would just be broken. And now the council has just pulled the plug, he said. “It’s just a prime example of how the Traveller community is treated.” Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham said his understanding is that the refurbishment of the existing homes will go ahead. Conversations with officials mean L’Estrange isn’t confident even of that though, he says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/File-photo-of-Labre-Park.-by-Lois-Kapila-1.JPG) The first phase of the regeneration was to be a new community centre and a massive upgrade of the existing homes, he said, with wraparound insulation, solar panels, and extensions. Clúid had assessed the existing houses and found the bedrooms and rooms were too small, he said. They had plans to move internal walls, and knock joining rooms together for space, and add extensions to make up for any loss of rooms, he said. Mulhern told L’Estrange that upgrades are going ahead, said L’Estrange. But L’Estrange asked where the money is to come from, he said. Have they made a separate application for funding for all that to the department and got the go-ahead? He didn’t get a clear answer, he said. “The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became.” Council workers have sent a note asking for access to homes in Labre Park to review what maintenance is needed, he said. But as he sees it, that’ll involve small stuff. Boiler upgrades and new doors, he said, and the smaller interventions that they can cover out of existing budgets. ## **Over the road** Meanwhile, debate within the council chamber in recent months has been focused on smoothing the way for the redevelopment of a vast swathe of underused industrial lands that spreads eastwards, over the road from Labre Park. Councillors are moving to rezone the area, and set out what can be built there with a new Kylemore Masterplan, covering this stretch between Inchicore and Ballyfermot. Labre Park sits just outside the draft masterplan area, with maps showing that any new buildings just over Kylemore Road may rise to up to 15 storeys as part of the new neighbourhood town centre. De Nortúin, the People Before Profit councillor, said that she now wants the Labre Park project linked in as part of the masterplan. “That shouldn’t proceed without.” She is looking at how to do that, she said. But first also wants to make sure that such a move wouldn’t delay any redevelopment of Labre Park further, she said. She said that officials have suggested that Travellers would be offered apartments in the masterplan site. They’re ignoring that they must deliver Traveller-specific accommodation, she said. Homes that respect and enable Traveller culture. L’Estrange, the coordinator of BTAP, said that he made it clear to officials that he sees their approach as assimilation by the backdoor. “And it’s disgusting.” Cunningham, the Green Party councillor, said that building Traveller-specific housing on lands within the Kylemore masterplan area would be tricky. Much of the land isn’t owned by the state, he said. But also, it’s mostly planned out as high-density, said Cunningham. Allowable heights in the draft masterplan range vary across the area, though, from between three storeys to 15 storeys. Indeed, densities and heights aren’t equivalent, he said. You can have high densities at lower heights than many people realise. But if you take the plans for Labre Park and copy that, and put that into the Kylemore masterplan area, and there was overlooking, would anybody be happy? Asked Cunningham. The issue then becomes a question of when and where the council is willing to prioritise and build appropriate homes for Travellers – who are discriminated against in the private-rental market and overrepresented among the city’s homeless. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said on Friday that while the masterplan does not specify tenure types, and so does not specifically mention Traveller accommodation, it provides for a balance of house types and sizes. Tenure mix is supported by that plan, they said. L’Estrange said he has emailed all area TDs and councillors to see what they will do to support Labre Park residents. In February 2021, councillors and officials [lined up to](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-meet-to-see-how-to-do-better-on-traveller-housing/) speak of the need to end housing discrimination against Travellers in the city, and find radical solutions to the failure to provide homes. Said then-Lord Mayor Hazel Chu of the Green Party: “If we don’t provide fit-for-purpose accommodation to Travellers we are putting a rubber stamp on racism and saying it’s okay.” This coming Monday night, councillors are due to note the city’s next three-year rolling capital programme, the budget for big building projects set by council officials. The budget for “Traveller settlement” is down, [from €39.5 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031980-dublin-city-council-capital-programme-2025-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the programme for 2025 to 2027 [to €17.8 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031985-report-no-782026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2026 to 2028. The funding allocation for the Labre Park redevelopment is down from €13.9 million to €2.7 million between the two programmes – and €0.6 million to explore “feasibility of land for development – Travellers” is also gone*.* *\[UPDATED: This article was updated on 13 April at 2.40pm to include comments from Dublin City Council.\]* ### Dubliners get a bit more transparency around where some old clothes end up URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dubliners-get-a-bit-more-transparency-around-where-some-old-clothes-end-up/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T00:02:29.000Z Going forward, about 15 percent of the clothes left by Dubliners at textile banks around the city should be resold at charity shops within Ireland, [according to a note](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031772-textile-service-april-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Dublin city councillors. The rest should be sorted and graded, with only the reusable items resold on to markets worldwide, and recyclable items sold just to markets in Europe and the United Kingdom, it said. Any unreusable items, waste basically, is to be sold for “energy recovery” – so, to be burned to help generate heat or electricity **–** in Northern Ireland, it said. That’s usually less than 5 percent of the stuff collected. The note comes ahead of the new contract for the city’s textile banks kicking in on 13 April. Clothes Pod, which had managed the city’s textiles waste for years, is leaving the scene. The new operator is the commercial division of Enable Ireland, a charity providing supports to people with physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities. A spokesperson for Enable Ireland said that it is adding 56 banks in the Dublin City Council area, bringing its network to more than 200 banks. Any income it makes from reselling quality used clothes at its 28 charity shops goes towards funding the charity’s services, they said. Solene Schirrer, a project manager with Voice Ireland, an environmental charity, said she is surprised – in a good way – at the detail and greater transparency around how the clothes are to be processed, under the new contract. The greater detail around traceability that the council had asked for in its tender is welcome, Schirrer said. She would love to see more of the detailed data on whether clothes end up widely released, she said. “I hope that this would be available to the public.” Councillors had long called for greater sight of where Dubliners’ old clothes go, to make sure that garments in bad condition and of poor quality aren’t just being dumped on poorer countries. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said the note and the new arrangement for the city's on-street textile banks was a great improvement. That’s really welcome, she said. She, also, though still wants a regular release of the hard data on where clothes end up, she said. More awareness and figures would help in building a campaign to end fast fashion, said Cooney, and help create the conditions for what she would envisage a “circular economy” should mean. ## **What’s the plan?** A lack of data on the end destination of Ireland’s textiles had led Voice Ireland to do its own research. In November, it [published the findings](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031189-threads-of-truth-report-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of its work tracking 23 items left at clothes banks and in-shop take-back schemes across the country, using airtags. “Of the items tracked, only 7 were confidently verified as reused, with most either exported outside the EU or lost to ambiguous, untraceable fates,” its investigation found. A lack of transparency over where textile waste ends up is unacceptable, said the report. “With tax payers money involved, the system is in urgent need of reform, and accountability needs to be attributed across the board.” When Dublin City Council drew up tender documents for a new contractor to handle the city’s used and discarded clothes, it included more stringent conditions around where those textiles end up. And in its note to councillors earlier this month, it laid out its expectations as to what should now happen. Items left should be collected and sorted at Enable’s Dublin warehouse, the note says. About 15 percent of what is collected should be sold in charity shops, with the profits from those used to fund services. Clothes that aren’t good for resale should be sold to Cookstown Textile Recyclers, it said, where they should be sorted into 229 separate grades based on the item and quality – which then determines where they are sent. Cookstown Textile Recyclers has total control over the chain from collection to the end-market, the note said. Its sales team visit customers and the markets where textiles are sold every few months, it said. “It’s great that the grading is taking place on the island,” said Schirrer of Voice Ireland. In other words, that there is greater assurance that waste and unreusable items aren’t exported under the label of reusable textiles and clothes, and just ending up in landfills elsewhere. Cookstown Textile Recyclers did feature in a February 2023 report [from the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031191-trashion-stealth-export-of-waste-plastic-clothes-to-kenya/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Changing Markets Foundation, that looked at used clothes imported into Kenya. The report mentions a spot assessment of an imported bale bought in Nairobi, from Cookstown Textile Recyclers and Tradecrest. Of the items in the bail, 202 were higher grade, or “first and second camera”, while 173 were low grade and would be sold cheap before going to waste, the report said. A big issue generally with imports is the high proportion of synthetic clothes, it says. Cookstown Textile Recyclers hasn’t yet responded to queries, including about the impact the use of low-grade synthetic materials by clothes manufacturers, sent by email on Thursday afternoon. But a spokesperson for Enable Ireland said that when it comes to the lowest-grade items that they don’t resell in shops, those aren’t sold on as clothing. They are sold in bulk to recycling reprocessing companies to use in mattresses, upholstery, felt for packing and soundproofing, they said. Meanwhile, damaged and soiled items are incinerated. “Enable Ireland’s warehouse is zero waste to landfill,” they said, and “Our recycling partners also have Zero Waste to Landfill accreditation.” Items are thoroughly sorted by recycling partners, “and that only suitable textiles are exported to markets outside of Ireland, where they are sold to customers for reuse or repurposing,” they said. Voice Ireland’s report last November did also highlight how the quality of items was a factor in whether clothes were reused at their end destination. Eighty-five percent of the reused items were quality items made of natural fibres. Cooney, the Green Party councillor, said that even greater ongoing traceability and transparency would make it easier to check that items aren’t being shipped abroad just for landfill or incineration. If they are, why not just own it and burn them here? she said. Any opacity as to what happens and why makes change in consumption difficult too, she said. “There’s no incentive then to move away from fabrics that are fast fashion and aren’t reusable.” Schirrer, of Voice Ireland, said it is good that Cookstown Textile Recyclers has a “know your customer” approach, with long-standing export partners. Looking ahead, Ireland has to bring in an Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) scheme [by April 2028.](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/press-releases/minister-dillon-welcomes-eu-waste-directive-targeting-fast-fashion-and-food-waste/?ref=dublininquirer.com) That must be designed around prevention first, Voice Ireland has said, with “eco-modulation fees that reward durability, mono-material design and effective reuse or recycling and tackles overproduction by indexing fees to volumes”. Those collected fees could be used not just to support waste managers and operators within Ireland though, said Schirrer, but also entities internationally that are handling Ireland’s old textiles. If operators in Ireland know who they are working with overseas, they can open that conversation, said Schirrer. ### What happened to two of the biggest moves put forward by the Dublin City Taskforce? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-happened-to-the-dublin-city-taskforces-promise-of-1-000-extra-gardai-and-the-total-regeneration-of-dilapidated-social-homes/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T22:55:46.000Z In May 2024, in the wake of the Dublin riots, the government announced (another) [taskforce for the city centre](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/government-announces-taskforce-for-dublin-city-centre/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In October 2024, in the run-up to a general election, the taskforce released its report and recommendations. Then Taoiseach, Simon Harris, a Fine Gael TD, in an op-ed in the [*Irish Independent*](https://www.independent.ie/opinion/simon-harris-1000-gardai-more-security-on-public-transport-and-a-reimagined-gpo-museum-in-plan-for-dublin-city-centre/a2018332591.html?ref=dublininquirer.com), backed several of them. Among the recommendations of the [taskforce's report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28031190-capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was funding “a minimum of 1000 additional gardaí in Dublin on a phased basis over the next three years”. “I fully agree. People need to see gardaí and security to feel safe,” wrote Harris, who is now Minister for Finance. “Dublin is a fantastic city. It deserves a brighter future. It deserves dedicated resources,” Harris wrote. “Let’s work together to make it a reality. Let’s put politics aside and deliver a capital city we can take pride in. “I am up for it. I hope you are, too,” he wrote. But that four-figure number for new gardai wasn’t mentioned in a June 2025 [roadmap ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28030231-roadmap-for-delivery-dublin-city-taskforce-report-june-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com)to deliver the taskforce promises, although it did list as an action, “strengthen community policing and engagement, increase visibility and carry out new recruitment and retention initiative”. And, 18 months on, Garda figures show only around 40 additional Gardaí stationed in the city centre. This recommendation from the taskforce is not the only one that seems to have been put aside or diluted. The report also recommended “the total regeneration of all existing social housing in the city centre within three to five years”, with “Approval of exchequer funding in full, up front and made available directly to DCC \[Dublin City Council\].” But the roadmap from the Interdepartmental Group, and the report that went alongside it seriously watered that down, saying only that flat complexes that are not already proposed for full-scale regeneration “in the foreseeable future” should be refurbished. Local representatives say that many of the buildings are so run-down that they need to be demolished. Also, the timeline of three to five years for the works is gone, and so is the commitment to fund them up front. There is confusion too as to whether a new “special purpose vehicle (SPV)” – a council-owned company – being set up is to drive forward all the recommendations of the taskforce, some of them, or just to tackle dereliction. Some public representatives say the recommendations of the taskforce haven’t been implemented because there isn’t funding backing them. “The implementation has fallen at the first hurdle, which was government funding,” says Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon. Others still have hope. There has been no progress thus far, but there could be in the future, they say. ## **The new special purpose vehicle** A November 2025 [press release](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/dublin-city-taskforce/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Department of Housing says a new SPV within Dublin City Council will lead the implementation of the 10 big moves. But there is confusion about the remit of that SPV. Council manager Karl Mitchell said in February that it would [implement many of the taskforce recommendations](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-sit-on-the-advisory-board-set-to-shape-the-future-of-dublin-city-centre/), but councillors say that at a recent briefing in the Mansion House, council managers said the focus of the SPV is primarily [tackling dereliction. ](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2026/02/09/dublin-city-council-seeks-114m-in-funding-to-kickstart-taoiseachs-taskforce-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “The SPV is primarily or exclusively a property development company,” says Green Party Councillor Janet Horner. “There are constant warnings about mission creep,” she says, “and the need to focus primarily on dereliction.” But the city task force was supposed to deliver so many other things. “Where did the rest of it go?” she asks. People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy says similar. “The SPV is primarily focusing on tackling dereliction,” he says. “All of the discussion focused on this development company.” Councillors say the SPV will include [works to revamp the GPO](https://www.dublininquirer.com/office-of-public-works-starts-ball-rolling-on-gpo-redevelopment/) and O’Connell Street and possibly stretch to public realm works in that area. What about social housing regeneration? “No,” says Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, who sits on several regeneration boards in the south inner-city. “No, the SPV has nothing to do with regeneration.” The council has longstanding plans to regenerate 15 social housing flat complexes across the city, many of which are in the city centre. Two of those are being built at the moment, most are at the pre-planning stage and due for estimated completion by 2031\. One has not yet got any estimated completion date, shows the most recent [housing supply report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28032152-report-no-662026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-housing-supply-and-delivery-month/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## **1,000 extra gardaí** Probably the most eye-catching recommendation of the task force was to deliver 1,000 additional Gardaí for the city centre. Last autumn’s City Centre Crime Victim Survey, commissioned by Dublin Inquirer with fieldwork and data preparation carried out by Amarách Research, found that people are [afraid of Dublin City Centre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/theres-a-huge-gulf-between-levels-of-fear-of-dublin-city-centre-and-levels-of-crime-new-survey-shows/). Of the 505 respondents who said they live outside of the city centre and visit it 63 percent said they had decided not to visit the city centre because they feel it is too unsafe. Meanwhile, of all 600 respondents to the survey, [12 percent reported](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-survey-offers-insights-into-levels-of-crime-in-dublin-city-centre/) that they had been a victim of theft in the city centre in the previous year. Nine percent said they had been threatened in a public place, and 3 percent said that they had been threatened with a weapon. Two percent said they had been “deliberately hit with fists or kicked”, and 1 percent said they had been injured with a weapon. One proposed solution to making people feel safer – and be safer – in the city centre is “high-visibility” policing, as called for by the taskforce. But as of February 2026,there were only 40 more Gardaí of all ranks stationed in the areas that include the city centre compared with December 2024, national Garda statistics show. Dublin North Central corresponds exactly to the north inner city, while Dublin South Central is broader and takes in Donnybrook and Kilmainham as well as the city centre stations. In [December 2024,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28032172-garda-numbers-dec-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com)shortly after the taskforce report in late October, there were 668 Gardaí in north central and 713 in south central. Fourteen months later, in [February 2026,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28032173-garda-numbers-feb-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) there were 690 Gardaí in north central and 731 in south central. The additional 40 Gardaí are working in shifts across nine Garda stations, so despite some [reporting of greater Garda visibility](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2025/10/09/garda-boost-in-central-dublin-leads-to-increase-in-detection-of-street-crimes/?ref=dublininquirer.com), it wasn’t caused by any major increase in the number of Gardaí working on any given day in central Dublin. Gannon, the Social Democrats TD, who represents the north inner-city, says he doesn’t believe the promise of 1,000 additional Gardaí was ever realistic. But Harris backed the idea. He has not yet responded to queries emailed on Thursday as to what he has done since to implement those promises. Gannon says that while there might be more gardaí on the beat on the main shopping streets like Grafton Street and Henry Street, some of those are being diverted from community policing duties in the disadvantaged communities, where he says things are worse than ever. “The level of open drug dealing that is happening in some of the flats and at the back of them is enormous,” says Gannon. “It is a policy of containment,” he says. “Clearly, that is being allowed to happen there so that it doesn’t spill into the commercial parts of the area.” ## **Social-housing regeneration** “It would be cynical to plan the rejuvenation of Dublin city centre without addressing the serious levels of deprivation in the area,” says the taskforce report. “A chronic underinvestment in the existing social housing complexes in the city centre has led to substandard living conditions for many residents of the city, affecting their quality of living, economic stability and physical and mental health. “Poor quality housing with inadequate amenities creates hotspots for antisocial behaviour that undermine the community’s quality of life and visitor experience,” it says. The solution is the total regeneration of all of the dilapidated social housing flat complexes in the inner-city, to be completed in three to five years, it says. Regeneration traditionally means demolishing and fully rebuilding the homes, but as some are protected structures – and given the carbon costs of knocking old buildings – the council has [piloted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/retrofitting-listed-council-flats-cheaper-than-new-build-pilot-suggests/) approaches to keep the outer structure while gutting and fully renovating the inside. The taskforce report recommends suspending the Department of Housing’s usual funding-approval mechanism and slashing red tape to allow work to proceed. “Approval of exchequer funding in full, up front and made available directly to DCC,” it says. So far, no additional social housing flat complexes in the city centre have been added to the council’s list for regeneration since the task force issued its report, shows a comparison of the [October 2022](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s38501/238%20Housing%20Supply%20Report.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) housing supply report with the most recent one in [April 2026\. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28032152-report-no-662026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-housing-supply-and-delivery-month/?ref=dublininquirer.com) All the regeneration projects on the list now were already there in 2022\. Some of those were supposed to be completed this year but aren’t going to be. Instead, the roadmap talks about “precinct improvement schemes” for some complexes. That’s talked about elsewhere as "internal and external refurbishment works to prolong the life of the complex and improve comfort levels for the tenants". Local representatives say that many homes desperately need full regeneration. Gannon says there are lots of social housing flat complexes in the inner-city that definitely need a full regeneration and are not on the list for that. For example, Greek Street, near the Four Courts, Henrietta House on Henrietta Street, and Liberty House on James Joyce Street, he says. “We are going into people’s flats, and you could put your finger through the wall, they are that damp,” he says. But these aren’t on the council’s current estate regeneration programme. A lot of the complexes were not well built or maintained and are often overcrowded, said Gannon. It is not easy to fix them up after “decades of damp and mould”, he says. Most of those regeneration projects that are happening or planned have been talked about for the last 20 years, he says. None of the social housing flat complexes in the north inner-city has been added to the regeneration list since the taskforce report, Gannon says. “Not a single one – the only ones that are happening are the ones that were already in train,” he says. Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, who sits on some of the regeneration committees in the south inner-city, says similar. “Some have been on the list for regeneration since before the 2008 crash,” he says. The council has not yet received any extra money for regeneration, nor have there been any major changes he is aware of to make the process faster or easier, says Pidgeon. The Department of Housing often won’t fund the regeneration of inner-city complexes where they are already densely populated, he says, because it’s not possible to add extra homes and knocking small homes together can decrease the number of flats. ## **What next?** The taskforce’s recommendations were very wide-ranging. The detailed text calls for investment in community policing, integration programmes and youth diversion programmes. It covers measures to improve transport and to tackle rubbish, transport police, revamping the GPO and scrubbing up city streets. The Department of Justice is rolling out a new Transport Security Service. Horner says many of the other things are stuff the council was working on already, particularly around waste management, where it has introduced alot of measures lately. In the June 2025 roadmap, multiple state bodies are tasked with rolling these out, but almost a year on, no one seems to be in charge of leading those. “There is huge potential in the SPV to tackle dereliction,” says Horner, the Green Party councillor. “But it is still not clear what is happening with the remainder of the ambitions that were laid out in the 10 big moves and the funding that was meant to be dedicated to it,” she says. “Dereliction is just one aspect of a wider strategy or a wider project.” The Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Housing and the Department of Finance didn’t respond to queries sent earlier this week about implementation of the taskforce’s recommendations in time for publication. ### Things To Do: Slow down, go to Gomorrah, contemplate a vanishing Dublin, move to Francis Street URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-slow-down-go-to-gomorrah-contemplate-a-vanishing-dublin-move-to-francis-street/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T00:02:49.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Tivoli space on Francis Street** This morning, Staycity Group launched an open call to the city’s cultural and creative community for a three-year occupancy of [the ground floor exhibition and performance space](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-cultural-space-off-francis-street-meant-to-compensate-for-the-loss-of-the-tivoli-theatre-is-still-mostly-used-as-storage/) in the aparthotel company’s Francis Street branch. Built on the site of the former Tivoli Theatre, the vacant space is set to be turned into a “white boxed” 353sqm venue that will be offered to not-for-profit groups, collectives, arts organisations and community-focused practitioners at “heavily subsidised” rental rates, which will be agreed with the selected occupants, according to a Staycity press release issued today. It is capable of accommodating up to 200 visitors and will operate between 8am and 10pm seven days a week, the release says. If you’re one of the groups eligible to apply, they are taking submissions [here](https://www.staycity.com/tivoli-space-open-call?ref=dublininquirer.com). The deadline for applications is 17 May, and there will be a two-stage selection process, assessed by an internal and independent external panel, which is expected to conclude by the end of June. ***Do You Come From Gomorrah?*** Tomorrow evening in the Abbey Theatre, playwright Frank McGuinness’ new play *Do You Come From Gomorrah?* is getting its world premiere. Performed by Ryan Donaldson, the story is about a young man who relives his time spent in captivity, following the breakdown of his family. Known as Gomorrah, the reformatory in which he is confined is supposed to stand for “cleanliness, order and industrious living”, and is described as a “mirror to the strangeness and contradictions of 1970s Ulster". Directed by Sarah Baxter, *Do You Come From Gomorrah* will be previewing on the Peacock Stage from tomorrow (Friday, 10 April) until Wednesday, 15 April, after which it will run until 16 May. For more information, and to book your tickets, visit the Abbey Theatre event page [here.](https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats-on/do-you-come-from-gomorrah/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Slow Art Day at IMMA** On Saturday, 11 April, it is International Slow Art Day, a day that is entirely devoted to encouraging you to slow down, take time and experience art in a new way. Throughout the day, the Irish Museum of Modern Art will be running a series of events beginning with a drawing workshop at 11pm. Hosted by artist Renata Pękowska in the Matheson Creativity Hub, the guided session invites participants to tune into their sensesm and express moments of focus through simple, mindful drawing techniques. Afterwards, at 12.30pm, participants can step into IMMA’s Art as Agency exhibition – the museum’s major three-year display of its Permanent Collection – as curator Bairbre-Ann Harkin will be leading a “slow art tour”, engaging with the works one piece at a time, sharing their ideas, observing unexpected ideas and telling their respective stories. The events are free. For more information, visit the IMMA website [here](https://imma.ie/whats-on/slow-art-day-at-imma/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Words in Other Places** This weekend, a new cross-border literary festival, Words in Other Places will be launching in Belfast and Dublin. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, the festival will be showcasing a range of figures from the contemporary literary scene, north and south, through different talks in both Belfast’s Seamus Heaney Centre and Dublin’s Irish Writers Centre. Day one of the festival (11 April) will be taking place in Belfast, with writers including Rafael Mendes, Rob Doyle and Louise Nealon slated to appear. Day two (Sunday, 12 April) comes down to Dublin, and will begin at 12pm with an hour-long panel discussion featuring contemporary writers from the north: Jan Carson, Leontia Flynn, and Wendy Erskine. Later, at 4pm, there will be a panel discussion featuring international writers speaking on the subject of literature in translation and “words beyond borders”. Hosted by poet Adam Wyeth, this talk will feature Hugo Hamilton, Suad Aldarra, and Vicrotia Melkovska Tickets are free and going quickly. So head on over to the festival’s page [here](https://irishwriterscentre.ie/words-in-other-places-an-irish-writers-centre-literary-festival/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to secure a seat before it’s too late. **Vanishing Dublin** Next Thursday, 16 April, the Gerard Byrne Gallery on Trinity Street is hosting a panel discussion as part of its exhibition Before I Go: Vanishing Dublin. Running until 10 May, Before I Go brings together over 50 characteristically Dublin cityscapes by artist Gerard Byrne. And to broaden the conversation around Byrne’s oil and charcoal works, a few historians and heritage voices will be dropping into the gallery on Thursday at 6.30pm to ask “what does a city lose when it forgets what it looked like?” Hosted by historian, author and podcaster Donal Fallon, the talk will feature Donough Cahill of the Irish Georgian Society, Daryl Hendley Rooney of The Little Museum of Dublin, and art historian and Dublin Decoded Tours chief guide Arran Henderson. Admission is free, but seating is limited. To reserve a space, visit the event page [here](https://gerardbyrneartist.com/events/3/?utm%5Fsource=visitdublin%5Fcom&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=failteireland&utm%5Fcontent=book%5Fnow%5Fbutton). **EX/IT: Lift** Last Thursday, the Douglas Hyde Gallery launched EX/IT: Lift, the first solo exhibition in Ireland by British-Iranian interdisciplinary artist Abbas Zahedi. Zahedi’s work centres on reciprocity, renewal, social connection and care and brings scientific, philosophical and poetic insights to bear on fixed narratives around art, history and institutional life. With EX/IT: Lift, which is showing in Gallery 1 until 14 June, Zahedi’s newly commissioned work interrogates bureaucratic systems: administrative, religious, institutional, and militaristic. Through a series of sound sculptures – some of which sound alarms, while others reflect endless rhythms of manual labour or ritual practice – the artist explores the capacity of the gallery space to challenge dominant systems through dialogue and collective action. As part of the gallery’s response series The Artist’s Eye, Zahedi invited artist Bushra Mustafa Dunne to write and record a new poem, which is being played in a long-range acoustic device that is currently installed in the adjoining Gallery 2. For more information, visit the Douglas Hyde Gallery website [here](https://thedouglashyde.ie/exhibition/bushra-mustafa-dunne/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ADVERTISEMENT [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/SIGNS-GIF-FOR-DUB-INQ.GIF)](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) SIGNS present: Elikya (Congolese 9-piece rumba/soukous) David DeBarra (experimental folk 3-piece) Farah Elle (alternative singer-songwriter) Cormorant Tree Oh (experimental folk, drone, psych) \+ DJs Pablo Santo & more May 03 at The Sugar Club | 20:00—03:00 [Tickets ](http://signs-bank-hol.eventbrite.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Irish Song for Lebanon Fundraiser** On 16 April, singer, poet and arts facilitator Amano De Londra Miura will be hosting an online fundraiser for Lebanese Food Bank. In this bilingual workshop, Amano will guide participants in learning one suantraí/lullaby, with Irish leaners and singers of all levels welcome. The online session will kick off at 5.30pm. To book a space and for more information, visit the event page [here](https://bookwhen.com/amanoanseo/e/ev-swdgl-20260416173000?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Off The Scéal: Multilingual Open Mic Night** Over in the Winding Stair on 16 April, Off The Scéal is returning for its first multilingual open-mic night of the year. Celebrating stories, poems, comedy, music and spoken word in any language, the session is welcome to all, whether you’re sharing something new or just coming along to listen. Hosted in partnership with Poetry Ireland, the event starts at 6.30pm and will feature special guest Kiruu. Admission is free. For more information, visit the event page [here](https://www.poetryireland.ie/news-events/partnership-event-sceal-multilingual-open-mic-night?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### In radio in Ireland, the “accent ceiling” persists URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-radio-in-ireland-the-accent-ceiling-persists/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T00:02:59.000Z An announcer with an Irish accent says the next show is presented by “Hussain Bakhshi, who is originally from Afghanistan, but is now living in Ireland”. A soft voice with a different twang is next. “Hello everyone, welcome to *Home for All,* with me, Hussain Bakhshi, and I would like to say for you, Happy Nowruz today and Eid Mubarak,” he said on a 22 March show. He then introduced his guest, Genia Mahato. “Welcome to our show, Dear Genia.” Until recently, Hussain Bakhshi would commute every week to Ballyfermot Civic Centre to record a show for [Together FM](https://web.archive.org/web/20260404214210/https://togetherfm.com/), a community radio station serving west Dublin. He still does the show, but pre-records a few episodes each month to run week by week because it takes him an hour by bus to get there, said Bakhshi, recently, sitting at a city centre café. Bakhshi has a full-time job. He volunteers on the radio show in his spare time. He’s not new to broadcasting, though. In Afghanistan, he worked in the media for years. In 2015, he set up an education centre, where he taught kids how to present and speak eloquently in public. “And continued until 2023,” said Bakhshi. Then, about two years into the Taliban’s recovery of power, Bakhshi moved to Ireland. Volunteer-run community radio stations are the most likely places to hear differently accented voices presenting their own shows, said Brian Greene, chair of Community Radio Ireland (CRAOL). “It’s the same glass ceiling that women have had breaking into the male-dominated broadcasting,” he said. Over in Cork, Fahmeda Naheed, who was born in Pakistan, has been presenting her own chat show on Cork city community radio for the past three years, she said. At the moment, there [are a few presenters](https://www.rte.ie/radio/shows/?sort=ranked&ref=dublininquirer.com) on national public radio who have immigrant parents or moved here as kids with their family, but it’s harder to come by programmes presented by people with varied accents. Both Bakhshi and Naheed say they have thought about the idea that their accent might not be seen as the right one for horizons beyond community radio. But from his perspective, Bakhshi said, accent shouldn't be an issue as long as you speak clearly. Besides, he said, everyone has an accent, right? “Even Irish people themselves or American people, one part of the country speaks in one way, the other part, another way,” he said. Greene, chair of CRAOL, said in his view, national radio can still snub [people born here](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28016251-ctb-2013-12-2731/?ref=dublininquirer.com) who don’t have a cut-glass south Dublin lilt, let alone people with accents from different countries. A spokesperson for RTÉ said in response to an interview request about the national public broadcaster’s perspective on the issue that it was looking to arrange one, but couldn’t fulfil it in time. ## Tune into 87.5 FM When driving on the M50 or any road in or around Dublin, said Greene, tune into 87.5 FM. “There’s no channel on 87.5\. It’s just static,” he said. But if you listen carefully, it gradually picksup a parade of sounds fromother cars’ radios, each wafting in the air for a few seconds as the cars slide out of view, Greene said. The voices are revelatory, he said, showing just how many people around us are listening to radio shows and podcasts in different tongues. “You hear a kaleidoscope of different sounds musically and in accents. The variety that you get there is astounding,” he said. For Greene, he said, that serves as proof of just how crucial it is for national public radio to broadcast voices that speak with accents that lots of other Dubliners have. Almost one in five people living in Dublin were born outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom, [said the 2022](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ulrLp4lXp1cHc6rCPf9OR7r51FljUmtQ/edit?ref=dublininquirer.com&gid=1202639393#gid=1202639393) census results. ## Now I see me Part of the reluctance to hire people with diverse voices might be fears that listeners might push back and complain, said Greene. And that can be true, he said – it happens. That’s why people who don’t exactly have what's perceived to be the standard radio voice gradually shed their real accents and cultivate a D4 one, he said. He watched that happen to a former college friend, said Greene. “There’s a culture in broadcasting that there is a perceived acceptable standard voice,” Greene said. And that can exclude out-of-towners in Dublin and working-class Dubliners, he said. This is also an issue in the United States. In her book [*Listeners Like Who?*](https://www.torrossa.com/it/resources/an/6055887?ref=dublininquirer.com)*: Exclusion and Resistance in the Public Radio Industry,* Laura Garbes, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, also found that listeners’ negative feedback played a role in shaping access to broadcasting jobs in the United States. Audiences who are accustomed to hearing a standard, implicitly White, radio voice consider accents that aren’t like that to be unintelligible, her research says. Her study gives voice to Arvand, a Middle-Eastern American broadcaster who was weirded out by how the voices of people with different accents sounded clear to him but not to his White colleagues. “People will still openly say, ‘We can’t have that person on. Their accent is just too much.’ And then you go and listen, and you’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I understand everything they’re saying,” Arvand had said. Garbes wrote that in the course of her research, public radio workers of colour consistently told her that “the distinct public radio sound was unmistakably white. When I asked them to elaborate, I would sometimes get sonic descriptions, like a ‘nasally thin sound’”. Mainstream radio tries to cater to “the comforts and tastes of predominantly white, professional-class listener-members”, said her study. The study mentions a Black broadcaster, Devin, who said he was caught off guard and grew self-conscious about his voice when listeners emailed feedback, saying they couldn’t understand him. It chronicles his frustration and the resentment he began to nurse. At one point, the study says, he’d thought, “Fuck this, I’m not doing these radio hits to get the grief from white people who I don’t even want to talk to in the first place”. Devin hid his real voice over time, Garbes wrote. “It might be beneficial to me in some immediate career ways – and also a little bothersome in terms of my self-conception,” she quotes him as saying. ## Hear me out Naheed, the presenter in Cork city’s community radio, said that when people say they don’t understand accents like hers, it is “largely about familiarity rather than actual understanding”. “What is perceived as unintelligible is influenced by exposure and listener expectations,” she said. That’s why it’s so important to normalise different accents by playing them on airwaves more often, so listeners grow accustomed, she said. On a video call on Monday, Garbes, whose research grappled with the exclusion of different accents from the radio, said low exposure is a factor, but editors can also project their personal preference onto the audience. “A lot of White editors would say, ‘Oh, our audience won’t like that. Our audience won’t understand that,” she said. But is that really true?Garbes asked. Naheed, the presenter in Cork, said that on community radio, her accent has never been a barrier. “I have interviewed a wide range of guests, many of them Irish, and the engagement has always been strong,” she said. ## Where we live is our country There can be a disparity between the level of acceptance for varied accents, too, said Garbes, at the University of Minnesota. “If someone has a French accent, for example, it is sort of associated in people’s understanding, in their racial linguistics hierarchy as being associated with high culture, associated with intelligence, with expertise,” said Garbes. Investing more in public radio and a real commitment to plurality of voices is the solution, she said. Greene, of CRAOL, said something similar. Real plurality is why people with all kinds of accents find their voice in community radio, he said. It’s by the community for the community, Greene said. Bakhshi, the presenter at Together FM, said being on the radio is not just a way for him to keep in touch with people in real life – “I love to be connected” – but also helps him melt in and grow his network, he said. “In Afghanistan, I had a very wide connection.” He’s learned from his guests’ tales of hardships and triumphs on the radio show, said Bakhshi, who won a community radio achievement award last year. That’s been enriching, Bakhshi said. It's important for other immigrants to hear accents like theirs on the radio, feel counted and maybe grow the confidence to try it themselves, he said.“They would be encouraged.” Public national radio stations probably have wonderful notions of inclusivity on paper, and it would be good to see them in action, he said. “If they have the policy and they act accordingly, then I can see myself there as well.” ### Vacancy Watch: The site where Clontarf’s tragic Victorian mansion, Redcourt, once stood URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-the-site-where-clontarfs-tragic-victorian-mansion-redcourt-once-stood/ Last updated: 2026-04-10T04:50:03.000Z In the early hours of 9 August 2007, a man walked into Raheny Garda Station and calmly announced that he had just beaten his friend “more or less” to death in Clontarf, according to a [report](https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/man-kicked-his-friend-to-death-over-family-insult/27888178.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the *Independent* on his trial. The man, Alan Walsh, of 43 Edenmore Park, Coolock, told gardaí he’d had more than a dozen cans, and got in an argument with Dermot Sheridan. After he’d beaten Sheridan, he’d set his body alight, Walsh said. Hurrying to the scene of the crime, gardaí swiftly verified the appalling truth behind the confession. The battered and burnt body of the victim was found, just as the suspect had described, within the smouldering shell of a derelict Victorian mansion in Clontarf known as Redcourt. In October 2008, a jury found Walsh guilty of murdering Sheridan and sentenced him to life in prison, according to another [report](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/life-in-jail-for-murderer-who-killed-pal-and-burned-corpse/26485568.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the *Independent*. This was not the first tragic incident associated with Redcourt. In a more superstitious era it might have been considered cursed. Its story reads like a cheap pastiche of Edgar Allan Poe, a century-long streak of tragedy and misfortune, ending the inferno touched off by Walsh. For a century or thereabouts, Redcourt stood on its acre-and-a-half, a little back from what is now Seafield Road East, amid the suburban comfort of Clontarf. Today, Seafield Road East remains something of a millionaires’ row, albeit one that has swallowed up the vast green spaces of its Victorian ancestor. But of Redcourt itself, nothing remains beyond its curved and cracked stone gateposts, except for an unruly mass of vegetation. Once home to fine living, lavish parties and horseback afternoons, its only permanent residents in recent years have been a furtive family of urban foxes. On a recent weekday afternoon, digging equipment could be seen parked within the gates of the now vacant site. A narrow path had been cleared through the dense overgrowth, and the wrought-iron gates had been overlaid with new metal fencing, and securely padlocked. The site is owned by several members of the Wexford-based Nolan family as well as half-owner Clontarf-based Robert Pigott, according to [property records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28020996-redcourt-freehold/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The company Savona Limited, whose directors are Oliver Nolan and Joan Nolan, according to the most recent [company records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28021000-savona-annual-return-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), has been trying to develop it for years. Their 2021 application to build [131 build-to-rent apartments](https://web.archive.org/web/20210914182706/https://redcourtclontarf.wixsite.com/-shd/) there was [quashed by a High Court order](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/311333?ref=dublininquirer.com), and a judge last April [shot down](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28020999-most-recent-court-judgement-2025-iehc-178/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Savona’s attempt to appeal that. That has sent attempts to develop the site [back to An Coimisiún Pleanála](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/323542?ref=dublininquirer.com) as of September. ## Beginnings When it was built [in the late 19th century](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28020997-2008-inspectors-report-abp-demolition-r233260/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Redcourt would have jutted out from the landscape of the seaside suburb – still, then, a place of green fields and tree-shaded country walks – as a triumphant statement in redbrick. As early as 1905, the house had already been marked by tragedy, as the younger George Tickell, [son](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W7KXchl68TI9qBNHC-whzRF%5Fsfp9CXBC/view?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the [unionist](https://www.dib.ie/biography/tickell-george-a9564?ref=dublininquirer.com) politician, [died at sea aged 32](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZnMvaLK1NYntW-1BaHUi1-9PCnY4c2XC/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com). This left his widow Florence to rattle about in the mansion before she [remarried](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RhDZFJUmMZacPro91X8Tv9OjZRj9%5FD2p/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) in 1911 and moved to Scotland, presumably with her share of his mammoth £24,000 bequest. After the [Gwynn](https://www.johngrenham.com/dcla/burgesses/street%5Fsearch.php?searchtype=street&year=1914&address01=Redcourt&ref=dublininquirer.com) family, famed [academics and sportspeople](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward%5FGwynn?ref=dublininquirer.com), had passed through its halls, the house came into the possession of the rising Catholic bourgeoisie, in the form of the Tallons. James Tallon, the family’s patriarch, had cashed in royally on the Free State’s early cinema boom. He was [proprietor](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z91zcUXk9wyel5csits0x9e7HfA6X-eS/view?ref=dublininquirer.com) of Cork’s celebrated Pavilion Theatre, and chaired the board of The Capitol on Dublin’s Prince’s Street. James’s son Charles, a bookseller at another family enterprise – [Tallon’s Bookshop on Stephen’s Green](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1%5FfZQ63q7LC5H8o-rSFG8DEKuxyOG6gL1/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) – would not live to inherit the family’s riches. At 21 years of age, Charles [was killed](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UtNZU8Icuy5l%5F4NCPnL5-7CFwxHEdyCI/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) on a dark night in August 1923, on the way home from the Baldoyle Races, as he guided his motorbike towards the gates of Redcourt. He collided with a horse-drawn ice-cream cart on Vernon Avenue, according to a report at the time in the *Freeman’s Journal*. Devastated by the loss of their beloved son – [memorials](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lLfsPD6ILUKSfCly9sLEXPD2pQe4nmHu/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) to “Charlie” continued to appear in the newspapers on his anniversary for well over a decade after his death – the Tallons remained in-situ at Redcourt, where James [died in 1946](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q2VEpciUekoHo1M4-ifggVVE9rDIDTlt/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com). From the Tallons, the house and grounds passed into the hands of the Hardys. To this day, the family are fondly remembered in Clontarf, but their lengthy tenure at Redcourt was marked by tragedy as well. Originally from Omeath, Co. Louth, the [family had owned the Dublin House ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LJQpfOjCSCAYMierQaOUgjdsEvBZhUAW/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com)bar in their hometown, before setting up as publicans and high-end fishmongers in Dublin. The Hardys were, in many ways, an exemplary family among the rising commercial class: parents highly successful in business, with the next generation plugged neatly into the sporting and ecclesiastical life of the state. Michael Hardy, named after his father, [straddled both worlds](https://www.independent.ie/regionals/louth/drogheda-news/sadness-at-death-of-former-curate/27123939.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). Twice a Leinster champion with the Louth Gaelic football team, he was ordained in 1949. Fr. Michael’s brother Gerry Hardy, born in 1936, was a quintessential golden boy of Dublin’s suburban elite. Educated at Castleknock College, he [excelled on the rugby field](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AB9uFo8yP%5FN2q9A6ZwF9n%5F8JwcafajlZ/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com), winning the Leinster Senior Cup with Bective. A popular figure within Irish rugby, he achieved the ultimate honour of an international cap in 1962, when he was selected at out-half for the Five Nations game against Scotland at Lansdowne Road. Another milestone beckoned in 1963, with Gerry’s wedding to fiancée Patricia Hayes – an Aer Lingus “hostess”, in the parlance of the time – arranged for early November. In late October, Gerry returned to his native Omeath to pick up his baptismal certificate in preparation for the wedding. It was at midnight on 26 October, as he made his way back to Dublin with a friend[, ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17RioDU32rIueG%5Fq0UN%5FpWOoHCplPdXYV/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com)that Gerry’s Hillman Estate[ collided](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17RioDU32rIueG%5Fq0UN%5FpWOoHCplPdXYV/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) head-on with another car near Gormanstown, Co. Meath. Gerry was pulled from the wreckage with severe injuries, but died at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda the following morning. His friend Anthony Slattery was also among the victims of the crash. Instead of celebrating his younger brother’s wedding, Fr. Michael Hardy was called upon to officiate at [Gerry’s funeral](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GNVjrlWwmBtFbnuU%5FzxnwqJAAK9Egqmh/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) at St. Gabriel’s Church in Clontarf – yards from Redcourt itself. Patricia Hayes, robbed of a life with Gerry on the eve of their wedding, ultimately [married Gerry’s brother Paddy instead](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kq93NneiCOzlTIidH-Ygr8f6XjUxH82y/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Endings By the mid-1970s, Gerry’s parents, Ellen and Michael, had both passed away at Redcourt (Ellen leaving a will of £500,000), and the house – as well as the family fish business, the famous [Hanlons of Moore Street](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17GeGTGWKTgbejE0%5FOcW8XREB-Oz0HfhR/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) \-- passed to Paddy and Patricia. As the lean 1980s became the roaring 1990s, Paddy Hardy [fought a lengthy battle](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U3VG9iqGmbQ2A0R6NzGj04bpBFjTwcMw/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) with planning authorities for permission to build apartments on the Redcourt estate. In the summer of 1991, Paddy and Patricia’s son Michael, 25, went on holiday to the United States with a couple of friends. He dove into the sea off Newport, Rhode Island, and misjudging the depth of the water, struck rock and [was killed.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sQpsL8AxP1eBrmjaAxC6Hy6IusAIPl5x/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) Redcourt’s reputation was now the stuff of record, as well as of legend. It was a legend that grew in the telling. Today, locals recounting Redcourt’s grim history often reference the 1986 killing of James Wall, [stabbed as he chased a burglar](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZBJK8hXcipPknUSv37RchnqtSXETvQh/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) from his home at nearby Dollymount Park; Wall’s body was briefly hidden in a disused shed on the grounds of Redcourt. Wall’s murderer subsequently [took his own life in prison](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tQX6KGZtHqvL7YJioiO62U9Uw1srwW6h/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com). One-by-one, the Hardys of Redcourt began to pass from this world around the turn of the millennium, their legacies a testament to the family’s business acumen. Patricia – mother of the tragic Michael – left [€16m when she died in 2004.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UAZylEiiiigLJ9%5FiOETZByjKtYwNPFmV/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com) The Celtic Tiger made Redcourt, above all else, a prime piece of undeveloped real estate at the heart of a deeply desirable seaside address. In 2004, the house and remaining grounds sold for a northside record of [€7.8 million](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/period-house-for-a-record-breaking-78m/25909104.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). [Mark Piggott](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28020995-2004-app-to-abp-to-demolish-r211589/?ref=dublininquirer.com)’s initial plans to demolish the house were [knocked back by An Bord Pleanála](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28021002-2004-refusal-to-demolish-d211589/?ref=dublininquirer.com) amid [widespread local opposition](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pgM3hNvrLG98zRUipuzBHgQHdHswlyQS/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com), but by August 2007, any such plans were moot. Redcourt – along with its history, its myths, its legends, and perhaps even its curse – had gone up in flames. Walsh and Sheridan had been drinking with some other men in St. Anne’s Park throughout that August day in 2007, according to reports from Walsh’s trial. As the park closed for the evening, the men, knowing Redcourt to have been abandoned and boarded up for several years, forced their way into the kitchen of the house and continued to drink. In the blaze that ensued, three floors of the house collapsed. By the time its charred shell was deemed unsalvageable and torn from the landscape, the weeds had already begun to swallow any trace of warmth or life that may have lingered there. ### Works to begin in August to make pedestrianisation of Malahide’s New Street permanent, council engineer says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/works-to-begin-in-august-to-make-pedestrianisation-of-malahides-new-street-permanent-council-engineer-says/ Last updated: 2026-04-10T12:13:09.000Z The council is expected to start worksin August to change up New Street in Malahide with wider footpaths, outdoor dining areas, and more trees, to make permanent the street’s pedestrianisation, a council official said at a meeting last Wednesday. The works are going to take an estimated 18 months, said Shane McMorrow, a council executive engineer at the meeting. “And the stakeholders on the street did mention that they’d like a break during the summer and a break during the winter.” But, throughout the whole period of works, the council intends to keep the street open for business, he said at the 1 April meeting of the Howth/Malahide Area Committee. The council’s plans for New Street had faced setbacks when Nicola Byrne, [a resident of the area,](https://consult.fingal.ie/ga/node/32916/submissions?page=3&ref=dublininquirer.com) brought a [judicial review against the project](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28022954-r312656/?q=judicial&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p14). The council had temporarily pedestrianised the 150 metre street in June 2021, wrote Mr Justice Richard Humphreys in his [judgment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28024362-malahide-new-street-judicial-review-2025-iehc-204/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the judicial review a year ago. “Never let a good crisis go to waste is a concept frequently, albeit probably inaccurately, attributed to Winston Churchill,” Humphreys wrote. “In that spirit, Fingal County Council’s response to the Covid emergency included the temporary pedestrianisation.” Byrne tried to get an injunction against the temporary pedestrianisation, Humphreys wrote. When she was unsuccessful, she replied “in an equally Churchillian spirit of shrugging off that defeat and fighting the council, if not quite on the beaches of Malahide, at least on its pedestrianised roadways.” Unlike Churchill, however, Byrne lost the war. Humphreys dismissed Byrne’s High Court challenge in his 11 April 2025 judgement, but agreed with her argument that the council failed to comply with its statutory obligation to prepare a local area plan for Malahide. Before he wrote that judgement, Humphreys visited New Street, and he wrote that “The current state of the pedestrianised New Street is rather half-hearted as pedestrianisations go.” “The road/footpath construction and layout is that of an active roadway, with no real physical barriers to vehicles coming in or out,” Humphreys wrote. “There were both commercial and non-commercial vehicles driving on the street, as well as both types of vehicle parked.” It is this situation that the council is seeking to change with the works it plans to start in August. The council completed a [full tender package](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28024374-new-street-project-information/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in December, and carried out their final pre-construction with street stakeholders in February, McMorrow said as he gave local councillors an update on the project at the committee meeting last Wednesday. During that consultation, the council received requests for breaks in construction activity to facilitate trade on the street both during the summer and Christmas periods, he said. The council will aim to appoint a contractor in June or July, before proceeding with construction work afterwards, he said. “Construction is due to take place in August 2026 after the busy summer period break that was requested by the stakeholders.” Green Party Councillor David Healy said it is a real mixture of emotions at this stage. “There’s delight that things are moving along, and deep frustration that we’re still here, and that the talented team that we have working on this are still working on this.” Fianna Fáil Councillor Eoghan O’Brien said a lot of people are anxious to get work started. But, he asked what groups were being represented at the consultation stage? “Was that purely traders on the street, the various different businesses, or were there other consultees in terms of the community groups locally?” It was a targeted meeting with stakeholders, McMorrow said. “It was to do with practical aspects in terms of access to their businesses, specific exits and entrances from their premises, and stuff like that.” “So yes, it was just stakeholders on the street at this stage to hone in on what we need to hone in on for the construction period,” he said. Does the council envisage any disruptions whereby a business may need to close for a full day? Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey asked. The expected timeline is the 18 months plus the breaks over the summer and winter months, McMorrow said. “But we intend to keep the street open for pedestrians during the whole construction period.” There won’t be cases where businesses need to close for extended periods of time, he said. Their approach will be to keep the street open, and to do the work in phases, he said, “and move along the street to facilitate that”. Social Democrats CouncillorJoan Hopkins asked if the price agreed by the council with the contractor could increase if the project takes more than those 18 months. “So if they go over the 18 months, are we going to be charged for that, or is that all built in?” she asked. It’s a fixed price lump-sum, McMorrow said without specifying the price. “Yes, the price will be for the period that we’ve specified. But, we’ve specified it in such a way that it’s kind of a good guess.” They don’t think it will go over that price, he said. “But it will be up to them to make the programme and make it work within that timeframe.” *UPDATE: This article was updated at 2.12pm 10 April 2026 to reflect that the judge agreed with Byrne's argument that the council failed to comply with its statutory obligation to prepare a local area plan for Malahide.* ### In Howth, an artist looks to blur the lines between the gallery and the sights on its doorstep URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-howth-an-artist-looks-to-blur-the-lines-between-the-gallery-and-the-sights-on-its-doorstep/ Last updated: 2026-04-10T04:49:44.000Z The sky over Howth was cloudy, but the sun shone through the grey. The squawk of gulls and strums of an acoustic guitar echoed up from the harbour to Abbey Street, where a couple of tourists were happily remarking at how beautiful it was out, as the temperature hit 14°C. As they passed the front windows of the College Lane Gallery, they paused briefly, catching a glance of their reflections in a silver square of film that had been fixed to the glass. The two-way mirror – stuck there by the artist Róise McGagh – was titled “Transpose”, according to a sheet of paper lying inside the white windowsill. Part of McGagh’s exhibition “sticks and mountains and huge lone birds”, the piece kept grabbing people’s attention – school children, friends out for a stroll pushing buggies, visitors to the peninsula. In part, this simple installation was there to jolt passers-by out of their immediate viewpoint, McGagh said on the last Monday in March, sitting on a step in the exhibition room that connects the gallery to the house behind it. “You’re outside, you think you’re looking outside, but you’re seeing outside again.” When nobody was in its reflection, the mirror’s chief subjects were the pebbledash and red-brick houses across the street, and the Howth Music School. That’s where the name “Transpose” came from, McGagh said. “Like, it’s opposite the music school, and that’s a music term, to transpose, to take one thing and to put it somewhere else.” McGagh’s show is composed of different installations, mostly conceived during a month-long residency in the gallery during March, they said. “Just, y’know what I’ve seen from wandering around.” It’s a show that asks the audience to re-examine their immediate surroundings, they said. “I wanted to observe different things around here, distill them into a show which encourages you to look at the sculptures and then look around again.” ## Bringing the town inside McGagh sat on a white step in the corner of the gallery on Monday 30 March, two days after the opening of the show. A big part of their practice is focused on how it feels to share space, be it public or private, with an object, they say. “I kind of will walk around, just look around, see what catches my eye and how it feels to be on the street or around a building.” Howth was newish territory to explore for the artist, who grew up between Donegal and Drogheda, before moving more recently to Dún Laoghaire, they said. “I’ve, like, visited before but haven’t been here much.” Over the course of the residency, they took casual strolls, visited the library, got lunch in the deli, they say. “And I’d be in here watching the music school and seeing the back of people’s heads when they’re practicing. A nice thing to observe.” They were joined by its curator, Aoife McCloughlin, who leaned against the windowsill. On the opposite side of the gallery space, there was a stainless steel trapezoid, which McGagh had folded into a pyramidic structure. It is an imposing piece, McCloughlin said. “It’s interesting. When people came in on Saturday, it was controlling their movement around the room.” It is big because most people would be viewing it from outside on the street, McGagh said. “And when everyone came in, people stood as far away from it as possible.” Known as “Steeple”, the piece imitated the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey next door to the gallery, McGagh said. “It picks out the tall narrow roof. It picks out a shape that is repeated in the area, and it’s also repeated in the hazard signs on the electrical boxes right in front of the gallery.”Q ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Steeple-by-Roise-McGagh-source-Michael-Lanigan.jpg) "Steeple" by Róise McGagh. Photo by Michael Lanigan. ## Taking the gallery to the streets It was windy and a little chilly outside College Lane Gallery as McGagh and McCloughlin stepped outside onto the street. Right around the corner, McGagh had fitted one sculpture onto the side of the building. It was a steel frame, painted yellow and curving like an old shop sign. It was bent out of shape and missing the product it was originally supposed to advertise. Depending on the vantage point, either it acted as a viewfinder for the grey wall supporting it, the door of the house behind the gallery, the cloudy sky overhead or the music school across the street. The choice to paint it yellow was,like “Steeple”, inspired by hazard signs in the locale, McGagh said. “It was also the last piece I made, actually.” Quite simply, they wanted to make a part of the exhibition exist in the public realm, they said. “And it does, like, echo the front of the gallery. It wasn’t super intentional.” After a couple of minutes on the windy street, the pair retreated back inside to sip tea from dark red glasses. The exhibition’s title, “sticks and mountains and huge lone birds” had taken its title from author Claire-Louise Bennett’s debut collection of short stories, *Pond*, McGagh said. Bennett had written about how children see the world, McGagh said. “I kinda liked that as a starting point for people coming into the gallery, seeing simple shapes that might have been picked out of a scene somewhere in the surrounding area.” “I think to me the purpose of making things like this is to present another perspective on interacting with things in the world,” they say, before pausing. Save for the sound of a car rushing by, the room is quiet for a second before McGagh laughs. “So, I guess, that’s what I’m doing here.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Aoife-McCloughlin-and-Roise-McGagh-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) Aoife McCloughlin and Róise McGagh. Photo by Michael Lanigan. ### Councillors “baffled” by lack of council plans to follow through on revamp of Clonsilla URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-baffled-by-lack-of-council-plans-to-follow-through-on-revamp-of-clonsilla/ Last updated: 2026-04-09T15:21:20.000Z After years of waiting, and more than a year of work, the council a year ago published a [plan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-finally-has-a-plan-to-do-up-clonsilla-village/) for how to do up and revitalise Clonsilla village. That plan [envisions eight key projects](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-finally-has-a-plan-to-do-up-clonsilla-village/), including a cycling link along the Clonsilla Road, and bringing back Lohunda Lodge as a community centre, with an outdoor public space that could be used for markets, and a playground. Once the 70-page document, the [Clonsilla Framework Plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28019779-fcc-2025-clonsilla-framework-plan-including-appendix-a-and-b-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), was approved, the next steps would be to do detailed designs for each of the projects in it, and then get planning permission for them, a council staffer [told](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-finally-has-a-plan-to-do-up-clonsilla-village/) councillors last January. The plan was published last May, so almost a year later, Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly asked for an update from council staff. She’d like a report on “on any active travel plans associated with the Clonsilla Framework Plan, in terms of work undertaken to date and timelines for the implementation of a new cycle route on the Clonsilla Road”, said her motion at the Blanchardstown local area committee [meeting](https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1076312?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 2 April. In a written [response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28020239-report-on-clonsilla-framework-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Linda Lally, a senior engineer in Fingal’s Infrastructure and Transport Department, told her that her department has “no current active travel projects associated with the Clonsilla Framework plan”. At the meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Siobhan Shovlin asked if the council had made any progress on “any aspect of this framework”? Even “tidying up signage and poles and all those kind of things”? “Ummm,” said Paul Keane, a council engineer who was at the meeting via videolink. Then there was a long silence. Five seconds ticked by. “The, yeah, I mean, the elements that can be delivered on sooner rather than later obviously they will be the priority things once we have it in the capital plan,” Keane said. “It’s not in the capital plan currently, you know, so we’re not in a position to deliver on it right now.” Councillors at the committee meeting Friday were incredulous. “I don’t quite know what to say,” said Donnelly, the Sinn Féín councillor. “I’m absolutely baffled.” “A huge amount of time, a huge amount of time and discussion went into the Clonsilla Framework Plan,” she said. “And I’m wondering why we all went to the bother to be honest.” Said Labour Councillor John Walsh: “I am a bit taken aback by the statement that there’s no immediate plan for it.” And Shovlin, the Fine Gael councillor said: “I’m really taken aback by the response that there are no plans.” Fianna Fáil Councillor Eimar Carbone-Mangan, chairing the meeting, said she was “slightly confused” herself, and asked for a fuller report from council staff on the issue at a future committee meeting. ## How soon is “immediate”? The introduction to the plan says that “Framework Plans are advisory in nature, providing a long-term vision for the future”. But it has a section identifying “Immediate/ Short Term Priorities”. These include, “rationalisation” of bollards, railings, and lampposts, and putting wires underground. As well as adding more greenery, bike parking, and lighting. Among “Medium and Long Term Priorities” are a redefined village centre, new “gateways” at either end of the village announcing to visitors that they have arrived there, and new active travel links. It is unclear what the council’s definitions of “immediate”, “short-term”, “medium-term” and “long-term” are. But Keane said work on the items in the framework plan is not included in the council’s [current capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28019780-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com), its multi-year budget for big once-off projects. The current version covers the years 2026 to 2028. In terms of the big cycle route through the village, “it is not in the capital programme currently but I guess in time it’ll arrive in there”, Keane said. But, said Shovlin, the Fine Gael councillor, “I thought we would move with some elements of it, especially the ones that would be a little bit easier to do”. “I know Clonsilla Tidy Towns are very interested to see, like, at what stage any element of this Clonsilla Framework Plan is at,” she said. This is when Keane, the council engineer, appeared to indicate that there were no plans to progress any element of the plan at the moment. Donnelly said she understands it’s a framework plan, “it’s non-statutory and that’s fair enough, but my idea of producing this framework plan was to have a blueprint of how we progress with enhancing Clonsilla village”. Instead it looks like the council is using it as “an outline to refer to should future work be considered”, Donnelly said. “I think we need to make sure it’s not just filed away in some file cabinet somewhere.” ## Another focus At the moment, the big active travel project the council is focused on that goes through Clonsilla is the Royal Canal Greenway, Lally’s written response to Donnelly said. Fingal’s Royal Canal Greenway is one piece of a larger project to develop a cycle route [between Dublin and Galway](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/system/files/materials/19709/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20FAQ%20Royal%20Canal%20Urban%20Greenway.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), connecting the River Liffey in Dublin city to the Shannon in Longford. Each section of the greenway is moving at a different speed, with Dublin City Council preparing the [fourth and final phase](https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/transportation/active-travel/projects/royal-canal-greenway-phase-4/project-overview?ref=dublininquirer.com) of its own work, covering 4.2km of the route between Ashtown and Phibsboro. Fingal councillors had been told, at one point, that the planning application for Fingal’s section of the greenway would be submitted to An Bord Pleanála in the third quarter of 2023. Then it was pushed back to late 2024\. Then to the second quarter of 2025\. Fingal’s current [capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28019779-fcc-2025-clonsilla-framework-plan-including-appendix-a-and-b-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), for 2026–2028, foresees €100,000 in spending on that project in 2026, €800,000 in 2027 and €12.3 million in 2028. That document, dated 13 October 2025, says “The project is currently at preliminary design stage and agreement on the revised design has been reached with all relevant stakeholders.” “Following completion of the preliminary design, all the required documents including the Environmental Impact Assessment Report will be prepared for a planning application to An Coimisiún Pleanála in Q4 2025.” At the Blanchardstown local area committee meeting on 2 April, Keane, the engineer, said “hopefully that’ll go to planning in the next few months”. ### Fearing effort to build social homes in Howth will stall, council prepares backup plan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fearing-effort-to-build-social-homes-in-howth-will-stall-council-prepares-backup-plan/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T23:01:02.000Z Fingal County Council is preparing a back-up plan for the long-vacant Tuckett’s Lane site in Howth, a council official told the Howth-Malahide Area Committee meeting on Wednesday. The council sorted planning permission to build eight social homes – four one-bed apartments, and four two-bed apartments – on the overgrown land [in February 2019](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/g5065/Printed%20minutes%2011th-Feb-2019%2017.00%20County%20Council.pdf?T=1&ref=dublininquirer.com). But they paused the project in March 2025, after a review found that the delivery costs were way [too high](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pauses-plans-for-social-housing-on-howth-site-after-price-tag-rises-to-eu750-000-each/). After that, the council sent in a revised funding application to the Department of Housing for those eight homes, according to [a report](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s117450/Item%2023%20Cllr%20D%20Healy%20-%20Progress%20Report%20on%20Tucketts%20Lane%20Housing%20Project%20AI-XXX.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Fiona Glynn, an administrative officer in Fingal’s Housing Department. But they are still waiting for the department to get back on that, Glynn said in the written report to councillors. That application was submitted to the Department of Housing in October, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday morning. The council has followed up with the department a number of times, Aoife Lawlor, a council senior executive officer told the committee on Wednesday. “And we’re still awaiting that response.” Just in case though, while they wait, council architects are carrying out a feasibility study for a different scheme on the site, she said. This “backstop” would likely be delivered at a lower cost than that of the eight proposed social houses, she said. “There’ll be less homes, which is not what we want, because that’s an ideal site.” But the council’s intention is still to deliver homes at Tuckett’s Lane, she said, “and to move onto site with that as soon as possible”. ## A long road Green Party Councillor David Healy submitted [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28024351-councillor-d-healy-progress-report-on-tucketts-lane-housing-project/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to last Wednesday’s Howth area committee meeting asking for an update on the vacant site. It has been a difficult site to develop, said Lawlor at the meeting. “There was significant delay in getting an agreement on use of the laneway from all the adjoining residents.” The council has been engaging with residents since February 2017, with the last agreement only being signed in May 2024, she said. “So that delay has resulted in the council being unable to proceed with the project during that timeframe.” Construction costs have also increased since planning was approved, she said. Lawlor, [in May 2025,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pauses-plans-for-social-housing-on-howth-site-after-price-tag-rises-to-eu750-000-each/) told the committee that the estimated costs had soared from “[in and around](https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/978458/start%5Ftime/2823000?force%5Flanguage%5Fcode=en%5FGB&ref=dublininquirer.com)”€500,000 to €750,000 per home during that period. According to a [Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland report](https://mitchellmcdermott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SCSI%5FRealCostofNewApartmentDelivery2025%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the cost of apartment development from December 2025, the total cost of a suburban medium-rise two-bed flat is between €431,400 and €542,400 per unit. Following the cost analysis review, the council sent the Department of Housing a revised funding application, she said. “Once that response has been received, we will be in a position to work through the plan for the site with the area committee.” It is an understatement for the council to say Tuckett’s Lane is a difficult site given that there has been little progress in almost a decade, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey. “It would lend you to the view, which is quite a reasonable argument that maybe, maybe the site is not workable.” Somebody has to make a decision and either to fund it or not, said Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins. “If they’re funding it, build them. If they’re not building them, make the place a park.” The frustrations of residents and councillors is understandable, said Lawlor. “From my point of view, it was zoned for housing and it is our intention to progress for housing on the site.” Challenges were created by local boundary issues, she said. “Some of the residents passed away, and that always leads to complications.” But, that was resolved, she said. With any construction scheme, the council has to deliver on value for money, and meet auditing requirements, she said. “We have to set down the criteria for the cost of delivering a home.” This project didn’t meet that criteria when they reviewed costs after they secured permission, she said. While the department decides on the revised funding application, the council will be carrying out the feasibility study on an alternative plan, which could likely be delivered at a lower cost, she said. This second option would need to go through the process to get planning permission, Healy said. “Is the second option something which the department hasn’t yet started to consider?” The department is only considering the existing plan for eight social homes, Lawlor said. “We’re hoping we can find a way to make it work. But we’re also putting a backstop in place if that doesn’t work.” The delay in receiving a response from the department on the funding application could, however, be good news, she said. “It may be that they’re trying to find a way to support us in delivering this scheme.” But if it’s not, they will look at alternatives going forward, she said. A spokesperson for the Department said on Tuesday evening that the revised application differed significantly in scope and detail from the proposal that had previously been approved. As a result of those substantial changes, it was necessary to undertake a full reassessment in line with standard evaluation procedures, they said. “This reassessment process is now nearing completion, and the outcome will be communicated to the Council in due course.” ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #121 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-121/ Last updated: 2026-05-11T13:33:37.000Z This painting is called Blackbird in Trees. I made a few of these small mixed-media paintings in 2022\. They are made on framed plywood that I purchased in Japan when I lived there. The main image of the blackbird is from a print I made. I find printmaking a little rigid, so I like to use the prints with collage. It loosens them up and makes each version totally unique. I was born in New York but live in Sutton, Co. Dublin, and work out of my studio at home. I work mostly in paint, print and sculpture. I spent four years living and working in Tokyo, which had a profound effect on my work. In 2022, I became a member of Graphic Studio Dublin and, since then, show regularly there, as well as at SO Fine Art and with Stoney Road Press. My work is in many private collections and is also owned by Arthur Cox plc, Belmond Grand Hibernian, the Embassy of Ireland in Japan, Joseph Walsh Studios, the Office of Public Works, Opera Ireland and the XL Group plc. ### A senior officer at housing charity Clúid said it wants to sell some social homes privately URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-senior-officer-at-housing-charity-cluid-said-that-it-wants-to-sell-some-social-homes-privately/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:11:43.000Z Jo Whittall, the deputy chief operations officer of Clúid – Ireland’s largest housing charity – said it would like in future to sell off some social homes it owns to private buyers. “We’re a charity, we’re not a private organisation,” said Whittall, speaking at [a meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=5737&ref=dublininquirer.com) of councillors for the North Central Area on 23 March. “We won’t be selling properties for profit.” But where the charity has older properties that are too expensive to maintain or are damaged by construction defects, they would like to sell those homes on the private market, he said. Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, who chairs the council’s housing committee, jumped in. “You want to give them back to the city council?” “If you want them. But we would rather sell them privately,” said Whittall. “Give them to someone else to sort out, and then we can use that money to build good social.” A spokesperson for Clúid – asked how many homes it wants to sell and where, and what would happen to tenants – said that isn’t on the cards. “We are committed to providing quality social and affordable housing and services to enable people to create homes and thriving communities,” said the spokesperson. “We have no plans to dispose of our social or affordable housing stock to the private market,” they said. Still, some public representatives worry at the hint of talk of sell-offs, they said, casting glances over to London, where housing charities sold up in high-value neighbourhoods causing the [mass displacement of working-class communities](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/13/fury-affordable-homes-redeveloped-sold-housing-associations?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## **What is the problem?** In January 2020 – as councillors debated the future of old council depot sites – independent Councillor Cieran Perry [flagged concerns](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plan-for-council-lands-prompts-councillors-concerns-about-reliance-on-ahbs/) about how much land that the council was transferring to housing charities.[ ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plan-for-council-lands-prompts-councillors-concerns-about-reliance-on-ahbs/) What if they move to [sell off social housing privately](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plan-for-council-lands-prompts-councillors-concerns-about-reliance-on-ahbs/), as happened in the United Kingdom? he asked. In London, working-class communities had been [displaced](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/13/fury-affordable-homes-redeveloped-sold-housing-associations?ref=dublininquirer.com) by such sales. The housing association Genesis has pivoted away from supplying social and affordable homes, and [morphed into](https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/neil-hadden-the-full-interview-44398?ref=dublininquirer.com) supplying shared-ownership and market-rate housing. On Wednesday, Perry said that once the council gifts land to a housing charity, it loses control of that land. He worries that working-class communities in his central Dublin constituency could then be displaced, he said. “We’ve already seen that happening in Britain and this could be the start of something similar happening here in Ireland,” said Perry. “It certainly calls into question the council’s process for disposing of land to the AHBs \[approved housing bodies, or housing charities\],” he said. Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said this week that, “These homes were funded with taxpayers' money with the purpose of providing good quality social homes in all parts of the city and country.” “Under no circumstances should the government countenance allowing any approved housing body to sell its stock privately,” he said. The government should instead come up with a scheme to fund the regeneration of older social homes that need work, he said. ## **The fine print** A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that, “It is a matter of general policy that AHB homes developed for social housing purposes are retained as such.” “The AHB sector has consistently affirmed its commitment to the long-term retention of publicly funded social housing stock,” he said. However, it is legally possible for housing charities to sell social homes, said the department spokesperson. “Subsequent to the completion of the terms and agreement of any state funding, the AHB is the sole owner of a property and may technically dispose of a property,” says the spokesperson. “Once the proceeds of the sale are applied for the furtherance of its Charitable objects.” At the North Central Area Committee meeting, Whittall of Clúid said that it would re-invest in building social homes elsewhere, which would be in line with the objective of providing social and affordable housing. Ó Broin said the state funds housing charities to provide social housing under several schemes. It depends on the scheme, as to whether the charity does have the legal right to sell the homes, he said. Under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme, the state provided a loan to the housing charity for the full cost of building the home and didn’t retain any equity in the property, he says. That scheme kicked off in 1991 and was popular until around 2010, he says. At the moment, many of those homes are coming to the end of their loans, he says. Once the housing charity pays off the loan, it is the full legal owner. At this stage the charity could legally sell the home, said Ó Broin. A Department of Housing [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27987856-dhlgh-ahb-unencumbered-units-working-group-report-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from September 2023 struggled to pin down exactly how many housing charity homes were fully paid off. ## **What is the problem?** The high value of land in Dublin’s city centre has long been a source of concern for long-standing inner-city residents. “People don’t realise that we are being pushed out of the city,” [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/twenty-years-on-locals-still-wonder-why-corporation-street-was-renamed-james-joyce-street/) Derek Nibbs, back in January 2022\. “They don’t want the people from these areas,” said Nibbs. “Because the land is too valuable.” In other jurisdictions, housing charities have made bad decisions which undermined public-housing stock, says Ó Broin. “We should not go down this route.” For what Whittall proposed in the council meeting to make sense, the housing charity needs to sell an old home for enough to build a brand new one, he says. That can only happen if they sell a home in a more desirable area like the city centre, he said. Ó Broin said there is an issue with funding for maintenance and regeneration of homes under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme. Because the state doesn’t currently provide funding for that, he said. In 2022, the sum needed to bridge the gap between the rental income and maintenance costs was, on average, €2,817 per home per year, said the Department of Housing [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27987856-dhlgh-ahb-unencumbered-units-working-group-report-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “There does need to be a conversation, as AHB stock gets older, about how that is maintained, and what is the funding mechanism for that?” he said Clúid should work with public representatives to look for solutions to renovate these homes, not look to sell them, said Ó Broin. “Under no circumstances would Sinn Féin ever support the sale of publicly funded public homes into the private sector and especially the private rental sector,” he said. ## **Is this happening?** “Do you see a situation where you are going to sell to the private market?” Heney, the Fianna Fáil councillor asked at the meeting. “Only where it makes the most viable economic sense,” said Whittall. “That allows us to invest it in property that is more economical to run.” Still, a spokesperson for Clúid said it isn’t doing that. “As a not-for-profit housing association, Clúid is driven by our social mission,” she says. It doesn’t plan to sell any of its social homes and is increasing social and affordable provision.” “We are on track to deliver over 1,000 homes in 2026 – our fifth year in a row of delivering more than 1,000 homes,” said the spokesperson. A report of the Approved Housing Body’s Strategic Forum – set up by the department to review the sector’s role – which was [published last year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27987857-20251003-ahb-strategic-forum-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) outlines its guiding principles for the future. Homes should be retained as “social or cost rental in perpetuity (where need prevails and it makes economic sense)”, it says. Homes could move from social to affordable tenure too “in circumstances where it is fair and makes sense”, it says. The sector should become self-reliant, it says. So “funding and income streams can sustain ongoing delivery and maintenance on a sustainable basis (lessening the involvement of the State over time)”. Perry, the independent councillor, said he wants to know for sure whether any homes have been sold on land that was given to approved housing bodies by Dublin City Council, on the understanding that that land for homes for social tenants on housing lists. ### A man wonders if somewhere in Dublin there are photos of his birth parents URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-man-wonders-if-somewhere-in-dublin-are-photos-of-his-birth-parents/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:11:56.000Z **This article mentions suicide. If you or somebody you know might need help, Samaritans’ national suicide prevention hotline can be contacted at 116 123 and jo@samaritans.org. You can also visit the HSE’s website* [**here*](https://www2.hse.ie/mental-health/services-support/supports-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) *for a range of additional resources.* He had a blank spot on the wall, just in case. “Maybe if I do find them I can put them in there,” said Paul Waters, his head angled upwards. He could put the photos next to the smiling selfie of his daughter Chantelle, and above that picture of him with his Aunty Susan on the day – he peers at it – of his confirmation maybe. That’s his Uncle Tutts, his birth dad’s brother, with his dog over in that photo. “He used to say little remarks, like, I used to say, ‘Oh my da’s down the house.’ He would say, ‘That’s not your da!’” said Waters. It was one of the ways that Waters knew that his father wasn’t his birth father and his mother, his Aunty Susan, wasn’t his birth mother – though they had cared for him and loved him since he was five days old. But while Waters, now 52, has known the outlines of his origin for decades, it is only in the last few years that he has been able to learn more. In October 2022, the government [set up its](https://www.birthinfo.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Birthing and Information Tracing Service, giving people the right to access records about their early life and to trace birth family members. Not long after, Waters signed up. He wanted to find out about his birth parents, Thomas Tutty and Sheila Tutty (née Duffy) – and to find his scattered birth siblings too. A social worker at Tusla has been a massive help, he said. He now knows where both of his parents are buried. “But I don’t know what they looked like,” said Waters, which is something he has desperately wanted to see. As part of the search, he Googled around and found an old thread from March 2010 on [Boards.ie](https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055858532/lookin-for-info-on-a-charismatic-homeles-039-tutty-039-that-went-around-ranelagh-20yrs-ago?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Lookin for info on a charismatic homeles ‘tutty’ that went around ranelagh 20yrs ago?” said the post. That was Waters’ birth father, Waters says. He scanned the replies. “Yeah I remember him,” said the next poster. “He died a few years ago,” said another. “Now, I wonder does anyone have a photo of him?” said the original poster. Waters hoped somebody would reply so he could fill that space on the wall in his Finglas flat next to the kitchen door, he said. But nobody did. The thread ended there. ## **Growing up** Waters was born in October 1973\. His birth certificate gave his address as Mount Pleasant Buildings, the run-down cramped and overcrowded flats in Ranelagh [which were](https://comeheretome.com/2012/11/10/a-divided-rathmines/?ref=dublininquirer.com) gradually demolished over the course of that decade, deemed unfit for human habitation. He still doesn’t know why he was given to his da’s sister, Aunty Susan, and her husband, who lived over in St Teresa’s Gardens, he said on Tuesday. He asked, he said. “They never told me.” They wanted to protect him, he thinks. Maybe because his birth mother and father were homeless, maybe with poor mental health. He wonders sometimes, he said, about how traumas are passed on. Waters’ early life was far from easy, too. He suffered the split with his birth family, he said. One of his brothers lived with another aunt in the flats at St Teresa’s Gardens. Other siblings he never knew were scattered, he later learnt, across care homes in south Dublin. His new parents cared for him, he said. “My aunty loved me like a mother. She reared me, she done everything she could. My father done the best he could, but he had his alcohol addiction.” His parents struggled with money for food, too. Waters would be sent around to the church on Donore Avenue to queue for a big black bag of bread from the nuns, he said. “There were some times where we went hungry for days.” Through the 1980s, heroin ripped through St Teresa’s Gardens. “There was lots of people banging up, using on the stairs, on the field.” Waters got involved in drugs and crime, in robberies, young, he said. He was at most eight years old, he said, the first time he got high. “Tippex it was. Your man put it on my jumper, and you suck it,” he said, pulling at his grey sleeve. He began to rob bottles of gas from his da’s flat and to buy them from a shop on Cork Street, he said. “I’d sit at the back of The Coombe Hospital there, at the back of the flats, and I’d be on my own sniffing the gas everyday.” “I don’t know what it was. Everything. The trauma, being separated. My head was just completely messed up as a child,” said Waters. His parents tried to keep him out of trouble, he said. “Even my father, when I started getting involved in crime, he tried to steer me clear.” “He’d go mad at me, he’d never hit me,” said Waters. By 14, he was smoking cannabis, drinking, taking benzos and valium. When he got seven years in Limerick prison at 17, he finally took heroin, he said. “Once I took the first hit, that was it,” said Waters. Waters was in and out of prison, he said, with stints in Limerick, Mountjoy, and Portlaoise, through cycles of treatment, and depression and anxiety, and relapse into crime. There are basements to rock bottom, he said. His rock bottom came in 2008, when he suffered a crack seizure after a night of smoking and woke up on the toilet floor. “It was like being in hell. Absolute horrendous pain.” “I needed to go through that pain in order for me to realise that addiction to me is pain,” he said. “I took drugs because I was in pain and I ended up in worse pain.” He was 36 years old by then, he said, looking back at 28 years of addiction. ## **Facing memories** Recovery followed, one day at a time, he said. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had days where I felt like throwing the towel in.” The first year and a half in recovery was pure pain, he said. “When I got clean, not only did I have guilt around family members. I had guilt to society,” he said. “All the crime, I committed that in my life, for years, robbing, robbing, all the time.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/P1080375-1.JPG) At home in Finglas. Photo by Lois Kapila. He knew he needed to do it though, he said, and not just for himself but for his daughter Chantelle, who was six years old by then. “She kept me going through my darkest times.” “It was that cycle of addiction that I always wanted to change,” said Waters. A break in the family trauma, he said. Waters felt full of directionless anger, he said. “Because behind that anger was hurt. I was very hurt,” he said. “Even though I never met them, I loved them and I missed them, and I always wondered what it would be like if they brought me up.” His anger wasn’t towards his parents though, he said, instead he feels empathy. “I don’t blame them. I don’t use that dynamic.” He sometimes thinks back to April 1998. Waters was in Mountjoy Prison, and still in addiction, when the governor called him out of his cell to tell him his birth father was dying. He asked if he wanted to go and see him in hospital, said Waters. “And I said no, at the time, because I’d never met them,” he said. “And I do regret that,” he said. “Because I’m looking for photos of them now. I do regret that I never went over.” ## **Searching** Recently, Waters read a Facebook post on old Dublin characters. What if he tried another Google search, he thought, this time with different words. Dublin. Characters. Ranelagh. There were his birth parents again, a fresh mention. This time, [coming from](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ranelagh-two-businesses-remain-from-a-time-when-the-neighbourhood-had-a-bit-more-weird/) Jess Lynch, the owner of Sound Hire, a sound equipment shop in Ranelagh. He was talking about “Sheila and Pom Pom” who would hang out on a bench in Palmerston Park. Waters knew they had married in 1963\. But he hadn’t known they had still been together later, he said, for a time at least. He was struck by it. “Just to know that they were homeless, but they were together,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/P1080384.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/P1080388.JPG) At Palmerston Park. Palmerston Park was budding with birdsong and children’s shouts on Wednesday late morning. Gerry Kennedy has lived in the area since the mid-1990s, he said, midway along the perimeter path. He doesn’t recall the couple himself. But the park was certainly different then, he said, searching for the right words. With oddballs, and cruising too, he said. Follow the paths eastward to the new tearooms in a converted red-brick bungalow and beyond to the rocky waterfall. “Up there, there was a public toilet,” he said. He saw the neighbourhood change fast, he said, for better or worse. Within five years, Sherry Fitgerald-types were knocking to say home prices had quadrupled. Suburban dreamers began to move back in, he said. There are more kids around, he said. “Families are back.” He didn’t remember Pom Pom and Sheila though, he said. Orange parasols shade the courtyard outside the Palmerston Park tearoom. At one table, a man flicks through a paperback. At another, Brían Butterly pauses for a moment. “I never knew him as anything other than Tutty,” said Butterly. He first knocked on the door of their home in 1985\. “He would get food from Morton’s” – the old Ranelagh grocery store, still busy today – “and knock in for you to cook”, he said. It could be anything, rashers, fish cakes, whatever he had been given. He took his tea in a jam jar, but if it was below par, would toss it aside. Other small flashbacks. His wife gave Tutty a plate and cutlery the first time he knocked. “You’re not here long,” he said to her. “Nobody gives me a knife.” She was wary of him at first, but it quickly wore off. He always had his big boombox. He was gruff with children but would also offer teenagers cassettes. He slept under the old railway bridge where the Cowper Luas Station is now, he said. But he wasn’t destitute as far as they could tell. He would bet on the horses, and there was a woman who ran a community group, who he would give rolls of cash to mind. “He was just eccentric.” But he doesn’t know if any photos exist, said Butterly. ## **Questions** Waters is sat in a chair in the corner of his living room. On the coffee table is a candle, a radio, a Bible, and a small figurine of Jesus. If he had met his birth parents, he would ask them the big open questions, he said. “How did you feel?” “What happened to you growing up?” “What was your life like?” He would also tell them that he understood, he said, that in giving him to his father’s sister, his mother had given him to someone who would – and had – loved him as his own. “I think, back then, that she was messed up and she did the best that she could for me,” said Waters. “And I would thank her.” As part of his search, he had found John’s, his brother’s, grave in Mount Jerome a few years ago through online databases for graveyards and cemeteries. His brother who had grown up in St Teresa’s Gardens too, and been in addiction too. He committed suicide, said Waters. Waters had been in prison at the time. Waters took two friends with him the first time he went to his grave, he said. “I couldn’t talk for a few minutes. The pain just hit me.” His grandparents lay in the same grave, he said, but he noticed his father wasn’t there. He asked a staff member where he was. “He was in a different grave,” says Waters, with two brothers and a sister. “All on the one row.” The thread on [Boards.ie](http://boards.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), from March 2010 had mentioned his father’s love of ’80s music. Waters loves that too, he said, and it felt like a point of connection. “When I go to his grave, I play ’80s music,” he said. He plays Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Elton John, the Hothouse Flowers. He plays “I Can See Clearly Now”, the classic by Johnny Nash. “I think he can hear it,” said Waters. “I really do.” About eight months ago, he got the call that his social worker at Tusla had traced his mother’s grave. She had died in May 2002. He had sensed she was gone, he said, but still the tears came. He didn’t know how he was supposed to feel, he said. “It’s still painful, even though I never met her,” he said. But “I don’t even know whether I’m grieving for her.” Her grave is in Glasnevin Cemetery a short drive from his Finglas apartment. “She’s only there, right beside me. Just five minutes away,” said Waters. He went over on his own one Saturday, he said. A woman gave him a map. “I’m brutal with maps,” he said. He came back the following Monday, when someone was free to guide him and they led Waters to the plot for those who died in St Brendan’s Hospital, the psychiatric facility, and were buried under a collective headstone. He wondered how she had ended up in the hospital, he said. “How long she was in there, what happened.” The plot is vast. But his guide brought out a measuring tape and sprayed red lines around where records said she lay. Waters bought a plaque. “Just to put her name on it,” he said, “And I said, ‘From her loving family.’” He is conscious that he knows more, even if it is little, about his birth father than his birth mother, he said. He goes almost every week now to her grave, he said. He talks to her, he said. With Tusla’s help, he has traced more of his birth siblings. Some don’t seem to want contact, and others are gone. But he met with one sister six months ago, he said, in a care home in Blackrock. After they met, he went and told his mother. “I said, I’m after finding Liz.” Still though, he feels a lack of closure. Not being able to picture his birth parents, to see their faces, he said. ## **An answer** John Murray says he never knew Tutty had children. He reaches behind him and untucks a photo. It was lodged in the corner of an alcove, alongside faded photos of dogs, Ranelagh shops, and old receipts and business cards. He hands it over. There are old-style cars and a red-brick building in the background. A man, side-profile, is walking across the frame. His expression is hard to read. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/P1080397.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/P1080393.JPG) A photo of Thomas Tutty, at Sound Hire in Ranelagh. “It was only when I came down here that I heard the name Pom Pom,” said Murray, standing to the side on the counter of Sound Hire on the main drag of Ranelagh not far from the Luas. There are amps and soundboards around the shop, and spools of wires hooked up on the walls. Murray grew up in upper Rathmines, he said. He was Tutty up there. He too remembers the drop-ins and requests for tea, pints of it drunk from glass milk bottles. “It was tea, tea was all he would drink,” said Murray. He remembers him sleeping under the bridge at Cowper, protected from the wind and rain by a horseshoe roof of corrugated iron. He remembers the boom box. “It would be ear-shattering,” he said, of the music. “You’d hear him coming. God love his ears.” But he never knew of any children, he said. They should know that he was respected, he said, that he was never threatening or aggressive. “Anyone who talks about him, it’s fond memories of the guy.” He remembers Sheila with him, he said. For a time, in any case. She was thinner and wrapped in a blanket. He hasn’t seen any photos of her though. Maybe there’s one, somewhere. “It’s possible, it is possible,” he said. Doesn’t he look like me? says Waters, of the photo of his father the next day. The shape of his head, the hair. He sent it around to friends already. He’s the spit of him, they’ve said. He plans to print his father’s photo at Boots, stick it up on that blank spot on the wall, he said. “It is better than winning the lotto.” Maybe, still out there, is his birth mother’s face too. *If you have a photo of Sheila Tutty (née Duffy), please do get in touch at lois@dublininquirer.com.* ### Council pushes clampers to expand their hunt beyond the city centre, into the suburbs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-clampers-to-expand-their-hunt-beyond-the-city-centre-into-the-suburbs/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:12:07.000Z For years, some councillors have been pushing for more parking enforcement outside the city centre – in places like the northern suburbs. Now, the council is moving to award a new parking-enforcement contract, for the first time in years. And councillors say it’s to include provisions meant to push clampers to spend more time hunting meter overstayers, footpath blockers, and bus lane cloggers outside the city centre. Something needs to be done, said Labour Councillor Alison Field, in a [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27917600-public-reports-pack-23032026-1400-north-central-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com) presented to the North Central Area Committee on 23 March. “Illegal parking is becoming a nightmare around our city and suburbs,” she said in the motion. “Drivers think they can park anywhere.” Field pointed to certain hot spots, like Killester, Harmonstown, St Anne’s Park, and Kilmore West. Although, the issue spreads further, all across the city. Like in[ East Wall](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-years-of-talk-councillors-push-for-a-refocus-on-traffic-in-east-wall/), in the council’s Central Area. Last month, local Sean McCabe said he rarely gets to park outside his own house on Church Road, a narrow residential road that curves away off East Road, where a large development has just been completed – Marshall Yard. He works night shifts. When he drives back from work at 6am or 7am, any spaces around the area are already gone, he said. The worst is coming back with a car full of kids and shopping and finding no spaces anywhere near the front door, said Tara Casey, a resident of East Road. “It’s a disaster to manage.” As new apartment complexes with limited parking pop-up all over Dublin, so too do [the concerns of residents](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-new-housing-developments-a-constant-back-and-forth-over-levels-of-parking/) in surrounding streets about their neighbourhoods being turned into car parks. Although, it’s not just where new developments appear, it’s been a decades-long issue for some areas, like[ Kilmore West](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-kilmore-west-residents-want-beaumont-hospital-to-do-something-about-its-staff-parking-everywhere/) – where staff and visitors to Beaumont Hospital use the surrounding residential roads as an overflow car park. It’s the same issues in all these areas, said Field, in her motion last month. Drivers are blocking people’s homes, she said, and causing danger to residents as emergency vehicles aren’t able to access roads when needed. So, asks Field, where is all the parking enforcement? ## **Clamping in operation?** The spots around the North Central Area that Field inquired about are patrolled on a regular basis by Dublin Street Parking Services, and all illegal parking is enforced when encountered, the council’s response to Field’s motion said. The company DSPS has for many years had a contract from the council to fine, clamp, or tow illegally parked cars. As part of the written response to Fields’ motion, Suzanne Lacey, an administrative officer in the council’s parking enforcement section, included figures on what had been done in the area between 1 October to 30 January. For example, in those four months, in Kilmore West, DSPS had issued 90 fixed penalty notices (fines), and had not clamped or towed any cars. On Harmonstown Road, DSPS issued 21 fixed penalty notices, and did not clamp or tow any cars. In Raheny, around Watermill and St Anne’s Park, DSPS issued 20 fixed penalty notices and towed six cars. In Killester, DSPS issued 18 fixed penalty notices, clamped four cars, and towed 12\. By contrast, in city centre hot spots, DSPS does a lot more parking enforcement. In 2024, council figures [show](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/clamping-and-tow-away-dublin-city/clamping-statistics?ref=dublininquirer.com) the most clamped spot was Merrion Square South, in Dublin 2, with 704 vehicles – on average, about 234 every four months. Then came Clarendon Street, Dublin 2, with 693\. Third place went to the South Circular Road, Dublin 8, with 677. For years, DSPS operated an [early-leave incentive programme](https://www.dublininquirer.com/although-council-once-pushed-to-terminate-it-scheme-letting-clampers-knock-off-early-if-they-met-quotas-remained/), where if clampers did a certain number of clamps, they could knock off early. This tempted crews to flock to places they knew they could find easy pickings – rather than patrol far and wide. ## **New contract, new rules?** DSPS has the current contract for parking enforcement in Dublin city, but the contract is up for renewal this year – who will get the new one is yet unknown. While the details of the new contract haven’t been shown to councillors yet, they have been pushing for years for changes compared to the old contract. [Councillors push for changes in the way parking-enforcement is done in the city - Dublin InquirerOne of the more contentious issues is how to deal with footpath parking. Work to stamp it out entirely? Or formally allow it in certain areas?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-696.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-4237.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-push-for-changes-in-the-way-parking-enforcement-is-done-in-the-city/) They want to see more enforcement in suburban areas, not just the city centre, said Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose, by phone on Thursday. Councillors were promised that the new contract would explicitly call for all six existing parking zones of Dublin City Council to be patrolled more frequently – the Yellow, Red, Green, Orange, Blue, and White zones. “I always get complaints of cars parked illegally blocking footpaths in suburban areas like Cabra, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Phibsborough. We don't see the same level of enforcement that we do in more inner city areas,” says Jose. “But that doesn't mean someone in a wheelchair or someone who's visually impaired, or a parent with their children has less of a right to walk safely down a footpath,” he says. Now, councillors are waiting if what they were promised comes to fruition, says Jose. The new contractor must take over in August, he says – so, councillors are expecting to lay eyes on the new contract soon, he said. Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to queries asking for details on the new contract. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Parents plead for traffic dangers around Harold’s Cross Educate Together National School to be addressed URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/parents-plead-for-traffic-dangers-around-harolds-cross-educate-together-national-school-to-be-addressed/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:12:16.000Z Francesco Pilla has lost track of how many times he has seen cars fly through red lights and over the pedestrian crossing at the junction near Harold’s Cross Educate Together National School, as he brings his children to and from the campus. “It’s something that happens every single morning,” he said by phone on Wednesday. Recently, he was frightened out of his skin, he said, when a van sped through the crossing, which had a green man, and narrowly missed his child on a scooter. “Sometimes, my little son, when he sees the green man, he flies straight on,” he says. Pilla speaks as both a concerned parent, and an academic. In his role as professor of smart and sustainable cities at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy in UCD, his work focuses on building better and safer communities, he said. Last year, Pilla organised a project that saw student’s scooters fitted with cameras, so they could document the chaotic traffic around the school and the nearby junction, as they navigated it. “We captured many vans, cars passing through the red light, skimming the kids passing through the red light with a full green man,” he says. Chaos at that junction of Harold’s Cross Road and Parkview Avenue is just one of several concerns members of the school’s parent staff association (PSA) have, they say. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/C.-OpenMap-TIles-C.-OpenStreetMap-contributors-1.png) © OpenMap Tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Concerns for the traffic around the campus, a former greyhound racing stadium, were flagged before the school welcomed its first tranche of students, junior infants, in 2019\. At the time, it was a temporary set-up, with lessons run in makeshift classrooms. In March 2022, [permission was granted](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/144537?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the demolition of existing buildings on the site and the construction of the new school. Now, the developed campus is up and running with 177 students in the junior school. That number will rise to 400 in the coming years as the junior school becomes dual stream and reaches its capacity, says Gordon Cummins of the parent staff association. It will also rise later this year as the senior school on the same site move into their new building, he says. Ahead of construction of the permanent school, in 2021, a[ walkability audit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27927757-2021-walkability-audit/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the area around the campus made a series of recommendations on how to make getting to and from the school safer for kids. Frustratingly, says Cummins, a lot of those recommendations have, so far, remained ignored. “The school is open, but the infrastructure around it hasn't been upgraded to allow for the fact there's actually a school entrance right there,” he says. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that campus development is being rolled out in phases under a design-and-build contract. It will be delivered in line with its planning permission, they said, “which includes conditions relating to improvements to the local roads network in consultation with the National Transport Authority and Dublin City Council". ## We knew it was coming The school didn’t suddenly appear out of the ground unexpectedly, says Cummins. Indeed, Dublin City Council rezoned the site [in September 2017](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27927776-2021-hx-school-planners-report/?mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com) in expectation of the school being built. From the get-go, says Cummins, the school was envisioned as a car-free campus – something, he says, everyone understood and supported. Dublin City Council’s planner’s[ report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27927776-2021-hx-school-planners-report/?mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com) shows that zero car parking spaces were to be included. That includes for staff, Cummins says. In a 2018 submission to the planning process, the National Transport Authority (NTA) [said it](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27927777-2021-hx-nta-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “strongly supported” this approach. It also recommended “a programme of works would be developed to ensure that adequate pedestrian crossings were provided at junctions within the catchment of the fully built-out schools”. “The NTA welcomes the fact that these have been identified in the material submitted with this application,” it said. “As such, the NTA supports the proposed development as an example of how schools could operate in central suburbs in a manner which emphasises walking and cycling as modes of transport,” it said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Entrance-to-Harold-s-Cross-Educate-Together-National-School-from-the-park-side.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin..jpg) Entrance to Harold's Cross Educate Together National School from the park side. Photo by Eoin Glackin. The walkability audit’s recommendations, as acknowledged in council’s planner’s report, lead with a suggestion that a crossing be installed from the school entrance, over Harold’s Cross Road, to Harold’s Cross Park. But, five years on from the audit, this hasn’t been done – and neither have other recommendations to make it safer for kids to get to the school. ## Making more room Currently, there is a footpath along the side of Harold’s Cross Road where the school is, but none on the far side. Over there, the road simply meets the park’s fence. This causes heavy pedestrian, bike and scooter use on the school side. Clogging it up even more, people use a section of the path, in front of the apartment block by the school’s entrance, as parking, illegally, Cummins said. There were yellow school-zone pencils blocking vehicles from that section of path, but one pencil was removed to allow emergency services for the apartments to park there, if need be, he says. Now, people drive through that gap and park there in their threes and fours, he says. “It’s havoc at drop-off and pick-up.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Cars-illegally-parked--blocking-path.-Another-parks-in-front-of-entrance-despite-school-zone.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin.jpg) Cars illegally parked, blocking path. Another parks in front of entrance despite school zone. Photo by Eoin Glackin The 2021 walkability audit’s first recommendation is to investigate the provision of a pedestrian crossing, directly linking the park to the school. That way, people could walk to the school on both sides of Harold’s Cross Road. And they could come from bus stops on Kimmage Road Lower, through the park, to the school, the audit says. “There is a disused gate to the park directly opposite the schools’ access road,” it says. “A footpath would be required to be provided along the west side of Harold's Cross Road, fronting the Park.” A school warden could be provided before and after school, it says. The school is now well up and running, but there is no mention of sorting that crossing from the school to the park, Cummins says. There is also a secondary entrance into the school grounds from Grosvenor Lane, on the opposite side of the campus from the main entrance on Harold’s Cross Road. The walkability audit recommendations also mentions Grosvenor Lane, where additional signage and traffic management measures are needed, it says, to address potential conflicts between vehicles on the lane and increased pedestrian use from new school access points. The recommendations also highlight the need for clearer arrangements within the school itself, including how internal roads will operate and measures to prevent clashes between pedestrians and vehicles near turning areas. To the best of Cummins and the PSA’s knowledge, he says, few of the audit’s recommendations have been actioned. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said on Thursday that the works it has committed to undertaking, as agreed under the final planning permission conditions, include the installation of two signs on Grosvenor Lane. Also, the “tactile paving, drop kerbs and concrete footpath reinstatements at the Parkview Avenue / Harold’s Cross Road junction”, they said. The installation of a permanent controlled crossing at the junction of Leinster Road and Harold’s Cross Road – further south from the highly problematic Parkview Avenue junction – is also stated as a necessary work by the Department of Education. That one is currently underway. Recent school travel surveys have been carried out, said the spokesperson, with the results due to be forwarded to the local authority. Any consideration for the walkability audit’s popular recommendation for a crossing between the park and school entrance seem to have evaporated, says Pilla. ## Any other solutions? People have also been calling for a yellow box at the main school entrance, says Pilla, professor of smart and sustainable cities at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy in UCD – and a concerned parent of the school. When people cycle to school along Harold’s Cross Road from the south, it’s extremely dangerous for them to turn across oncoming traffic into the school gates, Pilla said. There’s a constant flow of bumper-to-bumper traffic in the morning, he says. On the parent staff association’s [incident log](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UeLF6sW%5FU%5FFBdpyf8PaZIncF2vF2LjCbmRXOModAHkE/edit?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com), one parent recently called out that same issue. “Outside the school gates. Turning right on a bicycle on Harolds Cross Road at dropoff. There's very poor visibility due to have to cross between two lanes of traffic as no 'yellow box' or crossing point outside the school. “This morning a taxi came up the bus lane at speed causing a near miss right outside the school gates. Improvement works are badly needed,” it says. Although, Pilla says, he isn’t confident that a yellow box alone would make much difference either. “If a driver has no issue breaking a red light, I don’t think they’ll pay attention to a yellow box,” he says. “Especially if there is no garda there monitoring.” Curiously, condition no. 2 of the [planning permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/144537?ref=dublininquirer.com) identifies certain improvements to the local road networks which must be carried out “prior to the first occupation of the school campus”. The reason? “In the interest of safety,” it says. [Accompanying drawings](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27998284-16-165-18-p1135/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) of the necessary works show a cycle lane running along Harold’s Cross Road, past the school’s entrance, another cycle lane running along the park’s perimeter opposite the school, and a yellow box at the school entrance’s mouth. These have not been sorted, yet children occupy the campus. A letter from the parent staff association to Dublin City Council, councillors, and TDs says they have been repeatedly referred to the School Zone scheme, which is designed to reduce parking at school gates. “However, parking at school gates is already impossible and therefore this scheme does not address our most pressing concerns,” the letter says. “The core issue is not parking behaviour, but the absence of adequate pedestrian infrastructure and supervision at dangerous junctions.” The letter also highlights four dangerous junctions that kids coming from the south must navigate. Crossing Leinster Road on Harold’s Cross Road. “A busy intersection with no pedestrian crossing, blind corners and unpredictable traffic from multiple directions,” says the letter. A pedestrian crossing is currently being built there. Also, crossing from the south-east exit of Harold’s Cross Park. “A heavily used junction with significant vehicle traffic entering and exiting near the school,” it explains. Says Cummins, a zebra crossing has been promised there later in the year. While it would be a positive, he says, similar to Pilla’s views on a yellow box outside the school, he isn’t sure cars will pay it much heed. Also flagged in the PSA’s letter is the pedestrian crossing on Harold’s Cross Road towards Parkview Avenue. “Although traffic lights are in place, poor signage and design leads drivers to frequently proceed through the crossing when the pedestrian light is green, and electric bikes and scooters regularly ignore the signals,” it says. Finally, it mentions crossing Parkview Avenue: “A junction with blind corners and no adequate pedestrian protection or road markings.” ## Any chance of a school warden? Another no-brainer, says Cummins, is for a school warden – a lollipop person – to be on duty at key times at the dangerous junction of Harold’s Cross Road and Parkview Avenue. There is still no sign of one being provided, however, he says. In response to a Freedom of Information request, the PSA received Dublin City Council’s[ guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27988744-foi-2239-25-records/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) for allocating school wardens. The council conducts a site check, over a two-day period, the guidelines say. Sites having less than 15 unaccompanied children crossing the road in the busiest 30-minute period should not be considered for a school warden crossing point, the guidelines continue. Cummins says this is baffling logic, certainly in the case of Harold’s Cross Educate Together National School. The catch-22, he says, is that no parent is going to let their child cross the road because it is so unsafe, he says. “They can observe it every single day for the next week if they want, and they won't get their 15 kids because nobody is going to let their kid cross the road,” says Cummins. Things are so bad near the school that the parent staff association has teamed up with a local business who have allowed them to install a camera on their premises, to record the junction at busy times, he says. It uses specialised software that makes sure the faces are blurred out, for GDPR, he says. “There's been many hoops that we've had to go through.” But ultimately, he says, this is how serious things are. “If there is an accident, we will have camera footage of it.” Pilla, the parent and UCD academic, is also baffled that a traffic warden has not yet materialised. “It's not rocket science. It's not that we are asking for some crazy technology or something that is going to cost millions to deploy,” he says. That the concerns of parents, staff and children seemingly continue to fall on deaf ears is beyond frustrating, says Pilla. “There is no moving forward.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### With no plan for Kilmainham Mill, council’s restoration of it is “in abeyance” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-no-plan-for-kilmainham-mill-councils-restoration-of-it-is-in-abeyance/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:12:29.000Z Patrick Kavanagh, one of the owners of the Patriot’s Inn, near Kilmainham Mill wants to know what Dublin City Council is doing with the mill, which it bought in 2018\. The council did “stabilisation” works on the building, which cost €2 million and were completed in 2023, a council official [told councillors](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27988488-kilmainham-mills-update-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in October of that year. But since then, the site has been left disused again, says Kavanagh. “There is no sense of urgency,” says Kavanagh. “The property will slide back into dereliction if it's not used.” Local councillors agree that the council urgently needs to get the site back into use. The project stalled due to staff changes in the council, says Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. If the building isn’t used, it could deteriorate again, and then the public money spent on it would be wasted. “We need to keep it on the agenda,” says Pidgeon. In response to a query a year ago about the mill from Sinn Féín Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair, the council’s head of parks, Leslie Moore, [said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27988489-qa-feb-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the building is “is weather proof and secure and it will be maintained as such”. But doing it up fully would be expensive, and the council has yet to settle on a vision for what the mill should become. In 2023, Donncha Ó Dúlaing, then “project lead” for Kilmainham Mill project at that time, reportedly told the [*Irish Times*](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2023/07/18/it-will-be-a-big-ticket-item-renovated-kilmainham-mill-to-become-major-cultural-attraction/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the full cost of restoring the mill was estimated at €25 million to €30 million. Ó Dúlaing has since then [moved](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/biographies/donncha-%C3%B3-d%C3%BAlaing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Department of Housing. In response to Ó Meachair’s query last year about the project, Moore described it as “in abeyance”. The council had weighed up many projects competing for funding across the city and “has decided that Kilmainham Mill is not one that will progress in the current capital programme”, Moore said. That document, the council’s multi-year budget for big one-off projects, runs from [2025 to 2027](https://www.dublincity.ie/your-city-council/governance-within-council/making-informed-and-transparent-decisions/capital-programme?ref=dublininquirer.com). In June 2025, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-06-17/543/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council had been awarded €200,000 for the Kilmainham Mill project from a central government fund but could not use it “due to resource constraints”. “Eventually it will be done,” said independent Councillor Vincent Jackson, who chairs the South Central Area Committee. “It's very expensive to get it to a standard that it can be used for cultural and commercial uses.” In the meantime, Michael O’Flanagan, spokesperson for the [Save Kilmainham Mill Campaign](https://savekilmainhammill.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com), says he met council officials recently and hopes the council will move on renovating some smaller buildings on the site soon, for “meanwhile use”, he says. Of course, back in 2023, Ó Dúlaing [told](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-plans-to-put-kilmainham-mill-to-use-in-the-short-term-while-planning-its-long-term-future/) councillors that the council was looking at a programme of meanwhile uses for the site, including “pop-up markets, for events, for maybe pop-up cafes, exhibitions et cetera”. ## **Saving Kilmainham Mill** The existing Kilmainham Mill building was built in the 1800s. For hundreds of years before that, the site was used for milling according to records created by Cromwellian soldiers in 1540, says a 2002 council-commissioned[ conservation plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27928854-kilmainham-mills-conservation-plan-2002/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In 1974, weaver Noreen Kennedy “resurrected this mill from the industrial graveyard”, according to a short TV piece on the RTÉ archive, [*Resurrecting Kilmainham Mill*. ](https://www.rte.ie/archives/2022/1010/1328309-kilmainham-mills/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Kennedy wove 100 percent wool and hoped to keep the traditional method alive, she said. “They are a quality item that we can ask the right kind of price for,” she said. In 1984, Damien Shine bought the mill, according to the 2002 council-commissioned conservation plan. His company, Charona, did specialist finishing, and later, fireproofing of high-quality textiles, the report says. In 2003, Shine’s company had a plan to redevelop the site with 48 apartments, but that didn’t happen and the property [ended up owned by NAMA](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-kilmainham-mills/). In 2016, locals got together to form the Save Kilmainham Mill Campaign group and in 2017, councillors moved to [rezone the mill](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-move-to-protect-kilmainham-mills-by-rezoning-it/), which was already on the record of protected structures. At that time, Shine was [living on the site](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-move-to-protect-kilmainham-mills-by-rezoning-it/) as its de-facto caretaker. In 2018, the council [bought the mill](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-bought-kilmainham-mills-says-mayor/) for use for heritage purposes, said the Lord Mayor at the time, independent Councillor Nial Ring. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Inside-the-mill.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/04/Kilmainham-mill-2.png) Old images of inside Kilmainham Mills. Source: Dublin City Council 2020 presentation, from before stablisation works. In October 2023, Ó Dúlaing [told ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27988488-kilmainham-mills-update-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com)a council committee that the council had “put in place a process to establish a master vision that will inform the ultimate reuse of Kilmainham Mill. This will involve community and stakeholder engagement”. Kavanagh, the local publican, says that after the council fixed the roof of the mill, it cleaned up the building and lands inside and out. “It was pristine,” he says. He thought the council was going ahead with encouraging business and community groups to use the site, he says There were ideas pitched for cultural spaces, facilitating talks, use by historical groups, and summer-time picnics, he says. But then nothing happened. The Patriot’s Inn would like to lease outside space on the site along the riverbank, he says, but the council doesn’t seem interested. “It's a very attractive property, and it's just lying there with a big lock on the gates,” says Kavanagh. Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor, says he thinks the project stalled because of a change of staff within the council. “After the stabilisation works, the project went quiet,” he says. The council never published the result of that, the “master vision” – but it has now committed to doing that soon, says Pidgeon. ## **The future of the mill** There is currently no timeline in place for the restoration of the main mill building, says Kavanagh, who runs the pub. He learned this at his recent meeting with the council area manager, he said. “It's going to cost an absolute fortune,” says Jackson, the independent councillor. The council has not yet sourced that funding, he says. There are other, smaller outbuildings on the site, which could be repaired and brought back into use more easily, says Kavanagh. The council needs to install toilets and carry out some repair works to make those suitable, he says. “The likely next steps would be to get some occasional uses,” he says. Even to do that, the council has to apply for funding, he says. It hasn’t yet decided if it will do those in-house or tender for a private contractor, says Kavanagh. “There is no talk at the moment of applying for grants to do restoration of the mill proper,” he says. “We’re anxious that would happen.” The council needs to decide what the future of the building would look like, he says. “No decision has been made about a vision plan,” says Kavanagh. “They don’t have a plan.” Jackson, the independent councillor, says the site has huge potential. The location is excellent, beside the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Kilmainham Gaol, and quite close to the city centre. “There is something very romantic about it,” says Jackson. “It has so much potential.” To carry out the full restoration, the council will need funding from the central government, says Jackson. And the end users need to generate income to keep it running. “It needs to be self-financing,” says Jackson. Ultimately, he would like to see a high-quality independent cafe, perhaps a small museum, cultural uses and maybe a market or craft shop, he says. Kavanagh says that council officials have committed to publishing a report on the findings of the public consultation “after Easter”. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council says it has done a technical assessment of the works required “to optimise the functional use of a number of buildings on the site”. “These measures will facilitate increased use of the facility and support the continuation of meanwhile-use activities,” she says. “Engagement with relevant DCC departments is ongoing to determine how best to progress the required works.” ### Things To Do: Take the road to god knows where, fear the mainland, dig the new newsletters URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-take-the-road-to-god-knows-where-fear-the-mainland-dig-the-new-newsletters/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T06:12:40.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **First Fridays at MoLI** It is the start of April and as is often the case, on Friday 3 April, that means the Museum of Literature Ireland is holding its latest First Fridays event. From 6pm, you’ll be able to head in to view the museum’s latest exhibition, Wild Ireland,which asks how poetry, storytelling and language offer a way to connect, or reconnect, with nature. Featuring more than 90 texts from the 6th century to the present, and celebrating writers like Amergin Glúingel, Jane Clarke and Paula Meehan, the exhibit demonstrates the varied representations of nature in Irish literature. Then, at 6:30pm, poet and author Molly Twomey will be giving a reading from her latest collection, *Chic to be Sad*. And, at 8:30pm, the composer and artist David Donohoe will deliver a live immersive performance “at the intersection of instrumentation, synthesis, and field recording”. For more information, visit the MoLI website [here](https://moli.ie/events/first-fridays-april-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). **AS IF in Conversation with Donal Dineen** On Sunday, PhotoIreland is set to wrap up AS IF, its latest exhibition at the International Centre for the Image. Featuring the works of photographer Eamonn Doyle, artist-designer Niall Sweeney, and composer David Donohoe, their multimedia show brought together film, sound, painting, text and drawing to look at “the combined forces of an unstable material world and the inner world of its inhabitants”. If you haven’t had a chance to view it yet, the afternoon of Saturday 4 April may be the perfect time, because at 2pm, the trio will be down in the centre to discuss their show with radio presenter and filmmaker Donal Dineen. The conversation promises to offer insight into the “prolific and exciting process” behind their collaborative work, origins and influence. Tickets for the talk are free, and can be booked [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/as-if-in-conversation-with-donal-dineen-tickets-1983725818323?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Guzzle,* issue three** *Guzzle*, the new print publication, which tells tales to “tantalise your thoughts and tastebuds”, just dropped its third issue on Sunday. This issue of the magazine turns its focus to the multi-layered, often contradictory ideas of home and its relationship with food. At a time when the concept of “place” feels difficult to define, contributing writers were invited to consider what home means through what we cook, consume and gather around. Featuring short and longform essays, artworks and vignettes, *Guzzle*’s latest offering looks at Irish pubs overseas, a cookbook club in Copenhagen, growing up in Hanoi, and the idea that home is as much a feeling as a place. Among the contributors to the magazine’s third issue are Sian Conway, Jasmin Jelley, [Trà My Nguyễn Hoàng](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fifty-years-after-the-vietnam-war-vietnamese-dubliners-peer-back-into-the-past-as-they-understand-it/), Killian Fallon, [Aoife Ward and Eve Woods](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aparthotel-art-gallery-that-replaced-the-tivoli-theatre-a-new-exhibition-critiques-hotels-pushing-out-dublin-8-cultural-spaces/). For more information, and to grab a copy of the third issue, visit the *Guzzle* website [here](https://guzzlemag.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Carpark Sci-Fi EP launch** Back in February, songwriter and artist Gav Cowley, otherwise known as Carpark Sci-Fi, released his spacey lo-fi single "Wake Me Up", the first track from his new EP *The Hundreds of Halves*. The EP officially dropped yesterday, and across six tracks, Cowley delivers an enchanting mix of fuzzy 1990s indie guitars, hauntingly looped folk-inspired compositions, and late-night lonesomeness expressed through old pianos recorded on grainy tapes. Recalling the likes of Julian Cope, Pavement, Spacehog and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, *The Hundreds of Halves* is a dreamy and spectral work that deserves to be heard on a crackling record player. What luck then that it is not only available digitally, but also on 10-inch vinyl, which can be purchased [here](https://carparkscifi.bandcamp.com/album/the-hundred-halves-carpark-sci-fi-ep?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoy the EP, then it would be worth heading over to Curveball in Temple Bar on Saturday night 4 April where Carpark Sci-fi will be officially launching the release. The gig starts at 7:30pm, and support comes from Sneak Past Demons. Tickets are €10 and can be purchased [here](https://buttonfactory.ie/shows/2026/4/4/curveball-carpark-sci-fi-ep-launch-party-w-sneak-past-demons?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Salon Rógaire: Newsletter** On Tuesday evening, 7 April, Salon Rógaire, the queer Irish-language literary salon, is returning to the Winding Stair bookshop on Ormond Quay. Curated by poet, writer and musician Róisín Nic Ghearailt, this particular gathering will be the official launch of their newsletter – a regular bulletin issued to subscribers via email or post – and which promises to bring its readers bilingual and bisexual updates from Dublin and beyond. To mark the occasion, Nic Ghearailt’s latest salon will feature some of the heavy hitters from Dublin’s Substack scene: Sian Conway of [Bosca Macántacht](https://substack.com/@boscamacantacht?ref=dublininquirer.com); Emma Ní Chearúil of [Gingeripod](https://gingeripod.substack.com/) "ag spreagadh ár samhlaíocht" and Trà My Nguyễn Hoàng of [A Woman About Town](https://trasnaps.substack.com/). The event is BYOB, and all profits will go to Fighting Words, the literacy organisation that provides children and adults the “write to right”. Tickets are on sale [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/salon-rogaire-newsletter-tickets-1986128003323?ref=dublininquirer.com), and there are also five no-cost tickets which are available if you email [roisinnee@gmail.com](mailto:roisinnee@gmail.com). **Alan Gilsenan Retrospective** From Wednesday, the Irish Film Institute will be running a new retrospective devoted to filmmaker Alan Gilsenan. Featuring 10 of Gilsenan’s films, including two of his four feature-length dramas, the season will kick off with a screening of *The Road to God Knows Where*. Released in 1988, *The Road* creates a portrait of disillusioned youth during a period of unemployment, emigration and political crisis. Running until 30 April, the films in this retrospective will be introduced either by Gilsenan or by his collaborators, such as Marsha Hunt, who will be attending for *Marsha Hunt: Made in America* (Sunday 12 April), and Stephen Rea and composers Jim O’Rourke and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh who will be attending the special advance preview screening of *The Journey of Weather-Exposed Bones* (Sunday 26 April). Gilsenan will give a talk to close out the retrospective on Thursday 30 April at 6:30pm. *The Road To God Knows Where* screens at 6:30pm this Wednesday. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/alan-gilsenan-the-road-to-god-knows-where/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and to see what else is showing as part of the season, visit the IFI website [here](https://ifi.ie/alan-gilsenan/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Few and Far Between* by Jan Carson** Finally, next Thursday, 9 April, author Jan Carson will be launching her new novel *Few and Far Between* in Books Upstairs. Set during the summer of 2017, Carson takes the reader to the Lough Neagh Archipelago as its last few residents face imminent eviction, because their homes are about to be flooded in order to combat a devastating algae outbreak. For its inhabitants, the Lough Neagh Archipelago was a kind of utopia, an escape from the Troubles on the mainland. As its central characters, Robert-John and Marion Connolly are forced to up and leave after living there for 47 years, they are confronted with the daunting prospect of life on the mainland, and questions of whether this home ever was truly a utopia? To celebrate the release of this surreal novel about history, identity and redemption, Jan Carson will be in the store from 6:30pm to discuss the text with writer Neil Hegarty. Attendance is free but booking is essential. Reserve a seat [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-few-and-far-between-by-jan-carson/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Advertisement [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/FLAF_2026_INSTAGRAM_FEED--1350x1080-.png)](https://fivelampsarts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The Five Lamps Arts Festival brings Dublin’s North East Inner City to life through a packed programme of arts and cultural events. From live performances to visual art and community storytelling, it celebrates the richness and diversity of the area. Come along and experience a festival rooted in creativity, connection, and local pride. [Learn more ](https://fivelampsarts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Santry Forum Quiz Night** Santry Forum will be holding its annual quiz night on Wednesday, 22 April at the Clonliffe Barriers Bar at Morton Stadium. Entry for the quiz, which starts at 8pm, is €35 for a table of four if you book in advance, or €40 on the night. For more information, follow Santry Forum on social media [here](https://www.facebook.com/SantryWhitehallForum) or visit their website [here](https://santryforum.ie/category/events/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **BELIEVE Balbriggan** On Saturday, 11 April, the Flemington Community Centre will be hosting BELIEVE Balbriggan, a local expo that showcases the town’s sports clubs, cultural organisations, community groups, businesses, education providers, emergency services and agency partners. Kicking off at 12pm, the expo is set to feature craft workshops, mindfulness, sensory space, music, sports, food, emergency services, a raffle and musical bingo, and more than 70 exhibitors. For more information, visit the BELIEVE Balbriggan website [here](https://believebalbriggan.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Did Daddy Laugh** Dublin's only dedicated night of new sketch comedy returns to The Pearse Centre on 4 April, featuring never before seen sketches from some of Dublin's best comics. Doors open at 7:30pm, and the line-up for the night will include Siomha McQuinn, Giles Brody, Eoin Potts, Saorla Rodgers, Shane Langan, Rory Connolly and Ross McCarney. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/did-daddy-laugh-3-tickets-1984963314708?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Documents say asylum law centre was in “unprecedented crisis”. The Legal Aid Board tried to hide this with redactions. URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/documents-say-asylum-law-centre-was-in-unprecedented-crisis-the-legal-aid-board-tried-to-hide-this-with-redactions/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T23:04:33.000Z In mid-2025, Anne McShane – then a lawyer at the Legal Aid Board’s Cork North asylum law centre – found herself struggling to navigate a tower of cases, she said recently. “I was having panic attacks and I couldn’t sleep,” said McShane by phone, on Thursday. McShane was struggling because at the time she and one other solicitor were the only ones in the office handling asylum cases. Another lawyer had just left. McShane was part-time. More importantly, the clients – people seeking asylum – were paying the price, struggling to access timely legal advice, McShane said. “I had contacted a few people looking for help, and I was told that, you know, she was the person,” said McShane. The person to take it up with, McShane said, was Emily Sherlock, the board’s director of internal service delivery for civil legal aid. That’s how an email from McShane to Sherlock, sent on 26 May 2025, came about**,** McShane said. In writing it, McShane said she hoped to support her boss, Patrice Cooney, so she felt less alone in conveying concerns to the higher-ups at the board. Her email was in a crop of documents recently released under the Freedom of Information Act. Some parts of it were redacted. But a technical fail made it easy to reveal what sat behind the black rectangles – not just in her email but also in other documents. That included on-the-ground accounts of the staffing crunch at the Cork North office and a rebuke of the Minister for Justice’s asylum policy laid out in McShane’s email. If the board wasn’t going to hire more lawyers, “We will not be able to provide a professional service, and our health will suffer. Quite honestly I feel unwell today just thinking about it,” McShane had written. Those words were redacted in the email that was released. Where she had written that “the policy of the Minister is to speed up and deport as many applicants as possible”, that was also hidden behind a black rectangle. Lines saying the department had padded up staff numbers for its International Protection Office to process cases faster and reject them, “often on spurious” grounds, weren’t redacted – except for the word “spurious”– but the lines after that were. “We are continually running to catch up. It is so important for us to provide good advice and advocacy in this challenging environment. In these circumstances we need another \[international protection\] solicitor,” the redacted lines read. In hiding words like that, the Legal Aid Board relied on Section [29 (1) of the FOI Act](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/2014/act/30/section/29/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com). That’s about keeping deliberations of public bodies confidential, subject to a public-interest test. In particular, it had invoked “Section 29 (1) b”, which says releasing the information “would be contrary to the public interest”. A spokesperson for the Legal Aid Board said its FOI unit redacted accounts that weren’t “evidence-based” and “to release such information to the public could likely be misperceived as factually correct”. Fred Logue, solicitor and managing partner at the law firm FP Logue LLP – who specialises in information law – said that argument wouldn’t carry much weight before the Information Commissioner. It “regularly dismisses arguments based on claims the public might misunderstand or misinterpret the information”, he said. Click any black box to see what the Legal Aid Board concealed with it. Staffing Situation IP Cork North I hope you don't mind me writing to you directly. I really feel I need to write to express my concern about our staffing situation in this office. With \[Person's Name\] gone, we have just one full time and one part time solicitor doing International Protection. I understand that there may be a replacement for \[Person's Name\] to begin work in January 2026. This is unsustainable. Even with all new work pp'd out to private practitioners, we have a very active existing caseload, and now \[Person's Name\]'s files as well. With the summer coming up, there will be times when there is no IP solicitor in the office, or just one of us. I am already working late in the evenings to make sure Submissions are lodged and Appeals are submitted. One and a half solicitors absolutely cannot be left to deal with all the IP work for the next seven months. We will not be able to provide a professional service, and our health will suffer. Quite honestly I feel unwell today just thinking about it. I have asked if we can have a locum to cover the seven months. I really think that this is the least that can be done. You will know how difficult it is in IP work just now. We do not get clients' files before interviews, decisions are generally negative, often on spurious grounds. The policy of the Minister is to speed up and deport as many applicants as possible. There has been a massive increase of staff in the IPO office. We are continually running to catch up. It is so important for us to provide good advice and advocacy in this challenging environment. In these circumstances we need another IP solicitor. 0 of 14 redactions revealed Reveal all redactions **Trust and transparency** It’s well understood that people voice their views and assessments when deliberating on a matter, said Logue. “In fact that is the very nature of deliberation.” It’s common for government bodies that fall under the FOI Act to turn to Section 29 (1) to justify redactions, he said, because they are always deliberating about something as they see it. “So it’s an easy one to engage.” If the body declines to release something, and the requester disagrees with that, then they can appeal that decision for an internal review. That’s when a more experienced staff member in the same department looks at the decision. If the requester disagrees with the outcome of the internal review, they can then appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). A spokesperson for the OIC said, speaking generally, it believes that the FOI Act promotes transparency and public awareness. FOI bodies are “fully aware” that its position is that openness must be enhanced, the spokesperson said. Appealing to the OIC generally costs €50 and wait times for the assignment of cases and decisions are lengthy. Sometimes, it takes [multiple ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dfa-argued-that-releasing-feedback-on-decision-to-label-algeria-as-safe-would-hurt-diplomatic-relations/)back-and-forths. Mairéad Farrell, a Sinn Féin TD, who’s [been pushing](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-04-03/96/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the reform of the FOI Act at the Dáil, said in an email that appeals are expensive and won’t be refunded even if you’re successful – and that’s unfair. Her proposed legislation aims to make those fees refundable if an appeal succeeds, Farrell said. “If we want faith in the public system we need to have transparency.” ## Behind the black rectangles Asked about the redactions, the spokesperson for the Legal Aid Board said it would like to “reiterate that all the Legal Aid Board's FOI Requests are processed fairly” and in step with the law. It had not tried to “hide or trivialise the scale of any crisis or other matter identified from the records”, they said. In the released documents, someone at the board had redacted the word “crisis” itself, though. In June 2025, McShane, the ex asylum lawyer at its Cork North law centre, went on sick leave, she said. “I went to see my doctor, and she just said, ‘Look, you can’t carry on like that.” She never returned, McShane said. Soon after, the other lawyer, the full-time one, also departed, documents show. At that point in the summer of 2025, Cooney – McShane’s boss – was scrambling to keep the lights on, dealing both with the staffing crunch and an out-of-order phone line that remained dead for several months, documents suggest. She wrote to Sherlock that she was short of both lawyers and clerical officers, and it was having a “huge” impact on the operation of the law centre. The word huge was redacted. Cooney described the situation as an "unprecedented crisis”, which was also redacted. At another point in the summer, she wrote: “ I feel this Law Centre is in unprecedented situation of crisis (based on my 26 years working here) and the Legal Aid Board needs to be on notice of my concerns in this regard”. The reference to the crisis and the basis for Cooney's assessment were both redacted. A couple of months later, in October 2025, the office was still short of both lawyers and clerical officers, documents suggest. Cooney wrote to Sherlock that “I am gone past the end of my tether” – which was redacted – in relation to trying to juggle to keep this Law Centre functioning as a Government Office providing a Professional service to the public”. At another point in October, she wrote that “Loosing 5 staff in nearly as many weeks is naturally having a detrimental effect on office morale”. “Detrimental effect” was redacted. Sherlock was in talks with HR to fill the vacant roles, documents suggest. And by November, the office was getting new clerical officers. One solicitor was set to return to work by February 2026, documents suggest. Click any black box to see what the Legal Aid Board concealed with it. Staffing Situation — Law Centre Update \[Person's Name\] was speaking to HR this morning and they advise that there is no update on the potential CO with the reasonable accommodation request. She was also advised that there was no process in place in relation to other CO vacancies at present. We continue to be short 3 COs and 3 Solicitors which is having a huge impact on the operation of the law centre and staff morale and wellbeing. I had yet another client contact me on my mobile this morning having tried on several occasions to phone the Law Centre Landline. Again staff have no indication when there may be an operational phone system in the Law Centre and the situation is now ongoing for 3 months. I will continue to steer the Law Centre through this unprecedented crisis but it is becoming increasingly challenging particularly as we face into the forthcoming Legal Term without the necessary supports in place to allow us provide our clients with a service. 0 of 4 redactions revealed Reveal all redactions ## Gotta talk to my lawyer Meanwhile, the most salient cost of all was the impact on the lives of people seeking asylum who relied on the service in Cork city. By the end of July 2025, Cooney wrote to Sherlock that there are 500 unassigned asylum cases “with deadlines etc.”. She’s hoping to assign them to private practitioners , she wrote. “but this cannot happen with current PP availability at a fast enough pace to meet the demand”. She voiced worries about a “potential negligence action” against the board. In late November, the office’s phone line was still out of order, too, Cooney wrote. A client had apparently said they would report the law centre to Micheál Martin, the Cork South-Central Fianna Fáil TD and current Taoiseach, she wrote. “I sincerely hope she has done so as he may have some influence on the situation,” wrote Cooney. That was redacted. At one point, a client put in a complaint saying their lawyer had left the job, and they never got assigned a new one. “This is indeed the case,” Cooney wrote. But “the decision not to replace his Solicitor was not made by me so I am not in a position to answer his query/complaint”, she wrote. In the end, the board’s Cork North asylum law centre wasn’t going to have as many lawyers as it once had, documents suggest. In February, there were two lawyer vacancies there, and one person “possibly” returning to fill one of them, [documents show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27924146-record-1-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Sherlock [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27924147-time-constraints/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that there was an ongoing recruitment process for asylum lawyers in Dublin as the board sketches out a plan for offering legal advice in a novel fast-paced scheme under the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact. Ireland has opted into the pact, which is set to activate in June 2026\. Among other things, it [speeds up](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-plans-new-system-to-detain-some-people-who-come-to-ireland-seeking-asylum/) the process for most people seeking protection. About the two existing asylum lawyer roles in Cork North, Sherlock wrote, “We urgently need solicitors in Dublin for the Pact work, that these posts would be repurposed for Dublin,” in an email dated 13 February. But the spokesperson for the Legal Aid Board said that, “No recommendations or decisions have been made regarding the reassignment of solicitor vacancies in Cork to any other area”. It continues to accept legal aid applications in that office from people seeking asylum who need advice, they said. ## In this whirlwind McShane, the solicitor who left the Cork North office last summer, said she stands by every word in her email to Sherlock. “I just felt horrible for my clients.” She thought she was doing her bit to help by emailing the line manager, she said. It was surreal to see the email again – which she hadn’t kept a copy of – with all its redactions, McShane said. The Legal Aid Board has increasingly leaned on its private solicitors panel – who have comoplained about low wages for years – to offer legal advice as it struggles to keep up with the pace at which some asylum cases are processed. [The System for Providing Free Legal Aid to People Seeking Asylum Is Broken, Some Say - Dublin InquirerAsylum seekers say some solicitors they are assigned seem uninterested in fighting their cases. Solicitors say the fees the state pays them are inadequate.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-695.jpg)Dublin InQuirerShamim Malekmian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5336-scaled.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-system-for-providing-free-legal-aid-to-people-seeking-asylum-is-broken-some-say/) In a July email to Sherlock, Cooney wrote that, “I now have 3 Solicitor caseloads without an assigned Solicitor. I am therefore taking steps to re-assign ALL CURRENT cases to the Private Practitioner Panel.” “I am doing this in the interest of client care and also risk management where as Managing Solicitor I can no longer stand over the level of service to these clients,” Cooney wrote. Since late November 2022, the Department of Justice [has been redirecting cases](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-asylum-seekers-from-safe-countries-a-greater-chance-of-being-left-to-live-in-poverty/) from citizens of countries classified as “safe” and, later, from countries with the highest number of applications, to an express route. The asylum process is due to pick up pace for even more people under the pact. McShane said they still had lots of cases internally, despite overreliance on the board’s private lawyers panel. The Legal Aid Board has three law centres dealing with asylum cases in Dublin, Cork, and Galway, according to its [2024 annual report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27926745-legal-aid-board-annual-report-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the most recent one [available on its website](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27926746-annual-reports-financial-statements-legal-aid-boardcfwf/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The number of asylum legal aid applications [has soared](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27926749-civil-legal-aid-in-numbers-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from 1,174 in 2020 to 11,689 in 2024, said the report. Some people seeking asylum whose cases were processed quickly [have said in the past](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-people-face-a-shorter-window-to-appeal-asylum-claims-hasty-deportation-orders-cause-undue-stress/) that they struggle to access early legal advice and show up for interviews unprepared and get rejected. In this kind of scenario, the number of appeals also balloons, [according to a policy brief](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25253922-2024-10-a-fair-fast-asylum-process-in-australia-lessons-from-switzerland/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales, probing fairness in fast-tracked asylum systems. It takes much more time to build a strong defence for someone who is from a country considered “safe”, McShane said. “You have to work really hard to reverse that assumption,” she said. Otherwise, a rejection is “almost automatic”, said McShane. And when you dedicate enough time to a case, it makes a world of difference, she said, bringing positive decisions for clients. “I am already working late in the evenings to make sure Submissions are lodged and Appeals are submitted,” wrote McShane in her email to Sherlock. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it doesn’t have any comments in response to criticism of the Minister for Justice’s asylum policy laid out in McShane’s email. It’s working closely with the Legal Aid Board to make its “important work” possible, including delivery of asylum legal advice. “Funding to the Board has increased by 37% to €73 million since 2023,” they said. Despite the pressure that in the end made her unravel, McShane said she misses her job. “I loved my job, though. I really loved it. I was very very upset to have to leave it,” she said. ### Fingal councillors rezone enough land for 5,000 homes, eating into greenbelt URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-rezone-enough-land-for-5-000-homes-eating-into-greenbelt/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T15:26:41.000Z Fingal councillors agreed to rezone 61 hectares of land across 11 sites in north county Dublin on Monday evening. The decision to change the zoning at these sites in Dublin 15 and east Fingal to residential makes room for the construction of up to [2,500 homes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-make-way-for-more-housing-fingal-proposes-rezoning-11-sites-nibbling-into-greenbelt/). But, the agreed rezoning of these lands in areas including Clonsilla, Skerries, Lusk, Malahide, Kinsealy and Clongriffin also eats into Fingal’s greenbelt. During the five and a half hour meeting, Green Party Councillor David Healy argued there are other lands the council could rezone to make room for more housing instead. “We’re only looking at greenbelt and rural sites for zoning when we have potential of much better sites,” Healy said. He tabled motions asking councillors to retain the zonings of all of the lands currently zoned as greenbelt, open space and rural in Fingal’s development plan for 2024 to 2029 – and put forward alternatives. But each of these motions was defeated. As well as rezoning these lands residential, councillors also agreed to speed up the development of lands that were designated as part of Fingal’s long-term strategic reserve in Dunsink, just north of Blanchardstown. This would allow for the development of 2,500 more homes, with “minimal infrastructural requirements”, Róisín Burke, Fingal’s senior planner, told the council. These changes “will provide essential headroom to attract investment in housing, and accelerate delivery of private, affordable, cost-rental and social homes”, said Mayor Tom O’Leary, a Fine Gael councillor, during the meeting. All this was done to meet demands from the central government to councils across the country to rezone more land residential, to allow for the construction of more housing. But, some councillors disputed whether the shortage of residentially zoned land is causing the housing crisis. “That’s completely fictional,” said Labour Councillor John Walsh. Walsh agreed with some elements of the variation, like the bringing forward of Dunsink as a new residential area, he said. But, “what is clear is that today, there are 56 inactive sites \[with planning permission\] across Fingal on which not a shovel has been put in the ground.” [Under orders from government, Fingal plans to rezone even more land for housingCouncil managers are on the hunt now for sites.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-694.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Apartments-credit-Michael-Smyth-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-orders-from-government-fingal-plans-to-rezone-even-more-land-for-housing/) ## Eating into the green belt While the council eventually voted in support of the changes, some councillors first raised concerns at the chief executive’s recommendation to rezone greenbelt lands. These included sites at School Lane in Balrothery, Homepatrick in Skerries, Seamount and Broomfield West in Malahide, Hole in the Wall Road in Clongriffin, Kinsealy Lane and Greenwood in Kinsealy, and a site west of Barnhill in Dublin 15. Also part of the discussion were sites at Causetown and Racecourse Road in Lusk that were zoned rural, and a site off the Clonsilla Road that was zoned open space. Healy, the Green Party councillor, tabled multiple motions asking the chamber to retain these zonings, and instead redevelop underused urban and brownfield sites. Specifically, he proposed rezoning lands by the Navan Road Parkway train station in Dublin 15 from high-technology to residential. And rezoning the [Wavin site](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26192288-item-26-draft-stephenstown-and-folkstown-little-framework-plan-251008/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p17), located by the R132, on the outskirts of Balbriggan from general employment to residential. “I believe it is much more in keeping with our policies and with national and regional policies for us to develop the brownfield sites, and sites right beside high quality public transport,” Healy said. Independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin cast doubts on whether it would be possible to rezone Healy’s proposed alternative sites before the end of the current development plan. To do so, the council executive would have to go back to the drawing board and bring the proposed variations to the development plan – the rezonings – through the whole process that the ones on the table on Monday night had already been through. Healy’s suggested rezonings might be good in the future, Guerin said. But, “there is no way that, with all the work that would have to be done in demolitions and moving and environmental studies and all that, I couldn’t see that site ready within three years for an application”. But there is no harm in going back to the drawing board and putting a new proposal out for public display, Labour Councillor James Humphreys said. “The public should have an input and a say. It shouldn’t be something that we should be fearful of, or try to avoid.” It felt like being stuck in a terrible dilemma, Labour Councillor Mary McCamley said during Healy’s motion to retain the greenbelt zoning at Seamount, outside Malahide. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like, if I don’t vote \[for it\], I’m voting against housing. If I do vote, I’m voting against greenbelt.” She has been wondering what to do for weeks, she said. “Like, I’m looking at that bit of land. That’s a lot of land to try and put more housing on.” McCamley, and her Labour colleagues, voted in support of Healy’s motion to keep Seamount’s greenbelt zoning. But, like his other motions, it was defeated by 12 votes to 20. --- *Here are the motions from this meeting, click through to see how each councillor voted on each motion:* [To zone 4.3 acres at Barnhill “open space”Vote passed by voice vote![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/28f28b7a?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To rezone 11 areas, c.61ha for housing - and remove Dunsink lands from strategic reservePassed: 25 for, 8 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-1)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/ff8d28ad?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain existing greenbelt zoning on 3.9 hectares on School Lane, BalrotheryFailed: 10 for, 22 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-2)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/31e97e6a?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To include 3.9ha newly rezoned residential in Balrothery masterplanPassed: 30 for, 2 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-3)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/372b159a?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt/open space zonings on 10.5ha at Holmpatrick, SkerriesFailed: 9 for, 24 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-5)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/bfbb39c0?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on lands in SkerriesFailed: 12 for, 22 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-6)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/4cf749ed?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain rural/open space zonings on 3.6ha in Caustown, LuskFailed: 6 for, 26 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-7)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/4a88b88a?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain rural zoning on 5.7ha at Racecourt Road in LuskFailed: 5 for, 28 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-8)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/277a74e6?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain the greenbelt zoning on 6.4ha at Seamount, MalahideFailed: 12 for, 20 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-9)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/d16fae8c?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 10.8ha at Broomfield West, MalahideFailed: 10 for, 20 against, 2 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-10)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/77f74e08?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain the greenbelt zoning on 1.2ha at Greenwood, KinsealyFailed: 12 for, 18 against, 4 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-11)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/37347240?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain the greenbelt zoning on 1.2ha at Greenwood, KinsealyFailed: 13 for, 17 against, 2 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-12)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/de861bff?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 7.1ha at Kinsealy Lane, KinsealyFailed: 12 for, 21 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-13)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/144fd56f?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 7.1ha at Kinsealy Lane, KinsealyFailed: 12 for, 20 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-14)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/9a97869b?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 2.7ha at Hole on the Wall RoadFailed: 13 for, 18 against, 2 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-15)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/f04b0781?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 2.7ha at Hole on the Wall RoadFailed: 13 for, 19 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-16)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/3a575596?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain the greenbelt zoning on 9.1ha west of Barnhill, D15Failed: 13 for, 19 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-17)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/66eeeb53?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To do a flood risk assessment on a site west of Barnhill slated for rezoning to residentialFailed: 14 for, 18 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-18)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/11994261?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To confirm that the site West of Barnhill proposed for rezoning is adequately drainedFailed: 14 for, 18 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-19)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/1bc842d8?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To prepare a flood risk assessment for the site West of Barnhill proposed for rezoningFailed: 13 for, 19 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-20)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/be95e665?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain greenbelt zoning on 0.82ha of a site West of Barnhill slated for rezoningPassed: 32 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-21)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/d5e04279?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain open space zoning on a 0.52ha site on Clonsilla RoadFailed: 11 for, 22 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-22)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/187f23fe?ref=dublininquirer.com) [To retain the open space zoning on a 0.52ha site on Clonsilla RoadFailed: 11 for, 21 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-23)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/de61c1bf?ref=dublininquirer.com) ### Reconsider increase in parking charges at Clonsilla train station, councillors ask URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/reconsider-increase-in-parking-charges-at-clonsilla-train-station-councillors-ask/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T14:20:21.000Z Trains arrived from both directions into Clonsilla train station on Monday evening and commuters trickled out. A small crowd gathered at the bus stop just over the canal, mostly scrolling smartphones. At close to 6.30pm, Conor Fitzpatrick was getting into his car near the pay and display machine on the street outside the station, where commuters park. He’d taken the train back to Clonsilla from work, and was about to drive home. “I think it’s stupid I drive five minutes. But I do,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because the bus sucks.” Walking would take significantly longer, and he’s not up for it. John Murphy, who also drives to the station to get the train, said something similar. “We live about, I suppose, by car, it's about a seven, eight minute drive – something like that. So it'd be a long walk, it'd be about 45 minutes,” he said. Fitzpatrick said he was surprised to see parking charges at the station increase when he drew in recently. “I thought there was a problem with the app,” he said. He said he thinks the change made in mid-February, which saw a day’s parking rise from €2 to €5 a day, is excessive. “I'd say it's a money-grabbing exercise.” Complaints about the costs – echoed by other regulars at the train station – have filtered through to local councillors, two of whom put forward motions at a local area committee meeting earlier this month asking that the fee could be revisited. Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnellysaid they hadn’t realised that Clonsilla was included in the changes to parking bye-laws, when they had been debated and [formally adopted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/apartment-dwellers-in-fingal-should-be-able-to-get-resident-parking-permits-for-their-area-councillor-argues/) by councillors at a full meeting in January. The new parking bye-laws set new rates for on-street parking, off-street parking, and for certain coastal car parks. But Clonsilla train station’s car park wasn’t mentioned, Donnelly said. "We talked about every beach in Fingal,” she said, at the Blanchardstown area committee meeting on 26 March. “We talked about private parking in estates. We talked about commercial parking charges,” she said. “We did not mention Clonsilla train station parking, because nobody thought that that was part of this process.” Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell said that raising the cost of parking there didn’t seem to mesh with the council’s transport goals. Which is moving people to public transport or active travel, he said. At the meeting, Niamh Russell, an administrative officer with the council’s Operations Department, said they had followed the correct process ahead of the price hike. They had a public consultation, debate and briefings with councillors, she said. To reopen the bye-laws would mean starting that whole process again, of internal consultation, area committee discussion, and putting all the bye-laws back out again for feedback, she said. “It is a lengthy process.” And, looking around at other council areasthe parking costs aren’t out of line, she said. ## Reviewing parking fees Council officials had first raised the possibility of hiking parking fees across Fingal [at a committee meeting in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25982789-fingal-parking-proposed-bye-laws-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) March 2025\. Among the changes proposed was to raise the daily rate to park in “on street long stay area” from €2 to €5 a day. That idea went out, amid other changes, to public consultation – before the majority of councillors backed it earlier this year. In her written response, Russell, administrative officer with the operations department, said that they had 553 submissions to the consultation on the parking bye-laws. “And it should be noted that no submissions were received in relation to the long-stay on-street parking in Clonsilla,” she said. Councillors at the meeting on 19 March said that they simply hadn’t realised that this car park at Clonsilla Train Station was included. “We all missed it. I think the, in fairness, I think the executive did as well,” said Labour Party Councillor John Walsh. The right process was followed, he said. But “I suppose, a significant issue of public concern has arisen, and I think when that happens, we have a duty as a public representative, and I think the council has a duty to be responsive to genuine public concerns that are raised”, said Walsh. The draft bye-laws put out for consultation did namecheck [some of the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27930037-draft-parking-control-byelaws-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) car parks affected by the changes in bye-laws. But not Clonsilla train station. Russell said the named ones were new beach locations. “This is an existing location and the council didn’t go through every existing location where charges were being increased.” They included a spreadsheet of the list of increases that were proposed in different kinds of parking areas, including long-stay areas like Clonsilla, she said. ## It’s done Both [Donnelly](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27930498-councillor-a-donnelly-review-of-parking-bye-laws-in-regard-to-clonsilla-train-station-ai107435/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [Fianna Fàil Councillor Tom Kitt](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27930499-councillor-t-kitt-parking-charges-in-the-vicinity-of-clonsilla-train-station-pending-full-consult/?ref=dublininquirer.com), brought motions to the area committee, asking to relook at the Clonsilla fees. Burtchaell, the Solidarity councillor, raised concerns about the scale of the increase. "I didn't comprehend, you know, the impact for daily commuters,” said Burtchaell. From €2 a day to €5 a day is an increase of 150 percent, he said. “You've gone from €400 a year to €1,000 effectively,” he said “So that's €600 extra. Which is more than a week's wages for an awful lot of people." He worried that people may start driving into the city centre rather than parking up and taking the train from Clonsilla, he said. Even if they don’t, it’s a big hit, he said. “It's a massive cost-of-living impact on hard-pressed commuters who are trying to do the right thing.” Later, on the phone, Donnelly said she worries about knock-on impacts on streets around the station. "It will force people into on‑street parking in estates that are already overwhelmed with cars because of the housing crisis," she said. Murphy, a Clonsilla resident, said he and his wife drive to the station, park, and commute by train a few times a week. They drive separately, as they go in at different times, he says. So the increase will add up. For his household anyways, that cost isn’t too much of an issue, he said, but it might be for his neighbours. "For a lot of people, that’s a big increase.” At the meeting, Russell said the council had looked at car-parking costs in other council areas, and in private car parks, as part of the process of updating the bye-laws. It was 15 years ago that the council set the €2 rate, she said. “We just have to be conscious that we are bringing ourselves in line with everybody else.” Still, councillors agreed the two motions from councillors. But Russell's written response to each of the two motions ended the same way: "The Operations Department has no plans to review or amend the recently adopted Parking Control Bye-Laws, and a review of these Bye-Laws is not included in the current 2026 Work Programme." *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Portmarnock pool closed indefinitely due to problems with its roof URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/portmarnock-pool-closed-indefinitely-due-to-problems-with-its-roof/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T23:03:55.000Z The receptionist broke the bad news to a young girl while Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends” boomed through the halls of the Pormarnock Sports and Leisure Club. Their swimming pool was closed, he told the teenager as she approached the desk on Tuesday afternoon. It had been closed since 13 March due to an unspecifiedmaintenance concern with its roof, [said](https://pslc.ie/update-pool-closure?ref=dublininquirer.com) the centre’s website. But, after engaging with an engineering firm, the centre decided that it would need to remain out of bounds through the summer while they confirmed the full scope of works, secured funding and repaired it, the statement said. While the closure is planned to be temporary, **it** has heavily impacted the local area, says Sarah Keegan,the secretary of Portmarnock Swim Club. “We’ve been displaced because of it.” In the last two weeks, their club has had to hop between a lot of different pools around Fingal, she says. “The National Aquatic Centre. ALSAA. Other clubs have let us come in and train a little bit.” Many groups are affected. Local schools, the Portmarnock Triathlon Club, adult swimmers, and people doing aqua aerobics, she says. “It’s tough enough because there’s, like, a shortage of space overall.” Indeed, the closure of the not-for-profit pool has been felt particularly acutely because it comes after Dublin City Council’s Coolock swimming pool’s roof was damaged in Storm Darragh [December 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-closure-of-coolock-swimming-pool-has-had-a-wide-reaching-impact-on-the-community/), leading to that pool’s – [probably permanent](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-still-paying-for-upkeep-of-coolock-swimming-pool-it-has-closed-and-likely-never-intends-to-use-again/) – closure. There are only 10 swimming pools in Fingal, none of which are publicly owned, said Fingal County Council’s [sports facility audit](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-residents-need-better-access-to-pools-and-pitches-new-sports-facilities-audit-says/), published last April. Currently, the council is developing its first [public pool in Balbriggan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-of-fingals-eu1-43bn-new-capital-programme-to-go-to-housing/) for an estimated€11 million. It’s vitally important that the council invests in new pools in areas like Balbriggan and Swords, said Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh on Friday. “We should also be supporting the leisure centre in Portmarnock, because the cost of keeping the centre open is vastly lower than the investment required to open a new pool.” A spokesperson for Pormarnock Sports and Leisure Club (PSLC) said on Tuesday they are currently working with local and national government representatives to help get the pool re-opened as soon as possible. A spokesperson for Fingal County Council said they are aware of the maintenance issues at the centre, and officials are engaging with the centre to arrange a meeting to explore appropriate next steps. But, a spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport said on Monday that they hope the centre’s own commercial insurance would cover the cost of restoring the roof. ## Funding streams Before it closed, many locals had assumed the club’s pool was publicly owned, Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey said on Monday morning. “It’s open and accessible. You don’t have to be a member to go there. Lots of schools learn there.” The pool had been the closest thing to a public pool **in** Portmarnock, Labour TD Duncan Smith [said in the Dáil](https://oir.ie/bfc9850?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 24 March. “Now, due to extensive works needed for that pool roof, the pool is closed for the indefinite future.” It is threatening jobs and the viability of the centre, he said, telling Taoiseach Micheál Martin that the Department of Sport needs to assist in re-opening the facility. According to the centre’s own statement on the closure, nearly 50 percent of their staff had been affected, “reflecting the scale of pool operations”. They need funding, Smith said in the Dáil. “There’s no local authority funding stream anymore for pools from government, but there needs to be an investment in the repair of the roof.” Martin, a Fianna Fáil TD, said he would talk to the Fianna Fáil TD for Fingal East, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien about this matter. “But, we’ll see what can be done in respect of the roof.” As part of Smith’s efforts, the Labour Party launched a petition on its website asking the government to find the funding and to make a pop-up pool available during the summer months to protect the jobs of the PSLC staff. The government has a fund for the repair of swimming pools, said Labour Councillor McDonagh on Friday. “It’s currently not open. But the government need to open it and make a substantial amount of an investment in this swimming pool.” When asked about this fund, a spokesperson for the Department of Sports said the Community Sports Facilities Fund is the primary means of providing Governmentfunding to sport and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Centre has, under this fund (formerly the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme), been allocated a total of €765,133 since 2006, they said. But, the spokesperson said, it is hoped that a sporting facility’s own commercial insurance can cover the costs of such works. “Adequate insurance for facilities is a condition of capital funding granted by the department”. ## Keep them in the water Fingal’s sports audit found that, out of the 10 swimming pools in the county, eight are in Dublin 15 and Swords. One is in Malahide, and the other is in Portmarnock, it said, noting that some locals also use the Trinity Sports and Leisure Centre in Clongriffin, which is in the [Dublin City Council area](https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-the-councils-markievicz-leisure-centre-moves-to-irishtown-itll-leave-a-pool-sized-hole-in-town/). The pool in Portmarnock drew locals from outside the coastal town, McDonagh said. “It’s really from all over Fingal that people use it. Rush, Lusk, Swords, Donabate, Kinseally. We’ve an expanding population and we don’t have sufficient pools there.” That audit found that Portmarnock’s centre met a lot of people’s needs, he said. “But that’s now closed. If that was meeting capacity, it needs to be invested in.” All of the local schools used it, said Haughey, the Fianna Fáíl councillor. “Those have all been cancelled now, and obviously swimming is a life-saving skill, so unless it is reopened, I don’t know where all those schools are gonna go.” Really, until the repairs are done or a temporary pool can be put in place, groups like the Portmarnock Swim Club are relying on a lot of different facilities and clubs for support, says Keegan, the club’s secretary. They’ve talked to almost 18 different pools across Dublin, she said. “We’ve been shopping around. We’ll go anywhere.” That has meant a few very early mornings and random time slots, she says. “Our whole goal is to keep them in the water.” ### A new night in Portobello focuses on experimental musicians URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-night-in-portobello-focuses-on-experimental-musicians/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T15:36:09.000Z Four bands cycled through the stage at the underground candle-lit Bello Bar in Portobello last Thursday. It was the first outing for Off Grid Fusion, a new monthly night given over to experimental artists. Each event is to focus on the fusion of different genres,they wrote in their promotional material. For this first event, the artists each brought their own flair – some were instrumental, others with vocalists, but they were united by a jazzy element, said Shaun Garry, who performed and also helped curate the set with Mikey Fowler of Skyrocket Promotions. "That was my first set with that line-up of the band,” said David Eamon, who heads his band which performed. It was fantastic, he said. “I think that was probably the best set of my music we've played overall." “I came for the music,” saidSarah Lee, who was standing at the back of the venue just before David Eamon’s band came on. Attendees were a mix of friends of band members, people alone, young and old, many not drinking, just there for the show. ## Off Grid Fusion It’s hard to pin down Mount Pyrus, said Finn Smyth who leads the band with Mabel Thew. “I wouldn't go as far to say that Mount Pyrus is a jazz band, to be honest, it has elements of it,” he said. Smyth studied jazz at Dublin City University. He and some peers played on Thursday. The structure of the performance was loose-ish, he said. Maybe that is jazzy, but it wasn’t really jazz, he said. The distinction is important, said Smyth, sitting on the canal on Monday, just down from where he’d played on Thursday. Jazz is difficult and specific – it takes a lot of work to play it at a certain level, he said, so he didn’t want to take credit for it. "I'd say the elements in our music that are kind of borrowing from jazz would be like, you know, improvised sections, or, you know, the harmony as well," he said. But there are pop influences too, he says. The band doesn’t fit in a box right now, he says. “I'm sure a box will appear. Maybe make our own box.” Guitarist Arthur Noswitz – who played with a quartet he put together– said he pairs jazz and fusion. Fusion to him means Miles Davis, he says. He thinks of the 1970s and 1980s, he says. “When people started to blend, like different rhythms and with jazz and different textures in music, you know?” Noswitz grew up in Brazil, he says, in a family of musicians. Jazz for him is cosmopolitan too, he said. It’s a union of people from all over, trying to communicate and listen. “We all have, like, different accents, even when we play,” he said. “Different accents in our instruments, different situations, rhythm situations, rhythmics or anything like that.” ## A new scene? Jazz elements are becoming more popular in music scene in Dublin, said Garry, one of the night’s organisers, who curated the evening’s bands. He said his quartet had jazz-style compositions, along with hip-hop influenced tracks, and some R&B too. This is a thing, he said. "Every indie band that's kind of on the scene right now seems to have some songs with some very interesting chord choices,” said Garry. “It's all just kind of, you know, jazz‑infiltrated." When Garry did his degree at BIMM Music Institute Dublin**,** everyone was in their late 20s to mid-30s back then, he says. He was 18 years old and jazz, he said, was almost a dirty word. It seemed elitist and outdated, he said. But now he’s 26, and he said these days, that’s not how his contemporaries see it. There’s no AI, nothing automated, nobody has ear monitors, he said. It’s built around spontaneity, improvisation. It’s growing again, he said. “It's literally like someone has done a sound check,” he said. “A sound guy has tried their best, and everything else is up to just the spontaneity and the music and the instruments.” That’s a direction music is going in, he said: something more raw, in the moment. "Off Grid Fusion is just a microcosm of this bigger thing that is absolutely unavoidable. You go on Instagram,” he said. “This is a thing that's happening in Dublin right now." *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Across the city, parents snatch their kids out of the way of red-light-breaking drivers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/across-the-city-parents-snatch-their-kids-out-of-the-way-of-red-light-breaking-drivers/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T00:11:20.000Z It’s Wednesday morning, at the junction of Collins Avenue and Malahide Road. A driver in a flatbed truck coming from the city centre direction rolls straight through the red light on Malahide Road. The driver turns left up Collins Avenue, straight through a pedestrian crossing, as the green man turns amber. This happens around all arms of that busy junction, constantly, says Fiona Murphy, a teacher at Our Lady of Consolation National School, on Collins Avenue. So much so that the students decided to take a stand themselves in January. They held a protest at the junction, which is a minute or two walk from their school gates, pleading with drivers to slow down and obey traffic lights. Previously, they’d got their hands on a speed gun, and clocked drivers bombing past the school at 80 kilometres per hour, in a 50-kilometre zone, Murphy said. “They speed up to make the lights,” she said. Often, whether they make the lights or not, they keep going – over pedestrian crossings, she said. The problem of drivers breaking red lights at pedestrian crossings is widespread, and gardaí can’t be everywhere to catch them. Even if they wanted to, which an April 2025 [independent review](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27915426-independent-review-of-roads-policing-crowe-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of roads policing suggested not all gardaí do. “Some Gardaí working in Roads Policing – a minority, but nonetheless a noticeable one – are unproductive and appear to be demotivated and unconcerned with doing an effective, professional job,” the report found. So, for some, the great hope for tackling the situation has been the installation of cameras at red lights to automatically read drivers’ licence plates and send them fines and penalty points. However, despite years of talk, there’s no prospect of red-light cameras with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) being rolled out anytime soon. The latest promised report on the issue, the National Safety Camera Enforcement Strategy, once promised by the end of 2024, still has not been published – much less implemented. ## **Citywide scourge** Motorists running red lights and over pedestrian crossings is a problem for communities all across Dublin, regular reports to [CollisionTracker.ie](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) suggest. Rosalind Kelly and her nine-year-old daughter were almost hit while on a pedestrian crossing in Inchicore village on a wet and rainy day this month, she said Wednesday. First, one car slowly rolled over the crossing, breaking a red, Kelly said. “That car then blocked the field of vision for another car to even see us.” The driver of that Audi SUV ran the light at a high speed, she said. Kelly had to snatch her daughter back suddenly, when she realised it flying through the light and crossing, oblivious to her child. “He was actually going to knock my daughter down,” she says. “I was shaking with rage.” On Harold’s Cross Road, near the new Harold’s Cross Educate Together National School earlier this month, Aoife McGough briefly thought the worst. The pedestrian light was still green, and her three children were halfway across the road on their scooters. Suddenly, McGough realised a car was flying towards the crossing. “I saw the car coming and screamed at my children to stop scooting, which thankfully they did,” she said on Wednesday. The car then sped through without slowing, she says. “My 11-year-old crosses at these lights on her own sometimes,” McGough says. “I don't think she would have known that the car was not going to stop if I hadn't been there.” Drivers are obviously the most dangerous red-light breakers, but they aren’t the only ones. Three years ago, when one of her kids was five, she was knocked down by a cyclist, who was flying through a pedestrian crossing despite a red light. “The pedestrian light went green. We crossed. He didn't stop, knocked her down, and she ended up in hospital with a broken thumb,” she recalls. Earlier this month, Labour TD Ivana Bacik and Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly went down to observe the situation near the school on a weekday morning, Bacik said Thursday. “In a short five-minute period, we observed three different individual drivers breaking the green light for pedestrians while children were crossing or about to cross at this clearly marked pedestrian crossing,” Bacik said. “We are seeking urgent action from Dublin City Council and Gardaí to address the risks and provide for stronger road safety measures to create a safer environment for all in the Harold’s Cross area," she said. Across the city, a culture of carelessness has grown among Dublin motorists, says Kelly, the mother in Inchicore. And it terrifies her. “Dealing with red-light running is genuinely a daily occurrence,” she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Screenshot_20260325_114551_Gallery-1--2.jpg) Photo by Eoin Glackin. In January, the reality of red-light running reached a tragic conclusion in the case of 16-year-old Grace Lynch. Grace was killed when a scrambler bike ploughed past a red-light and struck her as she was walking along a pedestrian crossing in Finglas. Her father, Martin Lynch, doesn’t think that a red-light camera would have stopped the man who killed his daughter that night. Still, a culture that accepts red-light running has evolved, and that may have eventually played into the death of his child, he said by phone on Thursday. “We still watch it happen every day,” he says While there doesn’t seem to be any simple solutions to the problem, Lynch says the lack of garda enforcement on the roads is stark. “Big thing for me is, there’s not enough traffic cops on the road. Nothing to stop people,” he says. “It’s absolutely pathetic at the moment.” There’s no good reason, in his view, why red-light cameras can't be rolled out, if even in known danger spots, like around schools, he says. ## **Distraction and aggression** Kelly walks and cycles, but her wife drives, she says. When they are all out in the car together, she’ll play a game with her daughter: they count how many drivers are on their phones. Her daughter will often spot people actually watching TV shows on their phones, as they slowly roll along busy traffic. Others will be texting with their heads tilted down to their phones, driving at speed. “You wouldn’t believe how many we can spot even on a 10-minute stretch,” she says. The point of the game is not just to pass time on a family drive, however. For Kelly, it’s a way to imprint upon her daughter that you simply cannot rely on the person behind the wheel to be paying attention to what’s going on around them. “I don’t want to terrify her, but she has to know,” she said. Along with the level of distraction, the level of aggression that drivers have on the road seems to have escalated in recent years, she says. Recently, when her wife slowed during an amber, just as it was going to turn red, a car behind started beeping repeatedly. “She stopped, and this driver was apoplectic behind us that we had stopped,” Kelly said. “On two occasions, we've had cars pull out from behind us to overtake us and go through a red light,” she says. The reality, she says, is that many drivers do not fear being caught and punished for breaking red lights. “Something has to change,” Kelly says. “People are going to be killed who don’t need to be killed.” [Survey documents 181 examples of red-light breaking, and zero enforcement - Dublin InquirerGardaí didn’t respond to queries on where they were. Dublin City Council said it would be happy to help roll-out a system of red-light cameras.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-678.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/stills-from-videos-by-sam-tranum-john-lynch-sarah-mckenna-mike-mckillen-and-marc-aurel-evers.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/survey-documents-181-examples-of-red-light-breaking-and-zero-enforcement/) 0:00 /0:04 1× Video by Sam Tranum (2023). ## **What about those red-light cameras?** Rolling out red-light cameras in Dublin is something that’s been in the works for years. A 2015 [press release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23739150-press-release%5Fred-light-camera-system-8th-june-2015?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced the installation of “Ireland’s first automated Red Light Camera System”. Put in at the Blackhall Place/Benburb Street junction in Smithfield, it was meant to prevent collisions between cars breaking red lights, and the Luas. “The system captures images of motorists breaking red lights, their licence plate numbers and other data allowing An Garda Siochána to pursue offenders under the Road Traffic Acts,” the press release says. However, that installation was just an 18-month pilot project, Hugh Creegan, the NTA’s deputy chief executive, wrote in [a 2020 email](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23739152-red-light-camera-status-note-february-2020?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act to Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan. “The larger permanent operation has to be publicly advertised for tendering purposes,” he wrote. The next year, 2021, the government’s [road safety strategy for 2021–2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23739146-rsa%5Fsafety%5Fstrategy%5Faction%5Fplan%5F2021%5F2024%5F13th%5Fjan2022%5Ffinal%5Fonline?ref=dublininquirer.com) “phase 1 action plan” included a plan to “Further develop camera-based enforcement by the Gardaí, including at junctions and for management of bus/ cycle lanes” by Q4 2022. The NTA took the lead on making it happen, an NTA spokesperson said. “While a pilot installation was undertaken a few years ago at Blackhall Place on the Luas Red line, it has been recognised that tendering for equipment and services for just one or two isolated junctions would not provide a system that would be scalable,” the NTA spokesperson said. So the government has established a working group. “The NTA has been requested to Chair a Working Group to assess and make recommendations in relation to the further extension of camera-based enforcement,” the spokesperson said. In addition to the NTA, that working group included the Department of Transport, the Gardaí, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the County and City Management Association, the spokesperson said. “It is expected that the Working Group will conclude its work and bring forward recommendations for consideration in the second half of 2023,” they said. That working group reported back, but that only spawned another effort, this time headed by TII, to think about the issue, and make even more recommendations, in the form of a National Safety Camera Enforcement Strategy. "This strategy will outline the structure, funding and partnership and governance arrangements associated with the management and implementation of camera enforcement in Ireland and is expected to be finalised before the end of 2024," said Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers in the Dáil in May of that year, when he was Minister of State at the Department of Transport. But it wasn't finalised before the end of 2024. In the meantime, in November of that year, there was a general election, and a new government was formed. Its programme for government, [Securing Ireland's Future](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25905484-programme-for-government-securing-irelands-future/?ref=dublininquirer.com), includes a commitment to increase the use of cameras to improve road safety. By the end of 2025, the National Safety Camera Enforcement Strategy still had not been published. Seán Canney, an independent TD, and Minister of State in the Department of Transport, [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-12-02/section/60/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the Dáíl in December that it was still in the works. "Work on the Strategy is progressing and is now at an advanced stage," he said. "My Department is working closely with all road safety stakeholders including the NTA \[National Transport Authority\], TII, RSA \[Road safety Authority\] and An Garda Síochána on how best to implement the Strategy.” On 18 March, the strategy was still not done. "I expect to publish this Strategy shortly," Canney [told](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-03-18/383/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Dáil. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Draft Kylemore masterplan disrespects the city’s oldest Traveller site, say reps URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/draft-kylemore-masterplan-disrespects-the-citys-oldest-traveller-site-say-reps/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T00:11:30.000Z “It’s going to make it a hell of a place to live,” said Shay L’Estrange, the coordinator of the Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project (BTAP) earlier this week. He had spent the morning at his desk, he said, looking [over the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27913985-report-no-562026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-10-of-the-dublin-c/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p68) latest iteration of the draft Kylemore Masterplan. It’s the blueprint for up to 5,300 homes, a new transport interchange, school site, and community facilities, on vast banks of industrial lands that sit between Inchicore and Ballyfermot. Councillors held a special meeting on Friday evening, agreeing the latest round of changes. The draft masterplan, with those amendments, is to go out for another round of public consultation soon. One discussion point at the meeting – the one that L’Estrange is most exercised about, he says – is the suggested heights at the project’s fringes. Planners have lowered them in the latest draft, from the last, based on submissions. But they have set them lower at the eastern edge where the new developments are to abut wealthier settled housing in Inchicore than at the western edge, next to Labre Park, with its Traveller bungalows. “It’s just disrespect for the community altogether,” said L’Estrange. Other feedback from BTAP had been brushed past, he said, like the need to preserve Traveller horse culture, with facilities to allow horses to continue to graze on lands by Labre Park. That grazing strip is now marked on the plans as part of the linear park. BTAP also asked the council to make good on the long-standing promise to find more land for Traveller housing and earmark it as such, he said. At Friday’s meeting, senior planner Malachy Bradley said that the council had reshaded diagrams in the latest variation of the plan, to make a step-down in heights clearer at the site’s edges. But People Before Profit Councillor Hazel De Nortúin said that the changes didn’t go far enough next to Labre Park. “It’s the only issue I have with the site.” The homes in Labre Park are one storey, she said, and the nearby heights over the road to the east of that allow for up to 15 storeys. That baffles her, she said. Buildings would be like watchtowers, she said.“I think if we pass it with that level of height on it, we are doing a huge disservice to the Traveller community.” Dublin city councillors voted to put the officials’ recommended changes into the draft plan, including with the heights as laid out by Bradley – and send it out again for public consultation. L’Estrange said he still wants consultation on the heights with Travellers, to talk through possibilities with council officials. The council hadn’t reached out to them directly about the masterplan and he hadn’t been aware of it, he said, before a heads-up from community worker John Bissett. “It was just by chance that we found out about it,” he said. ## **Using lands** The draft Kylemore Masterplan covers 52 hectares, a mash of mostly private and some public lands which currently host in-use and vacant warehouses, and giant car parks, and big ESB batteries. The lands are part of the much larger 700 hectare area that falls within the City Edge project, on the western fringes of the city, which the council has estimated has the potential for as many as 40,000 new homes. Council planners have been drawing up a masterplan for the Kylemore lands, as it prepares to rezone them. The masterplan is to slot in the city’s development plan and guide what can be built in the decades ahead. While the Land Development Agency is expected to take over lands from Irish Rail and CIÉ, the Office of Public Works, and ESB, most of the lands covered by the Kylemore Masterplan are in private ownership, says a council report. “As such, a plan-led and urban design centred approach is imperative to achieving positive and sustainable outcomes in individual development proposals,” says the report. The first masterplan draft [went out](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27913985-report-no-562026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-10-of-the-dublin-c/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for public consultation between 12 December and 21 January 2026, and got 100 submissions. Friday’s meeting was to review Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare’s responses to those submissions, and make changes based on them – before sending it out for another round of feedback. While highlighting some concerns around transport, and the school provision – which are largely out of their hands, they said – councillors were supportive of the masterplan. Submissions from residents had been largely constructive and positive too, they said. ## **Tuning the heights** The draft masterplan that [went out to](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no-10-kylemore-masterplan?ref=dublininquirer.com) consultation said that most of the site would be expected to be three to eight storeys. But, there is scope for taller elements – in the west of up to 15 storeys along Kylemore Road and mixed-use blocks of up to 10 storeys, it said. “Locally higher buildings” in the east are proposed of up to nine storeys, it said, because of the context. There were some nodes of height proposed through the site. And also, there is provision for lower elements where they need to transition to a low-rise townscape, it said. Much of the feedback had pointed to confusion in that description of heights, said Bradley, the planner at the meeting. He drew up two diagrams showing the changes in height that had been made in the latest draft. A then and now. Planners had tried to add clarity, he said, and greater prescription of lower heights at the edges where they meet existing buildings. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Heights-in-old-masterplan-draft--1--1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Heights-in-new-masterplan-draft.png) Old draft masterplan heights, as of the last consultation (l); new draft masterplan heights, to go out again for consultation (r) At the east edge where the site reaches St Patrick’s Terrace and Abercorn Terrace in Inchicore, the diagram now shows a belt of low-rise homes, stepping back to plots with up to nine storeys. At the west edge, where the site runs along the northern edge of Labre Park it shows the same low-rise buffer, with blocks of up to 12 storeys behind that. Over the Kylemore Road from Labre Park, the plans show up to 15 storeys. The idea is for higher heights around the transport interchange next to Kylemore Road, where there is a [plan for a Dart station](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/) and lots of buses, said Bradley. That’s the core town centre. Bradley said they had changed the heights that back directly onto Labre Park to make them sensitive to the Traveller site. Fine Gael Councillor Patrick Kinsella asked how the amendments to heights would affect the number of homes. The range has not changed, said Bradley. It’s still between 4,000 to 5,300 homes depending on densities within each plot, he said. “We’ve moved layouts but we haven’t particularly lost a significant quantum of land.” Cian Farrell, a Social Democrats councillor, meanwhile, pressed for higher buildings. Putting aside the question of Labre Park, he said, “is the reality here that they’re actually not … that they are too small?” “How can we, going forward, look at more densities?” he said. Bradley, the council planner, warned of conflating two different things. “I suppose to use the old oxymoron, higher density doesn’t necessarily mean greater height.” High densities can be delivered at a moderate height, he said. There are also challenges with financial viability and microclimate in delivering buildings of significant height, he said. These were also key points of debate for councillors in the north of the city, as they rezoned an industrial estate in Glasnevin. Proposed heights impact the prices of what is delivered, the size of the apartments, whether apartments end up for owners or investors – and even whether anything gets built at all. [As council shoots for sweet spot with masterplan heights for an industrial estate in Glasnevin, has it hit it?High buildings drive up construction costs and land values, some say, which means more expensive homes.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-680.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/On-Broombridge-Road-by-Shamim-Malekmian-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-council-shoots-for-sweet-spot-with-masterplan-heights-for-an-industrial-estate-in-glasnevin-has-it-hit-it/) Both De Nortúin, the People Before Profit councillor, and her party colleague Conor Reddy, said they wanted their reservations about the latest draft, and its impact on Labre Park, noted. “If it was a settled community in a different area, those heights wouldn’t go ahead,” said De Nortúin. L’Estrange, the BTAP coordinator, said the western end of the site might be earmarked as the core town centre, the place to build with the greatest heights, because of the largely industrial lands and the big road running through. But there’s a reason why Labre Park was built out there on the edge by itself, he said. It was a consequence of the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy in 1963, he said, which said Travellers had to be accommodated. “But the sting in the tail of that was that they accommodated them only as a staging post to move them into settled accommodation,” he said. The longer-term aim was assimilation, he said. “They selected the worst possible area, on the edge of society, and it was built on a dump,” he said. “Kylemore Road would have been one of the busiest arteries at the time, so you wedge it in the most unappealing part of the constituency that you can find.” “This is a continuation of the undermining of the Traveller community,” he said, of the draft plan. [As the decades drag on, Dublin City Council finally applies for funding for regeneration of Traveller accommodation at Labre Park“We have waited too long; we desperately need the department to fund this,” says Shay L’Estrange, coordinator with Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-679.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Labre-Park-in-Ballyfermot.-Main-image-1-1.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-decades-drag-on-dublin-city-council-finally-applies-for-funding-for-regeneration-of-traveller-accommodation-at-labre-park/) L’Estrange had also asked in BTAP’s submission that the council incorporate facilities or spaces for horse accommodation. The planned linear park would overwrite where some people now graze their horses on the canal bank, he said. “We obviously had a problem with that.” The council chief executive’s written response noted that the council’s policy was “to recognise the identity, culture, tradition and history of the Travelling people and to work to reduce the levels of disadvantage that Travellers experience”. But “given the strategic nature of the Masterplan, the identification of an area for the keeping of horses may preclude development from occurring”, it said. At the meeting, De Nortúin also asked when officials in the council’s planning and housing departments were going to come before the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee to show which new lands they have identified for Traveller accommodation. Officials have promised, for years, that they would hustle to identify new lands for new Traveller housing. “Labre Park is the oldest Traveller site in the city, and if there is going to be housing coming in across the road, I am expecting and presuming that Traveller accommodation will be included in that,” said De Nortúin. ### What’s the plan for the roll-out of Spencer Dock’s new Dart line and station? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-the-plan-for-the-roll-out-of-spencer-docks-new-dart-line/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T09:35:44.000Z On Wednesday about lunchtime at Spencer Dock Park, a group of food trucks parked up and mobbed by hungry customers ordering burritos, barbecue, and brunch. Nearby, Luas Red Line trams pulled into and out of their Spencer Dock station. Across the tracks, a grey hoarding surrounds a vacant lot. From there, a wasteland stretches north for about 350 metres, a kind of canyon with shiny multi-story complexes rising on either side. Then it passes under Sheriff Street Upper – not far from the existing Docklands train station – and runs into a rail line near older, lower-rise neighbourhoods around Blythe Avenue and Church Road. At a meeting of the council’s Central Area Committee on 18 March, an Irish Rail programme manager gave [a presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27915530-with-reference-to-a-presentation-on-dart-programme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on plans that would involve running a railway line through this wasteland canyon. As well as building a new “landmark” Spencer Dock Dart station on the vacant site surrounded by grey hoardings by the Luas station. And then [decommissioning](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=5647341&ref=dublininquirer.com) the existing Docklands train station. Any office workers who were lunching at the food trucks in the park on Wednesday, would, once they finish their workday, be able to catch the Dart from the new station. There’d be up to 12 trains an hour, which would take them out to the M3 Parkway park and ride in Dunboyne, County Meath – or to Maynooth, said Ricardo Santos, of Irish Rail, at the meeting. This is all part of Irish Rail’s Dart+ West plan, which An Coimisiún Pleanála [approved in 2024](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/314232?ref=dublininquirer.com) – and procurement for a design-build contract [is underway](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=5647341&ref=dublininquirer.com). Two judicial reviews lodged in June 2025 have been withdrawn, said the [presentation. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27906402-with-reference-to-a-presentation-on-dart-programme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Enabling works” have begun on the project, Jane Cregan, deputy communications manager at Irish Rail, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-facing-decade-of-disruption-from-construction-of-big-and-long-awaited-transport-projects/) in February. At the committee meeting, some councillors welcomed the new train line, but several said residents who live very close to the line have concerns about the noise from additional trains and the impact of the new barriers. ## **The Dart+ West project** The plan is for Dart+ West to run from the new station at Spencer Dock to Cabra, Ashtown and Castleknock, shows a [map ](https://www.dartplus.ie/S3mvc/media/DART-West/Route%20Map/DART-West-PC2-Map.png?ref=dublininquirer.com)on the Irish Rail website. The line splits at Clonsilla, with some trains heading to Leixlip and Maynooth and others heading to Dunboyne and the M3Parkway. Trains will leave to go west every five minutes at rush hour, said Santos, the programme manager at Irish Rail. To run more trains and reduce the environmental impact Irish Rail plans to electrify the existing train line, Santos said. “Electric vehicles pollute less, have greater acceleration and braking capacity, so we can have more trains per hour per direction, in each section of the rail corridor,” he said. The plans include upgrading Connolly Station, rebuilding bridges, removing six level crossings, and installing safety barriers, he said. Irish Rail plans to tender for contractors to design and build the station and railway line, with procurement set to kick off later this year, and builders on site by 2028, said Santos. Santos said that Irish Rail has written to 2,200 residents in North Strand and Spencer Dock who live close to the line to inform them of the planned construction. Public consultation sessions have already kicked off, with a meeting in Ballybough on 11 March. Community liaison officers are in place, and more meetings will be held in the coming months, he said. Irish Rail will write to any landowners from whom they intend to compulsorily purchase land, said Santos at the meeting. Those people should seek legal advice, he said. ## **Impact on residents** This plan "moves the station closer to the heart of the Docklands”, said Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, and she welcomed the fact that it will run more often, at the committee meeting. But Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis said that some people’s houses are very close to the train line and could almost touch it from their windows, so they are worried about noise and privacy. There are currently four freight trains a day, said Ennis, so trains running every five minutes at peak hours and averaging 12 trains per hour is a very significant change. The project will devalue some homes in the area, he said. Santos said he doesn’t think that any property would be devalued. There will be more noise per hour, particularly during rush hours, said Santos, but the new noise barriers will mitigate that, he said. “But if we replace five diesel trains with 10 electric trains and install noise barriers that currently do not exist, we are fully convinced that we are giving the residents better conditions than what they have currently,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Looking-south-along-the-future-Dart-line-towards-the-future-Spencer-Dock-Dart-station.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1.jpg) Looking south along the future Dart line towards the future Spencer Dock Dart station. Photo by Sam Tranum. Independent Councillor Christy Burke said residents on Ossory Road are primarily concerned about the visual impact of the barriers outside their homes. “When the residents come out their door, they will look at barriers,” he said, “which will resemble prison.” Ennis said residents want to see computer-generated images of what the barriers will look like in relation to their homes. Santos said Irish Rail has no choice about erecting 1.8 metre-high safety barriers because they are a legal requirement. Barriers can be see-through but are a necessary safety feature for all electric train tracks, he said. “We can design the barriers, whether noise barriers or safety barriers, to the satisfaction of residents.” He warned that Irish Rail also has to install the noise barriers, which he said would be 3.5m high. “The need to apply noise reduction measures is non-negotiable either because we have railway order conditions,” said Santos. “We can combine the functionality of the barrier and refine aesthetic aspects so the nuisance to the residents is as little as possible.” However, an Irish Rail spokesperson later said the 3.5m-high noise barriers are optional and can be incorporated into the safety barriers, following negotiations with residents. Horner, the Green Party councillor, said that some residents are also concerned about noise disruption from construction work. Santos says there are regulations for construction noise, and Irish Rail will make sure that contractors mitigate that as much as possible. “We will do everything we can to reduce nightwork, use noise blankets, mufflers,” he says. However, his presentation notes that “There are no statutory noise or vibration limit values in Ireland for construction works or for environmental noise during the operational phase”. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 13.23 on 31 March 2026 to include comment from an Irish Rail spokesperson about the 3.5m-high noise barriers.* ### For people who miss a letter and lose their place on the social housing list, there may be an appeals process at last URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-people-who-miss-a-letter-and-lose-their-place-on-the-social-housing-list-there-may-be-an-appeals-process-at-last/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T00:11:49.000Z Sarah Stephens grew up in state care and struggled with her mental health, she said. She joined the Dublin City Council housing list in 2007, she said. To get in the long queue to wait for a home, a permanent place to land, with a rent based on her income. But in 2013, when she had severe depression – having given birth to a full-term stillborn baby – she failed to return a form to the council to confirm she was still eligible to be on the list, she said. The next year, she [later said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/problems-with-councils-housing-lists-see-people-wrongly-removed-some-say/), she found out she was no longer on the housing list. Stephens was far from alone in finding herself in this situation. Between 2016 and 2019, nationally, 42 percent of housing applications that were closed did so not because the person got a social home but because of a failure to communicate, according to a [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27900161-ssha-hap-report-180825-002/?ref=dublininquirer.com)commissioned by The Housing Agency, published last year. In 2024, 29 percent of housing applications to councils across the country – for 5,626 households – were closed due to the applicant’s failure to communicate with the councils, according to a Department of Housing spokesperson. In the Dublin City Council area in particular, 15 percent of households removed from the housing list last year were taken off because of a failure to communicate, according to a council spokesperson. Some people who don’t return a form to the council might no longer be eligible for social housing. Still, though, the numbers being disqualified for dropping communication with their council are surprisingly high, experts say. “It is very striking,” says University College Dublin Professor Michelle Norris, who authored the 2025 report for The Housing Agency with a postdoctoral researcher Clíodhna Bairéad. And there are concerns that vulnerable households are likely to be disproportionately affected – those with mental-health issues or poor literacy could miss the form. This also happens to people living in homeless accommodation, according to Ber Grogan, executive director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, and Paul Dornan, managing solicitor at Mercy Law Resource Centre. Homeless housing applicants have at times been removed from the social housing list while living in emergency accommodation provided by the council, they say. For her part, when she found out she’d been removed from the housing list, Sarah Stephens tried to appeal – but it didn’t work. “I tried to fight it, but they said it was pointless trying to fight it or appeal it because you will get nowhere,” she said. Now, though, the government is set to introduce a new statutory appeals process for social housing applicants soon as part of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, says a spokesperson for the Department of Housing. ## **Different council processes** Housing regulations introduced in 2011 allow councils to reassess social housing applications, but don’t prescribe how they should go about that, says Dornan, of Mercy Law Resource Centre. Each council has a different process for communication. Some try harder than others to contact the applicant before taking them off the housing list. Fingal County Council writes out to applicants and then sends a reminder, a spokesperson for that council said. “If no response is received, the Council contact the applicant by phone and, if applicable, by email,” the spokesperson said. For Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, 10 percent of the applications it closed last year were due to failure to communicate, a spokesperson for that council said. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown sends a letter and a reminder by post, and staff will also phone if they are aware the applicant is vulnerable, the spokesperson said. South Dublin County Council writes to the applicants and also posts out a reminder, a spokesperson for that council said. Meanwhile, Dublin City Council writes to applicants three times, sending the form they need to fill out together with a freepost envelope, a spokesperson for that council said. “Dublin City Council make every effort to ensure that contact is made with applicants with the most up-to-date information they have provided on their housing file,” the spokesperson said. Councillors on Dublin City Council’s housing committee asked the council a few years ago to text housing applicants, as well as writing to them, independent Councillor Cieran Perry said. Perry has had two cases recently where people were removed from the council’s housing waiting list, he says. A lot of people are affected by it, says Perry. In Fingal, Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth says he has had cases of people surprised to learn that they had been removed from the list and adamant they had not received a letter and form in the post. Some people who are removed from their local housing list were in regular contact with the council, says Louise Bayliss, spokesperson for Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids (SPARK). “We have come across lone parents who have said that despite constant contact, phoning the council every month, they were shocked to find they had been removed from the social housing list,” she said. Many people say they did not receive the letter the council says they failed to respond to. “I find it hard to believe that anyone would ignore a housing letter,” Bayliss says. “With something so serious, you would wonder if it should be registered post,” says Smyth, the Sinn Féin councillor in Fingal. “I can’t help but be cynical about this and believe that it's a procedure that is used to shorten the housing list.” ## **Lost in homeless accommodation** Since people living in homeless accommodation are placed there by the council, they might assume that council staff know where they are living. And that council staff would look on the national database for homeless accommodation, PASS, before removing a person from the housing list. However, some say that doesn’t always happen in practice. Dornan, of Mercy Law Resource Centre, says they have advocated for housing applicants who were removed from social housing waiting lists while staying in emergency accommodation. “The local authority should know where the person is staying,” he says. “They should be able to check the PASS system.” Councils should have systems that work to contact homeless people if they need to verify their ongoing need for, and eligibility for, social housing, says Grogan, at Simon Communities. People experiencing homelessness often move around a lot, making it “very likely that they will miss the postal letter requiring a response”, Grogan says. “It is an outdated and ill-fitting way of verifying a person's need.” “People spend years and years on waiting lists for a secure and stable home,” says Grogan. “It is completely unfair if they are then taken off the list because of an outdated administrative practice.” While people who are homeless might not reply to a council letter because it didn’t reach them wherever they are, other vulnerable people might not be aware of the consequences of failing to return the form, says Dornan. So too says Norris, the UCD professor and author of the 2025 report. “At the least, an equality assessment is needed to ascertain if the most vulnerable applicants are most affected by this.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council says people who are homeless, people who are in hospital, and older people are not removed from their housing list for failing to reply to letters. “Social Housing applications from applicants, including applicants who are in emergency accommodation, hospitals, health care facilities and also older persons on the waiting list are exempt from the housing needs assessment,” the spokesperson said. ## **Can they get back on?** Not all of the 5,626 households who were removed from council social housing waiting lists nationwide in 2024 were permanently scrubbed from lists, the Department of Housing spokesperson said. “Where a number of attempts to contact a household fail to elicit a response, authorities are advised that it is not unreasonable to then close the household’s application,” the spokesperson said. “However, local authorities are also advised that should the household subsequently respond with the information required within a reasonable time, the application could be re-activated,” he said. Indeed, Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin, his party’s spokesperson on housing, says that in his experience – mostly dealing with South Dublin County Council – if the closure was recent, the applicant can often get their position restored. In the past, there was a fairly widespread issue, says Ó Broin, because rent supplement tenants got a form stamped by the council for their rent supplement claim. A lot of people thought that meant the council knew they had changed address, he says. But it did not. They were also required to fill out a change-of-address form, so in those cases the council was then writing to the wrong address and the applicants were removed from the list. “Most of the cases I deal with are from back then,” says Ó Broin. Madeleine Johansson, an independent councillor on South Dublin County Council, says she thinks that between 2016 and 2019 there was a push to reduce the numbers on the housing lists and councils were reassessing the entire housing list every year. “If it gets lost in the post or for one reason or another you don’t get it, you get removed, which is just madness,” she says. Some people who don’t respond might no longer be eligible, says Johansson – they might have left the country or exceeded the income limit – but, she says, most are still eligible and still need homes. Johansson says she knows one applicant who was removed from the list and struggled to get their position restored. They had updated the council with their new address, but the council had still written to them at their old address, she says. After a long battle, though, the applicant got back onto their original position, she says. There will soon be an appeals process available to all social housing applicants who don’t agree with a council decision, said the Department of Housing spokesperson. “Government approval has been secured to prepare legislation to introduce a statutory appeals process for decisions relating to assessments for social housing as part of a suite of amendments to the 2009 Housing Act,” he said. Those provisions are being drafted and should be brought to the government “for approval to publish in the coming weeks”, he said. The Department of Housing didn’t respond to follow-up queries as to whether there would be a time limit for appealing decisions. Dornan said he welcomed the promise of an appeals process. “Mercy Law Resource Centre has been calling for an independent appeals mechanism for years for social housing applicants and people who are homeless,” Dornan said. “There is a fundamental unfairness with there being no appeals process for something that is so impactful on people’s lives,” he said. ### As tensions grow over parking around new apartment blocks, some councillors look for change URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-tensions-grow-over-parking-around-new-apartment-blocks-some-councillors-look-for-change/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T10:58:11.000Z During a round of questions and answers at the North Central Area Committee this week, talk among councillors turned, yet again, to parking. Representatives from Clúid, an approved housing body (AHB), had come before councillors to talk about how it manages its properties – and the parking spaces it has for residents. That served as a prompt for independent Councillor John Lyons. Current parking policy needs to be addressed, said Lyons at the meeting. Policy is to encourage a shift away from private cars to sustainable modes of transport, he said. In practice, that means limiting the number of car parking included when building new apartment complexes. “But in the here and now, in the very short to medium term, not providing enough car park spaces has real, negative consequences for people,” Lyons said. Indeed, said Councillor Daryl Barron, of Fianna Fáil. It’s a problem that needs to be confronted now before it spirals, he said. But while the concerns have piled up, the way forward is less clear. ## Solutions? Would Dublin City Council consider re-examining planning policies on how many car-parking spaces there should be per apartment in new complexes in the city? The exact number of parking spots to be provided in each complex is influenced by national policy and the city development plan, a council spokesperson said. It depends on where the complex is – how good residents' access to public transport is, the spokesperson said. "The intention is that sufficient car parking and access to car clubs is provided in order to prevent or minimise overspill car parking," the spokesperson said. "The main barrier to providing higher levels of car parking has generally been identified as the cost of providing same, which is deemed to impact on affordability of the units," he said. Well, if national policy is in part behind the low levels of parking provided in new apartment complexes, would the Department of Housing consider re-examining those policies, maybe making some changes? Pushing people to use public transport, cycle, or walk, is needed to reduce carbon emissions to help blunt climate change, and reduce traffic congestion in the city, a Department of Housing spokesperson said. It can also keep construction costs down, particularly for apartments, he said. At Monday’s meeting, Sarah Mallon of Clúid said it is trialling a new idea in the hope to alleviate some of the car parking woes in the new Parkside development in Belmayne. “Car parking is very problematic up there, as it is in most of our schemes at the moment,” she said. They have introduced a new parking app, she said. While nobody has an assigned spot, they can book parking for three days at a time, she said. “And it’s on rotation.” Mallon said the new approach seems to be working “quite well”. Barron, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said he hasn’t heard much feedback yet from Belmayne residents but that the new approach sounded interesting. “It could be a pilot for other areas that we may need.” He isn’t quite convinced yet though. “After the three days, where do they go?” ## **Back and forth** Barron says he has worked on helping several tenants move into new properties around Belmayne and Clongriffin over the past few months. When they get the welcome confirmation of a new home, he said, the next email is usually about car parking. New tenants will really be on edge, he said. Some end up in a lottery system, he said, and for those unsuccessful, it can be a blow. “The anxiety that I see in their faces when they know they're not going to get them.” “We have to be very conscious that we're actually alienating people already against each other, before we start building communities,” he said. Barron said it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out in the new Oscar Traynor Woods housing complex, which opened to its first of several phases of new tenants earlier this year. When there are not sufficient car parking spaces in new developments, drivers simply park around the adjacent areas, blocking roads and driveways, he said by phone on Thursday. That is a reality already clear from developments that have opened in recent years, he said. Like across the Liffey, in Drimnagh. An Bord Pleanála [approved](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/303435?ref=dublininquirer.com) a planning application for The Davitt development, right next to the Grand Canal, near the Goldenbridge Luas stop, in 2019. The plans were for 265 apartments, 119 car parking spaces, and 560 bike parking spaces. Observations raised concerns about parking in future, show the [inspector’s report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23828888-r303435?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the complex is right by the Luas, the inspector noted, so it shouldn’t be a problem. In 2023, after tenants moved in, and parking on nearby streets [became a point of conflict](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-drimnagh-a-push-for-car-free-living-has-so-far-led-to-a-car-clogged-road/), local councillors said they thought that the situation would settle. Speaking late[ last year](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-new-housing-developments-a-constant-back-and-forth-over-levels-of-parking/), Patricia Ryan of[ Dynamic Drimnagh](https://dynamicdrimnagh.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and other local residents, said that hadn’t happened yet. And the share of households with at least one car in Crumlin A, the electoral division that includes The Davitt, has risen, showed census data – from about 67 percent in 2016 to about 71 percent in 2022. ## **Stick to the plan** New housing developments across the city are just following what is laid out in the Dublin City Development Plan, which is to reduce car parking in all developments, says Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney. “We all voted on that ourselves as councillors” she said. Dublin City Council’s development plan sets [a maximum of](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27915610-final-vol-2-appendices/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 0.5 car parking space for each new home in zone one, within the canals, and a maximum of 1 parking space per home outside of that. For her, it’s a little bit baffling now to hear people calling for amendments, said Cooney. There needs to be prioritisation for people who really need their cars, she said. For those with disabilities and older people. And, it’s important to realise that someone may not have mobility issues now, but might do down the line, she said. “There needs to be some flexibility around that.” Still, she said, if we are to look at the best use of the land, it’s to build as much housing in it as possible. “Parking takes up a lot.” Underground parking isn’t always a great option either, she said. “It’s usually the first to get flooded, with the extreme weather events we're having and the rainfall.” Also community spaces, green spaces and community buildings shouldn’t be sacrificed to put in car parks, she said. If a new development has 1,000 residents moving in, and they each have a car, that’s another 1,000 cars further clogging up traffic in the area, she said. As she sees it, there should also be a greater focus on shared cars for new developments. So if people need to shop, ferry the kids, or visit a relative some distance away, they can still do that no problem, Cooney said. Further down the line, the Dart+ programme should bring extra rail service to the city, and the BusConnects redesign of the city’s bus network should bring more options too, she said. Still, said Lyons, the independent councillor, at Monday’s committee meeting, right now, the trouble that car parking spaces are causing neighbourhoods is unignorable. “It can actually tear communities apart,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dean: On Curtisy’s boundlessly imaginative blog rap URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-on-curtisys-boundlessly-imaginative-blog-rap/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T00:12:00.000Z Curtisy has been burning through that most precious of commodities: hype. There’s been [broadsheet profiles](https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/dublin-rapper-curtisy-from-working-in-a-petrol-station-to-staging-a-uk-national-tour-znfx7wclz?ref=dublininquirer.com), a Choice Music Prize nomination, inclusion on [2FM’s Rising Artists for 2026](https://about.rte.ie/2026/01/09/2fm-announces-line-up-of-rising-artists-for-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) list. Such accolades aren’t always bestowed on Ireland’s best rappers, and there’s little about Curtisy that screams mainstream palatability. For me, he looks every inch a Soundcloud star; maybe even a throwback to a decade-and-a-half-old blog rap. This Jobstown boho makes music that’s loose, carefree and boundlessly imaginative, while presenting an image that I can’t imagine anyone would describe as being overly polished. The first time I heard the song “Landmine!”, it reminded me so much of Lecs Luther’s “Dia Dhuit”. What a monumentally important moment in Irish rap that was: a blog-era classic from a MF DOOM-worshipping “charming little rapper” (who’d later shed the moniker and become Rejjie Snow) with a style that was already so dexterous, so fully formed, and presented in [a bare-bones but visually arresting video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1JeP0rOO-4&ref=dublininquirer.com) that reflected how MTV had become old hat and YouTube was the future. With his slick flow and Tumblr-feed brain, Luther fit comfortably in the Earl Sweatshirt-end of the blog rap sphere. Released in 2011, “Dia Dhuit” redrew the lines of how great Irish rap could be, and how much star quality an Irish rapper could possess. It was a blessed precursor to much of the outstanding music we’ve enjoyed since. Similarly, “Landmine!” features a crisp, head-nodding, yet devilishly simple beat – the ideal bedrock for Curtisy to spit bottomless bars (no chorus) about girls, money, and getting buzzed and loaded. Make no mistake, this is a pure rapping talent we’re dealing with here. Lacking the obvious star quality of Snow, he instead wields his weirdness like a stiletto, contorting his accent in wicked ways, always immaculately on beat, except when he chooses not to be. ​​For Curtisy (né Gavin Curtis), music first became a distraction during Covid-19 restrictions. Some of his earlier recordings that you’ll find online are less-than two-minute slices of lo-fi, low-stakes rap. Take “Clarified Thoughts”, from 2022, which finds an appropriately laidback Curtisy spilling loose ruminations over a sleepy lounge jazz rhythm. He’s since become more expansive with his vocals, gaining total control over his off-kilter rapping style. His taste in beats is both eclectic and eccentric, encompassing everything from dusty jazz, to baroque symphonies, to Asian music. And while Curtisy insists [he doesn’t make “stoner rap”](https://www.hotpress.com/music/curtisy-i-didnt-know-a-lot-of-rap-was-coming-from-tallaght-but-i-knew-we-all-listened-to-rap-there-thats-what-we-resonated-with-23023338?ref=dublininquirer.com), there is a druggy haze to songs like “Last Time”. This depiction of being young in Dublin includes the occasional smoke session. For me, though, Curtisy’s true signature tunes are his flamboyant lightning-shock funkadelic jams with the lava-lamp tint. Delectable numbers like “mm mm good (In the Cellar)”, featuring Walshy, with its layer cake of seemingly incompatible vocals all trying to elbow their way to the front of the mix over a probing bassline. Or the airy synth patches of the bouncing “Ratatouille”, a collaboration with Ahmed With Love and Kylté. And, of course, “Eyes”, one of the best trash-talking rap songs of last year. Curtisy’s verbal panache has never been stronger as he runs wild-wild-*wild* over a twitching vocal sample in a classic push-back to unnamed haters: “I should’ve let you get some dirt a​​nd put it on my name? N-n-neverrrr!” Latest project *Get a Life!* reflects a notion that Curtisy has been driving towards over the last couple of years: to make music with more prominent subject matter, richer lyrics and sharper songcraft – that is, to make music that’s more mature. As his team has put out, “It’s an album shaped by light and dark, anxiety and ambition, humour and heartbreak”. Because serious artists make music with serious themes, you know? It begs the question: Will this singular rapper smooth his style out into something that the broader audience he’s seeking will find digestible? True enough, this *is* Curtisy’s most accessible album to date, but it’s still loaded with colour and joy; a 23-minute hit of rap excellence that invites Earl, Anderson .Paak and early Kanye to the same party. *Get a Life!* is entirely produced by owin, who provides pretty of different musical looks for Curtisy to face up to, beginning with the triumphant orchestral blare on “Talk of The Town”, an announcement, to anyone who might not get it, that this album is supposed to be a real *moment*. Quick like Houdini, Curtisy’s voice switches through various speeds like it’s nothing at all. He’s joined by Wexford rapper Lil Skag in the first of three appearances across the album, providing a welcome guest foil. The vibey soul-splash of “Tell Me I’m Good” owes a debt to Mac Miller but also to [Kojaque](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-the-culture-on-kojaque-and-luka-palm/) as Curtisy shouts out his home soil while declaring, “I’m getting better with age”. (That may be true, but an amusing thing for someone so observably young to say.) “Knotted” returns to the sleepy-eyed misty numbers, while the slow-burning orchestral soul of closer “Couch Spring” sees him punch out on a romantic note. There’s also the highly personal “Sonny”, where Curtisy attempts to pass wisdom down to his young nephew: “I used to be wild and reckless”, he raps over owin’s pretty orchestral beat. “I feel like the child has left us.” Then, suddenly, the instrumental takes off, accelerating upward in a sumptuous swell of strings. It’s a genuinely thrilling moment as Curtisy boldly declares to his mother that success is imminent. Any second now. What *Get a Life!* does *not* have is the brash bluster of “Eyes”. I hope that Curtisy’s quest to harness the hype around him into greater success doesn’t mean shedding that part of his sound and personality. Nevertheless, this singular eccentric is on an exciting trajectory. And should others want to hold him up as a new ambassador for Irish rap, who are we to stop them? *Curtisy performs at this year’s Forbidden Fruit Festival on Saturday 30 May.* ### Things To Do: Follow your dream, hear crows tell their tales, go back to the 60s by way of Amien Street URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-follow-your-dream-hear-crows-tell-their-tales-go-back-to-the-60s-by-way-of-amien-street/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T06:35:41.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Jean Pack and the Slay Babies** On Friday night, Niamh Hayes of Cork-based dream-pop post-punk quintet I Dreamed I Dream is bringing her solo project, Jean Pack and the Slay Babies to Cleary’s Pub. Hayes as Pack, released her debut EP [*Allora*](https://jeanpack.bandcamp.com/album/allora?ref=dublininquirer.com) back in July, Consisting of five tracks, the record harkens back to the weirder side of 1960s pop, possessing the Christmas-y jangle of *Pet Sounds*, the reverb-heavy hits of producer Joe Meek and Phil Spector’s bombastic walls of sound. But, like the pop trio the Shangri La’s, Pack adds a bit of grit into the glistening dulcimers as, on the opening track, she sings “I woke up today with sick on my face.” If the EP steals your heart, she and her band the Slay Babies will be up on Amien Street tomorrow, 27 March, with support from folk songwriter Cara Coyle and The Dolly, a new instrumental side project from [Mark Stevens](https://www.dublininquirer.com/big-loud-messy-and-ramshackle-the-onion-boys-play-the-hut-in-phibsboro/) of the Onion Boys, which is inspired by the works of the experimental composers La Monte Young, [Michael O’Shea](https://www.dublininquirer.com/from-temple-bar-s-crow-street-a-label-excavates-forgotten-sounds/) and folk guitarist John Martyn. The gig starts at 8pm. Tickets are €10 and will be available on the door. **Follow Your Dream** Over in Dún Laoghaire this Saturday, artist Bennie Reilly will be speaking about *Follow Your Dream*, her solo exhibition currently showing in the dlr LexIcon Gallery until 1 May. Described as a celebration of the oddities and allure of nature, *Follow Your Dream* comprises Reilly's paintings and mixed media sculptures. Inspired by museums, natural history collections, and Reilly’s own experiences with nature, the artist uses her collection of personal photos, small objects and natural items amassed over the years to create images and three-dimensional decorative pieces. At 1:30pm on Saturday 28 March, Reilly will be in the library’s gallery for a casual conversation with curator Brenda McParland, in which the pair will discuss Reilly’s show, her techniques and inspirations. Admission is free. **E the Artist** Earlier this month, artist Daranijoh Sanni, better known as E the Artist, released his debut album *Six*. An ambitious maelstrom of synthesizers, found sounds, howling vocals and spoken word, drawing inspiration from the seven seals in the Book of Revelations, the album captured the raw power of the city’s underground scene, featuring contributions from artists like Mel Keane and Julia Louise Knifefist. On Saturday night, 28 March, Sanni will be performing in Tengu to officially launch the record. Doors are open at 7:30pm, and he has a few “special guests” lined up to appear. Tickets are available [here](https://foggynotions.ie/concerts/e-the-artist-tengu-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **sticks and mountains and huge lone birds** On Sunday, we’re sending you over to Howth where, at the College Lane Gallery, artist Róise McGagh will be launching her solo exhibition, *sticks and mountains and huge lone birds*. The show is the culmination of McGagh’s month-long residency in the College Lane Gallery on Abbey Street and explores the relationship between the gallery and public space. Site-specific in their nature, the artist’s works in the exhibition articulate architectural forms observed in the gallery’s environment, and expands beyond College Lane’s walls to directly engage with the street outside. Opening on Sunday afternoon at 4pm, *sticks and mountains and huge lone birds* will run until 24 April. For more information, follow College Lane Gallery on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/college%5Flane%5Fgallery/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Made in Dublin** In February, the video production company No18Films started a documentary short series titled *Made in Dublin*, which delves into the storied lives of the city’s inhabitants. Their first installation in the series, [*The Master Glove Maker*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yez9I17ouuc&t=183s&ref=dublininquirer.com), features a conversation with Brian Horn, a glove-maker who specialises in “table cutting,” a method where leather is stretched and measured by eye before the blade touches the skin. The son of George Horn of George Horn Gloves, Brian’s interview takes the viewer back to the 1940s when his father founded the company, recalling the golden age of glove manufacturing in the city and a factory fire that devastated the business in 1972, while also reflecting on the dying craft. Earlier this week, they dropped the second episode, which details the history of the Cobblestone Pub as told by its owner Tom Mulligan and his son, Tomás Mulligan of the band Ispíní na hÉireann. The short offers an intimate portrait of the pub’s culture and characters, and presents one of the best versions of the events around the 2021 campaign to save the pub from being partially demolished and redeveloped. Give it a watch [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yez9I17ouuc&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Rookery Stories** If you’ve a decent tale to tell, it might be wise to head over to A4 Sounds Artist Studios and Gallery in Phibsborough on Tuesday evening for the Rookery Stories, the latest storytelling session hosted by folklorist Stephen Jack Cullen, otherwise known as Hog and Dice. The Rookery Stories is a monthly storytelling event, which began back in January, which invites storytellers at every level, “from fledglings to old crows” to trade yarns, develop their craft and find community in an inclusive and accessible environment. The third session begins at 6:30pm on Tuesday 31 March, and anyone who would like to tell a story can sign up at the front desk in A4 Sounds. The evening will then get underway at 7pm with an introduction by Hog and Dice, with six ten-minute stories being shared by participants. To get a ticket, visit the A4 Sounds website [here](https://a4sounds.org/shop/the-rookery-stories/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Sketches of Maeve Brennan** Finally, on Wednesday evening, editor Molly Hennigan will be in Books Upstairs to discuss the life and legacy of the writer and journalist Maeve Brennan. Born in 1917, Brennan grew up on Cherryfield Avenue in Ranelagh before moving to the United States in 1934 where she worked at the New Yorker, writing sketches, short stories, essays and fashion notes. Publishing works including *The Long-Winded Lady: Notes from The New Yorker*, *In and Out of Never-Never Land* and *Christmas Eve*, Brennan became a well-known name in the States, but not in Ireland. In more recent years however, her reputation has grown stronger back at home, with authors like Sinéad Gleeson championing her work and Ranelagh Arts holding a weekend celebrating her legacy last September. Most recently, in February, a new collection of essays, *An Asylum for my Affections: Sketches of Maeve Brennan* was published by New Island Books. Featuring ten contemporary Irish writers, the anthology seeks to offer a new and broader perspective on Brennan’s life and the impact of her work in the 21st century. The anthology’s editor Molly Hennigan will be over in Books Upstairs at 6:30pm on Wednesday to speak with some of the contributors about Brennan’s legacy. The event is free. But booking is required. Reserve a seat [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/sketches-of-maeve-brennan-molly-hennigan-and-contributors-on-an-asylum-for-my-affections/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Art Help: with your work problem** Artist Grace Dyas is organising a four-week “rehearsal for reality”, which is designed for people who feel stuck, dissatisfied or disconnected from their work. Participants are invited to bring real work problems into a structured, small-group process of staging, discussion and experimentation, in which the group will rehearse different ways of responding to a difficult situation – before taking them back into real life. No acting or performance experience is required, and participants are never required to perform. The same small group meets across all four weeks, allowing for trust, depth, and continuity. Facilitated by Dyas, the sessions will occur on Sundays between 3 and 5pm from 12 April to 3 May at the Dublin Fringe Studios in Temple Bar. There are eight places available and the cost of the full programme is €300. For more information and to sign up, contact Dyas on WhatsApp at 085 191 8419. **Open Call: Social Impact Residency at the Tara Building** The Tara Building has opened applications for its Social Impact Residency, offering space for a small number of individuals or teams (up to three people) working on projects that create positive social or environmental change. The residency will span six months, and will include a complimentary membership for its duration, access to workspaces, meeting rooms, call booths and share areas, promotion of your work through Tara’s channels, and invitations to events, talks and community gatherings. The deadline is 3 April. For more information and to apply, visit the Tara Building [website](https://thetarabuilding.com/2026/03/18/open-call-social-impact-residency/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Ben de la Cour** Songwriter Ben de la Cour is bringing his signature “Americanoir” sound and acclaimed new album *New Roses* to the Cobblestone on Saturday, 4 April. Organised by Foggy Notions, doors open at 7:30pm. Tickets are available [here](https://foggynotions.ie/concerts/ben-de-la-cour-cobblestone-dublin-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Listen to De la Cour’s single from *New Roses*, ‘Stuart Little Killed God (On 2nd Ave)' over on YouTube [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbWcXTpey24&ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Councillors back renewed focus on serious anti-social behaviour in council housing complexes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-back-renewed-focus-on-serious-anti-social-behaviour-in-council-complexes/ Last updated: 2026-03-26T23:44:37.000Z Dublin city councillors on Tuesday welcomed an overture from officials to set up a new working group to tease out how the council responds to “anti-social behaviour” in social housing complexes. “I think we’re all very conscious that anti-social behaviour is something that we in Dublin City Council need to get on the front foot in relation to,” said Frank D’Arcy, executive manager in housing operations, at the meeting of the housing committee. Officials want input from councillors on what the working group should consider as priority, said Mick Mulhern, assistant chief executive, at the same meeting. “We know there are issues.” Council officials had statistics to hand from the past year of managing tens of thousands of social homes in the city. Some figures were laid out in [a written presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904214-estate-management-presented-by-claire-dempsey/?ref=dublininquirer.com), such as the number of complaints, which sat at 2,415 last year. Others were dropped in during the debate. “I had six cases, I’m now down to three, where families are burned out, said Mick Clarke, of the estate management unit at the meeting. Most councillors’ comments and questions sought tougher and faster responses from the council, and the judicial system, to the most serious breaches of tenancies and criminal activity – drug-related intimidation, racism, burning people out of homes. Cieran Perry, an independent councillor, said he sees anti-social behaviour in council housing as the biggest issue facing the council after housing supply. It reflects on social housing and leads people to reject it, he said. “We’re all here fighting for public housing.” Mike Allen, head of advocacy for Focus Ireland, who is a member of the committee, said he agreed with councillors and council officials as to the importance of this issue for the future of social housing. But he doesn’t think it’s possible to deal with everything they may come across – racism, drugs, interaction with the criminal justice system – through estate management by the council, he said. And when the council moves to evict someone, it is just evicting them into the homeless accommodation system, he said, where it is even harder to manage anti-social behaviour. “I’m not saying we should be soft on it,” Allen said. But they all need to think it all through, he said. ## The process Complaints around anti-social behaviour in social housing complexes are dealt with first-off by the council’s 11 local area offices, said Mick Clarke, an official in the council’s estate management unit. They are assigned a level of seriousness – low, middle, or high – and the most serious are referred on to the central estate-management unit to handle, he said. If after investigation, council staff find a breach of the tenancy based on behaviour, the council issues either a verbal warning, or a written warning, and then a final written warning, said Claire Dempsey, who works in the estate management unit. Once a final written warning has been given, the estate management unit reviews the case to make sure that it has been handled correctly, and then it goes forward for the next step, she said – which is either a tenancy warning (which brings particular consequences), an exclusion order, or a possession order. For any possession order – essentially an eviction – the council must prove in court that it is equitable, proportionate, reasonable, and justifiable, she said. Last year, 103 severe cases were escalated to the central unit, 12 went forward with formal tenancy warnings, and for three possession orders were granted. So far this year in relation to those, there have been eight tenancy warnings, and one exclusion order for an adult subtenant, she said. Part of the estate management unit’s remit is to make sure that area offices understand the council’s strategy around anti-social behaviour and the relevant legislation, she said. They’re always looking to improve on what they do, she said, and the idea of the working group is to feed into the next anti-social behaviour strategy. Janice Boylan, a Sinn Féin councillor, asked if people can report issues anonymously. It’s tough for a neighbour to go into the council and sign a statement against the person they live beside, she said. Clarke said the council takes complaints in any format and without names – and has been to court to defend that. “We would gladly take them anonymously.” Boylan also said she sees a reluctance at times among council staff to deal with anti-social behaviour because of intimidation, she said. “Everyone is human.” But it can escalate if not dealt with, she said. It’s difficult as staff has been threatened, said Clarke.Some even have had pipe bombs left under their cars, he said. Management do try to do everything they can to help any staff affected by that, he said. There’s a process now in place, he said. “We’re satisfied that we can come to the aid of any member who feels they are in threat.” Most don’t want to leave the council or the housing department, he said. The council also has an approach for dealing with what happens when a family is burnt out of their home, said Clarke. Let’s say they are burnt out of Cabra, he said, choosing a neighbourhood at random. “They’re not going back into Cabra.” Gardaí advise them on whether they think the person would be a target if they moved back in, he said. But they have a duty of care to both those residents and to the community as a whole, he said. Families have told him that they feel punished when they are moved, he said. But the council doesn’t want to take any chances, he said, and will move them outside of what they consider the danger area. ## Teasing out priorities Independent Councillor Christy Burke said he remembered a time it had taken eight years to get an eviction in Ballybough. The new working group should invite the president of the District Court to talk to them, so they can outline the impacts that serious anti-social behaviour have on a neighbourhood, he said. “Our problem here is the courts,” said Burke. Officials work day and night on cases, which end up taking years through the courts, said Burke. “That’s where the delay is.” Perry, another independent councillor, backed him up. He takes serious issue with the underlying legislation, he said. That personal drug use at home isn’t anti-social behaviour, and that the behaviour has to be within the vicinity of a tenancy to be relevant. He, like other councillors, honed in on evictions as a consequence. “We should be publicising when we evict people,” he said. “Everyone involved in this feels like there’s no consequences.” The number of tenancy warnings suggested to him that estate management wasn’t resourced properly, he said. “I think you are understaffed.” [One in four staff posts in Dublin City Council’s local area offices aren’t filledIt isn’t creating any problems, said a council spokesperson. Some councillors aren’t too sure.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-675.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Eblana-House--home-to-Dublin-City-Council-s-South-Central-Area-Office-2.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/one-in-four-staff-posts-in-dublin-city-councils-local-area-offices-arent-filled/) Allen, of Focus Ireland, said that councillors have two roles, as he sees it. They’re social landlords, but also must reflect the community more broadly, he said. “And I think there is less of a concentration on that role – and what influence councillors may have on that.” Hazel de Nortúin, a People Before Profit councillor, said that she could feed in the lessons that were learnt from a pilot project she helped to run in Dublin 10 to help with chronic cases of intimidation. One finding was that keeping the circle of those involved small was best, she said, to move fast. She also raised the importance of the need to consider domestic violence cases. D’Arcy said this would definitely be something for the working group. They plan to set it up within the next month, he said. And once they have a strategy worked out, that should mean more resources going forward too, said D’Arcy. ### When the council’s Markievicz leisure centre moves to Irishtown, it’ll leave a pool-sized hole in town URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-the-councils-markievicz-leisure-centre-moves-to-irishtown-itll-leave-a-pool-sized-hole-in-town/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T06:35:50.000Z While a light rain fell over Luke Street, an automated voice boomed down from Tara Street station, saying the train bound for Hazelhatch was approaching Platform 1. Below the station, just after 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, a woman and a teenage girl rushed into the Markievicz Sports and Leisure Centre with their coats pulled over their heads to avoid getting soaked. Inside, there were more than a dozen people working out in the windows. Mostly, they were men, lifting dumbbells, or panting as they used the treadmills and rowing machines. Its proximity to the train station makes a great place for Darren Leathley to go swimming, he said. “I live out in Raheny, and I can get on the Dart, and in 15 minutes with a two minute walk, I’m at the reception.” The centre, however, is slated for demolition to make way for Transport Infrastructure Ireland to build a Metrolink stop at nearby Tara Street. To replace the sports facility, Dublin City Council is about to apply for planning permission to demolish an existing sports facility out in Irishtown, and rebuild it as a state-of-the-art centre. But, the new centre in Irishtown, which will also be known as [the Markievicz Centre, or Ionad Markievicz](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904222-planning-and-development-matters-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), is going to prove challenging for some of the regular users of the Townsend Street facility, as the council intends to move the swimming pool 2.5 kilometres east. ## A far-reaching impact Moving the Markievicz centre from Dublin 2 to Dublin 4 is going to leave a dent in the Pearse Street and south-inner city area, says independent councillor Mannix Flynn. “One neighbourhood and one community will be completely stripped of an asset, and be told you have to go down to Irishtown to avail of that,” Flynn said. But, the impact goes beyond the D2 area, because most of the users don’t live in that postcode. At the South East Area Committee meeting on 9 March, Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne requested that the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, provide a breakdown of where its current members live. According to [the reply](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27902860-markievicz-centre-qa-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com), 24 percent of the centre’s members live in D1, 14 percent in D2, 11 percent in D7, and 8 percent each in D3 and D8. Although the centre is on the south side of the Liffey, 60 percent of its members live on the northside – some as far afield as D15 and D17, according to the reply. Leathley, who lives in Raheny, usually goes to the Markievicz centre because the options on the north side are less than ideal, he says. “Like, the other Dublin City Council pools and sports and fitness centres are a bit out of the way.” He has used the council facilities in Ballymun and Finglas a handful of times, he says. “It’s probably, like maybe 20 minutes to drive to Ballymun, and then there’s the issue of parking there.” His daughter would often attend swimming lessons over in Coolock, he says. But the council closed that after Storm Darragh damaged its roof in December 2024 – and it [seems unlikely ever to reopen](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-still-paying-for-upkeep-of-coolock-swimming-pool-it-has-closed-and-likely-never-intends-to-use-again/). “It’s like, that whole north-eastern section in Dublin is lacking in these facilities.” While Raheny is near the border with Fingal, [a sports audit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25925309-fingal-sports-facilities-audit/?ref=dublininquirer.com&mode=document#document/p180) published by Fingal County Council in April 2025 found that most of the county’s [10 swimming pools](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25925309-fingal-sports-facilities-audit/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p185) are not that well positioned to serve people living in south-eastern Fingal/northeastern Dublin city. Eight of Fingal’s pools are in Dublin 15 and Swords, and then there’s one in Malahide and one in Portmarnock. There’s also Trinity Sports and Leisure Centre in Clongriffin, in the Dublin City Council area, the audit says. Overall, the audit says people living closer to the city in Belcamp and Balgriffin require improved access to pools. When asked how the council would address the loss of swimming facilities for those who are unable to use the new Markievicz centre in Irishtown, a spokesperson said the council’s current sports plan for 2024 to 2029 includes an infrastructure pillar. “This document will drive sports provision across the city over the lifetime of the plan,” the Dublin City Council spokesperson said. ## Plans in motion The council is getting ready to lodge a Part 8 planning application for the new Irishtown centre, Don Daly,a project manager for the council’s Culture Community, Leisure and Area Services section, said at the South East Area Committee meeting on 9 March. The Part 8 planning process requires the council to apply to itself for permission, and Daly said the executive expects to bring plans for the new leisure centre before the full council in September. This proposed development would consist of a 25-metre six-lane swimming pool, a learners’ pool, a 100-station gym, three studios, changing rooms, and staff accommodation, according to a council report provided to members of the committee on 9 March. Area councillors were told, back in [April 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-irishtown-plans-for-a-new-sports-centre-with-two-swimming-pools-are-taking-shape/), that the project is estimated to cost €43 million. Since those plans were presented to the committee, the council carried out a survey between May and June 2025, which collected more than 370 submissions, according to the council’s consultation [page](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/new-leisure-centre-facility-at-irishtown?ref=dublininquirer.com). “All generally, very positive,” Daly said at the area committee meeting earlier this month. A spokesperson for the council said on Monday that 30 percent of those respondents currently use the Markievicz Sports and Fitness Centre. Of those users, 62 percent said that they would continue to use the relocated facilities in Irishtown, the spokesperson said. The planned Irishtown leisure centre is an exciting development, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said at the meeting. “It’s going to happen, one of the positive outcomes of Metrolink. I support it.” It is terrific that the council is going to build an exemplary sports campus, said Flynn, the independent councillor. “What I would really like to see, we’ve mentioned this before, is that the name Markievicz pool would remain on the pool.” This would honour the revolutionary figure Countess Constance Markievicz, he said. “It’d be a shame to lose the name.” Daly confirmed that the new centre would retain that name. All going to plan, construction is set to begin early in 2027, Daly said. “And then to be completed by quarter three of 2028.” It was important to keep in mind that, with the Glass Bottle strategic development zone set to bring in 3,500 homes, there is going to be an influx of people moving into the area over the coming years, Flynn said. “Is there room for further expansion at this particular site?” That was factored into the proposal for the new leisure centre, Daly said. “The gym is going to be the biggest gym the city council runs.” There is some room in the design to potentially provide a sports hall, he says. “But if you put a sports hall in, you’re gonna end up losing some of the five-a-side pitches. That’s a decision that needs to be made down the line.” But, because there are already a lot of sporting facilities in the area, there won’t be enough space on the site to easily include such a hall, he said. “It will be a great sporting hub. You’ve got the eleven-a-side pitch as well. But one of the reasons that site was picked was because of the increase in population.” Leathley, who was at the current incarnation of the Markievicz centre, on Luke Street, on Tuesday, said he isn’t sure yet if he’ll be able to go to the relocated Markievicz pool, out in Irishtown. “Probably, it’s dependent on how convenient it is to get there. It’s removing the convenience of walking from the Dart station,” he said. ### Fingal lays out latest plans to “hold the line” against coastal erosion in Portrane URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-lays-out-latest-plans-to-hold-the-line-against-coastal-erosion-in-portrane/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T06:36:01.000Z Emergency works to slow the erosion of Portrane’s coastline at Burrow Beach should start soon, Kevin Halpenny, Fingal’s senior parks and landscape officer, told councillors on 19 March. Meanwhile, the council [filed a](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/324069?ref=dublininquirer.com) planning application for a longer-term solution to the disappearing sands with An Coimisiún Pleanála early last month, too. The first of the measures, the short-term one, involves building 300 metres of rock armour, Halpenny said, at a meeting of Fingal’s Marine and Coastal Management Strategic Policy Committee meeting. But the longer-term change, if approved, [is for about](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904218-vol-i-non-technical-summary/?ref=dublininquirer.com) seven “fishtail groynes”, among other measures, he said. These are Y-shaped concrete-and-rock walls sticking about 110 metres out from shore into the sea. It’s the first time those have been used in Ireland, said Halpenny. The aim, [say](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27903784-vol-i-non-technical-summary-portrane-erosion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council planning documents, is to mitigate the ongoing coastal retreat, enhance the recreational value of the beach, and enhance and protect the dune systems which suffer from chronic and acute erosion. Or, to put it another way: to save the coastline. ## In Portrane On Monday evening, rocks and shells lay like a ripple of scales in the long stretch of sand revealed by the low tide on Burrow Beach. The sea was at a safe distance, now. But it has been rapidly washing away the land, eroding the shoreline at a rate of between 2 metres and 4 metres a year over the last 50 years, say council planning documents. Some years have seen more brutal erosion on the coast than others. In 2018, “Storm Emma and a succession of other events resulted in the shoreline retreating by more than 20m along some sections of the Burrow,” the document says. Given rising sea levels, “retreat of the coastline along the Burrow could result in between 17 and 243 buildings being lost to erosion over the next 50 years”, the document says. At about 5.15pm on Monday, the only figures on the beach were Ciarán Ó hAoláin, his partner, and their coat-wearing dog. They had driven over for the walk, they said. Ó hAoláin and his partner had looked at buying a home in Portrane. He pointed to a house just up the beach, a yellow house with a slanted roof – that one. "You could see. It was a gorgeous view out the window. And everything like that. But it was very risky,” he said. “Risky to think about buying something like that,” he said. "We were trying to figure out if we bought the house, how long it would be before it was underwater." It may have been okay for 20 years, but the road was set to disappear sooner even, he said, and the chance of a mortgage was slim and insurance non-existent. They decided to move to Donabate instead, he said, as they continued walking up the empty shore. ## Beyond seabees A row of concrete “seabees”, big pieces of concrete infrastructure that look like enormous hexagonal nuts, protect the beach at the moment. But in December, big storms meant the council had to relocate some seabees that had been there since 2018, said Halpenny, at the council meeting. “To add additional protection for the most vulnerable section of the coastline that was at risk from collapse there,” he said. “That was a sort of stop-gap situation,” he said. Council officials met with the Office of Public Works and the Department of Housing and agreed what emergency works should take place, and got funding approved for that rock revetment. They have a contractor lined up, he said. But these are a further stop-gap, Halpenny said, in anticipation of the longer-term project which they have applied for permission from An Coimisiún Pleanála. The longer-term plan is for the seven fishtail, or Y-shape groynes and a beach renourishment scheme. The groynes expand out into the sea and break the wave energy while trapping sand. The beach renourishment will involve transporting dredged material and pumping it ashore, into each of the cells created by the groynes. The longer-term works also include building a 190-metre embankment at the end of Burrow Road, among other measures. At the meeting last Thursday, Halpenny indicated the current path forward isn’t the only solution, but rather the best path forward available to them. “We're having to intervene interim to the longer term solution because of the urgency of the situation,” Halpenny said. “Nationally, it's very limited what options are available on a policy basis, and that's something we hope would be addressed at national level through legislation.” ## Trying to hold it back “I've often questioned how the whole beach was treated,” said Bríd Moynihan on Monday. She and her husband, Michael Moynihan own the Brook Pub on the shore of Portrane. They sat at a table on the side of the pub beside stacks of wooden stools. The couple is invested in the shoreline. Michael Moynihan’s dad bought the pub in 1959\. Now, they also have an ice cream parlour next door, and an Italian restaurant too. They said they’ve been involved in trying to protect the shoreline effectively for decades. “We filled sandbags trying to protect the neighbours houses all through the years, we did. We did everything. Contacted local politicians, councillors,” said Bríd Moynihan. In general, the couple both said: the erosion has noticeably sped up in the last decade. And the community has been calling for a governmental response. But “It’s been torturously slow,” said Moynihan. They brought up videos on their phones from the last storm of waves pounding on the shoreline metres away from where they sit, and more videos of council staff rapidly throwing down sandbags, and making a channel for water to flow back down to the sea. They welcome both the emergency measures and long-term plans, they said. Residents have spent thousands and thousands themselves, investing in sandbags, fences and heavy rocks, said Des McGuinness, whose home is under threat. McGuinness said he’s seeing the shore reach his neighbours too. “It's been in my neighbour’s garden. That's never – it's never been in, kind of before, really.” ## Needing a national policy There is no national policy on coastal erosion and that’s a problem, says Labour Party Councillor Corina Johnston. There’s no mechanism for how to respond when a home is lost to erosion, she says. “If their house falls into the sea, there’s no compensation package.” Policy options could be wider, says Iris Möller, professor of geography at Trinity College Dublin. Managed retreat could be an option, she said. Moving residents away from the coastline by planning and paying for relocation. That’s something other coastal and climate researchers have said there needs to be a conversation around, too. [Sea level in Dublin Bay is definitely rising fast, confirms Irish Research - Dublin InquirerMany people may react to talk of millimetres per year by thinking they’re small numbers. But “it’s a real transformation in terms of how frequently you get flooded”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-677.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5532-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/sea-level-in-dublin-bay-is-definitely-rising-fast-confirms-irish-research/) Möller says that this needs to be done in a positive way. "We tend to look at this through a very negative lens, along the lines of giving up and giving in,” she said. But if the community moved inland had access to a much more naturally beautiful coastal area that not only offers much nicer space for recreation, but also stores carbon, you know, does lots for biodiversity, she said. "It's just finding a positive way of achieving that with the community and involving the community in the design of whatever will be the alternative for them to live in, and that is the mechanism that we don't have at the moment," she said. These changes would all, of course, take planning and funding, she said. The council’s planning documents note that there are other approaches to the ones it is taking – such as doing nothing, managed realignment, or yes, managed retreat. But it has opted for “hold the line”, it says. Given the social impact, and the lack of national policy too, it says. The idea of relocating doesn’t appeal, said McGuinness, who lives by the shore. There’s just a short field between his home and the shore during storms, he says. The water was once ages out and now he feels it on his doorstep but he’s not interested in moving house, he says. “I'll be there until the water's coming in my door,” he says. “I don't think that far ahead. Because I can't. I just, I'm kind of, I'm kind of in denial. To be honest with you,” McGuiness said. “Now, if I win the lottery, I’ll sort the whole beach out … that's what keeps me going.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Trained teachers shut out of jobs because of where adverts are posted URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/trained-teachers-of-in-demand-subjects-shut-out-of-jobs-because-of-where-adverts-are-posted/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T06:36:12.000Z Even before she enrolled in an education course in Ireland, Navjot Arora was a teacher in India, she said, recently. “For me it’s like, when you teach, you learn something from younger people, right?” said Arora, sitting at a city centre café. After finishing a master’s course at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), she got a job teaching at a post-primary school in Dublin. She’s working on her temporary graduate scheme immigration stamp 1G at the moment. Her subjects are math and physics, she said. Math is among subjects that a [government survey](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27898307-survey-of-unmet-demand-school-year-2023-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2023–2024 – the most recent period for which data is available – said there’s a shortage of qualified people to teach. “Mathematics had the most posts filled by out of field teachers,” it said. The survey, which got responses from 602 post-primary schools, found 135 posts filled by out-of-field teachers and another 53 vacant. But when Arora – whose 1G stamp is set to expire in December – applied for a work permit to switch permissions and keep working, the Department of Employment rejected her application. The reason? Her role wasn’t advertised on one of the specific places the department requires as part of its [Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27898322-labour-market-needs-test-dete/?ref=dublininquirer.com) condition for would-be holders of [general employment permits](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27898323-general-employment-permit-deted/?ref=dublininquirer.com). To fulfil the LMNT condition, employers must run an ad for the role offered to an immigrant from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) on JobsIreland or European Employment Services (EURES) and “an additional second online platform” of their choice, for at least 28 days. That’s to make sure citizens of Ireland, the United Kingdom and EEA countries get first dibs on job openings, said a Department of Employment spokesperson. The rejection email to Arora said, “If the post was only advertised on [educationposts.ie](http://educationposts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), this is not sufficient.” Where the job is advertised is out of Arora’s control, she said. Teaching job ads are normally placed on education-focused portals and not elsewhere, she said. At her school, “they have obligations to advertise on educationposts.ie”, Arora said. Arjun Desai, a qualified secondary school teacher – who currently teaches computer science – said he’s in the exact same boat. “Because of a bureaucratic shortfall I have no control over.” A spokesperson for the Department of Employment said it is not aware of “any regulation, or legislation which prohibit the advertising of roles in the education sector, or any other sector” on JobsIreland or EURES. A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Youth said recruitment decisions are made by individual schools, subject to conditions set out in [“Section 24(3) of the Education Act 1988”](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1998/act/51/section/24/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) as amended. That segment of the law doesn’t impose any restriction on advertising. ## We can fix it Arora said that her school – whose staff have been sympathetic to her struggles – has to follow policies set by the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS). A spokesperson for ACCS has not yet addressed a query sent on Friday evening asking whether it is responsible for deciding where its member schools advertise teaching roles. A spokesperson for the Teaching Council said it doesn’t play a part in “employment of teachers or the advertisement of teaching roles”. Eoghan Kenny TD, Labour Party’s spokesperson on education, said he recently drafted parliamentary questions for the relevant departments, urging them to help clear this hurdle. “We currently have a shortage in teachers, and the Department of Education should be looking at a range of measures to increase applications and fill vacant roles,” he said. Conor Dowling, a Green Party councillor and its spokesperson on education, said the bureaucratic obstacle blocking non-EEA teachers from getting jobs in Irish schools is “a really frustrating example of the system working against itself”. The technicality of where a job was advertised makes shortage issues feel like policy failures, he said. Although a spokesperson for the Department of Education said that yes, there are shortages of teachers in some sectors and places, but overall, the “number of unfilled teaching posts remains low with over 98% of teaching posts filled”. The solution to the bureaucratic hurdle stopping non-EEA teachers from filling some of the vacant posts is pretty straightforward, said Dowling: update the LMNT to factor in the education sector’s policy for advertising jobs. But the spokesperson for the Department of Employment said it doesn’t have a plan to loosen LMNT rules further for specific jobs at the moment. Lawyers [have said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-bill-would-make-few-changes-to-topsy-turvy-aspects-of-system-for-immigrant-work-permits/) in the past that LMNT is mostly a box-ticking exercise, as employers have already searched for a suitable candidate before offering the job to a non-EEA immigrant and agreeing to sponsor a work permit. They don’t have to submit proof of how they landed on their decision to hire a non-EEA immigrant over an Irish, British, or an EEA worker as part of this second round of advertisements. Just offering proof of advertising the job in places that the department wants is enough. And the LMNT is not the only way the government safeguards jobs for Irish and European workers. Its [“50:50 rule”](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27898323-general-employment-permit-deted/?ref=dublininquirer.com) stops most employers from sponsoring new work permits if non-EEA workers make up half of their workforce. ## I thought it would be easier Carrying out the LMNT isn’t a work-permit application requirement if a job has been classified as a “critical skills” role [in a list](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27898331-critical-skills-occupations-list-dete/?ref=dublininquirer.com) compiled and updated by the Department of Employment. In the “ Teaching and Educational Professionals” section of the list, though, only third-level lecturers are mentioned. Academics with PhDs awarded two years before applying for work permits – who also have at least one year of experience – are eligible for critical skill permits, the list suggests. Those granted a critical skills work permit have a shorter path to Stamp 4, a coveted immigration stamp that offers permanency and entitlement to social safety nets. Industry leaders can lobby the Department of Employment to consider adding a job to the list if they struggle to fill it with skilled workers. The spokesperson for the Department of Education said it does liaise with the Department of Employment on issues related to its work permit scheme. Desai, the qualified secondary school teacher in Dublin, said he’s been living here for eight years already, and that makes the bureaucratic quirk that shuts him out of the work permit scheme harder to process. In all his years here, he’s been “committed to teaching, and contributing meaningfully to the community”, said Desai. Arora said that as a woman, it is important to her to have an independent immigration stamp, one that’s not tied to marriage or a romantic partner – which allows holders to work without work permits – but the system doesn’t empower her to pursue that option. “There are many teachers on spouse stamps, but for us who aren’t married, it’s a struggle,” she said. She moved here for a fresh start after a divorce, said Arora, hoping to find salve for life’s unpleasantness in a new place. But the immigration struggles keep her up at night, she said. “Because of stress.” If nothing changes, Arora said, she plans to enroll in a PhD course, then later apply for a critical skills permit to become a university lecturer. That means saying goodbye to her younger students, she said, which is not easy. But “I can’t think about my future in the school”, Arora said. ### Looking ahead, Dublin City Council starts to map where the next decade’s housing should go URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/looking-ahead-dublin-city-council-has-been-mapping-where-the-next-decades-housing-should-go/ Last updated: 2026-03-26T18:23:59.000Z Dublin City Council has been assessing more than 120 sites in the city as it plots out how to extend and expand its current pipeline of public housing, a council official said on Tuesday. Of those sites, 95 of them – covering 60 hectares – are council-owned, said Fiona Craven, a council official who works on housing. She showed councillors on the housing committee an interactive and layered map that she and colleagues are working on, as they whittle down which sites to prioritise when, in the years to come. It shows land being assessed by the council, sites in development, and whether they are state-owned or not – as well as existing social-housing complexes. Councillors on the committee said that they welcomed the proactive work and the planning. One outstanding question though is whether the land-mapping and assessment exercise will also help in the long search for suitable land for Traveller-specific accommodation in the city. Council officials said five years ago that there was an urgent need to build more, and that the only barrier was finding the land. In February 2021, councillors held a special meeting focused on the lack of progress in building new Traveller-specific accommodation in the city. Finding land was the only barrier to constructing more, [said then](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-meet-to-see-how-to-do-better-on-traveller-housing/) head of housing Brendan Kenny at the time. “We need to look at more radical ways of dealing with that and we are up for that,” he told councillors. “We need to do more.” But when the national Office of the Planning Regulator asked the council to designate specific sites for Traveller accommodation in its development plan for 2022 to 2028, the council’s chief executive at the time, Owen Keegan, [batted aside that request](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-refuses-to-map-sites-for-traveller-homes-in-city-development-plan/). If the council allocated sites, it would restrict where Traveller homes could be built, said Keegan’s response. And not much has happened on building more Traveller housing on fresh sites since then, said Shay L’Estrange, coordinator of the Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project. L’Estrange hasn’t heard of any specific sites being suggested for new Traveller housing, he said Tuesday. “They haven’t come back with any more since.” On Thursday, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that feasible sites "could include any mixture of new homes including social, affordable, elderly and traveller accommodation". ## The full picture Dublin City Council currently has about 17,200 social and affordable homes at various stages of development on lands across the city. But that pipeline peters out towards the end of this decade, according to the figures Craven presented to members of the council’s housing committee on Tuesday. The council expected to finish about 3,500 homes this year, 4,100 next year, and 2,600 in 2028 – and then the numbers fall off significantly. “From 2029 onwards, the project completions drop off,” Craven said. So the council needs to get more projects started, she said. Mapping and land assessment is a way to get the most out of council lands, she said. The mapping shows what sites the council already has. But also, the council plans to buy new sites on which homes can be delivered in the next five years, she said – and potentially sell off sites it doesn’t need. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Screenshot-of-mapping-project-for-inset.png) Council staff have looked at all sites in the council area, she said: council-owned, state-owned, and private. “Basically, we’ve just looked at every area around the city,” Craven said. At the moment, the 120 sites – covering 101 hectares – that are under assessment have the potential for more than 5,000 homes, she said. Council staff looked at those 120 sites at a high level, she said. “We did a kind of high-level assessment, looking at the requirement of the site, the typography of the site, the viability of the site for development.” Of those, 17 sites have been assessed as not suitable for development, she said. They may be small, at a junction, overlap with planned transport infrastructure, or be green spaces for example. All the remaining sites have all been given a score, she said. The council has judged 27 “high-priority”, and plans to do detailed feasibility assessments on them first, she said. “When these are complete, we’ll move onto the medium priority.” “There’s a lot of, kind of, assumptions made about sites that we want to kind of challenge and address,” she said, “and make sure all the facts and the barriers to development on a site are fully assessed.” So far, they have started on feasibility studies for 13 sites, she said, with potential for 2,300 homes. “That we can add to the housing supply programme.” “Those figures look really good,” said Cieran Perry, an independent councillor, at the meeting. Particularly, that only 17 of the 120 sites assessed look not to be viable for development at this stage, he said. On Tuesday afternoon, L’Estrange, of Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project, said he remembers when the council’s then-head of Traveller accommodation, Patrick Teehan, gave a presentation in July 2021 on the council’s search for new lands for Traveller homes. It was months after the February all-hands meeting, to spur action on Traveller housing. But the presentation that came before the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee was basically a list of sites that the council had looked at and deemed inappropriate, he said. The reasons varied: because they were sports fields, or near the M50, or by noisy railway lines, the [presentation said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27902644-ltacc-presentation-on-sites/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Buying sites Most of the sites that the council is looking at are ones it owns, said Craven, at the housing committee meeting Tuesday. But it also expects to make up to 10 applications to the Housing Agency for funding to buy sites, [under the](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/securing-land-for-social-housing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Land Acquisition Fund, she said. The council has approval from the Housing Agency to buy one site already, Craven said. That’s a piece of land at Rivermount Cottages at Ballyboggan Road, which is next to a council plot. “So that’s good news, and some progress there.” Perry, the independent councillor, said he really welcomed private lands being bought for development. “To what extent can we continue to use that fund?” said Pat Dunne, another independent councillor, of the Land Acquisition Fund. Does it cost the council? Dunne asked. It doesn’t, Craven said. The Housing Agency is keen to work with the council on it, she said, and the process is efficient and the costs are all covered for the council. ## Selling sites Craven said the council’s mapping exercise has also shown where it may be better to sell sites that are difficult to develop. Money from any sales of such sites would pay for aspects of housing development that aren’t covered by council funding, she said. Perry said that he wasn’t necessarily against selling sites, but was cautious about it – given what had happened with some in the past, he said. During past council terms, the sale of council lands – in particular leveraging their value by setting aside bits for market-rate homes to help fund amenities or the public homes – has been a point of considerable friction. After the 2019 local elections, the coalition of parties that got together to run the council produced a paper they called the “[Dublin Agreement](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-closer-look-at-how-dublin-city-councillors-plan-to-turn-promises-into-progress/)”, a kind of council version of a programme for government. In that document, councillors [said they would](https://www.dublininquirer.com/housing-briefs-affordable-housing-o-devaney-gardens-and-more/) “reject any selling off of publicly owned land to private developers within the city boundaries” unless there was a clear benefit to the council that outweighed what would be foregone. At the committee meeting on Tuesday, Craven said the council does plan to publish its map of sites in development – the land where homes are planned or being built already – once all that data is accurate. But it probably won’t publish which sites are being assessed for development, she said. Council officials plan to draw up a high-level report in April that goes into greater detail on the scorings for priority, and the first feasibility studies, she said. Craven said the council welcomes input from the public and the committee on sites that should be assessed. *\[UPDATE: This article was updated at 9.26am on 26 March to include a response from Dublin City Council to queries about the potential of sites for Traveller housing.\]* ### Works planned to upgrade Grand Canal Harbour, council report says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/works-planned-to-upgrade-grand-canal-harbour-council-report-says/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T01:34:02.000Z The torrential downpour on Tuesday afternoon had sent everybody indoors, save for one unfortunate woman who sprinted down the plaza at Grand Canal Quaywith two large pink balloons in the shape of the number 40. The pedestrian walkway from Pearse Street to the Grand Canal Square was strewn with litter, and debris from construction work on Gallery Quay, the apartment complex that looked out onto the canal’s basin and graving docks. A pile of unassembled metal scaffolding poles were lying in an orderly pile in the middle of the walkway surrounded by fencing. The area is in need of a lot of maintenance, with the streets around the square in a dire condition, says Michael Ingle of the Grand Canal Residents Association. “At Forbes Street, there are holes in the road, and they’ve been there for ages.” Upgrades are scheduled on the square over the next nine months, [according to a council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904209-replies-without-details-mar-2026/?q=il+valentino&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p27) provided to local councillors at the South East Area Committee on 9 March. Those include continued lighting upgrades, mending pavements, fixing drainage issues, and bulking up security in the area, the report says. The works are scheduled to be carried out by Apleona, a property agent that manages the public realm on behalf of its owner, the council-owned Grand Canal Harbour Designated Activity Company. The major works were highlighted following consultation with the council and local “stakeholders”, the report says. But the news caught Ingle off guard, he said on Tuesday evening. While the Grand Canal Residents Association regularly engages with the property agent managing the area, they weren’t consulted on this, he says. “Who are these stakeholders that they are referring to?” ## Square stakeholders The outline of the planned public-realm works in the area by the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, was prompted by [queries](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904209-replies-without-details-mar-2026/?q=il+valentino&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p27) from Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne and Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne. The latter Byrne had included in his question a letter to the council from an unnamed resident, writing that the square had noticeably deteriorated. “The paving is in poor condition,” they said, “and many repairs appear patchwork in nature, resulting in uneven surfaces that detract from both safety and visual quality.” A lot of road markings are fading too, Ingle of the Grand Canal Residents Association says. “And we’ve been pleading to please do something about this, but nothing gets done because it’s not normal Dublin City Council.” The streets and squares in this part of town are managed by Apleona Real Estate, a property management agent, on behalf of Grand Canal Harbour Management Company Designated Activity Company (DAC), according to the chief executive’s report submitted at the March area committee meeting. The DAC was a subsidiary of Dublin Docklands Development Authority until the central government wound that authority up in May 2012, and transferred all of its functions to Dublin City Council, according to the company’s [financial statement for 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904086-grand-canal-harbour-management-company-designated-activity-company-financial-statement-23-03-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). According to the chief executive’s report to the March area committee, ongoing maintenance is required within the estate because it is roughly 26 years old. Apleona is set to continue to switch in new lights after an initial phase of light upgrades was carried out in 2023, the report says. It’s being done bit by bit, as the total works are estimated to cost €3 million. Meanwhile, maintenance has been ongoing to fix trip hazards in the paving, while larger areas need to be replaced, and the area around the square and Chimney View are being looked at first, the report says. The paving improvements are also scheduled to occur in the third quarter of the year, after a contractor is appointed, the report says. Drainage works were carried out in the square last year due to significant water pooling and water ingress to properties in the area, the report says. But, after a review, more drainage issues were identified, with works scheduled to commence in the second quarter of the year, it adds. Finally, the report says the company intends to appoint more security services within the area, with these being mobilised in the second half of the year, subject to appointment. Ingle said this is all news to him. Grand Canal stakeholders are contracted to contribute an annual service charge fee for the operation of the management company, Apleona, which includes financial operations and maintenance of common areas, [Shakespeare’s report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27904209-replies-without-details-mar-2026/?q=il+valentino&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p27). But it doesn’t specify who those stakeholders are, Ingle says. “Who are they referring to? I’m a stakeholder because I pay a fee every month for the privilege of living in that area.” Each building that falls within the remit of the Grand Canal Harbour Management Company has to pay a fee, he says. “So one would imagine that makes my building a stakeholder. But we haven’t been engaged.” ## The kids are already shaving On the other end of Hanover Quay, the council is also set to deliver on its almost decade-long plan for a park on Benson Street. It’s the “imaginary park” behind some colourful hoardings, Ingle says. “They designed that before my children were born. Now my children are nearly shaving and we still don’t have a park.” Councillors approved a Part 8 planning application for the proposed open space at Benson Street, known otherwise as Chocolate Park, [in July 2016](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/114264?ref=dublininquirer.com). Although the council is supposed to deliver the park, they didn’t own the site, and its handover from the developer was delayed by legal issues relating to that transfer. [In the Docklands, the site where the council plans to build Chocolate Park is still just a fenced-off vacant lot - Dublin Inquirer“If you put up a goal post kids could use it. Or just open it and people would sit there at lunch,” says Phil Bustard, who works in the area.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-676.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/the-chocolate-park-site-on-friday-2--photo-by-sam-tranum.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-docklands-the-site-where-the-council-plans-to-build-chocolate-park-is-still-just-a-fenced-off-vacant-lot/) On[ 12 January](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=51163&ref=dublininquirer.com), councillors on the South East Area Committee were informed that the legal transfer of ownership to the council of Benson Park was expected to be completed that month, according to a report by Shelly O’Riordan, the council’s Docklands manager All of the issues regarding the transfer had been resolved, she said. “The closing transfer documents are at present with the transferor for execution.” [The following month](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/mgAi.aspx?ID=39136&ref=dublininquirer.com), when Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne requested an update on Chocolate Park from the Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare at the 9 February area committee meeting, the timeline had changed slightly. The council anticipated that the legal issues around the ownership of lands would be resolved during the second quarter of 2026, the report says. According to the report, the 2016 Part 8 planning approval will also require a reassessment and an agreement with the neighbouring building owners and management companies of the Butler’s Court and Benson Street complexes because the proposed park is to be constructed above their car parks. But, once an agreement is reached, the council will proceed to procure a design team to prepare the contractor tender documentation, with a more detailed timeframe being available before the middle of the year, the report says. The council is fully committed to ensure its delivery in the capital programme for 2025 to 2027,the report says. ### In Portobello, the Bollywood Bar offers karaoke and cricket URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-portobello-the-bollywood-bar-offers-karaoke-and-cricket/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T01:33:39.000Z Shiv Singh came into the beer garden at the Bollywood Bar on Sunday, lit a cigarette and started watching music videos on the wide-screen TV. He had cued up a couple songs, he said. This one is “Chaar Botal Vodka”, he said. The beer garden is sheltered, the walls are covered floor to ceiling with green plastic ferns and other plants. Small waterfalls flow on either end, which owner Shashi Reddy said reminds him of his home in Hyderabad. The flatscreen TV currently playing Bollywood music videos often plays cricket games. There’s Guinness barrels for tables. The bar is on Richmond Street, and Singh said he lives around the corner, in Portobello. He noticed it when it opened back in mid-January, he said. But it’s his first time coming in. He chose a Sunday assuming it wouldn’t be too busy. "I’m that person who enjoys my own vibes. But, yeah, I need the Desi music all the time,” he said. “I tried all the Bollywood parties. You know, in the end, I was just missing the *bar*,” Singh said. “So I really appreciate their initiative." ## Cocktails, cricket, karaoke Reddy, the owner, said he’s also owned grocery stores and [restaurants](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-parnell-street-a-restaurant-specialises-in-indian-breakfasts/) in Dublin. But he’d been wanting to get into the entertainment business too. He wanted to create a space like he had as a student, where people don’t just eat and leave but stick around, he said. “If you go to restaurants … you won’t spend more than 30 minutes … 90 minutes max,” he said. He also wanted somewhere with food, not just pints, he said. He wanted the mix he knew from home. “When I was in college life, we used to have this. Like, 25 years ago when I was in India. We used to go for all these kind of events and hang-out places. This was in my life,” he said. He said watching a cricket game easily takes a few hours, and that’s what he wants – for people to stick around that long. It took a long time to actually open the place he envisioned, Reddy said. He had a lot of ideas, and Ireland — “everything takes time here”, he said. The Bollywood Bar he has created is a lot of things, a cocktail bar, a restaurant, a karaoke space. And yes, a place to watch cricket— including the Indian Premier League, which Reddycalled “kind of Indian religion”. There’s DJ nights, comedy open-mic nights, musical performances. And they have more plans: board games, and movie nights, Reddy said. ## Comedy Bollywood Bar’s invitation to stay and hang out already means the staff are making adjustments to figure in its success on weekends. Ali Muhammad, the operational manager of Bollywood Bar, said it’s already so busy on Fridays and Saturdays that people queue up for the beer garden, where they can smoke shisha and watch cricket. So they’re restricting people to 45 minutes per table for shisha in the beer garden, Muhammad said. They’re working on filling up on other days of the week, getting people to the comedy nights, for example. Dhruv Gandhi, who runs Indian Comedy Club, hosts events at Bollywood Bar on Thursdays. He said anyone can take the mic, and people can perform in any language. "When I started comedy, my English was shit. I was afraid to go on stage because English is not my first language,” Gandhi said. "People knew me as, ‘This person keeps trying. He's not funny yet, but one day, probably.’" Gandhi wants other people to get the chance to get experience on stage, speak to an audience, joke around with them. “Once you are comfortable, you can go and explore other comedy clubs where you can do it in English." Already it’s been a cultural fusion, said Muhammad, the operational manager. "We recently did a Bollywood and Irish music night there together where we were playing combined songs there. And we got a great response here," he said. ## Something familiar Part of what’s driving Bollywood Bar, both Reddy and Gandhi said, is a shift in who is in Dublin, and in what they want. Gandhi said the number of Indian students in Dublin has increased. Reddy said some cohorts in the IT industry shifted to Ireland after Brexit, and many of the workers are Indian, and that’s an audience he is aiming for. Reddy said the idea was to make something fresh, a place for Indians in Dublin to go out the way they’d go out at home. He said people can be stressed at work, or they can be stressed because they moved here and it takes time to settle into a new culture and country. “Everybody is coming to start new life,” he said. At Bollywood Bar they can find familiar food and music. “So they kind of, you know, they won't feel alone,” he said. “From south India or north India and everything … after coming to Ireland, everybody comes to one place,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### As campaigns gear up in central Dublin, how sound is the voter register? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-campaigns-gear-up-in-central-dublin-how-sound-is-the-voter-register/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:19:50.000Z When Ray McAdam, the Fine Gael councillor and Lord Mayor, moved from Stoneybatter out to Lucan, his vote didn’t move with him. He moved in October 2022, he said. During the local elections in June 2024, he was still registered to vote in Stoneybatter, shows the marked register. And, for that election, he did, voting in his constituency of the North Inner-City – where he was running as a candidate. He topped the poll [on the first count](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27781273-north-inner-city-results-sheet-post-patch-20-june-2024-checked-jl/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with 11.2 percent of first-preference votes, and was the first to cross the threshold to secure a seat. By law, voters are supposed to register to vote and cast that vote where they are “ordinarily resident”. But that phrase isn’t defined in electoral law. It is up to councils to determine how to deal with residency questions if they arise, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council has said. “At any time the Franchise Section have the authority to ask for supporting documentation.” McAdam said he just forgot to switch his vote over to his new neighbourhood, with the move and just life. “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even think about it.” He didn’t register to vote in Lucan as well – just in the North Inner-City. “I wasn’t registered to vote anywhere else,” he said. As campaigns for the Dublin Central bye-election sparked by the resignation of Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe are gearing up – McAdam [reportedly](https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2026/0221/1559623-byelections-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) is the favourite to be Fine Gael’s candidate – it isn’t difficult to find inaccurate entries on the area’s electoral register. For example, Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis and independent Councillor Malachy Steenson, who are both standing in the bye-election, are registered at addresses where they don’t live now – albeit both say they live elsewhere in the same constituency. Indeed, that the electoral register includes errors isn’t news. Last May, the Electoral Commission released [its first report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27781280-oversight-report-on-the-electoral-registers-online-english-tagged/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the accuracy of electoral registers across the country. They’re not in good shape, the report said. “The accuracy of the electoral registers is of significant concern,” it said. “An Coimisiún does not believe that any of the registers are of a sufficient level of accuracy.” The central government, and local councils, have been working since to improve the accuracy of registers – and roll-out a new system. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said the Department of Housing and Local Government has helped councils with funding for better data quality. The council got €125,000 for this last year. The council is also spearheading the roll-out of a shared national register, called the Local Government Electoral Registration System, which would help deal in particular with duplicate entries in different constituencies, they said. On the whole, councillors and candidates say they don’t have major concerns that errors in the register impact the results right now – but they say it’s something to keep an eye on. Their primary concern at the moment is low voter turnout, they say, and ensuring that any integrity measures don’t dampen engagement in elections. ## **How many voters?** As work on the register has gone on, the numbers registered in Dublin Central have fluctuated. There were 54,200 registered voters at the start of 2023, said a council spokesperson. That figure rose to 59,400 at the start of 2024, before dropping a little to just over 57,000 at the outset of this year. An accurate electoral register is one in which there are no false, duplicate or incorrect entries, where all data held for an entry are correct, and where each person is referred to only once, said the Electoral Commissions report. Dermot Lacey – who first became a Labour councillor back in 1993, and is one of the longest-serving elected representatives in the city – says he thinks register accuracy has improved in recent years. “It’s easier to register and all that,” he says. “And it’s easier to take people off.” Complications tend to stem from the dynamism of the city, he says. The fact that – in Dublin South East and Dublin Central in particular – people, particularly renters in apartments, move home a lot. “There’s an awful lot of Flat Land.” Daniel Ennis, the Social Democrats councillor for the North Inner-City, who is standing in the Dublin Central bye-election, is registered to vote at the family home where he used to live, the register shows. He still lives in that same constituency now, he says – nearby. But he just hasn’t updated his address. Meanwhile, independent Councillor Malachy Steenson, who also represents the North Inner-City, and is also standing in the bye-election, is registered to vote at an address in that constituency, which he co-owns. Steenson voted in the local elections in 2024 based on living at that address, shows the marked register. Last month, Steenson said he had lived there for a while and two other family members now live at that address. But he actually lives at another address that he owns nearby, he said, and which – as with all his properties – is listed on his declaration of interests. “It’s the same constituency. It’s a street away.” The third property he owns is a house in Co. Louth. But “that’s none of your business”, he said, when asked about that home. “I have a property in Louth, so? What’s the problem with that.” Green Party Councillor Janet Horner – who is also standing in the Dublin Central bye-election – meanwhile, is registered and voted at the address where she lives, the marked register shows. But there are three other names on the register for her address. One is a friend who lives with her, and the other two named people don’t live there, she said – and aren’t marked as voting in the last election. They just haven’t been cleaned from the register, she said. Presumably, they were previous tenants or owners, she said. Horner thinks, she says, that those former residents or owners have moved abroad – which is a bit tricky for the electoral roll administrators to catch, she says. Once there is a single national register, councils should be able to flag when somebody is registered to more than one address within the country, she says. She knows there are legacy issues, she says. “The idea that you’re getting ballots to your parents’ house, because it has never been updated.” But it’s reasonable for people to be only registered to one address, she says. “A singular register, that you can’t be registered in multiple places, is ideal.” However, in cases where people have moved abroad, the correct response is probably for new residents to send the polling information card back to the local authority, she says. “And that should be encouraged and supported to do.” She knows, she says, that if the council is considering removing somebody from the register, they go through a lengthy process. “If they haven’t voted for a certain number of elections at that address, then they’ll send out three letters to see who lives there,” she says. If nobody makes contact, they’ll remove them, she says. It is admin-heavy, she says, but keeping the register updated always has been. ## **How serious?** Horner says she is conscious that votes are tight in a bye-election and that it hypothetically would be easy to move votes to a constituency and move them back again, claiming the address of a friend. A scan of the register shows how frequently there are more people registered to an address than live in the home, she says. “But is it more serious than that? I don’t know.” “I think \[the council\] should be paying attention to how many votes are moving into a constituency ahead of a bye-election,” she says. McAdam, speaking ahead of the last general election in late November 2024, said he had just been told by council officials about the rush of registrations. “I would hazard a guess that an awful lot of those people would also be registered to vote elsewhere.” The register is a mess, he said. “I would argue that there is a wholesale opportunity for voter fraud.” Lacey, the Labour councillor, says those handling the register should give a bit of leeway for people who have recently moved. By law, people have to vote where they are “ordinarily resident”, but some might have a recent address that is reasonable, he says. “If somebody has moved house or is changing jobs, there should be a three- to six-month thing.” Lacey says there isn’t the double-voting of 50 years ago. “I don’t think impersonation is a big issue in Ireland.” After all, there haven’t been any recent allegations along the lines of “Pat O’Connor, Pat O’Connor”, he says O’Connor – who was Charlie Haughey’s election agent – was accused of voter impersonation in 1982, and [of voting twice](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Charles-J-Haughey.D.1957-03-20/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Membership%20history,and%20Fisheries%20%281965%20%2D%201966%29) in Haughey’s constituency of Dublin North-Central. The case against O’Connor collapsed in court. But his christening by *Magill* magazine stuck. After that episode, the law [was changed to](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1982-05-13/6/?ref=dublininquirer.com) make it a crime to seek two ballot papers for the same election, says Lacey, the Labour councillor. At the moment, local authorities outside of Dublin manage separate electoral registers for each area. The four Dublin local authorities, meanwhile, have a combined register. Dublin City Council is the lead in rolling out a national register – and has been working on that, a spokesperson said. A spokesperson said that the Local Government Electoral Registration System (LGERS) project plans to migrate the first local authorities – the four Dublin councils – to the new system after the Dublin Central bye-election. The remaining local authorities will be migrated in five waves over six months, they said. A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said that it is aware of positive work being done by councils, since it published its first report on the electoral registers. The LGERS project is an important step towards managing the electoral registers, they said. “When the migration to LGERS is complete, it will facilitate, among other things, the ability to cross check for duplicate entries across the electoral registers,” they said. “However, An Coimisiún does not believe that LGERS will in itself address the serious legacy issue, going back decades, of the accuracy of the electoral registers and further work needs to be carried out by local authorities ahead of the next cycle of elections in 2029,” said the spokesperson. ## **Tracking turnout** Ennis, the Social Democrats councillor and bye-election candidate, said he doesn’t really use the register when campaigning. His main concern with the register is the low rates of voter registration and turnout in the constituency, he says. Steenson, the independent councillor and candidate, said the same: “The main issue is that people don’t register.” One of the benefits of an accurate electoral register is being able to determine voter turnout to assess the health of a democracy, [says the](https://www.electoralcommission.ie/app/uploads/2025/04/Oversight-Report-on-the-Electoral-Registers%5Fonline%5Fenglish%5Ftagged.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) Electoral Commission’s oversight report from last May. “Without accurate electoral registers, it is not possible to estimate actual turnout for our electoral events. This is currently a significant problem associated with our electoral events,” the report says. Ennis says his assessment of low voter turnout is based less on the electoral register figures, and more on feedback on the doors, he says. The number of people who say they are disillusioned and can’t be bothered to vote, he says. Concern for disengagement is why Lacey, the Labour councillor, wouldn’t be in support of measures that could add further checks at the ballot box, but end up dampening voter turnout further, he says. “I don’t want to discourage people from voting,” he says. “I think the numbers are too low as it is.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said it continuously engages the public to get them to register, reaching out through social media, its website, events like the Rose Festival, Christmas markets – and during National Voter’s Registration Day. “We are intending to reach out to schools in the coming months to encourage 16+ to register to vote,” they said. Horner, the Green Party councillor and candidate, says she hasn’t yet used the register to steer her door-knocking either. “I go everywhere, because, I guess, certainly in the local elections, there were people who still had the opportunity to register even if they hadn’t,” she said. As the election gets closed, she may try to be more targeted towards households which are registered with the right to vote in general elections, she said. But she doesn’t find the register that useful around the North Inner-City, she says, because people move so often. “A lot of the time, you knock on the door, and the register might say there are no voters,” she says. “But they’ll say, ‘Oh, I just moved across.’ ” Lacey says there are some measures to ensure the accuracy of the register that he would support, such as linking entries to personal public service numbers to prevent duplicates. As of December 2024, 25 percent of registered voters in Dublin City [had a](https://www.electoralcommission.ie/app/uploads/2025/04/Oversight-Report-on-the-Electoral-Registers%5Fonline%5Fenglish%5Ftagged.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) Personal Public Service Number connected to their entry on the register – up from 6.4 percent at the end of December 2023. Lacey says that he wouldn’t be against increasing the penalties for voter fraud, he says, and for impersonation and double-voting. “I don’t have anything against that at all.” Both he and Horner say, though, that they wouldn’t want to see anything that would dampen the franchise – such as more ID checks on the day. People at the polling booth are diligent in their oversight and the voting experience should be welcoming, says Horner. “I do think, in general, the issue is more ensuring that the register is accurate.” ### Council outlines plans to get moving again on 2,000 homes stalled by central government u-turn URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-outlines-plans-to-get-moving-again-on-2-000-homes-stalled-by-central-government-u-turn/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:20:00.000Z On Wednesday, councillors saw the latest iteration of designs for 171 social, affordable, and older-people’s homes in the heart of Cherry Orchard. The proposals shown to the South Central Area Committee – which also include shop and community spaces and expanded childcare – haven’t really changed since they went out to public consultation. Councillors said they are, on the whole, happy with them. Next, they will be set before the full council for a final vote, as part of the council’s internal planning process. But, along with [about](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25970061-emergency-motions-june-with-repliesdocx/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 1,700 other public homes across the city, there’s been a question mark over how they would be funded and built. They had all been earmarked to be built under the government’s National Social Housing Public Private Partnership Programme. Last June, Housing Minister James Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, scrapped plans to deliver an upcoming bundle of social homes – known as Bundle 3 – that were to be built using the PPP model. The model was too expensive, Browne said.Proposed homes were to cost almost €1.2 million each, [although that](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-government-blocks-funding-for-major-social-housing-projects-coalition-councillors-point-fingers/) included maintenance and management for 25 years as well as the build. The department also paused future Bundles 4–7\. It would review whether or not the model was too costly too, it said. That review is over, said Gareth Rowan, a council senior executive officer, at the South Central Area Committee on Wednesday. The department wrote to councils in the past week and confirmed it is scrapping all of the PPP projects, as they’re not viable, he said. “They reviewed the construction and financial costs associated with the PPP model.” The Cherry Orchard project is to be delivered under a new faster process called the Dublin Home Building Programme, he said. Builders should be on site in the second quarter of next year, he said. “I think this presentation we’ve seen today has the potential to be a game-changer for Cherry Orchard,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithi Doolan. But he and others expressed frustration with the delays that had stemmed from the pursuit and reversal of the PPP model. “We questioned the whole model of the PPPs,” said Doolan. “It was complicated, it was cumbersome.” Darragh Moriarty, the Labour councillor, said he was deeply frustrated by any reannouncement of plans that were stopped when they were nearly shovel ready. “Is that an unfair reading of the situation?” “I can understand the chamber’s frustration,” said Rowan. “This is literally in the last week that the local authorities were directed by the department of moving back to local authority-led on local authority land.” There has been a loss of 12 to 14 months for sites with planning, he said. The council just followed national policy on PPPs, said Rowan, outlining the way forward from here. ## **In Cherry Orchard** At the meeting, Gavin Smyth, a lead architect for the scheme with Seán Harrington Architects, ran again through plans for the site in the heart of Cherry Orchard, opposite St Ultan’s School. Councillors asked questions on issues they have already raised. Independent Councillor Vincent Jackson asked about the proposal to daylight a culvert that flows through the open space. “I know people were not happy with it being left exposed.” It does look well, he said. “But obviously people are very worried with children and everything else like that.” Rowan said that members of the housing committee recently went to Oscar Traynor Woods, where Dublin City Council recently launched a batch of affordable homes. Residents spoke of how welcome the open culvert was there as a feature, he said. “We maybe need to present that better going forward,” he said, as an illustration of how it will look and feel in Cherry Orchard. “We will remain engaged with the community.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Site-plan-for-Cherry-Orchard.-From-Dublin-City-Council-planning-documents--1-.png) Site plan for the heart of Cherry Orchard. From Dublin City Council planning documents. The other point of debate has been how many shops and facilities, and what kinds, will move into the new town centre. The bog-standard shops don’t add to an area, he said. “I think in this instance we owe it to the people of Cherry Orchard to try and get it right. All too often we’ve gotten it very wrong over the years.” Wanting social enterprise was a big element of the feedback, said Rowan. “We are open to social enterprise from the ground up being a key component of the future in this building.” How premises are allocated is a reserved function, he said – meaning councillors, not council staff, get final sign-off on who gets to rent council buildings. Staff would hope to put forward appropriate user groups for the town centre buildings to councillors, said Rowan. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, said he was glad to hear the commitment to exploring social enterprise. “I’d be a strong advocate for that social enterprise to be some sort of model of food co-op,” he said. [In Cherry Orchard, a new alliance is working towards the goal of a cooperative grocery storeIt’s one of the initiatives being pursued by the Dublin 10 Food Alliance, in a push to help ease the acute food poverty in the area.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-660.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/The-site-of-the-proposed-village-centre-in-Cherry-Orchard-1--1--3.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-cherry-orchard-a-new-alliance-is-working-towards-the-goal-of-a-cooperative-grocery-store/) Food poverty in Cherry Orchard is five times the national average, he said. “If we have the potential to turn that around we should grab it with both hands and squeeze every ounce of potential out of it.” Ray Cunningham, of the Green Party, said it was disappointing to see the same amount of retail space as in early designs. The community has been clear that it needs more of that to function as a real town centre, he said. “So that is a disappointing element.” ## **The projects** Three Dublin City Council projects were in Bundle 3 of the Social Housing PPP Programme, which was scrapped. One is for 68 homes in East Wall, another for 93 homes in Ballymun, and a third for 83 homes on Collins Avenue. [Council Plans for Public-Private Partnership for Housing on Big Plot on East Wall Road - Dublin InquirerSome say that PPPs are slower, more costly and riskier than the normal procurement process, while others see them as an innovative model in the government’s toolbox to tackle the housing crisis.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-661.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-4916.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-for-public-private-partnership-for-housing-on-big-plot-on-east-wall-road/) Those will now be delivered under a [more straightforward](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-03-05/153/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “design and build” contract, as part of “Project Barrow”, with the help of the National Development Finance Agency, said Rowan, at the meeting. “This will be three sites from Bundle 3 going on site this year,” he said. They’ve another route planned for nine of the projects– those with planning in place or close to, for more than 1,200 homes – that were supposed to be built under bundles 4 to 7, he said. Those also include homes at the Church of the Annunciation (110) and Wellmount Road (77) in Finglas, as well as on Collins Avenue (106) in Whitehall. They also include the long-awaited homes at Croke Villas and Sackville Avenue in Ballybough (66), and on Stanley Street in Smithfield (167). And, homes on vacant sites in Ballymun (277), the regeneration of Basin View in the Liberties (171) and the nearby site at Forbes Lane (108) – as well as the Cherry Orchard project. For all these, the council is going to set up a new procurement vehicle, he said, called the Dublin Home Building Programme. Homes built on these sites will be handed over to the council when built, and managed by the council, he said. “We want to streamline Housing’s approach to procurement.” The plan is for a four-year procurement programme, to establish contractors to work with, he said. By the end of the year, they plan to award contacts for four sites that were supposed to be part of the PPP programme. Every six months after that, they’ll go back out to the market with more sites, he said. So, they won’t go out every time for each site to procurement, but more efficiently work under a procurement framework, he said. Officials will update councillors on the housing committee on this home-building programme in May, he said. ### Inmates still earn just 50 cents for a day’s work in Irish prisons URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/inmates-still-earn-just-50-cents-for-a-days-work-in-irish-prisons/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:20:09.000Z When Gerard Bowes was sent to Wheatfield Prison for four years on a drug charge, he had no financial support on the outside. That is to say, nobody to put money in his prison account to buy himself things like toiletries, tobacco or snacks from the prison “tuck shop”. “It’s bad enough on the outside not having a job. But when you get into prison and you’ve nothing, it’s brutal,” he said by phone on Wednesday. The last meal of the day, provided by the prison, is served at 4pm, he says. That leaves a long 16 hours until breakfast the next morning, he says. So, Bowes explains, prisoners rely on the tuck shop to fill the gap – and that requires funds in your account. To get those, they either need someone outside to send money. Or they need to earn it inside. The Irish Prison Service provides prisoners with different levels of “gratuity” payments, depending on their behaviour, engagement with services, and whether they work. All in, prisoner payments are subject to an overall limit of €21.28 weekly, assuming you are on the enhanced level for gratuity, and also work every day. Although rates were increased in 2024, the low levels mean families on the outside are put under financial strain, having to help out their incarcerated loved one, says Saoirse Brady, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). “Costs, even in prison, have continued to go up,” Brady said, for “basic items like shower supplies and food to supplement mealtimes from the tuck shop”. While prisoners will often want to work, as it beats sitting in their cell for most of the day, for Gerard Bowes, he says, there was no real choice in the matter – he needed the money or he’d be hungry. So, he eventually earned a job in the laundry room in Wheatfield Prison. ## **Granting “grats”** The Irish Prison Service provides prisoners with daily “gratuity” payments, with three different levels – basic, standard, and enhanced. Which level of “grats” depends on their “engagement with services and behaviour”, according to the Prison Service’s[ website](https://www.irishprisons.ie/about-us/care-and-rehabilitation/incentivised-regimes-policy/?ref=dublininquirer.com). After [a review](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2023-02-15/137/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=The%20daily%20amount%20of%20the,of%20the%20overall%20estimates%20process.), gratuities were in 2024 raised for the first time since 2012\. Basic went from €0.95 to €1, while standard rose from €1.70 to €1.80\. Enhanced was increased from €2.20 to €2.54 - per day. To be considered for Enhanced Regimes Level, at a minimum the prisoner must participate in a minimum of five “constructive activities” per week, a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said last week. These activities can include things like education programmes, metal or wood workshops, or staying consistent at the gym. They must also have spent a minimum of eight weeks at Standard Privilege Level, and be of “consistently exemplary behaviour”, the spokesperson says. Prisoners can earn more, on top of these gratuities, by working – for 50 cents per shift, up to a maximum of €3.50 per week. This is nowhere near enough to meet the requirements of the Council of Europe’s recommended prison rules. The Council of Europe is an international organisation that works to uphold human rights. Its Committee of Ministers, which brings together Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 46 member states – or their permanent representatives – in 2006 adopted a series of [recommendations](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27894866-rec20062-rev/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) on prison rules. “Prisoners shall be allowed to spend at least a part of their earnings on approved articles for their own use and to allocate a part of their earnings to their families,” one of the recommended rules says. “Prisoners may be encouraged to save part of their earnings, which shall be handed over to them on release or be used for other approved purposes,” another says. The idea of having enough funds left over to send out to your family is laughable, says Bowes, who was released from prison in 2022. He would spend hours a day washing, pressing and folding clothes and sheets for the rest of the prison – and earn 50 cents for the effort, he says. If the prisoners weren’t doing the necessary work to keep the prison ticking over, the Prison Service would have to hire staff in to do it, which would cost an awful lot more, says Bowes, the former prisoner. Brady, of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, agrees. “People in prison should be afforded a fair rate of pay for the work they carry out which is often essential to maintaining and operating the prison, including work in kitchens, laundry, industrial cleaning, grounds maintenance, painting, and stores,” she says. But in practice, their earnings aren’t enough to buy much at the tuck shop. When asked for a tuck shop price list, a spokesperson for the Prison Service said: “Prices between the contracted supplier and the Irish Prison Service are commercially sensitive information. “Items sold in prison tuck shops are sold at cost +5% (excluding tobacco products) with profits generated being used for prisoner hardship payments or other prisoner related initiatives.” The contracted supplier, BWG, has not yet responded to queries about tuck shop prices. But McVerry says a tobacco pouch in the tuck shop costs more than the maximum weekly earnings of €21.28. When someone is trying to keep themselves off of hard drugs, says Bowes, tobacco, or nicotine vapes, become important tools to stave off other cravings. “When you’re coming off all them drugs that were pumping through your body, sometimes a cigarette is all you have,” he says. Paula Kearney, through her work with the[ SAOL Project](https://www.saolproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), visits the women’s prison at Mountjoy, the Dóchas Centre, every week. She says the women there tell her a small disposable vape, that might last about a day, costs €11. ## **“Hunger as a punishment”** What happens is that hunger becomes an incentive that works in the prison’s favour, pushing people to work, even for meagre wages, says another former prisoner, who asked for his name not to be used as it may impact a potential work opportunity. “They’re basically using hunger as a punishment,” he says. This former prisoner worked a full-time job in the kitchen of Mountjoy Prison, he says. Kitchen crew are first out of their cells in the morning, he says, and will work until around 5.30pm. This, along with his involvement in the gym and other activities, eventually got him onto the enhanced level for gratuity – plus his extra 50 cents per work shift. “Otherwise, you will literally starve. The food they give you is just not enough,” he says. When the most vulnerable people arrive into prison, who have no outside support and are starting out on basic level gratuity, they become even more vulnerable, he says – and can quickly rack up debt in prison. This is very common, says Peter McVerry, a social justice advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith & Justice. According to the Irish Prison Service, upwards of 70 percent of prisoners in Ireland have a substance addiction. However, accessing treatment while incarcerated can be extremely difficult – last September there were[ over 900 people](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-900-people-are-on-waitlists-for-addiction-supports-in-irelands-prisons/) on wait lists for addiction supports in Irish prisons. [More than 900 people are on waitlists for addiction supports in Ireland’s prisonsThe longest queue is in Dublin’s Mountjoy, where more than 240 people languish on the waitlist for counselling for substance addiction.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-662.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Mountjoy-Prison.-Photo-by-Joseph-Glackin-1-1-3.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-900-people-are-on-waitlists-for-addiction-supports-in-irelands-prisons/) Often, says McVerry, the debt accrued in prison will be from buying drugs, but it can also be as simple as getting help to buy items in the tuck shop. All of a sudden, someone is told they have to store drugs or a phone in their cell, or collect a drugs package thrown into the prison grounds from outside, he says. If they’re caught, they are punished. This could mean isolation, losing a coveted job, and being pulled back down to the basic gratuity level. If stripped of a job, it can be hard to earn your way back to it, says Bowes. There’s only so many spots in services, only so many jobs – so there are waiting lists, said a spokesperson for the Prison Service. “Governors are encouraged to maximise the potential for prisoners to attend work, training and education through rotation of prisoners in conjunction with other activities,” they say. ## **Isolation, magnified** Women are more likely to be isolated in prison than men are, says Brady of the Irish Penal Reform Trust. She points to a report commissioned by the IPRT last year,[ Paying the Price: The Cost and Impact of Imprisonment on Families in Ireland](https://www.iprt.ie/site/assets/files/7711/paying%5Fthe%5Fprice%5F-%5Fthe%5Fcost%5Fand%5Fimpact%5Fof%5Fimprisonment%5Fon%5Ffamilies%5Fin%5Fireland%5F-%5Ffinal%5Fdigital.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). The report shows gender in play, she says. If a man is in prison, women on the outside will supplement his payments so he has what he needs in terms of clothes, runners and items from the tuck shop, Brady says. This is less likely to happen when it is a woman in prison, she says. “Women are more often the providers on the outside.” As there are only two women’s prisons in the country, she says, this also means women are more likely to be incarcerated far away from their homes – which means fewer visits too. Paula Kearney is a formerly incarcerated person herself. She says this was an obvious issue when she was in prison, over 15 years ago, but that it can be much worse for women in prison today. “When women go into prison, they're very much abandoned and isolated, and that's been that way forever,” says Kearney. When she was in prison, there wasn’t as much oversight on social welfare payments, she says. The reality was that a prisoner could have someone collect her benefit payment for her, send her a few euros in prison, and have the rest put aside for their children’s upkeep, she says. Now, social welfare payments are stopped immediately when someone goes to prison. “She made sure that if Easter was coming up, or Christmas, communions, confirmation, that there was something put aside for her kids, and she'd get a small bit of it,” Kearney says. It can be utterly heartbreaking for mothers, she says, when they can’t even afford to buy their children a bar of chocolate to give them as a treat when they do visit. “They were always the provider, they were always the carer, the nurturer,” she says. For the over-70 percent of prisoners who are living with addiction, Kearney says that, as well as nicotine products, they will crave sugary foods when they are trying to detox themselves. When they can’t afford it, it becomes a further hindrance to their recovery, she says. ## **Just a fairer amount** McVerry, the social justice advocate, doesn’t think the upping of the work payment, or gratuities even further, would garner much public or political support. “The government would never go for it,” he says. Still, he thinks it wholly necessary, he says. A lot of prisoners he speaks with, genuinely enjoy their work in prison, as they get to socialise with friends, he says. But they should be paid a fairer amount, he says. The current amount per work shift is grossly inadequate given the price rises over the 14 years since the rates were set, Brady of the IPRT says. “While it acknowledges effort, the payment is too small to properly incentivise work or provide meaningful preparation for reintegration,” she says. “IPRT would like to see these rates increased so that people in prison can meaningfully contribute to cover their own costs, to help support their families on the outside, and to prepare for life after prison when many are leaving without secure accommodation or a job to go to,” she says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Eight-year-old Cabra resident calls on council to provide a pump track in his local park URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/eight-year-old-cabra-resident-calls-on-council-to-provide-a-pump-track-in-his-local-park/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:20:17.000Z Oran Wood is calling on Dublin City Council to build a [pump track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x8h0PhM-lc&ref=dublininquirer.com) – a specially designed, curvy circuit with lots of small hills that can be traversed on a bike, skateboard, skates, or a scooter. “I got the idea when I went to my cousin's park in England, and they had a pump track in their park,” says Oran. It was a lot of fun, he says, and it was easy to go fast. “I like going on the bike, I just really liked it,” he said, by phone on Wednesday. “You don’t really pedal, you make a pumping movement with the front of your bike.” His mother, Deirdre O’Connor, says they visited two sets of relatives in the UK, and both had pump tracks in their local parks. “Oran was very taken with it, and when we came back, he was like, ‘Where is the pump track?’” she says. They searched for something similar in their area, Cabra, she says. No luck. The only pump tracks she could find were far away: in Firhouse and Dún Laoghaire. So Oran decided to write to the local councillors to see if there was any possibility of getting a track installed in his local Mount Bernard Park. “Pump tracks are very fun,” he wrote. “Pump tracks are good for exercise, and they encourage kids to be outside in the fresh air.” Independent Councillor Cieran Perry says that after he got Oran’s email, the first thing he did was to look up pump tracks to find out what they were. As soon as he saw the design he agreed with Oran’s vision for the small local park, he says. “Younger children are catered for with a playground in the park, and a Pump track would provide a much-needed facility for older children,” says Perry in a motion he brought to the Central Area Committee on Wednesday. Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll, who chairs the Central Area Committee, also asked the council area manager to explore installing a pump track. “Such an amenity would benefit older children who are not catered for in most playgrounds,” she said in a [formal council question.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27895359-with-reference-to-the-questions-to-the-area-managers/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## **What is a pump track?** Pump tracks can be made from a variety of materials: dirt, asphalt, concrete, fibre-glass, or even wood, says a blog on the [Parkitect website. ](https://www.parkitect.ch/blog/what-is-a-pumptrack?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Besides%20being%20an%20innovative%20play,%28see%20animation%20above%20for%20demonstration%29.) [Parkitect](https://www.parkitect.ch/?ref=dublininquirer.com) is a manufacturer of modular pump tracks and it says they are suitable for use, not just on bikes and skateboards, but also on scooters and roller blades. You don’t need to pedal a lot while using the track, says Oran. Instead, bikers use the small hills to build up speed by making a pumping motion with the front of the bike. O’Connor says the tracks are significantly different from a BMX track. She tried bringing Oran to the BMX track in St Anne’s Park, but the course was too challenging and not suitable for an eight-year-old, she says. “The pump tracks we visited in UK were much safer than a regular BMX track,” says O’Connor. She saw children aged as young as five or six enjoying the pump tracks, she says and they seemed safe. She also saw teens using them, she says. ## **Trending tracks** “A pump track would be easy to build and not easy to vandalise,” says Oran in his email to councillors. “I think if you agree to put a pump track in Mount Bernard Park, you would see a lot of visitors and happy children.” A few tracks have been built in the Dublin region in the last few years. In 2023, South Dublin County Council opened a pump track [in Firhouse](https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/dodder-valley-park-bmx-pump-track-launch.html?ref=dublininquirer.com), and in the same year, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council opened one [in Dún Laoghaire](https://www.dlrcoco.ie/news/general-news/message-cathaoirleach-denis-ocallaghan?ref=dublininquirer.com)[. ](https://x.com/dlrcc?ref=dublininquirer.com) South Dublin County Council also has a pump track in Jobstown. The council set aside €150,000 [in its capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27894853-capital-budget-2022-2024-book/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to pay for that track and also got a sports capital grant, according to the council’s website. A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said it has not tendered yet for a builder for another planned pump track at [Carrigmore Park in Fortunestown](https://consult.sdublincoco.ie/ga/consultation/proposed-upgrade-carrigmore-park-fortunestown-dublin-24.%20South%20Dublin%20County%20Council%20set%20aside?ref=dublininquirer.com). Insurance is not a major issue. “Insurance for these facilities are managed through our existing insurance policy,” said the spokesperson. Eoin Ó Broin, a Social Democrats councillor in South Dublin, says he has got requests from young people asking for more tracks. He is calling on the council to install a pump track as part of a development in Rathcoole, which includes housing and sports facilities. The council is considering that request, he says. Perry, the independent councillor, says to the best of his knowledge Dublin City Council doesn’t have any pump tracks yet. O’Connor said she couldn’t find any on the northside of the city. Councillors in the Central Area Committee on Wednesday unanimously agreed to Perry’s motion, which was seconded by independent Councillor Nial Ring. The council officials said in response to his motion that they will think about it. “Parks Services will consider this proposal for future inclusion in upcoming park improvement plans for the area,” it says. By phone on Wednesday, Perry said he will continue to push for the council to deliver a pump track at Mount Bernard Park. “I was down having a look at it and there is definitely room down there and it caters for an older age group than the playground,” says Perry. There is “absolutely a shortage of play equipment for older children,” he says. ### Cabra Intreo centre was closed with little planning, or evaluation of how it would impact its users URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cabra-intreo-centre-was-closed-with-little-planning-or-evaluation-of-how-it-would-impact-its-users/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:20:26.000Z When the Navan Road Intreo centre in Cabra closed in April 2022, residents of Dublin 7 were told the closure was temporary – a routine instance of scheduled maintenance intended to keep a public building fit for purpose. But, nearly four years later, the office has not reopened as an Intreo centre. Instead, An Garda Síochána is using it – and there appear to be no plans for that to change. Declan Meenagh, who lives in the area and is visually impaired, says that when he needed to renew his Public Services Card recently, he had to go to the Parnell Street Intreo centre instead. The distance from the old location in Cabra, to the Parnell Street centre, is more than 3 km: 15 minutes by car, 30 minutes by bus, or 43 minutes by foot, according to Google Maps. “It was quite difficult,” says Meenagh, a former Labour councillor. “I ended up having to get a colleague to show me just because I didn't know where it was.” Services like Intreo centres have in recent years been moved online, or consolidated into offices further away from people, Meenagh says. “It's just bad taking more vulnerable people and making their lives harder and it really is just wrong,” he says. A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said that “all customers, including those based in Dublin 7, can access services in-person through the Department’s extensive network ... or online”. But the centralisation of Intreo services can have immediate effects on people who need to go to them, says Rebecca Gorman, of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed. “People risk having their income cut by €90 if they miss mandatory appointments,” Gorman says. “Shutting down the local Intreo makes it much harder to attend these.” It also can decrease engagement with such services over the longer term, she says. “Local, person-facing services are needed for people to access support and advice,” she says. “These services are absolutely vital and shouldn't be shut down without justification and a plan of action for the communities affected.” Requests for documents from multiple public bodies under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that the building was handed over to An Garda Síochána, and the Intreo centre closed, without much planning. And these requests for documents failed to turn up documents to justify the decision, such as a value-for-money analysis, or an equality assessment. ## **The closure** At the time of the shutdown, assurances were given that the service would return once works were completed on the building, which is owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Yet there had been no final plan for the works on the building when the Intreo office was closed, the then Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, a Fine Gael TD, [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-07-12/617/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Given%20the%20significant%20increase%20in,and%20effective%20use%20of%20resources) in the Dáíl in July 2022, in response to a question from Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald. “Given the significant increase in construction and maintenance costs in recent months, including in building supplies, it was decided, before finalising the works contract, to review the future use of the building at Navan Road to ensure efficient and effective use of resources,” Humphreys said. Indeed, in response to a query from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) about the building’s future, an OPW official replied in a 30 September 2022 [email](https://drive.google.com/file/d/12TKkEFzjLL5mEen3Wc8IMYpC1xH3Y56-/view?usp=sharing&ref=dublininquirer.com) released under Freedom of Information. “As you are aware the Navan Rd building is currently unoccupied and the intention has been that it would be refurbished in the future,” the email said. Why did the DSP close the Intreo centre before it had nailed down the plans for the maintenance works? A spokesperson for the DSP did not respond directly. “The Department vacated the Navan Road office for scheduled maintenance work. Before the work commenced, the building at Navan Road was allocated by the Office of Public Works to An Garda Síochána,” the DSP spokesperson said. And an OPW spokesperson did not respond to queries regarding the decision to close the Intreo office without a signed works contract for the building. Still, despite this lack of concrete plans for the works on the building, in November 2022, the DSP [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24628169-dsp-navan-road-intreo-centre/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Meenagh, then a Dublin city councillor, saying that, “It had been expected that the Intreo Centre would re open when the works had been completed in late 2022/early 2023.” However, the OPW had then advised the DSP that “an urgent situation has arisen where there is a requirement to use the Navan Road Intreo Centre on a temporary basis to provide accommodation for critical units of An Garda Síochána (AGS)”. ## **Oops** The OPW had been building a new headquarters – to replace the previous HQ at Harcourt Square – on Military Road for the Gardaí. It was due to be completed toward the end of 2022 for an estimated €86.6 million, according to [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27894771-2021-05-27-report-on-the-public-accounts-committee-examination-of-the-2019-appropriation-account-for-vote-13-office-of-public-works-and-related-financial-matters-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. But Garda numbers had been growing and the building was already too small before it even opened. “Recent increases in Garda personnel, combined with changes to Garda operations, has resulted in other locations being required to house some of the units currently based in Harcourt Square,” the report found. Among these additional locations? The building on Navan Road where the Intreo centre had been housed, [according to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27894772-2023-06-06-correspondence-maurice-buckley-chairperson-office-of-public-works-r1871-pac33-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) OPW chair Maurice Buckley. An [email](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rVpTULFuK6gtdTDVQGtNHD0aed3Bj84G/view?ref=dublininquirer.com) from an OPW official to the DSP said that “the OPW is obliged to critically examine all demands and to prioritise property requests”. “Releasing the Navan Rd property for immediate use by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris for essential operation matters would represent optimum use of the property,” the email said. An internal email written by an OPW official on the Estate Management team in September 2022 said “the site is being given to the Gardaí”. “The Dept. informed Fórsa & the AHCPS \[Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants\] today that it will not be returning to the Navan Road Intreo office,” the email says. Works worth €116,547 (ex-VAT) were done on the Navan Road building, Buckley had told the Public Accounts Committee in a [written response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27894772-2023-06-06-correspondence-maurice-buckley-chairperson-office-of-public-works-r1871-pac33-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to questions. But its use as a Garda office was only supposed to be an “interim temporary” solution, Buckley told the PAC. And the DSP told Meenagh, then a Labour councillor for the area, the same thing in November 2022. “It is expected that AGS will require this accommodation until April next year \[2023\],” the DSP’s letter to Meenagh said. However, in March 2026, they’re still there. “The tenancy by AGS \[An Garda Síochána\] was only ever supposed to be temporary, but with the passing time that now looks less likely,” Labour TD Marie Sherlock, who represents the area, said recently. Asked last month when An Garda Síochána plans to leave the building, a spokesperson said: “An Garda Síochána continues to occupy and use the premises on the Navan Road.” ## **Value-for-money?** Capital projects involving a significant change in function are expected to undergo appraisal and value-for-money assessment, according to Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Guidelines. That’s to ensure that reallocations of public buildings are justified relative to alternative options, including reinstating community services. When asked about compliance with these guidelines, in the case of the Navan Road building’s change from an Intreo centre to a Garda office, a Department of Public Expenditure spokesperson directed queries to the Gardaí and DSP. In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of a planned review in 2022/2023 into the future use of the building, a DSP official said the department did not have the document. It was “overtaken by an urgent request from the OPW”, they said. In response to a request for any cost-benefit analysis completed since January 2024 comparing the cost of reopening the Navan Road site versus the cost of continuing to redirect people to Parnell Street or Blanchardstown Intreo centres, the DSP replied that, “No records of a cost benefit analysis of the Navan Road site are held by the department.” ## **Human impact** The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission does not comment on individual cases, an IHREC spokesperson said. But “Our guidance recommends a public body undertake an equality and human rights impact assessment before adopting a policy and making a decision which may have significant implications on equality and human rights”, the spokesperson said. In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, a DSP official said that “No formal Social Impact Assessments or Equality Impact Reports have been conducted regarding the relocation of Cabra-based customers to Parnell Street.” The department has no records of monthly data showing the number of Cabra-based customers being serviced at the Parnell Street Intreo centre, the official said. Nor does it have any records of assessing how the increased capacity at Parnell Street has impacted service delivery standards there, they said. . Asked about all this, a Department of Social Protection spokesperson did not directly address the absence of these reports. “The Department recognises its obligation to have due regard to human rights and equality issues ... in its Statement of Strategy (2023–2026) and its Public Sector Duty Assessment and Action Plan 2024–2025,” the spokesperson said. ## **Under-used?** Although the Gardaí say they’re using the building, local Sinn Féin Councillor Séamas McGrattan says it does not seem to be occupied – except by security guards and cleaners. “We're not getting value for money there,” McGrattan said. “It was taken away from the community which I think needs people back in as soon as possible.” “Maybe not as an Intreo office but there's plenty of uses it could be used for,” he said. “It's a huge asset that could be used by the community groups” ### Council continues to push hotel bed tax for Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-continues-to-push-hotel-bed-tax-for-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T00:01:20.000Z If Dublin City Council had a hotel bed tax of €2 per bed per night, then in the year up to November 2025, it would have raised an estimated €17.5 million, said a council official on Thursday. The council [has looked a little at](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27895009-report-03-2026-to-the-finance-spc-tourist-levy-by-ross-curley-senior-executive-officer-planning/?ref=dublininquirer.com) how other cities operate similar levies, said Ross Curley, head of economic development, to members of the council’s finance committee. Key issues to decide, if it were ever to happen in Dublin, would be whether it would be a flat rate tax or a percentage of the room cost, whether money raised would be ringfenced or deposited in the general pot. For years, Dublin councils and councillors have lobbied the central government to roll out legislation that would allow them to levy a hotel bed tax. In October 2024, the Dublin City Taskforce report [also recommended](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/capital-city-dublin-city-taskforce-report.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) a tourism tax. At Thursday’s meeting, Aidan Sweeney, a representative of business group Ibec, who sits on the committee, was a lone voice in speaking with scepticism about a tourist levy or bed tax. Figures in Curley’s presentation didn’t take into account charges such as commercial rates and VAT which are already levied on hotels, he said. “That has an inflationary effect on prices.” Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey, like other councillors, spoke in favour of the levy. The hospitality sector had benefited from VAT reductions, while ramping up prices at times of big concerts or matches, he said. “I have no sympathy, whatsoever, for the leading hoteliers in the country,” said Lacey. So, said Lacey, “What’s next? Where do we go? How do we advance it?” ## **Still at the drawing board** A tourist tax is basically a charge levied on visitors, said Curley. At the moment, 21 of the 27 European Union member states have these in some form to support infrastructure, environmental projects, and culture. “It’s the user-pays principle,” said Curley. Money raised may pay for goods and services and infrastructure, or to repair damage from the heavy use of an area, he said. It can be used to curb negative environmental effects of tourism, he said. The council’s research looked in part at the degree of transparency around how it is raised, and how it is spent. Edinburgh is rolling out its tax from July 2026\. It has opted to levy 5 percent of the cost of a room per night, for the first five nights. Porto opted to make it per person, rather than per room, charging €3 for each human of 13 years and older, each night. Manchester, meanwhile, has a flat rate of £1 per room per night. It raised £2.8m in the first year. Amsterdam – where the council has brought in a regulation to cap the number of overnight visitors each year – also has the highest rates in Europe, at 12.5 percent per room per night. It collects the levy annually, with nine employees in Amsterdam City Council, said Curley, adding a bit of context to the resourcing behind the levy. An example fee structure in Curley’s presentation is much more modest. The council could levy €5 per room per night for 5 star hotels, and €3 per night for 3 and 4 star hotels and Airbnbs, and €2 for 1 and 2 star hotels and hostels, it suggests. It triggered a bit of discussion on the pros of flat fees versus progressive percentage taxes. Flat fees are harder to dodge but aren’t really linked to prices in terms of inflation while a percentage is, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. “We charge a flat rate for something and then forget to change it for some time.” “It’s also a bit more progressive,” he said, of percentages. True, said Curley. But “a flat fee allows you to sort of plan”. Tourism operators have been the primary opponents of the introduction of a bed tax, said Curley, because of concerns that it could reduce visitor numbers. But that hasn’t really happened elsewhere, he said. ## **Still pushing** Last year, Dublin City Council’s budget was [€1.69 billion](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/). But most of that is already accounted for, and councillors have little discretion over how it’s spent. At the talk of hard cash, councillors and committee members began to list what it could be spent on – if, when, a levy were ever to be enabled by the central government. What could it be ringfenced for? asked Kourtney Kenny, a Sinn Féin councillor. She would want it to support communities, she said, mentioning how the council struggles to keep streets clean in high tourist areas. Susan Whelan, of the Greenfields Residents Association who sits on the committee through the Public Participation Network,, said that it could go towards supporting hotels to train staff in supporting those with disabilities. Or to back Irish language in the city, she said. Pidgeon said he thought it should just go into the general budget and councillors could decide each year how to spend it. They shouldn’t tie the budget of particular projects or services to how much they get through any tourism tax, he said. Nial Ring, an independent councillor, said he agrees with the concept of a levy, which is miniscule in light of what some hotels charge. But his main concern is that the central government would snare whatever they raised anyway, he said, cutting other grants by the same amount. That is what the central government [has done](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-councillors-call-for-radical-changes-to-the-local-property-tax/) with the local property tax. “My genuine worry would be we would never get a chance to decide what to do with it,” he said. Sweeney, of Ibec, said that any hotel bed tax isn’t the solution to gaps in local government financing. That’s something to be solved through wider debate about government finances, he said. Earlier this month, the [Local Democracy Taskforce](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/local-democracy-taskforce/?ref=dublininquirer.com) handed its report with recommendations for broader local government reform, including financing, to Minister of Housing and Local Government James Browne. That’s being considered, said a department statement, “and a plan to implement its recommendations will be developed and presented to Government for approval in the coming weeks”. ### Things To Do: Take a dive in Meeting House Square, go on an artistic walkabout, pick up an urban field guide, find poetry in plastic URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-take-a-dive-in-meeting-house-square-go-on-an-artistic-walkabout-pick-up-an-urban-field-guide-find-poetry-in-plastic/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:57:31.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **NCAD Research Exhibition and Programme 2026** Over in the National College of Art and Design gallery, the NCAD Research Exhibition and Programme 2026 is kicking off this afternoon. Promoting NCAD staff research projects, the exhibition will bring together a wide range of research-based artists including John Conway, Niall Cullen, Sarah Durcan, Catherine Harty, Ramon Kassam, Rónán Ó Raghallaigh, Rachel Tuffy and Fiona Whelan. Also on the bill are Aoife Ward and Eve Woods, otherwise known as [Con:Temporary Quarters](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aparthotel-art-gallery-that-replaced-the-tivoli-theatre-a-new-exhibition-critiques-hotels-pushing-out-dublin-8-cultural-spaces/), who will be re-exhibiting a piece from their self-titled show in the still incomplete Tivoli [exhibition space](https://www.dublininquirer.com/still-no-concrete-plans-for-filling-cultural-space-at-former-tivoli-theatre-site-just-a-proposal-for-a-steel-gate/) on Francis Street. The exhibition will open at 4pm today, Thursday 19 March, and will run until 17 April. Over the course of the month, the college will also be hosting a series of talks and events to tie in with the show, beginning today with the launch of *FIELD Guide - A Terrestrial Lexicon and Multispecies Index*. The guide looks at the 0.4 hectare site located beside the college, which has over the space of a decade been transformed from a derelict urban car park to a guerrilla-composted horticultural project, and more recently, “a semi-structured biodiverse haven for human and more-than-human interaction, creative research, and learning.” At the launch, the guide will be introduced by Dr. Marcus Collier, Associate Professor of Sustainability Science with the artists Gareth Kennedy and Seoidin O’Sullivan. Then, later in the week, on Tuesday 24 March at 1pm, Rory Hanrahan will be giving a talk on *AI Improvisations*, and on Wednesday 25 March at the same time, Jamie Murphy will be delivering a performance lecture titled *Contemplating Carbon: Type, Paper and Ink*. The programme will continue until 17 April. To see what else is on the docket, visit the NCAD website [here](https://www.ncad.ie/gallery-event/view/NCADResearchExhibitionProgramme2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). **A Theatre of Sediment and Strings** While the NCAD staff are exhibiting on campus, a few former students will be right around the corner, holding a group show of their own in Lucky’s on Meath Street this evening. Made up of eight recent NCAD graduates working across multiple mediums, the Kitchen Sink Collective made their debut last October with *Hearth*, a group show, which was held in Wexford town as part of the local arts festival. Now, they are staging their second exhibition, *A Theatre of Sediment and Strings* in Lucky’s pub. Promising “an evening at the theatre,” the show is set to comprise painting, photography and the written word. *A Theatre of Sediment and Strings* starts at 5pm today (19 March), and will run until 17 April. For more information, and to stay up to date with Kitchen Sink, follow them over on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DV0yGrTipQf/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Against the Waning Light** Until tomorrow night, the Meeting House Square in Temple Bar will be screening a new video work by artist Paul Murnaghan. Written and directed by Murnaghan, *Against the Waning Light* is his debut short film, and is described as taking “a less human-centric view of existence.” Shot using natural light, it follows the world champion freediver Nina McGowan as she is “drawn deeper and deeper into the fathomless ocean”, with each of the submerged scenes being filmed on a single breath. Featuring a soundtrack composed by Murnaghan, and choreography by Cindy Cummins, the 26 minute film will be on display in the Meeting House Square between 7:30am and 11pm today (Thursday, 19 March) and tomorrow (Friday, 20 March). The event is not ticketed. All are welcome. For more information, visit Murnaghan’s website [here](https://www.paulmurnaghan.com/exhibitions/waning.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Curtisy at Spindizzy** On Friday, Tallaght rapper Curtisy is releasing *Get a Life!*, a new mixtape that he made in collaboration with producer Owin. Back in November, the pair dropped [Talk of the Town](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdOsZ9Jc4U&ref=dublininquirer.com), their first single from the mixtape, featuring Wexford rapper Lil Skag, who will also be appearing on two more tracks. Now, tomorrow evening (Friday, 20 March), Curtisy will be dropping into Spindizzy, the record store in George’s Street Arcade to both sign the record, and perform a few tracks from it too. Doors are at 5:45pm, and he will be performing at 6pm. Admission is the price of the *Get a Life!* LP. If you want to book a space at the in-store event, visit the Spindizzy website and get a copy of the limited edition red splatter vinyl, exclusive to the store, [here](https://spindizzyrecords.com/products/curtisy-instore-signing-mar-20th?ref=dublininquirer.com). Alternatively, if you can’t make it down to the launch, head on over to Curtisy’s Bandcamp here to buy either a digital or physical copy of the mixtape [here](https://curtisy.bandcamp.com/album/get-a-life?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Save the Arts Walking Tour With Caoilfhionn Hanton** Artist Caoilfhionn Hanton will be leading a walking tour of the city’s art on Saturday morning. Organised by People Before Profit, the Save the Arts Walking Tour will be an exploration of both contemporary art and art history in Dublin. The talk will start outside the Arbour Hill Boxing Club, which is where Hanton painted a mural version of artist Spicebag’s work *Eviction*, the satirical depiction of Gardaí attending to a Famine-era eviction that was scandalised by the Irish Independent’s Fionnán Sheahan as being a piece of “politically motivated” art. As well as being a celebration of art and art history, Hanton’s walk will also look at the numerous issues and hardships that come with creating art in the city. Participants are encouraged to bring a notebook and their preferred medium as they will be responding to the stops with some drawing. Materials will also be provided on the day for those who either forgot their own or don’t have any to hand. The walk will start at 11:30am and wrap up at 1pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/save-the-arts-walking-tour-with-caoilfhionn-hanton-tickets-1985233542968?ref=dublininquirer.com), and all proceeds will go to the People Before Profit Stand up for the Arts campaign. **East Asia Film Festival 2026** The East Asia Film Festival Ireland is returning today for its tenth edition in the Irish Film Institute. Running until Sunday evening 22 March, the annual festival features a rich bill of films from across China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, and explores themes like displacement, migration, and identity. Opening this year’s festival is the Irish premiere of *Shanghai Daughter* today at 6:15pm. The debut feature by Chinese filmmaker Agnis Shen Zhongmin, the film follows Ming, a woman from Shanghai who journeys to Xishuangbanna’s rubber plantation where her late father was sent during the Cultural Revolution. Afterwards, at 8:45pm, journalist and film critic will be introducing a 4K restoration of the seminal 1989 Hong Kong thriller, *The Killer*, directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat. Other highlights across the weekend will include a screening on Saturday of *The Wild, Wild Rose*, Wong Tin-lam’s 1960 Hong Kong musical noir, and *The River that Holds our Hands*, a docu-fiction feature, which will be followed by a Q and A with producer Ziyang Lin. Then, to close off the festival on Sunday at 6pm, there is a showing of South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo’s thirty-third feature length *What Does That Nature Say To You*. Set on the outskirts of Seoul, as a young poet drives his girlfriend to her parents’ home, the film promises the director’s trademark clumsy interactions, quiet cruelty and calm carnage as it transpires that her parents were unaware of their daughter’s three year relationship. To see what else is showing as part of EAFFI 2026, and to book tickets, visit the IFI website [here](https://ifi.ie/eaffi-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Plastic* by Matthew Rice** On Tuesday, the Belfast-born poet Matthew Rice will be in Books Upstairs to discuss *Plastic*, his book-length poem. Published in late January by FitzCarraldo Editions, *Plastic* is set during a single twelve-hour night shift in a factory, and draws on Rice’s own experience working in a plastic moulding factory for ten years. Blending memoir, satire and ekphrasis - a vivid, poetic description of a work of visual art - the long poem examines the alienating experience of labour in a “post-industrial, post Troubles” society. Joining Rice to discuss the poem will be Tara McEvoy, the communications manager at the Irish Writers Centre and a contributing editor at the Tolka literary journal. The launch is at 6:30pm. Attendance is free, but booking is essential. Reserve your seat [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/plastic-matthew-rice-in-conversation/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* ***Fallow,* Issue 3** On Wednesday evening 25 March, the literary journal Fallow is launching its third edition *Fallow 03: Spring 2026* in Books Upstairs. It will be the first opportunity to get a copy of the new issue, and there will be readings from contributors Christodoulos Makris and Charlotte Buckley. The launch is at 6:30pm. Attendance is free but booking is essential. Reserve a seat [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-fallow-03-spring-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Flesh and Fantasy: Two One-Act Plays** Dublin Shakespeare's Society will be presenting two one-act plays at The Teachers Club on Parnell Square next week. On 27 and 28 March, they will be staging Bobby Gould’s In Hell by David Mamet, and directed by Suzanne Walshe, and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Tennesse Williams, and directed by Brigid Sweeney. The two modern morality plays will open at 8pm on 27 March, with performances at 2pm and 8pm the following day (28 March). To book your tickets, visit the Eventbrite page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/flesh-fantasy-two-one-act-plays-tickets-1981928240720?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary Scheme** Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD has announced the opening of applications for grants from a total fund of €100,000 for organisations delivering non-mainstream music education. The grants allow organisations with limited or no access to other forms of public funding to pay for music classes, instruments and other equipment outside of school settings. Interested and eligible organisations are invited to make their applications for grant funding under the Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary Scheme 2026 by 5pm on 6 April 2026. For more information and to get the application form, visit the scheme’s page [here](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/services/non-mainstream-music-education-bursary-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Vintage Suite** Visual artist Sylvia Hill presents Vintage Suite, a collection of paintings exploring the beauty of the Irish “Big House” and other interiors relating to the past at Rathfarnham Castle Gallery. Using a rich and vibrant oil palette, Hill’s work draws on themes of nostalgia, comfort, loss and fantasy through works which offer a personal window into the beauty of the past and a plea for the preservation of all things antique for the future. Vintage Suite opens on Friday, 20 March and will run until 4 May. Admission is free, and the exhibition is available to visit from Wednesday to Sunday between 10:30am and 5pm. For more information, visit the Heritage Ireland website [here](https://heritageireland.ie/whats-on/vintage-suite-a-collection-of-painting-at-rathfarnham-castle/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### In Ringsend, 176 new social homes sit empty due to funding paperwork delays URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ringsend-176-new-social-homes-sit-empty-due-to-funding-paperwork-delays/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:57:42.000Z In Ringsend, a massive new apartment complex has been rising on the old Irish Glass Bottle site, near Sean Moore Park. While metal fencing still cordoned off most of the site on Monday, the space outside the apartment block known as Lime House was open to roam. It looked ready for its first occupants. Each balcony had a pair of deck chairs. Fresh mattresses were in all of the visible bedrooms. On the ground floor, a co-working office space was up and running. The new development’s [website](https://glassbottle.ie/lime-house?ref=dublininquirer.com) is already offering prospective residents a chance to book viewings to rent this building’s212 flats. However, another nearby building, Glass House (or, Block M), remains closed off, even if it looked like it was ready to go too. This block is meant to host 176 social homes. These homes are being acquired by Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI), an approved housing body, a spokesperson for the council said on Monday. But that’s held up by the process of getting funding from the Department of Housing to pay for the new homes, said council executive manager Ruth Dowling, at a meeting of the South East Area Committee on 9 March. Those apartments can’t be advertised to potential tenants – and occupied – until the funding application has been approved, Dowling said. It’s frustrating, said Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey on Friday. Local councillors had been led to believe that the process of allocating the 176 social homes would have started around January. “Now there seems to be this delay, and it seems to be largely a paperwork delay,” Lacey said. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing did not respond when asked on Friday what was causing the delay. A spokesperson for the council said they could not provide any precise timeline on when it can get tenants moved in. ## New social housing The development of the 37-acre Irish Glass Bottle site is being [led by](https://glassbottle.ie/about?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ronan Group Real Estate and Lioncor. The site has room for an estimated 3,500 new homes eventually, according to the council’s planning scheme [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27888499-poolbeg-west-sdz-planning-document/?q=3%2C500&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p9) from April 2019. As part of this project, Dublin City Council in [March 2022](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/145373?ref=dublininquirer.com) granted Pembroke Beach DAC permission to proceed with the first phase of the site’s redevelopment: the construction of [570 apartments](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27888506-29-docklands-12-03-2025/?q=570&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p47). In November 2025, the Minister for Housing James Browne [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-27/383/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council and Pembroke Beach DAC had concluded negotiations for a “Part V” agreement on the site for three of the phases – in other words, for the council to buy some of the housing there, for use as social housing. This agreement between the council and Pembroke Beach was for 176 homes in a single block to be designated as social housing, which would be acquired by an approved housing body, Browne said. That same day back in November, Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD posted [a video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRkV3VIl-E1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to her Instagram saying that the homes in Block M – or Glass House – would be ready for families and individuals on the housing waiting list from February 2026. There were 1,674 households on the council’s social housing and transfer lists in the area covering Ringsend, which also covers City Quay, Irishtown, Donnybrook, Pearse Street and Mount Street, according to a January 2024 council [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27888599-housing-allocations-report-january-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Delayed At the council committee meeting on Monday, 9 March, Dowling, the council’s executive manager for housing delivery, acknowledged that there’d been a delay. It is CHI that is supposed to buy the 176 homes in the Glass Bottle development, which the council would then put tenants from its social housing list into – and the approved housing body would be the property manager. And as part of this, the council and CHI have an application in for the Capital Advance Leasing Funding (CALF) via the Department of Housing. The council had expected Block M to be tenanted during the first quarter of this year, Dowling, the executive manager for the council’s housing delivery division told the South-East Area committee meeting on 9 March. But, that timeline has been pushed back. “We are back and forth with the Department,” Dowling said. “Unfortunately, at the moment, there is a bit of back and forth with the Department just clarifying issues in relation to the CALF application for CHI.” The council is working with the department to resolve those issues, Dowling said. In the meantime, the council can’t use those apartments, she said. A spokesperson for Co-operative Housing Ireland, on Monday, did not comment when asked for clarity on what exactly is behind the delays with the application for CALF funding. As the council had provided comment, their spokesperson said only that they are looking forward to delivering these new social rental homes in partnership with the council and department. Lacey, the Labour councillor, said he didn’t understand why the council couldn’t be the direct manager of these instead of Co-operative Housing Ireland. “We’re told every day of the week that the government has made loads of money available and that there’s going to be no obstacles,” Lacey said. “And yet this hold-up of allocating a very welcome 176 housing units are delayed because of bureaucracy at departmental levels,” he said. ### Gardaí likely knew Kurdish woman, whose body was returned to Turkey, wished to be buried in Ireland URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/gardai-likely-knew-kurdish-woman-whose-body-was-returned-to-turkey-wished-to-be-buried-in-ireland/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:57:52.000Z **This article discusses suicide. If you or somebody you know might need help, Samaritans’ national suicide prevention hotline can be contacted at 116 123 and jo@samaritans.org. You can also visit the HSE’s website* [**here*](https://www2.hse.ie/mental-health/services-support/supports-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) *for a range of additional resources.* A Tesco clubcard dangled from her keys. “I was later informed that the Clubcard was registered to Nilay \[Ateşoğlu\], date of birth 9th November 1995,” said Garda Patrick O’Neill in a deposition in November 2025. A year before that, on 9 November 2024, Garda O’Neill had been trying to find out more about the woman whose body had been discovered by a hiker on the rocks [just below the highest point](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27880545-nilay-atesoglu-inquest-file-8/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Cliffs of Moher. The clubcard led him to Ateşoğlu’s asylum shelter in Co. Galway, where a letter in Turkish sat in her room. It was her “will”, it said. Until now, when immigration solicitor Wendy Lyon got hold of records from the coroner’s inquest into Ateşoğlu’s death, it wasn’t clear whether the guards had read Ateşoğlu’s note – in which she’d pleaded for a burial in Ireland At the time, Ayanna Williams, her friend at the asylum shelter, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-kurdish-woman-asked-to-be-buried-in-a-handful-of-soil-in-ireland-but-her-body-was-sent-to-turkey-anyway/) that shortly after Ateşoğlu’s death, the officers who visited the centre said they had the note but couldn’t read it. Garda O’Neill’s deposition, cited in the inquest records, says that it was translated after all. “Following translation, it was established that the letter expressed an intention to take her own life,” it said. It doesn’t say anything else about the note. But after making sense of it, the guards had reached out to Turkish officials – from whom she’d sought shelter here as a Kurdish woman – at the country's embassy in Dublin, it said. Said Ateşoğlu’s note: “Do not give my corpse to the oppressors”. It said she wanted her body to lay claim to “a handful of soil” here. Against that final wish, she was returned to Turkey, buried there in January 2025. Her family had been contacted. DNA tests on themhad been carried out to verify the body was Ateşoğlu’s, said Garda O’Neill’s deposition. Ateşoğlu’s relationship with her family was fraught, said several of her friends in Ireland and Turkey last year. “I don’t have a family,” her letter said. A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána referred queries to the Department of Justice, saying it oversees the Coroners Service, which is responsible for the custody of remains. The department has been asked about the case twice, in [February ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-kurdish-woman-asked-to-be-buried-in-a-handful-of-soil-in-ireland-but-her-body-was-sent-to-turkey-anyway/)and [September](https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-people-die-waiting-in-irelands-asylum-system-their-bodies-may-lie-in-limbo/) of 2025, but hasn’t addressed questions about details of the case. Of course, burial instructions aren’t legally binding in Ireland – but the person responsible for burying the dead can choose to honour their wishes, [wrote](https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/1208/1183077-do-the-dead-have-property-rights/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ruhi Anand of University of Limerick’s School of Law for *RTÉ* in 2020. If someone’s family decided to ignore their wishes that doesn’t mean nothing can be done, Anand wrote. “The executor \[of their will\] may seek judicial support to prevent it from happening,” she wrote. So nominating an executor can safeguard the deceased’s right to choose, her article said. Ateşoğlu, who was still waiting for a decision on her asylum case here, probably didn’t know all that. Not only she did she not have an advocate, her suicide note couldn’t have been considered a valid will – even if she called it one. Gabriella Soto, contemporary archaeologist at Arizona State University in the United States – who researches death in migration – said unwitnessed handwritten notes, known as holographic wills, usually don’t carry any legal weight. ## One last thing before I go Thomas Lacroix, a researcher at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences – whose [work has also probed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27871282-978-1-5292-4354-3-ch001/?ref=dublininquirer.com) experiences of death in migration – said Ateşoğlu’s story is “poignant” but doesn’t surprise him. Western government officials aren’t going to be the ones advocating on behalf of dead immigrants, he said by phone, last week. Lucky Khambule of the Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI), who, alongside community activist Ken McCue, had met with Garda officials about Ateşoğlu’s case last year, said they weren’t told that her note was translated. Khambule said he’d thought they didn’t know her burial preference because they couldn’t read her letter. “Oh dear, really?” he said in a text message last week. Soto, the contemporary archaeologist, said biological relatives also often take precedence. “These notions of family built into our legal systems are just so rigid. Even if this wasn’t a family a person associated with or, you know, family they would trust to make last decisions for them,” she said. The aftermath of Ateşoğlu’s death, she said, sheds light on how those policies can let people down after their death. It’s also a unique case study because state officials are rarely tasked with granting a final wish by an immigrant for others to see how they’d react, she said. ## My body, myself [A book](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27871282-978-1-5292-4354-3-ch001/?ref=dublininquirer.com) co-authored by Lacroix, the researcher in Paris, says their deaths can expose just how much immigrants are seen as not belonging in a country of choice. Their “ways of being out-of-place become most visible and contentious, in relation to burial rules and sites”, it said. It mentions the erosion of the right to choose and questions why it isn’t considered a big deal in social and political discourse. “Where migrants should be disposed of, and how mainstream ways of disposal and burial sites should be adapted (if at all), are questions of remarkable social and political relevance,” said the book. Said Lyon, the solicitor: “Subject to certain conditions, there’s no reason in principle they couldn’t set up a legally binding arrangement for anyone who dies here.” A study from half a century ago still holds true, said the book co-authored by Lacroix, that some immigrants’ humanity is rendered invisible by their status as workers to the point that their mortality feels unimaginable. If envisioned, it is away from the soil they died toiling on. “\[T\]hey do not age: they do not get tired: they do not die. They have a single function – to work. All other functions of their lives are the responsibility of the country they come from,” it said. They’re expected to be healthy, active, and young, it said. That’s why some people feel the need to return “home” when old, sick or dying, said the book. Both Soto and Lacroix said it’s unrealistic to expect state actors to try to commemorate people, after their death, who tried to seek asylum. They point to how it’s usually not government bodies keeping a tally of the people who die, swallowed by the Mediterranean, or trekking through perilous routes into the United States. And she’d argue that those deaths should be seen as “structural homicide”, Soto said, because it’s government bodies making entry visas inaccessible to most people – “the myth of the right way really makes me angry”. Still, “most of the counting is by academic groups and non-governmental organisations,” she said. In France, said Lacroix last week, bodies of undocumented workers can lie in morgues for years until someone contacts human rights organisations. “Death in migration unveils diversity (and inequality) in death,” said the book he co-authored. In Ireland, failure to capture contact details and addresses of emergency contacts for people seeking asylum who are here alone also means their [bodies can lie](https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-people-die-waiting-in-irelands-asylum-system-their-bodies-may-lie-in-limbo/) in limbo, too. A [sample asylum form](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26086761-ipo-questionnaire/?ref=dublininquirer.com) shows that it inquires about the names of spouses, partners or civil partners, dependents and up to three relatives who live in Ireland, seeking information about the latter’s immigration and citizenship statuses though. It’s vital for the press to probe immigrants’ encounters with death and report on their aftermath, said Lacroix, the researcher in Paris. “I think otherwise, we don’t care.” In the asylum system she died while waiting in, Ateşoğlu’s death is forgotten already. In response to a GDPR request on behalf of someone close to Ateşoğlu and a note clarifying she’d died on 25 June 2025 from Abbey Law, the firm of Lyon, the solicitor, the International Protection Office (IPO) sent a response eight months later – on 4 March. It asked if it’s true that she’s no longer alive, seeking proof. ### In Howth, council plans to charge for parking on Harbour Road URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-howth-council-plans-to-charge-for-parking-on-harbour-road/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:58:02.000Z Fingal County Council is planning to charge people who want to park on Howth’s Harbour Road, and limit how long they can leave their cars there. The road connects the Dart station, the harbour, and some of the area’s busiest restaurants and cafés. The spots are in high demand, especially on weekends and during the summer – with tourists walking the cliff walk, swimmers, people working in local businesses, residents leaving their cars to commute into the city by Dart. “There’s experience of long-stay parking in the area, which reduces availability,” said council administrative officer Niamh Russell. That increases congestion on the road, as drivers circle and circle, looking for a spot, Russell said, at the Howth/Malahide area committee meeting on 4 March. The council wants to encourage shorter stays in the spots, Russell said in her presentation to the committee on the proposed changes. So they’re bringing in a charge of €1.70 per hour, with a maximum stay of three hours, Russell said. The proposal would apply to around 150 on-street car-parking spaces along this stretch, which are currently free to park in. ## Reactions at the meeting Councillors at the committee meeting on 4 March said they broadly supported the idea, albeit with various reservations. “Look, I think the logic is strong,” said Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh. Fine Gael Councillor Aoibhinn Tormey said she was against the idea of introducing paid parking along Harbour Road when it first came up, “I think it was 2019, or something.” But, she said, her views have changed in the years since. Because of “just how chaotic things are”, Tormey said. “And it will probably just get worse.” Tormey, McDonagh, and other councillors, did also bring up potential knock-on effects if they don’t get it right. Will people just park elsewhere, where it’s still free, and there aren’t time limits, and parking wardens? Independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin said he was “slightly disappointed that we couldn't have gone further up to the village”. “\[It\] could create havoc in the village with the early morning parkers who avail of the Dart,” Guerin said. Green Party Councillor David Healy also questioned how the changes on Harbour Road might affect neighbouring areas – but from a different angle. Some nearby streets, like Church Street and Abbey Street, don’t have much parking, Healy said. “And I have no doubt that some of them park on Harbour Road.” Would those residents be able to qualify for a permit to park on Harbour Road? No, Russell said, only residents of Harbour Road would qualify for a [permit](https://www.fingal.ie/council/service/residential-parking-permit?ref=dublininquirer.com) to park there. Another sticking point was the three-hour limit. Multiple councillors asked if some spaces could be designated to allow for longer stays. “A standard visit to Howth is a walk around the harbor or a walk up the hill, and then often a meal afterwards. I’m not sure that three hours covers that,” said Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey. For people who need to park for longer than three hours, there are other places to go, Russell said. “At the moment, you can park in any of the harbour car parks, and we have Balscadden Car Park, which is also free of charge at the moment,” she said. It’s the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that’s responsible for the harbour car parks, said Fingal Director of Operations Mary T. Daly. Daly said she had been in touch with the department, asking about their plans for those car parks – but hasn’t heard back. She said she’d follow up, letting them know the council is proceeding with this new paid parking. “I was very straight with the Department of Marine,” Daly said. “I'm not going to have my hands tied and not introduce paid parking in Howth because the Department of Marine aren't charging for parking.” As for the Balscadden car park in Howth, the council last year proposed charging for parking there – among other coastal car parks – but after a flood of objections, [backed away from that idea](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-proposal-to-bring-in-charges-at-coastal-car-parks-prompts-a-flood-of-objections-from-fingal-residents/). ## Next steps At the meeting, councillors were only asked to “note” the proposal to charge for car parking on Harbour Road, and limit stays there to three hours, which they did. The next step is a public consultation, Russell told the committee. As well as consultation with the department, the harbourmaster, and local businesses. Then the plan is to install parking meters along Harbour Road, and keep an eye on whether the changes have the intended effects, her presentation said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting scheme.* ### Council looks to trial moves to make Balrothery friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-looks-to-trial-moves-to-make-balrothery-friendlier-for-cyclists-and-pedestrians/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:58:12.000Z Fingal County Council is set to trial a new one-way system through Balrothery later this year. The trial forms part of the council’s [new active travel plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27888133-balrothery-active-travel-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the village, which sits about 2.5 km south of Balbriggan’s town centre. Alongside the one-way system,the council intends to test out measures to reduce speeds around the entrance to the local primary school. And bring in a restriction on all vehicles, except buses, from accessing the village from the R132 north of the village. These three trials should happen in the third quarter of this year, said Shane McMorrow, a council executive engineer, at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 12 March. They’re designed to resolve a number of issues raised by locals, including speeding, intimidating traffic, narrow and obstructed footpaths, congestion and unsafe school access, McMorrow said. The council hopes to make the village a destination, he said. “So we’re trying to facilitate walking and cycling for all, support the local communication, and support community interactions.” The council will run public consultations around each project in the Balrothery active travel plan as they go, he said, but one major aim is to make it less possible for drivers to speed through the village. “It’ll also give back space that we can reallocate the road for placemaking because it is a heritage town,” he said. “We’ll have more space to make it look like a heritage town.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Balrothery-Coach-Road-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) Coach Road, Balrothery. Photo by Michael Lanigan. ## To walk around As part of the plan, Fingal County Council will be aiming to create an “active travel spine” through the village by increasing the size of its paths and linking it into the wider cycle network, McMorrow, the council executive engineer, told the area committee last Thursday. “This is basically to get people into and out of the centre of Balrothery,” he said. That spine weaves through Balrothery beginning at the northern entrance into the villagefromthe R132, and travels down the Coach Road before turning east onto Rosepark, Ringfort View and then Darcystown Road towards Skerries, according to slides at the meeting. People should be able to walk into and out of the village easier, McMorrow said. “Road narrowing. Pavement widening. So reallocating space to pedestrians.” Changes may also include some side-street junction improvements, like shortening and adding more crossing points, putting in tactile paving, he said. At the entrance to the St Oliver Plunkett’s National School, the council wants speed reduction and placemaking enhancements, he said, “to make people very aware that they’re at a school”. Those enhancements could include some seating, trees and additional greenery, and cycle parking, according to slides from the presentation. They are looking to reduce traffic from the northern entry point into the village and past the school by limiting its use to buses, he said. The other key aim is to make the village a place where people can stop, rather than being a place they pass through, he said. “We want to put transition points on the main roads and bus stops, and we want to signal the arrival at the place where pedestrians get priority,” he said. In the village centre, the plan proposes changes to current traffic circulation to increase space for pedestrians, he said. “There’s going to be increased pedestrian priority at junctions and junction tightening, safer exits and side roads.” Zebra and courtesy crossings will go in, he said. “So informal and formal crossing points to make crossing safer in the centre.” The council will also look to extend footpaths at identified pinch points and areas of concern, put in some planters, benches and trees, he said. The speed limit on the Inch Road, which connects to the village via the R132, could be lowered from 80 km/hour to 60 km/hour as part of the plan, he said. “So we’ll slow cars down as they approach the village.” From the southern end of the village, at Glebe Park, the plan also intends to widen footpaths to better separate pedestrians and vehicles, he said. The next step for the council will be to prepare designs for the three trials the council intends to run on the ground later this year, McMorrow told the committee. ## Enforcement through design Local councillors were largely favourable towards McMorrow’s presentation. Much of the plan is good and the council did plenty of consultation with locals, said independent Councillor Grainne Maguire. “It’s a funny space, Balrothery.” There is already a ban on vehicles over 3 tonnes in the village, she said. “And sure everybody ignores that. So enforcement is a huge piece.” The idea behind the plan is that it would let the design be the enforcement, McMorrow said. “It won’t be possible to drive around Balrothery at speed now anymore when this plan is implemented.” Maguire said just a few days prior to the presentation, local councillors were told that a person had been seriously injured as they walked along the Coach Road. That mustbe a call for immediate action, she said. “While we are looking at a trial in quarter three, I think something has to be done more immediate than that.” McMorrow said that they could have a chat about looking to do some immediate work at that particular junction. Labour Councillor Brendan Ryan asked about the Coach Road, and the location of the town’s pharmacy. “It’s kind of a difficult area for parking et centra, and for the operation of the pharmacy.” Parking is already extremely limited in the area and stands to be further reduced, a spokesperson for Balrothery Pharmacy said on Tuesday. “But the elderly and disabled will need easy access to our site for medications, vaccinations and more.” Similarly, their customers, 18 employees and suppliers need a place to park, they said. “We welcome all efforts to make the area a healthier, more pleasant place to live. But these plans must balance new ideas against the real needs of our community.” McMorrow said at the meeting that they had considered the pharmacy, and would continue to get feedback from them during the trial. “And we’ll tweak the trial to fit the permanent solution at the end of it to make sure it works for everyone.” Right now, the plan is aspirational, he said. “It’s going to put us in a position to deliver the change by getting funding.” ### Growing Women’s Sheds in Swords and Balbriggan are looking for permanent homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/growing-womens-sheds-in-swords-and-balbriggan-are-looking-for-permanent-homes/ Last updated: 2026-03-19T11:09:11.000Z On Monday, Swords Women’s Shed was preparing for their second year of marching in two St Patrick’s Day parades, said co-founder Glenda McDonnell. “It was brilliant,” McDonnell said of last year. “We were all in costumes like butterflies and flowers and all.” Balbriggan Women’s Shed co-founder, Fidelma Geraghty, also answered the phone while with the ladies, preparing for the Balbriggan’s parade. “You can hear in the background all the women laughing,” said Geraghty. “We're building a float,” Geraghty said. It’s a life-sized model of a shed, and a leprechaun puppet, she said. While Balbriggan’s started just a year ago, the Swords Women’s Shed is larger and more developed, going on five years old now. They are social spaces, self-funded, run by volunteers, meant for fun, their co-founders say. “We've a movie club, we've a book club, we have an exercise club, a walking club, and we're newly bringing in a sewing club,” McDonnell says. “I could list the things for the next hour.” Both groups say they are growing quickly – and both are still looking for permanent homes. At the moment, neither has one. The Swords group gets two days a week in the Men’s Shed, runs yoga at the library, a book club at St Colmcilles GAA club. “It’s all over the place,” McDonnell said. At a recent council committee meeting, a councillor brought a [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27886078-councillor-j-smyth-permanent-location-for-swords-womens-shed-ai106544/?ref=dublininquirer.com) asking for the council to prioritise securing Swords Women’s Shed a permanent location. The response? It does not currently have a site available. ## The need Right now, Swords Women’s Shed meets at the Men’s Shed, which has its own building. The women get access to it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In return, the Women’s Shed gives them a donation. They make use of other facilities too, whoever will let them. “Whereas, if we had a building, we could keep it all in one space.” Not only that, the Women’s Shed is outgrowing the size of the borrowed spaces they are using now. “We feel now like the Men's Shed is nearly getting too small for us,” McDonnell said. “Our waiting lists are getting higher and higher and higher." Each week, registration opens for events at 7pm on Fridays, she said, and “it’s the first 35 people, basically, who get in”. She said the enthusiasm from women across the community communicates a huge need. “A lot of the women have said, since the shed started, they don't know what they would do – only for the shed,” McDonnell said. “Because it has given them a completely different outlook on life,” she said. “It's taken their isolation away for a start, you know.” And they can’t include everyone who wants to be active in it. “It’s frustrating, very frustrating, McDonnell said. In Balbriggan, the Women’s Shed is dealing with a similar situation, said Geraghty. They recently secured access to a space in a football clubhouse, but only at certain hours. “We’re paying rent,” she said. At the moment, they do some woodworking, but since they don’t have a permanent base, they do it in people’s homes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/PHOTO-2026-03-17-20-30-03.jpg) Photo courtesy of the Balbriggan Women's Shed. ## At the council meeting At the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 12 March, Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth brought a [motion](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s117141/Item%20No.%2054%20-%20Permanent%20Location%20for%20Swords%20Womens%20Shed%20-%20AI106544.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) asking for the council to help the Swords Women’s Shed get a permanent location. “I probably don't need to tell many of the councillors here how much of a formidable group of women the Swords Women's Shed are,” Smyth said. “On a personal level, they have helped a member of my extended family through a very difficult period of cancer diagnosis,” he said. “I don't think she would be as well as she is today and fighting as much as she is today if it wasn't for their support.” The scale of demand is huge, said Mayor Tom O’Leary, a Fine Gael councillor. “I’m familiar with the Men's Sheds and what they do, but their numbers don't compare to this group,” O’Leary said. “I mean, this is the equivalent of three, four Men’s Sheds groups, and we need to rise to the challenge and look after them.” But the council does not currently have a site available for the Women’s Shed in Swords, said a written response from senior executive officer Aoife Sheridan. There’s lots of new housing being built in Fingal, and that brings with it lots of demand “for increased community support and community facilities”, Sheridan wrote. The council is focusing on the delivery of projects identified in its [capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27886082-capital-programme-2026-2028/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – its multi-annual budget for big once-off projects – “which address urgent need in areas yet to receive access to supports” and “on remedial work in existing facilities”, she wrote. “The Council does not have any properties/sites currently available in the Swords area which would serve as a permanent location for Swords Women’s Shed,” she wrote. However, the council is always on the lookout for opportunities, Sheridan said at the meeting on Friday. Fianna Fáil Councillor Darragh Butler pointed to the example of the Men’s Shed in Swords, which is in a space delivered in 2017 with support from a developer, as a model that could be repeated. Said O’Leary, the mayor: “There's all sorts of development planned here. We need to find a piece of ground for this group.” ## The ask For McDonnell and Geraghty, the ask is simple. “All we need is one room and a toilet,” McDonnell said. Although, a few other things would be nice too, she said. “A working kitchen and a big craft table,” and a space that’s consistently open. “Somewhere women can come in any time.” Without it, McDonnell said, the group will continue to grow — and the pressure will increase. “The bigger we get, the more frustrating it’ll be,” she said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Tusla says it's an offence to run an unregistered children’s home, but it places children in them anyways URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/tusla-says-its-an-offence-to-run-an-unregistered-childrens-home-but-it-places-children-in-them-anyways/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T00:05:32.000Z The [Child Care Act 1991](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1991/act/17/enacted/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec59) prohibits people from running unregistered children’s homes. “A person shall not carry on a children's residential centre unless the centre is registered and the person is the registered proprietor thereof,” the law says. “Any person who contravenes a provision of this section shall be guilty of an offence,” says Section 60 of the Act. Tusla agrees: “It is an offence to carry on a children's residential centre without being registered,” it [says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in a note released with records this week, in response to a Freedom of Information Act. The registration process is meant to ensure standards: that the homes are safe, and decent to live in, staff are properly trained and more. If necessary, Tusla uses the threat of de-registration to push companies to improve. But Tusla, the Child and Family Agency (CFA), doesn’t have enough regulated placements for children who need them – so each year it places hundreds in unregistered facilities. “The Child Care Act 1991 has made provisions for the CFA to make arrangements to provide accommodation to young people at immediate risk of homelessness or in need of care,” it [says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the note. These placements might be an apartment that a company – paid by Tusla – rents in a complex in Dublin, where two or three teenagers in care of the state live, and the company sends staff in to look after them. In court last month, solicitor Gareth Noble said Tusla should be held responsible for putting vulnerable children in unregulated placements, [according to](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/02/13/tusla-could-face-criminal-liability-over-unregistered-placements-court-hears/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the *Irish Times*. “If you have a person guilty of a criminal offence for running such a centre, the question arises as to whether or not there is criminal liability attaching to \[Tusla\] in facilitating what could be a criminal offence,” he said. So how does Tusla square the circle of agreeing it’s illegal to put children in illegal, unregistered placements, but doing it anyway? Tusla [says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the note that it can put children in unregistered placements temporarily. And when these placements stretch out longer, if the companies Tusla is paying to run them don’t register them with Tusla, it can and does takes enforcement action against them, it says. ## Enforcement Tusla, acting on behalf of the Irish state places hundreds of children in unregistered placements that don’t meet the [HIQA national standards](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872695-national-standards-for-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for children’s homes.[ ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872695-national-standards-for-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Tusla is supposed to inspect and regulate privately run children’s homes, but these are not registered as children’s homes, so they are not fully inspected and don’t meet the national standards. In November 2025, a Department of Children spokesperson, when asked to respond to the concern that unregistered children’s homes are illegal, said: “We cannot comment on the question of legality, since this would be the purview of the Courts, and the registration and regulation of childcare settings is a complex area.” He referred to [Section 36 of the Child Care Act 1991.](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1991/act/17/enacted/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec36) Section 36 (d) allows for Tusla to accommodate children in any “suitable arrangements” it thinks is proper. Last year, Tusla placed 789 children in unregistered children’s homes, which it calls special emergency arrangements, according to [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27870880-records-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released this week under the Freedom of Information Act. The Tusla [note](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com), released with the enforcement records, confirms that it is an offence to run an unregistered children’s home – but also says Tusla can place children in them. It can provide accommodation that doesn’t meet the standards while it assesses the children for a limited time period, it says. “These premises whilst not regulated operate within the terms of the legislation and supervised by the CFA.” “These premises can operate for a limited time period, if thereafter the premises is deemed necessary for the ongoing care of young people it must then become registered as a children's residential centre pursuant to Part VIII of the Child Care Act 1991,” the note says. “Providers who consent to providing services past the initial stage must register their centre, those who fail to do so may face initiation of enforcement,” it says. A Tusla spokesperson previously said in November that after 30 days of operating at a fixed location, the operator needs to register the home. Since 2022, Tusla has taken enforcement action against 11 companies for running unregistered children’s homes at 105 locations, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act this week. The children’s homes where it took enforcement action “were determined by the CFA regulatory authorities to be unauthorised and therefore operating contrary to the legislation”, according to a [note](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Tusla released with the records, Nine of the facilities were registered. Tusla closed down another 61\. But at the end of 2025, 32 children’s homes were still operating and still unregistered – funded by Tusla, with children placed in them by Tusla. In those cases Tusla classed the outcome of the enforcement as 59 (a). The Tusla[ note](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872281-foi-cu2026023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released with the enforcement records says that, “centres designated as Section 59(A) refers to centres who are providing residential care on a temporary basis on behalf of the Child & Family Agency, and as such are deemed by legislation as exempted from the requirement of registration”. Section 59 (a) of the [Child Care Act 1991 ](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1991/act/17/section/59/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec59)says that some facilities are exempt from the requirement to register, including “an institution managed by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government or a health board”. Pól Ó Murchú, a solicitor with expertise in child protection cases, called on Tusla to clarify what it means when it lists section 59 (a) as an outcome of enforcement. “What is the legal basis for the designation?” he says. Tusla didn’t respond to queries about this in time for publication. ## “Shocking” It is “shocking” that Tusla tried to bring 106 children’s homes up to scratch, but only nine of those made the cut and succeeded in registering, says Terry Dignan, a spokesperson for an umbrella body for charities that run children’s homes If the state is relying on illegal, unregistered providers then “the residential care system has collapsed”, says Dignan, spokesperson for the Children's Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association (CRAVA). He called on the government to recognise that there is a major emergency in children’s residential care, and for the entire state apparatus to take urgent action to respond to the needs of children in the care of the Irish state. [Who gets paid €270m to home children in Tusla’s care – and how do they perform?Three quarters of the children placed in residential care in Ireland live in commercial accommodation. Investors have entered this growing industry, where inspections of the largest owners’ children’s homes show a mixed record.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-643.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/DubInq_ChildrensHome_blue-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-gets-paid-eu270m-to-home-children-in-tuslas-care-and-how-do-they-perform/) Tusla cannot fix this emergency alone, says Dignan. All relevant government departments and state agencies, including HIQA, Tusla and the HSE, should meet and come up with a plan to fix the care system. “The government has to say that this is an emergency,” says Dignan. “The whole state apparatus needs to take decisive action.” The Irish state should invest in publicly run children’s homes instead of pouring money into private operators and spending vast legal fees on developing convoluted legal arguments, he said. ### An Israeli fund backs one of Ireland’s biggest landlords, but who else? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-israeli-fund-backs-one-of-irelands-biggest-landlords-but-who-else/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T00:05:44.000Z Tenants of the various subsidiaries of a fund managed by LRC Group have no idea to whom they ultimately pay rent. Company names they know, but not the people, the faces. While he was still a tenant of theirs, Sam Elliott was keen to find out, he says. “I absolutely would have wanted to know.” Between January 2021 and August 2022, he rented a flat in Stanfield House, a grand redbrick with bay windows flanked by palm trees and overlooking the sea in Sandymount. His landlord was Xerico Limited. Elliott had tracked ownership of Xerico Limited back a bit, he says, through to Cyprus where the company was registered, and a step further back to LRC Re-1, the Luxembourg fund that owned it. But he didn’t know that Israel-based Phoenix Financial, a big and diversified financial services group, holds about 12 percent of the shares in LRC Re-1 as part of its members’ portfolios. Phoenix Financial is [listed](https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7348?the-phoenix-holdings&ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Who Profits Research Centre, a not-for-profit which tracks corporate involvement in illegal Israeli settlements. It [has highlighted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27864960-insuring-dispossession-flash-report-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), among other relationships, Phoenix Financial’s holdings – [of 5 percent](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1027664/000117891323003089/zk2330273.htm?ref=dublininquirer.com), as of August 2023 – in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private military weapons manufacturer. That, and its stake in a large shopping centre in an East Jerusalem settlement, and its financing of renewable energy projects in Israeli settlements. The largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial itself, since January 2025, is Affinity Partners, managed by Jared Kushner – US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and envoy, among those pursuing the real estate development of Gaza now that the Israeli military has killed more than 75,000 of its people, and razed much of it. Who or which entities hold the rest of the shares in LRC Re-1 – contributing to the pool of money the fund invests in real estate in Ireland and elsewhere – doesn’t seem to be public. But Elliott wouldn’t have wanted to pay rent that flows to an entity related in any way to supporting settlements in Palestine, he says. “But how would one find that out?” As Ireland continues to court overseas investment and private equity to pump up its private rental sector, it is becoming harder for tenants to work out who benefits from, and controls decisions around, their home. Some changes to transparency around company ownership are imminent. Ireland, as with other European member states, has until July to roll out [a new regime](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1624/oj/eng?ref=dublininquirer.com) around its beneficial ownership register, a database which aims to reveal, to those with access, the names of people who benefit ultimately from companies. Meanwhile, other EU anti-money laundering rules are due to kick in [that will require](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1624/oj/eng?ref=dublininquirer.com) foreign entities owning real estate in Ireland – whether directly or through intermediaries – to report beneficial ownership information to the country’s register from July 2029. That would theoretically make it easier to find the people behind the curtain in one place, rather than having to follow a trail of companies that own companies that own companies through a series of countries’ beneficial ownership registries. But because this is to be rolled out as part of anti-money laundering legislation, rather than broader transparency considerations, access to the information will still be strictly limited – and not widely publicly available. And defining and capturing the beneficial ownership of investment funds such as LRC Re-1, by nature of the way that money is pooled from so many different sources, and with management and control of the fund’s operations detached from its shareholders, can be especially difficult. Nevertheless, the need for a brighter light on money flowing into property continues to attract attention across European cities. [In a joint](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27359396-nicosia-declaration-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) declaration issued in February, European mayors of major cities – including Dublin – called on the European Commission to “improve its current legislative approach on transparency in real estate financial flows and ultimate beneficial ownership”. Neither LRC Group nor Phoenix Financial replied to media queries about ownership and transparency, sent by email on 25 February. Phoenix Financial didn’t respond to queries about the characterisation of its involvement in illegal settlements. ## A big player LRC Group itself says on its website that it was “founded” in 1995 by Yehuda Barashi, who still oversees its business activities and investor relations. Company documents show that entities of LRC Group serve as the general partner, investment advisor, and the alternative investment fund manager for the LRC Re-1 fund. But tracking shareholdings for those entities through the layers leads to a law firm in Cyprus, which provides administrative services for companies and nominee shareholders and directors. In such arrangements, the names of “nominees” appear on public company documents rather than the true beneficial owners. There is little public information about Barashi himself. Records from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist’s Panama Papers database say that during the 2000s, Barashi acted as the process agent in relation to loan agreements for hotels in Germany. He was working for – among other parties – Cypriot-Israeli real estate tycoon, and recent appointee to Trump’s Gaza-focused “Board of Peace”, Yakir Gabay, who has described a plan there for a “new Mediterranean Riviera with 200 hotels and potential islands”. Back in Ireland, since 2018, LRC Group’s fund LRC Re-1 has gradually expanded the number of rental properties that it owns through subsidiaries, rising to more than 2,000 across the country. As it has grown, so has scrutiny of the management of those properties. In the Dáil, opposition TDs have [criticised its](https://www.kildarestreet.com/debate/?id=2023-07-05a.213&ref=dublininquirer.com) evictions – especially those issued on the grounds that a Part 4 tenancy cycle has ended, rather than on grounds of sale or any tenant fault. [Landlord behind Swords evictions has issued a steady drip of similar notices across its properties - Dublin InquirerBetween October 2022 and June 2023, 89 households renting from subsidiaries of LRC RE-1 got similar notices, Residential Tenancies Board figures show.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-640.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/jekaterina-deja-scaled-e1695165350957.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/landlord-behind-swords-evictions-has-issued-a-steady-drip-of-similar-notices-across-its-properties/) Properties that it buys have seen sharp increases in headline rents, with newservice charges and car parking charges added on for apartments that had previously seen those included in rents. [Landlords Adding Extra Charges On Top of Rents, Avoiding Laws That Restrict Rent Increases - Dublin InquirerCar-parking fees and service charges are why it looks like rents have gone up 59–85 percent in less than four years in some apartments in the south inner-city.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-641.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5256.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/landlords-adding-extra-charges-on-top-of-rents-avoiding-laws-that-restrict-rent-increases/) Fiadh Tubridy, a postdoctoral researcher with Maynooth University’s Just Housing project, says that many tenants of subsidiaries of LRC Group who she has spoken to as part of her work don’t understand how the companies that they rent from are related to others – and part of a bigger structure. It’s one symptom of the transition away from small individual landlords who are personally known to tenants, says Tubridy who is also a member of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU). “I’m not endorsing this a good model, but it is a basic fact that you know who they are as an individual by name,” says Tubridy. Renting from larger corporate landlords changes the dynamic, she says. “It’s a much more anonymous and in some ways much more difficult system to navigate.” Tenants who rent day to day from subsidiaries of LRC Group can correspond with its property manager in Ireland, Home Club Limited. But that wasn’t enough for Elliott, he says. He grew frustrated with what he says were delays with maintenance in the flat he lived in. Yes, he had a contact through local property managers. But he does feel that if the property had been owned through a simpler company structure, or an individual landlord, the ultimate owners would be identifiable and that brings more accountability, he says. In the Liberties, Adriana Ribeiro says that she hasn’t been able to work out who else she can talk to about issues during her tenancy in an apartment on Cork Street. She has pushed for more frequent cleaning of common areas, she says, because of the pigeon droppings from flocks roosting near the entrance to the block. “It’s really smelly.” The gate at the front of the building bangs loud, she says, waking her early with comings and goings. “Now, I’ve kind of got used. But sometimes when you want to relax it’s really annoying.” She asked Home Club in an email how often contractors are paid to clean the area. They couldn’t tell her, they said. “I tried to contact different institutions,” she says. She went to the Residential Tenancies Board to try to work out the correct route to pursue it. The email back wasn’t clear to her, she says. “I presume because they don’t want to take part or give an opinion, they are so formal in the way they talk or they give information, that you’re like, what are you talking about,” she says. She reached out to the Property Services Regulatory Authority, which sent an email back elaborating on the responsibilities of owner management companies (OMCs) – the companies formed with all the owners of apartments in a given building or estate, which hire property management companies to take care of common areas of a building. But she hasn’t managed to find and contact an OMC for the building, she says. She asked Home Club Limited for the contact details. No, said an employee, “however I can pass on any message”. Home Club hasn’t responded to an email sent through its website portal as to why it can’t provide that information. Ribeiro says there should be more information in her lease about the different entities and individuals who own and manage her flat and the building. “I have the right to complain. I need to know who I am complaining to.” Tubridy, the researcher at Maynooth University, contrasts the greater transparency around the operations of publicly listed companies such as Ires-REIT, versus the decision-making and control within private funds like those managed by LRC Group. Tenants and civil society groups can follow shareholder arguments with Ires REIT, which is publicly listed, she says, and read the company calls – and get a better sense of why decisions are taken. ## Revealing beneficial owners European Union member states do collect, in registers, some information on the beneficial owners of companies – and in Ireland, as elsewhere, that information used to be accessible online to the general public. However, in 2019, a real estate company [lodged a complaint](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A62020CJ0037&ref=dublininquirer.com) with the Luxembourg Business Register, which maintains that country’s register saying who is really behind companies. The real estate company argued that giving information to the general public about its beneficial owner, “WM”, would “seriously, actually and immediately expose \[him\] and his family to a disproportionate risk and risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment, violence or intimidation”. Another real estate company, Sovim, also objected to having its beneficial owner named in the register. It argued that “granting public access to the identity and personal data of its beneficial owner would infringe the right to respect for private and family life and the right to the protection of personal data”. These cases eventually made their way up to the European Court of Justice, which in 2022 wrote a judgement discussing whether the need for not only the authorities but the general public to have access to the beneficial ownership information was strong enough to outweigh the rights of the beneficial owners to be named. The issue was basically: can the aims of the beneficial ownership registry be achieved without creating the harms to the owners’ rights involved with making their details public to an unlimited audience. And the court decided they could. In the end, it [ruled that](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A62020CJ0037&ref=dublininquirer.com) the bit of the law that said information on beneficial ownership should be accessible to [any member of the general public](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/843/oj/eng?ref=dublininquirer.com) was “invalid”. Member states shut down public access, [restricting sight of the](https://www.arthurcox.com/knowledge/access-is-restricted-to-central-register-of-beneficial-ownership/?ref=dublininquirer.com) register to [those it deemed](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2010/act/6/section/25/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) to have a “legitimate interest”. Ireland has [taken a](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/countdown-to-new-eu-beneficial-ownership-rules?ref=dublininquirer.com) particularly restrictive approach. Changes to what is collected, and who can access the information, and knitting it together across borders, are underway though, says Stephen Abbott Pugh, a consultant on beneficial ownership and data practices. Those changes are being made under the European Union’s 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which was adopted in May 2024, and is currently being rolled out by member states’ governments. Notably, the package includes a provision that any company from outside the European Union owning real estate within the European Union will have to report its beneficial ownership to that country, he says. It’s a bit like the United Kingdom’s Register of Overseas Entities, he says. “Say someone from the Bahamas is trying to buy real estate in Ireland, and they use a company that’s based in Bahamas, they will need to submit their beneficial ownership information,” he says. That should go on a national register, which is pulled together and shared across the European Union, he said. That’s a few years off. The directive also doubles down on a wider definition of “legitimate interest” than many member states currently rely on, and harmonises that so anybody who can access the register of one member state can access all of them, he said. It provides that journalists, civil society, and academia whose work is connected to anti-money laundering and predicate offences are presumed to have “legitimate interest”. They should be granted general access to the register, rather than have to justify each look, case-by-case. It still, though, isn’t accessible to those who may just want to work out who is really behind their company landlords – rather than the nominees on the paperwork. That limitation is because it is grounded in the money laundering directive, says Abbott Pugh. The scope is set by that. “I would argue it shouldn’t be defined so narrowly,” says Abbott Pugh, who used to lead the technology and data team at[ Open Ownership](https://www.openownership.org/en/?source=user%5Fabout----------------------ed1766f51062----------------------), a non-profit focused on beneficial ownership transparency. Beneficial ownership is relevant to understanding who is winning public procurement tenders, to finding landlords, to being able to find a name and check if somebody has been in court, he says. “There’s lots of reasons why it is helpful to know.” Member states can themselves choose to opt for greater transparency around company ownership with other laws – that provide it for purposes other than combatting money laundering or terrorist financing, he says. For example, Slovakia has a register which says if you want to win contracts from the state you have to reveal beneficial ownership details and those are made public, he says. “That’s been public for years and years. Should Ireland go further? A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said that it will comply with all the requirements in anti-money laundering directives and regulation which aim to increase transparency. Issues of company law are a matter for the Department of Enterprise, they said, “and as such this Department is not in a position to comment on this matter”. A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise said that policies around public procurement are a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure pointed back at the Department of Enterprise. Irish Institutional Property, which represents “institutionally financed investors with significant international backing” hasn’t responded to a query as to what its position would be on greater transparency around property ownership. ## Who is a beneficial owner, anyway? Even for those who can access beneficial ownership registers, when it comes to pooled investment funds, they may find limited information. In [the new regulation,](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L%5F202401624&ref=dublininquirer.com#art%5F61) beneficial owners in collective investment funds are defined as “natural persons” who fulfil at least one of three criteria. They may hold 25 percent or more of the shares, can define or influence the investment policy, or can control the activities of the collective investment undertaking through other means. Shareholders in private equity and big funds will rarely meet the threshold of owning 25 percent or more of shares, said Abbott Pugh. Remember, filings suggest that Phoenix Financial, in the portfolios it manages, holds only about 12 percent of the shares in the fund LRC Re-1\. Each member invested in those portfolios would hold just a fraction. Some jurisdictions have lowered that threshold down, Abbott Pugh says. A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said that, for funds registered in Ireland, it “does not have any plans to reduce the threshold for listing beneficial ownership down from 25% of shares and will align with the direction and agreed thresholds the Commission identify”. There is also the criteria of whether somebody has significant influence or control, says Abbott Pugh. “It’s a bit of a nebulous catch-all term. But even if somebody only had 5 percent of a company, they could still be named because they are important,” he says. He gives an example of somebody with powers to dismiss all the board members. Finally, if a company says it is unable to name who its beneficial owners are according to the criteria, they can name a chief executive officer or managing directors, he says. “Investment funds are a big black hole. Publicly listed companies also,” says Abbott Pugh. “In lots of countries, you get a huge amount of the economy going through and connected to companies you can’t really see in the data.” Still though, he says, the new EU directive does move towards greater transparency than now, and towards connecting up all this data. “The dream world is that all of this information is all collected the same way, and the data is comparable in countries, and you can link it all up and understand who the real people are,” he says. ### Council still paying for upkeep of Coolock Swimming Pool it has closed and likely never intends to use again URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-still-paying-for-upkeep-of-coolock-swimming-pool-it-has-closed-and-likely-never-intends-to-use-again/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T00:05:57.000Z When the roof of the Coolock Swimming Pool was badly damaged in December 2024 by Storm Darragh, the council was forced to close the facility down. Now, in a memo circulated to councillors this week, the council says it has considered “a range of options in relation to providing a sustainable leisure facility for the local community”. It proposes “relocating swimming services from Northside Shopping Centre to a new swimming pool facility adjoining the existing Kilmore Recreation Centre.” This seems to be the official acknowledgement that the Coolock pool will not be reopening – at least not under the council’s control. However, the council is still signed up to a long long lease with Northside Shopping Centre and its owners AM Alpha. “We're obligated to do that," said Daryl Barron, a Fianna Fáil councillor last week. So the council was forced to step-in and fork out for repairs when the roof was damaged further during Storm Bram in December 2025. In January, the council put out a[ tender](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27872932-7412785-national-contract-award-notice-general-directive-standard-regime-no-ted-publication-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) for the “Contract for Emergency Works to Coolock Swimming Pool Roof” – with an estimated value of €130,000. Dublin City Council became aware the “glazing structure” was at its end of life, a spokesperson said last month. The glazed roof panels, they said, had become loose and unsafe during times of storms or high winds. “To ensure the safety of the public and to prevent damage to other roofs within the shopping centre during adverse weather Dublin City Council procured a contract to replace these panels with new secure Perspex panelling, along with protecting swimming pool from the elements,” they said. The council did not respond when asked if it can get out of its lease on the swimming pool, or if it will continue to fall on the council and public purse to cover any further damage that may arise in the future. ## **Plans for new pool** The council had announced in early 2023 that it intended to close the Coolock Swimming Pool, citing the prohibitive cost of refurbishments. Instead of €5 million for refurbishments, the council said it wanted to build a new pool for €10 million, on the nearby site of the Kilmore Recreation Centre. But due to Storm Darragh, the Coolock pool closed before the new one was open to replace it. So, the community has been [without a swimming pool](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-closure-of-coolock-swimming-pool-has-had-a-wide-reaching-impact-on-the-community/) for over two years now. Suggestions last year from Social Democrat**s** Councillor Paddy Monahan to bring a temporary[ pop-up pool](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-coolock-swimming-pool-closed-indefinitely-is-putting-a-pop-up-pool-nearby-feasible/) into the area, so local kids can still learn the important skill of swimming, were shot down by the council. A response from Ger Carty, a senior sports development officer at the council, listed a number of challenges. This included the need for security, putting up a marquee to house the pool, finding a level site, accessing water to fill the pool, providing toilets, installing gas heating and electric services, and hiring a crane. Although, at the time, Robert Burns, chief executive of Monaghan County Council since September 2023, and director for Housing and Community Development in Fingal before that, had managed it twice. Burns oversaw installation of Swim Ireland’s pop-up pool first in Donabate, and then in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. “I often think feasibility is a matter of will and funding,” Burns said last year. Meanwhile, plans are afoot to build a new leisure centre at the existing Kilmore Recreation Centre, including a new swimming pool, the council’s [Capital Programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25900520-report-no-302025-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2025-to-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2025 to 2027 says. That budget for big once-off projects includes €1.5 million for that project in 2026, and €3 million in 2027. But another [council report](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2025-05/dublin-city-council-quality-assurance-report-2024.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) puts the total cost much higher than that €4.5 million – at €8.7 million. The council is [seemingly angling to use](https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-council-officials-trying-to-steer-coolocks-community-gain-fund-towards-what-they-want/) some of the community gain fund, promised to locals living around the construction of the new Oscar Traynor Woods housing complex, to help pay for the new pool in Kilmore West. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### As more foxes prowl the city, one councillor wants to know who is policing them URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-foxes-prowl-the-city-one-councillor-wants-to-know-who-is-policing-them/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T00:06:14.000Z Some Dublin residents are concerned that foxes could spread diseases to their pets,says Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan. Foxes can sneak into back gardens where their dogs may be, he says. So residents “are concerned about the safety of their pets and also concerned for the welfare of the foxes”, he says. Hogan put in a written [question](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27875721-questions-to-the-chief-executive-090326/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at Dublin City Council’s South East Area Committee on 9 March because he wants to know which state agency is responsible for urban foxes. The council is responsible by law for the control of dogs and horses but its remit doesn't extend to red foxes, came the reply. “The council has no current plans to develop a strategy concerning urban foxes,” it says. Hogan says that that leaves his question of who is responsible unanswered. “There is a gap in regulation and responsibility.” While the numbers of foxes in cities has been steadily creeping upwards, it’s debated how much this is a problem – or actually, if humans respond right, a boon. A spokesperson for the National Parks and Wildlife Service said that the presence of foxes in the city is mostly beneficial. “Foxes play an important role in the control of rodents in both urban and rural areas.” Adam Smith, a postdoctoral researcher in wildlife ecology at University College Dublin, said, meanwhile, that it is possible but unlikely that foxes could spread illness to pets as long as the pets are vaccinated. In general foxes are not causing sufficient problems for the council to consider a cull, says Smith, but it is important that people don’t feed them, so that the city benefits from their role as predator of rodents. “You’re distracting them from their role in the ecosystem,” he says. ## **Foxes versus cats** “There is an extremely high density of foxes in Dublin,” says Smith, the postdoctoral researcher, who monitors wildlife cameras in Dublin as part of the [Urban Wildlife Information Network. ](https://www.urbanwildlifeinfo.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The population has been growing for the last 20 or 30 years, he says. Hogan says that this has highlighted the need for oversight. “There seems to be in recent years a migration of foxes from rural areas to urban areas, and there isn’t really any policy or government agency taking charge or setting out the control of urban foxes,” he says. No one to tackle this concern that pets could contract a disease from a fox, he says. Smith says that isn’t really a big risk for people who keep pets wormed and vaccinated. “It is possible, but lots of things are.” To reduce the risk, people should feed pets indoors if possible, he says, not leave food dishes out for long, and regularly disinfect the dishes. The spokesperson for the National Parks and Wildlife Service says: “There is no information available to NPWS which demonstrates that foxes pose a risk to pets through the spread of illness.” Some pet owners fear that foxes could kill cats, but the Irish Wildlife Trust says that it is unlikely. “In the vast majority of cat-fox interactions, the cat wins,” says the trust on[ its website. ](https://iwt.ie/wildlife-emergency/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Cats are far more likely to catch a disease from another cat or get killed by a car, says Smith. “We have wildlife cameras, you see foxes and cats, they kind of try their best to avoid each other.” Of course, a fox and a cat could fight over food, says Smith, and if that happens, the bigger animal will probably win the fight. But then, cats are good at jumping and climbing, so they’ll usually find a way out. “Urban environments allow multiple escape routes for cats,” says Smith, “if they are losing a fight or if they don’t feel comfortable.” Foxes don’t pose a major risk to cats, says Smith, but cats are themselves serious predators. “I don’t recommend outdoor cats anyway.” They cause havoc to the ecosystem, he says. “Cats are very efficient predators of small birds and small mammals.” ## **Foxes on the rise** The increase in Dublin’s fox population could be down to fewer dogs roaming the streets, says Smith. But he isn’t really sure. Foxes are hunted and shot in rural areas, he says, but in cities, the main predator is the car. Authorities have to weigh up pros and cons in deciding whether to control a wild animal’s population growth, says Smith. He thinks it is likely that wildlife was responsible for damaging people’s cars in Stillorgan, as [reported by *RTÉ*](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27875721-questions-to-the-chief-executive-090326/?ref=dublininquirer.com), last November, he says. That said, it was probably one individual fox in the local area, he says, that got into a habit, and so the problem is likely to be isolated. At the moment, the increase in foxes isn’t causing enough problems to warrant any controls, he says. “I love them,” says Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney. Some Dublin residents are very keen on foxes, she says, and she knows someone who bottle-fed fox cubs after the mother died. People can get upset when foxes rip open rubbish bags, but that’s the fault of humans, says Cooney. The council is also gradually putting an end to the practice of leaving out rubbish in plastic bags, she says, which should deal with that problem. ### Amid secrecy, Dublin City Council CEO advances €600m+ plan to build new council HQ URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-secrecy-dublin-city-council-ceo-advances-eu600m-plan-to-build-new-council-hq/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T00:06:27.000Z At a meeting at Mansion House in February, Dublin City Council CEO Richard Shakespeare explained to Dublin city councillors his plan to build the council a new HQ. It involves buying the stalled Camden Yard development on Kevin Street, where DIT used to be – Shakespeare says the council has signed a contract to do that. And then building new council offices, extra offices to lease to someone else, and “up to 300 public homes”, on the site. It also involves demolishing the council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay, and redeveloping that site with social and cost-rental housing. The costs of the two sides of this project combined would easily top €600 million in public money. But council executives have given few details, publicly, to make the case for it. At a meeting of the South East Area Committee in January, in response to a request from Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey, council executives provided a report on the project that extended to about two-thirds of a page, giving broad strokes. At that month’s meeting of the full council, when Sinn Féin Councillor Micheál Mac Donncha tried to ask about the project, Lord Mayor Ray McAdam, a Fine Gael councillor, gave him 10 seconds – and no answers. Both the executive’s report, and the Lord Mayor said there was already a plan in place for the executive to give group leaders – representatives of the parties and independent groups on the council – a briefing shortly after, and all councillors one in February. [Many questions, few answers about council’s plan to leave Wood Quay and build new HQWhen a councillor tried to raise the project at the monthly meeting Monday, he was given 10 seconds.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-636.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Wood-Quay-1-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/many-questions-few-answers-about-councils-plan-to-leave-wood-quay-and-build-new-hq/) Unlike those two meetings, which were conducted in public, though, the briefing at Mansion House in February was held behind closed doors. Councillors who went along were given hard copies of a presentation, and told not to share them around. The documents were watermarked with the councillors’ names, so if they did share them, it’d be easier to catch. In response to a query on why the council executive is going to such lengths to keep details of the project from the public, a council spokesperson said on Thursday that it was following its "statutory governance processes". "Certain commercially sensitive material is shared first with Members \[councillors\] in line with those procedures, before wider publication," the spokesperson said. "Further documentation will be made available as the project progresses through design, planning and member engagement." However, when Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney went to the Civic Offices by appointment on Wednesday to see one of the technical reports underpinning the executive’s argument that it makes financial sense to build new offices rather than retrofit old ones, she wasn’t allowed, she says. April is getting closer, at which point councillors will be asked to approve the loan for the council to buy Camden Yard, says Cooney. “And part of the financial argument is that it is too expensive to retrofit \[Civic Offices\].” “I don’t feel comfortable about doing that blindly and trustingly,” she said. “I don’t even understand why it needs to be a secret report. It makes me more suspicious.” But Labour Party Councillor Darragh Moriarty said he understands why Shakespeare and other council officials needed to be careful while the deal for Camden Yard was still in the works. It was commercially sensitive, he says. Still, officials have answered any detailed questions put by councillors at briefings, Moriarty says, and been ready to answer phone calls. However, “now that the sale has gone through, there’s a different level of scrutiny that needs to be applied”, Moriarty said. “Now, it’s entirely right that councillors in the full glare at public meetings scrutinise this, and demand timelines and detailed plans,” he said. ## Buying Camden Yards In an email to councillors on Wednesday, Shakespeare, the council chief executive, said that the council has now “signed a contract to purchase the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/The-stalled-Camden-Yards-project--surrounding-the-library-on-Kevin-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1.jpg) The stalled Camden Yards site, with the Kevin Street Library in the middle of it. Photo by Sam Tranum. “The acquisition enables us to progress plans for the development of a new Civic Offices at Camden Yard, designed to modern, energy-efficient standards, alongside the delivery of up to 300 public homes on the site,” he said. This would also “unlock the potential for in excess of 500 public homes on the Wood Quay lands. This approach supports both our climate objectives and the city’s significant housing needs,” he said. The presentation given to councillors at Mansion House last month said the purchase price was €90 million. That's attractive, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly. "We’re getting a very valuable site for very low money," he said, and most councillors were positive about it all at the briefings. The other interesting part is being able to provide housing, he said. “That’s the attractive part as well.” Indeed, if the council were purely a commercial operation, the price tag for Camden Yard would immediately be a good deal, said Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley. But it is also important for the council to be taking a wider view of it, he said, as the steward for the city. Including serious consideration of the climate and carbon costs of the entire two-site project, he said. There’s a looming government [target for all public buildings](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/policy-information/business-and-public-sector-energy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to achieve a minimum BER rating of B by 2030\. In 2019, the Civic Offices' BER [was D1](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515177-foi-released-2019-study-dcc-civic-offices-energy-audit-report-draft-v3/?ref=dublininquirer.com), though it's unclear whether that has since changed. At the meeting at Mansion House in February, Green Party councillors asked for details of the executive’s case that it would be too costly to renovate the current Civic Offices on Wood Quay to meet that target – rather than building a new HQ on Kevin Street. It's generally more environmentally friendly to renovate existing buildings than to abandon them to the wrecking ball. In December, *The Currenc*y reported on a Wednesday that the cost of refurbishment would be "over €250 million". By that Friday, in the email on Shakespeare's behalf, that cost had risen to "[€350–€400 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-would-become-of-the-civic-offices-on-wood-quay-if-the-council-relocates/)". The presentation to councillors at Mansion House in February put the cost at €487 million if done in one phase, or €504 million if done in multiple phases. Moriarty, the Labour councillor, says officials say a significant portion of the retrofitting cost would be renting somewhere else for council staff to run the city from, while works were underway at Wood Quay. “They did get into detail on some of that in the briefings,” he said. Officials also said that it wouldn’t work to retrofit the glassy buildings along the quays which are part of the Civic Offices, Moriarty said. But architects could maybe relook at some of the others, he said. Dublin City Council has [refused to release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515178-foi-schedule-of-records-wood-quay/?ref=dublininquirer.com) three recent reports – including one by consultancy Arup – examining the energy performance of the Civic Offices, or examining the cost of refurbishing the four blocks of offices. The council knocked back a request under the Freedom of Information Act, saying that the reports are commercially sensitive and that releasing them could affect the council’s internal deliberative processes, among other reasons. [In justifying its plan to abandon its Wood Quay HQ, council refuses to show its homeworkIt’s generally more environmentally friendly to renovate existing buildings than to abandon them to the wrecking ball, but other public organisations could follow suit.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-637.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/creepers---Laoise-Neylon-1-3.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-justifying-its-plan-to-abandon-its-wood-quay-hq-council-refuses-to-show-its-homework/) However, councillors were told they could make an appointment to stop into Civic Offices on Wood Quay, to read one of the reports, said Cooney, the Green Party councillor. This was one drawn up by engineers at Arup, looking into costs and considerations around retrofitting the current headquarters, Cooney said. She said she wants to take a look because she wants to see more of the detail around the possibilities of a phased retrofitting of the office space as offices. She wants to see also what standard they considered bringing them up to, she says. “The main thing would be to make them a place that is comfortable for the employees to work in.” But once she got to the Civic Offices on Wednesday, a staff member from the chief executive’s office said that she couldn’t see it right then after all, she says. “They wouldn’t let me see it.” The staff member said Cooney would need to have somebody with her to explain it. Cooney said she would read it, and ask questions later if she had any. Later, on the phone, the staff member said council officials were going to arrange for interested councillors to attend a meeting next week, where somebody would explain that report. Cooney didn’t get a clear answer, she said, on whether they would get the full report at that meeting or just a summary. And if she could read the whole report ahead of the meeting, to think about questions she wants to ask, she said. Her party colleague, Feljin Jose, said that building a new Civic Offices to avoid retrofitting the existing Civic Offices defeats the purpose of the relevant [EU directive](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-targets-directive-and-rules/public-buildings%5Fen?ref=dublininquirer.com), which demands public bodies renovate old offices to reduce carbon emissions. "We'd only be fulfilling the regulations on paper while increasing overall emissions," he said. But now that the council has signed a contract to buy Camden Yard, the next step is to set about building out the planning permission for the site. The presentation Shakespeare gave to councillors at Mansion House last month estimates it would cost €338 million to build the new council offices, €102 million for the additional offices they plan to let out, and €141 million to build the housing. Shakespeare said in January that the council plans to buy and develop the Camden Yard site using capital spending, and borrowing. He said no other projects would be affected, with money being shifted away from them to pay for this, but it is unclear how this is possible, since the council has a limited capital budget for big once-off projects like this. Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, a supporter of the project, has said the council could sell off some of its assets – like land or car park – to raise more money if necessary. The council’s plan to buy and build out Camden Yard hinges on councillors approving a big loan – and the Department of Housing signing off on that too. But the council’s borrowing capacity is limited by an annual cap on total borrowing by all local authorities combined. The department limits how much councils can borrow each year. At the moment, they can [collectively](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/) borrow €118 million a year. Council budgets show it borrowing €370 million itself on other projects between 2025 and 2029, including €135 million for a big public housing development at Emmet Road, and €90 million for the new city library on Parnell Square. The department has said it is looking at lifting the borrowing envelope. Letting councils borrow more, in other words. But, it has said, exploration of that is at early stages. Moriarty, the Labour councillor, said that the existing borrowing envelope has become totally unsustainable. “It doesn’t allow for any ambition.” The borrowing cap has been a consistent bugbear for the council, repeatedly raised, he said. [Central government is looking at whether councils should be allowed to borrow more, to build moreThe current restrictions do need to change, said a spokesperson for the Department of Finance.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-638.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Emmet-Road-development-under-construction-1-1-2.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/) ## Redeveloping the Wood Quay site If the project proceeds and the council moves to its new HQ at Camden Yards, some years down the line, then that would leave its current offices on Wood Quay vacant. Those offices include two “bunkers” designed by architect Sam Stephenson, as well as the [glass-fronted office building](https://www.stwarchitects.com/projects/civic-and-cultural/civic-offices-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) along the river was built, completed in 1994. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Dublin-City-Council-s-Civic-Offices-on-Wood-Quay.-Photo-by-Michael-Smyth.jpg) The Civic Offices on Wood Quay. Photo by Michael Smyth. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists these as “regional” architectural significance. This “constitutes a ministerial recommendation for its inclusion on Dublin City Council’s Record of Protected Structures”, says the 2020 [conservation report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382369-conservation-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Although it’s [not listed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382386-final-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028-volume-4-rps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (yet). When construction started on those buildings, it revealed on the site “the core of the Viking and medieval site known as *Dyflinn*”, according to an [archaeological report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382368-archaelogical-assessment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the 2020 planning application. These finds kicked off massive protests to preserve the remains. For the September 1978 “Save Wood Quay” protest march, about 20,000 people took to the streets, according to [History Ireland](https://www.historyireland.com/heritage-outrage-wood-quay/?ref=dublininquirer.com). There was also a three-week sit-in on the site by 52 protestors, “supported by thousands of members of the public”, it says. In the end, of course, the Civic Offices were built. These days, it’s the headquarters for the council, with about [20,000 square metres](https://www.stwarchitects.com/projects/civic-and-cultural/civic-offices-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of office space. [What would become of the Civic Offices on Wood Quay if the council relocates?After The Currency reported the idea of the council moving its HQ, councillors were talking about and thinking through the pros and cons and implications.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-639.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Dublin-City-Council-s-Civic-Offices--with-the-newer-Scott-Tallon-Walker-building-to-the-left--and-a-Stephenson-bunker-visible-to-the-right.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-would-become-of-the-civic-offices-on-wood-quay-if-the-council-relocates/) The plan for the Civic Offices, according to the watermarked presentation given to councillors at Mansion House in February, is to demolish all the buildings. In their place, the presentation shows, in a “design concept/capacity study”, blocks of apartments covering most of the site, with several courtyards and green spaces around and among them. A block to the south of the site would be social housing, it says. Three blocks to the north of the site would be cost-rental. “Design Option 05”, shows 401 cost-rental apartments, and 131 social apartments, for a total of 532 homes, and 1,229 bedrooms. “The LDA standard unit types were used for this study,” the notes on one page say. A spokesperson for the Land Development Agency has previously declined to comment on whether it would be interested in building housing on the Wood Quay site. There is also a “standalone cultural amenity and community centre”, in the designs given to councilors at the Mansion House briefing. On one page of the presentation, there’s a drawing of the site, the positions and shapes of the blocks, in grey, and the courtyards. An amenity building is marked in yellow on the Fishamble Street side of the site. Notes to the side of this drawing say “A two-storey amenity building is introduced as focal point and gateway element”. On the drawing itself, however, it’s marked “6 storey Amenity building”, “Community / Arts / Cultural Centre”. The plans in the presentation are marked “City Architects”. There’s a note in them saying it is a “high level analysis of the capacity of the site”. It was compiled “without inputs from design team consultants such as Civil & Structural Engineers, Services Engineers, Fire Safety Engineers, Access Consultants or Landscape Consultants”, the presentation says. It was also “prepared in the absence of detailed site information such as topographic surveys, utility surveys and site investigation surveys”, and “no consultation has taken place with DCC’s Planning Department or Technical Departments in relation to the proposal presented”. On Thursday, a spokesperson for the council said that now that it has signed a contract for Camden Yard, it's going to start talking more to councillors about the future of Wood Quay. "A structured process will now take place with Elected Members to consider future options for Wood Quay," the spokesperson said. "No decisions have been made, and considerations around the existing buildings – including heritage, sustainability and architectural factors – will form part of that engagement." ## Next steps Asked in December whether the council’s plans to move its HQ away from Wood Quay, to Camden Yards, would require permission from the Department of Housing, a department spokesperson said no. “Ministerial approval is not required in respect of the location or purchase of local authority offices and buildings – the Department does not have direct involvement or role in such matters,” the spokesperson said. But the presentation Shakespeare gave to councillors at Mansion House last month, said the project would need to be approved by the central government. Because “it will be considered a Major Project (Over €200million)”, it says. “Ministerial approval prior to tendering.” In response to a query on whether it agrees with this assessment that the project will require government approval, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said on Thursday that it's unclear at this point. "Given the breadth and complexity of the overall project", the spokesperson said, "it is not possible to confirm at this point whether Central Government approval under the major projects guidelines will be required, or if it will apply to all elements of the project." "When the Dublin City Council project proposal is further developed, this Department will engage with the local authority both in respect of the wider proposal and the housing elements," he said. In any case, Moriarty, the Labour councillor, said that as far as he knows, council officials have spoken to the central government about its plans for Camden Yard and Wood Quay. “My understanding is nobody has shouted stop.” In his email to councillors announcing that the council had signed a contract to buy Camden Yard, Shakespeare, the council’s chief executive, said, “Work will now begin on the detailed design, planning, and sequencing required to advance this project.” Moriarty said he’s been told it could take between now and Q1 of 2027 for contractors to be back on site at Camden Yard. “Because everything was stood down,” he said. The presentation given to councillors last month lists the planned "completion" date for the Camden Yard end of the project as 2029. While that construction is going on, the council would get its ducks in a row for the redevelopment of the Wood Quay site, he says. So that once Camden Yard is launched, workers from the Civic Offices could move over and work get started at Wood Quay. That would mean only a short gap between workers leaving Wood Quay, and work starting on that site, he said. “This is what I would hope would happen.” Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor, says that his party's main concern is that the Wood Quay site won't move that fast, that the economy turns and funding fails to materialise, and that it sits for decades empty and falling derelict. If this is pursued, he says, the council should look to put forward a detailed positive vision for what will go on that site as soon as possible. ### One in four staff posts in Dublin City Council’s local area offices aren’t filled URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/one-in-four-staff-posts-in-dublin-city-councils-local-area-offices-arent-filled/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T00:02:22.000Z About a quarter of the sanctioned staff positions in Dublin City Council’s five area offices are vacant. The biggest gap (31 percent) is in the North West Area, [show figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27875160-public-reports-pack-02032026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p40) from 5 January released to independent Councillor John Lyons, at last week’s monthly meeting. That’s followed by South Central (30 percent) and Central (24 percent). Close behind is the vacancy rate in the South East Area Office (23 percent), while North Central has the lowest empty posts (9 percent). Area offices are local hubs, from which council staff coordinate the delivery of services – from housing requests, to liaising with local community groups around events, and overseeing public domain. A council spokesperson said that no issues are coming up because of the fact that 87 of the 355 positions are unfilled. “There is no indication that Council work is being delayed due to vacancies,” they said. “Established workforce planning structures ensure that critical roles are prioritised and that recruitment activity is aligned with operational requirements,” they said. But Dermot Lacey, a Labour councillor for the South East Area, isn’t so convinced, he said. “There doesn’t seem to be a logic in that statement,” said Lacey, on the phone on Wednesday. “Are they saying that people are working overtime? Are they saying that people are doing more than they should be doing?” Lacey also wonders what is considered critical and what isn’t. “Are the yellow lines on Brookvale Road that took four months to be painted critical or not critical?” he says. “Is the person waiting for a wheelchair disabled bay critical?” What about the lack of bins in Irishtown Nature Park? Lacey continued. The list of things taking far too much time is a long one, he says. Lyons, who asked for the numbers, said the North West Area, which he represents, is being “underserved and left behind”. “This is shocking and even more so considering the amount of development taking place across the area – it is one of the fastest growing areas of Dublin City,” he said. “It is simply unacceptable.” “I am calling on the chief executive of Dublin City Council to meet myself and the rest of the Dublin North Central councillors to discuss how the executive is going to address the understaffing of the area,” he said. ## **Different complaints** When Anthony Connaghan, a Sinn Féin councillor for the North West Area, contacts the area office in Finglas, the response is usually fairly quick, he said. Problems he encounters stem from the lack of direct labour on the ground, he said – to cover things like road maintenance. “If you were to drive around the certain areas that were destroyed by the bad weather, the roads are still not repaired,” he says. “And this is going on like at least a month.” If the council had its own crews to go out and repair these roads, even with temporary fixes, it would be a big improvement, says Connaghan. Waste management still takes longer to deal with illegal dumping than he and his colleagues would like, he says, but there it is better than the past. “There's still an issue, but it did improve.” Also, some roles included in the figures in Lyon’s reply have been created recently, he says. That’s why they remain unfilled, Connaghan says a council official told him. Another issue, says independent Councillor Vincent Jackson, chair of the South Central Area Committee – where 25 of 84 positions were vacant at the start of January – is that senior staff are now double or triple jobbing. There used to be a dedicated executive manager for the South Central Area, Jackson said on Wednesday by phone. Today, Bernard Kelly works as executive manager for the South Central, North Central and North West areas. “I haven't seen Bernard now in about three months because he's so busy at all the other things,” Jackson says. “So, you can't tell me that the areas are getting the level of attention they require when you don't have personnel on the ground with a sufficient amount of time available now,” he says. Similarly, he says, Mick Carroll, the area manager for Finglas, is now also handling Ballyfermot. This is Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan’s second term representing the North West Area, where 23 of 52 posts were vacant in January. The slow-down in local services since the pandemic has yet to speed up, she said on Monday by phone. A housing application may have taken roughly eight weeks pre-pandemic, she says. Then it was maybe 12 weeks – and lately, it’s even longer. “There was a creep during Covid that we never caught up on, with the backlog, and then we didn't have staff,” she said. ## **The hiring** A big part of the problem, says Callaghan, is the time that the council’s hiring process takes. “It’s extraordinarily long.” It becomes prohibitive, she says. Someone looking for work might apply to 10 or more places, she says. “If the council takes four months to go through its process, I've probably already taken a job two months before I hear an offer from the council,” she says. A council spokesperson said that the council “remains strongly committed to improving processes wherever possible, including within recruitment”. “While efficiencies are continually explored, the duration of individual competitions can vary based on several factors, particularly the volume of applications received,” they said. The other problem is that many people are reaching retirement age, says Callaghan. “People are leaving, and we're not fillingthose posts as quickly as we need to,” she says. Indeed, says Jackson, the independent councillor. He has attended two events in the last few weeks in the Mansion House, celebrating council staff who were retiring. Each time, there were more than 40 staff members being acknowledged for their contribution to the city council, he said. A huge number of them had worked in housing, in the parks department, working as general operatives, he says. “But I don't see the competitions out there to replace them.” Said the council spokesperson: “The HR Department maintains ongoing oversight of staffing levels, anticipated retirements, and future workforce needs.” *“*Given the size and complexity of the organisation, with a broad range of grades and specialised roles, vacancies are managed through structured workforce planning frameworks to ensure continuity of service to the public,” they added. Feljin Jose, a Green Party councillor for the Central Area, also raised a few questions relating to council staffing at last week’s monthly meeting. Why are some positions with Dublin City Council only advertised internally, and how is the decision to advertise either internally or externally made? [he asked](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27875522-q127-feljin-jose/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Most positions in the council are advertised externally by open competition, the chief executive's written reply said. There are a number of reasons why some positions are advertised internally, they said. Positions in Dublin Fire Brigade are mostly filled by internal competition due to the eligibility criteria, they said. Other positions across operational grades are traditionally filled by internal competition to provide a career path for general operative grades, they said. “In addition, there are some positions that are unique to the City Council and have to date been filled by internal competition,” said the response. “The Human Resources Department is currently reviewing a number of these positions with a view to advertising by external competition. This process is being carried out in conjunction with the relevant Trade Unions,” the reply said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #120 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-120/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T09:54:46.000Z Worried you're not getting enough protein? Never fear, we have you covered. You can now ignore every poster, package and newspaper advertorial pushing the latest bar, cereal, and coffee "packed with protein" and just go about your life. You're welcome, writes Dublin Inquirer Deputy Editor Lois Kapila. Fahd Hussein runs Red Spéir, a Dublin studio working in print, digital and motion design for corporate and NGO clients. He also extensively works for the global music industry under his project Ryche Art. You can see more of his work at redspeir.com and on Instagram. ### Things To Do: Store your seeds, seek sanctuary in Naul, accept that the parade is inescapable URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-store-your-seeds-seek-sanctuary-in-naul-accept-that-the-parade-is-inescapable/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T07:20:19.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Contentious Space by Rosaleen McDonagh** Over in Hodges Figgis this evening the playwright and author Rosaleen McDonagh is launching her debut novel, *Contentious Spaces*. *Contentious Spaces* follows the lives of a group of Traveller families in Saint Rita’s and are just a week away from being evicted by the council, an action which threatens not only their homes but also their history and the stories that have shaped them. Described as unflinching and haunting, McDonagh uses the novel to grapple with identity, loyalty, shame, reliance, grief and love. As part of the launch, McDonagh will be in the shop to speak with the activist and writer Sinéad Burke. The [event](https://www.hodgesfiggis.ie/events?ref=dublininquirer.com) starts at 6pm today (Thursday, 12 March) and admission is free. **The Centrality of Bodies, Fiona Marron at Pallas** Also this evening, over in Pallas Projects, artist Fiona Marron is opening her new exhibition, The Centrality of Bodies. The second exhibition in Pallas’ 2026 Artist-Initiated Projects programme, The Centrality of Bodies builds on Marron’s long-standing engagement with communications and internet infrastructure, bringing together new works that collectively address the material, social and relational underpinnings of such systems. Marron’s work in The Centrality combines moving-image, photographic, print and sculptural elements in an installation that builds a conceptual interplay between artefacts and individuals, and observes the interactions of technologies old and new – from grinding gears to subsea fibre-optic cables. And if you have children between the ages of four and eight, or you’re a reader within that age bracket, Marron is also running a workshop intended for your child, or you (the remarkably advanced kid with an email address and a newspaper subscription). Inspired by the Adam Guillain children’s book *The Street Beneath My Feet*, the workshop looks at the networks and technologies surrounding us, and invites participants on an imaginative journey where they can construct, participate and occupy a world of their own making. The workshop is geared towards schools, and if you are interested in bringing a class to attend, contact the gallery at outreach@pallasprojects.org. The Centrality of Bodies launches this evening at 6pm (Thursday, 12 March) and will run until 28 March. For more information, visit the exhibition page [here](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/fiona-marron-the-centrality-of-bodies?ref=dublininquirer.com). **You’re Bleedin’ Gorgeous** The inconsiderate Gregorian Calendar has decided to put St. Patrick’s Day on a Tuesday this year, and thus created a financial catastrophe. The Bank Holiday’s value has been diluted. All of this is to say, people are going to be celebrating our patron saint’s day over the weekend. If you’re looking for music, the Grand Social is hosting You’re Bleedin’ Gorgeous, an all-day festival on Saturday, 14 March. Featuring 22 artists across three stages, the line-up is loaded with up-and-coming artists, including Babyrat, Telekura, Smithereens, Saint Sylvia and Wobblin Jude The festival starts at 1pm. Entry is €10 and tickets are available [here.](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/youre-bleedin-gorgeous-paddys-day-fest-at-the-grand-social-tickets-1983276778232?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Sanctuary** If you’re extremely keen to escape the city this weekend however, we can send you to the Naul, because the Seamus Ennis Arts Centre is hosting a special open day to celebrate Sanctuary, a new exhibition by artist Cormac Dennis. Launched late in February, Sanctuary brings together more than 25 of Dennis’ oil and pastel works. Exploring the natural world and spiritual growth, the works document Dennis’ personal journey along Fingal’s coast. As part of the exhibition, Dennis will be up at the centre from 10pm to discuss this current collection. He will then, at 11.30am and 1pm, be hosting live demonstrations in oil painting, charcoal and conté. Amateur artists are also invited to bring one work of their own up to discuss and get feedback from Dennis during the day. To reserve a spot, visit the event page [here](https://www.tseac.ie/event-details/artist-open-day-with-cormac-dennis?ref=dublininquirer.com). If however, you can’t make it up on Saturday, Dennis’ exhibition will be on show until 31 March. For more information, visit the centre’s website [here](https://www.tseac.ie/shop?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Ballymun Seed Library** Over the winter, Ballymun Library set up a seed library. Located in the adult library’s gardening section, and decorated with an image of children playing in the flats, the seed library was filled with snowdrop, crocus and bluebell bulbs for anyone to take and plant ahead of the spring. People with a few too many seeds were invited to donate theirs for others to use. And on Saturday at 2pm, the library is officially launching its seed library. To mark the occasion, Polly Sams-Rowley, the eco-gardener in residence in Richmond Barracks, will be giving a talk on seed saving. Local climate action and biodiversity organisations, including Ballymun Biodiversity Action Group, Ballymun Tidy Towns, Glasnevin North Tidy Towns and The Rediscovery Centre, will also be available to provide information and advice to those attending. The event is free. For more information, visit the Dublin City Council Libraries website [here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=24227611&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Parade** As someone who spent two hours trying to walk from Tara Street to Parnell Street to eat a corn dog on St. Patrick’s Day two years ago, I have no intention of going to see the parade. But, while on that lengthy journey, I came to the realisation that one city dweller’s obstruction is another’s entertainment. Profound, no? Anyway, the parade starts at 12pm on Parnell Square, and will wrap up at the Cuffe Street/Kevin Street junction. Whether you choose to see the spectacle in between those two points, or would like to use that information to ease your travels throughout the day, is up to you. But it would be remiss of me not to mention that the parade is coming, and it cares not for your appetite. **Dublin and Art: 1950 to Today with Aoife Convery** Rathmines Library is hosting the latest in a collaborative series with the Hugh Lane Gallery, which explores the history of art in the city. Dublin and Art is an illustrated art-talk series that is being presented as part of the Hugh Lane Gallery’s off-site Explore and Learn programme, and explores how artists have been inspired by the people and places in Dublin city from the 19th century to the present day. For the Rathmines talk, lecturer and gallery guide Aoife Convery will be exploring the city’s art from the 1950s to today. Admission is free, but booking is required. To reserve your spot, visit the event page [here](https://www.dublincity.ie/events/dublin-and-art-1950-today-aoife-convery-0?ref=dublininquirer.com). Advertisement [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Got-Frames.png)](https://www.gotframes.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [Learn more ](https://www.gotframes.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Producing Strategies Podcast** Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is hosting the online launch of Producing Strategies, a new podcast series by curatorial practitioner Vaari Claffey and writer and academic Francis Halsall, exploring creative producing as a practice and form. In conversation with creative experts, Claffey and Halsall speak with curators, film producers, editors, designers, food producers, fashion designers, and more – about how they produce and make things happen. For more information, and to listen to the first nine episodes, visit the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios website [here](https://www.templebargallery.com/whats-on/watch-listen/online-podcast-launch-producing-strategies?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Corduff Place Report** Fingal County Council has formally launched a report presenting the findings of an in-depth community engagement process carried out with residents, local organisations, and service providers in Corduff Place throughout 2025. This "Standard Tool Report", is available on Fingal County Council’s website [here](https://www.fingal.ie/place-standards-tool?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Bike Week Community Grant** If you have an idea to make biking better in your community, Dublin City Council is currently taking applications for its Bike Week Community Grant. The grant is open to community groups and clubs, on-profit organizations, local cycling groups and family friendly events. The deadline is 1 April. For more information and to apply, visit the Bike Week Community Grant website [here](https://www.dublincity.ie/sports-and-healthy-living/walking-and-cycling-dublin/bike-week-2026/bike-week-community-grant?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Bike%20Week%20Community%20Grant%3F%20%3E,to%20cycle%20safely%20and%20enjoyably.). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Grand vision for Pigeon House on Poolbeg Peninsula is shrunk way down – for now URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/grand-vision-for-pigeon-house-on-poolbeg-peninsula-is-shrunk-way-down-for-now/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T07:20:30.000Z The Pigeon House Hotel on the Poolbeg peninsula needs to be brought back into public use, councillors on the council’s South East Area Committee said on Monday. The old Dublin City Council-owned property arose at the afternoon meeting when officials informed local councillors of a proposal to let some of its rooms to Celtic Anglian Water Limited. That company [operates](https://www.caw.ie/our-sites/ringsend-wastewater-treatment-works?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant, also on the peninsula, for Uisce Éirean. The council had let Celtic Anglian Water seven rooms in the three-storey hotel beside the Poolbeg Stacks – under a temporary monthly licence since July 2018, according to a report by Darach O’Connor, the council’s executive manager. Now, O’Connor proposed that the company be granted a five-year short-term business letting of rooms. The former hotel was originally built between1793 and 1795, according to the [council’s website](https://www.dublincityfilmoffice.ie/filming-location/pigeon-house-hotel/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In 2018, the council had owned the hotel and neighbouring former ESB power station, which sit on a seven-acre site, for about a decade. It was [planning to put out a call](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-poolbeg-peninsula-council-wants-to-give-old-buildings-new-life/) to developers who might be interested in leasing the site for “a wide range of uses including creative, technological, green, artistic and community uses”. The power station had been empty for at least 20 years, said Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said at the time. “There have been various proposals over the years, but it needs a big project.” It’s right on the beach with a harbour. “I mean, the potential is just absolutely enormous,” says Lacey. The council put out the call for developers in [January 2019](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s17544/Pigeon%20House%20Precinct%20Brief.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). But in 2021, *The Currency* [reported](https://thecurrency.news/articles/60402/after-3-years-and-5-bidders-dcc-has-pulled-plans-to-redevelop-the-iconic-pidgeon-house-power-station-and-hotel/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the council had abruptly shut down the project. ## From big ambitions to small At the area committee meeting on Monday afternoon, independent Councillor Mannix Flynn said he needed more information on the council’s latest – much less ambitious – proposal to lease some of the rooms in the Pigeon House hotel. He didn’t understand why the building was being divided up for short-term leases, he said. “There’s a great possibility of Dublin City Council themselves developing it.” Celtic Anglian Water had been in the premises for a long time, Cathy Cassidy, a senior staff officer in the council’s Planning and Development department said. “They are just using a couple of floors. We’re just getting some money in.” As part of the agreement, the company paid a monthly licence fee of €3,000, with the most recent one expiring on 30 April 2024, and the new five-year lease commencing from 1 May of that same year, [O’Connor’s report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s51669/Grant%20of%205%20Year%20Licence%20Pigeon%20House%20Hotel%20Rooms.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the area committee, dated 3 February said. That licence fee goes towards the upkeep of the building, Cassidy told Flynn at the meeting. “But management do have plans for the long run, and they won’t be there forever. It’s just a short-term thing.” They were getting this new licence agreement because they are going to pay for a significant upgrade of the building’s CCTV cameras, O’Connor said at the meeting. According to the proposed agreement, the council will upgrade the CCTV, and Celtic Anglian Water will reimburse them for the €15,726.56 that those works will cost. The council doesn’t have any immediate plans for it, O’Connor said. “So we decided to offer a five year short-term business lend.” But Flynn was right, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said. “I’d love to see some sort of public use for this building.” It is particularly important because the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone is its next door neighbour. “We’re going to have nearly 15,000 people living down in that area,” Lacey said. Nobody would want to see any long-term letting of the building which could potentially stop the council from bringing it back into public use, he said. One of the terms in the new agreement states that the agreement can be terminated if either party gives six months prior notice, O’Connor said. “If we wanted to cut it short, we’ll have the option to do that.” It wasn’t a problem if this was a short-term thing, Lacey said. “But you know, we are putting people in there and we should be looking to build something visionary in the future.” Flynn asked for the granting of this licence to be deferred for a month while he sought more information from the council’s chief executive Richard Shakespeare. There’s a great opportunity here to create something to coincide with the Glass Bottle site development, he said. “But equally, the neighbourhood itself is without many resources.” If the council doesn’t renew the licence, the property will sit vacant, Cassidy said. But the committee agreed to defer the item until its April meeting. ### Delays in residence permit renewals put lives of non-EU immigrants on hold – again URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/delays-in-residence-permit-renewals-put-lives-of-non-eu-immigrants-on-hold-again/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T07:20:41.000Z Robin Jose’s immigration papers had expired by the time his wife got hers renewed, he said, recently. His status is tied to his wife’s. She works in healthcare, said Jose. He reckoned he couldn’t apply to get his own papers without showing an up-to-date Irish Residence Permit (IRP) for his wife, said Jose. In retrospect, he said, he probably should have applied anyway. It took three months for his wife’s IRP to process, said Jose. At that point, Jose’s IRP had been out of date for a month, he said. He applied for renewal in December when his wife got hers. He’s still waiting, said Jose. In the meantime, he said, he’s out of work untilhe has a new IRP. The Department of Justice has [a notice for employers](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27777972-notice-to-employers-regarding-employees-awaiting-renewal-of-their-irp-card-immigration-service-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its website asking them to let people like Jose keep working on an expired IRP for “a maximum of 12 weeks”. But not every employer keeps people on that long, he said. Some are more understanding than others, said Jose, who worked in retail. He is not alone. There are others whose lives are so unsettled by the wait that they have banded together and [called a protest](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27777576-645420444-1229135656004293-6712164879447998635-n/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for Thursday 12 March, at 11am, outside the city’s immigration office on Burgh Quay. For those currentlywaiting, one thing is clear, they said. The impact of not having a valid IRP card on their lives is profound. It can upend it – like pulling on a thread and unravelling the whole garment. They want the Department of Justice to bulk up staff numbers for its Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) unit to avoid delays even when there’s an upswell, they said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that at the moment the city’s immigration office is wrestling with “exceptionally high demand”, both for first-time registration of immigration permissions and for renewals. “With a recent spike in numbers due to the annual renewal of Temporary Protection permissions” for Ukrainian refugees, they said. ## Not the first time Delays like these have [cropped up before](https://www.dublininquirer.com/irish-residence-permit-delays-ruin-many-non-eu-migrants-plans-to-travel-in-europe-for-work-or-pleasure/). In 2022, the Department of Justice saw a solution in letting people apply for renewal up to three months before their permissions lapsed. It’s not always possible for everyone to file requests way ahead because they might be waiting for needed paperwork to come through. But it seemed to have mostly tackled the backlog. But back then it was only processing applications filed by Dubliners. Since late 2024, people from all over the country apply online to renew through the city’s immigration office, not just Dubliners. Before that, those living outside Dublin had to email their local Garda station, request an appointment and turn up on the day to show paperwork to an immigration officer working for the Gardaí to renew. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly respond to a query asking if it is facing staff shortages. It is sitting on about 68,000 online renewal applications, and currently looking at cases filed on 6 December 2025, the spokesperson said. It understands the frustration of those waiting for long periods, they said. But “please be assured that ISD is doing everything possible to facilitate as many applicants possible”, the spokesperson said. ## Hey, what have I got? For Pranab Kumar, a lack of immigration papers means he can’t get his driving licence despite having passed the exam, said Kumar, who applied to renew his IRP on 18 December 2025. “After waiting four-five months for a driving test, I finally passed my driving test on 28 January 2026,” said Kumar. When he was applying to get his licence, his IRP had expired already, so he uploaded proof that he’d requested a new one, he said. But the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) told him it can’t process his application without a new residence permit, said Kumar. “I explained my situation and also sent them an email requesting an extension until I receive my renewed IRP card, but so far I have not received any response,” he said. A spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has not yet responded to a query sent on Friday morning asking if its NDLS would grant extensions to people in the same boat if they need it. Though, there doesn’t seem to be any deadline for picking up a driving licence. ## Never came Shanto George’s immigration paper renewal request successfully processed, he said, but his IRP never arrived. He applied in November and got an approval email on 30 January, which usually asks people to give it a couple of weeks to get the actual card in the mail, he said. “I tried to call them, but there’s no contact number,” George said. He submitted queries through the Department of Justice’s “customer service portal” for immigrants, he said. “They said wait 20 days, and there hasn’t been any more progress,” George said. He lives in Cork city, where people like him used to pick up their papers at its Garda station in the past. George dropped by there anyway, he said. “They said they had no idea because they’re not conducting any immigration process there.” He’s reached out to An Post, too. Its workers told him that since the immigration office sends out residence permits like a regular letter, they can’t track it for him, said George. “So, I have no clue what happened,” he said. Immigrants [have said in the past](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-age-of-email-immigrants-in-ireland-must-still-wait-for-government-letters-sent-by-post-and-suffer-when-they-go-astray/) that their important letters have gone astray on the way. Not all government departments rely on post to send out salient permits and missives, though. The Department of Employment emails out a digital work permit to non-EU workers on the same day it approves their application. ## We’re going nowhere Ajay Shaji, a member of Kranthi Ireland – a social and political group for the Indian community here – said IRP processing delays have also curbed people’s freedom of movement. The Department of Justice has not extended a “travel confirmation notice” that used to make it possible for people to travel abroad and board flights back on an expired IRP but showing proof that they’d applied to renew it, said Shaji. The notice was valid [until 28 February](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27800754-isd-announce-extension-to-travel-confirmation-notice-immigration-service-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com), but not after, Shaji said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it doesn’t have any plans to extend the travel notice at the moment. Its [website suggests](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27800754-isd-announce-extension-to-travel-confirmation-notice-immigration-service-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the measure was initially rolled out “to facilitate customers travelling at Christmas”, but had been renewed and stretched out to February’s end. Said Shaji:“Even when they acknowledge they have this much backlogs they are not extending the travel advisory”. Allen Joseph said his friend had to travel back to India for a family emergency, but he can’t come back. “He’s stuck”. Jose – the man who had waited for his wife’s IRP to come through to apply for his – said he wished there was a number he could call to hear a human voice on the other end, who’d listen. But “everything is the same reply or an automatic email”. He said he’s even willing to pay more than the current IRP price of €300 to get his papers so he can work again. “I’d pay €400, €500,” he said. “You know our rent is €2,000 here, and I have a baby. We don’t have enough to manage only with \[my wife’s\] salary,” said Jose. ### Council set to brush off plan for new tearoom in Bushy Park, chief executive says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-set-to-brush-off-plan-for-new-tearoom-in-bushy-park-chief-executive-says/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T07:20:52.000Z It seemed like half of Terenure was out in Bushy Park, either playing or watching the many games underway on Sunday evening. Kids swung rackets, on most of the nine tennis and four padel courts. They played basketball on the stoney half-court nearby. And on six of the eight GAA and football pitches, there was either a training session, a match, or a few strays knocking sliotars around with hurls. At the south-west end of the park – which covers roughly 44 hectares, [according to Dublin City Council’s website](https://www.dublincity.ie/parks-and-nature/dublin-city-parks/visit-park/bushy-park?ref=dublininquirer.com) – the playground was filled with excited young children, devouring ice cream and cones bought by parents from a van parked some 50 metres away. The playground stands at the top of a slope overlooking the duck pond and a green bandstand, where some teenagers sat, chatting and laughing loudly. Nine years ago, the council was getting ready to build a new tearoom on this small hill too, said Caroline Kennedy of I Love Terenure, a local community organisation. “It was quite spectacular.” While approved by councillors [in 2017](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27864199-annual-report-2017/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p42), the project stalled in 2024 due to a lack of funding, according to a council [quality assurance report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772861-dublin-city-council-quality-assurance-report-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from May 2025. Now, the council is planning to revisit the designs that were green-lit, the council’s Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare said [on 9 February](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27823921-public-reports-pack-02032026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?q=bushy&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p105). “With a view to bringing that project into the capital programme,” he said, referring to the council’s multi-annual budget for big, once-off projects – like building a tearoom. It is an exciting prospect that the Bushy Park tearoom could be in the pipeline once again Kennedy said on Monday. “I have constantly been asking our community officer for the last three years.” A council spokesperson on Monday declined to comment on whether the council intends to follow through with the now decade-old designs that they approved, or would update the plans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Bushy-Park-bandstand-and-site-of-tearoom-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) Bushy Park bandstand and (in foreground) site of tearoom. Photo by Michael Lanigan ## A very long tea break The Bushy Park tearoom was first floated as an idea at a community meeting around 12 years ago, said Kennedy. “We had like three hundred people in a local hall, and just wanted a King Arthur at the Round Table scenario where everyone’s voice was equal,” she said. Numerous projects emerged from that gathering, including the farmer’s market in the park, she said. “About 50 came out of it, and obviously tearoom was one of them.” Council officials notified the South-East Area Committee [in October 2016](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27864201-part-8-report-bushy-park-tea-room/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that they would initiate a Part 8 planning application for the construction of the tea room, while also upgrading the band stand and doing some landscaping works. [Those proposed designs](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s11805/Part%208%20Report%20Bushy%20Park%20Tea%20Room.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) showed a one-storey cafe, perched atop the slope with a balcony facing out onto the redesigned bandstand, itself equipped with a new roof, steel gates to create a backstage area and a concrete access ramp. According to the report, presented to the area committee, only [six submissions](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/SearchResult/RunThirdPartySearch?FileSystemId=PL&Folder1%5FRef=2480/17&ref=dublininquirer.com) were received during the consultation process, with those raising concerns with traffic, parking and the “impact on amenity space”. These plans progressed unbeknownst to a lot of locals, Kennedy says. “It was very under the radar.” It was news that any of this had proceeded past the design stage, said Fionnuala Blake, the Terenure Residents Association’s chairperson on Tuesday. “We were shown this amazing restaurant and tea room, and what it wasn’t going to have, it would be the envy of the world.” But she hadn’t heard a single word since then, she said. The toilet and tearoom were granted permission by the council in 2017, according to Shakespeare, the council’s CEO, in a report [last month.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27823921-public-reports-pack-02032026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?q=bushy&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p105) Construction work on both the tearoom and public toilet was slated by the council to be finished in 2022, Leslie Moore, the head of the council’s Park Services, had told the South East Area Committee in [May 2021](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-updates-debating-the-delivery-of-social-homes-a-park-cafe-and-more/). But, four years later, the council had placed the project on hold until they could identify funding streams, according to the council quality assurance report published in May 2025. By then the council had already spent €616,075 on the tearoom and its ancillary facilities, the report says, noting that they were projected to spend a total of €1.9 million by the time it was finished. After sitting dormant since then, its status was queried by Fine Gael Councillor Patrick Kinsella at the council’s full monthly council meeting on 9 February. Kinsella asked if there was any update on the tea room, and if it was possible to incorporate into the design any autism-friendly elements? The council does intend to re-visit the Part 8 plan for it at the end of the year, Shakespeare said. “This will include a ‘changing places’ facility.” Funding for their development would come from development levies, he said. Park Services would also liaise with the local organisations Autism Friendly Terenure and Age Friendly Terenure on any proposals, he said. When asked on Monday if the council would be changing any elements of the approved designs, a spokesperson for the council responded saying they had no comment “as this project is not currently being progressed”. ## Some tearooms are more open than others Currently, Dublin City Council has 10 tearooms or cafes in its public parks where toilets are also available, Shakespeare said in his report to the full council back [in February.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27823921-public-reports-pack-02032026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?q=bushy&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p105) The most recent of these tea rooms to be built is located in Palmerston Park, and it started to serve this past December, according to a social media post by [Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan](https://www.facebook.com/GeogheganCllr/photos/its-open-great-to-buy-first-coffee-in-the-new-tea-rooms-in-palmerston-park-opera/1342058404605319/) on 13 December. Geoghegan also declared them open [via his Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1118433772982322)on 21 [November 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-an-operator-chosen-councillors-wonder-when-the-next-launch-of-tearoom-in-palmerston-park-will-be/) for Palmerston Park, back when he was a councillor, and Lord Mayor. Later that same month, he was elevated to the Dáil in the general elections. Eight months later, the council agreed to grant a 10-year lease for the building to Coffee Crowd Limited [on 7 July.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/delays-and-costs-mount-for-councils-merrion-square-tea-rooms/) Although the council’s Park Strategy for 2022 to 2027 says that tearooms are under consideration for Mountjoy Square Park and Blessington Street Basin, there are two more that are due to arrive sooner. Construction work is currently in progress by Bracegrade Limited on the delayed tearoom and toilet in Merrion Square, with its completion now slated for July, Shakespeare said in a report to independent Councillor Mannix Flynn at the full council meeting [in February.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27823921-public-reports-pack-02032026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?q=merrion&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p85) That project, which commenced in 2015, was found to be not in compliance with council, national and EU procurement regulations after the cost of consultant architects rose from €246,000 to €655,000, or 166 percent on the original contract, according to an audit report by the Local Government Audit Service, [published in November 2025](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/32fbe4d4/DCC%5FAudit%5FReport%5F2024.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). Meanwhile, a similarly delayed tearoom and toilet in Sean Moore Park was previously scheduled for completion by the [council during the second quarter of 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/delays-and-costs-mount-for-councils-merrion-square-tea-rooms/). It hasn’t been built yet though, and there still isn’t a revised timeline for its completion. Shakespeare, in February, attributed the delay to Uisce Eireann, which he said is currently in the process of applying for a wayleave from the council to service the Glass Bottle site nearby – where more than 3,800 homes are to be delivered, according to the Ronan Group [website](https://ronangrouprealestate.com/projects/glass-bottle-sandymount-strand/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That wayleave will traverse the park in the vicinity of the proposed tearooms, he said. “There have been a number of changes to the entry point into the Glass Bottle site which have resulted in changes that have delayed this process.” A spokesperson for Uisce Eireann said on Tuesday that they are engaging with the council to progress the acquisition of the wayleaves required to service the Glass Bottle site within the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone. ### Developers must build promised creche spaces – and find operators to run them, Fingal motion says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/developers-must-build-promised-creche-spaces-and-find-operators-to-run-them-fingal-motion-says/ Last updated: 2026-03-12T13:47:26.000Z Fingal County Council needs to make sure any spaces meant for childcare facilities in private new-builds are not left vacant, said Labour Councillor Mark Boland. Boland put forward a motion at Fingal’s monthly council meeting on Monday evening asking that childcare infrastructure, like crèches, should be delivered alongside new homes – and that the developer should ensure an operator is found to run the creche. “It shall be a condition of planning that the developer must ensure the facility is fully delivered and operational, with an operator secured,” his [motion says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27864190-councillor-m-boland-crche-or-childcare-facility-delivery/?ref=dublininquirer.com). And it should be “enforced consistently to ensure that childcare infrastructure is delivered alongside new homes and is not deferred, left vacant or omitted post-construction,” it said. This follows on from a motion that he had passed at the council’s full meeting in January, Boland told the chamber. That [agreed motion](https://meetings.fingal.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=129&MId=6205&ref=dublininquirer.com) asked the council’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, to take into consideration that a similar condition be put in place for all Part 8 housing developments, he said. Part 8 developments are the council’s own projects. The motion said “it shall be a condition of the planning permission that the developer must ensure the facility is fully operational and a qualified operator is secured”. “It sent a very clear message to everybody that childcare is not an optional extra. It is essential infrastructure that we need to bring forward in all our developments,” he said. This new motion covered private developments, he said. ## Left struggling Communities are left struggling whenever a childcare facility is promised in a housing development but is left vacant even as the families start to move into surrounding homes, [or dropped altogether](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-national-shortage-of-childcare-places-developer-in-donabate-asks-to-scrap-planned-creche/), he said. “We need stronger planning laws to prevent this happening in the future.” Take [The Forge in Lusk](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-lusk-parents-struggle-to-find-creche-places-for-their-children/) where the homes were occupied by June 2019, yet a creche site at the edge of the neighbourhood remained vacant. Boland queried the number of vacant sites in Lusk that had been conditioned as creches, including The Forge, as well as Rahenny Park at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting [in December](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27854152-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-11th-dec-2025-1400-balbrigganrush-luskswords-area-commit/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The council had issued a warning letter on 25 June in relation to the Forge, said Fearghal McSweeney, an administrative officer in the Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Department. “Investigations remain open and ongoing by the Planning Enforcement section.” These proposed facilities should be available and ready for an operator as a private residential development is becoming occupied, Boland said at Monday’s meeting. “So not at some vague point in the future. But it needs to be delivered alongside the houses, and it needs to be delivered in tandem.” Boland’s motion was intended to provide a clear policy direction across developments rather than dealing with these issues on a case-by-case basis, he said. Independent Councillor Joe Newman said he had encountered the issues of approved creches never materialising in Swords. There are cases where a developer makes the change because a small creche site is occasionally not workable, he said. “And I can understand that, but it is very important that we keep an eye on it, make sure developments are not just putting in sites for the sake of the optics of it.” Delivering creches is already difficult enough because existing [planning guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23288920-planning-guidelines-for-childcare-facilities/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for childcare facilities recommend one childcare facility with at least 20 spaces for every 75 homes, Labour Councillor John Walsh said. “It’s about ensuring developers can’t do whatever they like.” There are, however, exceptions in cases where a development consists of one-bedroom apartments, or where an adjoining development has adequate childcare facilities, the [2001 guidelines say](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23288920-planning-guidelines-for-childcare-facilities/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=adjoining&mode=document#document/p9). ## Motion agreed It’s unclear how Boland’s newmotion would work in practice, said Fine Gael Councillor Kieran Dennison at the meeting on Monday. “One thing that might be useful, as well as making it a condition of planning, is that the site be zoned for community infrastructure,” Dennison said. So it can’t be switched to housing, he said. “And would have to be made available for – if no operator was available – then would be used for other community use.” It would be difficult to zone specific sites for creches in the development plan, said Róisín Burke, director of planning and development at the meeting. “It would be quite difficult to bring forward a variation as an application for a creche comes in.” But it is something they look out for when reviewing the development plan, she said. Addressing Boland’s motion, Burke’s written report said while it is the council’s clear intention that permitted crèches be delivered and become operational, planning permissions must rely on conditions that are capable of enforcement under planning legislation. The inclusion of a condition like this would present challenges from a planning enforcement perspective, she said. The provision of childcare facilities in larger residential developments is usually secured in conditions around the phasing of construction, Burke said, speaking at the meeting. But, Burke said, the motion was fine and she was happy for the council to review the wording of their planning conditions to state that a facility must be available for an operator moving forward. The motion was agreed. ### In Skerries, a new space for lovers of board and card games URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-skerries-a-new-space-for-lovers-of-board-and-card-games/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T07:21:03.000Z It was sunny on Saturday, the first full weekend of March. The sky was blue finally; the first of the cherry blossoms out. In Holmpatrick Shopping Centre in Skerries, the entry to the new game shop Otter Space can easily be missed. It’s a door next to a convenience store with a blue sign that reads, “Coffee, Snacks, Games & More”, and “Otter Space” in smaller letters under an otter drinking a cup of coffee: with an arrow pointing upstairs. Inside on the first floor, it was dimmer: busy, full of people gathered around tables full of card games. The walls were stacked with games. Familiar ones like Catan, Dungeons and Dragons, and less familiar ones such as Calico, Sushi Go, and Cascadia. Amy Hanley says she co-founded the business with her partner, Lorenzo Petrone, and about five months ago, they opened their doors. It’s a cafe, a space to play games, and to buy them too – and a quiet haven for autistic people, like Hanley and Petrone. It just suits a neurodivergent brain, said regular Joe Mcloone on Saturday afternoon, like his. “Dice, rules. All these rules-based games. Strategy. Generally quieter, not physical,” Mcloone said. “You know what will come. There's nothing going to shock you or unexpected. Which sort of suits neurodiversity.” ## The founding Petrone said he started Otter Space as a transition away from a job he knew he wanted to leave. “Basically I couldn't take my old office job anymore,” he said. “So I decided to do something more interesting and more rewarding.” He considered other ideas: becoming a professional card player, or a streamer. He consulted with his partner, Hanley, on those prospects. “And she was like, ‘Nah,’” Petrone said. “I don't remember that,” Hanley said. “But yeah, I would have said no.” “When he first said that he was leaving his job to open a game shop,” she said. “I was like, ‘You're crazy.’ But then I realised, like – no, it's actually a really good idea.” In part she said, there was nothing like it nearby. “There’s nothing like that in North County Dublin,” she said. Hanley worked at a library, although she was on leave taking care of her child. She could see this new space functioning like a library, as a quieter community space. “Like he's picturing kind of a hardcore game shop, and I was picturing kind of a community space,” Hanley said. Their skills worked together, she said. Petrone the gamer, Hanley the community organiser. They started the business in November 2024, but it wasn’t till October 2025 they had found a place, had renovated it, and opened their doors, they said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6546-1.jpg) Photo by Sunni Bean. ## Card games They’re still working out the kinks – what’s popular, how to keep it busy every day. Trading card games are the shop’s bread and butter. The main game today is the relatively new game Riftbound, a collectable card game based on League of Legends. It’s the kind of game visitors come to the shop not only from north Dublin but also much further. The card game came out just around the same time they started, Petrone said. There weren’t other spaces hosting it, so it became one of their niches. They run regular Riftbound events every Thursday, with bigger tournaments about once a month, he said. They’ve been trying to hold Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments on Saturdays, but basically nobody shows up. Still, Otter Space will continue attempting to create space for Yu-Gi-Oh!, said Hanley. This upcoming weekend, they’re hosting a tournament and they have an audience for it. There are about 20 or so people signed up to compete, Hanley said. ## The vibe Otter Space is busy butrelatively quiet. Some people come to play popular games: like Catan and Dungeons and Dragons. There’s after-school clubs too. It’s a kind of space he didn’t have growing up, Skerries local Mcloone said. He was in the sensory room, a smaller room off the main space, with dark walls, video game images hung up, and noise-dampening foam. Hanley sat beside him, and nodded in agreement. She got an autism diagnosis about a year ago, she said. Her partner, Petrone, the owner, said he got his diagnosis about five or six years ago. Mcloone had brought a padded case with Warhammer figurines he’d painted. He spread them on the table in front of him, showing the carefully painted details. There is a big community that loves these different games, but they can be spread out. It can be hard to connect it, to link up, he said. “So that's where here has been great for getting people to come,” he said. He said he was delighted when he no longer had to go into the city centre to play. ## Community While Petrone said he grew up with games, ““since I was a toddler”, and they have been a theme throughout his life– Hanley said she actually isn’t much of a gamer, though she’s found games she really enjoys since the shop opened. She’d played occasionally, like at Christmas. But what appealed to her about it was like what appealed to her about library work: the space it creates. Somewhere calmer, that fosters community. “I just wanted it to be a very welcoming and inclusive space,” Hanley said. In the sensory room, Mcloone described it for himself, just as a feeling he had. That this is a place where he feels comfortable. "Kids have meltdowns, and we're like, here's a sensory toy basket, here's a sensory room. Like, it's fine." *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### The tip of Bull Island has been slowly disappearing URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-tip-of-bull-island-has-been-slowly-disappearing/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T08:03:50.000Z The northern tip of Bull Island is eroding, scientists and locals say. “We’re losing a lot of \[it\],” said Mary Tubridy, an establishedDublin-based ecologist, “and the chances are, we'll be losing more of it.” “The sand dunes have kind of been eaten away. And there’s this kind of big bite being taken out of them. There’s a kind of cliff of sand,” she said. Sean Byrne, a local who often walks on the island, said he’s noticed it too. “Erosion has speeded up in the last few years,” Byrne said. “Mainly after those big storms when you get a very high tide. It comes right up to the dunes and washes part of them away.” The low lying island in Dublin Bay – off Clontarf, Kilbarrack and Sutton – is home to two golf courses, dunes, and wide sandy beaches. It’s a [special protection area](https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa/004006?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the conservation of wild bird species, and one of the 714 biosphere reserves – “learning places for sustainable development” – in [UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves](https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/about?ref=dublininquirer.com). It also hosts two [nature reserves](https://www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). Fundamentally, Bull Island is made of sand, said Iris Möller, who leads Trinity College’s Coastal Research Group, and is a Professor of Geography. So it is always shifting and changing, regardless, she says. The erosion on the northern end of the island started around 2013, said Möller on a video call recently, sharing a graph made by a former graduate student showing that part of the island losing sediment. This has the potential to impact the protected habitats and creatures who live on the island, says Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney, who is on the Bull Island Oversight Forum. There should be better monitoring of how the island is eroding and shifting and changing, say Tubridy, Cooney and Möller. "Once we understand how it's changing, we have our early warning system,” says Möller. ## 200 years old Bull Island itself formed because of harbour engineering works in the early 19th century. When the North Bull Wall was built about 200 years ago, to keep sand away from Dublin Port, it changed tidal currents and caused sand to accumulate behind the wall, Möller said. Over time, dunes formed, she said. “North Bull Island started as a sand shoal, and then it grew upwards because it had enough accumulation of sand to allow sand dune grass to become established,” she said. Grass grew, which trapped more sand, and helped build up the dunes, Möller said. “But dunes only persist if enough sand continues arriving,” It’s normal for sand to move, she said. But she said, right now, scientists aren’t entirely sure where the sand feeding Bull Island is coming from, and that’s something they need to figure out. Sea-level rise is also affecting the system. “It looks like in Dublin it’s at least six millimetres a year at the moment,” Möller said. Dublin Bay rose at a rate of 6.48mm/year from 1997 to 2016, according to Gerard McCarthy, an oceanographer at the Irish Climate Research and Analysis Unit (ICARUS) at Maynooth University. [Sea level in Dublin Bay is definitely rising fast, confirms Irish Research - Dublin InquirerMany people may react to talk of millimetres per year by thinking they’re small numbers. But “it’s a real transformation in terms of how frequently you get flooded”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-635.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-5532.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/sea-level-in-dublin-bay-is-definitely-rising-fast-confirms-irish-research/) Higher sea levels mean sand is more often underwater, which prevents wind from picking it up and moving it into the dunes, Möller said. “So you are then having a battle between that and then the sand on the beach that needs to be high enough to be carried by the wind is the issue,” she said. Stronger storms can also strip sand away faster than it can rebuild. “The island really struggles to heal itself,” she said, especially when storms occur in quick succession. Byrne, the local who often walks on the island, says he’s noticed this too, while down on the island. “Mainly after those big storms when you get a very high tide, it comes right up to the dunes and washes part of them away,” Byrne said. ## What’s the impact? There’s a few problems with the island eroding, says Cooney, the Green Party councillor. It could interrupt habitats: for seals, rare species of birds, a rare orchid, and other living things on the island, she said. “That’s where the seals rest with their pups,” she said, and nearby dunes also host ground-nesting birds, some of which are endangered. Says Tubridy: “It's a very good food source, sheltered and safe, and there's lots of protection of the birds as well in that area.” Bull Island also acts as a natural barrier that reduces wave energy entering from Dublin Bay, Möller said. “If you lose the tip on North Bull Island, and it were to separate… then you have a much wider gap between Howth and North Bull Island,” said Möller. That would allow stronger waves to crash against the shore**.** “More energetic waves \[would come\] through that gap,” she said. That could increase pressure or erode coastal defences such as the Clontarf Sea Wall, and raise flood risks during major storms, she said. ## What to do? The main thing needed, Cooney, Möller, and Tubridy each brought up independently, is money for consistent monitoring and reliable data of the erosion of the island. The Office of Public Works (OPW) has done coastal LiDAR monitoring, and Trinity has done drone surveys, Möller said. But there’s no dedicated budget line for tracking how the island’s dunes and sand volumes are changing over time, she said. “The fact is, we do it sporadically.” “We have, you know, very little funding available, and we have to apply for it. Then we get a student who might do a project one year,” she said. It’s not clear what would actually effectively stop the erosion, Tubridy said. “I suppose it's just inevitable,” she said, and paused. “It’s interesting … evidence of climate change.” “And I suppose at the least, we should be monitoring that,” she said. “You know, there should be some effort to try to record what we're going to lose.” Cooney agreed that more funding is needed. “We need a budget line that allows us to properly understand how the coast is changing,” she said. Better data, Cooney said, would help scientists and planners know whether conservation measures are working. “If we put in man-made measures to protect the island, we need to be really, really careful that we don't actually do the opposite to what we want,” she said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *CORRECTION: This article was corrected at 9.03am on 21 April 2026 to reflect that Sean Byrne is not a member of the Bull Island Action Group.* ### Publish taskforce’s report on special education needs in Dublin 15, local councillors tell department URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/publish-taskforces-report-on-special-education-needs-in-dublin-15-local-councillors-tell-department/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T01:01:48.000Z Councillors in Dublin 15 have called on the Department of Education to publish right away a long-awaited report on special education needs in the area. The Taskforce on Special Education in Dublin 15 finished its work last June, said John Walsh, a Labour Party councillor. Yet still, its final report hasn’t been published. “The Department of Education, which claims that, you know, it deals with everything to do with special education with greater urgency, is sitting on a key report on special education in Dublin 15,” he said. “That's not acceptable.” Other councillors on the Blanchardstown area committee backed a motion from Walsh [last Thursday](https://meetings.fingal.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=139&MId=6273&ref=dublininquirer.com), that called on the council to write to the Minister for Education to request the immediate publication of the report and full implementation of its recommendations. The Department of Education didn’t respond to a query sent Monday morning asking why it had not published the report, and when it intended to do so. On 17 February, Fianna Fáil Minister of State Michael Moynihan didn’t give a date when it would be published when asked in the Dáil. “The taskforce’s recommendations are currently being examined,” [he said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-02-17/611/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## What did it do? The Taskforce on Special Education in Dublin 15 was set up in October 2024 by the central government. The report should be out by now, Walsh said at the meeting. It was set up to support forward planning of special education provision in the area. Parents and educators had pressed for it, he said. “Particularly the Autism \[School\] Dublin 15 group, which has been very active in highlighting the crisis in special education in Dublin 15.” Walsh said recent data on autism class placements highlights the scale of the shortage locally. Local primary schools, in partnership with the National Council for Special Education, have been running the Autism Class Application Trial (ACAT), a system designed, among other things, to reduce the administrative burden on parents applying for places and to allow greater forward planning of need. Thirteen schools got involved in the first year, said Walsh. “Twenty-four autism class places were offered in the first year, 105 applications were received,” Seventeen schools were involved in the second year, he said, and sixteen places were offered through the ACAT process. But there were 101 eligible applications, he said. Children can end up taking places not best suited to them simply because no other options exist, he said. “Some of them might end up being admitted to a special class because they've nowhere else to go,” he says, when actually they are eligible and are better suited for a place in a special school. That, of course, means that they are unavoidably taking up a placement in a special class, which could be available for somebody more suitable, he said. The area has a continuing crisis in special education, he said. “It's an ongoing scandal. It's a crisis that impacts on the most vulnerable children in our society.” Other councillors spoke in support of the motion. The taskforce itself had been created after strong public pressure from parents, said Solidarity Party Councillor John Burtchaell. Education for people with special needs was a big issue before the last election, he said. “Parents had to take to the streets with large posters printed up of their children, and that's why the taskforce was set up,” Burtchaell said. “And once the election was over, of course, the priority dropped. And it's disgraceful that we're still awaiting, waiting for the report.” He said shortages of appropriate school places remain a major issue locally. “There's a huge problem with appropriate primary school places in Dublin 15, as we all know, this is now translating into secondary school places,” he said. Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly said that parents on the taskforce were volunteers. “Parents from Dublin 15 gave up their very precious time to sit on this taskforce.” “The fact that a motion is having to be put forward, and the fact that TDs are having to bring it up in the Dáil to just look for the report that was agreed to be made public and implemented is absolutely scandalous,” she said. Aontú Councillor Ellen Troy said, the challenges facing families with children with additional needs get compounded, by other gaps in the system. “The fact that the Department of Education does not have a central record of available special school places for children with additional needs is just enough said,” she said. “It's unbelievable. The government should be ashamed of themselves.” Walsh said Dublin 15 needs to keep pushing. “Dublin 15 is in the eye of the storm in terms of the crisis in special education,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Tusla inspectors found problems with the use of physical restraint in seven children’s homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/tusla-inspectors-found-problems-with-the-use-of-physical-restraint-in-seven-childrens-homes/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T01:05:35.000Z Tusla inspectors found problems with how staff used physical restraint at seven children’s homes, according to its inspection reports. These problems included unsafe restraint practices and staff attempting to use restraint to manage children’s behaviour, while restraint should only be used in cases where there are serious and immediate risks to safety. This is according to a review of 107 Tusla inspection reports for privately-run and charity-run children’s homes across Ireland, from October 2024 to July 2025\. Children in care “are often coming from highly traumatic situations”, says a spokesperson for the Ombudsman for Children’s Office. “This means that any use of physical restraint may be extremely disturbing and may also be re-traumatising by triggering symptoms of previous experiences,” they said. On the other hand, John Byrne, a psychotherapist and a lecturer in social care at South East Technological University, says sometimes restraint is necessary to keep others safe. “There are circumstances where a failure to physically restrain a young person could lead to accusations of professional negligence, because the failure to intervene contributed to, or caused actual (foreseeable) harm to a child,” Byrne says. But when it’s necessary, it should be done by staff who know how to do it safely, he says. Asked about the use of physical restraint in children’s homes in Ireland, a Tusla spokesperson said that, “The restraint of a young person is only used in exceptional circumstances and in cases of violent physical assault.” There are around 600 children in mainstream children’s homes in Ireland, according to Tusla figures. Last year there were 1,077 restraints recorded, up from 2024 (1,022), which was up from 2023 (983), which was up from 2022 (736) – but lower than 2021 (1,270), according to [records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27170669-final-decision-10th-february-2026-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. “Staff members who are not trained in physical interventions are not permitted to engage in physical interventions with children and young people,” the Tusla spokesperson said. But, in practice, that is not always the case Tusla’s inspection reports show. In one facility, a young person was restrained 78 times, with staff failing to build a relationship with the child. In another facility, the medical histories of children were not taken into account in deciding whether they could be restrained. Three reports noted inexperienced or untrained staff attempting to restrain children, and in one case, a staff member was hurt. Yet Tusla, which is responsible for inspecting and regulating most of the children’s homes it funds, failed to attach conditions to the registrations of any of these seven homes based on the restraint-related issues documented in these reports. Attaching conditions to a home’s registration is one of the tools Tusla can use to ensure the provider corrects the problems flagged. If the organisation doesn’t meet the conditions by a deadline, Tusla can cancel its registration, effectively shutting it down. Instead, Tusla addressed these issues through its corrective actions and preventative actions process. A spokesperson for Tusla didn’t respond to a query sent on 13 January asking how Tusla responds to concerns that children's homes are using restraint in ways that are unsafe or using it as behaviour management. Nor did they respond to a query on 26 January asking whether the agency stands by its decision not to attach conditions to the registration of homes when it found issues with the use of physical restraint. The Ombudsman for Children has previously flagged concerns that Tusla has oversight of private children’s homes –which it also commissions and funds – rather than HIQA, says a spokesperson for the Ombudsman for Children’s Office. “The process of inspecting, registering and monitoring these centres is an important safeguard for some of our most vulnerable children,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Department for Children defended the system now in place. “A robust regulatory framework exists for residential care services for children,” he said. This is to ensure that the vulnerable children placed in these settings receive safe and high-quality care and all children’s homes are inspected against the HIQA National Standards for Children's Residential Centres 2018, he said. ## Tusla inspections process Unlike healthcare settings or nursing homes, most children’s homes are not inspected by the HIQA – only thosethat provide medical services such as disability care, or are run directly by Tusla. Instead, when Tusla contracts charities and private companies to run children’s homes, it also inspects those homes. Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS) is responsible for the registration of children’s homes run by private companies and charities, which it inspects against the [national standards](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26220433-national-standards-for-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If there are issues in a home, inspectors put in place a corrective and preventative action plan. It then re-inspects to see if the action plans have been implemented. If the home doesn’t comply with the standards, Tusla can attach conditions to the registration as a way of escalating the issue, putting the home’s continuing operation at risk if it doesn’t fix the problem. It has been doing that a lot less lately. In 2021, Tusla attached conditions to the registration of 15 facilities and closed one. In 2022, it attached conditions to the registration of 21 facilities and closed one, [according to a Tusla spokesperson.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27359389-tusla-data-on-attaching-conditions/?ref=dublininquirer.com) In the10**\-**month period from October 2024 to July 2025, Tusla attached conditions to one registration, run by[Daffodil Care Services](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211396-daffodil-30-oct-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), because of staffing issues, according to a review of the reports for that period. Tusla closed one children’s home run by Terra Glen Residential Care Services following March 2024[inspections](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221964-terra-glen-nov-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), because “The efforts of the centre management to maintain appropriate oversight and quality of care had been insufficient.” But when Tusla inspectors found issues with the use of physical restraint at seven homes during this period, it didn’t attach conditions to any of their registrations for that reason. In one of those cases, Tusla attached conditions for staffing in 2023 but not for safeguarding, following issues with a staff member not being trained in how to use physical restraint. In 2025, inspectors found problems with the plans for the use of restraint at the same home and Tusla still didn’t attach conditions to the registration. Tusla didn’t respond to a query as to why the follow-up inspection was a year and a half later and whether its failure to add conditions contributed to the issue persisting in the home. By contrast, in Limerick, in [March 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26474161-hiqa-special-care-inspection-limerick-march-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com), HIQA found issues with the use of physical restraint in a Tusla-run special care facility, which arefacilities where high-risk children are detained for safety reasons. HIQA reported theincidentsto the Gardaí, saying it “may constitute physical abuse”. HIQA [attached a condition to the registration](https://www.hiqa.ie/guidance-providers/childrens-services/special-care-units?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the facility, formally instructing Tusla to review restraints within seven days and report any issues to HIQA if necessary, among other things. In response to a question about when it attaches conditions, a Tusla spokesperson said its inspectorate “adds conditions as part of a regulatory escalation process to direct a provider to take actions or implement a specific action that cannot be addressed through other regulatory interventions”. Restraint is rarely used, she said. “Where it is absolutely necessary to restrain a young person, it is done in line with specialised training,” says the Tusla spokesperson. ## Teach Nua Care Services In February 2025, a Tusla inspector visited a home for three kids run by Teach Nua Care Services, following up on a previous inspection in September 2023\. The 2025 inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26374874-teach-nua-april-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), published two months later, found issues with staff training and plans on file for the use of physical restraint. In the [2023 report,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27171622-teach-nua-november-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the inspectors found that the staff were not trained in behaviour management and were unable to restrain a child when they needed to in order to protect another child in the centre. The inspectors found there “was a deficit in the oversight and governance of behaviour management and care filing systems”. The centre “had gone through a significant period of change”, the report says. Sixteen staff members had left. “It is imperative that increased staffing must be worked towards as a matter of priority for the safety of both young people,” says the report. Tusla briefly attached conditions to the registration of the home due to the staffing issues in September 2023, according to the April 2025 report. Tusla’s follow-up inspection took place in February 2025, a year and a half later. It hasn’t responded to a query as to why it waited so long before reviewing the situation. The 2025 inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26374874-teach-nua-april-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says that the issue with management of violence continued after the first inspection until the young person was discharged by the service six months later in April 2024. The issue with short staffing also persisted throughout 2024, according to the 2025 report. Inspectors did not find the same issue with staff not being trained to use restraint, but found a different restraint-related issue. “One young person had a medical issue that was a contraindication to the use of physical restraint,” the report found. But “Their ICSP \[individual crisis support plan\] noted the use of restraint was permitted and noted there were no contraindications.” It also found that some staff went through periods without having up-to-date training certificates for behaviour management courses, and thatthey were employing behaviour management techniques that were not part of the training. However, Tusla did not attach conditions to the home’s registration. The report says it held a meeting with management in March 2025 and “the outcome determined that progress had been made in relation to the implementation of the CAPA since the review occurred in February 2025.” It re-registered the home, without attached conditions. It is not clear whether the home was brought into compliance through this process. Tusla has not responded to queries as to whether it stands over how its inspectors dealt with the issues in this facility. Teach Nua didn’t respond to three emails,sent on 18 December, 13 January and 23 January,and a text message asking to explain theseissuesand the action taken afterwards. ## Ashdale Care Ireland Ashdale Care Ireland says on its [website](https://www.ashdalecare.com/our-enhanced-services/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it provides enhanced therapeutic support for children in its care, including those with complex needs. A November 2023 [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196144-ashdale-november-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com)on a two-child centre it was running found an issue with physical restraint. “It was clearly stated in one child’s \[individual crisis support plan\] ICSP that restraints were to be used as a last resort yet, they had experienced a high number, 78 physical restraints since their admission,” the report said. “It was clear that the child had not developed positive relationships with staff,” the 2023 report said. “Which had resulted in the staff team not being able to manage their behaviours effectively and, in the child, not developing strategies to manage their own behaviour,” it said. Staff were inexperienced, there was high staff turnover, and staff said they had no one to learn from, according to the report. The facility needed to strengthen its practice and focus on learning how to de-escalate the child’s behaviour in other ways, the report said. “The stabilisation of an experienced staff team is crucial for all of this to occur,” it said. Tusla did not attach any conditions to the registration of the facility. But it did require Ashdale to take a series of actions to check that staff understood the policies and procedures for behaviour management, that they ensured staff learned from incidents and review restrictive practices. “Senior management must review the incidents and numbers of physical restraints in line with the lack of stable, inexperienced, and ongoing changes within the staff team and the requirements of the behaviour management programme in operation in the centre,” it says. The next year, Tusla inspectors returned, and issued another [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196133-ashdale-27-november-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com), in November 2024\. This time, inspectors found staff had reduced the use of physical restraint, it found. “In terms of physical restraint, there had been a significant reduction in the use of this, and when it had been used it was proportionate to the risk present,” it said. But there were outstanding issues around short staffing. “The centre is continuing to operate below the minimum requirements in terms of staffing,” the report found. ## Daffodil Care Services Inspection reports from October 2024 to July 2025 show that Tusla inspectors found issues with physical restraint in two of 12 Daffodil Care Servicesfacilities inspected. In one case, at a centre with two kids living there,staff didn’t have the necessary expertise but still attempted to restrain a child, according to a May 2025 inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211319-daffodil-15-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Physical intervention was used by staff on duty during the incident; however, they were not experienced in the techniques of the model,” the report says. There was no review of the use of physical restraint by the staff team completed from that incident, it says. In a different children’s home run by Daffodil Care Services, which was home to one child, an inspection report published in [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211395-daffodil-30-oct-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), followed up on previous issues with physical restraint. That previous report had “highlighted that at times there was difficulty maintaining physical holds and staff members were hurt as a result”. A “physical restraint review” was conducted, and the person’s ICSP was updated, although when the Tusla inspectors interviewed two staff members, “neither were able to communicate any learnings or changes made to practice following the review”. Still, “It was noted that the young person had only been involved in one physical hold in 2024 which is significant progress for them.” Tusla attached (and then removed) conditions to the registration of the facility, due to staffing issues – not because of the issue with restraint. Daffodil Care Services didn’t respond to queries by phone, orby email, on 24 November and 1 December and 16 February about these issues. ## Compass A Tusla inspection [repor](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26374892-compass-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com)t names Compass CFS Ltd as the company behind a home it inspected in March 2025. However, Derek Byrne, CEO of Clare-based Compass Child and Family Services CLG says this naming is a mistake that he’s flagged with Tusla – which hasn’t responded to queries about this. Compass Child and Family Services CLG is a registered charity. Together with another non-profit entity based in Germany, it [owns](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27170697-compass-childrens-residential-services-designated-activity-company-list-of-shareholders-25-04-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Compass Children's Residential Services DAC. The home is being operated through the DAC since September 2025, Byrne said by email. The report on the 2025 inspection of a Compass-run home with two kids in it found issues with physical restraint. “At times it appeared to inspectors that during events, physical restraint was relied upon to manage a behaviour for one young person, rather than this being implemented as the last resort in maintaining safety,” the report says. There were also issues with how incidents were reviewed and reported, the inspectors found. “On two occasions over the preceding twelve months, one young person had been placed in a similar non-routine physical restraint which was deemed to be unsafe by management,” says the report. “Following the first incident in April 2024, it was clearly communicated to the team that this approach to managing a situation should not be used, however a similar incident arose again in December 2024,” it said. This was escalated to Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS) “due to the serious nature of the incident”, it says. “On review of the centre response to the incident it was clear that the organisation had responded in a proportionate manner and had followed their policies and procedures in relation to the management of this,” the report says. On foot of this inspection report, Tusla did not attach conditions to the home’s registration. Compass did not respond to a request for its internal policy and procedures on restraint. However, a spokesperson for Compass said that, “The inspection report you reference is in the public domain, and the findings, actions, and preventative strategies arising from it are formally recorded within the oversight and regulatory processes of the organisation and TUSLA, Child and Family Agency.” ## Odyssey Social Care Services In a January 2024 report on a home to three children that was operated by Odyssey Social Care Services, Tusla inspectors flagged issues with its plans for using restraint. The children’s individual crisis support plans “did not identify the specific physical restraint interventions that were permitted or the contra-indicators to undertaking physical restraint for one of the children”, the report says. It also flagged issues with management of complaints: “inspectors found in two instances allegations made against staff members were not managed appropriately in line with the policy or Childrens First guidelines”. “Following a review of the centre's child protection records the inspectors noted that staff who received the disclosures of alleged harm/abuse did not respond to the children in line with the centre policy or best practice guidance relating to disclosures of abuse,” it says. “Additionally, records of follow-up meetings with the staff members concerned were either not evidenced on file or were not sufficiently robust,” it says. A spokesperson for Odyssey said that the two allegations referred to two instances of staff members physically intervening to ensure the safety of one young person, who made a complaint afterwards. “These complaints were investigated by Tusla in accordance with standard practice and determined that the complaints were unfounded,” says the spokesperson. A Tusla inspection report issued in [February 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211909-odyssey-18-feb-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com)refers to the issues with ICSPs and complaints procedures, and finds that they had been addressed. “The inspector reviewed the individual crisis support plan for each young person and found it clearly outlined the type of physical intervention that was permitted and prohibited,” the report says. And, “The inspector reviewed the complaint records and found that they had been managed appropriately through the centre’s complaint procedure and none submitted constituted a child protection or safeguarding concern.” The report concluded that the centre was “continuing to operate in adherence with regulatory frameworks and standards in line with its registration”, and registered it without attached conditions. A spokesperson for Odyssey said: “Internal and external inspections will inevitably identify areas for improvement, and these are used to strengthen our service arrangements.” “It is evident that no serious concern regarding the safety or quality of the care we provide has been identified or is the subject of any ongoing concerns to Tusla,” they said. ## Ann’s Children’s Care Ireland An inspection [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26374889-anns-13-may/?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued in May 2025 on a facility run by Ann’s Children’s Care Ireland, with four kids living there, found a lack of consistency in how restraint was practised in the home. As well as a lack of clarity among staff on how to intervene during physical incidents, due to conflicting guidance on safety plans. “Inspectors found the care team were unclear about how they would intervene during incidents,” it says. “From reviewing the Significant Event Notifications (SENs), inspectors observed disparities in how staff physically intervened for the different young people when required,” it said. Management acknowledged the deficits and committed to carrying out a full review and issuing clearer, more robust guidance for staff, says the report. The report said the centre was deemed to be “continuing to operate in adherence with regulatory frameworks and standards in line with its registration”. And so it was registered without conditions attached. Ann’s Children’s Care didn’t respond to queries by phone and email on 18 December, 13 January and 15 January, and 23 January requesting a copy of its internal policy on physical restraint and what action it is taking to prevent issues arising in the future. ## Restraint is “a treatment failure”? Performing physical restraint can be dangerous, for staff and for the person being restrained. Staff in children’s homes are trained on crisis-prevention and de-escalation to avoid requiring restraint, the spokesperson said. This should be a priority, according to HIQA [guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26474169-assessment-of-centres-scu-guidance-restrictive-practice-thematic/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the use of restrictive practices, including restraint, in special care facilities. “Providers should use this guidance to assess the use of restrictive practices in their centres with a view to reducing or eliminating their use, the guidelines say. Centres should be sufficiently staffed, and staff should be sufficiently trained, “and have adequate opportunities to build positive, trusting and supportive relationships with children”, the guidelines say. Restrictive practices, including restraint, risk physical injury, psychological consequences, and “are often ineffective and counter-therapeutic”, they say. “The use of restrictive practices should be viewed as a treatment failure and preventing their use should be a priority for those involved in the care of children,” the HIQA guidelines say. Terry Dignan, who is a spokesperson for the Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association (CRAVA), which represents most of the charities that run children’s homes, says his members very rarely use physical restraint. “Physical restraint, even when carried out by trained and experienced professionals, carries significant risk of physical, psychological and emotional harm, including re-traumatisation of the child or young person involved and of other children or young people who may witness it, as well as staff involved,” he said. Research shows that positive, therapeutic care models built on strong relationships with children can reduce and almost eliminate the need for staff to use physical restraint, he says. Tusla doesn’t issue guidelines on the use of restraint, but each company has its own policy and procedures, which Tusla inspectors check on inspection, a Tusla spokesperson said. In the UK, the independent regulator, Ofsted, spoke to young people living in children’s homesin 2012 to find out their views on physical restraint. “Overall, children in our discussion groups agreed that restraint should usually be used as a last resort,” says the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26493857-ofstead-report-into-restraint/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Every group said that staff should always try to calm things down before things get so bad that restraint is needed.” Here in Ireland, Tara Ćirić, a PhD researcher at Maynooth University, who previously worked as an educator in children’s homes in Canada, is interviewing young people living in children’s homes for her research. "Fortunately, none of the young people I worked with had experienced restraint themselves," Ćirić says. But “they had witnessed it happening to other young people, and they would describe it as upsetting, traumatic or intimidating". Still,it is necessary to restrain children at times for their own safety and the safety of others, says Byrne, the psychotherapist and a lecturer in social care at South East Technological University. Young people in the care of the state have often experienced varying degrees of emotional and physical abuse, neglect and maltreatment, says Byrne. The trauma caused by these experiences can manifest in emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, he says. “These can range from minor struggles when identifying and expressing emotions, right up to chaotic (explosively violent) outbursts or self-injurious behaviours,” Byrne says. “In these instances, the role of a social care worker is to endeavour to keep everybody safe, while supporting the young person to identify, understand and express what they are trying to say, in a socially acceptable way,” he says, It is difficult to learn to be calm “when all you have ever known in life is chaos and violent expression,” he says. Indeed, the kids Ofsted interviewed in the UKsaid that the children said that in very dangerous situations, staff should intervene straight away. “For example, if a child is carrying a weapon or to break up a very serious fight, or if a child is in danger of immediate injury (as in the example of going to jump from a window),” the report says. So Byrne, at South East Technological University, says that “it is crucially important that all staff in residential child care are highly trained (not just educated) and experienced in 'the craft of care'”. Many staff working in children’s homes are not social care qualified, and Byrne says that the degree doesn’t teach practical skills like restraint. “In many services, the practice advice in these situations is to go to the office and call the Gardaí, who will come and use their pain-compliant interventions, supported with mechanical restraints (handcuffs) to restore order to the situation,” he says. By then, it could be too late to prevent harm coming to a child, he says, so in his view, staff in children’s homes should learn the same restraint techniques as the Gardaí to use in emergencies. “It is our job to have a system in place which can keep everybody safe when that happens, so that positive relationships can be formed in which children learn the skills to become the best versions of themselves,” says Byrne. But the 107 inspection reports show that many Tusla-regulated children’s homes have high staff turnover, short staffing and management-level problems, including deficits in core training. ### RTB still can’t compel landlords to lower rent if investigators spot illegal hikes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/rtb-still-cant-compel-landlords-to-lower-rent-if-investigators-spot-illegal-hikes/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T01:05:11.000Z When Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) investigators uncover illegal rent hikes, they can fine the landlords – but the process is complex and lengthy. And they can’t force landlords to lower rents back down, or to refund the tenant – or themselves tell tenants that their rents have been illegally increased. RTB Chair Rosemary Steen, [in a letter to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25995452-250318-letter-on-rpz-review-to-housing-agency/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Housing Agency in March last year, had flagged all these issues. Changes to address them [had been slotted into](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772837-general-scheme-for-residential-tenancies-bill/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p101) the General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025, approved by government last October. At an Oireachtas hearing in November, RTB Deputy Director Louise Loughlin appeared to think these changes were on the way, noting that proposed fixed penalties would aid the RTB to act speedily and enforce rent regulations. “That will give us the power to take action,” she [said, under](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fhousing%5Flocal%5Fgovernment%5Fand%5Fheritage/2025-11-18/4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) questioning from TDs. But they were dropped in [the final law,](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/act/2026/3/eng/enacted/a0326.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) now in effect. The Department of Housing hasn’t responded to a query asking why it hadn’t proceeded with the new process and fixed penalties for breaches of rent setting rules. Its spokesperson didn’t directly address questions as to why the RTB hasn’t the powers on foot of investigations to force landlords to lower rents, to reimburse tenants, and to tell tenants their rents are in breach. ## **When can rents rise?** Under the new Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, the legality of resetting rents to market rates for new tenancies is dependent on whether or not a previous tenant has left a home voluntarily or was served a no-fault eviction. In the case of the former, a landlord can reset rent to market rates between tenancies. In the latter, they can’t. Notices that have to be submitted by landlords, to both tenants and the RTB, when reviewing and setting rent, now include a field to explain – if relevant – why the last tenant left. “If a landlord is re-setting to market rent, they must also clearly state and explain the grounds on which they are claiming an exemption that allows them to do this,” said a spokesperson for the RTB. ## **But, what if** Channels do exist for both tenants and the RTB to pursue and challenge illegal rent hikes. Tenants may lodge disputes with the body, in which case adjudicators and tribunal members may order a landlord to lower the rents and repay the difference. The RTB may also investigate possible breaches itself, including cases it finds by looking at its own data, through its formal sanctions and investigations process. But in that case, “currently, the sanction decision cannot compel a landlord to refund or reset the rent, nor can it inform the tenant that their rent is in breach”, said Steen in her letter to the Housing Agency last year. “This means landlords who do not engage with the investigation process may continue to breach after receiving a sanction,” said Steen. Steen, in her letter, said that: “Decisions should be able to compel landlords to change their rent. Otherwise, the only recourse for tenants is to take a dispute case following the investigation to ensure their rent will be set correctly.” The RTB has a bit of leverage to encourage landlords to lower rent as part of the sanctions process. But not powers to compel. It [takes account of](https://rtb.ie/compliance/how-investigations-work/decisions-and-sanctions/?ref=dublininquirer.com) landlords’ responses, including “actions taken to stop the improper conduct”, in setting the sanction amount – which can be up to €15,000 for each breach of rental law, along with costs of up to €15,000. Ann-Marie O’Reilly, a National Advocacy Manager with the housing charity Threshold, said she wondered whether many landlords understand that the RTB does not have that power through its sanctions process. Still, “it would be ideal if they could compel them to do it”, she said. The RTB also runs less-formal compliance campaigns, based on analyses of its big data sets. In the past, that has meant sending targeted letters to landlords, by the hundreds. That has yielded rents returned to tenants, when landlords engage. The most recent quarterly report from the RTB [shows that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27771482-rtb-directors-quarterly-update-q4-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p15) in the first nine months of last year, just shy of €136,000 had been returned to tenants in 300 compliance cases. The RTB was working at that time on another 3,000 cases of potential non-compliance which it had identified after a review of data, it said, and issued compliance notices to all those landlords. ## **Will it happen?** Last November, comments by RTB staff during an Oireachtas debate suggested they thought changes in their enforcement powers were on the way. They had, after all, been included in the General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025. TDs on the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage [grilled RTB staff](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fhousing%5Flocal%5Fgovernment%5Fand%5Fheritage/2025-11-18/4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as to how they would monitor and respond to possible illegal rent hikes, under the complex new rental rules – then on the way, now in effect. Said the RTB’s Deputy Director Louise Loughlin: “The new powers on fixed penalties that are coming in with this Bill will enable us to take action more speedily where there is a breach of rent regulation.” “That will give us the power to take action,” she said. Existing investigation and sanction powers mean this takes as long as a year which wasn’t satisfactory, she said. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that it had recognised the RTB needed more resources for enforcement around the new measures. The department is engaging with the body and has allocated €22.8 million for its operational services this year, said a spokesperson. That’s “an increase of over 70% on its initial 2025 allocation”, said the spokesperson. Meanwhile, in response to queries about its powers, a spokesperson for the RTB outlined the existing investigations and sanctions process, and said that the new requirement for landlords to submit more information about rent reviews will further drive its compliance work. “The RTB has [previously welcomed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27771499-2025-11-18-opening-statement-rosemary-steen-director-residential-tenancies-board-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s intention to legislate to introduce new financial penalties for breaches of registration and rent setting requirements,” they also said. “At the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage in November 2025, the RTB has stated that this will enable the RTB to enforce regulatory requirements at a greater scale and pace,” said the spokesperson. “The RTB looks forward to the introduction of these additional powers as part of future legislative reforms,” they said. O’Reilly, of Threshold, says she is sceptical that another round of rental legislation would happen anytime soon when this past round was the big package. “Presumably, the minister is moving on to other things.” ### Are council officials trying to steer Coolock’s community gain fund towards what they want? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-council-officials-trying-to-steer-coolocks-community-gain-fund-towards-what-they-want/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T10:49:21.000Z Wednesday saw the official grand opening of Oscar Traynor Woods, after its first occupants moved in. The massive Dublin 17 development is being filled bit by bit, in phases, while work continues on other parts of the site. The full project is to deliver 850 homes, a mix of affordable-purchase, cost-rental and social homes. However, not far away from the council’s celebrations, some locals living on the borders of the site are still wondering what has become of the €7 million community gain fund that was promised to them. Developer Glenveagh paid €14 million to Dublin City Council, as part of the[ deal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26001827-report-no-3032021-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-with-reference-to-the-propos/?ref=dublininquirer.com) struck for the project. Half of this sum was meant for the neighbouring community. After construction began in 2023, that money was transferred to the council, says independent Councillor John Lyons. Today, that €7 million is “missing in action”, says Brendan Dalton, of the Oscar Traynor Woods Consultative Forum. The group was established around 2016, when talk of this development emerged, to give voice to the local residents and groups that would be most impacted by the lengthy building works, he said by phone on Thursday. Places like Lorcan Estate, Woodlawn and Aulden Grange, he says. ## **Missing in action** At a [meeting](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s43634/MINUTES%20NOV%202023.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council’s North Central Area Committee in November 2023, Lyons had asked about the delivery of an all-weather football pitch in Coolock. A council official, in response, outlined some sports facilities it had been rolling out in the shorter term. The local area office was also organising a public consultation of residents living around the Oscar Traynor Woods site to find out what more facilities the residents wanted, the response said. A steering committee would be formed to work out how the community gain fund would be used to best benefit the community, it said. Now, in 2026, as people move into the new estate, nothing has progressed, Lyons said by phone on Wednesday. He presented a motion at a meeting of the North Central Area Committee last summer too, calling on the council to urgently commence the consultation process with locals on how the money should be spent. This has not happened yet, says Dalton. In January, there was a meeting of the council and the consultative forum. The issue of the fund came up, he says. A meeting specifically about the terms of reference for the fund was to be held three weeks after that January meeting, he says.“There was supposed to be representatives from our association, various other different stakeholders that are on the forum,” he says. “But it hasn’t happened.” Dalton says he was told by a council official on Wednesday that a cross-community meeting would be held later in March to talk about it. “But I know what's going on here,” says Dalton. ## **Pools of money** What has happened in the time since the fund was announced, is that another project has come up for the council, Dalton says. “Which is a new swimming pool on the Cromcastle Road.” Indeed, plans are afoot to build a new leisure centre at the existing Kilmore Recreation Centre to include a new swimming pool, the council’s [Capital Programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25900520-report-no-302025-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-capital-programme-2025-to-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for 2025 to 2027 says. After Storm Darragh damaged the roof of the [Coolock Swimming Pool](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-closure-of-coolock-swimming-pool-has-had-a-wide-reaching-impact-on-the-community/), on the top floor of Northside Shopping Centre, in December 2024, the council closed it. There is no sign of it being reopened, and the community is without a swimming pool. The idea of putting the money towards the new pool and leisure centre was also mentioned at January’s meeting. Some in the room were open to it, others were up in arms, says Dalton. “Because the promise that we were given after 10 years of negotiation was that the fund was designed to support local communities surrounding the Oscar Traynor Woods housing development,” he says. Lorcan Estate and Castletimon Gardens are close to the site, and have been badly impacted by the building works, he says. The Lorcan Estate Community Centre, of which he is a member, is operating out of a 50-year-old building, with all the issues that come with that age, he says. “The heating is going. The electrics need to be modified.” The centre is home to football, taekwondo, and Slimming World, among other activities, he says. “And we’re operating at capacity in terms of its use in the evenings.” The centre needs an extension to facilitate its growth, and the comfort of those who use it, he says. Nothing is decided yet, says Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, who chairs the North Central Area Committee. While acknowledging that things have moved slower than he would like, Barron says the terms of reference have now been agreed and will be announced soon. “We will be bringing the likes of the consultation group back involved.” “There's an element of frustration from my point of view. I would have liked to be in a better position to have this all copper-fastened a lot earlier,” said Barron, on Thursday. Barron is among those who would like to see some of the money going towards the new Kilmore leisure centre and pool. “I think that’s going to be a big benefit for the whole community, not just a cohort.” But, says Barron, there should absolutely be a mix of where the money goes. Some, in his view, should go to a big capital project, like the leisure centre, but some should go to a “variety of groups”, he says – like the Lorcan Estate Community Centre. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors look to amp up the attention they give to social inclusion URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-looking-to-amp-up-the-attention-they-give-to-social-inclusion/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T10:02:26.000Z Dublin city councillors are still working out exactly how to magnify supports for “social inclusion” in the city through its policy committees. Councillors [added a](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s45863/173.%20Draft%20SPC%20Scheme%202024-2029.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) focus on social inclusion to the work of its housing committee in September 2024\. The move was promoted, partly, by the long shadow of the riot that burned through the city centre in November 2023\. But while social inclusion now features in the name of the committee, it hasn’t really featured on agendas in the 18 months since it was added – outside of debates about housing. The first time it did explicitly appear was towards the end of last year, when councillors and committee members began the process of deciding what that strand of work should look like – which is still being thrashed out. ## **What to do** At a meeting of the Housing and Social Inclusion Strategic Policy Committee last November, Mick Mulhern, an assistant chief executive at the council, had put forward suggestions for how to emphasise social inclusion as part of its work. Areas such as senior citizens’ housing, social supports for council tenants, and reducing the impacts of homelessness appeared on the list. But most councillors and committee members said they wanted a much broader approach. As somebody involved in countering far-right influence in communities, they should look at ways to support local groups doing that work, and also to challenge misinformation around housing, said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortuin said she was “thinking of those in our society that we have left behind. That don’t feel like they’re included within the social structures that we have.” [In Cherry Orchard, a new alliance is working towards the goal of a cooperative grocery storeIt’s one of the initiatives being pursued by the Dublin 10 Food Alliance, in a push to help ease the acute food poverty in the area.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-618.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/The-site-of-the-proposed-village-centre-in-Cherry-Orchard-1--1--2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-cherry-orchard-a-new-alliance-is-working-towards-the-goal-of-a-cooperative-grocery-store/) She pointed also to the research that had been funded by the council showing levels of domestic violence in Ballyfermot, resulting in the [report](https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/41181/1/Saoirse-Domestic-violence-report%5FPROOF3-1.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Unveiling the Shadows”. Oisín O’Reilly, who sits on the committee via the Public Participation Network (PPN), said he had serious concerns about the narrow framing put forward. “It has taken a full year for this committee to consider social inclusion during its remit and that delay sits very uncomfortably against the backdrop of society and climate that we’re currently living in,” said O’Reilly, who is also CEO of Outhouse LGBT+ Community Resource Centre. Social inclusion should include equality, community safety, participation, access to services, the experiences of migrants, LGBTQ+ communities, those with disabilities, lone parents, survivors of domestic violence and much more, said O’Reilly. “We need a very broad approach here,” he said. Earlier this week, Deirdre Heney, the Fianna Fáil councillor and chair of the Housing and Social Inclusion Strategic Policy Committee, said that the new plan is to move social inclusion to a different committee. It fits better within the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee, she said. Because the council’s social inclusion unit works under the remit of the community department, which reports to that committee, she said. “We’re just trying to figure out a process of how to do that,” she said. Labour Party Councillor Darragh Moriarty – who chairs the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee – said the current bureaucratic wrangling is really down to councillors. Council CEO Richard Shakespeare had said that he was reorganising council departments, and that community and housing would no longer sit together. Which meant that the committees wouldn’t line up with council structures, he said. “That was flagged with us in advance but we ploughed ahead regardless.” In any case, his committee has its work programme sketched out up to 2029\. This year, it includes, among other actions, an age-friendly strategy, and an autism-friendly strategic plan, as well as a diversity, equality, and inclusion in the arts policy. It also includes reviewing outcomes from the Lord Mayor’s Taskforce on Integration and looking at how to respond to those. That could change though, said Moriarty. “It’s not all set.” [Years after promise of a new integration strategy, Dublin City Council still doesn’t have oneThere’s a desperate need for a roadmap to improve efforts to help people navigate immigrant life, and connect, say councillors and community workers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-617.jpg)Dublin InQuirerShamim Malekmian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Abdulai-Mansaray.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-after-promise-of-a-new-integration-strategy-dublin-city-council-still-doesnt-have-one/) O’Reilly said that getting “social inclusion” headlining as part of a committee’s work was a big achievement. They’ve all learnt from the experiences so far, and are having conversations about how to propel it all forward, he said. One of the challenges that he is conscious of is resource allocation, he says. There is a new national programme on racism, and an LGBTQ+ strategy – but problems with implementation because the money isn’t there to back them up, he says. That’s one of the challenges of taking national strategies down to the local level, he said. Officials and councillors end up with unfunded mandates. “That’s a recurrent problem.” ### Dublin City Council pulls offers of social homes in Finglas development URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-pulls-offers-of-social-homes-in-finglas-development/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T10:50:47.000Z When the phone rang for Shirley Dodrill in November, she thought her prayers had been answered. She was offered an apartment in the new Raven House development in Finglas, and it was a dream come true, she says. “To finally get somewhere that would be perfect for me.” The council had agreed to lease Raven House from the developers, Percolt Limited, for 25 years. The 27 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments would be managed by Tuath Housing, an approved housing body (AHB). Living with mobility issues, the new home, central in Finglas village, would be perfect, Dodrill said by phone on Thursday. She would be close to shops and amenities, and just one bus from her GP – instead of the two she currently has to take, she said. She has been living in Prospect Hill for 10 years now, and has been asking to be moved elsewhere for the last eight of those years, she said. Prospect Hill is quite a bit out from Finglas Village – about a 20-minute walk, if you ask Google Maps. Also, she says there is little sunlight in her current home. And, as she is on the ground floor along the busy Finglas Road, there’s traffic noise all day and all night, she says. “I wanted to get off this main road.” Her place in Raven House would be on the fifth floor, which she was delighted about, she says. Initially, Tuath Housing told her she would be in Raven House by Christmas. Then Christmas turned into March, she said. But, last week, she was told the council would no longer be leasing Raven House from the developer, and so her offer was pulled. It was a huge blow, she said. ## **Not quite fast enough** Both independent Councillor Gavin Pepper and People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy brought up the reversal of the plans at Monday’s monthly council meeting. For years, the council sometimes took long-term leases on apartments instead of buying them. But the last government’s housing plan, Housing for All, said the plan was to [phase that out by 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/instead-of-buying-social-homes-in-big-private-developments-the-council-is-shifting-to-mostly-leasing-them-now/). It’s just not good value for money, the department decided. After paying all that cash over decades, the council doesn’t end up with the property. Although long-term leasing of properties by the council for social housing was to be wound down by the end of 2025, the Department of Housing had allowed a small bit of breathing space when it came to Raven House, Assistant Chief Executive Mick Mulhern said at Monday’s meeting. That was on the assumption Raven House would be ready by March, Mulhern said. But it wasn’t, he said. That’s about when Dodrill got that crushing phone call. At the meeting, Pepper said, “What’s happened here is an absolute shambles.” ## **The “right standard”?** At the meeting, Mulhern said, “When we got to the point about inspecting the property and looking at what was actually constructed, it was felt that actually it wasn't at the right standard than what we needed to be able to put our tenants into.” “Unfortunately, we had to make a difficult decision to say, well, we can't take a property on, that isn't going to meet the necessary building standards, etc,” he said. Asked about this on Thursday, a spokesperson for Percolt Limited said they were “surprised” to hear about Mulhern’s remark about standards. “These remarks come as a surprise as Dublin City Council have carried out their regular inspections and to date have not raised any issues, but the contrary, have been complementary to how well the building has been repurposed and retro fitted,” the Percolt Limited spokesperson said. They pointed to the recent spate of bad rain as a reason for some hold-ups. “Like many construction projects across the country over the past number of months, progress has been affected by a sustained periods of inclement weather which have impacted elements of the construction programme,” they said. “We are progressing through the normal stages of completion and certification, which must be satisfied before any homes can be made available for occupation,” they said. “We continue to engage with relevant stakeholders as the development advances toward completion,” they said. ## **Next** Now Dodrill says she has been offered a new home in Merville Place, which is not far from where she is now on the Finglas Road. It isn’t the central village spot she had envisioned for herself, after that call in November. She will still be far from the places she needs regular access to, like her GP – which will stay two bus journeys away. “I'm just devastated over Raven House. You know, it was going to be perfect for me,” she said. The Merville Place development, which was also available through the council’s choice-based lettings system, includes 14 studios, 76 one-beds, 72 two-beds, 18 three-beds. Mulhern, the assistant chief executive, said that anyone who was let down by Raven House is still on the social-housing list. So, when a new home is ready, those people will be housed, he said. Indeed, a council spokesperson said on Thursday, “All housing applicants who expressed interest in this development through the choice based letting system have been contacted by the DCC Allocations team and alternative offers of housing will be made,” they said. That has sent ripples outward through the community. Now people who were hopeful of a home in Merville Place think they have no shot – as they feel they are up against those who’d been offered a spot at Raven House, and need an alternative, says Pepper, the independent councillor. The national housing crisis is particularly acute in this north-western part of Dublin, Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, said at Monday’s meeting. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Will new rent rules increase supply and reduce rents – or will developers drip-feed to avoid that? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/will-new-rental-rules-lead-to-an-increase-in-rental-homes-and-eventually-to-drops-in-rents/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T01:05:20.000Z The Minister for Housing, James Browne, says changes to rental laws that the government has brought in will increase the supply of homes to rent, which will, in turn, drive down the cost of rent in the future. “Increasing supply is the only way we are going to make rents affordable,” he said [on](https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22588311/?ref=dublininquirer.com) RTÉ’s *Morning Ireland* last Friday. “I certainly expect rents to fall,” said Browne. “That is what my aim is – is to get rents to fall.” But some experts say institutional investors won’t play along with that strategy – they won’t flood the market with new homes, causing rents to decrease, because doing that would reduce the value of their properties. “There are always lots of big apartment blocks that aren’t fully occupied,” says Ben Thompson, sales and marketing director at Churches Estate Agents. “You would think with the housing crisis, they would all be let, but the way these investment funds work is they are more concerned with their top-line, the ‘quoting rents’,” Thompson said. Fund managers would prefer to let a development sit there only half-full with tenants paying €3,000 a month, he says, rather than drop the rent to €2,500 – because dropping rents hurts their balance sheet. “Because if you change the rent number, the whole spreadsheet recalculates, and it ruins their value of the property on the books,” Thompson says. ## **A complex new system** The first question is, will the new rental rules increase rental supply overall? UCD professor in social policy Michelle Norris, who chaired the Housing Commission – an expert group established by government to examine the housing system and recommend reforms – says she isn’t sure they will. The [new rules](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/government-reforms-to-the-rental-sector-starting-1-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) are so complicated, and together with security of tenure for tenants, could scare off some small landlords, Norris says. And those are still the majority of landlords. “I think the system they introduced is unbelievably over-complex,” she says. Big institutional investors might build more, but they provide only a small part of the overall rental supply, she says. So as she sees it, the extra rental stock they bring on could be lost somewhere else in the rental system, leading to no overall increase in supply, says Norris. Housing held by institutional investors is basically a niche product, Norris says. “They only deal with a very small segment of the market,” she says. “Either high-end private rental or high end student accommodation.” “They only provide accommodation in very limited parts of the country, primarily Dublin to a lesser extent Cork,” she says – and even that supply is limited to specific geographical locations within those cities. The ability to bring rents to market-rate in between tenancies could increase supply from institutional investors, she says. Because it’ll allow them to make more money, tempting them to invest more in the construction of more housing. Ires-Reit, the largest corporate landlord in Ireland, [has said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27773076-irish-residential-properties-reit-plc-preliminary-results-presentation-2025-02/?ref=dublininquirer.com) its rent intake could potentially increase by 25 percent over the coming years as tenancies turn over. But most tenancies in Ireland are provided by small landlords, says Norris. And the complexity of the new rules would be off-putting to many potential landlords, says Norris. No one wants to get involved in offering a service if they struggle to understand the rules, she says. “I think the rules are very unattractive for small landlords, and they are also very unattractive for landlords offering long-term tenancies,” says Norris. The new rules allow the landlord to reset rents each time a tenant moves out. Norris thinks that as a result, many landlords will deliberately seek out those tenants who are likely to move, she says. Students will become desirable tenants as they often move each year, and families looking for long-term rental homes may become less desirable as tenants, she says. Rachel Slaymaker, research officer with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), says that strict rent controls can be a barrier to supply. But there are many other barriers to supply in Ireland, including finance costs and construction costs, she says. Another thing that acts as a deterrent to investors is constantly changing rules, says Slaymaker. “The fact that there are policy changes quite frequently and that instability is quite a deterrent for investment as well.” ## **Dropping rents?** Even if the changes do increase supply though institutional investment, enough to more than offset the potential loss of some small ones – would those new homes hit the market in a rush, jolting it enough to bring down rents? Or will landlords drip-feed new homes into the market to avoid that very thing? The Kennedy Wilson development the Cornerstone, in Stillorgan, with 232 homes, was completed in the [first three months of 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772817-1q-24-supplemental-and-release/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But only half the homes were let by the end of [2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772817-1q-24-supplemental-and-release/?ref=dublininquirer.com). And only two-thirds were occupied after more than a year, in [March 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772822-1q-25-supplemental-and-release/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The development was “stabilised” by [June 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27772820-2q-25-supplemental-and-release/?ref=dublininquirer.com), according to company reports. But it doesn’t say what percentage of it was filled at that stage. [With think tank Progress Ireland, the yimby movement here is powering upWith help from a wider network overseas.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-616.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Cranes-in-the-Docklands-1.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-progress-ireland-the-yimby-movement-here-is-powering-up/) In the United Kingdom, an independent report commissioned by the government in 2018, called [the Letwin Review](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment%5Fdata/file/752124/Letwin%5Freview%5Fweb%5Fversion.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), found that developers were drip-feeding homes onto the market so they could maintain a high price for that type of home. One of the funds managed by LRC Group holds rental properties in both Ireland and the UK. Its accounts show how its board of managers thinks about releasing properties to the market, for sale. In last year’s accounts, they [note that the fund’s](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27773034-b225984/?ref=dublininquirer.com) UK properties are all in six buildings in and around Nottingham city centre. So, “if they were to be made available for sale it would be important to drip feed the units to the market over a substantial period of time.” “If the properties were to be sold as a single portfolio or the units within each of the six buildings were sold as single lots, then the combined aggregate values would be discounted,” it says. Joseph Kilroy, head of policy and public affairs at the Chartered Institute of Building, says institutional investors can form a major pillar of housing supply, but he hasn’t seen a credible analysis to suggest that that supply would ever drive down the cost of rents. Investors work on modelling, Kilroy says. “It’s not necessarily in their shareholders' interests to be driving down the cost of rent.” The government should provide a credible economic analysis of how much supply would be needed to cause rents to drop, Kilroy says. "If the position is that we are talking about so much supply that prices will go down, it's incumbent on those making this policy to explain this mechanism in quantitative terms," he says. Remarkably, the government seems to be overhauling rental laws without any modelling of the impact, he says. “It's taking it on faith, which kind of plagues housing policy in this country.” The new rules could cause some increase in rental supply, says Slaymaker, at the ESRI. But she wouldn’t expect rents to come down any time soon, she says. “For the foreseeable future, I think that would be unlikely,” she says. “That only happens when you have enough supply to cater for the demand.” Investor funds might back off from investing in cities long before they have flooded the market with supply. “I think the big warning signs in real estate are capital and cranes,” said Jonathan Gray, Blackstone Global Head of Real Estate, in a [2015 interview with *CNBC*](https://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/22/cnbc-exclusive-cnbcs-david-faber-interviews-blackstones-jonathan-gray-from-cnbc-institutional-investor-delivering-alpha-conference.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). “You become more cautious when you see a lot of building going on.” That point at which institutional investors begin to fear that adding new supply might drive down rents, though, could be far off. There is so much pent-up demand, it would take a long time to clear that, Slaymaker says. “We do have to think about whether the private sector is going to be able to provide for everyone.” ### In Grangegorman, the source of a mysterious flow of water down the street has yet to be established URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-grangegorman-the-source-of-a-mysterious-flow-of-water-down-the-street-has-yet-to-be-established/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T01:04:58.000Z John Hannah says he first noticed a mysterious trickle of water on his street, Grangegorman Upper, four years ago. He reported it to Dublin City Council and Uisce Éireann in 2022, and many times since, he says, to try to get someone to fix it. Still today, the water can be seen flowing down the street even on a dry day, says Hannah. “City council says it's not their problem, Irish Water says it's not their problem because the water is not coming from a leak on the road,” he says. Hannah wants to know how the issue hasn’t been fixed. The council came out and tarmaced the footpath more than two years ago but that was just a temporary fix. The water broke through again. He was surprised when they did that, he says. “Repairing the path over the leak, I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, together with her colleague then-Green Party TD, Neasa Hourigan, has been inquiring about the issue since 2024\. She is dissatisfied with the communication from Uisce Éireann, she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Grangegorman-Upper--2024--curtosy-of-Janet-Horner-1.jpg) Tarmaced over in 2024\. Photo courtesy of Janet Horner. This week, a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said that it has carried out extensive investigations but has not yet found the source of the mysterious water flowing down the street on dry days. “Since the issue was first raised, extensive leak finding activities have been completed, and there have been multiple repairs completed in the general area,” says the spokesperson. “The area has again been swept for leakage with no new leak being detected.” They carried out testing, too, he says. “In parallel, samples taken from the visible water this week have now been confirmed as NOT being drinking water or wastewater,” says the spokesperson, suggesting it is surface water or something else, he said. ## **Trying to get answers** In February 2024, then-Green Party TD Hourigan wrote to Uisce Éireann, saying that despite the area being newly tarmacked, the flow of water persisted on Grangegorman Upper. She said she understood that workers had attempted to investigate it but couldn’t do so because of cars parked there. She offered to help get residents to move cars if necessary. “Due to the complex nature of some of the queries raised, we may require input from various Uisce Éireann departments to obtain full aspects of response,” says the email back. “As you can appreciate, this may extend our response times in certain scenarios.” In April 2024, Hourigan got a response saying: “Reinstatement of opening was checked and is completed.” In May 2025, Horner wrote to Uisce Éireann. “I receive regular, incredibly frustrated emails from residents in the area because they are being urged to conserve water, but have watched water leaking down the road constantly,” she wrote. She never got any information on what was happening, she says. She spent half an hour on the phone to Uisce Éireann recently but was none the wiser at the end of the call. “It’s concerning to me that they are willing to get back to journalists and not to public representatives with full explanations,” Horner says. ## **And, nearby** Horner says she has a similar struggle to get a leak fixed at nearby Richmond Street North, where residents say the water is causing a hazard in icy weather when it freezes. A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said it is investigating that one, and it’s complicated. “This work is ongoing,” he said. “We have made two trial openings to see if we can determine where the water is coming from, but both times, we were unsuccessful.” There are five water mains under this road, which would need to be checked, says the spokesperson. “Unfortunately, there are street furniture items built over our assets, which further complicates matters,” says the spokesperson. “This is an extremely busy road, which would require a traffic management plan and a road opening licence from the relevant planning authority if further investigation works are required.” Horner is not impressed with the answer. “The responses sound like a series of excuses,” she says. Street furniture shouldn't deter an investigation into the source of a leak. Uisce Éireann should communicate directly with residents and provide them with information too, she says. “I still remain very frustrated by the lack of capacity to communicate.” ### Luke: In a new Irish-language film, “secrets can’t stay buried forever, even at the bottom of a lake” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-in-a-new-irish-language-film-secrets-cant-stay-buried-forever-even-at-the-bottom-of-a-lake/ Last updated: 2026-03-06T06:47:13.000Z *Báite (The Drowned)* is the latest in Cine4’s successful run of Irish-language features. A 1970s-set countryside mystery, it’s compelling, cozy and stylish. At the start, aerial shots hover on a hot September morning at the tail end of the Irish summer. Waves bob peacefully on the surface of a lake. Running from the shore a lone swimmer, a young woman, splashes out into the water. From above, she’s surrounded by nothing but blue. Below, there’s only a murky, green blur. The camera trails behind her, gliding underwater, then dives away on its own accord, deeper into the lake – revealing ruined houses, fields and gravestones. A village waterlogged and broken down, buried in the deep and in the past. But secrets can’t stay buried forever, even at the bottom of a lake. For Peggy (Eleanor O’Brien), the swimmer from the start of the film, and proprietor of a small-town pub and B&B, the emergence of a body from the lake is bad for the tourist trade. Spooked regular guests and new holidaymakers alike leave the village in a hurry. They’ll miss the Big Game. Peggy and her brother have bought a colour TV especially for the occasion. Going against the flow of traffic, and sound-tracked by a power ballad. is Detective Sergeant Frank Ryan (Moe Dunford), the closest thing An Garda Síochána have to a street-smart Kojak type. Frank certainly looks the part in a jacket and shades. This Dublin detective might as well be from a different universe next to the country constable, Garda O’Dowd (Oisín Mistéil), who’s already in over his head with the investigation. Early scenes indicate that O’Dowd has a hard time handling the local church ladies and retired postman, let alone a dead body. ## Tradition vs modernity Casey’s Pub is at the centre of village life, and director Ruán Magan employs active camera work and editing in the bar room sequences. Peggy and her siblings are busy but not swamped. The drama here, as it is throughout the film, is between tradition and modernity. Peggy’s brother in London is looking to sell the pub, something that Peggy is wholeheartedly opposed to. The detective’s arrival and stay at the B&B proves a distraction from the worries around the pub’s future, but it opens the Casey family and the entire village to the dredging up of a secret shared across the community. It’s an extension of the small town where everyone knows your business to a small town where everyone’s business is the same. Sheena Lambert’s script, adapted from her 2015 novel, *The Lake*, has a breezy quality to it. The actors are allowed a lot of snappy back-and-forth in Irish and in snippets of English. With *Báite,* Cine4 is once again adapting an English-language novel into an Irish-language feature. The scriptleans more melodramatic than it is straight-up. It’s often fairly funny too. A gentler kind of mystery. Eleanor O’Brien’s central performance is charming. Her trepidation around the visiting detective, anxiety over the future of the family business, affection for the regular customers – it’s all worn on her face. Peggy is often in close-up, and we see so much emotion pass over her face through the course of the film’s deepening mystery. Dunford is strong as Frank. He feels like a character apart from the countryfolk, at least at first. But Dunford plays softer and softer as the story goes on. The feeling is that Frank is playing tougher than he is, for this case and his career in the big city. The drama from the past gives the filmmakers a chance to explore earlier costuming and styling. Dresses got longer, men wear more and more layers of clothing even when farming. The flashback sequences have a bloomy overexposed quality to them like scenes embossed on toffee tins. *Báite* is an excellent-looking film, really capturing a sense of place and space. Magan and cinematographer Ronan Fox don’t rely on too many drone shots, which tend to be the death of any truly interesting establishing shots. Instead, we get those moody and mysterious overheads from the start of the film, or more interpretive, impressionistic work in dream sequences. The procedural stylings of the script, and the impending GAA final that frames the action, mean that the film is never quite meditative in its pacing. But it is measured and tight in the fashion of the most watchable mysteries. Late reveals pull at the heartstrings and are sold by committed performances by O’Brien, Dunford and Padraig O'Loinsigh. In the film’s closing moments, the camerawork calls back to that first sequence: Peggy gliding through the pub, serving drinks and laughing it up with customers as the match plays in the background. Peggy’s on solid ground now, but her movement is as effortless as cutting through the water. The murkiness of the lake was replaced with the warm light of smiles, friendship, family and a future that somehow feels brighter than ever before. *Báite is in cinemas nationwide from Friday 6 March.* ### Things To Do: Meet under the clock at Clerys, visit Baggotonia, get the Book of Revelations on vinyl URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-meet-under-the-clock-at-clerys-visit-baggotonia-get-the-book-of-revelations-on-vinyl/ Last updated: 2026-03-06T06:40:39.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Baggotonia: Press-People-Place** This evening, barrister, lecturer and writer Rachel Fehily will be delivering a talk on Baggotonia, Dublin’s Latin Quarter, over in the United Arts Club. *Baggotonia: Press, People, Place* will see Fehily delve into the Latin Quarter, famous for its literary legacy, as she celebrates the women who shaped its social, political, artistic and environmental transformations. Fehily looks at such figures as Mary Lavin, Anne Yeats, Margaret Gaj and the various other women who helped to foster the innovative cultural spaces around Pembroke Road, Baggot Street, Merrion Row and St. Stephen’s Green, while also being largely excluded from traditional historic narratives. *Baggotonia* is a fundraiser for Women’s Aid Ireland ahead of the International Women’s Day weekend. The talk starts at 7pm today (Thursday, 5 March). Tickets can be purchased [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/baggotonia-press-people-place-tickets-1983084971533?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Project Groundswell** Also this evening, Photo Museum Ireland will be officially launching its latest exhibition, Project Groundswell, an examination of how different individuals and communities respond to the climate crisis. Developed through an EU-wide open call, which received over 500 submissions, Project Groundswell interrogates the role photography plays in illuminating the reality of climate action. The exhibition will present new short videos featuring the work of 12 artists selected from that open call, and also includes curated displays by four of these winning artists: Yvette Monahan, Ingmar Björn Nolting, Maria Oliveira and Gonçalo Fonseca. At 6:30pm today, Thursday, 5 March, Photo Museum Ireland will be showing the work of the participating artists in a large-scale outdoor public screening event in Meeting House Square. Prior to the outdoor screening, from 5:30 until 6:15pm, Photo Museum Ireland is also hosting a public discussion on photography and climate action in the gallery, with speakers including environmental scientist and author Shirley Clerkin, and curators Veronica Nicolardi, Nadine Weixler, and Rui Prata. There is currently a waiting list. But admission is free, so you have nothing to lose if you put your name on it [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/photomuseumireland/2093322?ref=dublininquirer.com). Project Groundswell will run in Photo Museum Ireland until 12 April. For more information, and to keep track of the workshops and publications that are set to accompany this landmark exhibition, visit the exhibition’s page [here](https://photomuseumireland.ie/exhibition/project-groundswell/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **First Fridays at MoLI** The first Friday of the month is almost here once again, and that means the Museum of Literature Ireland is opening late. This month, as part of the First Fridays series, artist and curator Michelle Browne will be in the museum from 6:30pm to discuss her performance-based and collaborative work. Then, at 8pm, filmmaker and author Dave Tynan is scheduled to read from his debut short story collection, *We Used to Dance Here*. While those talks are going on, you will also be able to browse MoLI’s current exhibition, Happy Ever After: Falling in Love with Irish Romance Fiction, which explores the forgotten history of Irish romance fiction. That will be on show until 20 March, but honestly, visiting an exhibition before 6pm, during regular, respectable hours doesn’t offer the same thrill. In saying that, if an activity during normal hours is your thing – and you aren’t a mild-adrenaline junkie – from 7 March, MoLI will also be screening its film *De Profundis*, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s love letter of the same name. The film installation, which was created in partnership with Ebow Digital, presents key passages from the text as read by LGBTQ+ writers, artists and activists, including Paul D’Alton, Naoise Dolan, Bulelani Mfaco, Una Mullally and Tonie Walsh. *De Profundis* will be on show in MoLI until 31 August. **These Beautiful Men** On Friday, 6 March, artist Brian Maguire will be opening his new exhibition, *These Beautiful Men*, at Rua Red, the contemporary arts centre in Tallaght. Since October 2025, Maguire has been drawing men temporarily residing at an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre where he and Rua Red established a temporary art studio, in which artist Michael Mangan runs regular workshops. While Maguire drew portraits of the men, participants in Mangan’s workshop were invited to paint their understanding of home and their hopes for the future. Maguire, through these new works, considers what it means to be seen, acknowledged and brought into representation in a context where individuals are often reduced to statistics. *These Beautiful Men* will be officially launched at 6pm on Friday, with Maguire’s portraits displayed in Rua Red’s Gallery One, while Gallery Two features audio recordings of the men’s experiences and journeys to Ireland. The exhibition will run until 9 May. For more information, visit Rua Red’s website [here](https://www.ruared.ie/exhibitions/these-beautiful-men?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***SIX* by E The Artist** Last week, [artist Daranijoh Sanni](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-new-work-an-artist-reimagines-flags-as-a-prompt-to-reflect-on-their-purpose/), otherwise known as E the Artist, released his debut album *SIX* on Nyahh Records. Inspired by the opening of the seven seals in the Book of Revelations, and Sanni’s personal reflections on self, mortality and religion, *SIX* is a startlingly rich collection of distant drones, looping acoustic guitars, hissing tapes, spoken word passages that feel like lost artefacts, and disintegrating soundscapes. *SIX* features contributions from artists [Mel Keane](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-dublin-electronic-artist-moves-on-from-frogs-and-celtic-futurism-to-diy-bagpipes/), Ruby Eastwood, KRAF and Julia Louise Knifefist, with the latter’s rabid, guttural screams on "BLACKOUT" being one of the album’s hair-raising high-points. Thirty-seven minutes long, but near-biblical in its weight, *SIX* steadily builds up to "DROGO", a 20-minute meditation on life and death, which forms the core inspiration for the album as a whole. *SIX* is streaming over on [Bandcamp](https://nyahhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/e-the-artist-six?ref=dublininquirer.com), and, if you’re prepared to invite it into your home, you can also purchase it there on vinyl too. Later this month, on 28 March, Sanni will be launching the album officially in Tengu. Tickets are available [here](https://foggynotions.ie/concerts/e-the-artist-tengu-march-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Directed By Her** On Sunday, the GALPAL Collective returns to the Irish Film Institute for its fourth edition of Directed by Her, a celebration of short films from female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans- and agender directors. This year’s programme brings together 14 shorts and music videos, including works by Joy Nesbitt, Paula María Roldán Sá, Olivia McLaughlin, Nell Mercier and Eilís Doherty. As part of the event, there will also be a panel discussion on screenwriting, followed by an Audience Awards, and award for Best Screenplay, before the night closes out with a post-screening gathering in the terrace. *Directed by Her* starts at 3pm on Sunday, 8 March. Tickets are available [here](https://shop.ifi.ie/performance/109501/?%5Fgl=1%2Akqy2yb%2A%5Fga%2AOTIyMDAzNjAwLjE3NjgzOTM0MjY.%2A%5Fga%5FFZNNMJKDPE%2AczE3NzI2Mzc3MzAkbzE4JGcxJHQxNzcyNjM3NzY2JGoyNCRsMCRoMA..&%5Fga=2.225456730.1594843800.1772637732-922003600.1768393426&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Iontas Am-Lóin** It is officially Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026, and as part of the celebrations, poet, songwriter and interdisciplinary artist Amano de Londra Miura will be organising Iontas Am-Lóin, a series of Irish-language creative workshops in Flux Studios over lunchtime next week. [On Tuesday, 10 March](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/iontas-am-loin-le-ronan-o-raghallaigh-tickets-1982585068309?ref=dublininquirer.com#organizer-card), artist, researcher and performer Rónán Ó Raghallaigh will be in Chatham Row to “embark on a journey of imagination, drawing, and experimentation with meditation practices of old”. [Then on Wednesday, 11 March](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/iontas-am-loin-le-dhaithi-o-nuanain-tickets-1983083213274?aff=erellivmlt&ref=dublininquirer.com), de Londra Miura will be joined by musician, poet and storyteller Daithí Ó Nuanáin to discuss Irish music, the relationship between the body, the heart and music, and whether we can sing a song property without necessarily understanding its text or context. [On Thursday, 12 March](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/iontas-am-loin-le-conchobhar-ruadh-tickets-1983086413847?aff=erellivmlt&ref=dublininquirer.com), singer and shamanic practitioner Conchobhar Ruadh will be in the studios to look at how we learn Irish, be it as a child or someone rediscovering the language later in life, and to discuss the “reconnection” between language, family, heritage and music. And finally, [on Friday, 13 March](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/iontas-am-loin-le-bridie-flaherty-tickets-1983086914344?aff=erellivmlt&ref=dublininquirer.com), Bridie Flaherty from the Irish Traditional Music Archive will be dropping in to teach participants sean-nós dance. Each workshop will begin at 1pm, and they are all free to attend, although booking is advised. **Under the Clock: In the Shadow of Clerys** Finally, next Thursday, the Ballymun Library Writers’ Group is launching its new book *Under the Clock: In the Shadow of Clerys* in Ballymun Library. *Under the Clock: In the Shadow of Clerys* is a collection of short stories and poems penned in celebration of the department store and pre-mobile phone meeting point Clerys as well as its surrounding environs. Kicking off at 6pm, 12 March, the book will be officially launched by writer, playwright and Aosdána member Peter Sheridan. Attendance is free, and registration is not required. So the only thing you need to do is remember that this is definitely happening. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Free posters for Women's March** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/Women-s-Day-posters.jpg) To mark International Women’s Day, 20+ illustrators came together to design protest posters which are free to download for this year’s Women’s March, on Sunday 8 March at 1pm. If one speaks to you, download it, print it, march with it, share it in your space, display it in your shop window, or take it to work. Let’s amplify the message and stand in solidarity. You can view and [download the posters here](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Me0ix5RzilhkPnpu11CiWd7dU8yl9qah?usp=share%5Flink&ref=dublininquirer.com). Instagram: @iwd\_poster\_collective **Mammy Mia!** For Mother’s Day, on Sunday, 15 March, Sing Along Social will be bringing their new show *Mammy Mia!* to The Sugar Club. Promising an extravaganza of ABBA hits as well as a few classics from the likes of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Sinéad O’Connor, *Mammy Mia!* will start at 2:30pm. Tickets are €18 and you can book them [here](https://www.singalongsocial.com/events?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Pavilion Theatre presents Glasshouse perform Björk** On Sunday, 22 March, acclaimed Dublin ensemble Glasshouse will return to the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire to perform the music of Björk. In their new live show, following their reimaginings of artists including Sigur Rós and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Glasshouse will delve into the Icelandic artist’s boundary-pushing discography, from *Debut* and *Post* to *Vulnicura*. Arranged by composer Robert Reid Allan, the ensemble will deliver two performances on 22 March first at 3pm and then at 7.30pm. Tickets cost €27 plus booking fee, and can be purchased [here](https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/glasshousebjork?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Open Call: TBG+S Recent Graduate Residency Award 2026** Temple Bar Gallery + Studios (TBG+S) is inviting applications from artists for the TBG+S Recent Graduate Residency Award 2026 offering professional development, an artist bursary and a one-year studio. This opportunity supports the professional development of a recent graduate artist and offers a large free studio for one year, €7,000 artist bursary, and a variety of institutional supports, to an artist who has graduated from an undergraduate degree in the past three years. The deadline for applications is Friday, 10 April at 5pm. For more information and to apply, visit the TBG+S website [here.](https://www.templebargallery.com/news/open-call-recent-graduate-residency-award-2026?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=Open%20Call%20TBGS%20Recent%20Graduate%20Residency%20Award%202026&utm%5Fcontent=Open%20Call%20TBGS%20Recent%20Graduate%20Residency%20Award%202026+CID%5F0436a79986a5c960a042c269f402eb6a&utm%5Fsource=Email%20marketing%20software&utm%5Fterm=Apply%20Now) **Sculpture In Context** Sculpture in Context, the largest dedicated sculpture exhibition in Ireland, has announced that it will be pausing in 2026. The exhibition will not be going ahead this year, both due to challenges in securing funding, and because the National Botanic Gardens will be required for international events during Ireland’s EU Presidency in the Autumn. An Advisory Committee is currently working to secure funding and support, with the aim of ensuring the exhibition returns in 2027. For more information and updates, visit their [website](https://sculptureincontext.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) or follow them on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/sculpture%5Fin%5Fcontext/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### New film documents Dubliners’ resistance to subordination of social life to profit URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-film-documents-dubliners-resistance-to-subordination-of-social-life-to-profit/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T12:27:29.000Z *Displace: The Battle for Dublin* could have been a never-ending story, filmmaker James Redmond said, as he stood in front of a silver screen at its premiere on the third day of the Dublin International Film Festival. “Every day, something surfaced to fit the lens of the project,” he said, reading a short speech off his phone to the crowd of cinemagoers who had gathered in the Light House Cinema’s screen one at lunchtime on Sunday 22 February. The film could have featured any number of recent events, like the residents in [Spencer Dock](https://www.change.org/p/support-spencer-dock-tenants-right-to-remain?ref=dublininquirer.com) who, in October, were served with eviction notices, or in January, the Complex art centre on Arran Street East was closed,he said. None of these events was a once-off, he said. “They expose something structural. The subordination of social life to profit.” “The market is a monster,” he said. “It turns living spaces into dead space.” Shot over the course of four years, the black and white feature-length documentary tied together a broad range of events, including the attempted eviction of residents in [Rathmines’ Tramco building](https://www.dublininquirer.com/rtb-tribunal-finds-tramco-renters-are-licencees-not-tenants-overturning-a-previous-decision/), the campaign to save outdoors the market [on Moore Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-sit-on-the-advisory-board-set-to-shape-the-future-of-dublin-city-centre/), the closure of [Richmond Road Studios](https://www.dublininquirer.com/looming-closure-of-artists-studios-in-fairview-would-deepen-citywide-shortage/) in Fairview, and the decay of the [Iveagh Market](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-keeping-iveagh-markets-closed-helping-botany-weaving-stay-in-business-and-battling-weeds/) on Francis Street. At the heart of the film was the concept of a “right to the city”, an idea conceived of by the French philosopher Henri Lefebvre, he said. “The right to the city means ordinary people shaping the spaces they inhabit, not investors treating them as playgrounds.” Weaving more than 50 interviews together with on-the-ground reporting from protests and public meetings, the film follows a variety of organisations and individuals who comprise a wider movement in the city demanding housing and community space, he said on Monday while sipping a coffee in the cafe over Chapters bookshop on Parnell Street. It is a look – through a wide range of stories – at how people, the state and investors are in contest to define space, he said. “I call them vignettes. But they are all windows into how this issue penetrates people's lives in different ways.” ## Flying around by seagull Redmond began the four-year process of shooting *Displace* when, [in October 2021](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/146422?ref=dublininquirer.com), Marron Estates Ltd applied to Dublin City Council to redevelop the Cobblestone Pub as a hotel. The protest, which saw members of the folk music community carry a coffin to the council’s offices, became a lighting rod of sorts, he said on Monday afternoon. “You could see how all of these things gelled together. A mix of republicans, punks, trad musicians, all blending together simply because a venue they hold to their heart was in danger of being displaced.” The attempted redevelopment of the Cobblestone, and the swift backlash to that summed up neatly the politics of urban space, he said. But, he says, when thinking about how to capture that on screen,“I was a bit jaundiced with representations of the issue as cranes versus creatives.” So, instead, he wove together a narrative that begins at the procession-like protest up in Smithfield and culminates in a tea party held on the site of the former [St Michael’s Estate](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-inchicore-council-unveils-plans-for-its-flagship-public-housing-project/) in Inchicore ahead of the council’s long-awaited redevelopment of the land as 578 social and cost-rental apartments, he said. “It’s the heart of darkness, which has been going on for 20 years. It’s insane how long it laid fallow and how much money was wasted in the interim,” he said. Once he started on the ground outside the Cobblestone, different, but related issues – protests and events – kept popping up, like the ongoing campaign to protect the market down on Moore Street, he said. “The more you looked at it, the more these examples of displacements you could find.” In the process of creating the film, he was drawing on works like Peter Lennon’s 1967 documentary, *The Rocky Road to Dublin*, a reflection on the culture and values of Irish society in the mid-20th century, and the city symphony, a 1920s film genre that took as its subject the development of urban centres, he says. “They are films that try to tell a story in a given day.” Luke McManus’ 2022 film, [*North Circular*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/north-circular-a-musical-trip-through-dublin-s-north-inner-city-reviewed/), which examines the culture and history of the North Circular Road, operates in a similar vein, he says. “And I had, like these seagull motifs where they’re almost moving around the city on your behalf, flying around by seagull.” ## One battle after another While exploring the arts, Redmond paid a visit to the site of the former Tivoli Theatre, now a Staycity aparthotel where artists Eve Woods and Aoife Ward were organising satirical walking tours of the Liberties, highlighting new hotel developments, student accommodation and disappearing historic sites. “We were really the comic relief in the middle of the film,” Woods says. Alongside their walking tours, Redmond also filmed the opening of their exhibition [*Con:Temporary Quarters*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aparthotel-art-gallery-that-replaced-the-tivoli-theatre-a-new-exhibition-critiques-hotels-pushing-out-dublin-8-cultural-spaces/), staged in August 2023, and using its venue, an incomplete cultural venue within the Staycity aparthotel building, as the subject of its satire. The film captures the feeling of being in an eternal battle, says Woods, noting that Redmond came to interview them in the summer of 2023\. “It feels like ages ago, we did that, and yet nothing has changed.” A spokesperson for Staycity, on Tuesday said that a “fitout of Tivoli is underway now”, and that they will be making an announcement soon regarding their plans for the space. Redmond didn’t necessarily have a list of items that he was seeking to capture on his own cinematic journey, but he wanted to capture examples of certain things, like evictions. Redmond said, as he documented this cinematic journey through the city, he also wanted to be able to acknowledge the activism of community groups connected to the now-demolished St. Michael’s Estate in Inchicore,he said. “The resistance that they practice isn’t really recognised enough in the sense that holding ground in a space is the most radical thing you can do.” [In April 2025](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=969520302048602&set=a.479361711064466), former residents of St Michael’s Estate held an outdoor tea party ahead of the long-awaited [start of the construction](https://www.dublincity.ie/housing/dublin-city-councils-housing-delivery-plans/housing-land-initiative/droichead-orga?ref=dublininquirer.com) of its replacement, the new housing complex An Droichead Órga,to swap memories and discuss the future. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/03/DISPLACE-the-battle-for-Dublin-still-1-source-James-Redmond.jpg) Still from Displace. It was an example of how local groups used art or something as simple as a tea party to bring the community together, he said. “And just the visuality of it was like a blessing to the heavens.” It echoed a scene from Lennon’s *Rocky Road to Dublin*, in which hundreds of school children in Ballyfermot run alongside the film crew as they drive through the neighbourhood, Redmond said. In his own film, a few kids chased Redmond’s camera as it was fixed to a drone that rises over the green where the former housing estate stood while locals had gathered for the tea party, with its tables covered in white cloth, and organised in a cross shape. Now that *Displace* has had its premiere, it will begin to hit the film festival circuit, but Reddy’s hope is that at some point, it can be screened in St. Michael’s, he says. “What has influenced me the most here is how cinema can bring people together,” he says. “It sounds naive, but it’s to bring people together in an organising fashion.” ### While council staff are barred from using free AI chatbots, councillors are trained on them URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/while-council-staff-are-barred-from-using-free-ai-chatbots-councillors-are-trained-on-them/ Last updated: 2026-03-06T06:41:03.000Z While staff at Dublin City Council are prohibited from using free generative AI tools, councillors are being trained how best to use them. Guidelines for staff [say](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285419-dcc-generative-ai-staff-guidelines-v5-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=free&mode=document#document/p9) the “use of free and publicly accessible Gen AI tools present a significant risk for organisations due to a lack of effective safeguards ensuring data privacy and safety”. But Dublin City Council, on 17 February, provided a training seminar organised by the Association of Irish Local Government on the use of Chat GPT’s free version. The AILG-led webinar was originally carried out in March 2025 as part of its Elected Member Training Programme, said Elaine Lynch, AILG’s Head of Operations and Member Services, on Friday. It formed part of a broader programme to support councillors in their public-facing communications and community engagement, she said, “particularly in the context of digital platforms and social media”. The webinar video was issued to Dublin city councillors last month in response to a request by Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll following their monthly Protocol Committee meeting [on 29 January](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-workload-gets-heavier-councillors-eye-up-ai-assistants/). But, it was likely issued by mistake, because she had specifically requested a recent training seminar by the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) on the use of Microsoft Copilot, O’Driscoll says. Dublin City Council has paid for licences to use Microsoft Copilot, and O’Driscoll wanted the council to share with her colleagues a seminar about it that she’d attended herself, she said on Tuesday. “One of the things it did really well was how to craft prompts, like review forms, active travel reports, and explain in the form of a matrix, what changes have been made for the funding of a cycle lane in my area,” she said. A spokesperson for the council did not comment on Friday when asked to confirm if the council had erroneously sent out the AILG seminar on Chat GPT rather than the NILGA seminar on Copilot. ## Public speaking The [hour-long training session](https://vimeo.com/1063255901?fl=pl&fe=ti&ref=dublininquirer.com) led by Lynch explained to attendees how they could use Chat GPT to craft press releases, brainstorm social media post ideas and create speaking points for council agenda items and speeches at monthly meetings. It acknowledged the limitations and risks associated with publicly available and free generative AI tools, including data protection and privacy considerations, Lynch said via email on Friday. “Councillors were explicitly advised that such tools should not be used for processing personal data, confidential information or any material relating to internal local authority systems or decision-making,” she said. The association keeps its training under regular review and any future training will continue to focus on responsible, ethical and appropriate uses for generative AI, she said, “particularly in relation to communications and public engagement”. [As workload gets heavier, councillors eye up AI assistants“You could get 500 emails, and I do recall my friend saying ‘God, why don’t you get Copilot?’”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-615.jpg)Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/IMG-20260218-WA0000-1-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-workload-gets-heavier-councillors-eye-up-ai-assistants/) Generative AI, free or licenced, isn’t something O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor, says she would use for communications, however. “I wouldn’t have it answer emails or write press releases or anything like that,” she said. “The minute I ask it to write me, say, four paragraphs on air quality in Dublin, I’m losing the ability to influence what I’m actually saying,” she says. “It could give me anything back about air quality in Dublin,” she said. “It could use the [AirQuality.ie](http://airquality.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) data which says air quality is great all the time. So, just because it’s on the internet, doesn’t make it true.” Yes, there are obvious issues that arise here in terms of accuracy, says Kris Shrishak, a public interest technologist in the Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL). “These are probabilistic generators. Expecting them to be accurate is more out of a fluke than a design.” Besides the risk of reputational damage from potentially distributing inaccurate information, relaying misinformation or hallucinations to citizens may also cause other problems, he said. “If it was supposed to be some important information, there are downstream consequences of receiving inaccurate information,” he said. ## Who is currently restricted? There are also the data privacy and safety concerns around the use of free generative AI tools, which Dublin City Council’s guidelines raised. “Public Gen AI models should not be used for business purposes, and any tools implemented must be enterprise-approved (DCC approved), ensuring compliance with data protection and security standards,” the guidelines say. So staff in Dublin City Council aren’t permitted to use free, publicly available generative AI tools for any council-related or professional tasks, the guidelines say. Instead, they should use the tools for which the council has a proper business licence. Says Shrishak, of the ICCL: “The claim is that it’s not the same as the public version. Although we can’t verify, of course.” Licensed generative AI tools “potentially” have additional safeguards in place that free versions do not”, he says. “The main difference, with respect to the contracts, is that you have the companies making claims that they would protect the person later.” In principle, the licence holder can hold a company accountable, he says. “With the free version, you don’t even have that.” Similar to Dublin City Council**, t**he Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation says in its own [guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27714500-guidelines-for-the-responsible-use-of-ai-in-the-public-service-20250918/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that these “very accessible” free tools don’t have “suitable management and oversight” and therefore pose significant risk if used in the public sector. However, the Dublin City Council guidelines on generative AI use do not apply to its councillors. Councillors have their own ethical guidelines,says Green Party councillor Ray Cunningham. “That’s more about behaviour and donations, things like that. In terms of work practices, it wouldn’t really qualify or be covered.” This is the same with other local authorities in Dublin. A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said that they have invested in a limited number of licences for Copilot, and have also established an AI policy for staff. That also prohibits staff from the use of free or public generative AI tools, they say. But, “the council do not dictate to councillors which AI can or can’t be used. SDCC has no role in doing so”. Dún Laoghaire‑Rathdown County Council doesn’t operate a council-wide production licence for generative AI platforms, their spokesperson said. But, DLRCC is taking part in a Local Government Management Agency-led 90‑day pilot of Copilot, alongside eight other local authorities, they said. “The purpose of this pilot is to evaluate where generative AI can meaningfully support efficiencies, improve internal workflows, and complement service delivery within the organisation.” They have a formal corporate AI policy, approved in 2025, which includes guidelines on which tools staff can use, as well as prohibiting the entering of sensitive or confidential information into public AI systems, they said. DLRCC also established an internal “AI Assist” programme to support awareness, training and good governance around AU usage across the organisation, they said. But, they did not specify if the policy applied to councillors as well as staff. ### In Ireland, asking immigrants to weigh in on immigration policies is mostly box-ticking, community organisers say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ireland-asking-immigrants-to-weigh-in-on-immigration-policies-is-mostly-box-ticking-community-organisers-say/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T23:25:38.000Z When Dutch officials [asked ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27454384-202458emn-ahq-involving-and-consulting-third-country-nationals/?ref=dublininquirer.com)other EU member states whether seeking immigrants’ input was part of the process for creating immigration policies, answers varied. It was “personal involvement” of immigrants in the development of “national/ministerial”-level policy, that Dutch officials sought to know about. Some countries, like Italy and Finland, said yes, they include immigrants. Finland has an Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations, with 34 members, “ten of which have to be representatives of immigrants and ethnic minorities”, its officials said. The board’s recommendations are not legally binding though, they said. Meanwhile, Irish officials said, “in general no”. Ireland doesn’t have a specific system to invite immigrants’ feedback on immigration policy proposals. But it offers pathways for the general public to offer their views on some proposed immigration policies, they said, in answer to the [ad-hoc query](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27454384-202458emn-ahq-involving-and-consulting-third-country-nationals/?ref=dublininquirer.com) through the European Migration Network in October 2024. “Submissions are usually requested in written format. In general, written submissions must be emailed, alongside a covering letter. Other formats such as video can also often be facilitated,” they said. On a recent afternoon, Lassane Ouedraogo, chairperson of Africa Centre, said he’s made plenty of submissions over the years. He’s also attended “NGO forums” with immigration officials where they “brief” on different matters, he said, but dissenting voices fall on deaf ears. “We are called to be briefed on what has been decided,” said Ouedraogo matter-of-factly, sitting behind a busy desk in an office on Amiens Street. Other community organisersalso say immigration officials either don’t reach out to immigrant communities at all, talk to them once a policy has already rolled out, or they discuss it before that but their minds are already made up. “It’s box-ticking,” Ouedraogo said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it holds “regular stakeholder forums where groups representing migrants are updated on immigration related matters”. Before shifting family reunification policies recently, for example, “there was also regular engagement with groups representing migrants who also made submissions”, the spokesperson said. And their submissions were “carefully considered” as part of [a review](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27455525-final-report-on-the-review-of-the-non-eea-family-reunification-policy/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## No heads-up? When the Department of Justice [brought in ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-department-of-justice-downplayed-its-role-in-months-of-travel-hassles-for-bolivian-passengers-by-airlines-documents-suggest/)visa requirements for citizens of Bolivia back in 2023, Gabriela Burnett was the president of the Bolivian Association of Ireland. The move followed [months of hassle](https://www.dublininquirer.com/airlines-have-been-refusing-to-let-bolivians-board-flights-to-dublin/) for Bolivian travellers to Ireland, who were facing growing refusals to board by airlines, being told that border control in Dublin was calling the shots. “Many Bolivians were stopped from travelling based solely on nationality. Even individuals with valid Irish residency were prevented from boarding flights,” said Burnett. Not only were they losing money on plane tickets and the like, people were humiliated, too, she said. Later, a trove of internal documents suggested that the Department of Justice officials [tried to downplay](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-department-of-justice-downplayed-its-role-in-months-of-travel-hassles-for-bolivian-passengers-by-airlines-documents-suggest/) its role in those rejections. Burnett – who was navigating a cascade of requests for help from Bolivian citizens or their relatives who were facing refusals at the time – didn't have an answer as to why it was happening. And later when the Department of Justice did change visa rules for citizens of Bolivia, it came as a surprise, she said. “Our community only became aware of it when people were already being denied boarding by airlines or stranded in transit,” said Burnett. Officials engaged with them afterwards, not beforehand, Burnett said. “It was reactive, not participatory.” Sometimes, the changes are so quiet that they jar those whose lives are suddenly touched by them, Ouedraogo of Africa Centre said. He points to how the Department of Justice recently sent a letter to refugees who’d applied for citizenship before a litany of new policies kicked in. The letter [said they couldn’t](https://www.dublininquirer.com/refugees-applying-for-irish-citizenship-face-an-unexpected-hurdle/) count their time towards citizenship from when they applied for asylum – which was practice for years – but rather from when they were granted protection which is a new approach. “Who did they consult for that?” said Ouedraogo, who is a former refugee. In response to queries last month, a Department of Justice spokesperson didn’t acknowledge that it had changed its practice for past applicants. ## Don't think twice, it's all right Ouedraogo also points to how family rights for refugees [shifted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27456809-minist1pdf/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in a way that widens class inequality among the group, making it harder for lower-income families to reunite with loved-ones. In the past, those granted refugee status had a one-year window to bring kids or partners over to Ireland, without meeting income thresholds set by the Department of Justice. That has now changed. He would have recommended against the pivot, Ouedraogo said, if anyone asked. But that doesn’t mean the government would have cared, anyway, he said. He’s come to believe that the government doesn’t invite the public's opinion on a proposed immigration policy with an open mind. Decision-makers’ minds are already made up at that point, he said. And that’s a problem, Ouedraogo said. “Totally agree,” said Burnett, who is now an organiser at the volunteer-run group, [Latina Women Against Violence](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-latina-women-by-latina-women-a-group-offers-company-and-advice-to-victims-of-gender-based-violence/). The fact that lots of those decisions touch the lives of people who can’t vote at all, or can’t vote in general elections, said Ouedraogo, means TDs are not super motivated to stand up for immigrants either. “But that shouldn’t be the case,” he said. He notes how the Dáil [voted ](https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2024/0626/1456862-migration-pact/?ref=dublininquirer.com)to join the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which brings in harsher asylum rules for most people. ## Promises, promises Lucky Khambule of the Movement of Asylum Seekers (MASI), mentions how its members were invited to share their experience as Catherine Day – who led a government advisory group – dreamed up a roadmap for ending the direct provision system. “And we did participate,” he said. The fruit of those efforts was the White Paper for Ending Direct Provision published in 2021. Its recommendations were to be laid down by the end of the previous government’s lifetime. That didn’t happen as the number of people seeking asylum grew after pandemic travel curbs were lifted. It was “thrown in the bin”, said Khambule. Then the government drew up a new [accommodation strategy](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27456823-comprehensive-accommodation-strategy-for-international-protection-applicants/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which whittled down the White Paper’s recommendations, and pinned its focus on securing 13,000 beds in state-owned asylum centres by 2028. Though it’s unclear if it can deliver. Meanwhile, Ouedraogo, chairperson of Africa Centre, said media headlines about how much private landlords make from renting out properties as asylum shelters rouse division – because nothing has changed. Even before the Catherine Day report, said Ouedraogo, it was the McMahon report that didn’t reform the accommodation system. He said it’s disappointing that when the government makes a conscious commitment to document experiences shared by people seeking asylum and weave a plan that promises change, it doesn’t go anywhere much. ## Solidarity forever Burnett, the former president of Bolivian Association of Ireland, said navigating hardened immigration policies takes a toll. It makes people feel powerless, she said. But they can try to find reprieve by seeking shelter in each other’s company – bearing their cross together, said Burnett. “When people come together, they realise they are not alone and that what they are facing is not a personal failure, but part of a wider system,” she said. It doesn’t wipe away the hardship, of course, said Burnett. But “it provides reliable information, emotional support, and solidarity, reminding people that they matter and that their voices still count,” she said. On Saturday morning, members of Latina Women Against Violence gathered at a co-op space inside Phibsborough Shopping centre for their regular community meet-up. As Burnett’s little boy helped and goofed around them, the women adorned the room with small heart-shaped papers, hugged, gabbed in Spanish and brought pre-loved clothes to swap. ### Dublin city councillors back motion condeming US/Israel attack on Iran, despite chief executive's "legal" concerns URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-councillors-back-motion-condeming-us-israel-attack-on-iran/ Last updated: 2026-03-10T14:26:07.000Z “Is gá dom é seiceáil lenár gcomhairleoirí dlí,” Dublin City Council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, told those gathered for the monthly council meeting on Monday, which was conducted in both Irish and English. That translates to, “I need to check it with our legal advisors.” When asked, “Cén fath?” by Lord Mayor Ray McAdam, Shakespeare returned to English to say, “I just want to check the ground I’m on.” Shakespeare was replying to an emergency motion from Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair. The motion called on the council to condemn the “joint Israel-US attacks against Iran”. And called on “all state parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire and recommit to a diplomatic resolution”. Further, the motion requests that no representatives of Dublin City Council, including the Lord Mayor, should attend any St. Patrick’s Day events planned in the White House under President Trump. And for the Lord Mayor to write to the US Ambassador to express the council’s protest. Shakespeare did not elaborate at the meeting on what his legal concerns around this motion were. His response was branded “Gearr agus milis” by Ó Meachair’s party colleague, Mícheál Mac Donncha, through a bemused chuckle. That’s, “Short and sweet”, as bearla/in English. Asked later for details about Shakespeare’s legal concerns, and whether he might be worried the council could anger the US and Israel, a council spokesperson said, “We have no comment at this time.” ## Kid gloves for US and Israel In the Council Chamber on Monday, as the meeting continued,Ó Meachair argued that international law is not “a-la-carte”, applying to some, but not others. If one link of a chain is damaged, the entire chain itself is broken, he said – adding that this is no time to flatter US President Donald Trump. Why is Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to follow the rules, but not Trump? Where are the sanctions for the US? asked Ó Meachair. The response from the chief executive, and the idea of seeking legal advice on the motion, was branded as “unprecedented” by Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne. Although, when a plan by councillors to strip former Israeli President Chaim Herzog’s surname from a Rathgar Park at the December monthly meeting drew criticism from the US and Israel, Shakespeare also had legal concerns. This followed a call, Shakespeare said, before that meeting, from the secretary general of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, asking him whether he was sure what was being proposed was legally sound. At the December meeting, on Shakespeare’s advice, councillors [withdrew the motion](https://www.dublininquirer.com/did-the-council-follow-the-correct-process-to-name-herzog-park-back-in-1995/) to de-name Herzog Park, and sent it back to committee. At Monday’s meeting, Dunne saidmotions have been passed by the council in relation to international affairs “time and time again”. As Labour Party Councillor Fiona Connelly noted, she brought a motion in February’s full council monthly meeting relating to Iran. “This Council notes with deep concern the ongoing crisis in Iran, where widespread protests have been met with violent repression by state authorities, including the use of lethal force against demonstrators and a near-total internet shutdown,” the motion read. Connelly’s motion called on the Lord Mayor to write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris TD requesting that he engage with his counterpart in Iran to call for an immediate cessation of violence against civilians and end the internet shutdown. In this instance, the Lord Mayor agreed to take the motion without debate and write to the Minister. Dunne said he doesn’t support the present regime in Iran. It has since tortured, imprisoned, and executed political prisoners, he said. But it's up to the people of Iran, and to the United Nations to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity, Dunne said. “Not for a President of the United States to decide at the flick of a switch that he's going to war,” he said. Regardless of your view on Iran, said independent Councillor Cieran Perry, the attack by the Americans and Israelis is a clear breach of international law. “Yet our own Minister for Foreign Affairs couldn't bring herself to condemn the illegal actions.” Perry condemned the Iranian regime as oppressive, but added the Iranian people have to decide their own future. “Not the American imperialists or their Israeli masters.” ## Break down There’s a sound logic to Ireland maintaining its neutrality, said Fine Gael Councillor David Coffey. “However, that logic breaks down a little bit for me when we refuse to go and talk to people,” he said. Coffey said he wouldn’t support the motion because he thinks Ireland should use the St Patrick’s Day opportunity to raise its concerns with Trump, behind closed doors. Although the motion calls for Dublin City Council representatives not to go to the White House, it is not them – but the Taoiseach – who attends that annual event on St Patrick’s Day. Shakespeare, the council’s chief executive, confirmed at the meeting on Monday that neither Dublin City Council or the Lord Mayor have received invitations from the Trump administration to visit the United States this month. Still, by knocking America, the council would be knocking a country that invests financially in Ireland, said independent Councillor Gavin Pepper. Responding to Dunne’s point that it is up to the people of Iran to decide their own fate, Pepper said that the persecuted Iranians cannot stand up for themselves. “Yes, we want peace, but at the end of the day, when people are being persecuted, do you just keep going to meetings and talking in Brussels and over in the UN?” Pepper asked. Then, said Pepper, those trying to escape that persecution “come here illegally”. Although, actually, it is legal to come to Ireland and apply for asylum. In the end, councillors voted to support the motion. [To condemn the US/Israel war on IranPassed: 39 for, 9 against, 4 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/0e052727/og-image?v=1773152464)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/0e052727?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## The Triple Lock Earlier on in Monday’s monthly council meeting, independent Councillor Cieran Perry had brought a motion calling on the council to “expresses its dismay at and opposition to the government’s intention to abolish the Triple Lock, which governs the deployment of Irish Defence Forces personnel overseas”. The Triple Lock ensures that Ireland’s participation in overseas missions – with more than 12 defence personnel – would always require approval from the government, and Dáil Éireann, and that the mission they are being deployed on would have a UN mandate either from the Security Council or the General Assembly. The motion seeks to defend the Triple Lock, an integral part of Irish neutrality, said Perry. “While also highlighting the disingenuous attempt by the government, the arms industry, lobbyists and the majority of the mainstream media to abandon our neutrality.” Mac Donncha, the Sinn Féin councillor, spoke in support of the motion. As did independent Councillor Kevin Breen. Irish men and women fought an invasive colonial power to establish a sovereign state “different from the forces that once occupied it”, he said. He pointed to a statement from now-Taoiseach Micheál Martin, in 2013, where he claimed the Triple Lock as the core of Irish neutrality. So, what has changed? asked Breen. “Is it pressure from Brussels for a common European army? Is the pressure from the military industrial complex? NATO? Influence from America? What is it?” Breen agreed with Perry that the government should put the issue to the people by referendum. The Deputy Lord Mayor, Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens, supported Perry’s motion. Stephens said he would like to see greater spending on Ireland’s own defence – its coastlines, its skies. Security doesn't have to mean militarisation, said Councillor Janet Horner of the Green Party. “Cyber security, intelligence sharing, diplomatic engagement are essential non-military forms of security, and none of them require us to remove the triple lock,” she said. A destabilised climate, Horner said, is the greatest threat to all of our collective security in the world today. She also called for better working conditions and an end to gender-based violence within Ireland’s armed forces. “Anyone who equates investing in the basic needs of our defence forces with the bid to remove the Triple Lock is being deeply disingenuous,” she said. Commenting on the motion, Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare said that it was not a job for the city council. Likewise, Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan said that discussing the Triple Lock at a council meeting was pointless. “When institutions act outside their remit, even with good intentions, it risks diluting the seriousness of both the issue at hand and the credibility of the body itself,” he said. In a roll-call vote, [39 councillors voted in favour of Perry's motion, 9 against, and 4 abstained](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27741900-roll-call-vote-cllr-ciaren-perry-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com). *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors ask for a working group to, finally, sort safer access to a lonely bit of Swords URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-ask-for-a-working-group-to-finally-sort-safer-access-to-a-lonely-bit-of-swords/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T14:14:24.000Z The skies were soggy above Swords. The narrow pathway through the valley and woods beside the Ward River was muddy as it ran from the edge of the bulk of Swords Manor through to Knocksedan, a neighbourhood to the west, off by itself. The path is the only pedestrian link from Swords to Knocksedan – aside from walking on roads with cars whizzing by – and takes about 20 minutes on foot. On Friday afternoon, the stretch beside the river was wear-boots muddy. Only able-bodied people on the trail muddy. That’s how the trail often is, said Pauline Lougheed, a local resident, on Monday. It’s changed in the last few years: some trees taken out to allow light in, and the dirt route itself moved. They got a boardwalk too: on a short stretch on the low lying path of the path. Then, in November, it was removed, she says. She’s not happy about it, and neither are neighbours she’s talked to, says Lougheed. Local councillors are getting complaints, they say. In general, she said, it’s just not the pedestrian access she was promised when she moved in 22 years ago. At the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 12 February, Fianna Fáil Councillor Darragh Butler [put forward](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27737985-councillor-d-butler-knocksedan-connectivity-working-group-ai106653/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a motion asking for a working group to work out finally a way to sort out safer access to Knocksedan. What he was asking for, he said at the meeting, wasn’t just the better route through the park and woodlands, but safe footpaths and cycle paths along the R108 and L2030 – the big main roads that go up and around from Knocksedan to Swords Manor. “That’s the big one. And I really think we do need it, to tackle that,” he said. Kevin Halpenny, the council’s senior parks and landscape officer, said that his colleagues were working with those in planning and active travel on using the park and lands as well as possible to improve access between Knocksedan and Swords. “That will be evident in the park development plan which we are bringing forward this year,” he said, referring to the upcoming Ward River Regional Park Development Plan. He asked for patience as they prepare to bring those plans forward. The original sin really was the move by past councillors to rezone this disconnected raft of land at Knocksedan for housing in the first place when the infrastructure and access wasn’t there, said independent Councillor Joe Newman. It was developer-led planning and zoning, he said. ## Where did the boardwalk go? Lougheed is an “original”, she says. She bought her house in Knocksedan more than two decades ago, and on the basis that the infrastructure gaps would be fixed, she says. The boardwalk was a temporary fix, but it was progress, she says. It’s unclear who exactly removed it and why. But she, and other residents, really want answers, she says. In December, councillors on the same committee had also raised the issue of the missing boardwalk. At that time, Halpenny said that the council [had been working](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27738003-supplement-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-11122025-1400-balbrigganrush-luskswords-are/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p23) on restoring path networks in part of the Ward River Valley Park around Usher’s Lake. Part of that was on private lands, and the works had been progressed by agreement with the landowner, he said. That included putting in a boardwalk, he said, but then, somebody unknown took out the boardwalk – making the path less accessible. The council had written to the landowner to seek a meeting, said Halpenny. On 12 February, in response to a query from Fine Gael Councillor Luke Corkery, Halpenny said that discussions were ongoing in relation to restoring the access. Corkery said later that there hasn’t been much information in council written responses so far. It’s unclear who removed the boardwalk, and if and when it might be replaced, he said. “I've sort of gotten the same copy and paste answers.” ## Close, but far Resident Kyle Nishimura-Whelan said he just wants progress. He moved to Knocksedan nine years ago with his husband, from River Valley. They wanted more space as prospective parents, he said, and the lush nature was appealing too. Nishimura-Whelan said they knew Knocksedan lacked infrastructure when they moved there – no creche, there was no regular bus service at the time. A new bus loop had been built already for a bus to pull into the area, but for a while, they didn’t get any buses. “It then took a further five years afterwards, after that, before we even got a 41x. We have two in the morning, two in the evening,” he said. So, he has seen improvements, he said, but not enough. His time is more precious now that he is a dad, he said, so instead of driving to somewhere he can catch the bus, he drives his full commute. He’s been talking about it more with his neighbours, and so are others, he said “It's kind of one of these sacrifices you take living a little bit further out. But it’s a double edged sword,” he said. “Because they keep calling you part of the metropolis of Swords – without the connectivity.” “So you're paying all these taxes for all the luxuries of what Swords has to offer. But you can't actually access or benefit from it, right?” he said. Lougheed said as a constituent she’s very frustrated. Look, it’s a gorgeous trail, Lougheed said, but it’s not lit. “The reason I use it and feel relatively safe is I have two very large dogs that I take everywhere with me,” said Lougheed. And it’s not accessible, for people in wheelchairs, or with prams, or other mobility impairments. “I'd imagine as a councilor, when you know your job is to, you know, represent the local people, it must be frustrating and embarrassing,” she said. “To once again, go back and say, ‘Do you know what, I know you've asked, I've asked. There's no answer.’” At the 12 February meeting, councillors voted to agree Butler’s motion to set up a working group, looking at – among other things – whether cycle and pedestrian access can be put in along the main roads. Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth said he was supporting it – but reluctantly. “Because it shouldn’t be necessary.” He is told that it isn’t possible to put paths by the main roads, he said – but then also, told it is possible if they acquire land and lose some trees. Nobody has any doubts that what is being drawn up for the park in the Ward River Regional Park Development Plan is great, he said. But it doesn’t meet the needs of residents, he said, which is access day and night, for walking and cycling. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### New disabled persons’ organisation starts up in Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-disabled-persons-organisation-starts-up-in-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T14:56:20.000Z The Dublin Disabled Person’s Organisation (DPO) launched last Wednesday at the Mansion House, part of a push to create a network of such organisations, with one for each county. It was set up with support from Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI), said Peter Kearns, the ILMI’s DPO development officer. Kearns said he hopes it will bring together disabled voices from across coalitions – groups for the blind, the mobility impaired, the autistic, people with hidden disabilities, and more – and bring that representation to the council. In 2018, Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). [That convention](https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-4-general-obligations.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) gives people with disabilities special rights to consultation on decisions and policies that affect them. And, that consultation has to be with organisations led by people with disabilities. Kearns said he wants to see the Dublin DPO take up that mandate – as a collective organised and run by disabled people, using the language of disabled people, talking directly with disabled people. One point of contention at Dublin City Council has been whether officials have been approaching consultation with DPOs [in the right way](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-look-for-more-consultation-with-disabled-people-on-city-centre-traffic-plan/) – and, also for some projects, [whether they had been going](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-consult-with-groups-led-by-disabled-people-on-plans-to-make-mansion-house-more-accessible-councillor-says/) about it at all. Ciarán Finlay, senior policy and public affairs advisor for the National Disability Authority, said his organisation has issued new [guidelines](https://nda.ie/publications/participation-matters-guidelines?ref=dublininquirer.com) that lay out how DPOs should be consulted. “There was a DPO coalition called the DPO Network that was involved in the development of that strategy," said Finlay. It’s an example of [co-creation, ](https://irishdeafsoc.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DPO-Network-Blueprint-for-Co-creation.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com)he said. DPOs do already exist. But what this network is trying to do is to set one up for each council area, organising DPOs geographically, and putting various needs in collaboration under one umbrella, said Finlay. ## At the launch Representatives across several groups were at the launch. For example, Bernard Mulvany, a representative of Access for All, the disability-rights group he runs with his daughter, Sophia Mulvany, and co-founder Sean O’Kelly, who both use wheelchairs. Bernard Mulvany isn’t part of the Dublin DPO himself, he says. Because DPOs are run by, and for, disabled people. But he wanted to go because he sees the benefits of collaboration, he says. Some questions can be contentious across disabled spaces, he says. Like the question of where to put able-bodied advocates in the mix, he said. On the phone later, Kearns said as for the Dublin DPO, it’s going to a collective entirely of disabled people. He said they spent a long time developing a constitution. The ILMI is supporting the set-up of new DPOs around the country, in Sligo, Donegal, and elsewhere. They’re committed to putting disabled people directly into the conversation about their needs, said Kearns. Also, it’s not about labels, he said. If someone is undiagnosed, he said, “of course they can join”. Rather, he said, it’s about bias they’ve experienced. It’s important that the Dublin DPO grows and has an independent voice, said Sandra Dillon, who was at the launch. She has an invisible disability and a son who’s disabled too, and she said she loved what the Dublin DPO was about. "We need respect. We should demand respect, because we are struggling harder than probably anybody … just trying to get down the road, she said. “At the end of the day, no one knows better than the person with the disability. Nobody should be able to advise even to this area,” she said. Kearns said it’s important to him to see more disabled people in organisations that make decisions that impact them, and he is glad to experience it at ILMI, where he works, and more than 90 percent of employees are disabled, he said. But he said, that's actually rare in the field. He sees DPOs as a chance for systemic change, he says. “You really have to stand back and say, ‘Where do I focus my energy?’ Is it a protest or do I work in a systematic way to identify a change, and we have a collective mandate for that,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *CORRECTION: This article was updated at 11.50am on 4 March 2025 to reflect that representatives from the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disability Federation of Ireland were not, in fact, at the launch. We apologise for the error.* ### Who will sit on the advisory board set to shape the future of Dublin city centre? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-sit-on-the-advisory-board-set-to-shape-the-future-of-dublin-city-centre/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T01:50:21.000Z Councillors have approved a list of the areas of expertise to be represented on an advisory board steering the "rejuvenation" of the Dublin city centre. It is expected that the board, which for a time will advise a unit within the council, will spin off eventually to work with a new council-owned company – a special purpose vehicle (SPV) – set up to oversee the development of the city centre. People should be picked based on their backgrounds in finance, real estate, banking, “retail/new communities”, institutional investment, the law, and politics, they agreed. The list [was put forward](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27420074-dublin-city-centre-rejuvenation-roadmap/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in a report by Karl Mitchell, a council executive manager, at the monthly council meeting on 9 February. “We’d like to have an advisory structure. We’d like members on it. We’d like experts in particular thematic areas,” said Mitchell to councillors, asking for their approval. Overall, at the meeting, councillors responded with excitement about progress on the roadmap for city centre regeneration. A couple of councillors asked too, though, for more detail on governance and the representation on the bodies that are to drive and decide the regeneration plans. “Sometimes, how you compose a board can determine what eventually happens,” said People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy. He asked how the board’s composition would break down in hard numbers. Mitchell, the executive manager, said that the scrutiny of the roll-out of this major initiative was happening at a working group, the Urban Redevelopment Subgroup, so councillors should trust colleagues on that. They’re all working together on this, he said, in partnership. “The executive are not presenting for scrutiny,” he said. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner said she appreciated that subgroups – council committees that meet out of public view – had been working on the project set-up. But as she isn’t a member of those groups, she did want the chance to scrutinise and ask questions about the governance structures, and how people are to be selected, she said. Fine Gael Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said he would organise a workshop for all councillors at Mansion House hopefully before the end of February. So councillors’ questions could be gone over then. That workshop hasn’t happened yet though, said Horner. McAdam hasn’t yet responded to an email sent on Thursday asking when the promised briefing would happen, and whether media would be allowed. ## **What’s up next** Over the last two and a half years, both the council through its City Coordination Office, and the central government through the Dublin City Taskforce, have proposed big moves to revitalise the city centre. The Department of the Taoiseach, council officials – and later councillors – decided that the best way to roll out projects in the city centre is not through the normal council channels but through a new council-owned company. Council executives and councillors have been pressing forward fast with plans to set up a SPV to task with this. It isn’t in place yet, but they’re moving towards it. For the time being, activities are to be rolled out by a project management unit that will sit within the council’s existing city co-ordination office, said Mitchell at the meeting. Interviews for posts within that unit are underway, he said. But executives also want to set up an interim advisory board with an independent chair to drive the work of the project management unit, said Mitchell. The idea is that this board would transition and become part of the governing structure for the SPV, once that is set up. In a report to the main council meeting, Mitchell outlined some of how those posts would be filled. He asked councillors to approve the process. The Urban Redevelopment Subgroup – which is a group of councillors who gather under the council’s planning strategic policy committee – is to nominate any councillors who sit on the interim advisory board, with the full council approving those nominations. The Urban Redevelopment Subgroup would also nominate an independent chairperson, who councillors are expected to endorse, it says. And, the report also asked councillors to endorse the seven “thematic areas” from which to draw members for the interim advisory board. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to queries sent on Thursday as to how the areas to be represented were chosen, and what the process for agreeing those members would be. But Cian Farrell, a Social Democrats councillor who chairs the planning committee and has driven some of the proposals for city centre regeneration, said “the idea of the board is that it would be reputable people across multiple disciplines, that wouldn’t only be related to property development or finance.” They are not trying to create a for-profit developer with the SPV, said Farrell, who also sits on the Urban Redevelopment Subgroup. “We want to take a more holistic view of the city.” Architects, and small independent businesses for example, would fall under the thematic areas of expertise in the report, he said. Some councillors are looking for representatives from approved housing bodies, he said. At the moment, the council executive is putting forward a bunch of names, he said, and councillors on the subgroup are also. “Ultimately, how that will be decided will be a collaboration between the council and the executive,” he said. The thematic areas might still change, said Farrell. “They’re not final. They’re a bit of an indication of where it might land.” Reading through the “thematic areas” has prompted varied reactions from councillors, though. “If you want to look at the people who wrecked the economy, it would seem a good example of that,” said Labour Party Councillor Dermot Lacey, recently on the phone. Looking at this list, he thinks that existing communities should be explicitly represented as well as newer communities, he said. “It seems very business-focused,” said Horner, the Green Party councillor, on the phone. “It’s focused almost entirely on financial stakeholders in the city, rather than people.” There is the question as to whether it needs representation from artists, more community voices, and sporting voices, she said. Officials may well argue against this on grounds of mission creep, she said, beyond the main focus on taking vacant and derelict properties and reviving those. The board is different to the Dublin City Taskforce, Horner said, which councillors pressed to include trade union voices and artists’ voices. Lacey didn’t push the issue of membership when the report came before the planning strategic policy committee recently, he said, as he is a member of the subgroup, and so he has had opportunities to raise questions there. “But the membership will be key,” he said. Who is to be on the advisory board is among the core to-be-answered questions, he says. ## **An independent chair?** Lacey said his major fight at the moment is to make sure there are more than two councillors on the board – as is currently proposed. And, “I have a problem with this notion of an independent chair”, he said. Does the Oireachtas have independent chairs of its committees? he asked. No, they’re drawn from the elected representatives, he said. Horner, the Green Party councillor, posed the same question at the monthly council meeting. What was the logic of having an independent chair, rather than somebody from within the board’s structure? she asked. And also, she still wanted to know what accountability the SPV will have to the council, given its such a crucial piece. Dublin City Council press office hasn’t responded to queries sent on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: “Responsibility for the establishment of the SPV lies with Dublin City Council and, in doing so, the Council will need to adhere to the legislative requirements.” David McRedmond, the CEO of An Post, who headed up the Dublin City Taskforce, said in an email on Tuesday that he doesn’t know if it is to be him or not. ## **Continuing onwards** At February’s monthly meeting, Mitchell’s report laid out a long list of the activities to be taken up by the project management unit – and later the SPV once it’s set up. Those include a 10-year integrated area strategy for the city centre, to oversee major projects such as the “redevelopment of the GPO, reopening of the Ambassador Theatre, redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre”. It also includes working with the council’s housing department and Department of Housing on “precinct improvement schemes” for inner-city flat complexes. It includes developing and launching a “new incentive scheme” for vacant shops and properties in Middle Abbey Street, and North Frederick Street, and supporting the transformation of vacant sites around O’Connell Street. It includes turning Moore Street into a “re-energised market street”, and rolling out a special outdoor dining scheme for O’Connell Street. The list continues: creating a cultural hub, developing a night market, tree planting, coming up with a plan for indoor day services for homeless people, and on. These projects would in the past have been overseen by all councillors, with approaches discussed and voted on in public view at area committees and strategic policy committees. But Mitchell, the council executive director, has said that setting up an SPV is a way to both move much faster and keep finance “off-balance sheet” – meaning any borrowings wouldn’t add to the state’s debt under EU fiscal rules. Still, there are details about oversight that still need to be aired, said Horner, of the Green Party. “There’s still core issues about the role of the council and how much influence it has, and how the entity works,” she said. The SPV is modelled on similar entities in Limerick, she says, but she does feel that councillors in Dublin need to better understand how that has played out. “It’s one of the most significant projects in the city,” she says. ### Most kids in children’s homes left without voice in consultation on services URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-kids-in-childrens-homes-left-without-voice-in-consultation-on-services/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T01:49:57.000Z The Health Information and Quality Authority is launching a consultation process to get children in state care more involved in guiding inspections and monitoring of those services. “Our goal is to help services improve so that every child who needs support receives it in a way that meets their needs,” said HIQA’s Head of Children’s Services, Eva Boyle, according to [a press release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419003-hiqa-advancing-childrens-and-young-peoples-engagement-in-its-work-on-international-care-day/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “The feedback we receive from children and young people will guide how we engage with young people in the future and help create an open, supportive environment where they can build positive futures, they are confident in,” she said. But around 500 children in the care of the state, who live in children’s homes [run by private companies](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-gets-paid-eu270m-to-home-children-in-tuslas-care-and-how-do-they-perform/) and charities, won’t be consulted. That’s because HIQA doesn’t monitor those homes and it’s only going to consult with children in care settings it oversees **–** children in foster care, and in Tusla-run children’s homes. “We can only engage with individuals living in services under our remit,” a HIQA spokesperson said. That means only about 14 percent of kids living in children’s homes in the country will get to participate, said Terry Dignan, chair of the Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association, an umbrella body for charities that run children’s homes. “We would therefore welcome a similar study that would include the 86 percent of children in residential care who are living in private and voluntary residential care,” Dignan said. “With a particular focus on children in unregulated care settings, whose needs and experiences, we believe, may be different to those in statutory care settings,” he said. Children’s homes run by charities and private companies are monitored and inspected by Tusla. Tusla hasn’t yet responded to a query sent Tuesdayas to whether it will run a similar consultation process for the services that are not inspected by HIQA. Asked whether anyone would be consulting with the kids living in care homes not monitored by HIQA, a spokesperson for the Department of Children said it’s committed to realising the rights of children and young people to be heard, under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It’s consulting with them regarding itsnew national policy framework on alternative care, which it intends will articulate a long-term vision for the care service. “The voices and views of children will be central to the National Policy Framework, from its development to delivery,” the spokesperson said. ## The scope of the research It might not be immediately obvious to everyone reading the [HIQA press release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419003-hiqa-advancing-childrens-and-young-peoples-engagement-in-its-work-on-international-care-day/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that some of the children in state care are not included in the consultation process. It says that HIQA inspects statutory children’s homes. But those are a small minority of the children’s homes in Ireland. Most children in residential care live in homes run by private providers. Inside the [scoping review](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419572-child-engagement-in-the-inspection-of-social-care-services-for-children/?ref=dublininquirer.com), linked in the release, it says that there are 5,823 children in the care of the state – but it doesn’t say how many of those come under HIQA’s remit and therefore the scope of this consultation. The report says HIQA inspects statutory and non-statutory foster care services, statutory children’s residential centres, Oberstown Detention Campus and special care units – which are secure facilities for children in care. The HIQA spokesperson said that the purpose of the consultation process is to improve its own inspections. “The aim of this project is to increase the participation of children and young people in HIQA’s inspections of social services under its remit.” Other children living in children’s homes not inspected by HIQA could not be included, she said. “HIQA cannot engage with children in services outside its remit.” The spokesperson for the Department of Children said that, “The HIQA National Standards for Children's Residential Centres 2018 require that children in residential care services should be provided with access to accessible information, are listened to, and are enabled to participate in making informed decisions about their care.” But that is not the same as being consulted in order to influence the procedures used in the inspections and monitoring of care services. The HIQA scoping review notes: “A key challenge when implementing a child’s right to be heard is ensuring that due weight is given to their views. Simply listening is not sufficient, and adults need to be open to being influenced by those views.” ## Why isn’t HIQA the regulator? At the core of the problem is the fact that HIQA, established as the health and social care inspectorate, doesn’t inspect most children’s homes. It also doesn’t have full regulatory powers over most Tusla-run children’s homes, even though it does inspect them. Why is responsibility for regulating children’s homes split between HIQA and Tusla? Why is Tusla responsible for inspecting and enforcing standards in the children’s homes it funds private companies to operate – why not HIQA? A spokesperson for the Department of Children did not answer directly. “A robust regulatory framework exists for residential care services for children,” the spokesperson said. “This is to ensure that the vulnerable children placed in these settings receive safe and high-quality care that meets their needs.” The [Health Act 2007 ](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2007/act/23/section/41/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com)established HIQA as the inspectorate for health and social care, including children’s homes,as defined in the [Child Care Act, 1991.](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1991/act/17/section/40/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec40) The act “allows for HIQA to register designated centres – which can incorporate all children's residential centres – run by Tusla, the voluntary sector and private companies,” the Minister [said later](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-07-03/section/471/?ref=dublininquirer.com), in response to a parliamentary question. Indeed, news reports from around the time HIQA was established say that there was a plan, at that stage, to transfer responsibility for the inspection of all children’s homes to HIQA. In 2009, there were around 350 children living in 160 children’s homes in Ireland, according to the [*Irish Examiner*](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419552-irish-examiner-2009-regulation/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Around 80 of those were run by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and were inspected by HIQA. The other 80 were run by non-state entities and those were inspected by the HSE. “HIQA will take over inspection of all of these centres once the relevant legislation is commenced,” says the article. In 2010, the then Minister for Children, Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews, said that he intended to task HIQA with inspecting facilities for children in care living in children’s homes run by private operators, according to the [*Irish Examiner*. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419553-irish-examiner-2010-hiqa/?ref=dublininquirer.com) But it didn’t happen. The HSE continued to inspect the homes run by private companies and charities. In 2013, the [Ombudsman for Children](https://www.oco.ie/news/childrens-ombudsman-highlights-gaps-oversight-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Niall Muldoon, started an investigation into the HSE inspections of children’s homes. That investigation found weaknesses in the HSE inspections process, including a shortage of inspectors, few announced inspections, and no standardised processes and procedures across the country. The Ombudsman [called on](https://www.oco.ie/news/childrens-ombudsman-highlights-gaps-oversight-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the government to transfer inspection of these centres to HIQA without delay. “The process of inspecting, registering and monitoring these residential centres is an important safeguard for children who are living there,” Muldoon said. “By seeking to have HIQA take over this process, I am looking to create confidence in the independence and consistency of the process for overseeing the homes of some of our most vulnerable children,” he said. Around this time, Tusla was created, and the HSE transferred to it the responsibility for children and family services. In 2018, it was still the plan for HIQA to take over inspecting all children’s homes, according to a [response](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-07-03/section/471/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from then Minister Katherine Zappone, to a parliamentary question. Regulations were on the way to make it happen, she said. “What this will mean is that all new and existing children's residential centres will need to meet national standards and regulations in order to be registered to operate by HIQA,” she said. But that still hasn’t happened. ### Councillors want sight again of who gets social housing in their areas, amid confusion about how lists work URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-want-sight-again-of-who-gets-social-housing-in-their-areas-amid-confusion-about-how-lists-work/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T01:50:14.000Z Council managers should go back to providing councillors with reports on who has recently got social homes in their areas, according to a motion supported by the Protocol Committee. Up to around 10 years ago, the council used to provide a report like this to councillors. It stopped due to concerns about privacy and data protection. At the January meeting of the committee, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey [tabled a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419518-public-reports-pack-29012026-0930-protocol-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com) calling for “the reintroduction of the fortnightly housing allocations and transfers report in order to maintain proper oversight as previously existed”. Councillors need more information to be able to explain to people how the system is working, says Lacey. “It isn’t about advancing anyone’s cause,” he said. “It's about fully understanding the integrity of the process.” So many people raise questions and concerns about how homes are being allocated. “When you saw the allocations, you could stand over that process,” Lacey said. The majority of councillors at the committee supported him, and the motion was agreed. Lacey said council managers are now considering whether they can reintroduce the reports. ## Privacy issues A council-commissioned [privacy impact assessment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27413090-motion-in-the-name-of-councillor-dermot-lacey-this-committee-calls-for-the-reintroduction-of-the-f/?ref=dublininquirer.com), carried out in 2017, found multiple reasons why the council shouldn’t provide councillors with the names of people who had been housed locally. In the report, barrister David Fennelly examined the issues and found that social housing applications can involve sensitive personal and financial information, including whether people are homeless, refugees, or members of the Traveller community. “The Housing Allocations team frequently deals with acutely sensitive cases, involving issues such as domestic violence and witness protection, which demand strict respect for privacy and data protection,” the report says. “In these cases, the disclosure of names and addresses to all Councillors in the manner which has operated to date presents a heightened risk,” it says. Still, the council needs to find a way to explain who is being housed ahead of others and why, says Sarah Lawless, a special needs assistant who joined the housing list 20 years ago, is currently facing eviction from a private rented home. “There is just so much confusion,” Lawless said. “The whole system doesn’t make sense.” Lawless said that after two decades, she’s number 10 on the list. But she said she knows someone who joined the list 12 years ago and is number 3\. Both get the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), are from the same area, and are approved for a four-bedroom home, Lawless said. “You don’t want to begrudge anyone,” she said. “Everyone has a right to a roof over their head.” ## Multiple lists One of the reasons that the social housing list confuses people is that there are actually multiple lists in each area of the city, Lacey said. There is a homeless list, a medical priority list, a transfer list, the main housing list, and others, he said. The council allocates one home to each list in turn, and then it begins again, he said. There’s widespread confusion among applicants about how the social housing allocations system works, said Social Democrats Councillor Jesslyn Henry. Even councillors struggle at times to understand it, she said. ## Choice-based lettings The confusion has worsened since the council introduced the [choice-based-lettings system](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-increasingly-common-system-for-allocating-social-homes-is-a-mystery-to-many-on-the-housing-list/), Henry said. People can still just wait on the list until they’re offered a home, and then decide if they want it, or want to pass and hope for a better option. Or they can watch adverts from the council for choice-based lettings, and if they see something they want, apply for it. Lawless recently applied for a home in the new [Oscar Traynor Woods](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27413095-oscar-traynor-woods-dublin-17-2x1-bedroom-31x3-bedroom-8x4-bedroom-units-closes-300226-at-5pm/?ref=dublininquirer.com) development. “Every time you apply, you think this could be the one – you really get your hopes up,” she says. “You can picture yourself moving in.” This choice-based system can get people into a vacant home faster, by avoiding a situation where a person refuses an offer, and the council has to offer it to someone else, who may also refuse it, etcetera. But if hundreds of people apply for a home advertised by the council via its choice-based lettings system, it’s a bit of a mystery to many how the council chooses who’s going to get it. Many people believe the name is basically picked out of a hat, said Henry, the Social Democrats councillor. “People do think it's a lottery system, which it absolutely is not,” she said. Lawless did not get the home in Oscar Traynor Woods she applied for. “It’s soul-destroying,” she said. She had thought that was decided by lottery, she said. “A lot of people think it is,” she said. If it’s not a lottery, “What way does it work then?” she wonders. “How do they decide?” Councillors say that choice-based lettings homes are also allocated using the multiple waiting lists for the local area. ## Choices and consequences Another somewhat mysterious aspect of the workings of the social housing allocations system is how choices applicants make can affect their position on the list, as Lawless learned the hard way a few years ago. Since she moved out of her childhood home 18 years ago, until around five years ago, Lawless paid her own rent privately, without help from government schemes like HAP, she said. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, though, she was struggling to keep that up and she managed to persuade her landlord to accept HAP, she said. “At the time, it was a lifesaver, because it was helping me pay the rent.” Back then, she was around number 30 on the social housing waiting list, but after she applied for HAP she was shocked when she dropped down to number 150, she said. She had no idea that would happen. She later learned that people on HAP are moved from the waiting list to the transfer list, which she says gets fewer allocations. The idea being that people receiving HAP are housed already and looking to transfer to a different housing situation. But Lawless, who has four children, two of whom are autistic, says her situation is precarious. Her landlord recently told her he’s selling. Because she has lived there a long time, she has until the end of the year to move out, she said. Lawless says she cannot understand how other people, who appear to have very similar circumstances to her, but joined the list more recently, could be higher up it. “You wonder what way the numbers work,” she said. ## So what is the solution? Henry, the Social Democrats councillor, says that something needs to be done to help social housing applicants understand how the allocations system works. She is not convinced that the council can report the names of all the people it houses to councillors, within current data protection laws. “It is a fine line as well,” she says. “If someone was homeless, that is not for everyone else to know.” But Lacey, the Labour councillor, says he’s not convinced there is a data protection issue. The council needs to look at this again, he said. He doesn’t think issuing such a report to local councillors would be a breach of privacy. People living locally already know who got a house in their area. “Moving into a house is a public statement,” he said. “That is not a private matter.” Lacey said it would be better for transparency if councillors knew more information and could reassure people that the list is working correctly. So says independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, who, back in 2009, looked into the housing allocations and found that there were homes being allocated to people who were not next on the list. The allocations report was introduced after that, he says, and it allowed councillors to oversee that the allocations process was transparent, he says. “It gave us clarity,” he says. “Without it, we have no way of tracking our clients.” He says councillors would use it to try to take credit for people getting houses. “Councillors will always look for credit,” he says. “They will look for credit for the good weather. It's insatiable.” Flynn says the allocations list shouldn’t contain people’s personal information, like the reason they got priority, or anything like that. It should be a list of names and their new addresses, he says. Fennelly, author of the 2017 council report on privacy concerns around telling councillors who’d been housed, wrote that the practice couldn’t continue within privacy law unless the reports were anonymised. “The transmission of this personal data to a very large group of individuals by email – in this case, 63 elected members of the Council as well as certain other individuals with whom the information has traditionally been shared – presents very clear and significant risks,” says the report. ### Sixty years on, a Star Trek writer is still creating strange new worlds URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/sixty-years-on-a-star-trek-writer-is-still-creating-new-worlds/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T11:52:18.000Z Diane Duane doesn’t remember the plot of her first novel but she remembers the crayon she wrote it with. She was eight years old, she says. “It was a constant frustration for me at that point that I was never going to be able to be a writer until I could write much smaller,” she said on Monday in The Flowing Tide on Abbey Street Lower. She has always written to entertain herself, she says. Then, one day in 1966, around the age of 14, something new, strange and exciting appeared on her television set. It was *Star Trek* – now referred to in the fandom as The Original Series (TOS), starring William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, a logic-driven Vulcan, and DeForest Kelley as Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy. Set in the 23rd century, creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future was bold and optimistic. As a young teenager in New York, Duane was hooked. In a post-scarcity world, the series depicted a humanity that had grown out of its infancy. The good people of Earth had learned to celebrate their diversity and were out there exploring the galaxy as a founding member of the United Federation of Planets. The bridge crew of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 included a Japanese man, a Russian man, and a Black woman – all in officer roles. It was simply unheard of on US television in the mid-1960s. Duane found herself writing Trek “fan-fiction” – although, she says, she didn’t know that’s what it was called then. Taking a sip of her cabernet sauvignon, she remembers her first effort as a crossover between Trek and musical sitcom *The Monkees*. “I don't know why I'm even admitting this in a public place, but it's true,” she says, laughing. Her early days writing fan fiction would eventually lead to a remarkable career as a novelist, comic writer and screen writer. She has written novels for enormous franchises like *Marvel’s X-Men* and *Spiderman.* She has also written her own original series. Started in 1983, her *Young Wizard* series has 11 main entries plus some spin-offs. Fans around the world still eagerly await the fourth entry in her beloved *Middle Kingdoms* fantasy series. Duane gets regular messages asking when it’s coming, she says. And then there is her screen-writing career. Since the 1970s, she has written for some of the biggest animated TV shows in the world. Among them, *Batman: The Animated Series, Scooby & Scrappy Doo, The Flintstone Comedy Show*, *Captain Caveman, Gargoyles,* and *DuckTales.* But, she says, finally getting commissioned to tell her own *Star Trek* stories, in novel form, in the early 1980s was a beautiful full-circle moment. ## **Spock’s World, among others** Derryman Liam Dillon is a lifelong fan of Star Trek. He is well-known in fan circles for his passion for authentic, detailed – and self-made – Trek-inspired cosplay. He often hosts his own talks and events at conventions. He is admin and founder of the 6,500 member-strong[ Star Trek Costume Group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/344421032285667) on Facebook. Like Duane, he was smitten from the first time he saw The Original Series on TV in the 1960s – on BBC 2, as it was in his corner of the globe. TOS was cancelled after its third season, and a run of *Star Trek: The Animated Series* met the same fate after two seasons in the early 1970s. After that, Dillon would search for any Trek he could find. He discovered the expanded Trek universe novels. “It was another way to get your Star Trek fix.” Today, there is seemingly endless Trek-centric content. Thirteen separate TV shows, 14 movies, podcasts, comics, audiobooks, novels and video games. Dillon is also a fan of the 340,000-subscriber YouTube channel,[ TrekCulture](https://www.youtube.com/@TrekCulture?ref=dublininquirer.com) – hosted by Dubliner Seán Ferrick. In an email sent from onboard the official Star Trek Cruise on Wednesday, Ferrick called Duane a “legend in the community”. During his early exploration of Trek novels, though, Dillon found that some entries seemed to be written by people who had never seen the show or understood the characters. When he found Duane’s first Trek novel *The Wounded Sky* in the early 1980s, he knew it was something special, he said. Its follow-up, *Spock's World,* spent eight weeks on the *New York Times* bestseller list. It was another cracker, says Dillon. In *Spock’s World,* Duane dived into Vulcan culture in a way that hadn’t been done before, says Dillon. “It was just great to find her.” The influence of Duane’s Trek novels was wide-reaching. Celebrated fantasy author Ursula Vernon – who also sometimes writes under the pseudonym T. Kingfisher – has been a fan of Duane’s work since she was very young. And it began with Trek. “I started out reading Diane's Trek work when I was a kid – my dad had a copy of *The Wounded Sky* – and fell madly in love with it,” said Vernon, by email from New Mexico on Wednesday. It wasn't until years later, and the advent of the internet and search engines, that Vernon discovered her other books, she says. “That was an absolutely wonderful week, since I ended up bingeing almost all the *Young Wizards* books one after another,” said Vernon. Vernon says her own writing has been inspired by Duane’s. “Probably in ways I don't even know about! When you read that much of someone's work at a formative age, as I did, it definitely gets lodged in there deep.” She loves “the very practical kindness” of Duane’s work, she says. “It's usually a lot of people trying to make the world better in some way, whether it's wizards or Starfleet,” she says. “And the aliens are wonderfully alien but they still feel like people, and the ideas are wonderful and build on each other logically until a T-rex is eating Pavarotti in Central Park and it makes perfect sense and even feels somewhat inevitable,” says Vernon. Duane has always been supportive of the writers who followed, Vernon says. “We chat about books and publishing and weird things online, we're always congratulating each other on our successes, things like that,” she says. After high school, Duane won a New York State Regents Science and Nursing Scholarship. This was the only way she could have afforded to go to college, she says. She gave astrophysics a whirl but she discovered her maths wasn’t up to scratch, she said. “I hit the calculus and I bounced.” She moved to nursing school, which her scholarship also covered. Duane worked for several years as a psychiatric nurse in Long Island. It was tough going, she says. “We were up against a time when there was not really community care yet for people with mental-health issues. And the idea was you warehouse them essentially,” she says. But her experience in psychiatric nursing gave her a particular understanding of human beings that has helped in her writing – developing strong, defined characters and even, whole fictional societies, she says. Indeed, creating entire worlds, cultures and even languages is what appeals to Duane, she says. So when she got the opportunity to develop Vulcan civilisation, or the Romulan culture, in ways that hadn’t been seen or read before, it was a dream come true, she says. According to a well-known Star Trek-centred YouTuber, Jessie Earl – better known as[ Jessie Gender](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDoPqPS%5FytI&t=238s&ref=dublininquirer.com) – *Spock’s World* influenced much of the Vulcans’ on-screen development that is later seen throughout the Trek franchise. The plot of *Spock’s World* revolves around a proposed secession of the planet Vulcan from the United Federation of Planets. It’s revealed that malevolent forces are driving the push for secession from within, for their own gain. Duane says the book has been nicknamed “Vexit” by some fans, over its eerie similarity to the real-life Brexit that followed decades after the novel’s release. As both a fantasy and a science fiction writer, she says, she always has her eyes on politics. “I'm willing to take systems that exist and twist them. That's fine by me. It's part of the job.” However, being so predictive was not something she revelled in, she says. ## **On honeymoon** Around Duane’s neck is a Hermès silk scarf decorated with pictures of hot chillis. She had tried to buy it vintage on eBay, but got outbid, by “some bastard”. That Christmas, she opened a package from her husband, Peter Morwood. It was the same scarf. “I began calling him dreadful things in front of his mother, God bless her,” says Duane. Morwood, an author in his own right, came from Lisburn in Northern Ireland. They were set-up by a friend and fell for each other – gradually, she says. There was never a marriage proposal, she says. But one day, in a Chinese restaurant in Birmingham, a plan arrived. “An agreement was reached sometime between the hot and sour soup and the lemon chicken, and it had nothing to do with the quality of the food,” she says. “It just became plain we were going to be married, and that was that.” The pair travelled the world together, sharing their passions. Food, art, history – an endless list. After perusing the entire island of Ireland, they eventually settled in Wicklow, where Duane still lives. Last year, Morwood died suddenly after a very short illness. The silk scarf around her neck is far from the only piece of Morwood that she still carries with her. Along with a lifetime of memories, there is the issue of his enormous fountain pen collection which she isn’t quite sure what to do with. “The man has left writing implements everywhere.” And, his own embattled literary estate. Both Morwood and Duane’s catalogues – or at least parts of them – are wrapped up in a landmark, class-action[ lawsuit](https://writerbeware.blog/2025/09/26/bartz-v-anthropic-settlement-an-update-for-authors/?ref=dublininquirer.com) against artificial intelligence company Anthropic. It’s alleged Anthropic used hundreds of thousands of pirated books to train its Claude language models. Including the works of Morwood and Duane. The copyright lawsuit was filed in 2024 by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson. “The Anthropic people had, I think, kind of been leaning on the concept that the people they'd stolen from wouldn't have the money to go after them. Well, some of them did,” she says. Although the company is rightly now being held to account, she says, the payments in question will still be peanuts. “It’s pocket change. Really terrible.” Managing her husband’s and her own works in the deal has resulted in a mountain of paper work, she says. “I now know more about Excel spreadsheets than I ever wanted.” While they had distinct, separate careers, the pair once co-authored a Star Trek novel together, written in 18 days, on their honeymoon in Los Angeles. “As one does.” “When we got married, you know, other people exchanged much more sensible gifts. We exchanged literary agencies. So, my US agent took him on, and his UK agent took me on, so that was delightful,” she says. At the same time, Duane was still working as story editor on *Dinosaucers* and found herself with a fast-approaching deadline with publisher Pocket Books. She owed them another entry in her Trek-centred[ *Rihannsu*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rihannsu?ref=dublininquirer.com) series – which explores the culture of the secretive, militaristic Romulan species. They agreed to write *The Romulan Way* together. When one was resting, the other was working on a chapter. Then, they’d swap. She says they barely slept in the same bed, as one was always working. “They call it hot-bunking in the Navy.” That was partly possible because she writes careful outlines when starting a project. “That's really nine-tenths of the law.” There's a huge gap right now in writer-think between “plotters” and “pantsers” – people who write by the seat of their pants and people who plot, she says. “And because of my animation background, I have been a plotter more or less since day one,” she says. Looking back on her and Morwood’s adventures together, she wouldn’t change a thing, Duane says. “I had the privilege of being married to a good man for 40 years.” ## **Walking on water** Some of Star Trek’s most celebrated writers, on screen and page, have been women – like Dorothy Fontana who wrote for the original series and early on in the sequel series *Star Trek: The Next Generation,* which first aired in 1987. When Fontana wrote for Trek in the 1960s, she used the name D.C. Fontana, a tactic to distract the boys, says Duane. If ever someone suggested women and Trek didn’t mix, Duane would ask, “What about Dorothy Fontana?” They would reply, “You mean D.C.?” It was amazing how many people didn’t know Fontana was a woman, says Duane. Even as Duane’s own screen-writing career took off in the late 1970s and 1980s, there was sexism, she says. She didn’t let it get to her. “I am, as far as I know, the first woman to story edit an animation series, where there was not a male co-story editor holding her hand,” says Duane, in the Flowing Tide snug, sat beneath pictures of literary giants W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and J.M. Synge. The show was 1987’s *Dinosaucers.* Duane, and her team, including writer Brynne Stephens, were given the gargantuan task of producing 65 episodes in around four months. “All the guys in the studio were going, ‘They’re fucked’,” she says. She suddenly felt an even greater pressure, she says. She thought that if she dropped the ball, her failure would be held against other women writers working in animation coming up behind her. “But you could do one of two things. You can run away with your tail between your legs, or you could walk on water and annoy the boys.” Duane turned in all 65 episodes to her deadline. “I did my job.” ## **Where no one has gone before** Duane is a credited co-writer of the *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (TNG)season one episode, *Where No One Has Gone Before.* Every writer in Hollywood was scrambling to write a Trek script at the time, she says. Although it has since changed, animated writers were not allowed to join the Writers Guild of America at the time. But her friend Michael Reaves asked if she wanted to work on a script together based on her Trek novel, *The Wounded Sky.* “That was my foot in the door,” she says. She had met Gene Roddenberry before a few times. But to be in a meeting with him, pitching her own Trek story, was a surreal moment, she says. At that time, they didn’t even know who the TNG cast would be. “If I’d known they were going to cast the gorgeous Patrick Stewart as the captain, I would have written him hotter,” she says, through a hearty laugh. However, what ended up on screen was very far from the original script the pair turned in, she says. Infamously, at the time, Roddenberry’s lawyer and right-hand man, Leonard Maizlish would re-write the early TNG scripts, seemingly acting unaccountably. It’s a tale documented in William Shatner’s documentary *Chaos on the Bridge*, exploring the early days of TNG. Still, she gets paid every time the episode airs, or if original characters written for the episode are mentioned in other sections of the franchise. ## **Trek today and tomorrow** Duane says she didn’t get into *Star Trek: Discovery,* which was the first new Trek TV show in 12 years when it debuted in 2016. But she isn’t keen on bashing it either. When she gets messages from fans suggesting she should take over writing the new era of TV shows, she always says she wouldn’t do anything that involved the firing of her fellow union members. She has been enjoying the current series *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy*, but is bemused by the hate it, and other newer Trek shows like *Strange New Worlds* or *Lower Decks,* get fired at them by a loud right-wing cohort online – who also claim to be huge fans of the franchise. Newer Trek has been decried by voices like Elon Musk and US homeland security advisor Stephen Miller as “woke”. “What they hate is the very idea that Martin Luther King asked Nichelle Nichols not to leave Star Trek, but to stay on track, because Black people needed her for them,” she says. African-American actor Nichols played communications officer Nyota Uhura on the original series, and six subsequent motion pictures focusing on the original cast. “These people need to see the bullshit that Roddenberry went through to keep non-white people in Star Trek for the first series,” she says, her demeanour moving, briefly, from jovial to frustrated. “And you know, they don't quite dare bad-mouth Roddenberry, they'll bad-mouth the characters,” she says. How people could describe the franchise as “woke”, in a derogatory sense, baffles her. Star Trek, she points out, has always championed the underdog, minorities, the vulnerable, since day one. “It’s a tradition that has always been woke.” “Why don't you start by using a term that you didn't steal from Black people?” she says. “Who do we have to slap around to make that happen? The trouble is, these guys have no memory,” she says. “They have no time-binding ability worth noticing. They should all go and just learn how to remember things.” ## **The next idea** Duane is always writing, always working on the next thing, she says. And the muse can be unpredictable. She gets regular messages from fans asking when the next *Young Wizards* or *Middle Kingdoms* books are due. She doesn’t know herself. Two weeks ago, she was enjoying the Winter Olympics at home in Wicklow. Suddenly, the image of a werewolf on skis came to her. She shrugged it off, at first. But the idea grew and grew. Last weekend, she spent her time making various lamb-based dishes – because, she thinks, that’s what her werewolf characters would eat. She’s not sure where it’s leading yet precisely, she says, but it feels like the start of something. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### After years of talk, councillors push for a refocus on traffic in East Wall URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-years-of-talk-councillors-push-for-a-refocus-on-traffic-in-east-wall/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T01:49:51.000Z Six years ago, the council [had listed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-east-wall-councillors-want-residents-ideas-for-cutting-down-on-car-traffic/) East Wall as a priority area for improved traffic management, said independent Councillor Christy Burke at last week's meeting of the Central Area Committee. Almost five years ago, councillors agreed [a motion calling on](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-east-wall-councillors-want-residents-ideas-for-cutting-down-on-car-traffic/) officials to survey the neighbourhood to see what measures were needed. Today, locals are still waiting for changes, said Burke. “We have the same problems.” In fact, they’ve more problems, he said by phone on Wednesday. Traffic and rat running at peak times have been a nightmare for decades, and now parking chaos is also in the mix, he says. The construction of Marshall Yards, a big apartment complex on East Road, brought with it hundreds of builders, parking at all times of the day on nearby roads, Burke said. Constituents complain that they are blocked into their driveways by parked cars, unable to leave, he says. At the Central Area Committee meeting, Máire Nic Réamoinn, a council engineer, said that residents are welcome to apply for a pay and display scheme. “We've looked at it and looked at it, and it's the only solution we can come up with,” she said. “We don't want to be removing people's parking. That's not our aim.” She also agreed to a suggestion from committee chair Cat O’Driscoll, a Social Democrats councillor, that a meeting of different council transport units would be helpful. A fine idea, said Nic Réamoinn. “Because a lot of the time we don't even, due to whatever communications issue, we don't always know what's going on with other teams.” ## **Whose space, my space** Sean McCabe rarely gets to park outside his own house on Church Road, a narrow residential road that curves away off East Road. He usually has to park a distance away, he said on Tuesday, stood out on the footpath. He works night shifts. When he drives back from work at 6am or 7am, any spaces around the area are already gone, he says. Said Burke, of the competition for parking: “You’d have builders, and some working in the offices, getting there at four or five in the morning and catnapping till eight before they start their shift.” Caledon Road, Ravensdale Road, Boolavogue Road, Bargy Road, East Road, and Church Road. They’re all badly affected, he says. “It became out of control.” Recently, tired after work, McCabe parked around the corner in front of his friend’s house. He was clamped, he says. “It’s very frustrating.” The worst is coming back with a car full of kids and shopping and finding no spaces anywhere near the front door, says Tara Casey, who lives on East Road. “It’s a disaster to manage.” At last week’s meeting of the Central Area Committee, Nic Réamoinn, the engineer with the Traffic Advisory Group (TAG), said the parking squish in the area has eased a bit. Marshall Yards is finished, she said, so work crews are mostly gone. There has definitely been an improvement, said Rohan Butler, owner of the East Road Café, on Tuesday afternoon. He gestured out the door at two or three parked cars with some free space in between them. “That just wouldn’t have happened, not long ago.” But what happens when people move into the 550 homes in Marshall Yards? said Casey, the East Road resident on Tuesday. As the homes fill up, Casey said she and others worry that parking will spillover again. Some locals put cones out in front of their houses to block out parking spots, she said. Sometimes it can work, sometimes it doesn’t. Concerns over the number of car parking spaces included in new developments – and spillover of new residents parking their cars in surrounding streets and footpaths – are[ common across the city](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-new-housing-developments-a-constant-back-and-forth-over-levels-of-parking/). Efforts to reduce transport emissions to tackle the climate crisis – coupled [with attempts to](https://www.dublininquirer.com/does-dublin-need-less-parking-with-new-apartments-or-a-new-model-for-it/) reduce construction costs – led to a change in rules several years ago, reducing requirements for parking spaces in new apartment complexes and estates. Instead, council policy has been to encourage developers to put in cycle parking and car-share spaces, said Brendan O’Brien, a council official [back in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/will-fewer-car-parking-spaces-in-new-apartments-blocks-mean-fewer-cars/) July 2019. Marshall Yards’ [planning permission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27419992-final-grant-of-permission-for-marshall-yards-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) includes 230 parking spaces – so less than half of apartments could get one, the others will need to go without a car, or if they have one, park elsewhere. Of course, the development is in the city centre, within walking distance of many workplaces, shopping, and much more. For those who’d need to go further, there’s about 1,160 bicycle parking spaces, plus Connolly Station’s trains, the Luas, and buses nearby. The Dublin City Development Plan 2022–2028 explicitly calls for a decrease in car use in the city and a move to more public transport and active travel. “Promoting modal shift to more sustainable modes is a key requirement in adapting to climate action,” it [says](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-8-sustainable-movement-and-transport/85-policies-and-objectives?ref=dublininquirer.com). Figures on car trips into the city show progress towards that goal. The Canal Cordon Count – which captures traffic passing over Dublin’s canals at peak times – [has shown the](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s48810/Canal%20Cordon%202024.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) continued gradual decline of car traffic as a share of all traffic over the past two decades, from 37 percent in 2006 to 25 percent in 2024. But data does not show progress towards people choosing to ditch car ownership altogether. Census figures show more households than ever in the city have at least one car that they need to store. The percentage of carless households in Dublin city fell from about 34 percent in 2016 to 31 percent in 2022. ## **A holistic view** In the past, neighbourhood transport schemes were [held up as the solution](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25964070-neighbourhood-transport-schemes-2019-presentation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to clusters of traffic issues in areas. They were billed as a way of looking more holistically at safety challenges in areas, such as rat running or heavy vehicles. East Wall and Cabra East were both flagged for attention in the council’s administrative Central Area, said Burke. A neighbourhood transport scheme was agreed by the council and locals, and engineers were appointed, he said. Covid put paid to that, he said. Then, engineers left the council for the private sector, he said. And neighbourhood schemes as envisaged then have since been dropped. Last May, a council spokesperson [said that the](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-wonder-whats-become-of-those-transport-schemes-to-make-neighbourhoods-safer/) schemes were gone, in the sense that they aren’t running them as they had been. Now, an area engineer assesses all the traffic service requests that come in and if there are multiple ones for one area, they are assessed for a single traffic management solution, they said. “Which in effect is a neighbourhood scheme,” they said. ## **Searching for solutions** At the Central Area Committee meeting, Nic Réamoinn said that the council has received “an awful lot of service requests” regarding East Wall. A pay-and-display scheme was the best option they have come up with, she said. “That will actually manage the parking on the road.” Casey said there is a hesitancy among neighbours who worry that pay and display wouldn’t solve it, as people could still park in the same spots that they always have. Burke says parking problems in East Wall also relate to the lack of enforcement. “They park on corners, on double yellows. They don’t care.” Sure, he isn’t an engineer, he says, but wants to explore all options. What about a one-way traffic system around East Road, with no parking on both sides at certain spots which are prone to bottle-necks, he said. That might help flow, at least. On East Road, when cars park on both sides and buses are passing up and down, traffic becomes particularly chaotic, he said. O’Driscoll, the Social Democrat councillor, asked for Nic Réamoinn to set up a meeting with councillors, and representatives of the traffic advisory group, parking enforcement, and the active travel unit. That would be useful, said Nic Réamoinn. “Together, then we can come up with some kind of solution or strategy for making roads safer and East Road safer.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dean: Burglar put their own spin on Generation X mimicry URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-burglar-put-their-own-spin-on-generation-x-mimicry/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T11:08:05.000Z Who are Burglar robbing from exactly? The band’s music is so steeped in nostalgia, so enthralled with the sounds of a bygone era, that any of 1,000 artists are possible victims. Neither member is old enough to recall the 1990s – they may not, in fact, have been alive, as we know that the pair met as students in Trinity College just five years ago. But Burglar’s ethos is heavily reminiscent of America’s much-lionised post-Cold War, pre-Y2K indie rock, grunge and post-hardcore music. This is mimicry that rings with authenticity – there is something here that’s impossible to fake. Here’s the story: Burglar are Willow Hannon, daughter of The Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon, and Eduardo Pinheiro, who draws inspiration from the punk-rock paradise that is his hometown of Goiânia, Brazil, a city of 1.5 million people noted for its DIY music ingenuity and home of its [own punk music festival](https://www.instagram.com/goianianoisefestival/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ​​It’s the perfect origin tale for a daring culture clash of disparate instruments, sounds and ideas, right? Well, forget all that. Hannon and Pinheiro are united over a mutual appreciation of touchpoint ’90s bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and Stereolab. Their songs are a veritable Lollapalooza of unflashy guitar play, stark aesthetics, gentle melodies, interlocking guy-girl vocal harmonies, and the spirit of Fugazi. It’s reasonable to say that Burglar did not arrive on the scene fully formed. Released in 2023, early single “Comeback” is a heavy, droning number that sounds forged in searing heat by industrial steelworkers. Yet through the murk and sweat, there are moments when Hannon and Pinheiro’s twin vocal harmonies achieve an ethereal beauty. Back-in-the-day sentimentality is all well and good, but it’s in these moments, when their paired voices circle and coil in unexpected ways, that Burglar sound like something distinct from the forebearers they bow down to. Ditching the more chugging arrangements, Hannon and Pinheiro’s songcraft has progressed into something both elegant and complex. Their arrangements simply never stay still. Chicken-scratch licks and obscene amounts of power chording live in perfect harmony; melodic sensibility is married to barbed-wire punk aggression. Hannon and Pinheiro sometimes sing side-by-side, like a classic folk duo sharing the same mic. But one will often take the lead, letting their voice drop out to allow the other to step forward. More than just the placement of the vocals, it’s the duelling personalities of the singers that also works so well. Pinheiro has the aura of the interesting aloof kid sitting at the back of class, while Hannon’s falsetto is a more haunting tone. This is a chemistry that cannot be trained. Burglar often favor the quiet-to-loud outline closely associated with grunge music. Take the single “Nobody Needs to Know You’re Desperate”: chipped guitar chords build towards big, tuneful crescendos. The band wisely play on their collegiate beginnings by capturing the emotional haze of a party. It’s a song about that time of the night when excitement has melted away into hurt feelings and inflated melancholy, symptoms of barely being a grown-up. “Go figure, go figure out/ I’m tired, I’m also kinda lost,” sings Pinheiro in an appropriately placid tone. A fuller picture of the band’s developing artistry arrived last year with *Unlucky*, an addictive four-song EP featuring guests Cormac Nugent on bass and Harry Loftus on drums, and released with artwork that gloriously invokes dirtbag Gen-X aesthetic. Once more, new elements are added to the Burglar sound: The hushed guitar lines of the exceptional “Mousetrap” are matched with a delicate, spooky little riff that sounds as though it’s emanating from an antique analogue synth. It’s music that suggests the cosmos not as a sci-fi wonderland, but a cold and mysterious void. That is, until the band blast everything else away with a mighty smash-n-pummel rhythm. Similarly, “Fate Fades” stacks the guitar lines into a mighty roar, while “Washing Machines” is a more downtrodden lament until once more the loudness is allowed into the room. Meanwhile, the signature two-part vocal sections are deployed most interestingly on “No Easy Way”, as both members sing different lyrics right on top of each other without remotely sounding in conflict. Latest single “Lovey”, released in January, is more upbeat – Burglar’s first single that really sounds like a classic A-side. This is the more vibey side of youth, music for lengthy summers with few distractions, nothing to do but get drunk in the afternoon sun. It invites songwriting that’s a little more playful, including a wry dig at people with a tendency to overshare: “Is there even talk of TMI in 2025?” they pair ask, their vocals once more in tandem. I imagine “Lovey” will appear on a debut album slated for release in October. There’s no Irish LP scheduled for 2026 that I’m more excited about. ### Luke: In "All that Glitters", Shakespeare's ghost coaches an apathetic schoolboy in life and love URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-in-all-that-glitters-shakespeares-ghost-coaches-an-apathetic-schoolboy-in-life-and-love/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T06:32:09.000Z Ah, those awkward teenage years. Stumbling, gangly and still-growing through unfamiliar terrain as your body, mind and very being changes by the minute. Each step is a potential pitfall of social and personal error. Slowly, surely and after much embarrassment, we emerge as adults equipped with a catalogue of cringey moments that still haunt our dreams and idle moments years later. Wouldn’t it have been something to have a guiding light through this darkest of journeys? And what if, that guiding light was the most celebrated playwright of his, or any other time? Such is the premise for Peter Lavery’s feature film debut *All That Glitters*, a coming-of-age story in which the ghost of William Shakespeare coaches an apathetic schoolboy in life and love. If it sounds silly, it is. But it’s also charming, heartfelt, moving and much else. Ryan (Elliot Grihault) is coasting through the last year of secondary school, hardly working at his studies, and with no plans for the future. His father, Phillip (Tim Downie), the school’s English teacher, is anxious about his son’s prospects. But try as he might to encourage his boy to take interest in something, anything, Ryan shrugs off advice and continues as is. In classes Ryan is distractible he daydreams of romance with his classmate Jasmine (Flo Thompstone), and is encouraged and mocked in his quest for her affections by his friends Cassie and Hugo. ## Awkward Early school scenes make a lot of Ryan’s bumbling awkwardness. Lavery’s script and camerawork enjoy those agonising seconds where words hang in the air and tension builds. It’s a clever comedic trick because even if the jokes don’t land, the relief of something to cut through the tension raises frequent chuckles. There’s an awkwardness in the writing itself in these early interactions between Ryan and his friends, a half-formed attempt at laddish banter that recalls *The Inbetweeners* and other Only Having a Laugh Britcoms of that era. Lavery’s attempt to capture this cadence comes off as half-hearted because the sense is that his heart isn’t in it. The film, tonally, pace-wise, comedically, is much more assured when Lavery works in a gentle, somewhat silly, mostly earnest register. The sparse set decoration in Ryan’s room seems to belong to someone much younger. There’s a handful of drawings and generic posters hung haphazardly – reflecting his lack of ambition and goals perhaps. But when that same room is taken up by a guy dressed in a convincing but somewhat ropey Shakespeare costume, the visual identity of *All That Glitters* begins to sit right alongside *The Queen’s Nose*, *My Parents are Aliens* and other comedy programmes aimed at children. ## Summoning Shakespeare Ryan’s summoning of Shakespeare is a puzzling sequence. Pushed by his friends to join Jasmine at tennis practice Ryan does what any newbie in his position would do. He gets a book from the library on the rules of the game and knuckles down. Later, in a moment of frustration, Ryan tosses the book aside, which causes the ghost of William Shakespeare to materialise. It’s a headscratcher, but again, recalls the same suspension of disbelief that we carry to *ALF* or *Harry and the Hendersons*. Why is an alien eating the neighbourhood cats? How does nobody see that that’s a sasquatch wearing that Hawaiian shirt? Why is Shakespeare sleeping on the pull-out cot? It matters not, it’s fun! Paul Ready’s Shakespeare is played broadly, and the comedy that comes from the man-out-of-time antics and clashing values and culture is amusing. But it’s not always consistent. Some scenes have him acting hip to the modern world, only to be dumbfounded by something else in the next scene. For the most part, the manic, avuncular Shakespeare does what’s required. Ready is the source of most of the film’s big laughs, and he can play serious too. The uneasy mentor/mentee relationship between Ryan and Shakespeare sees Ready lean into a lively, very physical performance style. Invisible to the rest of the world, he still tries his best to big-up Ryan. Shakespeare in tennis whites even though he can’t play the game in any tangible real-world way is very funny. Likewise, his constant interjections and outdated advice are presented with equal parts gusto and frustration. He is always encouraging Ryan toward spur-of-the-moment advances, spontaneity, dramatic, whirlwind-romance stuff. Madly emoting and gesticulating, shouting at Ryan to “Kiss her!” Following his advice would lead Ryan to do things that are not only out of character for him,but out of step with the times we live in as well. Shakespeare as the Cyrano de Bergerac voice in Ryan’s ear is, in almost all cases, a bozo by any other name. ## Kissing a scarecrow Lavery squeezes a lot of drama into the script and out of his characters. Ryan’s trying out for the school’s production of *Romeo and Juliet* with acting pointers from the Man Himself presents some meaty conflict as Ryan doubts his abilities and surprises his father with the depth of his performance. Elliot Grihault carries an expression that teeters on the edge of despair. He plays Ryan as nervous, volatile and highly strung. Moments away from disaster at any given time. When set against Thompstone’s Jasmine, who seems to have it all together, there’s some good interplay, and as we discover both characters are similarly at sea in their lives. There are a handful of scenes that really highlight Lavery’s visual sensibilities. A party sequence employs some canted camerawork and dissolves to show drunkenness and refers back to Lavery’s earlier work in shorts. This sequence is one of the more serious in the film, but in it, Lavery still finds time for jokes, interspersing the emotional high points with cringey low points. It’s that willingness to play, to go a little bit further with the material, to take a chance on coming off slapdash, that makes *All That Glitters* such a charming film. You just don’t see William Shakespeare coach a kid on kissing using a scarecrow dressed in a blond wig in any other films. *All that Glitters is* [*showing*](https://www.diff.ie/programme/all-that-glitters?ref=dublininquirer.com) *at the Light House Cinema in Smithfield today (27 February) at 1.30pm as part of the Dublin International Film Festival. A wide release is forthcoming.* ### Things To Do: Shuck an oyster, mind your heart and rejoice as spring begins in Blanchardstown URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-shuck-an-oyster-mind-your-heart-and-rejoice-as-spring-begins-in-blanchardstown/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T06:32:30.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Late at 118: HeartBeat** Earlier this month, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland opened *Heart: more than a beat*, its inaugural exhibition in Humanarium, the university’s new café and free exhibition space. The exhibition celebrates the heart, how it works, and how we can keep it working better for longer by exploring the science and stories behind every heartbeat. As part of the exhibition, the RCSI is also hosting a special event this Friday: *Late at 118: HeartBeat* is a free evening of music, talks and hands-on activities intended to get your heart pumping. Nutrition coach Ciara Turley, known otherwise as The Tummy Fairy, will be discussing heart-healthy foods, author and journalist Sophie White will be explaining how fiction can set your heart aflutter, and there will be a silent disco with DJ and KiiKO singer Emmy Shigeta. *Late at 118…* starts at 6:30pm tomorrow, Friday, 27 February. Admission is free, and while I don’t want to stress you out ahead of an event intended to promote a healthy heart, you might want to get on those tickets quickly before they’re all gone. Book them [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/late-at-118-heartbeat-tickets-1982284604614?ref=dublininquirer.com) pronto, and exhale deeply. *Heart: more than a beat* is free to view from Monday to Saturday during café opening hours. The exhibition is suitable for ages 12+. More information [here](https://www.humanarium.ie/exhibitions/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **All Shucked Up** All Shucked Up, the annual Guinness, oyster and music festival descends upon Howth this weekend. Up in the Abbey Tavern tomorrow evening at 8pm, Irish 1980s rock icons Leslie Dowdall (In Tua Nua) and Flo McSweeney are set to share a stage for the first time with their brand-new show *Natural Women*, which pays homage to the works of Linda Ronstadt and Carole King. Meanwhile, there will be free shows throughout the area, with The Richie Buckley Organ Quartet playing in Wrights Findlaters at 8:30pm, the Yum Yum Old Time String Band in O’Connells at 9pm, and Shobsy will be in The Harbour Bar at 10pm. Among the highlights on Saturday: - At 1pm, Nicole Dunne of Howth Foraging will be leading a family friendly coastal forage. - Then, the Bloody Stream is hosting a showcase of rising talent from 2pm, featuring Taylor Byrne & The Lavender Scare, DC Dolls, Telekura and And He, The Fool. - At 7:30pm, the Abbey Tavern will be holding the east coast oyster shucking championship, - And, at the same time, if you’d rather not demonstrate your shucking skills, Betty Boo will be playing a gig up at The Summit Inn, with support from Luthorist, Jehnova, and VISIONALI. Finally, on Sunday, there will be an oyster masterclass with Sarah Browne of Oysome at the Abbey Tavern at 2pm, and later, at 7pm. Jack Lukeman will be performing there too, with support from EllyD. For more information on the full line-up, and to book tickets, visit the festival’s website [here](https://allshuckedup.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com#lineup2026). **Art Mart** On Saturday and Sunday, Hen’s Teeth in Blackpitts will be the venue for the latest Art Mart pop-up art market. Among the local artists on the line-up this time are Domino Whisker, Áine Byrne, Holly Pereira, James Kirwan, Our Type, Ashwin Chacko, Séan Harte and Sleep Corvid. Johnny Cigarette will also be doing live portraits and Sando Paradiso, the sandwich shop, will be selling exactly what you think they would be selling. The market opens at 11pm. For more information, visit the Hen’s Teeth website [here.](https://www.hensteethdublin.com/all-events/art-mart?ref=dublininquirer.com) **The Stoney Collection** On Sunday afternoon, the Stoney Writers Group will be launching its second volume of work in Books Upstairs. *The Stoney Collection, Volume 2* is the second anthology published by the writers' group, which was founded by Lorna Keane. Featuring 24 emerging writers of poetry and short stories – ranging from modern realism and tragic thrillers to fantasy tales and surreal satire – this latest edition brings together some of the best works produced by the group over the past year. The launch is at 2pm on 1 March. Admission is free, but booking is essential, and can be done [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/launch-the-stoney-collection-volume-two/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you can’t go, but are keen to get involved in the group, which meets every month in the Third Space up at Smithfield, follow them on Meetup [here](https://www.meetup.com/stoney-writers-group/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dublin International Film Festival** The Dublin International Film Festival has once again descended on the city, and last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to catch the premiere of *Displace: The Battle of Dublin*. Directed by James Redmond, and filmed across four years of protests and public meetings, the black and white documentary delves into dereliction, the housing crisis, the shortage of artist workspaces, overcrowded accommodation and the movements that have emerged in response to these issues. If you haven’t been able to catch any films so far, there is still plenty of time, and screenings to note in the calendar. On Saturday, 28 February, at 12:30pm, Gary Lennon’s environmental documentary *An Irish Atlantic Rainforest* will be showing in the Lighthouse. It takes as its subject the sculptor Eoghan Dalton, who, in 2009, abandoned city life for a derelict 73-acre farm on the Beara Peninsula. The land was ecologically damaged, overgrazed and choking with invasive species, and his radical solution was to step back and let nature heal itself. Tickets are available [here](https://www.diff.ie/programme/an-irish-atlantic-rainforest?ref=dublininquirer.com). Then, at 7pm in Haymarket House, there is a curated programme of Irish music videos, featuring videos for the likes of CMAT, Curtisy, HousePlants, Ahmed, With Love and Michael D. Higgins, and directed by up-and-coming directors including Eilís Doherty, Aiesha Wong and Pippa Molony. Those tickets are available [here](https://www.diff.ie/programme/irish-music-videos?ref=dublininquirer.com). On Sunday, at 3.15pm, there is *Dublin On Screen*, a double-bill of short films showing in the Lighthouse. First up is Vinny Murphy’s *The Women Flower Sellers of Grafton Street*, in which its titular subjects detail how they were viewed and treated over the decades, both as street traders and as women. Afterwards, there is *Robin in the Hood*, a musical retelling of the story of Robin Hood. Directed by [Kristin Vollset](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-molyneux-yard-a-group-of-horse-owners-and-locals-rally-to-save-their-lane/), the story reframes Robin as a Dublin horse owner, and Marian as a travelling busker. Both feel trapped by an unfair system, but with the help of the city’s urban horse tribe, they try to break free. Tickets are available [here](https://www.diff.ie/programme/dublin-on-screen?ref=dublininquirer.com). As part of the festival, the *Irish Times* will be presenting The DIFF Film Club, a series of conversations with acclaimed filmmakers and actors. In this series, on Saturday at 2:30pm, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick will be in the Haymarket House to discuss her work in films and shows including *Basic Instinct*, *The Greatest Showman* and *Bridgerton*. Tickets for her talk are available [here](https://www.diff.ie/programme/the-irish-times-presents-the-diff-film-club-with-ellen-mirojnick?ref=dublininquirer.com). Afterwards, at 4pm, actor Alice Krige will be talking about her filmography, from *Chariots of Fire* to *Star Trek: First Contact*, her work in theatre, and her latest film, [*The Restoration at Grayson Manor*](https://www.diff.ie/programme/the-restoration-at-grayson-manor?ref=dublininquirer.com), shot in Stradbally. Those tickets can be booked [here](https://www.diff.ie/programme/the-irish-times-presents-the-diff-film-club-with-alice-krige-?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Spring 26** Finally, on Wednesday, to mark its 25th birthday, Draíocht in Blanchardstown will be staging a major new group exhibition, *Spring 26*, featuring new works from 26 graduate visual and early career artists with a Fingal connection. Running until 2 May, and spread across the ground and first floor galleries, *Spring 26* is curated by Aisling Prior and aims to support and celebrate the breadth of work from Fingal’s rising talents in video, painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, drawing, print and installation. Its line-up includes Maria Atanacković, [Maya Brezing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-dublins-dereliction-an-artist-dreams-up-images-of-a-post-apocalyptic-near-future-where-nature-has-claimed-the-city/), Matthew Coll, Uisce Jakubczyk, [Nicole Manning](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-draws-inspiration-from-the-tangled-peace-of-a-donabate-forest/), James McLoughlin, Kerrie O’Leary, [Eileen Leonard Sealy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-howth-two-artist-friends-have-been-egging-each-other-on-since-childhood/), Aoife Ward and Diarmuid Woodcock. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-advert_blue.png) An advert costs €75 + VAT. Contact amy@dublininquirer.com to book. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* ***Back Home* at the Scene+Heard Festival 2026** On 27 and 28 February, as part of Scene+Heard Festival, Ukrainian artist Masha Khalieieva will be presenting *Back Home*, a poetic one-woman performance exploring memory, migration, and what remains when home no longer exists as a place. Performed at Smock Alley Theatre’s Main Space at 6:30pm on Friday and Saturday, the piece blends physical theatre, personal testimony, and Ukrainian folklore. Tickets are available [here](https://smockalley.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873661253?%5Fgl=1%2A1rxq94n%2A%5Fgcl%5Faw%2AR0NMLjE3NzIxMTc2NTMuQ2p3S0NBaUEtX19NQmhBS0Vpd0FTQm1zQkY5NTRGVDZtcFV1MzVHUlkxaVBpYWJqc1FkQ1U3N1dpYXVXNUtBYjJOOG8ydGxIbnV6T2Zob0NGTUFRQXZEX0J3RQ..%2A%5Fga%2ANzc1OTc3Njc0LjE3NzA4NDI0OTM.%2A%5Fga%5FMWDVV00WLD%2AczE3NzIxMTc2MzQkbzIkZzEkdDE3NzIxMTc2NTMkajQxJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Rebels & Heroines: A Celebration of Women in Opera** This March, Irish National Opera will mark International Women’s Day with ‘Rebels and Heroines - A Celebration of Women in Opera’, an evening devoted to the fearless, dynamic and unforgettable women of the operatic stage. Organised in partnership with the Royal Dublin Society, the recital will feature soprano Jennifer Davis alongside mezzo-soprano Sarah Richmond and pianist Aoife O’Sullivan. Rebels & Heroines will be staged in the RDS Concert Hall at 5pm on Sunday, 8 March. **Mammy Mia!** For Mother’s Day, on Sunday, 15 March, Sing Along Social will be bringing their new show *Mammy Mia!* to The Sugar Club. Promising an extravaganza of ABBA hits as well as a few classics from the likes of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Sinéad O’Connor, *Mammy Mia!* will start at 2:30pm. Tickets are €18 and you can book them [here](https://www.singalongsocial.com/events?ref=dublininquirer.com). **When Gemini Meets the Goat** On 26 March, Reds Gallery will be launching *When Gemini Meets the Goat*, an exhibition by Noel O'Donoghue and Enrique Lazzaro. Running until 1 April, the two-person show brings together the two distinct artists' visions that share a deep connection to landscape and portraiture. Curated by Tony Strickland, the launch is at 6pm, and will feature Glenda Dunne as its guest speaker. If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Ruling sheds a small light on opaque intel-gathering on some citizenship seekers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/ruling-sheds-a-small-light-on-opaque-intel-gathering-on-some-citizenship-seekers/ Last updated: 2026-02-26T23:29:30.000Z On a summer afternoon last year, a little over 90 people trickled onto a Zoom call. They were all citizens of Pakistan who’d come to speak to the country’s then-ambassador to Ireland, Aisha Farooqi. The people on the call shared a familiar limbo. Most had [faced years-long delays](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-long-and-indefinite-waits-for-an-answer-people-seeking-irish-citizenship-feel-pushed-to-lawyer-up/) for a decision on their citizenship applications, and been told that’s how long checking their background was taking. “More than two years, more than two years for a straightforward application,” said one participant in Urdu. They wanted Farooqi to ask the Pakistani government if it’s being particularly slow to process deep-dive background check requests from the Irish government, causing the delays, they said. A few days later, Rana Usman, president of Pakistan Overseas Community (POC) Ireland, sent a letter to the country’s Interior Ministry, outlining their troubles. It asked if they are getting background check requests from the Irish government. And if not, “would the Ministry be willing to consult with relevant provincial or federal agencies to confirm whether such background checks might be routed through alternate channels?” These background checks go beyond routine police clearances. Having a clean police cert isn’t enough to thwart a prolonged murky digging process. Up until now, Ireland’s Department of Justice had remained largely silent about where exactly it’s sending these data requests and why they take so long. A few weeks into the new year, a [High Court ruling](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27349349-approved-2024-1293-jr-mj-v-mj-2025-493-jr-aa-v-mj-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that centred on prolonged background check delays for some citizenship-seekers shed a small light on the practice. It cited submissions from the Department of Justice which said response time from some people’s countries of birth can be a “variable”. But also, “by way of general background”, An Garda Síochána “has developed strong links with other security services, particularly those with whom the State shares common threats to national security”, said the submissions. It couldn’t say more about that, they said. If the guards were to reveal the kind of data those security agencies offer they would risk “losing access to that intelligence and losing the relationships which are so important to protect the security of the State and its citizens”, said its submission. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not respond to queries sent last week, asking among other things, whether it refers to security agencies of other Western states, like those in the United States and the United Kingdom. If it ended up refusing someone based on these intelligence reports, it would offer as much details as possible, its submissions in the court case had said. A Supreme Court [ruling](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27349350-2019-iesc-47-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from 2019, chronicles the contours of one man’s struggles to catch sight of the kind of information that the Department of Justice had held against him. More on that later. Legal academics and lawyers say that as invasive intel-gathering isn’t something all citizenship-seekers have to face, and is often based on stereotypes about people born in certain countries, it’s another reminder of those immigrants’ total loss of the right to privacy – whether for getting citizenship or something much smaller, [like a taxi licence](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-migrant-taxi-drivers-good-character-criteria-for-licence-means-little-right-to-privacy/). ## Wrong is not my name The Department of Justice did not respond to a query asking for fresh figures. But [an analysis](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25919874-462577222-512150984978055-2285670757664035851-n/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of past official figures of citizenship cases filed between 2020 and 2022 and still pending by April 2025, showed that citizens of Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan topped the list of undecided cases, despite an overall lower number of applications. People on the Zoom call with the ex-ambassador from Pakistan last year kept saying their cases were clear-cut and “straightforward”. Some said they were doctors doing everything by the book, befuddled and hurt by the wait. But just being born in some countries can be enough to make a citizenship case complicated and prolong the response time by summoning up an opaque background checks routine. Cathal Malone, an immigration barrister, said the assumption is that people born in certain places like, Muslim-majority countries, are “more likely to be terrorists”, and so the government might cast around for information on every facet of their lives. That’s literally profiling people based on place of birth or religion, he said. Christopher Muhawe, assistant professor of law at the University of Illinois in Chicago – who explored the erosion of privacy rights for refugees and asylum seekers in the United States in a [recent academic paper](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27351759-the-invisible-immigrant-s-privacy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – said something similar. Nobody’s denying that national security concerns are valid and important, Muhawe said by phone on Monday. The problem lies in the fact that not every citizenship seeker faces “excessive and extreme data collection in an opaque manner”. On the Zoom call in June 2025, people said how painful it was to watch others get a decision on their citizenship applications in six to eight months. ## What I don’t know did hurt me Until a few years ago, if data from lengthy citizenship background checks triggered a rejection, seeking details was practically impossible. In 2013, a man born in Iran decided he’d trudge through a labyrinth of hurdles and legal bureaucracy on an odyssey to understand what had caused the Department of Justice to view him as a threat. In April 2013, the Department of Justice had [refused](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27349350-2019-iesc-47-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a citizenship application from the man, who held refugee status – so named only by his initials, A.P. – “on the basis of national security consideration”. It refused to offer any more details, even cursory. Later, Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the High Court would rule that “there was nothing to inhibit the Minister from providing both a reason for the refusal of the application and a justification for the withholding of any information pertaining to the underlying basis for that reason”. So, the Department of Justice reviewed and rejected A.P.’s citizenship request again in 2014\. This time offering tidbits of information as to why. He turned to the courts again, arguing that it wasn’t enough, facing setback after setback at the High Court and then the Court of Appeal. By the time the Supreme Court ruled on his case, six years had slipped by since his first citizenship refusal. Affidavits filed by the Department of Justice alluded “to the existence of certain confidential documents concerning the application and Mr. P.’s background”, said a 2019 Supreme Court [ruling](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27349350-2019-iesc-47-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about the case by then-chief justice Frank Clarke. His ruling cited the Department of Justice as saying that the Minister couldn’t count on A.P.’s “fidelity to the Irish State and his undertaking to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to protect its democratic values”. They had reached that conclusion based on those confidential reports, the ruling said. Justice Clarke, who overturned the Department of Justice’s decision to reject A.P.’s citizenship request, said “the entitlement to know the case against you is itself a fundamental part of the right to be heard”. At the very least, he wrote, steps can be taken to put in place an"enhanced" process through which people can seek details of the case against them without affecting state interests. Now, off the back of that ruling, those facing a citizenship refusal over security concerns are offered a window of time to ask a single-person committee to review the confidential case against them and decide whether they can know anything about it. It’s unclear how much the system has eased people’s access to information. ## Through the eye of the needle Malone, the immigration barrister, remembers how a client, Imran Shuvu, had been refused renewal of a taxi licence because the Garda carriage office had dug into every twist and turn in his immigration history, deciding his character wasn’t good enough to drive a cab. It had viewed files held by the Garda National Immigration Bureau, which suggested that Shuvu – who was born in Bangladesh – had at one point been accused of marrying for immigration papers by the Department of Justice. Later, a District Court judge, Marie Quirke, [would rule](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27352196-refusal-to-renew-bangladeshi-mans-taxi-driver-licence-quashed-over-breach-of-personal-data-rights-the-irish-times/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the invasion of his privacy was undue and illegal. It was a “deliberate and conscious” breach of his data protection rights, the judge had said. In overturning the decision to refuse renewal of his taxi licence, the judge said the guards could have asked Shuvu’s permission to access his immigration files or asked him to offer the information they sought voluntarily. What makes this case unique, Malone said, is that Shuvu’s right to privacy would not have been peeled away if he wasn’t an immigrant from Bangladesh. If an Irish citizen was going for a taxi licence renewal, he said, “they wouldn’t write to every department and say, ‘Do you have anything dodgy on this guy?’”. ## Getting to know all about you In his paper, Muhawe, the law professor at the University of Illinois, mentions how immigrants act differently as they strain for acceptance. He calls it “personality curation”. Some people change religion just to be accepted, said Muhawe on Monday. “The undue self-discipline, subordination, loss of self-esteem and erasure of personal identity and history prompted by the need to appear acceptable to authorities,” [his paper](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27351759-the-invisible-immigrant-s-privacy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said. And the willful surrender of all kinds of private things just so they can make a go of life outside their country of birth. “Prompted by the overwhelming need of the powerless to survive,” said Muhawe’s paper. Those looking to join their partners here often hand over a mountain of private, sometimes deeply intimate, romantic chats to the Department of Justice to prove that their relationship is real. On Monday, Muhawe said he found the area under-researched when he set out to mine the literature. He thought it was ironic that immigrants are talked about all the time – “I always say refugees and asylum seekers can determine the election even though they don’t vote” – but there is so little about how much governments surveil them. He tried to make a point of that in picking a title for his research, he said: “The (In)visible Immigrants’ Privacy”. Enveloping “in” before “visible” in parentheses was intentional, said Muhawe, to portray the hyper visibility of immigrants in public discourse and to immigration officials, and contrast it with the unseen violation of their right to privacy. “It is vital to safeguard the (in)visible immigrant’s privacy because the protection of privacy is integral to upholding human dignity in any democratic society,” said his paper. Western democratic governments, Muhawe said, should be transparent about the kind of data they dredge up on some people in a biased selection process. The data-gathering methods, who’s exactly offering it, how long the government hangs on to it, he said. If the tables were turned, he said, Europeanswouldn’t settle for less. ### Council resurrects its right to demand cultural spaces in big developments URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-resurrects-its-right-to-demand-cultural-spaces-in-big-developments/ Last updated: 2026-02-26T23:24:29.000Z A few construction workers still wandered through the Marshall Yards on Tuesday afternoon. Already though, residents have moved into some of the 11 new apartment blocks in the housing complex in East Wall. Signs fixed to the brown brick walls pointed to facilities like a creche and a pickleball court, beside an outdoor barbecue area. On each of the balconies of one of the still-empty set of flats christened Carriage Hall were two black deck chairs and a table. Inside, fresh mattresses, wrapped in plastic, and laid out on bed frames. The first phase of the built-to-rent development was completed last July, according to the DBFL consulting engineers [website](https://www.dbfl.ie/phase-1-of-marshall-yards-development-now-complete/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It has 211 apartments, a gym, and a men’s shed, among other facilities, the website says. The second phase was well underway last August, mechanical contractor JCPS Mechanics wrote [on their website](https://www.jcps.ie/news-article/marshall-yards---project-milestone?ref=dublininquirer.com), saying the expected completion of all 554 apartments would occur in early 2026. On Tuesday, the men’s shed was already operational. The lights were on, and a few men were busying about inside the workshop. Alongside the men's shed and a creche, the complex is eventually set to include three shops and seven offices, according to the [Marshall Yards website](https://marshallyards.com/commercial/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Also, a portion of the site, covering 467.1 sqm, has been earmarked as space for a food hub and exhibitions, with this dual-space occupying the ground floor of Carriage Hall next to East Road. It has yet to be finished, with its bare concrete interior still visible behind its partially obscured walls. Combined, these amenities listed on the site come to roughly 2,700 sqm of the [54,000 sqm mixed-use site](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25544375-d304710/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – or 5 percent of its total groundspace. That 5 percent flowed from a requirement set out in Dublin City Council’s development plan for 2022 to 2028, [which says that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25544391-final-1-13-sdras/?q=culture&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p7) a developer must assign that much of any large-scale development exceeding 10,000 square metres over to communal, community and cultural facilities. The developer, Eagle Street Partners, did not comment when contacted on Tuesday via email to confirm which facilities within the complex made up the 5 percent. [Twelve months ago](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-5-policy-council-seeks-to-increase-community-and-cultural-spaces-in-the-city/), councillors were excitedly holding up Marshall Yards as the pilot project for the effective implementation of the 5 percent policy. But in July, the Department of Housing published [new guidelines around](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27389979-planning-design-standards-for-apartments-080725-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) apartment design standards which appeared to axe this requirement, deflating local elected representatives who had developed the policy. It came as a surprise then to councillors and non-elected members of the council’s arts committee on Monday morning, when Brian Keaney, the acting deputy city planner said that – in the council’s interpretation of the guidelines – the policy would still apply to lots of the city’s future developments. ## Seesawing policies When the Department of Housing issued its new design standards for apartments in July, the council’s artists workspace committee was still only in the early stages of rolling out the 5 percent policy. City Arts Officer Ray Yeates had been engaging with developers [since November 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-years-of-work-by-council-government-abruptly-spiked-policy-meant-to-deliver-arts-spaces-in-the-city/) to help them understand and appreciate the need for the policy, he had said. The Arts Office had even gone so far as to set up a [registry for arts and cultural](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-setting-up-registry-to-connect-arts-groups-with-arts-spaces-available-in-the-city/) groups who were on the lookout for temporary or permanent workspaces so as to match-make with developers to whom the policy applied. The new guidelines, though, now said that “the provision of new communal, community and cultural facilities within apartment schemes shall only be required in specific locations identified within the development plan and shall not be required on a blanked threshold-based approach in individual apartment schemes”. That seemed to have scotched the 5 percent policy, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-years-of-work-by-council-government-abruptly-spiked-policy-meant-to-deliver-arts-spaces-in-the-city/) Moriarty, after the new guidelines came out. On Monday though, Keaney, the acting deputy city planner, told the committee that, while the guidelines do impact on the development plan, there are lots of developments to which the council considers that the 5 percent policy will still apply. The change is that before the guidelines, “we could apply this policy blanketly across the city. We can no longer do so,” Keaney told members of the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee. But the policy still applies to large-scale developments exceeding 10,000 square metres which aren’t mostly residential, he said – those that are mostly commercial and mixed-use. “So it’s only in the residential, where it’s really kind of ring-fenced and affected. The commercial schemes aren’t.” It also still applies in areas that are zoned Z14 in the council development plan, he said. The latter are SDRAs, of which there are 17 across the city, including Balgriffin, Belmayne, Clongriffin, Ballymun, Cherry Orchard and the Docklands, he said. It can also be used in places where local area plans identify a need for more communal space, he said. “When planning applications come in on the back of those particular plans and strategies, we can require the delivery of \[the policy\] CU025 in those areas.” This, in a nutshell, is the council planning department’s interpretation of the guidelines, he said. Has the council’s interpretation been challenged yet? asked Moriarty, the Labour councillor. Not to date, Keaney said. “I think, in fairness, we engage**d** early with all parties.” The pool of private developers is a lot smaller these days, he said. “Those that are out there tend to be well established, and they know the requirements.” They know that these requirements have to be delivered, he said. “And the alternative is that you’re refused planning permission.” The Minister for Housing James Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, has also suggested that his department’s new guidelines – undermining the 5 percent policy – could be retrospectively applied to developments that had already been granted permission, Moriarty said. “Are we aware of any notifications that we have received on that basis where our 5 percent will now no longer apply?” he asked. Under the new Planning and Development Act, there is provision for a developer who hasn’t commenced works on an approved scheme to, in theory, amend the internal layout, Keaney said.“Now, that provision has yet to commence in legislation.” It’s not operational, but there will be challenges around that, he said. To date, Keaney said the council has approved just over 40,000 sqm of arts, community and cultural floorspace as part of planning applications. “Of that, a majority of it is within the Z14 lands.” Going to planning is the easy part, he said. “The big challenge is around the delivery and the economic viability.” ## Clonturk House The committee remained on the topic of cultural spaces after Keaney wrapped up his presentation. Green Party councillors Donna Cooney and Janet Horner had put forward a motion, asking the council to consider purchasing Clonturk House and Cottrell Lodge in Drumcondra with a view to repurposingthem as cultural buildings. The two buildings and surrounding grounds were listed for sale by estate agents Knight Frank on 21 January, on [MyHome.ie.](https://www.myhome.ie/commercial/brochure/clonturk-house-cottrell-lodge-ormond-road-drumcondra-dublin-9-ireland/4975478?ref=dublininquirer.com) Clonturk House was built circa 1820 by the city architect, Cooney told the committee. “So there’s connections to Dublin City within that.” The boundary walls around the house are also made from the balustrades that previously made up Carlisle Bridge, now O’Connell Bridge, she said. Local Thomas Dudley, [better known as Bang Bang](https://www.dublininquirer.com/bang-bang-s-burial-and-the-hunt-for-a-headstone/), spent his final years in the care of the Rosminians at Clonturk House between 1977 and 1981. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Clonturk-House-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) Clonturk House. Photo by Michael Lanigan. The building has office rooms, approximately 16 ensuite bedrooms, a library and several communal living areas, according to the [Knight Frank](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27401097-52982f2db687a25d69d0d62c3d788603-clonturk-house-drumcondra-emailpdf/?ref=dublininquirer.com)brochure. Meanwhile, Cottrell Lodge, an adjacent two-storey block on the same grounds, dates to the 1980s and has about 10 bedrooms, the brochure says. The site is zoned Z2, “Residential Neighbourhoods”, and could be used for housing, student accommodation, healthcare or education, the estate agent’s site [says](https://www.knightfrank.ie/properties/development-land/clonturk-house-cottrell-lodge-ormond-road-drumcondra-dublin-9-9?ref=dublininquirer.com). But there are a lot of high-density buildings in the area, and not a lot of cultural space, said Cooney. David Dinnigan, the executive manager of the council’s Culture, Community, Leisure and Area Services Department, said the proposal wasn’t feasible. His department doesn’t have the capacity at the moment to take on a project of this scale and cost, he said in a written report. “The property in question is not in Council ownership and would require the council to compete in the open market to secure the property in a very short period of time,” Dinnegan wrote. Bringing the properties up to code too would require multiples of the asking price, he said. Owing to the 5 percent policy, a lot of cultural and community spaces are set to become available in the coming years, he said. “These will provide modern spaces that will not require such significant remedial investment and should be prioritised.” While he ruled out the possibility of redeveloping Clonturk House, Dinnigan said the council also currently has a [working group](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-the-former-school-of-wrestling/) that is looking to open a new arts centre in the council’s administrative North Central Area. That group is working on two specific schemes, he said. “One of them is on the Oscar Traynor Road which is going to offer absolutely amazing potential for sport, community and the arts.” They are looking into how that site can be developed at present, he said. Cooney, as a member of the working group, said it was the first she had heard about this potential new site on the Oscar Traynor Road. “I’m glad to hear that there’s something in the possible pipeworks.” ### Help us report: How are journalists in Ireland using AI these days? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/help-us-report-how-are-journalists-in-ireland-using-ai-these-days/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T12:22:58.000Z As tech companies jam AI into our lives, and employers adopt it in the hopes of cost savings, it's inevitable it's going to affect journalism too. Executives from Reach Plc – the company behind *Dublin Live*, the *Irish Daily Star*, the *Irish Daily Mirror*, and other titles – [talk about](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7356991138760720384/?ref=dublininquirer.com) their Guten system. The head of AI strategy for Belgium-based Mediahuis – which owns the *Irish Independent*, among many other titles – [has talked](https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/regional-newspapers/mediahuis-trials-use-of-ai-agents-to-carry-out-first-line-news-reporting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about experimenting with having AI agents writing, editing, doing legal checks, doing fact checks and more. This is generally pretty high-level, PR-polished stuff though, so I'm curious to learn more from the journalists working in Ireland for these and other companies. What's your company doing with AI? How does it impact your working life? Does it affect the quality of the journalism your company is publishing? If you have a few minutes to fill out my short survey, I'd be really grateful. I might use your answers in an article I'm planning about all this. I won't ask for your name until the end of the survey. If you feel having the answers you've given attributed to you by name could put your job at risk, don't give it to me. *\[Note: We've removed the embedded survey as of 20 July 2026, as it's no longer needed, as part of an effort to minimise the number of cookies on this website.\]* ### In Dublin’s dereliction, an artist dreams up images of a post-apocalyptic near future where nature is reclaiming the city URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-dublins-dereliction-an-artist-dreams-up-images-of-a-post-apocalyptic-near-future-where-nature-has-claimed-the-city/ Last updated: 2026-02-26T23:24:58.000Z Maya Brezing ducked into a doorway on Essex Gate in Temple Bar to avoid the tail end of downpour that soaked the city on Saturday morning. The rain subsided momentarily just after 11am as the artist strolled across the wet cobbled street to peek inside the steel fences that surrounded [13 and 14 Exchange Street Lower](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-a-run-down-site-in-temple-bar/), an overgrown, vacant lot. Once, it was the site of a single-storey premises, according to a [2003 planning application](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/44562?ref=dublininquirer.com). But as Brezing paid it a visit, it was little more than its foundations, with these serving as a pit for squashed cans, mucky plastic bags, odd shoes, and a tattered sleeping bag. The weeds were growing over the fences, which had previously hosted [two protest murals](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-a-run-down-site-in-temple-bar/), *Somebody’s Child* and *Disband the Artane Band* by the independent councillor and artist Mannix Flynn. Dublin City Council took ownership of the site in March 2021, with its compulsory purchase order confirmed by [An Bord Pleanála](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/315277?ref=dublininquirer.com) in September 2024, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. “Future use and development of the site is still under consideration.” It’s the kind of sight in the city that attracts Brezing’s attention whenever she’s out on a walk, she said. “Any sort of space like this. Really overgrown. It’s kind of nature taking over and taking back the city.” A lot of the time, when she’s painting or creating a piece through print, sites like this serve as a starting-point for almost post-apocalyptic, ecological science fiction works; stills from the not-so-distant future where nature is reclaiming urban space, she says. “It’s maybe imaginatory. Collage-y. Using my imagination and proposing these spaces.” Essex Gate became one of her most recent subjects, from which she extrapolated a vision from the near future. Her version of the site took its fencing and the weeds, a graffiti-strewn warning sign and an orange plastic barrier, and added a fox, while stripping away the surrounding buildings. In the place of the surrounding apartment blocks, and the mural painted on the side of the Gaiety School of Acting, instructing passers by to “Take a new look! Old City”, she inserted a blue sky, darkening near sundown, and filled with silvery clouds. Below it, the only sign of life was a fox scuttling along some double yellow lines. *Earth Incarcerated*was the title Brezing gave the oil painting, which is currently hanging in the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts as part of its annual Hennessy Craig & Homan Potterton Awards. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Earth-Incarcerated-by-Maya-Brezing-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.JPG) Earth Incarcerated by Maya Brezing. Photo by Michael Lanigan. Regeneration and the flourishing of different species is something she likes to depict, she says. “Cities being taken over by trees and plants. New ecosystems get created.” “We get little glimpses of those worlds all around us here,” she says. “Places like this where we see what the world might look like without any more human intervention.” ## The hoardings are getting harder to climb As the rain made a return late on Saturday morning, Brezing retreated into Rumi, a nearby cafe that steadily started to fill up with punters eager to stay dry and warm. She grew up in Balbriggan, she said over a cup of hot chocolate. And there were a few sights in the locale that fuelled her imagination like a burnt-out, derelict hotel a few kilometres north of the Fingal-Meath border in Julianstown, she says. “But it gets harder and harder to go into places like that. They’re really boarding them up quite well.” Still, the very fact that they are harder to access is what makes them more appealing, she says. A lot of the images that inspire her come when she’s not actively searching them out, she says. “If it’s a place like the hotel, I’d spend a good few hours there. Most of the time, I’d just be taking photos in passing.” It’s the train journey between Balbriggan and the city centre that really captivated her, she says. “In college, when I was working, it could take more than an hour to get into town.” Commuters can entertain themselves with their phones or they can look out the window, she says. “I like looking out the window, going from a town to a rural place to town.” Whizzing by on the train, you’re watching natural and urban landscapes blur together and overlap, she says. While her most recent works on show in the RHA are oil paintings, her background is primarily in print-making, studying fine art print in National College of Art and Design, she says. “Etching, screen prints, I was making my own handmade paper as well. It’s a practical instance of the themes of environmentalism in her work, she says. “There’s so much waste in printmaking. Newspaper that goes through the press and is thrown out every time. It’s crazy, so I’d set up a collection box in the studio, get everyone to put their used newsprint in there.” ## Immersive practice Creating her own paper added an extra dimension to the subject matter she likes to dwell on, she says. “It's the natural deckled edges of the paper. It’s unpredictable, tactile.” As her body of work grew, she would expand her practice into sculpture, attaching prints of bushy clumps of weeds or crumbling buildings to found objects, like burnt-out, rotting wooden planks. “I guess I’m a bit of a magpie,” she says. “I’m constantly collecting objects anywhere I go. I love things that have a history: wood, metal, plastic.” Often, her desire is to look into an apocalyptic place, she says. “I love post-apocalyptic movies. Bleak, but hopeful. Like *The Last of Us*. It’s bleak, but the series is also quite gorgeous.” Another of her works, *Mouse Trap II*, almost borrows from *The Last of Us* imagery of the cordyceps fungus growing from infected humans along roadways. The small oil painting depicts a mouse lying, possibly dead, possibly sleeping, on a brick wall, with an unusually elongated tail winding around the brickwork. That came from a house in Smithfield that was being demolished, she says. “I actually went in and saw a tree root growing in one of the walls. The roots were following the brick. It was amazing. But it didn’t make for a good photo.” So she replaced the root with a mouse instead, she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Mouse-Trap-II-by-Maya-Brezing-source-Michael-Lanigan-1-1.JPG) Mouse Trap II by Maya Brezing. Photo by Michael Lanigan. This battle between decaying infrastructure and thriving nature is something that compels her enough that she would happily spend the rest of her career dwelling on it, she says. “I could run with it for a long time,” she says. “It’s not just like a concept that I’m interested in. I guess it’s just me.” ### The usual market and events at Farmleigh House are cancelled for 2026, OPW says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-usual-market-and-events-at-farmleigh-house-are-cancelled-for-2026-opw-says/ Last updated: 2026-02-26T15:53:18.000Z John Rogan answered the phone on Monday while changing a wheel on his van on the banks of the River Inny in Co. Westmeath. “Look, I'm semi-retired now. I have a little business,” he said at the start of the call. He’s been a vendor at Farmleigh Food & Craft Market since it started, about 25 years ago. Then, in December, he said he heard from the Office of Public Works (OPW), which runs the official state guest house and its surrounding estate – across Phoenix Park from the President’s official residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. The market would be off for 2026, he says he was told. The reason? Farmleigh would be needed while Ireland leads the presidency of the Council of the European Union, from July to December this year, he says. During those six months, Ireland [expects to host](https://www.ireland.ie/en/eu/eu%5Fpresidency/?ref=dublininquirer.com#happen) an informal meeting of EU heads of state or government, a meeting of the European Political Community, bringing together leaders from 47 European countries, 22 informal ministerial meetings, and more. Other vendors said they learned later via a WhatsApp group that the market, which has in the past operated roughly monthly at Farmleigh, was off for 2026. Rogan mentioned his respect for the OPW personnel repeatedly. He said he spoke to them about this and was told basically, their hands are tied. “There's no come-back,” Rogan said. “It's been closed for the year. And you're just out the door.” Pascale Van Riet,who runs Phoenix Delite, which makes sugar-free, diabetic-friendly chocolate, says the market is financially vital for her. She said the markets’ year starts at Easter, and that’s April. So, “2027 – That's a year and a half without the income. So that's it, so you have to look for other markets,” she said. ## Rogan’s Smokehouse John Rogan’s daughter, Emma Rogan, worked for the family business, Rogan's Smokehouse, at Farmleigh back in the day, and now she brings her two young kids to visit. She says it’s magical at Christmas: with multiple choirs, puppet shows, magicians, the crib. And at Easter with the egg hunt, various easter bunnies. “There'd be lots of different activities all around that part of the estate, you know, around the house. So thousands of families would go to it as well, right?” she said. Emma said she’s mostly in a wheelchair these days, so she also values how accessible the site is. He used to have a big business, John said. He caught and smoked eels. He started the call with a quick history lesson on the eel: "We're all related to the eel,” he said. “The creature was one of the first creatures to transcend land and water…” Anyways, “the state shut us down years ago.” Laws changed and the business did too. “So anyway we ended up with what we’re doing. We do smoked bacon and smoked sausages,” he said. ## 2026 This year, the farmers’ market is off, an OPW spokesperson said on Tuesday. “Farmleigh house and Estate will be used for a wide range of functions throughout the Presidency,” the spokesperson said via email. “So it is necessary to undertake essential preparatory works to various elements across the Estate,” they said. “As a result of these planned works, it will not be possible to host the usual schedule of events across the Estate, including the food and craft markets.” They said they look forward to welcoming traders and performers back in 2027. The OPW also said in an email to Emma Rogan that there will be “significant” building and maintenance works on the house and estate. The Georgian home on the estate was once owned by the Guinnesses, but the Irish government [bought it in 1999](https://farmleigh.ie/about/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It has since [hosted](https://farmleigh.ie/state-guests/?ref=dublininquirer.com) foreign leaders like US President Barack Obama, the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, and the Emperor and Empress of Japan. The estate hosts a series of events throughout the year. For example, [last August’s schedule](https://web.archive.org/web/20250810204403/https://farmleigh.ie/events/) included a performance by St Mary’s Brass and Reed Band, an India Day celebration, an introduction to shinrin-yoku (forest bathing), and more. ## Could they move elsewhere? “The OPW is in touch with providers to explore whether an alternative site nearby is feasible, and is working to minimise the impact of the works as far as possible,” the spokesperson said by email on Tuesday. But vendors Karen Marshall and Pascale Van Reit said they hadn’t heard anything from the OPW about this. John Rogan, of Rogan’s Smokehouse, said the spot the farmers’ market is held in Farmleigh is an ideal location, for both ambiance and logistics. “You see there's all the electrical points and everything, like, that are set up around that car park,” he said. ButMarshall, founder of [Happy Tails](https://www.facebook.com/happytails.naturaltreat/mentions/), which makes natural dog treats, chew toys, dog birthday cakes, said she can’t see why they couldn’t just relocate. They hold events all over Farmleigh. They bring generators, Marshall said. “There's markets all over the city, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, every week. And they would just have a generator on site,” she said. Kieran Galvin of [Stinky and Scorchy](https://stinkyandscorchy.ie/about-us/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which sells oils and hot sauces, said he liked the venue at Farmleigh, and the market was well-organised. Plus now Bushy Park’s Farmers Market [is off too](https://www.dublininquirer.com/there-are-changes-on-the-way-for-the-bushy-park-market/). “Bushy Park is continuous from March right through to November, so it was a constant income every week,” he said. Between the two, it’s really bad for the business, Galvin said. “Definitely it's a double whammy,” he said. Galvin said he’s been in the food business long enough to know change is the name of the game. “So we've got to find, try and find new events for the summer, right?” he said. ## 2027 Marshall said she questions whether the market would reopen at Farmleigh in 2027, she said. “I think they'll take the opportunity now not to \[re\]open it,” she said. “They might do cultural days and things like that, because they tend to do that.” The OPW spokesperson said by email later that, “The team at Farmleigh is proud of the events programme that is hosted in the House and Estate and is looking forward very much to welcoming traders and performers back to Farmleigh in 2027.” Even if the market does reopen, Marshall said she’s not sure if she’d return. “It depends what happens in the meantime. Like, if I start doing another market that's better? Maybe not. I don't know.” Other vendors say they would come back in 2027 assuming it opens. Van Riet said she’ll be back because the situation these days is, if you can get a spot in a market, that’s a lot. “There's more traders than markets,” she said. For Rogan, the great thing for the last 25 years at Farmleigh is who works alongside him. He lists them off from memory. There's an organic farmer. A fruit man from Co. Carlow. “There's Bob's pizza, then there's a guy that makes his own donuts,” he said. “And then you have about maybe 20 craft people, a woman that comes, does all her own knitting,” he said. “And you know, you have another man that comes there, he sells maps,” he said. “That's why. People,” Rogan said. “That's why it's a success. And people keep coming.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Roll-out of city's new clothes recycling banks should start at last in April, says council official URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/roll-out-of-citys-new-clothes-recycling-banks-should-start-at-last-in-april-says-council-official/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:31:18.000Z The contract for a new clothes-bank operator in the city should be finalised within two weeks, according to a council official Sid Ó Dálaigh, “after which a mobilisation period will begin”. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney had asked for an update on the roll-out of a new set-up for recycling textiles, at the North Central Area Committee meeting on 16 February. She had pointed to continued issues of dumping and soggy clothes strewn around clothes banks in her constituency of Clontarf. Cooney had been told last November by council officials that the council was just about to sign a new contract, she said. “What’s happening?” she asked. She had previously asked for a breakdown of clean-up costs around clothes and bring banks, she said. Those figures weren’t available but it was costing the council money, she said. In a written response issued later, Ó Dálaigh said that the council is in final pre-contract negotiations with the successful tenderer. Because the contracts haven’t been signed, the council can’t say yet who has won the contract, he said. But new clothes banks will have a closeable drawer, he said, which “will go some way towards alleviating scavenging from the banks”. The council is also assessing which bring-bank locations would be appropriate for monitoring with CCTV to deter dumping, he said. Cameras should start to be installed towards the end of the second quarter of this year, he said. ## What changes? Complaints from councillors about waste clothes strewn around clothes banks, currently managed by Clothes Pod, and overflowing containers [spiked early](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-to-tighten-oversight-of-how-old-clothes-are-disposed-of-in-the-city/) last year – as did questions around where the deposited clothes actually end up. At the moment, the bulk of clothes collected [are exported without](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-expects-to-flip-the-financial-model-underpinning-used-clothes-banks/) being sorted or graded. In May, Dublin City Council tendered afresh for operators to manage two lots of clothes bank sites across the city. The tender outlined changes to the existing regime. It [noted that there would be](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=5415643&ref=dublininquirer.com) fines for operators if they didn’t tidy up around overflowing clothes banks in the city. It also said that the council would weight its evaluation of applicants to take account of efforts by operators to separate, reuse, and track waste with a verifiable audit trail. “Details of how the tender proposes to dispose of waste items must also be submitted,” it said. And “there must be a verifiable audit trail from receipt of materials to the end destination supported by the necessary paperwork”. In October, a council spokesperson said there had been a challenge to the outcome of the tendering process, which led them to reevaluate all submissions. Then there was another challenge by the same company, said the spokesperson at that time – and they had to resolve that before the contract was awarded. Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to a media query sent yesterday, asking about progress on the roll-out, and why it has taken so long to get the contract agreed. In his response to Cooney, Ó Dálaigh said the council’s Waste Management Services intends to publish a report on the new provider and the benefits of the contract to the national circular economy once it is able to. ### On the walls of a Kilbarrack health centre, an artist pays tribute to the beautiful ordinary URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-the-walls-of-a-kilbarrack-health-centre-an-artist-pays-tribute-to-the-beautiful-ordinary/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:32:47.000Z A large crowd gathered in Kilbarrack Health Centre on Wednesday night. The ceiling was far above them. Some stood with necks stretched and heads tilted upwards at the tall white walls. Two large paintings hung side by side. One was of the nearby basketball courts at Coláiste Dhúlaigh, the other of Kilbarrack Dart Station viewed from the west. “We won't usually come to this building to look,” said artist Jenny Walton, as she officially launched the exhibition. “But this is a place where we will spend time, time where we're in particular emotional or physical states,” said Walton. And with his paintings, with the light and the trees, [Paul MacCormaic](https://www.dublininquirer.com/issue-60-by-paul-maccormaic/) has brought the outdoors indoors, she said, and encourages a calm meditation. Sixteen of [MacCormaic’s](https://www.dublininquirer.com/issue-60-by-paul-maccormaic/) paintings now hang in the new health centre in Kilbarrack, all pieces in a permanent exhibition titled Mo Cheantar Féin – My Own Area. MacCormaic hopes the works inspire an interest and pride in the local environment, he says, to help people see the beauty in the mundane. In her remarks, Walton stressed the same: “These sixteen paintings aim to transform ordinary, overlooked places into something monumental by removing them from their everyday context and presenting them as art.” ## **The art** MacCormaic, who grew up in Finglas but lives in Kilbarrack, is known for his portraits. His last solo exhibition, The Vanquished Writing History*,* ran at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin for five weeks. It featured portraits of campaigners and activists who have worked, in their own way, to make Ireland a better place, he says. He painted Martin and Peggy Murphy, members of the Irish Thalidomide Association. And Antoinette Keegan, spokesperson for the Stardust Victims Committee. So, followers may be surprised by the lack of people in this newest collection – although some do appear, fishing at the bottom of the Kilbarrack Road, or cycling along the coast. But these are portraits nonetheless, he says. They are tree portraits. Rowan trees bright with berries. A crab apple tree in blossom. As MacCormaic walks around the centre, he talks about each painting he passes. He wanted to document the ash tree in particular, he says. Ash dieback, a serious disease, [poses a grave threat ](https://teagasc.ie/crops/forestry/advice/forest-protection/ash-dieback/?ref=dublininquirer.com)to Ireland’s ash population, he said. In capturing ash trees at St Donagh’s Estate, they stand immortal, he says. “It’s the tree we make our traditional hurleys from,” says MacCormaic, standing by the painting in an upstairs hallway. “They have a bit of spring in them too so the hurley won’t break. It’s not brittle.” MacCormaic also explores how light interacts with these seemingly ordinary scenes, to reveal the beautiful and everchanging – if you stop to look. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Paul-MacCormaic-chatting-about-his-piece-Venus-Over-Grange-Abbey-2-1.jpg) Walton, in her speech, had told those gathered to look closely at the painting of the basketball court in the main reception. The painting captures the early evening light at the start of winter, she said. “Leaves are still on the trees, and there's long shadows across the ground.” “The tall red hoops are matching the trees, and they catch the light in a completely different way to what is caught in the foreground there,” said Walton. The Coláiste Dhúlaigh groundskeeper had thanked him after he saw the painting, MacCormaic said, jokingly. He told the artist that he made him look good because the grass was cut and there was no rubbish lying around. MacCormaic said that he had enjoyed playing around in the night scenes with the throw of street lamps and red traffic lights. “The green grass becomes red.” ## **The community** Early in the evening, MacCormaic thanked locals who made him aware of spots that he had never been, or noticed, before. One was the Bayside Community Garden. “You can't get to it by car,” he said. “There's four little alleyways and you just walk through it. It's kind of hidden.” Another small community garden had been pointed out to him by local activist[ Madeliene McNally-Murray](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-and-residents-rail-against-gaps-in-a-kilbarrack-playground-fence/), who was one of a small group who built it. The Past, Present and Future Community Garden sits on Briarfield Grove. It holds several fruit trees. The trees represent the people who have come before in the area, those there now, and those yet to come, he said. Two smaller trees are dedicated to local man Lloyd Clarke. He was the first person from Briarfield Grove to donate organs, said McNally-Murray. “He gave seven lives a new chance,” she said. MacCormaic says the small garden was made all the more curious by the ordinariness of the terraced houses behind. The night was poignant for McNally-Murray. MacCormaic had dedicated the event, and the exhibition, to her late-husband, Johnny. He died of a heart-attack in January. “He would have been here tonight. He was really, really keen,” said MacCormaic. “He didn't want to see them beforehand. He wanted to see them tonight as a special thing.” Soon, they’ll add to the benches in the Past, Present and Future Community Garden, said MacCormaic. A new one, dedicated to Johnny, he said. McNally-Murray carried a framed picture of her beloved husband in her hands for the evening. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Madeliene-McNally-Murray-remembers-her-first-date-with-her-late-husband--Johnny--who-died-suddenly-in-January.-1-1.jpg) Madeliene McNally-Murray with a photo of her late-husband, Johnny, who died suddenly in January. ## **The staircase** On the wall at the top of a staircase in the Kilbarrack Health Centre hangs the largest of all the paintings – also of a staircase. Another theme of the collection, says MacCormaic, is how nature wins back its territory. How wild sporadic plant life contrasts with the rigid angles of houses and bridges, he says. *Eighteen Steps to Kilbarrack Lower* depicts the stone staircase that leads from the Dublin Road down to the shoreline of Dublin Bay.Grass and wild daisies poke out of crevices around the steps. This is also a special place for McNally-Murray, she says. It was where she and Johnny went on their first date. The pair sat on the steps, chatting – and watching the rats, she says. “They’re intelligent creatures.” Johnny was fascinated by them, she says, with a chuckle. Mo Cheantar Féinis now a permanent exhibition in the Kilbarrack Health Centre. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Two councillors call on council to consider reintroducing the controversial weedkiller glyphosate URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/two-councillors-call-on-council-to-consider-reintroducing-the-controversial-weed-killer-glyphosate-2/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:32:56.000Z Dublin City Council should review its decision to stop spraying weeds in gutters and pavement cracks with the controversial weedkiller glyphosate, said two councillors last week. It should bring the results, and alternative options, back to councillors, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan and Fine Gael Councillor David Coffey [in a motion at](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27283680-motion-in-the-names-of-cllr-rory-hogan-cllr-david-coffee/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee. Weeds along roads and footpaths don’t look good, he said, and natural weedkillers are so costly. “We used to cover the entire road network with glyphosate.” He tied the need to revisit the issue to the idea of a visitor levy, which the council has been pushing to be allowed to introduce as a revenue stream. “I feel that if we want to tax tourists we need to be able to follow that up with proper maintenance on our cityscape,” said Hogan. At [the meeting](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1054686?ref=dublininquirer.com), Derek Dixon, a council senior engineer, said the council decided to shift away from glyphosate because of [evidence](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-considers-ending-use-of-carcinogenic-weedkiller/) that exposure to the chemical causes cancer. The changeover to the natural weedkiller did result in more weeds, he said. “It most certainly did but that is because we were working within the parameters as set down in the herbicide policy.” But the policy is also in line with the council’s biodiversity strategy, he said. That move was made eight years ago, said the written response to Hogan and Coffey’s motion. Now, council workers mostly use glyphosate just for invasive species, it says. The motion to review that approach was put to a vote by Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, the committee chair. Most councillors rejected it. There may be mixed evidence as to whether glyphosate causes cancer in people, said Horner later on the phone. But it is certainly toxic and harmful to biodiversity, she said. “It's all part of the wider thing of how we care for the scant bit of nature we have in the city,” said Horner, “and using really toxic things, on the occasional bits of greenery that pop up here and there, is not a good idea.” Hogan, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said he still wants the council to review the policy. Glyphosate has been assessed by the European Food Safety Authority, [which said it](https://www.fsai.ie/consumer-advice/food-safety-and-hygiene/chemicals-in-food/glyphosate?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Following%20the%20assessments%20carried%20out,for%20a%20ban%20on%20glyphosate) “did not identify any critical areas of concern in relation to the risk it poses to humans, animals and the environment”. Says Hogan: “If it is safe enough to eat, it should be okay for footpaths.” The authority has been criticised for the extent of industry influence on past analysis though, and is currently reviewing more recent research which reinforces the finding that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans. ## **Science and industry** Debate and lobbying around the safety of glyphosate has been fierce for more than a decade, following the World Health Organisation’s [finding in](https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/?ref=dublininquirer.com) March 2015 – after a review of 1,000 studies – that it is “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Not long after that, the European Food Safety Authority said it had found there wasn’t sufficient evidence for that. But the authority later came under scrutiny for how the report it based this on [had lifted chunks](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27289866-expertise-rar-glyphosat-2018-01-11-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of its health risk assessment verbatim from the glyphosate industry’s renewal application. In 2022, the European Chemicals Agency [repeated](https://www.echa.europa.eu/-/glyphosate-no-change-proposed-to-hazard-classification?ref=dublininquirer.com) its previous assessment that classifying glyphosate as a carcinogen was “not justified”, but that it could cause serious eye damage and was toxic to aquatic life. In 2023, the European Food Safety Authority [again confirmed](https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/glyphosate?ref=dublininquirer.com) glyphosate’s existing classification, and the European Commission renewed its [approval for use](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg%5Fimpl/2023/2660/oj?ref=dublininquirer.com). More recently, the Global Glysophate Study by researchers with the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna [found that](https://glyphosatestudy.org/uncategorized/international-study-reveals-glyphosate-weed-killers-cause-multiple-types-of-cancer/?ref=dublininquirer.com) low doses of the weedkiller causes multiple cancers in rats. The evidence supports the WHO’s findings in 2015, the researchers have said. The European Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency to engage with the researchers and [evaluate the data](https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/glyphosate?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the study. That [is underway.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27293874-2026-01-13-acceptance-ec-meeting-on-the-global-glyphosate-study-ggs-carried-out-by-the-ramazzini-institute-pa/?ref=dublininquirer.com) As well as the debate around glyphosate as a carcinogen, the European Environment Agency [has warned about](https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/how-pesticides-impact-human-health?ref=dublininquirer.com) the environmental impact. “Widespread pesticide use is a major source of pollution — contaminating water, soil and air, driving biodiversity loss, and leading to pest resistance,” says the agency on its website. ## **The council’s alternative** Since council workers started to use natural weedkillers, such as the vinegar-based solution it currently uses, it cannot treat all roads as it used to, said Dixon, at the council meeting on 11 February. Now, the council sprays the natural weedkiller on the lesser-used roads in housing estates, he said. It treats the main roads through brushing, he said. [Should Dubliners Learn to Love Weeds on Their Streets? - Dublin InquirerDublin City Council is trying foam, flames, vinegar and old-fashioned weeding as it tries to roll back the use of herbicides in the city. But some are asking why weeds have to be weeded out, anyway.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-600.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-3687.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/should-dubliners-learn-to-love-weeds-on-their-streets/) Back when it used glyphosate, the council could treat all the roads and laneways in the city for about €250,000 per year, he said. Nowadays, the council splashes around €1 million a year for a vinegar-based solution, and cannot treat all the roads, said Dixon. The council is currently tendering for providers, said Dixon, and he hopes to get costs down. If they do, they will treat more roads, he said. At the meeting, Hogan said he wasn’t happy with the official response to the motion because it didn’t outline alternative options or examine the financial or environmental trade-offs. “It doesn’t actually engage in a review of the policy.” Later, by phone, he said that he wants the council to consider limited use of glyphosate as part of the mix, while keeping natural weedkillers too. Wicklow County Council uses the chemical in a controlled manner, he said, and keeps a record of how much they use. “A balanced approach can be taken. But the longer we leave it, the worse the roads get.” The current weedkiller isn’t killing the roots of the weeds – so they multiply, he says. Hogan says he is aware that there are conflicting scientific reports about whether glyphosate can cause cancer. “I have faith in the Food Safety Authority and I think we should follow their guidance,” he said. “We need to follow the evidence base,” he said. “It’s not that we had made up our minds that we wanted to bring it back, but we wanted a discussion.” If the council wants to introduce a tourist tax, it needs to scrub up the city, said Hogan, and that means tackling the growing weeds on roads and pathways. The “tourist tax” is a small fee imposed by councils on visitors, which is often added to the bill for accommodation. Councils have been pushing central government to empower them to introduce it. Hogan wouldn’t want glyphosate used in parks, he said. “Definitely not. Parks should support biodiversity and wildlife,” he said. Horner, the Green Party councillor, said she understands that some residents don’t like looking at weeds. “It does irritate people. I do appreciate that.” While there may be a debate around whether it is carcinogenic, she said there is no question that chemicals used on roads enter the water system and can harm soil, bees, animals and biodiversity. She doesn’t think the council should consider reintroducing a potentially toxic chemical, which is bad for wildlife and biodiversity, and could even [harm pets](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9830700/?ref=dublininquirer.com), she said. “Glyphosate was a particularly brutal approach,” said Horner. “Now we are taking a softer approach, and that means that weeds grow back quicker.” Dublin City Council can still use glyphosate where necessary within its own estates and for invasive species, said Horner. “There is currently no plan to return to the use of ‘glyphosate’ based herbicide for the treatment of weeds,” says the [council's response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27259043-motion-in-the-names-of-cllr-rory-hogan-cllr-david-coffee-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the motion. And, due to the cost of alternatives, it is not currently possible to treat the entire road network in the city, it says. “We will have to tolerate and accept that there will be some weeds on the city’s streets in the coming years, until such time that a comparable alternative to ‘glyphosate’ based herbicide is developed,” says the report. ### In the Liberties, the council inches towards construction of a full-sized sports pitch URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-the-council-inches-towards-construction-of-a-full-sized-sports-pitch/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:33:05.000Z Dublin City Council’s chief executive has given the go-ahead for the construction of a sports pitch on the site of the council’s Marrowbone Lane depot in the Liberties, a council manager said at a meeting on Wednesday. “I suppose the message from our chief executive \[Richard Shakespeare\] and management team is, ‘We would like to see this project proceed,’” Jamie Cudden told the South Central Area Committee. The plan is also that work on the pitch won’t have to wait until the council has worked out exactly what will happen on the rest of the site, he said – which has been one potential speed bump. For many years, local sports groups, councillors, TDs, and others have been [campaigning](https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-there-room-in-the-liberties-for-a-sports-pitch/) for a full-sized sports pitch in the Liberties. There’s been silence, there’ve been [false dawns](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-13-years-of-waiting-will-the-liberties-finally-get-a-full-size-sports-pitch/), there’ve been [delays](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-for-a-full-sized-sports-pitch-in-the-liberties-delayed-yet-again/). At the moment, there are two possible pitches in the works: a “multipurpose municipal pitch” as part of the new [housing project](https://donoreproject.ie/faq/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Land Development Agency is building off Donore Avenue – and this other one at the Marrowbone Lane depot. Last autumn, the council ran a [public consultation](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/marrowbone-lane-community-engagement?ref=dublininquirer.com) on a vision to remake what’s now the council depot on Marrowbone Lane, reorganising it to make space for a full-sized pitch. At the meeting on Wednesday, Cudden, an executive manager at the council, and Eoin Swift, an administrative officer, were presenting [the results of that consultation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27267196-marrowbone-lane-consultation-draft-report-v22/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors representing the area, in the Council Chamber in City Hall on Dame Street. “It was overwhelming, the support for this project,” Cudden said. “And I was involved in some of the workshops and meetings and it was quite emotional, almost, in terms of – there was such a desire to see this move fast and it’s something that obviously the community have been pushing for for quite a while now.” At the moment, there’s a severe lack of proper pitches in the Liberties, and in the public consultation “many” local clubs [indicated](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27267195-scac-1802-marrowbone-lane-consultation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that they have no home ground and must travel outside the area for training and matches. The next step toward building this new pitch on the Marrowbone Lane depot site is to put the project into the council’s “capital” budget, Cudden said. That’s its budget for big one-off projects. And then to do some site investigations, digging holes and things like that, to see what’s underground, and whether there’s any contamination, or archaeological remains, that the council would have to deal with along the way, he said. “I would hope that some of the work would progress this year,” Cudden told councillors, “but I think what we’ll need to do is bring together some of our internal colleagues and put together a project plan and agreed timelines.” ## The site and its complications At the moment, the council is [using](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27267194-24119-marrowbone-lane-engagement-booklet-english-version-interactive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the 4.1-hectare Marrowbone Lane depot site as a base for its area offices in Eblana House, as well as wastewater, roads maintenance and waste management services, and the St Catherine’s Sports Centre. The previous council chief executive, Owen Keegan, [set in motion a plan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-suggests-selling-off-some-land-to-fund-super-depots/) to consolidate many smaller depots across the city into two large “super” depots – and to use the spare sites for housing. That is still playing out. On a site near Ikea, the council has already built its new northside super depot, formally called the North City Operations Depot, [borrowing €67.5 million](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/) to do it. It hasn’t yet built the new south side super depot – that’d likely be on the Marrowbone Lane site. But in 2023, in an effort to force council executives to make room for a full-sized pitch on the site, councillors [rezoned it as open space](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-push-for-sports-pitch-on-council-owned-site-in-the-liberties-councillors-make-move-to-gain-leverage/), blocking the construction of a new depot. Keegan was not pleased. That Z9 zoning [remains in place](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27267194-24119-marrowbone-lane-engagement-booklet-english-version-interactive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) still. In the long term, the plan for the site includes reorganising it to make room for both the new “super” depot, and the new pitch. “I don’t envy you having to negotiate with council colleagues around the future use of it and all the different departments,” Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said. But, crucially, Cudden said at the meeting on Wednesday that the plan is to build the pitch first, rather than wait to sort all that out. “What we’re being directed is that this \[pitch\] should be seen as a standalone project that will be frontloaded, which I think is important so hopefully that will kind of alleviate any concerns around long, long delays,” he said. “I think there is the capacity to separate out the operational needs in the short term and the space for the pitch,” he said. “We’ve done some feasibility on that, and are just finalising that piece of work.” There are large open spaces in the centre of the site, including for staff car parking. Also, “Irish Water are leasing some of the land from us, and my understanding is we should have them out within the next few months,” said Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty. How big would the pitch be? asked Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor. “Is there now kind of a consensus that this does at least have to be essentially rugby-sized?” he asked. “Rugby would accommodate football, but also GAA practice and that sort of thing – it wouldn’t facilitate full GAA matches.” Cudden said that “In terms of the GAA-sized pitch, that doesn’t look like it’s going to be feasible on the size of the site. I think it’s FIFA-size and rugby.” Although, Swift chimed in, it could possibly be used for junior GAA. How much will it cost? asked Pidgeon. “We want to get to work so that some national, presumably some national money is there to try to get this done as soon as possible,” he said. Cudden said that, from experience, it costs about €1.5 million to build a pitch like this. But the actual cost on this one will be impacted by what the council finds when it does its site investigations and boreholes, he said. ## Doubt Looking at the results of the public consultation, Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair said that one thing that stood out for him was that the majority of residents have concerns about the project. “In one sense that would be surprising for such a positive idea,” Ó Meachair said. “But if you read through the comments, the concerns are that they don’t think it’s going to be delivered.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/1.-Consolidation-of-Council-depot-services--focussed-around-a-retained-Eblana-House.-2.-Provision-of-new-multi-use-sports-facilities-3.-Improvements-to-St-Catherine---s-Centre-4.-Establishment-of-new-public-connectio.png) Image from council presentation. 1\. Consolidation of council depot services focused around a retained Eblana House. 2\. Provision of new multi-use sports facilities 3\. Improvements to St Catherine’s Centre 4\. Establishment of new public connections across the site. The council got 422 survey responses through its website, seven detailed submissions from local community and sports groups – and had three one-to-one meetings with representatives of sporting groups, Swift and Cudden’s [presentation says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27267195-scac-1802-marrowbone-lane-consultation/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Of the responses, 400 said that in planning what to do with the site, a new multipurpose pitch on the site would be “important” or “very important” for the community. Of the 422 respondents, 233 said they had concerns about the project. “I suppose it just shows that the local community have had so many false dawns before,” Ó Meachair said, “so it’s really important that we deliver this this time and that this happens”. Yes, said Moriarty, the Labour councillor, “The point that’s jumping off the page in the presentation is, as has been alluded to by Councillor Ó Meachair, there is a concern about the deliverability and whether it’ll actually come to fruition.” Moriarty sounded optimistic. “I’m confident, based on the fact that it has a designated project management team looking after it, it is being pushed along,” he said. But, still, it’s not going to happen very fast, he said. Finding locations for the existing services in depot could potentially slow the council down, he said. “So I just think that that’s important that we’re kind of open and honest with people about that.” ### Are dogs in Phibsborough overdosing on drugs? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/are-dogs-in-phibsborough-overdosing-on-drugs/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:33:14.000Z Both woman and dachshund are wrapped up in their own raincoats. Aisling Donnelly’s is bright pink. Rockstar’s is dark navy. Draped around Donnelly’s neck is a long red scarf. Around Rockstar’s, a matching red dickie bow. The pair follow the path that loops around the big duck pond in the middle of Phibsborough’s Blessington Street Basin. The path is flanked, along both the water’s edge and the wall, by flower beds and bushes. Hanging from an unoccupied bench is a white plastic bag with beer bottles, food packaging, and what look like the remains of cannabis joints. More joint leftovers and cigarette butts are strewn around the flower bed behind the bench. Donnelly stops by the corner of the park furthest from the main entrance. She points to a tree. It was around that spot in December that she saw her dog sniff and lick at what appeared to be human faeces. She has witnessed people many times dropping their trousers, crouching down and relieving themselves around the basin, she says. “Sometimes I’ve shouted at them. Other times I just broke down in tears.” Rockstar’s nose was in it only briefly, she says, before she realised what it was and pulled him away. But within minutes, Rockstar began vomiting heavily, says Donnelly. Diarrhoea soon followed and he became extremely lethargic. His balance seemed to go as well, she says. When she brought Rockstar to the overnight Pet Emergency Hospital at UCD, the vets found fentanyl and cocaine in his stomach, she says. The bill for Rockstar’s treatment was over €400. Other dogs in the area have experienced similar symptoms, often after a rummage around some bushes – many a dog’s favourite pastime, says Donnelly. Similar reports have come in from dog owners on local WhatsApp groups, says Pauline Cadell, a member of the local BLEND Residents Association. Cadell’s own dog, a brown springer-poodle cross named Coco, had identical symptoms to Rockstar a few months back and needed medical attention, she says. It was also after sniffing around what Cadell soon realised was likely human excrement. Tests on Coco were inconclusive, she says. But the theory going around the area, says Cadell, is that dogs are overdosing after they ingest drug-laced human faeces. That is technically possible, says Ciara McGrath, an ICU clinician in the UCD Vet Hospital, which operates during the day – but it’s unlikely. ## **The chances?** The likelihood of dogs getting ill from cocaine or fentanyl intoxication – as found in Rockstar’s stomach – because they have ingested vomit or faeces from drug users is very small, says McGrath. Both drugs are mainly excreted in the urine of users, she said, with around 10 percent excreted in faeces. Cannabis, however, is mainly excreted in faeces, she says. Rachael Creedon’s dog Layla also fell ill shortly after a walk around Blessington Street Basin late last year, she says, and was rushed to the emergency hospital. As a husky-labrador cross, she is a much bigger dog than Rockstar or Coco. Layla showed symptoms like lethargy and loss of balance – but not the vomiting. “She was just absolutely out of it suddenly,” says Creedon. Creedon brought her to UCD but after a long wait on a slammed night in the pet hospital, Layla began to come back around. “Whatever it was seemed to be leaving her system.” Hospital staff said that, as she was improving, she was unlikely to be seen by an emergency vet that night. They suggested going to the local vet in the morning, says Creedon. Creedon says Layla didn’t have any tests done to confirm, but that her own vet told her the next day that it sounded like the pooch had ingested drugs somehow and had probably been “seeing purple elephants”. If a dog is becoming ill from a drug, it’s more likely accidental ingestion of a drug stash, says McGrath, the veterinary ICU clinician. Cadell says that Gardaí have told her at meetings of the BLEND Residents Association that drug users often stash supplies in a park or similar, rather than keep it with them. Shane Nangle, a veterinarian with Killester Vets, says he once treated a dog who had overdosed on ivermectin, a horse dewormer medication, after eating horse manure. But while he hasn’t treated dogs who overdosed on fentanyl, cocaine or cannabis from eating human faeces, he says, dogs getting into drug stashes is relatively common. ## **How to know?** Signs of toxicity will depend on the drug, says McGrath. Cocaine causes hyperactivity, shaking, agitation, panting, and potentially seizures, she says. Fentanyl may cause dullness and respiratory depression. Vomiting and diarrhoea are not common symptoms of cocaine or fentanyl intoxication – although still possible, she says. Those are symptoms more often seen in dogs that have ingested cannabis. If dogs are scavenging around, they may also ingest old and mouldy food, which can cause a condition called neuromycotoxicosis, McGrath says. Dogs will rapidly become ill following ingestion of the food, she says. “Usually starting with shaking, progressing to whole body tremors, vomiting, hypersalivation, with some severe cases developing seizures.” ## **Other issues at play** A multitude of problems have led to those dogs getting sick, says Fine Gael Councillor Gayle Ralph. “It's all to do with addiction, incorrect housing and incorrect policing. That’s my personal opinion,” she said by phone last week. Police presence in the city centre has grown recently, she says, so drug dealing and use has been pushed out of town and landed in nearby neighbourhoods like Phibsborough. Ralph says that she and her council colleagues have been pushing for more regular garda patrols. “They have increased their patrols, but it's still not enough.” There is also an “over-intensification” of homeless hostels in the area, including “wet hostels” which cater to people with addictions, she says. [As government moves to scatter city centre homeless services, is it a good idea?“Focus Ireland would prefer energies went into ending homelessness rather than moving around its victims,” says Mike Allen, director of advocacy.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-587.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Henry-Street-Dublin-City-Centre---by-Laoise-Neylon-1-3.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-government-moves-to-scatter-homeless-services-is-it-a-good-idea/) From her ongoing volunteer work with people who are homeless, and those living with addictions, she says she is familiar with the struggles people can face. She doesn’t like seeing people with addictions being housed in the same places where they had initially gotten into trouble, she says. “They need to be going into another area where they're away from their old contacts,” Ralph says. Cadell says that, in general, she wants to see more dog parks – spaces for dogs to run free and safe – around Dublin. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Ponder a monument, celebrate a horse, blur the lines between waking life and reverie, visit Kilbarrack URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-ponder-a-monument-celebrate-a-horse-blur-the-lines-between-waking-life-and-reverie-visit-kilbarrack/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T00:33:23.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Oneiroi** Up on Meath Street this evening, a new group exhibition is opening in Lucky’s. Taking its name from the winged dream-spirits from Greek mythology, *Oneiroi* brings together works that “inhabit the intimate space between the domestic and the fantastical, where bedrooms become sanctums, objects become talismans, and love feels both tender and uncanny”. Running until 17 March, *Oneiroi* features works by Rosie O’Mahoney, Season Dailey, [Taoiseach Shame](https://www.dublininquirer.com/though-unable-to-find-a-permanent-perch-painter-and-performer-taoiseach-shame-continues-to-create/), Alexie Hagan, Beate Pionke, Svenja Michelle Behle and [Carmen Quigley](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-goes-in-search-of-the-jervis-shopping-centre-lighthouse/). Across their works, each of the artists will be conjuring up dreamscapes that blur waking life and reverie. Plus, the exhibition is in a bar, so that’s going to be fun too. *Oneiroi* opens at 6.30pm today, Thursday 19 February. **POV** Since the start of the month, the Axis Ballymun has been exhibiting *POV*, a new mixed-media project by service users in [St. Michael’s House](https://www.smh.ie/about/about-st-michaels-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which "provides a comprehensive range of services and supports to men, women, and children with disabilities and their families". Created in collaboration with writer and artist David O’Neill, *POV* dives into themes like identity, independence, memory and the idea of our true selves through spoken word, poetry, and audio collages that blend music with everyday sounds. The exhibition, in Axis’ Mezzanine Gallery, puts on display written pieces by seven artists, while also offering the audience the chance to listen to an audio narrative version of each work, all of which you can hear [here](https://soundcloud.com/workoptionspov-60393376?utm%5Fsource=mobi&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing). Described by O’Neill as a hybrid form of storytelling, *POV* is a hypnotic and thought-provoking reflection on day-to-day experiences, featuring works by Jenny Whelan, Christopher Sullivan, Susan Phillips, Sean Savage, David Burdock, Philip Macken and James Harte. *POV* will be on show until 6 March. For more information, you can visit the Axis website [here](https://www.axisballymun.ie/st-michaels-house?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Of Cobblestones and Jostle Stones** Lunar New Year is upon us and to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse, Coolock library will be hosting a talk on the legacy of our inner-city equine friends this Saturday. Historian Cathy Scuffil will be delving into the history of horses in the city and their profound impact on urban life, industry, and architecture. From the streets to the canals, Scuffil’s talk will look at how central horses were to the city’s growth, powering the canal barges, delivering goods for breweries like Guinness, transporting flour for Jacob’s, and serving laundries and markets. Her talk will also highlight the physical traces left behind in the cityscape, including jostle stones – placed at street corners and carriage arches to protect buildings from horse-drawn cart wheels - to demonstrate how the hoofed among us shaped our streets, business infrastructure, and everyday urban life. The talk is at 1pm. Spaces are limited, so booking is recommended, and can be done [here](https://dublincity.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=23956031&ref=dublininquirer.com). And if you’re looking for some supplementary reading in advance of the talk, why not read through some of our past stories, like our reports on the former stables up in [Molyneux Yard](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-molyneux-yard-a-group-of-horse-owners-and-locals-rally-to-save-their-lane/), artist Marion Bergin’s documentary on inner-city horse culture, the manure-centred romantic comedy [*Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-a-layover-in-dublin-a-filmmaker-pays-homage-to-quackser-fortune/), or the council’s recent decision to cease collecting [manure](https://www.dublininquirer.com/now-that-the-council-has-stopped-taking-horse-manure-its-piling-up-in-the-liberties-councillors-say/) up at Sweeney’s Terrace. **Carpark Sci-fi** Last week, we recommended you give a listen to *A Rasher Each: Longmiles and Laneways*, the latest compilation of Irish artists performing songs by the indie bands Pavement and Silver Jews. Among the contributors to that album, released by the Classic Hiss label, was Carpark Sci-fi, otherwise known as musician and visual artist Gav Cowley, who offered a stripped down, rawer take on Pavement’s luscious 1994 single "Range Life". Now, Cowley has announced that he is set to release a new six-track EP, *The Hundred Halves*, due out on 10-inch vinyl on 1 April. Ahead of this release, Cowley has dropped its first track, "Wake Me Up", a slice of lo-fi psychedelia that is prone to sudden mood swings. The verses are driven by jangly guitars and Cowley’s jaded, distorted voice, sighing “oh Jesus Christ”, while the chorus is a bombastic wall of fuzzy chords and wailing, spacey melodies. It’s the sound of an optimist doing battle with his fatigued, cynical morning self. The music video for "Wake Me Up", created by Cowley, can be watched [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFbhtET6%5FKk&ref=dublininquirer.com). **As if nothing could fall: Essays on monuments** On Wednesday, 25 February, Books Upstairs is launching *As if nothing could fall: Essays on monuments*, the latest collection of non-fiction writing from PVA Books. *As if nothing could fall* is the fourth book of essays from the Dublin-Berlin publisher, and takes the reader through “distant vistas and past worlds, monolithic structures and forgotten ideas". Reflecting on how and why we imbue the objects around us with memory, the collection features works by 17 writers, including Julie Bates, Amit Chaudhuri, Gavin Corbett, Beulah Ezeugo, Roisin Kiberd, Belinda McKeon, Rebecca O’Dwyer, Neil Hegarty and John Tuomey. To celebrate its release, contributors Bates, Corbett, Kiberd and Hegarty will be in Books Upstairs on Wednesday evening at 6pm to give readings. The event is free, but booking is advised. To reserve a seat, visit the launch’s Eventbrite page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/book-launch-as-if-nothing-could-fall-tickets-1981748774933?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Mo Cheantar Féin – My Own Area** This week, painter Paul MacCormaic launched Mo Cheantar Féin – My Own Area, a new exhibition of works at Kilbarrack Health Centre on the Greendale Road in Kilbarrack. Commissioned under the Health Service Executive’s Per Cent for Art scheme, the collection is composed of 16 local landscapes. Mo Cheantar Féin is a permanent exhibition, and you’ll just need to ask security at the centre if you want to go in to give the works a viewing. There is also a 40-page catalogue available for free while stocks last. For more information, visit MacCormaic’s website [here](https://paulmaccormaic.weebly.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-advert_blue.png) An advert costs €75 + VAT. Contact amy@dublininquirer.com to book. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Gairdín Rós | Rose Garden** In March, the Olivier Cornet Gallery will be presenting Gairdín Rós | Rose Garden, the second solo exhibition from Vicky Smith, featuring a series of self-portraits painted during the first four years of motherhood. Opening on 8 March at 3pm, the official opening will be introduced by curator and board member of Interface Inagh Marysia Więckiewicz. The exhibition is also accompanied by a text by writer Phillina Sun. Gairdín Rós will run until 12 April. For more information, visit the Olivier Cornet Gallery website [here](https://www.oliviercornetgallery.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Tenters Celebrated Heritage Group is seeking new members** The Tenters Celebrated Heritage Group is seeking new members to join their group. Currently, they are preparing their Tenters Exhibition, which will be part of the Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival in May. They meet each Thursday morning at 11am. If you would like to come along or get more information, contact them at tenterstales@gmail.com or visit their Facebook group, Tenters 100 and Beyond, [here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/620395125428164/). **Flesh and Fantasy: Two One Act Plays** Dublin Shakespeare's Society will be presenting two one-act plays at The Teachers Club on Parnell Square this March. On 27 and 28 March, they will be staging *Bobby Gould’s In Hell* by David Mamet, and directed by Suzanne Walshe, and *27 Wagons Full of Cotton* by Tennesse Williams, and directed by Brigid Sweeney. The two modern morality plays will open at 8pm on 27 March, with performances at 2pm and 8pm the following day (28 March). To book your tickets, visit the Eventbrite page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/flesh-fantasy-two-one-act-plays-tickets-1981928240720?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Dublin city councillor proposes reducing contacts with US government, given its crimes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-councillor-proposes-reducing-contacts-with-us-government-given-its-crimes/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T12:02:03.000Z Dublin City Council should take several steps to reduce its official contacts with the US federal government, People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy proposed, in a motion on [the agenda](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=288&MId=5784&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) for a committee meeting on 19 February. Reddy’s motion to the Protocol Committee “notes with grave concern” the involvement of the Trump administration in “facilitating the forced displacement of the Palestinian people in Gaza” and undermining international law. He also points to the US’s “unlawful intervention” in Venezuela, threats to the sovereignty of other countries, and the violent treatment of people from other countries living in the US, including Irish citizens. As well as the attendance of US Ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh at the IRL Forum in Co. Meath in January, [along with](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/01/10/those-seeking-new-irish-government-should-look-to-maga-eddie-hobbs-tells-conference/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Eddie Hobbs, Senator Sharon Keoghan, Dublin City Councillor Malachy Steenson, barrister Una McGurk, and others. The current US national security [strategy](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) includes, “Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.” MAGA influencer Steve Bannon [told *Politico*](https://www.politico.eu/article/sculpting-europe-in-maga-image-steve-bannon/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in December that he has been behind the scenes to form an Irish “national party”. On foot of all this, Reddy’s motion said, the council should refuse to sanction travel to the US where there is official engagement with the US federal government – including St Patrick’s Day events. And it should “write to relevant sections and individuals” requesting the US ambassador plays no role in Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival, and that future engagement with the US embassy and federal government be limited to essential business only, the motion says. But if the council’s Protocol Committee backed Reddy’s motion on Thursday, it wasn't clear how much impact it could actually have. Speaking by phone, Reddy said he wasn't sure what links Dublin City Council currently has with the US government in Washington, or with the US embassy, but that he hopes to find out through the motion. “It's about trying to bring that to the surface and challenge any involvement with the US federal government,” he said. Also, “I’d see it as a way of building pressure on the national government around trips to Washington this St Patrick’s Day.” Ahead of the meeting, some councillors on the Protocol Committee said they’d support the motion, while others say they share the concerns expressed in the motion, around the actions of the US government, but werne't sure about backing Reddy’s motion. When it came to it, no one seconded Reddy's motion at the meeting, so it did not get a vote. ## Some support Reddy says he proposed the motion to Dublin City Council after his party colleague Shaun Harkin, a councillor on Derry City and Strabane District Council, [tabled a motion ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5sSqT6no%5F8&ref=dublininquirer.com)in January, condemning the US attack on Venezuela and calling on Irish politicians not to accept invitations to the White House for St Patrick’s Day. “When tyrants go unchallenged, it emboldens them,” said Harkin at the meeting. His motion passed unopposed, although with several abstentions. Independent Councillor MannixFlynn said he would support Reddy’s motion at the Protocol Committee on Thursday. “Any motion that is going to draw attention to human rights abuses, and confront people who are supplying arms to Israel and undermining democracy, I would support that,” Flynn says. Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney said she shares the concerns raised in the motion about the US government’s behaviour, but has reservations about the actions it calls for. “Personally, I agree with what is in the first part of the motion,” Heney said. “I certainly don’t condone what the Trump administration is engaged in.” “But I don’t think it's a good thing to alienate Irish Americans or other Americans,” said Heney, who said she has American friends who are extremely upset about what is happening there. “I certainly don’t want to be telling officials to stay away from the United States of America,” she says. ## What can the council do? Heney said the actions Reddy’s motion calls for are outside the council's control. Reddy says he thinks the US ambassador is formally invited to the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin. But the St Patrick’s Festival is an independent organisation that is not controlled by Dublin City Council, Heney said. So councillors can call for the festival to disinvite the US ambassador, but they cannot actually make it happen. Flynn, the independent councillor said councillors could raise the issue at the full council’s monthly meeting in early March. “We should call on the Lord Mayor to ask the ambassador not to attend,” he said. Neither Heney nor Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey could think of any direct links the council has with the US federal government. Dublin City Council officials and councillors do travel to the US – and other nations – as detailed in travel records on the council’s [website](https://www.dublincity.ie/council/governance-within-council/upholding-strong-values-and-conduct/foreign-travel-records?ref=dublininquirer.com). Like [a visit](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s48893/Lord%20Mayors%20visit%20to%20New%20York%202025.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to New York last April by then Lord Mayor Emma Blain, a Fine Gael councillor, and four council officials. But that visit, like others, does not appear to have involved contact with the US federal government. Lacey, the Labour councillor, says he travelled to the US when he was Lord Mayor, back in 2002–2003\. He cannot recall any direct links between the council and the US federal government, but Dublin city is twinned with San Jose, and the council does organise visits to that city, he said. Reddy says it isn’t those kinds of trips he wants cancelled, it is events that directly engage with the US federal government. ## St Patrick’s Day Reddy says that if the motion passes, it should add to pressure on the Taoiseach not to go to Washington for St. Patrick's Day this year. Heney says she supports the decision of the Taoiseach, her party leader, Micheál Martin, to attend the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington this year and meet with the US President, Donald Trump. “The Taoiseach has no choice in the matter. A lot of Americans came before President Trump and a lot will come after him,” Heney said. If she were the leader, she would go too, she said. Not going would mean letting down regular Americans, she says. She used to live in Boston and has American friends who are very upset about what is happening internally in the US, she said. “We have a huge amount of connections, cultural and all the rest of it with our American friends, and I don’t think it's them that are causing the problems,” she said. For Heney, the visit is a gesture to ordinary Americans, she said. “I don’t believe that the leader of my country, by going over with a bowl of shamrock, is condoning what the Trump administration is doing,” she says. “He is not giving it to him in his personal capacity. He is giving it to the American people.” Lacey, the Labour Party councillor, says he hasn’t attended the Fourth of July celebrations at the US Ambassador’s residence for the last two years, but if he were a senior government official, he would go to Washington for St Patrick’s Day. “I think they have a duty to maintain diplomatic links,” said Lacey. “That doesn’t mean we have to condone anything.” He thinks senior Irish government officials should also meet with Palestinian people while they are in the US, to show balance, he said. “A lot depends on how Micheál Martin handles it,” he says. “I think that is the skill of diplomacy.” It’s a tough sell for the audience at home, though. “I’m glad I’m not Minister for Foreign Affairs,” says Lacey. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 12.01pm on 23 February 2026 to include how the motion fared at the meeting: that no one seconded it.* ### As workload gets heavier, councillors eye up AI assistants URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-workload-gets-heavier-councillors-eye-up-ai-assistants/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T08:44:57.000Z Dublin city councillors have asked that a Microsoft training video about the use of generative artificial intelligence be distributed by the council to all of its elected members. Minutes for the monthly Protocol Committee meeting on 29 January [said that](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s51591/01.%20January%20Draft%20Minutes%20Protocol.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) members had asked that a training seminar– this particular one focused on Microsoft Copilot – be circulated to all councillors. Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said that she had suggested that. She had been at [an online seminar about](https://www.nilga.org/about/digital-councillor?ref=dublininquirer.com) Copilot, organised by the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), she said on Monday. “It was specifically for councillors.” Primarily, it was looking at how to write prompts effectively or how to carry out tasks like reading council reports, O’Driscoll says. “An example they used was that you could put like, a year’s worth of active travel reports in and ask it to work out what progress has been made, or what questions you should be asking in advance of the next report,” she said. While councillors on the committee agreed to distribute the training seminar, they do hold some reservations about embracing it. It would be worth learning more about, says Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly. “I’ll try anything. But I’d prefer to have the information and decide for myself.” Microsoft Copilot is among the tools already used by council staff. As of June 2025, the council had seven licences to use Microsoft Copilot, [according to documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505275-chatbot-licence/?ref=dublininquirer.com) obtained as part of a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Costing just over €19,000 in total, the contract covers “175,000 messages”, the documents show. Dublin City Council has issued [guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285419-dcc-generative-ai-staff-guidelines-v5-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for staff outlining what is appropriate usage of AI tools and chatbots, and prohibiting them from using free, publicly available options because of threats to privacy and safety. “It is always important never to put sensitive, confidential or personal data into the AI systems because such action may result in violations of privacy,” the guidelines say. ## The digital councillor Over the past year, Dublin City Council has been exploring different ways generative AI could support its day-to-day operations. In February 2025, the council, in collaboration with Trinity Business School and the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre, launched a generative AI lab focused on local government services. The next month, staff received a [set of usage guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285419-dcc-generative-ai-staff-guidelines-v5-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com). [During November](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-moves-towards-deploying-ai-tools-to-increase-staff-productivity/), the council issued a notice seeking vendors who could assist them in deploying AI tools to increase staff productivity and reduce manual administrative processes, like sorting through vast amounts of data, analysing tender documents, and automating repetitive tasks. The focus of all that work, though, has been on council staff. By contrast, this latest training is specifically for councillors, said O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor. The seminar that O’Driscoll looked in on pitched how Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot could support councillors by streamlining daily tasks while also promoting its responsible use, the NILGA site says. It was a high-quality training session, O’Driscoll says. “Now it was also nearly an ad for Copilot, why it’s better than other language-learning models.” Things like writing a press release came up a few times and summarising the minutes from a meeting, she says. “Time saving was a big thing, and it was that you have a research team on your computer.” It was after that session that O’Driscoll raised the training seminar at the council’s monthly protocol meeting on 29 January, asking that the recorded session be circulated among councillors, she says. The committee agreed. ## Bills or bots The council’s guidance for staff lays out principles for when to use generative AI – and when to not. Staff may not use AI tools which have a consumer, rather than an enterprise, licence, it repeats a few times, given how the data of the former can be used. In the case of Microsoft Copilot on a consumer licence, interactions could impact, [among other things,](https://proton.me/blog/turn-off-copilot?ref=dublininquirer.com#privacy-risks) what targeted adverts are served to councillors, while Microsoft holds broad rights over whatever is input, and employees may review the input data. [Airbnb has targeted council employees with online adverts. Does that count as lobbying?“Just because it’s digital, and not over coffee, doesn’t mean it’s not,” says Niamh Kirk, an associate professor at the University of Limerick.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-585.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/File-photo-of-an-Airbnb-ed-apartment-from-2019.-1.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/airbnb-has-targeted-council-employees-with-online-adverts-does-that-count-as-lobbying/) For O’Driscoll, a generative AI chatbot tool is probably most needed to support councillors in research tasks, which they themselves don’t have the time to do, she says. “But because as councillors, we don’t have staff, there’s a lot of research that I’d love to do that I don’t have time to be doing,” she says. Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney says one of the major hindrances for her is keeping track of her email inbox. “My important work is emails from my constituents.” There are times when she has received a barrage of emails relating to online campaigns over a weekend, she says. “You could get 500 emails, and I do recall my friend saying ‘God, why don’t you get Copilot?’” It would be ideal to have a chatbot to help her find specific email, she says. “In that regard, if there was a possibility to help me in my workload, I would certainly advocate for it.” But that’s probably as far as she would go, she says. If councillors end up following [the same guidance](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285419-dcc-generative-ai-staff-guidelines-v5-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as staff, though, using Copilot to search and respond to emails could trigger concerns around privacy for constituents and political correspondence. And for councillors who do end up using AI to draft responses, questions, or positions, there’s a question too of whether they should have to label that content. Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham says he can see the necessity and clear-use cases of language-learning models. “But for my work, I think it’s important that I see the information myself, and compose replies or whatever it might be myself.” Actually seeing and processing what people are saying is an important part of the job, he says. “It’s important for the work that I do to have that direct contact with the constituents as directly as possible.” Otherwise, the main place an AI might be of use is in navigating a vast document like the city’s development plan, he says. “Maybe using AI to pull information out of these documents that are hundreds and hundreds of pages long could be useful, but I don’t know how much more useful it would be than just doing a search, or using an index,” he says. ## An alternative Councillor workloads are generally way more than most can manage right now, O’Driscoll says. “More experienced councillors are constantly saying they have noticed a shift since Covid, there’s more meetings, more committees. Using AI is one way of filling the gap that could otherwise be filled by having staff, she says, while noting too that the Local Government (Support for Elected Members) Bill 2024 could also do this. [That bill](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2024/99/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which is sponsored by senators Frances Black, Lynn Ruane, Alice-Mary Higgins and Eileen Flynn, proposed providing administrative support for the elected members of local authorities to assist in their duties. This proposed amendment to the Local Government Act of 2001 is currently before the Seanad Éireann. ### Is Dublin Port on track to tamp down on pollution from idling ships? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-dublin-port-on-track-to-tamp-down-on-pollution-from-idling-ships/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T00:37:55.000Z Emissions from the massive ships that dock at Dublin Port haven’t featured much in discussions at Ringsend Irishtown TidyTowns & Environment (RITE), says its secretary, Mary O’Neill Byrne. She and members talk about air pollution, she says. She sometimes glances at the [readings from the](https://airquality.ie/station/EPA-17?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ringsend monitor on her phone. “But I don’t even understand what that means, how bad is that.” Members would be more conscious of fumes from buses and trucks than anything spewed out by ships, she says. But the question of pollution at the port interests her, she says. “We’ve never had anybody talk about pollution and the port.” “I would love to see if there are any groups that know more about it, who could come in and give a workshop,” she says. Research and government reports do show the scale of emissions spat out by the big ships at Dublin Port,which serves as the main gateway for food, machinery, fuel, goods and raw materials into Ireland. An average of 4,100 big container vessels, cruise ships and the roll-on-roll-off ferries berth at the port each year, says a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27170438-dublin-port-ops-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Marine Institute. Running on diesel, they emit about 68,700 tCO2 a year while at berth, they say. By comparison, outside of the big national industrial infrastructure on the peninsula, Codema, the energy agency, [estimates that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513327-ringsend-and-poolbeg-dz-draft-report/?q=HGVs&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11)activities in homes and businesses, and getting around, in Ringsend and Poolbeg accounted for about 14,600 tCO2e in 2018. Meanwhile, results from the [PortAIR](https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/air/research-495-source-apportionment-of-air-pollution-in-the-dublin-port-area-portair.php?ref=dublininquirer.com) project “[indicate that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26788158-ship-emissions-in-ringsend-research-report-495/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ships are a major source of air pollution in Dublin Port and can affect the surrounding local area to some extent”, said John Wenger, a professor of chemistry at University College Cork. During 2022, ship emissions were estimated to contribute 21 percent of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the port, said Wenger, which is “the pollutant which has the largest impact on human health”. ## A fuller picture Dublin City Councillors [finally got sight last month](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-finally-get-sight-of-plans-to-squash-carbon-emissions-in-ballymun-and-ringsend/) of the roadmap to slashing carbon emissions in Ringsend and Poolbeg, which has been designated by the council as a “decarbonizing zone”. The council’s target for the area aligns with national targets – to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 51 percent by 2030, and reach net zero no later than 2050\. O’Neill Byrne, who was involved in the workshops that informed the report, said community groups’ concerns around pollution largely focused on vehicle traffic. As big emitters though, tracking what Dublin Port – and other critical facilities – are up to would be important, says O’Neill Byrne. “I suppose they should be more involved and should be stating their case and what they’re doing.” The decarbonizing plan [doesn’t count](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-finally-get-sight-of-plans-to-squash-carbon-emissions-in-ballymun-and-ringsend/) the big industrial and commercial entities, though. Staff at Codema, who authored the report, gave a few reasons for that. They would need bespoke analysis, the facilities serve a wide area, and influencing their emissions would be hard with local measures alone, it says. Also, they are usually subject to other European Union regulations around emissions reduction. Indeed, one major change that Dublin Port is expected to make, as mentioned in its current masterplan, is to build out [shore-side](https://www.dublinport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/DPC%5FMasterplan%5F2040%5FReviewed%5F2018.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) electricity facilities at all new berths. Vessels won’t have to leave their engines idling while docked, it says. They could plug in to the grid instead which should lead to a “moderate reduction” in local air emissions at the dockside, says the masterplan. These would be “initially in the Alexandra Basin West area, then in the Unified Ferry Terminal and then at the Poolbeg deep water berths, reducing air emissions, carbon usage and, noise levels”, it says. The roll-out of shoreside power across big ports in Europe is actually driven by the European Union’s Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation, says Eloi Nordé, the shipping policy officer at the environmental lobby group, Transport & Environment. Dublin Port needs to install 16 onshore power connections by 2030 if it is to meet the [deadline in the](https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/clean-transport/alternative-fuels-sustainable-mobility-europe/alternative-fuels-infrastructure%5Fen?ref=dublininquirer.com) regulations, she said. These onshore power supplies instantly remove emissions by plugging the ship into the local electricity grid, she says. Between 5 percent and 7 percent of all shipping emissions are emitted in ports, she says. “On top of CO2 emissions, these are vast amounts of sulphur and nitrous oxides that are emitted in EU ports each year.” Once onshore power points are installed, ships larger than 5,000 gross tonnage have to connect when they are in ports covered by the regulations, she says. “A number of exemptions exist though,” says Nordé – for remote islands, allowing for weather conditions, and grids at risk. A spokesperson for Dublin Port couldn’t give a timeline for when its onshore power connections will be up and running – and so whether it will meet the 2030 deadline in the regulations. The port is working on plans to roll them out, said the spokesperson. Ducting and civil engineering works have been done as part of recent construction projects, said the spokesperson. The port is also engaging with ESB Networks on the infrastructure and grid requirements that the port has to meet government targets, they said. An October 2024 report by the Marine Institute [noted that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27170438-dublin-port-ops-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com), to make all this happen, the existing medium voltage network needed replacement, given it has been “operating at capacity, incorporates obsolete equipment and both equipment and cable that has exceeded its design life”. That posed challenges, it said, citing the ability of ESBN to increase its load to around 30MW, cost, phasing, and the tight timeline if the 2030 deadline is to be met. A spokesperson for ESB said it has regular engagements with the port about upgrades. “We have significant reinforcement works scheduled in this part of Dublin as part of our PR6 investment programme out to 2030.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Looking-out-to-sea--on-the-edge-of-Ringsend.JPG) Looking out to sea, on the edge of Ringsend. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## Is it enough? Wenger, the professor of chemistry at University College Cork who coordinated the [PortAIR](https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/air/research-495-source-apportionment-of-air-pollution-in-the-dublin-port-area-portair.php?ref=dublininquirer.com), says that the research captured when ship emissions such as PM2.5 peak. The findings? “Ship emissions were at their highest while manoeuvring in and out of the berth, while smaller amounts of pollutants were emitted over a longer timescale when vessels were docked,” he said. So connecting ships to shore-side electricity while they are in berth would help reduce emissions, he said. But still leave significant emissions as they maneuver in and out of berths, he said. Wenger says that one way to tackle maneuvering emissions is by the introduction of a “designated Emission Control Area for the North-East Atlantic region” and switching to cleaner fuels, and to renewable energy sources. Dublin Port already is a designated Sulfur Emission Control Area (SECA), which reduces sulfur-dioxide pollution, he says. But further improvements could be made if the port was also part of a Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Emission Control Area (NECA), he says. That would require ships to be fitted with pollution-abatement technologies – and so cost money, he says. A spokesperson for Dublin Port said that it is “engaging with operators about their plans, particularly as they modernise their fleets”. ### Documenting one man’s unravelling before a deportation flight to Nigeria, observer had to rely on second-hand accounts URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/documenting-one-mans-unravelling-before-a-deportation-flight-to-nigeria-observer-had-to-rely-on-second-hand-accounts/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T08:45:07.000Z In June 2025, when immigration officials were deporting several people to Nigeria, one of them had to be restrained. That’s been noted [in a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27019376-human-rights-report-june-2025-nigeria/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by an observer, who’d turned up “to protect the human rights and dignity of the deportees” by bearing witness. The human rights observer, invited by the Department of Justice, didn’t see what had happened before officials restrained the man, [says the report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27019376-human-rights-report-june-2025-nigeria/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. “I was advised that one deportee had been restrained in order to have him escorted through airport security,” it said. The reason why the observer hadn’t seen the incident with their own eyes is that they aren’t allowed to witness security check-ins, “as this is an area under the control of the aircraft police”, they wrote. But the medics had told them that the man might not have “received his prescribed medication earlier that morning in the prison”, according to the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27019376-human-rights-report-june-2025-nigeria/?ref=dublininquirer.com). They had said they plan to follow up and “administer the medication if necessary”, the observer noted. Aboard the plane, the man, who had been handcuffed, continued to unravel, sometimes shouting and cussing, said the report. “I understand this to have been the same person who had been restrained during check-in, and who may not have been given his medication earlier,” the observer wrote. There were five children on the flight, being deported with their parents, it said. Though the observer couldn’t stay on to see how things unspooled as they flew away, they offered their email address to escorts who could. No one wrote to them to report a problem after, so “I assume they encountered no particular problems with that individual deportee”, wrote the observer. The observer had handed in their passport to the Department of Justice back on 26 May 2025 to apply for a visa to Nigeria so they could travel along, said the report. “The Monitor must be present on the aircraft and seated in the best position that allows for clear visibility and hearing what is happening during the transport,” said the Department of Justice’s [internal guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27076409-specification-hr-monitor-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It’s not clear why that couldn’t be arranged. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the matter was outside of its control. The observer was “debriefed by a nominated Garda escort on the operation of the flight”, they said. The Department of Justice doesn’t have any legal obligation to ensure there are human rights observers on board deportation flights, but it has embraced the practice anyway, the spokesperson said. As more people were arrested, [reportedly for forced return](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41793407.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) last week, human rights non-profits say the June 2025 report illustrates shortcomings in the deportation regime, from haste to fly people away without human rights monitors, to inadequate access for observers, and detention in overcrowded prisons beforehand. “The report highlights how vulnerabilities can be missed, particularly in high-pressure situations when monitoring relies on assumptions and limited information,” said John Lannon, CEO of migrants-rights non-profit Doras. ## Witnessing (some of) it A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) didn’t address queries about the specifics outlined in the report about the man’s access to medication as he was released to immigration officials. It offers ex-detainees a short-term supply of their needed medication until they reach community doctors or pharmacists, they said. For those being deported, the spokesperson said, it records their medical needs and conditions, and passes that on to immigration officials. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice referred queries about those procedures to the IPS. The observer of last June’s deportation had visited a room where one of the families sat with three kids waiting to be hauled away, supervised by a woman garda, said their report. There were food, beverages and toys in the room, which also had a toilet, it said. “While I did not enter into a dialogue with any members of the family themselves, it appeared to me that they were being treated well,” said the report. The fathers who were held elsewhere rejoined their partners and kids on the plane, the report suggests. “The Department of Justice is keen to align its procedures for the monitoring of the welfare of deportees with best practice across the European Union,” [says an internal briefing ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27076409-specification-hr-monitor-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com)document. It lists a volley of international human rights laws that are relevant to that practice, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The observer of the June deportation to Nigeria wrote that they had consulted three guidelines for monitoring forced return in preparing for it, including a Frontex document from 2021 titled “Forced Return Monitoring”. Frontex, the EU’s border protection agency, has been accused of serious human rights abuses itself, with an investigation prompting then-director Fabrice Leggeri [to resign ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/29/head-of-eu-border-agency-frontex-resigns-amid-criticisms-fabrice-leggeri?ref=dublininquirer.com)back in 2022\. Among the observer’s recommendations from witnessing some parts of the deportation routine in June was requesting access to the security check-in area for future flights, even if it is under the control of “aircraft police”. “This strikes me as something that, through appropriate communication, could be permitted in future operations. Some form of temporary identity card may also be considered appropriate,” said the report. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said, “any learnings from that operation are used when planning any future operations”. In their report, the observer concluded that, “I observed nothing in the course of the operation which would give me cause for concern that the rights and dignity of all deportees involved in this operation were not respected”. At least two deportation flights to Georgia [in February ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27172881-20250301-hr-observer-report-redacted-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)and [April 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27172880-georgia-redacted-30042025-redacted-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) had an observer who got to travel along, too. Immigration officials allowed the [*Irish Examiner*](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41743455.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) to tag along and watch the lead-up to a third deportation flight to Tbilisi. They took images and videos to run alongside a story. Although the June 2025 observer’s report said they were briefed about, among other things, a ban on “recording any part of” the deportation routine. An observer who gets to fly to people’s country of birth, doesn’t currently keep up with what happens to them after touch down, according to the Department of Justice’s [guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27076409-specification-hr-monitor-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Monitoring the treatment of the returnees by the national authorities upon arrival after ‘hand-over’ is not within the forced-return monitor’s mandate,” said the report. ## Empower witnesses Lannon, the CEO of Doras, said the June 2025 observer report underscores the need to amplify their role. “For independent oversight to be meaningful, the role must be empowered to monitor all relevant stages, including pre-removal detention and the flight itself,” he said. He said it’s important that the pain of deportation isn’t worsened by other layers of vulnerability. “When individuals are distressed, unwell or lacking access to medication, the consequences can be serious.” The Department of Justice’s [internal guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27076409-specification-hr-monitor-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said the observer “should gather information on any specific vulnerabilities among the returnees and verify whether special attention is given to their needs”. Saoirse Brady, CEO of Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), said the IPRT believes that the aircraft carrying people away against their will should be classified as a place of detention itself, and so it welcomes the role of human rights observer. “However, we would urge the relevant authorities to ensure that the monitor can accompany the flight and observe the whole operation from beginning to end, including when people are brought through security,” she said. It is concerning that one passenger was so agitated because he might not have been able to take his medication, Brady said. Clear handover protocols between IPS and immigration officials should bridge potential information gaps about the medical needs of those who are being hauled away, she said. A spokesperson for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) said generally, “where the State deprives a person of their liberty, there is an obligation to ensure access to appropriate healthcare”. It is concerning that the plane took off without the observer, they said. It had previously [corresponded](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27076803-letter-from-director-ihrec-to-andrew-munro-dated-1-july-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with the Department of Justice officials outlining its worries around that, and also about the detention of people who’d been plucked for deportation, the spokesperson said. [Despite overcrowding, prison officials told to exclude immigration detainees from temporary releaseThe Irish Prison Service had asked the government to revisit the policy, given more serious high-risk offenders had to be released early to make the space.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-586.jpg)Dublin InQuirerShamim Malekmian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/The-entrance-of-Cloverhill-prison.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian-2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-overcrowding-prison-officials-told-to-exclude-immigration-detainees-from-temporary-release/) The letter dated July 2025 had also asked who the observer is. The Department of Justice had argued before the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) against releasing their name. In negotiating the withdrawal of an appeal we had lodged to the OIC, a Department of Justice staffer offered reassurance by phone that the person was not a former immigration official and had a background in human rights. They also expressed concerns about the observer's safety and privacy if their name were disclosed. ## Stand clear of the closing doors On Friday’s stormy morning, a knot of people gathered outside Mountjoy prison on North Circular Road. Their signs and banners fluttered in the wind. They had heard, they said, that some of the people who had been recently arrested for deportation were now inmates there. “Please don’t deport people to their death,” read one of the signs. Most of those protesting either have a deportation order or are in some kind of immigration limbo, and their hopes are growing dimmer, they said. Mahfoud Cherrugui, a skinny guy in jeans and a bomber jacket, said that as far as he knows, a few of the people who had been arrested were still waiting on the outcome of judicial reviews. “We would like to understand what’s this kind of practice from the Department of Justice,” he said. The Department of Justice has been [issuing hastier](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-people-face-a-shorter-window-to-appeal-asylum-claims-hasty-deportation-orders-cause-undue-stress/) deportation orders in recent years – even as people wait for appeals to be adjudicated or as they try to lodge them. For people who have one, the ground can give way at any time. They can get arrested sometimes when they show up at the city’s immigration office to sign paperwork and prove they’re still cooperating with immigration officials and haven’t dropped off the radar. Some people may not turn up if told to pack up their belongings for deportation, but if they’re in detention, officials can just deport them. The Department of Justice [has](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-overcrowding-prison-officials-told-to-exclude-immigration-detainees-from-temporary-release/) also carved out an exception for immigration detainees, asking the IPS to exclude them from temporary release even as prisons grapple with overcrowding because that would undermine a policy for prosecuting undocumented arrivals, [internal documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26044874-prison-overcrowding-response-group-report-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) showed last year. The IPS had asked it to reconsider that position or offer some kind of workaround because otherwise it was releasing people who could be a danger outside to make room. “In light of recent deportations, we are concerned by the use of detention in prison for this purpose and would question its absolute necessity, particularly in the context of the prison overcrowding crisis,” said Brady, the CEO of IPRT. In October 2024, a man facing deportation died in Cloverhill prison, [reportedly](https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/prisoner-facing-deportation-found-dead-33836859?ref=dublininquirer.com#source=breaking-news) of “suspected natural causes”. Among the protestors on Friday stood Mostafa Mihi, who had been arrested and held in Cloverhill Prison last June, despite telling the cops who came for him that he had an active appeal, [he said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-overcrowding-prison-officials-told-to-exclude-immigration-detainees-from-temporary-release/), last year. Djamal Abdoun, who [has been campaigning](https://www.change.org/p/stop-detaining-asylum-seekers-in-irish-prisons-with-criminals?source%5Flocation=search&ref=dublininquirer.com) for the rights of people like himself, whose crime – he says– is that they want to live here, not to be placed in Irish prisons, also stood nearby. Abdoun is still stuck in the big wait-and-see phase of his own asylum-appeal journey. “Nothing, I’m still waiting,” he said, shaking his head. His eyes were red. He looked exhausted. Both Mihi and Abdoun have now joined Abolish Direct Provision Ireland (ADPI), a group that has been controversial for its protest tactics, and promises it has floated to the Department of Justice in return for immigration papers. One position it has put forward is that if granted the right to stay, its members would refuse social safety nets like mainstream housing support. Cherrugui said that’s a way to counter anti-immigrant hardliners who accuse them of coming to Ireland “looking for houses”. Mihi and others said they’d joined because the group seemed to be in action mode, and they’re desperate for an off-ramp and any support that feels real. On Friday at about noon, they remained standing outside Mountjoy Prison, the rain beating down on their banners. ### In Balbriggan, an effort to bring anti-beach grass campaigners into the fold URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-an-effort-to-bring-anti-beach-grass-campaigners-into-the-fold/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:57:46.000Z As the sun rose over the harbour on Tuesday morning, the grassy banks around Balbriggan Beach were covered in frost. On the northern end of the pathway over the beach, a man stopped for almost five minutes to take photographs. Up at the train station, there were roughly a dozen people waiting on the eastern platform with their backs turned to the railway, ogling the orange and blue sky as 8am approached. A pair of female sea swimmers marched along the smooth sand, walking some 75 metres out to the water while the tide was out. Unlike the foreshore, which glistened under the sun, the backshore was covered in seaweed, and there were large patches of lyme grass binding the sand together to create dunes. The grass was also surrounded by chestnut paling fences, which Fingal County Council installed in September, according to the council’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1180972417393524&set=a.307059454784829&id=100064423310255). Their purpose was to help trap sands that moved from the beach to the harbour and promenade, the post said. Erosion on the beach relates mostly to the redistribution of sand from one end of the beach to the other, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. But for almost two and a half years, the presence of this lyme grass on the Front Strand Beach has been a highly divisive matter. Since late 2023, a local campaign group known as Save Our Sands has been requesting that the council remove the grass, primarily for aesthetic reasons. As the council moves forward with the establishment of a beach management committee to take care of this stretch of coast, members of this group should be given a seat at the table, independent Councillor Tony Murphy said. That would enable them to voice their concerns, while also giving them an understanding of the council’s decision-making process, Murphy said. “So in all of this, I think that we need to expedite that group as soon as possible.” ## Soft sands and coarse grass In September 2023, a local resident Josephine Thompson launched [a petition](https://www.change.org/p/save-balbriggans-front-beach-return-it-to-its-golden-sandy-beauty?ref=dublininquirer.com), saying the “soft golden sandy beach” had disappeared under the coarse grass. The petition, which gathered 441 signatures, asked that Fingal County Council would remove the grass, and return the beach to its “former glory”. [By November 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-balbriggan-the-spread-of-beach-grasses-has-become-a-flashpoint-in-a-changing-town/), Thompson’s petition had evolved into a campaign group Save Our Sands. But, despite the activists’ efforts to persuade the council to rid the Front Strand Beach of the grass, a spokesperson for the council said at the time that they had no plans to remove it as it helped to combat erosion by binding the sand and supporting the creation of sand dunes. Independent Councillor Grainne Maguire said on Monday afternoon that she and others can appreciate that today, the beach doesn’t look like it did in previous decades. But the lyme grass wasn’t intentionally planted by anyone. “That has come in from the sea, from the wind, and naturally grown.” Normally, it is planted in areas where there is erosion, but here it formed naturally, she says. “And we have been advised that we are unable to remove the grass for a variety of reasons; ecological, environmental reasons, and also, if you touch this invasive species, it will grow twice as fast.” ## Nature-based solutions The dunes are nature-based solutions to erosion, Kevin Lynch, a lecturer in the University of Galway’s Geography Department, told the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee meeting on Thursday. They bind the sand together, he said, “and actually prevented erosion further back in towards the railway line and back in towards the upper part of the beach”. Lynch was presenting to local councillors a report on how the council should go about setting up a beach management committee. Our Balbriggan, the council’s rejuvenation project for the town, lists the establishment of this beach management committee as one of its goals under the local initiative’s climate action and biodiversity [action plan for 2025 to 2030](https://balbriggan.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sustainability-Climate-Action-and-Biodiversity.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com). As part of his work, Lynch held meetings with locals to understand what issues they felt were important on the beach, he said. That consultation consisted of a workshop in June 2025, and survey administered in August and then again in September, he said. A total of 337 surveys were completed, according to [his report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27173050-balbriggan-beach-a-futures-assessment-beach-management-plan-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), with 44.8 percent of respondents saying they were extremely concerned about the poor water quality. Meanwhile, 43.7 percent of respondents said they were extremely concerned about the spread of sand dune grass, in comparison to 18 percent who said they weren’t concerned at all, the survey says. The removal of the grass and fences, and the restoration of the sandy beaches was mentioned a total of 160 times, the report said, noting that many of these contributions expressed a sense of nostalgia for the “postcard” look that the beach historically had, the report said. One submission said they understood that climate change was now an issue, but that they also wanted the beach clean and welcoming for their grandchildren. “We never had grasses on our beach when we were growing up, back in the 60's.” After the grass, issues like the need for improved amenities and cleanliness were mentioned 93 times, while accessibility was mentioned 75 times, the report said. Environmental concerns, primarily the maintenance of the dunes, were only referenced 23 times in these surveys, the report said. ## Bringing everyone to the table A lot of the country’s east coast has suffered erosion, Lynch told the area committee on Thursday. But the dunes down on the beach had ensured this wasn’t an issue on the Front Strand Beach. Independent Councillor Tony Murphy said that not too far away, approximately 100 metres north of the Front Strand Beach, beside the town’s Martello Tower, the coast had recently experienced erosion. On Tuesday morning, a sea-facing car park to the north of the beach was partially closed off by metal fencing. Located beside the Martello Tower, a part of the grassy ledge next to the car park, and overlooking the small rocky beach between Front Strand and Tankardstown Bay had collapsed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/1000057872.jpg) Photo by Michael Lanigan. This was due to recent storm coastal damage, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday. Nothing is staying the same in the area, Murphy said. “However, I think what’s important is to respect that fact that people who raised their voice out of concerns for – and I’ll put it in inverted commas – ‘aesthetics’, making sure the beach presents in a way that is usable to the public, as well as maintaining the ecosystem that lives within the same space.” That is the biggest challenge for the council, he said. Next, the council needs to set out the terms of reference of what any beach management committee will discuss, he said. “But I think the key factor for me is communication, communication, communication.” If locals can be informed as to what the council is trying to achieve down there, everyone will be able to achieve holistically the best practice down on the beach, he said. A council spokesperson said on Tuesday that the membership of the Beach Management Group still needs to be finalised, and that invites to groups will be issued in the next two weeks. ### In Fingal, councillors ponder expanding the Community Car scheme URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-councillors-ponder-expanding-the-community-car-scheme/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T09:02:46.000Z How can Fingal grow its Community Car programme? Fine Gael Mayor Tom O’Leary wonders. Councillors got an update on the scheme – among other transport projects – at their Balbriggan area committee meeting on Thursday. In 2025 alone, the Community Car, which is based in Skerries, provided over 1,500 trips, said Stephen McGinn, an active travel officer for Fingal County Council, by phone, after the meeting. They have about 15 volunteers, McGinn said. So doing the maths, that’s approximately 100 trips per volunteer in a single year. The service provides lifts for free to people who need them, like to hospital appointments, to pension and banking services, to visit nursing homes. A lady I knew, they used to bring her to mass because she was, you know, had difficulty getting there,” O’Leary said. It’s meant to fill a gap in rural areas, and it relies on those volunteers, McGinn said. It’s a joint project by Fingal County Council, Transport for Ireland’s Local Link service, the car-sharing company GoCar, and volunteers. The Community Car isn’t just about transportation, though, McGinn said. “It's linked, obviously, to transportation.” But, he said, volunteers also provide lifts in order to build relationships. “When they're in the car with someone, and, you know, they're interested to hear about their day,” he said. “They're interested to talk to them. It’s, it’s more, it’s more of that kind of social piece.” So yeah, it’s working swimmingly in Skerries, he said, it’s a great service. But at the moment, there’s only the one Community Car serving all of Fingal. O’Leary, a Fine Gael councillor, has ideas on how to grow the scheme. And so do fellow councillors, including Sinn Féin’s John Smyth, and Fianna Fáil’s Darragh Butler. **###Beginnings** Fingal’s Community Car initiative started in [2019](https://www.fingal.ie/fingal-community-car?ref=dublininquirer.com) as a pilot programme. It’s an electric car, that’s part of it. Originally it came about via a climate action grant, it’s always been an EV. It went well, though, so the council made it permanent, McGinn said. At first, there were two cars: one in Skerries, one in Howth. Then came the pandemic. “During Covid-19, both cars really struggled. Because people didn't want to be in confined spaces with people that they didn't know,” McGinn said. “And volunteer levels dropped off.” “We were able to revive Skerries, because we had such a strong volunteer base in Skerries. But unfortunately, we couldn't, we couldn't get the volunteer network up and running again in Howth.” And that was that. Now there’s just one car for Fingal– though that’s a lot, it works. But he said they learned from that. “You can have the funding for the car and you can have the funding for the operational costs, but if you don't have the volunteer network, and you don't have a scheme, it doesn't, it doesn't work,” McGinn said. [Kildare](https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0407/1506154-community-car-kildare/?ref=dublininquirer.com) has started a similar scheme, and McGinn said they get calls from other councils, asking how they made it work. **###(Re) Expanding** O’Leary has a few ideas himself for how to grow the Fingal Community Car scheme. He wants a dedicated online platform to organise the rides, for example. Right now, people book through Local Link, McGinn said, and yes the backend takes a lot of work, especially considering it’s for one car. O’Leary also wants there to be a physical hub for the service, an office space, provided by the council. “And instead of just having one car in Skerries, why can't we have a fleet of six?” he said. “I'm just pulling a number, six – across Fingal and different locations. I think it'll work much better then, and they can all help each other.” Smyth, the Sinn Féin councillor, said he’d like to see more people using it, so it’s not a service oriented around older people. He said some disabled people will never be able to use public transport independently. "For people with intellectual disabilities, who don't have transport, it would give them a complete ... it would be a lifeline to them to be able to engage in more proper kind of community integration,” he said. There’s students who would benefit from this too, Smyth said. "I had hoped that we could use it, or services could use it... for certain schools,” he said. “Who will be supporting people with, say, autism, who can't use traditional transport, but don't have transport in there as connected to their package." Fianna Fáil Councillor Darragh Butler said there are certain areas in Fingal that really need access to a Community Car service, he said, like Knocksedan. "I suppose it's always a challenge. The more rural, the more isolated parts of North County Dublin and Fingal, kind of connecting them to a bus services… it can be difficult,” Butler said. “but, you know, efforts like this go a long way to achieve that." He said that if expanding the Community Car scheme requires it, maybe they need to look beyond volunteers. "Maybe it could be, you know, there could be paid drivers as well to be involved in it,” he said. For their part, McGinn, the active travel officer at the council, said council staff have been thinking about how to fund an expansion of the scheme. “We're trying to figure out a funding model that would allow us to scale the community car to other areas as well. And so we're working away on that in the background, and we're making good headway,” he said. **###Seeking volunteers** In the meantime, the council has been fine-tuning how the Skerries Community Car works. They’ve rejiggered how they organise volunteers recently, so that instead of taking on trips on an ad-hoc basis, volunteers sign up for certain hours, McGinn said. McGinn said people volunteer to make connections, to reduce the chances of social isolation for people. “And that's.. you can only really do that when you know someone. So by building those relationships, it's probably pivotal to the success of it,” he said. He said they’re always looking for more volunteers, and yes they did try an advertising campaign and it wasn’t that fruitful, but he said the real key is that volunteers bring more volunteers. That’s how they get them. “It's really, it's kind of helped to build it into it, like the true nature of a community car,” McGinn said. But “We are always looking for volunteers. Because, you know, you can, you can probably never have enough, really, right?” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Conor Clarke McGrath plays all nine characters in his upcoming show URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/conor-clarke-mcgrath-plays-all-nine-characters-in-his-upcoming-show/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T12:27:32.000Z **This article mentions suicide. If you or somebody you know might need help, Samaritans’ national suicide prevention hotline can be contacted at 116 123 and jo@samaritans.org. You can also visit the HSE’s website here for a list of additional resources.* Conor Clarke McGrath wrote an hour-long script and chose to play all the characters. All nine of them. The play, called *Play*, is – on the face of it – about nightclub owner Nicky Flood, who has a really hard life. It’s about alcoholism, struggling with mental health, and death. Within it there are three stories really: “The story of how Nicky tries to save his club. The story of his brother resurfacing and getting arrested. The story of his messed up relationship with Petra,” his love interest. He plays the main characters: Nicky and Petra, as well as Will, who works for the club, Nicky’s mum, his housemate, his accountant. But the heart of the story, for Clarke McGrath, he says, is Nicky’s brother. Even though Richie doesn’t take up a lot of time in the script – he’s there for about five minutes. The character is in part based on someone he knew growing up. “He didn’t have a home for a while so he lived in our living room,” Clarke McGrath said. “To me he was a stranger. I was about 11 or 12\. But he was a friend of my mother’s and she took him in,” he said. Richie died by suicide. "I was 18, I think." “I guess it shaped me, and it stuck in my subconscious,” he said. “For a long time. I think for much longer than I realised.” Richie stuck with Clarke McGrath, he says, but *Play* a fictional twist on the past, a riff on his experiences – it’s not Richie’s life. There’s a bit of another person mixed into his character too, a friend of Clarke McGrath’s who experienced psychosis and told him about it. Clarke McGrath said his own perspective on life has changed a lot over the years. He used to be really judgemental, he says. “There's a term. ‘Loser.’ Right? You know, it's a very judgmental term. And that's the way I used to see people,” he said. That’s not how he sees things anymore, though, he says. “I think a lot of us are very close to falling through the cracks in society,” he said. “And I think it’s really important to think about people who don’t fit.” He said he wants the audience to engage with difficult themes, “and either see their lives reflected or leave the play reflecting more about those with mental disorders”. ## Author and actor Clarke McGrath is a lot of things. He is an actor, a clown, a stand-up comic, and a playwright. He graduated from France’s École Philippe Gaulier. Then he worked at an Irish pub in Paris. “I wasn't writing, I wasn't being creative,” he said. So he moved to Dublin about a year ago, without knowing anyone, to restart, he said. He works in hospitality here too. He started writing this script a month or two after arriving in Dublin, he says. It is two weeks now from his first [**performance of *Play***](https://shop.weeztix.com/4f861438-a7b6-11ee-a9cb-7e126431635e?shop%5Fcode=6br7rq5d&utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZnRzaAQELFRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAad51wkRClYTwVoz5STsU0U01fCDeZ1AjJkT39J2f1hCJQwT7vDKZ7Od-XgviQ%5Faem%5F6J5okvjamRgljfPXsZvEXw), scheduled for 1 March at the Pearse Centre on Pearse Street. Both Clarke McGrath and his director, Eri Farrell, repeat that a few times on Monday at an afternoon rehearsal in Clarke McGrath’s living room. Two weeks: soon. ## Preparation The blue and sun have broken through on Monday so Clarke McGrath’s coffee table – its lower shelf spilling with books – is outside in his garden. It leaves space for the rehearsal in his living room. Inside, the stage is set with two wooden chairs for blocking, to help signpost where he should stand and sit. Clarke McGrath was in navy blue slippers. Farrell sat on the couch. She wore big round red earrings, and took notes with a stylus on her iPad. Footsteps of housemates in the room above creaked through the ceiling. Today, they’re blocking out Act II. It is an extended flashback, a scene which explores the relationship between Nicky Flood, the protagonist, and a woman who’s only in this act. “So physicality is really, really important. You know, I'm playing two people. We've just rehearsed a sex scene,” he said. “It's also my character telling the audience about this, which is a really vulnerable thing.” He is spinning a couple of plates, he says. “I'm having to be the guy telling the audience about it, while acting it out. While playing the man and the woman.” They’re about halfway into blocking out the play. He gets back into characters. “Work on pauses,” says Farrell. Okay, Clarke McGrath says. They reset. He starts again. “I call my solicitor – and manage to get him \[Richie\] out on bail. McDonald's for breakfast that morning, and he eats so much. He tells me he actually couldn't remember the last time he ate something, which breaks my heart.” He moves the chair: later, he said that shift is him making the setting into McDonald’s. “There's a silence as I drink my shitty fucking Americano. I offer him a job at the club. I offer him my sofa to sleep on. He says no to both.” Clarke McGrath pauses. “Finally, I ask what I can offer him.” Farrell injects. "I like that sequence,” she says. “That was nice." Clarke McGrath makes eye contact as he rehearses. That’s intentional, he said, it’s part of the show. "I don't want that fourth wall, you know? I want to be able to talk to my audience members and tell the story,” Clarke McGrath said. “Because it's a storytelling show." ## The inspiration *Play* is the first time Clarke McGrath has based a character on a real person – Richie’s character – in a play he's written, he says, during a pause in rehearsal. He has written several scripts before: four full-length plays including *Tipsy Sugar Flipping*, and he brought solo shows *Stalagmite* and *Stanley* to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He co-wrote a short film that got into international film festivals, he wrote a stand-up show that he said “blurred the line between stand-up and theatre”. And he was in Netflix’s *Sex Education*. This is different for him, he says. It’s based on somebody he knew in his teens, and where he still lived in England. “I was desperate to get out into the wider world,” he said. And Nicky’s character is “fully fictional” but a bit like himself. And yeah, “He’s really stuck.” “It’s not ... It’s not really … It *is* about Nicky,” he said, of the play. “But, the real, real tender heart of it, is this other character – who I only play for a short time,” he said. Richie, based on his mother’s friend who lived in their living room. “There’s a thing in Act I about that character loving the May Fair,” he says, a real carnival which breaks out in Hereford each year. “That’s one of my memories of the real Richie. Him loving that carnival,” he said. “So that’s in the show, as our introduction to Richie.” “When you first start to hear about Richie, that presence kind of comes out,” says Farrell, the director. “Speaking of Richie, I really liked the way you played it with the chair,” Farrell said. “How did it feel, sitting down doing it?” Good, Clarke McGrath said. He liked having something to look at. “Again, those pauses will just need to be put in and certified,” said Farrell. ## Crunch time Clarke McGrath has been trying to get down two pages of script a day. That first show on 1 March is kind of a rehearsal too, he says, preparations for festivals they hope to get into. “So I'm just, I'm just looking at the text every single day,” he said. Clarke McGrath said he has enough experience as an actor that even if he forgets something he can paper over the cracks, he says. He is also giving himself permission to read from the script if he needs to, he says. “I'm working part-time as well as doing this,” he said. “And maybe I need to forgive myself a little bit and go, oh for Act III, you can read it.” He’s sent *Play* to festivals – to Dublin Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe. “Fingers crossed, we get in,” he said. It’s intimidating, he says. “But look, I'm going to take a risk. This is a year-long project for me.” He said he’s ready for the next step: performing. He said it’s a good show for taking on the road internationally because there’s no set, no props, no costumes. There’s just him, and he’ll need a tech person. But he can sort that out if he goes to Melbourne, LA, London, wherever. He can find tech support there. Clarke McGrath dwells on how he needs to switch and change his physicality and his voice and lighting and sound. He is conscious of not boring the audience, he says. “Like, it's an hour of text. So how can I make it the most interesting?” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Skeletal remains found during construction at Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Market URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/skeletal-remains-found-during-construction-at-victorian-fruit-and-vegetable-market/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:58:59.000Z Thirteen archaeologists have been excavating the grounds of the Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Market in the north inner-city At the end of last year, they found what seem to be bones from two skeletons, according to a Dublin City Council spokesperson. The human remains are thought to be from the medieval period, they said, and probably are somehow linked to nearby St Mary’s Abbey. St Mary’s Abbey was one of Ireland’s most important monastic sites, founded in the 12th century. “Its buildings would have appeared as an equivalent to Christchurch on the northside of the city,” says a [report](https://excavations.ie/report/2022/Dublin/0035707/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on a recent excavation there. In 2022, just over the road from the market, archaeologists uncovered a [haul of medieval artefacts](https://excavations.ie/report/2022/Dublin/0035707/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and the remains of around 250 people, some of whom were buried in specially marked graves. On the market site, in 2023, archaeologists carried out test investigations and uncovered medieval artefacts and the remains of a wallwhich was more modern at the top of it. But “As this wall is listed as a possible precinct wall of St Mary’s Abbey and thus a recorded monument, further investigation is required,” said their [report. ](https://excavations.ie/report/2023/Dublin/0033509/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The test digs didn’t uncover human remains. But the recent discovery won’t have been a surprise to the report’s authors. “While no human bones or burials were found during the site testing, it should be noted that there is a high probability that burials may survive across the site,” says the [report. ](https://excavations.ie/report/2023/Dublin/0033509/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Since those remains have now been discovered, more digs are needed, said the council spokesperson. It’s not yet clear if this will affect the timeline for the restoration of the market, a landmark project for the council**,** which in September 2025, the council [said](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-city-council-launches-refurbishment-historic-fruit-and-vegetable-market-dublin-7?ref=dublininquirer.com) was to be a two-year project. “Until the extent of the burials is known, an agreed treatment and associated timeline, the impact on the overall project is not known,” they said. ## Under the market On Thursday morning, a blue truck drove into the arched doorway of the Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Market. Two diggers sat parked on the grounds of the market. The bones were found by the archaeologists on 18 December, said a council spokesperson. They were about 2 metres under the ground, leading archaeologists to believe they hail from the medieval period. As is protocol, the archaeologists informed An Garda Síochána and the Dublin Coroner’s office. They confirmed that the remains were historical, he said. The archaeologists applied for a licence to poke around more to work out how far the burial site spreads – which was granted on 22 January. “Due to the bad weather and delicate nature of the remains and their age, this process is ongoing,” said the council spokesperson. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner says it's not a huge surprise that there would be discoveries. “Dublin is a very historic city so these kinds of finds are built in.” Some time for archaeological work is already included in the published timeline for the refurbishment, which was set to be completed next year,the council spokesperson said. Right now, it’s impossible to say if this discovery will delay the project, says Horner, because it depends on the scale and significance of the find. A couple of skeletons won’t cause a significant delay to the refurbishment. “Obviously, if there is much more found that could create a delay,” she says. “It's obviously very historically interesting whatever is found there, and it helps to illuminate the history of the area,” says Horner. So she hopes that any interesting discoveries could be used to enhance the new market, she says, possibly through an exhibition or display. ## The abbey It is possible but not yet certain that St Mary’s Abbey – one of Ireland’s largest and most influential medieval monasteries – extended to where the Victorian Fruit and Veg Market now sits. The [medieval artefacts uncovered](https://excavations.ie/report/2022/Dublin/0035707/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by archaeologists at a neighbouring site at 26–31 and 33 Arran Street East and 14–20 Mary Street dated from bygone eras that span 800 years from 1100 AD to 1900 AD. “The dig uncovered a large assemblage of medieval and post-medieval archaeological deposits and finds related to the monastery and its subsequent dissolution,” says the report for that site. Artefacts included lime and tile kilns used in the construction, extension and renovation of the abbey from the 12th to the 16th century, it says. “A substantial collection and variety of metal, ceramic, stone, bone, leather, roof slate and glass artefacts were recovered from all levels on the archaeological dig,” it says. As were remains of men, women and children, some of whom were buried in high-status elaborate stone-lined graves. “At least 250 human burials were excavated within the church and to the north of the church within the abbey graveyard,” says the report. The monastery closed in 1539**,** amid the dissolution of the monasteries by England’s Henry VIII as he seized assets to fund the crown, and consolidate his political and religious power. “The dissolution was so effective that one of Ireland’s greatest monasteries disappeared beneath the city,” says the report. ### Where is the push for greater use of ASBOs coming from? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/where-is-the-push-for-greater-use-of-asbos-coming-from/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:59:08.000Z There is a bill moving through the Oireachtas to loosen which rank of Garda can apply to the courts for “anti-social behaviour orders” – also known as ASBOs. If it passes, inspectors would be empowered to do it, rather than superintendents. “This will bring increased flexibility to the making of applications for such orders,” a Justice Department spokesperson said. The Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 “was published on 9 January 2026 and the Dáil Second Stage debate on the Bill took place on 22 January 2026”, said the spokesperson. But exactly why the government has reached for reform of ASBOs as a response to complaints about anti-social behaviour isn’t clear. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that it was prompted by a recommendation from the government’s[ expert forum on anti-social behaviour](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/publications/forum-on-anti-social-behaviour/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to strengthen ASBOs. Engagement was also undertaken with An Garda Síochána, who recommended enhancing the legislation around the orders, the spokesperson said. But the forum didn’t publish any final report. And, there is only one reference to ASBOs across the published minutes of those meetings. Meanwhile, some question the need for these new ASBO powers. If someone is doing something that is wrong or illegal, gardaí can already deal with this, says Ian Marder, associate professor in criminology at Maynooth University. “An ASBO is just a British paperwork exercise for generating stats,” says Paul Comerford, a retired garda. ## The rise and fall of ASBOs ASBOs are court-administered behavioural control orders against adults and children. They are served after the initial terms of an anti-social behaviour warning (ASBW) – an official warning to cease certain activity which can be given by a rank-and-file garda without going through court – have been defied. ASBOs originated in the UK, where they were brought in in 1998 under Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. Introduced in Ireland in 2007, figures show that ASBWs and ASBOs in Dublin in recent years have been relatively rare. There were either zero, or less than 10, ASBWs and ASBOs issued to children in five of six Dublin Garda districts in 2024 – plus 24 issued in the Western division, according to figures sent by the Department of Justice to Cormac Devlin, a Fianna Fáil TD, in response to a parliamentary question last year. Comerford, the retired Garda, says that when people want an immediate remedy to a problem like anti-social behaviour, ASBWs and ASBOs aren’t going to do it – that’s really only going to come from arrests. “The Public Order Act is more effective.” But local councils like them as it gives them statistics to use against repeat offenders on their housing estates, he says. A spokesperson for the Justice Department said that while ASBWs and ASBOs provide a response to the behaviour of an individual, they do not address the reasons behind the behaviour. ## An expert forum The current programme for government includes a commitment to “enact legislation to combat anti-social behaviour, including enhancing the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Warnings (ASBWs) and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)”. The move is based on the recommendation of the expert forum on anti-social behaviour, said the Department of Justice spokesperson. The forum was set up in 2020\. It was to review the powers available to An Garda Síochána in relation to public order and anti-social behaviour, the Justice Department spokesperson said, and “to include the effectiveness of ASBOs”. But there is no paper trail showing any recommendation to double down on ASBOs. Minutes show that the forum met 10 times between October 2020 and October 2024, which was their final meeting. There is only one reference to ASBOs across the published minutes. That came up in [April 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26953255-anti-social-behaviour-forum-minutes-18-april-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from Richard Guiney, CEO of Dublin Town, the business collective. The minutes read: “Richard Guiney first spoke on the effectiveness of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) in deterring young people from participating in ASB.” “While he did note that ASBOs are currently difficult for AGS to apply and streamlining the procedures associated with them would be beneficial.” He also argued that young people can be more fearful of ASBOs than a prison sentence, the minutes show. Amy Carey, CEO of the Solas Project, the Liberties-based youth work organisation, also sat on the forum. She does not recall any meaningful discussion about ASBOs at any of the meetings she attended, she said. On Thursday on the phone, Guiney said that sending people to prison is not the right solution a lot of the time but there must be sanctions for behaviour that negatively impacts others. An ASBO isn't an end in itself, he says. “When somebody is served one, we have a responsibility to put supports around that person,” says Guiney. It should be an opportunity for them to consider the impact their actions have on the community, he said. “Kind of a [restorative justice](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-a-recent-conference-advocates-highlighted-another-route-to-justice-for-victims-seeking-solace/) element.” ASBOs can involve an order to stay away from an area. This points to another potential benefit, he says. It could be an opportunity to take a young person out of a situation where they may be hanging around with negative influences, the Dublin Town CEO says. “Before they get themselves into longer-term trouble.” ## ASBO empire While still used in Scotland, ASBOs – at least in their original guise – are no longer used in Northern Ireland, Wales or England. They were officially abolished under the [Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/notes/annex/2?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the ASBO template has been expanded across the legal system, according to a report from JUSTICE, a charity championing UK justice reform. A 2023 [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26953416-689f5553a96b813e587b2d11-behavioural-control-orders-justice-september-2023-embargoed-for-press/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from the organisation listed more than 30 types of behaviour-control orders. Each one targeted a different issue: football hooliganism, domestic abuse, stalking. Successive UK governments have failed to produce robust evidence that behaviour orders are effective at dealing with the issues they aim to tackle, the report says. They are also applied inconsistently across the country, it says. The result is a patchwork system in which the number of orders imposed, the behaviours targeted and the restrictions applied vary widely, it says. Several contributors described this as “personalised penal codes” or “ad hominem criminalisation”. Some orders have been used to address relatively minor conduct. The report cites examples such as closing a door too loudly, swearing, drinking alcohol on trains to a football match, or wearing a bikini in one’s own garden— raising concerns about “criminalisation creep”. “Moreover, whilst Behavioural Control Orders are meant to provide access to interventions, programmes and positive diversions – a lack of resources and available services often mean that this cannot take place,” the report says. The report also warns that orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, like homeless people – despite evidence that they are more often victims than perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. The report also criticises a lack of central data collection and evaluation, arguing there is no clear mechanism to measure effectiveness. Ashling Golden, the justice programme manager at the Solas Project, said last month that an issue she sees in Ireland is that somebody can end up with a criminal record for a non-criminal offence. “You could be done for an anti-social issue, and then you don't comply with the rules of the order, which could result in you being brought before the courts for the breach of the order,” says Golden. Marder, the criminologist, says that solid, positive work has already begun in terms of growing youth diversion projects in Ireland. With more pathways gradually opening up for young people who are at risk of drifting into criminality and exploitation. As such, he doesn’t see a need for more ASBOs here. Looking across the Irish sea at the state of behaviour orders there, Marder isn’t impressed. “It’s a fucking disaster.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dublin city facing decade of disruption from construction of big – and long-awaited – transport projects URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-facing-decade-of-disruption-from-construction-of-big-and-long-awaited-transport-projects/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:59:17.000Z After years of talk, consultation, planning, design and debate, construction of a slew of big transport infrastructure projects for Dublin city is beginning. That’s what Grainne Mackin, the National Transport Authority’s (NTA’s) director of communications, told Dublin City Council’s transport committee on Wednesday. Work on a core bus corridor – bus lanes, cycle lanes, footpaths, and more – from Liffey Valley to the city centre, and another from Ballymun and Finglas to the city centre, is due to start this year, Mackin said. Work on a third bus corridor, from Clongriffin to the city centre, is due to start next year, she said. And there’ll be major work on the MetroLink project from Swords to the city centre in 2027, said Paul Daniel, from MetroLink. And there’s more in the pipeline behind those projects. Enabling works have started on the Dart+ West project, said Jane Cregan, deputy communications manager at Iarnród Éireann. That one’s designed to double the frequency of trains from Maynooth into the city centre, and electrify the route. The council, the NTA, Iarnród Éireann, MetroLink and other agencies involved are coordinating to minimise disruption, but there’s only so much they can do, their representatives told the committee. “There is going to be inconvenience, there is going to be disruption, there is going to be diversions, absolutely, there’s no shying away from that – this is some of the biggest infrastructure this city will see, and has seen for a long time,” Mackin said. “Over the next decade to 15 years we will see that Dublin will be transformed with all these different versions of sustainable transport,” she said. Jason Cullen, of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, who is not a councillor but is a member of the council’s transport committee, asked about funding, and judicial reviews. Yes, seven of the core bus corridors that are part of the Dublin Bus rejig of the city’s bus networks are under judicial review, Mackin told the members of what is officially called the Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee. But “we have five core bus corridor schemes which are clear, as such, and clean,” Mackin said. “We have two commencing construction … we are actually starting construction now.” With so many more trucks coming to the city’s streets, to haul materials to and from the construction sites, what are the agencies going to do to keep Dubliners who cycle, walk, or wheel safe? several committee members asked. They’ve been planning for that, Mackin and Daniel said. ## **About time** “There’s been a lot of talk about congestion in the city and we certainly see more and more people in the city experiencing longer and longer journeys into the city,” said the council’s head of traffic, Brendan O’Brien. Mackin, from the NTA, said that “Much of the existing transport infrastructure is not designed for our current need let alone our future need.” So it’s about time the national transport agencies got moving on all these projects to upgrade the city’s public transport infrastructure, said O’Brien. “From the city’s perspective this should have been delivered yesterday, to be quite frank with you,” he said. “We’ve already lost a decade of underinvestment in public transport in the city,” O’Brien said. “But at least we’re having them now.” Dublin’s population is growing and projections show it continuing to grow steadily over the next 40 years, said Mackin. Meanwhile, the government aims to cut emissions, in an effort to help blunt the impacts of climate change. Already “75 percent of commuters now enter the city without a private car”, Mackin said. But there’s a need for people to have more sustainable transport options: buses, Darts, Luases, cycle lanes, walking routes. “The Luas Cross City I worked on as head of comms was the last major project we would have had in Dublin city centre,” she said, referring to the extension of the Green Line from St Stephen’s Green across the Liffey and north to Broombridge, from 2013 to 2017\. But now, “after a number of years of being in planning, design, public consultations, we now have an abundance of infrastructure projects, almost an embarrassment of them”, Mackin said. Cullen, of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, questioned her optimism. “Judicial reviews and funding issues affect a number of things you brought up in the plan, I just wanted to know how realistic are the timelines you have in there?” he asked. Some of the planned 12 core bus corridors that are part of the Bus Connects network redesign are under judicial review at the moment, Mackin said, but there’s plenty to be getting on with in the meantime. In addition to the judicial reviews, some other projects are being held up by a lack of funding. For example, the government hasn’t funded the Dart+ South West project, to electrify and increase the frequency of trains between the city and Celbridge. In December, several councillors on the South Central Area Committee voiced their frustration that this project wasn’t being built yet, to serve thousands of new homes planned for the areas it is designed to serve. Putting in public transport like the Dart+ South West line, would help reduce traffic on the roads, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. “Public transport moves real numbers,” Pidgeon said. “If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock.” [Councillors fume over government delay of Dart line meant to serve thousands of homes planned for west Dublin“If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-568.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/DART-ARRIVED-1-2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/) ## **Construction** As construction begins on the big transport infrastructure projects that *are* moving forward, it’s important that the trucks hauling stuff to and from the sites are top of the line, said Cullen, at Wednesday’s meeting. He pointed to a figure from that day’s presentation by MetroLink head of PR Eoin Murphy, that the project – as it stretches from Charlemont to Swords – would involve 1,561,142 “two-way movements” over the course of the project. “Can we please make sure within the procurement that those trucks are modern, clean, and have the big visuals in the cabs and all that kind of stuff?” Cullen asked. All the “construction movements” will “create conflict between construction vehicles and active travel users, we know this, it shouldn’t be a surprise”, said Karl Stanley, a Social Democrats councillor. “We don’t want cyclists hit by a truck turning left because we didn’t want to pay extra for trucks with highly visible cabs,” Stanley said. [Danger for cyclists: Drivers turning left across your path - Dublin InquirerOf the nearly 1,000 reports of hazards, near misses and collisions, 10 percent mention a driver doing a “left hook”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-570.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/left-turns-1-scaled-e1716934390230-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-drivers-turning-left-across-your-path/) With so much disruption for drivers in the city coming, “this is exactly the time when you want people to make their journeys with modes that are alternatives to private vehicles”, said Siobhán McNamara, of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, another member of the committee. So project managers should take extra care to make it safe for people who are walking, or cycling, or whatever, McNamara said. There should be “full provision made for them at the junctions so that they can confidently navigate the space that they’re not the afterthought, which often is the case – often you come to a junction there’s a cyclists dismount”. The NTA is on top of that, Mackin said. “All traffic management measures must adopt a safety-led approach, especially including vulnerable users,” she said. “So that’s all stitched in.” MetroLink, too, is working on these issues, said Daniel. It’s focused on “moving our whole construction industry and the haulage industry into a place which will be best in class”. “So by the major work stages of 2027 when the bulk, when the vast majority of this haulage is going to happen”, they plan to have a modern, efficient fleet of vehicles in place, he said. They are also planning a “just in time” delivery management system, so that trucks won’t be parked up, or idling, or circling in the city, Daniel said. The goal is that they’d just arrive when they’re needed, do their pick up or drop-off, and move out, he said. The Liffey Valley to city centre Bus Connects corridor is going to get started before MetroLink now though. A slide in Mackin’s presentation at Wednesday’s meeting shows the plans for the next six months of that project. Construction’s due to start in March, on a segment stretching from Liffey Valley to Ballyfermot, moving in phases to reach Inchicore by the end of the year. Crews will be putting in measures to let the buses run smooth and fast without getting caught in traffic, adding cycle lanes, upgrading junctions, sprinkling in new bus stops, and more. “We’re going to work in sections so that there isn’t going to be a complete shut down of the scheme from end to end,” said Mackin. “We need to keep the city moving,” she said. “The city needs to do business, people need to get deliveries, they need to get loading, they need to get to school, to work and to visits.” ### Vacancy Watch: While neighbours sounded the alarm, a 19th-century villa in Sandymount slid into dereliction URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-while-neighbours-sounded-the-alarm-a-19th-century-villa-in-sandymount-slid-into-dereliction/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:59:26.000Z Rosita Sweetman was saddened to learn that her mum’s old home, a 19th-century villa on Park Avenue in Sandymount, had sunk into dereliction, she says. Once home to the author Arthur Power – who wrote the memoir *Conversations with James Joyce –* the pretty redbrick house was in good condition when her mum passed away in 2002, says Sweetman. The family sold the home the same year, she says. Years later, a friend told her it was boarded up. At first, Sweetman felt emotional about going back to take a look, she says, and she was devastated when she saw it. “The roof had been ripped off, with only the facade remaining.” Last month, Sweetman was stunned to learn the house was completely gone, she says. Now under new ownership, construction on its replacement has started and the home is set to be rebuilt and extended, according to the planning permission. But that it fell into such a state that it was lost is an indictment on the current planning enforcement system, says conservation architect and long-time anti-dereliction campaigner Róisín Murphy. “I think it's so sad that a beautiful little house was destroyed,” says Sweetman. “It seems we are incredibly bad at managing our housing stock.” Geodirectory figures [put](https://www.geodirectory.ie/getmedia/2ac99731-6105-4c3f-a19f-36dd86c83af4/GeoDirectory%5F-Residential%5FReport%5FIssue%5F24-Final.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) 1.1 percent of Dublin’s housing as derelict at the end of last year. “There has to be accountability,” says Murphy, about dereliction in general. The government must reform and strengthen the compulsory purchase process, and councils must hire more staff in planning enforcement and conservation, she says. She isn’t surprised, she says, that Dublin City Council struggles to prevent dereliction in conservation areas. It sometimes can’t even force owners to maintain buildings that are on the record of protected structures, says Murphy. And whenever any building is demolished, there is also an environmental cost from the waste, she says. “You owe the carbon back to us.” ## **Tracking the decline** Number 40 Park Avenue in Sandymount is not on the record of protected structures, but the street is in what is zoned as a “residential conservation area”. Sweetman has photos from the brochure from when her family sold the house in 2002\. The outside shots show a clean red-brick house, with steps up to a blue door. Inside, the dining room has dark wood furniture, wooden floors and long red curtains. Tracking the decline of 40 Park Avenue on [Google Street View](https://www.google.com/maps/place/40+Park+Ave,+Dublin+4,+D04+RP74/@53.3256243,-6.213385,3a,75y,69.28h,72.47t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sMS8BYnAE88VsFIXTwMV2-w!2e0!5s20140801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb%5Fclient%3Dmaps%5Fsv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D17.52578017095361%26panoid%3DMS8BYnAE88VsFIXTwMV2-w%26yaw%3D69.27972772926621!7i13312!8i6656!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x48670ed75d26f02d:0x63afc92d5f48a5fc!2s40+Park+Ave,+Dublin+4,+D04+RP74!3b1!8m2!3d53.3256763!4d-6.2130919!16s%2Fg%2F11gfj7bb%5Fs!3m5!1s0x48670ed75d26f02d:0x63afc92d5f48a5fc!8m2!3d53.3256763!4d-6.2130919!16s%2Fg%2F11gfj7bb%5Fs?entry=ttu&g%5Fep=EgoyMDI2MDIwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D&ref=dublininquirer.com) shows the house was intact with a car parked outside it in 2014 but by 2017, the roof was gone. Neighbours contacted the council repeatedly to complain that the house was falling into dereliction, says Sweetman. A council spokesperson says that the roof was removed around 2016\. At some point before 2020, the house was entered on the derelict sites register. In December 2020, Pat Halpin applied to the council for permission to build two two-bedroom apartments, around 84sqm each, and a new four-bedroom house of around 128sqm. An architect wrote a letter to council planners as part of the application saying that Halpin had been ill, which had contributed to the house’s decline. The proposal was to retain the facade, demolish the “existing return” and lower the ground floor to create a terrace at the front, and put the two apartments in that building, says the planner’s [report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26949902-planners-report-40-park-avenue-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) At the back, Halpin proposed building a new four-bedroom house, across one and two storeys, with access via a side passage. There were [12 observations](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/SearchResult/RunThirdPartySearch?FileSystemId=PL&Folder1%5FRef=4010/20&ref=dublininquirer.com), some of which raised concerns about the development, including the loss of period features, including the chimneys, impact on the privacy of neighbours, flood risks – it is on a flood plain – and some said the plans constituted overdevelopment. Council planners [knocked back](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26949902-planners-report-40-park-avenue-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the proposal citing impact on privacy of neighbours and the flood risk, and heritage concerns. Efforts to reach Pat Halpin through an email address for his partner from company records, through an accountant and a lawyer who previously represented him, and on an old mobile phone number, weren’t successful. ## **Meeting the wrecking ball** In 2024, 40 Park Avenue sold for €757,000 according to the [property price register. ](https://www.propertypriceregister.ie/Website/npsra/PPR/npsra-ppr.nsf/eStampUNID/UNID-139CA2919D46B42080258C1A00602CFF?OpenDocument&ref=dublininquirer.com) At that stage, it had been on the derelict sites register for years. According to the council spokesperson, “the rest of the property had been demolished circa 2016 and all that appeared to remain was the front façade and a portion of the side gable wall”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/40-Park-Avenue--2026---by-Laoise-Neylon-1.jpg) Photo of 40 Park Avenue. Photo by Laoise Neylon. In August 2025, Jackie and Eddie Moloney [got permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/167253?ref=dublininquirer.com) to restore the house and build a two-storey extension with a flat roof and rooflights at the back. They would restore the front façade and reinstate the front chimney and original floor levels, install new timber sash windows and fully refurbish the house, says the [planner’s report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26949901-planners-report-40-park-avenue-aug-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) But the next month, they had to apply for planning permission again. They couldn’t restore the facade and needed to demolish it instead, the application says. “The development will consist of taking down and rebuilding the front façade (south) and Side (west) gable wall to match original design and the adjoining neighbour. The works are being carried out to make the building structurally safe and to address compromised and defective bricks,” says the [planner's report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26949900-planners-report-40-park-avenue-dec-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The planning permission, and demolition, was granted. On 30 January, a long empty site with a wheelbarrow, mixer and building materials was visible through gaps in the hoarding in front of what once was Sweetman’s mum’s home at 4o Park Avenue. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/40-Park-Avenue--January-2026---by-Laoise-Neylon-1.jpg) 40 Park Avenue, January 2026\. Photo by Laoise Neylon. ## **The strictest regimes** Sweetman says that the government should do more to make sure homes are maintained so they can continue to be lived in, given the housing crisis. It should protect historic buildings, she says. “They are not an infinite resource.” Says Murphy, the conservation architect: “There has to be some sort of use it or lose it.” Many European countries have robust powers of enforcement to prevent dereliction, particularly of historic buildings, she says. She worked in the United Kingdom, where every five years, owners of protected structures have to prepare a survey to demonstrate that they are maintaining the property, she says. That measure should be introduced here, she says. “You have an obligation to your neighbours.” She isn’t surprised that the council didn’t succeed in getting the owners to maintain the house at 40 Park Avenue, she says, as the council struggles to enforce rules even when a building is on the record of protected structures because they don’t have enough staff in planning enforcement and conservation. “We need stricter rules and more enforcement,” she says. The government should overhaul the compulsory purchase process to make it much stricter, says Murphy. “Even large developers that own protected structures are allowed to sit on long-term dereliction right in the city centre,” says Murphy, pointing to Moore Street and [Aldborough House. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-permission-to-transform-aldborough-house-into-an-office-complex-set-to-lapse/) That is something city councillors [have been calling](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) for also. Although, even when Dublin City Council does purchase a property by force, [that can sit and crumble for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/) be it because of other priorities, changing staff, or a reluctance to spend to do it up. ### Councillors in Fingal reach for CCTV as tool to combat anti-social behaviour URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-in-fingal-reach-for-cctv-as-tool-to-combat-anti-social-behaviour/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T00:59:35.000Z Could Fingal put up more CCTV focused on areas where there are frequent complaints about anti-social behaviour, as a deterrent? asked independent Councillor Darren Jack Kelly, in [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/upload/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at Monday’s monthly council meeting. Kelly pointed to official Garda figures he got last year. From 2022 to 2024, there were 13,463 incidents of anti-social behaviour reported to An Garda Síochána across Fingal, Kelly said. Constituents in Swords often raise it with him, said Kelly by phone on Wednesday. “Everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their communities. CCTV plays an important part in achieving that goal,” he told the meeting. Kelly also pointed to the government[ grants available for](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/services/community-based-cctv-grant-aid-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) community-based CCTV systems meant to deter anti-social or illegal behaviour. Communities around Ireland have already availed of the scheme, he said. “There's ones in Carlow, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick and so on.” Research into the usefulness of CCTV in preventing and detecting crime has shown mixed results, [according to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26952812-2019-01-14-data-privacy-and-community-cctv-schemes-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Oireachtas Library and Research Service. For its part, An Garda Síochána cautions that CCTV can “have a direct impact on the human rights of individuals. Therefore, its installation and operation must be carefully planned and its use competently managed”. ## **Support** Within the council chamber, Kelly’s motion was well-received. There has been CCTV in the Swords area already to catch littering in some spots such as bottle banks, said independent Councillor Joe Newman. “I don't see why, if there are some black spots, as in litter or anti-social behaviour, that we couldn’t do the same there,” he said. Independent Councillor Tony Murphy spoke in favour too. From his experience owning a premises with CCTV, the benefit outweighs any costs, he said. If the council can target the right black-spot areas it will be a positive, he said. “By virtue of the fact that we have another set of eyes, be that virtual or whatever.” On the phone, later, Kelly suggested that identifying long-running “black spots” would be a job for the Gardaí and their own official data. Councillor Joan Hopkins, of the Social Democrats, said she supported the motion but with caveats: “We just need to be careful that we don't think this is going to solve all of our problems.” The council has to make sure that Gardaí have the resources to review footage and act, she said. In some past cases, they haven’t had, she said. Indeed, CCTV cameras can be a tool for prosecution, said Labour Councillor James Humphreys. But they don’t address causes or prevent anti-social behaviour. “We just have to look across the road, across the Irish Sea, to see one of the most heavily CCTV-ed countries in Europe, that it doesn't actually solve the issue that we're talking about now,” he said. Studies done in the UK, [reviewed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26952812-2019-01-14-data-privacy-and-community-cctv-schemes-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, found mixed results. In terms of preventing crime, some found CCTV reduced thefts in car parks, but didn’t help in other situations. Closer to home, Dublin City Council has rolled-out CCTV in the north-inner city which went live in August last year. It hasn’t caught [anybody illegally dumping yet](https://www.dublininquirer.com/nobody-caught-illegally-dumping-yet-by-new-north-inner-city-cctv/). Kelly said on Wednesday that he agrees with Hopkins and Humphries that CCTV is not a solution to anti-social behaviour and what drives it. “It’s about a deterrent to support the guards. To make you aware that you're being looked at,” he said. Humphreys pointed out the criticism Dublin City Council has faced in recent years for[ using](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-installed-cameras-with-facial-recognition-on-football-pitch/) CCTV cameras from Chinese state-owned company Hikvision, given their use for surveillance in China. “It had national security kind of concerns.” That council also faced questions about whether to, say, try to deter antisocial behaviour on a football pitch, it was really necessary to install hi-tech cameras with AI and facial recognition capabilities. The Hikvision Deep in Mind NVR, according to the company’s [website](https://us.hikvision.com/en/blog/hikvision-corporate-launches-first-deep-learning-nvr?ref=dublininquirer.com), mimics human learning and memory processes by incorporating algorithms that improve video analytics performance, including the ability to identify human activity to a high degree of accuracy. This includes the capabilities of facial [recognition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j%5FEwDNjO24k&feature=emb%5Ftitle&ref=dublininquirer.com). ## **Council support** CCTV is already installed in “justifiable locations”, read a response to Kelly’s[ motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26950467-supplement-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-09022026-1700-county-council-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from Mary T. Daly, director of operations for Fingal County Council. By that, she means places “where there have been repeated serious incidents of destruction to council owned public property”. The council does not have a remit in terms of law enforcement, she said. Any CCTV has to be “necessary and proportionate” and on foot of a full Data Protection Impact Assessment, she said There is provision in the council’s capital programmed for CCTV on council property, Daly said. At Monday’s meeting, Kelly said that response was not the one he was after. Said Daly: “I wish I had a CCTV so that I could use that as a prosecution method with regards to littering, I absolutely am there with you on that.” It was actually an ideal item for the new[ North Fingal Local Community Safety Partnership](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-long-delay-new-community-safety-forums-for-fingal-are-up-and-running/) (LCSP), she said. “I will send it to the chair and the coordinator and see can we get it on for discussion on the north partnership committee. If you're agreeable?” said Daly. “Thanks Ms Daly, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you very much,” said Kelly, to a round of chuckles in the council chamber. The motion was agreed. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #119 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-119-2/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T00:49:33.000Z There have been some great additions to the city centre in regards to kids, including some lovely new playgrounds and more pedestrianised streets (unfortunately often focusing on people being served rather than just being). However, it pales in comparison to desolate, and often even absent outdoor spaces within apartment blocks, communal amenities padlocked to keep some people out, threats to precious sporting facilities such as football pitches daring to stand in the way of housing or new laws (or lack there of) to encourage more shoebox apartments. Alas, Dublin’s key measure still remains profit per square metre. Space for kids, just like affordable housing and culture, should be a fundamental part of Dublin’s planning. It should be on their doorsteps. It should be safe. It should encourage kids to play. It might even encourage us adults to follow suit. Looking at nostalgic pictures of Dublin in years gone by, you see that kids don’t need a huge amount to make their own fun. Such pictures (including those of Swede Jean Hermanson from Dublin in the 60s) are the inspiration behind this front cover. Neil is my name and I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, originally from Dublin but now living in Malmö, Sweden for the last 13 years. Collective Productions started as something to do while at home with my second child during Covid. It was a chance to create stuff outside of football, where my artistic side found its first public expression at Bohs matches. It grew into a graphic design and illustration project, which has now turned into my job. My work is heavily based in “pride of place” (whether that be Dublin, Ireland, Malmö or Skåne), where solidarity, openness and colour stand in focus. For commissions and collaborations, please reach out by email at contact@studiocollectiveproductions.com, or to see more of my work, check out my page on Instagram [@collective\_productions\_](https://www.instagram.com/collective%5Fproductions%5F/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ### Things To Do: Walk the M50, attempt to understand Jean-Luc Godard, be crowned King of the Birds URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-walk-the-m50-attempt-to-understand-jean-luc-godard-be-crowned-king-of-the-birds/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T00:48:38.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Claire Roberts/Noel Fortune Quintet** Tonight, the Claire Roberts/Noel Fortune Quintet is performing up in Arthur’s Pub. Composed of jazz vocalist Roberts, trumpeter and bandleader Fortune, with pianist Darragh Hennessy, bassist Derek Whyte and drummer Shane O’Donovan, the quintet play up-tempo swing and hard-bop melodies. And for this particular set, they will be joined by poet and singer-songwriter [Amano de Londra Miura](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-ormond-quay-a-literary-salon-meets-as-gaeilge/) who will be be reciting poetry in Irish and English with an improvised musical accompaniment provided by Fortune, Hennessy, Whyte and O’Donovan. If you’re up for living in the moment, and the promise of singing, pints and vocal experimentation, then you should head up to the Liberties for 8:30pm. Tickets are €20, and you can secure one [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/claire-robertsnoel-fortune-quintet-tickets-1974978852914?%5Feboga=undefined&ref=dublininquirer.com). **A Rasher Each: Longmiles & Laneway** Back in September, our music columnist Dean Van Nguyen wrote about the album *Boreens & Backroads.* This, [you may recall fondly](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-the-classic-hiss-of-irelands-first-ever-pavement-covers-album/), was a compilation of Irish artists performing songs by the American indie bands Pavement and Silver Jews, as well as solo material by their members Gary Young and David Berman. At the time, Dean felt confident enough to declare it to be the first local release to use such a concept. Well, now there is a second. Classic Hiss, the Dublin label behind the first volume has put out its sequel: *A Rasher Each: Longmiles & Laneways*, once again paying tribute to Pavement, Silver Jews (the band which preceded, shares members with, and ran concurrent to Pavement), Gary Young (Pavement’s former drummer) and David Berman (lead vocalist of Silver Jews). Featuring 16 covers and reinterpretations by artists including Carpark Sci-Fi, White Sage, Skinner, Aoife Wolf, the Bonk and [Vsevolod Plotkin](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-a-gig-on-the-north-bull-wall-an-experimental-punk-band-reclaims-the-city/), *A Rasher Each* is available to buy as digital download or on cassette [here](https://classichiss.bandcamp.com/album/a-rasher-each-longmiles-laneways?ref=dublininquirer.com). Money raised will go towards aid groups working in Gaza with proof of donations to be posted publicly. **The King of All Birds** This week, theatre maker and sound designer Martha Knight is bringing her solo show, *The King of All Birds* to Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. Described as a gig for voice and vocoder, a type of speech coding that analyses and synthesises the human voice, Knight’s show looks at our shared history with the sky and our fascination with it. Or, to put it in Knight’s words: “I’m going to do a few songs today. In about 60 minutes, we’re going to crown a new king. And then, I’m going to fly.” *The King of All Birds* will be on at 7:45pm tonight, as well as tomorrow, Friday 13 February, and Saturday 14 February. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873681040?%5Fgl=1%2Ak1v7bb%2A%5Fga%2ANzMzOTYyMDAwLjE3NjgzOTIwMzI.%2A%5Fga%5FC4WSKCHMDZ%2AczE3NzA5MDk0ODQkbzEwJGcwJHQxNzcwOTA5NDg0JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..%2A%5Fga%5FQCXK9ZPKTK%2AczE3NzA5MDk0ODQkbzEwJGcwJHQxNzcwOTA5NDg0JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Auspicious Eight: Fire Horse** This evening, Flux Studios will be celebrating the Lunar New Year with the launch of *Auspicious Eight: Fire Horse*, a new group exhibition showcasing nine contemporary artists. Curated by visual artists Jinny Ly, *Auspicious Eight: Fire Horse* is “centred around connecting through community”, and explores themes like cultural identity, the slow passage of time and the relationship between humans and nature. Featuring artists Bao Han Nguyen, Emer Wang, Grace McEvoy, Jiayi Luo, Lin Zhou, Stacy Kim, Xuying Li, Yang Yang and Zell Ping, the exhibition is set to include works of videography, photography, illustration, visual communication and sculpture. *Auspicious Eight: Fire Horse* opens at 6pm this evening, Thursday 12 February, and will run until 15 February. **Walkways of the M50** Artist John O’Reilly first appeared on our pages when, in 2022, he exhibited a series of oil paintings devoted to the subject of the city’s car parks. Appropriately, the works were featured in Glovebox, the art gallery and cocktail lounge on the fifth level of the Trinity Street car park. Now, he is returning with *Walkways of the M50*, in which he devotes his attention to the pedestrian access routes that have been incorporated into the orbital motorway. The paintings present the quiet and stillness of these spaces within a noisy environment, while also examining how it is an “overlooked edge-land”, both homogeneous and local, that sits on the border between urban and rural Ireland. *Walkways of the M50* will run from Friday 13 February to Sunday 15 March. **The Rhythm of Ideas, Jean-Luc Godard and the cinema of the French New Wave** Since the start of February, the Irish Film Institute has been running a season in honour of radical filmmaker and French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard. Spread across this month and the next, *Truth, 24 Times Per Second: The Films of Jean-Luc Godard* may be one of the cinema’s most ambitious career retrospectives, with a staggering 24 feature length films set to show, each more challenging than the next. Alongside the classics in his repertoire, like *À bout de souffle* (Breathless), *Bande à part* (Band of Outsiders), *Alphaville* and *Le Mépris* (Contempt), there are more than a few exciting inclusions on the bill that seldom get an outing. Notably, they will be screening his 1987 post-apocalyptic comedy *King Lear*, in which William Shakespeare Junior the 5th attempts to stage a version of his ancestor’s play; *Film Socialisme*, an abstruse drama about social decay with deliberately vague English subtitles; and *Goodbye to Language*, the only film that has successfully deployed 3D glasses as a weapon on its audiences. Look, nobody ever said this was going to be fun. Or entertaining. It’s French New Wave cinema. It’s not meant to be enjoyed. But, if you’re up for dwelling on the art of a provocateur, the IFI will be hosting a discussion about his work this Wednesday. *The Rhythm of Ideas: Jean Luc-Godard and the cinema of the French New Wave* will be presented by Douglas Morrey, professor of French Studies at the University of Warwick. Morrey will “attempt to explain” some of Godard’s ideas, while also framing them within the context of the French New Wave. Join Douglas Morrey braving the subject of Godard at 6:30pm on Wednesday 18 February. Tickets are €5 and can be purchased [here](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-talks-the-rhythm-of-ideas-jean-luc-godard-and-the-cinema-of-the-french-new-wave/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-advert_blue.png) An advert costs €75 + VAT. Contact amy@dublininquirer.com to book. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Dublin 8 Community Survey** Community Organisations and Residents Network (CORN) is currently running a survey to build a comprehensive understanding of the community, voluntary and social services operating in Dublin 8. The aim is to better understand who local organisations are serving, the types of facilities they use, and whether current accommodation meets the needs of their programmes and communities. The survey is available [here](https://forms.gle/71pcKBUuH9N5zDKP6?ref=dublininquirer.com), and the deadline for completion is 5pm on Friday 20 February. **Curtains** Glencullen Dundrum Musical and Drama Society will be bringing their production of *Curtains*, the musical mystery comedy to the Mill Theatre in Dundrum in March. Written by Rupert Holmes, Fred Ebb, and John Kander, *Curtains* is the Tony-award winning whodunnit that takes place on the opening night of a new musical, and the Glencullen Dundrum MDS’ production will run from 24 to 28 March. Tickets are available [here](https://www.milltheatre.ie/events/curtains/?ref=dublininquirer.com) If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### To pay for amenities, Dublin City Council proposes levy on development of affordable housing URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-pay-for-amenities-dublin-city-council-proposes-levy-on-development-of-affordable-housing/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T11:59:53.000Z Dublin City Council officials have proposed applying the development levy to the construction of cost-rental and affordable-purchase homes in the city, as a way to bring in more funding for new amenities. Until now, they have been exempt. The development levy is a per square metre charge on new builds, which the council draws on to help fund facilities and infrastructure across the city – from roads, to plazas to leisure centres. These kinds of affordable homes are trending in the city, often on sites that the council had estimated would be private-market builds – and that is expected to continue, said assistant chief executive Tony Flynn to councillors at Monday’s monthly meeting. As such, they need to be subject to the levy so that the council can still fund infrastructure and amenities, [said a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26906859-report-no-412026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-a-flynn-section-48-development-contribution/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Flynn to councillors. And, these homes already benefit from state supports, the report says. But the change would make it more costly to deliver those homes for middle-income earners in Dublin – and at the meeting some councillors asked who would be expected to absorb that knock-on. Cost-rental projects are already launching with rents that leave some middle-income renters out in the cold. Two-bed homes at Oscar Traynor Woods in Coolock [launched at](https://affordablehomes.ie/rent/oscartraynor-woods/?ref=dublininquirer.com) €1,547 a month. Opposition parties [have long criticised the](https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2025-02-19a.119&ref=dublininquirer.com#g127) costs of affordable-purchase homes at O’Devaney Gardens in Stoneybatter as not affordable. [Government scheme to help medium-income renters leaves some to fall through gap - Dublin InquirerThere’s a cohort earning too much for social housing, but too little to qualify for the Land Development Agency’s new cost-rental “affordable” housing schemes.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-567.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/hansfield-exterior-and-common-area-14-scaled-e1705455446857-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-scheme-to-help-medium-income-renters-leaves-some-to-fall-through-gap/) Some councillors nonetheless voiced support for the changes given the constant clamour and need for amenities, especially in fast-developing and long-neglected northern and western fringes of the city. Others said that it should be the central government that funds this kind of infrastructure. Flynn said that council officials would give more information about how cost increases would “manifest”, to councillors during a “workshop” – a meeting closed to the public and press – in the coming weeks, based on a report done by consultants. But he didn’t want to get into all the planned changes in the chamber on Monday, he said. “Because it’s quite detailed.” A council spokesperson hasn’t yet responded to a query sent on Tuesday morning asking for a copy of the report. A spokesperson for the approved housing body Oaklee said that it recognises the need to fund essential public infrastructure. “However, removing the exemption for development contributions for cost‑rental and affordable‑purchase homes would risk undermining the viability of these schemes,” they said. “Adding development levies would increase costs and ultimately reduce affordability for the very households these tenures are designed to support,” said the spokesperson. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that it is still planning its own broader review of development levies, but officials are looking at how to go about that. “This review will consider the impact of contributions on the viability of housing projects,” said the spokesperson. “It will also consider the need for the State to be resourced to provide the infrastructure that is necessary to support the delivery of housing, and the facilities that will result in the creation of sustainable and well-balanced communities,” they said. ## Why the change? Under the current capital programme for the city, which covers 2025 to 2027, development levies are [projected to provide](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2025-02/capital-programme-2025-2027.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) €257 million – or about 7.7 percent – of the €3.3 billion needed to fund projects like library refurbishments and sports centres. And, at the moment, the council is looking to spend €80 million to €100 million to buy a site on Kevin Street to build a new headquarters on. The council’s chief executive said recently that he planned to fund this through capital spending and borrowing. [In justifying its plan to abandon its Wood Quay HQ, council refuses to show its homeworkIt’s generally more environmentally friendly to renovate existing buildings than to abandon them to the wrecking ball, but other public organisations could follow suit.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-566.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/creepers---Laoise-Neylon-1-2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-justifying-its-plan-to-abandon-its-wood-quay-hq-council-refuses-to-show-its-homework/) On Monday evening, Flynn’s report said that council departments had sent in cost details for projects that need development levies over the coming three years. They would cost €957 million, with €248 million needed from development contributions, it says. At the meeting, Flynn told councillors that of 4,500 completed homes last year in the Dublin City Council area, 80 percent of them were social housing – and so didn’t contribute funds through levies. At a meeting of the council’s finance committee in January, its head of finance, Rory Flannery,said that with the Land Development Agency buying big land banks, the council has had to revise its estimates of development-levy income – because it won’t pay the levy for the homes it builds. Cian Farrell, a Social Democrats councillor who is head of the council’s urban planning and development committee, said on the phone on Tuesday that the council has seen a trend in planning applications. More private developments are being offered to the council and approved housing bodies to take as social and affordable housing, he said. “Which the state is obviously delighted to do. Which is independently great.” But it does result in less money from development levies to fund amenities and infrastructure, he said. ## What’s the knock-on? Officials also want to nudge up the rate of development levies. Current [rates](https://www.dublincity.ie/planning-and-land-use/development-contributions-and-security-bonds/section-48-development-contributions?ref=dublininquirer.com) of development levies in Dublin city are €117 per sqm for homes and €112 per sqm for industrial and commercial developments. At the meeting, councillors didn’t seem fussed about the idea of a 5 percent increase in those rates for eligible homes. That general increase is welcome, said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. But he had questions about expanding the eligibility. “In my head, I need to understand how that cost will be absorbed,” said Doolan. Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said he supports local taxes and he would be happy for this to go out for discussion. But at the same time, housing is the most significant national emergency that the country faces, he said. “I find this really baffling to balance the need for more housing with imposing an additional charge for the provision of that housing.” It should not be the responsibility of a struggling person who tries to buy or rent a house to pay for infrastructure, he said. As he sees it, national government should be covering that. Government keeps saying that all the money in the world is available for infrastructure, he says. So why are they having to do this, he said. Hazel de Nortúin, a councillor for People Before Profit, said they should ideally find another way to fund amenities other than passing on the costs to those who are buying and renting. But she welcomes making cost-rental and affordable purchase homes subject to development levies, she said. She represents areas with big land banks, and large projects with cost-rental and affordable homes, she said – but that just don’t have the infrastructure that is needed. The lack of amenities in Cherry Orchard is well-documented, she says. They need to be looking at ways to build sustainable communities, said de Nortúin. A council report published last May that looked at building out amenities in Belmayne flagged similar issues – lots of homes in the pipeline, but many of tenures that are exempt from development levies. [A new development plan and funding are good news for Clongriffin and Belmayne, councillors and community activists say“We’ve gotten broken promises before from Dublin City Council, but this all feels different. We’ve never had this commitment before.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-565.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/The-entrance-to-the-vacant-L-Shape-lands--Belmayne.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-2.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-development-plan-and-funding-are-good-news-for-clongriffin-and-belmayne-councillors-and-community-activists-say/) Although, development levies can be spent outside of the area in which they are paid, so funds connected through the levy collected from the south-eastern part of the city, for example, could be spent to build amenities in Cherry Orchard and Belmayne. Deirdre Heney, a Fianna Fáil councillor who chairs the housing committee, said she doesn’t think the council should take any action that would increase the costs of affordable-purchase and cost-rental homes. From April 2023 to December 2024, the Department of Housing led by Fianna Fáil ministers had [brought in](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-09-19/93/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a waiver, just for a while, on development levies even for private housing projects to nudge developers to start on sites. At the meeting, Flynn said that one internal suggestion had been to provide some kind of discount for affordable-purchase on council lands in some areas. He didn’t elaborate. “The details of that will be included in the draft scheme,” he said. The spokesperson for Oaklee said that “Under current funding arrangements, unless central government adjusts CALF/CREL supports to compensate,” – referring to funding streams from the department – “these additional charges would fall on tenants or purchasers, directly contradicting affordability objectives.” “Rather than imposing new costs on affordable housing, more sustainable solutions lie in multi‑year infrastructure investment and greater certainty in national funding streams,” they said. ## No other sources? Some councillors questioned whether it would be possible to raise the additional funds needed in other ways which wouldn’t drive up delivery costs for cost-rental and affordable homes. As of July last year, developers [owed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26906461-report-08-2025-development-contribution-scheme-2023-2026-presentation-by-mire-igoe-planning-an/?ref=dublininquirer.com) €97 million in development levies to the council that hadn’t been collected. “Are we going to up our game in terms of our actual collecting of them?” said Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha at Monday’s meeting. Said Flynn: “I’ll be very very, kind of, open and honest and upfront with regards how we have collected the funds from the scheme over the past number of years.” They have analysed that and are going out robustly to collect the funds, he said. He didn’t give details at the meeting, though. Development levies aren’t the only revenue stream which the council has soft-pedalled on for the past few years. Another is the derelict sites levy, which central government now plans to move under Revenue’s remit. A council working group [last year blamed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26175673-urban-redevelopment-working-group-rejuvination-framework-and-report-25925/?ref=dublininquirer.com) low levels of collection of the derelict sites levy on “difficulty in tracing ownership, unwillingness to take potentially expensive court action for what might eventually be recovered upon sale, and sometimes political reluctance to pursue certain owners”. “We usually just put a charge with Tailte Éireann, which we hope then will recoup the levies at a later stage,” said Margaret Mooney, an administrative officer, [at a council meeting in](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/) October last year.. “But we are going to be more proactive.” The proposals for changes to the development levy in the report at the meeting didn’t look exhaustive, said Michael Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor at the meeting. “I presume it’s acceptable to come back in and amend things before we go out to public consultation?” he said. One idea he put forward was to charge more for planning applications around retention – as Fingal [has done.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-increases-levy-on-developers-and-directs-more-income-from-it-toward-parks/) “There are things that we can do that are interesting here,” he said. Pidgeon, and his party colleague Donna Cooney, both also pointed to the potential of new revenue streams such as a hotel bed tax – if the central government were to allow such a move which it has long resisted. Flynn said that officials plan to hold a workshop with councillors to go over the detail of possible changes in the coming weeks, before they go out to public consultation. ### Government has floated idea of moving The Complex to the Liberties URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-has-floated-idea-of-using-building-in-the-digital-hub-as-new-home-for-the-complex-arts-centre/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T00:53:24.000Z Most of the signs along Crane Street in the Liberties conjured up images of a pint of Guinness. Some simply pointed to the Guinness Storehouse around the corner. But others, like the black and gold street signs, brought to mind the feeling of staring at the harp printed on the side of a pint glass. In the midst of these markers, there were however, a few other subtler signs mounted to the brown brick walls that people were strolling past on Saturday morning. One was a long piece of wood with white letters mounted on it, and which informed passers-by that this two-storey building that ran almost the entire length of the street was “Va House No”. It’s an auxiliary building of the brewery, connected to a network of corridors that hang over the streets, which link all 11 vat houses in the area. Some of its windows were broken, and a glimpse into the interior revealed paint peeling off walls, and floors covered in sawdust. Diageo, the company which owns Guinness, doesn’t own Vat House No. 7\. Currently, its owner is the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA), a spokesperson for the agency said. But the situation is in flux, and one possible future for this building might see it offered as a new home for The Complex arts centre, which closed its space in Smithfield earlier this month. Although, according to a statement from The Complex, issued via [its Instagram page](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUiveg2DFNK/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) on Monday, they have not yet been involved in these discussions – and the council hadn’t mentioned it as a possibility. ## Moving pieces The 12-bay two-storey vathouse was built circa 1865, according to the National Built Heritage Service [website](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080271/guinness-brewery-crane-street-rainsford-street-dublin-8-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). Although it’s now among the properties controlled by the Digital Hub Development Agency, the government, which funds the agency, in 2021 announced plans to wind it up. In buildings on its campus, which is split in two by Thomas Street, the Digital Hub rents space to tech companies, creative organisations, and social enterprises. In its [2024 annual report](https://thedigitalhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DHDA-Annual-Report-2024-English-PDF.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) it listed 58 of them. The government’s plan is that much of the Digital Hub campus land will be transferred to the Land Development Agency, which has a plan to redevelop much of the Digital Hub campus into an [affordable-housing](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dissolution-of-digital-hub-could-leave-lots-of-thomas-street-area-property-vacant-presenting-a-danger-and-an-opportunity/) project, called Pear Tree Crossing. The Digital Hub’s recently released [strategic plan](https://thedigitalhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Digital-Hub-Strategic-Plan-2026-2028-English.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) says it hopes to “pivot from being a state agency to a new standalone legal entity under the auspices of Dublin City Council”. And that “Under the LDA’s Pear Tree Crossing [masterplan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24528683-pear-tree-crossing-masterplan/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=vat+house&mode=document#document/p51), The Digital Hub’s in-use buildings will remain in place while new, high-quality housing is developed on other parts of the campus.” The LDA has confirmed that it will not require all of the properties within the hub, a spokesperson for the Department of Culture said on Tuesday evening, and it has been engaging with Dublin City Council on options for some of these buildings. One possible option,[says a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26948017-untitled/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Department of Culture, sent on 30 January to the artist Muirin Goulding, could be for the LDA to transfer part of the site to the council who in turn might make it available to The Complex. As part of this large redevelopment, the LDA has identified Vat House 7 as having the potential to be repurposed for community or cultural purposes, an LDA spokesperson said last Tuesday. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council did not comment when asked if they had any plans to take charge of any properties within the Digital Hub campus to assist The Complex, or if Vat House No. 7 was raised in their discussions with the Department of Culture. ## Vat house history Vat house No. 7 was one of 11 vat houses on the site of the Brewery, according to the LDA’s website for the [Pear Tree Crossing](https://peartreecrossing.ie/history/?ref=dublininquirer.com) development. In April 2008, the developer Manor Park Homebuilders Limited applied to Dublin City Council to change its use from a warehouse to offices and shops, as well as a bar. But work never progressed and, [in November 2013](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/103497?ref=dublininquirer.com), the council declined the Digital Hub Development Agency’s request to extend the duration of the permission. Eight years later, [in June 2021](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-06-01/68/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the government announced its plans to wind down the Digital Hub and transfer the site to the Land Development Agency. As part of that transfer, Vat House No. 7 will also be taken in charge by the LDA, a spokesperson for DHDA said last Tuesday. “As such, its future use is a matter for the LDA.” Right now, the LDA is advancing designs for the development of the affordable housing that will be delivered on the Pear Tree Crossing lands, an LDA spokesperson said last Tuesday. And, as part of that, Vat House No. 7 has been identified as having the potential to provide cultural, community or commercial floorspace, they said. They are continuing to progress these plans in partnership with stakeholders including the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, Dublin City Council and the Digital Hub Development Agency, they said. ## Complex communications Originally opened in September 2019, The Complex occupied the warehouse in Smithfield on a short-term lease of three years, which was then extended until 2025, according toa [submission ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26948004-2024-07-11-submission-the-complex-en-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)the company made to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Arts, Culture,Sports and Media in July 2024. On 15 January, the arts centre’s CEO, Vanessa Fielding, confirmed via the venue’s [website](https://www.thecomplex.ie/post/closure-of-the-complex?ref=dublininquirer.com) that they had been evicted from their warehouse on East Arran Street. This followed weeks of campaigning by Fielding, artists and elected representatives to save the venue, including the launch of a [petition on 3 December](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/save-the-complex-in-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com), calling on the Arts Council and Dublin City Council to prevent the eviction. The petition amassed more than 16,700 signatures, and a lot of the signatories also wrote to Minister for Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure, Jack Chambers, Fielding said on Monday. Fielding learned this week that the Department of Culture had responded to letters sent as part of the campaign, she said. [One letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26948017-untitled/?ref=dublininquirer.com), sent on 30 January, by Darren Clarke, a private secretary within the department, said they were engaging with Dublin City Council to transfer part of the Digital Hub site to the local authority. “The Minister has requested that the city council consider whether any of the activities which were conducted at the Complex arts centre could in time be facilitated in the Digital Hub complex,” Clarke wrote. The Department would be happy to work with the council on any proposal including consideration of whether any of the department’s funding scheme could be of assistance in this regard, Clarke wrote. None of this information had been communicated to Fielding by the council, she said on Monday. “I suppose when I saw the letter I thought wouldn’t it be nice if the council had offered us a solution, and give us a suggestion of how we might be rehoused.” While councillors have recently floated the idea of using an old auctioneers on Capel Street as The Complex’s replacement, the building is probably not suitable, Fielding says. “It wouldn’t have a performance space in it.” The department letter does not specify if there is a specific building within the Digital Hub that either it or the council had in mind. Nor did either a council or Department of Culture spokesperson comment when asked on Tuesday morning if they were considering offering Vat House 7 to The Complex. The department is in discussion with bodies including Dublin City Council on options for the properties within the Digital Hub that the LDA does not require, a department spokesperson said on Tuesday. But, even if the council took charge of a building on the campus, there is still a lot that could prevent this from becoming a new space for The Complex, Fielding says. “There’d be a tendering process. Many times with old buildings, there’s planning requirements, like refurbishment to compliance.” Just because this would be in the council’s possession doesn’t mean it would actually be available, she says. ### Refugees waiting on citizenship decisions find the rules have quietly changed URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/refugees-applying-for-irish-citizenship-face-an-unexpected-hurdle/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T00:53:34.000Z **This article mentions suicide. If you or somebody you know might need help, Samaritans’ national suicide prevention hotline can be contacted at 116 123 and jo@samaritans.org. You can also visit the HSE’s website here for a list of additional resources.* In May 2025, Emrul Emon – who had been granted refugee status in February 2024 – applied for Irish citizenship. He didn’t hire a lawyer, he said, because he reckoned his application was straightforward. “I did everything myself.” But since a couple of weeks ago, when he heard back from the Department of Justice’s citizenship unit, he has wondered if he needs one, Emon said. “I’m thinking about it.” Before reading its letter, he said, he was almost sure it was positive. “I was surprised, yeah, yeah, definitely. It was just sudden …” The letter said Emon didn’t have the necessary three years of residence counting toward citizenship. Like many other refugees, he said, Emon had counted his time towards citizenship from when he arrived in Ireland and opened an asylum claim. That was May 2022, he said. So, counting from May 2022 to May 2025, that’s three years, said Emon. But “they want like, three years, *after* I got my status”. Calculating like that, he said, yes, he doesn’t have enough. That method of calculation, though, wasn’t the practice when he applied, immigration lawyers say. They’ve helped scores of clients get approvals over the years, while calculating the time from when they opened an asylum claim, they say. Migrants-rights non-profits also advised people to count it that way [in the guides](https://asset.cloudinary.com/dvcx4as7a/89a31146f4fb0ca0287895072588e063?ref=dublininquirer.com) they published. But the letter Emon and other refugees have gotten recently from the Department of Justice seems to say that counting people’s time in the asylum process toward citizenship was never really policy . “Reckonable residence in the State is calculated from the date of the grant of refugee status,” the letter said. It ends by saying that applicants have a chance to prove that their circumstances are “exceptional and compelling” enough for the Minister for Justice to do them a favour and waive that condition. Emon hadn’t heard or seen news of a pivot on how the Department of Justice calculates needed time for citizenship-seekers who’d applied before policies changed, he said. A department[notice](https://web.archive.org/web/20260207120312/https://www.irishimmigration.ie/changes-to-citizenship-for-people-granted-international-protection/) announcing another recent change to the process for refugees to apply for citizenship didn’t mention this one. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice didn’t directly address a query asking why it’s not honouring its past practice for calculating that time for citizenship seekers. It’s unclear if it’s denying that it ever followed that policy. ## Safe travels Emon says one crucial reason he needs citizenship is to briefly travel to his country of birth to take care of some business for his aged father. Besides, he really wants to see his dad one more time, he said.“I have to visit him at least once.” Refugees living in Irelandoften don’t have a valid passport from their country of birth, and go abroad from hereon a travel document issued by the Department of Justice. But visiting their country of birth on a refugee travel document raises suspicion, can be risky, and might not even work. It’s a lot safer to return to a country one had sought asylum from with the protection that a European passport offers. Trying to get a passport from the embassy or consulates of their country of birth here, even if possible, comes with its own set of risks. The embassy of the Iranian regime in Dublin, for example, charges more than the normal rate and asks refugees to [sign a statement ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26886632-apology-statement/?ref=dublininquirer.com)that says in Persian, “I regret my decision to accept sanctuary from the country I currently reside in, and seek consular services from the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. And there’s no guarantee that people who brought themselves to the attention of Iranian officials as refugees, apologised for seeking asylum and paid more to get a passport, won’t be arrested and get stuck once they touch down in Tehran. In 2016, Kianush Sanjari, an Iranian political activist who’d been granted refugee status in Norway but had been living in the United States, travelled to Iran to see his mum. Soon after, he was arrested – and later sentenced to 11 years in jail, six years of which were suspended. He was also barred from leaving the country for two years after release. In 2019, Sanjari was released on bail, out on a medical furlough. He’d been living in Iran, in the years after. On 12 November 2024, he [posted on X](https://x.com/Sanjaribaf/status/1856449963212870107?ref=dublininquirer.com) that he’d take his own life “in protest against dictatorship” if by the end of that day the Iranian regime didn’t release a few political prisoners he’d named. They weren’t freed. Sanjari, who was 42, [killed himself](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg0qz157yyo?ref=dublininquirer.com) the next night in Tehran city. ## See you in court Sitting at his desk on a recent morning, Imran Khurshid, an immigration solicitor in Dublin, picks up the same letter that Emon got, saying a frantic refugee client sent it. “And I was contacted by other people as well, who got this letter and they were asking if I could represent them,” he says. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly address a query asking how many people had been impacted. He found the letter mystifying, Khurshid said. Counting refugees’ time waiting in the asylum system towards citizenship was always the practice, and he’s got tons of approvals for his clients calculating like that, over the years, he said. “And as many other solicitors would know, we never had any trouble, we never received this kind of letter before,” he said. That practicewasn’t explicitly laid out as a policy in Irish citizenship [law](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1956/act/26/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) or the Department of Justice’s [website](https://web.archive.org/web/20250429044034/https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/become-an-irish-citizen-by-naturalisation/), though. A guide to refugee rights on the website of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), [mentions](https://web.archive.org/web/20260208135756/https://www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie/get-help/information-hub/my-rights-after-i-am-granted-status/) the Department of Justice’s recent about-face. The department’s letter seems to imply that if it used to approve citizenship requests from refugees who’d counted their time in the asylum system, it was doing them a favour by waiving the three-year condition altogether, said the IRC website. And it doesn’t want to do that anymore “unless convinced by the “compelling reasons”. “We are currently considering the best way for people to respond,” it said. Khurshid said he would most likely take these cases to the High Court. But he’s unsettled by a recent [Civil Reform Bill](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26886629-minister-jim-ocallaghan-publishes-civil-reform-bill-to-overhaul-judicial-review-and-streamline-courts-processes/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, which if passed could redirect immigration cases to lower courts, making justice more expensive for so many people, Khurshid said. The Legal Aid Board doesn’t cover representation for non-asylum immigration cases, and for asylum cases doesn't cover judicial reviews. So citizenship applicants have to pay for their lawyers. If the law changes, it can be more expensive for clientsbecause Circuit Courts award small compensations to winners, and so lawyers mightcharge people much more to file court cases, and not everyone can afford that, Khurshid said. But yes, it saves money for the state, he said. He’s also concerned about narrowed access to justice under that regime, Khurshid said. “And I’m not saying a Circuit Court judge doesn’t know what they’re doing, but they don’t have the experience in immigration,” he said. ## Off course The pivot on calculating citizenship-eligible time for past applicants coincides with the plans of Minister O’Callaghan, to make the road to citizenship and family reunion harder to crossfor people with refugee status. Like how on8 December 2025, the Department of Justice [hardened its rules](https://web.archive.org/web/20260207120312/https://www.irishimmigration.ie/changes-to-citizenship-for-people-granted-international-protection/), asking refugees to wait five years after they got status instead of three. By rolling out these changes, he [has said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26789158-new-migration-curbs-aim-to-cut-irelands-population-growth-rate-says-jim-ocallaghan-the-irish-times/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that he wants to slow population growth, [and that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26886628-high-asylum-seeker-numbers-are-a-threat-to-social-cohesion-says-jim-ocallaghan-the-irish-times/?ref=dublininquirer.com) more people seeking asylum pose a threat to “social cohesion”. Lucky Khambule of the Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI), said he’s also been contacted by former members who, with sadness and surprise, got the letter saying they didn’t have three years of residence that counted. “Some had already spent years in the asylum system before gaining protection,” he said. Their future plans hinged on “the previous timeline only to learn that they must now wait even longer”, he said. Now, they’re thrown off the path they thought they’d been on, he said. That citizenship helps improve social integration of immigrants is the upshot of [a 2023 study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26885258-citizenship-and-integration-sciencedirect/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by researchers at the University of Luxembourg. Khambule said for so many people, Irish citizenship is a window to “education, family reunification, and gives people the confidence to fully invest in communities where they live”. This apparent rejection of past refugee citizenship-seekers who shouldn’t be impacted by new changes is going to make people feel like they don’t belong “even after being granted protection”, and that takes a toll, he said. Governments of course have the right to tweak policies, Khambule said, but they should assess the impact of their changes carefully, and be reasonable. The Department of Justice spokesperson said having people wait longer means they forge a stronger connection with the country “demonstrated over time”. In the meantime, it is investing “in a range of measures related to integration, including community led initiatives, to support the inclusion of migrants and their families in Irish society”, they said. ## Degrees of separation Emon – the man in Dublin who was told he doesn’t have three years for citizenship – said he was also hoping to reunite with his fiancée, who lives in his country of birth, after he became a citizen. He’d planned for them to get married, he said, and try to make a go of life together here. And bringing her over would have been easier to do as an Irish citizen, he said. He thought his approval was on his way, Emon said, he hadn’t done anything wrong to ruin his chances. But it may have just slipped out of his grasp, years further away into the future. If he can’t convince the Department of Justice that his case is “exceptional and compelling” and they turn it down, Emon said, he’ll have to wait not just three years now from when he was granted protection – but [five](https://web.archive.org/web/20260207120312/https://www.irishimmigration.ie/changes-to-citizenship-for-people-granted-international-protection/). That’s because he’d count as a new applicant and has to apply under new stringent rules. He is worried about how his relationship can endure the distance, he said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen to our relationship.” ### At a clown rave in Glasnevin, performers strut their stuff URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-a-clown-rave-in-glasnevin-performers-strut-their-stuff/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T15:51:20.000Z Attendees laughed along the side aisles and up the stairs. Maria Cunningham introduced Kailey Greenberg, a lone clown, the first of eight performers. Cunningham, in the front half of a two-person horse costume, doing a bit herself with an accent – and the two doing poses strutting around the performance area. Many people have played the back-half of this horse, Cunninham said: ex-boyfriends, family members, best friends. She made the horse costume herself. Designed it herself too. The person in the back half has to bend over and hold her tummy or shirt and follow her movements. It is intimate, she said. “It is … It's hot in there. It is hot in there,” she said. That’s how clowning is, Cunningham said. In fact, it’s definitional to many of the performers: clowning is intimate. Cunningham hadn’t been sure how many would show up to the [clown scratch night and clown rave](https://www.instagram.com/p/DT8p7FGjPOy/?hl=en&img%5Findex=1&ref=dublininquirer.com) on Friday 6 February at [Daylight](https://www.patreon.com/DaylightGlasnevin/about?ref=dublininquirer.com), members-funded social centre in an industrial unit in Glasnevin Industrial Estate. A few days before the show, she had sold a few dozen tickets of the 100 tickets, she said. By the time the day rolled around, though, they had sold out. The event is part of a growing clown culture in Dublin, said performer Francis Breen, who organises a gathering, Who’s That Clown?, every few months on Pearse Street. The scene is in a good place, he says, really open and experimental, and it’s just breaking through. “So I think we’re all just enjoying the ride, is the kind of vibe, you know?” ## What is a clown? No, calling someone a clown is not offensive, said Cunningham, the organiser, an actor and theatre maker, who got into clowning via training in a drama school. “I would say, you know, I'm an actor, I'm a clown, I'm a theater maker. Like, I am a clown is definitely something I would say.” Being a clown means being open, vulnerable, says clown performer Dagda Semler. It’s about being embarrassing, a fool, says Cunningham. It’s about reacting to the audience. A clown needs an audience to riff off of. There’s an idea that making mistakes and not knowing what to do and having questions makes somebody a fool, she says. “It's used in a negative way.” But clowning subverts that, she says. “It’s about making mistakes and letting people see that and like, really rolling around in the not knowing, and in the flaws,” It’s about falling flat on your face and that being a good thing, she says. “Like that is a great place to be as a clown. So we're self aware. We're self aware about being fools and clowns.” What exactly a clown is is personal. On Friday, Conor Clarke McGrath did an act playing a little Welsh child (he’s from Wales), and his bit was he’s afraid of clowns. “My character isn't scared of arty European clowns,” he said. “My character is, like, specifically scared of, like, kind of American circus clowns.” But like McGrath’s rendition literally as a child – for many, clowning is about returning to their inner child. “It’s vague,” said performer Semler, who got into clowning via drag. "My friend hosts a queer club night in Galway called taboo. And so she asked me, would I be interested in drag? So I thought, yeah, okay.” She said she is always doing little bits with her friends anyways. “We'll have an afters at my house, and it'll be 3am, I'll be like, right, I'm gonna put the clown nose on,” she said. “And I'll come downstairs with a prop or something. And all my friends will be drunk,” she said. “I just sit them down and give them a show for like, 10 minutes or something.” “It’s supposed to be something you feel,” said Breen, the performer, who became a clown after being part of the stand-up world, and got exposed to clown work for the first time at the Edinburgh Fringe. Performer Conor Clark McGrath, said the same: he first got exposed to clown work at the Edinburgh Fringe as a teenager. He met someone who had gone to École Philippe Gaulier, a famous clown school outside Paris, and he went. “It’s improv on steroids. Really the purest way is just to get up with nothing,” he said. “You see your audience, you do something that makes the audience laugh, and then you repeat it, and then you keep doing it until they stop laughing.” Semler said when she did a clowning course she came to believe that it doesn’t have to be funny. “I realised that clowning wasn't just about happiness, but it was about like, tragedy and sadness and like, there's actually a lot of depth to it, which made me really drawn towards it,” she said. “Clowning is very much a very honest representation of myself, like it's, it's kind of me and my most vulnerable state, or like, the child version of myself,” she said. Breen, too, said that it doesn’t have to be funny – but he likes being funny. “I just sort of exist and I'm not really particularly funny or there's not much going on,” he says, “and maybe it's a flaw in in my practice at the minute where, like, I'm happy to live in the silence and just exist and just sort of see how people are feeling”. But for McGrath, clowning does have to be funny, he says. “Yeah, absolutely, they have to be funny. They have to be in the moment, and then they have to react to the laughter.” ## Back at the show? There were eight clowns at the show on Friday at Daylight, which lasted two hours. Breen was in all white with a white face, another clown was in a spider costume, one performer was dressed as a businessman, and another, Muireann Kavanagh, had a party hat, clown nose, and dripping makeup as she performed a clown's guide to heartbreak. Cunningham said that while this was a once-off for now, as a fundraiser for a play she’s putting on, there’s more clown events on the horizon. There’s Who’s that Clown? every couple months on Pearse Street that Francis Breen puts on. There’s also Clown Hall, which started in February and is supposed to be on every other week, said Liza Borghesani, who co-hosted it, who also performed at the clown scratch night on Friday. “Clown Hall is just a place for people who want to try out clowning bits, but also are just curious about clowning, to do it,” Borghesani said, "It's stupid, it's beautiful, it's simple, and it's really tender as well." McGrath said that’s how he ended up at this clown event at Daylight. He saw about the first clown jam, Clown Hall, on Instagram at the start of the month, and went along, and then heard about this scratch night. He didn’t expect it to be like in school – told on the spot that it was his turn to go. “They pulled names from a hat,” he said. “I went first.” "It's a radically give‑and‑take space. And it's also just stupid – like, it's so stupid. Here I am trying to intellectualise it, but it's a body experience," he says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Despite objections, Fingal councillors approve Fortlawn housing redevelopment URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-objections-fingal-councillors-approve-fortlawn-housing-redevelopment/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T00:53:52.000Z Over [hundreds of objections](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/part-8-%C2%A0planning-and-development-regulations-2001%C2%A0-amended-proposed-demolition-4-no-dwellings-and?ref=dublininquirer.com) including from local residents, and local councillors, the majority of Fingal county councillors voted to back [a proposed redevelopment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26933626-part-xi-of-the-planning-development-act-2000-and-part-viii-of-the-local-government-planning-deve/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the Fortlawn housing estate in Dublin 15. The council management’s plan includes the demolition of four homes in the area, and construction of 21 new ones – for a net gain of 17 homes. It also includes changes to the road layout, eliminating cul-de-sacs in favour of through roads, as a way to reduce anti-social behaviour, council officials said. The project has been mired in controversy since the council announced it, with residents of the four houses saying they were taken by surprise to learn their homes were slated to be demolished. Fingal’s housing director, Paul Carroll, said the residents of these homes [will not be forcibly removed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-says-itll-avoid-evictions-with-new-fortlawn-redevelopment-plan/), because the works will be carried out on a phased basis once they reach an agreement with the tenants. “We’ll work with the tenants to achieve the right housing solution for all of them.” But this could take months, or even years. “We don’t have a fixed timeline on that for obvious reasons,” he said. Local residents and councillors have been asking that the council return to the drawing board and consider an alternative plan that does not involve knocking the houses. Since July, councillors have passed three motions calling for the council to reconsider the current plans, and more than 300 submissions made during the consultation phase have questioned it too, said Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly. Councillors were essentially being asked to reject those views, Labour councillor John Walsh said. “We’re being asked to ride roughshod over those perspectives.” After the chamber descended into a heated debate for more than two hours during the full 40-member council’s monthly meeting on Monday in Swords, councillors eventually agreed to grant the council planning permission to proceed. ## The plan The plan is to demolish four three-bed, two-storey homes on Fortlawn Avenue and Fortlawn Park. Then to build seven terraced houses in one block, including one four-bed, and six three-beds. As well as 12 apartments in a two-storey block, including six one-beds, and six two-beds. And two semi-detached houses: a four-bed and a three-bed. The council also plans to open up six cul-de-sacs on Fortlawn Park and Fortlawn Avenue, and put in new through roads and pedestrian footpaths. The project is a significant investment of over €12 million in the area in terms of both the delivery of housing, as well as the upgrades to its roads and parklands, Carroll said on Monday, at the meeting. In all, it would lead to a net gain of 17 homes, eight of which would be universally accessible, he said. “We believe this is the right solution for this particular site.” ## The tenants Fortlawn locals voiced their disapproval for the council proposal when it first went on display back in July. A resident in one of the four homes that is slated for demolition [posted a petition](https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-demolition-of-homes-in-fortlawn-park?ref=dublininquirer.com) last July – which now has 572 signatures – asking the council not to proceed with the plan, saying they had not been consulted with by the council. “For 22 years, Fortlawn Ave/Park has been my home. It’s where I grew up, where my family lives, and where four close-knit households have built a life together. Now, without any warning or consultation, our homes are set to be demolished,” it says. In July, after the backlash, the council deferred the consultation, and then re-launched it in November. The process hadn’t been well handled, Carroll, Fingal’s director of Housing and Community Development [told councillors in November](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-says-itll-avoid-evictions-with-new-fortlawn-redevelopment-plan/). But local councillors at that time said they weren’t happy that the proposal remained the same. “If you listened to the residents and to the councillors, we could come up with a plan that wouldn’t destroy community relations and would pass,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly. On Monday, Carroll, the council’s housing director, said the council had made significant changes to the proposal in terms of its phasing. There is no need for any tenant to be forcibly removed from their property, he said. “We’ll work with the tenants to achieve the right housing solution for all of them.” Unlike a standard planning permission which carries an expiration date, a project with Part 8 approval does not, he said. “Part 8 has an indefinite timeline and we can work within that.” ## Fighting crime one through road at a time As well as providing more homes, the council is looking to tackle anti-social behaviour in the area by removing cul-de-sacs, said Carmel Brennan, a council senior architect. “These new through roads will improve access, connectivity and passive surveillance,” she said. The changes will enhance Garda access by opening up the dead end roads and pedestrian shortcuts that are used as escape routes by people fleeing on both foot and scramblers, she said. Tackling anti-social behaviour by turning cul-de-sacs into through roads didn’t seem to make any sense, said Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly. “I’d really like to hear what sort of conversations or what sort of advice you got from the guards.” Right now, the cul-de-sacs make issues for Gardaí while there are multiple pedestrian “escape routes”, Brennan said. “They create conditions that are widely recognised as risk factors for anti-social behaviour.” It makes it difficult for residents and Gardaí to enter and exit the estates efficiently, she said. “Particularly where turning movements are constrained.” Opening up the roads will make anti-social behaviour less concealed in the area, she said. Liam Burke, the council’s Housing Support Officer, said he is in regular contact with Gardaí concerning anti-social behaviour. “It’s increased unfortunately year-on-year; significant behaviour relating to behaviour of youths, drug dealing, joy riding, vandalism, criminal damage.” Near the site, in March 2024, there was a petrol bomb attack, he said. “Garda Síochána regularly tell me that the difficulties around access and chase events in Fortlawn is very difficult for them.” There is no panacea for bad behaviour, he said. “This proposal is grounded, and well grounded in complaints about significant and serious bad behaviour over a number of years.” A lot of these are matters for police and the criminal justice system, Labour Councillor John Walsh said. “Are we seriously saying that this development is going to stop joy riding, gun attacks and petrol bomb attacks?” These new designs, the council believe, will enhance the operational policing status of the area, Carroll said. “And will also be a significant investment in the public realm for residents.” ## Consultation and experience There were 342 submissions and observations made during the consultation period, Brennan said during the presentation on Monday. Community groups submitted two petitions, with 566 and 496 signatures, she said. “Nearly all the submissions or observations express concerns about the potential displacement of existing tenants,” she said. One from Adam Homan, for example, was a form letter that many other people submitted, with some [handwritten additions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26941843-adam-homan-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “The removal of long standing homes will severely disrupt the stability and character of the neighbourhood,” he wrote. “Many of the houses represent family and community.” Increased housing density will strain the already limited infrastructure, such as schools, doctors, parking, and “public services”, he wrote. “Opening the roads will cause nothing but anti-social behaviour, making it less safe for children going to and from school,” his additions say. Donnelly, the Sinn Féin councillor, said the problem is that the council is citing its own experience of the estate rather than that of the people living there. Fortlawn is being painted as an “absolute hellhole”, she said. “There’s residents that try very hard. It’s a thriving community, and we don’t know what’s best for them, and we should never think that.” Consultation and listening to the community is what should deliver a good plan, she said. ## An alternative In response to the council executive’s proposal on Monday, a motion requesting that an alternative plan be prepared by a group of councillors. This group included Walsh and Donnelly, as well as Gerard Sheehan and Ellen Troy from Aontú, Breda Hanaphy from Labour, Malachy Quinn and John Smyth from Sinn Féin, and John Burtchaell from Solidarity. “The Executive were asked many, many times to make changes to this plan. But they ignored those suggestions,” Donnelly said. Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh said there is a lot about the plan that he liked, and that should be voted for. “There’s an increase in density of housing. There’s new, modern housing.” But, he wasn’t 100 percent certain on which side he would vote on, because all of the local councillors have expressed their concerns, he said. Fianna Fáil Councillor Darragh Butler said he was disappointed by the discussion. “It seems to be the same old record that we’re all in favour of additional housing until it’s in our area,” he said. A number of councillors in the room loudly expressed their disdain at this remark. But, Butler said, the council had worked hard to accommodate the existing tenants. Labour Councillor Mary McCamley said councillors in her area have supported social housing developments. “We’ve always supported them 100 percent.” But this is different, she said, raising her voice in anger at Butler’s quip. “These people are in these houses 20 years. They have them looking fantastic. They’ve worked hard on them. They’ve looked after them. They’ve paid their rent.” There has to be an alternative, she said. “We are not saying we don’t want houses in the area. We are saying we don’t want houses knocked down in the area.” The motion calling for an alternative plan was defeated by [20 votes to 17](https://councilvotetracker.ie/fingal/motions/a130c328?ref=dublininquirer.com). ### Trips along the Howth Summit walk have almost quadrupled, data suggests URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/trips-along-the-howth-summit-walk-have-almost-quadrupled-data-suggests/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:53:22.000Z By the time the train got near the end of the line, it was clear that most passengers out of the city had been headed to Howth on Sunday. Kesley Hopkins was with a group of five friends visiting from Boston. They were heading for the Cliff Walk, she said. Howth has become more and more popular as a tourist attraction. In 2024, people took 216,000 trips to the Howth Summit walk, [show figures](https://data.fingal.ie/datasets/FingalCoCo::pedestrian-footfall-counts-summit-howth-walk-2024-2025-fcc/explore?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Fingal County Council. Last year, that figure hit 936,000. “And that's quite apart from the many people who come to Howth to never go beyond the harbor and the village area,” says Philip O’Connor, chair of the Howth Special Amenity Area Order (SAAO) Management Committee. “So like, this is .. 10 times what it was just five years ago,” he says. “It's one of the most visited places in Ireland.” For the Howth SAAO Management Committee, that has presented a challenge. “This is not the Guinness Storehouse. When you overwork the cliffs, you actually make the place worse, not better,” says O’Connor. Meanwhile, across the county, councillors for Dublin 15 have been pushing to set up a tourism group for their area to see if it is possible to disperse visitors a bit more evenly around Fingal. At a recent meeting, Labour Party Mary McCamley said that she had been to a tourism conference at the Crowne Plaza last autumn, and saw a presentation from the council on all they were doing. “Not mentioning Blanchardstown and Dublin 15 whatsoever,” she said. ## Why now? Below the Dart Station in Howth on Sunday, Mark Morrison, the manager of the Bloody Stream, always asks tourists how they ended up there. “Their vibe is they come out here for maybe four or five hours from the city centre,” Morrison says. It’s advertised by their hotels, he says, who point them towards the Cliff Walk, and to head to the Bloody Stream afterwards. They come and do the Cliff Walk, grab a bite to eat or a pint and head back, he says. “And then, obviously, if we didn't get them on the way in, we get them on the way back, that's the nature of it.” O’Connor says the two big changes are cheap flights and awareness of Howth through social media. “You know, Italian people fly into Dublin for a long weekend or something. And through social media, they learn very fast that you can hop in the train, in half an hour, you're in this very pleasant place,” he says. Down by the boats, Shane O’Doherty – who runs Howth Adventures – says he has felt bad about the impact of the massive visitor numbers. “I actually, to some degree, I feel guilty about it,” he said. Too many people can wear out the trails, and scare the birds, he says. “If there's too many people, it actually diminishes the kind of, the community of nature.” He has tried to reinvest in the local community, he says, seeing it as a kind of “regenerative tourism”, giving locals summer jobs, doing free work with schools. In general he said, the growth in visitors has been good for the businesses in Howth. “The rising tide has floated all boats,” said O’Doherty. But even though he’s in the tourism industry himself, he said there can be too many people in Howth. O’Connor says that the SAAO Management Committee has been taking measures too. The council and committee put in new rope fencing surrounding the heather along the Cliff Walk, and they put in new signs alerting visitors about the seabirds and where they lay eggs on Ireland’s Eye. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of people instinctively comply with the rope fencing — that always amazes me,” O’Connor said. But as they put in more defences to protect from the steady tread of visitors, that has its own impact, he says. “You're putting in more fences, and you're putting in maintained paths and that, and it's gradually that is, of course, all gradually eroding the wilderness aspect of it,” he says. “That's a compromise you have to do. It's a matter of trying to manage a place that has become extremely attractive to visitors,” said O’Connor. Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh said the challenge is making Howth accessible to everyone. “It's spectacular views. It's accessible by rail, by public transport, 45 minutes from Dublin … like it is a world-class, you know, destination in and of itself,” he said. So, he said, the council needs to manage the space. “We've invested a lot in trying to improve the paths, make it safer,” McDonagh said. A group of students speaking Italian pooled together just outside the door to a giftshop at the east side of Howth Market, sheltering under the entrance roof from the rain. Inside the shop, Elaine Collins also put the increase in tourists to cheap flights from Europe, she says. Visitors from abroad used to be seasonal, mostly in the summer, she says. “It's nearly every weekend now,” Collins said. But they count on that now, she says. They feel it when the Dart has gone down for work during bank holiday weekends, she says. Joan Hopkins, a Social Democrats councillor, says she has wondered about the changes that Howth has undergone in recent times, and how the kind of tourism has impacted the town. Advertising is very much around daytrips, she says. “It's very much, you know, have a bag of chips, do the Cliff Walk, you know, and then go home, kind of thing.” She wonders whether encouraging fewer people to come and stay longer would be more sustainable, she says. Although many hotels that used to be in Howth are gone and replaced by short-term lets, she said. O’Doherty says he would like to see fewer, more engaged tourists. “Who actually are genuinely here for the wilderness, biodiversity, habitats and culture,” he said. “Which are often things that are most, kind of like, apparent and resonant, when there isn't 100 other people beside you.” ## What’s the strategy? In March 2024, Fingal County Council [launched a new](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26928599-final-fingal-tourism-strategy-mar24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) tourism strategy which runs until 2029\. It looks to push the county as a destination, noting the importance of tourism for jobs. Most of the attractions that it logs are in coastal areas of the county. At the recent meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart-Castleknock-Ongar Area Committee, Labour Councillor Mary McCamley said she had noticed a lack of attention to Dublin 15\. At a tourism conference last year, residents had come over to her to say it was ridiculous how they hadn’t been mentioned, she says. Council officials suggested to McCamley that she get a tourism group together for the area. So, she put forward a motion at the area committee meeting, asking that Fingal’s chief executive engage with people with a view to setting up a dedicated Dublin 15 tourism group. She got a response saying that the council’s tourism development unit had a framework for engaging with groups on the tourism strategy and the county’s food and drink strategy. As part of that, it was supporting local stakeholders to set up a Dublin 15 group to drive tourism in the area, it said. McCamley said she could have done with more detail in that written response. “Is there a committee being started? Where will it meet? When will it meet?” “There is a great deal of potential there,” said John Walsh, the Labour Party councillor – pointing to [Shackleton Mill](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-land-for-a-hindu-temple-in-d15-tackling-illegal-dumping-and-refurbishing-shackletons-mill/). “Without a doubt, we are up against it,” says Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly. “We don’t have a beach. They have gorgeous beaches, they have demesnes.” But she has scratched her head at the degree to which Dublin 15 hasn’t featured in the tourism strategy, she says. She remembered a social media campaign last year inviting people to Fingal and it was all the beaches and the walks, she says. “Blanchardstown got an honorary member. The shopping centre.” Ciarán Staunton, an administrator with the council, said there had been a tourism group pulled together in Dublin 15, but it seemed to run out of steam unfortunately. They do acknowledge the need for a local tourism group, and to support that, and are doing that, he said. Dublin 15 does offer a different tourism product to the east, he says. “It does offer more on the corporate tourism side, and it does offer more on the longer walkways,” he said, citing the Royal Canal and the Liffey Valley and the Castleknock historic trail. Councillors for the coastal areas were mixed in how much they think the success of tourism in Howth is down to council promotion and how much it is down to the beaches and cliffs. "There are other beautiful places that Fingal could be promoting more, you know, to take the pressure off,” said Hopkins, the Social Democrats councillor. But also, she said with a laugh, Howth is special. Yes, said Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh, it is hard to replicate Howth’s success elsewhere, because it’s special. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council still undecided on how to strengthen Sandymount flood defences URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-still-undecided-on-how-to-strengthen-sandymount-flood-defences/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:53:14.000Z It could be another three years before Dublin City Council is able to start improving the flood defences down in Sandymount. Hopefully, the council will be able to start work on the flood alleviation scheme by 2029, senior engineer Gerard O’Connell told the South East Area Committee meeting on Monday evening. “We’d be very lucky to get it all completed in 2030.” The scheme will cover the three kilometres of coast between Merrion Gate and Sean Moore Park, and will aim to deal with the issue of overtopping, which means when waves go over the floor defences, said Damien Keneghan, a senior associate director at engineering consultancy Jacobs. Local councillors, as far back as [September 2021](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-for-enhancing-sandymounts-flood-defences-delayed-by-years/), were informed that the council intended to raise the sea wall that runs along the promenade. O’Connell, at that time, said works were expected to start before the end of 2021, with a second phase planned in the autumn of 2022. But, by March 2023, the council was only at the stage of appointing a “multi-disciplinary consultant team”. At a meeting of the council’s climate committee in November 2023, faced with doubts from Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey about the state’s ability to deliver large infrastructure projects like this one, council executive manager James Nolan, [pushed back](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-years-pass-the-sea-rises-and-nothing-is-built-some-begin-to-doubt-the-council-can-defend-clontarf-and-sandymount-from-the-tides/). “I disagree. I think we can deliver and we will deliver,” Nolan said. “Within maybe 18 months we’ll be delivering the scheme in Sandymount along the promenade.” In response to similar queries, a council spokesperson said at the time that the council already had a scheme planned, but before building, it’s planning to bring in a consultant “to determine if the design is in line with current national guidelines and standards”. Jacobs was appointed in December 2024, Keneghan said. In December of 2025, Jacobs was looking to identify the issues that affect this stretch of coast, and analysing events like the [2002 tidal floods](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23699547-dcc-tidal-flooding-2002/?ref=dublininquirer.com), as well as conducting bird surveys since October, he said. “That will run for six months.” They will also be doing flood mapping in the next few weeks, he said. “It will show us what we think is the flood risk at the area and what’s the overtopping.” Then, this will feed into their assessment as to what is the most viable option for Sandymount, he said. The firm also needs to study the make-up of the coastal protection wall to determine what it is made from, as well as identify what utilities are in the area, he said. “We have to know exactly where stuff is before we go building on top of it.” More surveys are planned between now and 2027, but the next step is to bring some emerging options forward for public consultation during the second quarter of this year, he said. That will inform the next consultation surrounding a preferred option in the fourth quarter, he said. Slides shown to councillors at the meeting indicate that the council will then look to get permission for the project in either the second or third quarter of 2027. Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne said it was great to see progress at last. But, why did the council need to do flood prediction modelling all over again when there already is existing flood mapping? There are changes, like rising sea levels and wind changes that need to be looked at again, O’Connell said. It was worth noting that the council does have climate targets to meet by 2030, Byrne said. “To me these timelines look like 2030 and beyond before we see any of the flood defences in place.” The hope is to go to planning next year, and assuming that happens, it will depend on the size of the project, O’Connell said. “We don’t really know what that is yet.” But they will be “very lucky” to get it completed by 2030. There doesn’t seem to be any great sense of urgency surrounding a problem that has been ongoing for 20 years, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said. “I don’t understand why some initial works can’t be carried out.” The wall will be higher, he said. “Why can’t you start raising the wall now?” Fine Gael Councillor David Coffey asked if this would follow the existing wall, and was there any indication yet as to how high the walls would be? Once the model is completed, they will be able to determine what options are possible, Keneghan said. “At the start, we are only focused on the coastal protection option. Is it a wall? Is it revetments? Is it beach nourishment? Is it nature-based solutions.” That is the starting point, he said. ### Department of Children not yet committed to key measure to support children in care who are a risk to themselves URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/department-of-children-not-yet-committed-to-key-measure-to-support-children-in-care-who-are-a-risk-to-themselves/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:55:16.000Z High-profile stories in the media have flagged the serious harm to children due to the state’s failure to provide them secure care. The most recent was the case of [a 10-year-old girl ](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1021/1539801-tusla-review-foley/?ref=dublininquirer.com)who went missing from a mainstream care facility and was allegedly sexually assaulted while unsupervised. The judiciary, from the [District Court](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26876336-judge-dermot-simms-letter/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the [High Court](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/12/08/judge-criticises-state-agencies-over-at-risk-children-being-unable-to-access-special-care-beds/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and the [Supreme Court,](https://www.childlawproject.ie/latest-volume/supreme-court-upholds-high-court-judgments-that-cfa-must-apply-for-special-care-orders-for-troubled-children-who-need-such-care-2024vol11/?ref=dublininquirer.com) has continually called out the unlawful nature of the Irish state’s failure to provide safe and secure placements for the children in its care. Terry Dignan, spokesperson for the Children's Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association, which represents charities that run children’s homes, says that for each case that hits the headlines, many more children are being failed by the system but more quietly. “There are lots of others who are being [hurt and exploited](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26811820-protecting-against-predators/?ref=dublininquirer.com),” he says. In April 2025, an external review group published a detailed [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26811819-report-of-the-external-review-group-on-special-care/?ref=dublininquirer.com)on how to reform special care – that is, the system where children in the care of the state are detained for their own safety or the safety of others. There are currently only 15 children in special care, but there should be 26 beds available. The reason, Tusla says, is staffing shortages. That report pointed to comments made by a High Court judge, Justice John Jordan. Officials in the Department of Public Expenditure had been responsible for refusing to increase salaries for special care staff, when asked in 2019 and again in 2023, he said. The authors of the report recommended that the government establish a centre of excellence for special care, a new bigger, purpose-built facility with a mix of professional staff, and allowing children to move to lower security care within the facility, when possible. It also recommended that Tusla re-open high-support units for children with complex needs, which would reduce the need for special care places and allow children who are ready to move on. A spokesperson for the Department of Children said in January that it has not yet decided on whether to set up a centre for excellence. It has tendered for a review of international practice in special care, which should be completed within six months, he said. The spokesperson said it is ramping up capital funding to Tusla and that the agency is working towards creating nine beds in “step-down” facilities this year and next year to facilitate children to move on from special care. Advocates for children in care welcomed the move towards providing high support step-down homes, as well as promised reform to the law to get state agencies working together on child protection. But they also called for the full implementation of the recommendations, including a centre of excellence with a multi-disciplinary team. ## **The Failures** The [Report of the External Review Group on Special Care,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26811819-report-of-the-external-review-group-on-special-care/?ref=dublininquirer.com) commissioned by Tusla, provides an insight into the causes of the crisis. Many of the children detained in special care have experienced significant trauma, including abuse, neglect or exploitation, says the report. They often have mental illnesses, neurodiversity or learning difficulties. High-risk behaviour could include self-harm and suicidal ideation, running away, substance-use issues (including dealing and running up drug debts), joyriding and violent behaviour. Some children are also detained due to “fears of children being groomed into organised criminal activity and being exploited by criminal gangs” and “fears of risk of sexual exploitation”, says the report. Carol Coulter, executive director of the Child Law Project, says that the shortage of special-care beds has been an issue at least since the project started reporting in the High Court in 2013\. Tusla struggles to staff special care. The job is challenging and high-risk, and until January 2025, it was paid the same as any other social care job, starting at around €37,000 a year. The units were relying on agency staff at night and bringing in security guards, says the report. They had stopped using security guards at the time of the report but have since [resumed,](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2025/06/26/tusla-to-hire-security-guards-to-restrain-children-during-violent-episodes-despite-concerns/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the *Irish Times* reported last year. The external report says Tusla had put forward a business case to increase pay for staff in special care in 2019, 2020 and again in 2023, because it was unable to staff the homes. The proposals in 2019 and 2023 were knocked back by the Department of Public Expenditure, while the Department of Children didn’t put forward the case in 2020, says the report. Judge Jordan said it was clear that the officials in the Department of Public Expenditure were unwilling to approve a pay increase which might have unwanted ramifications for pay in other parts of the public sector. “On the evidence, it appeared to the court that the Department quickly made the decision not to sanction the increase in the allowance – and then began to work backwards from there to find reasons for not sanctioning the increase,” he said. The state’s failure to provide for special care created a situation where High Court orders were not being complied with. It was unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue, he said. “It is manifestly obvious that there exists, and has for some time existed, a need to make employment in special care units more attractive for staff,” said Justice Jordan, according to the report. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure didn’t respond to those points directly. “Responsibility for the provision of Special Care lies with the Child and Family Agency and the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, as parent Department,” says the spokesperson. Dignan says that current and previous Ministers for Children and Ministers for Public Expenditure should be held accountable for the failure of the state as the legal parent to the most vulnerable children in the country. Going back to 2019, there have been three of each: Katherine Zappone, Roderic O’Gorman and Norma Foley; and Michael McGrath, Pascal Donohoe and Jack Chambers. “The government should be hauled over the coals,” says Dignan. “How can a government give allowances to every TD who chairs a committee – while they are on a very good salary – and then refuse to give an allowance to people doing one of the hardest jobs in the country?” Eventually, in January 2025, Tusla increased the pay but it is still struggling to fill special care worker posts. Recently, only 15 of the 26 beds were operational, [according to](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/severe-difficulties-in-recruiting-staff-means-11-special-care-beds-for-at-risk-children-are-empty-tusla-chief-tells-court/a1512944269.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) the *Independent.*[ ](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/severe-difficulties-in-recruiting-staff-means-11-special-care-beds-for-at-risk-children-are-empty-tusla-chief-tells-court/a1512944269.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) The agency is [advertising ](https://ie.indeed.com/q-tusla-special-care-jobs.html?vjk=f3a2d35f3b60fb49&ref=dublininquirer.com)directly, including on buses, and through employment agencies. It recently put out a call for [international workers.](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/social-care-worker-special-care-and-children-residential-services-international-qualification-campaign-at-tusla-child-and-family-agency-4343303681/?originalSubdomain=ie&ref=dublininquirer.com) Tusla also provides [resources](https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/crs-bridging-programme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for people thinking of applying for a job in special care, to help them to prepare for the interview, and it runs a [paid training scheme](https://www.tusla.ie/careers/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPxaRxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBwRzFIWXh3eXZDZ2RzbkEwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjrN1piiS8yL%5FMvHnfRTYsEeGkEgq6zFFv52UpoxdcIGcHvQ7lbh29ZGepJV%5Faem%5FUOHJ47cGPSaFg2gehZ7tcQ&ref=dublininquirer.com#WWO) for social care graduates. ## **Centre of Excellence** The External Review Group also recommended that Tusla establish a national centre of excellence. It should be “a state-of-the-art purpose-built facility with units offering graduated levels of security and supported by a unified multidisciplinary staff team, shared services and research capacity”, says the report. At the moment, there was no mix of skills among staff in special care as all were social care workers, the report says. A “multidisciplinary team delivering a coherent model of care would benefit the children therapeutically”. It should also “improve the working conditions for the staff; and aid recruitment and retention difficulties in that it would be more attractive to be part of a dynamic service working with different disciplines”, says the report. The report recommends looking at examples, including Kibble in Scotland, a [large charity-run home](https://www.kibble.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that provides education on site and trains its own staff. The Department of Children spokesperson said that it is still considering whether to establish a centre of excellence here and has commissioned a review of international best practice. Dignan says he cannot believe the department is launching another review into special care. “They’ve just done a review,” he says. “We saw the recommendations; we don't need another one.” To fix the crisis in care, the state needs to deliver buildings and provide appropriate salaries and pensions for staff, he says. “You are not going to do it with reports and studies and surveys.” Wayne Stanley, CEO of Empowering People in Care (EPIC), which advocates for young people in care, says the government should establish the centre for excellence. “Given the historic and ongoing problems with special care **facilities,** EPIC is concerned that piecemeal reform is unlikely to provide the kind of investment, expertise and vision required to address the current problems,” says Stanley. The report also pointed to better facilities available at the children’s detention centre in Oberstown, which has a gym, provides a wide range of education and training and runs personal development programmes in-house, according to its [website. ](https://www.oberstown.com/Maximising-potential/Employability-skills-development?ref=dublininquirer.com) “The development of the Oberstown campus has led to significant advancement in a child-centred approach for children in detention in the criminal justice system,” says Stanley. “It is time that this kind of ambition and level of investment is applied to children in need of special care.” The report also identified a problem with children getting stuck in special care, which is supposed to be a short-term intervention, even after they should have been discharged, because there was nowhere to move on to. This meant they were being detained for longer than necessary. “It found that it has become a de facto placement option*,* with some children being detained for up to two years, largely due to insufficient onward placements and a lack of community-based resources for children who are ready for discharge,” says Stanley. “This is wholly unacceptable.” ## **High-Support Units** The report says that the centre of excellence should be supported by a network of regional high-support units, specialist foster carers, and community-based supports. It recommends reopening “high support units”, the last of which shut in 2014\. Some young people who don’t meet that criteria for special care still need more therapy and supervision than they would get in a mainstream children’s home. Those in special care, could move on to these facilities, freeing up space in special care. The Department of Children spokesperson says that it has allocated €17m in capital funding to Tusla for special care and “step down units” over the years 2026 to 2030\. “This will support Tusla in upgrading, renovating or purchasing special care and step-down units,” says the spokesperson. The agency is working towards delivering nine beds in step-down facilities this year and next year, which will facilitate moving children on from special care, he says. Coulter, of the Child Law Project, says they have been highlighting that issue for years. “I am delighted that this is receiving attention from the Department of Children and Tusla, with new step-down facilities being prepared and increased remuneration for staff in special care units, which hopefully will lead to more beds,” she says. Dignan and Stanely both welcomed the move to provide some high support beds. Dignan says that a lot of the children in residential care have undiagnosed neurodivergence, psychiatric issues or learning difficulties. If those children got the necessary assessments and treatment at an earlier stage, that could prevent them from needing to be detained in special care, he says. “If a child is referred into residential care, they should be automatically eligible for assessment,” he says. ## **A Duty to Co-operate** The external review also called on state agencies to cooperate more to meet the needs of children in the care of the state. Those could include addictions service and CAHMS under the HSE, An Garda Síochana and Tusla, it said. The department spokesperson says that the government is set to bring forward an amendment to the Child Care Act 1991\. [The Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025 ](https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2025/78/eng/initiated/b7825d.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com)contains new measures to strengthen inter-agency co-operation and national coordination on child protection and welfare and will come before the Houses of the Oireachtas in the coming weeks, he says. “Designated public bodies will have a duty to cooperate on child protection matters and be required to proactively share information and collaborate to deliver more coordinated and effective services,” says the spokesperson. ### In Cherry Orchard, a new alliance is working towards the goal of a cooperative grocery store URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-cherry-orchard-a-new-alliance-is-working-towards-the-goal-of-a-cooperative-grocery-store/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:55:24.000Z Staff are midway through changing up some of what they sell at Tommy’s Shop on Cherry Orchard Avenue. They’re adding more frozen foods, more vegetables, and healthier readymade meals, and stripping back on sweets, says Paula Power, who runs the place. She has just come out from behind the new deli station which sits along one side of the small corner store. The freezers and fridges are still being stocked, she says, gesturing at half-filled cases behind her. “It isn’t even kitted out yet properly.” But it’s what people have been asking for. The challenge of course, she says, is making it all affordable. “Every time we get a delivery in, everything rises in price,” she says. People are just looking for value for money, she says, not luxuries. In the coming weeks, Power says, she is due to chat with members of the new Dublin 10 Food Alliance, about their efforts around exactly this: the struggle to provide access to healthy, and affordable, food in the neighbourhood. The alliance has grown out of research published in May last year [by the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26807055-spinning-plates-addressing-food-poverty-in-d10-full-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Liffey Partnership, says Lauren Corbet, a community food and nutrition worker with the partnership. The headline findings were stark. Food poverty in this pocket of Dublin is acute. More than two out of every five people in Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot experience it, the research said – nearly five times higher than the national average. The alliance hopes to move on from those findings, to do something about it. ## **Keeping the momentum** Healthy food is both too expensive, and – particularly for residents of Cherry Orchard – simply too far away, said the Liffey Partnership research last year. The nearest supermarket for them is more than a mile away. “Many people knew how to be healthy and wanted to be healthy but cannot afford to be,” the report said. “Simply, healthy food cannot be prioritised when rent and bills were of concern.” Those are the two issues that the Dublin 10 Food Alliance is focused on, says Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, who is a member of the group and was at its first meeting. “It’s availability and affordability.” Initiatives planned by the alliance include collective advocacy, using local data to drive changes in national policies, and coordinating existing local services – which Corbet has already started to map. Others include not-for-profit meal kits, to make healthy food affordable and convenient for people in the neighbourhoods. They also hope to get an open community kitchen up and running, which could serve as a hub for cooking clubs and community dinners. There are semi-commercial community kitchens already in some different services, says Corbet. But there can be a hesitancy to open them up to more groups, she says. She has been talking to the Matt Talbot Community Trust in Ballyfermot, as they are keen to open up their space more, she says. If cooking clubs could go there a couple of times of week for a start, she says, that would be great. Who would be involved in those groups would be community-led, she says. “What people want.” There is homeless accommodation in the area, where people don’t have facilities to cook for themselves, she says. “Maybe there could be a group for the people living there,” Older people living alone, meanwhile, may not feel that they want to make a meal-for-one, she says. “I’m open to whatever feels right. It would be nice to mix people up as well.” ## **A community shop?** The most ambitious item on the alliance’s agenda is to open a community-owned grocery store. They’ll be working up to that, says Corbet. A community grocery store may first appear as a pop-up or they may set up community fridges and pantries that are simpler to get going, she says. “The idea is to start small.” But whatever moves the alliance makes, they will be driven by people in the community, says Corbet. In Tommy’s Shop, Power says she would support more food stores in Cherry Orchard. “It would be needed. I mean there isn’t enough shops in the likes of Cherry Orchard.” The neighbourhood needs more amenities in general – more childcare spaces, a secondary school, she says. Especially as Park West expands in the years ahead. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Tommys-Shop-in-Cherry-Orchard--1--1.JPG) Tommy's Shop in Cherry Orchard. Photo by Lois Kapila. Corbet says she is conscious of how much work it will take to open a community grocery store, and how important getting the right structures in place are. Her hope though is that it would be ready and running in time to slot into one of the retail units to be built in the new town centre in Cherry Orchard. The council’s proposals for the new town centre opposite St Ultan’s School are currently [out for public consultation](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/residential-development-at-cherry-orchard-avenue-part-8-planning-consultation?ref=dublininquirer.com), and show 171 homes, four retail spaces, two arts and culture spaces, and a community space. Community groups have said that they want to see social enterprises, not extractive chain stores and empty units, at its heart. [Dublin City Council releases plans for new development at heart of Cherry OrchardThe scheme could provide long overdue retail and community space in the neighbourhood.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-552.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/View-from-Cherry-Orchard-Avenue-towards-public-open-space-and-neighbourhood-centre-2-1-1.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-releases-plans-for-new-development-at-heart-of-cherry-orchard/) How the town centre will shape up remains to be seen, says Corbet. “But our fear around it, is that commercial shops will only go where money is to be made, so is a health-promoting business going to want to move in there? Not necessarily” If they have a community-owned grocer ready and ramping up by the time that is built, maybe they could move into one of the spaces, she says. Until then though, they would need a space that makes sense in terms of where the food deserts are in the catchment area, she says. She errs towards the approach taken by places such as Bohemians FC in Phibsboro, to offer community amenities where people are going already. So maybe a sports club or a school would work, she says. “Where you get footfall.” Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, says he expects the town centre project to move fairly swiftly, given the planning process is underway. “It could happen within a couple of years,” he says, which is not so long in the greater scheme of things. It would take time to get governance structures and funding in place for any community-owned store anyway, he says. Doolan says that it is never easy to get, but there are funding streams for social enterprises. He points to the success of [Frontline Bikes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-bike-store-helps-former-drug-users-beat-the-cycle-of-addiction/), which has a storefront in nearby Inchicore and a factory in Bluebell. ## **What kind?** Corbet says that when the alliance talks about a community-owned cooperative food store, they don’t want to create another foodbank. Foodbanks are needed for people in crisis, she said, but they can also be experienced as disempowering. There might be space to incorporate surplus from an organisation such as FoodCloud – which would bring cost benefits – but they don’t want to be overreliant on that either, she said. They want to make sure that this is a co-op that is shaped by members, that people pick foods that they want. “We need a base in the community, and we need our first cohort of members to get it going, and suppliers,” she says. “We want to open it up to everyone in the community.” There are lovely co-ops around, she says, but they can often be coded as middle-class. Organic or whole-food can feel as if it is for some people and not others. ““I’d like to challenge that a little bit,” she says. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, says he has been watching the progress of [a giant new social supermarket](https://northflintfoodmarket.org/about-us/history-of-the-co-op/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Flint in Michigan where he visits from time to time. That’s Aldi-size, he says. “We won’t get that big, and we probably don’t need it for that population, but it’s that model.” Starting small, even with five or six of the basic items that are quality but affordable – some vegetables, pasta, potatoes – would be good, he says. “It doesn’t have to be exotic.” ### A requirement that cyclists wear helmets and hi-vis would be a challenge for bike-share companies URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-requirement-that-cyclists-wear-helmets-and-hi-vis-would-be-a-challenge-for-bike-share-companies/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:55:31.000Z A helmet mandate for cyclists would be problematic for Bleeper, which operates a bike-share scheme in the city, says Kieran Ryan, its communications manager. The government seems to be considering such a mandate, for people using some category of bikes, according to statements from the Department of Transport this week. Many people decide on the spot to jump on a shared bike because Google Maps says cycling is the fastest way to get where they are going, said Ryan, of Bleeper, which [provides](https://bleeperactive.com/pages/bikeshare?ref=dublininquirer.com) both ebikes and regular bikes. “They are not going to be carrying a helmet and a high-vis in their back pocket,” Ryan said on Thursday. And, “from our point of view, it is not practical to provide that PPE as part of the service", he said. How would the company provide a secure place for the helmet to be stored? he wondered. “How would you weather-proof it?” he asked. Would the last person get a wet high-vis to wear at the end of the day? “There are a lot of practical implications that don’t seem to be considered,” he says. “It would be an extra cost and extra hassle.” And even if it figured out a solution to those issues, there could be hygiene issues with people sharing helmets, Ryan said. Bleeper is one of three bike-share schemes operating in Dublin city, along with Moby and Dublin Bikes. Rules mandating cyclists to wear helmets would “kill bike sharing schemes”, said Councillor Feljin Jose, the Green Party’s spokesperson on transport. And if people are discouraged from using shared bikes, and from cycling in general, they won’t all walk, says Ryan, of Bleeper. “It could put a lot of pressure on public transport, which already has a capacity issue.” ## **What’s being proposed?** IrishCycle.com [reported](https://irishcycle.com/2026/02/04/all-bicycles-included-in-draft-plan-for-mandatory-helmets-and-high-vis-department-confirms/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that on Wednesday afternoon, a Department of Transport spokesperson said that “Requirements for mandatory helmets and high-visibility equipment are currently being considered for e-scooters, bicycles and e-bikes.” But asked about this, on Thursday afternoon, a Department of Transport spokesperson said the mandate would not include ordinary bicycles. “Proposals are being developed and will be subject to Ministerial decision,” the spokesperson said. “Requirement for Personal Protective Equipment on e-scooters and e-bikes will form part of any consideration.” “The introduction of mandatory PPE for users of bicycles is outside the scope of the current measures,” she says. “Measures to protect the safety of all road users are kept under constant review.” Some users of electric bikes are already required to wear helmets. At the moment, those that can go more than 25km/h – “e-mopeds” – require a licence, and the user must be over 16, register it, pay motor tax, and wear a motorcycle helmet. If they can go even faster, over 45km/h the user must also have a driving licence. However, “e-bikes” which don’t go faster than 25km/h – “will be treated the same as bicycles”, [says a 2024 government statement](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/new-regulations-for-e-scooters-and-e-bikes-come-into-force-next-monday/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on new regulations for them. Users aren’t required to be over 16, or register them, or pay motor tax, or wear helmets while riding them. So it’s presumably users of those ones that the government is considering requiring to wear personal protective equipment. ## **Confusion** Jose, the Green Party spokesperson on transport, said he cannot understand the rationale behind separating e-bikes that go less than 25kmph from regularbikes. “That would be madness,” he said. Those e-bikes, which cannot go faster than an ordinary bike, are commonly used by older cyclists, long-distance commuters or those carrying cargo, says Jose. “They help you to get started and give you a boost to get up a steep hill,” he says. “I don’t know why the government would go after them." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/A-Moby-bike-share-bike-on-a-stand-on-Thomas-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) A Moby bike-share bike on a stand on Thomas Street. Photo by Sam Tranum Also, rules applying to one but not the other would be virtually unenforceable because they look the same, Jose says. “How would you even tell them apart?” Jose says that the Department of Transport officials appear to be confused this week. “I genuinely don’t understand what they are trying to do,” he says. “They are just creating more and more laws instead of getting the Gardaí to enforce the laws that exist.” The authorities should focus on enforcing existing laws: clamp down on dangerous driving, “take the e-scooters off the children. Seize the scramblers”, he says. “The issue is not with people who use cargo bikes or electric bikes, it's teenagers on scramblers who should not have them,” he said. There have been various updates to legislation introduced in the last few years in an effort to regulate the use of scramblers. And now, after 16-year-old Grace Lynch died earlier this month after being hit by a scrambler, the government says it [will ban](https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0204/1556619-cabinet-wednesday/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the use of scramblers in public places. But Gardaí have said in the past that while they try to do so, they can struggle to apprehend those driving them illegally because it would be [dangerous to chase](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-summerhill-residents-call-for-garda-action-against-guys-roaring-around-on-dangerous-scramblers/) young people on scramblers through busy city streets.[ ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-summerhill-residents-call-for-garda-action-against-guys-roaring-around-on-dangerous-scramblers/) If the goal of the proposal to require helmets for cyclists is their safety, then the government should focus on providing safe cycling infrastructure to keep cyclists separate from motorised traffic, says Ryan of Bleeper. Any proposal to mandate the use of helmets makes cycling seem like an abnormal activity, Ryan says. “Cycling to the shops should be the same as walking to the shops.” “There’s an underlying message being sent to the public that the act of cycling is dangerous, whereas in reality it's the interaction between people on bikes and motor traffic that the danger arises,” he says. ## **A mirror to Australia** In the early 1990s, Australia and New Zealand introduced requirements that cyclists wear helmets, for safety reasons. Over 90 percent of all cyclists in those countries wear helmets, Alena Høye, of the Institute of Transport Economics, wrote in a 2018 [paper](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000145751830397X?ref=dublininquirer.com). Based on an analysis of 21 studies, she writes that “mandatory bicycle helmet legislation can be expected to reduce head injury among crash involved cyclists”. Helmet mandates might deter some people from cycling. But “People who may be deterred from cycling, are among those with the highest injury risk and the smallest health effects from cycling”, she writes. In a 2024 [paper](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214140524000860?ref=dublininquirer.com), Robyn Gerhard, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reviewed the results of her interviews with 21 cyclists in Melbourne, Australia, about their use of bike-share schemes. The company [Lime](https://www.li.me/en-au/locations/melbourne?ref=dublininquirer.com), for example, operates a bike-share scheme in Melbourne. It provides helmets along with its bikes. Gerhard found that bike-share schemes “act as an entry to bike riding for people who do not own a bicycle”, and that “Mandatory helmet legislation creates a barrier to using bike share schemes.” “Interviewees expressed concern about hygiene when using a shared helmet, and regular users of bike share schemes found that helmets are not reliably attached to the bikes,” she wrote. Australia’s [2021 census](https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/LGA24600?ref=dublininquirer.com) found that 2.2 percent of commuters in Melbourne, and 0.7 percent nationally, travelled to work by bike. Ireland’s [2022 census](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp7/censusofpopulation2022profile7-employmentoccupationsandcommuting/commutingtowork/?ref=dublininquirer.com) found that in Dublin city, that figure was five times as high: 10 percent. ### Live in Fingal and wish you could push your kids out to play on the street? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/live-in-fingal-and-wish-you-could-push-your-kids-out-to-play-on-the-street/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:55:40.000Z Fingal County Council is ready to push ahead with more “quiet streets” in its area after a successful first pilot, councillors were told on Wednesday. Quiet streets are those with small interventions to block cut-through motor traffic and open up roads for wheelers, walkers, and play, said Emma Court, the council’s walking and cycling officer, at a meeting of the Howth-Malahide Area Committee. For almost a year, the council has trialled one street in Drynam in Kinsealy, she said. “It has had a huge impact on safety.” Now, the council feels confident to go back out to Fingallians and ask who wants their street to be up next, she said. They plan to put that call out in early March, said Court – and scale up the programme across the council area. ## **The pilot** Residents had nominated Drynam Heath because of concerns about safety, from speeding and rat-running, said Court. After consultations, the council put in signs, temporary bollards and planters, blocking the cut-through for motor vehicles, while still allowing cyclists and pedestrians, and local residents to drive to their homes. Court ran through slides showing what happened next. They’ve used drones and sensors to monitor and collect data, she said. Motor vehicle traffic fell by 70 percent, she said, while the percentage of vehicles speeding dropped from 26 percent to 2 percent, and pedestrian activity increased by 114 percent. “There was minimal non-local traffic remaining,” she says. Community feedback has been great and the pilot seems to have been successful, she said – although the final write-up will happen in June and then a decision about its permanency. But it does already show the value of lower-cost data-led changes, she said. And now, they hope to scale up the “quiet streets” project, said Court. They plan to open up nominations for more streets from early March. Engineers will assess sites that are put forward, they’ll do piles of community engagement, and any selected sites with support will be subject to a 12-month trial, she said. Measures are reversible if they don’t work and permanent if successful, said Court. ## **Getting going** Fianna Fáil Councillor Eoghan O’Brien said that his only criticism of quiet streets had been that it wasn’t ambitious. He remembered more than 50 suggestions flowing in for the single call-out ahead of the pilot, he said – including some from outside Fingal. “Which obviously we can’t do anything with.” The council can now really start to make major improvements to safety for areas where there is cut-through traffic, he says. “Like that, quality of life.” Court, the walking and cycling officer, had spoken about the growing confidence among parents in Drynam to let their kids out to play freer range. O’Brien reminisced. Most councillors would have grown up playing out on the road during holidays from dawn to dusk but that doesn’t happen much now, said O’Brien. “And the number one reason is the proliferation of cars using our estates.” Independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin said he thought it was fantastic. There can be opposition to measures such as safe school zones and the like, he said, but that does seem to soften as people see the success of different programmes. It shows how important it is for area councillors collectively to support changes, he said. “So keep it up.” David Healy, the Green Party councillor, said some areas are going to take more discussion than Drynam and be more complicated. But all the data will help loads with that, he said. [Sinéad Murphy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sin%C3%A9ad-murphy-b65b0645/overlay/about-this-profile/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a senior engineer in the Active Travel Department, said that the layers of consultation were important in this, and that the ideas come from residents. “We’re not imposing our ideas on the community.” At the meeting, O’Brien began to throw out ideas already for where should be next. Burrowfield Road in Sutton, he said – and the roads within Drynam Hall. ### After long delay, new community safety forums for Fingal are up and running URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-long-delay-new-community-safety-forums-for-fingal-are-up-and-running/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T01:55:48.000Z Two new community safety forums in Fingal had their first meetings early this week – one for Fingal North and one for Fingal West. They had been a long-time coming. The local community safety partnerships (LCSPs) have been set up to replace the old joint policing committees (JPCs), and try a new broader approach to policing and community safety. But the JPCs were stood down in June 2024 in Fingal – and for 20 months, nothing replaced them. “It's like stopping the bus service before you’ve got a train between two areas,” said Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh last April. Now, both partnerships have elected chairpersons and vice-chairpersons and have a year to draw up community safety plans for their areas. The chairperson for the Fingal West partnership, Philip Jennings says the new body is excited to get to work but that it will be a case of “learning by doing”, as things get underway this year. Jennings is 20 years working in community safety, he said on Wednesday in Koffee and Kale Café, in the Draíocht Theatre in Blanchardstown. He is currently the community safety coordinator with the Blanchardstown Drugs and Alcohol Taskforce, he says. “Everybody is fully behind this LCSP and want to see this work. And it will work,” Jennings says, taking a sip from his decaf americano. The inaugural meeting was mostly just for everyone to get together and introduce themselves. The real work has yet to begin, and with just a year for each LCSP to produce its own community safety plan, the clock is already ticking. ## Switched off The old and wound-up JPC had been a forum for gardaí to relay local crime statistics, and share bits and pieces about significant arrests and ongoing operations with councillors and council officials. Jennings sat on it, he says. There was one for all of Fingal, says Jennings, so members couldn’t drill into any detail around how one particular community could address any issue. Gardaí would reel through reports from each district line by line, he says. There was little time for anything more, he says. “I'm from Blanchardstown listening to a garda from Baldoyle giving a report about what’s going on there,” he says. The local community safety partnerships will be less broadcast and more a conversation, he says. They’re a collaborative approach to public safety, says Jennings. In Fingal West, councillors sit along with representatives from Tusla and the local chamber of commerce, he says. Other members represent the Traveller community and the education sector, he says. This collaborative approach is one he is familiar with from his decades working in community safety and one, he says, that works. It’s important to consider problems from different angles, he says. That’s exactly what the members hope to do, says Jennings – to sit around the table together and figure out how each organisation represented can add towards a solution for whatever problems arise, before they escalate. If there is a high-rate of burglaries in an area, he says, that is of course an issue for the gardaí. But if you consider something as purely a garda problem, it's put into a silo, he says. “The role of the community safety partnership is to say to the gardaí, ‘Well, what can we do to help you?’” Each person on the partnership should try and consider how they, in their own work, can help to reduce those burglaries, he says. “There’s lots of different things that the partners can bring to the table. So, it's about teasing them out.” ## Proactive McDonagh isn’t a member of either local community safety partnership. But he hopes they will lead to a more proactive approach to issues like anti-social behaviour, when councillors raise that, he says. “It’s a case of trying to get a balance of community policing that you're able to identify problems before they arise,” he says. For low-level issues, it can be difficult to have them addressed before they reach a certain threshold, he says. Each partnership can only accommodate seven councillors. But the views and concerns of all councillors will be given airtime at the partnership meetings when relayed through their council colleagues, says Jennings. Fine Gael Councillor Luke Corkery has been appointed to the Fingal North Local Community Safety Partnership. Tackling perceptions that an area is not safe is also an important function of the partnership going forward, he said. “How do you help people feel safe? That can be through investment in town centres. It can be investment in facilities, youth centres,” he says. Dereliction can give people a sense that a place isn’t safe also, he says – and that’s something that can be tackled head-on. He looks forward to seeing how the different agencies come together and bounce around ideas, he said. “Let's see how it works.” As it stands, much of what he hears from constituents is that they simply want more police out and about and visible, he says. ## Pressure In Dublin City Council, there has been rumbling disquiet among some councillors around the set-up of the new partnership. Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said last year that he was sceptical that capping the number of councillors and adding representatives from government bodies would lead to improved community safety. “If you had HSE and Tusla and bodies like that on the new community safety fora, as equal partners, they’re not answerable,” he said. “The Oireachtas health committee doesn't have the HSE sitting on as equal partners. The Oireachtas health committee questions the HSE and questions what the role of the HSE is, and what the HSE do,” he said. There will be fewer councillors to question the Gardaí, the HSE, Tusla, and other bodies – and more representatives of statutory bodies sitting on the committee, who are unlikely to criticise each other, Lacey said. Outside of the new partnerships, councillors should also have regular meetings with gardaí in alternative forums, says Dublin City Councillor Janet Horner. Horner was a member of a 24-month safety partnership that was trialled in the North Inner-City beginning in 2021. There is currently no structure legislated for that facilitates this, she said at last October’s monthly meeting of Dublin City Council. In her experience, from the north inner-city pilot partnership, far more is achieved and actioned by councillors talking directly to gardaí, than from meetings with 20 or 30 voices, she said by phone last October. “It is incumbent on us as a council to maintain that. It is essential for the safety of the city and to look beyond the limitations of the community safety partnership model – which does not facilitate proper engagement of that type,” said Horner. In Fingal though, the focus now is on coming up with tailored community safety plans for each area, says Corkery, the Fine Gael councillor. “There's been a lot of talk about what it will look like.” Jennings, chair of the Fingal West partnership, says that as the partnership continues, members will be open to feedback on what is working or what isn’t. As Jennings takes a last sip from his decaf Americano, he reiterates the motto he says he’s picked up in his years of social work: “Learn by doing”. Meanwhile, the National Office for Community Safety, which will oversee the local community safety partnerships, is now working on Ireland’s first National Strategy for Improving Community Safety, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice says. People can weigh in on what should be included, in its[ online survey](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/consultations/national-strategy-for-improving-community-safety-online-survey/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which runs until 5pm on 27 February. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Beaumont, students work to make a big impact on the environment through little changes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-beaumont-students-work-to-make-a-big-impact-on-the-environment-through-little-changes/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:18:27.000Z On Wednesday morning, the halls of Our Lady of Mercy College in Beaumont bustle as one class ends and another is about to begin. Between mock exams for third and sixth years, a science festival and the normal day-to-day of the college, there is plenty happening, says Sarah Keegan, a fifth-year student. Outside of normal schoolwork, Keegan also has her own project that keeps her busy, she says. She is a member of the school’s Eco Committee, as are her friends Alexandra Burke-Hosey and Grace Collier. This year, they set a new goal for themselves – to get the school and everyone in it to recycle better. During the pandemic years, priorities in the school shifted as emergency, short-term public-health measures superseded long-term eco goals, says Hilary Taylor, a teacher who also oversees the Eco Committee. “The priority was to keep everyone safe and well,” she says. Between all the face masks and the never-ending streams of blue-roll used to wipe surfaces, recycling went on the back burner for a lot of people, she says. Until the Eco Committee decided they had to do something about it, she says. “The girls pick a topic that they’re interested in.” In order to ensure the continuation of life on this planet, everybody has to get involved, says Collier, one of the girls. “Especially the younger generation, because they're going to have to take care of the planet next and try to fix what has already been done,” she says. So, the girls decided it’s important to show their fellow students why it’s important to do something, however small, to improve their own little patch of the world. “People might say, ‘It doesn't matter what bin that goes in’. But it does,” says Collier. ## For the bees For Keegan, Burke-Hosey and Collier, their interest in environmental issues grew from their love for animals, the trio agree. “We saw that animals were really impacted by negative effects of climate change and global warming,” says Keegan. She points to the example of the red squirrel, native to Ireland, and a species in decline. As their natural habitat shrinks, the invasive grey squirrel has been muscling in, hoovering up the food supply of its red-coated rivals. And there's the great yellow bumblebee, she says. “Because the flowers are decreasing as there's more urbanisation,” she says. “There's less forests and plants; the bees are really badly affected.” Then there are those awful, rotten landfills, says Burke-Hosey. “They obviously smell and look bad. But they also release emissions into the air that cause air pollution, and respiratory issues,” she says. Then there is the fact you have to cut down trees and clear land to install a landfill, adding to more biodiversity-loss, she says. Recycling also creates way more employment for people than landfills or incinerators do, Burke-Hosey adds. The girls all acknowledge the housing crisis and the need for housing in their area, but want to make sure it all happens with one eye firmly on the environment and the maintaining of vital habitats. “If we don't care, no one will,” says Collier. ## Can-ye West Carefully laid out all across the school, never too far from reach, are bins. You’d expect to find bins in any school, or any public place, but in Our Lady of Mercy College in Beaumont there are a lot of bins. Carefully curated bins. With colourful posters and signs to let students know which bin is for what, but also with lots of other eco-friendly info. And while they have information posted across the school, the Eco Committee also has its own dedicated notice board – with information, encouragement, and even tips to avoid certain products. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-05-at-11.27.54-PM.jpeg) Photo by Eoin Glackin. Among the general, compost and recycling bins, there are also special ones dedicated to the Re-turn scheme. That’s the government’s deposit return scheme that puts a 15 cent or 25 cent levy on bottles and cans, size-dependent, which can be claimed back when recycled at specific machines. The transition year members of the Eco Committee are tasked with regularly emptying the bottles and cans from these Re-turn bins and exchanging them for cold, hard cash. The money raised goes back into the school, paying for things like gym equipment, Keegan says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Sarah-Keegan-promoting-the-Re-turn-scheme--which-the-students-use-to-pay-for-things-around-the-school..jpeg) Sarah Keegan promoting the Re-turn scheme, which the students use to pay for things around the school. Photo by Eoin Glackin. Although the bins are all clearly labelled, the girls say they also make sure that general and recycling have their own separate colour bin bags, to make things easier on the cleaning staff. “They have enough to be worried about,” says Burke-Hosey. To keep the message out there, the Eco Committee also hold raffles on a Monday in the canteen, the girls say. When people drop an item in the recycling or Re-turn bin, they get a raffle ticket for a Penneys voucher, they say. Elsewhere, they’ll hold workshops, making bird feeders out of plastic bottles, or making dolls out of tin cans and old pieces of their school uniforms. One such doll was named Can-ye West, says Burke-Hosey, with a chuckle. There is a culture of eco-friendliness embedded into lots of aspects of the school life, says Collier. Like in transition year, she says, when students can take part in workshops dedicated to “reloving” or “upcycling” old clothes. Turning old throw-aways into new, fun garments. Burke-Hosey says she has been involved in setting up and running three different student companies over the years, as part of the school’s business programme. And they are always encouraged to keep things as environmentally friendly as possible, from manufacturing to packaging. One year, her group started a candle-making business, using soy wax, which is much better for the planet than bees’ wax, she says. ## Small changes Working on something positive together makes them feel more at ease with the current state of climate change, the girls all agree. Research by Swedish psychologist Maria Ojala[ shows](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26878616-skrift1ojala/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) that young people who use “meaning-focused coping” — a way of finding purpose, values, or hope in a particular situation — experience less distress and more optimism, purpose and life satisfaction. There is a conscious effort to balance those things in the school, says Taylor, the teacher. When it comes to communicating with the younger students about these issues, it’s done by the older girls from the committee. “If it's student-led, I think it can come across a little bit better, because they can relate to maybe the concerns that the younger students have better than an adult,” says Taylor. When there are presentations to be done, the students make them, she says. It can be more comforting to hear things from students that they can relate to, she says. The Eco Committee isn’t about doom and gloom, Keegan, Burke-Hosey and Collier all say. They just want to encourage people to make small little changes in their habits, and to understand how big a difference that all of those little changes can make. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Scale Phibsborough Tower for a film festival, study the ways of the magazine writer, dwell on the unstable material world URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-scale-phibsborough-tower-for-a-film-festival-study-the-ways-of-the-magazine-writer-dwell-on-the-unstable-material-world/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:18:19.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **AS IF** Over in North Wall, PhotoIreland is premiering *AS IF*, a new exhibition by photographer Eamonn Doyle, artist-designer Niall Sweeney and composer David Donohoe at the International Centre for the Image. Composed of silver gelatin prints, film works, montages, sound, music, painting, drawing and text, *AS IF* is the latest project from this interdisciplinary trio. Shot and recorded between Ireland and Japan, in city locations, on constructed studio sets, and in photographic darkrooms, the project is assembled from thousands of images with composed and recorded sound. Presented in installation form, the events of *AS IF* take place simultaneously inside one structure and “fold together the combined forces of an unstable material world and the inner worlds of its inhabitants”. *AS IF* will run from Friday, 6 February until Sunday, 5 April. For more information and to get updates on when artist talks are planned over the course of its stay in the recently opened International Centre for the Image, visit the exhibition’s page [here](https://image.museum/on/eamonn-doyle-niall-sweeney-david-donohoe-as-if/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival** Bohemian F.C. is kicking off the third edition of The Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival today. From this evening (Thursday, 5 February) until Saturday, 7 February, the club’s Climate Co-op will be screening films throughout the city, beginning with the Irish premiere of the 2025 documentary *Khartoum*. Directed by Rawia Alhag, Timeea M Ahmed, Anas Saeed, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad and Philip Cox, the film follows five people as they navigate war-torn Sudan, with their stories intertwining as they pursue dreams, face political turmoil, and overcome obstacles. It is showing in the Irish Film Institute at 6:30pm today, and there will be a post-screening panel discussion titled "Telling the stories that matter: exploring the role of art and film in sharing stories of conflict and atrocities" in the Oak Bar from 8:30pm. Tickets for *Khartoum* are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-beff-khartoum/?ref=dublininquirer.com). On Friday then, the Spark Lab in Phibsborough Tower will be screening *Koyaanisqatsi*, the seminal non-narrative documentary by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass. A dialogue-free exploration of the relationship between humans, nature and technology, Reggio’s 1982 film is a hypnotic rumination on the notion of “life out of balance”. *Koyaanisqatsi* will be showing at 7pm. Then, on Saturday, beginning at 12.30pm, the Spark Lab will be screening *The Last Harvest & Sowing Seeds*, a documentary which looks 100 years into the future on a drastically changed planet. Afterwards, at 2.30pm, in the tower too, there is a chance to catch Gints Zilbalodis’ enchanting animated dystopian adventure film *Flow*, which will include a post-screening conversation with filmmakers Liv O'Donoghue and Aoibhéann McCann as well a panel discussion, "From Storytelling to Movement Building" with Sam Ahern, Elaine Walsh, and Daragh Goan. Finally, at 5.30pm, the festival concludes with *Evil Does Not Exist*, a Japanese drama film featuring a cast of non-professional actors, and which tells the story of how a large real estate project divides a rural village as some see it as an opportunity for growth while others fear its environmental impact. To see what else is in store over the course of the festival and to book tickets, visit the Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival website [here](https://beff.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Writing for Magazines** On Monday evening, the Neill Lecture Theatre in Trinity Long Room Hub is hosting a conversation on writing for magazines. Led by Trinity College’s School of Law professor David Kenny, the discussion will feature *A Thread of Violence* author Mark O’Connell, and American magazine writer, novelist and editor Dan Kois. The event will discuss the craft and process of writing for magazines with O’Connell and Kois, the latter who, during his time at *Slate*, hired O’Connell as a regular culture columnist. The pair, with Kenny, will also touch on the challenges and opportunities in this particular form of longform non-fiction. The talk will begin at 6:30pm. For more information, visit the Long Room site [here](https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/events-calendar/events/2026/writing-for-magazines.php?ref=dublininquirer.com). **MART Awards Show** If you missed its launch last week, there is still time to catch the MART Awards Show 2026 over in Rathmines. Running until 14 February, regarded by some as Valentine’s Day, the group exhibition at the MART Gallery on the Rathmines Road Lower features works by artists Vicky Ochala, [Nicole Manning](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-draws-inspiration-from-the-tangled-peace-of-a-donabate-forest/) and Lily Mannion. Celebrating innovation and experimentation in the contemporary visual artists, this year’s awards show is putting on display emerging artists who explore personal narratives within political histories and architectural structures, examine the processes of exploitation, extraction, control, and industry, and draw on mind-body connections and the experience of chronic pain. The gallery is open weekly from Wednesday to Saturday between 1 and 6pm. For more information, visit MART’s website [here](https://mart.ie/portfolio-item/mart-awards-show-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Behind the Wire** Next Thursday, the 1974 Troubles documentary *Behind the Wire* will be getting a rare outing at the New Theatre in Connolly Books. Produced by the London-based Berwick Street Film Collective, *Behind the Wire* features first-hand documentation of the early years of the Troubles. Shot in Belfast’s Catholic community, and composed of testimonies and life “behind the wire”, the footage gathered by the investigative collective would go on to inform and be re-used by many other films including 1978’s *The Patriot Game*, directed by Arthur MacCaig. *Behind the Wire* is being screened as part of the Connolly Books Film Club on Thursday, 12 February, at 7pm. To book a ticket, visit the New Theatre event page [here](https://thenewtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873682960?ref=dublininquirer.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-advert_blue.png) An advert costs €75 + VAT. Contact amy@dublininquirer.com to book. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* ***Profiles* open call for submissions** *Profiles* is looking for submissions for its fifth annual issue beginning on 15 February. The journal publishes portraiture in prose and visual art and is accepting submissions of fiction, non-fiction, translation and artwork. The closing date for submissions is 15 March. For more information, and to read their submissions guidelines, visit the Profiles website [here](https://www.profilesjournal.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **SVP open call for volunteers** The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) is appealing for new volunteers in Dublin to support individuals and families who are struggling with the rising cost of living, isolation and unexpected financial pressures. To find out more and register your interest, visit their website [here](http://svp.ie/volunteer?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Suspended in the Landscape** Kildare-based Cuban artist Brady Izquierdo Rodriguez will be launching his new exhibition, Suspended in the Landscape, this evening (Thursday, 5 February) at 6pm in Tøn Gallery. Curated by Rodriguez and AnneMarie Saliba, Suspended in the Landscape brings together the artists’ work in illustration, caricature and painting, with a particular focus on themes of the misuse of technology, climate change, loss of values and migration, to show “a new way to dialogue with his reality.” The exhibition will be displayed until 28 February 2026. For more information, follow Tøn Gallery over on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/DTxzxEYDUuI/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Irish Fling – Dance like a Georgian** The Irish Fling is an evening of Georgian-era social dancing, preceded by a series of four classes to learn the dances. If you’ve ever admired the dancing in period dramas and wanted to give it a try, now’s your chance. No previous dance experience or partner is required. The classes are on Monday 9 and 23 February, 9 and 23 March between 7 and 8:30pm at St Finian’s Church Hall, Adelaide Road. Then the dance will be on 28 March at 7pm in City Assembly Rooms, South William Street. It is €150 for the classes and dance combined. For more information and to register, contact Irish Fling via email at theirishfling@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Now that the council has stopped taking horse manure, it's piling up in the Liberties URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/now-that-the-council-has-stopped-taking-horse-manure-its-piling-up-in-the-liberties-councillors-say/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:18:09.000Z John Behan marched down Molyneux Lane to his stable just behind Cappello, the Italian restaurant, on Thomas Street. As he rolled the shutters up, Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” was playing on the radio and one of his two horses, Billy, snorted and gave the wooden door into his enclosure a good kick. Billy, and his horsemate Dell, share the stable with Behan’s carriage and some budgies in cages mounted to the walls. Behan has been operating out of here for 20 years, he says. Before he arrived at these stables, he had been up on the Dublin-Meath border, he says, while using a red plastic scoop to fill a bucket with horse feed. “This side of Ashbourne.” In the two decades since he moved into Molyneux Yard, the number of horses has steadily decreased. “There was 50 horses at one time,” he says. “Back in the day there would’ve been.” Today, he has his horses, while next-door, there are three more, he says. The owners of the neighbouring stable weren’t in. But outside their wooden doors, there were more than 80 plastic bags, most of which were stuffed with manure. They dispose of the manure themselves, a spokesperson for the council said on Tuesday afternoon. Behan does the same. There isn’t a single, straightforward way for horse owners to properly get rid of their waste. Behan takes all the manure from his horses up to a plot of land in Coolmine, he says. “They have a big vegetable plot up there. They’d make their own compost. That’s where it goes.” Until last year, however, he brought all of his manure up to the council’s bring centre in Sweeney’s Terrace, he says, pausing a moment while Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” came on the radio. “Let me see now. I think it was after Christmas. January or February” 2025 that the change came, he says. The bring centre is roughly a kilometre south of the stables, behind Mill Street. He had used it for years, he says. “And it happened in the blink of an eye.” All the horse owners would go up there on a Tuesday morning, said David Mulraney, the owner of Mulraney’s Carriages, over the phone on Tuesday morning. “They go before 12 o’clock. And then, one day, the lads went down to dump the manure, and they said they weren’t taking any more.” This change has been a massive frustration for residents of the Liberties who are now seeing a lot more manure left in bags along the sides of streets, says Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair. He’s been talking to carriage operators, local residents and businesses, he said on the phone. “They’re complaining about it. I mean, I’ve been seeing plastic bags of it being dumped with my own eyes around the Basin Street area.” Indeed, collecting the manure at the depot at Sweeney’s Terrace meant people could dispose of it responsibly, says Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty. “Rather than let it be strewn across the city roads. “Now, Dublin City Council maintains that it was a very informal, casual relationship,” he says. “But I was warned at the time that, if the owners had no place to dispose of this, it would be dumped illegally.” ## Health and safety Dublin City Council never had an arrangement in place for the collection of horse manure, either in the Liberties or in any other area, a spokesperson for the council said in mid-January. They did operate the horse manure disposal service up at Sweeney’s Terrace, subject to a charge, they said. “This service was discontinued, primarily due to health and safety concerns relating to access to and from the depot and the storage of manure containers.” Horse owners are required to make their own arrangements for the disposal of manure by delivering it to a waste disposal facility that is willing to accept it, they said. But this has created a problem for a lot of the stables, Behan says. “Not for us. But some of the boys who worked on the north side, they used it a lot because they’ve a lot of horses.” A spokesperson for Comfort Carriages said via text on Monday evening that they used it too, but now have a private contractor who takes their manure. Mulraney uses his own farm now in Bettystown for dumping manure, he says. “We’re lucky. But them people have been using them premises for 30 years now.” “So the council is allowing horses in Dublin city,” he says. “But they’re not allowing them to put their horse manure anywhere.” Veteran horse owners have approached the council, asking if there was some alternative option, he says. “Even if there was a bin left outside the place, or somewhere you could pay the council to take it from the yard.” But they haven’t been able to get the council to agree to that, he says. A spokesperson for the council did not respond when asked on Tuesday if it would reconsider accepting manure at the depot in the future. Down Molyneux Lane on Saturday 17 January, the walls were lined with plastic bags loaded up with manure. There were about 40 bags. And by thefollowing Friday, 23 January, there were 60. On Tuesday morning, 3 February,the number of bags exceeded 80. Owners currently dispose of the manure themselves, a council spokesperson said. “Waste management do not remove manure from this location.” Moriarty, the Labour councillor, says that it’s notable also that the council hasn’t directed horse owners towards appropriate places for the disposal of their manure. Just cut them off. Until they can offer alternatives, the loss of a facility like that which was offered up in Sweeney’s Terrace is going to continue to make problems, he says. “Because there’s literally nowhere for the shit to go. It’s gonna roll downhill somewheres.” ### Seeking a few more months to steady their immigration status, some university graduates fall undocumented and lose jobs URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/seeking-a-few-more-months-to-steady-their-immigration-status-some-university-graduates-fall-undocumented-and-lose-jobs/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:17:57.000Z Manasa Rayaji came to Ireland to study, finished her master’s in marketing at Dublin Business School, and then set about looking for a company that would sponsor a work permit so she could stay on. With the end of her grace time nearing, she applied in September to the Department of Justice for a little more time to job-hunt – but hasn’t heard back. Now she’s got an offer from a company willing to sponsor a work permit for her. But without the extension, her Irish Residence Permit (IRP) has lapsed so she can’t take up the job, she says. The company hasn’t withdrawn its offer yet, said Rayaji, but it’s drifting further out of reach every day. “They’re not gonna wait for me forever.” She’s also losing her current job – which helped her pay the bills – because she’s technically undocumented. Her friend, in the same boat, who had applied before her, did get an extension in June, no problem, said Rayaji. A little after June 2025, there was a shift in how the Department of Justice was ruling on these applications – he was seeing more rejections, says Imran Khurshid, an immigration solicitor in Dublin. If, last January, a graduate client asked him about their chances, Khurshid said, “I would tell that client, look, this is at the minister’s discretion, but I’m more than 90 percent sure you will get it”. It’s hard to say, though, whether the Department of Justice is systematically responding to these cases differently. [Its figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26715010-extension-figures/?ref=dublininquirer.com) don’t include a breakdown of extension requests from 1G holders who didn’t yet have a work permit. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said its graduate scheme offers a time-sensitive immigration stamp. It’s expecting those who couldn’t apply for a work permit by the time it ran out to leave the country, they said. They didn’t say how long it currently takes to process extension requests. But it’s seen a “very high level” of growth in applications, and it’s reviewing them chronologically to be fair, the spokesperson said. Khurshid, the solicitor, says that reluctance to give a few more months to those who want to do everything by the book will push some to walk the opposite path, going off-grid and turning to “employers who are going to exploit them”. The Department of Justice has [rolled out](https://web.archive.org/web/20260203155803/https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/press-releases/minister-jim-ocallaghan-receives-government-approval-to-strengthen-migration-legislation-and-introduce-new-rules-on-asylum-and-citizenship-minister-jim-ocallaghan-and-minister-colm-brophy-publishes-family-reunification-review/) more restrictive immigration policies in a bid to slow population growth, [said Minister for Justice](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26789158-new-migration-curbs-aim-to-cut-irelands-population-growth-rate-says-jim-ocallaghan-the-irish-times/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, last year. Although a [recent report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26788873-171-demography/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the government advisory body the National Economic and Social Council says a desire to lower population surge and immigration – to release short-term pressures like housing shortage – shouldn’t lose sight of long-run effects. The dip can prompt a “vicious cycle” in which birth rates fall further, “emigration rises, and the population continues to age” and the economic consequences of that, it says. ## Something changed After graduation,students from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) who have paid steep fees for higher education can move on to Stamp 1G graduate immigration permissions to search for a job and a work-permit sponsorship. They’re working against the clock, though. Those who have finished an undergraduate course at level 8 have one year to sort it, while master's and PhD graduates have two. Like Rayaji,Nnenna Ogbenna moved to Ireland to do a master’s. Ogbenna already had a background in law when she enrolled in a data protection course here, she said, recently, sitting at a city café. She thought that would set her on a path to a decent job and a work permit, said Ogbenna. But her search was coming up empty. “Trying to get jobs in that aspect was very hard,” she said. Sometimes, she couldn’t even get an interview, said Ogbenna. It made her feel like jobs like that weren’t meant for people like her, she said. She finally threw in the towel and decided to do something entirely else, Ogbenna said. “I started doing healthcare.” She enrolled in healthcare assistant courses, and didn’t find the switch too daunting, Ogbenna says. She still has a few more exams to fully qualify, which would make her work permit application more likely to be successful. And she has been working, too. But “to get a sponsorship, you probably have to have worked for over a year. Currently, I’m almost at a year,” she said. Her graduate permission was set to expire in early December 2025\. She wanted to apply early, Ogbenna said, but her lawyer told her if she lodged the extension request too soon or too late, it wouldn’t work in her favour. “So we did it in October, and we ended up here,” she said. Now undocumented, Ogbenna lives in the same limbo as Rayaji. Her employer put her on unpaid leave to see if her extension comes through by the end of January, she said. But it didn’t. She’s dipped into her savings to pay rent and everyday expenses, she said. “Which I don’t think is going to last very long.” The Department of Justice spokesperson said that the minister doesn’t really use his discretion on these cases “unless there are truly exceptional circumstances”. While it’s unclear what counts, Khurshid, the solicitor, says that hasn’t really been his experience in the past. He said Department of Justice officials used to be understanding when it came to graduates needing a little more time to steady their status. “Unless someone had been involved in criminal activity,” he said. ## Keep me working For people with expired 1G stamps, whether they can still work while their extension appeals are pending with the Department of Justice is another source of confusion. A letter from Ogbenna’s employer says she doesn’t seem to have that right. Workers renewing different immigration stamps get an acknowledgement email with a unique reference number, known as OREG. Since the pandemic years, when lockdowns ballooned immigration renewal applications into a backlog, the Department of Justice has allowed those workers to keep working for up to 12 weeks on an expired IRP if their renewal application took too long to process. It has a [“notice to employers”](https://web.archive.org/web/20260131190704/https://www.irishimmigration.ie/notice-to-employers-regarding-employees-awaiting-renewal-of-their-irp-card/) on its website that lays all that out. Sitting at his desk on a recent morning, Khurshid pulls up a text from a graduate client and reads it aloud. They’d asked if there’s any way they can get an “OREG number” to show their boss and keep working on an expired permit while the extension request is being processed. “But you don’t get that number,” said Khurshid. Renewal and extension applications are entirely different; they don’t even go to the same place, he says. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said extension seekers who are still waiting on a decision aren’t allowed to work past the expiry of their 1G stamps. That 12-weeks extra? That only applies to “people who currently have an immigration permission to be in the State and are simply waiting for the registration office to process their renewal application”, they said. Shashank Chakerwarti, a peace commissioner in Dublin, says that causes graduates from elsewhere to lose their jobs and job offers. He’s written to Minister O’Callaghan, flagging their troubles, he said. “Extended processing times—often exceeding three to six months—have created profound and tangible difficulties for applicants,” [his letter ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26660942-stamp-1g-extension-processing-and-maintenance-of-rights-letter-to-the-minister-for-justice-shashank-chakerwarti/?ref=dublininquirer.com)says. Last December, the Minister replied through his private secretary. But the response doesn’t say much beyond outlining how the immigration journey from studenthood to job-seeker to work-permit worker is meant to unfold, at least on paper. Chakerwarti has filed a Freedom of Information request, and later an appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner, trying to dig deeper into the policy behind what rights people have as they wait. He has just launched [an online petition](https://www.change.org/p/protect-international-graduates-right-to-work-while-an-extension-application-is-pending?ref=dublininquirer.com) too, advocating for “international graduates’ right to work while an extension application is pending”, it says. The Department of Justice spokesperson said that how long those applications take to process depends on a range of factors, including, among other things, caseload and resources. ## Home is where I want to be Khurshid, the solicitor, says students and graduates from elsewhere all contribute towards the health of the economy, and if their numbers were to fall, it’s bound to feel their absence. Besides, he said, refusing to renew someone’s status for a few more months doesn’t always mean they will up and leave, he said. He already has one client who is going to apply for asylum, he said. Others might drop off the radar, and that’s unfair because they really wanted to follow the law, which is why they’d asked for extensions in the first place. The December 2025 National and Social Economic Council [report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26788873-171-demography/?ref=dublininquirer.com)says birth rates are falling and “within a decade, the ratio of workers to non-workers will narrow, and the population is projected to contract by the 2050”. One way for the government to respond to recent hikes in population growth is to see it as an opportunity to invest better to make room for more people. “Migration is a key lever as it can help replenish the workforce, enrich communities and offset population ageing,” it says. Beefing up housing capacity and successful integration can help achieve that, it says. Last week, Spain [rolled out](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/world/europe/spain-undocumented-migrants-residency.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) a scheme to offer immigration papers to hundreds of thousands of undocumented people, with all that in mind. In a press release, last week, Laetitia Van der Vennet, senior advocacy officer at Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), praised Spanish officials for showing “humanity and common sense”. “We hope more governments will follow this example and invest in policies that protect, empower and include people, and make societies stronger,” she said. Elma Saiz Delgado, Spain’s minister for migration had said that the decision would help “our social cohesion, well-being, and also on the economy”, [according to the *New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/world/europe/spain-undocumented-migrants-residency.html?ref=dublininquirer.com). Rayaji, who took out a €16,000 loan in India, her country of birth, to afford doing a master’s in Ireland,says that without a job here, she won’t be able to repay it. “I have such bad anxiety at the moment,” she said, She’s also paid over a grand to an agency to file her extension request because the process is not straightforward like with renewals, said Rayaji. Some nights, she said, she’s rattled out of sleep, shaking with worrybut also hope that maybe tomorrow will bring her approval letter. “I think the hope is going to kill us in the end. I really want to live here,” Rayaji said. ### As developer plans a new community with hundreds of drive-up homes, councillor suggests another vision URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-developer-plans-a-new-community-with-hundreds-of-drive-up-homes-councillor-suggests-another-vision/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:17:48.000Z On Glenveagh’s [website](https://glenveagh.ie/developments/belcamp?ref=dublininquirer.com) for its proposed 1,350-home Belcamp development on the northern fringes of the city, images show rows of two-storey homes. With cars parked right out front. A [parking scheme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26797272-024parking-spaces-allocation-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Glenveagh submitted as part of the [planning application](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/103226?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents) it put in to Fingal County Council back in December reflects this vision. “The proposed layout is highly car-dominated,” wrote Green Party Councillor David Healy, in [a submission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26797265-belcamp-lrd0068-s3e-submission-david-healy-26e26/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the plans, which the council has not yet issued a decision on. “Front gardens will be entirely given over to car parking and the visual and social impression will be of living in a car park. This will be a hostile environment for vulnerable road users especially for children,” Healy wrote. But another way is possible, he wrote. "The obvious alternative is to provide for car-free neighbourhoods, as encouraged by the Fingal Development Plan, whereby car parking would be in dedicated car parks on the edge of the residential areas,” he wrote. Indeed, the council’s [development plan for 2023–2029](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26797266-fingal-development-plan-300823-v4-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – which is meant to guide what’s built in the county, and where and how – includes an objective to “Support development which enhances the quality of the built environment, promotes public health, and supports the development of sustainable, resilient communities.” In particular, it “Encourages the development of car free neighbourhoods and streets, where appropriate.” Picture, if you will, the car-free neighbourhoods of Utrecht. Or the car-lite set-up at Centre Parcs in Longford, with a big car park at the edge, and adults and kids cycling and walking and riding electric golf carts around among the houses and parks in the centre. ## The benefits On the phone last week, Healy said the idea is often misunderstood. “It’s not that the people who live there don’t have cars,” he said. “And it’s not even that you can’t drive into the neighbourhood, but it’s that the neighbourhood is not a car park, and the car parking is on the edge.” In practical terms, he said, that would mean concentrating parking in one part of the development, rather than scattering it across streets and front gardens. “The living environment doesn’t have cars in it,” he said. “So if you need to drive in to drop off furniture or whatever else you can – but the whole area is basically car parking up to the edge of the houses.” It could reduce the cost of the homes, as well, some reckon. “Parking is not free – its cost is usually hidden in the price of housing, whether residents own a car or not,” says Alex Gaio, a transportation planner at Leading Mobility. “In most developments, parking is bundled into the price of housing.” It could also make room for more homes to be built on the same site, Gaio says. “Dispersed, unit-by-unit parking uses large amounts of valuable land,” he says. “By unbundling parking and providing shared or edge-of-development car parks only where needed, land can be used more efficiently, potentially allowing more homes to be built and lowering the per-unit cost needed to make a development viable.” Elaine Edmonds, a lecturer in spatial planning at TU Dublin’s School of Architecture, Building and Environment, says “Reduced-car urbanism” has been around for 30–40 years. “The real estate prices are actually better over the course of a 10-year sort of timescale," Edmonds says. Car-free areas can bring clear benefits, if designed well, says Conchúr Ó Maonaigh, a researcher in geography at Maynooth University. “The overarching advantage of this design is that ‘car free areas’ should reduce congestion in urban neighbourhoods while encouraging active travel, improving air quality, and reducing the overall emissions output of these areas,” Ó Maonaigh said. Lorraine D’Arcy, TU Dublin’s Sustainability Action Research and Innovation Lead, says car-free neighbourhoods are more livable. “People live longer, they're more likely to know their neighbors, they are happier, they're healthier,” she said. “You know, there's loads of benefits to living in neighborhoods like that.” Gaio, the transportation planner, points to many of these same benefits, and also others. “With fewer hard surfaces, these designs can also support more green space, better stormwater management, and reduced urban heat during hot weather,” he says. ## The challenges There are challenges to designing car-free or car-lite neighbourhoods, says Ó Maonaigh, the geographer. For starters, not everyone is able to walk five minutes or whatever from their home to a car-park at the edge of the neighbourhood, he says. “The design should ensure that neighbourhoods are planned with 'inclusive walkability' in mind so that residents of different backgrounds and abilities can access the car parks,” he says. “This aspect of the design is quite challenging to address but not impossible,” he says. “Ultimately, this feature of planning requires a level of co-creation with community organisations and marginalised groups throughout the planning process.” Another issue is that this type of design “still ultimately encourages car ownership among (sub)urban residents”, he says. Even more challenging, perhaps, is getting developers like Glenveagh to build these types of neighbourhood around Dublin. When it comes to Belcamp, Fingal’s development plan says it “encourages” this sort of development – but it does not require it. And developers think buyers expect to be able to park right outside their home, says Philip Lawton, assistant professor of geography at Trinity College Dublin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-at-07.25.34.png) File photo of a drive-up-to-your-house development in Dublin city. Photo by Sam Tranum. Doing this normal, expected thing is the lowest-risk option for developers, Lawton says. “If somebody’s buying the house, it might be seen as negative to have to walk to their car,” he said. “Everyone is so used to their car being there.” Yes, says Edmonds, the lecturer in spatial planning at TU Dublin, “People have this idea you need to be able to drive right up to your door.” Glenveagh has not responded to queries on its considerations around creating car-free areas in new residential areas. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### It’s time for more scrutiny of swapping grass pitches for astroturfs, some councillors and academics say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/its-time-for-more-scrutiny-of-swapping-grass-pitches-for-astroturfs-some-councillors-and-academics-say/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T07:17:38.000Z Last month, Skerries Town Football Club became the latest sports team in the wider Dublin area [to tell](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26788185-fs5-006-25-cover-letter/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council planners that it is looking to replace its grass pitch with astroturf. “We’re doing it very reluctantly,” said Martin Tully, the club secretary, on Tuesday. “Because we prefer grass but we don’t have the facilities to train our teams.” They have almost 40 girls’ and boys’ teams and four adults’ teams, he says. “Grass pitches can only take a certain amount of usage,” he says. “The quality of the pitch would deteriorate. You end up with holes, you end up with mud rather than grass if you play too much.” That proposal in Fingal joins a steady drip of clubs in the Dublin area converting grass fields to astroturfs, amid burgeoning demand and wetter weather – from Cabra to Rathmines, and Rathgar’s Kenilworth Square. Dublin City Council has [previously found](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/162858?ref=dublininquirer.com) that converting a grassy pitch to a synthetic surface [doesn’t require](https://www.dublincity.ie/planning-and-land-use/planning-application-rules-and-exemptions/section-5-declaration-check-if-development-requires-planning-permission?ref=dublininquirer.com) planning permission, deciding it is exempted development – though, when it comes to Kenilworth Square, [this is an issue](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/01/14/court-reserves-judgment-in-kenilworth-square-residents-action-over-rugby-pitch-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) now [before the courts](https://www.courts.ie/high-court-search?caseRecordId=H.JR.2024.0001275&ref=dublininquirer.com). But as the trend continues, some councillors and experts say that the changing grass to astroturf perhaps needs more oversight, to ensure that the environmental impact is properly taken into account in the push for much-needed, busy sports facilities. ## How many? Because it doesn’t require planning permission, exactly how many grassy pitches have been astroturfed over the past few years isn’t clear. Council planning databases hold examples, though, of clubs checking that they don’t need planning permission for their plans, through the process known as “Section 5”. In July 2025, Beggsboro Football Club [told](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/170273?ref=dublininquirer.com) Dublin City Council that it intended to switch out a grass pitch for astro at Cabra Community College. In July 2024, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit [told](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/162858?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council that it intended to do the same, and make some other changes too, at Kenilworth Square. The council told them that August that was fine, it’s exempted development, but a residents’ group has challenged that in court – with a decision [expected in March](https://www.courts.ie/high-court-search?caseRecordId=H.JR.2024.0001275&ref=dublininquirer.com). So, if they don’t go through a full planning process, does that mean new artificial pitches aren’t assessed for their impact on drainage and flood risk? said Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore at a meeting of Dublin City Council’s Climate Committee last May. "We have ongoing concerns about flash flooding and drainage and the loss of drainage,” Moore said later on the phone. “It seems a bit crazy to me that these exemptions from planning permission exist for astroturf, and that you can potentially be losing such a large area of free draining soil, and have it replaced with astroturf,” she said. Padraig Doyle, a senior engineer at the council, said at the meeting, “We won't know about it, it'll just happen. So, yeah, we've no way of … we've no way of controlling that either way.” Fiachra O’Loughlin, an assistant professor at University College Dublin’s School of Civil Engineering, says he isn’t a fan of replacing grass with astroturf. “It does completely change the flow of the response of water. It removes the storage,” he says. So, flood risk downstreamgrows, because natural grass absorbs water while artificial grass repels it, says O’Loughlin. “You're removing what would technically have been a sponge in the city or in that area,” said O’Loughlin, who is also director of the Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research at UCD. Astroturf designs can come with drainage, he said. But still, [a lot of](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1618866721002570?ref=dublininquirer.com) research shows that replacing living grass with artificial grass means more run-off, says O’Loughlin. “If it’s short artificial grass, runoff volumes increase by roughly 10 percent. If it's longer grass, you could be talking more,” he says. Tully says that his club’s plans do include drainage – even if they didn’t have to go through the full planning process. And while he said they’re reluctant to do it, if they roll out an astroturf rather than a grass pitch, they should be able to have kids play at weekends, he said. Most of the kids at the club haven’t played a match since November, he says. “They do tend to lose the enthusiasm for training if they think there’s going to be no match at the weekend.” Fine Gael Councillor Luke Corkery says that in his constituency, Swords, some local GAA clubs, rugby clubs, and soccer clubs are waiting on all-weather astroturf pitches to be built. “As far as I'm concerned, my priority would be for the delivery of as many playing pitches as possible, whatever mechanism we use, and the more playable that pitch, the better,” he said. An audit of sports facilities in Fingal, by the council, [last year found](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-residents-need-better-access-to-pools-and-pitches-new-sports-facilities-audit-says/) that there’s a need for two additional pitches in Balbriggan, nine additional pitches in Swords, and 16 additional pitches in Ongar by 2029. In the meantime, it suggested increasing the number of playable hours and days on existing pitches in the county in lighting to allow play later into the evenings, and transitioning from grass to all-weather pitches. John Walsh, a Labour councillor, said he thinks that it is enough oversight for clubs to put in for a “section 5” declaration – to ask the council to confirm that the pitch changes don’t need planning permission. And at that stage, the council planners can give advice around issues such as environmental and flood risks, he said. “I think a partnership approach is important.” “I think we want to facilitate clubs to get the best and safest pitches,” he said. “And we also, you know, want to ensure that there's no unanticipated environmental implications, I should say, and also there's no unanticipated kind of flood risks.” ## Other impacts O’Loughlin, the assistant professor at UCD, said there are other issues beyond flood risk from astroturfs. There are also wider environmental impacts, he says, from insects and animals such as brent geese losing feeding grounds, to the spread of microplastics, to a much wider water system. Astroturf is plastic, he says. “So then that, then that's either going into either your wastewater treatment works, or it's been discharged straight into a river or a stream.” “And then, like, we have a whole issue with microplastics making its way into our food stream,” he said. Some astroturf is worse than others but many are heavy with microplastics, or nanoplastics, which are even smaller, says Róisín Nash, a researcher and lecturer in aquatic ecology. In research with [the EPA](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26788179-sources-pathways-and-environmental-fate-of-microplastics-roisin-nash/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Nash looked at how microplastics are transported and dispersed away from pitches, and contaminate freshwater environments. “You find it on your clothes, and you get home and, in your socks, in your boots,” she says. It gets into the washing machine and that'll end up in wastewater treatment plants, she says. “And so there is a potential there to get into our waterways.” Nash’s research studied the impact of astroturf on water sources, but also recommended ways to mitigate the spread of microplastics. She says it can make an impact if there’s internal drainage systems, small walls around pitches, wiping off boots before leaving the pitch, and if players buy boots with socks built into them. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In justifying its plan to abandon its Wood Quay HQ, council refuses to show its homework URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-justifying-its-plan-to-abandon-its-wood-quay-hq-council-refuses-to-show-its-homework/ Last updated: 2026-02-05T15:45:18.000Z Dublin City Council is pushing ahead with [plans to buy the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/many-questions-few-answers-about-councils-plan-to-leave-wood-quay-and-build-new-hq/) with a view to moving its offices there and leaving behind existing big buildings completed in 1981 and 1994 at Wood Quay. The council chief executive Richard Shakespeare said on Wednesday that the council plans to buy and develop the Camden Yard site using capital spending, and borrowing, and that no other capital projects will be affected. Shakespeare has said that the council needs to move for sustainability reasons, as the cost of retrofitting its current civic offices to meet its climate commitments could cost up to €400 million. There’s a looming government [target for all public buildings](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/policy-information/business-and-public-sector-energy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to achieve a minimum BER rating of B by 2030\. In 2019, the Civic Offices' BER [was D1](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515177-foi-released-2019-study-dcc-civic-offices-energy-audit-report-draft-v3/?ref=dublininquirer.com), though it's unclear whether that has since changed. But Dublin City Council [refused to release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515178-foi-schedule-of-records-wood-quay/?ref=dublininquirer.com) three recent reports examining the energy performance of the Civic Offices buildings at Wood Quay, or reports that examine the cost of refurbishing the four blocks of offices. The council knocked back a request under the Freedom of Information Act, saying that the reports are commercially sensitive and that releasing them could affect the council’s internal deliberative processes, among other reasons. It released one report, an [energy audit from 2019](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515177-foi-released-2019-study-dcc-civic-offices-energy-audit-report-draft-v3/?ref=dublininquirer.com), which outlined lots of potential ways to save energy at Civic Offices, including replacing air conditioning units, pumps, light bulbs and adding more solar panels on the roof, among other things. Estimates using Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland data put the cost of retrofitting Civic Offices much lower than €400 million, but without the detailed reports it’s impossible to know the full state of the buildings. There are lots of ways to improve the energy ratings of old office buildings, says Jeff Colley, editor of [*Passive House Plus*](https://passivehouseplus.ie/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=751009659&gbraid=0AAAAADfG6eLCWnzb8CjmaA3v-ZhhjvPls&gclid=Cj0KCQiAp-zLBhDkARIsABcYc6vBYis0FyBnZtmtOPggjyJ1Fn2onymDZXpde8dS0mklp6h-NPM2iHIaAi3rEALw%5FwcB&ref=dublininquirer.com), a magazine about sustainable buildings. Rather than leaving the buildings and knocking some or all of them to make way for social housing, as Shakespeare has said he plans. “The more sustainable thing to do would be to find a use for that building,” says Colley. “The public bodies should be showing leadership.” Colley says the “embodied carbon” in building unnecessary buildings far outweighs the emissions savings from new buildings being more energy efficient. Embodied carbon is the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that come from building materials, across its whole lifecycle from the extraction of raw material, manufacturing, transportation, construction and maintenance. The Department of the Environment didn’t respond before publication to a query as to whether other public bodies might also use the incoming target as a reason to move to shiny new buildings, abandoning old offices to the wrecking ball – and the potential environmental consequences of all that wastage. Dublin City Council has also said it is strapped for cash, so it’s not immediately clear where the money is going to come from.“I don’t think the financial element has been explained,” says Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney. But some councillors are backing Shakespeare’s plans. “It's a bold move,” says Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn. “This has colossal potential.” He would like to see the Viking ruins at Wood Quay fully excavated, and a walking route from Thomas Street to Temple Bar opened, he says. And the council could build lots of social and affordable housing on both sites, says Flynn – a point Shakespeare has also been making, when pitching his plan to move the council’s headquarters. ## **Financing Camden Yard** Dublin City Council is set to [hike social housing rents in April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/). It raised the local property tax last year and increased commercial rates, too. The council justified all those hikes, saying that it is desperate for funds, so it's not immediately obvious how it can afford to buy Camden Yard, for a mooted €80m to €100m. Shakespeare, the council CEO, said he will use capital funding and borrowing to secure the site, which has foundations and some construction work completed. The council’s capital funding is already allocated in the[ capital programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515695-capital-programme-2025-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to various projects for roads, housing, flood protection and cultural and recreational projects, including sports facilities, new libraries and the like. Council borrowing is strictly capped at the moment at €118m a year for all 31 local authorities put together, and Dublin City Council already needs to borrow for long-planned housing developments, and other projects such as the Smithfield Fruit and Veg market. There is [talk of the central government raising that cap](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/), but that is still early stages. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/The-stalled-Camden-Yards-project--surrounding-the-library-on-Kevin-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1.jpg) The stalled Camden Yards project on Kevin Street. Photo by Sam Tranum. Cooney, the Green Party councillor, says that councillors need more information about where the council is getting the money to buy Camden Yard. “It could be that this is the right thing to do, but without having all the information, we cannot decide.” She has been told that there is no capital funding available to build an outdoor swimming pool at George’s Dock, she says. (Although a water feature at that location has been promised since before the white water rafting plan was pitched in 2019.) Flynn, the independent councillor, says the council has money and it could sell other assets if necessary; it owns land elsewhere in the city and valuable car parks in town. As he tells it, the project is going ahead. “This is a done deal,” says Flynn. “It will be done and dusted by the end of April. Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha says that councillors have yet to get a date for a promised briefing on the plans, but from speaking to some senior officials, he thinks they intend to proceed. The council executive says its plan includes the construction of [social and affordable housing](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26471068-q024-mannix-flynn-wood-quay/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on both sites, though it is unclear who might build that or where the funding for that housing might come from. “Dublin City Council remains in exclusive discussions regarding the potential acquisition of the Camden Yard site,” says a council spokesperson. “The due‑diligence process is ongoing. No decisions have been made on the acquisition, funding approach or impacts on the capital programme.” The potential purchase will be subject to due diligence, she says. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure says that deciding what to do is up to the council’s CEO. The Department of Housing spokesperson said the same. “Any proposal in respect of Dublin City Council headquarters is solely a matter for the local authority.” [Central government is looking at whether councils should be allowed to borrow more, to build moreThe current restrictions do need to change, said a spokesperson for the Department of Finance.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-541.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Emmet-Road-development-under-construction-1-1-1.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/) ## **Cost of revamp** The Wood Quay offices are made up of four blocks with connecting walkways and atriums, in total 40,000 sqm of offices. Facing onto the quays and backing onto a green area and amphitheatre, with Christ Church Cathedral behind them. Cooney says she thinks the offices could be renovated, as does her Green Party colleague, former MEP Ciarán Cuffe. Flynn, the independent councillor, says that the building at Wood Quay needs a lot more work than retrofitting. “The Wood Quay offices are not fit for purpose.” Dublin City Council said it would cost around €350m to €400m to renovate its Wood Quay offices, that is a “high-level estimate reflecting the potential scope of refurbishment works, including compliance upgrades, sustainability measures, and modernisation requirements”, says a spokesperson. The Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI) published a [report on the real cost of retrofitting office blocks](https://scsi.ie/the-scsis-real-cost-of-retrofitting-offices-report-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in April 2025\. Civic Offices are 40,000sqm. Using the highest estimate from the SCSI for a building in poor condition at €1,462 per sqm that would suggest around €58.5m for hard costs, meaning the actual construction work. Assuming perhaps 20 percent for soft costs, like professional fees, architects, engineers and advisors, would give a price tag 0f €70.2m for the total retrofitting of the offices. So why is the council's estimate so far out of line with the SCSI figures? “In relation to the Wood Quay Civic Offices, the figure referenced by the Council reflects an internal high‑level estimate of the cost of fully retrofitting the complex to meet the Council’s climate commitments and future accommodation needs,” she says ## **Is this a green deal?** It is always better for the environment to re-use existing buildings rather than to demolish them, where possible, says Colley, editor of [*Passive House Plus*](https://passivehouseplus.ie/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=751009659&gbraid=0AAAAADfG6eLCWnzb8CjmaA3v-ZhhjvPls&gclid=Cj0KCQiAp-zLBhDkARIsABcYc6vBYis0FyBnZtmtOPggjyJ1Fn2onymDZXpde8dS0mklp6h-NPM2iHIaAi3rEALw%5FwcB&ref=dublininquirer.com). Both the EU and national government rules are designed to lower carbon emissions, he says, but knocking down buildings and rebuilding new ones is hugely energy-intensive. “We need to look at carbon emissions from construction,” he says. “There was a huge amount of carbon released into the atmosphere to build that in the first place.” [Council Plans to Refurbish a Historic Ballybough Flat Complex, Rather than Demolish It - Dublin InquirerFor heritage reasons, and also environmental ones, Dublin City Council is working on a plan to improve rather than discard Ballybough House, designed by Herbert Simms, and built in 1938.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-542.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-4770.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-to-refurbish-a-historic-ballybough-flat-complex-rather-than-demolish-it/) As more energy sources are becoming renewable, the spotlight should turn on the carbon released by building and the materials that go into that, he says. There should be more scrutiny on whether a new building is strictly necessary, he says. A life-cycle assessment is needed for the existing buildings, says Colley. A council spokesperson said that it has completed an assessment. “I would prefer renovation to relocation,” says Cuffe, a former Green Party MEP for Dublin, who was involved in writing an [EU directive](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-targets-directive-and-rules/public-buildings%5Fen?ref=dublininquirer.com), which demands public bodies renovate old offices to reduce carbon emissions. Cuffe says that the directive insists that public bodies upgrade the worst-performing office buildings, with the lowest 16 percent to be completed by 2030\. He is not convinced the Civic Offices fall in that category, though – he visited them regularly when he was a councillor up to 2019\. “I would have thought Wood Quay wasn’t that bad in the larger scheme of things,” says Cuffe. The Irish government has set a [target for all public buildings](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/policy-information/business-and-public-sector-energy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to achieve a minimum BER rating of B by 2030, but Cuffe says that the EU directive doesn’t stipulate that public bodies should reach a specific BER rating. To go from an E rating to a C rating would be considered a success, he says, and it isn’t always super complicated to get there. “Sometimes all you need to do is change the boiler.” “Public bodies should lead the way,” says Cuffe. Emissions targets and directives didn’t intend for public bodies to abandon usable buildings. “The targets are for renovation,” he says. ### A friend of Phil Lynott takes him on a posthumous tour URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-friend-of-phil-lynott-takes-him-on-a-posthumous-tour/ Last updated: 2026-02-04T00:57:56.000Z Many documentaries about Phil Lynott have been made through the years, said poet and activist Michael O’Flanagan, on Wednesday evening. But usually, they featured international rock stars who had met him fleetingly, just a couple of times, he said. They didn’t draw on people who grew up with him. People who went to school with him, or would see him down the local shops. “That's probably the thing that people really would like to know,” O’Flanagan said. Seated in front of him, around the event room in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, were about 50 people. They listened closely, as O’Flanagan recalled his youth with the Thin Lizzy frontman – and revealed some of the original film footage and photos he had taken of the rock legend in the 1960s. O’Flanagan is a[ “heritage activist”](https://www.dublininquirer.com/poet-painter-and-activist-michael-oflanagan-works-to-preserve-old-kilmainham-one-piece-at-a-time/), said Francis Thackaberry, chairperson of the Kilmainham & Inchicore Heritage Group, earlier to the crowd. “He’s involved in heritage issues and trying to preserve the heritage of this area for many years,” said Thackaberry. Among his projects, said Thackaberry, O’Flanagan has worked on preserving and restoring Kilmainham Mill for public use. He also credited O’Flanagan with helping to bring the building they were all in at that moment into public use. It had been a British Army Barracks. Then, a school – St Michael’s CBS. Now, the council-run complex hosts the library and regular events. Wednesday’s event was yet another preservation project for the Dublin artist. But not of a building this time, but memories of a friend. The talk was really a commemoration, said O’Flanagan. “A celebration of Philip Lynott, one of the biggest rock stars in history.” ## **Documenting Crumlin** On the big screen, a digital projector flashed up grainy warm 8mm camera footage. Four skinny, well-dressed young lads appear and strut, pose, mess-fight. They were the Black Eagles, Lynott’s first band. The line-up boasted Lynott on lead vocals, Danny Smith on bass, Alan Sinclair on lead guitar, and future Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey. Guitarist Frankie Smith had been in the band. But by the time they shot this footage, he had “run off with his girlfriend” and was no longer a member, O’Flanagan said. O’Flanagan met Lynott when they were in their early teens, he says. The Black Eagles were playing a gig in Moeran Hall in Walkinstown – as they did on the regular. He was in the crowd, taking photographs on his father’s Rolleiflex camera. O’Flanagan lights up. His father was adoring and bonkers in equal measure, he says, letting his teenage son gad around town with his expensive camera. “Very few people even had cameras in them days.” After the Moeran Hall set, Lynott approached O’Flanagan. He asked if he could see the photos. O’Flanagan was happy to oblige. He called over to Lynott’s granny’s house in Crumlin, where the late-musician grew up, the following week to show him the pictures. They became close friends. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/20260123_123434.jpg) O’Flanagan would regularly take promo photos and video footage of the Black Eagles, and later Skid Row – the band which Lynott originally sang vocals with, alongside Bernard Cheevers on lead guitar, Noel Bridgeman on drums, and bandleader Brush Shiels on bass. Before their first film shoot, Lynott asked if it would be shot in colour or black and white, O’Flanagan says. Colour, said O’Flanagan. To which Lynott jokingly replied: “I come out better in black and white.” O’Flanagan says he remembers the kick that Lynott got when young kids would remark, “Look mammy, there’s a black man,” when he was on the bus. There were few black people in Dublin in those days, O’Flanagan said. “He absolutely loved it.” On the big screen, the shot cuts away to ripples in a puddle. Then to the lads, messing again. The puddle shot wasn’t his idea, says O’Flanagan. It was Lynott’s, he says, suggested as a way for the audience to know that it was transitioning from one scene to the next. O’Flanagan says it hadn’t occurred to him. “We were making it up as we went along,” he said. “Tricking around Crumlin village.” In another scene, Lynott is foraging. “He used to go up the hill to pick blackberries.” The film footage that O’Flanagan took would often be played as a backdrop in the music venues when the band would play, he says. Dancehalls didn’t have lighting rigs back then, he says. Video footage thrown on a wall was the nearest to a light show they had. People in the crowd would get a thrill from seeing the footage, shot around their own hometown. “You never saw where you were from on television.” ## **Remembering an icon** As O’Flanagan poured out anecdotes, he asked others to share their memories too. Elena Green saw Thin Lizzy in the National Stadium so many times, she said. There was nothing like it, she said. She remembers the final time, just before she left Dublin for many years to live in England. Lynott played a song on his own, acoustically, during the encore. She hadn’t heard it before. The song was called *Dublin.* “And at sea with flowing hair I'd think of Dublin // Of Grafton Street and Derby Square and those of whom I care // and you, in Dublin.” Green says the song and performance lingered in her mind – through all the years she spent away and to this day. Another man remembered meeting Lynott at a bus stop on Fleet Street. “We all gathered around him.” He seemed shy, the same audience member added. O’Flanagan talked about what he was like to hang out with. “Everybody else would be giving their opinion, and showing off,” he said. “He used to sit back. He didn’t dominate the conversation or anything like that. It’s a little hard to describe.” When Lynott got on stage though, he said, he became a whole other animal. In between his own film footage, photos and stories, O’Flanagan played clips of Thin Lizzy performing. During the brooding epic *The Sun Goes Down,* whispers swept the crowd. “He was something else.” “They’re some lyrics.” “What a man.” Had he made the footage available to Lynott’s children? He had, said O’Flanagan – and to anyone who wanted it. “I never wanted money or anything. I just want it to be seen,” he said. And, if he didn’t do something with the various films, they would end up thrown in a skip by his own children one day, he said jokingly. He has donated the original film reels to the Irish Film Institute, he says, so they can store and preserve them. A fortnight ago, O’Flanagan brought his films and stories back to Moeran Hall in Walkinstown, where some of the clips were shot over 60 years ago. But the tour isn’t over. He has been invited to give the presentation again soon in the Glen of Aherlow, the pub in Inchicore– but is waiting for the date. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors finally get sight of plans to squash carbon emissions in Ballymun and Ringsend URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-finally-get-sight-of-plans-to-squash-carbon-emissions-in-ballymun-and-ringsend/ Last updated: 2026-02-04T01:00:44.000Z Dublin city councillors finally got sight earlier this week of roadmaps for how to “decarbonise” [Ballymun](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513326-ballymun-dz-plan-draft-report/?q=grid&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p34), and [Ringsend and Poolbeg](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513327-ringsend-and-poolbeg-dz-draft-report/?q=HGVs&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11) – the two areas chosen for pilots on how to transition neighbourhoods to a zero carbon emissions future. The reports were drawn up by Codema, the energy agency, in February 2024, after months of consultation with community groups. At the 40-minute meeting of the council’s climate action committee on Wednesday, Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne said that it was great to see progress. But details around implementation were still fluffy, she said. In Ringsend, which is part of the area she represents, the amount of time that’s passed since the council did community outreach for the project also means they are on the back foot, said Byrne. “I do think we are losing support from the community, because it’s been such a drawn-out, protracted process,” she said. Ringsend communities have been enthusiastic about what a “decarbonising zone” – as the initiative is called – would mean for them, she says. “But they’re losing hope, and they’re losing interest because the pace of progress has been incredibly slow.” Retrofitting and solar panels for both homes and businesses featured high among steps in the two reports that need to be taken to reach emissions goals. So too, did finding ways to switch people to walking and cycling and moving to electric vehicles. Community groups also had more specific asks, based on what they saw as local needs – such as expanding Buddy’s Farmers Market in Ballymun, and supporting the installation of solar panels on social housing in particular in Ringsend. Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to queries as to why it took nearly two years to bring the plans before councillors for approval. But at the committee meeting Wednesday, Darby Mullen, a senior executive engineer, said that it was important to highlight the risks and challenges with rolling out the proposals – chief among them being funding. “Securing resources is always going to be a big issue,” he said. The plans suggest it would take €275 million to roll-out the priority measures to decarbonise Ballymun, and €164 million to decarbonise Ringsend. That’s not just from the council chipping in. But it’s still a lot of money, said Mullen. Mullen said he had made the case before the Department of Climate’s Decarbonising Zone Advisory Group that this is a big task for councils to tackle on their own. But they haven’t got any extra funding from government so far, he says. “We’ve been told that it is indirect funding,” said Mullen. That would mean funding from the council’s stretched capital budget, and other already existing streams and projects – for initiatives such as public lighting upgrades, retrofitting grants. As well as liaising with other agencies which pay for stuff, such as the National Transport Authority on public transport and bus changes. The Department of Climate, Energy and Environment didn’t address a query sent on Wednesday, asking why there had been no additional funding allocated for the decarbonising zones. Nor queries on what funding streams they expected councils to tap, and how the decarbonising zones would be different to outside the zones without the resources to carry out extra activities. But a spokesperson said that the department would be making an announcement about funding next week. ## **The big picture** Decarbonising zones as a concept were planted in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Each zone is, the Codema reports say, “a test bed of innovation and a demonstration site of what is possible in relation to decarbonisation and climate action at a local level”. And targets for cutting emissions in each zone have to align with national climate targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 51 percent by 2030, and reaching net-zero no later than 2050\. For Ballymun, taking into account population growth, that means slashing emissions by 21,820 tCO2 by 2030, [says the report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26513326-ballymun-dz-plan-draft-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the northern suburb. That’s out of a total of roughly 35,000 tCO2 emitted in 2018 . For Ringsend – not counting pollution from big national industrial infrastructure on the peninsula – it means cutting emissions by 8,780 tCO2 by 2030\. That’s out of a total of 14,591 tCO2e in 2018. Codema’s analyses show where most emissions have been flowing from. In Ballymun, it breaks down emissions as coming from transport (39 percent), energy use in homes (35 percent), and commercial businesses (18 percent). In Ringsend and Poolbeg, it breaks down as coming from energy use in homes (39 percent), transport (37 percent), and the commercial sector (18 percent). Although, the report says, activities in the peninsula are actually responsible for the most emissions, and “the actual commercial and industrial emissions of that small area would be significantly higher if some of the critical infrastructure that need bespoke analysis were accounted for”. That meant facilities such as the ESB Poolbeg Generating Station, the Dublin Bay Power Plant, the Poolbeg Incinerator, and the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant. They produce high carbon emissions, says the report, but are of high importance given they supply a wide area. Influencing their emissions would be hard with local measures, the report says. “These infrastructures usually have their own carbon emissions reduction targets,” it says – such as the EU Emissions Trading System or specific regulation as is the case for the wastewater plant. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Industry-on-the-Poolbeg-peninsula-1.JPG) Towards the Poolbeg peninsula. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## **In place** On Thursday morning, John O’Neill was wheeling a bicycle with a full basket along a path to the south of the Tom Clarke Bridge. His hood was pulled up against the relentless spits of rain. Behind him, the sea was choppy. At the mention of decarbonising Ringsend, he gestures to the bridge. It’s basically a car park, he says. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, and massive trucks rumbling their way to the Poolbeg incinerator from all over Ireland. He stood and counted them once, surveying the number plates for clues of where they were driven from. “There was one going over that bridge every 20 seconds,” he says. “What is green about that?” Traffic over the bridge, and the air pollution it spews out, was one of most frequent issues raised during community consultation, says the Codema report for the neighbourhood. And also, fears of flooding, a lack of facilities meaning people have to travel for basic services, and future development meaning existing services will come under further strain. In Ballymun, meanwhile, residents’ concerns focused on road safety given the heavy traffic that cuts through its main road, poor accessibility for those who use wheelchairs, and the lack of community spaces to gather, more green spaces, and problem littering. ## **The pathways** Both reports lay out the changes that, when totted up, could lift the neighbourhoods to reach emissions targets. Some of the changes fall under national bodies – such as electrifying the energy grid and ensuring public transport links. Others fall largely under the remit of the council, private households, or commercial businesses – such as a 20 percent shift in Ringsend from fossil-fuel heavy goods vehicles to electric vehicles. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Priority-actions-for-DZs.png) At the climate committee meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan, the committee’s chair, asked one question, on how progress would be tracked. “Just the outputs, and the measurements, measuring the success?” Mullen, the engineer presenting the reports, said that they knew the 2018 emissions, so could meter off from that. Byrne, the Green Party councillor, asked for a breakdown of what Codema was responsible for, and running with, and what would be done by the council. It was confusing, she said. She could see Mullen leading on it, and mention of a wider council team, she said. “But I feel that this project has fallen between two stools a lot.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Thorncastle-Street-1.JPG) Thorncastle Street. Photo by Lois Kapila. Codema set up a once-a-week clinic on Thursdays in the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre, late last year. People can book an appointment for the “Raytown Energy Dock” to [go in and get advice on](https://www.codema.ie/our-work/raytown-energy-dock/?ref=dublininquirer.com) energy upgrades. It runs out of a small room upstairs in the centre. But local councillors haven’t been told anything about that – or the wider REGEN project that the agency has been running, said Byrne. REGEN is [an EU-funded programme](https://www.codema.ie/our-work/regen/?ref=dublininquirer.com), running from January 2024 through December 2027, which is aimed at “exploring innovative pathways” to decarbonise European neighbourhoods, including Ringsend. “It would be really beneficial if they invited us down and let us know what they are doing,” said Byrne. Later by phone, Byrne said she was still frustrated with the pace of progress and the resourcing of decarbonising zones. The current city development plan for 2022–2028 commits to [setting up a decarbonizing zone](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-3-climate-action/35-policies-and-objectives?ref=dublininquirer.com) in each of the 11 local electoral areas across the city, she says. “And we haven’t even got these ones off the ground yet,” she said. ### Do gardaí need martial arts training? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/do-gardai-need-martial-arts-training/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T06:51:45.000Z Last August, independent Councillor Malachy Steenson added a motion to the agenda of Dublin City Council – which has yet to be debated, but has been moving up the list towards its day in the chamber – calling for gardaí to be given “effective martial arts skills”. Steenson said by phone recently that he was concerned by a video of an arrest on O’Connell Street that saw four or five gardaí required to successfully restrain and cuff one individual. “They should be able to immediately deal with these situations,” he said. Steenson’s posts and shares online suggest he is steeped in a social-media milieu in which it is common to assert that Dublin is crime-ridden, and to connect this to immigration. Others who focus on similar themes also say Gardaí can’t cope. Although, there’s a huge gulf between levels of fear of Dublin city centre, and levels of crime, according to last autumn’s [City Centre Crime Victim Survey](https://www.dublininquirer.com/theres-a-huge-gulf-between-levels-of-fear-of-dublin-city-centre-and-levels-of-crime-new-survey-shows/). And international [research](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-aftermath-of-a-violent-attack-in-the-city-algerian-dubliners-worry-about-a-cloud-of-stigma/) has ruled out an association between immigration or ethnicity and crime. In any case, Steenson’s motion hits these familiar notes, unsupported by evidence. Gardaí meanwhile say social media commentary around videos of arrests can often be based on misunderstandings of Garda training and tactics. ## **Gardaí martial arts training** Sergeant Andrew Carmody, who teaches self-defence in the Garda college, says that students at Templemore already get training in martial arts. In the first of three 12-week phases that student gardaí undergo, they receive 10 two-hour self-defence classes, says Carmody. The training is based on a martial art called Taiho-jutsu, in which Carmody holds a black belt. It’s a Japanese art, taught to police officers there, which focuses on arresting techniques. It’s an old style of martial arts that stems from Samurai sword fighting, but has been adapted to modern times, taking the sword out of it –replacing it with a baton, and empty-hand techniques like joint locks, Carmody says. “There isn't going to be any ninjas coming out of this school, not after 20 hours, which is fair enough,” he says. When students arrive, some may have expert-level martial arts training already, while others “have never been shouted at”, he says. “So, you’re aiming for the middle. You have to be conscious of that.” The students are taught de-escalation techniques, disengagement techniques, distraction techniques, and “break falls” – essentially falling as safely as possible, if thrown to the ground. Beyond martial arts, the students are also taught how to use pepper spray and batons. When training on use of the baton, students come up against one of their instructors dressed in a bright red padded suit, resembling a lobster. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Training-with-the-red-man.-Image-courtesy-of-the-Garda-College-Templemore.png) Training with the red man. Image courtesy of the Garda College, Templemore The padding allows the students to get a sense of striking with force, in a safe, controlled environment. Students will have five or six three-hour sessions with the red suit, running through various scenarios, he says. There's also “manual handling” training, which is learning how to lift someone out of a situation, like a protest. “That’s under the proviso that there’s no risk of assault to us.” There is also training on “cell entry and extraction” and “cell movement”, he says. “That's how to get a non-cooperative person into a cell safely, and how to place them in the cell and take the cuffs off them and extract yourself from the cell safely,” he says. Similar to the viral videos referenced in Steenson’s motion, it requires three or four members, says Carmody. “It reduces the risk of injury to the person that is restrained and reduces the risk of injury to the members that are doing it,” he says. ## **What’s the goal?** There is a common misunderstanding in terms of what the intention of the gardaí is when placing someone under arrest, says Carmody. Steenson’s motion says “a number of arrest videos circulating show that the Garda involved are incapable of quickly subduing these individuals and arresting them”. But officers generally try to restrain the person, while inflicting as little harm to them as possible and while keeping the arresting officers safe, Carmody says. When people see videos of several gardaí struggling to restrain someone who is resisting, the narrative online can be that the hapless officers didn’t know what they’re doing, he says. It would take fewer bodies to subdue the person, if they were to use their batons, but that’s not what they want to do, he says. Steenson says he hopes the videos he refers to in his motion aren’t showinggardaí afraid to use necessary force, because they’re afraid of repercussions from Fiosrú, the Garda ombudsman. That shouldn’t be the case, saysCarmody. While gardaí will team up in greater numbers to restrain a non-compliant person in as safe a manner as possible, they are allowed to employ a “graduated response” when necessary, he says. This goes up to and including lethal force, he says. “You deal with what you think is appropriate. And if you have to go up, you go up. And if you have to come down, you come down the force levels,” he says. Carmody says he doesn’t think that martial arts training should be broadened out to include something like Krav Maga, the system famously associated with the Israeli Defence Forces. That’s military stuff, designed to do as much damage as possible, he says. “Our aim is to successfully complete our goal with the least amount of force necessary.” ## **Does training even help in the moment?** Of course, all this training and plans for a graduated response are one thing, but situations get complicated in real life. For example, Paul Comerford remembers one night when he was a serving member of An Garda Síochána in Dublin city, and got a call out to a domestic dispute. When he and his garda partner arrived, there was a man switching between efforts to kick the front door in and put a wheelie bin through the window. When his patrol car pulled up, the woman opened the door. The man then made a run to get in. “There was no way we could let him in the house. I ran to get between him and the door,” Comerford, now retired from An Garda Síochána, said by phone on Tuesday. Comerford reckons the man was around 6 foot 4, 18 stone and “solid”. While he himself is 5 foot 10 and 14.5 stone. “I reached up, grabbed his collar and pulled him down on top of me and held on for dear life on the ground,” he says. When the other garda tried to handcuff the man, his wrists were too big for the cuffs, so he used pepper spray. “Which meant he had to spray me too, due to my proximity. I got a mouthful and was vomiting but couldn't let go. It felt like an eternity waiting for assistance but was only a few minutes as it's the city centre and assistance comes quickly there,” he says. When the Armed Response Unit arrived, they had to use two sets of cable ties to restrain him and it took six men to do it, he says. This, says Comerford, shows that it's only through weight of numbers that an adult can be restrained effectively when they are actively resisting – without the use of an incapacitant like a spray or taser. As for whether more training in the Garda college is the answer, he doesn’t think so, he says. “It doesn't matter what level of training you have. Unless you're physically able to dominate somebody, it just doesn't apply,” Comerford says. “You will literally just roll around on the ground for 25 minutes, and it's down to whoever's the fittest ultimately, in the end, as to who wins,” he says. But the best strategy is to avoid that situation in the first place, if possible, says Carmody. He says that he regularly tells his students in Templemore that the best two weapons they’ll leave the college with will be their brain and their mouth. “Use them first, and you mightn’t have to use anything else,” he says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors differ on how to respond, right now, to anti-social behaviour by kids URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-differ-on-how-to-respond-right-now-to-anti-social-behaviour-by-kids/ Last updated: 2026-02-04T01:00:33.000Z Last month in Ballymun, members of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) held a public meeting with residents of Santry Cross apartments. Chronic anti-social behaviour, often veering into criminality, in the apartment blocks were among the issues raised. Residents told of young people – who seemingly didn’t live there – getting into the buildings, setting off fire extinguishers, taking drugs and partying, sleeping in common areas, and being abusive towards residents. Gardaí were slow to respond to calls – or just didn’t, they said. At last week’s meeting of the council’s North Central Area Committee, councillors described similar complaints from tenants of De Verdon Place on the Malahide Road. Councillor Jesslyn Henry of the Social Democrats told of one woman who, after escaping domestic violence, had thought De Verdon was a fresh start. “It has become a nightmare and every day gets worse. At least before the broken bones and bruises healed. I eventually got the courage to go, but this is never-ending,” Henry says the resident communicated to her. The woman is so worried about what may be going on outside her door that she is afraid to leave the apartment, Henry said. Debate has been intensifying around how the state should respond to the concerns of people who are living – at its most extreme – in real fear of older children, and anti-social behaviour. At the heart of this debate is whether stricter laws are needed, with more immediate consequences for children and their parents – or whether those would do more harm than help. ## **Short-term?** [In law,](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2006/act/26/section/159/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#part13) anti-social behaviour among children under 18 years is defined as behaviour to someone who does not live with them that causes harassment; significant or persistent alarm, distress, fear or intimidation; significant or persistent impairment of their use or enjoyment of their property. As well as longer-term measures, there should be “short, sharp shocks” for children immediately in response to such behaviour, said Paul Gogarty, an independent TD, in a[ motion](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2025-09-18/35/?ref=dublininquirer.com) before the Dáil last September. The motion, which was put and carried, said the Dáil “commits to providing a full list of implementable legislative and resourcing reforms” within six months of it passing, “based on contributions made during this debate, best practice in Ireland and internationally”. The motion suggested 23 possible measures that he wants assessed, some immediate punishments, others with a longer view. Among them was fines for parents, or similar measures that “encourage co-operation and act as a deterrent”. Also, the confiscation of game consoles and smartphones, and better monitoring of school attendance. The use of[ restorative justice](https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-a-recent-conference-advocates-highlighted-another-route-to-justice-for-victims-seeking-solace/) to pay back any damages was another proposal. But do short-term punishments, overseen by the state, actually help to halt these behaviours in the community? Not really, says Jen Cummins, Social Democrats TD for Dublin South-Central, and former youth worker with a doctorate in education. Her doctoral research focused on trauma and early school leaving, she said by phone on Wednesday. “I'd love if there was a short-term measure that could sort all those sorts of things out. There isn’t. This is a long-term investment to communities that basically have been forgotten about,” she says. Currently, there is under investment in youth work, community work, family support workers, and school-completion programmes, she says. For some, neglect can start at a very early age, she says. In parts of her constituency, she says, there isn’t a dedicated public health nurse. Early developmental checks are being missed, she says. “How are parents supported all the way from birth until the child goes to college? They're not being supported because the resources are not there,” says Cummins. Short-term fixes might be good for news headlines, she says – but for little else. Cummins says she absolutely accepts that the behaviour of some people is unacceptable. But there are existing laws around many of the things people consider anti-social behaviour, which just aren’t enforced, she says. “There are laws around scramblers and scooters, they're not implemented.” Parental fines, she says, already exist under the[ Education Welfare Act 2000](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000/act/22/section/25/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec25) for chronic non-attendance of school. Again, she says, this area is underfunded, understaffed, and underenforced. In his speech to the Dáil, Gogarty said that fines should be considered for parents who are “not playing ball”. This seems to imply parents who will not engage with state services in regards to their child's behaviour. Gogarty did not respond when contacted for comment. Cummins’ Social Democrats colleague, Councillor Lesley Byrne, who is also a secondary school principal, says she has worked with thousands of young people and their families. “Those types of parents that you're talking about, I could count on one hand. They are absolutely in the tiniest, tiniest margin,” she says, of parents who don’t engage in helping children course-correct. Those parents, she says, are usually traumatised young people themselves, who are trying now to parent their own child. “They need such professional therapeutic supports that even if you did fine them, it wouldn't make a difference, because the needs are so complex,” she says. Fines for parents for their children’s anti-social behaviour would obviously also favour families with more money, who can afford it, she says. Another of Gogarty’s suggestions in his motion was for more resources for educational and youth diversion. On this, Cummins agrees. “If you talk to anybody working in Garda youth diversion, they will tell you that there has been an under investment in that.” ## **Not shying away** On Christmas morning, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin John Stephens went to visit his mother’s grave in Glasnevin Cemetery, he says. A large group of young people were gathered at one of the entrances. Some were tearing in and out of the cemetery on scrambler bikes, said Stephens, a Fianna Fáil councillor, by phone on 19 January. Stephens confronted the group and asked them to move on, he says. But he got verbal abuse and threats back. Stephens says he has worked for a long time for better facilities for his community, and youngsters in particular. He was instrumental in the building of John Paul Park in Cabra, a vital amenity, he says. Recently, he says, he helped a local kickboxing club get rehoused after it lost its premises. “I'm not just about chastisement. I've been an activist in the area so I know what we have to do,” he says. Stephens has said that he too wants to see short-term consequences. He feels uncomfortable with it in a way, he says, but thinks that people can’t shy away from discussing the reality that people facing anti-social behaviour and petty criminality live with every day. Measures could include confiscating passports for a while so the young people can’t go on holiday, he says. He also again mentions fining parents, some of whom, he says, should bear more responsibility for what their children do. "I'm not going to make them decisions, society is gonna have to make them, and governments. But if we do nothing, it's not gonna go away, this problem.” Earlier this month, Stephens said that he supported a ban on scrambler bikes on city streets. His Fianna Fáil colleague Councillor Daryl Barron, chair of the North Central Area Committee, said the same thing on 21 January. Days later, 16-year-old Grace Lynch was killed in a fatal scramber crash. Keith Lee, 18, has been charged with dangerous driving, causing her death. ## **The power of empathy** There is no one magic formula to addressing anti-social behaviour, says Professor Pat Dolan of the University of Galway, who also serves as UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement. But one critical part of the toolkit is to teach empathy, he says. Empathy is something that can be taught and nurtured, he said. Before his career in academia, Dolan was a youth worker for many years, he said by phone on Thursday. A[ report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26515762-nuig-irc-report-2-policy-and-curriculum-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) he co-authored links empathy development to a wide range of positive outcomes. It fosters lessened aggression and bullying, stronger peer relationships, greater emotional regulation and a greater sense of belonging within schools and communities. People often assume that the idea of teaching empathy in schools is “soft and lefty”, he says. But it isn’t, he says. “I'm a social scientist. I look at this from the point of view of what is the evidence of what works best or most likely to work or is promising, that could work,” Dolan says. There is a lot of evidence that empathy education yields strong results, he says. Young people are less likely to engage in anti-social behaviour if they are well-educated in pro-social behaviour – or basic kindness, he says. This is not just a view held by social scientists, says Dolan. Neuroscience shows the same connections. Parental influence is also a huge factor, he says. “Absolutely, there's a strong connection between parent’s social values and the values of their kids.” But it’s always case by case, he says. Most people know someone in their lives who turned down a bad road even while their parents did everything “right”, he says. Similarly, he says, most people know someone who came from a problematic family situation but managed to thrive. “There’s no one recipe.” There needs to be a combination of empathy education with good services for kids around the margins that divert them into other things, he says. There is not going to be any one service or education programme that's going to fix the problem entirely, he says. Ultimately, he says, while there are some fantastic youth services in Ireland, like[ Foróige](https://www.foroige.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), we need far more than we have. In[ recent years](https://www.universityofgalway.ie/about-us/news-and-events/news-archive/2020/january/actor-cillian-murphy-and-nui-galway-launch-new-empathy-education-initiative.html?ref=dublininquirer.com), Dolan – with help from Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy – has helped bring empathy education into the second-year SPHE curriculum in secondary schools. As of this academic year, another more intense follow-on empathy programme has been introduced for transition-year students, he says. Byrne, the Social Democrats councillor and school principal, says that the positive impact of teaching empathy in schools can already be felt with her own students. “Teaching empathy and helping people to understand the impact that their actions can have on those around us is absolutely transformative,” she says. “But it takes a while to embed it.” ## **Where we are** Under current legislation, those between the ages of 12 and 18 can be given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). This means they are ordered to stop doing whatever is specified in the ASBO. Ashling Golden, Justice Programme manager at the[ Solas Project](https://solasproject.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the Liberties-based youth work organisation, says she hasn’t really heard of many young people getting ASBOs. They’re mostly associated with people over 18, she said by phone on Wednesday. They’re not managed well either, she says. ASBOs are similar to fines, she says. A seemingly quick-fix. “But if we don't actually have the services to look at, ‘Well, how do we support that? Or how do we oversee that?’ It becomes quite ineffective,” she says. Another issue with ASBOs, she says, is that somebody can end up with a criminal record for a non-criminal offence. “You could be done for an anti-social issue, and then you don't comply with the rules of the order, which could result in you being brought before the courts for the breach of the order,” says Golden. The idea of ASBOs may come from a place of good intentions, she says, but it’s not properly resourced. Where crimes might be committed by young offenders, diversion continues to be at the core of the Irish youth justice system, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said on Thursday. “Its success can be measured through the reduction in the number of young people coming to the attention of An Garda Síochána,” they said. “By intervening at an early time in the life of a young person involved in crime, using evidence-based interventions, we can steer these young people away from continuing on that path, resulting in safer communities,” they said. “A diversion system can provide a second chance and enable people to avoid prosecution, and a criminal record,” said the spokesperson, “and bring about the conditions whereby the behavioural patterns of young people can change and mature, ultimately bringing a long-term benefit to society.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dean: John Blek’s aching folk music is comfortingly familiar URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-john-bleks-aching-folk-music-is-comfortingly-familiar/ Last updated: 2026-02-04T01:00:53.000Z The singer-songwriter never goes out of vogue, and certainly not in this country. A rich tradition of folk and balladry has carried into a contemporary penchant for rustic, open-hearted acoustic finger-pickers. The biggest selling [album](https://bestsellingalbums.org/list-of-best-selling-albums-in-ireland?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Ireland of all time? It’s almost certainly not one you’re thinking of. The answer, if you can believe it, is Englishman David Gray’s 1998 LP *White Ladder*, an album that at the time codified the public’s idea of the (white male) singer-songwriter, both here and in the UK. So, here comes John Blek. Or, to be more accurate, once more he returns, as his recent album *The Midnight Ache* is, by my count, the twelfth full-length Blek has released as either a solo artist or as the leader of John Blek & The Rats. Longevity has not made him a household name, like, say, Damien Dempsey; none of his records have had the ubiquitous presence of Damien Rice’s insanely popular 2002 album *O*. Blek actually seems to operate as a studio professional supporting other artists as much as a front-and-centre star. [His website](https://johnblek.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) doubles as a shop window for the studio Bigger River Recordings Co. in Cork, which is available to book right now, should you require any of its audio services. In fact, it was working in this role that inspired the recording of *The Midnight Ache*. “This album took me by surprise,” Blek has said. “I was slowly writing and using the songs to try to get to know the new studio space. Sonically feeling my way around and seeing what I could achieve when all of a sudden I realised I was looking at a new record.” Blek boldly calls himself an “Irish troubadour in the truest sense of the word”, a self-image that manifests as tuneful, tea-cosy tunes steeped in melancholy. There’s always a danger that this stuff can fall into coffee-house cosiness – that is, background music too mild and undefined to leave much of an impression. The skit “Indistinct Chatter” even seems to play on that expectation by recreating the sound of hustle and bustle of a public place, a café perhaps, as an unnoticed Blek softly caresses his guitar. Yet I’ve found myself drawn to *The Midnight Ache* during the recent rainy days. The gentle percussion of his lovely ode to Americana music “Mr. Misery” could even get lost in the sounds of raindrops hitting your window. After the short intro “I’ve Been”, which sets the scene by replicating the feeling of an old transistor radio in the corner of a log cabin, *The Midnight Ache* gets going with the comparatively lush “Better”, a dedication to self-improvement for the benefit of a loved one. Over a light bassline, drums and lilting strings, Blek sings in a sleepy, smoky voice – a classic folk tone that’s a nice vehicle for the gentle touch of the record. The positivity of “Better” is something of a misdirection. For the most part, *The Midnight Ache* is not a happy suite. “Still I ache for you,” Blek sings on “Black & Blue”, summarising the sadness and self-doubt that hangs over the album. World-weary, sad-man folk risks can often come across as trite, but Blek’s songwriting has many interesting twists and turns. “Before You” finds the artist reflecting on a life that was “a burning ruin” before meeting a person who had a transformative effect on him. Not entirely free of his demons – or “the bodies beneath the boards” – the song hints at dependency as much as friendship or romance. Focusing on timeless themes and emotions, there’s no attempt to engage with the modern world, which can sometimes veer into over-familiarity. “Mr. Misery” features imagery of dreams, bar fights, and greenery that can feel a little off-the-shelf. And being consistently nice on the ear can sometimes lead to a feeling of inertia. The repetitive melody of “With You”, which finds Blek with his hand on the shoulder of someone trying to numb the pain in a hotel bar, is a slight sag in proceedings. For the most part, though, the sense of familiarity conjured by Blek is a soothing experience. It’s easy to imagine American filmmakers picking up the phone to try to secure the rights to some of this music for their low-budget twee dramedies. And for anyone drawn to the timeless fundamentals of men plucking acoustic guitars, there’s every chance that *The Midnight Ache* will find the pocket. *John Blek is due to perform live at Whelan’s on 13 February.* ### Things To Do: Listen to the land, study the goddess’ waiting room, sing a song for Brigid URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-listen-to-the-land-study-the-goddess-waiting-room-sing-a-song-for-brigid/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T00:19:12.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Daria’s Night Flowers** Last night, Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar launched *Daria’s Night Flowers*, a new film installation by Maryam Tafakory. Tafakory, a UK-based Iranian artist filmmaker makes “textual and filmic collages”, which interweave poetry, and archival and found material to explore depictions of intimacy, desire and prohibition. And her new film, *Daria’s Night Flowers*, is described as an essayistic text that uses found-footage and scripted narrative elements to examine the representation of women, or the lack thereof, in post-revolution Iranian cinema. *Daria’s Night Flowers* will be showing in the centre’s gallery between 11am and 6pm until 18 April. Admission is free. For more information, visit Project Arts’ website [here.](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/darias-night-flowers/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Dublin Digital Radio’s St. Brigid’s Day** This Sunday is St. Brigid’s Day, and Dublin Digital Radio will be marking the occasion up at the Flux Studios on Chatham Row. Lá Fhéile Bríde is their annual celebration of the patron saint of Ireland, poets, blacksmiths, livestock and Kildare, and they’ll be opening their studio up, staging a Brígid’s cross-making workshop, running yoga classes and offering flash tattoos. As part of the festivities, artists Niamh Beirne and Helen Flanagan, collectively known as Spooky Beore, will be performing a healing ritual known as "The Cailleach’s Guide to Rage: Perpetuating an Endless Winter on those who would Oppress Us", which is described as a guided journey back to the well of ancestral rage. There will also be live music from songwriter James J. Clarke, while DJs including Emma Conway, Little O and Sahana broadcast their shows live. DDR's Lá Fhéile Bríde will kick off at 2pm and continue until 8pm. Entry is free. For more information, visit DDR’s website [here](https://listen.dublindigitalradio.com/home?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Artist Shane Malone-Murphy in conversation** On Friday, the sculptor Shane Malone-Murphy will be discussing his practice in TU Dublin Grangegorman. Malone-Murphy, a resident artist over in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, examines the histories of land use and ownership through the lens of grief. Working between sculpture and drawing, and using gathered materials like glass, soot, ash and clay, he often presents his works in states of transition. Objects lean, fabrics hang, and one thing bears the weight of another. The talk is being run by the independent art organisation Basic Space, and will be on in the East Quad, Grangegorman between 1.15pm and 2pm tomorrow: Friday, 30 January. To book your tickets, visit the Basic Space website [here](https://www.basicspace.ie/projects-basictalks/2026shanemalonemurphy?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Poetry workshop with Grace Wilentz** On Friday, the poet Grace Wilentz will be leading a poetry workshop in Ballyfermot Library. Part of the Brigit 2026: Dublin City Celebrating Women festival, the workshop is inspired by the Ribín Bríghud or Brat Bhride (Brigid’s Cloak), which is laid out before sunset on the Brigid’s Feast Day (1 February) and brought back in before sunrise, endowed by the dew with healing properties. For the workshop, Wilentz will look to “invoke goddesses” from multiple traditions, explore the transformative power of words, and write original poems weighted with the intention of carrying support, guidance and sustenance into the world. It will also serve as an opportunity for you to re-connect with the artworks in the Hugh Lane Gallery, which is temporarily closed for refurbishments, because Wilentz will be taking inspiration from its collection, as well as discussing poems that “become the waiting room of the goddess”. The workshop is on tomorrow, 30 January, between 2 and 4.30pm. Admission is free, B=but spaces are limited, so booking is recommended. To book a place, contact Ballyfermot Library directly at [ballyfermotlibrary@dublincity.ie](mailto:ballyfermotlibrary@dublincity.ie) or 01 222 8422. **Brigid: Power, Myth and Rebellion** Over in the Abbey Presbyterian Church on Parnell Square, author Kim Curran will be in conversation with historian Donal Fallon about her latest novel, *Brigid*. The novel, released [today](https://www.dubraybooks.ie/product/brigid-9780241713068?srsltid=AfmBOoqfG5Dcel2q2SZnITVdWxpPof0gfsm4Sx9XCRAqazVt5fXiH4Ks&ref=dublininquirer.com), reimagines the story of St. Brigid as she “bends faith to claim freedom, build sanctuary, and challenge kings and bishops alike”. And to mark its release, the author will be speaking with Fallon about myth and history, belief and rebellion and the enduring resonance of Brigid as a goddess, saint and symbol of female strength. Organised as part of the Brigit 2026, the talk will begin at 12pm, and will be followed by a book signing. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/brigid-power-myth-rebellion-kim-curran-tickets-1979902306095?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Listen to the Land** On Sunday, as part of its ongoing Irish Focus series, the Irish Film Institute will be screening the documentary *Listen to the Land*. An adaptation of the late Manchán Magan’s 2022 book, *Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey Into the Wisdom of What Lies Beneath Us*, the documentary explores the “profound knowledge and wisdom” contained in the Irish landscape. Unfolding from the Winter Solstice to Bealtaine through Reek Sunday to Samhaim, it looks at how the stories and myths associated with rivers, mountains and lands are crucial to unlocking aspects of how we need to rebuild our relationship with nature. It also becomes an unexpectedly personal story as Magan learns of the serious illness in himself that makes him see these ancient sites and beliefs in a whole new light. Directed by Maurice O’Brien, *Listen to the Land Speak* premiered in July, just months before Magan’s passing in October. The screening is at 2.10pm on Sunday, 1 February, and it will be introduced by Magan’s brother Ruán Magan and director O’Brien. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/irish-focus-listen-to-the-land-speak/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The life and writing of Mary Guckian** Finally, on Wednesday evening, the Irish Writers Centre is holding a celebration of the life and writings of poet Mary Guckian. Guckian passed away in October, leaving behind a body of work which was inspired by her upbringing in Leitrim, her adopted home in Ringsend, and which drew from nature, the urban and rural divide and social history. Fellow poets, friends and family will be celebrating her writings by choosing works from her five collections. The event starts at 6.30pm, and admission is free. 💡 ****Will you help us with a reporting project?** We want to test whether a self-checkout service at a Dublin shop is consistently flagging people with darker skin for extra checks. We're looking for people with all different shades of skin to go in and buy a small item, on us, and let us know if you were flagged for extra checks. To get involved, email lois@dublininquirer.com. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-advert_blue.png) An advert costs €75 + VAT. Contact amy@dublininquirer.com to book. ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Walk Without Worry** Residents in Kinseally will be organising a protest for safer pathways at St. Olaf’s Square on 27 February. The community is asking for safer paths to its school and local transport. For more information, or to offer support, residents are currently running a pair of petitions which can be seen and signed [here](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/chapel-road-pathway-to-portmarnock-train-station?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [here](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/kinsealy-s-traffic-nightmare-how-much-worse-does-it-have-to-get?source=whatsapp&utm%5Fmedium=myuplift&utm%5Fsource=whatsapp&share=b0af6b23-b76b-4fbd-a8fb-3fed14c4bbfc). **Motanka Doll-Making Workshop** On 5 February, Ranelagh Arts Centre will be holding a Motanka Doll making workshop led by their Ukrainian friends who are specialists in the art of Motanka. The workshop will run between 11.30am and 1.30pm. For more information, and to sign up, contact [info.ranelagharts@gmail.com](mailto:info.ranelagharts@gmail.com) **Defend Irish Neutrality. Save The Triple Lock – Public Meeting** This evening at 7pm, there will be a public meeting at Wynn’s Hotel in Dublin 1, hosted by the Irish Neutrality League to discuss Ireland’s triple lock. As part of the event, which will be a relaunch of the Irish Neutrality League, there will be guest speakers including economists Yanis Varoufakis and Richard Wolff, researcher Bana Abu Zuluf, geographer Rory Rowan, and columnist Jenny Maguire. If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Who gets paid €270m to home children in Tusla’s care – and how do they perform? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-gets-paid-eu270m-to-home-children-in-tuslas-care-and-how-do-they-perform/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T00:19:22.000Z On any given day, hundreds of children in Ireland are living in residential care organised by Tusla, the child and family agency responsible for any minor whose parents or guardians are not in a position to look after them. A growing majority of these children live in homes run by commercial companies. In 2024, private entities contracted to Tusla under section 58 of the Child and Family Agency Act to provide full-time care for children under the agency’s responsibility received more than €300 million for the first time. Some €270 million of those taxpayer funds (including €5 million in provisions and co-funding from the HSE) went to private entities providing residential care to out-of-home children, including those seeking international protection. Another €33.3 million went to agencies organising placements with foster families, which are not covered in this article. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image-4.png) In return, these private operators must deliver care according to national standards enshrined in their contracts with Tusla. The players in this industry, which is increasingly attracting financial investors, have been sharing a rapidly expanding pie. Tusla’s payments to the owners of private children’s homes have grown faster since the acceleration in inflation and in the arrivals of unaccompanied children after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tusla inspection reports from October 2024 to July 2025 found some companies provided high-quality services while others had high staff turnover, short staffing and failed to meet the standards for training and supervision. In some homes, the staff struggled to manage the facilities safely for those in their care. Tusla inspects and regulates these children’s homes itself. The agency can apply formal conditions to the registration when standards aren't met, but it has done that much less in more recent times than the past. ## Inside the inspections regime Unlike healthcare settings or nursing homes, most children’s homes are not inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) – unless they provide medical services such as disability care or are run directly by Tusla. Instead, when Tusla contracts charities and private companies to run children’s homes, it also inspects them. A spokesperson for the Department of Children didn’t explain why it is set up that way, with the main customer also being the regulator. Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS) is responsible for the registration of children’s homes run by private companies and charities, which it inspects against the [national standards](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26220433-national-standards-for-childrens-residential-centres/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If there are issues in a home, inspectors put in place a corrective and preventative action plan. It then re-inspects to see if the action plans have been implemented. If the home doesn’t comply with the standards, Tusla can attach conditions to the registration. “Conditions are added as part of a regulatory escalation process that Tusla will take to direct a provider to take actions or implement a specific action that cannot be addressed through other regulatory interventions,” said a spokesperson for the agency. Those conditions can be time-limited, and decisions to attach, amend or remove a condition are made by the National Registration Enforcement Panel, she said. In 2021, Tusla attached conditions to the registration of 15 facilities and closed one. In 2022, it attached conditions to the registration of 21 facilities and closed one, said a Tusla spokesperson. Recently, the agency has attached conditions a lot less frequently, inspection reports show. In the nine-month period from October 2024 to July 2025, Tusla attached a condition to one registration, a Daffodil facility (which met the condition soon afterwards and it was removed). Tusla closed one children’s home run by Terra Glen following a report issued in November 2024\. “Tusla does not comment on individual cases or provide information on individual centres or the individual findings,” said the Tusla spokesperson. As to why Tusla is sanctioning less overall, she said that in 2022, staffing levels and qualifications were sometimes the reason that conditions were attached. “Requirements on staffing numbers and qualifications were subsequently reviewed, and the list of qualifications deemed suitable was expanded,” said the Tusla spokesperson. In recent times too, Tusla inspectors found that there were not sufficient staffing levels to meet the legal requirements in some facilities, for example in an [Ashdale facility in April 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196179-ashdale-08-april-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com), but didn’t attach conditions to the registration. Meanwhile, seven reports in total – four of which were for large companies examined in this article – found problems with the use of physical restraint in children’s homes either currently or previously, including cases of staff members attempting to restrain children when not trained to do so, and attempting to manage behaviour through the use of restraint. “Staff members who are not trained in physical interventions are not permitted to engage in physical interventions with children and young people,” a Tusla spokesperson said. “The restraint of a young person is only used in exceptional circumstances and in cases of violent physical assault.” Tusla doesn’t issue guidelines, it says, but each provider should have its own policy and procedures, which Tusla checks as part of the inspections process to ensure they meet with national standards. “Where it is absolutely necessary to restrain a young person, it is done in line with specialised training,” said the spokesperson. Tusla has a primary responsibility to promote the safety and welfare of children, said the Tusla spokesperson. Inspectors review all incidents – including records and CCTV footage where available – where a young person was restrained, she said, and child protection referrals are assessed in line with Children First guidance. Only one facility out of the seven where this issue arose had conditions – albeit briefly – attached to its registration and in that case due to staffing, rather than use of restraint. A Tusla spokesperson said its inspectorate “adds conditions as part of a regulatory escalation process to direct a provider to take actions or implement a specific action that cannot be addressed through other regulatory interventions.” Tusla also contracts private companies to run unregistered facilities, through what it calls special emergency arrangements. A spokesperson for Tusla said it has brought enforcement action against 11 different emergency providers in the last three years. “Where concerns are identified, Tusla takes immediate and swift action to address them directly with the provider in order to come to a resolution that is in the best interest of the children and young people in care,” said the spokesperson. When Tusla identifies providers that don’t meet standards for staff training, qualifications, references and vetting, it stops contracting them, she said. ## Plans and practice The [2022 annual report ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26360310-special-rapporteur-on-child-protection-15th-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com)of the special rapporteur on child protection, Conor O’Mahony, flagged issues with the State’s reliance on private providers to run children’s homes based on international research. Challenges include risks that private operators might not always be best placed to meet the needs of children, lower levels of qualifications and retention among staff, difficulties in ensuring quality through inspection and oversight, and risks of “distress purchasing” whereby social services take on placements out of desperation, said the report. “To the extent that data is available, these challenges appear to have been replicated in the Irish experience,” it said. “At best, the quality of care is unlikely to be better than in the public sector; at worst, it may be markedly inferior.” “Crucially, all of the above risks arise in a context where privatisation fails to meet two of its own claimed advantages: it has not lowered costs, and international evidence suggests that it has also failed to reduce bureaucracy,” said O’Mahony in the report. In its [strategic plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25932691-strategic-plan-for-residential-care-services-for-children-and-young-people-2022-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for residential care 2022 to 2025, Tusla said it aimed “to incrementally reverse our disproportionate dependency on private residential care” from 60 per cent to 50 per cent – increasing the share of residential beds run by Tusla itself or by charities. But it failed to do so. Private provision has increased, in real numbers and proportionately. Figures released by Tusla in September 2025 for all types of homes – including for asylum-seeking children – show that private providers accommodated 733 children (77 per cent), Tusla accommodated 129 children itself (14 per cent), and charities accommodated 85 children (nine per cent). A spokesperson for the Department of Children said it “recognises that an over-reliance on private providers increases the risk of over-reliance, sustainability, value for money, and capacity”. The Minister for Children, Fianna Fáil TD Norma Foley, has called on Tusla to increase its residential care capacity from 2024 to 2026, and to progress commitments to reduce reliance on private provision, the Department of Children spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Tusla is desperate for beds. In May 2025, there were [208 children on waiting lists for residential placements](https://www.dublininquirer.com/children-placed-in-emergency-accommodation-for-kids-in-care-are-scared-and-high-risk-children-are-more-likely-to-get-stuck-there/), often living in temporary set-ups, including unregistered emergency accommodation, or staying on in foster families even though those placements had in reality broken down. Tusla’s strategic plan for residential care, from 2022 to 2025, had said that it would open 104 new beds in publicly run or non-profit children’s homes to address the shortage of placements. But as that period neared its end, as of [May 2025,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tusla-has-failed-to-deliver-on-its-plan-to-reduce-the-proportion-of-childrens-homes-run-by-private-companies/) the agency had opened only 31 of those new beds. Tusla hasn’t responded to several requests for an up-to-date figure. Terry Dignan, a spokesperson for the Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association, representing the charities that run children’s homes, said that charity providers are willing and able to expand. “We would be happy to staff and run more children’s homes,” said Dignan. “We want to increase capacity.” Charities have good rates of staff retention, which is the key to providing good quality care, he said, but they don't have the resources to secure buildings. Dignan said that in January 2025, Tusla officials said they’d look into providing buildings for charities to run homes but they failed to come back with any. Charities are still willing to run more services if the state can provide them with the buildings, said Dignan. A spokesperson for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality said that it, and Tusla, are committed to promoting safe and high-quality practice in all areas of alternative care. Officials within the department regularly review Tusla’s inspection reports “that are deemed significantly non-compliant to determine any practice issues which can be escalated where deemed necessary", said the spokesperson. It can monitor themes and patterns this way, they said. Tusla’s budget for 2026 is more than €1.4 billion, and a 14 percent increase on 2025, said the spokesperson. It includes an extra €53 million for residential care, they said. There has been a 500 per cent increase in the number of separated children seeking international protection since 2022, the spokesperson said. “Tusla makes every effort to ensure these minors seeking international protection are kept safe,” they said. But the increase “represents a significant and ongoing challenge for Tusla in sourcing appropriate accommodation”. ## Notes on an analysis *The Currency* and the *Dublin Inquirer* have analysed Tusla’s payments to private service providers from two sources. One is the agency’s annual report for 2024, which includes the total amount paid to each independent placement provider under section 58 that year but does not detail the type of placement provided. The other source is the quarterly list of purchase orders disclosed by Tusla, which excludes those under €20,000 but offers more detail on the types of services paid for. This does not include €217 million in funding Tusla gave separately to community, voluntary and charitable organisations for the provision of health and personal social services, including the majority of charity-run children's homes. Those payments are not detailed in purchase orders. Although some charities provide residential services under section 58, the vast majority of €270 million in 2024 residential payments under this category went to commercial companies. We cross-referenced the two sources to identify the largest recipients of payments for private residential care in 2024, and checked against 2023 figures to verify that there wasn’t any change in the list of leading service providers. These services include long-term care, both for children with disabilities and those without, as well as special emergency arrangement providers. We then identified the owners of private residential care providers and the groups they form when several companies have common ownership or control. The 11 largest recipient groups – those with more than €7 million each in payments in 2024 – together received €165 million from Tusla, accounting for almost two-thirds of such payments. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image-3.png) The vast bulk of the payments to these 11 groups, €151.1 million, could be traced to published purchase orders for private residential care, including special emergency arrangements. We then analysed all inspection reports from Tusla for the companies in these 11 groups from October 2024 to July 2025\. This gave a recent view of their performance against the standard of care expected by Tusla under their contracts, with one exception – Baig and Mirza Health Services, as detailed below, is the only one of the top 11 providers that is primarily a provider of special emergency arrangements. This has excluded it from the scope of inspections. Another caveat is linked to the scale and structure of the groups below. As each children’s home can expect several inspections each year, any owner operating several homes is likely to be exposed to more intense scrutiny than those focusing their activity on a single site. It is also important to note that Tusla allocates children to specific facilities depending on individual needs and the capacity available from different operators. Those companies investing in a more advanced skillset among their staff are therefore more likely to receive more challenging cases. With those explanations out of the way, who are the largest commercial providers of children’s residential care, how much money do they make for their owners, and what quality of service do they deliver to Tusla and the children in their care in return? --- ### Jump to each group for details 1. [Solis group](#1-solis-group) 2. [Ashdale Care](#2-ashdale-care) 3. [Daffodil Care](#3-daffodil-care) 4. [Baig and Mirza](#4-baig-and-mirza) 5. [Orchard Care](#5-orchard-care) 6. [Odyssey Social Care](#6-odyssey-social-care) 7. [Hata group](#7-hata-group) 8. [Fresh Start and New Beginnings Childcare](#8-fresh-start-and-new-beginnings-childcare) 9. [Nua Healthcare Services](#9-nua-healthcare-services) 10. [Kildare Community Kare trading as Pathways Ireland](#10-kildare-community-kare-trading-as-pathways-ireland) 11. [Terra Glen](#11-terra-glen) --- ## 1\. Solis group MMC Children’s Services, a company trading under the Solis name, was paid €25.3 million by Tusla in 2024\. There are four related children’s care companies at the same address – Solis GMC Children’s Services Ltd, DMC Children Services Ltd, SMC Children Services Ltd, and Solis EMC Children’s Services Ltd – but Tusla has not reported making any direct payments to them. As small companies, their reporting obligations do not cover the disclosure of further payments between them, if any. Reports for facilities run by the Solis group show that in the period from October 2024 to July 2025 there were challenges with short staffing to different degrees in four locations, including a period during which staff worked back-to-back shifts in one of those. One of the nine facilities [inspected](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26214160-solis-gmc-14-oct-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), operated by Solis GMC, had [multiple issues previously](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26374966-inspection-report-id-075/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The owners decided to close it for four months in the middle of 2023\. Before the closure, there had been a protected disclosure about unsafe practices at the centre, according to a [December 2022](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26214161-solis-gmc-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report. Some issues flagged in reports included fire safety at a [Solis EMC home ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460100-solis-25-emc-nov-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com)training and supervision at a [Solis SMC facility](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460103-solis-smc-08-april-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A [Solis GMC](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460105-solis-11-nov-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report noted previous issues in 2023 with child protection, safeguarding and room searches had mostly been addressed. Companies in the Solis group didn’t respond to questions put to them by phone and email. Inspectors found mixed results including evidence of good practice, too, within some of the homes. For example, at a [Solis SMC](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460101-solis-smc-17-dec-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) home inspectors found that social workers for the children said that staff in the children’s home were working hard to advocate for young people and promote their rights. “There was evidence of staff providing genuine care for the young people and responding effectively to their individual needs,” it says. MMC Children’s Services, based in Donegal, is owned by Martin and Margaret McCaul, with Martin holding a majority 80 per cent stake. Younger family members sit on its board. They include Edel McCaul, who owns 70 per cent of Solis EMC Children’s Services, Darren McCaul (70 per cent of DMC Children Services), Stephen McCaul (60 per cent of SMC Children Services), and Gary McCaul (90 per cent of Solis GMC Children’s Services). MMC Children’s Services swung from loss to profit in 2024, generating €116,107 in net profit and paying €185,000 in dividends to its owners. It also paid €26,000 towards their pension contributions. After that, it was sitting on €1.5 million in past accumulated profits. MMC Children’s Services had no debt and employed 34 people, down from 56 in 2023. Solis GMC employed 65 people in 2024\. It paid €137,599 in dividends and €224,072 in directors’ remuneration to its owners, Gary and Kellie McCaul, and ended the year with €334,176 in accumulated profits. Solis EMC had 98 staff and paid €250,000 in dividends as well as €933,156 in directors’ remuneration to its shareholders Edel McCaul and Declan Gill, ending 2024 with €324,693 in accumulated profits. SMC Children Services had 100 employees in 2024 and returned a net profit of €284,550\. Its owners Stephen and Lesely-Ann McCaul collected €752,000 in dividends and €216,438 in remuneration and pension contributions, leaving the company with a deficit of over €430,000 including a €200,000 debt liability. DMC Children Services, with 37 employees, made a €146,595 profit in 2024\. After paying its owners Darren and Shauna McCaul €158,649 in directors’ remuneration and pension and €38,400 in dividends, it ended the year with €132,000 in retained earnings and owed just over €55,000 in debt. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 2\. Ashdale Care Tusla paid €24 million in 2024 to Ashdale Care (Ireland) Ltd. Tusla inspected 12 children’s homes run by Ashdale and issued reports between the start of October 2024 to the end of July 2025\. They flagged issues with the inappropriate use of physical restraint in one of those homes on a previous occasion and poor management of the risk of violence in another. Meanwhile, they also flagged seven homes for issues with high staff turnover or short staffing. One of those was using staff that weren’t vetted and five facilities had deficits in training or supervision. Some reports were mixed with elements of good practice as well as some standards not met, according to the inspectors. One report, issued on [2 July 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26464277-ashdale-02-july-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was mostly good. “Three children interviewed by the inspectors confirmed they felt well cared for in the centre and that the adults caring for them helped them in lots of areas of their life,” it says. Another report issued on [23 December 23](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26464276-ashdale-23-dec-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) was very positive. “Following a review of care records, talking to the young person and the care team and observation throughout the inspection it was evident that the team made every effort to support young person to lead a healthy lifestyle and reach their full potential,” it says. A [November 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196133-ashdale-27-november-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspection report for one facility for children with high-level needs referred to major issues the previous year, which had been relayed in a report in [November 2023](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196144-ashdale-november-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Inspectors had found that physical restraint was used in ways that were not appropriate in 2023\. Staff in the Ashdale-run children’s home had physically restrained a child 78 times, that earlier inspection found. Physical restraint was being overused, while it should only ever be used as a last resort, the report said. “It was clear that the child had not developed positive relationships with staff which had resulted in the staff team not being able to manage their behaviours effectively and, in the child, not developing strategies to manage their own behaviour,” the 2023 report said. Staff were inexperienced, there was high staff turnover, and staff felt they had no one to learn from, that same report said. The report in 2023 related the staffing challenges to the issues around how they managed behaviours. The facility needed to strengthen its practice and focus on learning how to de-escalate the child’s behaviour in ways other than physical restraint, it said. “The stabilisation of an experienced staff team is crucial for all of this to occur.” Tusla did not attach any conditions to the registration of the facility. In the 2024 report, inspectors found that staff had reduced the use of physical restraint, using it only when proportionate. Outstanding issues around short staffing remained as did high staff turnover, it said. “The centre is continuing to operate below the minimum requirements in terms of staffing. There had been 11 staff members who had left or moved within the organisation since the last inspection in September 2023,” [said the 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196133-ashdale-27-november-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report. “Ashdale provides enhanced residential care to some of the most traumatised and high-needs young people in the care of the State,” said a spokesperson for the company. “Our focus is always on prevention and de-escalation.” Ashdale staff complete a three-week induction and are trained in [therapeutic crisis intervention](https://rccp.cornell.edu/TCI%5FLevelOne.html?ref=dublininquirer.com), and that training is refreshed every six months, said the spokesperson. “We have also invested heavily in the CARE model from Cornell University, which has reduced incidents of violence and aggression across our homes by 60 per cent,” said the Ashdale spokesperson. In one Ashdale home for children with complex needs, where one young person had assaulted and threatened other young people in the centre, inspectors identified issues with the ways behaviour and risks were being managed. “Some of these risks included prolonged lack of engagement and isolation from the staff team, prohibited phone use, online safety, concealing of weapons, suicidal ideation and assault and threats to other young people,” says the report. One social worker had said that they didn’t think there were enough staff supervising the young people when some incidents happened, according to the [December 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196171-ashdale-11-december-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspection report. “Room searches were not contained in the preventative strategies at the time knives had been found in one young person’s bedroom and where the risk was high of assault on another young person,” said the inspection report. In a different Ashdale facility, inspectors found “no safety plan specifically addressing the young person’s health and safety matters related to biting and/or assault,” said a [March 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196154-ashdale-13-march-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspection report. But it said overall the child, who had needed to be restrained on multiple occasions, appeared to be making progress. The Ashdale spokesperson said: “The safety of our young people and employees is core to everything we do. Risks are assessed on referral and updated as young people’s needs evolve.” He said that Ashdale is the only children’s home provider in Ireland with an in-house, clinical multi-disciplinary team, which includes psychology, behaviour therapy, occupational therapy, trauma-informed teachers, and art psychotherapy. “This team works directly with staff to guide therapeutic responses and risk-reduction planning,” said the spokesperson. In another Ashdale facility, inspectors found that staff turnover was so high – with 12 staff having left in the previous 12 months – that it was affecting the children’s care, according to an [April 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196179-ashdale-08-april-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report. Two young people’s stays had broken down in the past year. “High turnover and inconsistency in staffing was identified as a factor in the ending of these placements,” says the report. At a different Ashdale children’s home in a report issued the same month, inspectors flagged high staff turnover and training deficits, adding that the staff didn't understand the risks in relation to safeguarding. “This area of practice requires immediate action,” said the[ April 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196233-ashdale-25-april-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report. In another facility, inspectors found staffing deficits, that many of the staff were agency staff, and that there was inadequate vetting, according to a [June 2025 report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26196234-ashdale-20-june-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Inspectors found that the implementation of the relationship-based aspect of the model of care was impacted by deficits in staffing resources,” that report also says. The spokesperson for Ashdale said: “Children’s residential care is a highly specialised sector with a nationally restricted labour pool, and the demand for placements is unprecedented.” Ashdale prefers to employ staff directly, he said, and where it uses agency staff, they are vetted, and those workers cover less than one per cent of all hours worked within the organisation. In Ashdale’s [Quality Report 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341332-ashdale-care-quality-report-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the company’s CEO, Caroline Grey, wrote: “Our homes received excellent feedback from inspections, many of which were unannounced, reflecting the consistency and quality of care we provide.” When asked about some of the reports highlighted above, the spokesperson said that since Ashdale supports the most complex-needs children, issues do and will arise and when they do, the company acts immediately. “Where improvements are identified, we implement action plans within the required timeframe,” he said. “Overall, inspection feedback, including verbal feedback delivered on the day, has been very positive, and the CEO’s comments reflect that.” Ashdale Care was founded in Northern Ireland in 1998 by Paula Kane. It is now under the control of its second consecutive private-equity investor. MML Ireland acquired a majority stake in the business in 2017, and sold it in 2021 to Cardinal Capital. The business of Ashdale Care in the Republic is divided between two companies: a real-estate vehicle, Daleash Properties Ltd, and Ashdale Care (Ireland) Ltd, which provides residential care services. A related company, Care (Ireland) Ltd, operates in Northern Ireland. The Dublin-based private-equity firm Cardinal Capital owns 81 per cent of the group, while Paula Kane and her family retain 15 per cent, and minority shareholders including senior employees hold the remaining four per cent. Ashdale’s directors include former HSE chief executive Paul Reid, who chairs its board, and former senior government official Jim Breslin, who was secretary general of the Department of Health from 2014 to 2020\. Ashdale Care is primarily funded by debt. It owed €13.3 million to AIB at the end of March 2024 under loans secured against its properties. It owed another €38.3 million to Cardinal Capital itself, under shareholder loans attracting an interest rate of 12 per cent. This was the primary channel for the private-equity firm to collect returns from the business, as it was otherwise loss-making. In the year ending in March 2024, the group had €20.3 million in revenue. The vast majority of this sum came from Tusla payments. After accounting for operating expenses, it recorded a €7.8 million loss that year. Most of this, however, arose from €5 million in amortisation of goodwill. This was the €50 million value its current owners paid above and beyond the book value of its assets when they acquired it, which reflected their belief in its growth potential. They are allowed to offset this value against taxable profits over 10 years. The Ashdale group also recorded a €5.6 million interest charge in favour of Cardinal Capital under shareholder loans, and another €900,000 in mortgage interest to AIB. This left it in negative equity to the tune of €18.4 million, but this doesn’t mean it is in financial trouble. This is a common financial position among companies funded by their private-equity investors through intercompany debt. Reid signed off on the accounts on the basis that the business was forecast to generate sufficient profits to meet its obligations. Notes added that this going concern basis was valid until the majority of its debt falls due in August 2026. Cardinal Capital declined to comment when contacted with questions about its investment in Ashdale. ****Cardinal’s second investment in children’s homes** Separately from Ashdale, Cardinal Capital also acquired a 40 per cent stake for €3 million in 2025 in Lotus Care. This company controlled by the Corboy family received €4.6 million in total payments from Tusla in 2024\. Lotus Care made €171,459 in net profit in 2024 after paying its five directors a total of €284,582 in remuneration and €1.2 million in pension contributions. The directors were owners and co-CEOs David and Madeline Corboy; former HSE director general Tony O’Brien; Louise Niemann, a non-executive director sitting on the board of several Cardinal Capital portfolio companies; and solicitor Brendan O’Sullivan, acting as an investor representative. The Corboy family separately owns 90 per cent of another company, Clover Care, which received over €1.5 million from Tusla in 2024 for residential care services. No investment by Cardinal Capital has been reported in Clover Care. The remaining 10 per cent are held by Clover Care’s director of services Ciara Nicastle. In 2024, the Corboys bought out their minority partners since the establishment of Clover Care in 2023, Bernie Breen and Vivian Molloy. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 3\. Daffodil Care Daffodil Care Services Unlimited received €17 million in payments from Tusla in 2024, while its sister company Misty Croft Ltd was paid another €4.8 million. Of the total €21.8 million, €18.2 million appeared in purchase orders for residential care services. Tusla inspectors visited 12 Daffodil facilities covered by reports issued between October 2024 and July 2025\. In two reports, inspectors noted issues with the use of physical restraint or reviews of its use. “Physical intervention was used by staff on duty during the incident; however, they were not experienced in the techniques of the model,” says a report issued in[ May 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211319-daffodil-15-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “There was no review of the use of physical restraint by the staff team completed from this incident.” Also, some staff did not appear to understand behaviour management techniques, that report said. “They did not demonstrate a good understanding of the underlying causes of specific behaviours that could assist children to manage their own behaviours and development needs.” Inspectors also found that staff in that facility had not handled a complaint from a child in line with the facility's own policies and procedures. A report issued on [30 October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460157-daffodil-30-oct-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for another facility noted that it hadn’t reviewed its past use of physical restraints in the way that a previous Tusla report had meant. “It did not however review restraints in the context of the recommendation of the inspection report which highlighted that at times there was difficulty maintaining physical holds and staff members were hurt as a result,” the report said. At a different children’s home run by Daffodil, inspectors said staff should receive more training to better manage the child’s behaviour, as they were over-reliant on sanctions. There were “staff not responding from a trauma-informed perspective when young people presented in crisis”, said the report, published in [May 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211318-daffodil-09-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In that same home, staff had failed to check up on a high-risk young person who was missing from care at night, it said. “The inspectors found that given the needs of this young person and the known concerning risks while out in the community the practice of not attempting to check in on their wellbeing during the night when missing from care was not safe care.” Four of the 12 facilities had inadequate levels of staffing or high turnover, and seven mentioned inadequate training, according to inspection reports for the period reviewed. Among those that were shortstaffed, one facility had been 13 months without a permanent centre manager, according to an [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26278864-daffodil-22-october-2024-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspection report. High turnover hindered consistent care, the report found, with young people finding it difficult to build relationships with the team given the rotating staff. The centre’s two social care leaders had “insufficient relevant experience” for their roles, it also said. And “some of the agreed behaviour management interventions could not be implemented due to an insufficient number of staff with the required behaviour management training”. In a report for another facility, also published in [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211395-daffodil-30-oct-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), Tusla inspectors spot-checked the roster and found out of the “63 day period, 23 days could not be staffed with the required day shift”. Staffing was below the minimum staff levels and qualification for registration, the report said. Tusla, briefly, attached conditions because of the inadequate staffing. A [March 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211900-daffodil-11-march-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report for another home also found high staff turnover. Staff who completed exit interviews said they left for better working hours and flagged low pay as an issue, it said. The inspectors’ report said that “Due to the level of turnover it was difficult to assess compliance with the action plan set out in \[the staffing section of\] the previous inspection report.” Among the training issues raised, a [May 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211318-daffodil-09-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report for a facility noted that “it was evident to inspectors that a large number of the team had not had direct children’s residential care experience”. That placed significant demands on managers as they built up team competency, it said. This report mentioned a high number of incidents but doesn't specify what they were. At a previous inspection in June 2024, seven out of ten staff didn’t have the required mandatory training in behaviour management, it said – which had since been reduced to two members of staff. The deputy manager wasn’t doing formal supervision meetings of staff as required, the inspectors found. In another children’s home run by Daffodil, three staff members were found to be speeding with children in a car and little action was taken as a result of this safety issue, according to an inspection report dated [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211587-daffodil-22-october-2024-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). At Daffodil’s sister company, [Misty Croft,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26220395-misty-croft-09-october-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspectors reviewing previously issued corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) found in October 2024 that some “deficits identified by inspectors during this CAPA review process were not identified and actioned by management”. Children who were fasting during the day for Ramadan were only allowed 30 minutes to have their meals later, it said, and if they stayed longer in the kitchen, they would set off centre alarms. Some of the young people asked for more time, but the request was refused, the report says. Staff also failed to handle complaints properly, the report said. Tusla inspectors re-registered the facility, despite the fact that all issues were not resolved at re-inspection, as actions had been scheduled. Paul Carroll, a co-founder of the successful recruitment business CPL Resources, also co-founded Daffodil Care in 2008 with Pat Hayes, then in charge of CPL’s healthcare division. Carroll later went on to [sell CPL](https://thecurrency.news/articles/28343/behind-the-deal-why-outsourcing-inc-values-anne-heratys-cpl-resources-at-e317-million/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in a €317 million deal. The two men continue to co-own the Daffodil Care group, with a 70 per cent stake for Carroll, 25 per cent for Hayes, and five per cent for its director of services Carlos Kelly. In October 2023, Daffodil acquired another care provider already contracted to Tusla, Misty Croft Ltd. The seller, a holding company for the O’Connor family of Dublin accommodation providers, disclosed a €3.6 million profit on the disposal of investments that year, with Misty Croft the only investment it reported disposing of. The latest accounts available for Daffodil Care were to the end of September 2020, when it employed 165 people. That year, it made a €2.9 million profit and distributed €2 million of that to its shareholders as dividends. Its directors, Hayes and Carroll, also shared €408,300 in salaries and €60,053 in pension contributions. The company owed just over €225,000 in bank debt. Since then, Daffodil Care companies have been re-registered as unlimited and stopped publishing financial information. Meanwhile, accounts for Misty Croft to the end of April 2024 showed it had 60 employees. It made €915,393 in profit and paid €1.4 million in dividends during the year it was acquired by Daffodil. It also paid €72,239 in salary and €190,000 in pension contributions to its directors, who were Theresa Fitzsimons at the start of the financial year, and Carroll and Hayes at the end of the period. Following the integration of Misty Croft into Daffodil Care, the group refinanced its debt with Bank of Ireland last December. On that occasion, a filing by Misty Croft showed that it was providing a €4.9 million guarantee for the loans, which were intended to refinance its own acquisition by Daffodil. Hayes and Daffodil’s director of operations, Louis O’Moore, along with their families, are also co-owners of Comet Care Ltd, a health and social care staffing agency trading under the brand MCMA. Most of the €7.7 million paid to this company by Tusla in 2024 were for agency staff, however the State body also disclosed €246,242 in purchase orders for special emergency accommodation of children by Comet Care. Daffodil Care didn't respond to repeated queries. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 4\. Baig and Mirza Tusla paid Baig and Mirza Health Services Ltd €17.5 million and Baig and Mirza Real Estate Ltd €648,000 in 2024\. Of this €18.1 million total, €13 million could be traced to purchase orders for special emergency arrangements. [In the Dáil in September 2022](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-09-08/1275/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the then Minister for Children, Green Party TD Roderick O’Gorman, referred to unregistered children’s homes and other short-term unregistered facilities as “local bespoke emergency placements”. At the time, there were 35 children in unregistered settings, he said. Unregistered children's homes are not inspected, so there are no inspection reports available. In October 2025, there were 157 children in unregistered residential settings, which Tusla now calls “special emergency arrangements”. (Of these, 102 children were seeking international protection, according to a Tusla spokesperson.) “We are exhausting all avenues to continue to increase the capacity of residential care services, to further reduce our reliance on special emergency arrangements (SEAs) in the weeks and months ahead, and we are confident that we will continue to see further reduction,” says the Tusla spokesperson. Baig and Mirza companies are the largest providers of such unregistered emergency placements. Baig and Mirza owned and operated the unregistered children’s home in Donaghmede, Co. Dublin, where Vadym Davydenko, a 17-year-old Ukrainian citizen, was [murdered in October.](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/10/18/youth-charged-with-murder-of-ukrainian-vadym-davydenko-17-in-dublin-emergency-care-unit/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Baig and Mirza Real Estate Ltd became the registered owner of the apartment in the Grattan Wood residential complex in July 2024, and in September 2024, the company applied for a planning exemption to run a “children’s residential house”, which Dublin City Council refused. According to a Tusla spokesperson, the agency started funding the unregistered children’s home at that location in June 2023\. It should have been registered after 30 days, she said. “Where a non-statutory provider is providing both staffing and a premise for a Special Emergency Accommodation (SEA) to Tusla, the provider is required after 30 days of operation to commence an application for registration … in order to remain operational,” says a Tusla spokesperson. In September and October 2024, Tusla’s inspection and monitoring service met with all emergency providers to try to get them registered, says the Tusla spokesperson. “These companies are at various stages of the regulatory process.” Baig and Mirza started the process to register the children’s home in Donaghmede with Tusla in August 2025, says the Tusla spokesperson. “It was found that their application required additional documentation,” she says. “Providers are encouraged to reapply for registration and are supported by Tusla teams upon request until such time as they achieve registered status.” Dublin-based accountants Muhammad Usman Baig and Farhan Mirza own equal shares in both Baig and Mirza Health Services Ltd and Baig and Mirza Real Estate Ltd. Baig and Mirza Health Services Ltd also trades as Kare Plus Dublin South under the Kare Plus franchise, offering a range of care services. Its latest available accounts, for the year ended in March 2023, show that it made a €3.1 million profit that year, leading to accumulated profits of €5.9 million. It had no long-term debt. The combined remuneration of directors Baig and Mirza jumped from €195,833 in 2022 to €866,667 in 2023. Mirza recently resigned as director of the company, with effect from October 20, 2025. Baig & Mirza Health Services Ltd has not responded to calls and emails with questions, including why the company hadn’t registered the facility. A Tusla spokesperson said by phone on 6 January 2026 that this property is no longer in use as a children’s home. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 5\. Orchard Care Orchard Residential Care Ltd received €8.2 million in payments from Tusla in 2024, while its sister company Orchard Community Care Ltd was paid another €507,000\. Another related company, Orchard Children Services Ltd, also received €8.4 million but this was specifically to organise placements with foster parents. The five inspection reports for Orchard Care issued between October 2024 and July 2025 were mostly positive, pointing to good individualised care, stable and qualified teams in many homes, and most facilities were well managed. In [one report,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460122-orchard-july-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspectors said that all the children’s social workers interviewed were complimentary of the staff in the home. “The team were described by social workers and Guardians ad Litem (legal advocates for children in care) ‘as being warm and caring, committed, focused on individual needs and accepting of diversity’,” says the report. “It was also described as ‘a fabulous centre where the team stick with young people’ and ‘go above and beyond to support the children’.” Short staffing was raised as an issue in [one inspection report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460124-orchard-april-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In [another report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460123-orchard-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “the inspectors found that the internal management structure was not appropriate to the size and purpose of the centre.” The Orchard Care Group, organised under a company called Sashington Ltd, includes the three subsidiaries contracted to Tusla. The largest shareholder in Sashington is the Dublin investment firm TowerView, founded by former Mater Private Group and NCB Stockbrokers executive Diarmuid McNamee, via a number of channels. TowerViews owns a 41 per cent stake through a nominee company holding its clients’ interests; it has a small shareholding of its own; and TowerView’s healthcare sector lead Kathryn Holly personally holds a 22.4 per cent stake. Holly did not respond when contacted by phone and email about TowerView’s investment in Orchard. Orchard Care Group chief executive Natalya Jackson owns 17.9 per cent of the company, while chief financial officer Shane Donnelly and Orchard Fostering managing director Jennifer Sinnott own nine per cent each. Populace Properties Ltd, an English company, holds 0.6 per cent. The latest accounts available from Sashington consolidate the Orchard Care Group’s business for 2024, when it had 334 employees. It had fast-growing revenues of €31.5 million and returned an operating profit of €4.4 million. After paying interest on a bank debt of €14.4 million, it reported a healthy pre-tax profit of €3.4 million. This was despite recording a €2 million annual amortisation charge on €11 million worth of goodwill, generated during the formation of the group through the acquisition of several companies by the current shareholders in 2021. Just like the goodwill booked by Cardinal Capital on the acquisition of Ashdale Care, this charge is deductible from taxable profits but does not represent a cash cost for the Orchard Care Group or its shareholders. ## 6\. Odyssey Social Care Odyssey Social Care was paid €16.5 million by Tusla in 2024. Four of nine Odyssey inspections between October 2024 and July 2025 flagged inadequate staffing. Three inspection reports during the same period raised issues of maintenance or fire safety provisions and [one report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211909-odyssey-18-feb-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) mentioned previous issues with the handling of an allegation against staff following the use of physical restraint. Another in July 2025 noted issues with the reporting of physical restraint incidents. There were some positive reports, such as an 16 April 2025 report finding that there was a stable management and staff team in place and a positive atmosphere in one centre. “The inspectors observed the children interacting with the care team and found that the children had a fun and trusting relationship with them,” says the report. In one inspection report from [December 2024,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26461470-odyssey-27-dec-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspectors found that “the level of staffing in the centre was a safeguarding issue”. The staffing levels were leading to burnout and stress for management and staff, and a child had also put in a written complaint about it, the report says. “Insufficient staffing levels also had an impact on the centre’s systems in place for managing and monitoring other risk-related behaviours.” In another facility, short staffing meant cleaning wasn’t done to the expected standard and children missed appointments, said the inspection report issued in [March 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211911-odyssey-11-march-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com). A spokesperson for the company said staff “prioritised the care of young people and implementation of their plans over cleaning and upkeep of the house. Non-urgent tasks were postponed, and this was evident in the premises during inspection”. Meanwhile, a [July 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211912-odyssey-17-july-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report from inspectors – related to another facility – found regular back-to-back shifts during a period reviewed. Over two months in 2025, staff worked for 48 hours at a time on at least 13 occasions, the report says. One relief staff member was doing this routinely on Sundays and Mondays. On other occasions, full-time team members carried out double shifts and a third shift in the week without a risk assessment. “It was unclear why alternative options were not sought, and the implementation of planned and scheduled back-to-back shifts must cease,” says the report. A spokesperson for the company said the issues of staff turnover and short staffing have been addressed. “There is a stable and consistent full complement of staff in place in this centre who are trained, qualified and vetted and who are consistently meeting the needs of the young people resident there.” Among the reports raising issues around maintenance, the findings for a facility [published in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211912-odyssey-17-july-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) July 2025 said that repairs to a young person’s room hadn’t been done properly – with a damaged door and unpleasant smell in the ensuite among other issues. “Inspectors found that the communal spaces were not overly stimulating or enticing for the young person to spend time in,” it said, and at times, there were no working televisions. “Both the internal and external areas of the centre required repair and upkeep in terms of painting and decorating.” Monthly fire drills hadn’t been happening, and monthly inspection checks of fire safety equipment had not been recorded by the team over the past year, it said. A spokesperson for Odyssey said that the company employs an independent fire safety specialist who conducts quarterly checks to maintain compliance standards. Meanwhile, one inspection report also mentioned allegations against a staff member. According to a report published in [February 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26211909-odyssey-18-feb-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), there was a failure to deal appropriately with allegations against staff members at one centre. “The centre manager must ensure that the children’s ICSPs \[individual crisis support plans\] are reviewed to specify the physical interventions that are permitted and identify contraindicators to physical restraint where relevant,” says the report. A spokesperson for Odyssey said that the two allegations referred to two instances of staff members physically intervening to ensure the safety of one young person, who made a complaint afterwards. “These complaints were investigated by Tusla in accordance with standard practice and determined that the complaints were unfounded,” says the spokesperson. The report said: “The inspector reviewed documentation and found that the allegations made against staff members prior to the previous inspection had all been concluded by the social work department and adequate steps had been taken in relation to conclusions.” The inspector noted that senior management had not examined the pattern of complaints and allegations against staff members, nor the impact that staff turnover was having on the young people, says the report. The managers had changed the model of care and rolled out training for the new model, but no staff member attended all three days of training. “There was no plan presented to the inspector to ensure all staff would be fully trained within a clear timeframe,” says the report. A spokesperson for Odyssey said: “Internal and external inspections will inevitably identify areas for improvement, and these are used to strengthen our service arrangements.” “It is evident that no serious concern regarding the safety or quality of the care we provide has been identified or is the subject of any ongoing concerns to Tusla,” they said. “It is important to note that Odyssey Social Care has no involvement in the provision of private unregulated placements, and all of our services are regulated and registered with Tusla without any conditions attached,” he said. Odyssey Social Care is part of the Oakglen group, previously known as Brian Crowley Holdings, alongside the group’s main business, the recruitment, home and residential care agency TTM Healthcare. Odyssey Social Care was established under the Brian Crowley Holdings group in 2022 with an initial €4 million investment and acquired the business of Positive Residential Childcare DAC, which was loss-making at the time. It has been expanding ever since. Odyssey Social Care does not publish financial information separately from the wider group. Group accounts show that the provision of child care services to Tusla represented just over 10 per cent of revenue in 2024, with TTM a much larger business than Odyssey. The group had overall revenues of €142.4 million that year and doubled its pre-tax profit to €9.5 million. Again, most of this is attributable to TTM. Oakglen, owned by Brian Crowley, has a 49.5 per cent stake in Odyssey Social Care. Its second-largest shareholder with 46.5 per cent is Broadlake Capital Ltd, the investment firm ultimately owned by Pete Smyth, in which Brian Crowley is an executive director. Broadlake did not respond to questions about its investment in Odyssey when contacted by phone and through Smyth and Crowley’s email. Broadlake’s head of strategy Tom Smyth owns the remaining four per cent of Odyssey through an investment vehicle called Annapam Ltd. Jim Breslin, a director of Ashdale Care as detailed above, was also a strategic advisor to Broadlake until late 2025\. *The Currency* understands that Breslin’s role at Broadlake did not cover Odyssey because of his interest in competitor Ashdale. The former senior civil servant declined to be interviewed for this article. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 7\. Hata group Yeria Unlimited received €8.3 million from Tusla in 2024 and trades under the names Dún Na nÓg and Hata Care. Websites for both brands indicate that they care for Ukrainian children. Its sister company Glenarm Care Ltd, meanwhile, uses the trading name Hata Homes. “Hata” translates as “cottage” or small house in Ukrainian. Tusla paid the company €3.5 million in 2024. There were three inspection reports for Yeria and one for Glenarm during the period October 2024 to July 2025\. In a [Yeria report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460148-yeria-jan-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com), inspectors found children were happy living in the centre. “The staff team were focused on the safety of young people living in the centre and their care and welfare were very well promoted and protected,” says the report. The young people who spoke to inspectors said they felt safe and could talk to any of the staff if they had a concern. “They outlined how happy they were and wanted to live in the centre for longer,” says the report. In another Yeria [inspection report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26340886-yeria-ltd-october-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspectors found a failure to manage complaints in line with the company’s own procedures, short staffing and one staff member alone on duty for eight young people when there should be two staff. This occurred at least ten times in the three months previous. “The registered proprietor must ensure there are sufficient staffing numbers in the centre to cover all shifts and that managerial oversight in the centre is consistent,” the report added. Staff accepted a referral for a child they had already discharged. “The organisation must have a robust referral system in place to ensure it safeguards the risks to young people currently in the centre and to safeguard the staff from any known risks.” No risk assessments were carried out for shared rooms. Young people had previously complained about insufficient food, which had been resolved. Children flagged concerns, including not having information around education, not knowing where they would go when they turned 18, and not having somewhere safe to store personal items. An inspection of a [Glenarm home](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26340935-glenarm-dec-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) found that, with five young people sharing one bedroom, this was leading to fire safety issues because of plug sockets overloaded with extension leads. “Inspectors required the purchase of surge-protected extensions in the interim with an urgent review by an electrician to be completed on the sockets and capacity in the room,” the report said. It wasn’t recorded that staff used translators when discussing incidents and complaints with young people, the report also said. Howth-based Paddy Hassett and Ciara Marjoram equally own both Yeria and Glenarm Care. Yeria employed 59 people during the 18-month period that ended on 30 June 2024\. It acquired property worth €4.4 million that year, growing the value of its portfolio to €6.4 million. It had €3.7 million in bank debt secured against its property. After paying Hasset and Marjoram €120,000 in director’s remuneration, it ended the 2024 financial year with €2.5 million in accumulated profits, including €1.6 million earned in those 18 months. Yeria has since re-registered as an unlimited company and no longer discloses financial information as a result. Glenarm had no employees or property, but rented premises owned by Marjoram for €90,000 during the 18-month period ended on 30 June 2025\. It also paid Hassett and Marjoram almost €350,000 in directors’ remuneration in that period. Glenarm returned a €1.9 million profit during those 18 months, bringing its accumulated profits to €3 million. Yeria and Glenarm were linked through intercompany debt funding arrangements. The Hata group did not respond to questions when contacted by phone and email. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 8\. Fresh Start and New Beginnings Childcare David Durney owns two companies contracted to Tusla: Fresh Start Support Services Ltd, which received €10.5 million in payments in 2024, and New Beginnings Childcare and Residential Services Ltd, which was paid €1.6 million. Out of seven inspection reports, positive findings were noted in most, including staff liaising closely with children’s families and social workers, celebrating events like birthdays and encouraging children to engage in sports and other activities. For example, a [May 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460154-fresh-start-may-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report noted how staff worked hard to encourage family contact. “Staff in the centre promoted positive relationships with family and the young people,” it says. “Significant work had occurred resulting in building positive relationships with those who were important in the young people’s lives.” The children engaged in a range of activities including kick boxing and horse riding, birthdays were celebrated as were school achievements. There were issues with staff turnover flagged in two reports in October and November 2024\. The one from [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460153-fresh-start-oct-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) noted an ongoing issue of short staffing carried over from a previous report. “In 18 years of operating, we have never had issues with high staff turnover previously,” said David Durney by phone in November. “Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, there was a period of high staff turnover.” “We now have a full staff team again,” he said. Fresh Start had 167 employees in 2024 and returned a net profit of €630,569\. The company redeemed shares worth €350,000 and distributed this capital up Durney’s holding structure. It also paid remuneration totalling €297,884 to its directors, CEO Durney and deputy CEO Sean Denn. This left Fresh Start with accumulated profits of €1.8 million at the end of 2024\. The business had €1.4 million in bank borrowings owed by its parent company Fresh Start Care Holdings Ltd on that date. The smaller company New Beginnings Childcare & Residential Services, which is owned in equal parts by David and Sharon Durney, is not obliged to disclose annual financial performance details or payments to shareholders and directors due to its size. Its accumulated profits were just under €100,000 on June 30, 2024, down from €273,487. Durney is the [vice-chairperson](https://socialcareireland.ie/board/dave-durney/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Social Care Ireland industry association. ## 9\. Nua Healthcare Services Nua Healthcare Services is a nationwide provider of services focusing on people with mental health conditions and intellectual disabilities. It received €11 million in payments from Tusla in 2024, of which €2.8 million was detailed in purchase orders for private residential disability care and another €5.6 million simply for private residential care. Five inspections carried out by Hiqa for children’s residential disability services have been published since October 2024\. Inspectors found that most aspects of care were compliant or substantially compliant in those reports. One report in [January 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26461043-nua-healtcare-23-jan-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) found the facility was non-compliant in respect of management and governance as well as “notification of incidents”. Issues included errors in the administration of medicine and a failure to report adverse events to the regulator as required. The training of new staff, including those who had no qualifications or prior experience was not sufficient, inspectors said. Supervision of staff was also not sufficient. “Information pertaining to Nua Healthcare Services’ quality performance may be accessed through regulatory portals, including Hiqa and the MHC” (Mental Health Commission), said a spokesperson. “Any other enquiries should be directed to the HSE and/or Tusla.” Nua Healthcare was founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Ed Dunne. In 2015, he brought in majority private-equity investment from Fastnet Capital, the family office of former PwC international accountant and Ion Equity co-founder Ulric Kenny, to grow the business. In 2020, Kenny and Dunne sold Nua Healthcare in a management buy-out with financial backing from the London-based investment firm Icon Infrastructure. The deal was conducted through a holding structure in the Isle of Man, where no financial information is available, and the exact shareholdings of Icon and Nua’s Irish executives are not reported. However, filings in Ireland and in the Isle of Man show that managers at Icon and Nua each have three board seats on the company’s ultimate parent company Indigo Care IOM 1 Ltd. The seventh seat is occupied by Dr Matthew Patrick, a medical consultant who acquired a minority stake in Nua as part of the 2020 transaction and chairs the company. Among Nua management, the largest shareholder at the end of 2023 was its current chief executive Noel Dunne. Next was then-chief financial officer Niall Devereux, who left the company in 2025\. Chief operating officer Shane Kenny owned a smaller shareholding. Nua Healthcare grew its turnover to €134.8 million in 2023, when it employed 2,467 people across adult and child services. It returned an operating profit of €7.5 million and distributed half of this in dividends. The company owned €60.1 million worth of property on its balance sheet, and owed €4.8 million in bank debt. In April 2025, Nua Healthcare refinanced this debt facility with the same group of lenders backing it since the 2020 deal, led by AIB and the German private bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe. Its accounts do not detail how much of its business is attributable to child services contracted to Tusla, but the ratio between its revenue and payments reported by the state agency suggests that this is under 10 per cent. Icon Infrastructure did not respond when contacted by phone and email about its investment in Nua Healthcare. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 10\. Kildare Community Kare trading as Pathways Ireland Kildare Community Kare Ltd, a company trading under the name Pathways Ireland, reports on its website that its business is to provide residential care services in direct partnership with Tusla at 10 centres across the midlands. It received €8.2 million from the agency in 2024. Three out of four inspection reports from October 2024 to July 2025 were generally positive with inspectors noting the homely environment and personalised care the children received. “The inspectors found that the staff were very attuned to the young people’s needs and ensured that their voice was heard within the décor of the centre which was evident in the communal areas and the young people’s bedrooms,” says a [July 2025 report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460183-pathways-07-july-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) One report published in [October 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460180-pathways-october-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said that the facility had issues with short-staffing, handling of complaints, as well as with cleaning and maintenance. Pathways did not respond to multiple email queries in time for publication. The company, owned in equal parts by Maureen and Martin Flinter, discloses abridged accounts only because of its small size. Its retained reserves decreased slightly in the year ending on 30 June 2024, leaving it with €2.6 million in net assets. Its assets were held about half in cash and half in property. The company owed €184,313 under AIB mortgages on two properties. The Flinters provide directors’ loans and personal guarantees for some of the business’s debts, and lease two buildings they own to the company. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## 11\. Terra Glen Terra Glen Respite Services Ltd trades under the name Terra Glen Residential Care Services, reflecting the fact that its offering extends beyond respite to a variety of services in its children’s homes. Of €7.6 million in payments from Tusla in 2024, €3 million was under purchase orders for disability services. Tusla inspectors published three reports for homes run by the company, between October 2024 and July 2025. An inspection report published in November 2024 said that the Terra Glen children’s home in question had been [de-registered the month before](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221964-terra-glen-nov-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The National Registration and Enforcement Panel “were not assured that the governance and the management of the centre was in accordance with the standards expected to ensure the wellbeing of young people at this time”, the report said. “The efforts of the centre management to maintain appropriate oversight and quality of care had been insufficient,” it said. The body of the report also said that during a visit, inspectors found “significant health, safety and fire concerns”, including because of poor maintenance, and safeguarding risks because of a lack of a system to track external personnel coming into the centre. Meanwhile, inspectors found that “the quality, safety and continuity of care provided to children in the centre was not effectively reviewed to inform improvements in practices and achieve better outcomes for the young person”. Terra Glen had taken part in a process to implement corrective and preventive actions since May 2024, when the draft inspection report was issued, but the facility was found to remain non-compliant. In a [December 2024](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222323-terra-glen-dec-24/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report for another Terra Glen home, inspectors found that staff didn't have the necessary training to care for a child with complex needs that they accepted for special care. The placement had ended in an “escalated” discharge. “There were significant gaps highlighted in the provision of core training – including model of care and training in a therapeutic model of response to crisis behaviours – that should have been considered and addressed prior to the admission of this young person,” said the inspection report. A [July 2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222322-terra-glen-10-july-25/?ref=dublininquirer.com) inspection report for another home found that it was relying on relief and agency staff to fill gaps in its rota, some of whom were not trained, and that staff didn’t meet minimum standards for qualifications. “It was the inspectors’ findings that, since the centre commenced operation in October 2024, it had not provided safe and consistent care and support to young people through the provision of a stable and knowledgeable staff team, in line with its own statement of purpose." In response to questions about these inspection reports, Terra Glen said: “We refer to your email wherein you indicated that you intend to publish and/or issue statements which are factually incorrect concerning the services referred to therein and we have nothing to add to what is already a matter of public record.” The company did not identify what might be factually incorrect in the questions put to it. The company’s parent, BPR Care Services Ltd, is owned by its directors Ronan McKernan (40 per cent), Barbara McKernan (31 per cent) and Paul Clarke (29 per cent), who founded the business in 2011. In the year ended on March 31, 2024, Terra Glen made a net profit of €869,654 after paying its directors a total remuneration of €529,998\. It also paid €54,000 in rent for a property owned by Ronan McKernan. The company had 120 employees and owed €294,434 in bank debt. It had net assets of €2.4 million, half of it in cash. [Back to menu](#jump-to-each-group-for-details) ## Keeping track of an expanding industry As detailed above, the growing outsourcing of children’s homes to commercial operators offers a partial level of transparency into the hundreds of millions of euro Tusla pays to private companies annually and the quality of service children in its care receive in return. Tusla’s annual report for 2024 was the first one to detail the sums it paid to each private entity under section 58 funding. Details of quarterly purchase orders over €20,000, while incomplete, give an accurate indication of the types of services procured with this money. Inspection reports are publicly available, too, and provide insights into each company’s compliance with care standards (though they do not disclose which locations were inspected). Individual companies, meanwhile, provide various levels of access to their financial information in accordance with company law. While most of the top 11 service providers to Tusla publish at least a basic level of information about their profits, the third-largest, Daffodil Care, has not been required to do this since 2020 after it became an unlimited company. All others were profitable in 2024 (Ashdale Care, while it posted a net loss, was likely profitable for its investors as it generated positive cash flow and returned multi-million intercompany debt interest to its shareholder). Analysis of Tusla’s leading private residential care providers shows no correlation between any particular financial model and performance against required quality standards. Seven of the top 11 companies are founder-owned, while four have taken on various forms of majority private-equity investment. Some apply high levels of debt to their business, others don’t. Each corporate model was just as likely to result in success or failure in inspections. To address the staff shortages widely identified during inspections, Tusla and some private service providers have run pilot programmes allowing the recruitment of care workers with lower formal qualifications but with other relevant experience. A Tusla spokesperson said it launched the pilot in September 2025 to allow people with level 5 and 6 qualifications – certificates rather than degrees – to work in children’s homes. “There are set criteria that private providers must meet in order to be included in this pilot, inclusive of robust processes for onboarding, induction, training, clear roles/responsibilities, supervision and support of staff members,” says the spokesperson. He couldn’t answer what they would be paid. “Tusla does not set the rates of pay for individual staff members on this pilot, or in any private provider centre.” Now the agency is in the process of renewing its panel of private residential care providers. Tusla invited tenders from commercial and charitable organisations between August and September 2025 and contract winners have yet to be announced. It is not yet clear whether all existing private providers will be re-appointed. Tender documents listed 24 national and international pieces of regulations applicants must comply with, ranging from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to the National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres. Tusla set a “fair price” providers must commit to for each child placement. For-profit companies are allowed to charge 10 per cent more than charities, resulting in rates ranging from €6,600 per week to a maximum of €19,500 per week for “complex high-dependency” children who must be placed in single-occupancy units with tailored support. Then on 27 November 2025, the children minister Foley announced that €188 million of her department’s €795 million capital allocation for the next five years under the National Development Plan would go towards Tusla. This includes buying houses to convert them to state-run children’s homes, with more details expected this January. “The process for delivering new statutory centres involves a significant property search, design, renovation and equipping in order to provide residential centres that are statutorily compliant under HIQA and building regulations and energy efficient,” the department’s NDP investment plan stated, as well renovations in existing Tusla homes and new joint facilities with the HSE. ### Lack of speed-limit data from Dublin City Council hampering “lifesaving” technology in cars URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/lack-of-speed-limit-data-from-dublin-city-council-hampering-lifesaving-technology-in-cars/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T00:08:54.000Z On Saturday morning, in Cabra, at Blackhorse Avenue, a 2025 Toyota Aygo X was caught between two competing realities. It was about 10:33 am when the brand-new car and the city’s speed limits stopped speaking the same terms. Cruising legally down a 50 km/h main road, the dashboard suddenly screamed 30 km/h and flashed red and beeped. This was apparently because the car’s Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) camera had caught a glimpse of a side street’s 30km/h speed limit sign. All new cars sold in Ireland [have been required](https://www.rsa.ie/road-safety/road-users/car-drivers/car-safety?ref=dublininquirer.com) since July 2024 to have such ISA systems, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA). The government’s road safety strategy [calls them](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/new-ten-year-government-road-safety-strategy-launched-first-step-to-vision-zero/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a “lifesaving” technology that it will prioritise. The RSA’s [website](https://www.rsa.ie/road-safety/road-users/car-drivers/car-safety?ref=dublininquirer.com) says that, “Research indicates that Intelligent Speed Assistance can improve road safety, including reducing the number of drivers speeding, and decreasing the number and severity of road collisions.” The primary way such systems work is with the camera reading road signs, but dirty signs, or foggy weather can obstruct those – and so some vehicles tap into digital map data, a video on the site says. The only thing is, in Dublin city, there’s no up-to-date digital map of what the speed limit is on each street. This, despite laws that require Dublin City Council to have this data online for re-use in a machine-readable format 18 months ago. “We are required to provide the data in a shapefile format that can be embedded within GIS and the MapRoad platform,” a council spokesperson said on 26 January. “This will be carried out.” ## The council’s “gap year” The EU’s General Safety Regulation ([2019/2144](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/2144/oj/eng?ref=dublininquirer.com)) mandated that every new vehicle – like that Toyota in Cabra – must run ISA after 7 July 2024\. But the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a Brussels-based nonprofit, [has warned](https://etsc.eu/eu-member-states-take-an-axe-to-digital-speed-limit-map-data/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=%E2%80%9CEU%20Member%20States%20want%20to,and%20limit%20road%20safety%20benefits) that ISA systems that rely on cameras alone fail sometimes, including when speed limits are implied by the type of road, but not actually signed. “Digital maps, linked to GPS information, are essential in these situations and are used as a critical backup to cameras in ISA systems in many new vehicles,” it said. Dublin City Council’s machine-readable map showing the city’s speed limits was supposed to be ready over a year ago. Under the EU’s High-Value Datasets Directive (2019/1024), transposed into Irish law in July 2021 ([SI 376/2021](https://opac.oireachtas.ie/Data/Library3/Documents%20Laid/2021/pdf/DPERdocslaid210721%5F210721%5F195429.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com)), and under the subsequent Commission implementing regulation (2023/138) – the Council was required to publish machine-readable speed limits by 9 June 2024. There was a [digital map](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=9300671358404223b542d9dfe172634b&ref=dublininquirer.com) of Dublin and its speed limits, uploaded in 2013 to the Esri's website. But that’s marked as “deprecated”. Jim Herries, a senior cartographer at Esri, said on 25 January that "It's certainly outdated now”**.** In November last year, Dublin City Council responded to a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a complete list of each street in the city with its speed limit by saying [it doesn’t exist](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510440-decision-foi-2851-25-speed-limits/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “There are no datasets that would facilitate matching this schedule of roads and streets or segments of roads or streets with their corresponding designated speed limit,” administrative officer Chris Carroll [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510440-decision-foi-2851-25-speed-limits/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Instead, he pointed to a [2020 pdf map](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510439-map-of-dublin-city-council-speed-limit-phase-4-bye-laws-2020-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the city with different areas and roads coloured differently, and a copy of the [2020 speed limit bye-laws](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510438-dublin-city-council-speed-limit-bye-laws-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The fallout of the delays in putting out a digital map goes beyond confused Toyotas. By keeping speed limits trapped in pdfs, the council renders the data useless for many others. It blocks researchers, and software developers, and stalls road-safety tools intended to save lives, like the ISA systems in new cars. The Office of the Information Commissioner(OIC)acts as a [regulatory](https://www.oic.ie/en/collection/66d3c-re-use-of-open-and-protected-data/?ref=dublininquirer.com) referee, ensuring the public bodies don't treat public data, intended to fuel innovation and transparency, as private property. Re-use is the legal right to take data collected and recycle it as raw material for a new purpose, like the ISA system in cars. The law views this data not as a static record to be filed away, but as digital fuel that has to be shared. ## The parent with a big purse The Department of Public Expenditure oversees open data policy, and manages the national [Open Data portal](https://data.gov.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a department spokesperson said on 23 January. It “supports public service bodies in implementing the National Open Data Strategy 2023–2027 and complying with the Open Data Directive and associated Implementing Act on High Value Datasets", the spokesperson said. But ultimately, "Public service bodies are responsible for compliance with the Open Data Directive," they said. For more questions, they pointed to a specific person, recommending contacting the Smart Dublin Open Data Lead – Smart Dublin coordinates open data across the four Dublin local authorities – and cc’ing Dublin City Council’s press office. On 26 January, the team lead replied that, “Unfortunately, I have been informed by DC traffic that a machine readable version of the dataset does not exist. However, I am meeting with gis consultants and DCC traffic later this week on the topic. I will let you know timelines once the project has been scoped out”. A council spokesperson at the press office quickly followed up with an email to say that “Individual employees and departments are not to be contacted directly”, and to give their own update on the situation. “There isn’t a standalone GIS dataset for the Special Speed Limit Bye-Laws 2020 (Phase 4), which reflects the current speed limits,” the spokesperson said, but the council’s working on it. ### Required to be open, pedestrian route via Cork Street co-living complex is frequently closed URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/required-to-be-open-pedestrian-route-via-cork-street-co-living-complex-is-frequently-closed/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T00:11:04.000Z The automated gates guarding the southern end of the laneway beside Liberties House **–** a “[premium co-living development](https://libertieshouse.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com)” on Cork Street **–** were malfunctioning. Slowly, they swung open. Then, after a few moments, they closed again. Over and over, they repeated the same motions to nobody in particular on Sunday afternoon. Mostpedestrians strolled by indifferently. A few paused momentarily as if expecting a vehicle to drive out. But no vehicle ever emerged. In any case, if anyone had walked in, they couldn’thave continued on past Liberties House to John Street South, on the other side, and on to Marrowbone Lane and beyond, because the automated gates on that northern end were jammed. They were ajar by about three inches. But they wouldn’t budge any further. Nor did the green button inside the lane, intended to open them up, help. It was one of the brand-new lane’s better days. The weekend prior, the gates hadn’t been open at all. The property manager, [Grayling Properties Limited](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510868-viewdocument/?ref=dublininquirer.com), wrote to Dublin City Council in August 2022, saying they would be open for public use between 7am and 8pm daily. But, while Grayling has been posting advertisements to rent out “studios” in Liberties House since [June](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510887-liberties-house-the-liberties-dublin-8-is-for-rent-on-daftie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the [Liberties House](https://libertieshouse.com/student-accommodation?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=22637784867&gbraid=0AAAAABtyUM-koTKVIoAD6Dve4U4ZN7swn&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4eHLBhCzARIsAJ2NZoIzO3qjMQgLSZ-aT56sdQvz5JV1e-gnfIiqH6ZpbbFGY5MWrZLru9UaAk8UEALw%5FwcB&ref=dublininquirer.com) website says it was due to open on 1 September, and a 19 December Liberties House [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSciSrfiAJc/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) says it shows residents at a party there, the gates weren’t open on three separate visits since Saturday, 17 January. That is despite [An Bord Pleanála saying](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510555-r308162/?q=pedestrian&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p79) in December 2020 that the co-living development couldn’t be occupied before the lane was in use. Kieran Rose, a former council planner, and a local, says he has yet to see the link fully accessible. “And I pass by almost every day. Going and coming.” While a spokesperson for the council did not respond when asked on Monday if their planning enforcement section had looked into this issue, Rose, as well as Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon say it has issued a warning letter. Neither the developer Project Maurice Limited, when emailed on Monday, nor the property manager Grayling Properties – which shares [a director](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26511257-grayling-properties-form-rbn1b-registration-of-a-business-name-body-corporate-21-09-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) with [Project Maurice](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26511248-project-maurice-limited-form-b10-change-director-or-secretary-details-13-11-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – emailed on Tuesday, have responded to queries sent asking why the gates have not yet been opened. An access point like this is vital on a street as vast as Cork Street, Pidgeon said on Monday. “It makes it more viable, rather than needing to take these long circuitous routes around the place.” ## From the pram to the co-living bedspace Before Liberties House, the site of 118 to 122 Cork Street was occupied by a pair of terraced houses, a shop and a warehouse, images on Google Street View show. Both the warehouse and the shop, Paddy Whelan – which sold televisions, radios and prams – were vacant since before 2009, the images show. The old warehouse had been associated with an old glass factory to the rear of 113 to 115 Cork Street, according to an An Bord Pleanála (ABP) [inspector’s report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510555-r308162/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p5) from December 2020. Alphabet ABC Properties Limited [applied](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/140619?ref=dublininquirer.com) to ABP in September 2020, asking for permission to demolish the buildings on the site and put up a build-to-rent shared-living residential development. The new complex would comprise 387 beds, as well as a ground-floor cafe, communal kitchen, living and dining areas, a shared lounge, cinema, yoga space, gym, library, and workspaces, according to [Alphabet’s application](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/140619?ref=dublininquirer.com). Alphabet also sought permission to include a pedestrian connection between Cork Street and John Street South, located to the rear of the building. It was a link that the Liberties local area plan for [2009 to 2020](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510766-liberties-lap/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p159) identified as a potential opportunity at this location to meet the [objective](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510766-liberties-lap/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p158) of improving permeability for pedestrians in the area. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty was among 28 observers to make a submission during the planning stage. He was looking to prevent the planning board from giving Alphabet permission to develop co-living on the site, Moriarty said on 19 January. “I felt very strongly that we needed higher-quality residential apartments as opposed to predominantly student accommodation that was unaffordable, and co-living. So I sprung into action on that basis.” Other observers who submitted their views to the planning board raised issues with the pedestrian access point, saying this would attract anti-social behaviour, according to the [inspector’s report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510555-r308162/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p14), also noting that it was unclear who would be responsible for managing it. ## Open daily An Bord Pleanála gave the development a green light with conditions. Among them, the provision of more information on the operation, security, management and supervision of the pedestrian link, as well as a statement outlining that members of the public would have the “full right and liberty for the free passage and use of the pedestrian walkway”. It would be completed and available for use prior to the occupation of the development, the [board’s order says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26511235-d308162/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In November 2021, real estate investment company Crossroads purchased the site from Alphabet ABC Properties, “in partnership with Lugus Capital and Grayling Properties as local asset manager”, according to the Crossroads [website](https://www.crossroadsre.com/investments/the-liberties?ref=dublininquirer.com). Crossroads’ partner [Ian Gear and finance manager Jakob Zinner](https://www.crossroadsre.com/team?ref=dublininquirer.com) are listed as directors of [Project Maurice Limited](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26511261-project-maurice-limited-form-b1c-annual-return-general-01-08-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a company registered in Cork. In July 2022, Project Maurice Limited’sother [company director](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26511248-project-maurice-limited-form-b10-change-director-or-secretary-details-13-11-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) David Hickey [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510880-viewdocument-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Dublin City Council granting all members of the public use of the link as a public right of way. Then, [a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510868-viewdocument/?ref=dublininquirer.com) sent to Dublin City Council by Grayling Properties in August 2022, said the pedestrian link would be the responsibility of “the Facilities and Security Managers”. To discourage antisocial behaviour, security gates would be installed at either end, and would remain open between 7am and 8pm daily, with the area also fully lit and monitored via security personnel and 24-hour CCTV, their letter said. On Tuesday morning, at precisely 10.48am, both gates were shut, with a navy blue car parked right in front of the southern gate. ## Basically a walkway It is “basically” a walkway, except that it has the three gates; one at either end and a third in the middle, all of which are automated, says Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair. “And it is supposed to be public access, but there’s no public access because of the three gates,” Ó Meachair says. Right now, it gives the impression of private property, says Rose, the former council planner. “Any average ordinary person would take it that you’re not allowed in, or security might come out and say you’re tresspassing.” This access point could drastically improve permeability between Cork Street, John Street South and Marrowbone Lane, said Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor. It’s maddening that the planning board required this public pedestrian route when granting Alphabet planning permission for Liberties House, and that Project Maurice and Grayling have pledged to deliver it, but it’s not really open, he says. It’s a pattern in this part of the city, says Pidgeon. A developer agrees to something during the planning process that will provide public benefit, and then changes course after the project is built. Like, when the developer of the Eight Building office block on Newmarket agreed to include a market in it, but then [later applied for permission to drop it](https://www.dublininquirer.com/owners-of-newmarket-building-ask-for-permission-to-drop-market-space/). Or when the developer of the Grand Canal Harbour promised a permeability through the apartment complex but then put up fences (with gates) – a move the council has [taken them to court over](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-says-it-has-started-legal-action-over-fences-around-apartment-complex-in-the-liberties/). “You promise stuff to get the application through. Helps smooth things over with the planners. But then when it comes to implementation you either don’t do it, hope no one notices and if someone does, you apply for retention,” Pidgeon says. Pidgeon wrote to the council about the issue with Liberties House, as did Ó Meachair, Ó Meachair said on Tuesday. “They said that they have opened an investigation into it.” ### Why are 200 homes in Crumlin and Inchicore taking so long to build? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-are-200-homes-in-crumlin-and-inchicore-taking-so-long-to-build/ Last updated: 2026-01-29T16:05:29.000Z There’s a health-and-safety form screwed to the black hoarding around Glebe House in the middle of Crumlin village. It’s dated April 2024\. Exactly when construction was due to start on the big site behind is “TBC” the poster says. But once the diggers and hard hats get stuck in, it should take about 80 weeks, it says. At the start of the following May, developer Michael Moran [filed a seven-day](https://nbco.localgov.ie/node/289693?ref=dublininquirer.com) commencement notice with Dublin City Council for 145 apartments on the site. Those apartments [are](https://glebe2shd.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to be a split of cost-rental and social homes, say planning documents, and to be built under a deal between Circle VHA and Seabren Developments Ltd, of which Moran is director and owner. They would be done by the second half of last year, estimated a council report from that October. But in the early afternoon on Thursday, the site was a muddy field around the old broken-roofed heritage building, scattered with a few orange cones and a big blue storage container– with no active construction. A spokesperson for Circle VHA says the commencement notice was filed ahead of “enabling and preparatory works”. Those works have been done, they said. The plan currently is to move to the full construction stage in the second quarter of this year, said the spokesperson. “As with many large-scale residential developments in the current economic environment, progressing into the full build phase is dependent on securing and sequencing several funding streams,” they said. With planning permission in place – albeit after a fractious process, and court appeals – and services, the site at Glebe House in the heart of a residential neighbourhood is just the kind of development that the government measures such as the development levy waiver, and the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), are in place to activate and accelerate. But the work has been stop-start, and slow, highlighting the limits of those housing-activation measures. Moran, the director of Seabren Developments, says that he had filed the commencement notice in May 2024 and they had started the work as they had been confident that funding through the government’s CALF scheme was to come through shortly. But “there were delays in the CALF decision arising”, he says. Under the Capital Assistance Leasing Facility (CALF), the state [provides a](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/new-improved-funding-model-to-prompt-funding-applications-for-thousands-more-social-homes/?ref=dublininquirer.com) loan to cover up to 30 percent of the capital costs of a social housing project, with the remainder of finance sourced elsewhere – usually from the Housing Finance Agency. Moran says his model isn’t to sit on land and he has been working to get the project done and dusted. His expectation and hope is that the CALF funding is approved shortly, he says, with builders back on site in April. “If I’m glass half-full.” ## Part of the spike The commencement notice filed in May 2024, was among the wave of notices filed over the course of that year. In November of that year, there was a general election in which the question of which party could get more homes built was a key issue. Across the four Dublin authorities, developers filed commencement notices for 13,593 homes in 2023, which leapt to 24,954 in 2024 and plummeted to 5,074 last year. Spikes in the notices in April and September were triggered by deadlines to cash in on the government’s development levy waiver, and Uisce Éireann connection charge rebate. Works had to start by the end of December 2024 to benefit from the development levies waiver, a timebound exemption from the contribution that developers usually have to pay to help cover the costs of roads, services and so on that any future homes would get to use. They also had to start by September 2024 to get the connection charge rebate, a refund of the fee they have to pay to hook up developments. In both cases, to qualify, homes [have to be built](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-09-19/93/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the government’s Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) also kicked in, from February 2025\. But the tax can be deferred if a commencement notice has been filed – and works started. Also, if the development is completed before a planning permission expires, the tax doesn’t have to be paid – but planning permissions can be extended. The planning permission being built out at Glebe House, which was first granted in October 2022, expires [in December 2027.](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/150540?ref=dublininquirer.com) Moran says that the RZLT hasn’t really been a consideration for him, because he hasn’t been sitting on the land and is trying to push it forward – since before the tax was even invented. “It hasn’t really, I suppose, featured in my thought process,” he said. Developing the site has been lengthy, he says, because two of the three planning permissions that he put in were subject to judicial review, the funding has been bureaucratic, and the land-owning is more complex as the site is split between his portion and council-owned smaller bits. At the time of the legal challenges, some local councillors said they blamed the government’s changes to planning processes for big developments for the delays – as it cut out opportunities for local residents to feed in and improve plans, without turning to the courts. There should be provision in the law for the RZLT for how long a gap there can be between rounds of works, before the tax kicks in again, says Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham. “You’d want there to be some time limit. If you do enabling works, how long does it keep you off the tax?” he said. Guidance from the Revenue [says that any](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26509790-rzlt-part22a/?ref=dublininquirer.com) deferred RZLT becomes due if works “permanently cease” without a “certificate of compliance” being lodged, or if the planning permission expires without a “certificate of compliance” lodged. About 20 percent of the returns for the Residential Zoned Land Tax filed by landowners with Revenue included a self-declared deferral of the tax on the basis that work had commenced, show official figures. A spokesperson for Revenue said that it had started to carry out compliance checks on RZLT returns filed so far, assessing on a case-by-case basis. ## Due to start? It’s too early to really get a sense of what the impact of the RZLT is and will be, says Alexia O’Brien, housing policy advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. But “I am intrigued to follow up and see all these places that have been taxed,” she says. “Is this really giving them a kick to start moving?” North of Glebe House, out of Crumlin, through Drimnagh and on the edge of Inchicore sits the old Blackhorse Inn. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Blackhorse-Inn-1.JPG) The Blackhorse Inn. Photo by Lois Kapila. Dublin City Council expects to get five social homes as part of a larger planned development on this site, a recent report says. The Blackhorse Inn homes should be done by the middle of next year, says the list. Alanna Homes [got planning permission](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-arguing-they-shouldnt-be-liable-for-a-new-tax-owners-of-inchicores-black-horse-inn-say-its-in-use-as-a-pub/) for more than 50 apartments on the site in 2021. Permission [had been due](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=515EF6D9395745FA9100DE89F932F9A3&ref=dublininquirer.com) to expire in July of this year. But in September last year, it [applied for](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/171647?ref=dublininquirer.com) a three-year extension to the planning permission. Development hadn’t started, the planners’ report said. The applicant had explained that this was because of “prevailing market constraints which rendered delivery unviable over the past number of years”. It blamed the “significant increase in interest rates and the effective withdrawal of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) funding model”, the report says. However, “the outlook for delivery has now materially improved, with interest rates beginning to ease and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) successfully funding arrangements to provide a more secure pathway for construction”, they said. “The details submitted indicate that construction works will commence following the extension of duration application,” says the planners’ report. The planning extension was granted in November, giving the landowner until August 2029\. Last Thursday, there was no activity yet at the Blackhorse Inn. A few cars had pulled up on the sprawling tarmac to the side of the boarded-up pub, an area used as an informal car park and swing-around spot for lost drivers. Nobody at Alanna Homes replied to queries about when the company plans to start work on the site, or about the RZLT. In 2023, the developers had appealed Dublin City Council’s decision to include the site on its draft RZLT map – but that wasn’t upheld by An Bord Pleanála. O’Brien, the housing policy advocate, who co-authored a recent [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26510443-kenny-land-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Using the Kenny Report to End Land Hoarding” says that she wonders whether the rate of the RZLT, at 3 percent of the land’s value, is big enough a stick. There’s something of a data gap in Ireland around land values. But if land values were to rise 5 percent a year, then a landowner could still come out in the black, she says. More broadly, her report suggests a much more fundamental fix to idle land and unaffordable homes. “A huge problem needs a huge solution,” she says. If land qualifies for the RZLT, then councils should be empowered to compulsorily purchase it – as they can and sometimes do with vacant and derelict properties, she said. How fast councils would move themselves to build out the land is questionable. Dublin City Council can sit on derelict properties for years, as officials handle legal challenges, or wonder about funding projects. But the government has made it a point in its housing plan that it needs to be building more social and affordable housing, says O’Brien. So, this could be another mechanism, she says, ensuring that councils have the land, and then can have at it. “You’ve said this is important so now pony up.” ### Chatbots considered for providing legal counselling to people seeking asylum, documents suggest URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/chatbots-considered-for-providing-legal-counselling-to-people-seeking-asylum-documents-suggest/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T00:07:38.000Z Last autumn, officials at the Legal Aid Board (LAB) toiled to knit together a plan to offer “legal counselling” to people seeking asylum under a new law, show [documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26504906-record-1-147-emails/?ref=dublininquirer.com) released under the Freedom of Information Act. They went back and forth with civil servants at the Department of Justice about how to fund the service, trying to work out the logistics of where it would be delivered. The notion of legal counselling, laid out in the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact – which Ireland has opted into – [is new](https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-offer-early-stage-legal-help-to-people-seeking-asylum-in-future-speedier-process-it-might-not-be-lawyers/) here. A briefing document by the European Union Agency for Asylum describes legal counselling as a series of tasks like “the provision of information, guidance and explanations, including guidance on legal issues related to any of the stages of the administrative procedure”. It’s to be offered at the early stages of the asylum process, and isn’t the same as the kind of legal help that barristers and solicitors currently give through the Legal Aid Board. It can potentially open the door for people who aren’t trained as lawyers to walk people through the first steps of a fresh asylum bureaucracy. Now, even after the Department of Justice finally published the [new asylum bill ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505255-b0626d-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)– which carries forth the pact’s rules and recommendations into a domestic law – it’s unclear who would deliver legal counselling, how it would be defined here. Fragments of information from internal records suggest that Legal Aid Board officials sought to open a new office dedicated to navigating the novel legal service. [There was talk of ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505271-citywest/?ref=dublininquirer.com)doing so somewhere inside Citywest transit centre, where some people are currently routed to file asylum claims. They also show that the Legal Aid Board [has applied](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505881-application-filed-email/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to an EU programme called the [Technical Support Instrument](https://web.archive.org/web/20260124134216/https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/technical-support-instrument/technical-support-instrument-tsi%5Fen) (TSI) for adjusting its services to embrace legal counselling. TSI offers “tailor-made technical expertise to EU Member States to design and implement reforms”, [says the EU Commission website](https://web.archive.org/web/20260124134216/https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/technical-support-instrument/technical-support-instrument-tsi%5Fen). Last October, a Legal Aid Board worker [raised concerns](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505269-tsi-priorities/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the 2026 TSI scheme doesn’t seem to prioritise applications to support the management of migration and asylum pact. But a Department of Justice official [replied to say](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505270-digital-transformation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the Legal Aid Board can still file an application making a case for digital reform, “and I will list video, chat bots, and electronic materials in improving and providing legal counselling”. The slate of documents does not shed any light on the purview of chatbots and videos for legal counselling. But last November, a Department of Justice official sent the [price ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505275-chatbot-licence/?ref=dublininquirer.com)of a chatbot licence to the Legal Aid Board, saying “it appears to be a yearly cost”, documents show. Around the same time, a Legal Aid Board official [sent a volley](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506662-questions/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506662-questions/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506662-questions/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of questions to the Department, including one asking, “What aspects of counselling are suited to/can be done digitally and when is non-digital required?” A spokesperson for the Department of Justice has not yet addressed queries sent on 20 January, including one asking about the details of chatbot use for legal counselling. A Legal Aid Board spokesperson said it can’t address specifics of considered service delivery models because it is still hammering away on finalising their details. But that “service delivery models will be developed in line with statutory responsibilities, available resources, and the needs of service users”, they said. ## The Devil is in the details In the past, the Department of Justice [has used](https://www.dublininquirer.com/was-the-department-of-justice-using-experimental-chatbots-to-give-immigration-advice/) chatbots programmed to answer asylum and citizenship queries. And its bots sometimes got it wrong, throwing up misleading or inaccurate responses. It has since retired its asylum chatbot, Erin, but has upgraded its citizenship chatbot, Tara, with artificial intelligence, [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/was-the-department-of-justice-using-experimental-chatbots-to-give-immigration-advice/) a spokesperson last November. Gary Gannon, a Social Democrats TD and the party’s spokesperson for migration, said he has immense concerns about the use of chatbots and artificial intelligence in serving up legal counselling to people seeking sanctuary under the new law. It all feels “dystopian”, he said by phone, recently. And what also rankles him is that the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, continues to stay vague on what legal counselling is and how it’s going to be offered, said Gannon. Now that the [asylum bill](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505255-b0626d-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) hasn’t illuminated any details, the Department of Justice is promising to offer clarity once the proposed law is at“the committee stage” toward which it’s being hurried, he said. O’Callaghan, Gannon said, seems to want to say little about crucial facets of the bill while moving fast to rush it through Oireachtas committees. ## How to fund it In internal correspondence, Legal Aid Board workers had also pointed out the need [for more funding](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506360-capacity-concerns/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and voiced concerns about capacity to accommodate the legal needs of all people seeking asylum under the pact. Last October, a Legal Aid Board official [wrote to the Department of Justice](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506369-pact-readiness/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it couldn’t assemble a “pact readiness ‘implementation’ team” by the end of “Q4 2025 as we have not received the required funding requested”. It would also seek funding through the EU’s [Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund](https://web.archive.org/web/20260125134855/https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/funding/asylum-migration-and-integration-funds/asylum-migration-and-integration-fund-2021-2027%5Fen) (AMIF), but it has to match a percentage of that investment, documents suggest. “Can I confirm the requirement for 25% match funding confirmation, is the Board required to provide €0.5m towards the fund?” asked Emily Sherlock, the Legal Aid Board’s director of internal service delivery, [in an email](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506665-amif-matching/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Department of Justice last October. A civil servant at the Department of Justice [replied to say](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506664-amif-funding/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it was true. As the asylum process has picked up speed for some people seeking asylum in recent years, the Legal Aid Board [has struggled ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/legal-aid-board-called-for-urgent-action-to-continue-offering-timely-legal-support-to-people-seeking-asylum-documents-show/)to meet even current demand. Some nudged to its express route [have said in the past](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-people-face-a-shorter-window-to-appeal-asylum-claims-hasty-deportation-orders-cause-undue-stress/) that they only got to speak to a lawyer after an initial rejection. At the moment, people seeking asylum – unless they can afford to hire a private lawyer – rely on the Legal Aid Board services from when they first lodge a claim until they face a dead end in their two paths to appeal. It doesn’t cover the cost of judicial reviews, though. The processing pace is poised to peak for more people inside an “accelerated examination procedure”. In this scenario, people subjected to a screening process – which includes different cohorts, from those who travelled without documents to people perceived to be a security threat – will be accommodated in centres where they’re essentially detained and their cases heard and wrapped up in three months. If rejected, the plan is to deport them within another three months. ## Full speed ahead The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is disappointed that the new asylum bill falls short of defining legal counselling, keeping its future uncertain, its spokesperson said. “With fewer than five months remaining before the Pact is due to be implemented,” they said. The [asylum bill](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26505255-b0626d-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) doesn’t say what legal counselling entails, but draws a distinction between a “legal advisor” and “a person entrusted with providing legal counselling”. IHREC is concerned both about legal counselling offered in group sessions without care for individual needs and the prospect of non-lawyers offering it, its spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ireland said that [its position](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506673-25-06-12-general-scheme-international-protection-bill-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) remains the same as before the asylum bill was published. “That legal counselling be provided at an individual level and that it be provided by a solicitor or barrister.” While [internal documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26504906-record-1-147-emails/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show that the Legal Aid Board sought to have two separate new offices, one for legal counselling and another for legal aid delivery, they don’t offer clear details around who is delivering the former service. In part, it seems, because the Legal Aid Board wasn’t sure either. In November, among the Board’s [questions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26506662-questions/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about delivery of legal counselling was:“How is on-site counselling carried out? Where digital approaches used, what level of onsite presence is there?” Another was, “Where providers are not legal aid bodies, do the counsellors make referrals to legal aid services?” They were hoping to land on answers and sketch out a proper plan in meetings with officials from other member states, documents show. ## If you want the answers The IHREC spokesperson said it doesn’t believe that chatbots are suitable “in provision of legal counselling, or other information or services relating to individual rights”. “We are of the view that the State can and should exercise its discretion to continue to provide individualised, tailored legal advice and assistance to applicants at all stages of the asylum process,” they said. Gannon, the Social Democrats TD, said he wants the public to pay attention to the proposed fresh asylum rules and demand accountability. “I would encourage all of your readers to take an interest,” he said. And question “not what’s in the bill, but what’s left out”. ### In Swords, a network for autistic people and their parents grows URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-a-network-for-autistic-people-and-their-parents-grows/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:40:48.000Z Conor Tyrrell said he got his diagnosis relatively late. He was in his 30s, it was the pandemic. He was commuting home to Swords from a new job in the city, thinking about how he’d lost contact with people from his previous role. “I was feeling really down, and really sort of like I made a mistake moving to this job,” Tyrrell said on the phone on Sunday. It was April, so it was Autism Awareness Month, Tyrrell says. “And a YouTuber that I follow uploaded a video basically saying, I'm telling you all that I'm autistic.” The YouTuber was talking about challenges making friends, struggling in certain environments, “this kind of stuff”, Tyrrell said. “And the more I was watching, I was like, that really sounds like stuff that would apply to me. But that can't be me, I'm not autistic,” he said. For the next two or three months, before he went for his assessment, he dug into the subject, reading everything he could about autism. By the time he got his official diagnosis, it wasn’t much of a question, he says. “I was like, yeah, this … this fits me almost to a T,” he said. After that, he started looking for resources for autistic adults in the area, but couldn’t find any. Last year, though, he learned that people in Swords were organising a neurodiversity network. He decided to go to one of their first meetings in April. Now he’s the chair. The [Swords Neurodiversity Network](https://www.facebook.com/p/Swords-Autism-Friendly-Town-61577107195941/) brings together autistic people, and parents of autistic people, in a group chat, teen meetups, and parent meetups – to share problems, offer advice, pool ideas, set up events, push initiatives, and more. ## The beginning The idea for the network started with Diarmuid O’Donovan, manager of the Abhainn Adult Autism Service at St Michael’s House, which provides services to people with intellectual disabilities. As well as John Smyth, who works as a psychologist, and has since – in December 2024 – been co-opted onto Fingal County Council as Sinn Féin councillor. Smyth said there’s been a clear need for more resources and consideration of neurodivergent people in Ireland for a long time, and he thought a community effort could help drive that shift. "If the government or the local services are not going to be able to meet the need,” said Smyth. “We have to try and bulk that gap from the bottom up.” Smyth says he had heard about O’Donovan’s efforts, and reached out to him. “He told me that he'd already been kind of getting this up and running, and then it was like, well, let's, let's just grab the bull by the horns,” Smyth says. They decided to organise a public meeting. ## By and for They hosted it at River Valley Community Centre in Swords this past spring. It went well, and they decided to have three or four more meetings at local community centres, asking residents what they would like to see out of a Swords Neurodiversity Network, and how they wanted it to run. “They turned into impromptu focus groups, and we ended up hearing from loads of family members and autistic individuals,” he said. One clear thing that came out of that was that the group should be led by autistic individuals and their parents. Like Karen Fitzpatrick, the network’s secretary, whose son attended an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) class in a mainstream secondary school. He got several suspensions, Fitzpatrick says. “For not following the school’s code of behaviour, which was designed for neurotypical students.” She was elected as a parent representative on the school’s board of management. But her son was expelled in 2024, and her time on the board ended too. “That period was incredibly difficult for our family,” she says. “As a single parent, I had to leave my job to support him at home.” She said with the shortage of spots for autistic students, he was out of school for nine months. She couldn’t stay silent after that, she said. She learned about the network forming through a parent who had supported her, Caroline St Leger, who’s also on the committee now. “One evening she sent me a link to a Facebook post looking for local people to get involved in setting up a network to make Swords a more accessible and inclusive town for the neurodivergent community,” she said. “I didn’t hesitate.” ## What does the network do? The network has three main pillars: education, recreation, and vocation, says Sonia Fitzsimons, who leads the recreation pillar. "It's kind of to link in with other parents who are going through the same thing,” she says. “To create more recreation for youth, for teens and for adults as well, to kind of get together.” Fitzsimons said that after getting her child’s diagnosis at age three, it was really hard to know what to do next. “You don't know where you're going, what you're doing,” she said. “And you don't know who you to reach out to, and stuff like that.” She said there’s no better advice than from a parent that's gone through it. “And every child is different, no matter whether they’re neurodiverse or not,” Fitzsimons said. “But it's good to have these different ideas, different situations that other people have seen are going through.” The next step is getting the group registered as part of Fingal’s Public Participation Network (PPN) to help it get money to host more events and things. The group are go-getters, people looking for solutions, positive changes, said communications officer and design support Caroline St Leger. “I can't sit around crying about what I don't have or pointing fingers, blaming, looking for someone else to solve my problems,” St Leger says. “I need to be part of the solution.” “And we want to make a change like, you know, with the decision makers and policy makers,” she says. She said her son is gifted academically, so she imagines he’ll get a job in STEM and do fine. But that’s not the case for everyone, she said – the autism spectrum is diverse. So she’s most focused on pushing the vocational pillar: finding and creating jobs in Swords that are a good fit for autistic people. ## “You stick with us” Last week, the network had its first meeting with everyone’s new roles designated, their goals outlined. Tyrrell said taking the chair has been a big change for him. At the first few meetings, he hardly said a few words, he says. He’s never been in politics, or a leader. But “just since joining the group, my wife has noticed that I'm way more confident in myself. I'm way more outgoing,” Tyrrell said. He said he’s made really good friends. “I still have all the autism stuff there, but I've got a better understanding of how to manage myself day to day,” he says. Fitzpatrick said she’s also seen an increase in confidence in her 16-year-old, and she also realised some issues she had faced weren’t parenting failure. At the first adult meetup last week, there was a man who came bounding up, St Leger says. He was lovely, warm, friendly, big and strong. But they asked, and he said he didn’t have a job – but he would love one. “I said, ‘You stick with us,’” she said. “We're going to help you sort that out.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### For 50 years, Meals on Wheels has been delivering in Balbriggan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-50-years-meals-on-wheels-has-been-delivering-in-balbriggan/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:40:37.000Z Bridie Carr stepped into the Meals on Wheels building in Balbriggan from a gravel car park lined with colourful murals, fluorescent vest in hand. It was just after 12:30pm on Thursday, and she was just back from her twice-weekly volunteer shift delivering meals around the town. Another volunteer returned at the same time, also in a neon Meals on Wheels vest, both bundled up against the weather. It’s raining, miserable. The whole week has been the same. But Carr said it was fun, it always is. “There's always chats and laughter.” This Meals on Wheels kitchen is open six days a week – run by a small number of part-time paid staff and around 40 volunteers – delivering between 120 and 140 meals each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. "If for whatever reason, if you can't just cook a dinner … we will give you a dinner,” said volunteer secretary Alice Davis. “There's no prescription or rules around it.” Then they have the dinner club on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, that’s maybe 20, and they also deliver about 35 meals on those days. A bus goes out and collects and brings in residents for the dinner club. “So it's a social gathering,” Davis said. This month, as Meals on Wheels marked its 50th year delivering meals in Balbriggan, one of its founders, Eoghan Ó Ceallacháin, turned 100, he said on the phone on Sunday. ## 50 years ago Ó Ceallacháin was born and has lived his whole life in Balbriggan, he said on Sunday. He still remembers when he got the idea to open a Meals on Wheels branch there. An older woman had died in town. He heard rumours that she’d died of malnutrition, Ó Ceallacháin said. “I asked the local doctor, and he told me, oh yes, yes, and lots more, there are lots more people suffering from malnutrition in the town,” he said. The town at the time was very small, he said, and “everyone knew everyone”. The [1972 census](https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/census1971results/volume1/C%5F1971%5FV1%5FT8.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) counted only 3,741 people. The woman’s death stirred something in him, Ó Ceallacháin said. He went to the parish and asked them if they would help create something to prevent this from happening again. “And they told me that, well, they had no finances, nothing,” he said. “I said, well, I will see what I can do to raise the money.” He organised a committee to help build a facility to make and distribute meals from, he said. They approached a builder’s supplier looking for the materials they needed. “And I said, I don't have money to pay for it, but I will raise it – and we started,” he said. He asked the parish for a portion of their garden on Hampton Street, and they agreed. Yes, Davis said. Where the kitchen is, the church had an orchard back then. Volunteers built the building themselves, Ó Ceallacháin said. “I approached a few people, I guessed they would help, and I had a builder, a brick layer, who said he would come every evening,” he said. “And if the bricks were there, he would lay them.” On Thursday afternoon, in the now completed and well-used building, Davis gestured to a photo on one of the posters laid across the table, of those early days with men standing in a dirt patch with large cement blocks where the building now stands. “And eventually we had a kitchen built. And I – we– had the place all set up and ready, and we started off on the first of January, 1976,” he said. “Some people gave me extra pots and pans”, volunteers started coming by and helping out, figuring out their jobs – and local farmers provided provisions. “A local farmer, Maurice McAuley, who was a potato grower. He offered me four bags of potatoes a week, free gratis,” Ó Ceallacháin said. “And Tommy Moore, a vegetable grower. He offered me a couple of bags of carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc, a week – and onions – if I could use them. And I could use them,” he said. A woman who lived across the street from the Meals on Wheels kitchen would get out of bed at 7am and “run across in her dressing gown”, and “light the gas underneath the ham so that by 10 o'clock, when the ladies would come in, that ham would be nearly ready, and that was the way we worked”, he said. And then volunteers started delivering the hot meals straight to people’s doorsteps. ## 50 years later Over the years, Balbriggan has grown, from fewer than 4,000 people when Meals on Wheels started delivering there, to 24,322 people as of the [2022 census](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp1/censusofpopulation2022profile1-populationdistributionandmovements/populationdistribution/?ref=dublininquirer.com). As the town has grown, so has the service. In the early 2000s, Meals on Wheels Balbriggan raised €120,000 to expand. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image-8.png) Photo by Sunni Bean On Thursday, in the main room of the Meals on Wheels building, Davis, the volunteer secretary, leafed through a stack of posters laid out for the 50th-year celebration. The posters trace the organisation’s history. There are black-and-white photos of the first committee in the 1970s, a dozen-odd men and two priests. There are colour photos of recent fundraisers run by local sports teams, and banquets the volunteers held for themselves. In the next room, in the kitchen, cook and manager Helen Davis is in the kitchen, talking about her work. Every ingredient is tracked, she says. Every bushel of potatoes, chicken, dairy product. Meals must be nutritionally balanced, and tailored to individual needs, she says. She has print-outs listing dietary needs: diabetes, kidney disease, allergies, religious restrictions, those who don’t eat pork, don’t like gravy, chicken, lactose. “Renal failure, kidney disease, diabetics. Cancer and gluten-free,” Davis said, pointing to the lists. “We have them all.” Still, “it’s an easygoing kitchen”, she said. They play Sunshine radio on a boombox, the volunteers and community employment scheme workers pick what they’re going to do. “If a volunteer wants to do a certain job, we stand back and let them,” she said. “We had one person come in today — she’d lost a friend and didn’t want to be alone at home — so she spent the day with us.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/60E21C8E-3EE2-4E49-95C8-3DCF351D6A89.jpeg) Photo by Sunni Bean Alice Davis and Helen Davis have been thinking about how Balbriggan’s changing, and what that means for how its Meals on Wheels will need to change. The town is still growing fast, there’s new homes being built at pace, says Alice Davis. Sometimes the issue is reaching the west-siders, in the newer areas, she says. The next generation of Balbriggan is a lot more diverse, says Helen Davis, and tastes in food are changing. As the aging population evolves, she’s thinking about ways the kitchen will adapt the meals for the next generation. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dublin-based social club is For the Girlies URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-based-social-club-is-for-the-girlies/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:40:28.000Z Seánna Hopkins and Georgia White both decided – separately – to go to the picnic in Merrion Square because they’d seen it on social media. It was promoted as “For the Girlies” a Dublin-based social club, an event for women to just hang out. So, why not? About a dozen women came, who didn’t know each other, says Sarah Ó Tuama , the founder. Sat on the grass, they talked about where they were from, work, their favourite shows, books. That kind of stuff. After that, White says, Hopkins asked in the chat if anyone wanted to play bingo. “And I was at a loss for something to do that night, so I went out with her,” she said. “And yeah, now we're best friends and living together.” Ó Tuama said she started “For the Girlies” after graduating with a degree in communications from Dublin City University in 2024\. She’s always been outgoing, she says, with a ton of friends. Some people asked her how she had such a big circle, she says. But Ó Tuama felt the drop in community after college, she says. She had been meeting people constantly, organising things. Now, she wasn’t. “I was like, Oh my God, what's happening with my life?” she says. “Like, is this what being an adult is? It's so boring.” “So I guess, yeah, it started that I just didn't want to stop meeting new people, and I couldn't organically do it,” she says. ## Maybe others Ó Tuama posted on social media, suggesting a local meet-up, she says. The goal was in part to reach other creators, she says, something she’d been getting into. Her TikTok post got a lot of attention, she says. Ó Tuama said she had maybe 5,000, 6,000 followers at the time, so it wasn’t that she had a big audience to push it, she says. As she sees it, it was the idea. “I think everybody in their 20s feels that sort of way. Do you know what I mean?” she said. “As you grow older, you see your friends less regularly and it's not set in stone,” she said. About a dozen people showed up to the first meet-up at Merrion Square, Ó Tuama said. She was delighted, she says. It’s easier for people to come along now, she says. “Because, you know, they may have heard of us. They've seen, like, videos of our previous events.” “But for that first meetup, I kind of like, I'm so proud of the girls that showed up because they had no idea, like, what they were stepping into. And it did start,” she says. Erica Boyle said she went to that first meeting, and has been involved since, because she’s met really good friends. “Who had similar likes to me, similar interests and similar ambitions.” Ó Tuama’s group grew a following. She started organising events about twice a month: jewelry making, yoga, craft events. Boyle said it was refreshing that events weren’t geared towards alcohol. “I think that's a big thing in Ireland, and it's something that divides a lot of friendships.” She said these events are different. They’re social and fun and comfortable, without the pressure to drink, she says. Says Ó Tuama: “Ninety percent of the people that come to our events come completely by themselves and don't know anyone and just walk in blind.” ## Growth Eventually the group got too big for one WhatsApp group chat, with over 1,000 people. So they just got rid of it, she says. Now, there’s events twice a month or so, as well as subgroups on WhatsApp with other events based on interests, age, and area, though they’re not official “For The Girlies”. "We have girls from Brazil, from the UK, from the States, Australia,” Ó Tuama said. And of all ages too, she says. She said she’s looking into running more age-specific events too. Ó Tuama said she’s met some of her best friends from the group. That’s what White, Hopkins, and Boyle said too. The events are all on social media at [forthegirliesdublin](https://www.instagram.com/forthegirliesdublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “The hardest part is doing it the first time,” says Ó Tuama. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### A new council sports forum looks to press schools and such to share their facilities URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-council-sports-forum-looks-to-press-schools-and-such-to-share-their-facilities/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:42:16.000Z There is a full-sized soccer pitch in the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, owned by the Office of Public Works, that only one team can use. There’s a big astro in the Liberties, part-funded by Dublin City Council, [which is used only](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-a-soccer-pitch-mostly-funded-by-the-council-is-closed-to-local-sports-clubs/) by schools during school hours. These are the kinds of underused facilities around the city – often found in schools and colleges – that should be opened up to more clubs and groups, say Dublin city councillors and council officials. And this, they say, is to be the main focus of a city-wide sports forum, and five local sports fora, that have just been set up. “Schools opening their grounds is one of the core purposes of the forums,” says Carmel O’Callaghan, a sports implementation officer with Dublin City Council. The council is already in talks with some schools and is working on a template for how shared access would work, she said at a Central Area Committee [meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=310&MId=5722&ref=dublininquirer.com) on Tuesday[.](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=310&MId=5722&ref=dublininquirer.com) Councillors and council officials are excited by the possibilities of the new sports fora, says Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis, who is chairing the citywide forum. It is an opportunity to bring together organisations that were not previously linked, he says. “We really need to hit the ground running on this.” Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty, who chairs the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Committee, says the council is to audit what sports facilities there are across the city – including for running clubs, yoga and other minority sports. “How do we unlock doors and open up spaces?” he says. “All we can do is ask nicely.” Moriarty says that the council should not fund sports facilities in future unless the owner is willing to open them up to others in the community when they are not using them. ## **So close** There’s both a GAA pitch and a big soccer pitch at the War Memorial Gardens, which are run and managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW). The OPW only lets one club use the soccer pitch though, and has knocked back requests from others, according to a spokesperson. Usher Celtic has a lease for the soccer pitch, says the OPW spokesperson, and its lease stipulates that it “shall not at any time” share the pitch with anyone else. “Given the legalities of this arrangement, we are unable to accommodate any additional use of the pitches other than what is outlined in Ushers Celtic lease,” they said. “The OPW has been contacted by teams directly who have requested access to the pitch occupied by Usher Celtic, and they have been advised of these legal terms*,”* said the spokesperson. The spokesperson has not yet responded to a query as to what barriers are preventing the OPW from changing the lease and allowing other clubs to use the pitch. The spokesperson did not respond to a query as to whether more GAA clubs could use the GAA pitch than do currently. ## **A new sports fora** The new sports forum for Dublin city launched last month is to keep watch over progress on the council’s sports plan, which has 85 action points. The forum is made up of councillors and council officials from the sports, parks and active travel departments, and managers of leisure centres. It also includes representatives from the Football Association of Ireland, GAA, and the Education and Training Boards. The purpose is “to provide a local platform, for collaboration, consultation and coordination on sport and physical activity”, said O’Callaghan, at Tuesday’s meeting. As well as sharing more facilities, another core objective is to increase female participation in sports, she said. “How do we know when we are putting in sporting infrastructure that we are doing it in a way that encourages particularly young girls but also women to fully participate and engage?” asked Green Party Councillor Janet Horner. O’Callaghan said that the council is collaborating with Trinity College Dublin to carry out research into why girls leave sport. The objective is to encourage all forms of activity, including minority sports, she said. “It’s not so easy to get to the people who go for the odd walk and the odd swim.” Local fora are all being set up this month and will meet quarterly, she said. Independent Councillor Nial Ring said that the council should ensure it protects existing sports infrastructure as well. At the South Central Area meeting on Wednesday, councillors for that part of the city criticised the council for taking out an astro surface for a pitch in Cherry Orchard, and replacing it with tarmac. ## **Untapped potential?** Last year, Moriarty, the Labour councillor, pointed to a full-sized astro pitch in the Liberties – belonging to CBS James’s Street – which was closed to local sports clubs. Moriarty says he tried to chase up getting more access, but hasn’t been able to sort it. All he can do is ask, he says. [In the Liberties, a soccer pitch mostly funded by the council is closed to local sports clubs - Dublin InquirerThe pitch on Long’s Place is owned by CBS James’s Street, which has not responded to queries about why, and how that could be changed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-517.jpg)Dublin InQuirerJack Healy![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/the-pitch-on-longs-place--photo-by-jack-healy.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-a-soccer-pitch-mostly-funded-by-the-council-is-closed-to-local-sports-clubs/) In the meantime, a philanthropic organisation, the [Mediolanum Philanthropic Collective](https://mifl.ie/events/philanthropy-collective?ref=dublininquirer.com) – part of the Irish-arm of an Italian banking group – has announced that it will fund a pitch at St James’s Primary School on Basin Lane where local sports clubs can play. Moriarty welcomed that initiative. But it’s crazy that this organisation has to pay to fund a pitch when the council part-funded one already nearby, he said. At the Central Area Committee meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam said that one of the reasons schools don’t agree to open up pitches and courts is insurance. “Schools’ boards of management are unwilling and are terrified of insurance costs going up,” he said. The council has funded sports facilities at Larkin Community College in the north inner-city too, he said. He said he hopes the involvement of the education and training boards on the forum helps get colleges on board with sharing facilities, he said. Independent Councillor Christy Burke said that schools and colleges have pitches and courts that are closed at the weekends. That’s when the clubs need them, he said. “We need to encourage youth who have spare time at the weekends to get involved and get engaged, and it does take them away from other dark activities,” he says. One incentive could be, indirectly, more money. At the meeting, O’Callaghan said that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has announced new grants. They’re going to run workshops for clubs, she said. “Give them as much help as we can to make applications for grants.” The council can help owners of sports facilities to apply for funding for upgrades, says Ennis, and in exchange, owners might agree to open up their facilities to more of the city. O’Callaghan said that the council is in talks with a few schools. A small number are opening up their sports facilities on an informal trial basis, she says, which they hope to learn from. She hopes they can work together to address concerns about insurance, she said. “We want to come up with a template, or a letter of comfort, so that they are happy and we’re happy, for them to proceed.” The future of sport is changing, and sharing is the way forward, she said. “We’re trying to ensure that spare hours in any club are used by other clubs and shared facilities has to be the way.” ### Council’s plans for Mountjoy Square contested by those who want more sports facilities added URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-plans-for-mountjoy-square-contested-by-those-who-want-more-sports-facilities-added/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:42:25.000Z Tensions between competing visions of Mountjoy Square – either as a restored Georgian Square, or as a sports hub – that helped to scupper a previous effort to revamp it, have re-emerged. Dublin City Council yesterday launched a [public consultation](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its plans to renovate Mountjoy Square, and restore it in line with its Georgian heritage. The [proposed project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-puts-out-new-plans-for-revamp-of-mountjoy-square/) seeks to reimagine the park within the context of its original 1802 design, according to a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222371-with-reference-to-notification-of-initiation-under-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-2001/?ref=dublininquirer.com), restoring its railings and adding 84 “oil” lamps around the park’s edges. Plans also show public toilets, a basketball court, accessible seating and an outdoor gym. The council has budgeted [€3.25 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276494-dublin-city-council-capital-programme-2025-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the moment. In these new plans,in the centre of the parkis a large lawn area, which a council official previously said could serve as a “pitch-lawn area”, which would be “more suitable for field sports” than the current asphalt courts. That is the heart of the current disagreement. Dublin City Council previously withdrew an application for planning permission to revamp Mountjoy Square amid – among other issues – [tensions](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-mountjoy-square-disparate-visions-for-a-park-s-future/) between conservationists, who wanted to see the park restored in line with its Georgian heritage, and others who wanted to retain sports facilities in the park. In November, Gareth Toolan, a council landscape architect, indicated that the issue had been resolved. “There has been a huge amount of consultation on this in the last 10 years,” he saidat a meeting that month of the Central Area Committee. Anto Perry, secretary of Hardwicke FC, said that after that November meeting, he had understood that the redevelopment was set to include a FIFA-grade football pitch. But drawings showing the [design of the square](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8?ref=dublininquirer.com) were only released earlier this month, and there’s no sign of a football pitch.“We were completely shocked when we saw the plans,” says Perry. The club, like others in the north inner-city, has no pitch, apart from a five-aside and has to hire pitches for training, Perry says. “This is what the north inner-city needs and is crying out for.” At another meeting of the Central Area Committee, on Tuesday, Paul Flynn, chair ofthe Dublin City Sports Club Network – an umbrella group that he saidrepresents around 50 sports clubs in the north inner-city and surrounding areas – said they would like to see Mountjoy Square developed as a sports hub. In a [presentation,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26498566-with-reference-to-a-presentation-from-the-dublin-city-sports-club-network/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the network said it would like a large indoor studio for dancing, drama and martial arts, as well as two astro-turf pitches, new tennis courts, and upgraded basketball courts. But Graham Hickey, CEO of the Dublin Civic Trust, said that since the square is an [Architectural Conservation Area](https://www.dublincity.ie/archaeology-conservation-and-heritage/conservation-dublin/architectural-conservation-areas?ref=dublininquirer.com), “any proposal for development of the square would have to be guided by the architectural heritage protection guidelines”. It's unlikely that the council would grant planning permission for new buildings under that designation, Hickey said. After the [consultation](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8?ref=dublininquirer.com) period concludes, on 6 March, council staff will review the submissions they’ve received, and might potentially make changes based on those, They’d need councillors to vote in favour of any plan before it could move forward. ## **A new sports hub?** There is no full-size soccer pitch in the area, says Perry. Local clubs often travel to Fairview Park and further away for training and matches, and adults often train on small astroturf pitches, which are designed for five-a-side, or for use by children. There are thousands of children in the area, including many living in council flats and homeless accommodation, with no full-sized pitches to play on, says Perry, of Hardwicke FC. Perry says that getting kids involved in sport in the inner-city is critical to reducing issues with anti-social behaviour. It doesn’t matter what the sport is, and it doesn’t matter whether they win competitions or not, or what level they compete at, he says. “Its not the trophies they won, its the men they become.” Young people who play sports learn to show up on time, to listen to coaches and take instructions, he says, which helps them with employability when they are older. “It doesn’t have to be a full-size pitch,” he says. “But we need to be able to run academies.” At a [meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=310&MId=5722&ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Central Area Committee on Tuesday 20 January, Flynn, chair of the Dublin City Sports Club Network, said they want the councilto increase and improve sports facilities at Fairview Park and Mountjoy Square, and fully redevelop Dunard Park in Cabra. The network represents around 50 sports clubs, in Dublin 1, 3 and 7, says Flynn, chairperson, covering a variety of types of sports and activities. Any development of Mountjoy Square should take into account the needs of the high number of homeless children living in the area, Flynn said. “I think we can sit down and look at what is essentially needed for children in that region,” he said. “Mountjoy Square is the only possible site where we could develop a sports hub in Dublin 1.” Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis, who is secretary of Dublin City Sports Club Network, and is also the chairperson of the council’s new sports forum, responsible for implementing its sports plan. Ennis said, by phone on Wednesday, that the solution to anti-social behaviour in the area is more pro-social activities. As for Mountjoy Square, “It needs to be a hub for sports,” he says. There is a hard concrete pitch being removed from Mountjoy Square under the plans, says Ennis. “If that pitch was in better condition, it would be well used.” ## **Green recreational space** Restoring the park in line with its Georgian heritage, delivering open play space and recreational space, is not in line with fencing off a sports pitch, says Green Party Councillor Janet Horner. “Pitches and parks are not the same.” There is a desperate need for pitches in the north inner-city, but there is also a desperate need for recreational space for informal play, sitting around and walking space to cater to all potential park users, she says. “This park is a small confined space that needs to serve a wide range of uses,” she says. She doesn’t think it is big enough to cater for both a sports hub and a recreational play space. “Any sports use needs to be shared with general uses,” says Horner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Mountjoy-Square---by-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg) Photo by Shamim Malekmian. Hickey, of the Dublin Civic Trust, also lives locally, and says that he used to live on Mountjoy Square itself until recently. He said residents rejected the council’s proposal in 2019 because it envisioned developing only half the park, and leaving the other half as it was. He says he noticed that the park is not used by all cohorts of residents. For example, older people don’t go in there a lot, he says. He supports the council plan as it is aimed at encouraging people of all ages to use the park, and he says it facilitates active play and outdoor activity pursuits. “There is a huge amount of kids’ play scattered the whole way through the park as well as in designated areas,” he says. There is a basketball hoop too, and a sensory garden. “That is what is clever about it, they are using the ground plan of the original design but accommodating 21st century requirements within that framework,” says Hickey. He says that there is a need for better sports facilities in the area, but that Mountjoy Square is the only open green space available, so it needs to cater to everyone. Perry**,** of Hardwicke FC, says he thinks that the council could renovate the park in line with its heritage while also delivering a football pitch on it. Ennis, the Social Democrats councillor, says he thinks Mountjoy Square is big enough to accommodate a pitch and other uses. The purpose of the consultation process is for locals to have their say on the council’s proposals, he says. ## **Why is there confusion?** Back in November, *Dublin Live* [reported](https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/mountjoy-square-park-reimagined-fifa-32860047?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the council's plans for Mountjoy Square included a new FIFA-grade football pitch. Perry, of Hardwicke FC, says he was excited when he heard that there was going to be a new football pitch on the square. “We want to run children’s academies there and bring that park to life,” he says. The drawings released this month don’t include any sports pitch on the green, but comments made by a council official in November did indicate that the existing hard concrete courts were being replaced by better space for field sports. “We are not losing any facilities that are there already,” said council landscape architect Gareth Toolan at the [meeting](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1031424?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Central Area Committee[. ](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1031424?ref=dublininquirer.com) “People are very much attracted to the asphalt area because it is the only flat surface that is in the space at the moment,” he said, “but that is not suitable for sports.” There are damaged tennis courts, with potholes and cracks on the surface there at the moment, he said. “The new pitch-lawn area will be more appropriate for field sports and general gathering will be a lot more attractive for the wider community, not just sports people,” he said. “It will be a high-quality finish to it, FIFA-grade,” he said. “While people are attracted to the asphalt at the moment, we are going to replace it with a more appropriate solution.” Dublin City Council didn’t respond in time for publication to a query as to whether the current plan allows for a football pitch on the lawn. ### Councillors and residents rail against gaps in a Kilbarrack playground fence URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-and-residents-rail-against-gaps-in-a-kilbarrack-playground-fence/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:42:32.000Z On Thursday morning, the rain poured down on an empty Kilbarrack playground on Foxfield Green. But it’s often a bustling spot for local children and their parents, says Madeliene McNally-Murray, her blonde hair poking out from under a black umbrella. Three schools – St Michael’s House Special School, Abacas Special School and Scoil Eoin primary – are all within a minute or two's walk. The playground was long fought for and finally arrived in 2019, to great excitement among locals, says McNally-Murray of the Kilbarrack Foxfield Community Residents Association. Even at the time, McNally-Murray says that she was disappointed with the standard of the facility compared to others, she says. “But, happy days, we got our playground opened.” Today, she says, it resembles an abandoned project. She wants to see the aging equipment updated and added to, she says – but first, there is something even more urgent that needs sorting. A green fence runs around the perimeter, a couple of feet high, but whole sections are missing. There are huge gaps, through which children can slip out and onto the often-busy road, she says. Said Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron at a council meeting on Monday: “This has got to a stage now where it's a shit show.” ## Saga Several fencing panels have been removed by vandals, gradually over time, said McNally-Murray, in the playground. But they were flimsy and not fit for purpose to begin with, she says. “I wouldn’t even describe it as fencing, it’s chicken-wire,” said Barron, the councillor, by phone on Wednesday. “Your kid is on a bike and goes down the hill, through the fence, goes straight onto the little mini roundabout and gets killed?” says Barron, fearing the worst. Last August, during a walk-through of the site with McNally-Murray, Barron, and council officials, it was suggested that the council could re-use fencing from elsewhere. This turned out to be a non-runner, said Fergus O’Carroll, from the council’s parks department, at Monday’s meeting of the North Central Area Committee. Now, the council must make provision in its improvement programme for the year ahead, O’Carroll said. But the money had already been set aside from last year’s discretionary fund, says Barron,referring to a flexible pot of money that councillors for each area can decide how to spend. The builder had agreed that it was achievable with the money accrued, he says. “They've taken forever to do it, simple as that.” It should have been rubber-stamped late last year but now, in January, it still hasn’t been, he says. “Why the hell was it not rubber-stamped?” Kilbarrack has been let down badly through the years in many ways, says Barron. And this years-long saga over fixing a fence in a playground is emblematic of that, he says. “It’s an absolute thundering disgrace.” ## **Plugging the gaps** McNally-Murray is puzzled how the issue is going on so long, she says, because she knows how hard so many people have worked to get it sorted. Although, she says, she can cite several instances in recent years where a project was approved, discretionary funding was allocated, but the work wasn’t carried out. “I was told I got funding for gym equipment which never went in. I have been working on a heritage sign for seven years, which was approved, I think three years ago, and it still didn't go in,” she says. The Kilbarrack Foxfield Community Residents Association have a great relationship with the area manager, she says, and officials in the parks department. Several councillors and TDs have been part of the push to get the playground and its fencing sorted, she says. But somewhere along the line, it keeps falling between the cracks, she says. “It's nobody's fault,” she says, just a lack of communication between different areas of the council and community groups. It’s time to plug the gaps, in the fence and in the communication, she says. Councillor Aoibheann Mahon joined her Fianna Fáil colleague Barron in voicing her frustration at Monday’s meeting. She called for a breakdown of what exactly was spent from the discretionary fund last year. “Because it is an email that I get on repeat, and in particular from Kilbarrack, because of the frustration over all of this,” she says. Looking at last year’s discretionary fund, 99 percent of it has been spent, said area manager Mick Carroll. The heritage sign, says Carroll, was committed to before he took up his posting in the North Central Area, but is now ready for installation, he said. “We’ll have a little discussion locally with parks. We'll have a little discussion with the resident’s group around some kind of a ceremony, establishing how that’ll be worked,” he said. “I understand your frustration.” On the fencing, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said on Thursday that it is aware of the councillors' concerns, “and is working towards having a contractor on site in a short timeframe to address the issues raised”. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Coolock, a long-awaited regeneration of social homes draws nearer URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-coolock-a-long-awaited-regeneration-of-social-homes-draws-nearer/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:42:41.000Z “It is a milestone to get to this point in time,” said independent Councillor John Lyons, at a meeting on Monday of councillors for the North Central Area. On the agenda was an update [on long-touted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-they-await-a-regeneration-residents-at-cromcastle-court-call-on-council-to-fix-up-their-complex/) plans to regenerate the old social flats at Cromcastle Court in Coolock. The remaining residents in Cromcastle Court have been living under the shadow of regeneration for years, with the flats gradually [emptying out](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24362324-cromcastle-update-start-of-regen-process?ref=dublininquirer.com) as the council stopped allocating homes to tenants. At the meeting, Mary McQuillan, a senior executive architect at the council, and her colleague Julie Mason said the proposals – which went out for public consultation late last year – are to go before councillors for final approval at their February monthly meeting. That’s the last step in what’s known as the Part 8 planning process, whereby the council applies for planning permission for its own projects. The plan, McQuillan said, is for 118 social homes at Cromcastle Court. On the opposite side of Kilmore Road, the Old Coal Yard site should see 34 new homes for older people. The scheme is one of several projects to regenerate old social flat complexes that Dublin City Council is gradually progressing across the city, from [Dorset Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-dorset-street-council-pushes-forward-with-regeneration-of-a-long-neglected-housing-complex/) to [Basin Street](https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-of-basin-street-flats-fear-their-long-promised-redevelopment-is-now-in-limbo/), [Glovers Court](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-details-eu30m-plan-to-revamp-glovers-court-flats-off-aungier-street/) to [Croke Villas](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-long-awaited-regeneration-of-croke-villas-campaign-to-save-number-11-bus-expansion-of-drumcondra-library/). McQuillan said that once the full cohort of councillors have approved the Cromcastle Court scheme at a monthly meeting, the council would move to appoint a demolition contractor and get them started on site. The council would tender for the main construction contract later this year, she said. They hope to appoint the main contractor in the first half of 2027, with the new homes delivered by the end of 2029, she said. That was looking far ahead, though. At Monday’s meeting councillors said they were relieved to see the project on the cusp of starting – but still raised niggles with parking, the accessibility of homes, and getting ahead of possible misinformation. ## **Into the detail** At the meeting, McQuillan said that the homes at Cromcastle Court break down into 56 one-bed apartments, 47 two-bed apartments and 15 three-bed duplexes. The Old Coal Yard site would see 34 new one-bed older person homes. All of the apartments are dual aspect - meaning they are to have windows on walls in two directions for better light - and have their own balcony or terrace, said McQuillan. The plans include communal courtyards, and a new community space in one of the blocks. Also, said McQuillan, the new development has sustainability built in. Heating would be air-to-water heat pumps, she said, while solar panels on the roofs would provide renewable energy too. The plans include natural ways to soak up rainwater, which reduces the need for an attenuation tank and leaves more space for amenities, she said. “We're using rain gardens, green and blue roofs as part of the sustainable urban drainage solutions and to improve biodiversity,” McQuillan said. Secure bicycle parking would be provided, she said. The issue of parking drew chatter at the meeting, when the committee’s chair, Councillor Daryl Barron of Fianna Fáil, threw open the wider discussion. ## **A recurring debate** There are 72 car parking spaces proposed for the site for 118 new homes, said Lyons, at the meeting. That wasn’t enough, he said He pointed to challenges with parking in nearby[ Kilmore West](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-kilmore-west-residents-want-beaumont-hospital-to-do-something-about-its-staff-parking-everywhere/), where the overflow from Beaumont Hospital clogs the surrounding residential roads. Councillor Jesslyn Henry of the Social Democrats had referenced the problem earlier in the meeting. Locals are talking about taking action themselves, by blocking their roads so that non-residents cannot park there, she said. It’s a familiar [issue across the city. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-new-housing-developments-a-constant-back-and-forth-over-levels-of-parking/) [With new housing developments across the city, come debate over levels of parking they should haveFrom Ballymun to Drimnagh, plans meet with the same refrain.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-519.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Car-parked-next-to-no-parking-sign-near-The-Davitt.-Photo-by-Cian-Tranum.-1-1.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-new-housing-developments-a-constant-back-and-forth-over-levels-of-parking/) Policies to encourage a long and medium-term shift from private cars to active travel and public transport are absolutely to be supported, Lyons said. “But people live in real time, day by day.” And, “most people that will move into these homes to get to work, most likely will depend upon their car”, he said. The council must ensure it doesn’t worsen issues of parking in the area, he said. “I would ask for serious consideration and an increase in the number of car parking spaces available.” McQuillan said that the parking strategy aims to strike a balance between car parking and delivering a high-quality and safe public realm for residents. “Increasing the number of car parking spaces would further significantly reduce the amount of useful amenity space available,” she said. “And would conflict with the wider objectives of the city development plan, including promoting more sustainable travel choices and compact urban growth,” said McQuillan. Mason said that the council is aware of parking concerns. The redevelopment has two phases, she said, so if trouble arises in phase one, they would endeavour to sort it in phase two. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said she was supportive of ceding parking spaces to allow better green areas. It’s part of the broader transition away from car dependence, she said. “We’re following our own development plan, in terms of the percentage.” That’s true, said Councillor Edel Moran of Sinn Féin. But still, parking shortages can stress communities, she said. “People are coming home and you're stressed, or you’ve nowhere to park your car, it's a lot of hassle. So, to me, it's still just a major thing that needs to be looked into.” It all shows the need for more integrated transport planning early on, said Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha of Sinn Féin. So many sites are due to be developed in the coming years, with more people moving in, he said. “What is the planning by Bus Átha Cliath for that?” “It always seems to come after the event, years after the event. Whereas that planning should be going on now so that services are enhanced and people are facilitated to leave cars and not have to use cars for transport,” said Mac Donncha. The National Transport Authority’s BusConnects plan, to rejig the city’s bus network, brought in the N6 orbital route running a wiggly east-westish through the area, and envisions the A and D spines also serving the area, roughly running north-south. ## **Homes for all, for life** Under the current city development plan, Dublin City Council has a policy that at least 10 percent of its homes in big schemes should be “universal design”. [Council Plans 10% Wheelchair-Accessible Homes as Part of Mix in Large New Housing Schemes - Dublin InquirerDisability rights organisations say the standards for “accessible” housing should be changed first to ensure homes are “wheelchair-livable”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-518.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-609-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-10-wheelchair-accessible-homes-as-part-of-mix-in-large-new-housing-schemes/) The Cromcastle Court and Old Coal Yard development includes 36 universal design (UD) homes, and two universal design+ (UD+) homes. Lyons said that should be revisited. Universal design means that the homes are “wheelchair visitable”, said Lyons, while UD+ are “wheelchair liveable”. It’s an important distinction, said Lyons. More UD+ units should be included to “future proof” the development, he said. McQuillan, the architect, said that UD means the units are bigger and can accommodate people with disabilities. While UD+ units are suitable for wheelchair users and are more bespoke with extra features, she said. They’re complying with the development plan, she said. And, more generally, half of the homes exceed the minimum standards and that means that they are at least 10 per cent bigger than the minimum standards, she said. So, she said, those would be similar to the universal-designed homes. ## **Misinformation** A pattern of misinformation has emerged in the North Central Area and elsewhere in recent times, says Mac Donncha. “Those far-right elements who have caused havoc in lots of our communities are again spreading fear and falsehood wherever there's any new housing development,” he said. There are claims that the new homes are mostly going to people who have immigrated to Ireland, he said. “All this kind of nonsense rubbish. We’ve seen it disproved in many cases that have been raised.” Mac Donncha said he wants the committee and council to “set down a marker” that they fully support public housing, which there is still not enough of, he says. The council needs to keep the pressure on central government to provide more of it, he said. “That's where we stand. And we have no time for, as I said, the falsehoods and fear mongering that comes up from time to time,” the Sinn Fein councillor said. The council will put branded hoarding around the site that will have information about the project, which should help, said Mason. As well as information available on the council website about what’s happening on site, she said. Moran, the Sinn Féin councillor, like her North Central Area colleagues, said that the new update and plan is so welcome – but if only it was coming quicker. “I do feel sorry for the people who are left in the blocks,” she said, referring to the residents still living in the old apartments. Any way to bring the end-date forward by 12 or 24 months? asked Declan Flanagan, the Fine Gael councillor. A nearby project, being carried out with the Land Development Agency, had moved really quickly, he said, so he would like to see similar. “In the interest of the people in the surrounding areas who need housing now.” He referenced the[ An tSrúill](https://lda.ie/projects/cromcastle?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Project%20Description,new%20development%20and%20FAQ's%20below) development planned on Cromcastle Road, where the council and the LDA are building 146 homes. The council is working to get on site as quickly as possible, said McQuillan. The first step is for councillors to approve planning at the full council meeting next month, and then appoint the demolition contractor, she said. “There is a short period where the demolition contractor needs to mobilise and to get its compliances with planning,” she said. The timeline from that point is “approximately seven to eight months”, she said. The council hopes to then tender for the main contract and appoint the contractor as soon as possible, after the enabling works are complete, McQuillan said. “Hopefully it won't take as long as you think, and we can move on getting people into their new homes,” said Moran. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Get to grips with evolution, go to the market, read a few letters URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-get-to-grips-with-evolution-go-to-the-market-read-a-few-letters/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:42:49.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Info Dump Sessions: Evolution** Over the past few weeks, A4 Sounds has been organising a series of “info dump” talks, titled *I forgot anteaters exist*, in which a different person is invited to share their knowledge on a topic of their choosing. Essentially, it is an opportunity to indulge one’s journey down digital rabbit holes, and this week, the chosen subject is evolution. Led by Jordy Smith, the scientist, not the professional surfer, this “info dump” will look at how evolution is more than just “gene flow, founder effects, and rates of substitution". Smith will look at evolution as a biological, social and political phenomenon, and dig into the theories of evolution and their historical origins, often being tied to racist and colonial ideologies. Smith will be stepping up to unload his thoughts at 7.15pm, before the floor is later opened to the audience to chime in. To book a spot, visit the event page [here](https://a4sounds.org/anteaters/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Don Letts** On Friday night, DJ, filmmaker, and cover star of [*Sniffin’ Glue* issue seven](https://sniffinglue.co.uk/blogs/news/sniffin-glue-7-february-1977?ref=dublininquirer.com), Don Letts is in town. Arguably one of the most influential DJs in the British punk scene during the mid-to-late 1970s, Letts’ first splash was as a selector in the short-lived Roxy Club in Covent Garden, providing the scene with a reggae and dub soundtrack. Over the course of those 100 days, before the club closed, Letts also became a key documentarian of the movement, filming gigs on Super 8, and releasing 1978’s *The Punk Rock Movie.* During the same time, he became a key collaborator with the Clash, shooting a majority of the band’s music videos, before going on to form Big Audio Dynamite with the group’s guitarist Mick Jones. In later years, he helmed documentaries including *The Clash: Westway to the World* and the criminally underrated *Punk: Attitude*, which charted the evolution of the genre on both sides of the Atlantic. Since 2009, he has been hosting the weekly BBC Radio 6 show Culture Clash Radio. Suffice it to say, he’s played quite a crucial role in British music over the past five decades, and it would be worth your while to head up to the Sugar Club at 11pm on Friday night to see him in action. Tickets are available [here](https://selectivememory.ie/don-letts/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Down the Market* and TradFest 2026** On Sunday, the Irish Film Institute will be hosting a special lunchtime screening of director and author Dave Tynan’s short film *Down the Market* as part of TradFest 2026. Created by Tynan and producer Samuel Dennigan, the film is a sung and spoken elegy for the closed Smithfield Fruit and Vegetable market, which Dublin City Council [moved wholesalers out of](https://www.dublininquirer.com/is-the-end-near-for-dublin-s-wholesale-fruit-and-veg-market/) years ago, closed, and then, last September, began the process of renovating. Shot over the course of a single day in February 2023, the film features interviews with third-generation traders Justin Leonard and Margaret Hanway, as well as songs by Barry Gleeson, Anne Buckley, and the group Landless. *Down the Market* will be screening at 12.30pm on Sunday, 25 January. Tickets are [free](https://ifi.ie/film/ifi-tradfest-down-the-market/?ref=dublininquirer.com), but booking is required. The film is being shown on the final day of TradFest 2026, which kicked off on Wednesday. Among the other (not yet sold-out) highlights on the bill is a retrospective of actor Stephen Rea at the Millbank Theatre in Rush, an exhibition about the Irish nationalist revolutionary Thomas Ashe in the [Lusk Community Centre](https://tradfest.com/artist-lineup/thomas-ashe-photo-exhibition-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and the [Skerries Folk Circle](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-skerries-a-circle-gathers-to-share-songs-one-after-another/)’s latest singing session on Sunday. Rising folk sextet Madra Salach will also be launching their debut EP *It’s a Hell of an Age* at the Abbey Tavern in Howth tomorrow night (Friday, 23 January) at 8.30pm. And to be frank, it’s a miracle those tickets haven’t sold out yet. So, before you browse the full-line-up [here](https://tradfest.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), secure one of those first [here](https://tradfest.com/artist-lineup/madra-salach-debut-ep-launch-event/?ref=dublininquirer.com), because I’m only 75 percent sure this isn’t an error in the festival website. **NIVAL Taster – Letters From the Archive** Over in the National College of Art and Design on Monday, the National Irish Visual Arts Library is organising the latest in its lunchtime talk series. Each installation in this ongoing monthly series highlights a different aspect of NIVAL’s collection, offering glimpses into the materials they preserve. This month’s session is *Letters from the Archive*, hosted by artist Eve Parnell. Among the materials that will feature in the discussion are correspondences between the Women Artists Action Group (WAAG) and the anonymous artist collective Guerilla Girls during the early 1990s, letters from painter Evie Hone to Mainie Jellet, as well as those from the Cultural Relations Committee, an expert body of leading figures in Irish cultural life appointed to advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1949 and 2005. The talk will be on at 1pm in the Nival Reading Room, at NCAD. **Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín** Beginning on Monday, 26 January, Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar is running Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín, a curated week of celebrating cultural resistance and Palestinian art. Seachtain Saoirse don Phalaistín – or Freedom for Palestine Week – will be intentionally held on the cusp of Imbolc, the season of new growth in the Celtic calendar, and will be running until 31 January. Headlining this year’s bill is *Return to Palestine*, a new theatrical drama co-produced by the Dublin Theatre Festival and The Freedom Theatre, a community-based theatre and cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp. The story follows Jad, a Palestinian born in America who is visiting the state for the first time in his life. Directed by Micaela Miranda and devised together with the ensemble of graduate actors from The Freedom Theatre, the drama draws from stories shared within the Jenin refugee camp and city,as well as the Dheisheh refugee camp, Mufaqara and Jabalia Camp in Gaza. *Return to Palestine* will run from 28 to 31 January. Also on the line-up is *Palestine: Peace de Resistance*, the award-winning show by comedian Sami Abu Wardeh. Examining issues like resistance and identity, Wardeh’s comedy looks at the point “where silliness collides with survival”, asking whether “resistance can be funny”. That will be showing on Monday and Tuesday (26 and 27 January). Across the week, Project Arts Centre will also be hosting a critical conversation on active resistance with Ahmed Masoud, the writer, director and founder of PalArt Collective, a performance by musician Ahmed Eid and a workshop with artist Fatin Al Tamimi exploring traditional Palestinian embroidery among other events. For more information and to book tickets, visit the event page [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/seachtain-saoirse-don-phalaistin/?ref=dublininquirer.com). --- [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Newsletter_LGMA-Campaign.png)](https://www.ahead.ie/laplacements?ref=dublininquirer.com) ****Are you disabled and looking for work?** AHEAD and local authorities have teamed up to offer 23 job opportunities exclusively available to disabled applicants. Jobs are available across a nationwide spread of county councils, including Fingal, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, Dublin City and South Dublin. To apply, click the button below. Applications are welcome until 4 February. [Click here for more information, and to apply! ](https://www.ahead.ie/laplacements?ref=dublininquirer.com) --- ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Save Stephen's Green** While the owners of St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre makes a bid to re-design the building, the Save Stephen’s Green campaign has launched a new petition calling for the centre to be recognised as a protected structure. As part of this campaign, the group has also put out an open-call for works of art, film, photography or writing relating to Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. If you would like to submit any work, please fill out the form [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfss9qOxCqqmstlgXOmosk0eohZSYbLqOJneuXZ8Wp0kGC99g/viewform?ref=dublininquirer.com), and the petition can be signed [here](https://www.change.org/p/preserve-st-stephen-s-green-shopping-centre-from-redesign?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Damhsa** On Sunday, 25 January, Flux Studios on Chatham Row is holding a new Sunday daytime dance party. Led by DJ R.Kitt, Damhsawill be a party focused on dancing, because there aren’t many daytime dance parties happening in the city right now. Kicking off at 2pm, R.Kitt will be going deep into his record collection for a marathon seven-hour set. Tickets are available [here](https://ra.co/events/2327103?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Tallaght Toastmasters** On Monday, 26 January, Tallaght Toastmasters will be meeting in St. Kevin’s Family Resource Centre in Kilnamanagh. It is an opportunity to build your confidence and leadership skills in an encouraging environment. New members are welcome, and the first visit is free. For more information, visit Tallaght Toastmasters’ Facebook page [here](https://www.facebook.com/tallaghttoastmasters/). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Amid attacks from the right on “NGOs”, trust in Ireland’s charities has been declining URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-attacks-from-the-right-on-ngos-trust-in-irelands-third-sector-has-been-declining/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T10:05:45.000Z Last summer, the political leaders of the European Parliament [voted to embed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491881-statement-on-the-establishment-of-the-european-parliaments-scrutiny-working-group-on-ngo-funding-eesc/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a “scrutiny working group” in the EU Commission’s budgetary control committee to audit funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The European People’s Party (EPP), which Fine Gael is a member of, [floated the idea](https://web.archive.org/web/20260117165756/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/19/european-parliament-sets-up-working-group-to-scrutinise-eu-funding-to-ngos). The European Conservatives and Reformists supported it. That group [includes](https://ecrgroup.eu/ecr?ref=dublininquirer.com) Law and Justice, the party of Poland’s Trump-endorsed president Karol Nawrocki, the Giorgia Meloni-led Brothers of Italy, and others. The Patriots for Europe were also supporters. That group [includes](https://patriotsforeurope.eu/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, and Victor Orbán’s Fidesz, among other parties. In the wake of this decision, Oliver Röpke, of the Austrian Trade Union Federation, who was thenpresident of the European Economic and Social Committee, published [a statement](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491881-statement-on-the-establishment-of-the-european-parliaments-scrutiny-working-group-on-ngo-funding-eesc/?ref=dublininquirer.com), sounding frustrated. “This decision comes despite repeated confirmation from both the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors that EU funding to NGOs is transparent, lawful, and aligned with EU policy objectives,” it said. The immediate trigger for the establishment of the working group was apparently a story in a German newspaper about the commission’s funding for environmental NGOs, [according](https://web.archive.org/web/20260117165756/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/19/european-parliament-sets-up-working-group-to-scrutinise-eu-funding-to-ngos) to *EuroNews*. But it’s part of a larger trend of attacks on “NGOs”, often from the right, in both the United States and Europe, lumping together a vast sweep of organisations of various sizes, structures, and purposes. In Ireland,parties like [Independent Ireland](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492610-compressedgeneralelectionmanifesto/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and the [Irish Freedom Party](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492612-ifp/?ref=dublininquirer.com) have criticised “NGOs” as wasteful. And there’s no shortage of anti-NGO posts on places like X, Facebook and Telegram, castigating their perceived outsized influence on government policy and support for causes or people they don’t like. “NGOs” in Ireland include everything from charities that build housing, to GAA clubs, to churches, to TidyTowns groups, to migrants-rights advocacy outfits, to the Irish Council of Civil Liberties. Amid sustained attacks from the right, as well as periodic scandals involving specific organisations – like the [Peter McVerry Trust](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-coping-with-peter-mcverry-trust-fallout-calling-for-changes-to-artane-band-and-allocating-affordable-homes/) and [Inner City Helping Homeless](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-filling-the-council-seat-of-anthony-flynn-supporting-ukraine-and-improving-street-signs/) – trust in the charities sector has been diving, according to [2023](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491904-public-survey-report-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492630-charity-research-report-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) surveys commissioned by the Charities Regulator. This decline in trust is having real impacts on this “third sector” of Ireland’s economy, which includes groups that are integral to communities, and provide vital services that the government and private sector do not, say those who research, and work, in the sector. ## The triggers Tensions over NGO funding have been bubbling up for some time in the EU. But the events that most directly inspired the assembly of the EU working group to scrutnise NGO funding began with an article in the German newspaper *Welt am Sonntag,* [according](https://web.archive.org/web/20260117165756/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/19/european-parliament-sets-up-working-group-to-scrutinise-eu-funding-to-ngos) to *EuroNews*. *Welt am Sonntag* had [accused](https://web.archive.org/web/20251127021841/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/07/european-commission-goes-on-the-offensive-in-ngo-accusations-case) the Commission of secretly paying non-profits like Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth in 2022 to get them to, among other things, promote its climate policies in Germany. More specifically, it alleged that the commission had invested €350,000 in ClientEarth to bankroll lawsuits against fossil-fuel power plants and disrupt their businesses. The Commission [denies the allegations](https://web.archive.org/web/20251127021841/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/07/european-commission-goes-on-the-offensive-in-ngo-accusations-case). And the head of ClientEarth’s German office [told](https://web.archive.org/web/20251127021841/https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/07/european-commission-goes-on-the-offensive-in-ngo-accusations-case) *EuroNews* that it hadn’t spent any of that grant on “external litigation costs”, but that some of it went towards sustaining its operation in Germany. This came after a previous stir over the Commission’s funds for NGOs to lobby specific MEPs in favour of its environmental policies. “In the agreements which were signed, there were clauses which were obliging NGOs – obliging them – to carry out very detailed specific activities targeted at specific MEPs,” [said](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-10-2025-01-22-ITM-015%5FEN.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) Piotr Serafin, the EU’s Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration in the EU Parliament last January. “It is not illegal, according also to the assessment of our legal services, but simply it is inappropriate,” said Serafin, a member of Poland’s Civic Platform, which is part of the EPP grouping. Although, a *Politico* [fact-check](https://www.politico.eu/article/fact-check-european-commission-ngo-lobby-green-deal-activist/?ref=dublininquirer.com) disputed this. The idea of funding NGOs to lobby on policies before the Parliament is to balance “policymaking debates, in which the private sector usually has much more money to spend”, it says. But ultimately it’s up to NGOs to decide what they want to do with the money, according to *Politico*. “Nowhere in the 28 contracts granted to NGOs and analyzed by POLITICO does the Commission provide direct instructions to lobby on its behalf,” it says. “In a nutshell, the controversy was fueled by the suspicion that the Commission only gave money to NGOs who agreed with its agenda. Nothing in the contracts suggests that happened,” it says. In response to the formation of the new working group to look at NGO fundingrecently, Civil Society Europe – which coordinates European non-profits – published [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491894-2711-qa-ngo-funding-nov-2025/?mode=annotating&ref=dublininquirer.com) addressing anti-NGO claims of some European lawmakers. It also outlined solutions to improve funding transparency. On 21 January, anti-NGO lawmakers are set to probe funding for immigrant rights non-profits “in an exchange with the European Commission”, said an email from the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) last week. ## What’s an NGO? In Ireland, it’s not totally clear which organisations can or should be included under the umbrella term “NGO”. There’s no specific legal structure with that name. That means an outfit can’t show up at the Companies Registration Office and start an “NGO”. And not every organisation that might be considered an NGO would qualify as a charity. So “NGO” can morph into a catch-all pejorative term for sweeping attacks on groups a critic does not like or agree with, and any group they don’t object to can fall outside the definition of NGO, even if they are. [A 2015 paper](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26493860-102-article-text-300-1-10-20180628-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by a researcher at the University of Waikato in New Zealand explored difficulties around pinning down what NGOs actually are. It set out to define it, concluding that they are structured, accountable, non-commercial, separate from the government “voluntary organisations involved in helping individuals and communities to achieve their social, economic and cultural goals”. Outsourcing essential services to third parties is nothing new in Ireland, with lots of non-profits taking over from the Catholic Church as its importance in society has shrunk in recent decades, those who’ve worked in the sector say. But that’s why lots of them “still have a connection to religious bodies”, says Liam Herrick, chief commissioner at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). Better, more thoughtful government policies could ease the demand for their existence, say researchers and sector workers. But many are here to offer what the government “is either unwilling or unable” to do, says Ronan Kennedy, senior policy officer at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). ## By my count Those pushing anti-NGO discourse often cite figures like 34,000 NGOs in Ireland and billions in funding to suggest there are way too many of them and they waste public money, says Kennedy of the ICCL. When he was trying to figure out where those figures came from, Kennedy says, [he landed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492620-benefacts-annual-report-2021/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on [a 2021 report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492621-benefacts-nonprofit-sector-analysis-2021/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from [a now-closed](https://benefactslegacy.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) non-profit called Benefacts, which focused on analysing the non-profit sector. And so its report uses the term “non-profits” and offers its own tally of their number. It doesn’t give a list of places it’d counted but says it had included primary and secondary schools, sports organisations and so on. “About 10,225 non-profits are incorporated as companies,” it says. Kennedy, of the ICCL, says the range of organisations that could be called NGOs is vast. “People could be members of NGOs and not even realise, you know, technically things like GAA clubs, community organisations, Tidy Towns, they are all NGOs,” he said. There’s a lack of education around that, Kennedy says. And “we don’t communicate that particularly well”. ## Someone has to do it Herrick, the IHREC commissioner, says that Ireland’s social model is rooted in delivering “a large proportion of essential public services” through the “community and voluntary sector”. Take homelessness aid services, Herrick says. “The vast majority of homeless services in the state are provided by private organisations, largely those have a religious affiliation of some type, and they would be categorised as NGOs,” he said. In an ideal world, the government offers that kind of support itself, says Shane Murphy, a postdoctoral researcher at DCU’s Institute of Future Media, Democracy and Society. “And you know it would be properly funded,” he said. A [May 2023 survey](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491904-public-survey-report-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) commissioned by the Charities Regulator found that people’s perception of how much they interact with charities in their lives lags behind reality. Almost half of the 2,000 people surveyed had said they hadn’t interacted with a charity in the year prior to being asked. “However, 88% have potentially engaged with a charity in the past year by taking part in activities such as visiting a heritage building (34%) or museum (32%) as well as more obvious charity shop purchases (54%) or attendance at religious services (47%),” it says. Not all non-profits have registered with the regulator as charities. But lots of those organisations can be counted as NGOs. At the moment, nearly 11,500 organisations are registered charities, according to the Charities Regulator’s [2025 report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492630-charity-research-report-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It says the sector as a whole is worth €32 billion, but “the majority of charities (43%) (excluding schools) report annual income of less than €100,000, and 70% have few or no employees”. Herrick says that complaints about NGOs often boil down to opposition to the existence of support services for causes someone dislikes on ideological grounds. The discourse is borrowed and carried forth from other countries, he said. A post on X by Eoin Lenihan, a conservative Irish writer and an anti-immigrant immigrant commentator in Germany, shows an AI-generated response to a query asking for “top 20 NGOs funded by the Irish state”. The AI-generated docket features among others, Christian Aid Ireland, the missionary-support group Misean Cara, the housing advice charity Threshold, as well as places that offer support to women, refugees, Travellers, queer people, and a free legal advice centre for low-income families. “The majority should be defunded for supporting activities and ideologies that are harmful to the country, the economy and to the general public,” says a response from “Long John Silver”. “For sure. Don't incredible damage to the social fabric of the nation. That's what radical left groups do,” Lenihan replies. ## Can’t get to everyone Teresa Buczkowska, CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, says non-profits like the one she leads exist to help marginalised people navigate laws drafted without their struggles in mind. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Teresa-Buczkowska-in-her-office.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Teresa Buczkowska in her office. Photo Shamim Malekmian. And because of that, “there are always barriers in accessing some rights”, she said, sitting at her dimly lit office on a recent morning. For example, the Immigrant Council supports immigrants outside of the asylum system, she says. The government doesn’t offer any kind of legal aid to people on different kinds of non-asylum immigration stamps. So, people who can’t afford to hire private lawyers cast around for free or affordable legal advice for all kinds of immigration troubles. Still, says Buczkowska, so many questions go unanswered. “We are only able to meet five percent of the demand,” she said. They have two workers fielding questions for a few hours, four days a week, she said. The rest of the time they’re working on those cases, Buczkowska says. There are always people who’re going to be left behind, she said. Those with refugee status have struggled to get timely advice on how to navigate the housing market and bureaucracy of accessing rental subsidies as there aren’t enough charity case workers to support everyone. “At the moment I have exceeded my caseload unfortunately,” says an email dated 19 January by a case worker at the homeless charity DePaul to a man with refugee status who needs to move out of his asylum shelter. “As soon as I’m able to add more people on my caseload, I will contact you. In the meantime, you could access the services of Citizens Information on O’Connell Street,” it says. [A 2025 study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492639-examining-the-challenges-faced-by-service-provider-260118-163536/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) explored challenges faced by organisations trying to support kids growing up in asylum shelters, and found they still can’t reach every kid who needs help. “These organisations deliver essential services to children in Direct Provision, yet they are continually prevented from expanding their reach due to a lack of resources and funding,” says its findings. ## Don’t speak Herrick says many anti-NGO voices overestimate the extent of community and voluntary sector’s lobbying power and ability to shift state policies on consequential matters. The number of NGOs focused solely on advocacy work – as opposed to providing services – is tiny, he said. “Because there isn’t a high level of independent funding for advocacy in Ireland, and so very often groups that are funded by the state to deliver essential services are not in a position to engage in advocacy,” said Herrick by phone, recently. Kennedy says at ICCL – a non-profit which [isn’t reliant](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492650-iccl-income-breakdown/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on state support – they’d actually [looked into whether](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492651-thats-not-your-role-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) dependence on government funding causes NGO workers to tone down activism. And they [found](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492651-thats-not-your-role-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the majority of non-profit workers they talked to strongly agreed that the “government would prefer it if we engaged in no advocacy and only in service delivery”. “Funding is used bluntly as a lever to silence dissent,” it says. It quotes one worker as saying, “We have been in the room when a senior civil servant said it was not our role to criticise government policy”. Some of that manifested itself when some NGOs quickly endorsed the government’s position in the 2024 Family and Care Referendum, says Kennedy. Two-thirds of voters [rejected](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/03/09/family-care-referendum-counts-live-updates-tallies-no-votes/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the changes to the Constitution proposed in the family referendum, and three-quarters rejected the care amendment. That unleashed more anti-NGO discourse, says Kennedy. “There was a sense that all these NGOs that campaigned for a yes vote are completely detached from, you know, what’s going on the ground,” he said. Meanwhile, others heap criticism on NGOs for not being outspoken enough. On Tuesday, a knot of people representing an asylum-seekers’ group huddled outside the Immigrant Council offices in Smithfield in protest. Last week, they’d turned up at the nearby IHREC offices, where Herrick went outside to hear them out. “They indicated that they were protesting because we hadn’t done enough to support their aims and objectives,” said Herrick. He said he supports their right to protest and had arranged to meet them again. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/A-group-protesting-outside-the-offices-of-Immigrant-Council-in-Smithfield.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) A group protesting outside the offices of Immigrant Council in Smithfield. Photo Shamim Malekmian. ## Through the looking glass The [2023](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26491904-public-survey-report-2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [2025](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492630-charity-research-report-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) surveys commissioned by the Charities Regulator found that trust in the sector has been falling. “Lack of transparency regarding how funding is used, perceptions of high salaries of executive staff and negative media coverage are the main drivers of this decline,” the report on the 2023 survey said. “Public dialogue about serious issues in some charities is seen as the main reason behind the decrease,” the report on the 2025 survey said. There has been documented evidence of NGO malpractice. A [lack of transparency](https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/1120/1544937-mcverry-trust-pac/?ref=dublininquirer.com) around finances, conflict of interest issues and failure in governance at the Peter McVerry Trust was a recent one. Murphy, of DCU, says when he spoke to civil society workers for his research, “everyone could agree that this is a terrible thing that happened and this is definitely mismanagement”. People felt it unfairly impacted the entire sector's reputation, when it only involved one organisation, he said. Sometimes non-profits don’t have the capacity and fall behind on filing paperwork and the like, says Kennedy of ICCL. He points to how the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) was attacked by conservative groups [for not filing financial](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/hse-suspends-transgender-equality-network-funding-for-failing-to-produce-financial-accounts-despite-getting-tens-of-thousands-in-grants-from-the-state/42080480.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) paperwork properly. “I’m not saying it’s good practice,” says Kennedy. “But it’s very common in organisations that just have very limited capacity.” Murphy of DCU also says that because some NGOs are small, they can struggle to navigate bureaucracy and compliance. Buczkowska of the Immigrant Council says corruption or poor management happens in almost every sector, and there’s always room to improve oversight. “Look at any other sector, even government sector, how much abuse of funding is there?” she said. But people shouldn’t write off an entire line of work over the misdoings of a few, she said. ## Coming up short Some people [post](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26492667-autism/?ref=dublininquirer.com) images of senior workers at non-profits alongside their salaries online as ragebait. Yes, very senior roles can be well-funded, but senior roles are hard to come by, says Kennedy, who’s worked in the sector for the better part of the last two decades. “The idea that we’re all just living these luxurious lifestyles or rolling in money is just ridiculous,” he says. In reality, most people working in the sectorare scrambling to keep the wheels in motion, doing stuff not in their job descriptions, says Kennedy. Could hiring more people from working-class backgrounds help boost trust in the sector? Kennedy says it’s not like it’s not happening. He doesn’t come from an affluent background, he said. And he’s survived this scene for so many years. But it’s true that people from lower-income backgrounds are more likely to drop off because the positions are precarious and they don’t have other sources of income to fall back on, he said. ## The reality of now Murphy, the DCU researcher, says the most worrying aspect of the broad-brush anti-NGO campaigns online is their impact on the quality of services on the ground. A surge in anti-immigrant discourse makes it worse. In the course of his research, he’s heard of contentious staff interactions and of volunteers who are not keen to help certain groups because they read online “that maybe they aren’t deserving”. Buczkowska of the Immigrant Council says even her own brother in Poland harbours anti-NGO views now. And they end up debating, she says. “I’m working on a safety plan for the organisation, which we never had to do before,” said Buczkowska. ### In Drumcondra, a man puts off needed surgery as he faces into homelessness URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-drumcondra-a-man-puts-off-needed-surgery-as-he-faces-into-homelessness/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T00:42:18.000Z Before the phone line was open, Gabriel Catanoiu had his mobile ready to dial. He made the call at 10am sharp. “Your current position in queue is… ten,” says the automated voice. The line flicks back to flowing piano music. Catanoiu put the phone down on the wooden table and lowered the volume. He was still ten, it told him again, and again, and again, the voice cutting through for a few seconds and switching back to muzak. Until, “your current position in queue is… nine”. Thirteen minutes passed. It got to one, and Catanoiu readied himself to talk. His hand shook slightly. “You are number 20 in the queue,” the voice said. That happens sometimes when he calls Dublin Region Homeless Executive’s (DRHE’s) helpline for single homeless adults, he says. He finds himself back at the back of the waitlist of people calling in search of a place in a homeless hostel. He doesn’t know why it happens. “Sometimes, I wait an hour.” Catanoiu’s situation isn’t straightforward. He struggles with severe sciatica and complications. The back injury is the result of a fall during construction work putting vents in at a school, his last job. Injections haven’t helped, he says. The next step would be surgery. But he hasn’t been able to move on to that step, he says, because he wants to be sure he would have somewhere secure and suitable, somewhere accessible to recover. His time in the flat where he lives right now is ticking down. On paper, it’s over already. In March 2024, he was served with an eviction notice by his landlord Xerico Limited – not through any fault, just a break clause kicked in. He had until 12 November 2024, but stayed. He has tried to line up other options, he says. Among them, emergency accommodation through DRHE, but really he needs a single and not shared room, and one that’s accessible, that doesn’t require him to stagger up and down stairs, he says. That hasn’t been offered though, he says. Catanoiu doesn’t want to look demanding, he says. But he doesn’t want to risk messing up his recovery, he says, to risk even worse damage. So he is stuck, he says, growing more depressed, getting little sleep and still in pain. DRHE said it wasn’t possible to respond before deadline to queries sent last Thursday asking how many single and how many shared rooms it has in its system. “There are both single and shared rooms but the majority of rooms are shared,” they said, on Tuesday. They didn’t give details as to what the threshold is to get a single room. Staff carry out an assessment and review available beds when anybody contacts them for emergency accommodation, they said. “This assessment focuses on the individual’s specific needs, and the team considers several factors, including mobility requirements and the availability of suitable beds,” they said. ## Trying all avenues Catanoiu waits again for the queue to count down, this time from 20, until he reached the front of the line. “Hello, how can I help you?” said the operator. “My name is Gabriel,” he says. “I need your help because I am on a waiting list for a long time to get a single room. Can you help me please?” “We have no single rooms available unfortunately,” said the operator. “What can I do in the future? Because I already have one year and three months waiting for this room,” he says. “Yeah, but we don’t have any single rooms,” said the operator. “We’ve got rid of most of our single rooms.” He understands but they know his situation, Catanoui says, that he has a medical issue. He thanks the operator. He would call back again, he says. Catanoiu has emailed to try to make another appointment to go in again in person to talk with placement services, he said, but they tell him he has to ring. On calls, he is told again and again that they don’t have a single room, he says. When he stops calling for a while and then tries again, the operators ask why he hasn’t called, he says. “If I ring, it’s not okay. If I don’t ring, it’s not okay.” Catanoiu heads slowly back from the cafe to his studio flat. He turns one leg out slightly, as he walks. At the back of the building, down a garden path, is a big garage. There’s a mattress pushed into a corner, covered in clear plastic. He slept here for a while, after his eviction date – which came around 15 months ago – passed, he says, as he hadn’t wanted to overstay in his studio. He kept paying his rent though, he says. He wanted to keep the address for letters. Catanoiu has applied for new rentals, emails show – with no luck. He had an interview with a placement officer at DRHE in early November 2024, to line up homeless accommodation. He is on the social housing list for three areas, but way down the bottom. He has applied for medical priority, with help from pro-bono solicitors. But the council has refused him that. He hung tight in his flat, on Whitworth Road in Drumcondra. In May last year, he got a phone call from a council staff member to say that they had found him a place in homeless accommodation. It was in Maple House on North Circular Road. But when he saw the room, he says, he turned it down. It was in the basement. He would need to go up and down stairs to get to a bathroom, which he struggled with now and wasn’t sure how that would be possible as he recovered from surgery. It also was shared, he says. He worried with his severe insomnia from his cocktail of medication, the stress, and pain, that he would anger any roommates as he moved around in the night. “But they don’t understand.” He moved back into the studio, which was sitting empty, he says. Whether or not his landlord knew and considered that he had moved out or not is a point of dispute. In October, he emailed the DRHE’sCentral Placement Services (CPS). He had called, he says, but never heard back about any other place. Call the CPS line to talk about a placement, said the email response. Catanoiu reattached his medical records. He would call, he replied. “Hope after one year in the road to get something proper for my health situation.” “Please ring on Monday at 10am and he will try to source appropriate accommodation,” replied a council official. Catanoiu hasn’t had another offer, he says. Hazel Chu, the Green Party councillor who chaired the previous council’s homelessness subcommittee – it hasn’t been set up again under the current iteration of the council’s housing committee – said she doesn’t know how many single rooms there are in the system. But “I do know there is a shortage, because there was always a shortage of singles”, she says. There’s a shortage of accommodation full-stop, she says. The number of single adults in emergency accommodation in Dublin has [risen from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26493382-drhe-homeless-action-plan-2025-2027-2025-11-19-171028-taco/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 3,194 in January 2022 [to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26493383-homeless-report-november-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 5,036 in November 2025. DRHE has been struggling with finding providers to open hostels outside of areas where there is already a concentration, says Chu, and there needs to be more available in different parts of the city. “There needs to be more in my area,” said Chu, who represents the Pembroke local electoral area, in the south-east part of the city. But essentially, if what is available is not providing what is needed by people, then they need more of what is needed, she says. ## The protocol There is a [protocol in place](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26490042-summary-protocol-on-transfer-of-care-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) between DRHE and the HSE, covering how to plan to ensure suitable accommodation for those leaving hospital. The DRHE’s Homeless Action Plan talks about it, and the need to “reduce discharge planning gaps”. The action plan also aims, it says, to “prevent households at Risk of Homelessness through provision of appropriate care and case management, supports, and taking account of specific needs arising from a diversity of service users”. But the protocol is really designed to support appropriate discharge from hospital, not sort accommodation before admission, said a HSE spokesperson. “In general terms, where a person has significant mobility or medical needs, accommodation provided following a hospital admission should take these needs into account,” they said. “This is discussed with clients before they are discharged from hospital,” said the spokesperson. “Hospital social workers can bring specific cases to the attention of Central Placement Service (CPS) when they are working with a hospital medical team.” But, “the protocol does not formally ‘activate’ where a person is delaying or avoiding surgery due to lack of suitable accommodation,” they said. Catanoiu doesn’t trust, he says, that the system would ensure him a place to recover. Can’t it be lined up before he schedules the surgery, he says. A spokesperson for the HSE said that it couldn’t comment on particular cases. But, “the operation of the protocol can often be constrained by available accommodation and in such circumstances both the DRHE, Local Authorities and hospitals will work in partnership to identify the optimal available accommodation,” they said. “Sometimes this is not ideal for the patient circumstances.” There is on-going communication between these services about cases and needs and preferences, they said. “The protocol supports this continuing communication between the different services where challenges in sourcing accommodation arises.” The Inclusion Health Teams (IHT), particularly the team’s social workers, are key to operating the homeless discharge protocol, they said. The HSE has Inclusion Health Teams in adult, paediatric and maternity hospitals in a number of major urban areas and referrals are rising, they said. “However, many of these teams are not yet operating fully due to vacancies within the teams.” “The HSE will continue to progress improvements in the operation of the protocol, particularly by enhancing interagency collaboration to further strengthen its impact,” they said. Catanoiu’s next hospital appointment is later this month, he says. Meanwhile, his landlord has filed a dispute at the Residential Tenancies Board against him for overholding. As Catanoiu walks back down the garden path from the garage to the studio, he passes the windows of bedrooms in another flat in the building. The apartment is empty, with white walls and new white mattresses and bedding wrapped in plastic. ### The 238 bus in Tyrrelstown is “cancelled, cancelled, cancelled”, residents say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-238-bus-in-tyrrelstown-is-canceled-canceled-canceled-residents-say/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T10:05:53.000Z Ahmed Sherzai was waiting at a bus stop on a quiet residential street in Tyrrelstown at around 5.30pm on Saturday. The sun has gone down. Rain has been falling on and off. This stop had no shelter, just a yellow pole. Sherzai said the bus he was waiting for, the Dublin Bus-operated 40D, into the city centre, is supposed to come every 40 [minutes](https://bustimes.org/services/40d-the-oaks-dublin-marlborough-street?date=2026-01-24&service=7824%3A40D&ref=dublininquirer.com) on Saturdays like today. But now he has been waiting for an hour. Sure, it’s not unusual for this to happen, Sherzai says. He waits around. Time ticks by. The 40D into the city isn’t so bad, though, Sherzai says. The Go Ahead-operated 238 to Blanchardstown is the worst, he says. Yes, resident Anna Kubiak had said earlier in Tyrrelstown about the 238 bus, “cancelled, cancelled, cancelled”. Earlier that day in Finglas by the Royal canal, Festus Odeshina and his girlfriend were waiting at a bus stop, trying to do the opposite route: taking the 40D to Tyrrelstown. It was late, but not that late. He doesn’t really have an issue with the 40D he said, it’s the 238 that causes him the most issues. Odeshina said he takes the 238 from his placeto the gym, and it’s worse on Saturdays like today. “Come on, it might refuse to show up. Sometimes it doesn’t show up. And it takes a miracle for it to be on time. It’s the worst bus I've ever taken,” he said. At a 13 January local area committee meeting, Solidarity Party Councillor John Burtchaell tabled [a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26496346-councillor-j-burtchaell-inadequate-bus-services-in-tyrrelstown-and-hollystown-ai105733/?ref=dublininquirer.com) calling on the council to write to the National Transport Authority (NTA) to do something about the state of the buses in Tyrrelstown. Labour Party Councillor John Walsh, Sinn Féín Councillor Breda Hanaphy, and Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom Kitt spoke up in agreement. The council should ask the NTA “to engage with the bus service providers for Tyrrelstown and Hollystown to improve the schedules for these areas which routinely are subject to buses being late or missing entirely from the schedule (ghost buses) and daily overcapacity issues”, the motion says. ## How bad is the 238? The 238 isn’t one of those routes that has a bus scheduled every 10 minutes or whatever, so if you miss one, you can just wait a few and catch the next. Most of the time there’s only one [scheduled](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26496352-238-timetable-20240422-086ffe84/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to arrive once an hour. So if you miss one, you’re really out of luck. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/238-bus.jpg) Photo by Sunni Bean. In the past six months, about 5.4 percent of Go Ahead Ireland’s buses running along the 238 route have been cancelled, according to the Bus Cancellations Dublin [website](https://buscancellationsdublin.eu/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That’s out of about 6,400 trips scheduled along the 238 route, says the website, which says it pulls its data from the [NTA GTFS-Realtime API](https://developer.nationaltransport.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Of course, not all buses are marked as “cancelled”, some remain on the system as [ghost buses](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-s6-is-bus-route-most-often-reported-to-no-show-bus-tracker-for-ghosting-passengers/) that appear in the apps but never appear in real life. Wannabe passengers who know about the website [noshowbus.ie](http://noshowbus.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and took the time to file a report on it, flagged 13 of those over the past six months. “Late for work, kids late for school,” one commented. The 238 bus definitely hasn’t been living up to the NTA’s standards recently, according to figures sent by an NTA spokesperson on Monday. The NTA awards contracts to operate bus routes to companies like Dublin Bus and Go Ahead Ireland. Then it measures how well they’re doing based on reliability (if the bus shows up) and punctuality (if the bus shows up on time). It measures reliability in terms of “lost kilometres”, that is, total scheduled services minus total operated services. The target is no more than 2 percent lost kilometres. Miss that, and there are financial consequences for the operator. But during the third quarter of last year, the NTA spokesperson said, the Go Ahead failed to operate between 4.2 percent and 8.2 percent of 238 route kilometres it should have. And those figures likely [do not capture](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-buses-are-less-reliable-than-the-usual-official-figures-suggest/) *all* buses that don’t show up. If a bus loses kilometres for certain reasons that the NTA figures are out of the operators’ control, it doesn’t deduct those from the stats. The single biggest reason for non-deductible lost kilometres, a [deep dive into the data](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-buses-are-less-reliable-than-the-usual-official-figures-suggest/) for the fourth quarter of 2024 showed, is “abnormal congestion”. Traffic. The reason for the poor performance, according to the NTA spokesperson on Monday? The same reasons the NTA and the operators [have been giving now for years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-bus-is-still-short-of-drivers-and-its-services-and-passengers-continue-to-suffer-as-a-result/): a shortage of drivers and operators. “To address these issues, Go-Ahead Ireland have onboarded 10 additional mechanics, and the Authority has seen improvement to services as of late,” the NTA spokesperson said. These staffing shortages have been “further exacerbated by an increase to inner city congestion”, she said. “The Authority sincerely apologises for the inconvenienced cause to passengers.” ## Impacts In her home in Tyrrelstown, Bernie Casey said the area has been poorly served by public transport since she moved here. “When I came here, my son was a baby, and now he's, like, 23,” she said. And he’s struggling with the bus service himself now, it’s affecting his work, she said. She pulls out a tin of biscuits and puts on the kettle for tea, as she gets into how the spotty bus service has affected her family and the community. The 238 which is the only connector to Blanchardstown, the main local hub, only comes once an hour – and that’s theoretically. Another problem is buses are often already full after the very first stop. Then they just pass by, and you’re left there at the bus stop with your arm out, watching it drive past. She said some of her son’s friends have lost their jobs in Blanchardstown because they couldn’t get there reliably by bus, Casey said. Her son takes the 238 to his work at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Casey says. “And most mornings he's walking because he's left there,” she says, about a half hour walk. She said it’s not just jobs either. The 238 brings a lot of people to health services, sometimes appointments they have waited for for months or even years. “You know, they’ve been waiting so long for these appointments,” she said. Then the bus doesn’t come, and they miss the appointments. Steve O’Reilly, the head of the residents association, said residents have continuously logged issues with the 238 bus with the NTA but that doesn’t seem to have any impact. Casey said similar: residents are told to log the issues with ghost buses and everything, and “nothing ever happens”. ## BusConnects plans The ongoing effort to redesign Dublin’s bus network, BusConnects, will bring two new services to Tyrrelstown, according to the NTA spokesperson. One is route B3, running every 12 minutes between Hollywoodrath, Tyrrelstown, Blanchardstown, the Navan Road and the city centre, then onwards towards Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire. The other is route L62, running every 15–30 minutes between Broombridge and Blanchardstown via Finglas South, Hollywoodrath and Tyrrelstown. “These services are currently planned for early 2027,” she said. Although the buses will be scheduled to run more frequently than the dreaded hourly 238, there’s no knowing if the new buses will be more reliable, or punctual, of course. O’Reilly said that residents know the BusConnects changes are coming but they keep getting delayed. Bus Connects “was supposed to be implemented back in 2025, then it got pushed out to 2026 and now it's been pushed out to 2027,” he said. "It's not really good enough." *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council should buy Martello Tower on coast near Donabate, Fingal councillors urge URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-buy-martello-tower-on-coast-near-donabate-fingal-councillors-urge/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T00:42:33.000Z The door into the Martello tower in Balcarrick was blocked off by a sheet of rusting metal on Sunday afternoon, and secured by two padlocks and a chain. Its large rectangular windowwas sealed up with cement bricks,and one of the four smaller square ones was stuffed with litter. A steady stream of punters parked their cars nearby and marched along the rugged walkway along the coast from the tower up to Portrane. There wasn’t a “for sale” sign outside the granite structure overlooking Donabate Beach. But over on the property website [Daft.ie](https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-balcarrick-martello-tower-donabate-co-dublin/6348579?ref=dublininquirer.com), there is an advertisement, listing this “detached” Napoleonic-era defence structure as for sale. It is a shell and core, the ad said, showing images of a bare interior with a fireplace, the wooden beans below the damaged floorboard, algae growing through a window and crumbling plaster on the walls. Calling on cash buyers, the adcalls it an “extraordinary opportunity” to acquire and restore an “extraordinary property in an extraordinary location”. The asking price is €375,000, the ad says. The property is in private ownership, and there haven’t been any offers on it to date, said Tim Hanway, a senior staff officer in Fingal County Council’s Property Services Division said on 15 January at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting. The council is trying to find funding with a view to potentially acquiring it, he said when asked by councillors if the council might purchase the property. “We have been in touch with the estate agent acting for the vendor, and flagged the council’s interest.” This is a national monument with huge historical importance to Donabate and the wider Fingal area, said Labour Councillor Corina Johnston, speaking on Monday. “It’d be fantastic as a museum or heritage centre.” It would be a shame if the council couldn’t make that happen, she said. “But look, I’m hopeful. Fingal is actively pursuing it and we may get a positive outcome.” ## Detached home, perfect for 24-pound gun Balcarrick Martello Tower was one of 28 coastal defence structures built along Dublin’s coast by the British to stave off the threat of invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century, according to a 2008 Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26494267-martello-towers-2008/?q=napoleon&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p11). It was built circa 1805, according to the National Built Heritage Service [website](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11337001/balcarrick-martello-tower-balcarrick-fingal?ref=dublininquirer.com), with the [IHBC report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26494267-martello-towers-2008/?q=donabate&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p145) noting that it was “bombproof” and armed with one 24-pound gun. The tower was disarmed in 1874, the 2008 reports notes, before it passed into private ownership on 29 March 1909 for a total cost of £75. Over the course of the 20th century, the owner made modifications to the interior, [the 2008 report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26494267-martello-towers-2008/?q=donabate&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p145), with a 1975 “for sale” notice saying it comprised an entrance hall with two rooms and an opening that was made “at enormous expense”. The “for sale” notice also took care to mention that its walls could withstand Napoleon’s cannons. In 1990, the tower was put back on the market, the report says, noting that it had since been unoccupied and derelict. But, after a new notice appeared on the Daft.ie website [in November](https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-balcarrick-martello-tower-donabate-co-dublin/6348579?ref=dublininquirer.com), local elected representatives were quick to swoop in on the opportunity to bring the tower into public ownership. On 4 December, Labour TD Duncan Smith [asked](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-12-04/328/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Christopher O’Sullivan, the Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to give serious consideration to acquiring the tower, which is a [recorded](https://heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0c9eb9575b544081b0d296436d8f60f8&ref=dublininquirer.com) national monument. O’Sullivan didn’t give a commitment, saying a possible acquisition like this would be considered within the context of available resources. All potential acquisitions carefully take into consideration similar existing properties within the national monument portfolio, as well as the cost of purchase and maintenance, he said. “Accordingly, my Department is only ever in a position to make a very limited number of acquisitions as all related expenditure must be met from within existing voted allocations,” he said. ## Searching for funding streams Last Thursday, Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth tabled a motion at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords area committee meeting, asking if Fingal County Council would buy the property with the intention of preserving it. The council was consulting with internal stakeholders on the future potential of the tower, [said](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s116002/Item%20No.%2035%20-%20Purchase%20of%20Martello%20Tower%20-%20Balcarrick%20Donabate%20-%20AI105553.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) Aoife Sheridan, a senior executive officer in Fingal’s Economic, Enterprise, Tourism, Cultural Development division. But they would also need to consider the site’s constraints, the council’s strategic priorities as set out in its capital programme, and the availability of funding, whether from the Department of Heritage or other sources, she wrote. “The acquisition and development of the property is contingent upon the availability of funding from a suitable source,” Sheridan said. At the meeting, Johnston, the Labour councillor, said the tower was an important piece of local heritage. “It’d make a great tourist office. Look, the location itself is just historic. I think it’s really important that the council do all they can.” Hanway, the senior staff officer in Fingal’s Property Services Division, said the estate agent is going to keep the council updated. “And there’s currently no offers in at the moment.” ## Linking up the coast Smyth, speaking on Monday, said there was a serious lack of infrastructure for [youth services](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-donabate-grows-residents-campaign-for-a-new-cultural-and-civic-centre/), [dramatic societies](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-ballisk-house-is-to-go-ahead-as-a-library-councillors-vote/) and community organisationsaround Donabate, which has led to a growing demand among locals for more [community spaces on the peninsula](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-residents-of-portrane-and-donabate-campaign-for-a-cultural-space-a-beautiful-hall-nearby-sits-empty/). “Let’s not miss the boat on this.” The council is investing a lot in a planned [coastal greenway](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-skerries-a-debate-about-where-to-run-a-link-in-fingals-coastal-greenway/) for cyclists and pedestrians, running approximately 32 kilometres from Newbridge Demesne in Donabate to north Balbriggan, said Smyth. Works are also underway to build footpaths and cycle lanes that connect Malahide and Donabate via a [causeway](https://www.dublininquirer.com/completion-of-walking-and-cycle-path-connecting-malahide-and-donabate-delayed-again/) across the Broadmeadow Estuary. Coming down the line too is a plan to improve the cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane, and that is something a revitalised Martello Tower could get a boost from, Smyth said. “It could be linked into that.” The cliff walkway between Donabate and Portane is right beside the tower. On Sunday, some 30 locals – couples and families mostly – were convening around the Martello Tower and the neighbouring Shoreline Hotel, getting ready to embark on a trek north up to Portrane. The sky was blue, and the rain had subsided, but puddles had gathered along the winding walkway towards Portrane, and some parts were slippy with mud. It’s a nice route to take, but its paths aren’t all that inviting if you wanted to take the kids for a walk, Smyth said. “It’s not safe. It’s not safe for anyone who’s not fit and young, and you want it to be accessible as much as possible in the community.” At the area committee meeting, on Thursday, Labour’s Johnston introduced a motion requesting that the council carry out remedial works on this cliff walk. The council has appointed a multi-disciplinary consultancy firm to provide engineering services for the initial phases of the Portrane to Donabate cliff walk project Linda Lally, a senior engineer in Fingal’s Infrastructure and Transportation Department said. Right now, the council is assessing route options, with this work set to be completed in the coming weeks, she said. Any work on the project after this would require planning approval, continued funding and consultancy appointments, she said. “In the meantime, the Operations Department will endeavour to maintain the path surface and associated fencing.” It wouldn’t be possible, however, to do intermediate or temporary drainage works, as those would require excavation and earth movement – which would mean planning permission, she said. But, with plans in motion like the beach upgrades, the causeway, and the nearby greenway, there are a lot of opportunities to bring more people to the area,Smyth said. “It would be great to cycle to Donabate across the estuary, visit the beaches, head into Newbridge and towards Portrane,” he said. ### A decade ago, the council stripped a playground out of Tyrrelstown. Now some residents want it back. URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-decade-ago-the-council-stripped-a-playground-out-of-tyrrelstown-now-some-residents-want-it-back/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:52:59.000Z “There used to be a beautiful park here,” said Olubukola Ashaolu Shopeju, walking through Curragh Hall Green in Tyrrelstown, in a fur hat and black coat on Saturday. It had a climbing frame and slide for small kids, and a larger slide, and swings. The playspace had been vibrant, Shopeju said. She’s lived here for 25 years. But the playground disappeared between April 2015 and June 2016, according to satellite imagery from Google Earth. Now, the area, which sits overlooked by a circle of two-storey terraced homes, is grass with a path, with a plastic slide and trampoline but the setup is janky and broken. Poles meant to keep the play structure steady lay beside it. Local residents are asking for the old playground – or something similar – back, says Shopeju. Indeed, the neighbourhood needs a playground here, said Fianna Fáil Councillor J.K. Onwumereh, at a meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/ Castleknock/ Ongar Area Committee on 13 January. He brought a motion asking that the chief executive “urgently consider installing a playground in Curragh Hall Green”, so as to “correct the lack of essential play facility in the area with hundreds of homes”. Cross-party councillors backed the motion. But it isn’t on the council’s agenda to do it, said Gemma Carr, a senior executive parks and landscape officer, at the meeting. The council audited [where in the county](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-council-report-identifies-areas-in-fingal-that-need-playgrounds/) was most desperate for playgrounds, said Carr. “Based on that audit, and you remember me presenting that audit, we saw the gaps were in Laurel Lodge, Hazelbury and Hartstown Park.” So, the council has been progressing playgrounds in those locations. At the meeting, councillors dwelt on the question of why the playground had been removed in the first place. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image-2.png) The playground in May 2009\. Image from Google Street View. ## The need Not far from the green, resident Aaditi Bhatia answered the door and offered coffee before sitting down. Quickly, her twin two-year old sons, in matching plaid shirts, jumped on her lap. Bhatia would like to see a local play facility, she says. This space would be great for it, she says. Like many parents in the area, they put out a bit of their own equipment during the summer, she says. But there’s no fence to keep little ones from running off the green into the streets around it, so they can’t let the kids play on their own, she says. Cars understandably park around on the narrow street so it would be risky, she says. “During the warm days, you see children running around here with nothing to do, walking on the road and everything,” says Shopeju. Tyrrelstown was one of the youngest and most rapidly growing areas in the country, [noted a 2020 community needs assessment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26494746-tyrrelstown-our-future-full-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the Tyrrelstown Development Group. That should be taken into account when planning amenities, it said. In a survey done as part of that needs assessment, 40 percent of respondents reported that there were not enough playgrounds in the area for young people, the report said. At the meeting, Carr said [there](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26494266-councillor-jk-onwumereh-need-for-mini-recreative-facility-for-curragh-hall-green-environs-ai1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) are playgrounds within walking distance from Curragh Green. There is one 500m to the north, at French Park, about a 10-minute walk (for an adult), according to Google Maps. And major play facilities about 1km to the south at Tyrrelstown Park and Churchfields Park. It’s unclear if the Curragh Green playground was counted as existing, when the council’s audit was done. It does appear on a council spreadsheet of existing playgrounds. Bhatia says getting around, by public transport at least, can be difficult in Tyrrelstown. Public transport is poor, she says. At the meeting, Onwumereh said that he didn’t think the response was good enough. Other play facilities were too far away from these homes, he said. “What we are really looking for is an opportunity for young people to play within their estate, if possible, as much as possible. And this facility is there,” he said. “The space is there to provide a play facility.” Other councillors spoke up in agreement. “I think it's indicative of the neglect which Tyrrelstown has suffered since, you know, it was built,” said Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell. “This is not a well served community by many state agencies.” Said John Walsh, the Labour Councillor: “In many areas of Dublin 15 there's a major shortage of playgrounds, and the council's been trying to make up that deficit gradually. It's an awful shame.” ## Why was it removed? Fianna Fáil Councillor Tom Kitt said he was fully supportive of the motion, but also conscious that the situation was unusual. There was a playground but it was removed, he said, reading the council’s written response. Why did that happen? "It must've been a serious, serious issue with the residents at the time. So I'd like to get more information on that,” said Kitt. The written response said the council removed it after “requests from residents in the area due to issues relating to vandalism and anti-social behaviour”. Councillors had asked for that too, saidCarr**,** at the meeting. “And so that was what we did at the time, that was based on their requests." Burtchaell said the answer isn’t to close playgrounds, but to find other ways to address problems. Steve O’Reilly, the head of the Tyrrelstown Residents Association, and a former Fine Gael councillor, said he’s heard both support and opposition to the idea of putting a playground back in at Curragh Hall Green. "Some may say, ‘Well, look, we're worried about children loitering around it,’ and I think that's why it was removed in the first place," O'Reilly said. "But the majority of the others would say, ‘Well, you know, if I don't have a playground in my estate where I'm raising my child, where are they supposed to go?’” he said. “I want them kind of centrally located, being able to play locally with the children they're living with, rather than having to, you know, walk across a road or looking into another estate for that facility, and a lot of people feel that,” Burtchaell, the Solidarity councillor, said that opposition to a playground is normal, it happens all the time. Things do happen but also complaints don’t mean the facility is without merit, he said. "For some people, teenagers hanging about in the playground constitutes anti‑social behavior – which it isn't," said Burtchaell later on the phone. What’s not as normal is taking down a playground, he said, and he thinks it should be reinstated. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council’s new tree strategy includes focuses on climate change resilience, biodiversity URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councils-new-tree-strategy-includes-focuses-on-climate-change-resilience-biodiversity/ Last updated: 2026-01-22T16:12:37.000Z Dublin City Council will be expanding its tree strategy to focus on climate change resilience and the protection of biodiversity. These new objectives will be included in the updated strategy, which is due to be published later this year, Ludovic Beaumont, the council’s tree officer, told the members of the Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee on Monday morning. Neither of these were included in the council’s action plan under the old strategy, which ran from [2016 to 2020.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25107474-dublin%5Fcity%5Ftree%5Fstrategy%5F2016-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Since the old plan expired at the end of 2020, the council has [vowed repeatedly](https://www.dublininquirer.com/its-time-for-a-new-strategy-for-how-the-council-deals-with-trees-councillors-say/) in its annual budgets to review and update the out-of-date strategy. Now, following an analysis of the out-of-date document, the council has concluded that this new version will keep its existing tree policies and commitment to review the city’s treescapes and their management. Only the strategy’s action plan is getting a few updates, [according to slides](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26496320-presentation-tree-strategy-ludo-beaumont-executive-parks-superintendent/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p4) shown to councillors and non-elected members of the committee on Monday, 19 January. Among the new actions listed in the plan is the intention to carry out a tree canopy survey to map existing coverage and assist in prioritising areas that need more trees, and establish tree crews who will be able to carry out minor works within different residential areas. “It’s a very positive development,” said Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore, speaking on Tuesday. As the council prepares to launch its new website, there will also be a dedicated tree page that keeps residents abreast of the programmed tree works in their area, slides from the presentation show. Letting local residents know what is happening to their trees and why is necessary, Moore says. “Really it’s to make sure everyone understands that it is never the council’s objective to remove healthy trees, and to let them know there is a long term strategy in place,” she says. Once the new strategy is published, it will be in effect until 2036, Beaumont told the committee yesterday morning, with the action plan being reviewed in five years time. ## They’ll be planting in the streets The council will be trialing a series of new watering technologies to promote the establishment of newly planted trees, Beaumont said at the meeting. This would also help to conserve water, he said. “There is new technologies that allow us to look at the level of humidity in the soil, and basically will allow us to see when the tree needs to be watered.” The council will also look to organise a new tree canopy percentage survey, he said. Once that is completed this year, they will be able to ensure that there is no net loss of urban green space or tree canopy cover, he said. “We can try to increase it, or protect it.” A survey like this was done before, Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said, speaking by phone on Tuesday. “That was the most useful thing I’ve seen done regarding trees, because it informed us where greening was needed.” It helped programmes like the [Stoneybatter Greening Strategy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-unveil-plan-to-green-stoneybatter/), which aimed to boost biodiversity, and green infrastructure, and open up cycling and pedestrian routes, she says. “It was very community engaging.” “Concrete-heavy” places like Cabra could benefit, as could East Wall, she says. “A new tree canopy survey could give us a great evidence base, because we lose trees for a number of reasons, like storms or infrastructural works, or health and safety.” From previous surveys, Beaumont said at the meeting, the council already knows that in the city centre, there are districts where the percentage of the areas covered with tree canopy is between 0 and 5 percent, he said. “In some more green areas it’s nearly 15 to 20 percent.” Greening strategies will be prioritising those districts with the lowest amount of greenery, he said. ## Necessary works The council will establish dedicated tree crews under the new plan, to carry out minor works within residential areas, Beaumont said at the meeting on Monday. “There will be three groups employed by DCC directly.” A pilot programme of hornbeam pollarding will run over the next five years, according to slides shown at the meeting. Pollarding is a kind of extra-vigorous pruning, really cutting the trees back severely, so their branches and leaves don’t get out of hand. That [trial was started in 2025](https://www.dublininquirer.com/major-continental-haircuts-planned-for-some-of-the-citys-trees/), but it was delayed, he said. “So we are halfway.” But they plan to pollard 250 of these trees by the end of the year, he said, as fastigiate hornbeams can become problems as they become bulkier when maturing. The new plan will also aim to expand its schemes to provide appropriate trees to communities for planting in private gardens, the plan says. This will target areas with limited or no planting opportunities available in the public realm, he said. “Again, some streets, because the footpath is too narrow, there is no space for planting.” It’s already started at a local level, he said. “So it’s just to continue that.” Each of the historic parks and squares in the city will get its own planting strategy, he said. “Basically, we have some very important parks with a specific landscape.” Most of the time those specific landscapes have to be protected and retained, he said. “But also we have to look at how this is going to survive climate change.” ## Getting with the times Under the new action plan, the council needs to communicate more effectively, Beaumont said. “On the new \[Dublin City Council\] website, there will be a lot more explaining what we do.” The council will have a revamped tree page available in the second half of this year, the presentation says, with its new features including information on programmed tree works, annual tree planting and the tree population in parks. As part of the new actions that protect and promote biodiversity, the council will be liaising with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to agree on protocols when carrying out essential tree works in the vicinity of bat roosts in the city’s parks, the plan says. Within the parks too, the council will identify and survey protected and sensitive habitats, create an inventory of historic and veteran trees, it says. In relation to climate change resilience, the council will be analysing the results of its tree inventory to introduce more tree species diversity, and convert tree maintenance hand tools from petrol to rechargeable electric versions, it says. They will also create a register of newly introduced tree species and review these every year to assess their sustainability in the city, it says, noting that this will be reviewed in 2030. The new strategy is going to run for a total of 10 years, concluding in 2036, Beaumont said, noting too that the council will review this action plan in 2030. ### Fingal should introduce hidden-disability parking spots, councillors say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-should-introduce-hidden-disability-parking-spots-councillors-say/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T14:30:26.000Z Howth resident Laura Brown is a mother of four kids, aged 11, eight, six, and five. “Having four kids, it is a lot of children, right?” she said on the phone Monday. “So you've got those kind of normal stressors that people with large families have.” “But then I suppose, on top. My son, Toby, is his name, he gets over-excited. You know, he has his routine.” Toby is her six-year-old, and he has autism. Brown said he’s pre-verbal now. Toby loves the playground, Brown says, and he knows the route and he gets really excited when he knows he’s on the way. So she has to be extra careful when they park the car, to make sure he doesn’t run out into traffic in his eagerness to get to the playground, she says. Hidden-disability parking spots, she says, would be a great way to help her manage that risk. “I think it's much needed. It would really benefit our family.” Hidden-disability parking spots don’t exist in Fingal, but the council should look at introducing them, Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey suggested [in a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26496351-supplement-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-03122025-1500-howthmalahide-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p31) at a meeting of the Howth/Malahide Area Committee last month. It’s not the first time councillors have asked. For example, in December, Labour Councillor Mark Boland [asked](https://meetings.fingal.ie/ieIssueDetails.aspx?IId=75230&PlanId=0&Opt=3&ref=dublininquirer.com#AI105522) for one to be installed, “on a pilot basis”, at Ardgillan Castle. Haughey envisages them as courtesy spots, similar to the age-friendly parking spots which aren’t legally enforceable but have been rolled out nonetheless, he said. They would be pay-and-display spots marked with the hidden disability sunflower, his motion said. The written response from council staff in the Operations department was that they didn’t see it as a runner. “Such spaces would be open to misuse and, in the absence of statutory authority, cannot be effectively enforced,” [said the response](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26496351-supplement-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-03122025-1500-howthmalahide-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p31), from Niamh Russell, an administrative officer, and Karen Gallagher, a senior engineer. They did also suggest another route, though. ## A good idea or not? Brown says that Howth can be particularly tricky to take her son around because there’s a lot of traffic, and loads of visitors. “So the car parks can be full, really, from very early in the day,” she said. She said going out to the playgrounds there, she has to be extra aware of safety for all of her kids, and particularly Toby. “He doesn't like to hold hands or anything.” It’s stressful, she says, and not just when they arrive, but also when they’re trying to leave. “You're having to drag him, basically, kind of against his will, back to the car.” A hidden-disability spot, closer to the playground, would help tamp down that extra stress in the day, she says. At the council meeting in December, other councillors rowed in behind Haughey’s suggestion. “I think somebody has asked for this before it might have even been myself,” said Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins. “So I just want to thank you for raising it and say that I absolutely support it..” Why not pilot it? she said. “There's various reasons for us not doing it, but I don't think they're strong enough.” Fianna Fáil Councillor Eoghan O’Brien said he brought a similar motion to a past council meeting, and it was unanimously approved. But he thinks it was turned down because there isn’t provision in law for specific signage, he says. But that’s not a reason to not do it, he said. Age-friendly parking has worked for the most part even without official enforcement, said Green Party Councillor David Healy, who also supported the motion. “Feedback is universally positive.” Age-friendly parking is parking designated for those over 55, but it relies on the honours system. Russell, the council administrative officer, said that they have found that the age-friendly bays are misused. “Unfortunately, there are no ways for our parking wardens to enforce that because they are non-statutory.” ## Another route? In the meeting, Russell said that the blue badges that already exist are designed to help people have access to parking spaces close to amenities. “There is legislation which extends enforcement powers around those blue parking bays,” Russell said. The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) and the Disabled Drivers Association issue permits to park legally in disabled parking spots, based on eligibility criteria. However, the IWA website’s “Disable Persons Parking Permit Guide”, says the permits are for people with mobility issues. Under “Qualifying Criteria”, it says, “In order to qualify for a Parking Permit, you must have a permanent medical condition and a severe mobility problem. In 2010 a review of the scheme changed the focus of the qualifying criteria around an applicant’s mobility rather than their specific medical condition.” The page does not mention autistic people, but does say that “To avoid any unnecessary disappointment please note that individuals with the following medical conditions may not qualify: Those with Intellectual Disabilities or behavioural conditions whose mobility is not severely restricted.” But councillors who want special parking arrangements for people with hidden disabilities could lobby the IWA to expand who qualifies, said Russell, the council administrative officer. That might be the way to go, she said. That’s a good idea, said Hopkins. Although, she has helped people who have had problems getting a blue badge, she says, and it might be because there aren’t enough parking spaces being planned for those. Haughey said he agreed. They didn’t want the criteria too broad, he said, but at the moment it seems focused on somebody’s ability to walk. “People do have issues that aren’t related to that.” The Irish Wheelchair Association declined to comment. ## Elsewhere Sinéad Lucey Brennan, the director of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower for Ireland and Northern Ireland, said that having these spots caters to a different population. People in the early stages of MS or Parkinson's, forms of autism, people who struggle to find their car, she said. Brennan said they’ve assisted some councils in rolling this out, and she said they’ve only received good feedback. It has been well-received in Wicklow, Brennan said. “We were inundated with people in the community who have an invisible disability, and particularly parents who would have an autistic child,” she said. “It has just been an absolute game-changer for them.” A spokesperson for Wicklow County Council said that the scheme has raised awareness and supported people with hidden disabilities. “However, some complaints have arisen due to a misunderstanding that these bays are exempt from parking charges,” they said. “This is not the case, and the Council is improving signage to clarify that normal parking charges apply.” Wicklow County Council doesn’t regulate who may use hidden disability bays, so the initiative relies on public good will, respect, and compassion, they said. Later, by phone, Haughey, the Fianna Fáil councillor in Fingal, said that he had a fair number of negative responses when he suggested the idea on Instagram. Many said it’s not enforceable, he said. But is that reason enough not to do it? asked Haughey. “You know, some people acting badly, I don't know if that's reason enough to not do something that is, that will benefit people with autism and people with sensory issues.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Central government is looking at whether councils should be allowed to borrow more, to build more URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/central-government-is-looking-at-whether-councils-should-be-allowed-to-borrow-more-to-build-more/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:50:53.000Z Last February, Dublin city councillors voted to borrow up to €132.5m spread over a few years to fund its big housing project at Emmet Road in Inchicore, a mix of cost-rental and social homes. The Minister for Housing okayed it. Since then, work on the site has gradually progressed. On Thursday, beyond the tall hoarding that advertised the future, there were yellow diggers and fresh mounds of mud. If Dublin City Council could borrow more, it could probably be building more cost-rental homes in the city, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon last week. Cost-rentals are a model of housing that are aimed at middle-income earners, cheaper than a purely private-market rental, and intended also to offer people more security and a sense of home. The idea is that rents are set based on the costs of delivery – of construction, financing, management and maintenance – and so can fall over time, rather than stay tethered to a rising market. The version of the model being rolled out at the moment is not without critics. But there are about 4,300 cost-rental homes in the pipeline across the city – to be delivered by the council, approved housing bodies (AHBs), and the Land Development Agency (LDA) – between now and 2033, [show official figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26472882-report-no112026-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-housing-supply-and-delivery-monthl/?ref=dublininquirer.com). And the government’s [new housing plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26472801-20251218-delivering-homesbuilding-communities-18-dec-web-version/?ref=dublininquirer.com), “Delivering Homes, Building Communities”, commits to accelerating cost-rentals. Dublin city councillors have been talking about converting vacant and derelict buildings in the city centre to cost-rentals too. [Government briefings include worry that lower-income renters could be priced out of “affordable” cost-rental homes - Dublin InquirerRising costs of delivery pushed the government to open up schemes to higher-income renters – but with possible side effects.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-500.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/pexels-photo-101808-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-briefings-worry-that-lower-income-renters-could-be-priced-out-of-affordable-cost-rental-homes/) [The council has a new plan to regenerate the city centre “street by street”“We should be able to try these big things and not be afraid of failure,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell, who has spearheaded the initiative.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-501.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/North-Frederick-Street.--main-image--1-4.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) For the council to deliver cost-rental at scale though, it has to be able to borrow, says Pidgeon, who sits on the council’s finance committee. And “that doesn’t work within the current government borrowing model”. Indeed, at the moment, all the 31 councils in the country, between them, can only borrow €118m a year in “non-mortgage loans” – the kinds of borrowings used to fund or part-fund all kinds of building projects, not just cost-rental housing, but also libraries, community centres, and sports stadiums. The government’s [new housing plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26472801-20251218-delivering-homesbuilding-communities-18-dec-web-version/?ref=dublininquirer.com) also says that it will “streamline funding support schemes for cost rental delivery” and “explore increasing debt ceiling levels for local authority borrowing”. In other words, look at letting councils borrow more. A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said earlier this week its officials are engaging with the Department of Housing and the Department of Public Expenditure on borrowing limits for councils. “The Department of Finance acknowledges that the current metric used to calculate the sectoral borrowing limit, in place since the financial crisis, requires further examination,” the spokesperson said. “And that a revised framework for local authority borrowing should be developed, which considers the sustainability and affordability of borrowing, and the impact on the general government position, while meeting the overall needs of the local authority sector,” said the spokesperson. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing gave a similar statement. Councils do get partial funding for cost-rental as a grant through the government’s Affordable Housing Fund, they also said. But “local authorities generally need to borrow the majority of the delivery cost from the Housing Finance Agency. Repayment capacity for this borrowing arises from tenant cost rental income,” they said. “The limits on the level of borrowing that local authorities can undertake in any year may cause issues in the future for local authorities that need to borrow to deliver cost rental projects,” said the spokesperson. Whether councils should be allowed to borrow more is a really core question that is about more than finance, says Rory Hearne, a Social Democrats TD and the party’s spokesperson on housing. It’s also not just about housing but so many of the other services too that communities need to thrive, he says. So often, council managers will say that they just don’t have the money for a project, he says. “We'd like to do this. We'd like to repair our paths more. We'd like to build more public housing. We'd like to have more, you know, public swimming pools. But we just can't do it. We don't have the funding.” “And so the question is, then, where do you get the funding from, and borrowing is a key one,” says Hearne. ## **Can we build it?** It’s not just cost-rental homes that Dublin City Council has sought, or plans to seek, to borrow to fund. The council has a whole list of projects that it is looking to borrow for, to get over the line in the next few years – from fire stations to the Smithfield Fruit and Veg Market redevelopment. All of the items are important, said Victor Leonov, the acting head of finance, [at a meeting of the](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/982445?ref=dublininquirer.com) finance committee last May. But if Dublin City Council goes for all those borrowings and gets sanction for them, it would leave little of the pot of €118m each year for other local authorities, he said. Indeed, councils collectively asked to borrow more than the borrowing limit in 2023 and 2024 – but drew down less than the limit, says [a report drawn up](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26467899-indecon-la-gearing-report-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by consultants Indecon for the Department of Housing. In 2023, councils sought sanction for €260 million. In 2024, they asked to borrow €150 million. “This illustrates the self-assessed increased need for borrowing that currently exists within the local authority sector,” the report says. “As the government programme around infrastructure and housing provision expands in the coming years, there is an expectation that local authorities will need to increase borrowing further,” the report says. While councils do rely heavily on grants from the central government for capital projects, those aren’t enough, the report says. Councils often have to provide matching funding, and cover operational and staffing costs, it says. “As expenditure increases due to increasing demand for delivery of housing schemes of various tenures such as cost rental, affordable housing and social housing, local authorities are vying against each other to obtain a larger share of the borrowing limit to meet public service needs within their own areas,” the report says. ## **Why the cap?** Controls on local government borrowing were brought in because some local authorities in the past got into financial difficulties, says Tom Moylan, executive director of the Association of Irish Local Government. “But sometimes you come up with a solution to rectify a problem and it goes from one extreme to another,” he says. Current restrictions exist on a few fronts. Councillors have to vote to approve any borrowings – but they also require ministerial sanction. This ensures that borrowing does not undermine the delivery of essential local services, that debt levels remain sustainable, and that borrowing aligns with wider Government policy priorities, says the Indecon report. It also allows the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to track debt across the sector, to ensure that levels comply with national and European Union fiscal rules around the general government balance, it says. The last of these considerations relates to a second check on council borrowing. An agreement between the Department of Public Expenditure and the Department of Finance requires local authorities to have a neutral impact on the general government balance. So councils have to run balanced revenue and capital accounts. That flows from Ireland’s obligations under the Maastricht Treaty, the report says. These mean that Ireland has to limit its general government deficit to 3 percent of GDP, and general government debt to 60 percent of GDP. The report from Indecon looks at the current sustainability of debt at individual councils, using four different metrics – and finds it does vary from council to council. “Some local authorities perform consistently strongly across all metrics,” the report says. “For example, Dublin City Council and the county councils of South Dublin, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Kildare, Kerry, and Carlow do not rank in the bottom two quintiles in any of the metrics.” But overall, the debt is small because of all the restrictions, says Stephen McNena, an economics lecturer at University of Galway who researches local government. “They’ve a low amount of debt. They’ve a much lower amount of debt than the central government,” he says. At the meeting of Dublin City Council’s finance committee last May, Leonov went into some detail about the council’s debts, pointing to €162.2m in “non-mortgage loans” at the end of 2024\. Of that, €4.7m related to a loan from 2022 from the Housing Finance Agency to buy land, he said. Meanwhile, €67.5 million related to a loan in 2021 and 2022 to help fund the North City Operations Depot in Ballymun. The [council plan for repaying](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-chief-suggests-selling-off-some-land-to-fund-super-depots/) that has been to use money from selling the cleared smaller depot sites – from which operations were moved to the new super-depot – to help cover it, he said. Most of the old depot sites will end up as social housing, he said. “The trick for us is to get the money from the department to cover the cost of the land for those houses.” The largest chunk of borrowings was €90.1m in loans, from between 2019 and 2024, drawn down to fund the maintenance and refurbishment of social housing. “This is a substantial issue for us, to continue to borrow that,” said Leonov. The repayments are quite large, he said. Sinn Féin Councillor Kourtney Kenny asked what kind of maintenance work these borrowings were funding. Day-to-day maintenance is covered from revenue, said Leonov. This was spent on bigger items, such as wraparound insulation and retrofitting and – he said – to plug the gap between the €11,000 that they get from the Department of Housing to do up each vacant social home between tenants, and the actual costs of refurbishment. [Why are there so many boarded-up council houses in Cherry Orchard? - Dublin Inquirer“I am dealing with serious cases, people screaming and crying for houses,” says People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-502.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/boarded-up-houses-cherry-orchard.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-are-there-so-many-boarded-up-council-houses-in-cherry-orchard/) ## **A wider symptom?** The tight reins on council borrowing are a symptom of the high centralisation of government in Ireland, says McNena, the economics lecturer. Generally, he would be in the camp of those who argue for much more decentralisation, he says. For councils to have more powers, more responsibilities, more taxing powers, and yes, more borrowing powers. “It doesn’t mean we want them to go mad borrowing,” he says. “There’s a reason for controls. Controls and fiscal rules have a place.” But it would mean changing the fiscal rules. At the EU level, there are the rules restricting borrowing to 3 percent of GDP, and public debt should be a maximum of 60 percent of GDP. “You could have those rules at a local government level,” he said. The implication is that the €118m would have to be relaxed, he said. Hearne, the Social Democrats TD and housing spokesperson, says that he also thinks the borrowing cap has to transform. “We have to massively extend this or get rid of it.” That of course raises the question of how able councils would be to repay what they borrow, he says, and so should happen in tandem with increases in revenue-raising powers. Indeed, says the Green Party’s Pidgeon. “Without being a bit Dermot Lacey about the whole thing, you need local government to be able to raise its own finance before it can do this borrowing,” he said, referring to a Labour Party councillor known for pushing for more powers for local councils. As part of its analysis of local government debt and sustainability, the Indecon report looked at how much “flexible income” councils had. In other words, how much revenue each brings in over which it actually has control over how it is spent – and so could direct it towards repayment of debt. Over time, that has fluctuated, the report shows. The central government could look at allowing or strengthening several streams of revenue, says Hearne. Like getting government agencies to pay rates in Dublin, he says – an issue also [flagged regularly by](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26484694-council-question-september-meeting-commercial-rates-and-government-buildings-cllr-lacey-reques/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Lacey, the Labour councillor. Collecting derelict sites levies – to be reformed as the derelict sites tax – would be another source, he says. Although that is to be moved under Revenue, and it is unclear if the money will be passed back to councils who hadn’t been collecting it efficiently. “It shouldn't be lost from the councils, but I haven't seen a clear answer to that,” says Hearne. Central government is generally slow to cede powers, but councils have also been pushing for powers to implement a tourist tax or visitor levy, says McNena. And, “do I think it'll be in in five years time? Yes.” ## **Outside the box, inside another** Dublin City Council is looking at another route to borrow more – following the example of Limerick City and County Council. Limerick has three special purpose vehicles, which are arms-length companies, set up to manage some projects. Limerick Twenty Thirty, for example, was set up in 2016 to redevelop five city centre sites. Borrowings by Limerick Twenty Thirty – and the other two SPVs, Discover Limerick DAC, and Innovate Limerick – do not need ministerial approval, says a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council. These SPV borrowings also don’t have to be taken into account when ensuring that the council’s annual budget is balanced and neutral, they said. Last July, Dublin city councillors backed the idea of establishing an SPV to help rejuvenate Dublin’s city centre. Setting up SPVs is not without issues though, says Moylan, executive director of the Association of Irish Local Government. There’s a democratic deficit and a lack of transparency, says Moylan. That’s been raised by councillors in Limerick. [Could Dublin councillors be cut out of major plans for city centre – as councillors have been in Limerick?Dublin councillors were looking at Limerick as a model for regeneration. But there’s disquiet there now, with concerns about transparency, oversight, and control over development.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-499.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Opera-Square-site-by-Laoise-Neylon-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/could-dublin-councillors-be-cut-out-of-major-plans-for-city-centre-as-councillors-have-been-in-limerick/) And, for councillors who may end up on boards of these SPVs, those responsibilities risk leading to conflicts of interest with their role as elected representatives, says Moylan. “Whose interests are they representing? The council? Or, under company law, to the company itself? What happens if there’s a conflict with the local authority and the company, what must that elected member do in that case?” he says. For him, it would be better to be carrying out those activities through the council, he says. “The corporate structure is already there with the local authority.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council didn’t say whether the executive would be in favour of increasing the borrowing envelope, or changing the rules around borrowing. When it comes to funding cost-rental homes, the council and its partners are working on several projects in the city, the spokesperson said. And, at the meeting last May, the council’s acting head of finance, Leonov reminded councillors that borrowings need to be repaid. “Borrowings is a last resort. We prefer not to get involved. I think that’s the intention,” he said. But, Moylan says, in the finger-pointing over who is responsible for missed public housing targets, there is often the same dialogue. The Department of Housing may say that councils aren’t working fast enough and that the approvals process is much smoother than the past. Councils may say that approvals and funding from central government still takes too long to come through. Allowing councils to borrow more would mean councils just can’t make that argument, says Moylan. “They can’t have any more excuses with regards, oh, we can’t get the money from the department.” ### As the decades drag on, Dublin City Council finally applies for funding for regeneration of Traveller accommodation at Labre Park URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-the-decades-drag-on-dublin-city-council-finally-applies-for-funding-for-regeneration-of-traveller-accommodation-at-labre-park/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:51:01.000Z Dublin City Council has been promising to regenerate a Traveller-specific accommodation site at Labre Park in Ballyfermot for about 27 years. By 2014, the council [brought in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26483763-labre-park-redevelopment-update-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the housing charity Clúid to lead the project. It ran a community consultation in 2016\. But delays followed. In 2020, it looked as if the number of homes would be reduced, and some families [might not be accommodated](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-labre-park-the-promise-of-a-permanent-home-may-be-taken-away-for-some/), due to concerns about flood risk on part of the lands. A plan for a flood wall should [alleviate the flood risk. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/planned-flood-defences-would-protect-homes-and-businesses-along-the-camac-in-bluebell-inchicore-and-kilmainham/) Last month, Dublin City Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare [said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26483780-public-reports-pack-12012026-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that Clúid is no longer leading the project. The council has taken it back as a direct build and has submitted a funding application to the Department of Housing, said his response to a question from Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. “A review of options to engage a project delivery design team is underway,” he said. Shay L’Estrange, coordinator at Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project, says that Clúid’s involvement in Labre Park had been positive in getting designs drawn up in agreement with residents. His understanding is that Clúid has passed those designs over to the council, he said, and the council’s quantity surveyor has gone through them and made minor adjustments before applying for funding. Clúid pulling out shouldn’t cause any substantial delay, he said. A council spokesperson said that the funding application is for 12 new build homes and the regeneration of 18 existing homes. The plans themselves are good and will accommodate all existing families, says L’Estrange. “No one will be displaced, that is the good part.” The main problem in Labre Park at the moment is overcrowding, leading some families to end up in homeless accommodation, he says. With design work completed, the council could apply for planning permission this year if it gets the funding from the department, said Shakespeare in his response. Traveller groups and local representatives are really trying to push the project along, says L’Estrange. “We have waited too long.” “We desperately need the department to fund this,” he says. “It's 25 years in the making.” In October, the government announced a budget of [€34m for Traveller accommodation projects nationally for 2026](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/budget-2026-department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage-announces-record-budget-package-of-over-11-billion/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Labre Park is the largest [project ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25430387-report-no-2482024-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-the-traveller-accommodation-prog-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com)of Traveller-specific accommodation currently planned in Dublin city. ## **What is the plan?** Dublin City Council has carried out improvements to Labre Park in recent times, says L’Estrange. It has resurfaced paths and roads, replaced some caravans, and brought in new sanitation units, he said. “There has been significant improvements on the left-hand side of the site.” Overcrowding in Labre Park is acute, he says. Families are doubled up with relatives and some are being forced into homeless accommodation, he says. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council says that, as well as the homes, “the project also provides for a community cultural centre, playground and flood protection measures”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Labre-Park--Image-2--1.JPG) Labre Park. Photo by Lois Kapila “This proposal was developed following consultation with residents, Traveller advocacy groups and statutory authorities,” says the spokesperson. Traveller-specific accommodation – usually halting sites or group housing schemes – allows Travellers to live together in extended family groups. It’s [also sometimes](https://itmtrav.ie/our-work/accommodation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) called culturally appropriate accommodation. The designs for the redevelopment of Labre Park are good, says L’Estrange. They have been agreed with the community and include culturally appropriate features, he says. Some new homes are to have space at the back for touring caravans to stop temporarily, he says. Still, most residents of Labre Park no longer believe the redevelopment will ever happen, he says. It has been talked about for so long “The community has become disillusioned,” he says. “We are working really closely with \[the council\] to re-instil a belief in the community that we can get this over the line.” ## **Different funding** A spokesperson for Clúid said it couldn’t comment further on Labre Park at the moment. But a council spokesperson said that Clúid had told the council that unfortunately, their board would no longer support the project moving forward under the CAS funding model. The Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) funds housing charities with a non-repayable loan covering up to 100% of the project, to build or buy social housing for priority groups, including older people, homeless people or people with disabilities. Clúid will continue to provide support to the council until it gets planning permission, said the council spokesperson. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that the council had submitted a revised “stage 2” funding application for Labre Park in November 2025\. “This is currently under consideration and a decision will issue to the Council following completion of these considerations,” they said. Shakespeare’s response gave a timeline. “Following grant of planning permission, detailed design work will progress to enable the procurement of a contractor with a view to being on site in Q3 2027,” it said. At a meeting of the council’s housing committee on Monday, council housing manager Mick Mulhern said that the council intends to deliver more homes for Travellers within upcoming housing developments. Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham asked for more details on those plans. “As we bring forward new housing schemes, there is not halting sites per se delivered as part of those housing developments,” said Mulhern. “But there is a dedicated allocation of Traveller accommodation within those new developments.” The council is also progressing with plans to include more homes on existing sites, including Labre Park, he said. ### North Strand bombing memorial should include names of those who died, a councillor says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/north-strand-bombing-memorial-should-include-names-of-those-who-died-a-councillor-says/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:51:10.000Z At the age of five, Seamus Stephenson was awoken in the middle of the night in his bed on Hibernian Avenue, in the North Strand. It was a racket that nobody saw coming. “I remember being in bed and being nearly lifted out of bed with the noise and, you know, the blast,” Stephenson said by phone on Wednesday. The racket was a bomb, dropped by the Nazis, in the middle of North Strand in the early hours of Saturday 31 May, 1941. It was one of four bombs dropped by German Luftwaffe – the Nazi’s air force – planes on Dublin that night. But the only one to claim lives. The bomb that struck the North Strand took 28 lives, with seven from one single family, the Brownes. The event has been marked in the area. In 2011, on the 70th anniversary of the catastrophic airstrike, a memorial garden was dedicated to those who died. But as the 85th anniversary approaches this year, the memorial garden could do with an addition, says local Councillor Alison Field, of the Labour Party. At Monday’s monthly meeting of Dublin City Council, she asked for the names of those killed to be inscribed on a stone column in the garden. “They deserve their memory to be remembered on this monument,” she wrote in her question to council officials. ## **And now** There is something poignant about remembering the devastation that just one single bomb wreaked on the people of the North Strand in the context of what is happening in the world today, says Field. In carving in the names of those who were killed, as individuals. “Obviously, looking at Palestine at the minute. I mean, they're still bombing them, and God knows what else is going to happen,” she says. It’s difficult not to think of all of those waiting on the next bomb to drop right now, she says – in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan. The grim spectre of fascism is returning, says Field. “Look at America right now too. It's definitely harkening back to those times. Knocking on doors and reefing people out of their houses and schools,” she says. ## **Inside the garden** The memorial garden is to the side of the North Strand campus of Cathal Brugha FET College and is owned by the college itself. In the garden, there is a stone column. On it, an inscription: “In memory of all who lost their lives in the bombing of the North Strand on May 31st 1941”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/monument-image.jpeg) Photo courtesy of Councillor Alison Field. In response to Field’s question, the chief executive’s reply said that the park “belongs to the Marino College of Further Education also known as Cathal Brugha FET, they may know who installed the stone”. On Wednesday, the college’s principal, Patricia O’Keeffe, said that the college would absolutely support adding names to the memorial garden. Students use the garden a lot, she says. “It can be very lively. There’s a great energy around it.” Students of the Environmental and Biodiversity Studies course even use it for experiments, she says. A local man helps to keep it maintained, she says. “A nice gentleman.” The council has been excellent too, providing hedging and other help, she says. Stephenson, who remembers the racket of the bombing, agrees that the names should be added in the garden, he says. “That’s how it’s usually done.” Across towns in the United Kingdom, you’ll find memorials to locals killed in the World Wars, he says – and it should be the same for the North Strand victims. Musician Damien Dempsey also supports Field’s idea, he says. His own grandparents Freddie and Annie, and his aunty Carmel, were living in a tenement room when the bomb dropped near their window, he says. “The whole house came in on top of them. Granda dived over my Granny and Aunty and took the brunt of the rubble and glass on his back, and damaged his leg,” Dempsey said by email on Tuesday. Dempsey recalls a story his granda would tell of the night. Of a couple, who he overheard, as they ran out of the tenements as the bombs were dropping, he says. The woman, Mary, apparently stopped and started to run back inside. “Mary, where are you going?” her husband Michael asked. “I forgot me teeth,” she answered. “It’s not feckin’ sandwiches they’re dropping! Will you come on!” he told her. The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ray McAdam, a Fine Gael councillor for the area, was at the 70th anniversary ceremony in the memorial garden in 2011. He is supportive of the suggestion of adding the victims’ names to the monument, he said by phone on Wednesday, and planned to raise it with the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, at their next meeting. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Coolock Library, a crochet group is just one of the things going on URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-coolock-library-a-crochet-group-is-just-one-of-the-things-going-on/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:51:17.000Z In the calm Coolock Library on Thursday morning, people are scattered in corners and on couches, reading or researching on the in-house computers. Faint chatter washes over from the far side of the main library floor. Following the hum leads up a small hallway and into a big event room, with a huge white table. Around the table, 15 or so women are settling in for the weekly two-hour crochet group – although some prefer to knit. Dubliners are checking more books and stuff out of libraries year on year, figures show, up from 1.5 million items in 2022 to 2.5 million in 2024.) They’re also just visiting more. Many still think of libraries purely as places to pick up books, or a quiet place to study, but Dublin City Council Libraries has been working hard to expand the services it provides for communities, says Aisling Earley, a library assistant in Coolock. And it’s all free, she says. In the event room, a square blanket, a few metres wide, is sprawled out on the table. It has bright colours – purple, green, orange, white and yellow – in a circular pattern. The blanket has taken three and a half weeks, says Geraldine Shortall. She plans to send it as a gift to her son-in-law in Brazil. The group around her all fawn over the impressive work. “Isn’t it just gorgeous,” says Pauline Emmett, from the other side of the table, looking on – her own hands busy with needles and wool. The gathering is quietish today, she says. Nearly twice the numbers turn up some weeks – so many that they need to drag in more tables. Aside from the crochet group, there are a bunch of things on offer in Coolock Library that people might not automatically associate with libraries. Like video game nights, cinema screenings, free access to 3D printers and sewing machines, and sensory evenings. ## **Granny squares** There is no one teacher in the group, everyone helps each other out, Emmett says. “It’s called a ‘granny square’,” she says, of the small baby blue piece she is working on. “Once you can do that, you’re laughing. We all had to start at some time.” As she works, several finished granny squares are placed on the table in front of her. Eventually, they’ll be stitched together to make a bigger piece. Emmett is making a “quillow”, she says. A quilt that also folds neatly into a square pillow. It’s not for her, she says, but for the children of St John’s Ward in Crumlin Hospital, a 19-bed inpatient unit. She makes them regularly and sends them in, she says, as do others. “The kids love them.” They make them in all different colours, sometimes to match a particular football team, she says. The kids get to pick one each when they are in the hospital and can then take it home. Much of what people in the group make is for others, she says – and often for charity. One member who isn’t at this Thursday’s session crochets small gowns for premature babies, says Emmett. “Is that a bag you’re making?” Emmett asks Noelle Melinn, across the table. “Don’t ask,” Melinn says, as everyone around her lets out laughs. Melinn recently raised €1,000 for charity selling crocheted Christmas trees, Emmett brags on her behalf. The money raised went to St Paul’s Special School in Beaumont for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, Melinn says. She is a member of another crochet and knitting group too. That one’s called the St Paul’s Knitters. Her work in both groups is often used to fundraise for the school, she says. “We raised a lot of money that went towards making the sensory room in the school.” Money that she helped raise recently also went towards buying a young child who was born blind a special computer that uses braille. He had access to one in school but not at home, she says. “It gives him an extra chance.” To see tangible impact is gratifying, she says. “Knowing that you’re helping to set these kids up for life is just brilliant,” says Melinn. “It’s great to give back.” Melinn is dubbed the “Queen of Borders”, says Anne-Marie Keeley, further down the table. Her blankets have beautiful edges, Keeley says. “Her work is out of this world.” Keeley is busy working on a blanket of her own. One of Keeley’s creations was recently sold at a charity auction for €700, she says. The woman who bought it wanted it for a child with autism, she says. “It’s a textural thing. They love to feel the patterns in their hands, and the bright colours.” Keeley turns to the woman next to her, Geraldine Murtagh. “What are you making?” asks Keeley. “A hedgehog,” Murtagh replies, chuckling to herself. She made one before. Someone asked her to make another, again for a child with autism. Hedgehogs can be tedious to make, she says, but she happily obliged. “I love making toys,” Murtagh says, gesturing towards a small crocheted elephant. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/20260115_105349-1.jpg) The camaraderie of the group doesn’t stay at the library. They sometimes go on day trips together. Often, to hunt for wool, says Melinn. Like to the Wool Gallery in Gorey, she says. The owner gives them discounts and covers postage when they can’t collect it in person. “That’s her way of helping the charity work we do.” She’s just brilliant,” says Melinn. ## **A community hub** “Loneliness is a terrible thing,” says Emmett. The friendship and support from the library crochet group has been important to her in some difficult times, she says. “It’s gotten me through three big operations.” Many attend other activities too. Geraldine Murtagh was recently at a screening of the original *Westside Story,* held in the same event room. One Friday a month, the library holds its “silver screen” movie morning, says Earley, the library assistant. They show old films, offer tea and coffee. In the library’s Maker Space room, a 3D printer hums softly. The machine is building a white figurine. Someone just brought in a USB stick with the design they wanted. Staff uploaded it to the machine for them. It’s also totally free for the public, Earley says – including the filament material the 3D printer uses. In the Maker Space, people also have access to machines for sewing and embroidery, she says. On Wednesday evenings, the event room where the crochet group meets is turned into a video game hub for youngsters, she says. TVs are hooked up with consoles around the room. An old-school Pac-Man arcade cabinet is rolled out. Many people don’t realise that you can also borrow video games, Murtagh says, as well as films and box sets on DVD. The library is always looking for new ways to engage with and serve the community, she says. This month they are holding a mental-health workshop, for dealing with the winter blues, she says. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Meet the last Balkan cowboy, accept that Roy Keane has a cinematic universe, praise the basements of Parnell Street URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-meet-the-last-balkan-cowboy-accept-that-roy-keane-has-a-cinematic-universe-praise-the-basements-of-parnell-street/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T00:51:26.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Rank and File Collective film club** Tonight, Rank and File Collective is convening for its first film club of 2026 in Kirkos on Little Green Street. They will be showing a new Palestinian short film, *A Depopulated Camp*, made by BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, and which follows a group of Palestinians displaced from the largely destroyed Tulkarm refugee camp north of the West Bank. Following *A Depopulated Camp*, there will also be a screening of the documentary *Leila Khaled: Hijacker*, directed by Lina Makboul, and exploring Khaled’s role in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and her hijacking of two flights in 1969 and 1970. Doors are open at 7pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rank-and-file-film-club-a-depopulated-camp-leila-khaled-hijacker-tickets-1979984346480?ref=dublininquirer.com). All proceeds from the sales will go directly to BADIL. **The Last Balkan Cowboy** This evening, photographer Dragan Jurišić will be launching her new exhibition, The Last Balkan Cowboy, at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. It is the product of a long-term project that follows in the footsteps of Hari Džekson, the cult Yugoslavian film director who was renowned for his interpretation of the Wild West archetypes. It also precedes a feature-length documentary on Džekson directed by Jurišić, due to premiere later this year. The exhibition is composed of photographs Jurišić took while on three trips in 2024 and 2025 in Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Croatia and Serbia in between location scouting, researching and filming the documentary. Throughout the project, Jurišić attempts to understand the conflict in former Yugoslavia, what happened in her lost country, how to rationalise her identity, and how to envisage post-conflict restoration through her work. The opening reception is at 6pm today, Thursday 15 January. Right now, Jurišić’s work is also being shown in the Kevin Kavanagh gallery as part of [Urban Myth](https://www.kevinkavanagh.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a group show that explores the role of the photograph in a digital society. That exhibition opened last week, and it will remain free to visit between now and 7 February. **Shárú** Around the corner on Temple Lane, TØN Dublin will be opening Sharú this evening too. Launching at 6pm, Sharú brings together the work of 10 artists to explore ideas of identity, roots and ongoing transformation, exclaiming that the everyday practice of art is “an act of transformation”, and that the artist is “someone who transcends”. The exhibition will be running until 1 February, and featuring in the show are artists Ishmael Claxton, Nadia Dev, Alicia Donnan, Molly Buí Hennessy, Helen Kirk, Gabriel Lobo, Nicole Manning, Nyan O’Connor, Brady Izquierdo Rodriguez and Eva Virkute. **Punk, Goth, Rebel and Queer – the Years of Dance to the Underground** Also opening tonight, photographer Al Fartukh will be launching their debut exhibition Punk, Goth, Rebel and Queer, down in GalleryX. Between 2022 and 2024, down in the Fibber’s basement, Fartukh documeted the Dance to the Underground club night, “a fantastical land of punk and goth aesthetic, queer transgression and riotous over-the-top performance”. Capturing the scene on 35mm film and analogue video, the resultant exhibition documents convergence of subcultures in subterranean Parnell Street. To mark the occasion, there will also be a new once-off Dance to the Underground night in Fibber's from 10pm to 2.30am. Entry is €10, and it is cash on the door. Fartukh has also produced an exclusive 72-page booklet, which you can acquire by pre-ordering a ticket or directly at the venue. For more information, and to book a space, go to visit GalleryX’s Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/galleryxdublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Heart Room Experience** This weekend, the experimental multidisciplinary artist group [Outlandish Theatre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-dublin-8-an-experimental-theatre-production-explores-the-many-desires-of-its-performers/) will be bringing the “theatre of the everyday” to Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. The theatre group has collaborated with dance artist James Hosty on The Heart Room Experience, which intends to immerse its audience in the everyday creative process of the artist. Across Friday and Saturday, Hosty will be leading a series of intimate performances to 24 people at a time, using movement, sound and lighting, and inviting his audience to witness and become a part of “this other reality”. The environment planned will be calm and collaborative, and attendees may engage in whatever way feels comfortable. It’s an opportunity to experience “theatre as a living sculpture”. What exactly that shall entail isn’t entirely clear. But such is the thrill of an Outlandish performance. On Friday, 16 January, there will be performances at 1pm, 4pm and 7pm, and on Saturday, 17 January, they will be at 12pm, 2pm and 5pm. Tickets are on sale [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/the-heart-room-experience/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Film Scores!** On Monday, the Irish Film Institute is going for a football-themed free lunchtime double bill of films from the IFI Film Archives. This week, the series will be opening with John Moore’s 1995 short film *He Shoots, He Scores*, which is “set in an unwelcoming future, where two schoolboys wait for a bus”. Afterwards, there will be a showing of *Rockmount*, the 2014 short directed by Dave Tynan, author of the recent book, [*We Used To Dance Here*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-put-everything-in-the-paper-shredder-read-about-dancing-and-see-one-of-our-reports-on-the-big-screen/). Billed as a comedy set in Cork in 1982, the film follows a young boy named Roy as he is trying to get on the starting 11 for his football club “and nothing is going to get in his way”. Coincidentally, Roy Keane was born in 1971\. Hint. So, *Rockmount* might be a good way of hyping yourself up for a screening of *Saipan* at [1.55pm](https://ifi.ie/film/saipan-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (or 6.30pm), given that Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa’s feature-length film touches on Keane’s childhood in Cork too. And lo, shall you enter Tuesday heralding the start of the Roy Keane Cinematic Universe, later to be dubbed the Roy Keane-matic Universe once this catches on as a trend, and Disney swoops in with the big bucks. Moore and Tynan’s shorts will be screened at 1.10pm on Monday, 19 January. To book your tickets, visit the IFI website [here](https://ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-film-scores-programme-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Lias Saoudi** In case you missed his last gig in Hang Dai during October, Fat White Family, Moonlandingz and Decius frontman Lias Saoudi is back in Dublin next Wednesday, 21 January. Saoudi is a writer, performer, well-documented hedonist and trailblazer in contemporary post-punk and psychedelic rock. His lyrics are ferociously satirical and his shows are enthrallingly provocative, and sweaty enough that the *New York Post* once declared that the Fat White Family “stinks”. Literally, not metaphorically. Naturally, there is no better way to experience Saodi than to see his rawness in an intimate setting like Lost Lane. Tickets are available [here](https://www.ticketsource.com/whats-on/ireland/lost-lane/sludge-club-presents-lias-saoudi-support/2026-01-21/19:30/t-dkvpymd?ref=dublininquirer.com). And then, if you’re eager for more, why not make this a double bill of transgressive art? Because the next day, Saudi will be around the corner in Hodges Figgis. There, he will be introducing *Cameo*, the new novel by author Rob Doyle, who has previously chronicled his friendship with Saoudi and their appearing in Hyundai commercials in a *Dublin Review* essay titled "Tastes good with the money: On selling out \[personal history\]". That launch is at 6pm on Thursday, 22 January, and you’ll be able to pick up a copy of *Cameo* on the night. Meanwhile, for those who are keen on doing homework to appease the punks and provocateurs, Dublin Review issue 83, from ummer 2021, which features Doyle’s essay, might be on sale in some good books stores and charity shops at a location potentially near you. Or you can buy it [here](https://thedublinreview.com/product/summer-2021/?ref=dublininquirer.com). --- [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Advertise-here-2-2.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/) [Learn more ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/) --- ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **The Naked Kink** On 24 January, GalleryX is hosting the Naked Kink, a figure-drawing class featuring artists and models who are members of the kink community, and who will be wearing “their finest and fetishest”. The muses will also be talking about themselves, why they want to pose and their life in kink. For more information, follow The Naked Kink on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/thenakedkink/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Fingal Artists’ Support Scheme 2026** Fingal County Council Arts Office has announced the return of its Artists’ Support Scheme for 2026. This funding stream offers professional artists the opportunity to apply for up to €5,000 to support travel and professional development opportunities, a residency, or towards the development of work. For full details and to apply, visit the council’s website [here](https://www.fingal.ie/artists-support-scheme-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Fingal’s best craft and design businesses at Showcase 2026** Between 18 and 20 January, some of Fingal’s best up-and-coming craft and design businesses will join the 100+ companies at Local Enterprise Showcase during Showcase 2026 in the RDS. Among those representing Fingal will be Church Lane Ceramics, Irish Whiskey Glass Ltd, Nicola Weldon Art & Design, Rablos Art Studio, Vitalorganico and more. For more information, visit the Showcase 2026 website [here](https://showcaseireland.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **LOBE’PARTY** Following a successful first edition, LOBE’PARTY is returning for a second outing to showcase more emerging Dublin artists from across a wide range of musical genres this February. Due to take place on Saturday, 7 February at The Hendricks in Smithfield, LOBE’PARTY #2 will feature a line-up including; Debbie MacLachlan, Late Met Dawn, Tenzin and LOBEPINE. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets are €5 (online and on the door). For more information, visit the event’s page [here](https://lobeparty2.eventbrite.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Minister plans to make it much tougher for Ukrainian refugees to become Irish citizens URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/minister-plans-to-make-it-much-tougher-for-ukrainian-refugees-to-become-irish-citizens/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T07:36:46.000Z In the nearly four years that he’s lived in Ireland, Denis Henesky has taught himself its laws and politics, weathered an eviction, made new connections and found a path to education, he says. “Everyone said, ‘integrate, integrate, integrate,’” said Henesky, resting his hands on a cane. Gradually, he’s come to realise that tallying his experiences here doesn’t amount to much if he can’t bank on it for stability, he said. That makes him feel invisible, said Henesky. Right now, there’s nothing in [the citizenship law](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1956/act/26/section/6B/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) that would stop people like Henesky from applying for citizenship after five years of living here. But that’s about to change. Last month, the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan, [told the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-12-04/364/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq%5F364) that as part of a slate of legislative tweaks and policy shifts, he plans to revise the citizenship law to exclude time spent under the EU’s temporary protection directive, activated in March 2022. People like Henesky and those who have been part of efforts to help Ukrainian refugees integrate say that makes it all feel pointless and unsettling. “Over the past four years, they have learned the language, entered the labour market, sent their children to Irish schools and become part of local communities,” said Lelizaveta Karamushka of Ukrainian Action in Ireland, a Dublin charity focused on collecting aid for the front lines in Ukraine. They’re not guests on a short stay anymore, she said. “Was all this investment into integration for nothing?” said Karamushka. Olga Dowd, an intercultural worker in Co. Cavan – who was born in Ukraine but has been living here for the past two decades – said most people she’d supported are mothers and children, and she worries about their future. Some have kids who were born here, she said. As of 3 November 2025, about 83,600 people lived in Ireland under the EU’s temporary protection directive, excluding thousands who either left or changed their status to something else, [according to the Central Statistics Office](https://web.archive.org/web/20260110135848/https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/fp/p-aui/arrivalsfromukraineinirelandseries17/). The Irish government ramped up support [for state agencies](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2022-06-02/79?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [non-profits](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2023-10-19/40/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to help them integrate since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly respond to a query asking if it would consider softening its position by counting some of the time spent on temporary protection, so those moving on to other statuses aren’t starting from scratch. But it will thoughtfully consider the impact of not counting it at all “as part of the ongoing work across Government on approaches to managing the exit from Temporary Protection”, they said. ## Different rights, same limbo At the moment, [the law](https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1956/act/26/section/6B/revised/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) only excludes time on Stamp 2 – an immigration permission granted to students from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) – for citizenship. But unlike the temporary protection status, Stamp 2 comes with few rights for its holders. Students from elsewhere often have to pay steep tuition fees and can only work 20 hours per week during term time, and longer in the summer. Unlike temporary protection holders, they aren’t eligible for any kind of government support and must hold private health insurance to renew their immigration permit each year. Temporary protection holders can still access some government support if they need it, and can work any jobs they can get without restriction. The Department of Justice spokesperson said it had always been an “established policy” not to count temporary stamps toward citizenship. But, says immigration solicitor Wendy Lyon, “\[Citizenship\] eligibility is not determined by established policy. It’s determined by legislation.” That’s why the government is looking to change the law, she said. Besides, Lyon said, all immigration permissions are temporary if they have to be renewed. That doesn’t mean time spent on them doesn’t count. ## Go back to where you once belonged Andrii Stepanov arrived in Ireland in 2022 with his wife. He works as a music teacher. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Andrii-Stepanov.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg) Andrii Stepanov. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. During his years here, he has taught kids from all over the world how to play the saxophone, he said. And they go on to win accolades, play in concerts and make him proud, said Stepanov, at a city café recently. As their first year faded into three, Stepanov grew anxious about the uncertainty of their status as someone who’d worked and paid taxes for a few years, he said. Then he began to notice a gap between the services offered by charities and non-profits to people like him, and the limbo he was feeling, said Stepanov. “They had a lot of courses, like yoga, mental health, knitting, okay, I know that’s really important, but that doesn’t help everyone,” he said. So, he took things into his own hands, drew up a petition asking the government to count Ukrainian refugees’ time toward citizenship. It collected a little over 2,700 signatures. And he’s heard back from the Department of Justice through a case manager at the Joint Committee of Public Petitions and the Ombudsman. Stepanov pulls up a letter that the case manager sent him in November on his phone. It says EU member states have agreed on a set of recommendations to help displaced people from Ukraine once temporary protection ends. One is helping people move on to other immigration statuses, though it doesn’t lay out any details. Re-integrating people back into Ukraine is another. They’re hammering away on formulating a policy to manage the end of temporary protection with those options in mind, it says. Stepanov says some people don’t want to return to what was once their home, and is now Russian territory. “Why are they pushing us to Russia?” Henesky, the other Ukrainian refugee in Dublin, says that where he lived is also occupied. His mother, who grapples with asthma, is stuck there, he said. Like Stepanov, Henesky has tried to galvanise support for their cause. He’s pitched up banners and protested outside the Dáil where he says People Before Profit has been supportive, but mentions Sinn Féin – [which had called](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-ukrainians-asking-if-time-on-temporary-protection-counts-towards-citizenship-no-clear-answer-from-the-government/) for the exclusion of time on temporary protection for citizenship – as unhelpful. He says some Ukrainians are shy about turning to Irish people for support, worrying they’d see them as “greedy” for wanting their years to be counted. A spokesperson for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) said that while it waits to see a draft of the Department of Justice's pitch to change citizenship law to exclude those with temporary protection status, it’s concerned about the proposal. It is “regressive”, they said. At a recent conference on the future of Ukraine at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, Ilona Havronska, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Unity of Ukraine for European Integration, said some people who’d returned to the country struggled to feel at home again. Of course, Ukraine needs its people, Havronska said. And “I want my friends to live with me in Ukraine”, she said, smiling. But the Ukrainian government hopes to work with the EU governments to help refugees who wish to stay abroad to do that, said Havronska. ## Off course Both Stepanov and Henesky say that when they first arrived here, officials didn’t explain other options beyond temporary protection to them. “They said, if you’re from Ukraine, you get temporary protection,” said Henesky. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Denis-Henesky.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian-1.jpg) Denis Henesky. Photo by Shamim Malekmian. Stepanov says he can try to get a work permit, which is hard anyway. But the idea of losing his years on temporary protection and starting from scratch is too painful to reckon with. To get work permits, workers should find jobs with salaries that reach the thresholds set by the Department of Employment, even if they have an employer who’s willing to sponsor them. Dowd, the intercultural worker in Co. Cavan, said there are Ukrainian medical workers whose degrees aren’t recognised here. And to get a work permit for skilled workers based on their Ukrainian credentials, they have to take exams and get certified before they can do that. Right now, she said, everything they’ve built here has started to crack around them. “It’s very hard to persuade them to integrate,” said Dowd. A spokesperson for We Act, an organisation dedicated to spotlighting the work of charities and community groups, said that alongside the Irish Red Cross it has spent a year to knit together stories of Ukrainians who are changing their communities for the better. “Iryna who volunteered as a translator with Gort Cancer Support and has since secured a staff role. Natalia who volunteers in a Castlebar charity shop alongside caring for her mam full time,” they said. Ireland has also invested so much in helping them to do that, they said. “Supporting people to find permanency would be a natural follow-on from that.” On Friday night, Henesky sent a text message, saying he forgot to say what he really wanted to. “I was counting on starting a new life, but I never started living because they don’t allow it,” it said. ### The gigantic umbrellas meant to shelter Meeting House Square are broken and their future unclear URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-gigantic-umbrellas-meant-to-shelter-meeting-house-square-are-broken-and-their-future-unclear/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T07:36:56.000Z The four massive retractable umbrellas in Temple Bar’s Meeting House Square were down on Saturday afternoon. They hadn’t been open for a while. “What umbrellas?” said one of the market traders jokingly, as he packed away his stall just after 2pm. Before Covid-19 arrived in Ireland in 2020, the council “would open them every week for us”, said Stephen McNally, of McNally’s Family Farm. In the winter of 2022, the council opened them as well, said McNally. Anytime it rained, the cover of the fourupturned umbrellas created a beautiful atmosphere in the square below, he said, while guiding a customer over to one of the last squashes they had in stock. But, whenever it has rained in more recent years, the square becomes a ghost town, he says. “Customers just immediately leave.” The umbrellas, each 21 metres tall, were damaged during routine maintenance in May 2023, a council spokesperson said on Thursday. They did not say by who. The umbrellas have not been deployed since, as the council has been unable to repair the umbrellas, because the only contractor with the expertise to bring them back into use has dropped out of negotiations, the spokesperson said. So the council is undertaking a review to determine the future of the umbrellas, they said. ## Broken arms The “rainscreens” at Meeting House Square were commissioned by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust to mark the 20th anniversary of Temple Bar’s urban regeneration, according to [Seán Harrington Architects](https://sha.ie/sha%5Fprojects/umbrellas-meeting-house-square/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the firm that designed them. They cost €2.7 million, 30 percent over what had been budgeted, according to an *Irish Times*[ report](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/temple-bar-2-7m-rain-canopy-completed-at-30-over-budget-1.1910049?ref=dublininquirer.com) from August 2014. They weren’t warmly received by all locals, with the Temple Bar Residents Association writing in a [submission](https://consult.dublincity.ie/ga/node/9490?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the council’s 2022 to 2028 development plan that the umbrellas damaged the Meeting House Square’s stone-paved surface “and relationship with the sky”. The umbrellas remained operational for many years, according to a spokesperson for MDT-tex, a German-Swiss firm, which supplied the rainscreens, they said. This, they said, was “despite very limited and, in some cases, insufficient maintenance”. They were designed to remain in operation “for many decades”, the spokesperson said. “\[P\]rovided that it is serviced correctly and in line with technical requirements over its lifetime.” After a few years in which they functioned well, traders started to notice that they were being used less, says Stephen McNally. “We started hearing there was a problem with them. This was before Covid. Like 2019.” ## Broken brolly During the winter months, most of the market stalls are kept going by their regulars, McNally said on Saturday as he and his partner wrapped up for the day. “They tide us through until the summer vegetables come in.” A lot of stalls have been struggling here [in recent years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-meeting-house-square-the-temple-bar-market-has-withered/), he says. “New stalls come in here, last two or three weeks, and then they are gone.” The umbrellas should be playing a key role during this season, drawing in customers who would otherwise be deterred by the bad weather, he says “This should be a place they are coming into because this is a place with giant umbrellas.” In December however, their only function had been to prop up a light installation as part of the council’s [Winter Lights](https://dublinwinterlights.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Traders in the market were last given an update on the status of the umbrellas around 12 months ago, says Declan Cassidy of Gourmet Grub Bakery. They were told a piece was being shipped to a company in Europe, which had been contracted to repair the broken parts, he said on Sunday, “and maintain the umbrellas going forward”. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council wouldn’t confirm the name of the contractor in question. But they said no decision has been made on the future of the umbrellas. “We are currently carrying out a full review assisted by technical staff in Dublin City Council.” A spokesperson for MDT-tex said, as the manufacturer, they are “in principle” willing to support, advise on, and carry out appropriate service or repair measures. Any such works would be dependent on approval and budgetary decisions by the council, they said. “Without such authorisations, even technically necessary measures cannot be carried out.” When asked if the council had engaged them to carry out works, the spokesperson said any required measures are “still pending formal instruction” and have not been commissioned. “Accordingly, no such work has been executed so far.” While the council is currently deliberating on what to do with the rainscreens, independent Councillor Mannix Flynn says doing any more repairs is going to add to the costs of an already expensive installation. If the council wants to bring life back into the area, they should focus on [re-opening the shuttered Eden Restaurant](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-drops-plans-for-art-studios-at-meeting-house-square-but-has-an-alternative/) on the square, he said over the phone on Saturday. “I would rather see the money being put in there rather than spending on brollies that don’t work.” It’s probably time to get rid of them, he says. “I want these brollies gone, out of the equation and a redesign done.” ### The Shit Show Film Show is exactly what it sounds like, says the founder URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-shit-show-film-show-is-exacty-what-it-sounds-like-says-the-founder/ Last updated: 2026-01-15T14:24:23.000Z The Shit Show Film Show is what it sounds like, said the event’s founder, Morgan Savidan. "It's definitely a shit show, the no-budget, DIY spirit of it," she said, on her break as a bartender in Inchicore on Thursday evening. Savidan’s in a camo hat and has acrylic nails bedazzled with rhinestones. She’s wearing rings she made: one had an alien with googly eyes glued on, another had a little duck. “I just found a duck in the bar and I glued it on a ring,” she said. The Shit Show features 20-odd three-ish-minute short films, created a week and a half prior by both experienced and inexperienced filmmakers, selected through a randomised process. “There's always shit that goes wrong on the night as well. Sound goes to shit, the screen breaks halfway through. And then I have to entertain them for five minutes,” said Savidan. The next show – the fifth – is planned soon, for a date to be announced, at Fidelity. Savidan has run them twice a year since 2024, and each time she changes things a bit: the rules, themes, the awards. She likes the idea of a no-pressure opportunity for people to try their hands at filmmaking, for them to have fun with it, and for her to have fun with it too. There’s rules that keep the films unpolished: they can’t spend any money on it, though maybe people take the bus or something. They have 10 days to make it. No AI. "If you are found to have used AI, your film will not be showcased ... and we will publicly shame the shit out of you on the night of the event,” she said. Even if applicants wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to plan too much because there’s themes each time, and she only announces those when the clock starts ticking. For one show, Savidan asked everyone to send a photo of their favourite Spar product, and then jumbled them up and gave them out to people as the theme they should work to, she said “Someone got leek soup, and they made a really cool existential film about being leek soup," she said. ## The filmmakers Iarla McKeon has won three out of four of the Shit Shows so far. Sitting in the outdoor area of the Portobello Bar on Monday evening, he said he has the advantage of having good equipment, a good team, and experience as a filmmaker. He keeps entering because he likes the challenge, and the goofiness of the Shit Show. "You're like, Okay, everyone else is doing it. Fuck it. We're all in this together,” he said. For the upcoming fifth Shit Show, Savidan has banned McKeon from winning – which is a win in itself, he acknowledged reluctantly. He said the Shit Show is special because it’s not about winning, it’s about roping in your mum, filming in local spots, trying out ideas from the notebook. He also values seeing the audience's reaction, getting to see what lands and what doesn’t. “It’s just who had the most fun doing it. That's really who wins,” McKeon said. “Sometimes it is very difficult. You know, doing a shit show in the middle of winter. Filming outside,” he said. “You know, you can make it as easy or as hard as you want. But it's always fun, you know?” Saorla Rodger said she knew about the film fest because she studied acting with Savidan, and she made a film for the first Shit Show Film Show. Since then, she’s submitted films to the show once more, she says. “The first one was about a girl who got sucked up into a street sweeper. Like one of those electric street sweepers. And about her kind of life within that – the sweeper,” Rodger said. Rodger said the point is to not take it too seriously. “If someone is too good or too, I don't know, professional about it … It's not that, like people won't like it. But I feel like, I don't know, there's just a sort of, like – people like the stuff that's very scrappy,” she said. Rodger said she’s always been into writing, and she is working on trying to write short scripts, “and trying to, like, do a more official, you know, film in some way.” That ambition is still simmering. She said the industry is hard to get into, “or, you've got to know the right people or whatever, so it's maybe intimidating to create something or write something and be like, this could be an actual film or whatever”. With Shit Show, it’s less intimidating, some of the pressure is off – and there’s a deadline to help push her into producing something, Rodger said. “I think that's the beauty of it.” Sodiq Ajibola Abiola said that like many other participants, his bread and butter is acting, but he said he likes filmmaking and he liked that this gave the opportunity without pressure. "It was a great opportunity to just make something kind of fun, kind of dumb, and it's in the name – Shit Show – so like, yeah, I'll make something kind of shitty, and hopefully everyone enjoys it," he said. Abiola [co-created a film](https://www.instagram.com/p/DFgKEVasxHD/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) a comedic short film for the Shit Show with Andy Hourihan, about a tiff between housemates. Since then, Abiola has gone on to create his first professional short film this year. “I recently got funded for a short film, andI feel like I might not have fully applied for that funding if I didn't go through Shit Show,” he said. It “gave me the confidence of, like, okay, I can make something and put it in front of people”, he said. That film is going to be in the Dublin International Film Festival. "So, yes, I'm both an actor and filmmaker now,” Abiola said. ## The films McKeon said the films he’s worked on for the show have progressively become more advanced. The first was about a game of *Jeopardy*: a film about a man drinking and watching an old tape of himself on *Jeopardy.* He gets the last question wrong, his life devolves. “It ends with him making a Molotov cocktail and burning his house down. And then it comes up with the words, like, it's this whole, it's his whole awareness thing, like awareness campaign PSA, where it's like, ‘Don't play the game, if you can't do the shame,’ sort of thing,’” he said. His latest was the most ambitious, said McKeon, because they had to create an understanding of an alternative reality. It was set in a version of 1946 in which the US didn’t have any nukes. This one also had a whole plot line, but in the end, it turns out to be an ad for cigarettes. Rodger and her partner Robbie Doyle, meanwhile, made a film that was built around a song they hoped they could win the show’s Best Song award with. It’s a follow-up to Rupert Holmes’s classic about liking piña coladas and being caught in the rain: “They Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”. Their song, called “Sex on the Bed” is about the couple from the song some years later, “living in monogamy and having a nice married life together.” On it, Doyle plays a banjo-lele, a cross between a banjo and a ukulele. At the show they won Best Song. “Which, yeah, that was, that was really, yeah, we were happy with that,” Rodger said. ## The Shit Show Once the 10 days are up and the filmmakers have all made their films, Savidan arranges a screening of them all on an evening at a venue in Dublin. It’s been at the Pearse Centre, at Hen’s Teeth, at Fidelity, as it will be for the upcoming show. The night is silly, says Savidan, the creator. "We're all watching films, we're all having fun, we're eating candy.” “I'm throwing candy at you guys, and then we're all getting little shitty awards and going yay or going boo,” she says. There’s random rules: for example Savidan introduced the “Kanye card,” which she would hide under a seat. “At the end of the showing, before people go off to vote, I would like tell them to look under their chairs,” Savidan said. Whoever found it under theirs could stand up and contest the winner when it was announced, a reference to when Kanye took the mic to dispute Taylor Swift’s win of Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Video Awards. There’s also the Michael D. Higgins Pokemon card, made by Savidan, and whoever was nicest to the bartender was surprised by it at the end. There are awards, too. Although Savidan said the prizes are pretty much just a bag of lost and found from her house, made up of things found the morning after a party. “So it'll be like a foam finger, a little like cup noodle from my fridge. Well, not my fridge. It'll be like coffee. It'll be like a water gun,” she said*.* *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors agree to rezone big industrial estate in Glasnevin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-agree-to-rezone-big-industrial-estate-in-glasnevin/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T07:37:07.000Z Dublin city councillors [agreed on Monday night to rezone](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26470339-report-no-032026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-9-of-the-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 45ha of land in Glasnevin, taking in Dublin Industrial Estate. The lands used to be Z6, for employment and enterprise. Now, they’re Z14, and so have become what is known as a Strategic Development and Regeneration Area (SDRA) Along with the rezoning, councillors also voted to fasten in the Broombridge-Hamilton Masterplan for the estate and wider area, which covers 77ha, incorporating it into the city’s development plan. By taking a “plan-led” approach, rather than just a straight rezoning, the council is trying to ensure sustainable development, said Malachy Bradley, deputy city planner, at the meeting. The masterplan foresees up to 8,500 homes being built on the lands, as well as an educational campus with schools and sports and community facilities, and parks and transport interchanges. Councillors’ questions just ahead of the vote coalesced around a few themes. Fine Gael Councillor Gayle Ralph asked how the council would ensure that community infrastructure is built in parallel with the housing. “In the past, we’ve seen large-scale residential developments proceed without timely delivery of community facilities,” she said. Independent Councillor Nial Ring asked what the breakdown of homes would be – would they all be one- and two- beds, or would larger homes be part of the mix. Fine Gael Councillor Colm O’Rourke asked how the council would ensure that any taking-in-charge process – through which the council takes over responsibility for infrastructure developers build such as roads and parks – would go more smoothly and faster [than it has in nearby Pelletstown](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-pelletstown-residents-frustrated-they-cant-get-their-streets-and-footpaths-improved-as-their-estates-are-stuck-in-limbo/). Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose asked how the council would ensure that it doesn’t end up in a situation where thousands of homes are built but the big public transport projects that would serve the area – such as the Luas Finglas and the Dart+ West upgrades – don’t progress. ## The plan Emer Uí Fhátharta, the acting city planner, said the move to rezone and masterplan the lands flowed partly from the new housing growth targets put forward by the Minister for Housing, Fianna Fáil’s James Browne TD. (Although it has been on the list [for possible rezoning for](https://www.dublininquirer.com/will-rezoning-industrial-lands-lead-to-affordable-homes/) at least seven years.) It was a significant milestone in adding to the land available for housing in the city, said Uí Fhátharta. It could deliver up to 8,500 homes, she said, “while also facilitating the creation of a new sustainable community just 3km from the city centre”. [Will Rezoning Industrial Lands Lead to Affordable Homes? - Dublin InquirerDublin City Council is looking at rezoning lands for up to 20,000 new homes. But how’s it going to stop the cost of the land – and so the housing – from shooting up?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-496.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSean Finnan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/image-4083.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/will-rezoning-industrial-lands-lead-to-affordable-homes/) The masterplan and proposed variation had gone out to public consultation, said Bradley, deputy city planner, at the meeting. Twenty-two members of the public, state agencies, and landowners [wrote in](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no-9-broombridge-hamilton-masterplan?ref=dublininquirer.com). Officials were now suggesting 11 amendments based on that feedback, Bradley said. They were mostly to add clarity, he said, and none were material changes which would need another round of consultation. One of those changes was around education provision. The draft masterplan talked about a school. In the agreed version, it’s now schools, plural, within an educational campus, alongside the commitment to continue to actively engage with the Department of Education and Youth on what provision is needed. Councillors welcomed that. “It’s great,” said Ralph, the Fine Gael councillor, but what safeguards are in place to make sure these new schools are actually built, so new demand won’t just fall on existing schools. Uí Fhátharta, the acting city planner, said they’ll keep working really closely with the Department of Education on this. Ralph had a similar question around sports and community facilities. “We can’t place any further pressure on already stretched facilities.” So what concrete measures were in place to make sure that community facilities would be delivered in parallel with housing, asked Ralph. Ralph highlighted a submission from Jim Brogan, on behalf of the Dublin GAA County Board, [which had asked for](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26471032-scan-34472-2025-11-19-10-00-34/?ref=dublininquirer.com) playing pitches big enough for Gaelic games within the masterplan lands. The response in the chief executive’s report on the consultation [was that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26470339-report-no-032026-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-proposed-variation-no-9-of-the-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) this would take too much room. There would be multi-use games areas in the park, and also shared community and school facilities, “to ensure flexibility and inclusivity”, said the report. Also, the council is planning a sports audit of where more pitches are needed in the city, the report says. Ralph said at the meeting that she understood the CEO’s refusal but the council does need to identify land in the wider area for a GAA pitch. “In that context, I think it’s important that we identify some surrounding land immediately and safeguard it to try to accommodate future sporting and recreational facilities,” she said. Sinn Féin Councillor Séamas McGrattan said that there are pitches in private ownership on the boundary of the masterplan area. The council should try to come to an arrangement to encourage the owners to share the use of them, he said. Uí Fhátharta, the acting city planner, said – in response to a request for ongoing monitoring of the masterplan progress by the Lord Mayor, Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam – that they could commit to coming before the area committee to update on it regularly. The chief executive’s report has said that the council will step in to ensure delivery of necessary facilities, said Uí Fhátharta. Bradley, the deputy city planner, said the masterplan talks about the delivery of community facilities. Community-wide facilities are to be delivered by the council, with a mix of public and private funding, he said. The facilities that are in the blocks would come under “CUO25”, a requirement in the development plan that a certain percentage of the area of buildings in SDRAs goes towards community, arts, and culture spaces, he said. These would involve private-led delivery and oversight by the council, he said. By having a framework sketched out block by block, it makes sure there is a mix of uses across the masterplan, he said. ## The homes The masterplan sketches out blocks across the lands with heights that range from up to four storeys to up to nine storeys – with some corner sites highlighted as able to possibly go higher. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Height-strategy-in-the-masterplan.png) All in, the roughly 8,500 homes should equate to about 17,000 new residents. At the meeting, independent Councillor Nial Ring asked what the breakdown of homes would be, given figures in documents. Would they all be one- and two- beds, or would larger homes be part of the mix? He said. “I’m just worried that it’s not family-orientated.” Uí Fhátharta said that density varied in different areas of the site. “We will absolutely ensure that there is the spectrum of housing units available.” Bradley said that the population figure was just a standard calculation. The mix of tenure and mix of sizes of units is talked about in the masterplan, he said. That says that “based on the background demographic and housing analysis carried out by Dublin City Council, this Masterplan strongly advocates for the minimal provision of one-bedroom or studio type units, with a greater emphasis on providing two-bed and on longer term family size accommodation to support community formation, stability and well-being”. That provision is made, it notes, “within the mandatory requirements [of Specific Planning Policy Requirement 1 (SPPR1)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26470835-planning-design-standards-for-apartments-080725-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com)”. “In accordance with SPPR 1, this Masterplan does not prescribe a minimum requirement for any one bedroom or studio type units within the Masterplan,” it says. [Just 4% of private homes granted planning permission in Dublin city last year were three-beds – is that enough?The figure – which amounts to 83 homes – jumped out at a councillor, he said at a recent meeting.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-495.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/File-photo-of-for-sale-signs-on-Bridgefoot-Street-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/just-4-of-private-homes-granted-planning-permission-in-dublin-city-last-year-were-three-beds-is-that-enough/) At the meeting, Tony Flynn, an assistant chief executive, said that the council would be examining what the housing need of the area is, in the context of its next Housing Delivery Action Plan. Most lands within the masterplan area are held in private, rather than council, ownership, the masterplan notes. ## Other infrastructure About 3km west of the masterplan area is Pelletstown, where some estates have been built out for years yet the infrastructure such as roads, green spaces, lighting, isn’t yet under the control of the council. So the council can’t respond to requests from residents for changes such as traffic calming or dropped kerbs to ensure those with disabilities can cross streets easily or build out public spaces. [Years since Rathborne rose up, there are still poles with no traffic lights - Dublin InquirerIs this what can be expected as the council relies on private developers to build new neighbourhoods in the city? asks former Labour Councillor Declan Meenagh.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-494.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/at-the-intersection-of-rathborne-vale-and-royal-canal-crescent-a-van-passes-a-pol-with-no-traffic-light--credit-sam-tranum.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/years-since-rathborne-rose-up-there-are-still-poles-with-no-traffic-lights/) At Monday’s meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Colm O’Rourke asked how officials would ensure that a similar situation doesn’t play out once the Dublin Industrial Estate is developed. “How do you foresee this?” he said. Flynn said that they have learnt from previous large developments and have made a toolkit for developers to ensure a smooth transition for future taking in charge. And what about the provision of public transport? asked Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose, when it came his time to speak. “There’s lots of mention of Luas Finglas and Dart+ West in the masterplan,” said Jose. But how can the council ensure that it doesn’t end up in a situation where thousands of homes are built but these big public transport projects don’t progress? he asked. The Finglas Luas extension is facing delays due to legal challenges. While, the Dart+ West is still on the agenda. But Jose said he doesn’t trust that the projects are safe from being shelved because of “whims”. In west Dublin, the council has been moving forward with another masterplan and rezoning, of lands along Kylemore Way and Jamestown Road, only to have the national government announce that it wasn’t going to fund the Dart+ South West project – a piece of infrastructure key to the whole plan, which already has planning permission – until sometime past 2030\. “If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock,” Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said in December about the delay. [Councillors fume over government delay of Dart line meant to serve thousands of homes planned for west Dublin“If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-493.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/DART-ARRIVED-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/) At the meeting on Monday, Jose opted not to suggest any changes to the plan for Glasnevin, for fear, he said, that it would be considered a material change and so require it all going out to public consultation again. Uí Fhátharta, the acting city planner, said that she understands concerns about infrastructure, but they are further down the road to realising that than before. “In that we now have a permitted Luas. We now have a permitted Dart+.” An Coimisiún Pleanála granted planniing permission in [July 2024](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/314232?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the Dart+ West project, and [in October 2025](https://www.luasfinglas.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the Luas extension from Broombridge to Charlestown. The council would commit to looking, though, at how the infrastructure provision was coming along in general, as part of the review of the city’s Development Plan, which is to kick off soon, she said. “We can come back and review how development is progressing and do we have to make amendments as part of our development plan review,” she said. ### Many questions, few answers about council's plan to leave Wood Quay and build new HQ URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/many-questions-few-answers-about-councils-plan-to-leave-wood-quay-and-build-new-hq/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T07:37:17.000Z As Dublin City Council executives power ahead with a deal likely to cost hundreds of millions of euro to move its headquarters from Wood Quay to Kevin Street, councillors didn’t have any substantive discussion of the project at their monthly meeting on Monday. Sinn Féin councillors submitted an emergency motion to talk about the issue at the meeting, said one of them, Micheál Mac Donncha, on Tuesday. But the Lord Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam did not include it on the (already very full) agenda at the January monthly meeting on Monday at City Hall. Then, when Mac Donncha tried to raise the issue at the very end of the meeting, McAdam told him, “You’ve got 10 seconds.” "I had already organised a detailed briefing for Group Leaders" – leaders of the parties and two groups of independents on the council – "and that had been communicated with all groups before the emergency motion was submitted," McAdam said Wednesday in response to a query about this. At a meeting of the council’s South East Area Committee earlier on Monday, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey had tabled a motion asking for a presentation on the plan. In response, he got a report of about two-thirds of a page, which said council executives would brief “group leaders next Monday afternoon and all Councillors in early February”. Council executives are looking to buy the stalled Camden Yards project on the former DIT site on Kevin Street, build new offices for the council there, and move its headquarters there from their current Civic Offices on Wood Quay, the report says. The project would also involve the construction of “up to 300 homes” on the Camden Yard site, and “in excess of 500 homes” on the vacated Wood Quay site, the report says. “While providing modern, sustainable workplaces for staff and improved public services for citizens,” and reducing carbon emissions, it says. Several councillors have said they support the idea of the council buying the stalled Camden Yard project, but see significant challenges in trying to redevelop the site of the council’s current Civic Offices on Wood Quay, given the Viking site that lies beneath it. And, they’ve said, they generally think that – as they are [tasked with oversight](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-arent-dublin-councillors-harder-on-council-managers-a-reader-asked/) of what the council executives, managers and staff do – they should have more information about the proposed land acquisition, office construction, organisational relocation, building demolition, and housing development. In the 10 seconds or so that he was allotted at Monday’s January monthly meeting, Mac Donncha quickly asked for the “projected environmental and financial costs” of demolishing the Civic Offices on Wood Quay, as well “which, if any, of our in-house DCC professional experts were consulted about this”. McAdam cut him off – as he had done many other councillors that evening, as part of the chair’s job to keep the meeting moving and end it on time – and concluded the meeting. A "further meeting of Group Leaders on Camden Yard will take place early next month and I have indicated to all groups that I will call a special meeting on the issue should the senior management team wish to proceed with the purchase," McAdam said Wednsday. ## Questions Back in May 2025, councillors including the Green Party’s Claire Byrne, Fine Gael’s Danny Byrne, and independent Mannix Flynn were [advocating for the council to buy](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-buy-the-old-tu-dublin-site-on-kevin-street-and-build-homes-say-councillors/) the Camden Yard site, and build housing on it. At the time, a spokesperson for the council said that it had no plans to buy the site. “Given the extent of the commercial office space within this development, i.e. 407,000 sq. feet, Dublin City Council do not intend to acquire this site,” they said. So what changed since then, to change the council's mind? asked Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan at Monday’s South East Area Committee meeting. He got no answer at the meeting. At the same meeting, Hogan also asked, “if you’re spending, like you know, ballpark €100 million on buying this site at Camden Yard, another €300 million to do it up, and then are we going to spend another €300 million on doing up the Civic Offices site in Wood Quay, that’s going to be nearly, closer to a billion quid there, would it not be smarter to stay in the Civic Offices in Wood Quay, is it the most efficient use of our money?” Flynn, the independent councillor, said on Tuesday that the council is getting the Camden Yard site for about €80 million. A council spokesperson, however, said that “The Council has not confirmed any purchase price, and we would not comment on speculation regarding figures or the status of any commercial discussions.” “Dublin City Council can confirm that Heads of Agreement were signed in December to facilitate a 10‑week due diligence period in relation to the potential acquisition of the Camden Yard site. That due diligence work is ongoing,” the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, neither an email to councillors on 19 December on Shakespeare’s behalf, nor his written response at Monday’s monthly meeting to a query about the project from Flynn, nor the response to Lacey’s motion at Monday’s South East Area Committee meeting mention the costs of developing the Camden Yard site, or of redeveloping the Wood Quay site. However, it may be that council executives are thinking that the cost of the development of any housing on those two sites would fall to the Land Development Agency (LDA). An LDA spokesperson said Tuesday that it had no comment on whether it was interested in building housing on the Camden Yard site, or the Wood Quay site. It’s also unclear how much of the Wood Quay site would be available for redevelopment. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists the Civic Offices as of “regional” architectural significance. This “constitutes a ministerial recommendation for its inclusion on Dublin City Council’s Record of Protected Structures”, says a 2020 [conservation report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382369-conservation-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Although they’re [not listed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382386-final-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028-volume-4-rps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (yet). And, underneath the site there are the [remains of a Viking site](https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-would-become-of-the-civic-offices-on-wood-quay-if-the-council-relocates/) that tens of thousands of Dubliners fought (and lost) a battle to try to preserve, and then the council built the Civic Offices on top of. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Save-Wood-Quay-poster-1978--2-1.jpg) A poster from 1978\. Photo courtesy of Audrey Mac Cready. “The idea that they’re smoothly going to go from demolition to building 500 homes on that site is cloud cuckoo land,” said Mac Donncha, the Sinn Féín councillor, by phone on Tuesday. He called it “a hugely problematic site with all kinds of potential planning, architectural, engineering and archeological issues”. On the other side of the equation, there is the potential cost of fixing up the current Civic Offices so that staff could stay there, rather than buying Camden Yard, building new offices there and moving to them. There’s also a looming government [target for all public buildings](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/policy-information/business-and-public-sector-energy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to achieve a minimum BER rating of B by 2030\. On 17 December, an article in *The Currency* put the cost of refurbishment at "over €250 million". Two days later, in the email on Shakespeare's behalf, that cost had risen to "€350–€400 million". Where did that latter number come from? Would the council share the studies it was based on? “The €350–€400 million figure is a high-level estimate reflecting the potential scope of refurbishment works, including compliance upgrades, sustainability measures, and modernisation requirements,” a council spokesperson said in late December. “We do not share internal reports or working documents outside the statutory process. Any supporting material will be published as part of the formal governance and decision-making process,” they said. ## Support The project would be a “win-win-win” said Lacey, the Labour councillor, at Monday’s meeting of the South East Area Committee. “I think it’s a good development for Dublin,” Lacey said. “We should question it, and we should engage in lots of discussions, but so far from my perch, I like it.” Flynn, the independent councillor, also said he supported the project. “It is wise, I think, for us to be able to support this,” he said at the same meeting. “Now, it may not come to fruition, because there is a lot of detail in relation to how we’re going to get these particular monies …” On the phone the same day, he said the redevelopment of Wood Quay would also provide the opportunity of better displaying the Viking site. “It could be brought back out and presented to the public,” he said. Lacey said that when council managers do brief councillors more comprehensively on the plan, he thinks that should be done “in a sort of workshop forum”, rather than in a public meeting, “where there’s sort of a different tone to debates”. A lot of unanswered questions remain, said Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne, at the meeting. “There’s a huge amount of questions, we should have a broad outline of what’s being proposed here and we don’t,” he said. Before councillors at the meeting moved on to the next item on the agenda, Hogan, the Fianna Fáil councillor, jumped in again to ask for more information about the Camden Yard/Wood Quay project. “I just have one additional question, if we know at this point, how are we going to pay for it?” he asked. He did not get an answer at the meeting. Dunne, the Independents 4 Change councillor, said that, “Hopefully, tonight’s meeting, we might have a little bit more clarity on this.” That same evening was the monthly meeting of the full council, when Sinn Féin’s Mac Donncha got 10 seconds to ask questions, and got no answers. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 9.50am on 14 January 2026 to include newly received comments from Ray McAdam, the Lord Mayor.* ### Council plans to apply in coming weeks for permission to build 153 homes at Gulistan Depot in Rathmines URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-plans-to-apply-in-coming-weeks-for-permission-to-build-153-homes-at-gulistan-depot-in-rathmines/ Last updated: 2026-01-15T10:47:15.000Z Dublin City Council is getting ready to apply (to itself) for planning permission to build 153 social and cost-rental homes at the Gulistan Depot site in Rathmines. The development is set to see five more homes than previously planned, said Ruth Dowling, the council’s Housing Delivery executive manager,[in a report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s51148/Gulistan%20Depot.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the South East Area Committee meeting on Monday. These homes form part of a larger project to redevelop the site, including a [primary care centre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rathmines-plans-progress-for-primary-care-centre-and-housing/), community centre, and civic plaza. Dublin City Council will be lodging its Part 8 planning application in the next two or three weeks, Aisling Browne, senior executive officer in the council’s Housing and Regeneration division, told the committee. Across the proposed new housing development, consisting of two residential buildings, there would be 87 social units, 20 of which will be general needs, and the remainder for older persons, she said. The other 66 will be cost-rental, Browne said. As part of the proposal, the council will also be renovating an old stone building on the site with a view to using this for cultural and community purposes, she said. While the council is moving ahead with these plans, where is the HSE with its planning application to build the primary care centre? asked Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey. The HSE submitted its planning application on [1 August](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-rathmines-plans-progress-for-primary-care-centre-and-housing/). But, there has been no changes since the council, [on 25 September,](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/171053?ref=dublininquirer.com) requested they provide additional information. The council [raised concerns with the HSE](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26471618-hse-request-for-additional-info-gullistan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about whether the centre, which would reach up to five storeys, would overlook or overshadow neighbours. And asked it to submit a report justifying the demolition of four structures on the site. The council hasn’t received any updates since then, Browne said. “Wow,” Lacey said. Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne wanted clarity on why, in a report on housing delivery, provided at the same area committee meeting, it said the council’s proposed housing development on the site would consist of 148 homes. But in this notice to proceed with a Part 8 planning application, it said there were 153. There was in fact an increase in the number of units from the last time these plans were shown to councillors, Browne said. “There’s been some rationalising happening within the two blocks in order to try and increase the unit numbers.” These five additional homes would be social homes, she said. The hope is that the planning application will be lodged by mid-February, she said. “All going well, we hope to have a grant by May.” Then, the council would hope to enter the detailed design phase over the summer, with a view to issuing the tender documents in September, she said. “All going well through a tender process, a successful contractor would be appointed by the end of 2027.” Afterwards, the aim would be for construction work to be completed by mid-2029, she said. ### Apartment-dwellers in Fingal should be able to get resident parking permits for their area, councillor argues URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/apartment-dwellers-in-fingal-should-be-able-to-get-resident-parking-permits-for-their-area-councillor-argues/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:42:30.000Z Fingal should be issuing resident parking permits to people living in apartment blocks, Green Party Councillor David Healy has said. Healy introduced the proposal as a motion during a discussion about Fingal’s new parking bye-laws at the full monthly council meeting on Monday evening. Under the council’s previous bye-laws, [adopted in 2020](https://www.fingal.ie/sites/default/files/2020-11/fcc-parking-bye-laws-2020%5Ffinal.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), the occupants of purpose-built apartments can’t apply for these permits. Healy’s request wasn’t agreed to on the night, with officials pointing to scarce public road space and policy to nudge people towards sustainable transport. Instead, the chamber decided to address this at a later date, agreeing to pass the amended bye-laws without this change. Under these now-approved bye-laws, the price of on-street parking is set to go up from 1 February, Mary T. Daly, Fingal’s director of operations, told the chamber. The minimum rate will go from €0.50 to €1, and hourly will now cost €1.70, up from €1.20 to per hour, she said. Off-street charges are rising too, going from €0.50 to €1 per hour, and from €3 to €5 per day, she said. Residential parking permits will also be on the up, with the new bye-laws increasing these from €20 to €30 for one year, and from €30 to €50 for two, she said. The council is alsointroducing parking charges at some coastal car parks, she said. After [overwhelmingly negative feedback](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-proposal-to-bring-in-charges-at-coastal-car-parks-prompts-a-flood-of-objections-from-fingal-residents/) via a public consultation on draft plans to make the first hour free and charge €1 per hour up to a maximum of €5 a day, the council dialled back its proposal. Now the plan is for parking to remain free at Portmarnock Beach’s southern car park at the Golf Links Road, Tower Bay in Portrane, South Beach in Donabate, Rush Beach, Balscadden, Carrickbrack Hill in Howth and Loughshinny Beach, slides presented at the meeting show. And for the first two hours of parking to remain free at at Mill Street in Balbriggan, Bridgefield and the Coast Road in Malahide, Howth Summit, Portmarnock Beach car park on the Strand Road, and the north car park on Red Island in Skerries, according to the slides shown to councillors. After that, there’ll be a charge at those locations of €1 or €1.70 an hour, depending on the car park, up to a maximum of €5 a day. ## Residential parking One submission in the public consultation requested that the council provide the residents of apartment blocks with resident parking permits, according to a slide at the meeting. But the council wouldn’t be proposing to change the bye-laws here, Daly said. “Owing to the higher density and volume of units contained in purpose built apartment blocks, it would not be feasible to facilitate residents permits for all occupiers.” Purpose built apartment blocks have allocated parking per apartment as per the planning permission granted, she said. “This negates the requirement for on-street residents permits.” Occupiers know if they have a parking space at the time of the purchase or lease, she said. It also wouldn’t be in line with either Fingal’s Climate Action or Development plans, which promote more sustainable forms of transport, she said. “All other local authorities apply the same conditions, so we’re no different from the other Dublins.” But Healy, the Green Party councillor, tabled a motion, requesting that the bye-laws be updated to issue the residents of apartment blocks these permits. It wasn’t the case that all of the other Dublin local authorities didn’t issue these permits for residents in apartments, he said. “In Dublin City Council, it is possible to get a permit if you live in an apartment.” Although, there, [the fees in the city](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/apply-or-renew-residential-parking-permit/apply-residential-parking-permit?ref=dublininquirer.com) are much higher – at €400 for one year or €750 for two years – for people living in multi-unit buildings than for people living in single-family houses, at €50 for one year and €80 for two years. Fingal’s development plan doesn’t allow a parking space for every apartment in new blocks, he said. It’s an issue of fairness, he said. “There are people who’ve got off-street parking spaces in their houses, but they’re entitled to apply for a residents permit for a second, or third.” But people living in apartment buildings can’t do the same, he said. There are developments where there is a mix of houses and apartments, said Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh. “The other really important piece is access for carers.” That shouldn’t really be an issue, Daly said, because if a carer is visiting somebody in an apartment block, the council will give them a permit. “We do that for all the carers throughout the county.” But, the main issue with these permits is the high density of apartment blocks, she said. “We just don’t have the public road space to accommodate applications for parking permits for all occupiers and visitors.” Introducing something like that would create a huge administrative burden too, she said. Healy was initially going to put his motion to a vote. But he held off when AnnMarie Farrelly, Fingal’s Chief Executive proposed an alternative way forward, as she said the motion would have a knock-on effect to the bye-laws. The chief executive asked if the chamber would adopt the bye-laws without the change, and afterwards, consider revising these bye-laws in the coming months. “The benefit of adopting the parking bye-laws today as presented is it allows change to the charge for parking spaces to be initiated on 1 February as we budgeted for in Budget 2026,” she said. “The disadvantage of trying to change it today is we haven’t considered the consequences.” Healy agreed to withdraw the motion, and the chamber agreed to adopt the bye-laws. ### As tiramisu trends on social media, some Dublin cafés say they’re seeing the impacts URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-tiramisu-trends-on-social-media-some-dublin-cafes-say-theyre-seeing-the-impacts/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:42:06.000Z On a recent Tuesday, Daisy Echanes was perched on a stool in the downstairs of the Italian pastry shop Dolce Sicily, photographing tiramisu. Echanes said she learned about the shop’s tiramisu on Instagram. She’d tried the coffee flavour at and it was “10/10”, she said. So today, she’d returned with a friend to this café on Anne Street South, near Grafton Street, to try the pistachio flavour, she said. There were two glass jars of it sitting in front of them. Echanes photographed them with her phone. She took pictures from different angles, capturing the pale green cream filling, and the generous dusting of dark cacao. Co-owner Fabio Bonaccorsi says he’s noticed the impact of the popularity of tiramisu on social media, on his sales. Or at least he’s noticed an increase in sales, and has been told their tiramisu has spread online, Bonaccorsi says. It’s the café’s most popular dessert at the moment, he says. Indeed, across Dublin, cafés and restaurants are riding the wave. ## A tiramisu boom Bonaccorsi said he co-founded Dolce Sicily in 2014 on Dawson Street. It later expanded, moving to Anne Street South, and the patisserie and restaurant now employs 52 people, he says. He said five years ago tiramisu overtook the shop’s previous crowd favourite – the strawberry cake – and now it’s more popular than ever, the pistachio flavour in particular. Their coffee tiramisu is creamy and served in a glass jar to help it hold its shape: light and fluffy, but structured. The pistachio version is denser and slightly sweeter. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image-1.png) Tiramisu at Dolce Sicilia. Photo by Sunni Bean. He said he had a customer tell him that their tiramisu was very popular on social media, and they’d like to try it. The cashier at the front of Dall’Italia Pastabar also said their homemade tiramisu – a more frothy, creamy tiramisu with a strong mascarpone flavour – is increasingly popular, with customers sometimes stopping in just for dessert. Tiramisu Mania set up shop in the Moore Street Mall just a few months back – selling a wide variety of flavours including blueberry, chocolate, and hazelnut. The owner said he’s also been approached by social media influencers to advertise their product, but that that kind of promotion is expensive, and he prefers they grow their business more organically. ## Steady on At Momento, an Italian restaurant on Camden Street, a chef Sherry Momento, said he makes the tiramisu himself for the restaurant – a few times a week. Momento says he doesn’t see tiramisu as trendy, but as timeless. Since he started the restaurant about a decade ago, “about 60 percent of customers order tiramisu”, he says. Yes, says Dublin resident Melissa Bottaro, who is originally from Italy. Tiramisu “is very iconic in the way pizza is iconic to Italy”. “Tiramisu has been part of my life since I was a child, and it's made at every celebration,” she said. “We made one for Christmas. We'll make another one at Easter. It's just part of my life.” It has some core Italian ingredients, she says: eggs, sugar, flour, coffee. “I'd say very much my family is all about those ingredients. I think they're the heart of everything we make.” In Dublin, any Italian place will sell tiramisu, it seems, she says. “Anything that's even slightly Italian influenced will serve it.” Since it’s a classic, there’s a traditional way to make it, says Bottaro. “Otherwise it’s not tiramisu.” Momento, at the Camden Street restaurant, said much the same: there can be variations, but there are rules. “It’s very important for, like, water and sugar to arrive \[at\] the temperature 121,” he said. “Somebody don't do that, like no good.” “Or if someone just use cream, sugar, and biscuits, and no eggs. No good. No good at all,” said Momento. In Rathmines, Universal Caffe also serves tiramisu, and Yousuf Sheleg, project developer there, said that the cafe just started [about a year ago](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/abdullah-duibi-8b843315b%5Fentrepreneurship-universalcafe-inspiration-activity-7271658752762687488-Nkcg/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and he hasn’t noticed a variation in the sales. “I'll tell you, what makes it very different to all the other tiramisu,” says Sheleg. “It’s the coffee.” He said they have a lot of different blends of coffee and the staff did a blind taste test of tiramisu made with different blends, and settled on a chocolatey one as the best. Their tiramisu is more solid, it can stand on its own with thick layers of lady fingers. On Sunday afternoon customers were lingering, many elongating their mugs of coffee, some alone with laptops, others at full tables in conversation. ## Either way … At Dolce Sicily, Bonaccorsi said he’s not worried about whether or not tiramisu is just trendy. At his business, he said, part of the job is adapting. He’s already tinkering with other pastries: he’s making more smaller fruit tarts, which are cheaper for customers, and he wants to adapt more of their pastries into a smaller size too. He also hopes to open a second shop at some point too, and sell ice cream as well. Bonaccorsi said that what makes him happy isn’t the sales but a clean jar where the tiramisu had been. “I’m very happy when \[I see\] the happy face on the customer,” he said. “This is for me**,** the best.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #118 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-118/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:41:54.000Z The idea for this cover was an ode to the post workers, couriers and delivery drivers who just (literally) carried the Christmas season on their backs, and there’s no sign of them stopping now in the New Year. Dubs are supposedly the fastest walkers in the Western world (yes, even faster than New Yorkers), so you very rarely get a still, slow moving scene on our streets, more a mosaic of bodies, cargo and vehicles all going in different directions. I wanted to capture that nearly overwhelming feeling I get when I’m back in Dublin, that everyone has something on and somewhere to be, though they’ll obviously always stop for a “howaye”. My name is Louise Ní Chuilinn, and I sign my work as Selkies. I’m an illustrator from Dublin, now living in Brussels. My work is a little bit nostalgic, a bit cheeky, and always rooted in a firm sense of place – wherever that place may be. I’m often inspired by folklore and tradition, and if I can, I like to show something surprising in the familiar. Aside from illustration, I also create zines and host creative workshops for adults. ### Could an alternative to methadone give people in recovery more control over their present – and future? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/could-an-alternative-to-methadone-give-people-in-recovery-more-control-over-their-present-and-future/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:44:34.000Z Paula Kearney began treatment for opioid addiction in 1995, she says. Terrible trauma growing up caused her to “self-medicate” as an adult, she said by phone on Thursday. This eventually led to heroin addiction, she says. “The rave scene was around. It was the ’90s. Many of us ended up in the same kind of position,” Kearney says. So, in 1995 she began taking methadone – a synthetic opioid used to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Opiate Replacement Therapy means substituting the opiate that a patient is dependent on, be it heroin or over-the-counter codeine products like Nurofen Plus or Solpadine, says Dr Deirdre Dowdall, a Dublin GP. Methadone was the original replacement therapy, Dowdall said by phone on Thursday. People who use heroin need it every four to six hours, dominating every aspect of their lives, she says. Methadone was once-a-day, offering greater stability, she says. Methadone was a game-changer, Kearney says, and started her on a road of recovery that she remains on today. But life on methadone is not plain sailing, she says. Nicknamed “liquid handcuffs” by people who take it, methadone can require daily doses, administered by professionals in a clinic or pharmacy. The regularity of the doses, and the need to go in person each time, means people can struggle to maintain a routine – and to fit in employment or education. In 2018, Kearney switched to buprenorphine and began, she says, on a new path that empowered her to take back control of her life, to finish an undergraduate degree, and then a master’s. There are reasons why methadone may continue to be the treatment of choice for some people. For example, Kearney is concerned that for some, not having to check-in with professionals for a week or month at a time may be isolating. They may misuse substances again in the interim, she says. “I think somebody should be in a stable enough place in their life to do it.” But having a suite of options for people, that includes buprenorphine, is the way to go from here, says Dowdall. A recent paper by the Health Research Board [cited a survey](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26462866-2024-treatment-nr/?ref=dublininquirer.com) carried out in early 2023 in Dublin which found that: “Many respondents felt there was no end in sight for their treatment journey: as many as 87% reported they had never been offered an alternative to methadone treatment.” ## **The world reopened** At first, Kearney took buprenorphine in the form of Suboxone, which is absorbed under the tongue. The doses can be brought home and taken daily by the patient themselves, she says. Suddenly, the need to be in the same place at the same time every day was gone, she says. She could take up full-time education – and did. Not something, she says, that was possible for her while taking methadone. After a few years on Suboxone, Kearney took part in a pilot programme during the COVID-19 pandemic for a new buprenorphine-based product called Buvidal. This freed her up further, she says. It is a long-acting injectable treatment, which can be taken weekly or monthly – slowly releasing itself over that time. This marked another huge positive change, she says. Even with Suboxone, as it is a daily dose, you can wake up in the morning with the awful feeling of withdrawal, she says. “There’s also a psychological piece of knowing you have to get up every day and take something so that you feel normal,” she says. When she started on Buvidal, she was a year or two into her college degree – with much greater control over her days. In 2021, Kearney graduated from Maynooth University with a first-class honours Bachelor of Social Science Degree in Community Development and Youth Work. In 2023, she received her Master of Social Science Degree in Rights and Social Policy. Kearney has now moved to a point in her recovery where she is no longer receiving opioid replacement therapy. Today, she works with the[ SAOL Project](https://www.saolproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) where she is the coordinator of the BRIO programme that works with women who experience the intersectional issues of substance misuse and criminal justice involvement. ## **Buprenorphine in Ireland** The most recent[ figures](https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/42700/?ref=dublininquirer.com) published by the Health Research Board, from 2022, show that an estimated 19,460 people were experiencing problematic opioid use in Ireland. In Dublin, it was estimated at 11,100 people. Countrywide, more than three-quarters were in the older age group of 35–64-year-olds, the research found. Over two-thirds were male. The Health Research Board report [says that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26462866-2024-treatment-nr/?ref=dublininquirer.com) while the number of clients receiving buprenorphine-based products in Ireland has increased since its introduction, 94 percent of those receiving Opioid Replacement Therapy in 2023 were prescribed methadone. Buprenorphine was first licensed for use in Ireland back in 2006, says Dr Garrett McGovern, medical director and founder of the Priority Medical Centre in Dundrum. But it wasn’t until 2016 that it started to appear in specialist clinics here, and even then, it was hard to come by, he says. In 2017, there were 110 people receiving buprenorphine-based treatments, and 10,316 receiving methadone, an HSE spokesperson said Friday. By November 2025, that was 1,212 people receiving buprenorphine-based treatements, and 9,548 receiving methadone, they said. Beyond heroin, buprenorphine is also effective in treating people who are addicted to opiate-based painkillers like Nurofen Plus or Solpadine, says McGovern. While heroin remains the most common opioid problem, in the past decade or so, more people are also seeking treatment for those over-the-counter products, McGovern says. Now with the pilot phase of its roll-out passed, Buvidal is starting to slowly gain ground here, he says. “Nothing happens quickly in this country.” One barrier that remains is that many doctors remain unfamiliar with buprenorphine and are more confident prescribing the tried and tested methadone. “Doctors just might go, ‘I don't know enough about that drug, and I'm not prescribing it’”. Says McGovern: “Hopefully in 2026 we'll see more people on this.” Dowdall, the GP, says that buprenorphine generally offers people a much clearer head than methadone. It’s also very difficult to overdose on, she says. Overdoses on buprenorphine products usually also involve other substances like benzodiazepines and alcohol, says Dowdall. Buvidal, in particular, is far more convenient for people living in remote areas, who may struggle to attend a chemist or clinic, she says. It can also be very beneficial for people leaving prison, she says. The slow-release injection leaves the person in a very steady and comfortable state for up to a month. When people in recovery leave prison, they can be vulnerable to relapse, she says. Because the Buvidal injection lasts for weeks, it gives people some elbow room to re-engage with services in the community. [More than 900 people are on waitlists for addiction supports in Ireland’s prisonsThe longest queue is in Dublin’s Mountjoy, where more than 240 people languish on the waitlist for counselling for substance addiction.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-480.jpg)Dublin InQuirerEoin Glackin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Mountjoy-Prison.-Photo-by-Joseph-Glackin-1-1-2.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-900-people-are-on-waitlists-for-addiction-supports-in-irelands-prisons/) The Health Research Board report cites a study of prescribing in prisons between 2012 and 2020, for those with a history of Opioid Replacement Therapy. Methadone was most common, with monthly prescribing rates ranging from 364–723 per 1,000 women, and 96–163 per 1,000 men, it says. Meanwhile, “For buprenorphine and naloxone in-combination preparations, the monthly prescribing rates ranged from 0–13 per 1,000 women, and 0–1.3 per 1,000 men.” Buprenorphine also helps to alleviate some of the stigma that is still associated with methadone and drug use, says Dowdall. ## **Lingering stigma** “If every junkie in this country were to die tomorrow I would cheer,” wrote Ian O’Doherty in the *Irish Independent* in 2011. It was part of an article titled “Sterilising junkies may seem harsh, but it does make sense”,[ a *Magill*](https://magill.ie/media/press-ombudsman-upholds-complaint-against-irish-independent?ref=dublininquirer.com) article from that year recalls. The piece also described drug users as “vermin”, and “feral, worthless scumbags”. The Press Ombudsman upheld a[ complaint](https://magill.ie/media/press-ombudsman-upholds-complaint-against-irish-independent?ref=dublininquirer.com) against the *Irish Independent* for the column. In 2014, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Ratepayers’ Association (DLRPA) distributed postcards depicting methadone users as zombies. It was part of its efforts to close the Dún Laoghaire Methadone Clinic at the time. “The Walking Dead, courtesy of the HSE,” it read. “It just completely dehumanised the vulnerable people we treat,” says McGovern. The stigma remains today, says Kearney. People taking methadone feel that they must explain themselves to people around them, she says – to employers, colleagues, lecturers. If someone is a diabetic and needs treatment, they don't have to disclose that to an employer, she says. Because of the stigma attached to addiction, Kearney says that often people automatically assume that they have to tell. “Buvidal is great in terms of giving people the options to actually do something with their days, without having to explain to somebody,” she says. As well as grogginess for some, methadone can also give people heavy sweats, she says. “That can be quite embarrassing for us. It can have an impact on our self-confidence.” When she moved from methadone to buprenorphine initially, she says, those heavy sweats disappeared. Still, that transition from methadone was tough, she says. “Coming off methadone in the past was absolutely horrific.” When she eventually stopped taking Buvidal a few years ago, she says, it was “completely different in terms of the impact on your body”. McGovern sees this in his own patients, he says. If you have been taking methadone, and switch to buprenorphine, it kicks the methadone off the opioid receptors in your body and sends the patient into what’s known as “precipitated withdrawal”, he says. “It's horrendous.” Moving the other way around, from buprenorphine to methadone, doesn’t cause the same effects, McGovern says. ## Cost Buprenorphine products like Suboxone are a pricier drug than methadone for the state to purchase, McGovern says, but methadone is very cheap to begin with. And the new kid on the block, Buvidal is more expensive than that again, he says. “But like all these things, the wider it's used, the price does come down the more units are sold of it,” McGovern says. A UK [study](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13696998.2017.1325744?ref=dublininquirer.com) into the cost-effectiveness of Opioid Substitution Therapy – including both methadone and buprenorphine – showed positive results for the Exchequer against no opioid replacement therapy whatsoever. "From a societal perspective", buprenorphine treatment was estimated to save £14,032 per year for each patient, while methadone treatment saved £17,174 per year, per patient. The study also noted that having two or more effective treatment options available has a positive effect on patient retention numbers. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *UPDATE: This article was updated at 16.57pm on 9 January 2026 with information from the HSE about the numbers of recipients of methadone and buprenorphine-based treatments, and the relative costs of the products.* ### Why is the council sitting on long-vacant and derelict buildings? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-the-council-sitting-on-long-vacant-and-derelict-buildings/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:44:43.000Z The old three-storey corner building at 19 Buckingham Street Lower in the north inner-city, [ is boarded up](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-council-sits-on-disused-dracula-house-for-11-years-as-vacancy-sucks-the-lifeblood-of-the-city/), the brickwork stained and faded. It’s owned these days by the council. And, in December, a council official told Green Party Councillor Janet Horner that they are teasing out what to do with it and will provide an update soon, she said. The property falls under the purview of the Development Department, rather than the council’s Housing and Community Services Department, said Ruth Dowling, an executive council manager, by email. Dublin City Council has been the registered owner of 19 Buckingham Street Lower for 11 years, since September 2014, [show property records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26207837-folio-19-buckingham-st/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But council officials told Horner by email that the council only owns the leasehold for the property, not the freehold. The council has not yet responded to queries as to why it didn’t buy the freehold, when it first bought the house. It is not clear if that is the reason the council hasn’t developed it – or if it just hasn’t come up with a plan or the money for it. Estate agent Ben Thompson said that it’s common for owners in Dublin to find they don’t own the freehold. But that can be resolved since the owner has a legal right to buy out the freehold title for a small sum or extend the lease, he said. The council has tried to do that but hasn’t yet succeeded, said a spokesperson for Dublin City Council by email. “The Council has not applied to land registry for arbitration purposes.” “Given the time that has passed since there was an attempt to acquire the property by agreement, the City Valuer has been requested to re-engage with the owners with a view to acquisition by agreement before considering the commencement of any proceedings under the CPO Process,” they said. The convoluted process and timeframes though – alongside news that funding constraints have blocked work to do up acquired properties elsewhere, and [buying any more](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/) – has again fired up criticisms among councillors as to how the council regenerates vacant buildings it owns. So many properties sit stuck after the council buys them, they say, and they’re not done up and filled again with residents, community spaces, or whatever is settled on, quickly enough. At [41 Parnell Square East](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-dublin-city-council-plans-to-turn-historic-building-at-parnell-square-into-apartments/), Dublin City Council has been locked in a legal battle with a former owner for decades, following a legal challenge to a compulsory purchase of a historic building in 1998\. Meanwhile, the building sits vacant. “These examples show the failings of the current system,” says Horner. “We need a much more streamlined process for vacant and derelict properties that ensures the council can bring them back into use more quickly.” A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: “The CPO Activation Programme encourages a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to address vacancy and dereliction.” That programme aims to encourage councils to use existing powers to compulsorily purchase homes where necessary and the department tracks their progress. But they didn’t outline any plans to modernise, streamline or update the CPO legislation or provide more funding to regenerate properties after they are bought by councils. ## **On Buckingham Street Lower** As of September 2019, Dublin City Council was carrying out “preliminary works” in relation to 19 Buckingham Street Lower, said a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26207883-appendix-a-council-questions-and-replies/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors. As of January 2022, it flagged issues with “Partial title, CPO necessary to regularise”, said another [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26207894-list-of-properties-in-central-area-final-january-22/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Horner, the Green Party councillor, says it’s difficult to know if the title issue is behind the council’s failure to develop the property. Council projects often slip through the cracks when the person in charge leaves their job or moves to another section, she says. “There is a lack of oversight and management.” Thompson, sales and marketing director with Churches Estate Agents, says that many properties in Dublin city are owned under leasehold arrangements, often dating back to aristocratic land ownership systems of the 1800s. He has acted for property owners in Dublin where the freehold land owner was the Earl of Pembroke. “This is a very common occurrence,” says Thompson. Leasehold ownership can prevent an owner from developing their property, he says, because sometimes they can’t do major construction works without the freehold owner’s permission. As the leasehold enters the last 50 years, banks might be reluctant to accept it as security for a mortgage, says Thompson. “The legal advice would probably be to regularise it.” That is fairly easy to do, says Thompson, because the leasehold owner has a legal right to buy out the freehold ownership or extend the lease for another long period of time. The cost the freehold owner can charge is minimal, he says, but the owner might have to pay solicitors' fees to get the paperwork in order. ## **Developing derelict homes** In [October 2025, ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-has-paused-cpos-of-derelict-homes-but-also-promises-zero-tolerance-on-dereliction/) Dublin City Council said it was taking a new, zero tolerance, approach to dereliction – but also said that funding had been paused for buying derelict houses. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that funding is available to councils to buy vacant and derelict sites under the Social Housing Investment Programme to use as social housing,” he says. “Funding is also available through Call 3 of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund for local authorities to acquire vacant and derelict properties for resale on the open market,” said the spokesperson. If the council wants to regenerate the site once it has it, though, it needs to find funding for that. In her email to Horner, Dowling said that work had been “paused” on two derelict properties at 19 and 21 [Connaught Street in Phibsboro](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-on-connaught-street-in-phibsboro-residents-continue-their-long-battle-against-dereliction/), because of issues around funding. The properties were first listed on the derelict sites register in 2009\. Dublin City Council [CPOed them](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-dereliction-in-phibsboro-cleaning-up-finglas-streets-vs-its-park-and-the-clontarf-city-centre-cycleway/) and has owned them since 2019. Dowling, the council manager, said in the email that, council staff “had just stabilised the properties in early 2025 and were ready to go out to tender when the project was paused”. “They will apply to the Department with the estimated cost to finish the works but approval rests with the Department,” she said. “If no funding is available alternatives including selling the properties may need to be considered.” Councillors on the council’s urban redevelopment working group have been [pushing the council to pursue CPOs more vigorously](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/). They have agreed they would prefer not to sell off sites, but to try to develop them for social or cost rental homes, to address the affordable housing shortage. [The council has a new plan to regenerate the city centre “street by street”“We should be able to try these big things and not be afraid of failure,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell, who has spearheaded the initiative.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-481.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/North-Frederick-Street.--main-image--1-3.JPG)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-has-a-new-plan-to-regenerate-the-city-centre-street-by-street/) In October, Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne said that sometimes the Department of Housing initially says it will fund the council to refurbish a derelict property to use as social housing but then backtracks. “In some cases, it is the Department of Housing’s fault,” says Byrne. But if the department doesn’t fund the council to renovate the home for social housing, the council should sell it quickly, so that someone can live there, he says. Horner says that it is possible the CPO process needs to be streamlined and that the council needs a clearer process, and a clearer funding stream to regenerate the homes. Regardless of where the blocks lie, they need to be ironed out she says. Given the current housing crisis, the compulsory purchase process needs to work fast and effectively to bring homes back into use, she says. “This needs to be tackled as a priority.” A spokesperson for the Department of Housing says that its CPO Activation Programme “encourages a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to address vacancy and dereliction”. The goal is to get the home back into use, either as social housing, community use or sold on the private market, they said. ### Things To Do: Stay out late, admire a boxcar, hear an “agri-diesel” rock opera URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-stay-out-late-admire-a-boxcar-hear-an-agri-diesel-rock-opera/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:44:51.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Boxcars** Christmas is over, which means the Grafton Street area is no longer a burden masquerading as a location on our maps. If you want to bask in its mild tranquillity, relatively speaking, then it might be worth venturing over to Balfe Street this evening where the Solomon Fine Art gallery is launching Boxcars, a new exhibition by artist Tim Morris. Boxcars is an installation of over 200 miniature boxcars, which Morris has been creating since 2020\. Made from discarded corrugated cardboard and cast in bronze, the project began as a way to occupy Morris over the course of the Covid lock-downs. Conjuring up images of transport, trade and travel, Morris wanted to express a sense of “waiting” during that period, before continuing to create more while travelling, most recently during a road trip across Europe and into North Africa. Boxcars opens this evening, Thursday, 8 January, at 6pm, and will continue until 31 January. For more information, visit Morris’ website [here](https://www.timmorrisartist.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Urban Myth** Also launching this evening is Urban Myth, a new group exhibition in the Kevin Kavanagh gallery, which demonstrates the changing role of photography in our digital world. Urban Myth examines how photographs are no longer just records of a moment in time, but instead have become “the basis of our modern folklore”, and the driving force behind most of our social media. “Where once we gathered round the fire to share stories, now we pass images from screen to screen,” says art writer Martin Shiels in an extract from a text that will accompany the show. The exhibition will feature works by Michael Boran, Elaine Byrne, Gary Coyle, Sean Lynch, Scott Nokia, Adrian O’Carroll, Izabela Szczutkowska and Dragana Jurišić, whose own exhibition, The Last Balkan Cowboy will be opening in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios on 16 January. For more information, visit the Kevin Kavanagh gallery [here](https://www.kevinkavanagh.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Charles Tyrrell** On Saturday morning, artist and Aosdána member Charles Tyrrell will be giving a talk on his creative journey and work down in the LexIcon Library and Cultural Centre in Dún Laoghaire. Tyrrell, whose minimalist practice explores abstract and geometric forms, combines drawing, print and painting on canvas and aluminium. For anybody who wanders through the Docklands area, one of his most recognisable works is *Liffey Grid*, a monochrome enamel painting on the gateway into the Tropical Fruit Warehouse office development on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. As part of the ArtNetdlr talk, Tyrrell will be discussing his career, which includes representing Ireland at the 1982 Paris Biennale, solo exhibitions at the RHA, Taylor Galleries and Project Arts Centre, as well as the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny. The talk, scheduled for Saturday, 10 January, begins at 11am in the library. Tickets are on sale [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/artist-talk-charles-tyrrell-tickets-1978553850829?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dublin Nights Mapped** If your local barista has ever remarked, an hour before they close up, that you are in at an unusually early hour, then Dublin City Council’s new interactive map, Dublin Nights Mapped, may cater to your needs. Launched yesterday, Dublin Nights Mapped has assembled an eclectic list of places that you can go after 6pm, including some late-night cafes like Mind the Step, pool hall The Hideout, the [Lidl Museum of Ancient and Contemporary Art](https://eclipticofculture.bandcamp.com/album/lidl-museum-of-ancient-and-contemporary-art-audio-tour?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Aungier Street and public art spots such as Liberty Lane and South Dock Road. The list features almost 100 locations, and can be viewed [here](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=14nM6cN3O4DyT5X7qfjrQocWgR8YuHcU&ll=53.36204234767335%2C-6.252988600000013&z=11&ref=dublininquirer.com). So the next time you step into the local cafe at 4pm, asking for a double shot americano, you can pull up this map and declare that Dublin City Council recognises you as a normal person. **Oh Boland and Robbie Stickland** On Saturday night, Curveball, the new venue overlooking Curved Lane in Temple Bar, is hosting a lo-fi indie double bill. Oh Boland, the “scum pop” trio from Tuam, are in town to debut some new songs from their forthcoming album *A Power of Wides*, the follow-up to 2024’s [*Western Leisure*](https://ohboland.bandcamp.com/album/western-leisure?ref=dublininquirer.com). According to the band, this will be an “agri-diesel rock opera”, and ticketholders for this weekend’s gig will be able to get a clearer understanding of whatever that is supposed to mean before Oh Boland hit the studio next week to record the record itself. Joining them is songwriter, Search Results bassist, and [poet laureate of early 30s existential dread](https://robbiestickland.bandcamp.com/track/its-cool-to-start-smoking-in-your-30s?ref=dublininquirer.com) Robbie Stickland, who recently featured on the experimental and alternative compilation [*A Litany of Failures vol. V*](https://litanyoffailures.bandcamp.com/album/a-litany-of-failures-volume-v?ref=dublininquirer.com). Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oh-boland-robbie-stickland-live-at-curveball-tickets-1977806830471?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=dublininquirer.com). SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-08-124804.png)](https://dublin-inquirer-shop.tpopsite.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Want to support our community journalism? You can get tote bags, t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more at our shop. Each purchase helps us keep finding, reporting, and writing local news. [Buy our merch here ](https://dublin-inquirer-shop.tpopsite.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Nature, Biodiversity and Sustainable Living free course** Finglas Library will be hosting a free course about nature, biodiversity and sustainable living between 16 January and 13 March. Classes are scheduled for each Friday between 10am and 12pm across eight weeks, and will teach you simple steps to support plants, animals, and insects, ways to take action for climate change and biodiversity, and recommend books and resources on climate, nature, and sustainability. To sign up, call or text 086 013 8147. **Cello Concerto World Premiere** On 30 January, 2024 Séan Ó Riada Competition winner Anselm McDonnell’s first Cello Concerto will be getting its world premiere in the National Concert Hall. Performed by cellist Martin Johnson and commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, McDonnell’s Cello Concerto No. 1, *Hostile Summits* pits the solo instrument as an “observer to the towering majesty and divinity of mountains, the imposing meeting point between earth and the heavens”. For more information, visit the National Concert Hall event page [here](https://www.nch.ie/all-events-listing/nsoi-tchaikovsky-anselm-mcdonnell/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Pallas Projects 2026 Artist-Initiated Projects** Pallas Projects has announced that Paddy Critchley’s Painter/Painter will be the first exhibition of its 2026 Artist-Initiated Projects Programme. Painter/Painter opens on Thursday, 22 January. For more information on Critchley’s exhibition and to see the other exhibitions confirmed for this year’s programme, visit the Pallas Projects website [here.](https://pallasprojects.org/projects/paddy-critchley-painter-painter?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Leftover Christmas Treats** Muslim Sisters of Éire is putting out a call out for leftover Christmas treats, such as chocolate selection boxes, which they would like to hand out on their weekly soup run. If you want to make a donation, get in touch with them at 086 785 4866 or [muslimsisterofeire@gmail.com](mailto:muslimsisterofeire@gmail.com), or drop your treats off at their office in 1 Frankfort Centre on the Dundrum Road, Dublin 14. If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### What’s happened with Manna’s plan to expand its drone delivery service across Dublin? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-happened-with-mannas-plan-to-expand-its-drone-delivery-service-across-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T23:26:26.000Z Drone delivery company Manna’s planned aerial delivery hub in Tallaght is the latest to face a setback, with the planning application withdrawn a year after it was first filed, and a few days before a final decision was due. Partas CLG – a social enterprise [that runs](https://www.partas.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Tallaght Enterprise Centre and filed the planning application as the landowner – pulled the application on 18 December, show [planning documents](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/southdublin/application-details/67488?ref=dublininquirer.com). Partas hasn’t responded to queries as to why. But a spokesperson for Manna said on Tuesday that it’s still proceeding with the hub with Partas. “The previous application was withdrawn due to an administrative issue and we will be reapplying.” The tally of Manna’s active drone delivery sites across Dublin at last year’s end stands in contrast to the company’s past announcements about plans to expand its service in Ireland. In early 2025, Manna CEO Bobby Healy said in a LinkedIn [post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bhealy%5Fthis-is-the-manna-drone-delivery-rollout-activity-7290800349186072580-WiC%5F?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAWMdJQB3I1oYHKY35cO72XPpNuCwXp%5FlN4) “This is the Manna Air Delivery rollout plan for 2025”, with a map that appears to show 14 bases around Dublin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/image.png) The map from Bobby Healy's LinkedIn post. But the only site currently enjoying planning permission is at the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. That has a temporary three-year permission that is up for renewal later this year. The company has faced pushback in Dublin 15 from some local councillors and residents [concerned, mostly, about the](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-no-fly-requests-delivery-drones-still-buzz-over-their-homes-say-residents-in-dublin-15/) disruption and stress of noise from deliveries overhead, day in and day out. [Despite “no-fly requests”, delivery drones still buzz over their homes, say residents in Dublin 15A spokesperson for drone-delivery company Manna says that it accommodates the requests it gets from residents to stay away from the air over their property.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-479.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Still-from-video-by-Deirdre-O-Neill-of-a-drone-delivery-next-door-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-no-fly-requests-delivery-drones-still-buzz-over-their-homes-say-residents-in-dublin-15/) However, a spokesperson for Manna said on Tuesday that the company had been welcomed in Dublin in real terms. **“**We’re nearing 60,000 deliveries in Dublin 15 alone.” “Both Manna and public representatives have heard from a broad cross-section of the public in support of the service in recent months in Blanchardstown and Dublin 15 and we plan to support them,” he said. “Looking to 2026, our focus is on continuing to improve our Irish-built drones from a technology perspective and expanding into new locations in Dublin and beyond,” said the Manna spokesperson. ## In Tallaght and beyond Partas first applied for permission for the Tallaght hub on 23 December 2024 – but the case dragged on. Two public submissions – one from a local resident, Alison Kenealy, and one from Brian Whyte at Drone Services Ireland – raised reservations. Council planners asked for six bits of additional information in February. Among other things, they sought a noise impact assessment, and an assessment of the potential safety and operational impacts of the proposed drone service given activities at Casement Aerodrome, a military airfield about 6km west of the proposed drone base. They also asked for written confirmation from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) that the proposed development would not interfere with or pose risks to any existing or future aviation activities – and pointed in particular to the operation of Weston Airfield and the emergency helicopter service to Tallaght Hospital. In a submission on 26 November, Partas responded to the request for information about the aerodrome impact. Manna was the end-user of the site, the document said, and they were engaged in discussion with the Department of Defence on a memorandum around that, and wouldn’t use the site until that is in place. Also, Manna always works through the correct process with the IAA before it starts operations from a site, it says. On 8 December, the Department of Defence wrote to the council with a submission. “The developer should provide an aviation impact assessment to assess all potential impacts by Unmanned Aircraft System on Irish Air Corps flight operations from Casement Aerodrome,” it said. “The report should also describe the total area to be served and concept of operations for delivery of Unmanned Aircraft System,” the submission said. On 18 December, Partas withdrew the application. “We are extremely relieved,” says John Kenealy, who lives in the nearby Bancroft housing estate and whose wife had made a submission to the planning application opposing it. But still, it seems to him to be one of those suggestions that is going to bubble away, he says, and the picture is bigger than just Tallaght. Regulators in Europe haven’t really decided a stance yet on drone deliveries, he says. ## A stalled roll-out? In 2024, Manna set up a drone delivery base next to the Clonsilla Inn, but in June of that year Fingal County Council [ordered it removed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-orders-clonsilla-drone-delivery-service-base-removed/). Then, on 30 October of this year, Fingal County Council refused to grant retroactive (“retention”) permission for a [drone delivery base at Junction 6](https://www.dublininquirer.com/rules-on-installation-of-drone-food-delivery-bases-in-dublin-remain-in-dispute/) from which Manna had been operating. Council planners said that it didn’t fit with the high-tech zoning for the land, which was meant for “high end, high-quality, value-added businesses and corporate headquarters”. The delivery base was incompatible with existing land uses, and has a “non-employment intensive nature”, which “cumulatively results in the unsustainable and uneconomical use of the subject lands”. The application didn’t give enough detail about noise pollution either, it said. Meanwhile, Manna has two planning applications pending elsewhere in Dublin’s suburbs. One for a site on Main Street in Dundrum – for which it filed for planning permission on 11 June 2025\. Planners sought more info on 1 August 2025\. They asked for a really detailed noise assessment, and assessments of the impact on wildlife. And another for a site in Coolmine Industrial Estate in Fingal, where it filed for retention permission on 30 September 2025, and planners asked for more info in November 2025\. In this case, they have also asked for a noise impact assessment, and a transport statement setting out what kind of vehicles and traffic will be generated in serving the aerial hub on the ground. For Manna’s existing delivery hub at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, the landowner applied for a temporary [three-year permission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24946714-final-grant-blanch/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in May 2023 – which was approved in August 2023. Manna didn’t address queries as to if and when it plans to work with the landowner, to apply for a renewal of that planning permission this year. It also hasn’t replied to queries about why it hadn’t yet rolled out [a delivery hub on Slaney Road](https://www.dublininquirer.com/amid-plans-for-food-delivery-drones-to-spread-across-dublin-some-worry-about-safety/) in Glasnevin Industrial Estate, as a spokesperson had spoken about early last year. However, in appearances at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport last July, and on an episode of the Business Plus Talks podcast [put out](https://businessplus.ie/business-plus-talks/bobby-healy-podcast/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 2 January, Healy talked a bit about Manna’s expansion plans. “Most of our plans are international, so our growth primarily will be in the Nordics,” he said at the committee in July. “We have an operation in Finland and an operation in Texas.” On the podcast, Healy said the company is active in three locations: Dublin, Texas and Helsinki. “We’re going to ramp up a lot in the United States, definitely Texas and probably one or two other states.” “Undecided around Europe and Ireland,” he said. “Ireland is a small market in theory, not an important market in theory, but it’s important to me personally, wearing my green jersey.” In the episode, the interviewer also asked Healy what the hardest problem was for Manna to solve. “The hard part is staying alive and not running out of cash, while you’re waiting on regulators to catch up with you. Because we are so far ahead of regulations,” said Healy. They keep having to go to the European regulator to tell them what they need, he said. He understands that regulators have to be disciplined though, Healy said, and that their remit is to protect people. ### There’s been a surge in ethics complaints about Dublin city councillors URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/theres-been-a-surge-in-ethics-complaints-about-dublin-city-councillors/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:44:59.000Z In just three months in 2024, while the current cohort of councillors was still new, nearly 100 complaints about councillors’ conduct were sent to Dublin City Council, [show council figures](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26442674-letter-to-requester-09122025/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That’s almost 24 times as many grievances as all of 2023, when only four were lodged. Generally, reports of councillors' alleged unethical conduct have significantly grown compared to 2023, figures show. “I wish to confirm that 4 complaints made under the Code of Conduct for Councillors were received in 2023 and 59 received in 2025,” said a council spokesperson. The council has not said who made the complaints, or who they are about. Initially, it had refused to reveal the 2024 figures in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. On 10 December 2025, over a year after appealing its decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC), a senior executive officer for the council sent [a letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26442674-letter-to-requester-09122025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) showing the figure, cc-ing the OIC. But it’s still fighting not to release its internal correspondence and minutes of meetings about those complaints before the OIC, the councilstaffer confirmed in response to a follow up email. People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy, [who had filed](https://www.dublininquirer.com/months-on-council-still-investigating-ethics-complaints-against-independent-councillor/) a complaint alleging an ethics violation by his colleague independent Councillor Gavin Pepper in 2024, says he hasn’t heard of any progress. He’s surprised about the volume of reports that summer, Reddy said. “I’d thought there were maybe 5-10 at most in that period,” he said in a text message last month. Other councillors say they would like to see greater transparency about these complaints as they mount, and an overhaul of the process that would place responsibility for reviewing them with an independent body. “In general, this mechanism needs to be strengthened,” said Green Party Councillor Janet Horner, who also expressed surprise about the number of complaints. A spokesperson for the council did not directly address a query asking if it has made any headway in examining the 98 grievances filed in the summer of 2024. But they said that it has [a protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25983617-dublin-city-council-protocol-for-dealing-with-complaints-made-against-elected-members-of-the-city-council-february-2023-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p6) for dealing with these reports to ensure fair procedures, “under which decisions on complaints about a Councillor’s conduct are made”. Its protocol has a confidentiality clause, saying “that as far as is reasonably possible, the confidentiality of the process and their privacy will be respected”. ## All apologies It’s unclear if the 98 complaints filed in the summer of 2024 centre on a handful of councillors or many. The Department of Local Government’s [Code of Conduct](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26443865-code-of-conduct-for-councillors-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for councillors lays out a swirl of best-practice advice. And the [council’s protocol](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25983617/dublin-city-council-protocol-for-dealing-with-complaints-made-against-elected-members-of-the-city-council-february-2023-1.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) for addressing alleged ethics breaches suggests that council members accused of misconduct get notified. “They shall be provided with a copy, or a redacted copy, where appropriate, of the complaint,” it says. Pepper – the independent councillor who is subject to the complaint made by Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor in 2024 – did not respond to queries emailed on 18 December, including whether he’d been informed of other reports, and if so what they were about and if he’d had to take any action as a result. Karyn Moynihan has lodged one of the 59 complaints about councillors’ conduct in 2025, she says. Hers centres on an Instagram story which cropped up on the social media account of independent [Councillor Philip Sutcliffe](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-boxing-club-with-ties-to-conor-mcgregor-some-non-white-and-immigrant-athletes-seek-to-connect-and-belong/) on the day of the presidential election in late October last year. [Two stories](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26443874-sutcliffes-stories/?ref=dublininquirer.com) appeared on Sutcliffe’s account that day, both showing spoiled ballot papers. One featured a wasted vote for conservative campaigner Maria Steen, who didn’t make the cut to be on the ballot. The other was covered in racist and homophobic refrains, including one that called for the genocide of Roma people. Sutcliffe later [apologised](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26443875-sutcliffe-apology/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the appearance of the latter and how hurtful it must have been. His statement said someone had tagged him in the offensive ballot, and it “accidentally” got shared out on his accounts. On 3 November, the Lord Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, [read out](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1026794?ref=dublininquirer.com) a similar apology at the council chamber on his behalf, which frustrated Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan, who said Sutcliffe ought to have read it himself. McAdam said he had agreed to help address the issue under the agenda of Lord Mayor's Business. Moynihan, who has put in a complaint to the council about Sutcliffe, said that a city official initially got back to acknowledge it and asked if they could share her name and a copy of the complaint with Sutcliffe “for his right of reply”. “I agreed and haven’t heard anything since, that was back at the beginning of November,” she said on 17 December. Sutcliffe did not respond to queries sent on 18 December, including one asking if he got back to anyone personally about complaints, and whether he considered the public apology his response to individual complainants. ## Things we don’t do here Horner, the Green Party councillor, says that in Northern Ireland, the process for addressing alleged violations of the ethics code is more robust and independent. Complaints about the behaviour of councillors in the North are [filed with](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26444835-making-a-complaint-about-the-conduct-of-a-councillor/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards, who’s in charge of investigating independently, says its how-to guide for sending them. “I think we should look at something like that to see if it would work,” Horner said. Here, Dublin City Council’s [protocol](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25983617-dublin-city-council-protocol-for-dealing-with-complaints-made-against-elected-members-of-the-city-council-february-2023-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p6) for navigating ethics-related reports says the council might forward them to An Garda Síochána or the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) if it sees fit. Other potential actions include recommending a councillor to take a training course, mediation or “writing to the Councillor concerned to remind them of the provisions of the Code of Conduct for Councillors”, it says. It’s unclear if it has done any of those things about the recent complaints. One challenge of reforming the process to boost accountability for councillors is that punishment levelled can be spun into a “martyrdom narrative or even worse a loss in the courts”, says Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley. That’s not to say he doesn’t want those violating the code not to face any consequences, he said. “But I also understand why it’s processing very slowly.” Ultimately, Stanley said, he is in favour of an independent body like SIPO to take charge of processing them. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Local Government has not yet responded to a query sent on Monday asking if it has plans to put a body like SIPO in charge of investigating alleged breaches of the ethics code for councilors. But what about a potential cascade of vexatious complaints made just to prompt stress and pointless bureaucracy? The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner's how-to-complain [guide](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26444835-making-a-complaint-about-the-conduct-of-a-councillor/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says it doesn’t investigate every single report it gets. “Your complaint will be assessed and a decision will be made based on the information you provide whether your complaint can, and should, be investigated,” it says. But if the commissioner does examine it and finds someone guilty of breaching the code, it can lead to “censuring or suspending the Councillor”. In the most serious cases, “the Commissioner can disqualify someone from serving as a councillor for up to 5 years”, says its guide. ### To make way for more housing Fingal proposes rezoning 11 sites, nibbling into greenbelt URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-make-way-for-more-housing-fingal-proposes-rezoning-11-sites-nibbling-into-greenbelt/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T01:45:08.000Z Fingal County Council [has proposed](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/proposed-variation-no1-fingal-development-plan-2023-%E2%80%93-2029?ref=dublininquirer.com) rezoning 61.5ha across 11 sites in north Dublin – with room, if developed, for 2,500 homes. Nine of the parcels are in east Fingal – on the edges of Balrothery, Skerries, Lusk, Malahide, Kinsealy, and next to the Hole in the Wall Road near Snugborough. The other two are in Dublin 15, with one site west of Barnill and another on Clonsilla Road. The council has also suggested steps to move faster with developing some of the lands at Dunsink, long earmarked for development, to allow – in theory – another 2,500 homes to be brought on stream by 2029. It has put these proposed rezonings out for a public consultation running from 23 December to 29 January. Guidelines [issued by](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26458415-s28-guidelines-npf-implementation-housing-growth-requirements/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Minister for Housing James Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD, last July mean that councils have had to reopen their development plan and ensure that there is enough land rezoned to meet new housing targets – and 50 percent more, to give headway. At Fingal’s December monthly meeting, the council’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, [said it was on the hunt for lands](https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-orders-from-government-fingal-plans-to-rezone-even-more-land-for-housing/) to rezone to meet the new target. Now the council has come through with the specifics. "Overall, I think it's a positive and reasonable proposal by Fingal County Council, and I would, I certainly support," said Labour Councillor John Walsh. This variation to the county development plan "is probably most important decision that will be taken by the current council", he said. ## Nibbling into greenbelt The rezonings proposed by Fingal officials sit mostly on the edges of settlements, with seven nibbling into greenbelt. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-5.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-6.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-9-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-7-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Proposal-8-2.jpg) The proposed encroachments into greenbelt surprised Green Party Councillor David Healy, he says – and concern him. “I don’t know what the thinking is behind it, and they haven’t given any attempts to explain it, like you would expect.” Green belt zoning had always been seen as a permanent designation, to separate towns, he said. “So that the towns of Portmarnock, Kinsealy, Malahide, Baldoyle, and Balgriffin are separate towns,” he said, “and Dublin isn’t just a kind of endless built-up area.” His immediate response to the proposals is to want to go back to basics, he says – to the question of whether these are really necessary, and so to the question of how officials have calculated what land is available right now. It isn’t in itself unreasonable to ensure there are sufficient lands zoned for the new targets under the National Planning Framework, he said. But officials had briefed councillors that there is 173ha of land already zoned, but exempt from the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT). “Because for most, for almost all of it, it’s not adequately serviced,” he says. So, that land isn’t counted as ready to build on, he says, but could account for at least 7,000 homes. “The first question I suppose I have to them, and I’ve been asking it for a few weeks, is can we have a list of all the pieces of land from those 173ha – because many of those, you know, if any of those can be easily serviced, that would be the immediate response,” he says. If a third of that land could be made developable quickly, that would meet the need to rezone any land other than Dunsink, he said. He isn’t sure, also, how officials have taken mixed-use zonings into account, he said. Take the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, he said, where planners have granted two planning permissions for 1,319 homes. He doesn’t think that land is included as falling under the RZLT – but he didn’t see that on the map. “So I’m not clear as to whether they’ve counted that into their calculation of land that’s zoned and developable,” he says. But, again, that would make up more than half of the new homes that they would be proposing to zone more space for, Healy says. To him, it looks as if they could be proposing to rezone land which they don’t need to, he says. ## Strategies and scrambles Healy says councillors for his area are also hoping to look at which sites were already proposed for zoning by the council and rejected on the advice of the chief executive, and work out why there has been an aboutface now. Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh said that, when Fingal’s current development plan, for 2023 to 2029, had just come out, the national planning regulator told the council it had overzoned land. “Now, less than two years later, they’re coming back and saying we don’t have enough zoned land,” McDonagh said. “I wouldn’t be opposed to zoning some of these lands,” he says. “Some of what we’re doing is actually reasonable,” he says. There’s a site at Broomfield West in Malahide, which makes a bit more sense to him but he plans to look more closely at it, he says. “I think there’s an opportunity for social and affordable housing there which is badly needed.” But he would be most worried, he says, about the proposals around Kinsealy. “I’m very concerned about Kinsealy,” says McDonagh. He was opposed to how that was rezoned during past development plans, he said, as a rural village, which meant that it didn’t develop with the same connectivity and infrastructure. It led to issues with no cycleway and no assigned school, he said. “So there’s huge pressure there.” He also has concerns about flooding, not necessarily on the land rezoned, but in the wider area from the reduced porous land, he says. Overall, he is worried that the sites being put forward aren’t being done on the basis of any long-term strategic plan for areas but for the numbers, he says. “It’s just demonstrating busy activity by the government.” Other councillors said that they were yet to look in detail at the lands up for rezoning, but are broadly of the view that rezoning more land is needed and so supportive of the whole sweep – arguing that it opens the possibility of more homes being built. Ted Leddy, a Fine Gael councillor, said that the proposed rezoning for Barnill – in his area – is a good idea. “I’m very much in favour of that being rezoned for housing.” ## The Dunsink plans Since at least September 2024, councillors [have themselves](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/) in earnest been pushing for faster development of lands at Dunsink – where the council owns as much as 1,000 acres. The proposals now being put forward by council officials – and also out to public consultation – include moving that along faster and drawing up a local area plan so it can develop at least part of that quickly. "By March \[20\]26 the council should see a draft local area plan for Dunsink, and that means, that gives us the opportunity to shape the plan for the new urban quarter, and it will ensure, it should ensure that it's an infrastructure-first development," said Walsh, the Labour councillor. Yes, said his Labour colleague, McDonagh, “That’s going to be a big development. In 25 years’ time, that should be a big, huge, new properly planned town.” Dunsink is council land. But it’s unclear who owns the other sites that are proposed for rezoning, says Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins – and something she would be interested in. ## Is More Zoned Land What's Needed? For lands in private ownership, councillors are split on the question of whether rezoning the land alone would be enough to get new homes built anyway. Leddy, the Fine Gael councillor, said that so many factors have to align for housing to be ready to built on a plot so not everything is going to be built out. It is often said that Fingal has enough land, Leddy says. “But we don’t have enough land, because if we had enough land, we would be getting enough houses built and there would be less of a shortage of housing.” McDonagh, the Labour councillor, says that the government seems to be working off a fundamental misunderstanding of what the problem is – and the assumption that if you rezone land, development will follow. But “there’s very little to drive development by the private sector when they’re the ones that own and control the land,” he says. Yes, said Walsh, another Labour councillor, "the minister seems to think that rezoning more land will solve the housing crisis", but "there's actually no problem with the availability of land across the county, in fact, the problem is much more that existing zoned land hasn't been developed for housing". Tom O’Leary, the Fine Gael councillor and current mayor, says he wants to see the land being zoned to be brought into play but also sped up. He wants Fingal County Council to be going out and buying more undeveloped and stalled land on the market – and working to develop that in partnerships. It’s done it already on sites, he said. “They need to go out there, into the market, knock on doors, and build more, and be disruptive in the market in a positive way,” he says. If they can’t buy it voluntarily, they should CPO it, he says. For McDonagh, the focus should of policy be on public housing – built and led by the government. “Particularly what we need is social housing,” he said. “And we need social housing on state land and affordable housing.” ## Consultation Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins said she was concerned by how the council had put out these changes for discussion on 23 December. “The whole public consultation is to give people an opportunity to have their say,” she said, but by doing it over Christmas, it has shortened that window probably by about a week. “We give out when developers do that.” As of 6 January, Fingal’s public consultation portal [had just](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/node/39295/submissions?ref=dublininquirer.com) two submissions loaded up. One, from Lusk resident Anna Clarke, said that more services and infrastructure are needed, before more homes. Another, from Ruarc Sorensen, in Skerries, raised similar concerns – in this case, about the adequacy of public transport, and GP services. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *UPDATE: This article was updated at 9.50am on 8 January to include comments from Labour Councillor John Walsh provided before deadline but not originally included in the article.* ### In the Liberties, a sculptor strives to build a better rat trap URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-a-sculptor-strives-to-build-a-better-rat-trap/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T23:26:37.000Z On a recent Saturday, Antoine Daure walked through the Cast Foundry in the Liberties, talking about Trap, his latest series of sculptures. The artist, who works at Cast, has been casting both his own and other artists’ pieces there since 2021, and he moves with ease among the foundry’s rows of scattered molds, welding equipment and half-finished forms. Walking into a storage area, he picks up a shiny metal device. It’s one of the five pieces he’s completed so far for the Trap series. Like the others, it’s a version of a mechanical rat trap, but slicker, flashier, and more complex than any you’d find in a shop. It is a solid, perforated metal form with bold geometric patterns cut into its sides and top, resting on two small bases. Daure continues to walk through the rooms, and into the workshop where he casts – a vast space filled with maquettes and the bitter smell of burnt bronze. From a top shelf, he carefully pulls down another trap, this one being a complex, cage-like structure of polished metal rods surrounding an inner box, which has two tall vertical posts extending upward from its top surface. “This is not finished, I need to weld it,” he says. “There is a complex mechanism, it’s a nightmare to balance the weights.” After moving all the components into place, Daure inserts a pen into the trap to simulate the movement of the rat. This releases a guillotine-like steel plate, which clangs down. Daure says he aims to build a total of 10 to 15 traps for an exhibition, to be held in a location still to be decided. Sculptor Anna Campbell, who has been working at Cast with Daure for three years, says she’s uneasy with the idea of trapping animals, but is still fascinated by his rat traps. “I like the quirkiness of it all,” she says. Campbell, who has been working as a sculptor for several decades, says it’s great to see the fresh perspective brought to Ireland by Daure, who is from France. “We are quite closed and insular, can be isolated and inward-looking,” she says. “When you see Antoine and other young artists, they bring a bit of fresh air.” ## Traps Daure says he’s been an artist since he was little. “My father is a chocolate maker and when I was young I made sculptures in chocolate,” he says. The inspiration from his rat traps came from a girl Daure studied with in school, he says. “She had a lot of rats in her house,” he says. “She bought a rat’s trap in the shop and it was so complex that we felt like it’s art.” From there, he decided to make his own versions – each one unique – and he poured his time and energy into it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Trap-3.jpg) Trap 3\. Photo courtesy of Antoine Daure. “I like this idea of taking a lot of time for design, to find the right balance” he says. “For what – you know? – for nothing, just to cut the rats. It’s a bit mad, a bit crazy.” Daure says he is fascinated by the idea of making something only humans would normally spend a lot of time on. “Sometimes they do things with no sense, like \[putting together\] a puzzle. They spend maybe one month making it – for what? This \[the rat traps\] is my puzzle” he adds, smiling. Daure seems unsure what he’s trying to arouse in the viewer with his traps. “Sometimes you need an object to find a solution to a problem, and this is a good one. But it’s still an object, it’s for the big rats in New York, in Paris,” he says. When picturing the person who would buy one of his works, he wonders “where would he put it – in the living room?” Campbell says Daure’s rat traps jerk the senses. “Why is this beautiful piece of sculpture, beautifully finished, beautifully polished, actually very dangerous looking?” Daure has been working with the theatre- and cinematic idea of hors-champ throughout his career, he says. “When they kill someone, the camera doesn’t show exactly the scene, but you know what happens – maybe you have the shadow and your brain understands,” he says. His work doesn’t show violence directly, but he makes objects that can be violent. ## The claw In the foundry, Daure examines a prototype for another project he is planning: the Claw. “It’s about never win\[ning\],” he says. “You know the game where you always put the money in the machine, but you never win anything, it’s just a fucking android.” He moves closer to a metallic, three-legged structure. “It looks like the big spiders of Louise Bourgeois, maybe on a chair,” he says, giving an insight on his inspiration. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Claw-machine-prototype.jpg) Prototype for the Claw. Photo courtesy of Antoine Daure. Standing nearby,Campbell asks Daure whether he lets an idea evolve, or whether he follows it rigidly from start to finish. Daure says he needs to plan everything. When a project is not fully thought-through at the beginning, he is unhappy, he says. “If I give the plan to someone else, they can reproduce exactly the same thing,” he says. Daure says he uses computer programmes like AutoCAD to draw his ideas. “If the file is not good, you pay extra money for them to fix it,” he says. “Sometimes they reply that the file is not precise, so you lose time.” The company has other work to do, so it can take up to three months just to get something laser cut, Daure says. ## Mediums Daure used to paint, but in art school he had to choose between that and sculpture. He said painting felt “too real” and that he had started it mainly “to know the rules”. But metal sculpture is expensive. At Cast, artists who work there get the materials for their personal work at a discount, Campbell says. “A lot of artists of Antoine's age cannot afford to work in bronze. He has been very lucky,” she adds. “He is so young and he can get so much cast in bronze, but also in aluminum,” Anna says. “He has the facilities here to do it.” “His work is completely original from everybody that's in Dublin,” she says. “I haven't seen any work like his in Ireland, which is good because we need a shakeup.” Daure says he tries not to worry too much about what people think about his art. Speaking about how the audience responds to his work, he says,“If you ask what people think all the time, you stop and make nothing. You have to just keep going” He would rather have a few people dislike his work than have everyone like it. “It’s good that people have an opinion,” he says. Daure is now searching for the right venue to present his Traps and is working on new pieces. “The world of science and biology really attracts me,” he says. ### Even as Donabate’s population balloons, HSE cancels plan to build primary care centre URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/even-as-donabates-population-balloons-hse-cancels-plan-to-build-primary-care-centre/ Last updated: 2026-01-09T22:24:12.000Z As the Drogheda-bound intercity train departed Malahide and crossed the Broadmeadow Estuary, the first signofDonabate was a yellow construction crane that towers over the peninsula’s woodland. As a handful of passengers hopped off at the station just before 9am on Tuesday morning, construction work on a nearby housing development was already in full swing. Distant figures in hard hats, and yellow and orange hi-vis jackets were marching through the frosty site, fitting windows on apartment balconies, and climbing into boom lifts. Located just west of the train station, the housing development, known as The Gallery, has planning permission for [144 apartments](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/86351?ref=dublininquirer.com) in three blocks, ranging from three to five storeys. Right across Turvey Avenueis the entrance to [Corbalis East](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-a-closed-pub-may-soon-be-revived/), a large-scale residential development, where developer Cairn Homes is building 1,020 homes. Everywhere, there are reminders that the population in the Donabate-Portrane area is set to rise drastically over the coming decade. But, while the town is growing, when it comes to social infrastructure, the area is lagging behind, says Labour Councillor Corina Johnston. “We have a lack of doctors. I’m out the door with people onto me asking about doctor services.” As far back as [June 2006](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23905769-donabate%5Flap%5F2006%5F-%5Fdocument/?ref=dublininquirer.com&q=primary&mode=document#document/p23), when Fingal County Council published a local area plan for the Donabate area, it noted that the town was expanding and needed a primary healthcare centre. The wait seemed to be over when, in mid-2025, the HSE informed local representatives that they had secured both a site and a developer to deliver the centre, Johnston says. But in late December, the village was dealt a setback. Micheál Conneely, the interim national director of capital and estates in the HSE, [wrote to Johnston](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26458284-rep-10936-25-corina-johnston-donabate-primary-care-centre-301225/?ref=dublininquirer.com) saying they wouldn’t be entering into an agreement with the developer as they couldn’t demonstrate that the plan was good value for public money. Instead, the HSE was looking into alternative options in the Donabate area, he said. A spokesperson for the HSE said that these options could include repurposing existing premises. They also said that the rental rates proposed are not considered competitive and do not represent value for money. A spokesperson for the HSE did not respond when asked why the plan wasn’t deemed financially feasible, nor did they share any timelines on how long it would take to develop any alternative options. It was a deeply concerning update, Johnston says. “They’ve done a complete U-turn.” Donabate only has two GP practices, but a primary care centre could alleviate that pressure, she says. “It would provide community mental health, GPs, older person services and \[children's disability network teams\], which are badly needed.” In the interim, while the HSE considers alternative options, locals are being advised that they will be able to avail of a planned primary care centre in Swords, Conneely told Johnston. That isn’t acceptable, Johnston says. “The whole premise of national policy for primary care centres is about providing care in the community.” ## One step forward, two steps back The HSE’s efforts to deliver a primary care centre in the Donabate and Portrane area seemed to be getting back on track after a few challenging years. [In August 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-council-plans-to-appoint-contractor-later-this-year-to-turn-ballisk-house-into-new-library/), a HSE spokesperson said they had sought expressions of interest from the private sector to provide the facility. But the submissions they got in response weren’t viable, they said. Things were looking up when, on [10 April](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1066226585526411&set=a.303523178463426) last year, Conneely, of the HSE, wrote to Johnston, saying they had completed a tender process for the centre, and selected a preferred operator. [In July](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1147961380686264&set=a.303523178463426), Conneely wrote to the Labour councillor again, saying that the HSE had also selected a location for the centre. But, [on 30 December](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26458284-rep-10936-25-corina-johnston-donabate-primary-care-centre-301225/?ref=dublininquirer.com), in response to a follow-up letter, he said that the HSE will not be entering into an agreement with the developer “as value for money for public funds has not been demonstrated”. As such, the HSE wouldn’t be proposing to accept the tender, and instead they would review alternative options for the delivery of the centre, he said. In the interim, the town’s existing health centre, which [doesn’t have a GP](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-says-it-doesnt-need-to-build-new-community-facilities-along-with-housing-at-big-donabate-scheme-as-theres-already-plenty/), has received a recent capital investment to ensure it is fit for purpose, and the HSE has acquired a property in Swords for the provision of a “substantial primary care centre”, he said. In addition to facilitating Swords’ population, it would also service the population of Donabate and the wider North County Dublin region, he said. Their acquisition of that property on the Seatown Road in Swords is good news for Swords, Johnston says. “It’s badly needed in Swords. But to ask the people of Donabate and Portrane to travel to Swords is totally unacceptable.” The distance between Donabate and the Seatown Road in Swords is 6.4 kilometres, 10 minutes via car, or approximately 27 minutes on the bus, according to Google Maps estimates. The connecting bus service between Swords and Donabate is the 33b, which is operated by Go-Ahead, [which in May](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-the-33b-bus-lets-people-down-again-and-again/), reported that there were only 13 days that month when it didn’t need to cancel a 33b bus. Services like that worsen this situation, says Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins. “It’s appalling, expecting the most vulnerable people in society; new mothers, children, older people, sick people, to use this. It’s a total disregard for the people of Donabate.” ## Community care When the council published the Donabate area plan in 2006 that noted the need for a primary healthcare centre, the population was 5,499, [according to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26458504-donabate-population-2006/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Central Statistics Office (CSO). At the most recent census, in 2022, Donabate’s population was recorded as 11,700, [CSO data shows](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26458315-interactive-data-visualisations-cso-ireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com). That figure is set to skyrocket in the next few years, says Fine Gael Councillor Eoghan Dockrell. “By the end of the decade, there could be close to 20,000 people.” Alongside the planned 1,020 homes at Corbalis East, and the 114 apartments nearby on Turvey Avenue, there are [up to 1,200](https://www.dublininquirer.com/guaranteed-prices-for-affordable-homes-at-ballymastone-set-to-change/) more homes due to be built across three phases on the outskirts of town in Ballymastone too. It’s not acceptable to tell those people that, if they want access to a primary care centre, they will need to travel to Swords, Dockrell says. “Swords is like a small city. Donabate needs a standalone one too.” Donabate only [has two GP practices currently](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-says-it-doesnt-need-to-build-new-community-facilities-along-with-housing-at-big-donabate-scheme-as-theres-already-plenty/), and it is hard enough to get an appointment in either of those, he says. Sláintecare, the HSE’s plan for reforming the national health and social care system, places considerable importance on delivering primary care facilities within a community, says Hopkins, the Social Democrats councillor. “It is the most cost effective way of dealing with health issues,” she says. The government’s [recent document](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/Path%5Fto%5FUniversal%5FHealthcare%5FSlaintecare%5F%5FProgramme%5Ffor%5FGov%5F2025.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) “The Path to Universal Healthcare – Sláintecare & Programme for Government 2025+”, emphasises this. “By providing more care in local, community-based, and primary care settings, the healthcare system can better manage chronic conditions, prevent hospital readmissions, and provide care in a more comfortable and localised setting,” it says. Redirecting locals to Swords is at odds with national policy around the need for community-led centres, Johnston says. “We have to start providing infrastructure to people, and if the government wants to get serious about providing accessible, integrated services, they must provide a primary care centre in Donabate.” *UPDATE: This article was updated at 22.23 on 9 January 2026 to include comments from the HSE.* ### With glockenspiels and violin bows, KiiKO creates pop that is “dreamy and infinite in scale” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-glockenspiels-and-violin-bows-kiiko-creates-pop-that-is-dreamy-and-infinite-in-scale/ Last updated: 2026-01-07T01:17:14.000Z On an icy Saturday morning, right before Christmas, John Anthony McDowell waited outside a noisy cafe for Emmy Shigeta to arrive in Ranelagh. Co-founders of the electronic pop band KiiKO, they were just a couple of days out from playing their second gig, and first as a headline act. “We’ve one more rehearsal tomorrow,” he said. Once she got off the Luas, the pair marched with haste towards the Devlin Hotel, a spot where Shigeta frequently DJs. They ordered coffees and tore open a large white paper bag of croissants, and momentarily mused on how long they had been working together on this new project. It would’ve been just over a year prior, McDowell said. “It kinda started slowly. Very slowly, and then only last summer were we kinda playing regularly, trying to actually finish things.” For Shigeta, while no stranger to performing as a DJ, the formation of the band marked the first time when she was playing live, she said. “I’d never played any shows before.” Transitioning over to performing live wasn’t something that was easy, she said. “But once I started, I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to hide in myself. It’s not really a hobby in KiiKO. I wanted more development.” Musically, they wanted to draw from a lot of backgrounds, like chamber and ambient music, neoclassical, and even drum ‘n’ bass, McDowell says. “Use things like a glockenspiel, things a little out of the ordinary. But bring it back to a pop thing.” Creating something like a musical bridge between Ireland and Japan in some way, says Shigeta, whose lyrics are sung almost entirely in Japanese. “I wanted this collaboration, because the two countries are very far apart; culturally, in everything.” It isn’t music that had a particularly local feel to it, he said. “It’s not like an Irish band. It’s a world band, maybe. As much as there are artists in Dublin that we love, we’re doing our own thing and we’re much more influenced by artists internationally.” ## Second impressions are important McDowell and Shigeta first met in November 2021 when the experimental rock band Black Midi performed at Vicar Street, she says. “It was a very cool gig. But it’s funny. I did not like John.” She had moved to Dublin in 2018 from Kichijōji, a neighbourhood in west Tokyo, and over the next few years, she became a regular DJ, predominantly spinning ambient and 1980s disco records from Japan. So she invited him along to one of her sets, she says. “He enjoyed the ambient sets, and after talking a bit more, I changed my mind.” McDowell, who grew up just outside Ranelagh, had an interest in ambient and neoclassical music around that time, he says. “I wasn’t as familiar with Japanese artists. So she introduced me to a lot.” Prior to their working on anything collaboratively, McDowell began to perform as a solo artist under the name John Anthony, debuting in April 2023, and releasing an EP on cassette, before expanding this into a chamber-folk ensemble named As Many As Possible. Unlike KiiKO, that work was a lot more serious, he says, pausing for a few moments. “I actually found it hard to work on. Stuff doesn’t get finished, because I’m so nervous about it. But this is very fun, it’s easier to do, because you try to make it exciting.” The one thing that carried over from his prior work was approaching instruments unconventionally, like using a violin bow on a guitar, he says. “Like, doing things more experimental on a bass, playing with string players, trying to apply it to a pop thing.” ## Wintery July A crowd started to steadily stream into Whelan’s upstairs venue on the Monday night before Christmas as Shigeta and McDowell took to the stage with drummer Dave Rogers. All three of them were wearing only white, as did their support act, Other Creatures, of which Rogers is also a member. The stage was lit blue as McDowell slowly dragged a violin bow against the strings of his bass guitar, generating a suspenseful, booming drone, which Shigeta contrasted with an echoing melody, hammered on a glockenspiel. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Kiiko-John-Anthony-McDowell-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) John Anthony McDowell of KiiKO. Photo by Michael Lanigan. Once Rogers’ propulsive, primal drumming kicked in, and Shigeta started a monosyllabic chant, the trio sped away from their ambient overture. For just under 30 minutes, the band delivered a tight set of bright, bouncing synthesisers, duelling glockenspiels, and samples of swooping violins. They concluded with a performance of “July”, their debut single, released over the summer, which plays about with dream pop and drum ‘n’ bass. Maybe when the duo first started to play together just over a year ago, musically they would have been drawing more on the ambient styles that they had previously been known for, McDowell said on the Saturday morning prior to the gig. But these days, “It’s a total genre mix. It’s a feeling, like wanting to make stuff that is dreamy and exciting,” he said. He paused for a moment while searching for a way to encapsulate what the band wants to be. “This might sound a bit pretentious,” he said, laughing. The band has a track called “Dance World”, he said. “It’s a good name,” Shigeta says quickly. The name comes from a shop about 85 metres away, up the Sandford Road, he says. “Those two words capture the spirit of this. It’s fun. But kinda dreamy and infinite in scale.” About 20 minutes later, once they departed the hotel, Shigeta and McDowell went on the briefest of pilgrimages up to the shop, which sells dance wear and dance shoes. In the window display, there was grey athleisure wear, a short pink cardigan with a cropped tutu, and a tagline for the shop saying this was “the first step to stardom”. It was cool to see this, Shigeta said. “But it’s very different from our sound.” ### An Ecuadorian artist brings hand-crafted jewellery to Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-ecuadorian-artist-brings-hand-crafted-jewelry-to-dublin/ Last updated: 2026-01-07T07:27:51.000Z It’s Saturday, and the Christmas market at Smithfield – with its ferris wheel, ice rink, and hot dogs – is still up and running, but the mood has mostly dried up. Andrea Arroyave has packed up a lot of her stall’s display, in anticipation of the conclusion of the fair tomorrow. It’s cold, and she’s had a cold for a while now, she says. Her friend has packed up the space heater she had shared, and Arroyave is passing off the last hour of tonight’s shift to her husband in 20 minutes. It’s been a long stretch at Twinkletown, but after this she’ll be back at her regular spots in Temple Bar, Moore Street, and Phibsborough. As Sophie Kraft walks by Arroyave’s wooden booth, despite the smaller collection, she’s drawn in by the display’s colourful rows of Ecuadorian jewellery. Kraft, who is visiting from Porto, in Portugal, starts browsing, and chatting politics with Arroyave in Spanish. Later, lingering in front of the stall, Kraft says she’s lived around the world and the jewellery at Arroyave’s booth brought back her time living in South America. “All the colors and the animal prints,” Kraft says. Various artists contributed to the jewellery on display at Arroyave’s stall for her business, Alli Tuta. All of the artists, like Arroyave, are from Ecuador, and make the jewellery by hand. With every product, she gives the purchaser a card with the name of the artist and their contact info and a photo of them. ## Artist, and middlewoman Alli tuta means “good night” in Kichwa, Arroyave says. It’s one of the languages in Ecuador, one in which her grandma threw in phrases with her from time to time. She said since she was a child she always loved the night stars and the moon, and she wanted to name her company *killa* which in Kichwa means “moon”. A friend convinced her that would be constantly mispronounced, and so they settled on Alli Tuta. She said it was only later when people started to call her Alli that she realised it was a name – and now it had become a nickname for her too. Behind the counter, in the booth, Alli – Arroyave – Andrea – takes out a clipboard with the head of a snake made of knots with blue and green threads. A macrame earring design, she said, that has been selling well lately. This piece was still at the beginning, with the snake’s head trailed by green and blue strings. “At the beginning, when I started to do these ones, it took me a long time to make a pair. Now I can make a pair in 1 hour 15 minutes. Before, it was like two hours,” she says. Arroyave is both an artist and a middlewoman. When she’s back in Ecuador, she visits great artists and families she knows and learned from, or found since, and purchases large amounts of jewellery from them, she says. Yes, she pays less than she sells them jewellery for. She says she’s always clear with the makers about that. She buys the pieces, then ships them to Ireland and imports them, Arroyave says. She pays for this stall, her other stalls, and her time, among other costs, she says. Sometimes she said people have questioned her on the prices, she says. She charges, for example, €35 for a pair of dangly earrings, and €25 for a beaded bracelet. She’s had people tell her, despite the labour put in: perhaps that’s still too much. A woman from India told her the earrings would be worth about six cents in her country, she says. “And I said that’s sad to hear. I said to her, like, basically, sorry, sad to hear that in your country, they don't appreciate the work of the artisan,” she says. ## Display, and shop Arroyave said it’s not all about selling things. Her booth is also a display, and she likes when people admire the work, she says. “I say to them, like, feel free. Like, touch them. Look at these. Fine. You don't have to buy anything now,” she says. There’s beaded sunflowers and birds and monarch butterfly wings, made by Rosa Guamán who she knows in Ecuador. There’s Arroyave’s friend’s necklaces, small blue flowers pressed and set in resin. No two pieces are the same. Arroyave holds up a pair of dangly, leaf-shaped green earrings with brown stripes, which she says are made by Miryan Guzñay. They’re made of a material called tagua, which comes from a palm tree, “it's also known as vegetable ivory”, she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/01/Jewelry-made-of-a-palm-nut-1.jpg) Arroyave said, maybe she’s a “silly dreamer”, but she thinks there’s something deeper when you buy things from an artist who has learned how to make them from her mother, and taught her children. “You can feel the difference. It's hard to describe why, but I feel like that's one thing I want to acknowledge … how different it is when it's not fake,” Arroyave said, before taking a sip from the Costa cup filled with hot water and Lemsip. ## Vivid Kraft, the visitor to Arroyave’s stall at the Christmas market, says the jewellery reminds her of her time in Latin America, and she misses that. Mainly, she got drawn in by the colours, she says, and more than 20 minutes has passed and she is still hanging out here. It’s “bright, vivid”, she says. She used to be into “nude colors and black, gray, white and beige”, Kraft says. “But now I started, like to … Yeah, to try out new things. And I like it. It's more colorful. It brings more happiness.” Yes, says Arroyave. “Obviously, people go through ups and downs, but you can't be sad in the sunflowers”, she says, wearing the yellow sunflower earrings tucked into her long dark hair and black cap and black jacket. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### What would become of the Civic Offices on Wood Quay if the council relocates? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-would-become-of-the-civic-offices-on-wood-quay-if-the-council-relocates/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T12:13:10.000Z On Wednesday, *The Currency* [reported](https://thecurrency.news/articles/212146/dcc-will-relocate-from-wood-quay-to-camden-yard-if-its-bid-is-successful/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that Dublin City Council is looking at relocating, leaving its [Civic Offices](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080528/dublin-city-council-wood-quay-fishamble-street-dublin-8-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Wood Quay, in Dublin 8\. The idea is that, if the council manages to buy Camden Yards, a stalled mixed-use development on Kevin Street – a plan that [was mooted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-should-buy-the-old-tu-dublin-site-on-kevin-street-and-build-homes-say-councillors/) some time ago – it could move its headquarters over there. On Friday, an email sent to councillors on behalf of the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, said the council is in exclusive discussions on Camden Yard. "Heads of Agreement have been signed to facilitate a 10-week due diligence period," the email says. "The acquisition would enable the delivery of a new Civic Offices and 300 public homes on the Camden Yard site." "Developing modern energy efficient accommodation at Camden Yard would significantly reduce our operational emissions while freeing the Wood Quay site for much-needed public housing," the email says. Councillors said this idea is coming from the council’s executive, and that Shakespeare had talked to the group leaders – representatives of the parties and independent groups on the council – about it recently. Some councillors said they supported the idea, while others were cautious, saying it was at an early stage, and they wanted more information. “In general I think I favour what I am hearing but \[it’s\] all speculative at present,” said Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey. “Nothing is agreed yet,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan on Thursday. “This is a management proposal. I have sought a detailed briefing.” On Friday, he put out a press release as Sinn Féin group leader, saying: "We are demanding a full council meeting as soon as possible, next week if possible, to discuss the whole process and hear at first hand the details of this multi million euro plan." Questions various councillors raised included: What are the costs? And: If Dublin City Council moves out of its Wood Quay campus, what would be done with that site? “My concern is what happens if you vacate a building of that size and scale in the city centre,” says Social Democrats Councillor Karl Stanley. If the office buildings there are too old and rickety to meet the council’s needs, who would take them over instead? And if they’re to be knocked and the site redeveloped for housing, how could that actually be accomplished? In the 1970s, there was a battle over whether to build the Civic Offices on the site, which hosted then – and continues to host – important Viking-era archaeological remains. Frank McDonald, reported on it all for the *Irish Press* at the time. “When you think of all the trouble they had in securing the site for development, to walk away from it in its entirety is sort of astonishing,” he said Thursday. ## **A site with a history** Dublin City Council began exploring ways to consolidate its offices into one big mothership in 1939, according to a [conservation report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382369-conservation-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) included in a 2020 planning application to update the creche in its Civic Offices on Wood Quay. It started buying land on Wood Quay in 1956, and then held a competition to design and build it in 1968, which Sam Stephenson, of Stephenson and Gibney Architects, won, the report says. He designed four brutalist “bunkers”. When the construction began, it revealed on the site “the core of the Viking and medieval site known as *Dyflinn*”, according to an [archaeological report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382368-archaelogical-assessment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the 2020 planning application. “Other Recorded Monuments are also recorded within the complex,” the report says. “One of the most important findings was an extensive stretch of City Wall, constructed in c. 1100.” These finds kicked off massive protests to preserve the remains, led by F.X. Martin, a priest, a professor of medieval history at University College Dublin, and chair of the Friends of Medieval Dublin. McDonald recalls interviewing Martin as he headed a march against the planned development in September 1978\. “He was dressed in his full clerical and academic regalia.” For the September 1978 “Save Wood Quay” protest march, about 20,000 people took to the streets, according to [*History Ireland*](https://www.historyireland.com/heritage-outrage-wood-quay/?ref=dublininquirer.com). There was also a three-week sit-in on the site by 52 protestors, “supported by thousands of members of the public”, it says. While the core of the settlement was exposed during excavations, McDonald got a chance to walk through its streets, he says. “It was quite something to be able to walk along the wattle paths through Viking Dublin. It was really a privilege,” he said. In the end, of course, the Civic Offices were built. First, two of Stephenson’s planned four “bunkers”. Then there was a change of course, and Scott Tallon Walker’s [glass-fronted office building](https://www.stwarchitects.com/projects/civic-and-cultural/civic-offices-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) along the river was built, completed in 1994. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists these as “regional” architectural significance. This “constitutes a ministerial recommendation for its inclusion on Dublin City Council’s Record of Protected Structures”, says the 2020 [conservation report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382369-conservation-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Although it’s [not listed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26382386-final-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028-volume-4-rps/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (yet). These days, it’s the headquarters for the council, with about [20,000 square metres](https://www.stwarchitects.com/projects/civic-and-cultural/civic-offices-dublin/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of office space. About a third of the council’s Wood Quay site remains “archaeologically unresolved”, according to McDonald. “The whole area that’s covered in grass on the hill, that whole area has yet to be excavated,” he says. ## **Giving the existing buildings another use** One possibility for the future of the Civic Offices, should the council leave them, is that someone could continue to use them as offices. But by who? Dublin City Council apparently doesn’t want them. “They basically want to move to more modern offices, which would be cheaper to run and nicer for people to work in,” says Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/The-stalled-Camden-Yards-project--surrounding-the-library-on-Kevin-Street.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum.-1.jpg) The stalled Camden Yards project, surrounding the library on Kevin Street. Photo by Sam Tranum. There are plumbing problems, says independent Councillor Mannix Flynn. Plus the spread-out layout of the campus is awkward, and there’s a lack of decent conference and meeting rooms, he says. There’s also a looming government [target for all public buildings](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/policy-information/business-and-public-sector-energy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to achieve a minimum BER rating of B by 2030\. Of course, one possibility would be for the council to renovate the building to fix the problems and meet that target. But that’s hard to do while it’s fully occupied. And Flynn, the independent councillor, says the cost of refurbishing would be higher than moving to another location – say, Camden Yards. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, said he wants more detail on the council’s case for moving out of Wood Quay instead of renovating it and staying. “We will be asking why the management thinks the Civic Offices cannot be upgraded as required,” Doolan said. “We would want to see the facts and figures about the problems in Civic Offices and the cost to carry out refurbishment.” On Wednesday, *The Currency* article put the cost of refurbishment at "over €250 million", but by Friday, in the email on Shakespeare's behalf, that cost had risen to "€350–€400 million". Presumably, any potential public-sector tenant would have to take on that cost – which Dublin City Council doesn’t want – if they wanted to take over the buildings. As for potential private-sector tenants, “If Dublin City Council are saying this isn’t fit for purpose, good luck getting Facebook in,” says Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor. Furthermore, there’s been an oversupply of office space in Dublin in recent years, and a relatively high vacancy rate – so potential tenants have lots of other options. [Councillors want housing on CIÉ-owned land at Connolly Station, since plan for offices has stalled“The state’s need is for housing, and there is no need for offices as far as I can see,” says Green Party Councillor Janet Horner.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-466.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Dublin-Arch-site-by-Laoise-Neylon-1-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-want-housing-on-cie-owned-land-at-connolly-station-since-plan-for-offices-has-stalled/) From a low of under 10 percent in 2020, the vacancy rate for Dublin office space has been on the rise for several years, increasing “from 15.7% to 17.5% last year”, according to Savills [2025 Market Outlook](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25939981-dublin-office-market-2025-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) report. A [report](https://www.centralbank.ie/publication/research-publications/staff-insights/what-next-for-the-dublin-office-vacancy-rate--a-framework-to-examine-short-run-scenarios?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the Central Bank last month says that “the central scenario for the Dublin office vacancy rate is a marginal rise to just over 19 per cent in 2026 before falling back below end of 2024 levels (18.6 per cent) by the end of 2027”. ## **Building housing** The idea seems to be to build housing on the site at Wood Quay, if the council moves its headquarters elsewhere. "Relocating from Wood Quay would unlock the potential for an excess of 500 public homes on the current Civic Offices site, while enabling modern, sustainable workplaces for staff and improved public services for citizens," said the email sent on Shakespeare's behalf on Friday. Flynn, the independent councillor, said he’d love to see social housing built on the site. Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, the Lord Mayor, said similar. “The main thing for me is that if this was to proceed, we’d make sure we could deliver social and affordable housing,” McAdam said Thursday. Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney says she’d “want to make sure some of the housing could be purchased, that it isn’t all social housing”. What about the archaeological remains under the site, though? “We’d have to do a feasibility study to establish what could be built,” McAdam said. “But given that the Civic Offices were built there in the past, you’d think that some kind of housing development would be possible.” Said Heney: “We’d have to assume that the archaeological work is properly carried out and investigated.” This might mean there’s a long-ish gap in time between the council moving out and the redevelopment of the site beginning. But Heney says, “if that’s the case, so be it”. One factor that might play into that is whether the whole complex is going to be demolished and redeveloped or just parts. “I wouldn’t be sad to see the bunkers go, but I can see no justification for taking down the office building on the quay,” said McDonald, the journalist. “You have to think also about the embodied carbon, of which there is a hell of a lot in those bunkers,” he said. Embodied carbon is the carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacture, transport and construction of building materials, as well as in the demolition of that building. Rather than release loads of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by demolishing a building and building a new one, it’s better in terms of carbon emissions to refurbish. This is something the council already has been mindful of when deciding whether to demolish or refurbish old flat complexes. And, reinforcing this, new EU rules, under the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, [call for the consideration](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-want-housing-on-cie-owned-land-at-connolly-station-since-plan-for-offices-has-stalled/) of embodied carbon. Then there’s the question of who is going to redevelop the site, and how they’re going to arrange the financing for that. “I’d urge a lot of caution to the executive – I’d urge a lot of caution – it’s very hard to line up financing for such a big project,” said Stanley, the Social Democrats councillor. One option would be for the council to take on the task of developing housing on the site itself, as it has at say, what’s now known as the Goldenbridge site, on Emmet Road in Inchicore. That’d be McAdam’s preference, he said. If the council decided, instead, to sell the land, it would have to offer it to the Land Development Agency (LDA). A spokesperson for the LDA has not yet responded to a query sent on Thursday afternoon on whether it would want the Wood Quay site. In any case, Stanley says he “would be highly sceptical about any claims about social housing”. “If you want to shut people up about debate about demolishing a building, you can just say, this is a housing crisis, we’re building social housing,” he said. In addition to the prospect of housing on the site, another idea that’s been hinted at is some sort of Viking-related thing – presumably different to the nearby Viking-focused museum Dublinia. Although none of these councillors mentioned the idea, the article in *The Currency* referred to the prospect that “Redoing Wood Quay could offer Dublin the chance to give its Viking heritage more space.” ## **Who has the power?** Councillors said it is the office of the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, that is driving the idea of leaving Wood Quay for Camden Yards. Asked whether the council would need the Department of Housing’s approval to leave Wood Quay, or develop new offices at Camden Yards or elsewhere, a spokesperson for the department said no. “Ministerial approval is not required in respect of the location or purchase of local authority offices and buildings – the Department does not have direct involvement or role in such matters,” he said. “Any proposal in respect of Dublin City Council headquarters is solely a matter for the local authority.” This mostly means the council executive, but the elected members will likely be consulted, and their views might be taken into account. There are a couple of ways they might have actual power over events, as well. If the council decides to sell or lease out the Wood Quay site, that would require a vote by councillors. If any part of the deal requires borrowing, that would also require councillors’ approval. And when the council develops projects on its own lands, it brings the plans to councillors for approval via the “part 8” planning process. “The democratically elected Councillors are responsible for running the local authority in conjunction with the Chief Executive and his/her team,” the Department of Housing spokesperson said. *UPDATE: This article was updated on 19 December 2025 at 17.47 to include quotations from the email sent earlier that day on behalf of Dublin City Council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, and a press release from Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan.* ### For some in Dublin, Christmas dinner still has to mean carp URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-some-in-dublin-christmas-dinner-still-has-to-mean-carp/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T12:13:20.000Z Just inside the door of the Polonez supermarket in Artane, a fresh carp lies in a white box on crushed ice. It’s had better days, no doubt. Around the corner, in another Eastern European shop, Polostore, there’s more carp on sale – this time frozen. Carp – a large, hardy freshwater fish with lucky scales – isn’t stocked all year around. But in the lead up to Christmas, it’s popular. “It’s very traditional on Christmas Eve,” says Thomas Kairo, a Polostore customer, originally from Lithuania. He’s standing by the meat counter, speaking to the butcher, his friend. Families in Lithuania would celebrate Christmas on 24 December, rather than the 25 December, he says. If he were back in Lithuania for Christmas, he says, he would eat carp prepared by his mother, without question. She would fry it in breadcrumbs, he says. But Kairo isn’t shopping for carp himself. Here, he says, the fish are too big for his small young family. Others with roots in Eastern Europe still opt for it, though. Growing up in what, at the time, was Czechoslovakia, Rastislav “Rasty” Blazek also ate carp every Christmas Eve, he says. It’s a tradition he now keeps alive in his own north Dublin home with his wife and four children, said Blazek, of the Slovak Centre Ireland, by phone on Wednesday. It’s rooted in centuries of Catholic tradition, he says. People were expected to abstain from meat on Christmas Eve. When you read the bible, Jesus wasn’t feeding his followers chorizo, or goulash. He was feeding them fish, Blazek says. Freshwater carp became the popular choice, he says – and remains a fond connection to their heritage for many in the Eastern and Central European diaspora. ## **The spread** For Blazek, of the Slovak Centre, Christmas Eve is still the main event, he says. Christmas Day is for lounging, he says. It’s even considered bad luck to go anywhere, he says. In his house, the family starts the feast on Christmas Eve with traditional waffles, thin and delicate and coated in honey. This is common in other countries too like Poland, he says. After, comes a traditional Christmas sour cabbage soup, he says. The main course is deep-fried carp, served with a mayonnaise-potato salad. For dessert, they have at least four different cakes, he says – all the while, sipping on wine. While he intends to keep it alive in his home, the tradition of Christmas carp is starting to fade with younger generations, Blazek says. Jarek Plachecki, vice-chairperson of the Irish Polish Society, says there are 12 separate dishes in a traditional Polish Christmas dinner. “And carp would be one of them.” It’s not the easiest fish to work with, he says. “There are a lot of bones. You need to know how to prepare it properly.” In recent years, he says, he and his wife haven’t bothered with the effort. “If we go to my mother’s, she still would.” Artist Vladyana Krykorka-Johnson says she still remembers how carp was a treat, growing up in communist Prague during the 1950s. Krykorka-Johnson, who now lives in Toronto, illustrated a children’s book[ *Carl the Christmas Carp*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3058825-carl-the-christmas-carp?ref=dublininquirer.com), which was written by her son Ian, about her own childhood memories. Czechoslovakia was landlocked, she says. “So, we did not have expensive, good ocean fish. But they grew carp in local ponds.” Krykorka-Johnson remembers going into town with her father in late December, seeing the live carp sold from big barrels on the streets. Prague was beautiful, especially at Christmas, she says. People would stroll around town with net bags wiggling with carp, she says. “It was really quite funny when I think about it now.” Her father would bring home a live fish and keep it in the bath tub. “Then before Christmas, my father had to kill it, and he didn't like doing that,” she says. Her mother would cook it, either fried in breadcrumbs like a schnitzel or baked in the oven with smotherings of butter. “The carp is not a great fish. I must tell you that,” says Krykorka-Johnson. “It's a bottom feeder. Now I know what good fish tastes like, I know the difference.” Like the Plachecki household, she herself hasn’t bothered with carp in recent years, she says. “But you know, when I was little, we all enjoyed our Christmas dinner, of course, of carp.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/IMG-20251217-WA0025--1--1.jpg) Scales from the wallet of Rastislav Blazek. Photo courtesy of Rastislav Blazek. ## **Good luck** While commonly eaten at Christmas, many people hold on to a remnant of carp all year round, says Krykorka-Johnson. Czechs would wash and dry some of the scales and stash them in their wallets for good luck, she says. Ah yes, says Blazek, the scales symbolise coins or money. Keeping a few scales ensures wealth in the year ahead. But the scales have to be scraped from the carp on your plate, not from any other fish, he says. Sure, Blazek knows that tradition, he says. “Not only I’ve heard of it, I have one in my pocket right now.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* *\[This article was updated at 11.11am on 2 January to correct a quotation from Rastislav Blazek and to say that he has four children, both sons and daughters, not just daughters. Apologies for the errors.\]* ### Ooh, how do we get a council Christmas tree? some neighbourhoods ask URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/ooh-how-do-we-get-a-council-christmas-tree-some-neighbourhoods-ask/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T12:13:27.000Z Dublin City Council has [scattered](https://www.dublincity.ie/news/dublin-twinkles-christmas-join-festive-fun?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Dublin%20City%20Council%20is%20lighting,DCC%20Christmas%20in%20Dublin%20City) more than 40 Christmas trees across local communities this December. Tree-lighting ceremonies and other festive events bring neighbourhoods together, says Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, chair of the North Central Area Committee. The council has tried to out-do itself this year, Barron says. In Edenmore last weekend, the council held a Christmas event in a sensory garden, for children with autism and special needs, he said by phone on Wednesday. “It was all lit up. Santy was there too, in an interactive way. You know, that's what it's about. It's about bringing people together,” he says. Santa has been doing the rounds elsewhere for Dublin City Council, too. He has magicked to plenty of events – including to Le Chéile Community & Youth Centre in Donnycarney where there was live music and a Santa’s grotto, and each child was gifted a selection box from the main man himself. These are the types of things that have a big impact on kids, says Barron, and help communities feel seen. Still, as the festive events unfold across Dublin, there are areas where residents have felt a bit overlooked, some councillors have reported to officials at recent meetings. Take Barron's own home turf of Donaghmede, for example. He wants to see a Christmas tree there next year as the council didn’t get around to putting one in this year, said Barron at the North Central Area Committee meeting last week. Residents around Harmonstown had also been asking why they hadn’t one, said Labour Councillor Ali Field, at the same meeting. At the meeting, Area Manager Mick Carroll assured both councillors that these areas would be included in the plans for next year. Part of the issue, said Barron later, is that tree allocations kick off and are decided before most communities get to thinking to ask. ## **O Christmas Tree** Overall, there are more Christmas trees put up by the council than there used to be, said Field, the Labour councillor, by phone on Wednesday. For example, Coolock had one this year, but not last year, she said. Lighting ceremonies – she’s been to a few – have been great fun, she says. Although, it works best when the lights actually turn on, she says, chuckling. At the Clontarf tree lighting, there was something of an anti-climax when the tree failed to illuminate on cue, she says. Field assumed the organisers were doing a skit at first, she said. It only took about five minutes for the problem to be sorted. “We were having such a laugh,” she says. Communities have been gathering together outside at this time of year for centuries in Ireland, says Katie Blackwood, the council’s historian in residence for the North Central Area. Light has often been central, she says. From lighting candles to Christmas trees – or, much further back, to welcoming the winter solstice in pre-Christian days, she says. “If you're thinking about Newgrange, it's about the light coming in.” Many traditions this time of year are about ushering out the past and welcoming in a new year, but in a way that draws good luck or blessings, says Blackwood. Barron, the Fianna Fáil councillor, says the council doesn’t intend to leave communities out of these civic traditions. It’s just that plans for tree allocation start much earlier in the year than people realise, he says. It’s usually too late to start asking in November. He was approached for a tree by resident groups in Donaghmede this year and when he asked, he discovered it was past the cut-off point. Health and safety considerations can take time to sort, he says. “Then there’s getting access to electricity. Putting the proper chamber in the ground. Things that need to go through procurement,” says Barron. Still the council are trying their best to get everything boxed off and improving every year, he says. ## **South of the river** At the November meeting of the council’s South Central Area Committee, independent Councillor Vincent Jackson asked that one of the trees at the Church of the Nativity in Chapelizod be lit up next year. “To improve the Christmas cheer at this end of Chapelizod. Before the village square was done in the noughties, this tree was lit up by Dublin City Council,” Jackson said in a[ written question](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26383040-minutes-of-meeting-held-on-19th-november-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) to council management. The council will consider it for next year's Christmas Lighting Programme, read the response from Mick Carroll, senior executive officer in the area office. As long as the church agrees and funding is there for it, he said. Meanwhile, at December’s meeting of the same committee, People Before Profit CouncillorHazel De Nortúin asked why Drimnagh was left off the list this year. After all, there were two trees in Ballyfermot – one in Cherry Orchard, and one at the civic centre, she said. “There’s always a void in that area, no matter how many times you raise it,” she said. Carroll said Drimnagh had been left out at first. But the council rallied after the area’s November meeting when the issue had also been raised, he said. They put in a tree at Our Lady’s Hall in Drimnagh, a council spokesperson said by email on Wednesday. At the meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan told the council he was at the Drimnagh lighting ceremony. “It was a wonderful event.” But there was a sense of frustration among locals that Drimnagh seemed to be an afterthought, said Doolan. “I will commit to having it in the schedule from the get go for Christmas 2026,” Carroll told the meeting. “I don’t understand how it was left out initially.” ## **Not all crevices, maybe** Barron says he expects more trees next year. “It's important that we try get a Christmas tree in all parts of the constituency,” he said at last week’s committee meeting. “So, I think let's join the dots there and find the little crevices that we haven't maybe got the Christmas trees for,” he said. Could it go too far? Would fewer trees ensure groups from several neighbourhoods come together for the lighting? “I don't think we're over indulging on them. If I felt we were, I'd say, ‘Fair enough,’” Barron said on the phone on Wednesday. Still, it isn’t as straightforward as putting a tree in every nook and cranny either, a council spokesperson said by email on Wednesday. Each area office and the parks section decide what they want in their areas of responsibility, they said. Generally, Christmas trees are located in village centres and on main thoroughfares, they said, to get the greatest impact. Some locations are not suitable to take a tree as the base of each one needs to be set in a chamber in the ground, they said. “There may be services that don’t allow a chamber.” A tree may block or slow traffic – whether vehicles or pedestrians – or block lines of sight, they said. Electricity is another concern and solar lights aren’t considered reliable enough in most scenarios, they said. They are used in a few limited locations, they said, pending the delivery of a permanent power supply. Using solar, they would have to change the power pack every few days to keep the lights on, they said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Despite repeated complaints, a stretch of James’s Street remains hazardous for cyclists URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-repeated-complaints-a-stretch-of-jamess-street-remains-hazardous-for-cyclists/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T12:13:33.000Z Heading out of town along James’s Street, approaching St James's Hospital, the space for people to cycle suddenly becomes very, very narrow. The painted-on cycle lane disappears as the Luas tracks coming up the hill from Heuston Station join James’s Street. Then all that’s left for people to cycle in is a sliver of bumpy road with periodic drainage grates, between the footpath to the left and the tram tracks to the right. On Monday afternoon, a Deliveroo rider navigating this gutter on his bike nudged ever so slightly out into the lane of traffic, likely to avoid a portion of seriously uneven road surfacing underneath his tyres. The car approaching from behind gives him a warning beep. Minutes earlier, Andrew McGowan was cycling along the same spot. “It’s really bad there,” he says, gesturing to the road. “It just forces cyclists up onto the footpath,” he says. At that exact moment, another cyclist approaches and mounts the footpath, barely slowing as they do. This short stretch of James’s Street has been flagged as hazardous for cyclists again and again over the years. Yet plans to resurface the road – to make it even and smooth, which would make it easier for people to keep their bikes in control and on track while squeezing through this section – have yet to materialise. And plans to run a BusConnects corridor through do not include a fix for cyclists to this section of James’s Street, instead telling them not to cycle on it – go around on smaller streets instead. ## **Concerns** People have been reporting this stretch as a hazard at least as far back as[ 2016](https://www.dublininquirer.com/danger-for-cyclists-the-luas-tracks-on-james-street/), and as recently as [January 2025](https://www.collisiontracker.ie/map?id=recPReJN3xyP5R8pG&ref=dublininquirer.com) on [collisiontracker.ie](http://collisiontracker.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). "There is no space to cycle safely. Being forced to cycle along LUAS tracks, with traffic coming from behind & beside is a hazard,” a report that month said. "Cyclists then mount the footpath, putting pedestrians in danger. When they attempt to rejoin the road, they can encounter cars turning into St. James,” it said. It’s a death trap, says Peter Laurent, who works in the hospital and cycles to work. Laurent also commented on the Collision Tracker last year, about the dodgy cycle lane. He tends to cycle further out on the road, in between the Luas tracks, he said on Wednesday, on the phone. “Just to kind of get past it because the side part, between the track and the pavement is so bumpy that you could lose control of the bike,” Laurent says. The alternative is to cycle on the pavement, he says – but the last thing he wants to do is hit one of his hospital colleagues while they’re out grabbing a coffee. “It wouldn’t be a good look.” There is no way that vehicles are able to give the 1.5-meter distance between themselves and cyclists, as they are[ expected](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel-and-recreation/cycling/cycling-offences/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=When%20overtaking%2C%20it%20is%20recommended,points%20added%20to%20their%20licence.) to do, he says. He suggests that painting a cycle track on the pavement might be something of a fix. ## **Improvements?** In April 2024, the appalling condition of the road surfacing along the length of cycle track by the entrance to St James’s Hospital was flagged by then-Councillor Máire Devine of Sinn Féin – now a TD. She asked the council what plans there were for its maintenance and extension. The council’s Road Maintenance section had agreed to a full resurfacing of that section of road, she was told at the time. Devine was then told that a time frame for the works would be forwarded to her, she said by phone on Thursday. To date, that time frame has still not arrived, she says. It might be, she said, that that roadway is now thought of as the responsibility of the National Transport Authority (NTA), and its BusConnects project. As part of BusConnects, the ongoing, years-long rejig of the city’s bus network, there’s a plan to make some changes to this stretch of roadway. That’s part of the [Liffey Valley to City Centre core bus corridor](https://liffeyvalleyscheme.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a [€274 million](https://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/nta-awards-contract-to-gmc-for-the-delivery-of-the-first-busconnects-core-bus-corridor-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com), three-year project meant to upgrade bus lanes, cycle routes, and pedestrian facilities along 9.2 kilometres of roadway. The project has planning permission, the National Transport Authority has [appointed a contractor](https://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/nta-awards-contract-to-gmc-for-the-delivery-of-the-first-busconnects-core-bus-corridor-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com), construction was due to start this month, out near Liffey Valley – and take about [three years](https://liffeyvalleyscheme.ie/project-overview/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the [drawings for the project](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26384355-a1-general-arrangement-drawings-liffey-valley-30072025-web/?ref=dublininquirer.com) do not show improvements to the cycle lane along this stretch between Basin Street Lower and the entrance to James’s Hospital. The inspector at An Coimisiún Pleanála who examined the proposed plans for the route before the commission granted permission for it to go ahead, noted this. “Where roadway widths cannot facilitate cyclists without significant impact on bus priority, alternative cycle routes are to be explored for short distances,” the inspector wrote in [his report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26384354-r314056/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Constraints at James’s Street resulted in a quiet street route option along Newington Lane, Basin View, St James’s Avenue, Grand Canal Place and Echlin Street,” the report says – and the map shows. Basically, the idea is to tell people to just not cycle down this bit of James’s Street, instead taking smaller streets around a kind of back way. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/data-src-image-62505c85-8ee8-46bc-806e-3f81267387ce.png) The Kilmainham Inchicore Network, objected to this, according to the inspector’s report, saying that it’s “Not realistic that cyclist will take detour along Echlin Street – designated cycle track needs to be provided on James’s Street.” Not only that, but the project was proposing no traffic calming along the back way to make it nicer and safer to cycle along, the Dublin Cycling Campaign had pointed out, the inspector’s report said. But the inspector said he didn’t think this was necessary. “I would be satisfied that traffic calming along these streets is unnecessary because of the low traffic volumes utilising them,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Dean: Flynn Johnson’s debut album basks in beautiful nostalgia URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-flynn-johnsons-debut-album-basks-in-beautiful-nostalgia/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T12:13:42.000Z Rapper Flynn Johnson’s origin story is neither varnished nor venerated. Everyone knows that nostalgia colours everything beautiful, but *The Green Box Theory* is an album that snaps back to reality. The setting is the mid-to-late 2000s; a Blanchardstown housing estate. At the heart of the community is a green electricity box that serves as a kind of fulcrum of a young Johnson’s world – one of those seemingly nondescript settings where kids meet, fraternise, and generally allow life to happen. This might be his first album, but Johnson (real name Evan Flynn) has been moving through the Dublin rap scene for long enough to qualify as a veteran. It’s already been a full decade since the release of his inaugural EP, *In The Meantime*. “A full-length debut is in the pipeline,”[ reported *Hot Press*](https://www.hotpress.com/music/introducing-flynn-johnson-bleeding-heart-pigeons-14836839?ref=dublininquirer.com) upon the release of that project. Time passed, ocean temperatures rose, the universe slowly expanded – but the album was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the bar was pulled skyward as a number of excellent records capturing different corners of Dublin hit record store shelves: Nealo’s *All The Leaves are Falling*, Kojaque’s *Town’s Dead*,[ For Those I Love’s *Carving the Stone*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-for-those-i-loves-righteous-anger-cannot-be-faked/). And still Johnson watched on, waiting for his crack at the crown. His belated contribution to the city’s hip-hop canon is a piece that’s lovingly crafted, pure of intent, and with no wasted motions. *The Green Box Theory* rarely veers from its central concept – a day or two in the life (or a life or two in the day) of a young Flynn Johnson. After the pretty piano chords of “Children of the Hill”, the album’s opening track and overture, we get “D’Pressed Jewelz”, an update of Kanye West’s “Good Morning”, with the sounds of an alarm clock and promise of a Kellogg’s cereal breakfast rousing our humble protagonist into life. The album tracks teen Flynn as he’s sweated by teachers, gets into mischief, and chases girls: “Now I have to change my status, rearrange Bebo,” he raps on “Blank’d”, because no depiction of noughties Ireland youth culture is complete without a nod to the antique social network. Songs are intercut with staged conversations to build the local backdrop: “Are you going to that yoke on Friday?... Just meet me at the green box.” Doubling down on the nostalgia, *The Green Box Theory* leans on the timeless fundamentals of book-of-rhymes raps over easy-breezy keys/guitars and soul-bap drum programming. “Backerz”, an instant highlight produced by long-time Johnson collaborator ROC, is a sunny concoction of piano, brass instruments and light-touch backing vocals. These fresh rocks are ideal for Johnson’s primary aim: to pen a love letter to the streets and greens that birthed him. Much of the album basks in such innocence. There are nods to BMX bikes, grandmother’s stew, games of heads and volleys – vivid memories of Johnson’s school *daze* are the album’s only true orthodoxy. He refuses to manufacture some central tension to make his narrative more explosive. The downside of unrestrained optimism is a lack of any real drama at the album’s core. Johnson, of course, recognises he can’t simply list delightful things from his youth and expect to keep things interesting. Midway through *The Green Box Theory*, a character enters to rebuke the softness of the material. Johnson’s response is “Whitestown Ave Freestyle”, a more fire-breathing rap cut. And Johnson is a good rapper, fluid and multifaceted, “fresh like a two back and sides”, and sometimes bearing the loose earnestness of Mac Miller. There are a couple of rougher edges. The left-right combo of “Nipper” and “Sketch” depict peer pressure, a mugging, and the tit-for-tat reprisals between two warring neighbourhood factions. But Johnson can’t help but punch out on a more joyous note. On closer “4eva”, the beat swells with the sound of a sped-up backing choir, with the rapper in the pulpit, once more declaring himself impossible to tether from his native soil: “Forever and ever, sincerely the kid, from number 27”. Sincerity and idealism are potent drugs, and, for the most part, they cover the general sense that *The Green Box Theory* never pushes itself beyond previous Dublin rap records. But it’s highly listenable, admirably free of cynicism, and slides comfortably alongside other works of the genre that have been capturing the city as well as any other form. The day we can’t celebrate a positive expression of affinity for one’s hometown is the day of the tsunami, meteor, or your own alternative choice of Armageddon. ### Things To Do: Do a panto, lecture the kids on igloo building, view the Netherlands as a metaphor for life URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-do-a-panto-lecture-the-kids-on-igloo-building-view-the-netherlands-as-a-metaphor-for-life/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:33:16.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Groundswell** On Wednesday afternoon, the city’s arts community held a rally outside Leinster House in support of The Complex, after the venue and studio space was served a notice of eviction earlier this month. As part of the protest, Complex CEO Vanessa Fielding delivered a [petition](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/save-the-complex-in-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) with almost 16,000 signatures to Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, requesting the state to step in before they have to vacate the warehouse on 14 January. As part of this campaign, The Complex has organised Groundswell, a three-day gig marathon which began on Wednesday evening and will conclude on Friday night. Beginning at 6pm today and tomorrow, the festival is set to feature performances by the likes of Junior Brother, Kayleigh Noble, Curtisy, Julia Louise Knifefist, Rory Sweeney, Sloucho, Ian Nyquist, E The Artist and many more. Admission is free and there is a full bar. For more information and to keep up to date on the campaign to save The Complex, follow them on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/complexdublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com), or visit their website [here](https://www.thecomplex.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **A Dublin Modular Panto** On Friday night, the queer electronic music and performing arts organisation Dublin Modular is bringing its pantomime back to Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. Oh yes they are! *Twisted Cables and Tall Tables* is Dublin Modular’s alternative panto, a multi-genre, multi-disciplinary, boundary pushing celebration of underrepresented voices and creative expression. Bringing together a slew of emerging live and electronic artists, the line-up is set to feature BLINNE, Qbanaa, Marconi’s Mess, Mooncup, Aoife Nic Canna and more. The event is on in the venue’s Space Upstairs. It starts at 7:30pm and will run until late, with the final act, Governess, on at 1pm. Tickets are available [here](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/dublin-modular-panto/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Gaza Through Their Eyes** City Hall is currently displaying Gaza Through Their Eyes, a photography exhibition about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which will be on show until Saturday evening. Organised by Dublin City Council in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the exhibition is brings together 27 photographs taken by photojournalists who have been documenting life in Gaza since October 2023. Admission is free, and will be open to the public until the hall closes at 5pm on Saturday, 20 December. **IFI Cold Comfort** If you’re stuck for a few quality lunchtime activities, or are worried that your kids lack essential skills, like igloo building, the Irish Film Institute may have found the solution to these woes in their archives. Cold Comfort is the IFI’s latest series of free, midday screenings, and they’ve unearthed a few enticing gems to get you through the chilly days ahead. On Saturday, at 1:10pm, there is a triple bill of shorts. First up is *Igloo A Thógaint*, a 1949 film made by the National Film Board of Canada, and later translated into Irish to educate Irish pupils on how to build an igloo. Afterwards, there is a screening of *The Moonmen*, the first film by director and producer Kieran Hickey. Released in 1965, Hickey’s debut takes as its subject the members of the Half Moon Swimming Club as they cycle through the Docklands to take a swim at the South Wall during the winter of 1964/65. Third up is *Before I Sleep*, the 1997 directorial debut of playwright Paul Mercier, and starring Brendan Gleeson as a newly unemployed businessman who despairingly wanders the city during the winter. Then for those who are unavailable over the weekend, or who feel their children are adequately trained in igloo-making, *Before I Sleep* will also get a standalone screening on Monday, 22 December at 12:45pm. Tickets are available [here](https://ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-cold-comfort-double-bill/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Ping Pong Competition** To celebrate the release of Josh Safdie’s new film, the ping-pong period drama *Marty Supreme*, the Light House Cinema, in its continued pursuit of greatness, is breaking out a few paddles and pitting cinemagoers against one another. On 27 December, the Smithfield cinema will be staging a ping-pong competition in the downstairs bar. The price of admission is a [ticket](https://www.lighthousecinema.ie/film/marty-supreme?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the acclaimed Timothée Chalamet film, but the reward is the eternal respect of your peers. **Let The Young Ones Dance** On New Year’s Eve, The Complex will be screening *Let The Young Ones Dance*, a new documentary about the partygoers and partymakers. Directed by Anna Crowley, and featuring contributions from figures such as Sunil Sharpe of Give Us The Night, People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy and producer Rory Sweeney, the film examines how economic challenges and crises faced by young people are reflected in the Irish nightlife. *Let The Young Ones Dance* will be showing at 5pm, and as part of the screening, there will be works from artist Bassam Issa Al-Sabah and photographer The Belfast Shooter on display, as well as a reading by Esther Fatoye, the editor of [*Blue Bodies*](https://www.thelibraryproject.ie/products/blue-bodies-issue-2?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information, follow the film’s Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/lettheyoungonesdance/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Boy, The Bucket And The Persistent Tide** On 3 January, writer and radio host Charlie Jermyn will launch his new debut novel, *The Boy, the Bucket and the Persistent Tide* in Slattery’s pub in Rathmines. From Dublin, but a resident of the Netherlands for the past five years, Jermyn writes about his efforts to submerge himself in this new home in *The Boy, the Bucket and the Persistent Tide*, using its polders and history of land reclamation as the frame through which he processes its art, culture, eccentricities and ordinariness. Or at least, that is what I have been led to understand about this work of narrative non-fiction, which his publisher, Bog Bodies Press intriguingly describes as “brilliant and very hard to describe”. And because they are on the record as saying that it is hard to describe, I am pre-emptively forgiving myself should his summary of the book’s contents prove misleading. Jermyn’s book, composed of essays and short non-fiction pieces, reminds us “to take note of the mad and brilliant world around us before the tide comes in again”, and as such, my potential inability to accurately explain the text should not be criticised, but rather celebrated as another of our planet’s glorious details. The launch is at 7:30pm, and Jermyn’s book can be purchased [here](https://www.bogbodiespress.com/shop-all/p/theboythebucket?ref=dublininquirer.com). SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Christmas-Robin-Large.webp)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/christmas/) ****20% Off on Christmas Gift Subscriptions** For the curious, the involved, the engaged, the newcomer, the old-timer – for anyone you think would want to read about the city in Dublin Inquirer. [Learn more ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/christmas/) ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Nollaig na mBan festival** The 4th annual Nollaig na mBan festival returns to Ballybough and North Strand on 6 January. Throughout the day, and across locations including Charleville Mall Library, Clonliffe House, Cusack’s Pub and St. Columba’s Church, local north inner-city women will be celebrated with an awards ceremony, followed by a live music trail. The festival starts at 3pm. To book tickets for the music trail, visit the Nollaig na mBan festival website [here](https://nollaignamban.ie/2026-festival-line-up-announced/?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information, you can contact nollaignambanireland@gmail.com. **Songs of Life and Loss** On 2 January, the Dublin Unitarian Church is hosting an evening of music, from Broadway show tunes to popular classics all in support of Palestinian children’s relief. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/songs-of-life-loss-tickets-1720915367189?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Clongriffin, Belmayne, Parkside and Belcamp Social Infrastructure Survey** Dublin City Council is conducting a comprehensive Needs Assessment to plan for the future of Clongriffin and Belmayne. The assessment will identify priorities for facilities such as libraries, community centres, arts and cultural spaces, sports and recreation amenities, parks, and public realm improvements. You can share your input by filling out the survey [here](https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/clongriffin-belmayne-parkside-bellcamp-social-infrastructure-survey?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Exhibition V, Gallery X** On Hume Street tonight, Gallery X is holding Exhibition V, its final show of 2025. Opening at 6pm with a performance by Lady Blue Dream, who has been running her BDSM-centred figure-drawing class The Naked Kink throughout the year. For more information, visit the Gallery X Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/galleryxdublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Applications Open for Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) 2026 in Fingal** Community and Voluntary Groups in Fingal are invited to apply for funding under the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) 2026. The funding aims to provide capital support to community groups and organisations in Fingal with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities in both rural and urban areas. The LEP 2026 funding will support small-scale capital works, equipment purchases and facility improvements. Applications are now being sought from Community Groups in Fingal. The closing date is Friday, 27 February. For more information and to apply, visit Fingal County Council’s website [here](https://www.fingal.ie/local-enhancement-programme-lep-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Long-time campaigners bristle at politicians' back-patting over new lift at Clongriffin Dart Station URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/long-time-campaigners-bristle-at-politicians-back-patting-over-new-lift-at-clongriffin-dart-station/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:33:27.000Z Bernard Mulvany, co-founder of the disability-rights group Access for All, says that it was some time in 2020 that he and his co-founder noticed that Clongriffin Dart Station was an outlier on the rail network. It was particularly inaccessible, Mulvany says. “At the time, the lift was very unkempt, and, you know, breaking down a lot,” says Sean O’Kelly, the other co-founder of Access for All. An underlying problem [was that the lift](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-baldoyle-residents-have-been-waiting-13-years-for-permanent-and-universal-access-to-their-local-dart-station/) was – until [a recent purchase](https://www.dublininquirer.com/lda-buys-up-land-in-clongriffin-including-the-dirty-old-tower-at-the-station/) by the Land Development Agency – on private land. “It was a real, real problematic piece of public transport infrastructure,” Mulvany said. Noticing this kicked off what Mulvany, who was a candidate for People Before Profit in the 2024 general election, described as a years-long campaign involving disability activists, local residents, and councillors. Initially, it was Mulvany, O’Kelly, and Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins trying to push for accessible access, according to Mulvany. "It was a long, slow process," Mulvany said. "We had to, over years and years, tease out and campaign for a resolution, which we got – to our great joy." On Monday, campaigners gathered for a photocall to mark the installation of a new lift by the National Transport Authority, and an improved public realm around the access point. But the buzz had been dampened, slightly, by a video posted on Instagram in the run-up, said Mulvany. ## Back-patting The [video](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DR4vmp0DPO%5F/?ref=dublininquirer.com) posted on Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien’s account on 5 December shows O’Brien and his party colleague, Fianna Fáil TD Tom Brabazon, meeting contractors on site, foreshadowing the lift’s opening. In the voiceover, O’Brien said he wanted to particularly thank Brabazon. “Tom has been leading the charge on this,” he said. Brabazon said he wanted to thank O’Brien: “And being involved in the process from the very beginning … when he took over as minister for transport.” For Mulvany, it was galling, he said. “They were actually trying to take credit for the extremely hard work that we have put in over five years, and we found that, we found that we were cross.” Brabazon said by email on Tuesday that his records showed he had made numerous representations on the issue on behalf of local residents, while a councillor and as a Dáil candidate, had raised it with O’Brien, and had attended a protest. “I also acknowledge the persistent efforts of local campaigners, members of the public and other public representatives who tirelessly raised the concerns of the local community and advocated for improvements either directly or through their local elected representatives,” he wrote. “Their voices without a doubt ensured this project became a reality.” O’Brien, meanwhile, said by email that he recognised the collaborative effort of state agencies, councillors, and community campaigners representing all kinds of public-transport users. “I also want to acknowledge the persistent efforts of local campaigners and public representatives across the board who tirelessly raised these concerns and advocated for improvements,” he said. He had made a short visit with Brabazon to see the works, and he talked to Brabazon about how the TD had raised it as an issue with him. “This was in no way to undermine everyone else’s work over the last number of years and should not be taken as such.” ## **A long campaign** Access for All co-founder O’Kelly said that the Clongriffin Dart Station had been one of the first projects that the organisation had taken on. “I think it’s absolutely disgraceful, quite honestly,” he said, of the social media video of O’Brien and Brabazon. Disability activists were joined by local residents’ groups, including the Myrtle-The Coast Residents Association. Community members such as Samantha O’Flanagan – a special needs assistant, who has also been involved in the residents association – became core campaigners, according to Mulvany. They organised petitions, protests, and public meetings, and regularly engaged with Irish Rail, the National Transport Authority, and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, he said. Said Mulvany, of Access for All: “I was the only one that put on a public meeting in the area in relation to the lifts, and on a very stormy night, we got nearly 60 residents to turn up.” For Mulvany, the dispute over credit cuts deeper because of who did the work. “It’s ableism at its finest,” he says. “We don’t have resources. We’re volunteers,” he said. “We have nothing. We just have hard work and social media.” For him, the episode reflects a broader pattern in how disability activists are treated, he says. “People with disabilities have always had to fight extra hard just to have basic needs met.” In the recent election, candidates brought up helping with accessibility and people with disabilities, he said. But since the election, he said, despite small increases to the Disability Allowance, people with disabilities will be significantly worse off under the new budget, said Hopkins, the Social Democrats councillor. When next year’s budget was announced, the Irish Wheelchair Association [calculated that](https://www.iwa.ie/get-involved/advocacy-campaigns/our-campaigns/post-budget-2026/?ref=dublininquirer.com) people with disabilities would be almost €1,000 worse off a year. People with disabilities are becoming more vocal in their opposition to being used, he said. “And that jars people at times, because they're not expecting for those with disabilities to be as robust now as we have to be.” ## Just the first step Hopkins, the Social Democrats councillor, said she's glad they finally got this win of the working lift, but it’s not enough – the solution is temporary. "In any normal European, modern city you wouldn't have a big ribbon-cutting,” she said – with the mayor, ministers, officials. “And all of this craic just to open a lift that should have been there 15 years ago.” Likewise, O’Flanagan said that while the lift is a welcome improvement, it is only for now. “It is still a short-term measure,” she said. “The ultimate goal remains full, permanent universal access.” That means ramps to ensure 24/7 access and removing the existing stairwell core, which is not fit for purpose, she says. The LDA bought the 125-acre site on the eastern side of the Dart station from developer Richmond Homes [back in March](https://www.dublininquirer.com/lda-buys-up-land-in-clongriffin-including-the-dirty-old-tower-at-the-station/). The land purchased by the LDA has existing planning permission for 1,931 homes, as well as creche facilities and commercial units, according to the [LDA’s website](https://lda.ie/news/lda-acquires-land-in-baldoyle-north-dublin-with-existing-planning-permission-for-over-1-900-homes?ref=dublininquirer.com). After the purchase, the LDA gave the council a commitment to prioritise the construction of a new access into Clongriffin Dart station for residents of Baldoyle and The Coast. In a [letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25969287-letter-dated-6th-june-2025-from-land-development-agency-lda-commitment-to-regeneration-of-stapo/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the council, sent on Friday, 6 June, Phelim O’Neill, the LDA’s director of development, set out the agency’s strategy for replacing the dirty old tower outside the station that holds the elevator. O’Flanagan said that the permanent access can only be done once the housing project progresses. “We understand this will take time, but we'll continue to apply pressure to ensure it progresses as quickly as possible.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Mulhuddart, 43 council-owned homes sitting vacant URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-mulhuddart-43-council-owned-homes-are-sitting-vacant/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:33:35.000Z Many of the flats and houses around Parnell Estate were fully decorated for Christmas on Monday afternoon. There were wreaths hanging outside doors, light-up reindeer on large window ledges and outside a few front doors, small red and white signs in potted plants saying things like “Santa Stop Here”. There weren’t too many people around the Mulhuddart housing estate. A father was playing with his child in a playground on the green. A young man in high-vis wandered about with a leaf blower in hand, cleaning up the fallen brown and yellow foliage. While Parnell Grove had its fair share of the Christmas decorations, it also appeared to have a few vacant flats. At street level, every few doors along gave the sense that nobody was living there. One had an excessive amount of junk mail and letters jammed into its post box. Another had all its curtains open and was completely empty inside. A third seemed to be undergoing works, with a trolley full of construction materials visible through a plate glass door. Throughout the estate, the council owns 162 apartments, and 43 were sitting vacant, Fingal councillors were told at their most recent full council meeting on Monday 8 December, via the Local Government Audit Service’s [annual audit](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s115237/Item%2014a%20-%20Fingal%20Co%20Co%20Audit%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council for 2024. Hearing there were dozens of flats sitting vacant bothered Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell, he said. “In the teeth of a housing crisis, with a tsunami of notices of termination, I have a family with a court order to vacate their apartment on 20 December.” These vacant units were necessary right now to re-house tenants from other parts of the estate, as Parnell Estate requires remediation works to fix structural problems in its buildings, like the presence of the mineral pyrite in concrete blocks, Paul Carroll, Fingal’s Director of Housing and Community Development said. But for nine years, councillors have been flagging the issue of pyrite in the estate, with the Local Government Audit Service saying [in its 2023 report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379692-fingal-county-council-statutory-audit-report-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p13) that the council needs to get a move on with these upgrades fast. ## Not a new issue Councillors have been concerned that the estate’s buildings contained pyrite – a mineral which can cause defects, like cracks in the walls – [since at least 2016,](https://meetings.fingal.ie/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=28418&optionId=0&ref=dublininquirer.com) when Paul Donnelly, then a councillor, now a Sinn Féin TD, queried if it was present. The council didn’t print a response in their minutes from the Castleknock/Mulhuddart area committee meeting at which he raised the question, [on 3 November 2016](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/g4606/Printed%20minutes%2003rd-Nov-2016%2015.30%20Blanchardstown-MulhuddartCastleknockOngar%20Area%20Committee%20Se.pdf?T=1&ref=dublininquirer.com). But Donnelly, [in March 2017](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/b16461/Final%20Publish%20of%20reports%20to%20the%20Public%2002nd-Mar-2017%2015.30%20Blanchardstown-MulhuddartCastleknockO.pdf?T=9&ref=dublininquirer.com), asked if the council had plans to remediate its pyrite issue, and whether there was a timeline in place. He was told in an official report that both the council and Respond, an approved housing body that manages apartments in the estate for the council, had jointly issued proceedings in relation to the matter. Two years later, [in September 2019,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379691-supplement-final-publish-of-reports-to-the-public-05092019-1530-blanchardstown-mulhuddartcastl/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p59) Labour Councillor Breda Hanaphy asked Paul Reid, who was then chief executive of the council, if there was any timeline on those proposed works in the estate. The council and Respond’s proceedings were still ongoing, Reid said, noting that Respond had lodged an application for funding to the Pyrite Remediation Board. Of the eight flats in which pyrite was identified in the 2022 audit, the report notes that they needed to be fully assessed with remediation works conducted. Pyrite remediation works were still progressing on houses owned by Respond, [the 2023 audit says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379692-fingal-county-council-statutory-audit-report-2023/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p13), noting that the council had, by this point, taken back control of the vacant units, standing then at 37 in total. “These apartments are still unoccupied,” it says. A spokesperson for Respond said on Tuesday that the AHB currently has 93 homes on the estate, all of which are occupied. “All homes that were eligible to be included in the \[Government’s\] [Pyrite remediation scheme](https://www.housingagency.ie/housing-information/pyrite-remediation-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) have been remedied.” The council had also commissioned fire-safety reports, and there were substantial works that needed to be conducted as well as those for the purpose of remediating the pyrite issue, it said. “These urgent works must be completed without delay.” By the time the [2024 audit](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s115237/Item%2014a%20-%20Fingal%20Co%20Co%20Audit%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) was shared with councillors on Monday 8 December, the vacant units stood at 43 apartments, which remained unoccupied, it said. Substantial fireproofing works are required on all 162 council-owned apartments, as well as pyrite remediation works, but there had only been limited progress during the year, it said. ## An end in sight? There is a plan in place to bring all of these units back into social and cost-rental use, Carroll, Fingal’s director of Housing and Community Development, said. “The reality is that a number of the vacant units aren’t suitable for accommodation at the moment.” Was there any indication when this process would be finished? asked the Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Tom O’Leary. The pilot programme is underway in one block, Carroll said. This programme to upgrade the homes will be phased, a spokesperson for the council said on Tuesday. “Following a range of architectural assessments and on-site building surveys, an initial pilot works contract is currently on-site which will establish detailed cost estimates and inform the detailed scope of works for the wider estate upgrade plan.” Those upgrades will include fireproofing and possible pyrite remediation, they said, noting that it is likely to take a minimum of two years to complete. ### DFA argued that releasing feedback on plan to label Algeria as “safe” would hurt diplomatic relations URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dfa-argued-that-releasing-feedback-on-decision-to-label-algeria-as-safe-would-hurt-diplomatic-relations/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:33:43.000Z In late 2023, when officials in the Department of Justice were chewing over plans to earmark Algeria as a “safe” country, they sought the opinion of counterparts in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). When a country is designated as safe, asylum officers assume cases filed by its citizens aren't genuine. People seeking asylum from that country have to work harder to rebut that assumption and fight to be believed. In January 2024, the Department of Justice placed Algeria in its list of “safe” countries. But it wasn’t clear what the DFA had said about the move. It wouldn’t release its feedback under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. After a little over a year and a few submissions to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC), the body ordered it to release parts of it. And [it did](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376229-sco-feedback-form-following-oic-150501-j2f0p7-decision-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But DFA officials managed to convince the OIC to keep its concluding lines private, “redacted under [Section 33 (1) (d) of the FOI Act](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376230-section-33-1-d/?ref=dublininquirer.com)”, it says. That means releasing it is “expected to affect adversely international relations of the State”, says the law. On 6 October 2025, an OIC reviewer said in an email that among other things, DFA officials argued they had offered their opinion to the Department of Justice in confidence. “The Department submitted that it was vital that it be able to continue to provide confidential, frank and comprehensive information in relation to matters such as those addressed in the record,” they said. In response to the argument that Algeria is already considered safe by Ireland, and so its government wouldn’t be too angry to hear potentially negative things that went unheeded, the DFA officials had said they disagreed. Their decision was based on “direct experience of the bilateral relationship with Algeria and the harm that could be caused by the release of the information in the record”, said the OIC official who was relaying the DFA’s submission. Ireland’s relationship with Algeria is delicate, “carefully managed across several areas, taking account of a range of issues, including matters where there was an awareness of sensitivity on the Algerian side”, said their email. “The Department argued that it was therefore incumbent on it to exercise caution in public statements by Ireland on the human rights situations in that country, so as not to prejudice the entirety of the relationship,” they said. A spokesperson for the DFA did not respond to queries sent on 4 December asking why full release of its opinion on safety of Algeria would impact relations with the country if it were in line with the Department of Justice’s decision to earmark it as safe. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly address a query about whether the DFA feedback concluded that Algeria was safe for everyone – and if not, why it didn’t heed it. The secrecy around DFA’s full opinion about safety of Algeria, and how a slate of [other internal records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24689065-algeria-esub-redacted-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) showed last year that the Department of Justice had downplayed human rights concerns, raise questions about whether factors beyond a fair assessment of what’s happening on the ground shape decisions to place a country on the safe list. ## Trade partners Its relationship with Algeria is economically important to Ireland. In 2023, Ireland’s dairy exports to Algeria were worth €100 million, [according to official figures](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-03-20/984?ref=dublininquirer.com). “Algeria was the 13th largest export destination country for Irish dairy in 2023,” ex-Minister for Agriculture and Food, Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue, [told the Dáil ](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-03-20/984?ref=dublininquirer.com)in March 2024\. Between January and mid-July of 2024, Ireland [exported ](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-07-23/1697/?ref=dublininquirer.com)nearly 2040 live bovines to Algeria. And in 2023, Ireland imported €96 million worth of fertilisers mainly from Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, [according](https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/role-policies/international-priorities/africa/potential-for-ireland-africa-trade-highlighted/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Department of Foreign Affairs website. Micheál Martin, the Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach, [has said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-01-23/113/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that Algeria is a vital partner for Ireland. “It is our third biggest market for food in Africa, after Nigeria and South Africa. Algeria is an important political actor in the region and in multilateral organisations, including the UN, African Union and Union for the Mediterranean,” he told the Dáil last year. In 2024, at [an Oireachtas](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379233-2024-05-21-opening-statement-h-e-mohammed-belaoura-ambassador-embassy-of-the-people-s-democratic-republic-of-algeria-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Foreign Affairs Committee to mark Africa Day, Mohammed Belaoura, Algeria’s ambassador to Ireland, said that the opening of an Algerian embassy in Dublin in 2020 reflects “the commitment of the Algerian authorities to strengthening bilateral relations with Ireland in all fields”. “Algeria is Ireland's fourth main trade partner in Africa. This upward trend is anticipated to continue, reflecting untapped economic potential and fostering business, investment and cultural exchanges,” he said. ## What did you say? “It’s probably fair to assume that if the DFA said anything positive about Algeria’s human rights record, they wouldn’t be so determined to withhold it,” says immigration solicitor Wendy Lyon. Initially, the OIC [had fully overturned](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376231-oic150501draftdecisionforissuetoparties150825/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the DFA’s decision against release in a draft order which it sent out, offering a last-chance opportunity to respond. After hearing out the DFA one last time, and then giving us [a shot to respond](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kZw603RHlCpzz5R3Sb2qOhtfmudhDyTBQt83WsRlfhs/edit?tab=t.0&ref=dublininquirer.com) to its arguments, it tweaked the scope of release. [Part of the DFA feedback](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376229-sco-feedback-form-following-oic-150501-j2f0p7-decision-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that was successfully unredacted says Algeria had some relief and stability after years of tumult stemming from a protest movement. “However, there are still multiple challenges to Algeria’s safety and security, both exogenous and endogenous,” it says. It goes on to say that nine EU countries consider it safe, and then outlines security concerns, like border management troubles and problems arising from the presence of Da’esh fighters. Then it cuts off to the redaction. Freedom House, a non-profit democracy watchdog in the United States, has considered Algeria unfree since 2005\. It lowered its democracy score from [32 in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376498-algeria-2024-freedom-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 2024 [to 31](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376497-algeria-country-profile-freedom-house/?ref=dublininquirer.com) this year. In downplaying [concerns](https://web.archive.org/web/20240526092258/https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/north-africa/algeria/report-algeria/) about the treatment of sexual minorities in Algeria while considering whether it was safe for everyone, Department of Justice officials had said that the Algerian government doesn’t set out to find gay people to punish them, [internal documents showed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24689065-algeria-esub-redacted-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “And there is no real risk of prosecution, even when the authorities become aware of such behaviour,” they’d said. It [had also ignored](https://www.dublininquirer.com/when-arguing-algeria-is-a-safe-country-did-department-of-justice-officials-downplay-human-rights-violations/) advice from the migrants' aid centre, NASC, which had told it that Algeria should not be designated as “safe”. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that people from countries assumed to be safe can still open asylum claims. “All applications are considered based on the personal circumstances of the applicant,” the spokesperson said. It’s also keeping the docket of 15 countries it currently considers safe under review, they said. ## Walls close in In 2023, when the Department of Justice began considering Algeria and a couple of other countries for the safe list, the number of asylum cases from Algerian citizens was on the rise. By December 2023, it came second in the list of countries with the highest number of asylum claims, [official figures show.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376494-20240109-ipo-website-statistics-report-dec-2023-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) But in December 2024, just under a year after it had “safe” attached to its name, [it didn’t feature](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376495-20250122-ipo-monthly-website-stats-dec-2024-final-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the top-five list. It wasn’t [on that docket](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376496-20251204-ipo-monthly-website-stats-nov-2025-final-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in November 2025 either. It's unclear whether the initial surge in numbers influenced the decision to consider earmarking Algeria as safe. The Department of Justice has also rolled out a policy to process cases from citizens of not just “safe” countries but those with the highest number of applications every three months faster, leaving them [scrambling to get legal advice ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/singled-out-for-fast-tracking-georgian-asylum-seekers-struggle-to-access-legal-advice-in-time/)on time. On Tuesday, the *Irish Times* [quoted](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/12/16/high-asylum-seeker-numbers-are-a-threat-to-social-cohesion-says-jim-ocallaghan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD as saying that a higher number of people seeking asylum posed a threat to “social cohesion” and that the government was seeking to lower it. To what extent harsher immigration policies can actually discourage people from moving somewhere is uncertain, though, said immigration barrister Anthony Hanrahan at an Immigration Asylum & Citizenship Bar Association (IACBA) conference on Friday. Most people are probably not tuned in to internal policy changes in a country they may end up moving to, he said, and there is a world of factors at play in why fewer people from some countries land here. But “word-of-mouth, no doubt, can have a certain specific effect”, he said. The spokesperson for the Department of Justice said one aspect of the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact, which it has opted into, is a plan to formalise a list of “safe” countries of origin across the zone. Though “the right of Member States to designate additional countries outside the common list will continue”, they said. On 8 December, when the [EU Council revealed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376499-asylum-policy-council-pushes-ahead-with-eu-laws-on-safe-countries-of-origin-and-safe-third-countries-consilium/?ref=dublininquirer.com) names of countries it had decided were “safe”, Algeria was not among them. “The Council agreed that the following countries should be designated as safe countries of origin at EU level: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo\*, Morocco and Tunisia”, [says a press release](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26376499-asylum-policy-council-pushes-ahead-with-eu-laws-on-safe-countries-of-origin-and-safe-third-countries-consilium/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on its website. Patricia Brazil, barrister and law lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, said at the IACBA conference on Friday that sometimes there are minority groups who are vulnerable in a country that might be safe to live in for others. Still, theirasylum request will be viewed with suspicion and assumed to be bogus. Because “the designation of safe countries doesn’t allow that kind of nuance”, she said. ### Walkers should continue to have access through Howth Castle Estate, councillors say URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/walkers-should-continue-to-have-access-through-howth-castle-estate-councillors-say/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:33:57.000Z Just after the sun had set on Saturday, Oleksii Raksheiev and Dmytro Smychok were walking up the long road from the historic gates of Howth Castle estate towards the Deer Park Hotel. They were coming from Tesco, carrying orange juice and sweets. The walk to the shop is one they take regularly, says Raksheiev, as they’re living in the hotel. Along with about 175 other Ukrainians, according to Eoin Quinlan, the [general manager](https://howthcastle.ie/about/our-team/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of Howth Castle Estate, who’ve come to Ireland under the EU’s temporary protection directive, which unlocked access to Europe for Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion. WSHI Unlimited Company, an affiliate of Tetrarch Capital, which owns Howth Castle Estate, applied for [permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/92819?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents) in 2023 to demolish the hotel, and build a new four-storey hotel and leisure centre. Fingal County Council approved that proposal, with conditions, a decision that both WSHI and Green Party Councillor David Healy appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which [also approved it](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/317883?ref=dublininquirer.com), with conditions. Then, at Healy’s request, leave was granted for a judicial review of that decision, and the case [has now returned](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379645-f22a-0372-documents-of-re-activated-appeal-high-court-order/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the planning commission again [for reconsideration](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/323581?ref=dublininquirer.com). Throughout this saga so far, one of the main points of contention has been a new access road to the hotel. The first time around, the planning commission approved the plan [with the condition](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379704-abp-decision-f22a-0372/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the proposed access road be omitted. But there’s also another access issue too, says Healy, who says he [supports](https://davidhealy.com/?p=1834&ref=dublininquirer.com) upgrading the hotel, but wants it done right. That’s pedestrian access across the estate. “Howth Demesne and the Deer Park Hotel are currently accessed by foot from a number of long-standing access points,” Healy said in a June 2023 submission to the planning process. “The previous and new owners have maintained a public commitment to public access to the Demesne,” he wrote. “However, recent experience and correspondence from the new owners with regards to fences and gates have created confusion and considerable concern.” Howth Castle Estate is very open and will remain so, says Quinlan, the [general manager](https://howthcastle.ie/about/our-team/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But the owners also need to keep it safe, and discourage illegal dumping, parties, fires, and other problems – so some fencing has been added, he said. ## Maintaining access To many locals, the estate has long felt open, says Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins, a long-time resident. People always cut across it: to get across Howth since the estate is massive; or to walk to [Aideen’s Grave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aideen%27s%5FGrave?ref=dublininquirer.com), a megalithic tomb thought to date back to about 2,500 BCE. It’s on the National Monument’s Service’s [Record of Monuments and Places](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379721-archaeology-rmp-dublin-manual-1998-0013/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and so it’s protected. “We need a legal framework where people have access to that,” Hopkins says. “It’s far too much to leave it to the whims of a private developer.” Tour operator Shane O’Doherty, who runs Howth Adventures, says he was born in the 1960s and when he was a child, he remembers cutting across the estate, and all his neighbours doing the same. He wants to see that maintained. Healy, the Green Party councillor, in his 2023 planning submission, pointed to a [network](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379575-deer-park-hotel-f22a-0372-appeal-david-healy-25l23/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of long‑established routes across the estate, linking the hotel to Howth village, Grace O’Malley Road, Offington, Old Castle Avenue, and Aideen’s Grave. During its first trip to the planning commission on appeal, the commission’s [inspector](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379629-inspectors-report-r317883/?ref=dublininquirer.com) noted this concern, but didn’t engage with it, something Healy criticised. The Fingal Development Plan strongly promotes permeability, encouraging walking and cycling routes in both new developments and existing areas. That’s something Healy argues, that should apply to the hotel redevelopment just as it would to a housing scheme or office block. ## Private property “People might feel they have a right of way” through Howth Castle Estate, says Quinlan, the general manager, “but a right of way in Irish law means a legal right to walk over someone else’s land. And there are no legal rights of way on this estate.” That does not mean the public is unwelcome, he said. The main gates are left open 24/7, he says. The routes are signposted, and access to Aideen’s Grave and woodland walks remain available, he said. Additional fencing and controls have been introduced for safety and environmental reasons, not to exclude the public, Quinlan says. He described a Halloween night incident in which 50 to 80 teenagers organised an unauthorised rave on the estate, lighting fires in woodland areas and spraypainting historic walls. “That’s always my fear. Fires in the woodland,” he said. He said tractors have been stolen, benches vandalised, and large-scale illegal dumping has occurred, requiring industrial skips to remove dumped waste. ## Housing fears, and rezoning Concerns about access are entangled with longer‑running fears about housing development on the estate. The estate’s owners [have on](https://www.lobbying.ie/return/79391/tetrarch-capital-limited?ref=dublininquirer.com) [and off](https://www.lobbying.ie/return/91451/tetrarch-capital-limited?ref=dublininquirer.com) lobbied Fingal County Council to rezone parts of the Howth Castle demesne for housing, including proposals for senior living and affordable homes. Those proposals were not adopted in the current Fingal Development Plan, and the lands remain zoned High Amenity within the buffer zone of the Howth Special Amenity Area Order. Quinlan, the estate’s general manager, said that an earlier master plan that included housing “didn’t get very far” and has effectively been scrapped. “We commissioned a 400‑plus‑page conservation management plan,” he said. Which he said, covers the ecology, protected views, heritage, and wildlife of the entire estate. “That’s now been submitted to Fingal County Council, and we’re waiting on feedback.” Only then, he said, would a new master plan be drawn up – one focused on the hotel, golf course, and castle, not housing. “This will be a very long-term view of the estate,” Quinlan said. “We’re not looking to concrete over 470 acres.” Still, some of the submissions to the current planning process to redevelop the Deer Park Hotel reflect a suspicion that the access road, as WSHI originally proposed it, was not just for access to the hotel – but was actually designed with an eye to larger-scale development in the future. ## Trust On the issue of continued pedestrian access along long-established routes across the estate, Hopkins, the Social Democrats councillor, said she does not trust that assurances alone are enough. “We’ve seen elsewhere that public access promised through planning conditions can disappear,” she said, pointing to other heritage sites. “That’s why this has to be nailed down.” In deciding the appeal now back before it, An Coimisiún Pleanála could impose conditions relating to pedestrian access. Its decision on the appeal is expected in [January 2026](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/323581?ref=dublininquirer.com). For now, walkers continue to pass through the gates, following signposted paths toward the hotel, the woods, and the ancient grave on the hill. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Donabate, a closed pub may soon be revived URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-a-closed-pub-may-soon-be-revived/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T12:52:03.000Z On Tuesday morning, a train, bound for Connolly station, barrelled through Donabate without stopping. It let out a big honk, adding to the roar of cars along Turvey Avenue. Only once the train disappeared and congestion eased, did a few pedestrians walking into the train station notice that an alarm was going off. The siren came from Smyths Bridge House, a local pub closed for more than a year. Despite the hoardings, the pub was in a decent enough condition. Although, white paint on the main facade was peeling and the colourful lights that once hung above the windows on the first floor, and a nearby tree, lay in a heap. Behind the pub is Corballis East, a big development of hundreds of homes and more, which is currently being built by Cairn Homes. Cairn Homes bought the land from Aledo Donabate Ltd [last year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379588-abp-320164-24-submission-cairn-homes-properties-limited-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). They also bought the pub – and, [last month](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379661-planning-report-statement-of-consistency%5Fsmyths-pub-and-corballis-east/?ref=dublininquirer.com), applied to Fingal County Council, seeking, among other changes, permission to carry out works on the building, a protected structure, for it to be kept as a pub and restaurant. Labour Councillor Corina Johnston said that the news is welcome – especially given the big development was slowed down by judicial review, revisions to the planning application, and the sale of the lands. “But look, here we are now, almost two years later.” As part of the first phase of works on the wider project, Cairn Homes is also seeking permission from the council to add more shop space, a civic plaza and a community space **–** in line with an agreement struck after legal challenge by the community to the project. Locals have been emphasising the need for more community amenities in Donabate for years now – so are looking for the detail as to what is envisaged. At the moment, what the proposed community space will entail is vague, says Ann Hogan, the chair of DP Crossroads, a local group that is campaigning for more community facilities in Donabate and Portrane. “We still need to know who will run it, and how that is going to be decided.” A spokesperson for Cairn declined to comment when asked about how it would handle the managing of the proposed community space, saying they do not comment on live planning applications. ## Thrashing it out In February 2024, Donabate Portrane Community Council [said on its website](https://donabateportranecommunitycouncil.ie/corballis-east/?ref=dublininquirer.com), that the Corballis East landowner, Aledo Donabate Limited was in “advanced negotiations” to buy Smyths. Then, in August 2024,the owner of Smyths posted on [social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/C97jjQqs40D/?hl=en&img%5Findex=1&ref=dublininquirer.com) that the pub – housed in a protected structure, built around the 1840s –that they were going to close up that month. It was a major loss when the news got around, says Steven Rice, the vice chair of Donabate Portrane Community Council. “Nobody was happy that it was closed.” As for the lands behind the building, in November 2022, An Bord Pleanála – now An Coimisiún Pleanála – [had granted Aledo Donabate Ltd](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/311059?ref=dublininquirer.com) permission to build 1,365 homes alongside three creche and seven spaces for shops and cafes. The decision prompted the Donabate-Portrane Community Council to take a judicial review against An Bord Pleanála in January 2023, [court documents show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379385-high-court-search/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The density of housing was of concern for the Donabate Portrane Community Council, which wanted this reduced, says Rice. “We were successful in achieving that.” Following discussions with the developer, it was agreed to trim the development by 300 homes, and Aledo also told the community council that it would include a series of community-gain initiatives, he said. Those included, according to a statement [issued by the](https://donabateportranecommunitycouncil.ie/corballis-east-update/?ref=dublininquirer.com) community council at the time, the pub refurbishment, more shops, a community fund of €10,000 a year for 10 years, and the use of the community centre for free for 10 years – or a one-off payment of €150,000. The community council withdrew the judicial review, with the courts officially striking it out that March, [court records show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26379385-high-court-search/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Aledo was granted permission by Fingal County Council to build 1,020 homes as well as a creche, parks and communal open spaces throughout the Corballis East site [in February 2024](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/95942?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents) – later selling the site on to Cairn Homes. ## Moving along In its revised planning application [on 11 November](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/fingal/application-details/102933?ref=dublininquirer.com#documents), Cairn Homes applied to Fingal County Council to amend a few features of the first phase of Aledo’s existing planning permission. Cairn Homes has asked to change one building meant to comprise of two shops and four two-bed flats into one that consists of four shops, a community space and two four-bedroom apartments instead. It also applied to provide a new village garden, a civic space with a playground, natural play area, and bike parking. This would lead to two fewer homes in the first phase – 52, rather than 54 – and more commercial space, the application says. Smyths would get refurbished with a view to being kept as a pub and restaurant, while a neighbouring coach house and barn would be conserved and turned into a restaurant or cafe, it says. All of this is welcome given the wait, says Johnston, the Labour councillor. “The pub is progressing.” But it is a little confusing that the application mentions that the pub would continue as a restaurant, she says. “It’s never been a restaurant. It’s always been a pub.” The idea that it could be a gastropub is strange, said Hogan, the chair of DP Crossroads. “There’s actually no kitchen in Smyths pub.” Amending Aledo’s application to include a community space is welcome, Johnston says, given that she and other local councillors have been consistently highlighting the shortage of community facilities, like a [dedicated youth and cultural centre](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-says-it-doesnt-need-to-build-new-community-facilities-along-with-housing-at-big-donabate-scheme-as-theres-already-plenty/), on the peninsula. But, Johnston says, they need clarity around who would manage this. “Is it Fingal County Council? Is it a private entity? Is it a charity? We don’t know.” A spokesperson for Cairn Homes said they cannot comment on a live planning application when asked who would manage the space, or if they had received any expressions of interest from groups yet. What it will eventually be used for isn’t stated either, says Hogan. “We feel there needs to be a lot more clarity around that building.” ### Nobody caught illegally dumping yet by new north inner-city CCTV URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/nobody-caught-illegally-dumping-yet-by-new-north-inner-city-cctv/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T00:37:18.000Z CCTV cameras put up in the north inner-city in August to combat illegal dumping haven’t caught anyone yet. So said [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26370952-with-reference-to-a-progress-report-from-waste-man-251211-103642/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Barry Woods, Dublin City Council’s head of waste management, that was presented to the council’s Central Area Committee on Tuesday. His report cast this result as a success, saying it “demonstrates the cameras are proving to be a deterrent and a preventative measure to combat illegal dumping”. But councillors at the meeting did not seem convinced. The issue, they said, is that council staff say they can basically only identify and catch people illegally dumping if the dumpers arrive by car. And in this part of the city, much of the illegal dumping is done by residents, who just walk out their doors and leave the rubbish nearby for council staff to clean up. “The report shows zero detected offences, but we know we’re cleansing the streets and constantly removing bags,” said Fine Gael Councillor Gayle Ralph. “So the dumping is happening and it’s not being captured,” she said. The system is “just not working”, she said. In 2016, the Data Protection Commissioner put an end to the council’s use of CCTV cameras to film people illegally dumping, and post stills of that to [publicly shame](https://www.dublininquirer.com/illegal-dumping-is-the-council-s-public-shaming-tactic-the-solution/) them. For years after that, some councillors eagerly awaited new legislation that would again allow the use of CCTV to catch people dumping rubbish in the streets. But when that legislation, and the regulations and policies that flowed from it, were finally put in place last year, councillors and council staff seemed to [realise it wasn’t going to help](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-cool-to-idea-of-cctv-as-solution-to-illegal-dumping-in-city-centre/) as much as they’d hoped. However, a council spokesperson said on 12 December that the the CCTV cameras are making a difference. "Early indications show a dramatic decrease in incidents at the monitored sites, meaning the scheme is achieving its primary objective of preventing illegal dumping before it occurs," she said. ## **Results** In early 2024, Dublin City Council put out a €4.5 million [tender](https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=3343362&ref=dublininquirer.com) for a company to install CCTV cameras, and monitor them 24/7 for three years. The cameras went live on 4 August this year, the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26370952-with-reference-to-a-progress-report-from-waste-man-251211-103642/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Central Area Committee said. They’re on Summer Street North, Belvedere Place, and Sherrard Street Lower. On Wednesday, Summer Street North was looking neat and clean, with signs warning of the CCTV monitoring, and fines of €150, as well as fresh-looking footpaths and new plantings. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Summer-Street-North---second-camera-sign.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) On Summer Street North. Photo by Sam Tranum. The part of Belvedere Place near the camera was, likewise, looking well. But just across the laneway from the camera off Sherrard Street Lower, in front of a parked Audi, sat two black bags of illegally dumped rubbish. This is a densely populated part of the city, streets lined with multi-storey terraced houses, subdivided into multiple tenancies. Some people don’t know they’re supposed to either buy stickers to put on their bags and put them out on a specific day, or pay a company to get bins, councillors say. Others know they shouldn’t be just leaving their rubbish on the street, but they do it anyway, they say. Either way, the result is the same. At the meeting, Fianna Fáil Councillor John Stephens said he’d met with residents around Blessington Street recently and talked about the situation. “They said, basically, what’s happening is that residents and landlords are not paying for any waste collection so what happens is the bags are just dumped everywhere and then it’s up to Dublin City Council to collect the waste,” Stephens said. Janet Horner, a Green Party councillor, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting, said by phone on Thursday that people living in that part of the city might see their neighbours putting out their rubbish whenever they want, for free, to be picked up by the council. And they might wonder why they should keep their rubbish in their apartment until bin day, and then put it out and pay for the privilege of having a company pick it up, when they feel like they’re the only ones doing that, she said. ## **Consequences** This is where the council’s enforcement efforts are supposed to come in. There are supposed to be consequences for those who don’t follow the rules – fines. But none of the council’s efforts to catch and fine illegal dumpers in this part of the city seem to be working very well at the moment. The council has two litter wardens in its administrative Central Area, which covers the north inner-city, Stephen Kavanagh, of the council’s waste management section, told councillors at the meeting on Tuesday. They open illegally dumped bags to look for clues to who they belong to, Kavanagh said. “The success rate of going through bags isn’t great for evidence being found inside.” People get fewer letters these days, and receive more correspondence online, he said. “Litter wardens aren’t getting the success rate we’ve had in the past,” he said. Then there’s the new CCTV cameras. It takes a lot of admin work, and money, to install them, and they’re aren't many (yet, anway). But, also, even in the very few locations where there are council CCTV cameras, and they do record people illegally dumping rubbish, the council can’t always use that footage to catch them, Kavanagh said. When the council rolled out the CCTV, he said, “I highlighted the fact that CCTV wasn’t going to be able to identify people who are walking.” If they get footage of a person getting out of a vehicle and throwing a bag of rubbish on the ground, they can try to use the registration plate to find that person. Or if the camera catches the person walking out the door of their building, down the laneway, or wherever, and leaving a bag of rubbish on the street, that could help too, Kavanagh said. “We can then try to deal with the landlord to identify them, but, again, if the landlord doesn’t play ball we have no way of identifying the person who is dumping because the majority of these houses on these three streets are let into eight, nine, ten flats,” he said. Is any legal barrier to the council using CCTV to identify people dumping on foot? A spokesperson for the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment said on 12 December that "It is an operational matter for each individual local authority to determine the most appropriate enforcement responses to incidents of illegal dumping, including the use of CCTV and other technologies, while taking account of local circumstances and priorities." Indeed, in response to queries on whether the barrier to using CCTV to catch people dumping on foot is legal, or practical, a council spokesperson said it's a result of a choice the council has made. "At present, Dublin City Council has chosen not to use facial images and has restricted evidential CCTV footage to vehicles only," she said. "As one of the first Local Authorities in the State to operate CCTV fully in line with the new CCTV Codes of Practice, DCC wished to err on the side of caution," she said. "For future schemes, DCC will review whether the scope should be expanded to include facial images where necessary and proportionate." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Belvedere-Place.-Photo-by-Sam-Tranum-1.jpg) On Belvedere Place. Photo by Sam Tranum Of course, even if/when the council has an image of the face of a person who's illegally dumping rubbish on the street, then they need to figure out who that person is and where to find them, if they're going to fine them. To do this, "authorised personnel" would review the images manually, the council spokesperson said. "To avoid confusion, using facial images simply means reviewing standard footage where a person’s face may be visible. This is distinct from facial recognition technology, which is not permitted," she said. Although facial-recognition technology [is available commercially](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-government-moves-to-give-gardai-facial-recognition-tech-its-already-available-to-public-to-use-and-misuse/) in Ireland, for official purposes even the Gardaí are not allowed to use it. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, a Fianna Fáil TD, [now has cabinet approval](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/press-releases/minister-jim-ocallaghan-secures-government-approval-to-publish-legislation-to-enable-garda%C3%AD-use-biometric-recognition-technologies/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to draft “heads of a General Scheme to provide for retrospective and live biometric identification” – including facial recognition. However, this is in the context of giving Gardaí technology to investigate serious crimes, not giving litter inspectors technology to fine people for leaving a bag of dirty nappies on the street. And giving the tool to Gardaí is not without opposition, either. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has [said](https://www.iccl.ie/facial-recognition-technology/?ref=dublininquirer.com) facial recognition technology is “a flawed but powerful technology that, when used by police, risks the misidentification of individuals as suspects for crimes and pervasive surveillance”. “If introduced in Ireland, it would have an enduring and long-term effect on individuals’ ability to freely participate in public protest and move freely in publicly accessible places,” the ICCL says. Without a viable way to identify people from images captured on CCTV, another possibility might be reviving the pre-2016 campaign of taking those images and posting them up in the neighbourhood to shame the illegal dumpers, even if the council cannot figure out what their names are and fine them. But the council spokesperson said Friday that this is not possible. "Publishing images of individuals captured on CCTV for the purpose of 'shaming' them would breach the new CCTV Codes of Practice and the legal framework introduced by the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022," she said. It "would amount to an unlawful disclosure of personal data, unrelated to the permitted law enforcement purpose", she said. "It would also violate the principles of necessity, purpose limitation, proportionality, and data subject rights set out in the Codes." At the meeting, Kavanagh, from the council's waste management section, sounded frustrated by the difficulties of catching people dumping. “For us to stop that we really need to be there at the time, with litter wardens, with the guards present to get details from the people,” he said. “And it’s not always, obviously, that’s not always – you cannot always get the guards to help us, we can’t always, litter wardens can’t always be there – and a lot of this is being done overnight,” he said. ## **Other solutions** So if CCTV hasn’t turned out (yet) to be the great anti-dumping panacea that some councillors perhaps hoped it might be, then what else can be done? Another enforcement-type effort the council is working on is its [“reverse register” project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/yes-waste-collection-companies-can-legally-give-the-council-data-on-who-doesnt-pay-them-for-bins/). The idea there is for the council to get from bin companies a list of all their customers on a street. And then knock on the doors of all the addresses not on that list, and ask people to prove they are disposing of their rubbish legally – and fine them if they can’t. This project is still in the early, small-scale, pilot stage. Beyond enforcement efforts like these, a more fundamental reform is also under consideration, which some believe could help tackle illegal dumping: giving councils back control over bin collection. Before 2000, Dublin City Council collected bins, but households didn’t pay a separate charge for that. Later, government policy allowed private operators to begin collecting waste alongside local authorities. In 2009, a waste-collection company [brought the council to court](https://www.dublininquirer.com/two-big-reports-recommend-dublin-city-council-get-back-control-of-bin-collection/) under competition law – and the council left the household bin-collection business in 2012. Today, any company that gets a waste collection permit can come to Dublin and offer their service. The council does not have control over the waste-collection companies, or how they operate in the city. For the last several years, there’s been a push by some political parties, and unions, to “re-municipalise” bin-collection in the city – though that term seems to mean different things to different people. It could mean a return to a world in which council staff collect bins. But what the government seems to be looking at, instead, is a “franchise tendering” system, where the council would contract out the job of collecting bins – maybe with different companies getting different territories within the city. Either way, that could give the council the ability to remove or subsidise – for people on low incomes – the cost of the service. Last year, Adrian Kane, an organiser for the union SIPTU, told an Oireachtas committee looking at the issue that a lot of households in Dublin don’t have a bin-collection service. “There is a causal link between that and the amount of illegal dumping,” Kane said. “That cannot be overcome unless people are obliged to have a service, which cannot be done unless there is some way in which poorer households do not have to pay the full whack with regard to it.” Conor Walsh, secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA), suggested a voucher system. “Like people get a fuel voucher, they would get a voucher from the Department of Social Protection that pays a certain amount towards their waste collection,” Walsh said. “Perhaps then people who cannot afford the service could afford the service and would not resort to illegal dumping.” ## **Franchise tendering** The Department of Climate, Energy and Environment ran a [public consultation](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/consultations/public-consultation-on-the-feasibility-of-transitioning-irelands-waste-collection-market-from-its-current-side-by-side-licensing-system-to-a-franchise-tendering-system/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from May to June this year, on the feasibility of transitioning to a franchise tendering system, which it framed as a way to “support the achievement of EU recycling targets”. On 4 November, the department official refused a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act for the submissions it collected during this public consultation – which would have made it possible to see what companies, associations, government bodies, or individuals were pushing for what outcomes. In a [letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26371283-decision-letter-foi-0209-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com), John Barry, a higher executive officer at the department’s Circular Economy Strategic Policy Section, explained his reasons. “I am withholding access to 289 records in accordance with Section 29 – Deliberations of FOI bodies,” Barry wrote. “The records being sought are part of a wider ongoing study which is planned for publication in 2026,” he wrote. “It would not be in the public interest during the deliberative process in carrying out the study in question to release these prematurely.” Another “82 of these records I am also withholding under Section 37 – Personal information. Granting access to these records would involve the disclosure of personal information,” he wrote. Mark Ward, a Sinn Féin TD representing Dublin West, asked in a [parliamentary question](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-10-01/section/32/?ref=dublininquirer.com) when the report coming out of the public consultation might be published. The public consultation was meant to inform “a comprehensive year-long independent study”, replied Alan Dillon, a Fine Gael TD, who is a Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, on 1 October. The final report is “currently scheduled for completion in March 2026”, he said. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 15.00 on 12 December 2025 to include comments received that day from a Dublin City Council spokesperson.* ### From his North Lotts base, a martial artist and stunt performer makes his mark on Chinese action cinema URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/from-his-north-lotts-base-a-martial-artist-and-stunt-performer-makes-his-mark-on-chinese-action-cinema/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T00:37:30.000Z “Make sure those punches are straight shots, down the centre line of the body,” Philip Condron tells one of his students. Condron walks to one of the five punching bags lined up along the side of Vieira Martial Arts gym, tucked away in North Lotts, behind Bachelors Walk. He assumes a stance, feet just a little more than shoulder width apart, and raises his guard. Dressed in black, standing six-foot tall, with a solid muscular frame, he might seem physically imposing, if not for his youthful, infectious energy and near-constant smile. As he strikes the bag, his back foot, raised on its ball, moves from a 45-degree angle to a straight line pointed in the same direction as his fist, towards his target. His punch snaps out and with a loud smack, it connects with the target – followed by a lingering squeak as the bag swings back and forth. He resets his stance. Drawing attention to his own footwork, he says: “That’s where the power comes from.” The student nods in appreciation for the tip, and gets back to practising the combination she’s working on with her training partner. On the face of it, this looks like an ordinary martial arts class. Students are paired up to work on combinations of kicks, punches, chops, parries and blocks. However, unusually, taking hits yourself is worked into the routine – kind of. Students theatrically react to punches that just miss their face or body as if the strikes really connected. When kicked lightly in the chest, they tumble backwards like they’ve just been hit by an imaginary car. Because despite how it first appears, this isn’t technically fight training – this is choreography. It’s a practice session of Condron’s[ Screen Combat Ireland](https://www.condronactiondesign.com/school?ref=dublininquirer.com) – billed as Ireland’s first dedicated screen fighting school for TV and film, which he started in 2018. This is where Condron’s love for both the fighting arts and film making come together, where his years of training and studying coalesce. About an hour into the class, among the punching bags, boxing ring, gloves, medicine balls and pads, Condron produces a piece of training equipment less associated with martial arts gyms. From his large green backpack, secured with a chunky padlock, out comes a Sony A7 III camera – with an extra view screen attached on its top. It’s time, he says, to see how the choreography looks on film. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Watching-their-work-back-at-the-end-of-training.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) Watching back at the end of training. Photo by Eoin Glackin. Among Sunday’s class is actor Aoife Commons. With no prior martial arts experience, she’s now a few months deep with her training, and has loved it since day one, she said by phone on Thursday. “The first class coming in, Phil is so accommodating to everyone's ability straight away,” she says. “Starting off, I couldn't throw a kick, I couldn't throw a round house or anything. Now, I go into class and think, ‘Right. I know what I'm doing,’” says Common. Ireland needs really good stunt performers, who are actors as well, she says. While she doesn’t have any desire to perform back flips, she says she’s always wanted to do some of her own stunts. “Even if it's short choreography, to do close-up shots of fighting. I've always wanted to do that,” she says. Condron’s unwavering love of all things martial arts and filmmaking led to his latest professional achievement, far from the North Lotts training mats. During the summer, he was invited to Beijing to play a “final boss villain” in the latest Ip Man film – *Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend* – opposite Dennis To in the leading role. The real-life [Ip Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ip%5FMan?ref=dublininquirer.com) was a grandmaster of the Chinese martial art Wing Chun, and famously trained a teenage Bruce Lee in 1950s Hong Kong. Now a legendary figure, his life has become the focus of big-screen adventures – blending history, politics, action and fantasy. For Condron, the role ended up a poetic reminder too of how far he had come. ## **The Karate Kid** In his mid-teens, Condron had a few run-ins with bullies. He turned to karate. “The classic response,” he says, with a chuckle. First trying his hand at the traditional Okinawan karate style of Shotokan, he found the training uninspiring after a while. So, he moved on to American Kenpo Karate – a more modern hybrid style, incorporating elements of traditional Japanese karate, Chinese kung fu, boxing, judo and Filipino fighting arts. After his first class with Shay McNamee at his Martial Arts Academy, Condron says, he had found his new home. McNamee was awarded his tenth-degree black belt, the highest rank, at a ceremony in Las Vegas in 2022, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to Kenpo. “It was the real Mr Miyagi/Daniel-san relationship,” Condron says. He couldn’t afford to pay for classes, he says, so McNamee would train him for free, and have him do a few jobs around the academy. On Thursday, McNamee talked about Condron back then. “He used to come down and spend the whole day with me, training. He’d have his lunch there and wouldn’t leave till we closed,” McNamee said by phone. He remembers Condron telling him he couldn’t afford his membership fees and asked if he could work them off another way. After seeing his talent, dedication and positive attitude, McNamee says he agreed. “I told him, don’t worry about money. And I’d just make up a few bits for him to do around the place.” “Philip was a really strong athlete from day one. That was obvious,” McNamee says. Today, Condron holds the rank of third-degree black belt in Kenpo. Running alongside this passion for practising martial arts, Condron says, he always loved action cinema. He became obsessed with how action and storytelling can intertwine. Films like *John Wick*, starring Keanu Reeves, *Flashpoint*, starring Donnie Yen, and anything involving Jackie Chan inspired him to learn the filmmaking process and to develop and communicate his own “language of movement”, he says. He recalls his first attempt to make an action short, around 2016, using “Jackie Chan-style fighting”. Condron played a character called White Knuckle, a boxer who wore a business suit, with white boxing hand wraps. “It was a terrible, terrible film,” he says, laughing. “Just awful.” But it became the foundation from which something started to grow. ## **Action man** Condron decided to actively pursue a career in stunt performing after making that short, he says. He broadened his training to include rock climbing, scuba diving, swimming, kickboxing, acrobatics, gymnastics, weapons training and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – a grappling art in which he was recently awarded his purple belt at the Jorge Santos Academy, on Parnell Street. Although the stunt performance scene in Ireland is relatively small, Condron soon found work with one of the main stunt organisations here, for a period. This led to his work on Martin McDonagh’s *The Banshees of Inisherin* (2022), where he stunt-doubled for Colin Farrell. Some of his other stunt performance credits to date include feature films *Disney’s Disenchanted* (2020), *The Racer* (2020), *The Last Duel* (2021), *The Northman* (2022) and *Cocaine Bear* (2023). On *The Racer*, a cycling movie, he says he earned some early respect among peers for performing a stunt where he had to flip over the handlebars of a crashing bicycle. His first credit as “stunt coordinator” came in the Danish film production *Empire* (2023)*.* Among his many television credits are Irish productions like *Kin* and *Hidden Assets* and the international hit series, *Vikings.* Condron is proud of the fact that some of his own students were hired to work on *Vikings* as stunt performers as well. As he also continued to work on the film making and cinematography aspects, he was always uploading his own shorts and DIY fight scenes to social media. This wasn’t necessarily the way it was traditionally done in the circuit in Ireland, he says, and he faced some obstacles because of it. So, he struck out on his own – as a free agent. ## **Jackie Chan Stunt Team** In 2023, Condron was one of hundreds from around the world who applied to join the international Jackie Chan Stunt Team (JCST) Action Film Camp in Beijing, China. The stunt reels that he would choreograph, film and edit himself and upload to Instagram caught the eye of Philip Sahagun, who co-hosts the camp with the JCST. For Sahagun, accepting Condron as one of the 30 participants was an easy choice, he said by phone from his martial arts academy in Las Vegas, on Tuesday. Everyone who goes is handpicked based on their artistic background, Sahagun says. They don’t necessarily have to be martial arts experts specifically, he says. “They have to have some kind of artistic training, whether that's filmmaking, martial arts or maybe an ex-gymnast who shoots short films in an interesting way,” he says. Condron had already been producing really clever and well-shot action content, he says, so it was a no-brainer. In fact, he was invited back to the camp again in 2024 and 2025. The 10-day bootcamp involves physical training with members of the JCST, in specific methods developed by the team across its 50-year history, says Sahagun. Among the challenges, participants must also group together and shoot their own short action films, and turn them around quickly. Then, the shorts are watched and critiqued by the stunt team members. Condron stood out immediately, Sahagun says – not only in his physical abilities, but his leadership too. Condron is able to “absorb and find strength in various members of his team”, Sahagun says. Across the three camps, there's been no time where he hasn't had more than three different nationalities on his team, says Sahagun. “That kind of working dynamic in a high-pressure environment, for some people would easily go south. But Philip has done some of the most powerful short film attempts in the camp,” he says. It didn’t go unnoticed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. At the end of the camp this year, the crew were getting ready to head out to do some sight-seeing around Beijing, when Sahagun got a call, he says. It was from Jerry Liau, a JCST member. Liau asked if Sahagun thought Condron would be interested in a role in *Ip Man: Kung Fu Master.* Condron jumped at the chance. He had to return to Ireland for a week’s filming on *Vikings,* before he travelled back to Beijing for several days shooting. There he had one of the most surreal moments of his life, he says. On the set, before a take, Condron looked down at his own hands, which were dressed in white boxing wraps. In a reflection, he saw himself in a suit that the costume department had put him in. And it dawned on him, he says – “Holy shit. It’s White Knuckle!” he thought to himself. It had all come full circle. From the “terrible, terrible” first short film he made with friends in 2016, to the Ip Man film set in Beijing. In that moment, it was all worth it, he says. From being bullied as a teenager, to his first karate classes. Trying to break into the stunt industry. The constant slog, the training and upskilling, the self-doubt and negative external voices. It had all finally clicked, he says. “I nearly broke down in tears, but I was in the middle of a take, so thankfully I didn’t,” he says, his eyes wide open, his voice filled with excitement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Untitled-design.png) As White Knuckle, in his first attempted short (left); On set in Beijing (right). Images courtesy of Philip Condron. ## **Longevity** If you want to be successful in the action film world, you have to constantly grow and innovate, says Sahagun. There are levels in the industry, he says. Like stunt performer, and stunt double. Then up to action designer or fight coordinator, he says. Action director is even higher, he says, and that’s where you need to aim if you want a long career. “There’s a lot more than just the martial arts part.” “The scaffolding of the industry is to learn how to become an action director, and I think Philip is quickly learning all the skills he needs to do that,” he says. “Which are editing, sound design, shooting, constructing a scene.” Condron says his goal is to continue growing the standard for action design in the country through Screen Combat Ireland. “And build the next generation of talent, while representing Ireland internationally as a performer and designer.” *Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend,* directed by Li Liming,is [due for release](https://variety.com/2025/film/news/dennis-to-ip-man-kung-fu-legend-sales-afm-1236574797/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in January. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Plans progress for social housing on long, long-vacant site in Dolphins Barn URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-progress-for-social-housing-on-long-long-vacant-site-in-dolphins-barn/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T11:17:05.000Z Michael Cleary, director of development at the Iveagh Trust, has said that the housing charity plans to start building 25 new social homes on a prominent derelict site in Dolphins Barn next year – once funding is approved. At Wednesday’s meeting of the South Central Area Committee, local councillors backed plans for the council to transfer the vacant row – which runs from 33 to 37 Dolphins Barn – to the Iveagh Trust. Next step is for the proposed transfer – the council calls it a “disposal” – to go to the monthly meeting, for a vote by all Dublin city councillors. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said he remembered a proposal that the site be developed by an approved housing body coming before councillors years ago. Planning permission was granted in November 2024. What had taken so long? He asked. **“**Viability” challenges, said Cleary. In other words, it was too expensive to build. He cited construction costs, the tight site, and working out what to do with the planned community or shop space on the ground floor. The Iveagh Trust still hasn’t quite resolved what will go on the ground floor, Cleary told councillors, but had decided to press ahead and work it out later. Cleary also said that the Iveagh Trust intends to lodge a funding application for a big development opposite the Coombe Hospital soon – with the hope of being on site with that in the third quarter of next year. In August 2025, the trust was granted planning permission for 116 apartments – also to be social homes, the planning application says – and two community hubs on that [vacant site.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26371278-planning-report-for-dolphins-barn-lrd/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The trust had also struggled with the ground floor use on that, said Clearly, but thinks it has some design solutions. “These can be quite costly to build and yet very difficult to let.” “Very eager to make both these sites happen,” said Cleary, as he summed up his update. “We are working very hard to deliver them.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Image-of-Iveagh-Trust-development-opposite-The-Coombe-hospital-from-planning-application.png) Image of planned Iveagh Trust development on right, opposite The Coombe hospital. Image from planning application. ## **A long road** There have been false dawns before, for the revival of the rundown corner site in Dolphins Barn. In March 2015, Dublin City Council sold the row to the company Hollybrook Limited. Under the deal, it [had four months](https://www.dublininquirer.com/2017/07/05/councillors-voted-to-sell-properties-only-for-them-to-sit-derelict) to start building once it got planning permission, but it didn’t and the council, eventually, took the site back. In May 2021, then-South Central Area manager Bruce Phillips [said they were](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-council-finally-brings-a-derelict-strip-in-dolphin-s-barn-to-life-what-should-go-there/) hoping to get it developed as soon as possible, through a housing charity. “It is a priority for the council to expedite development of that area, and clean the whole village up, because it’s in such a prominent location,” he said. By [the following year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26370958-dcc-site-south-circuar-rd-dolphins-barn-iveagh-trust/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the Iveagh Trust was involved as the council’s chosen partner to develop the project. At Tuesday’s meeting, Moriarty, the Labour councillor, asked how it had taken so long to get to this stage – and why the end date now wasn’t until 2028\. “What has happened?” It is a particularly problematic eyesore, he says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/File-photo-from-2021-of-the-vacant-corner-site-in-Dolphins-Barn--1--1.webp) File photo from 2021 of the vacant corner site in Dolphins Barn. Photo by Claudia Dalby. Cleary said that the Trust has been eager to progress the project and got planning permission a year ago. “The issue we’ve been struggling with, and got over the line, is viability.” They have worked on that though, he said, and are going to lodge an application for funding within the next week, said Clearly. “If they get a positive decision in Q1, go out to tender in Q2, and hope to get on site as quickly as possible,” he said. Moriarty said that he appreciated difficulties with viability that the trust might encounter. But, he said, could Cleary say anymore about the planned future use of that ground floor? Moriarty had asked in the past that it be considered for community use, rather than a shop, given how many vacant shop spaces there were around Cork Street and Fatima. “I think there was a lot of round-the-houses on that,” he said. Cleary said the Iveagh Trust had spoken to several local operators for different community uses. “The advice we have been getting generally is if we construct it and have it there,” he said, “we may then be able to find someone who is in a position to use it.” The charity may try to push a retail use, but one challenge is that it is on a busy corner site for passing traffic, so tricky for deliveries, and there would be no access to the back of the unit because they’re trying to get as many apartments as possible, he says. “Our position is that it should be there for a good community use provided we find someone who is in a position to operate it,” he said. ### Invitations to gamble shouldn’t be projected on city footpaths, say councillors URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/invitations-to-gamble-shouldnt-be-projected-on-city-streets-say-councillors/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T00:37:50.000Z On 3 December, a purple sign projected onto the pavement of Dorset Street Upper showed symbols of playing cards and the words: “Welcome to PowerslotCasino, free join membership, Get €10 match bet.” Green Party Councillor Janet Horner and independent Councillor Vincent Jackson both say they’ve seen similar projections in other parts of the city. Dublin City Council really needs to clamp down on this kind of advertising, they say. “I walked from the Mansion House back up to Francis Street last Sunday evening,” says Jackson. “There was another one, I have to say, projected onto the footpath, like down on the ground, and I was walking by, and I said, Jesus, how did that happen?” Horner says there are so many other gambling facilities on Dorset Street too. “If you have any issues with gambling, you really are being bombarded with images and advertising and incentives to gamble” “It’s very invasive and very in your face,” says Tony O’Reilly, a gambling addiction counsellor who is in recovery himself, speaking in general about gambling adverts projected onto the street. “It can be quite dangerous.” On-street advertising is more problematic than the adverts online or on TV in his view. “I think there is a problem of young people seeing it,” he says. Gambling facilities should also never be allowed to advertise free bets, says O’Reilly. New regulations are set to come into effect next year to govern gambling, including outdoor advertising like billboards, and a new regulatory authority will issue licences for in-person gambling facilities. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice says that the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland will take signage into account for licensing, including renewing licences for existing premises. ## **What about planning?** There is no planning application on the council planning database for a projecting sign at 54 Dorset Street Upper. Former council planner Kieran Rose says he thinks the projection of an advertisement onto the public footpath requires planning permission. The owners of Powerslot Casino haven’t responded to queries sent via staff in the shop, Facebook and to their accountants, about whether they believe the sign needs planning permission. Paddy Power bookies, further along the street at 93 Dorset Street, was granted [planning permission to revamp its shop front](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/161441?ref=dublininquirer.com) and applied for a projecting sign, which was refused, and it doesn’t display one. The planners knocked it back “in the interests of visual amenity”, it says. Horner, the Green Party councillor, says she previously pushed council officials to clamp down on the unauthorised banners in front of bookies which advertised betting on big sports events. Now she wants to add tackling illuminated and projected signs to the list, she said. On the south side of the city, meanwhile, Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, opposed a proposed casino in Dolphin’s Barn. “You should be able to go to the shops and not be bombarded with this,” says Pidgeon. He also pushed to have the opening of new slot machine facilities restricted in the city development plan, he says. The [plan](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-7-city-centre-urban-villages-and-retail/75-policies-and-objectives?ref=dublininquirer.com) contains a “presumption against adult shops, betting shops and gaming arcades in proximity to residential areas, places of public worship and schools”, and restricts an “excessive concentration of such uses” in other areas. Despite that restriction, Jackson, the independent councillor, says he’s seriously concerned about a proposal for a new gambling facility in Ballyfermot Road. He says he is objecting as it’s near multiple schools, so he hopes council planners will refuse it. “I'm going to be honest, it would make a lot of money, but the money it'll make, it'll create it on the back of the misery of people,” says Jackson. “I know what I'm talking about, I had a brother years ago who was addicted to those poker machines, and it was just soul-destroying looking at him, putting his money in every single Friday.” “He'd work for the week, he'd have nothing,” says Jackson, “and I mean nothing.” ## **New regulations** New gambling advertising rules are set to come into effect soon, and should in theory curb excessive on-street advertising. “We plan to open for phase 1 licensing in the next few weeks,” says a spokesperson for the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. Once it is operational, the authority is tasked with issuing licences to companies that offer gambling products. Once licensed, these companies will be bound by new rules. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 is a public-health measure aimed at protecting people from gambling harm, including younger people and those who are vulnerable. The new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland will oversee “tight restrictions on the advertisement of gambling activities”, they said. It will decide when and where gambling advertising can be broadcast, displayed or published, and specify the frequency and the duration of adverts, they said. “This power will allow the Authority to address the issue of gambling advertising on social media, online and on traditional media such as on television, radio, websites, apps, in print, and outdoor advertising such as billboards, etc,” they said. The authority will begin its licensing and enforcement functions on a phased basis from early next year, they said. “Section 98 of the Act requires that persons applying for an in-person gambling licence must provide the Authority of details of their premises, including information concerning the size and location of external space, signs and lighting,” says the spokesperson. “This information will be considered by the Authority in determining whether to issue or renew a licence,” they said. ### Confusion over whether survivors of mother and baby homes face hiked rents after redress payouts URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/confusion-over-whether-survivors-of-mother-and-baby-homes-face-hiked-rents-after-redress-payouts/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:44:31.000Z Survivors of mother and baby homes are being hurt by a lack of clarity around whether redress payments impact their housing supports, says Councillor Jesslyn Henry, of the Social Democrats. At December’s monthly meeting of Dublin City Council, Henry raised her concerns in a [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26366341-motions-on-notice-011225/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1), seconded by her party colleague Councillor Noelle Brown. Means tests for social-welfare payments often exclude one-off compensation payouts, the motion said. “But there is no published guidance in relation to housing supports and one-off payments to survivors of Mother and Baby Homes as part of [the redress scheme](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/campaigns/mother-and-baby-institutions-payment-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com),” it says. “This lack of clarity is causing stress and confusion for survivors accessing housing supports through city councils and county councils,” Henry’s motion said. Council tenants – and people who get the HAP housing subsidy to rent in the private sector – [pay a differential rent](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-council-rents-and-private-rents-both-rising-hap-tenants-are-squeezed-from-two-directions/), a percentage of their income. So an increase in income can lead to an increase in rent. Henry called on Dublin City Council to write to the Minister for Housing to request a directive be issued to all councils around Ireland, clarifying the matter. Brown was born in the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork. She never met her birth mother, who died nine years before Brown began efforts to track her down. Henry was born in St Patrick’s Mother and Baby Home on the Navan Road in Dublin. The confusion around the impact on housing supports is typical of schemes for survivors established by the government, says Brown. At the meeting, the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, said Dublin City Council’s position is that such payments “should not be classified as income and should be considered as a payment that is once-off and outside the regular pattern of a person's income”. His team would prepare a note for the Lord Mayor to send to the Department of Housing, to request it issue a directive clarifying the matter, he said. Does the department intend to do that? A spokesperson for the department said on Thursday said that local authorities may already decide to disregard one-off payments, which are outside of the regular pattern of a person’s annual income. They pointed to the department’s [policy on](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26372027-social-housing-support-household-means-policy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) social housing supports, which says that in general terms. “While the Mother and Baby Institution Payment Scheme is not specifically mentioned, it would fall under this category,” said the spokesperson. The department has not responded to a follow-up question, asking if they would explicitly add the redress payments to the list of acceptable one-off payments to ensure there is no possible confusion. ## **A terrible history** Ireland has a “terrible history of incarceration”, Henry told the council meeting. “Women who did nothing wrong but to be pregnant out of wedlock.” Survivors have finally been recognised with the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, she said. The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 was established “for the purpose of the making of payments and the making available without charge of health services” to survivors, the Oireachtas [website](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2022/97/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says. And to “provide for the making by such persons of applications for such payments and services”. But some survivors now face challenges because councils are unsure if they should be charged greater rents because of the payouts, Henry said. The[ legislation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26366294-tax-treatment-mother-baby-institutions-redress-07-01-45/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) is clear that such payments are tax-exempt. But nowhere is it explicit that the redress payments shouldn’t impact housing supports, Henry said. Brown said that it’s not the only compensation scheme for survivors set up by the government that has been undermined by confusion. The [enhanced medical card](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/medical-card-from-the-mother-and-baby-institutions-payment-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for survivors is another example, she said. This is a lifelong, non-means tested card entitling holders to free GP services, approved prescriptions, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, home nursing, physiotherapy and counselling, among other services. For many survivors, she says, these cards proved “absolutely worthless” because they are not widely known and accepted. People tried to use them and ended up in public spaces having to explain what the card was, she says. “They had to go into all their personal details in public, violating their privacy, says Brown. “Then they would ring the HSE and go, ‘I can't use my card because nobody knows what it is’.” Often staff in the HSE hadn't a clue what the card was either, she says. “So, it's following on from that. You’ve put a redress scheme in place, and you haven't thought about the impact on housing supports,” she says. The redress scheme had a rocky start, says Brown, as it began by excluding 40 percent of survivors – 28,000 people. This exclusion occurred because the eligibility criteria for the payments requires a child to have spent at least 180 days in a relevant institution, as then-Minister for Children, the Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman [said](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-01-22/1243/?ref=dublininquirer.com#pq-answers-1243%5F1244) in January. Then, “For survivors, mostly older people who managed to navigate a difficult online process to apply, they were forced to sign a waiver in order to receive payment,” Brown said at the council meeting. Signing that waiver [means that](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth-family-relationships/adoption-and-fostering/mother-and-baby-institutions-payment-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=The%20Payment%20Scheme%20Office%20sends,Payments) survivors agree not to take any further action against the state related to your experience. Brown has communicated directly with people who have been impacted by the housing-support confusion, she says. Already, these payments are paltry, she says. “I mean, €5,000 for the loss of your child through forced adoption or death, and no records of burial a lot of the time.” Survivors have started to say that they wish they'd never applied for their redress, she says. “Which is appalling.” Henry’s own mother hasn’t bothered applying, Henry said by phone last week. Her mother asked her, “What’s the point?”, she says. It would take months to get documentation together, she said to Henry. While it’s sad, Henry says she also completely understands her mother’s decision. “And if my mam's not doing it, how many other people aren’t doing it?” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Discuss the future of the arts, acquire merch, study the ethnographer’s gaze URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-discuss-the-future-of-the-arts-acquire-merch-study-the-ethnographers-gaze/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:44:23.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **The Complex Public Meeting** After The Complex arts centre announced last week that they were being evicted, the venue and studio space received waves of support, with a [petition](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/save-the-complex-in-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com) addressed to the Arts Council and Dublin City Council gathering more than 13,400 signatures in seven days. [On Tuesday](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1042743/start%5Ftime/1298000?force%5Flanguage%5Fcode=en%5FGB&ref=dublininquirer.com), Green Party Councillor Janet Horner suggested that, were the venue unable to remain in its current building, there may be a suitable alternative in the council-owned auction house around the corner at 114 to 116 Capel Street. And later today (Thursday, 11 December) the venue’s board and its CEO Vanessa Fielding will be hosting a public meeting to discuss ideas to protect its future. The meeting will begin at 5:30pm, and according to their [Instagram page](https://www.instagram.com/p/DR4s6JXjAWz/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com), they have invited representatives from both the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to attend. Following the meeting, if you want to show the Complex support, they will be hosting a Christmas Market in The Depot on Saturday, 13 December, from 11am, and beginning on Wednesday, 17 December, they will be staging a “marathon public event” to raise awareness around their campaign, featuring a range of performances. That will run until 19 December, with further details to be announced in the coming days. For further updates, follow The Complex on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/complexdublin/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Uncertain Ethnographers*: Short Films From South East Asia** Over in Phibsborough this evening, A4 Sounds is organising a fundraiser in aid of South-East Asia floods relief. Since November, the tropical cyclones Senyar and Ditwah, alongside powerful monsoons, have caused catastrophic floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. In direct response to these devastating natural disasters, A4 Sounds, the studio and gallery space, will be screening five short films to raise funds that will be going directly to vetted relief efforts in the affected regions. *Uncertain Ethnographers* is curated by film researcher Dini Adanurani and visual artist Nguyễn-Võ Bảo Hân, and puts on show the works of contemporary South-East Asian artists, focusing on themes of colonialism, land and the ethnographic gaze. Initially planned by the curators to address the underrepresentation of South-East Asian art in Dublin’s cultural scene, its purpose has been reshaped in response to the ongoing natural disaster. Released by artists from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines between 2017 and 2025, the films due to be screened are *Here We Are* by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn, *Before the Sea Forgets* by Lê Ngọc Duy, *Letters from Panduranga* by Nguyen Thrin Thi, *A Tale of the Crocodile’s Twin* by Taufiqurrahman Kifu and *To Pick A Flower* by Shireen Seno. *Uncertain Ethnographers* starts at 7pm, and tickets are available [here](https://a4sounds.org/uncertain-ethnographers/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Wolfe Tone lecture** On Saturday, Ringsend & Districts Historical Society is organising a lecture on republican and United Irishmen founder Theobald Wolfe Tone. Titled *Five Years That Shook The World*, the lecture traces the origins of Irish Republicanism back to Irishtown in 1790, where Wolfe Tone and his fellow United Irishman Thomas Russell discussed their ideals while walking along the beach. As well as framing the role of Irishtown in the emergence of Republicanism, it also look at the area’s significance during this revolutionary period, and will explore where and why Wolfe Tone resided there. The talk will be held in the Ringsend Irishtown Community Centre on Thorncastle Street at 2pm. Admission is free. For more information, contact Ringsend & District Historical Society at ringsenddistricthistorical@gmail.com. **Afterwardness and Vsevlod Plotkin, The Hut** As Christmas nears, the onslaught of saccharine Christmas playlists that refuse to acknowledge a single track off *A Charlie Brown Christmas* intensifies, and if you are in dire need of a minor musical gear change, The Hut in Phibsborough might be your saving grace. The Dublin 7 venue will be hosting an evening of oddballs and noiseniks, including the three-piece experimental outfit [Afterwardness](https://afterwardness.bandcamp.com/album/ding-dong?ref=dublininquirer.com), Birmingham-based bassist, composer and improviser [Si Paton](https://scpaton.bandcamp.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), the very lo-fi and high-concept punk outfit [Vsevlok Plotkin](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-a-gig-on-the-north-bull-wall-an-experimental-punk-band-reclaims-the-city/), and Pink Glasses, the experimental punk project by drummer and filmmaker Temmuz Süreyya Gürbüz and guitarist Aonghus McEvoy. It is a gig that could go in any direction considering the last time I saw Vsevlod Plotkin, they distributed instruments among the crowd, and departed while the audience continued to play for another ten minutes. The gig starts at 7:30pm sharp. Admission is €10. **Merchy Christmas** Continuing this newsletter’s annual tradition of gift recommendations, this week we are suggesting Merchy Christmas, the annual artist and music market over in the Grand Social. Running across Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December, the market will see more than 80 artists selling their merchandise, including Æ MAK, Gilla Band, [Lankum](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-lankum-are-the-best-ticket-in-town/), [Just Mustard](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-just-mustard-still-defy-categorisation/), Courtesy, [Tebi Rex](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-the-eternal-truths-of-ireland-s-golden-age-hip-hop-revivalists/), the [Murder Capital](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-on-the-murder-capital-s-when-i-have-fears/) and [Pillow Queens](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-pillow-queens-won-t-wait-for-the-spin-to-die/). Also on the line-up are a few DJs and a raffle, for those who are fond of gambling with relatively decent odds. Plus, many of the artists on the bill will be selling their merch in person, so you can get all those burning questions ready, like “can I join the band?”, “do you write the songs, or just make them up on the spot?” and “where did you buy your Boss TU-3W Chromatic Tuner?” Entry is free. But there is a suggested donation of €6 on the door. For more information, visit the Merchy Christmas website [here](https://www.merchychristmas.com/?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnIJGjYNa08ucgRHjcw2YJtE2VucDS2ya6UhL48D1f0hRGIoA4OsOp9oI5tNE%5Faem%5FNdcTYYeWJXeTKFIF66-xZg). **Even In The Darkest Time, Ranelagh Arts** Last week, Ranelagh Arts launched its new winter exhibition: Even in the Darkest Time, in support of Médecins Sans Frontières and their ongoing work in Gaza. Curated by Taffina Flood and Ria Czerniak, the exhibition boasts an impressive range of talent, including artists Aideen Barry, Rachel Fallon, Maser, Corban Walker, Joy Gerrard and [Nicole Manning](https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-draws-inspiration-from-the-tangled-peace-of-a-donabate-forest/). The gallery has been packed out with a total of 124 works up and on sale, in case you’re looking to fill a stocking with a canvas-sized gift. The exhibition will run until 9 January. For more information, visit the Ranelagh Arts website [here](https://www.ranelagharts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **APNI Awards and Gala Night** On Saturday night, 13 December, the African Professional Network of Ireland is holding its Awards and Gala Night at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin 8. The event aims to celebrate the achievements of Black and African professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders in Ireland. APNI Awards and Gala Night starts at 6pm. To book your tickets, visit the event page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/apni-awards-and-gala-night-tickets-1839426497169?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Love in the Lav* launch** On 23 January, Dr Averill Earl’s book [*Love in the Lav: A Social Biography of Same-Sex Desire in Ireland, 1922-1972*](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-book-documents-queer-lives-in-newly-independent-ireland/) will be launched at the Irish Georgian Society on South William Street. Using courtroom testimonies, police records and family history archives, Earl’s book documents queer lives in newly independent Ireland. Starting at 6pm on Friday, 23 January, the launch will consist of a short talk by Earls, followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Tom Hulme and Dr Páraic Kerrigan. To book a spot, visit the event’s page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/love-in-the-lav-by-dr-averill-earls-talk-and-panel-discussion-tickets-1711771126519?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Solstice Light: Art in Winter** Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality in Sandycove launched a new curated exhibition, ‘Solstice Light: Art in Winter’ earlier this month. Running until 25 January, the exhibition celebrated the turning of the seasons, and features the work of artists; Antonio D’Souza, Viktoriia Yevsiukova, Gillian Lambe, Jane McCloskey, Jessica Rodrigues, Avril Murphy Allen, Mary Cullen Kelly, Ruth Egan, Stephen Doody, Hina Khan and Mary Moynihan. Admission is free and donations are welcome. For more information, email: admin@smashingtimes.ie If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### In Dublin 15, councillors want to name a park for a local cycling legend URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-dublin-15-councillors-want-to-name-a-park-for-a-local-cycling-legend/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T13:18:54.000Z A landmark somewhere in Dublin 15 should be renamed after celebrated cyclist Bertie Donnelly, says Labour Party Councillor Mary McCamley. A park or maybe a road, she said, at a meeting of the council’s local area committee on 4 December. Donnelly ran a pub in Mulhuddart for years, she said, and his cycling achievements are worth remembering. "We have our own very famous cyclist, and nothing has been done,” McCamley said. "It is a brilliant story, and we are not recognising it, nor are we celebrating it.” McCamley read out Donnelly’s achievements – the tens of races, both national and international, that he won through his lengthy career. Councillors at the meeting maybe knew his name, she said, as it was also the name of the pub, which closed its doors not too many years ago. “I think if anybody lived or went through Mulhuddart, they would have seen the pub called Bertie Donnelly,” she said. “It was there for years and years and years.” McCamley pointed to other lost landmarks in the area, [including the](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-mulhuddart-a-councillor-still-wants-a-bridge-taken-out-of-storage/) old stone bridge from 1885 which has been dismantled and put into storage. “Now we’re not celebrating the things that we should be celebrating in our area,” she said. She suggested renaming Damastown Park, just behind the old pub site, in honour of Bertie Donnelly. Renaming a park after Donnelly, though, might not be possible just now because of legal problems with the renaming process nationally. Or, at least, that’s what Dublin city councillors [were told recently](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28198839-shakespeare-statement-on-herzog-park-denaming/?ref=dublininquirer.com) when they tried to change the name of Herzog Park and name a park after Terence Wheelock. And, in Cork, councillors [ran into similar trouble](https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-41752914.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) trying to rename Bishop Lucey Park. ## More permanent Donnelly was born in 1894\. He was “the most successful Irish cyclist in the inter-War years”, according to the Cycling Ireland [Hall of Fame](https://www.cyclingireland.ie/about-us/history/hall-of-fame/?ref=dublininquirer.com) web page. He won 61 Irish national track titles between 1921 and 1940, it says. He set four Irish records and represented Ireland in the Olympics and World Championships, it says. An obituary in the *Irish Times* in 1977 described Donnelly as a “father figure” of Irish cycling, who would come out and chat with schoolboys and seniors competing in races that started and ended in Mulhuddhart. He considered winning the British championship in 1935 as the high point of his career, the article said. “I don’t think I have ever been so near dying with effort,” he was reported as saying at the time. Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell said he knew the pub that bore Donnelly’s name – which later became the Shanty. “I was actually a regular in Bertie Donnelly’s as a child, if you can call a child a regular in a pub,” he said. Photos of Donnelly lined the walls. The pub had also been a starting and finishing point for cycle races over the years McCamley said – including for her own brothers. McCamley had raised the idea of the naming before about 10 years back, she says. “And nothing ever happened.” This time she wants movement. Councillors chimed in, agreeing with the motion. "This is an excellent idea,” said Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy. Donnelly’s descendents remain in the area, Leddy said. “You know, I was actually taught by a granddaughter of his in school. I'd be friendly with some of her kids.” Leddy said he is on the council’s naming committee, and area councillors should formally write to the committee so it lands on the next agenda, he said. Said Fianna Fáil’s John-Kingsley Onwumereh: “This is really practical heritage, which, you know, to a large extent we don't often highlight well enough.” Schoolchildren could learn about a local figure whose achievements were positive, he said. Labour Councillor John Walsh called it “an absolute no-brainer”. Dublin 15 doesn’t do enough to mark its own history, Walsh said. “I would have known very little about him. And I think we need to remedy that.” Ciara O hAodha, asenior executive officer at Fingal County Council,told councillors that the motion would go to the naming committee in early 2026\. “We will convene them in January,” she said. McCamley told management she didn’t want the proposal to sit idle for another seven years. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Under orders from government, Fingal plans to rezone even more land for housing URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/under-orders-from-government-fingal-plans-to-rezone-even-more-land-for-housing/ Last updated: 2025-12-11T11:38:34.000Z To meet demands from the central government for more land to build more homes on, Fingal plans to rezone more land residential – and look to its land reserves in Dunsink and Lissenhall, according to [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363314-chief-executives-report-on-the-national-planning-framework-npf-implementation-housing-growth-re/?q=lissenhall&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p18) by the council’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly. To meet targets in the council’s current county development plan, for the years 2023 to 2029, there’s more than enough zoned land in Fingal, says the report, presented to councillors at their monthly meeting on Monday. But, back in April, the government increased targets, under its [revised](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364066-national-planning-framework-first-revision-april-2025-1/?q=50%2C000&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p12) National Planning Framework (NPF). The council’s target in the development plan was for the construction of 2,738 homes a year, the [report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363314-chief-executives-report-on-the-national-planning-framework-npf-implementation-housing-growth-re/?q=2%2C738&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p4). Now, the new annual target is set at 3,153, she said, and if they add an extra 50 percent just in case, that rises to 4,730 a year, it says. In accordance with these updated guidelines, the council will also need to revise its current development plan to take on board these new figures, Róisín Burke, Fingal’s senior planner told councillors at the meeting. To make this possible, the report recommends that the council rezone more land “to ensure a robust supply of residential zoned land to 2029 and beyond”. Those would need to be areas that are serviced, and in proximity to good social infrastructure, Burke said. [If councils rezone more land, will it really speed up house-building? - Dublin InquirerThere is debate over whether there is a shortage of residentially zoned land and what’s holding homes up.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-450.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/file-photo-of-construction-by-donal-corrigan-scaled.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-councils-rezone-more-land-will-it-speed-up-house-building/) The report says the council is on the hunt now for lands to rezone residential. So far, it’s ruled out lands now zoned as “high amenity”, “at this point”. “High Amenity areas are the most sensitive parts of the County and include important habitats, landscapes, and heritage features,” the report says. “The High Amenity zoning is intended to protect the most scenic and environmentally valuable lands in the County and to reinforce their character, distinctiveness and sense of place,” it says. They’re also not planning to rezone lands with “economic zonings” such as “General Employment” or “High Technology”, “at this time”. “It is recognised that demand for employment land remains strong in Fingal in the context of continued economic growth,” the report says. In addition to rezoning some – as yet unidentified – lands not currently zoned residential, the report also recommends that the council “provide for the release of lands currently zoned for residential development but designated as Long-Term Strategic Reserve”. Including at Dunsink and Lissenhall. The council is continuing to prepare a local area plan for Dunsink, said Burke. “We believe the early release of lands there can help accommodate some of this shortfall.” Located just north of Blanchardstown and Ashtown, the council owns more than 1,000 acres at Dunsink. Council officials said, [back in September 2024](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-pushing-for-faster-housing-in-dunsink-pop-up-cctv-and-interrogating-delivery-drones/), that they foresee around 7,000 homes being developed on those lands over a 20-year period. Councillors have been pushing for a faster timeline. The local area plan for Dunsink – setting out the shape of how the council envisions the lands being developed – is expected to be published next March, Burke said. [Lissenhall](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-expected-impact-of-metrolink-spotlights-a-shortage-of-pitches/), north of Swords, consists of 224 hectares of mixed-use land, but it isn’t suitable for development at present, the report says. “These lands require improvements to surrounding transport infrastructure including the progression of the Metrolink,” it says. That plan, in turn, is held up at the moment by [a judicial review](https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/12/08/permission-granted-for-metrolink-judicial-review-in-advance-of-proposed-mediation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by a group of residents of Ranelagh, who live near the southern end of the proposed Metrolink route. Is it only the plans for the Metrolink that Fingal is waiting on? Fine Gael Councillor Aoibhinn Tormey asked at the meeting. “If it’s not, I think we need to try and be moving to make those lands ready as well.” Lissenhall remains part of the council’s long-term strategic reserve due to the fact that the Metrolink is the main piece of infrastructure required there, Burke said. “It would be our intention to prepare a statutory plan, or have that available coming onstream in 2029 when the next development plan comes into date,” she said. It will also need a local area plan too, Burke said. "That’s the type of thing, we’ll be looking at dealing with getting together and being ready for the adoption of the next development plan.” At the meeting, councillors agreed to officially “note” the report. ### Fingal increases levy on developers, and directs more income from it toward parks URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-increases-levy-on-developers-and-directs-more-income-from-it-toward-parks/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:43:30.000Z Fingal County Council has agreed to increase its levy on new housing and commercial development and direct more of the funding it brings in towards parks and open spaces. Based on analysis carried out by the consulting firm EY, the newly raised levies could bring in a yield of €312 million between 2026 and 2030, Brian Murray, a senior executive officer at the council, told councillors at their monthly meeting on Monday. The council plans to spend that, according to an “indicative” list, on [things like](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364542-item-17-final-draft-contribution-scheme-2026-30-051225-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the ongoing process of turning Balleally landfill into [Rogerstown Park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-forward-with-transformation-of-balleally-landfill-into-rogerstown-park/), turning another landfill into Dunsink Park, developing [Baldoyle Racecourse Park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-unveils-designs-for-new-community-and-sports-centre-near-racecourse-park-in-baldoyle/), turning Donabate’s [Ballisk House into a library](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donabate-ballisk-house-is-to-go-ahead-as-a-library-councillors-vote/), and much more. This is all part of Fingal’s new development contributions scheme for 2026 to 2030, which councillors approved on Monday. Under these schemes – every council has one – a developer is required to submit a sum of money towards public infrastructure and facilities in the county when the council grants planning permission for a development. There is the possibility that the decision could be overridden in future, by changes drawn up by national government. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing has said that it is carrying out a [review of how ](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/development-contributions-and-land-assembly/?ref=dublininquirer.com)development contributions work. “This review will consider the impact of contributions on the viability of housing projects,” they said earlier this month. “It will balance this consideration with the need for resources for the infrastructure that is necessary to support the delivery of housing, and the facilities that will result in the creation of sustainable and well-balanced communities,” they said. “The specific methodology of this review is being actively examined by officials – including what necessary legislative and policy changes would be involved as well as engagement with key stakeholders,” said the spokesperson. ## The Fingal scheme, for now At the moment, under Fingal’s existing scheme, which expires at the end of the month, the council collects a levy of €132.68 per square metre in any residential development. From 1 January, the new scheme proposes increasing that to €134.67, according to slides shown to councillors at Monday’s meeting. Meanwhile, the rate for industrial and commercial developments is making a similar slight increase, rising from €103.61 to €105.16 per square metre. Both rates have gone up by 1.5 percent, with this increase being applied by the council for inflation, according to a [report circulated to councillors](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363313-draft-development-contribution-scheme-2026-2030/?q=retention&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p7). While the new Fingal scheme sets a base rate for the first year, this then [rises each year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364693-item-17-final-draft-contribution-scheme-2026-30-051225-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p8)based on annual inflation in the costs of building things – unless councillors decide otherwise. The new scheme also looks again at things like, what parts of a development are exempt from the levy: the first 40sqm of a residential extension; bike storage in apartment complexes; playing pitches and tennis courts; non-fee-paying schools; nonprofit creches; and more. Including “[Airport Operational Infrastructure](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364693-item-17-final-draft-contribution-scheme-2026-30-051225-1/?mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p13) which does not provide floorspace (such as kerbs, roads, apron areas, public transport infrastructure, taxiways and storage areas required to operate an airport).” The new scheme sets rates for how much a developer has to pay to get out of building all or part of the open space requirement for a particular development. The council has also put into the new scheme an increased charge for the retention of permission, Murray said at the meeting. So if someone builds something without permission and then goes to the council for forgiveness (“retention permission”), they’ll “be charged a multiple of two times the appropriate rates” in development levy. “The charge for retention development permissions is considered reasonable to discourage unauthorised development,” said a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363313-draft-development-contribution-scheme-2026-2030/?q=retention&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/) to councillors at the meeting Monday. The scheme also sets out what types of things the council will spend the money brought in by the levy on. Under the new scheme, half of every euro that comes in will go towards funding transportation and active travel infrastructure, he said. That allocation of 50 percent has decreased from 55 percent under the old scheme, slides showed at the meeting. Similarly, the allocation for surface water infrastructure and facilities, including those for flood relief, has been lowered from 5 percent to 1 percent. The increase is for community and park facilities and amenities, which have risen from 40 to 49 percent, with this also set to cover open space amenities, tourism, culture, library development, regeneration and biodiversity infrastructure, Murray said. ## Attempted amendment There were some good elements in the new scheme, particularly the provision to put a higher rate on retention applications, said Green Party Councillor David Healy, at the meeting. But Healy tabled a motion to amend it, proposing that residential and commercial developments pay the same rate: €120.50 per square metre. That’d be a decrease for residential development and an increase for commercial. “I would think that, given the housing challenges that we face, throughout certainly the Dublin area, there’s something to be argued for that,” he said. Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh said Healy’s motion could incentivise housing development by reducing costs. “Now, we will be transferring the burden onto industrial development. There’s no question that there’s some consequences for that.” But, this might be sending the wrong message to sectors that the council is trying to invite to build in Fingal, said independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin. “I think the proposed changes are very slight. Yet, they are providing us the funding that is necessary in order to deliver our capital programme.” Healy’s proposed rate would bring in about the same yield for the council, Murray said. “The development potential is slightly different between residential and non-residential.” But he said council managers would be in favour of leaving the scheme as it is. “We feel it’s a reasonable balance.” Healy’s motion was defeated in a vote, with 16 votes for it, 18 against, and one abstention. And then councillors agreed to recommend the [un-amended scheme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364542-item-17-final-draft-contribution-scheme-2026-30-051225-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) be adopted by the council. ### In Drimnagh, council rolls on with plans to remake Suir Road junction URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-rolls-on-with-plans-to-remake-suir-road-junction/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T12:00:15.000Z As stormy winds swept through Drimnagh on Tuesday afternoon, a Luas bound for Saggart came to a halt at the Suir Road stop. Waiting across the junction were two long lines of traffic, both travelling north from the Dolphin Road and the adjacent Slievenamon Road. While the cars, vans and lorries paused, a few cyclists took the opportunity to cross the road. It’s a difficult spot for cyclists, says Colm Ryder of the Dublin Cycling Campaign on Tuesday evening. “It’s a multi-faceted junction. The orientation is very difficult.” It’s a car-dominant junction with a poor layout, only two controlled-crossing points for pedestrians, and none for cyclists, said Gráinne O'Brien, a council senior executive engineer, at a meeting of the council’s South East Area Committee on Monday afternoon. “This junction has been described as terrible to cross, and notoriously dangerous,” O’Brien said. Between 2016 and 2023, a total of 11 collisions at the junction that links up the Suir, Davitt, Dolphin and Slievenamon roads were reported to the Road Safety Authority, according to a presentation shown to councillors at the meeting. Two of those involved pedestrians, and another two cyclists, with the remaining seven being vehicular collisions, the presentation says. Now, the council is planning a redesign to make the junction safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and less congested for buses, Luases, and private-vehicle drivers. “Overall, it would be safer for all modes,” O’Brien said. The presentation Monday showed councillors the current version of the redesign, incorporating feedback from a public consultation. The plan, now, is to start construction next summer, the presentation said. ## Losing a few arms Right now, the Suir Road junction is operating at its capacity, said O’Brien, the council senior engineer, at the meeting on Monday. “And it has an awful lot of delays.” Daily, it gets 800 cyclists, more than 5,000 pedestrians, and 87 buses travelling north and southbound, [according to slides](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s50948/Suir%20Road%20Presentation%20SEA%20Dec%202025.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) shown to councillors. The junction at the moment is like a giant asterisk, with several roads intersecting, as well as a Luas line, and the Grand Canal – with walking/cycling paths alongside it. ![A photo of the junction now, from the council presentation.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Suir-Road.jpg) A photo of the junction now, from the council presentation. The junction now has five road “arms”. The council is planning to reduce that to three, O’Brien said. “The three arms here would be the Davitt Road, Suir Road and Dolphin Road.” A section of Slievenamon Road which connects directly into the junction would be closed off to make way for a walking route with planters, benches and cycle stands on a small grassy island, according to slides shown to councillors. Just before the junction and what’s now a grassy island, the road also links into the adjoining Dolphin Road, and this small stretch would remain in use for vehicles, slides show. By closing off part of Slievenamon, the aim would be to give the three remaining arms of the main junction more green-light time, O’Brien said. “And we’ll optimise the traffic signals and rebalance the timings of all the traffic flowing through the junction.” That would reduce a lot of delays, she said. Bus services right now are heavily impacted by congestion at the junction, she said. “Information that we’ve got there from the bus operator has told us of up to twenty-five minutes delay on this bus service.” Closing one arm of Slievenamon and adding in a northbound bus gate on the other would allow buses to jump the queue, she said. “They’ll get a green light to get priority to get out into Dolphin Road.” That should enable them to travel across the junction more efficiently, she said. ## Controlled crossings Many of the pedestrians currently using the junction are going to the Suir Road Luas stop, yet there are only two existing controlled crossings – across Davitt Road and Suir Road, O’Brien said. “They’re very long crossings.” But there are no controlled crossings over either Slievenamon or Dolphin Road**,** she said. “These locations have no tactile paving, and there’s no connection to the canal tow path here from Dolphin Road.” As part of the new upgrades, there would be signalised pedestrian crossings, including tactile pavings for people with visual impairments at all three arms, she said. To better the area for cyclists, the proposed upgrades would put in protected crossings across the junction, a signalised crossing over Suir Road, as well as better links to the Grand Canal, and the futurePortobello to Blackhorse route, she said. Currently, there is a [future active travel](https://www.dublincity.ie/travel-and-transport/active-travel/active-travel-schemes/south-central-area/portobello-blackhorse-active-travel-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) route linking Drimnagh to Portobello that will see upgrades to the path, she said. But that is still at the feasibility and option stage. “But our design here will connect into the existing facility that is there. The next step for the works is for the council’s consultants to complete a detailed design, she said. “And then the plan is to go out to tender in the Spring of next year.” Construction is then hoped to begin in the summer, she said. But before then, they will need to do a community event and some leaflet drops to residents in the area. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Drimnagh-junction-crossing-at-Suir-Road-Luas-stop-source-Michael-Lanigan.JPG) The junction Tuesday. Photo by Michael Lanigan. ## Two or 800 opinions The council carried out a public consultation between June and August 2024 on the plans, and there is still a lot of anger about that among residents in the area, saidIndependents 4 ChangeCouncillor Pat Dunne. “Their views have effectively been ignored.” The council counted 273 submissions, Dunne said, citing numbers from a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364760-suir-road-junction-public-consultation-report-nov-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on the results of the consultation. Of those, “61 percent were broadly in favour” of the proposed changes, Dunne said. Then there were 16 percent that were neutral, and 23 percent that were broadly opposed, he said. The problem was, there were two submissions with very large numbers of signatories, Dunne said. According to a council report on the consultation, one extensive, detailed email submission from local residents’ group Dynamic Drimnagh had 570 signatories, and a further postal submission supporting Dynamic Drimnagh Group included 223 signatures. These submissions welcomed upgrades to the junctions, but were not in favour of closing off Slievenamon Road as the gateway into Drimnagh, [the report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26364760-suir-road-junction-public-consultation-report-nov-2025/?q=223&mode=search&ref=dublininquirer.com). “The submission notes lack of consideration given to residents living on Slievenamon Road, Dolphin Road, Mourne Road or Galtymore Road in terms of increased traffic from Dolphin Road east resulting in a heavier flow of traffic along Slievenamon Road.” The majority of residents believe the closure of part of Slievenamon Road is unnecessary and will lead to chaos, Dunne said. It would block off the main artery into Drimnagh, says Patricia Ryan, Dynamic Drimnagh’s liaison officer, speaking on Monday night after the meeting. “They could still go ahead with their plan. Just re-design Slievenamon Road. Even move the road slightly so that you create a safety barrier.” Slievenamon Road isn’t the issue, she says. “The problem is Dolphin Road. It’s not the cars or the buses travelling from Slievenamon Road. They’re nearer the junction, they can get through it quicker.” At the meeting, O’Brien said the council is committed to doing surveys before and after the works, to see what effect the bus gate and the closing of that segment of Slievenamon will have on the network, O’Brien said. ### Piles of washed-up shellfish along Fingal’s coast prompt idea of mollusc paramedics URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/piles-of-washed-up-shellfish-along-fingals-coast-prompt-idea-of-mollusc-paramedics/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T23:35:27.000Z Doug Finnegan walked out of the water in a swimsuit and sea shoes to protect his feet from the stings of weever fish. He has swum in the sea every day at 6am for decades, he says. Although not always here, at Portmarnock Beach, and today he had come for the afternoon because it was a Sunday, he says. He definitely spotted the piles of razor clams and other shellfish that washed up here and all along the coast in mid-November, says Finnegan. Most of them looked dead. They were everywhere, he says. It was a sight. Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh noticed it too, taking videos of of Portmarnock beach that show the dead sea life blanketing the shore as far as the lens could see, and constituents sent him messages and pictures too. He’s seen shellfish washed up before, he says. “But this was on a different scale.” “There were tens of thousands of live, dead and dying shellfish, of lots of different types,” he said. “There were crabs.” McDonagh shared a photo a friend sent him of a dead seal washed up on the shore. Locals asked him about it too, he says – wondering what was behind it and, in particular, whether dredging and razor clam fishing was responsible for the scale of the drift. Karin Dubsky, an environmental scientist and director of Coastwatch Ireland, said it is more likely that aggressive winds brought by Storm Claudia were to blame. Climate change makes those conditions more frequent, she says. “It was virtually sure to be the storm because of the pattern of how it happened," said Dubsky. What she would like to see, she says, is the council to work with Coastwatch Ireland to set up a volunteer response to such events, which are set to become more frequent. Trained locals could go down and identify those shellfish which are intact and alive and return them, at least, to the sea, she says. “And you would hope that at least some of them would survive.” ## At the area committee At a meeting of the council’s Howth/Mahahide Area Committee on 3 December, McDonagh asked if officials would investigate what had caused the mass death. He got one line back, from Hans Visser, the biodiversity officer: “It is difficult to ascertain whether the storm or the shellfish dredging or both cause the wash up of dead sealife.” It’s not in the council’s remit to study this, said Gemma Carr, a senior executive parks and landscape officer at the council, at the meeting. She would think it would be under the Marine Institute, she said. But Dubsky said, really it’s not in their remit either. “We didn't report it to the Marine Institute because we knew they're going to do nothing about it,” she said. The Marine Institute is a state agency that [says its remit is to provide](https://www.marine.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “scientific and technical advice to the government to inform policy and support the sustainable development of Ireland's marine resources”. McDonagh, the Labour councillor, said that it wasn’t the first time there’s been such a big wash-up of dead sea creatures on Fingal’s shore. He recalled an earlier case, about a decade back, that was down to the water suddenly becoming really cold, he said. “We got a much bigger scale of fish life that died all the way across the coast.” He wasn’t convinced that it was primarily the dredging, he says, because the clams were in the shells. But it does raise concerns about the intensification of dredging for clams in the area, he said, and the impact of that. Joan Hopkins, a Social Democrats councillor, said she had asked her party colleague, Jennifer Whitmore TD, to ask about whether all the fishing was legal. They said they had to contact the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), which she did – but she hasn’t heard anything back. A spokesperson for the Marine Institute said that its Fish Health Unit hasn’t received any reports of dead fish or other marine life washing up on Portmarnock or Gormanston beaches. The Fish Health Unit would carry out a formal investigation if there was suspicion of an aquatic disease, they said. “Sudden mass mortality events like this are generally related to environmental events.” At the meeting, councillors agreed to write to the SFPA together, to ask questions around dredging regulations. ## Signs of storms At the meeting, Green Party Councillor David Healy said one indication that it was the stormy weather in this instance, not the dredging to blame, was that it was all along the coast that was affected. Dubsky, of Coastwatch Ireland, expanded on that. Within a day of Storm Claudia, the NGO had started to get reports from Balbriggan of sea life washing up, which was three inches thick. And, the same up the coast, at Portrane, and upwards into Louth, she said. “What we think is happening is that the weather patterns are changing,” she said. An onshore wind doesn’t have to be that strong, but it can be prolonged, she said, and the waves break on the sand. Those waves churn up the bottom sediment where all these animals live. “And as those are pushed, you know, into the water column, the next wave pushes them on a little bit more towards shore,” she says. “And if you have this prolonged wind for two or three days, then you can have this mass death.” She would love to see a motion calling on the council to set up a response to that with volunteers, she said. They could put the sea life into buckets, or aquaria, wait for the weather to calm down, and put them back into the sea when the time is right. "We have done it on a small scale, on a pilot scale, in Ballymoney in North Wexford, where you just ask as many people as possible to come with big buckets,” she said. She would like to see a meeting with council biodiversity officers to explore options, she says. “Different areas need different responses.” She said there’s certain special shellfish on Dublin’s coast – like a mollusk found on the coast here – Arctica islandica. They can live for hundreds of years. “We are lucky to have it. But I could really see that, within my lifetime, it could … it could be gone, even from storm frequency,” she said. It’s a species like that, that volunteers should intervene to try to rescue, she said. “Let's try and selectively get those which are very threatened by storms like that.” “If you have really high-value \[in terms of biodiversity\] shellfish washed up, which could survive, and people are just sad and walk all over them, then, you know, we have done nothing,” she said. “But at least we should try to do something.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Fund.* ### Council points to department rules, as it opts out of deals to keep families facing homelessness in their homes URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-points-to-department-rules-as-it-opts-out-of-deals-to-keep-families-facing-homelessness-in-their-homes/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:43:47.000Z Social Democrats Councillor Mary Callaghan raised the case of a single mother with four children, who is facing homelessness, at December’s monthly council meeting of Dublin City Council. The landlord has said they need to sell the home in Finglas and so issued the family with a notice to leave. The council looked at buying it under the anti-homelessness tenant-in-situ scheme, turning it into a social home, and keeping them in it as tenants. But the family recently learnt that was not to be, says Callaghan. “They’ve been told that they can not avail of tenant-in-situ because the property needs maintenance.” Callaghan contrasted that with another case she dealt with two years back. It also involved a single-parent family, she said. Then, the council bought the home even though it didn’t plan to refurbish it straight away, she says. “They were told that the maintenance would be done in a few years’ time.” “Families and children are being made homeless coming up to Christmas and it’s just not good enough,” said Callaghan. Ruth Dowling, a senior executive officer, at the meeting, pointed to changed rules from the Department of Housing to explain the different response. The department won’t reimburse councils anymore for money spent on refurbishing homes bought under tenant-in-situ, Dowling said. “We are aware of the difficulties that this is causing.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said that it had a limited budget itself to fund the maintenance on homes acquired under the tenant-in-situ scheme. But it is engaging with the department, they said. “to see if other sources of funding could be secured to carry out these works”. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing didn’t respond to queries, including whether it intended to change its policy around funding refurbishments, and how the interests of children are taken into account under the current policy. The government’s new housing plan, [issued in](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26363319-20251120-dhbc-20nov/?ref=dublininquirer.com) November, says that it will make children’s needs a top priority when tackling homelessness. ## Tightening the rules In March 2025, the Minister for Housing, Fianna Fáil TD James Browne’s department put out a circular [with](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26330504-circular-housing-11-2025-tis/?ref=dublininquirer.com) new rules for councils buying second-hand homes. Councils can’t recoup costs from the department to refurbish homes that it buys under tenant-in-situ anymore, it says. Under some other acquisition streams they can, such as if they buy homes to help people exit homeless services. But not for tenant-in-situ, a scheme to prevent people entering homelessness. After all, the circular says, landlords of such properties would have been receiving the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), the subsidy to support low-income renters. As such, they are legally required to keep the homes up to code, it says. In April, Browne [repeated that reasoning](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-04-01/460/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=With%20regard%20to%20refurbishment%20costs,repairs%20should%20not%20be%20required.) in the Dáil. “Such properties are the beneficiaries of significant exchequer-funded rent supports every week,” he said. They are legally required to meet minimum standards and councils inspect them to make sure that they do, said Browne. “Therefore, immediate essential repairs should not be required.” Refurbishment works needed in the short-to-medium term should be done as part of the council’s planned maintenance programme for its social housing, he said. Since September, Dublin City Council has turned down 21 homes because of the condition of properties and the projected refurbishment costs, said a council spokesperson last week. The council does inspect properties supported by HAP and work with landlords to bring homes in line, said the spokesperson. But sometimes when it issues notices to improve standards, a landlord opts to sell and issues tenants with notice to quit, said the spokesperson**.** Callaghan, the Social Democrats councillor, says that it would be great if every HAP property was kept to the highest standard. “But the reality is that doesn’t happen all the time. And it’s certainly not the tenants fault.” “Things are messy and it shouldn’t be the family who is put in a position to become homeless at Christmas time,” she says. ## Balancing costs Government policy around acquisitions was to avoid “undue impact on the private housing market, including avoiding competition in second hand acquisitions with first-time buyers or with other private individuals”, said a background note [at the top of ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26087736-circular-housing-11-2025-tis/?ref=dublininquirer.com)the circular. The Department of Housing hasn’t responded to a query asking what its rationale is for prioritising first-time buyers over those on the lowest incomes already living in a home. At the time of the circular, Dublin City Council had paused buying second-hand homes as it had exhausted its budget for this from the department. In September, after the department announced top-up funding, the council reopened the scheme – but in a more-limited version than in the past. [As Dublin City Council restarts buying second-hand homes to tackle homelessness, who will be prioritised?The council is to partially restart its tenant-in-situ scheme, said officials, but mainly focus on buying second-hand homes for long-term homeless families.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-449.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLaoise Neylon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/Fianna-F--il-Councillor-Deirdre-Heney--chair-of-housing-committee-1.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-dublin-city-council-restarts-buying-second-hand-homes-to-tackle-homelessness-who-will-be-prioritised/) At the monthly council meeting on 1 December, Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan also raised the case of the family in Finglas, facing homelessness, and the cost that the council bears when families move into homeless accommodation. It costs up to €180,000 a year for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) to rent emergency accommodation for a family needing a four-bedroom space, [show figures](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fhousing%5Flocal%5Fgovernment%5Fand%5Fheritage/2025-06-24/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Deputy%20Eoin%20%C3%93%20Broin&text=As%20a%20prompt%2C%20from%20the,Is%20that%20correct?) provided to Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin. Most families stay for two years in emergency accommodation. In which case, it would cost up to €360,000 to put up a large family, before they managed to exit homelessness. Department figures show how much it okayed in past years for councils to pay to buy homes under the tenant-in-situ scheme, and to do them up. Dublin City Council figures relate to 12 properties for which it had, as of July this year, submitted claims to recoup costs while they were still eligible. It spent an average of €323,758 on those properties before refurbishment, those figures show. It also spent an average of €35,200 on each property to bring it up to code – with those costs ranging from €6,600 to €59,500. ## Beyond costs “It makes no sense,” says Callaghan, of the restriction on funding maintenance. Not financially, not socially. Tenants she worked with in past years had been delighted when their homes were bought under tenant-in-situ, even if the council told them maintenance would take a while, she said. The alternative is for their lives to be upended. Their kids would be in school in the area, their family and support networks would be around, she says. Callaghan says that the changes to tenant-in-situ are hitting her constituency of Ballymun and Finglas hard in particular. The area has seen fewer new social homes than others, she says. “There isn’t likely to be much on the horizon for the next few years.” The housing list isn’t moving much at all, says Callaghan. Five-hundred applications come in when the council lists a single two-bedroom home on choice-based lettings, she says. “The need is so great.” Data from the DRHE [shows that as](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26360112-lone-parents-and-homelessness-in-ireland-report-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of June 2025, 58 percent of the 2,320 families in emergency accommodation were headed by lone parents. ### A new book offers poems about Brazil in Portuguese, by kids in Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-book-of-poems-offers-poems-about-brazil-in-portuguese-by-kids-in-dublin/ Last updated: 2025-12-11T15:41:45.000Z On a recent Saturday afternoon,Aline Polido Moreira and her 1o-year-old daughter sat at a table at the Third Space cafe in Smithfield. The window nearby overlooked a wooden cabana, temporarily assembled and adorned with sparkly lights for the Smithfield Christmas market. Polido Moreira was already in the festive spirit, just back from a Christmas party, and wearing a Santa jumper. To help digest the “delicious snacks” she’d had at the party, her daughter, Valentina Polido Moreira, took a sip of sparkling water. A common Brazilian Christmas favourite, salpicão, was among “her favourite treats”, Valentina said. This popular chicken salad is typically made with shredded chicken, a bunch of fruits, vegetables, and lots and lots of mayo. As they sat at the table, Aline opened a book, *Meu Brasil de Muitos Poemas*, which included some of Valentina’s poems. Along with five other young authors, Valentina had worked over the course of 24 Saturdays to create this book of poems in Portuguese, and the illustrations to go with them. This project was part of a constellation of efforts by Dubliners with a connection to Brazil to keep their children in touch with that country and its language and culture – from camps, to classes, to parties, and more. “You have to pass Portuguese on, right?” says Jaqueline Ercolani, the mother of Isabella Ercolani, another of the authors of *Meu Brasil de Muitos Poemas.* “The language that you … that your family speaks. It’s a heritage.” Yes, says Thais Duarte-Power, mother of Cían Duarte-Power, another of the book’s authors. “I think it conveys a lot of who we are, and it conveys our truth, to communicate with their grandparents and understand where we came from.” ## The starting point It all started with AMBI, the association of Brazilian families in Ireland. It’s a volunteer-run organisation focused on bringing Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language to Brazilians and their children in Ireland, says Aline Polido Moreira. Jaqueline Ercolani says that AMBI provides an important network for her and other members with families far away in Brazil. “Since most of us don’t have family in Ireland, AMBI is a family – our family – that is able to pass on our culture, our heritage, to my children,” she says. That Christmas party Moreira was just back from on the Saturday when she was sitting in Third Space? It was an AMBI party. For Thais Duarte-Power, “AMBI is a piece of Brazil here in Dublin”, she said. Within the framework of AMBI, via the Roda Literária project, Paula de Souza Bello Stechman Ribeiro teaches classes designed to foster an appreciation for Brazilian literature and enhance kids’ reading and writing skills in Portuguese, she said recently. “The Roda \[Literária\], in some way, was going to give a brushstroke on this matter of reading and writing and … share Brazilian literature with the children,” she said. The Saturday sessions featured authors such as Ana Maria Machado, Helena Kolody, Olavo Bilac, and Cora Coralina, she said. And forms such as haiku, sonnet, quatrain, sung legends and cordel, she said. The book project originated with the students, says Ribeiro. They wanted to make a poem for each of Brazil’s five regions, she says. And the poems turned out so well that Ribeiro and the students wanted to publish them as a book, she says. She connected with small publisher [An Bean Sí](https://www.instagram.com/anbeansipublishinghouse/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the project. "I said: wow, that’s exactly what the kids wanted. And it worked. It was a perfect match,” she said. The project was not without its challenges, says Ribeiro. Maintaining the kids’ motivation to the end proved difficult, as was navigating the varying levels of Portuguese proficiency – especially in writing, she says. There were copies for sale at a book launch [22 November](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRcybUxjbMX/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and they’re still available now via AMBI’s [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ambiirlanda/?ref=dublininquirer.com), says Ribeiro. ## The authors On 17 November, at five-ish in the evening, three of the young authors talked about their experiences making the book, in a video call. Cían Duarte-Power, who is 10 years old, was the first to appear on camera, wearing a grey suit and a white shirt and tie. His mother, Thais Duarte-Power, later expressed surprise at his attire. “He dressed up like that himself and came for the interview,” she says. Cían said his mother is from Brazil and his father is from Ireland. He learned Portuguese from his mother and found the language "very cool", he said. A few minutes later, Valentina Moreira, Sophia Ciara Silva do Amaral Alves, and Isabella Pereira Ercolani joined the call. The authors began to share their favourite parts of creating the book. Duarte-Power said his favorite part was writing the poems, particularly the haiku. "What was fun is that I could make a poem about anything," he said, "it just needed to be that type of poem." His favorite region to write about is the Northeast (Nordeste), which he said gave him "more inspiration". He says he liked the animals of that region that he learned about, specifically the arara (macaw). Ercolani, who is 12 years old, says she’s really pleased that all their hard work on the book project has paid off. “I am so happy that after so much work we made it, you know?” she said. “I'm also a little nervous because I wrote a book.” A few days later, Diana Cruz, the mother of 10-year-old Mia Kidney, another one of the authors, sent along a video of Mia in front of a Christmas tree, reciting her favorite poem – about the cold in Brazil. The authors also talked about how they use the Portuguese they’ve been learning, and practising, at Ribeiro’s classes at AMBI. Ercolani said she speaks Portuguese with her mom and Italian with her dad. Alves, who’s 12, said she enjoys being able to speak Portuguese at home, she says. “Because my parents are from Brazil and I am able to talk to other people.” Duarte-Power said he loves knowing more than one language. Knowing Portuguese has helped him in understanding Italian, French, and Spanish, he said. Moreira said her favourite Portuguese word is familia (family), which, she says, to her means “everyone that is in Brazil”. ## Networks On that recent Saturday, at Third Space, in Smithfield, the Moreiras – mother and daughter – got up to leave. They joined the flow of the crowd at the Christmas market, and headed south, for more fun weekend activities. They were headed to Thomas Street for a visit to a [second-hand shop](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-thomas-street-a-fashionista-curates-and-breathes-new-life-into-second-hand-clothing/), founded by Brazilian Lidia Marina Szabó. ### Mourning the loss of Bill Abom, lifelong champion of justice for overlooked immigrant workers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/mourning-the-loss-of-bill-abom-lifelong-champion-of-justice-for-overlooked-immigrant-workers/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:43:55.000Z A trade union flag bobbed in the air as people clustered around a wooden coffin outside the Church of the Good Shepherd on Nutgrove Avenue, last week. The crowd was letting go of Bill Abom, union man and a social justice campaigner who devoted his life to making immigrant workers feel seen by mobilising them to speak up and unshoulder their pain. At the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI), and during his time with trade union Mandate, Abom worked to bring unruly employers to heel, saying immigrant workers swallow abuse [because they’re afraid](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26360049-iex-2008-12-1719/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of getting deported. He helped [conduct surveys](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341174-foreign-workers-earning-as-little/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to show their struggles were collective, lobbied the government, joined [picket lines and protests](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26348609-protest-aims-to-raise-minimum-wage/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and [spoke to the press](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26348662-battle-to-make-first/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But more than anything, “he built the capacity of many migrant workers to stand up for themselves”, said Lucy Peprah Dubin, who worked with Abom at MRCI. “We remember the work which you believed deeply in,” said Abom’s wife, Fiona, at his funeral mass, “and all of the people who were recipients of your efforts for change, one case at a time.” ## Do unto others William Abom was born in Burlington, New Jersey, in the United States, on 10 February 1972**,** said his brother John “Jay” Abom. Shortly after, his family moved to Pennsylvania, where he came of age, graduating from a Doylestown High School in 1986\. He went to college in Georgetown, Washington, D.C, initially with a view to becoming a doctor, earning a bachelor's degree in biology in 1994\. One spring break, while working on a “service project” at an orphanage somewhere on the Jersey shore, he met [Fr. Richard Frechette](https://nphusa.org/press/frrick/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a Passionist priest/doctor, said his brother Jay. Watching Fr. Frechette’s devotion to caring for orphaned Haitian kids, he was stirred to later carve out a career in social justice. “He actually considered very very seriously becoming a priest,” said Jay on a WhatsApp call on Monday. He didn’t end up doing that, but his faith was always important to him, he said. After graduation, he taught science and doubled as a soccer coach at a high school in Brooklyn, New York, for a year, said Jay. Later, he worked in Haiti and then in Guatemala for nonprofits, probing scars of poverty and [dreaming up solutions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26340931-bill-abom/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In Haiti, he worked at an orphanage. In Guatemala, he helped set one up and learned to speak Spanish, said Jay. After, Abom moved to Ireland to do a graduate degree in development studies at the Kimmage Development Studies Centre, which was then based at the Holy Ghost Missionary College. “His areas of interest include community organising, grassroots participation, and effective partnership,” says a short bio at the end of [an academic paper](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26340931-bill-abom/?ref=dublininquirer.com) he wrote in 2004. The paper explored the role of community organising and civic participation in weaving long-lasting safety nets, drawing from his work with low-income families in Guatemala. Abom, who had met his future wife, Fiona, in Haiti, proposed to her in Ireland, at the foot of Mount Errigal, in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dunlewey, County Donegal, said the priest at his funeral mass. They moved together to upstate New York, where he helped organise immigrant farm workers for a while at the Rural and Migrant Ministry Inc. (RMM), a faith-driven social justice organisation, before moving back to Ireland for good. “Bill was the visionary behind establishing RMM’s first March for Farmworkers Justice from Blackport to Albany as he joined with the late Jim Schmidt to walk 245 miles, at times through blizzards,” [said a tribute post](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26347850-rural-and-migrant-ministry/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the RMM. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/A-photo-of-Bill-Abom-on-his-funeral-mass-programme..jpg) A photo of Bill Abom, from the programme at his funeral mass. ## Solidarity forever When Abom showed up asking about a “drop-in centre coordinator” job at the MRCI in the early aughts, Siobhán O'Donoghue – then its director – thought the role was too small for his vision, she said recently by phone. “I could see that he was an organiser, he was a community worker, I could see the talent, immediately,” she said. The centre was barely scraping by at the time because it was new, said O'Donoghue. “I remember persuading a funder to give me a little bit of money, to kind of, you know, put the tiny bits of money together to give this guy a job,” said O'Donoghue. She didn’t want to lose him, O'Donoghue said. “I was like, oh my god, if we don’t do this now, somebody else is going to get him,” she said, laughing. Together, they strategised for a swirl of immigrant-rights campaigns over the years. “He created conditions for people themselves to be empowered, not doing things for people,” said O'Donoghue. They set up the Mushroom Workers Support Group as Abom reached and rallied underpaid and overlooked immigrant farm workers again. [An MRCI report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26348704-harvesting-justice-mushroom-workers-call-for-change/?ref=dublininquirer.com) dated November 2006 charts contours of isolation, hardship and injustice shouldered by mushroom pickers. Its foreword is written by Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, [who was drawn](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26348993-martin-sheen/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the campaign while attending the University of Galway as a mature student. Anna, a mushroom picker from Latvia, had told MRCI that she’d mixed chemicals to spray on the crop without any safety gear. She has poor eyesight, coughs a lot and gets short of breath, says [the report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26348704-harvesting-justice-mushroom-workers-call-for-change/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “My English is not very good and it is hard to communicate with people \[...\]. I don’t feel very comfortable around Irish people and I don’t have any friends from my home country to mix with only the two girls who I am sharing house with. Most of time I spend in the house,” she’d said. O'Donoghue, former director of MRCI, says she remembers Abom driving to Cavan and Monaghan on Sunday evenings to meet those workers – always staying the course. “Sitting in people’s houses, people would gather around and would talk to him,” she said. He nudged mushroom pickers to muscle through daunting bureaucracy and lodge exploitation claims. [A photo](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26349094-act-2006-01-191/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the *Anglo-Celt* newspaper dated 19 January 2006, shows a clutch of women sitting and standing outside the Cavan offices of trade union SIPTU, which was helping them. Abom had told the newspaper that almost all mushroom pickers in Cavan and Monaghan were immigrant women who had settled for the job because they couldn’t get hired elsewhere. In other campaigns, he marshalled collective bargaining efforts of immigrant restaurant workers for years. One time dressing up [as a chef](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26349123-chef/?ref=dublininquirer.com) outside the Dáil in protest of wage cuts. For decades, he fought [for the reform](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26349164-6-months-rule-for-redundancy-on-ep/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of work permit rules for those whose right to live here depends on them and makes them vulnerable. Last year, at a conference in Dublin City University (DCU), Abom spoke passionately about building momentum around making the price of Irish Residence Permit (IRP) cards more affordable. At the moment, it’s €300 for most people, paid annually by some. As Mandate’s lead organiser, he planned industrial actions that won big, said his pal and former colleague in the trade union, Dave Gibney. His vision for the [Decency for Dunnes Workers](https://dunnesworkers.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) campaign helped the union to flourish and see an upswing in membership for the first time in many years, he said. “He helped the union grow 1,500 members or so, maybe more,” said Gibney. He and Abom stayed alongside workers in the Paris Bakery [as they occupied it](https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/joy-as-workers-win-pay-dispute-at-shut-bakery/30344201.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) in a bid to claim unpaid wages, “until there was an agreement” to pay the workers some of the money they were owed. But Abom told the workers that it’s *their* voices that matter the most, Gibney said, and that he and others were just union folks who had their backs. “He used to say the core of community work and the work we do is the three Rs. Relationships, relationships, relationships,” said O'Donoghue, the former director of MRCI. “And it didn’t matter who you were, he treated everybody the same.” ## A few things after I go Abom, who served as MRCI's co-director before his death, continued to attend some work meetings remotely until recently, said Gibney, who now works there. He was especially keen to join a meeting about family-reunion rights of immigrant workers, Gibney said. And he was worried about the rise of xenophobic hate, he said, thinking up solutions, as he always did. Though he figured largely in the success of their union crusades, he didn’t seek personal attention or try to grow his profile, Gibney said. Bill Abom was an outdoorsy, athletic guy who excelled at golf, but the way he lived his life smashed stereotypes about golf players, the priest joked at his funeral mass. He said the rich should give back. “They have not yet been called upon to do enough for the common good of the country,” [he told the *Wicklow People*](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26349356-wwp-2011-11-3016-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) newspaper in 2011\. As a dad to three kids – Liam, Thomas and Anna – he blasted “Eye of the Tiger” some mornings to wake them up for gym. And if they wouldn’t budge, he would tease them, saying, “Get out of bed, you lazy maggot,” said one of his sons at the funeral, putting on his dad’s American accent. He and his mum loved each other in the warm, unwavering way that makes kids look forward to being at home, his son said. He could fix every broken tool, and liked to brag about how much buying a new one would’ve cost them, said his daughter Anna. “He was so good at everything,” she said. Abom died at home on 30 November after three years of living with cancer. He was 53\. ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #117 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-117/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T13:57:55.000Z For this illustration, I’ve shown Santa driving the Luas in town with piles of presents on the top and inside, balancing perfectly. I wanted the Luas to look like Rudolph but also like it was a sleigh in the snow to add to the Christmas vibe. The piece is made from cut out pieces of paper layered with paint. I’m an illustrator, paper artist and designer from, and currently based in, Dublin. I love working with paper and the different layers and textures you can get with it. You can find more of my work on Instagram [@paperireland](https://www.instagram.com/paperireland/?ref=dublininquirer.com) or [@jessrooneydeane](https://www.instagram.com/jessrooneydeane/?ref=dublininquirer.com). My website is [jessrooneydeane.com](https://www.jessrooneydeane.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and you can contact me at paperireland@gmail.com. ### Did the council follow the correct process to name Herzog Park back in 1995? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/did-the-council-follow-the-correct-process-to-name-herzog-park-back-in-1995/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T13:09:05.000Z In October 1994, the Municipality of Jerusalem wrote to Dublin Corporation asking that Dublin celebrate the “City of David’s” tri-millennium, which was coming up in 1996. Jerusalem requested Dublin name a street, square, or park in its honour. Dublin city councillors swiftly decided to rename what was then known as Orwell Quarry Park in Rathgar as Herzog Park – for Chaim Herzog**,** who was born in Belfast and later became President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. At the time, this wasn’t a big deal, says Mary Freehill, who was then a Dublin city councillor for the Labour Party, and involved in the process. “I can't remember the precise details, but I certainly tell you that I'm absolutely satisfied that there was no conflict. It was all very cordial,” Freehill said by phone on Tuesday. Similarly, Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey, who was first elected in 1993 remembers there being no fuss. The “fuss” came three decades later, when councillors attempted to [dename the park](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-rename-herzog-park-and-name-a-park-after-terence-wheelock-councillors-decide/), removing mention of Herzog. The proposal worked its way [through council committees](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-to-rename-herzog-park-and-name-a-park-after-terence-wheelock-councillors-decide/), before making it to the agenda of the full council’s December monthly meeting on Monday. Ahead of the meeting, there was public condemnation from the US, Israel, and the Taoiseach, among others. Then, Dublin City Council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, got a call from the secretary general of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, asking him whether he was sure what was being proposed was legally sound, Shakespeare said at the meeting Monday. After some research, consultation and thought, on Sunday night, he said, Shakespeare informed councillors that the proposal to rename the park should be withdrawn, citing problems with procedure. A debate ensued among councillors over whether the proper procedures had been followed, whether councillors had been given correct guidance, and whether the legal advice they were being given at the meeting was correct. In the end, the council voted to back a motion from Lord Mayor Ray McAdam, a Fine Gael councillor, to withdraw the proposed renaming and send it back to the naming and commemorations committee on 15 December. [To withdraw motions to dename Herzog Park and rename Diamond ParkPassed: 35 for, 25 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/og-image-f3716fa4-1b56-48b5-8e98-012fd2508bb7)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/a143d296?ref=dublininquirer.com) Sinn Féin Councillor Micheál Mac Donncha said he wanted the committee to get independent legal advice. So the debate continues about whether the council followed correct procedures in its attempt to overwrite the name Herzog Park. But did it follow correct procedure in its attempt to rename the amenity to make it Herzog Park in the first place, back in 1994 and 1995, or has Rathgar been living with Orwell Quarry Park all this time? ## **The process they followed** Soon after the request from Jerusalem arrived, it was raised at the meeting of the Protocol & Selection Committee, held on 14 October 1994, according to council minutes held in Pearse Street Library archive. It’s unclear from the minutes who suggested Herzog Park. The order was to “recommend to Council that the park at Orwell Road be named Hertzog Park”. That recommendation then came before the City Council on 7 November 1994\. An amendment by Freehill was carried referring the item back to the Protocol and Selection Committee, minutes say. “Views of local councillors to be obtained and put before a future meeting of the committee,” it was then ordered. The proposal then returned to the Protocol and Selection Committee on 7 April 1995\. At that time, the committee ordered that the park should be named Herzog Park. On the 12 June 1995, the name was officially adopted by the council Freehill and Lacey both say they don’t remember any other voting or plebiscites undertaken at the time, and the minutes don’t mention them. Whether or not a plebiscite would have been required, depends on definitions. ## **Did it need a plebiscite?** A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage outlined the laws and regulations that would have been in place at the time of the renaming in 1995. Placename changes [were provided for in](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1946/act/24/enacted/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com) sections 76 to 79 of the Local Government Act 1946, as amended by follow-up acts in 1955 and again in 1994, they said. They lay out what the procedures are for different kinds of places, but don’t specifically mention “parks”. Places defined in the 1946 act included a locality and a street, though. The 1946 act [defines a](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1946/act/24/section/79/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec79) locality as an area, not a street, which is a portion of a county or borough or urban district or town for which a separate name is in common use. The 1946 and 1955 act [defined](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1946/act/24/section/78/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec78) “street” as including “part of a street and also the whole or part of any road, square, lane or other public place”. Could either of these include a park? If so, to change the name of a street or locality, there needed to be a vote, show the laws at the time. The 1994 act, meanwhile, [defined who](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1994/act/8/section/67/enacted/en/html?ref=dublininquirer.com) should vote on renaming streets and localities, among other places – citing “qualified electors”, meaning registered voters and ratepayers. In the early 2000s, the council [held a plebiscite](https://www.dublininquirer.com/twenty-years-on-locals-still-wonder-why-corporation-street-was-renamed-james-joyce-street/) on whether to change the name of what was Corporation Street to James Joyce Street – in which there were two qualified voters. But it’s a bit unclear, from the regulations on voting procedures in place at the time of the Herzog Park renaming, who [would vote](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1956/si/31/made/en/print?ref=dublininquirer.com) in relation to a park, if a vote were necessary. As Freehill, the former Labour councillor, sees it, a plebiscite would have been necessary if it was to do with roads where people are living, she said by phone on Thursday. But “there were no residents in the park whose permission was needed, or opinions”, she said. Another issue she raises is whether or not it had an official name before Herzog Park, she says – in which case the procedure would have been that of a first naming not a change. The council website [says it was](https://www.dublincity.ie/parks-and-nature/dublin-city-parks/visit-park/herzog-park?ref=dublininquirer.com) "renamed" in 1995 from Orwell Quarry Park. Minutes for the contemporary council meetings refer to it as the "park at Orwell Road". *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Get 20% off when you gift a subscription this Christmas URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/gift-a-journalism-subscription-this-christmas-2025/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T09:45:41.000Z If you're here you probably know us, and if you're buying a gift for someone, you probably know them. If you think we might be a good match, I'd be grateful if you would make the connection for us. 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If you have any questions, or special requests, you can ask editor Sam Tranum by email at sam@dublininquirer.com, or by messenging or ringing 0873924797\. ### A councillor wants special heritage status for culture in the Liberties URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-councillor-wants-special-heritage-status-for-culture-in-the-liberties/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T01:20:39.000Z In 1966, The Liberties Association formed. Its aim was to push for the redevelopment of the area for the community rather than for commercial interest, says an[ RTÉ archival report](https://www.rte.ie/archives/2025/1123/1539138-save-the-liberties/?ref=dublininquirer.com). After Dublin Corporation – now Dublin City Council – produced plans to drive a wider road through the heart of the neighbourhood, the association hired architects to draft an alternative, says the report. The Liberties Association’s own plan rerouted the road, and fit in more housing, it says. That’s the kind of self-reliant ingenuity that has long been a feature of community life in The Liberties, says Cathy Scuffil, Dublin City Council’s historian in residence for the area. She gives another example. In 1699, Britain slapped a hefty tax on wool exports from Ireland. The Liberties, where weaving was a major part of the economy, was hit. “The reason they did that was because it was putting the British market out of business. We were too good,” Scuffil says. But weavers in the Liberties regrouped, she says. They began to use silk to get around the tariff. Britain put a tariff on silk, she says. The Liberties Weavers switched to poplin – a blend of wool and silk, says Scuffil. “That became the production material for about 120 years.” [In a motion before](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26336048-public-reports-pack-01122025-1815-monthly-council-meeting/?q=Liberties&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p371) Dublin City Council on Monday evening, Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair made the case that the culture of the Liberties is again under threat. This time, though, from the overconcentration of “hotels, student-accommodation, co-living and short-term rentals”, his motion said. In response, he asked councillors to back a call to apply for the “Culture of the Liberties” to be added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. As a way, his motion said, “to hold and protect the characteristics and memories of our city’s working-class traditions, in addition to our industrial, historical and social heritage”. Councillors agreed the motion. But still to be teased out are questions around whether it is possible to add the culture of a place, writ large, to the list, and whether such a designation would actually fuel the unaffordability that Ó Meachair’s motion opposes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/In-the-Liberties--1--1.JPG) In the Liberties. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## **What are the lists?** The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage lists are global registers of living cultural traditions, skills, and expressions that communities recognise as part of their shared identity. There are currently 788 entries to the lists, across 150 countries. This includes,[ funfair culture](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/funfair-culture-02108?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Belgium and France; the[ tradition of Nabulsi soap making](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-nabulsi-soap-making-in-palestine-02112?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Palestine; and[ skills of loincloth weaving](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-skills-of-loincloth-weaving-in-cote-d-ivoire-01949?ref=dublininquirer.com) in Côte d’Ivoire. Ireland’s[ current entries ](https://www.ireland.ie/en/oecd-unesco/paris/ireland-and-unesco/intangible-cultural-heritage/?ref=dublininquirer.com)include hurling, uilleann piping and [Irish harping.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-sessions-series-continues-to-lure-new-audiences-to-modern-harping/) Once a piece of intangible heritage is on the list, it [puts obligations on](https://ich.unesco.org/en/faq-00021?ref=dublininquirer.com) the government to adopt policies to monitor and promote it, to encourage research, and take safeguarding measures, with the consent of communities. While the UNESCO World Heritage Sites focus on physical landmarks, the Intangible Heritage Lists celebrate practices such as oral storytelling, music, rituals, craftsmanship, and traditional knowledge. The idea isn’t to preserve traditions in a fixed form, the UNESCO website says, but to support communities in keeping cultural practices alive into the future. It’s unclear if the general culture of an area can be accepted on the list, or if it has to be a single practice at a time. In his motion, Ó Meachair highlighted weaving, as well as markets and traders, as important cultural features in the Liberties. It would be no problem to look at individual applications for weaving and also the markets and traders, Ó Meachair said by phone on Wednesday. Weaving in the Liberties absolutely fits that bill for nomination, says Scuffil. She has worked for several years with[ the Liberty Weavers](https://www.thelibertiesweavers.ie/about?ref=dublininquirer.com), a community-led group that keeps up and promotes the practice. To be added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, a cultural practice must first and foremost be alive – rooted in the people who practise it and transmitted from one generation to the next, according to UNESCO’s[ criteria](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26335475-criteria-unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Weaver-Park-1.JPG) Weaver Park. Photo by Lois Kapila To understand how deeply weaving is embedded in the Liberties culture, just look at the many place names, Scuffil says. Weaver Square and Weaver Park are obvious – but there is also the Tenters, says Scuffil. The Tenters gets its name because it was once a huge field where weavers would stretch out cloth to dry and bleach in the sun, she says. It’s also the origin of the phrase “on tenter hooks”, she says. Engine Alley, off Meath Street, near the Liberty Market comes from “Indian Alley”, she says – after Indian silk. But, in Dublinese, Indian became Injin, became Engine, she says. Michael Malin, who was executed for his part of the 1916 rising, was a silk weaver in the Liberties, Scuffil says. While the tradition may have faded over the years, the Liberty Weavers – now around 60 weavers strong – have been working to reinvigorate the tradition, she says. If accepted onto UNESCO’s prestigious lists, it [opens up more routes for](https://ich.unesco.org/en/requesting-assistance-00039?ref=dublininquirer.com) financial support, expertise and training to help safeguard a particular practice. ## **Vital** Ó Meachair says he sees recognition from UNESCO as an important tool in the effort to halt erosion of the area’s culture. Highlighting what makes the place wonderful, and worth preserving, should bolster arguments in favour of prioritising culture over the profiteering of developers, he says. International research has thrown up mixed findings, when it comes to the impact of UNESCO heritage statuses on residential and commercial property prices. Economists at University of Bologna [found that ascribing](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract%5Fid=5588130&ref=dublininquirer.com) UNESCO World Heritage status to the Dolomites led to a significant increase in residential property prices, but not on commercial. Another study, involving economists at the University of Turin, [found that](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046224000206?ref=dublininquirer.com#sec6) heritage designation at sites across Italy may have driven gentrification. Incomes in areas that they looked at went up, as did commercial property prices, while the prices of luxury dwellings increased significantly in urban areas, it says. Those did look at the attachment of World Heritage Status to physical sites, rather than intangible cultural heritage. But, depending on what is included, could the impact be similar? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/New-apartment-blocks-at-Grand-Canal-Harbour-1.JPG) New apartments at Grand Canal Harbour. Photo by Lois Kapila. In response to concerns that UNESCO designation could drive up property prices and rents, Ó Meachair says the government and council need to make sure that doesn’t happen. At Monday’s council meeting, he said traders at the Molly Malone Market on Meath Street had lost access to their units, so a gym could be put in. Dublin has plenty of gyms, he says, but only one Meath Street. “I think it's vital that we protect our street traders in the Liberties. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status could push back against all of this,” he says. Ó Meachair’s motion received warm support from many in the council chamber. “The Liberties is the front-line for gentrification, market-driven development of the city at the expense of working-class people,” said Conor Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor for Ballymun and Finglas. “The erosion of culture is particularly vile, and I think this motion tackles that very well,” he said at the meeting. Reddy said that if the Liberties is successful in its application, it would set a strong precedent to use this approach in other parts of Dublin. “To defend against market-led development.” Under the[ Dublin City Development Plan](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/draft-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/chapter/chapter-13-strategic-development-regeneration-areas-sdras?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Liberties is recognized as a[ Strategic Development Regeneration Area](https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/draft-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/chapter/chapter-13-strategic-development-regeneration-areas-sdras?ref=dublininquirer.com), said Dublin City Council Assistant Chief Executive, Anthony Flynn, at the meeting. “It’s an objective of the plan to recognize the unique role the Liberties plays in Dublin's character, and to ensure that regeneration safeguards the Liberties strong sense of community identity and cultural vibrancy into the future,” he said. The council is currently reviewing the city development plan, Flynn said. He would ask his team to consider what UNESCO designation would mean “with regards to that review”, he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Celebrate a gym, save the arts, and play cards with a couple of ghosts URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-celebrate-a-gym-save-the-arts-and-play-cards-with-a-couple-of-ghosts/ Last updated: 2025-12-08T10:56:59.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Save the Complex petition** Yesterday, the north inner-city’s arts community was dealt a devastating blow when both the Ormond Art Studios and The Complex arts centre announced that they will have to leave their respective homes in Dublin 1 and 7. Ormond Studios confirmed via [social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzhtB5AjIw/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com) on Wednesday evening that, after 15 years, their lease on 4 Ormond Quay Lower is up. The Complex, at the same time, put out its own [statement](https://www.instagram.com/complexdublin/p/DRz4wHRjF%5Ff/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com), saying they were being evicted from the warehouse on Arran Street East, which has been their home since September 2019. While Ormond Studios hasn’t yet indicated when exactly they will need to vacate their quay-side location, they are currently on the look out for a new space and are welcoming any advice, which can be sent to [Ormondartists@gmail.com](mailto:Ormondartists@gmail.com). The Complex’s social media account says that they will be leaving the warehouse on 14 January. But, in an effort to protect the venue and its studios, they have launched a petition, asking for the support of Dublin City Council, the Arts Council and elected representatives. That petition can be signed [here](https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/save-the-complex-in-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com), and if you want to show support, they will be launching a new exhibition, Depots by Cillian Finnerty and Tim Furey, this evening at 6pm. Depots will be open to the public until 19 December in the warehouse’s gallery. For more information, and to see what other events are planned in The Complex between now and mid-January, visit their website [here](https://www.thecomplex.ie/whats-on?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Art Book Fair, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios** This evening, the fifteenth edition of the Dublin Art Book fair will be opening in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. Celebrating contemporary art books, and featuring limited edition publications made by artists and designers, this year’s fair has been guest curated by Dr Selina Guinness, Head of Teaching and Learning at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, and author of the 2012 memoir *The Crocodile by the Door*. Inspired by the theme of “flock”, this edition of the fair will examine “all things pastoral: humans and beasts; the relational art of shepherding; and the impact of flocks on habitats”. There will be, over the course of the ten-day event, a series of book launches, workshops, panel discussions and tours, as well as a new *Publishing Talks* Series. Among those set to feature in this new series are Tamara Sampey-Jawad, the associate publisher of Fitzcarraldo Editions, author Adania Shibli, PUBLICS artistic director Dr Paul O’Neill, editor Dr Gerrie van Noor, author and editor Eva Fotiadi, and author Renata Pękowska. The fair opens this evening with the Curator’s Opening Talk at 5pm. There is currently a waiting list for this particular event, but if you’re feeling lucky, or want to see what else the fair has in store over the next week and a half, visit the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios website [here.](https://www.templebargallery.com/exhibitions/dublin-art-book-fair-2025?ref=dublininquirer.com) **Screenings at Connolly Books Live** Beginning on Friday, and continuing through December, Connolly Books will be holding a weekly series of experimental and underground films in its New Theatre. Tomorrow evening, at 7pm, there is a double header of radical works that will be introduced by political geographer and cultural critic Rory Rowan. First up is the 1980 documentary *No Japs at My Funeral*. Directed by James Nares, and named after a provision in Lord Louis Mountbatten’s will, the film is a portrait of Northern Ireland’s liberation struggle as seen through the eyes of an IRA operative. Afterwards, there will be a screening of the 2024 short film *Very Gentle Work*. Directed by Nate Lavey, the film essay uses fiction and documentary to examine acts of resistance and revolutionary struggle over the past century. Tickets are available for tomorrow’s screenings [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/film-screening-no-japs-at-my-funeral-1980-very-gentle-work-2024-tickets-1974362775209?ref=dublininquirer.com). For more information on the other films lined up between 5 and 19 December, visit the Connolly Books events page [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/cc/connolly-books-live-4794833?%5Fgl=1%2A14kvq5w%2A%5Fup%2AMQ..%2A%5Fga%2AMTQyMjcxNzU1MC4xNzY0ODYxODc3%2A%5Fga%5FTQVES5V6SH%2AczE3NjQ4NjE4NzYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjQ4NjE4NzYkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Tolka* Issue 10 launch** Alternatively, the *Tolka* literary journal will be launching its tenth issue tomorrow over at the Museum of Literature Ireland. Starting at 6.30pm, author Tim Groenland will sit down with the editors of *Tolka* to discuss their experience running their “journal of formally promiscuous non-fiction”. Then, afterwards, at 7.30pm, they will launch the latest edition, with readings from featured writers, including Rob Doyle, Wendy Erskine, John Patrick McHugh and Hannah Sargeant. The launch is part of MoLI’s monthly First Fridays series, in which the museum opens late and features a series of free events. And, among the other events on the docket, there will be the exhibition *Happy Ever After: Falling in Love with Irish Romance Fiction,* a creative writing workshop for adults with author Kevin McDermott, and a spoken word workshop for teenagers with poet Leon Dunne. To reserve a seat at the *Tolka* launch, visit the MoLI website [here](https://moli.ie/events/first-fridays-december-2025?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Gym, Brian Teeling** December is upon us, and with it comes the joyful chorus of others declaring that they’ve already completed their Christmas shopping. If you’re stuck for ideas, fear not any more. The Things To Do newsletter is bringing back its annual tradition of gift recommendations, and this year, we’re suggesting the latest t-shirt by artist Brian Teeling. *The Gym* is Teeling’s tribute to the now shuttered sauna of the same name, located on Dame Lane, and which, in the 1980s and '90s, served as a meeting space for queer men. An overlooked location in Ireland’s LGBTQ+ history, Teeling has commemorated the sauna by producing a limited-run of t-shirts that feature an advertisement for The Gym, created by graphic designer and AIDS activist Oliver Stanlay circa 1990. Teeling will be taking orders until 12 December, with all the proceeds going to support the LGBTQ+ charity ShoutOut. To order your t-shirt, visit Teeling’s page [here](https://mscltr.bigcartel.com/product/the-gym-t-shirt?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Ghost Pub** On Monday evening over on Clanbrassil Street, Peadar Brown’s is finally set to be declared a "Ghost Pub" as artists Niamh Beirne and Helen Flanagan bring their ongoing collaborative project Spooky Beore to the Dublin 8 pub. If you’ve ever wanted to play poker with a Púca, knock back some gin with a djinn, or do something else that is related to pubs and sounds similar to the name of a different type of ghost, then Peadar Brown’s is probably the only place that will cater to your unique needs. Starting at that witching hour of 7pm, punters will be invited to play the card game Twenty Fives “with a pair of soupy spectres harbouring an ancestral grievance that they are working through by finally understanding how to play this fucking card game.” And afterwards, attendees will be invited to share a ghost story or two, listen to some live trad music, and purchase a pint, or perhaps a spirit. For more information, follow Spooky Beore over on their Instagram page [here](https://www.instagram.com/spooky%5Fbeore/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **FCC Sports Nominations Open** Fingal County Council is inviting nominations for the Sports Club Volunteer and Sports Clubs of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony, which will be hosted by Fingal Sports Office, will take place on Monday, 26 January at the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport, and the public is now able to put forward nominees for the [Volunteer](https://bit.ly/ClubVolunteeroftheYearAwards2026?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [Club](https://bit.ly/FingalSportscluboftheyear2026?ref=dublininquirer.com) categories now. **Patient Labyrinth X Junk Ensemble** *Patient Labyrinth*, a new artwork and exhibition from Junk Ensemble in Rua Red Galleries, is both a maze and a labyrinth – exploring the delicate boundary between two worlds: the one in which we lose our way, and the one we try to find our way out of. The exhibition opens on Friday, 12 December at 6pm, and will be open to the public until 7 February, with a performance by dance artist Róisín Harten on both 12 December and 16 January. For more information, visit the Rua Red event page [here](https://www.ruared.ie/exhibitions/patient-labyrinth?ref=dublininquirer.com). **F r e e d o m** Outlandish Theatre in collaboration with Ashtar Theatre, Palestine and Theater Antigone, Belgium invites their local audiences to meet online for the open access launch of F r e e d o m next week. Described as an artistic act of solidarity, F r e e d o m is an experimental performance for radio, inspired by the Greek play *Antigone* by Sophocles, co-created by international artists Haider Al Timimi (Theater Antigone), Iman Aoun (Ashtar Theatre), Maud Hendricks (Outlandish Theatre) and eight Dublin-based chorus members. The performance will be broadcast at 9pm on 10 December, Human Rights Day. For more information on how to hear the performance, follow Outlandish Theatre on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/outlandishtheatre/?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Councillors fume over government delay of Dart line meant to serve thousands of homes planned for west Dublin URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-fume-over-government-delay-of-dart-line-meant-to-serve-thousands-of-homes-planned-for-west-dublin/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T01:20:48.000Z On 19 November, the council’s South Central Area Committee [backed plans](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-on-plan-for-5-000-homes-on-lands-between-inchicore-and-ballyfermot/) to rezone lands between Inchicore and Ballyfermot to make way for 5,000 more homes – plus schools, community centres, and places of employment. On Monday at their December monthly meeting, the full council considered [the rezoning](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26326154-report-no-2902025-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-notification-of-proposed-variation-no-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of these lands along Kylemore Way and Jamestown Road, and a masterplan for them. But in the 11 days in between, the national government announced that it wasn’t going to fund a piece of infrastructure key to the whole plan until sometime past 2030\. In the plans, at the heart of this district, is a proposed Kylemore Dart Station, on the planned Dart+ South West extension. That public transport link in this west Dublin area was supposed to help move the thousands of new residents to and from town. After An Bord Pleanála approved the Dart+ South West project last year – Irish Rail had [announced](https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/dart-south-west-approved?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it anticipated the start of construction in 2026. But when the Department of Transportation on 26 November [published](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/publications/national-development-plan-review-2025-sectoral-investment-plan/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the latest version of [its plans](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/df0ce05f/NDP%5FReview%5F2025%5FSectoral%5FInvestment%5FPlan%5Ffor%5FTransport.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) for funding big infrastructure projects, those didn’t include the Dart+ South West project. The plan runs from 2026 to 2030\. For the Dart+ South West project, under “Construction Timeline”, it says “2030+”. So, not in this plan. At the council meeting Monday, several councillors were not pleased with what they cast as the government undermining Dublin City Council’s efforts to properly plan a whole new district of housing around appropriate transport links. “We have a government driving at us \[the council\] to try and deliver more housing and then the local necessary public transport network that would make that housing more liveable for the future inhabitants, the future residents has been pushed out,” said Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty. ## Kylemore district ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Kylemore-district.-Image-from-Dublin-City-Council-presentation-1-1.png) **Image from Dublin City Council presentation*. The council decided on Monday to start the process of rezoning the Kylemore lands, and settling the masterplan, as a step to development in that area. It’s one of the first big moves by Dublin City Council under the City Edge project, which looks to transform, eventually, 700 hectares on the western fringe of the city. The push to rezone the lands stems from national plans calling on councils to rezone more land as residential, so that more housing can be built. There are two anchors in the masterplan for the planned new Kylemore district, Ronan Fallon, a council planner, told councillors at the South Central Area Committee meeting in November. One is the planned Kylemore Dart station. The other is [the old](https://digital.ucd.ie/c0097/items/c0097%5Fo0351.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) CIÉ Chassis Production Factory on Jamestown Road, which is currently owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Plans would see a significant educational, cultural, or social use around the factory, Fallon said. The masterplan for the area also shows three new schools, centred on a big park, and community spaces peppered throughout the plan area, said Fallon. City planner Emer Uí Fhátharta said at Monday’s meeting that the council is taking a “plan-led” approach to developing the Kylemore district. “Sustainable communities is at the heart of everything we’re doing and that’s all the wraparound facilities that any new community requires in order to not only sustain themselves but to thrive within it,” she said. Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said the plans for Kylemore are “hugely welcome”. “We’re building homes and housing,” he said, “but we need to make sure that they’re of a high standard that they actually deliver social, affordable – affordable to buy and affordable to rent – that this isn’t a blank cheque to developers.” ## Frustration The Dart+ South West project, approved by An Bord Pleanála last year, is meant to turn the existing rail line from Hazelhatch through Kylemore into town into a high-frequency, electrified Dart line. Although the planned [Kylemore Dart station](https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/iarnrod-eireann-projects-and-investments/new-stations/kylemore-station?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=Although%20Kylemore%20Station%20is%20a,Project%20Funding) is technically separate from that plan, “Iarnród Éireann, CIÉ, and the NTA are working together to coordinate the delivery of both projects”, Irish Rail has said. A year ago, Irish Rail [said](https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/dart-south-west-approved?ref=dublininquirer.com) that for Dart+ South West, “Subject to funding being allocated it is anticipated that construction will commence in 2026.” After the announcement that the government was planning to push this out past 2030, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, a Fianna Fáil TD, in reaction to criticism of that move, was [quoted last Thursday](https://www.irishtimes.com/transport/2025/11/27/dart-and-luas-projects-delayed-in-development-plan-could-be-accelerated-says-minister/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in the *Irish Times* as saying that might change. The timelines in the plan are “indicative and we will be looking at projects and we have flex within plan, and we’ll be doing that,” O’Brien is quoted as saying. “If we can move projects forward, we will. Dart + South West is something I’m absolutely committed to.” But on Monday, some councillors at Dublin city council’s monthly meeting were still clearly frustrated by the delay. “We’re building 5,000 homes here around Kylemore Road at the direct behest of the government, which I completely welcome,” said Green Party Councillor Ray Cunningham. “And we’re also building at the same time, around Cherry Orchard Point, about 800 homes,” said Cunningham, referring to the first phase of a Land Development Agency project. Both projects were supposed to be served by Dart+ South West, Cunningham said. Feljin Jose, a Green Party councillor and the party’s spokesperson on transport, expanded on this theme. Adamstown and Clonburris are being built out with 10,000 homes each, plus there are plans for 5,000 at Kylemore, another 1,000+ in Bluebell and Cherry Orchard, Jose said. By his count, that could be about 80,000 people the Dart+ South West line is supposed to serve, he said. Shelving that commuter rail project will mean “people moving into these areas when they’re built and buying a new car and being dependent on those cars”, Jose said. The Dart+ South West project “has planning permission, it could go to contract tomorrow, we could start work on it tomorrow, the only thing that is lacking is government support”, said his Green Party colleague, Cunningham. “Why are we building houses without public transport to go with it?” Cunningham said “It makes no sense at all.” The roads through this part of west Dublin are terribly congested already, said independent Councillor Vincent Jackson. **“**We cannot continue to have house building without proper infrastructure and transport,” Jackson said. Putting in public transport like the Dart+ South West line, would help reduce traffic on the roads, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon. “Public transport moves real numbers,” Pidgeon said. “If we keep taking money away from these projects and delaying them, we’re just going to condemn people to slowly losing the will to live in gridlock.” In response, the council’s assistant chief executive in charge of planning, property and economic development, Anthony Flynn, said he doesn’t “underestimate for one minute” the requirement for public transport to service the area. “However, I think what we will do, and what we can do by way of, you know, planning and a planning process, is to ensure as best we can that all of that infrastructure is put in place at the earliest possible time,” he said. ## Public consultation The council plans to put the rezoning and masterplan out for public consultation from 12 December to 21 January, said Uí Fhátharta, the city planner. It will be holding public information sessions locally about the changes, said Flynn, the assistant chief executive. “Look, we have agreed with yourselves at the South Central Area Committee a couple weeks ago that we will engage with local information sessions,” he said. “We’re committed to that.” ### Parking problems outside the masjid on South Circular Road are used to talk trash about Muslims, councillor says URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/parking-problems-outside-the-masjid-on-south-circular-road-are-used-to-talk-trash-about-muslims-councillor-says/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T01:20:56.000Z On Friday at noon, strings of cars lined a stretch of South Circular Roadin Dublin 8\. Outside the street’s Dublin Mosque, and on the nearby avenues, there are more tight huddles of automobiles. A few traffic cones stood on the pavement outside the masjid, seemingly to combat footpath parking. Before Jumma prayers started that day, the imam brought up one case of unruly parking that staff had noticed, said Fazel Ryklief, a senior employee of the masjid, later. “The imam said, ‘There’s a car, this registration, it’s parked in the wrong place, it’s affecting our neighbours,’” said Ryklief, sitting in a tiny office on Friday. Parking issues have cropped up in reviews left for the masjid on Google over the years. “A very well managed mosque, just need more parking spaces the council needs to facilitate,” [reads one](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26311973-google-review/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from two years ago. That was before the temporary closure of a masjid in Clonskeagh earlier this year, [over directorship disputes](https://web.archive.org/web/20250601002231/https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/05/28/dispute-over-control-of-clonskeagh-islamic-centre-reaches-high-court/) that became the centre of an ongoing case still trudging through the court. Since the closure, many of the Clonskeagh masjid’s former visitors who now travel to South Circular Road to pray face the parking constraints locals have long navigated. Their cars add to the strain, too. Ryklief said he was bracing for the worst when the Clonskeagh masjid closed, but it hasn’t been as bad as he’d expected. Still, he said, neighbours sidle up to him on the street to say, ‘We are praying that the mosque in Clonskeagh will open,’” he said. On 19 November, a Social Democrats councillor for the area, Lesley Byrne [proposed a motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26311764-lesly-byrne-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the South Central Area Committee to look for solutions to sundry problems on the streets around the masjid, from illegal parking to traffic congestion. During the committee [meeting](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1033143?ref=dublininquirer.com) that day, she said that racist outbursts had begun to roll in about these parking and traffic issues. “I see this is becoming a racist, a race issue. Some of the reps that I’m getting are starting to use language that is completely racist and inappropriate," said Byrne. Ryklief, of the South Circular Road masjid, said they can only do so much to police people’s bad parking practices – and it’s not just masjid-goers, it’s everybody. “I mean, it seems like we are being picked on.” Byrne’s motion thrust into spotlight, yet again, persistent problems with [poor enforcement](https://www.dublininquirer.com/if-you-report-a-car-parked-illegally-in-the-city-its-unlikely-to-result-in-any-enforcement-action-records-show/) of parking rules in the city, and also [a dearth of](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-hardwicke-lane-a-tiny-masjid-faces-hostility-and-xenophobia-but-it-cant-afford-to-move/) suitable places to pray for minority faith groups. Michael Pidgeon, a local Green Party councillor, said that when he lived in London, there were a couple of cathedral-like mosques, but “then most people just went to their local one”. Here, that option isn’t always there, as some local ones [are tiny](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-hardwicke-lane-a-tiny-masjid-faces-hostility-and-xenophobia-but-it-cant-afford-to-move/) prayer halls that can’t accommodate more than a few dozen congregants, and are often transient rentals. ## The out crowd “Large unmanaged pedestrian gatherings and informal trading obstructing footways and carriageways, creating serious safety hazards” were among the issues that [Byrne’s motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26311764-lesly-byrne-motion/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said residents had been reporting. On Friday, signs on the masjid’s gates urged worshippers not to mill about on the street after prayers. “Please respect our neighbourhood,” it said in black text against a yellow backdrop. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Sign-hung-outside-the-masjid-urging-people-not-to-stand-about-after-prayers.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Photo by Shamim Malekmian. Ryklief said that doesn’t happen in wintertime anyway because the prayers don’t spill into the evening. On Friday, there wasn’t any congregation outside the masjid after prayers. A man wearing a coat over a dishdashah sat in his taxi near the masjid, taking a swig from a can of Coke and clutching a sandwich. Another dishdashah-clad man stood with a guy outside a Mediterranean grocer on the street, gabbing and chuckling. It’s not just the masjid that residents complain brings parking problems to the area. Locals and councillors have also raised parking issues spilling out into the neighbourhood from the nearby National Stadium when there’s a big event there, some councillors said at the committee meeting in late November. And there’s going to be more of that with Christmas gigs in full swing, they said. “I suppose the issue that’s being raised now is specifically the mosque,” said Darragh Moriarty, a Labour Party councillor for the area. But some of the complaints about the masjid have a different tone to the parking-related ones about stadium-related parking problems. Anti-immigrant accounts on social media had sometimes taken issue with the presence of Muslims in the neighbourhood, or if people looked like they were Muslims on the bus going towards the masjid, even before attendance grew. “Dublin 8 is destroyed with muslims. The buses going down the South Circular Road are like buses in Bangladesh,” says a post on X from April 2024, which goes on using dehumanising language to describe the presence of men and women around the masjid. [A late 2023 video](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26327755-telegram-snao/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on Telegram, seemingly filmed by someone slowly driving by, shows congregants trickling out, strolling, or standing on the sidewalk. “South Circular Road Dublin … We need to keep our country homogenous … Beginning to look like London or some other captured English city. #IrelandIsFull,” it’s captioned. Ultimately, said Moriarty, the Labour councillor for the area, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that “this is a place of worship and people want to come to us to practice”. ## Talk to everybody Not a day goes by without staff telling people to be mindful of parking and gathering, said Ryklief of the South Circular Road masjid. “We try our best to be nice to our neighbours,” he said. Ryklief has worked in the masjid for so long that he remembers strolling up to work in 1997 and seeing a fire truck outside the gates because someone had tried to [burn it down](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26197314-ina-article-31-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com). In the past, he said, they had asked the National Stadium to let masjid-goers use their car park, but it’s not available at the moment. “The last time we asked them was on a Sunday, and they had some religious gathering, so they said no, they couldn’t,” said Ryklief. At Eid time or other special occasions, they ask the nearby Griffith College. “They are very good, they are very accommodating, and we always get them something to say thank you,” said Ryklief. But they can’t bring themselves to ask regularly; it’s awkward, Ryklief said. Moriarty, the Labour councillor, mentioned Griffith College at the council meeting, too, in the context of complaints about those who were attending events at the National Stadium. “There was talk of maybe linking in with even Griffith College around use of its car park, I think it came to nothing in the end,” he said. A spokesperson for Griffith College Dublin has not responded to queries sent on 24 November, asking about the possibility of lending its car park more regularly. Ryklief, who said he’s thankful for the kindness of Griffith College workers, also said he’d like to see the council’s parking-enforcement contractor step up to the plate and dial up action. The contractor, DSPS, long operated an early-leave incentive, under which, if crews clamped or towed a certain number of vehicles, they got to knock off early. This provided an incentive for crews to head to places where they knew they could find easy pickings, to get their clamps and tows in fast. Most of the [top 10 streets](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24528672-most-clamped-roads-2022-and-2023?ref=dublininquirer.com) for vehicle clamping have for years been in one part of the city: Ranelagh, Clarendon Street, Mespil Road, Merrion Square, Merrion Square West, Waterloo Road, Chelmsford Road. And contacting DSPS with complaints to try to draw them to other areas isn’t very effective. Last year, internal [enforcement data](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z7qG9V7dgiEE9BA-fkIvfRQhcNOqaOkk/edit?ref=dublininquirer.com&gid=661511145#gid=661511145) revealed that in around 70 percent of cases, DSPS workers either didn’t show up to a reported location or only turned up after the reported vehicle had left. A spokesperson for DSPS referred queries about the situation around the masjid to Dublin City Council. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said it is “assessing possible additional measures in this area of South Circular Road”. Meanwhile, its parking enforcement unit is “actively” laying down parking rules in that area, they said. At the area committee meeting in late November, Colm Ennis, senior executive engineer, in the council’s Environment and Transportation Department,said he agrees that the council should engage with masjid workers. “We have tweaked the parking around that area, and we’re looking, still looking at it, to see if there’s some way of improving it,” he said. But it won’t be an easy fix, he said, “there’s sort of finite parking there”, but the council will do its best. ## For others’ sake At the area committee meeting, Ennis, the council engineer, said he totally agrees that something needs to be done “before it sort of snowballs into something”. Byrne, the Social Democrats councillor, said in an email last week that it’s important to “keep the focus on behaviour and enforcement, not on identity” of people parking. But if the parking problems on the road persist, this will be seized and used as another way to demonise people for who they are and push divisive narratives, she said. “If authorities put proper systems in place – regular parking patrols, tow-away at peak times, clear traffic management, and real engagement with residents and the mosque — then the tension never gets a chance to build,” said Byrne. Moriarty, the Labour Party councillor, said in a text message he’d only gotten one email with racist language about issues around the masjid, so far. Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor, said the logistics of the location make it tricky to roll out an easy fix. “Normally, the answer would be to bring in a pay-and-display scheme, but just because the area immediately outside where the mosque is so narrow and it’s a clear way for buses at certain times, it wouldn’t work,” he said by phone, last week. The broader issue, he said, is that the Clonskeagh congregants didn’t have a suitable local alternative prayer space to turn to. There are plans to redevelop an old warehouse-masjid in the area, in Blackpitts, but those won’t come to fruition anytime soon. “Its congregation has long dreamed of creating an appropriate, purpose-built Mosque on this site and with this project this dream can become a reality,” [says the website of JFOC Architects](https://archive.is/1aEp0?ref=dublininquirer.com#selection-803.0-803.10), which lists its design as an assignment. ![Fazel Ryklief in his office. Photo Shamim Malekmian.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/12/Fazel-Ryklief-in-his-office.-Photo-Shamim-Malekmian.jpg) Fazel Ryklief in his office. Photo Shamim Malekmian. Ryklief, of the South Circular Road masjid, said he is worried that the parking problem will cause Muslims in the neighbourhood to become increasingly isolated and reviled. Just recently, someone called him, he said, talking smack about Muslims and Islam. When Ryklief hung up, he phoned again. “He said, ‘I know where you live.’” But Ryklief says he’s old and unafraid. “If somebody walks in with a gun and shoots me, I couldn’t care less, I’m 70 years old, what more do I have to look for? But I think of other people.” There were young boys bustling in and out of the masjid on Friday. Women with young kids walked towards the women’s entrance. As for the parking constraints, Ryklief said, he wants them resolved for their visitors, too, not for himself. “It doesn’t affect me at all. I take the bus,” he said. ### What’s going on with drone delivery company Manna’s proposed defibrillator initiative? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-going-on-with-drone-delivery-company-mannas-proposed-defibrillator-initiative/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T00:16:02.000Z On 25 November, local councillors in Blanchardstown got an update from Manna, the drone delivery company, to ask for support. In the email, among other initiatives, company CEO Bobby Healy asked for backing to progress an emergency defibrillator initiative. They’ve been working with the National Ambulance Service (NAS), the email says. But they needed the HSE, the NAS and Dublin Fire Brigade to wrap up a memorandum of understanding setting out the emergency response pathway to move the project on, it says. “The successful roll-out of a community defibrillator delivery initiative in Dublin 15 has the potential to materially improve emergency response outcomes for all residents,” says Healy in the letter, “and Manna is proud to be a part of this vitally important community service.” Healy has mentioned the plan for defibrillator delivery several times – [including at the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221731-2025-07-09-opening-statement-bobby-healy-chief-executive-officer-manna-air-delivery-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport last July. But it is still unclear if it will definitely progress. On 27 November, a spokesperson for the NAS said that while it had had informal discussions around the service as a trial community first responder scheme, it didn’t progress – and those discussions have closed out. The NAS isn’t the primary pre-hospital emergency care provider for 999 calls in the proposed trial area, they said. “As such, engagements with other state bodies for any proposed trial drone-based first responder scheme would first have to conclude.” On Monday, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council, which oversees Dublin Fire Brigade, said there had been discussions between Manna and a doctor in relation to trialing defibrillator delivery. But the Fire Brigade “did not receive any further details and have no further insight into this project”, they said. Asked about these responses, a spokesperson for Manna said that it had been engaging a lot with NAS to progress an arrangement for defibrillator deliveries – but the way that emergency response is coordinated means that it expects now to approach Dublin Fire Brigade. Manna remains committed to the proposal to deliver defibrillators, and to eventually scaling that, he said. The spokesperson said that opponents of Manna are working to spread a media narrative that misrepresents what the project is and why it matters. “That kind of distortion only delays solutions that could save lives and support local jobs.” The proposal to help deliver defibrillators to emergencies in the area – and the call for local councillor support – has refocused debate on public opinion as to what drones should, and shouldn’t, be used for. Fianna Fáil Councillor John-Kingsley Onwumereh said the idea of Manna moving into defibrillator delivery has always been on the cards. It seemed to get the support of councillors earlier, he said. He would think it would impact wider public attitudes towards drones, he says. “Personally, I think it’s going to be a game-changer in terms of perceptions.” Labour Councillor John Walsh says he thinks there is a place for drone technology – and one appropriate use is the urgent delivery of medical products. “It’s important to say that, like most of us who’ve raised concerns about Manna’s operations in Dublin 15, we are not opposed to drone technology,” he said. They want regulation, he says. But defibrillators shouldn’t be an afterthought to promote a large-scale drone delivery service, says Walsh. Although, ultimately, “I don’t think that’ll make a difference to what people think of it”, he says. ## Getting there faster In July at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Healy summed up his [opening statement by](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221731-2025-07-09-opening-statement-bobby-healy-chief-executive-officer-manna-air-delivery-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) talking about how the company was moving beyond takeaway. “We’ve worked with the Dublin Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Service to launch a defibrillator drone delivery pilot in Dublin 15 – potentially saving lives where every second counts,” [his written statement says. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221731-2025-07-09-opening-statement-bobby-healy-chief-executive-officer-manna-air-delivery-en/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “Per the HSE, rolling this out nationally could help save up to 900 lives per year in Ireland,” he said. Getting defibrillators fast to those experiencing cardiac arrest is central to survival rates, says Joe Galvin, co-lead for the HSE’s National Heart Programme. The survival rate for somebody who goes into cardiac arrest out of hospital is currently [around 8 percent](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26326536-ohcar-annual-report-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com), he says. At the moment, the average emergency medical services response time in urban areas is 11 minutes and in rural areas is 18 minutes, [shows](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26326536-ohcar-annual-report-2024/?q=ambulance&mode=search&ref=dublininquirer.com) HSE data. Last year, defibrillation had been attempted in 12 percent of cases of cardiac arrest before emergency medical services arrival. Yet, says Galvin, the likelihood that somebody will survive drops by 10 percent each minute from onset of the cardiac arrest to defibrillation or the arrival of an ambulance, he says, showing why speedy response is so important. “Anything that can reduce the times to defibrillation, is going to save lives,” he says. The best cardiac survival rates in the world are in Las Vegas at 66 percent, he says. The CCTV surveillance means people are watched closely. If they drop to the floor, somebody can be with them within a few minutes, he says. If Ireland could get up to 50 percent survival, that could mean saving more than 1,000 lives a year. “There’s nothing that comes near this,” he says. Blanket CCTV is probably not on, he says. So the alternative hope is that if someone has an arrest it is witnessed, and the witness calls for help and a defibrillator can arrive within five minutes, he says. At the moment, community first responder teams – local volunteers with paramedic training – are alerted when a call comes to the dispatch centre, and they can grab the nearest defibrillator and run there, he says. Drones could potentially help defibrillators get there faster, he says. “Drones can fly at 60km an hour, so in five minutes they can get 5km.” “Will it work? I truly don’t know. But I think there is untapped potential,” he says. It would cost, he thinks, somewhere between €1 million and €2 million for drones for the roughly 110 stations from which ambulances dispatch across Ireland. “The cost is not insane.” Galvin said he didn’t really have views on who exactly should be delivering defibrillators by drone – whether it should be a private entity, or the public sector. ## Public-sector pilot Within Dublin, government agencies are now working to pilot the delivery of defibrillators by drone, [as part of the](https://droneinnovationpartnership.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Drone Innovation Partnership. The partnership – which does not include Manna – is made up of academics at Maynooth University working with, among others, Dublin City Council and the Irish Aviation Authority. One thing that the partnership has been trying to get their heads around is how to respond to events that happen once-off, says Tim McCarthy, a professor in the department of computer science at Maynooth University who works on the partnership. “How do you set up a system that is able to respond to something that's a once off? It could be once every month. It could be once every year,” he says. The group are looking at “dock stations” for drones and equipment to tackle that, he says, “which are strategically placed in cities, in towns, along critical infrastructure”. These dock stations would provide different services, he says. The first port of call for them would be supporting first-line responders – so the fire brigade, the guards, with drones for their operations when they may need to see from above. If a call came through that someone needed a defibrillator, they could get that down to them also, he says. For Dublin, he envisages six dock stations, each covering an area of about 5km square. If they’re placed strategically, these could cover all of Dublin, he says. However, there is a question of whether this is the best way to get a defibrillator to someone, he says. “I'm not saying that this is, this would need to be tested,” he said. “But it's certainly something on the top of our head as we look at how drones can be usefully used across our cities.” The partnership plans to put a test dock station in the Docklands down by the Poolbeg chimneys next year, he says. “And to start testing there, probably in February, March.” As well as dock stations, it also needs traffic-management systems in place, he said. Other drones will have to know to get out of the way, he says. Galvin, co-lead for the HSE’s National Heart Programme, said that he would like to see a pilot programme with drones in rural areas. “It’s the rural areas that the survival times really drop off and the response,” he said. ## Drones for what Levels of support for drones have been changing in recent years, [surveys](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221732-web-drones-and-emerging-technology-national-survey-2021-executive-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) [suggest](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221733-your-dublin-your-voice-emerging-technology-survey-results-q3-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The percentage of people who feel positive about drone technology overall [sank from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221732-web-drones-and-emerging-technology-national-survey-2021-executive-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 84 percent [to](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221733-your-dublin-your-voice-emerging-technology-survey-results-q3-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 54 percent over the past four years, according to surveys published by Dublin City Council. But attitudes depend also on what drones are used for. The percentage of people who feel positive about the use of drones for emergency services fell just slightly from 97 percent to 94 percent, the same surveys show. Onwumereh, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said he has found it hard to gauge levels of support in Dublin 15 for drone deliveries by Manna. There are evidently varied concerns among residents around a lack of regulation and the health impact of noise, he says, with different complaints from different quarters. “It’s not a one-dish banquet.” But he did also take note of the more than 1,000 form emails in support that Manna’s customers sent in recent times, prompted by the company as they visited its website, he says. On Saturday, a group of local residents from Drone Action D15 protested outside Manna’s delivery hub at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. The gathering was, among other things, to call for Fingal County Council to not approve the company’s application for retention permission for its base in Coolmine. Risks to wildlife and the impact on people’s health should have been considered before the company could start to deliver, said Seamus Doyle, one of the group, in a statement ahead of the protest. Doyle also addressed Manna’s possible role in defibrillator delivery. “Claims of delivering defibrillators and prescriptions are just that – claims, when we are living the reality of this new unprecedented disturbance in the sky above all our quiet areas and our own homes and gardens,” he said. “Drone Action D15 would support the use of drones that benefit the many, rather than the few,” said Doyle. Uses such as drones for architecture, construction, energy, environment, and public safety, he said. “Skies full of drones delivering coffees and donuts should not be our starting point.” With the right regulations, Drone Action D15 would support the use of health emergency drones in difficult to reach locations or in emergencies where equipment, blood and medicines are needed urgently, he said. “D15 has Connolly Hospital, over a dozen pharmacies and about 30 defibrillators stations in the vicinity,” said Doyle. Opposition TD Roderic O’Gorman of the Green Party says that his proposed Regulation of Drones Bill 2025 includes, among other things, a list of uses that drones would be permissible for. Those include for surveying houses, environmental issues, emergency response – and also usages that are in the wider public interest. Whether takeaway deliveries would fit in as the wider public interest, because of their potential impact on carbon emissions would need to be decided, he said. “It would be up to government to set national policy as to what the public interest is,” he says. “That’s important to me because we’ve never had debate in Ireland as to what and how much traffic we want to put in the sky.” ### Few have used process set up to allow appeals to speed limits, figures show URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/few-have-used-process-set-up-to-allow-appeals-to-speed-limits-figures-show/ Last updated: 2025-12-04T23:55:56.000Z In 2019, the stretch of Griffith Avenue between Ballymun Road and Ballygall Road East was a four-lane carriageway with a 60kph speed limit. By 2023, cycle lanes had been put in on either side, narrowing the space available for motor vehicles to two lanes. But the speed limit was still 60kph. So Feljin Jose filed an appeal challenging it. The speed limit is a “remnant”, and not appropriate with the new road layout, and going past a school entrance, and a sports club, says Jose, who was later elected a Green Party councillor on Dublin City Council. The Minister for Transport, then the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan, in 2021 had [launched](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/minister-ryan-launches-speed-limit-appeals-process-and-new-shared-space-signage/?ref=dublininquirer.com) a speed limit appeals process. From the start of 2022 to the end of June this year, there have been 332 appeals lodged with councils nationwide, according to a Department of Transport spokesperson. Most have been unsuccessful – including Jose’s. A year after he lodged the appeal, he got a letter saying a panel had “determined that this speed limit has been set in accordance with the [Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26325302-guidelines-for-setting-speed-limits-2015/?ref=dublininquirer.com)”. But some speed-limit appeals – 34, nationwide, since the process was set up, according to the Department of Transport spokesperson – have been successful. In Dublin city, there’s been a push by council managers and some road-safety activists – like those in the Love 30 campaign – to reduce the default speed limit from 50kph to 30kph. If a driver hits a pedestrian with a car at 50 km/h there’s about a 30 percent chance the pedestrian will die. At 30km/h, the risk of a fatality is reduced six-fold: dropping to 5 percent, according to a [report](https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r4.1-research-reports/safe-speeds/vehicle-speed-and-pedestrian-fatalities-2023.pdf?sfvrsn=fe133b1c%5F3&ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=our%20results%20suggest%20an%20impact%20speed%20of,poor%20visibility%20and%20thus%20slower%20reaction%20times.) for the Road Safety Authority (RSA). The previous government, over the summer, [abandoned](https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-government-abandons-plan-to-make-city-speed-limit-30km-h-by-default-council-returns-to-slog-of-doing-it-bit-by-bit/) the last government’s plan to reduce urban speed limits nationwide to 30kph by default. So the activists and council managers are back to their previous path – a long, slow slog of reducing speed limits bit by bit. ## The appeals process When the Department of Transport announced the new appeals process, a [press release](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/minister-ryan-launches-speed-limit-appeals-process-and-new-shared-space-signage/?ref=dublininquirer.com) said there were two main aims. “The Speed Limits Appeals Procedure is intended to facilitate a legitimate query a member of the public or interested party may have regarding a particular speed limit,” it said. “It is also intended to speed up the process of reviewing speed limit queries raised between full Local Authority speed limit reviews which are normally carried out every five years.” But there are limitations to the process. Only special speed limits can be appealed. These are common, though, says Labour Party Councillor John Walsh, a member of Fingal County Council. And they’re likely to become even more so, since the government backed away from introducing a national default 30kph speed limit in “urban core” areas, and instead told local authorities to carry out their own reviews. So, one of Dublin city’s 50kph default speed limits isn’t open for appeal – but the 60kph limit on Griffith Avenue was. Also, appeals “cannot be made during the Periodic Review Period of a Speed Limit Review, when statutory public consultation is underway”, according to the spokesperson for the Department of Transport. The appeals process itself has [two stages](https://www.roadguidelines.ie/speed-limits/appeals/?ref=dublininquirer.com): first appeal to the local authority, then if that isn’t successful, it’s possible to appeal to a national panel. Of the 332 appeals to local authorities since the start of 2022, the vast majority were dealt with at that level, according to figures from the Department of Transport spokesperson. “Then if someone disagrees, they can escalate to a national panel,” says Walsh, the Labour councillor. “But there's a €125 fee to escalate the appeal, which is refundable if the panel rules in their favor.” Only 10 appeals have gone to the national panel, according to the figures from the department. So far, two of these have been successful, and seven unsuccessful, they show. Mairéad Forsythe, of the Love 30 campaign, said she knows of at least two people who’ve appealed speed limits via this process. One is a supporter who wrote to the campaign, Forsythe says. He got the speed changed on his residential street in Navan to 30kph. “He was very pleased,” she says. He told her he submitted the appeal form on 1 July and got a favourable response on 20 July. “And he said it's purely a technical one – against the guidelines for setting the speed limits,” she read. “And he said, it's important that one studies the guidelines – and cites them in support of the request for review.” The other applicant she said she heard from was disappointed – a man in Cork whose appeal was rejected at both the local and national levels. Tony Murphy, an independent councillor in Fingal, said the revamped appeals process itself is positive – at least compared to what existed before. “The change in the appeal process is absolutely brilliant,” he said. In the older system, “it was very onerous… where most people didn’t bother because it wasn’t an easy procedure.” ## Why so few appeals? Why have there only been a few hundred appeals over the past three and a half years? “Very few people know about it,” said Jose, the Green Party councillor. Yes, says Forsyth, of Love 30, the process “wasn’t advertised well” and “isn’t easy to find”. Also, some who know about it see more traditional routes as better. For Labour’s John Walsh, if everything functioned as it should, residents wouldn’t need to appeal at all. People living on a road, he said, should be able to raise concerns with councillors directly, who can then propose adjustments during legal speed-limit reviews – without forcing them through a more cumbersome appeals system. But he still thinks people should have the right to appeal as another option to be heard. Ciarán Ferrie, an architect and cycling advocate, said he thought it was better for changes to come from the local authorities. “I mean, the fact that individuals can do it is also good, but I think that's a very slow way of getting the changes needed,” Ferrie said. And technically challenging, he said. “The onus would be on the person appealing to demonstrate that the existing scheme limit is not in accordance with the guidelines.” “Which would probably require a certain amount of expertise as well or understanding of the guidelines,” he said. In general, Ferrie said he doesn’t think the appeals process is a particularly effective way of lowering speed limits. ## Is an appeal a solution? Forsythe said Love 30 hasn’t used the appeals mechanism themselves because they already participate in formal speed-limit reviews. She said it might be like an “abuse”of the system to file dozens of appeals after decisions were made. “We would have done a lot of them if we got started,” she said. Forsythe said Dublin City Council and Tipperary County Council have spoken openly about their plans following the government’s decision not to lower urban speed limits to 30kph by default. While Dublin is continuing with its long-running plan to expand 30kph zones, she said. Tipperary, she mentioned, seems more reluctant to lower its speed limits. “We fear there are more Tipperarys than Dublins,” she said. Still, Forsythe said Love 30 isn’t planning to turn to the appeals system. “I don't think the appeals procedure is intended for a group like us to inundate it,” she said. If they did, it would be more like a protest – “If you won't give it to us by the legislative means, we'll do it by the back door.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### What do you want to happen to your data when you die? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/what-do-you-want-to-happen-to-your-data-when-you-die/ Last updated: 2025-12-04T16:10:50.000Z Danny Snow’s digital donor card is bright yellow. It has a spot for a signature, and affirmative statements about the holder’s commitment to donation that mirror those found on the organ donor card sent out by the UK’s National Health Service. It has the look of a familiar object – even if it is a fiction. It’s a way to frame a conversation about preferable futures, said Snow, a PhD researcher at University College Dublin, earlier this week at his home in Terenure. “People examine this, use it, whatever, and then it opens up discussions about, like, sort of what if we had this?” he says. People these days leave a trail of digital data through life – on social media profiles and posts, stores of photos, and health gadgets. What do people think should happen to this after death? Snow’s project asks. “I want to explore people's values around data,” he says. To draw out the values people already have but might not be aware of, because they have had no opportunity to articulate them, he says. It may also be that they don’t ascribe values yet to different kinds of data, he says. “Because it would be a brand-new situation.” ## What is, or would be, data donation? As Snow sees it, data donation would essentially mean choosing which data if any to share and with who. “Basically, giving consent and offering your data for research purposes.” Somebody could opt to donate a phone to a technology researcher and let them download a data package to study social media practices, says Snow, “as opposed to accessing it from the outside”. Health data could be donated the same way, he says. Snow sees it as one response to the myth of “neutral” data, a way to give researchers better-quality data to analyse and to train AI tools. Data isn’t neutral, he says. Medical data from a single hospital draws from a particular population, he says. Datasets from countries with laxer data-sharing laws may be used more by researchers than datasets from other jurisdictions, he says. But if researchers were to draw on specific donations, they could ensure good-quality data, he says. Recognition among health researchers of the potential of AI systems to diagnose and see patterns has amplified calls for health-related data donation, he says. That has accelerated since researchers successfully built an AI system for predicting protein structures, called AlphaFold, which won them the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry. There is complex health research for which, no matter how many people and how much money you throw at it, it would be impossible for a team to do, Snow says. “That’s kind of where I would see a clear use case of AI or machine-learning technologies.” ## Thinking on it Snow’s exploration of attitudes towards data, through the digital donor card and [the survey on](https://datadonorcard.org/?ref=dublininquirer.com) its sister website, has thrown up some curious findings. “What might be considered highly personal or intimate data doesn't necessarily align with what we may think it is or what is legally protected in that way,” he says. “From the responses I got, there's a distinction, quite a clear distinction, between data relating to the physical body and data relating to your sense of personhood or mind,” he says. Generally, people were happy to share health data, that relating to the physical body, after death, he says. Meanwhile though, people were really cautious about data such as their search histories being shared or donated after death, he says, with a lot of talk about being misrepresented. “It's typically framed as, oh, that could come out about me, and I wouldn't be able to see it or experience it, or anything,” he says. When you step back and look at what we actually share day to day, that seems counter-intuitive, he says. “In the sense that we are offering this information, even though it is considered highly personal.” Which leads him to the idea that, maybe, certain data types such as medical scans that stay within a system could be shared more freely, he says. While the more abstract data, used to find patterns over time and make inferences, should see more protections, he says. “To reflect more what people actually value about their data.” ## What happens now? Under GDPR, personal data is no longer classed as personal data when you die, Snow says. It’s up to each member state to come up with rules for posthumous data, he says. That doesn’t mean it is a free-for-all for release of data though, he says. He cites a court battle over the release of adoption records, relating to deceased birth parents – which one side argued could not be released because of the impact on existing living relatives. That GDPR explicitly leaves out deceased individuals is problematic, says Carl Öhman, an assistant professor of political science at Uppsala University in Sweden. “Because you can’t fully disentangle the privacy of the dead or the privacy of the living.” If parents send their DNA data to a company as genealogy research, he says, and the company owns their digital remains, then it can make detailed inferences about future generations. Especially if combined also with other data they may have loaded up about offspring – from scans to school photos, he says. Data after you die is treated in the same way as property, says Snow. “People inheriting it and getting access or ownership over it.” But leaving a car to someone isn’t the same as leaving personal information, he says. An organ gets used and there's an end point, he says. Data can ripple on, with potential impact for those you’re related to, he says. ## Is it yours to donate? The data donor card also prompts people to think about who actually has ownership of that data today – in many cases, private companies. At the moment, with Facebook, Instagram and Apple, you can assign a legacy contact who can tend to posts and accounts within certain boundaries. “But it’s obviously not used that much,” says Snow. Google has an active account manager, which means if there’s nothing on it for a certain amount of time, they delete it, he says. Research by Öhman has mapped out [that we can ](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-04-29-digital-graveyards-are-dead-taking-over-facebook?ref=dublininquirer.com)expect many billions more dead accounts over time, says Snow. “It’s big numbers.” Öhman says that data donor cards aren’t a bad idea but they do kind of play into a larger issue he’s concerned about. The main political challenge for him at the moment is that people are constantly encouraged to approach data privacy as an individual good, he says. “We’re encouraged to think of ourselves, to reduce ourselves into consumers of platforms, rather than citizens of a society,” he says. This turns us into individual actors with zero political power, he says. The GPDR regime, data privacy in general, reduces it to individual preferences – and most people don’t care about their individual data privacy, he says. “They’re like, why would Google care about where I have lunch? Or why would Instagram care about my aging face?” he says. “They don’t give a damn about those things but they do give a damn about where *people* had breakfast and what it looks like when *people* age.” If you reduce the discussion to individual preferences of what’s going to happen to my data when I die, it’s not a solution to the larger question of what’s happening to our data as a generation when we die, he says. An idea he has put forward, he says, is that of a “digital world heritage label”. In this future, international bodies would assist in the management of large archives of digital remains, he says. “In exchange for the public getting some access to what is essentially society’s digital past.” ## Breaking their monopoly The solution to the fact that digital history is now concentrated in the hands of individuals who can monopolise that isn’t going to be found within that economic system, Öhman says. “I’m hoping that the situation is about to get so bizarre where we’re basically gonna have to ask Elon Musk for permission to study our own personal and collective past, that we’re going to realise that, like, the entire setup is fraudulent,” he says. In his book *The Afterlife of Data*, he theorises how society may end up challenging it all, he says. “I think if we look historically, there have been almost no stronger rationales for access and entitlement than the claim that my ancestors are buried in this land.” That’s the winning argument in disputes over land, he says. Take the transfer of Stonehenge from west Wales to the Salisbury Plain, which archeologists have [hypothesised was](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/feb/research-stonehenge-first-stood-wales?ref=dublininquirer.com) carried out because the stones were the embodiment of the ancestors of those who moved them. There are some signs that this feeling may surface in debates around the ownership of digital remains, he says. The backlash then-Twitter, when they tried to remove the profiles of deceased users, he says. “People were like, no, no, no, no, no. You are not erasing my departed father or mother.” Meanwhile, looking beyond individuals, you can imagine an event that reverberates through a nation’s culture – the #MeToo movement, or the marriage equality referendum. Imagine X suddenly decided to delete all the data about that, he says. “We would, like, find it unacceptable if someone were to erase part of our collective history.” Yet we have no legal claim to that data, he says. “My argument is that we are going to have to erase data, like we cannot preserve everything,” Öhman says. “So we need some sort of principle to identify which data are worth preserving, which are not.” A plurality of values should underpin those decision, he says – just as museums appraise collections by bringing in an archeologist, a historian, people representing descendents and so on. “They will together have a discussion: what is worth keeping?” he says. At the moment, the way we manage our collective digital heritage is only according to one principle, he says. “And that is the principle of capital.” How individual wishes to be forgotten should be balanced with other principles depends on the situation, he says. If a public figure wants to disappear from the web, it’s fair for society that the data must be retained, he says. “Because there is a societal interest in, you know, keeping Donald Trump’s tweets of press conferences or whatever.” ## Learning from the card One of the things Snow has learnt about himself with the data donor card, he says, is how he doesn’t – even with the work he does – really have a sense of jeopardy when it comes to use of his data both now and in its after life. “I don’t see the harms of data outside quite specific things,” he says. An example being monitoring of social media posts at the US border, or how the UK government used data post-Covid to assign grades to classes based on historical scores, he says. But it’s difficult when it comes to aggregated data, he says. “It’s very difficult to have a sense of things when it’s a random cookie and you’re on Amazon, who already have so much information about you anyway.” “I’m not saying it doesn’t have negative impacts but for me, anyway, I can’t get over that,” he says. ### In Dublin 15, councillors say they’re inundated with complaints about slippery leaves on footpaths URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-dublin-15-councillors-say-theyre-inundated-with-complaints-about-slippery-leaves-on-footpaths/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T00:56:52.000Z So many locals have raised concerns about slippery leaves across paths in Dublin 15 recently, said Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly at a recent meeting. “It's no exaggeration. I've had at least 20 different people coming to me with this issue,” she said at a meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar Area Committee on 27 November. “And I just noticed there – as I was sitting at the meeting today, another one dropped in at quarter to four,” said Donnelly She commended the council staff's street cleaning, and said it’s good they have “two big sweepers and two small ones”. But, she said, “whatever we’re doing, it just isn't enough at the moment”. Older residents in particular raise it, she says. “I know some people, they just won't come out and face paths like that.” Part of what prompted so many residents to reach out recently was misinformation coming from Fingal’s customer services, said multiple councillors at the meeting. Residents were told that the road sweeping schedule was suspended from October to January, they said. Many read that as no sweeping at all. Council administrative officer DeirdreSinclairat the meeting apologised for that. “Yes, there has been confusion, I suppose, over communication issued regarding leaf removal and street cleaning. And to be fair, I acknowledge it could have been worded better,” she said. “I just want to apologise for any confusion raised in that matter.” The Operations Department does sweep and clean the roads and footpaths all year round, [said a written reply](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s115062/Motion22CllrADonnellyKeepingPathsandRoadsClearinthisLEAAI105309.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), from senior executive engineer Hugh James, to a question about the issue. “There is no suspension of this work between October and January.” It’s just not on the normal schedule, because with all the leaves falling during this period, more time’s devoted to cleaning those up – so there’s less time to do the normal street cleaning done during other periods, James wrote. ## Calling for more Donnelly read out some of the messages she had gotten. One wrote that the corner at Ravenswood Rise is “shocking and very slippery”, with neighbours blowing leaves from paths onto the road. “The kerbs are not visible at all.” Another said after recent storms the week before, street sweepers still hadn’t shown up, and “the leaves are worse and now iced over”. Labour Party Councillor John Walsh said he had also been contacted on the issue by at least six or seven estates. James’s written response laid out the challenges as council workers see them. More leaves are falling this season, of course. Because of that, sweepers fill up more quickly than at other times of year and have to return to depots to empty and come back, he wrote. “This results in these machines only being able to cover a fraction of the ground they would normally cover, outside this time of year,” he wrote. Cleaning crews can also be diverted from sweeping and cleaning, if they’re needed to clear gullies and prevent flooding, he wrote. Councillors spoke supportively of the two main schemes put in place by the council to deal with the falling leaves. The council gives biodegradable bags and skip bags to residents’ groups and Tidy Towns groups. And it runs a community composting initiative, making leaf-mould cages available to estates. The second of these has ramped up. The council now counts more than 500 leaf cages across the county during autumn, [according to the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26327726-litter-managment-plan-final-copy/?ref=dublininquirer.com) litter management plan. But it should be expanded further or on offer for longer, said Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy. “Most people don't realise the problem with the leaves until October or mid-October.” Walsh said his estate used three leaf-mould cages but some residents had mistakenly thought more weren’t available. Others thought the council was only giving bags to organised groups, which also wasn’t the case in the end, he said. “That was clarified by the director of operations of the council meeting,” he said. “There’s a huge demand for that,” Walsh said. “It’s a really beneficial initiative.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Ballymun, lining up to read and reconnect with the constitution URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-ballymun-lining-up-to-read-and-reconnect-with-the-constitution/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T00:45:12.000Z On the mezzanine floor, upstairs in the Axis Theatre last Friday lunchtime, a karaoke, of sorts, was unfolding. “Some people have described the experience as a bit of a law mass, right? Because there’s like cloaks and reading aloud and bells,” said Maebh Harding, professor of family law at UCD’s Sutherland School of Law. But yes also, she says, “some people have said it's a bit like karaoke”. “Bunreacht Aloud”, a collective reading of Bunreacht na hÉireann – the Constitution of Ireland – was the final event of Ballymun Community Law Centre’s “Community Law Festival”. Folks in the community were invited to come together, taking a turn reading one of the 50 articles of the country’s founding document*.* At midday, Harding was at the podium, along with poet and law graduate, Julie Morrissy – both dressed in long black cloaks. They’re not ordinary legal cloaks, Morrissy had explained earlier by phone. No, indeed. They’re “feminist constitutional futures cloaks”, designed and embroidered [for the](https://dflw.ie/power-dressing-in-feminist-style-the-feminist-constitutional-futures-cloak/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Northern/Ireland Feminist Constitutional Futures Project by the Array Collective. An event like this one, and the work of the law centre, in highlighting and supporting people to know their rights, is incredibly important, says Rory Hearne TD, of the Social Democrats, who was at the reading. He was to read Article 45, on social policy. It sets out that the state has an obligation, a responsibility to people to ensure their proper welfare, he said. A man shuffled into the back row of seats. He wasn’t there to read an article, he says cheerfully, but to listen to his son. “If that’s alright?” “No problem,” says Claire McSweeney, manager of the community law centre. The atmosphere is relaxed. A table of biscuits, tea and coffee sits to the side. Nobody is expected to sit still for the whole two and a half hours. Harding theatrically rings a large brass bell, with a wooden handle. The community recital starts. ## **Law mass** Morrissy reads the preamble. Then, young teenagers from the[ Aisling Youth Project](https://www.aislingproject.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a local after-school group, take turns at the podium for the early articles. They stand along the side of the room. As one boy goes up to read, another pats him on the back encouragingly. Apart from a slight giggle from the group as one member tries to adjust the microphone stand, the group are engaged and incredibly polite. A middle-aged man reads Article 15, “The National Parliament”, detailing the role of the Oireachtas. “Well done, man,” one of the kids tells him, as he passes by after. Earlier, two women had tag-teamed on Article 12, on the role of the president. The often-patriarchal tone of the constitution became apparent. Article 12.3: “The President shall hold office for seven years from the date upon which he enters upon his office …” Article 12.7: “The first President shall enter upon his office as soon as may be after his election, and every subsequent President shall enter upon his office on the day following the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor or as soon as may be thereafter …” One of the pair makes the only live edit of the day. In real time, he/him/his become they/them/theirs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Julie-Morrissy-and-Maebh-Harding-introduce-Bunreacht-Aloud--live-at-the-Axis-Ballymun.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin--1.jpg) Julie Morrissy and Maebh Harding. Photo by Eoin Glackin. By Morrissy’s calculations, there are 110 references to male gender pronouns in *Bunreacht na hÉireann.* And just seven to women, she said earlier. After Article 39, Harding speaks up. “So, you might have noticed that there hasn't been much discussion of women in the constitution so far,” she says. A short interlude breaks up the proceedings. Harding introduces local poet Dee Keating. Keating reads her own poem “The Power of Woman Rises”*.* She chronicles the experiences of women, through history to the current day. A reminder of the strength in the divine feminine. “Generations of strong women forgotten and squandered, imprisoned, institutionalised and laundered // Legacy buried, exchanged and sold // Human souls never got the chance to grow old,” Keating read. “We will never not be queens.” The Ballymun poet finished on her final affirmation. “The power of woman rises,” she said. “Amen,” rose a woman’s voice in the audience. ## **Unmet legal need** Ballymun Community Law Centre is now 23 years old, says McSweeney. It just published its latest[ annual report](https://www.bclc.ie/news/legal/2024-annual-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But it’s still surprising to her that so many in the area aren’t aware that it exists, she says. That’s why they held this week-long Community Law Festival in the Axis, she said, to help spread the message and continue making connections in the community. They ran talks all week, dealing directly with many of the issues that they encounter regularly in the centre. “We get a lot of employment queries,” she says. So, they brought in an employment specialist for an advice clinic and talk. They get plenty of people with housing issues, she says. So, they had Peter Dorman from Community Action Network talk about housing rights and community action. “We were trying to relate it to what we see the legal need is. It's what we call the ‘unmet legal need’. We had a week of that, and it was fun too,” says McSweeney. It was gratifying, she says, hearing how the young people from the Aisling Project as they prepared for the public reading of the constitution had great conversations about what it all means. The centre is vital, says Hearne, the Social Democrats TD who read Article 45, “Directive Principles of Social Policy”. “Whether it's substandard housing, dealing with problems of mould and damp that aren't been fixed,” he said. “Renters facing eviction from the private rental sector.” People young and old, trying to access health services or disability services but not being treated properly and given the supports they are entitled to, he says. “I think events like this show them that actually you do have a right to, you know, decent standard of housing, access to health services, access to education,” he says. Hearne works with families with children with additional needs, who are unable to access school places and services, he says. Yet their right to education is laid out bare in black and white in Article 45, he says, for all to see – and hear. “It's about them using that then to claim those rights,” Hearne says. As the speakers took turns, the constitution unrolled. The national flag, the Irish language, the management of natural resources, citizenship. What happens if the President is incapacitated? What happens if we’re invaded? As the event closed out, Morrissy read “The Index Poem”, her own work. It was inspired by the at-the-time archaic language of the constitution, she said. “Widows: *see* state support // Women: *see* family; sex // Work: *see* mother’s work,” she said. Bunreacht Aloud was conceived by Morrissy and Harding last year, and trialled once at University College Dublin. Ballymun was the second performance. The first in a community setting, Morrissy says – although she hopes they can take it to more spaces in the future. “The main point about the constitution is that the language should be inclusive for everyone and represent everyone in Irish society,” she says. “Bunreacht belongs to everyone!” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Councillors squeamish at continued rise of illuminated and digital advertising signs in city URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-squeamish-at-continued-rise-of-illuminated-and-digital-advertising-signs-in-city/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T00:45:21.000Z At Lincoln Place, a road that forks northwards from the National Gallery in the heart of town, an illuminated billboard flashes above a cafe. The council granted [permission in 2024](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/158426?ref=dublininquirer.com) to replace an existing billboard with this digital one. One moment, it advertises ChatGPT. The next, it promotes Range Rover. Across the city at 13 Wexford Street, on the gable wall between Zakura restaurant and Treasure Traders, an illuminated sign advertises a film, flicks to a music festival and then to Micromedia. The council also granted [permission in 2024](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/158420?ref=dublininquirer.com) to replace an existing billboard with this digital one. These billboards – and others – have appeared, despite provisions in the council’s [city development plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26304622-city-development-plan-signage/?ref=dublininquirer.com), in place since 2022, to control advertising signs in the city centre. The plan divides the city into a series of zones, and defines whether outdoor advertising should be allowed in each – and under what conditions. The Wexford Street billboard is Zone 3, where the development of outdoor advertising is “open for consideration”. The Lincoln Place billboard, though, is in Zone 1, where “there is a strong presumption against outdoor advertising”. However, the development plan also provides for advertisers to do deals with the council when they want to upgrade their billboards – say, from regular ones, to digital ones. “Any upgrading and/ or replacement of existing outdoor advertising” will only be permitted if “an agreement is made to decommission at least one other display panel in the city”, the plan says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Wexford-St---by-Laoise-Neylon.jpg) Wexford Street. Photo by Laoise Neylon. So on Lincoln Place, despite the presumption against outdoor advertising, the council [planner judged](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=FFC2953AB53011EEB8F9005056BE5B40&ref=dublininquirer.com) the swap – removal of another billboard, at 151 Pearse Street – a big enough gain, to make allowing the upgrade to a digital billboard worth it. Still though, some councillors say they oppose the gradual creep of illuminated signs on the cityscape. “Digital screens are impacting on our environment,” says independent Councillor Mannix Flynn. “It’s another erosion of the public domain.” Green Party Councillor Janet Horner says that she is worried about the impact of digital signage. “It is the cheapening of the entire public realm,” she says. “I’d rather if there were fewer of them.” Dublin City Council didn’t respond in time for publication to queries sent Tuesday as to why it is allowing illuminated billboards to replace ordinary ones. ## A serious strategy? Digital illuminated signs cause problems for people living in the city, says Flynn, the independent councillor. Earlier this year, he supported residents on Lower Kevin Street [who objected](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/166845?ref=dublininquirer.com) to an application for a digital sign very close to their homes, he says. That application was refused, despite a proposed swap. Planners noted the proximity of the signs, with changing displays, to homes. Flynn says he also supports residents in Rathmines who said they were majorly affected by the council’s decision to [allow an ordinary billboard](https://www.thejournal.ie/led-billboard-rathmines-5903677-Oct2022/?ref=dublininquirer.com) be exchanged for an illuminated one. Residents are still living with the screens flashing, visible from their windows, he says. “There needs to be a proper strategy and enforcement.” That situation hasn’t been resolved, he says. “It is much, much more intrusive,” says Flynn. Horner, the Green Party councilor, says that the billboard on the Drumcondra railway bridge has recently been illuminated. “You have an LED screen beaming out at you.” If public bodies are to profit from advertising, they should invest the money locally, she says. “Drumcondra Station is particularly bleak.” Planning documents show some of the arguments and swaps being put forward, for proposed digital displays. Dublin City Council earlier this year granted JC Decaux permission to install new illuminated billboards at [397 North Circular Road](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/166115?ref=dublininquirer.com) and [Annesley Bridge Road](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/166505?ref=dublininquirer.com) because the company agreed to remove other billboards at Gardiner Place, which were on a site that is attached to a protected structure, the planning documents say. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Gardiner-Place---by-Laoise-Neylon.jpg) Gardiner Place. Photo by Laoise Neylon. And in exchange for getting to upgrade one billboard at 13 Wexford Street to an illuminated digital one, Lucid Media took away one on the other side of the building. In the application for the screens at Kevin Street, JC Decaux proposed multiple swaps. It said it was willing to decommission an illuminated sign at 138 South Circular Road for that one. It would also be willing to decommission another 12 billboards in exchange for eight digital ones, it says. “They have also submitted a list of site where planning applications will be lodged and the reciprocal list of advertising displays which are proposed for permanent decommissioning,” says the[ planners report. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26310152-planners-report-kevin-st/?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## Advertising clutter on public paths Paula Geraghty says that, years ago, she was involved in objecting to billboards and other on-street advertising signs after Dublin City Council struck a controversial deal with billboard company JC Decaux to allow advertising structures in public places. “It's the privatisation of public space,” she says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Metropole-in-Smithfield-Square---by-Laoise-Neylon-2.jpg) On Smithfield Square. Photo by Laoise Neylon. Organisations representing the visually impaired also objected, she says, as some of the adverts were not on billboards but standalone objects, called metropanels and metropoles that clutter footpaths. On foot of the deal, JC Decaux was granted planning permission for 78 billboards, according to an internal council audit of the scheme, [published by](https://irishcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/R07-09-Internal-Audit-Full-Report-Review-of-Contract-Awarded-to-JCDecaux-Ire-Ltd.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) [IrishCycle.com](http://irishcycle.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). The company was also to provide 50 bike-share stations, a wayfinding trail, remove 50 sheet billboards, and give a share of net advertising, the audit says. Dublin City Council refused to publish all the details of the deal at the time, says Flynn. “As councillors we never had sight of the contract.” In February last year, Dublin City Council granted JC Decaux retention planning permission for a free-standing advertising structure at [Smithfield Square](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/157571?ref=dublininquirer.com). In October 2023, it granted retention for a metropole on [Richmond Road near Tolka Park.](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/156786?ref=dublininquirer.com) Flynn says the council should stop all permissions for metropanels and especially metropoles. They are particularly objectionable, because of their size and they clutter the public streets, he says. “We need to have a really stringent policy and practice.” ### Councillor renews calls for a community toilet scheme in Dublin city centre URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillor-renews-calls-for-a-community-toilet-scheme-in-dublin-city-centre/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T00:45:30.000Z During her tenure as Lord Mayor of Dublin, Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu would get occasional unexpected knocks on the door of the Mansion House. It was often people who just needed to use the toilet, she said by phone on Thursday. She served as lord mayor from June 2020 to June 2021, across various phases of the Covid-19 response. “That’s what we had to do.” Though that phase has passed now, the need for toilet facilities in the city accessible to the public remains high, says Councillor Clodagh Ní Mhuirí of Fine Gael. Other places in Ireland have taken an approach that draws inspiration from European cities like Bremen in Germany. Both Sligo and Derry have introduced their own versions of the “Nette Toilette” scheme – which translates as “nice toilet”. Businesses, cafés, restaurants, and shops can opt into a register of places with toilets open to the public. Stickers are put on the doors of participating premises, which are also listed online. In Germany, where the [Nette Toilette programme](https://die-nette-toilette.de/?ref=dublininquirer.com) has spread nationwide, it pitches businesses to participate with an appeal to their better nature – and financial support. “With the "Nice Toilet" project, you, as a restaurant owner, demonstrate that service and responsibility mean more to you. And the best part: your commitment is supported – financially and in spirit.” At September’s meeting of the North Central Area Committee, Ní Mhuirí brought a [motion](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26310129-public-reports-pack-15092025-1400-north-central-area-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) calling on the council to work with businesses across the city to introduce a “Nette Toilette” scheme here. The response from Mick Carroll, local area manager with the council, wasn’t encouraging, though. We’ve tried that, it said ## **Previous efforts** In January 2023, the council “[sought expressions of interest](https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/229766/0/0?returnUrl=&b=ETENDERS%5FSIMPLE&ref=dublininquirer.com) from the commercial sector for the provision of public conveniences within existing retail / commercial units or unused premises in high footfall areas of the City centre”. Owners of retail and commercial units didn’t respond to that market consultation, it said. So the idea fizzled out. “Based on the lack of interest from the preferred market it is apparent that there is no appetite or desire from the retail / commercial sector to locate public toilets within their existing units,” they said. Later in October of that year, in a motion to the monthly [council meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5055&ref=dublininquirer.com), Fine Gael Councillor Danny Byrne pitched the idea of offering businesses a rebate on their commercial rates if they participated. Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, [said at the time](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-rejects-a-proposal-to-try-to-open-up-restaurant-toilets-to-the-wider-public-throughout-the-city/) that he thought that some restaurants would sign up. “A lot of restaurants already allow people to use the facilities and at the moment it’s costing them money because businesses pay for water,” he said. But the rates-rebate idea was dismissed by then-Lord Mayor, Daithí de Róiste of Fianna Fáil, and the council’s finance manager. Council finance manager Kathy Quinn said that the council doesn’t have the power to issue rates rebates. Despite these false starts, it's worth revisiting and engaging with businesses again, Ní Mhuirí said by phone on Wednesday. “If it's a case that they haven't been interested in it previously, let’s figure out why that is,” she says. She hadn’t worked out what the council had offered to business last time, she said. Instead of a Nette Toilette-like scheme, Dublin City Council has piloted contracting coffee kiosks in or near public parks, with toilets attached that are open to the public. But it hasn’t [always been obvious](https://www.dublininquirer.com/there-are-more-public-toilets-in-dublin-than-you-might-realise/) that the toilets are there, and accessible. It has also put in standalone public toilets, like the one at College Green, which cost more than [€32,500](https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-is-the-council-spending-e32000-a-month-on-public-toilets-at-st-stephens-green/) a month. In June, a report from council manager Derek Kelly [put the capital costs, and servicing costs over five years, for](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26310126-report-no-1512025-of-the-executive-manager-d-kelly-with-reference-to-the-provision-of-public/?ref=dublininquirer.com) four planned toilet facilities in the heart of Dublin city – each with four or five cubicles – at €5.7 million. ## **Flowing well elsewhere** The lack of public toilets in Sligo has become a “thorny issue”, says Gail McGibbon, CEO of Sligo Business Improvement District (BID). But when debates arise on the installation of costly outdoor public toilet facilities, nobody can agree on where they should be placed, she says. The costs are massive too, she says. McGibbon says that a public toilet costs about €100,000 to install, with a maintenance cost of around €35,000 per year. McGibbon also works assessing night-time economies, and is involved in administering[ Purple Flag](https://www.wearedublintown.ie/what-we-do/purple-flag/?ref=dublininquirer.com) awards – for excellence in the management of a town or city centre from 5pm to 5am. If a city or town had a public toilet, she would often ask how much revenue it generated in the previous year, she says. “I have yet to come across a profitable model.” So, in Sligo, they tried the Nette Toilette approach, calling it[ WC Sligo](https://wcsligo.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). “That was our solution to the problem,” she says. “They’re toilets for public use, and not public toilets,” says Finbar Filan, owner of Filan’s Centra in Sligo Town, who signed up when the scheme began in March 2024. There have been no issues reported across any of the venues who have signed up, including his own shop, Filan said by phone on Thursday. WC Sligo businesses are given a small stipend for expenses, he says. Bigger places, like a hotel, with greater footfall justifiably get more than smaller spots, he says. “It's like a token more than anything else.” And, as in Bremen, businesses retain the right to refuse admission to anyone onto their premises if they see fit. There’s no obligation to let all and anyone in, he says. McGibbon says that there has always been a culture in Sligo, and across Ireland, that places will usually let someone use the toilet if they ask. But, nevertheless, offering people a reliable database that they can access on their phones removes a lot of stress and worry for many people, she says. Meanwhile, Derry City & Strabane District Council also started its own version of “Nette Toilette” in 2023, called the[ Community Toilet Scheme](https://www.derrystrabane.com/services/health-communitywellbeing/health,-housing-public-conveniences/public-conveniences/community-toilet-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com). It currently counts 17 private businesses and 20 government premises. The council offers businesses an annual nominal fee of between £300 and £800 to help with extra cleaning costs, water, and so on. A [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26306629-update-on-the-community-toilet-scheme-and-public-convenience-refurbishment-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) presented to its councillors in December 2024 by the head of health and community wellbeing, showed the annual net cost to the council of the scheme is £12,000. The Nette Toilette scheme in Bremen remains popular, says Anja Leibing of the Bremen Senate Chancellery. But she has noticed some businesses removing themselves from the list, over the years, she said by phone on Wednesday. Like Ireland, Leibing says Germany has a culture that rarely sees businesses turn someone away who asks politely to use the facilities. However, she says, in Bremen some places found that once they had the formal Nette Toilette sticker on their doors, all of a sudden, some people became rude and demanding. ## **Ask harder** Like Dublin City, Galway City Council attempted to get a community toilet scheme off the ground in 2024, but it didn’t go anywhere. Galway also put out an[ expression of interest](https://www.galwaycity.ie/news/2024/nice-toilet-galway-city?ref=dublininquirer.com) to businesses, offering an “annual contribution from the council in exchange for allowing the public to use their restrooms”. There was little to no uptake at the time, said Labour Party Councillor Níall McNelis by phone on Tuesday. Dublin City Council can’t expect to get anywhere with the scheme if it relies on expressions of interest, says Filan, the Sligo Centra owner. “It doesn't work that way.” “You have to go out and chat to the business owners and say, ‘Look, this is what we'd like to do. This is what we want to try and achieve’. And let them even chat to someone like me that's done it already and see that there's no issue,” he says. Many of those people will be doing it anyway, letting people into their shop, he says. But it’s important to formalise it in some way, he says. “I think it's a lovely idea. It's worked really well for us.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### How Dublin city councillors have agreed to spend the city’s €1.69bn budget in the coming year URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/how-dublin-city-councillors-have-agreed-to-spend-the-citys-day-to-day-budget-in-the-coming-year/ Last updated: 2026-04-23T18:53:36.000Z Dublin city councillors agreed on [Monday](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/1037080?ref=dublininquirer.com) to spend [€1.69bn next year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26302753-consideration-of-report-no2612025-the-draft-revenue-budget-for-the-local-financing-year-ending-the/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on day-to-day operations, with a budget that scraped through following a contentious split on whether to increase rents for social tenants. The council is set to spend around €200 million more than it did last year. Most of the money to fund council services comes from government grants, commercial rates, social housing rents – and a small sliver from local property taxes. The big spending line items are housing and building (€862m), environmental services (€306m), transport (€162m), recreation and amenity (€146m), and development management (€110m). Spending on homeless services is expected to increase significantly as it has each year for the last five years, more than doubling from €194m in 2022 to an estimated €406m for 2026. Dublin City Council is trying to negotiate with the Department of Housing for more help with homeless spending, as the council’s contribution has reached €27m. The discussion at the meeting centred on whether to increase rents for social housing tenants, which the CEO’s budget says would bring in €32m, to fund better maintenance of homes. The council’s rent intake for 2025 was estimated at around €110m. Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and others backed a motion tabled by People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy, who proposed that the council should not raise rents because it would leave the poorest in the city worse off. Instead, he suggested the council plug the gap in its finances by hiking commercial rates, with a rebate to ensure it hit only the largest businesses. Similar schemes are working in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Limerick City and County Council, said Reddy. But his motion was defeated 28 votes to 31, with one abstention. [To amend the proposed 2026 budget to avoid rent increasesFailed: 28 for, 31 against, 1 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/8f8d17fd/og-image?v=1774522009)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/8f8d17fd?ref=dublininquirer.com) Aand the budget scraped by with 31 votes to 30\. [To approve the budget for 2026 without amendment to avoid rent increasesPassed: 31 for, 30 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/5643d173/og-image?v=1774522054)](https://councilvotetracker.ie/dcc/motions/5643d173?ref=dublininquirer.com) Meanwhile, Social Democrats Councillor Cian O’Farrell asked whether the council had received any funding yet to implement the big vision for the transformation of the city centre under the Taoiseach’s taskforce. It [still](https://www.dublininquirer.com/no-extra-money-yet-for-council-to-roll-out-actions-put-forward-by-taoiseachs-taskforce-for-dublin/) hasn’t. ## **In and out** The lion's share of what the council spends comes from government grants, which should bring in a total of €734m next year, says the budget. Councillors also agreed to increase commercial rates by around 2.5 percent.“This proposed increase is in line with the expected rate of inflation in 2026,” the budget says. With that, the council should bring in an estimated €430m in rates in total, the budget says. Both from the increase, and the expected increase in businesses income. Dublin City Council also estimates it will take in €443.5m in goods and services – which includes €142m from council rents and €60m in local property tax. Spending overall on housing and building is set to rise by €124m, from €738m this year to €862m next year, driven by the increased costs of homeless services, long-term leasing of homes and spending on housing maintenance. Given the skyrocketing spend on homeless services, the council has gone to ask the Department of Housing for more help, the budget says. It has submitted a business case to the department “with a view to increasing the level of state funding available to run this nationally important service”, it says. Fine Gael Councillor Declan Flanagan asked how much the council will be borrowing in 2026 to fund housing maintenance. Council CEO Richard Shakespeare said the council is borrowing €27m for housing maintenance “to fill the gap from last year”. It costs €3.2m per year for 10 years to pay it back, he says, and they also have other debts from previous years. He’ll ask the finance team to total up all debt payments for housing maintenance from recent years, he says. ## **Behind the rent increases** The Dublin City Council budget says it needs to increase rents to bring in an additional €32m to improve maintenance on more than 26,000 social homes it owns. Council tenants pay rent according to their incomes, but it's complicated. In recent years, the highest earner in a Dublin City Council home paid 15 percent of their income, with the first €32 per week discounted from the calculation. Dublin city councillors agreed, narrowly, on Monday to increase that to 18 percent – but also to discount the first €55 to dampen the effects of the increase on lower-income tenants. Even the lowest-income tenants will pay more rent, but by a slightly lesser degree than those who earn more. The new calculation also has an increase for secondary earners who live in a social home. Their rent contribution is currently capped at €21 per week, which will increase to a maximum of €40 per week. Dublin City Council also estimates the income of self-employed people, which up to now was assessed at €500 to €560 per week. From 2026, that will be assumed to be €700 per week. The council also lifted other maximum caps on household rents, so that all tenants with an income will pay something. At the meeting, as protestors gathered outside, councillors went back and forth on the impacts of rent increases on the poorest in the city and the need to increase rents to tackle poor maintenance. “Increases in rents and property tax will impose further pressure on already struggling families,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan. “Families are really struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.” Social Democrats Councillor Jesslyn Henry read out a communication from a constituent who was a victim of domestic violence and has struggled to survive as a single parent. “How many of you have no heat and live on a bag of potatoes, bread and eggs?” Henry read. The woman described how she worked as a cleaner at night and had to leave her children unsupervised to go to work, and lived in fear of being reported to social workers. Now they are older, they work after school to help pay the bills, she says. “How do I break the cycle?” But Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said the council needs the money to improve the maintenance of its neglected properties. "There's a clear direct line between the low rents we charge and the low crappy levels of maintenance we provide,” he said. Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, asked whether the council had consulted groups like homeless charities or Social Justice Ireland about the impact of the increases. He asked in particular about the impact of the[ changes on HAP tenants,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-council-rents-and-private-rents-both-rising-hap-tenants-are-squeezed-from-two-directions/) who often also have to pay high rents to landlords as well as council rent and are at greater risk of poverty, he said, than any other group of renters. The rent review was carried out by the members of two council committees – the Housing Committee headed by Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney and the Finance Committee headed by Sinn Féin Councillor Séamas McGrattan – and other groups were not consulted, said Mick Mulhern, the council housing manager. Fingal County Council has also [agreed to raise rents](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/) for its tenants next year, but up to 14.5 percent of income, and not by as much as council officials had sought. ## **Funding the taskforce** Also at the Dublin City Council budget meeting, Social Democrats Councillor Cian O’Farrell asked whether the council has received any funding yet to roll out the recommendations of the [Taoiseach’s Taskforce for Dublin. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/no-extra-money-yet-for-council-to-roll-out-actions-put-forward-by-taoiseachs-taskforce-for-dublin/) That promises to revamp the city centre including O’Connell Street, regenerate all social housing in the inner city, tackle dereliction and improve feelings of safety among other things. No, said council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare. “Once we know, we will let you know whether we have been successful or not.” A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said implementation of the recommendations is “being supported by new dedicated delivery structures in Dublin City Council and is being underpinned by NDP \[national development plan\] investment funding”. They didn’t directly respond to a question about what the budget is or when the council can expect to get funding to roll it out. “The Department will work collaboratively with Dublin City Council and any established special purpose vehicle established by Dublin City Council,” they said. ### Luke: This Saturday, a film festival in the Liberties is showcasing comedies by and for kids URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/luke-this-saturday-a-film-festival-in-the-liberties-is-showcasing-comedies-by-and-for-kids/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T10:29:23.000Z Kidz Filmz, part of the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival, features a series of comedy shorts by and for children. A mix of DIY and professional work, this event showcases the creativity and craft in their approach to comedy filmmaking. The screening includes two genre spoofs – *The Substitute Teacher… From Hell* and *Dial S for Sandwich* – made by the fourth-class students of Scoil Mocheallóg, Kilmallock National School, with guidance by Young Limerick Filmmakers and director Shane Vaughan. The films are well-observed takes on horror and film noir, respectively. Full of sight gags and wordplay, there’s something inherently amusing about hearing 10-year-olds speak in film genre jargon. Be it the one-liners of a hard-boiled noir PI: “I was feeling like a tall glass at midnight. Empty.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/e3709a2c-adcf-4413-b65d-4e190d149619_orig-1.jpg) Still courtesy of courtesy of Dublin International Comedy FIlm Festival. Or the quips of a self-aware horror film character: “I knew all those Latin classes were good for something.” That line follows the discovery of a Necronomicon-style evil tome after a camera pan through the school library reveals a shelf of books on Demonology (casual as you like) next to History, Geography and Art. The style is there too, in the foggy corridors and moody low lighting of *The Substitute Teacher*,and in the venetian-blind shadows of *Dial S for Sandwich*. The young actors do an admirable job with the dialogue and pacing too. There are laughs throughout both shorts, helped largely by a commitment to play a lot of the material fairly straight. *Dial S for Sandwich* has got the funny peculiarity of Alan Parker’s *Bugsy Malone* with children in period costume. In both films, the snappy directing and casual-cool line delivery pushes the material beyond mere cuteness. Another film, *Inch by Inch* asks big philosophical questions as a garden snail searches for meaning in her slow life. The snail, voiced by Niamh Cusack, ponders life beyond the confines of the garden, and her shell. Visual puns and effective jump cuts make for some good jokes in this short. The closing moments contain some very queasy special effects which may elicit more of a frightened “ahhh” than a tickled “haha” from audiences. Many of the shorts deal with things that have near-universal appeal to children. From snails and other creepy-crawlies to all sorts of contraptions and gizmos. The trick photography-laden *Mr Windibank Finds a Thing*, is the latest in a series of short films by Tom Shiner in which Mr Windibank (James Harrison) discovers a gun that duplicates objects. Harrison plays the character with toon-like expressiveness and intensity. He is self-serious but deeply silly and the camera loves to fill the frame with Harrison’s mugging reaction shots as rubber ducks, gold rings and even Windibank himself are multiplied by the strange invention. The science-fiction shenanigans continue with *Glitch*,directed by Bonnie Dempsey and written by frequent collaborator Rodney Lee. Naomi (Amy Rose Ó Hanlon) is staying with her grandmother for the summer, spending most of her time indoors chasing high scores in video games. A time-lapse montage at the start of the film shows Naomi engrossed in the game while her grandmother struggles with all manner of tasks behind her. Helen Norton puts in a great physical performance as Naomi’s grandmother. A dead console and some encouragement from Gran sends Naomi outside to explore the local area with Sam (Matilda Gavin), a girl from the next house over. Naomi approaches Sam just as her body is possessed by an intergalactic being named Glitch. Some special effects and a change of hair colour indicate that Sam’s body is now in Glitch’s control. Glitch is a gamer like Naomi, only her avatar is made of flesh and bone instead of pixels. Glitch is pursued by other white-haired aliens who snatch the bodies of local bystanders: the postman, the baker, a nun and so on. They’re after Glitch for going over her screen-time allowance. What follows is a fairly high-intensity chase caper. Many of the gags are slapstick in nature and there’s a very high energy to the action. The two leads are also very charming in their roles, both discovering what the world around them has to offer in a similar way. Cozy and cheery stuff. A couple of cartoons are also featured. *Cinemaniacs*,animated by youngster Mikey Mahon, has an enthusiastic moviegoer face an ever-worsening parade of bad cinema etiquette. His theatre-mates talk on the phone, eat loudly, kick chairs and so on. The expressiveness of the animation has that memetic look that definitely places it in the here and now of things. Its style is recognisable as a variation on the Newgrounds detailed stick figures. But Mahon gets plenty of laughs with exaggerated voice over and sound effects. *No Worries!*,another Irish animation, by Chris Dicker, sees 10-year-old PJ’s anxiety over the new school year manifest itself as a gorilla. This short was made in association with D11 Stories and has that *Creature Comforts* quality of characters speaking in their own words. I especially liked the bold character designs, which were somewhere between something you’d see on a packet of cereal and between the pages of a schooltime Christmas annual. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/No-Worries--_-Still.png) Still courtesy of Dublin International Comedy FIlm Festival. These films, short as they are, show a lot of imagination and talent. With stories and visuals reach beyond the borders of the frame and beyond the running time. Children made many of these films, or helped make others. It’s exciting to think of how these stories will spark creativity among their peers and elders, as well as entertain and amuse. *Kidz Filmz screens as part of the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival in Tailors’ Hall from 11am this Saturday, 29 November.* ### Dean: Just Mustard still defy categorisation URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dean-just-mustard-still-defy-categorisation/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T00:17:13.000Z Just Mustard are a wondrous rarity: a band that play guitar music that’s slow in tempo and heavy on reverb but doesn’t sound tired or clichéd. When considering their promising 2018 debut album, *Wednesday*, [I previously wrote](https://districtmagazine.ie/music/just-mustard/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that categorising the Dundalk group as “shoegaze” – a late-1980s rock sub-genre that imbues listeners with a sense of being spaced-out – wasn’t quite on the money: “This is music for transcendence”. On their recently released third LP, *We Were Just Here*, Just Mustard continue to push the outer realms of their sound to savage new dimensions. For sure, the band have always shown an affinity for the gods of 1980s and ’90s post-punk, slowcore and alternative rock – you can feel the influence of The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500, Sofia Coppola’s record collection in general. Even the promo images released to accompany *We Were Just Here* recreates the scuffed-up iconography of Generation X. But there’s a twist. On this album, Just Mustard have taken very direct inspiration from one of their forefathers. The very cool opportunity to support legendary band The Cure on a South America tour in 2023 provoked them to write songs they hope inspire more dancing among their crowds — songs, [frontwoman Katie Ball has said](https://www.nme.com/news/music/just-mustard-interview-mad-experience-touring-with-the-cure-inspired-new-album-we-were-just-here-3902620?ref=dublininquirer.com), that have a “discernible melodic core”. Press notes also claim that the band have sought to draw from “a wide spectrum of emotion and feeling” after the grief-filled second LP, *Heart Under*, a project that earned them more serious critical acclaim than before. This search for livelier rhythms and a more varied array of moods has inspired their most sonically ambitious set yet. ​​Nothing resembles a summertime crowd-pleaser like The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” or anything, but it is fascinating to witness how the band interpret what they see as more sunny and melodic into their established brutalism – the early stuff actually sounds quite quaint compared to these daring new arrangements. Take opening track “Pollyanna”: Shane Maguire’s snappy drumming recalls the high-octane sounds of 1990s British big beat electronica. It’s an obvious move towards making their music more rapid, more danceable, to have that “discernible melodic core”; the sense of forward propulsion hints at freedom and youth. Don’t get it twisted – *We Were Just Here* is not exactly sunny reinvention. As ever, there is a surreal, nightmarish quality to Just Mustard. On “Endless Deathless”, David Noonan’s strangled guitar play is bleak and oppressive, evoking the feeling of a tarry industrial environment of bricks, machinery, and rust. Then there’s singer Katie Ball’s voice – a gothic, angelic tone, haunting like the song of the banshee, particularly when it sits low in the mix. The lyrics of *We Were Just Here* arenot easy to make out when obscured by storms of feedback and distortion, all contributing to the warped, otherworldliness of the album. Just Mustard always sound out of time, out of space. The writing is typically delivered in short, choppy bars. Ball’s words can be abstract to the point of leaving hardly any room for interpretation – “Maybe, sometime, always,” she repeats on “Endless Deathless”. But when they’re potent, the lyrics enhance the album’s dream-like atmosphere. Lights softly flicker off the face of a mysterious, anonymous figure on the song “Silver” (“Silver lights dancing/ Around your face/ Can’t keep the pace.”). A sense of childhood innocence permeates through “Pollyanna”, and on the surrealist “Dandelion”, Ball imagines herself as wild plant life: “I grow everywhere/ Would you still pick me?/ Throw me in your hair.” Among the most striking tunes is the gorgeous “Somewhere”, where Ball describes finding herself unable to stand. “Crawled into a song so I can sit with you,” she yearns. These are lyrical freak-outs, particularly haunting when delivered in Ball’s spectral voice. Then there is the real showstopper of the set: the title track. Wow, pure chaos, pure marvel! A battering synth riff brings some real retro-electro glamour, like the sound of an ’80s pop star who’s gotten lost in a tech-noir back alley. The song feels like the zenith of what the band are driving towards on *We Were Just Here*: the ugly-beauty of harsh aesthetics adorned with gorgeous flourishes, like sunlight hitting a dusty, long-abandoned room, illuminating its hidden architectural beauty. ### Things To Do: Ponder a move to Wexford, celebrate independent publishers, reflect on failure, prepare for a busy Friday URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-ponder-a-move-to-wexford-celebrate-independent-publishers-reflect-on-failure-prepare-for-a-busy-friday/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T06:38:55.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Stinging Fly launch, Digital Hub** This evening, up at the Digital Depot on Thomas Street, The Stinging Fly journal will be launching its Winter 2025-26 issue at 7pm. Titled "The Climate Issue", this latest edition of the literary journal will, among a myriad of other works, feature fiction by June Caldwell, Liadan Ní Chuinn and Nandini Rawat, poetry by Zoë Brigley, Karan Chambers and Tom Nutting, and non-fiction from Alice Cappelle, Ella Gaynor and Philip Ó Ceallaigh. As part of the launch, there will be a roundtable discussion on climate, asking “where do we go from here?” and featuring Dr Nessa Cronin, Saoirse Exton, Pádraic Fogarty, Catherine Cleary and Kenneth Keavey. A few contributors to this edition of the journal will also be in the Depot to give readings of their poetry and prose. Doors open at 7pm, with the readings starting at 7.30pm. Admission is free. To reserve a spot, or to buy the new issue, visit their website [here](https://stingingfly.org/product/winter-2025-26/?ref=dublininquirer.com). ***Street to Studio*: Minaw Collective** Also this evening, Minaw Collective, the all-female street art collective, is holding a new group exhibition at the Flux Gallery on Chatham Row. *Street to Studio* presents new works from members, which were created in studio settings and highlight how muralists adapt their practice when moving away from the scale and ephemerality of outdoor walls. On the bill for this latest show are Anna Doran, Claire Prouvost, Em Blake ESTR, Friz, Holly Pereira, KinMx, Klo Wi, Loki PookaDubh, MyfanwyNia, Novice Jess, Signs of Power, Zippy, and Zurdie. The opening reception is at 6pm. Admission is free, and the exhibition will run through the weekend until Sunday at 5pm. For more information, visit Minaw Collective’s website [here](https://www.minawcollective.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Small Press Fair** Tomorrow, the Dublin Small Press Fair is coming to Pearse Street Library. The two-day event is a celebration of small-scale publishing in Ireland, which will be showcasing books as well as book-adjacent work from about thirty small and independent presses, literary magazines, book binders, book artists, zine makers and more. Beginning on Friday, 29 November, there will be an evening preview of the fair with sales and a panel discussion. Among those on the bill are Will Dady from Renard, Eimear Ryan from Banshee and Brendan MacEvilly from Holy Show, with poet, pacifist and fabulist Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe moderating the discussion. That starts at 5pm, before you are welcome to browse and buy any publications between 6:15 and 9pm. Then, all day on Saturday 29 November, you will be able to drop into the library to buy a few more books between 10am and 4pm. At 4:15pm there will be a closing panel discussion, titled *Young Blood: Class x Masculinity in Contemporary Poetry*. This panel will feature Charles Lang, Rafael Mendes and Matthew Rice, with Eoin McNamee as the chair. There is currently a waiting list on tickets for the two events. But, if you keep an eye out [here](https://dublinsmallpressfair.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and hit the refresh button every couple of minutes, something might come available. **Emily LaBarge and Mark O’Connell** If, however, you cannot secure a ticket to one of those panel discussions – or you are feeling particularly ambitious – writers Mark O’Connell and Emily LaBarge will be in conversation over at Books Upstairs. Canadian author LaBarge is in town to talk about her new book, *Dog Days*, which blends memoir, essay and cultural criticism to reflect on the way we tell stories, while drawing on the works of authors and artists like Vivian Gornick, Richard Burton and Sylvia Plath. Tickets are available [here](https://booksupstairs.ie/all-events/emily-labarge/?ref=dublininquirer.com). And, in case you are wondering, it is a fourteen minute walk from the Small Press Fair to Books Upstairs. If you really care about the written word, this should be perfectly doable. **Rural Pursuit!** Friday is doing a lot of the heavy lifting this week. Up at Richmond Road Studios in Phibsboro Tower, artists James Kirwan and David Booth are opening their new exhibition: *Rural Pursuit!* Both Kirwan and Booth are former alumni of the studios, back when they were located on Richmond Road. But, in more recent years, while the studios moved across the city, they relocated down to Wexford, which is a county that isn’t Dublin. *Rural Pursuit!* draws on that on that move, with the pair coming together to give “a succulent slice of their urban to rural experience.” The exhibition opens tomorrow between 6pm and 10pm, but you will be able to see the show over the following week. Anyone who intends to visit it after Friday is advised to get in touch with the studios in advance so that they can arrange to let you in. If anyone has the stamina to hit all three of these events, please reach out to us with verifiable proof of attendance, and we will give you an honorary mention in the Noticeboard section, acknowledging your devotion to both the newsletter, and to culture as a whole. **A Litany of Failures, Volume V** Let’s take the pressure off a little bit, and recommend something that isn’t time sensitive. Since 2016, musicians Danny Carroll, Stevie Lennox and Paul O’Connor have been putting out compilation albums that celebrate the Irish music scene’s more experimental and DIY facets. Titled *A Litany of Failures*, the series has, in the ensuing nine years, featured a staggering array of inimitable voices, including Rising Damp, The Bonk, Elaine Howley and Search Results, as well as a healthy dose of hidden gems from the likes of Junior Brother and Gilla Band’s Dara Kiely (under the moniker of Fifty Years of Hair in [volume three](https://litanyoffailures.bandcamp.com/album/a-litany-of-failures-volume-iii?ref=dublininquirer.com)). Back in October, Carroll, Lennox and O’Connor put out their [fifth volume](https://litanyoffailures.bandcamp.com/album/a-litany-of-failures-volume-v?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the compilation, including a few names familiar to Inquirer readers like [pôt-pot](https://www.dublininquirer.com/curated-with-care-the-little-gem-sessions-showcase-underground-artists-and-experimental-music/), [E the Artist](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-a-new-work-an-artist-reimagines-flags-as-a-prompt-to-reflect-on-their-purpose/), [Robbie Stickland](https://www.dublininquirer.com/from-ambient-electronic-music-t0-70s-and-80s-japanese-pop-dj-emmy-shigeta-brings-the-sound-of-tokyo-to-smithfield/) and [Róis](https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-discover-the-likeness-between-lakes-and-lungs-meet-the-everyman-prisoner-get-lost-in-an-ambient-folksong-and-witness-white-rage-on-the-silver-screen/). As part of the release, Carroll and co have also put out a twenty-four minute documentary, filmed in both Limerick and Dublin. Directed by Iarla McKeon, *A Litany of Failures* plays out like a comedic remake of the Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin documentary *Chronicle of a Summer*, with Carroll approaching the album’s various contributors to discuss a moment in which they failed. You can watch that [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvs8MbOVxa0&ref=dublininquirer.com) in your own time. There’s no rush. --- Advert [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/2025-DCAF-Poster-November-Landscape.jpg)](http://www.dublincomicarts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) **The extra-special festive DCAF takes place this Sunday 30th at The Complex, Smithfield Dublin 7 from 11 to 5\. and features 70+ comic creators and illustrators who'll be selling their spectacular, unique and meaningful work, Little Deer Comics, book swaps, free life drawing and workshops, and special guests Aoife Dooley and Tara O'Connor! Join us!* [Book tickets here ](http://www.dublincomicarts.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) --- ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Block The Bridge** On Saturday, locals in Chapelizod will be protesting the BusConnects changes in the village. At 11am, protestors will meet at the village square and march through Maiden Row to Chapelizod where they intend to block traffic for one hour. As part of the protest, councillors Ray Cunningham and Madeleine Johansson will be speaking alongside members of the community. Locals have also launched a petition which can be read [here](https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-removal-of-dublin-city-centre-bus-route-no-26/u/34093519?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Nature and Nurture** On 29 November, members of the arts collective Scéal Jill Kelly and Nunce McAuley will be opening their new exhibition *Nature and Nurture* at Ardgillan Castle. Inspired by the location of their studios on the demesne between Balbriggan and Skerries, the show will continue until 14 December. The opening this Saturday is at 2pm and admission is free. ***Don’t Fence Me In*, Flux, 3 December** Dublin University Photography Association (DUPA) is holding its annual December exhibition next week in Flux Studios. *Don’t Fence Me In* celebrates the power of diversity, self-expression and resilience, and will be showing on 3 December between 6:30 and 9pm. Entry is free. For more information, follow DUPA on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/du%5Fphotos/?hl=en&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Islander Architects, Power to Renovation** Islander Architects is looking for support for their European Citizen’s Initiative ‘Power to Renovation’ in Ireland. The idea is to make the renovation and transformation of buildings the new norm instead of demolition as a way of ensuring a fairer, more local building industry, saving energy and resources and preserving memories and stories. To support the initiative, sign the petition [here](https://eci.ec.europa.eu/052/public/?ref=dublininquirer.com#/screen/home). Islander Architects also currently have an exhibition about this at Charlemont Square, which closes this Sunday. For more information, visit the Irish Architecture Foundation website [here](https://iaf.ie/events/exhibit-a-exhibitions?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Council pushes forward plan for 20 new artist studios and a revived theatre on Merchant’s Quay URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-pushes-forward-plan-for-20-new-artist-studios-and-a-revived-theatre-on-merchants-quay/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T06:39:06.000Z A pair of pigeons were huddled together on the roof of 9 Merchant’s Quay on Tuesday morning. Four storeys below them, a half a dozen men and women stood around the entrance of number 8, zipped up in coats to avoid the cold, smoking and leaning against a steel cage that blocked off the green front door. There was a similar cage outside 9, though neither of them had been there a year ago, images on [Google Street View show](https://www.google.com/maps/place/8+Merchant's+Quay,+Wood+Quay,+Dublin+8,+D08+W56T/@53.3450876,-6.2732755,3a,75y,177.37h,90.23t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-xIih8u2xNZzi9T4cpMPPA!2e0!5s20220801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb%5Fclient%3Dmaps%5Fsv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.2312314499683623%26panoid%3D-xIih8u2xNZzi9T4cpMPPA%26yaw%3D177.37121596731473!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x48670c2883c353a1:0xfb3baad40b4c9df9!8m2!3d53.3452769!4d-6.2720448!16s%2Fg%2F11c2dc7ng2?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g%5Fep=EgoyMDI1MTEyMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D&ref=dublininquirer.com). Number 8 is a former Franciscan publication centre, Ray Yeates, Dublin City Council’s arts officer, told councillors at a meeting of the South Central Area Committee last Wednesday. The council bought the building about three years ago, Yeates said. The rear is “the old St. Anthony’s Theatre, which was much loved within the community for many years”, he said. Next door, meanwhile, “number 9 is a fully restored 18th-century townhouse”, Yeates said. It was occupied until around 2023, he said. For more than four years, the council has been working towards turning these properties into artist studios as part of a larger [“creative campus”](https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-council-sketches-out-plans-for-new-creative-campus-in-the-liberties/) in the Liberties. On Wednesday, Yeates told councillors at the area committee meeting that the council has started the pre-Part 8 planning process, through which the council will apply to itself for permission to redevelop these buildings as up to 20 artist workspaces. If planning is secured, it is expected that construction could commence on 8 and 9 Merchant’s Quay next September, and that it’ll open in early 2028, Yeates said in a written report to the committee. ## Rising costs, but still on track The project to revitalise the Merchant’s Quay buildings came about in 2019as a result of a wider feasibility study backed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, Yeates said at the meeting last week. That study looked into several sites in the council’s administrative South Central Area, including one on Bridgefoot Street, just off Thomas Street. That Bridgefoot Street site, however, has been dropped, with the property no longer available for cultural use, according to the minutes from the [3 November meeting](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=50702&ref=dublininquirer.com) of the Artist Workspace Committee, a subcommittee of the council’s arts strategic policy committee. But the Merchant’s Quay project received a boost in 2023 when a private donor approached the city, offering matching funding to redevelop the two buildings, Yeates said. “This has become a part of the capital programme now.” The cost for these works on Merchant’s Quay were originally projected at €6.5 million, he said, “but have been re-ordered now to €9.5 million, with increased funding from the private donor and the city as part of the capital programme.” The council had previously done extensive consultation while they waited for funding, but now it needs to revive community consultation during this planning phase, Yeates’ report says, noting that it will be holding group consultations beginning in December. The vision for the centre is to turn the two buildings into 20 artist workspaces, half of which would be “community-facing” and “socially engaged”, he said. “The theatre itself should be able to host everything from yoga classes to community meetings in the afternoon to a community or professional production in the evening.” The council will probably hold an open-call to find a company with the skill-set required to run a complex arts and community organisation, once it’s built,Yeates told the meeting. ## Ocean liner versus small yacht Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said he was curious about the size of St. Anthony’s Theatre, as it wasn’t too far away from the Rupert Guinness Theatre, another vacant venue. The Rupert Guinness Theatre is just a kilometre away on Watling Street, and it wouldn’t be ideal if the two theatres would undermine each other, he said. “If, you know what I mean, if they’re operating, competing for similar funds or anything like that sort of thing.” A 600-seat venue owned by Diageo, the Rupert Guinness Theatre has been used intermittently over the past 20 years. Most recently, the company had [loaned it to the National College of Art and Design](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-liberties-a-push-to-breathe-life-back-into-the-empty-rupert-guinness-theatre/) to serve as a lecture hall. But comparing the Rupert Guinness Theatre to St. Anthony’s would be like comparing an ocean liner to a small, well-founded yacht, Yeates said. St. Anthony’s, inside 8 Merchant’s Quay, originally had a capacity of about 110 seats, he said, while Rupert Guinness was a flagship theatre. “It housed the Abbey Theatre for many years.” Getting Rupert Guinness back up and running as a viable venue would require multiple millions, he said. “That just requires the same kind of feasibility journey that we’ve gone on, believe it or not, in 8–9 Merchant’s Quay.” But Diageo may perhaps be looking to gift it to the state, he said. “And of course, the state will consider that very carefully as to what liability it may incur by receiving that gift, and would ask for those studies to be completed, and capitalisation to occur before we enter into a development phase.” The possibility of giving the state this theatre as a gift has arisen in the last couple of months, Yeates said, speaking on Tuesday. But a spokesperson for Diageo would not explicitly confirm this when asked on Friday. The company wishes to see the Rupert Guinness Theatre restored as a cultural and community venue in Dublin 8, Diageo’s spokesperson said on Tuesday, and it continues to engage with “all relevant stakeholders to understand how this can best be achieved”. ### Appeal seeks to block plan for supermarket in long-vacant space near Fatima Luas stop URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/appeal-seeks-to-block-plan-for-supermarket-in-long-vacant-space-near-fatima-luas-stop/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T06:39:17.000Z Twenty years ago in March 2006, An Bord Pleanála granted permission for retail units on the ground floor of an apartment block on Reuben Street, just south of the Fatima Luas stop. They were built as part of the much bigger Herberton development, but they are still empty. Last Friday, the strip had fogged windows with splintered glass and a peeling dummy shopfront. In August though, Tesco Ireland applied for planning permission to change the layout of the spaces – which are owned by Maplewood Elliott JV Limited – to suit the purposes of the retail store. Dublin City Council granted permission. In November, that decision was appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála by Robert O’Leary, with an address at the Centra in Rialto. The case should be decided by 24 March next year, [says](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/500259?ref=dublininquirer.com) the An Coimisiún Pleanála website. Joe Donohoe, a community development manager at Fatima Groups United, said that he thinks that, in general, the local community is behind the plan for a Tesco. Even if the proposed supermarket is smaller than was originally planned back when the development was built, he says. “There’s a significant level of support.” As of April, nine of the 23 ground-floor units across the entire Herberton Complex were occupied, according to [a planning document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26297665-herberton-vacancy-national-paediatric-hospital-development-board-application/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for a different space. ## Empty at the bottom The Herberton complex in Rialto [was](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26297664-research-series-paper-8-plawton-urban-communities/?q=Herberton&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p23) built about 20 years ago, replacing the old social housing complex of Fatima Mansions. Vacant shopfronts throughout the blocks have long been a source of frustration for many local residents, and for councillors. In August 2022, Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty [said he](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-a-dozen-years-on-from-the-regeneration-of-fatima-many-of-the-shops-still-sit-empty/) was told a legal dispute between the council and developer had meant some of the shop spaces had never been available to rent. At that time, John Ryan, the head of the council’s vacant property unit, said that the council had been engaging with the owners of units that were vacant, and resolving legal and other matters. Are those legal matters sorted? On Tuesday, a council spokesperson said “the City Council, Developer of the Complex and the Management Company are finalising arrangements for the completion of the Project Agreement”. Dublin City Council itself owns three enterprise units in the Herberton development, they said – two of which are leased, and one of which is vacant. It also owns the F2 centre, which is leased, as is the cafe, and the creche. “All of the remaining commercial units are privately owned,” they said. Planning documents [name the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292946-ownership-of-retail-unit-at-herberton-james-walk-and-rialto/?ref=dublininquirer.com) owner of the potential Tesco store as Maplewood Elliott JV Limited. The planning application by Tesco Ireland [mentions the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292947-planning-application-for-retail-unit-at-fatima/?ref=dublininquirer.com) decades of vacancy, but doesn’t mention any legal wrangling as behind it. Instead, it says, “due to the economic downturn, the ground-floor units were never occupied”. The shell of the ground floor was built, it says, but the internal fit-out and partition walls weren’t done, says the application. Tesco’s planning application is to amalgamate ground-floor units along Reuben Street, to make a single shop, with an alcohol-sales area too. It also asks for a loading bay on James’s Walk. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Map-of-plan-for-Tesco-near-Fatima-Luas-stop-from-planning-application-1.png) From the planning application. The vacancy in general around the complex is baffling, said Lily Higgins, who was pushing a pram down Reuben Street before cutting west past the bright windows of the recently opened Ango’s Cafe. Especially, given all the apartments above and the busy St James’ Hospital nearby too. It would seem a no-brainer for a shop, she says. ## State of play Higgins was warm to the idea of a new Tesco. There are a few other shops further out of the neighbourhood. But putting one in by the Fatima Luas would be handy enough for many people to be able to send kids down to pick up a few bits, she says. “It would be good.” Others on Friday morning were a bit more conflicted. “Oh goodie!” said David Dunphy with a big thumbs-up and a giant grin, and bouncing a little when he heard that the planning application has been appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála. Dunphy was stood behind the counter of C&C Family Butchers, one of the handful of shops in the complex. He is, of course, conscious that a Tesco would bring competition, he says. He’s been lucky enough to have 15 years without that, he says. But that said, he has loyal customers and the fresh cuts and fresh mince he offers can definitely compete, Dunphy says. “But it’ll be the little bits and all,” he says. Those are where he’s likely to be hit. One wall of the shop holds shelves of everyday goods – crisps, Frank’s red sauce, cans and so on. There’s little he can do really about it though, he says, with good humour. Maybe it’ll actually bring more people to him, he says, and he’ll just adapt and change things up as needs be. “We’ll wait and see what happens. If I have to think out of the box, I will.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/P1080016.JPG) Photo by Lois Kapila. Tesco’s planning application attracted three third-party submissions. Peter Daynes said [that he would](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=8C19E72252364F618DF62FCD8F293A26&ref=dublininquirer.com) welcome more local services, but asked that the store be mindful of residents living nearby. There should be conditions around operations such as opening hours, deliveries, and litter management, he said. Liam Cunnane also [weighed in](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=70FA744356084CF68825181B32E27369&ref=dublininquirer.com). He welcomed the principle of the Tesco, he said. But again, he asked for some controls on potential nuisance impacts on residents, such as noise, and access to the private internal courtyard of the block. Last Friday, Gary Gowran was headed back home into the building opposite the proposed store. He is circumspect about a Tesco going in. For him, the vacancy hasn’t seemed a big deal, he says. “It hasn’t really been a problem.” He shops at the Lidl on Cork Street and there’s a Tesco Express in Dolphin’s Barn and another in Grand Canal Harbour if he needs one, he says. “It’d be handy in a sense that I can just cross the road,” he says. But ideally, he wishes the space were to be something different, maybe arts spaces, he says. “That would be great.” It’s hard to know what the future holds, he says. “It’s been unoccupied for so long, that it’s hard to imagine something else.” ## The appellant Meanwhile, Robert O’Leary, who runs the Centra in Rialto, [objected to the proposal](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26301578-oleary-objection/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Among other issues, it would impact the “local character” of the neighbourhood, he wrote. Tesco often leaves trolleys and bins outside their stores, he said, and an off-licence would lead to anti-social behaviour. The increase in deliveries would lead to congestion, he said. In October, council planners approved Tesco’s application. “It is considered that the development will make a positive contribution to retail in the immediate area,” [they said.](https://webapps.dublincity.ie/PublicAccess%5FLive/Document/ViewDocument?id=1BDBA6DC6F794BFBBEF588F375325035&ref=dublininquirer.com) “It is considered that the proposed Tesco would add to the vitality of this area of the city and provide a needed retail use in what is currently a number of vacant retail units,” said the report. O’Leary [appealed that grant](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292948-robert-oleary-appeal-of-permission/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of permission, repeating his objections, to An Coimisiún Pleanála. He didn’t want to comment on the appeal, he said by email on Monday. Donohoe, of Fatima Groups United, said there had been changes in retail and uses recently at the complex which are positive. The ongoing use of some shop spaces near the Fatima Luas stop as offices for staff working on the construction of the National Children’s Hospital has been good for footfall, he said. Permission for that was recently extended by five years, he said. “They may stay longer beyond that as well.” The cafe, Ango’s, is going down very well, said Donohoe, and is well-used by the locals and hospital staff. “It’s a really good one.” ### Fingal councillors raise rents for tenants in social housing URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-councillors-raise-rents-for-tenants-in-social-housing/ Last updated: 2026-04-14T19:52:24.000Z Fingal County Council has agreed a budget for next year that’s 11.4 percent larger than this year’s. The 2026 budget, approved by councillors at the meeting on Tuesday 18 November, comes to €433 million – an extra €44 million over 2025’s. In the new budget, €160 million has been allocated to housing, and €85 million to recreation and amenities, according to a [press release](https://www.fingal.ie/news/councillors-approve-budget-eu433m-2026?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued by the council following the meeting. The council’s environmental services will get €59 million, while €47 million will go towards road transport and safety, it said. Fingal’s budget has almost doubled over the last decade, Oliver Hunt, the council’s director of finance told councillors in the chamber during the 18 November meeting. “That is just a reflection of the significant size of the activity that we’ve undertaken and the growth that the council has undergone over the last number of years,” Hunt said. The agreed budget was a slight decrease on what the council’s executive branch brought before councillors, with the [draft originally](https://www.fingal.ie/sites/default/files/2025-11/draft-budget-book-2026-with-covers.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) coming to a total of €436 million. But a proposal to increase differential rents for tenants in social housing from 12 percent of their income to 17 percent divided the chamber. A coalition on the left wanted to delay the meeting to look at alternatives, arguing that any increase would squeeze already struggling households. Instead, an option of a rise of 14.5 percent was put to the room by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Aontú and independent councillors. That compromise, which narrowly won out, saw a reduction of €2.7 million in the council’s planned budget, collecting slightly less than first mooted from the low-income households in public housing, while lowering the council’s intended spend on its library services, parks, community facilities, and road maintenance works. ## Spending The largest share of the council’s expenditure for next year is expected to be on housing, which has been allocated €159.8 million. That is an additional €24 million on last year, Paul Carroll, Fingal’s director of housing, told the council last Tuesday. This is going to include an extra €15.8 million being spent on the delivery of housing through approved housing bodies, slides shown to councillors say. Also, €17.3 million has been allocated to housing maintenance, which is €1.7 million more than last year. That’s due to the increased housing stock, as well as higher construction costs and inflation, Carroll said. “Over 50 percent of our stock is over 25 years of age, so obviously that’s a significant cost associated with maintaining stock of that age.” The council’s operations department is getting an extra €3.5 million over what it got last year, spread across road maintenance, public lighting, playgrounds, recycling centres, public conveniences and burial grounds. Salaries for 40 additional staff need to be funded, said Mary T. Daly, director of Operations. “It’s desperately required in all areas due to the number of estates that were [taken in charge](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-fingal-council-moves-to-step-in-and-finish-estates-developers-have-left-in-limbo/).” After developers build new housing estates, the council generally takes in charge public spaces such as roads, and parks, and maintains those going forward. Fingal took in charge 26 new estates this year, which need to be maintained, with another 25 to come next year, Daly said. Under capital projects, the budget has also injected an additional €600,000 into delivery of a long-sought municipal [swimming pool in Balbriggan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/most-of-fingals-eu1-43bn-new-capital-programme-to-go-to-housing/), slides from the meeting show. Subject to approval of a Part 8 planning application – meaning the council will apply to itself for permission – the tender for its construction will be issued in the third quarter of next year, said David Storey, Fingal’s director of Environment Climate Action, Active Travel and Sports. Also, €50,000 has been included in the budget to support a new subsidised primary school swimming programme, he said. “Final details are currently being worked out with Swim Ireland.” ## Income The council expects commercial rates to account for 40 percent of its total income in 2026\. These are the council’s “primary source of funding”, the draft budget says. This year, it is increasing the “annual rateable valuation” by 4 percent, [meaning](https://www.fingal.ie/council/service/commercial-rates?ref=dublininquirer.com) businesses will have to pay that bit more on the value of their premises. For nearly three-quarters of all businesses paying the tax that is going to cost less than €400 for the year, a slide shown to councillors at the meeting said. Four percent was significantly below the cumulative rate of inflation since 2020, which is in excess of 20 percent, said Hunt, the council director of finance. There hasn’t really been an increase in these rates in 15 years, he said. “And in the last decade, there was two rate decreases in 2011 and 12.” The council’s second biggest source of funding, grants from the central government, is expected to account for 36 percent of its income in 2026, or about €135 million, according to its [draft budget](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26301660-draft-budget-book-2026-with-covers/?ref=dublininquirer.com). From rents, the council got €29.5 million in 2025, and proposed increasing that to €41 million in 2026, in the draft budget. Tenants in council-owned housing pay a “differential rent” based largely on a percentage of their income, with that current rate sat at 12 percent. That rate has been in place since 2013, said Carroll. “In the context of all those increasing demands on our revenue, we see a need to bring that up to 17 percent.” ## Calls for a deferment But the proposal to set the new differential rent at 17 percent of a council tenant’s income split the chamber down the middle. It was the problem at the centre of the budget, said Labour Councillor John Walsh. “If we vote through the budget in its current form, then we are explicitly supporting a very major increase in housing rents.” Walsh tabled a motion to adjourn the meeting until 28 November. The motion was co-signed by his Labour colleagues, as well as councillors from Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, Solidarity and Independents 4 Change. They suggested this delay so that councillors could weigh up alternatives, which excluded the increase to social housing rents for next year, the motion said. It would be irresponsible to re-write the budget on the floor of the chamber, he said. This isn’t the kind of thing councillors should be doing “when the welfare of the vast majority of council housing tenants is at stake”. Putting up the rent for tenants would cripple families already struggling with energy poverty, the cost-of-living crisis and increased transport costs, said Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly. Outstanding rent arrears, [which have decreased by €1.2 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222696-chief-executives-report-4/?q=arrears&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p73) since January, are currently at €8.8 million, she said. “This would cover this year’s maintenance plans, and allow us to come up with a fairer, well-thought out maintenance plan going forward.” An adjournment would allow councillors to discuss the budget in a more measured way, she said. The motion was defeated by 18 votes to 21. [To delay vote on 2026 budget and find way to avoid proposed rent increaseFailed: 18 for, 21 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://counciltracker-fdecc5cce045.herokuapp.com/fingal/motions/2d480eed/og-image?v=1765275483)](https://counciltracker-fdecc5cce045.herokuapp.com/fingal/motions/2d480eed?ref=dublininquirer.com) ## A compromise An alternative rate of 14.5 percent was put forward by independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin in a motion co-signed by Aontú councillors Gerard Sheehan and Ellen Troy, as well as Darragh Butler of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s Aoibhinn Tormey. Their motion suggested lowering the proposed rate of expenditure on community facilities, and the maintenance of local authority housing units, heritage facilities and library services by more than €500,000 each. It also proposed reductions to planned spending on public lighting, parks, pitches and open spaces, as well as the maintenance of traffic, regional road bridges, burial grounds and local roads, with this, in total, knocking €2.7 million off the draft budget of €436 million A differential rent of17 percent of one’s income was excessive, said Guerin. “We have come up with what we believe is a very fair proposal.” Fingal would still have a lower differential rate than those in other local authorities – like [Dublin City Council](https://www.dublincity.ie/housing/housing-supports/affordable-housing-initiatives/differential-rent-scheme?ref=dublininquirer.com) which just raised theirs from 15 to 18 percent – Guerin said. “And instead of the 40 percent increase that was being sought by the executive, we’re now proposing a 20 percent.” Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh said he would be reluctant to support the motion’s proposed reductions to maintenance works. “This is the, y’know, it’s kind of the back of an envelope stuff I think that we were looking to avoid.” The motion was wrong to target community infrastructure and roads, Independents 4 Change Councillor Dean Mulligan said. “We have houses being built in areas we can’t connect to.” Councillor Butler said he didn’t like putting his name to this new motion. “But, there’s no secret ATM machine outside there that can just pull money from, and keep pulling money from.” National Party Councillor Patrick Quinlan said it was funny that when the amendments were being discussed, councillors proposing this motion approached him to get his support. “The regime tried to approach me and broach me and win the air.” Guerin had already completed the negotiations to get the necessary number of votes before anyone had spoken to Quinlan, Guerin said. “So I couldn’t have cared jackshit where his vote went.” The motion was approved by 21 votes to 18. [To approve the 2026 budget with a smaller rent rise than proposedPassed: 21 for, 18 against, 0 abstentions![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CouncilVoteTracker.ie![](https://counciltracker-fdecc5cce045.herokuapp.com/fingal/motions/f7f55ecf/og-image?v=1765275341)](https://counciltracker-fdecc5cce045.herokuapp.com/fingal/motions/f7f55ecf?ref=dublininquirer.com) ### Who will offer early-stage legal help to people seeking asylum in future, speedier process? It might not be lawyers URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/who-will-offer-early-stage-legal-help-to-people-seeking-asylum-in-future-speedier-process-it-might-not-be-lawyers/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T06:39:45.000Z What’s the “extent of individual legal advice” offered to people seeking asylum right now? And what about next year, under the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact? Those were among the questions Luxembourgish officials [asked](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288573-202533-emn-ahq-needs-assessment-for-determining-the-extent-of-legal-advice-counselling-for-asylum-applicants/?ref=dublininquirer.com) other European Union member states in July**,** via the European Migration Network. By October, 26 countries had responded, show documents on the European Commission website. The Pact – which is slated to kick in next June – could potentially herald a downgrade in the quality of early legal care for some people seeking asylum. [It allows for](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25879542-celex-32024r1348-en-txt/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “legal counselling”, which is not the same as the legal assistance currently on offer. This opens the door for non-lawyers to give guidance to people seeking asylum, at an early crucial stage of the process. In response to Luxembourgish officials, the Irish government said the concept of “legal counselling” is new in Ireland. Its meaning hasn’t been defined yet. “It is not yet clear how the Legal Aid Board’s services fit within this new concept and whether solicitors will provide legal counselling or whether the concept fits within professional, ethical and regulatory rules for solicitors and barristers,” Irish officials said. The general scheme for the new International Protection Bill, which aims to carry the pact’s rules over into a fresh domestic asylum law, embraces the notion of “legal counselling”. An assortment of witnesses from different non-profits [raised concerns](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fjustice%5Fhome%5Faffairs%5Fand%5Fmigration/2025-10-21/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about that at an Oireachtas committee meeting recently. A briefing [document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288583-2025-practical-guide-on-free-legal-counselling-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) describes “legal counselling” as a series of tasks like “the provision of information, guidance and explanations, including guidance on legal issues related to any of the stages of the administrative procedure”. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said legal counsellors don’t have to be “qualified lawyers” under the pact. But it plans to offer counselling “in addition to any legal assistance and representation that applicants may obtain”, they said. Some lawyers say the pace of case processing under the new law could mean “legal counselling” offered by a non-lawyer might be the only advice some people can rely on because there are just not enough lawyers to serve so many people so fast. The Pact’s border procedure rules, which Ireland has opted into, [pull aside some people](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-plans-new-system-to-detain-some-people-who-come-to-ireland-seeking-asylum/) – from those who travelled without immigration papers for a myriad of reasons to people perceived to be a security threat – for a screening process. They are to be accommodated in centres [where they’re essentially detained](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-plans-new-system-to-detain-some-people-who-come-to-ireland-seeking-asylum/), and their cases heard and wrapped up in three months. If rejected, the plan is to deport them within another three months. ## Need more lawyers Some countries already offer legal counselling. In response to the query from Luxembourg, Estonian officials said legal counselling is given by employees of the country’s border police. They don’t have legal education, and their advice doesn’t count as legal aid, but they’re stationed at the “legal unit” of its “Police and Border Guard Board”, says its response. Irish officials had said in response to Luxembourg’s query that they’re unsure if lawyers can “fully advise applicants in the administrative process”. “Likely challenges under the new system will be the capacity and the resourcing of all stakeholders in the process to ensure that applications can be processed appropriately within the envisaged timelines as well as the quality of decision-making within the timelines provided,” says the response. Yes, saysCathal Malone, immigration barrister, as things stand, there wouldn’t be enough immigration lawyers to give early legal advice to so many people so fast under the pact. “The only reason counselling \[under the Pact\] is a thing is because the Pact only guarantees advice and representation at the appeal stage,” he said. A spokesperson for the European Commission has not yet addressed queries sent last week, including one asking why the notion of legal counselling has been introduced via the Pact. They said that its internal affairs team is working on a response, though. The text of the Pact [says](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25879542/celex-32024r1348-en-txt.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) a lawyer or “other counsellor admitted or permitted as such under national law to provide legal advice \[..\] or a person entrusted with providing legal counselling” should help the applicant during the asylum interview. If someone can’t be with them during the interview, [it says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25879542-celex-32024r1348-en-txt/?ref=dublininquirer.com), they should get a copy of its transcript for review before the asylum decision is hammered out. At the moment, the Legal Aid Board doesn’t pay lawyers to attend asylum interviews, and so if they agree to go, it’s pro bono. There’s going to be multiple interviews happening every day for people directed to the express route of the asylum process, said Malone, the barrister. “I don’t think there are enough of us in this area to make that maths work,” he said. The Legal Aid Board had [previously voiced worries](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-offer-legal-support-in-a-much-faster-asylum-system-next-year-legal-aid-board-fights-for-more-funding-documents-show/) to the Department of Justice about its ability to meet everyone’s legal needs under the pact’s compressed timeframes. “We have seen figures from the Department \[of Justice\] that postulate further significant increases in demand on account of the EU Migration Pact,” [its officials had said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/underfunded-legal-aid-system-may-struggle-to-support-asylum-seekers-next-year-documents-suggest/). A spokesperson did not directly respond to queries, including one asking about its deliberations with the Department of Justice on who will be able to provide legal counselling under the Pact. At the moment, the Legal Aid Board mostly relies on private solicitors and barristers sitting on its private asylum panel and subpanels to handle asylum cases. Officials at the Legal Aid Board had in the past flagged the need to recruit more lawyers for its panels, saying not many were interested to work in asylum law. The difficulty of finding enough immigration lawyers and the challenges of offering proper legal advice also came up in the Belgian officials’ response to Luxembourg’s query. “Proper assistance is labour and time-intensive \[...\] and most lawyers are overstretched and can no longer provide proper assistance,” they said. Belgium’s overwhelmed immigration lawyers deputise their colleagues to take on some workload, officials said. “However, in practice, these deputy lawyers often turn out to be insufficiently prepared themselves and do not know their client's file sufficiently well to provide quality assistance,” said their response. Good experience with some lawyers spread through word-of-mouth also means they’re too sought-after, “leading to some lawyers working almost exclusively for the same target audience and adding to the workload”, they said. Lawyers starting out have to get some immigration law training in Belgium, its officials said, but swelling workload means many “turn their backs on immigration law after completing the compulsory hours”. That means “not enough new lawyers move on to the ‘pool’ of those who assist applicants for international protection”, they said. Lowering the wages of these lawyers hasn’t helped either, said their response. “The compensation for providing assistance has been reduced in recent years and the conditions for obtaining compensation have been tightened, resulting in a decrease in the number of lawyers willing to continue to engage in this activity,” they said. In Ireland, lawyers on the Legal Aid Board’s private panels have [also voiced unease](https://www.dublininquirer.com/underfunded-legal-aid-system-may-struggle-to-support-asylum-seekers-next-year-documents-suggest/) about low wages. In January, a group of lawyers sitting on the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) [went on strike](https://www.dublininquirer.com/some-lawyers-who-judge-asylum-appeals-have-gone-on-strike/) over low pay, too. ## Who will do it? Access to legal help at the early stages of the asylum process has gradually become harder and more stressful in recent years, [lawyers have said in the past](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-people-face-a-shorter-window-to-appeal-asylum-claims-hasty-deportation-orders-cause-undue-stress/). Ireland now fast-tracks the process for people from countries it considers “safe” or citizens of places with the highest number of asylum claims every three months. They might also have [a shorter window](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-more-people-face-a-shorter-window-to-appeal-asylum-claims-hasty-deportation-orders-cause-undue-stress/) to appeal initial rejections. In the past, those applicants [have said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/singled-out-for-fast-tracking-georgian-asylum-seekers-struggle-to-access-legal-advice-in-time/) this means they struggle to access timely legal advice. Since November 2022, most people seeking asylum [have had to](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-policy-pushes-asylum-seekers-to-provide-more-information-faster-leaving-less-time-to-get-legal-advice/) complete asylum questionnaires on the same day they apply at the International Protection Office (IPO). Before that, they could pick up forms and seek a lawyer’s help in completing them, because getting small stuff wrong can jeopardise their case. They can be accused of fibbing by asylum officers if tiny details they wrote down on the form don’t match what they said during the interview. But in recent years, “the applicant is assisted by a cultural mediator or interpreter in completing the application form”, [said Irish officials](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26297052-202541-emn-ahq-registration-of-applications-for-international-protection/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in response to an EU ad hoc query filed by Belgium recently. The cultural mediators are often contractors [working for](https://web.archive.org/web/20251123114104/https://ireland.iom.int/protection-support) the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) who can speak another language besides English. The Department of Justice [has said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-policy-pushes-asylum-seekers-to-provide-more-information-faster-leaving-less-time-to-get-legal-advice/) in the past that their advice doesn’t count as legal help. Whether current “cultural mediators” can take up training to evolve into “legal counsellors” under the pact is unclear. The EUAA’s [briefing document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288583-2025-practical-guide-on-free-legal-counselling-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says legal counselling should be offered by “legal advisers or other counsellors admitted or permitted under national law to counsel, assist or represent the applicants” or civil society organisations. But it stresses that it’s up to individual countries “to determine who is entrusted with the provision of free legal counselling”. It says that if they don’t have legal training, they should have “relevant qualifications and training”. “Having a higher-education background can be considered as beneficial to this role,” it says. Member states can have accreditation exams for those going for the role, says the briefing. [A recent change](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-change-to-the-law-means-people-deciding-asylum-appeals-no-longer-have-to-be-practising-lawyers/) in the law also greenlit IPAT to recruit legal academics or others whose work experience aligns with a lawyer’s job to clear appeal backlogs. IPAT has struggled to keep up with the pace of the initial stages of asylum for many applicants, as faster processing times without proper legal advice can inflate appeal numbers. Under the Pact, at least on paper, it shouldn’t fall behind. ## Going it alone A spokesperson for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) said its position on the notion of legal counselling remains the same as outlined in submissions to the Oireachtas committee on the general scheme of the new asylum bill and [a press release](https://web.archive.org/web/20251123120705/https://www.ihrec.ie/ga/news-press/ihrec-raises-concerns-over-international-protection-bill-2025-risks-undermining-fundamental-rights) issued before that. “IHREC warns that this would be a regressive step, as the new term is not defined and could deny applicants the confidential, independent legal advice they currently receive,” says the press release. Gary Gannon, the Social Democrats TD and the party’s spokesperson for migration, says he is concerned about the concept of legal counselling because “this work cannot be handed to unqualified or semi-qualified personnel”. “I believe legal counselling should be provided exclusively by qualified solicitors and barristers, with proper legal aid funding behind them,” Gannon said. During an Oireachtas [committee debate](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fjustice%5Fhome%5Faffairs%5Fand%5Fmigration/2025-10-21/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about the upcoming asylum bill, Tanya Ward, the CEO of Children’s Rights Alliance, said she was alarmed that the general scheme of the bill only mentions “legal counselling” and not legal representation and advice. “The basic regulation in this space talks about legal advice and representation and legal counselling, but for some reason the general scheme only refers to legal counselling,” she said. Said Fiona Hurley of migrants’ rights non-profit NASC: “We are concerned that the proposed concept of legal counselling will fall significantly short of legal advice or representation.” But if the pace of the process for some picks up in speed so much that they may not get to speak with a lawyer anyway, isn’t counselling from a non-lawyer better than no advice at all? Malone, the barrister, says that’s a scary thought to entertain because people not getting any professional legal advice is just not fair. “That’s a dangerous road to go down,” he said. ### Would Blanchardstown benefit from having a town council? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/would-blanchardstown-benefit-from-having-a-town-council/ Last updated: 2025-11-27T16:52:02.000Z Blanchardstown has never had a town council. But local resident Billy Linehan thinks it could be a good idea, he says. He argues that Blanchardstown isn’t getting enough attention or resources from Fingal County Council. “There's just a kind of an imbalance”, he said, with the council focussing more on the county’s coast, rather Dublin 15, on its inland, western side. “It's nothing to blame anybody about. It's a historical issue,” he says. Setting up town councils is something the current programme for government [mentions](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26300758-programme-for-government-securing-irelands-future/?ref=dublininquirer.com), as part of a stream of work on “strengthening local democracy”. The government will, it says “on a regional, phased basis, establish town councils in large towns to provide a focal-point for raising concerns of towns and coordinating town-focused activities”. In the Dáil earlier this month, Taoiseach Michael Martin, of Fianna Fáil, [said that](https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2025-11-12a.5&ref=dublininquirer.com) a taskforce set up to look at this – and the structures, functions and financing of local government – would report back in the first three months of next year. Town councils used to exist in smaller localities across Ireland – older, traditionally defined locations, says Mark Callanan, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration, who studies local-government design. The state got rid of dozens of town councils across the country, under the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Now that it’s looking at bringing some back, Linehan says he thinks Blanchardstown needs a representative localised body which is smaller and focuses on the community. He wants Blanchardstown to be somewhere people live in rather than sleep in. Some current and former councillors for the area say that adding a town council won’t fix that. Others aren’t sure. ## The changes Callanan says that back in 2014, his view had been that there was a strong case for reforming, or at least reorganising, the town council structure. “There were a lot of anomalies.” One anomaly was that they only covered certain older areas, he said. So, Balbriggan had one, while Blanchardstown didn’t, for example. So he thinks about that when he hears talk of bringing back town councils, he says. “There might be a case to bring back town councils, but definitely not in the format that they used to exist.” When it dropped town councils, the government [brought in](https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2025-07-17a.1062&ref=dublininquirer.com) municipal districts in many areas. Lots of decisions can be taken at that municipal district level, Callanan said – such as around parking bylaws, and litter management. “The council can also decide to delegate certain divisions as well to municipal districts.” Meanwhile, in cities and the Dublin region, councils have local area committees, he says. Although, “it’s not quite as formal as the municipal district structure that exists in other country areas”. One of the key questions for Fine Gael Councillor Ted Leddy is what a Blanchardstown Town Council could do that the current Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/ Castleknock/ Ongar Area Committee can’t, he says. He isn’t for or against the idea of a Blanchardstown Town Council at this point, he says. He wants to hear more – but particularly on that. Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell said he didn’t have much to say on the subject. “The only point I could make really is that we have a very hollow form of local democracy in Ireland,” he said. One big difference between the area committees and municipal districts, and the town councils of a decade or so ago, is that the town councils sat outside of the council structure, says Callanan. They had their own budgets and different elected representatives, he says. In 2012, before town councils were abolished “members representing 80 towns containing 14% of the population of the State account for [46% of all councillors](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/putting-people-first-action-programme-for-effective-local-government-5deb2995-cbb3-4a0.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), in addition to those towns being represented at county council level”. Now, with town councils gone, when councillors on local city and county councils have been surveyed about governance, many support more powers through the existing structures, Callanan says. ## Why now? Linehan, the local resident, says he thinks a Blanchardstown Town Council would be better placed to pay attention to issues in the locality. He thinks the local council is slow, and because of that they don’t address local issues quickly. It would also help to strengthen Blanchardstown’s identity, he says. It could run festivals, small public-realm projects and improve community connections, he says. The kinds of things that a town council would do before, he says. Linehan says he thinks it would also ensure that more resources are funnelled towards the town. Also, Blanchardstown has grown a lot, he said. Between the 2011 and 2022 censuses, its population has increased from about 68,000 to about 80,000. Callanan says the question of what scale of representation is the sweet spot is an interesting one. “It's actually quite hard to come up with a magic number,” he said. “And there have been efforts and lots of international research to try and do that.” If there were an effort to create a Blanchardstown Town Council, setting the boundaries of its area would be tricky, says Leddy, the Fine Gael councillor. “I'm not exactly sure where Castleknock ends and Blanchardstown begins, or where Mulhuddart begins and Blanchardstown ends,” he said. “You know, like I say, they're all lumped together. They're four or five villages, all, you know, all come together,” he said. Daniel Whooley, a former Green Party councillor, who lives in the area, says he doesn’t think creating town councils would change anything really. “This is basically the same thing as a council,” he said. “The same people are represented. What we need is the people who don’t vote.” To engage younger people, some migrants, renters, people who might not at the moment turn up to meetings in the area, he says. Blanchardstown has a particularly low turnout in elections, a sign of disengagement from politics. In the 2024 local elections, turnout in the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart local electoral area was only [33 percent](https://elections.independent.ie/local-election-2024/fingal-county-council/blanchardstown-mulhuddart?ref=dublininquirer.com) – well below the Fingal-wide average of [42 percent](https://elections.independent.ie/local-election-2024/fingal-county-council?ref=dublininquirer.com), and even further below the national average of about [50 percent](https://elections.independent.ie/local-election-2024?ref=dublininquirer.com). Whooley says he wants to see people who aren’t so active in the community become more involved, not just more of the same, he says. “A lot of people I know don’t engage in community groups,” he said. “I think we’ve created a more insular community. A town council doesn’t solve that.” Community life feels thin in parts of Dublin 15, he says, because of gaps in basic services. A lack of youth workers, community spaces, sports funding, and low-barrier activities, says Whooley. Services that austerity hollowed out and that never returned. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council nudges ahead with plans for playground in Portrane URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-nudges-ahead-with-plans-for-playground-in-portrane/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:55:43.000Z Feedback at an informal on-the-ground consultation wasn’t too positive. But Fingal County Council is nudging ahead with proposals for a new playground at Longstone Park in Portane, [according to the](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26299752-councillor-p-mulville-public-consultation-process-for-childrens-play-space-in-portrane-ai10512/?ref=dublininquirer.com) council’s parks chief Kevin Halpenny. At the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 13 November, Social Democrats Councillor Paul Mulville had asked what the status of the plan for a playground in the town was. And, when would a formal public consultation start? he asked. Portrane was one of five locations across the county that [came up as short of](https://www.dublininquirer.com/new-council-report-identifies-areas-in-fingal-that-need-playgrounds/) playgrounds, in an audit carried out by the council at the end of 2023. “That’s one location that we definitely need to revisit in terms of playground provision,” Halpenny had said, [at an area meeting](https://meetings.fingal.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=206&MId=5863&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) in December that year. **///Progress so far** Mulville brought a motion asking about plans regarding “a much needed play space for Portrane”. Halpenny’s written response said that staff from the council’s planning and strategic infrastructure department had on 18 October held an informal public consultation in the green space at Longstone Park. Twelve people came, he said, all of whom lived nearby. Concerns they voiced included that the playground would attract anti-social behaviour, that there were no children living nearby, that immediate residents were against it, and that there were better places in Portrane. Fine Gael Councillor Eoghan Dockrell said the feedback didn’t surprise him. “People who oppose something are more likely to show up,” he said. "I do appreciate, you know, nearby residents’ concerns about potential noise and anti-social behavior. But I do think, you know, the play areas will enhance the areas nearby.” While some of the closest residents may not have young children, families would be within a short walk, he said. “Right now, families have to go to Donabate by car or bus for a playground.” **What’s anti-social behaviour?** Sara Olong, who grew up in the area and is now raising two small boys in Donabate, said she was surprised by some of the complaints. “I don’t think antisocial behaviour is a reason not to put anything in place. It just has to be managed,” she said. She does get worried about things like graffiti, she said, but she would have a play destination for the family than not. Families already use the green space informally, she said, and a few seating areas would improve it. Playground designer and landscape architect Sophie von Maltzan says fears around “antisocial behaviour” are often vague. “Is it graffiti? Vaping? Fires? Or teenagers simply hanging out?” Those concerns are common, she says, but removing or delaying play spaces doesn’t solve anything. “It’s not a solution to not put up playgrounds because they’re being burned,” she said. Better design, natural materials, and understanding why vandalism is happening matter more than not building anything, she said. James Humphreys, a Labour councillor, said residents and councillors often conflate normal teenage behaviour with antisocial behaviour. “Kids hanging around isn’t antisocial behaviour. It’s children socialising,” he said. Good design can deter genuine antisocial behaviour. He thinks in the new Hazelbury Park that’s being constructed in Dublin 15, he said, where heavy footfall and two paths running through the playground improved safety. “The best way to stop antisocial behaviour is footfall. People walking through an area,” he said. Halpenny said, passive surveillance and the type of structures that are built are key to handling that. When councillors at that meeting had asked him about provision for teenagers, he had said that the play audit wasn’t really about that. The audit relates to children’s playgrounds, which are considered to be for those up to 12 years old, he said. Teenager spaces are treated separately, said Halpenny. That said, they do consider teenagers in larger neighbourhood parks, where they have space for multiuse game areas and that kind of thing, he said. Teen provision tends to be handled ad-hoc. Still, Humphreys, the Labour councillor, says that the lack of facilities and spaces to hang out in Portane in particular, and Fingal more broadly, remains a problem. “The play strategy doesn’t quite crack the noise on teenage spaces, especially indoor ones,” Humphreys said. He wants to see football, basketball, whatever is popular. Sara Olong, the parent in Donabate, said she sees the gap every day. Her older child prefers climbing and gymnastics to organised sport, she said. “There’s nothing for that awkward age.” Humphreys says that already, playgrounds aren’t just for kids. “Ireland is one of the loneliest countries in Europe. Playgrounds are where parents meet other parents.” Dockrell, the Fine Gael councillor, said that the formal public consultation will give a fuller picture of views on the potential playground at Longstone Park. In his written response to Mulville, the Social Democrats councillor, Halpenny, the council’s parks chief, said that: “The proposed location has been identified as the most appropriate from the limited number of open spaces available.” “The playspaces have been designed in such a way as to be at least 25 metres from the nearest residence and both locations are relatively flat with good drainage,” he wrote. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council moves on plan for 5,000 homes on lands between Inchicore and Ballyfermot URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-moves-on-plan-for-5-000-homes-on-lands-between-inchicore-and-ballyfermot/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:57:12.000Z Dublin City Council is looking to move on rezoning lands between Inchicore and Ballyfermot, paving the way for more than 5,000 homes, new employment spaces, and community centres. “The scale is significant,” said Malachy Bradley, a senior planner, speaking at a meeting of the council’s South Central Area Committee meeting on 19 November. But the changes will be gradual, he said. “It’s not an overnight, you know, deployment of four or five thousand units in an area.” The council is also, alongside the land rezoning, establishing a masterplan to direct and phase what is built on the lands, which fall under the [City Edge project](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-inchicore-a-plan-to-knock-a-market-foreshadows-big-changes-on-the-citys-edge/), he said. That draft masterplan covers an area that takes in part of the southern and eastern edges of the Inchicore Railworks, show slides. The area also extends westwards, across the industrial lands either side of the Jamestown Road and Kylemore Way – and also a little over the busy thoroughfare of Kylemore Road. ![Kylemore district. Image from Dublin City Council presentation.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Kylemore-district.-Image-from-Dublin-City-Council-presentation-1.png) Image from Dublin City Council presentation. The proposal is one of the first big moves by Dublin City Council under the City Edge project, which looks to transform, eventually, 700 hectares on the western edges of the city. At the meeting on 19 November, councillors stressed the need for consultation with the existing communities around the Kylemore site, and asked what levers the council currently has to ensure sustainable and quality development. ## Origins of the plans The move to rezone the lands stems from the new housing growth requirements across the city, triggered by the new National Planning Framework, said Bradley. That set out housing growth requirements for different council areas, and required councils to update development plans to make sure there is enough land zoned to meet those. A Dublin City Council analysis as part of that [noted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288426-report-no-2372025-of-the-chief-executive-r-shakespeare-with-reference-to-the-incorporation-of/?ref=dublininquirer.com) “future development areas” – the Dublin Industrial Estate and surroundings in Glasnevin, and lands at Kylemore Road and Naas Road, which had already been flagged within the City Edge project. Now, the council has its proposals drawn up for the lands at Kylemore, both for rezoning the lands, and incorporating the masterplan into the city’s existing development plan, said Bradley. Ronan Fallon, a council planner, said that the lands at Kylemore – as well as other lands at Naas Road – are “priority areas” within the City Edge project. So, they should be built out quicker than other parcels, he said. At the moment, the lands that fall within the Kylemore masterplan [are mostly zoned](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-14-land-use-zoning/147-primary-land-use-zoning-categories?ref=dublininquirer.com) Z6, for employment and enterprise. A lot of it’s kind of an industrial area, with warehouses, massive [ESB batteries](https://www.dublininquirer.com/why-is-esb-building-giant-batteries-in-the-city/), vast car parks, things like that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Inchicore-ESB-substation.webp) Photo by Lois Kapila. The council wants to rezone the lands as Z14, said Fallon, which is for strategic development and regeneration areas (SDRAs). Those are areas [which the](https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028/written-statement/chapter-13-strategic-development-regeneration-areas/131-introduction?ref=dublininquirer.com) council considers can deliver many homes and facilities. The masterplan is built around two anchors, said Fallon. One at the western end is the proposed [Kylemore Rail Station](https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/iarnrod-eireann-projects-and-investments/new-stations/kylemore-station?ref=dublininquirer.com), part of the Dart+ South West project, he said. That project’s meant to turn the existing rail line from Hazelhatch through Kylemore into town into a high-frequency, electrified Dart line. A major centre would be built out around the new Kylemore station, he says, meaning the significant commercial and shop spaces would go there. That would account for the bulk of the 170,000sqm of space for employment that is planned, he said – and should translate to space for about 8,000 jobs. At the meeting, independent Councillor Vincent Jackson said that he was mindful that there are already sizeable employers in the area. “We shouldn’t be doing anything that will interfere with local employment because that reduces the necessity for people to have to travel for work,” he says. Communities need jobs and housing, he said. But there are lots of lands that are redundant for years, he said, so “I think development on those will be welcome in the area”. The second anchor for the site, meanwhile, would be at the eastern end of the lands, said Fallon. That’s where [the old](https://digital.ucd.ie/c0097/items/c0097%5Fo0351.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) CIÉ Chassis Production Factory on Jamestown Road is, which is currently owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Plans would see a significant educational, cultural, or social use around the factory, said Fallon. Plans also show three new schools, centred on a big park, and community spaces peppered throughout the plan area, said Fallon, but the factory site would also be a hub. The factory may be handed over to the Land Development Agency (LDA), said Fallon. The government’s last housing plan, Housing for All, earmarked state lands to be transferred to the LDA – and those include lands from the OPW, but also potentially from ESB, which has a big substation on the southern boundary of the site, and from Irish Rail. The idea is for the Inchicore Railway Works site to be shrunk, and the freed-up lands given to the LDA for primarily housing, he said. At a high level, the plans expect to add between 4,200 and 5,300 new homes throughout the masterplan area, said Fallon. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Land-use-strategy-for-Kylemore-District.-Image-from-Dublin-City-Council-presentation.png) Image from council presentation. Fallon also ran through the planned transport infrastructure. A green line with cycling and walking infrastructure runs on the map through the wider area, linking Tymon Park to the south upwards to Phoenix Park, he said. Around that green infrastructure would be significant public open space – including a big new park in the middle of the planned Kylemore scheme, with three new schools near it, he said. The National Transport Authority is looking at whether the proposed [Luas line out to Lucan](https://irishcycle.com/2025/05/16/new-preferred-route-for-lucan-luas-expected-in-2026-over-a-decade-after-it-was-to-be-finished/?ref=dublininquirer.com) would run through the area, so they’re leaving provision for that, said Fallon. “But we aren’t dependent on it.” ## The feedback Councillors stressed, at the meeting, the importance of engaging with community groups. Consultation around the [Bluebell Waterways](https://www.dublininquirer.com/plans-for-almost-400-homes-in-bluebell-to-go-out-to-public-consultation/) project – a plan by the LDA and the council to build about 400 cost-rental and social homes not far from the Kylemore area – was great, said Daithí Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor. Something similar would be gold-standard, he said. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said he knew the timeline is short for getting this done. But he is conscious too that these are communities fighting for new schools, and [to preserve local public transport](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-bluebell-and-inchicore-residents-continue-their-months-of-protests-against-proposed-bus-route-changes/), and then hearing of big new developments on the doorstep, he said, so it’s important that they are brought along in the process. “If possible, we should be trying to meet as many groups as possible,” he said. Bradley, the senior planner, said that existing communities can’t be left behind in the regeneration of significant areas. “I think there’s a just transition piece within that that must be recognised.” Council planners were already taking on board councillor feedback so far, and setting up to meet with groups in the area, he said. Doolan, the Sinn Féin councillor, also raised the question of who has control of the lands – and so how much the council can shape what is built on them once they are rezoned. “What we want to avoid is a blank cheque for private developers,” he said, who may “come in, take the land, build low-quality, low-grade housing and then they’re gone. And they leave behind homes that are not fit for purpose.” Can the council work with the Department of Housing to ensure high-quality homes for people who can live there for long-term, put down roots, with services for children? he asked. “What influence do we have over the private developers?” said Doolan. And for public lands, “is the funding available to ensure that we can deliver quality homes, housing and infrastructure?” he said. Bradley said that it is on planners to try to make sure they are quality homes and communities. Some of the land is public, but much is in private ownership, he said. “While we have certain tools, it is still within the private owners to determine what exactly happens with those lands.” They can influence whether development happens, by applying the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), which is a fiscal incentive to redevelop, he said. The RZLT is an annual tax of 3 percent of market value on land that could have homes on it but doesn’t. Another way the council can influence what’s built in the Kylemore area is by buying land there, Bradley said. “There are different abilities that we have there,” he said. At the meeting, Fallon said the council hopes to put its rezoning proposal out for public consultation in mid-December for about a month. Compiling the feedback and responding, and then going back to members would likely go before councillors to vote in March next year, he said. ## Sharing in the rising tide One issue that wasn’t raised at the meeting was the question of whether the state gets any benefit from the uplift in land value that would come with the land rezoning. When councillors rezone land from industrial to residential, the land value shoots up. The last Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, a Fianna Fáíl TD, put forward a few proposals that would have required a landowner to share a percentage of that increase in their land value with the council. In December 2021, O’Brien first [published one round of proposals](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/minister-obrien-publishes-proposals-for-the-state-to-share-increases-in-housing-land-value/?ref=dublininquirer.com). They would “respond to long-standing issues arising from the impact of ‘hope value’ in the land market, which leads to speculation that affects the value of land and as a result, the viability of building, both of which feed into the cost of housing,” said the department release at the time. In April 2023, he [published an](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/communities-to-benefit-from-increased-values-of-zoned-land-in-new-legislation/?ref=dublininquirer.com) updated proposal. And, in September 2024, he introduced the [Land (Zoning Value Sharing) Bill](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2024/68/?tab=documents&ref=dublininquirer.com). But that lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil in November that year. Social Democrats TD and housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said that TDs can restore fallen bills. But “it is unfortunate that this bill may never be restored by government as they have very much become trapped by this notion of viability which really means increasing developers’ profits”, he said. The government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, is light on detail on what it now plans in relation to sharing land values. “Mechanisms are needed to make sure that the State gets a fair share of the increase in land value that comes from public decisions – like zoning or designating land,” it says. “Government will bring forward measures following a broader review of the development contributions process,” says the plan. Development contributions are levies paid by developers as a condition of their planning permissions, and are used by councils to provide essential public infrastructure. The government’s new housing plan says that its review of these contributions “will consider the impact of contributions on the viability of housing projects” and “the need for the State to be resourced to provide the infrastructure that is necessary to support the delivery of housing, and the facilities that will result in the creation of sustainable and well-balanced communities”. The Department of Housing hasn’t responded yet to a query about the status of the plan to enact a bill for land-value sharing, given the rezoning to take place on foot of the new National Planning Framework. ### Government to look at the idea of merging cost-rental and social housing in future URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-to-look-at-the-idea-of-merging-cost-rental-and-social-housing-in-future/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:57:25.000Z The Department of Housing plans to launch a “pathfinder project” to explore the idea of merging cost-rental housing with social housing at some stage in the future, [according to the government’s](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288428-delivering-homes-building-communities-12-nov-interactive-version/?ref=dublininquirer.com) new housing plan. It is also to look at scaling up cost-rental housing, the [plan says.](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/social-and-cost-rental-housing/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Models of cost-rental housing differ across countries. In Ireland, the model is for rents to be set at the cost of financing, building, and managing the homes, as well as a limited profit. It is aimed at households with incomes above the social housing threshold, but squeezed in the private-rental market – although the costs of schemes has triggered concern among department officials that not all of those theoretically eligible families have been able to [access it.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-briefings-worry-that-lower-income-renters-could-be-priced-out-of-affordable-cost-rental-homes/) [Government scheme to help medium-income renters leaves some to fall through gap - Dublin InquirerThere’s a cohort earning too much for social housing, but too little to qualify for the Land Development Agency’s new cost-rental “affordable” housing schemes.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-422.jpg)Dublin InQuirerLois Kapila![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/hansfield-exterior-and-common-area-14-scaled-e1705455446857.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-scheme-to-help-medium-income-renters-leaves-some-to-fall-through-gap/) The proposed changes to the system are based on the recommendations of the Housing Commission. But they “would require major changes to policy, law, and funding if they were to be put in place”, the government’s new housing plan says. It gives a timeline for testing it out. An exploratory project should kick off in 2027 and report back in 2030, it says. “This project will help identify what reforms are needed and test how they might be implemented.” “This is something that would take time,” says John O’Connor, the former chief executive officer of the Housing Agency, and chairperson of the Housing Commission. It is a goal worth working towards, he says. But before any transition, the state needs to scale-up delivery of cost-rental housing, with rents based on costs and not, he stressed, linked at all to market rents. Fiona O’Driscoll, financial lead with the Irish Council for Social Housing, says that it would be quicker and easier for housing charities to roll out mixed-income affordable rental homes at scale if it were funded through the one system. But Sinn Féin TD and housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin says he isn’t convinced that the government is serious about changing the system or delivering much cost-rental housing. “I don't think this is a serious proposal,” he says. ## A recipe, not a menu O’Connor, who chaired the Housing Commission, says that the commission’s recommendations come as a package. They are interlinked and it would work best if all rolled out together, he says. “It's a recipe, not a menu.” The commission favours merging cost-rental and social housing, he says. But first, the state needs to scale up cost-rental housing delivery. There aren’t enough homes for people to rent, he says. “So we need significant affordable rental,” he says. At the end of 2024, there were about 2,400 cost-rental tenancies, [shows data from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292928-2024-rtb-annual-report-and-accounts/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Rent subsidies for private-rental tenants “should be seen as short-term to medium-term”, says O’Connor. “Not considered as a long-term measure for families.” Instead, under a cost-rental model, the state could subsidise public housing and, eventually, the cost of the homes would be paid off. “We need to get to a situation where capital outlay is repaid,” he says. Another issue at the moment is that cost-rental homes in Ireland are only guaranteed as cost-rental for 40 to 50 years, says O’Connor. In other European countries, where cost-rental works well, it is when properties mature, and are paid off, that the rents come down, he says. Another recommendation by the Housing Commission was that the state carry out regular housing-condition surveys, as is done in most western European countries, says O’Connor. The Irish government stopped doing those in the late 1990s, he says, after a failed attempt at improving the system. It instead abandoned the surveys, he says. “We need to know the standard of our housing.” Work is slowly progressing to fill this gap. In late 2017, the County and City Management Association (CCMA) set up a working group to look at, among other issues, the condition of social housing and stock surveys. A few years later – after meetings with the Department of Housing – it [submitted an outline](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26292929-lgma-stock-condition-survey-it-system/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of what was needed, in particular an IT system, for councils to effectively carry out and record conditions in social housing and to move from the current system of reactive maintenance to planned maintenance. That IT system is now in place across councils, and all of them have been onboarded this year, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said recently. Councils have been set a goal of inspecting all of their social housing by the end of 2030. To date, they have inspected 8,095 social homes, the spokesperson said. Councils own 155,060 social homes, [show figures from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285375-noac-local-authority-performance-indicator-report-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) National Oversight and Audit Commission. ## How to scale up affordable rental At the moment, the Land Development Agency, and some housing charities, and councils, have been delivering homes for cost-rentals. O’Driscoll, of the Irish Council for Social Housing, which represents housing charities, says there are several different schemes funding social housing – some of which provide full cost recovery to housing charities and some that don’t. Housing charities don’t currently get sufficient payment through tenant rents to fund regenerating some of their older social-housing stock, she says. So when a housing charity wants to develop a mixed housing scheme – meaning social housing and cost-rental housing together – it can be complicated by the fact that they are funded through different routes, she says. Rents will cover the full cost of the cost-rental homes, she says, including maintenance and finance, but the social homes' costs are not fully covered by tenants’ rents – and the gap has to be filled by local authorities. “In addition, sometimes the logistics of getting it to work are complicated by two different funding schemes for the capital costs across the two tenures in the same scheme,” she says. “That can lead to delays.” Building communal facilities would benefit both sets of tenants, she says, but it isn’t always clear how they are to be provided for within the funding models. Merging cost-rental and social housing into one capital funding and standardised cost-rental rent for all tenants in the future would be ideal and allow the development of many more cost rental homes, she says. “In the future, you could have one scheme.” Bringing it into one system would emulate the way that affordable rental developments work in Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands. They don’t have a split between the different income streams, she says, and many people with relatively high incomes do live in the affordable homes alongside social tenants paying the same rents – which achieves a true tenure mix. There would be a subsidy for anyone who couldn’t meet the full cost-rental rent, she says. “That is really, I think, what Nirvana is for the future,” she says. “It's the dream.” ## Concerns People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy, however, says he is worried about the impact of proposed changes to rents on social tenants. “I don’t know what this means for rents,” Reddy says. He doesn’t agree that the social housing rents need to cover the maintenance costs to be sustainable, he says. “I don’t buy that. Public housing is a public good.” The proposed new cost-rental system is likely to be “market-inspired”, says Reddy. It looks like the aim is to harmonise affordable housing with the private rental sector, he says. “We are advocating a universal public model,” he says. “I don’t think that is what they really have in mind.” The new housing plan does say that it envisages a larger role for private operators in cost-rental going forward. It says that with changes to the government’s Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental (STAR) investment scheme, “coupled with viability measures and the corporation tax exemption for cost-rental activity announced in Budget 2026, more private operator delivery of cost-rental apartment homes is envisaged”. O’Connor and O’Driscoll say that under the merged system as they envisage it, the cost of rent would be linked to the cost of building, financing and maintaining the homes. While low-income tenants would get a subsidy to fund the difference between the cost of the home and what they can afford, as long as they need it, says O’Connor. “Where someone gets to sufficient income, when they could pay the full rent, they should be paying the full rent,” says O’Connor. Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin TD, says that in the medium to long term the idea of merging cost-rental and social housing is worth exploring. “It would be entirely sensible for any government that plans to increase cost-rental and social housing to think about how the two tenure types interact with each other,” he says. There needs to be a way to move between the two systems, which could happen quite often, including when a cost-rental tenant retires, he says. But he doesn’t think that the government is serious about merging the two systems or about delivering cost-rental at scale, he says. ### With council rents and private rents both rising, HAP tenants are squeezed from two directions URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/with-council-rents-and-private-rents-both-rising-hap-tenants-are-squeezed-from-two-directions/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:57:40.000Z People living in private rentals who are reliant on subsidies such as the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) could be particularly hard-hit by proposed rent increases for social tenants, say councillors in Dublin city and Fingal. Council tenants living in council-owned housing pay a “differential rent” based on percentage of their income. Tenants in private housing that get HAP pay this same differential rent to the council. In theory, once these tenants on HAP pay their differential rent to the council, the council will then pay the “full” rent to their landlord. But what the council pays is limited by a cap, while rents keep rising – so it usually doesn’t actually cover their full rent. So, last year, a survey by the housing charity Threshold [found that](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288423-we-are-generation-rent-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 74 percent of tenants receiving rent subsidies were paying extra, on top of what they pay the council, and what the council pays the landlord, to cover the gap. Gareth Redmond, a research and policy officer at Threshold, says it is common for social tenants on rent subsidies to pay hundreds per month in “top-ups” to private landlords. Of those paying a top-up, 78 percent said they were struggling to pay their bills, the Threshold survey found. Now, those tenants could face rent increases on two fronts – with the councils increasing their differential rents, and the annual increase of 2 percent a year levied by their private landlords which can roll into their top-up payment. For a family relying on social welfare, who pay rent to the council and to their landlord, they could now face increases in both, he says. “I think in some cases it could be more than half their income,” says Redmond. “I don’t see how the sums will add up.” ## Council rent increases As part of Dublin City Council’s upcoming budget for 2026, council managers have proposed changes to social housing rents. Among other shifts, they’re proposing an increase in the charge from 15 percent to 18 percent of the primary earner’s net income. Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, at their budget meeting, Fingal county councillors agreed to increase rents for social tenants from 12 percent of their income to 14.5 percent of their income, says Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth. The rent increases are unaffordable for many tenants, Smyth says, especially with major increases in the cost of living. “Loads of people are already pinned to their collar.” Some people are putting off buying small essential items, says Smyth, who represents the Swords area. “There’s a huge amount of shame. People are really struggling.” A Dublin City Council [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288569-differential-rent-scheme-2026-review-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says its hardship clause “will provide flexibility for the rent team to support those experiencing exceptional circumstances”. This clause will also apply to tenants who receive HAP and pay top-ups to landlords and have exceptional circumstances, it says. People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy,who opposes the increase in the city, says that council officials have confirmed that HAP tenants will be affected by the rent increases. All the HAP tenants he knows are paying large top-up rents to landlords, he says, so he doesn’t think the council can or would apply discretion to all of them. “A lot of people are struggling at the same time,” he says. “So it’s not clear how that would work.” A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said it will do what it can to help HAP tenants. “Where existing HAP tenants are in financial difficulty every effort will be made to provide the support required to maintain the tenancy and ensure that it is affordable and sustainable for the household,” he said. If the tenant is getting the maximum HAP payment, council staff can consider applying the hardship clause or decreasing the tenant’s differential rent, he said. ## Already topping up HAP is a subsidy for tenants who are eligible for social housing but stuck in the private-rental sector. For those on the scheme, the council pays most of the rent directly to the landlord. Tenants pay councils a contribution, based on their household income and in line with the amount that they would pay if they were in a council home. But, if the rent for the home is greater than a council’s [threshold](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting-a-home/help-with-renting/housing-assistance-payment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – which it usually is in Dublin – the tenant pays the balance, the difference between the threshold amount and the actual rent, directly to the landlord as a top-up. Top-ups can range from €50 a month to much more, Redmond of Threshold. “You can have tenants paying hundreds in top-ups.” Indeed, says Smyth, the Sinn Féin councillor. Councils only allow HAP tenants to top up by a certain amount but to secure the property some tenants will agree to pay more, he says. “They pay top-ups and may also have under-the-table deals with landlords.” HAP tenants aren’t supposed to spend more than 3o percent of their total income on their rent, but these deals can push them up higher than that, as can rent increases. Meanwhile, councils are also going to be asking HAP tenants for more money each month now. Reddy, the People Before Profit councillor, said he is concerned that these increases on two fronts could push some families into homelessness. They just won’t be able to afford them, he says. ## Improved maintenance? Back in March, Dublin City Council kickstarted a review of social housing rents, saying the rents the council takes in don’t cover the costs of maintenance on its housing. “I think we need to look at a complete revision of the rent scheme and what that would mean,” said Frank d’Arcy, the council’s director of housing operations, at the council’s [finance committee](https://dublincity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast%5Finteractive/968868?ref=dublininquirer.com) that month. The council took in €110 million last year in rents, but in the same year it shelled out €180 million on maintaining and administering the [29,000 or so](https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2024-11/dublin-city-council-adopted-revenue-budget-2025.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) homes it owns in the city, according to a [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25867684-report-02-2025-to-the-finance-spc-presentation-on-housing-rent-arrears-by-clive-ahern-housing-and/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors. In Fingal, meanwhile, the council is spending 50 per cent more on housing maintenance, compared to 2020, and it expects those costs to continue to climb, a spokesperson said. “Housing now accounts for 37 percent of the council's spending, covering areas such as the delivery of new homes, repairs, grants, and homelessness services, so this new rental rate will help to ensure continuing maintenance and investment in our housing stock for current and future generations,” says the spokesperson. It also brings Fingal County Council more into line with the rental rates charged by other local authorities in Dublin, “whilst remaining well below the level considered to be affordable for social housing tenants”. But HAP tenants won’t benefit from council’s promises to spend more on maintenance of social housing, says Smyth, the Sinn Féin councillor in Fingal. And there are major issues with minimum standards in HAP properties, he says – as [identified by the](https://ombudsman.ie/en/publication/2ae60-investigation-of-the-hap-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ombudsman. Some tenants are too scared to report issues to the council or the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in case they are evicted, he says. Within the Dublin City Council area, more than 100 private-rental tenants [have lost their homes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/more-than-100-hap-tenants-in-dublin-lost-their-homes-after-poor-conditions-flagged/) since 2020 after they reported poor conditions, which their landlords didn’t fix, and so their rental subsidies were cut off. “There is a select group of people making a fortune off this crisis,” says Smyth. “While every day we’re contacted by people who are really suffering.” ### After the council quietly closed its mediation service, a new report highlights a growing need for mediation in the community URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-the-council-quietly-closed-its-mediation-service-a-new-report-highlights-a-growing-need-for-mediation-in-the-community/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:57:52.000Z In February, Dublin City Council quietly wound down its own community mediation service. It shut down the service because, for a long time, very few people were using it, the chief executive told Councillor Noelle Brown of the Social Democrats, in a reply to [her written question](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288619-04a-minutes-of-september-council-meeting/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) about it at October’s monthly council meeting. The mediation process had been a strong tool in dispute resolution for many years, the response said, but recently, demand just hadn’t been there. That’s been the case with mediation services across the board, say those working in the area. “I think in the run-up to Covid, I found the community mediation was really, really busy, and Covid seemed to just stymie that,” said [Austin Kenny](http://austinkenny.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), a professional mediator with over 20 years experience working in community, commercial and family cases. “Since then, there's been a slow flow of cases,” he said. But the need for such services is still there, says [a new report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26287255-community-law-mediation-report-2025-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) by the Coolock-based Community Law & Mediation, which launched last week. Mediation, done right, can ease community tensions, prevent homelessness, support young people, and help resolve complex social conflicts, it says. “Mediation is needed and will always be needed because people fight,” said Kenny, at the launch at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) office. “And largely speaking, people are really not good at it. All of us are really poor at conflict,” Kenny said. “We just don't do it very well.” ## The council and beyond Mediation is a form of negotiation whereby an independent third party helps people solve a problem that they can’t by themselves, says the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26287255-community-law-mediation-report-2025-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p1) from Community Law & Mediation. It’s voluntary and aims for mutually acceptable outcomes rather than legally imposed decisions, says the report, written by Heidi Riley, an adjunct research fellow in the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD. Mediation can be used across many settings – from family and community disputes to workplace disagreements, commercial issues, and other civic conflicts. Dublin City Council’s estate management strategy, [which runs from](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26288432-final-estate-management-strategy-2022-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 2022 to 2027, still mentions a route for mediation, when neighbours in social homes aren’t getting along. It isn’t suitable in cases of serious anti-social behaviour, the strategy says, but maybe for less severe complaints. Neighbours first go to area housing staff, it says. “If it is decided by Area Housing staff that mediation is the appropriate course of action in a case, they may make a referral to the Mediation Service.” In her question to the council about the service, Brown, the Social Democrats councillor, said she thought the council’s mediation service had closed two years earlier. So, nowadays, “many tenants feel lost and do not know where to turn”. So they report minor things to the council, she said. If tenants knew of the availability of mediation services through the Community Law & Mediation, they could go there rather than to the council and it would help solve minor conflicts, she said. The council should advertise this with tenants, said Brown. The reply from the council executive said it had actually closed its mediations service just this February. Not only had referrals been low, but also many had been unsuitable for mediation, the response said. Both sides wouldn’t agree to it, or the conflict had already escalated, it said. Council staff departures meant they didn’t have enough qualified people to run it too, the response said. ## The council and beyond Community-focused mediation has been largely deprioritised in comparison to family mediation, for separated couples say, or commercial mediation, the new report says. Yet it is community mediation – including conflict coaching, restorative practices and violence prevention initiatives – that can prevent small tensions from escalating into major conflicts. That mediation is confidential has been a huge barrier to its promotion, said Kenny, the mediator. Indeed, cases have to be confidential, says Elizabeth Devine, a policy and communications manager with Community Law & Mediation, by email. But there are countless success stories that must remain anonymous, she says. For example, neighbouring families in semi-detached housing, stuck in escalating tensions over household noise, she says. Each family met separately with mediators. One described disturbance from the sound of a heat pump, visitors and children. The other party outlined how they had tried to quieten the household, with a sound engineer confirming noise levels were within regulations. After meeting together, they reached an agreement on communication, advance notice, and using email or text to share information calmly and avoid unnecessary conflict, Devine says. Stories like this need to be shared as widely as possible, said mediator Andrea O’Neill, at last week’s launch. The process may still be a mystery to many, she says, but should be sold better. Imagine somebody driving in to work who has left two teenagers at home who were screaming at each other over something trivial, says O’Neill. And a voice on the radio talking about mediation asks, “Are you sick of walking on eggshells?” That person is going to listen, says O’Neill. “We need to identify the need, the specific need. We talk to the need, and that's how you get people to use mediation,” she says. ## When, and when not The effectiveness of mediation depends heavily on who delivers it and how, the report says. Mediation works best when it integrates specialist knowledge – whether that’s experience with young people, with new communities, with Travellers, or with survivors of trauma, it says. Respondents working with Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers– interviewed for the report – stressed that trust grows when mediators are drawn from within their own communities. Yet funding for training in-community mediators is limited, the report says. Many individuals who could be excellent mediators mistakenly believe they are ineligible because of lack of formal education, or disability, it says. The Mediation Institute of Ireland places no such barriers on training but the perception persists – and this should be challenged, Riley says. The research also makes it clear that mediation may not be appropriate in some cases – especially when there is a history of domestic violence, or a severe power imbalance. Women’s Aid, who took part in the research, stressed the dangers of encouraging mediation in such situations. At the same time, some organisations worried that blanket bans on mediation in any case involving past domestic violence may overlook situations where, with proper “vulnerability assessment” and multi-services partnership, the process could be safely facilitated. But to do so responsibly would require resources many organisations do not have, the report says. A broader “vulnerability analysis” – including trauma history, disability, or the intersection of identities such as LGBTQI+, Travellers or refugees – is often missing. Important risks can go unnoticed, Riley writes. Family breakdown, she explains, is one of the leading causes of homelessness, often driven by overcrowding, financial pressures, and intergenerational conflicts. An interviewee working in legal and homelessness services noted that some local authorities suggest mediation as a way to “resolve household relationship breakdowns”. But in some cases, mediation has been presented as a “take the mediation or lose benefits” requirement, communicated through brief letters that give little explanation of what mediation involves or how to access it. One frontline worker described how local authorities have instructed people to “go back to where you have been, regardless of what has occurred there, sometimes even domestic violence”. These authorities, the report claims, may then suggest mediation as the path to resolving the issue, rather than removing the person from a potentially dangerous environment. This practice, Riley says, is sharply at odds with mediation ethics, which requires the process to be voluntary and with informed consent. “Used in such an unethical manner, mediation then has the opposite effect – instead of preventing homelessness, failing to take up an offer of mediation becomes part of the cause of homelessness or can perpetuate dangerous living conditions,” says Riley, in the report. Across organisations supporting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, the report notes consistent barriers to accessing mediation. For individuals concerned about immigration status, being referred to mediation by Gardaí over a neighbourhood dispute can cause concerns about confidentiality and the process’s independence. To build trust, some organisations speak about mediation in less formal terms – describing it as “having a conversation” – yet without funding for more interpreters or mediation-trained staff, organisations remain limited in what they can offer, the report says. Meanwhile, Traveller Mediation Services (TMS) has historically delivered successful programmes, including mediation training for incarcerated men. One initiative was so effective that participants gained “confidence to speak out in public” and even began co-facilitating future programmes, the report says, but TMS cannot sustain such work due to lack of resources, despite clear evidence of impact. ## On the streets There are already moves in some parts of the city to pilot mediation services in new ways. Riley’s report points to what are known as “violence interruption” programmes in Glasgow in Scotland, and in Chicago in the United States. Both see trained mediators on the streets and in communities to respond to low-level disputes before they escalate. In July, the Canal Communities Local Drug and Alcohol Taskforce – active in Rialto, Inchicore and Bluebell – launched a new strategy that centres on community-based public safety. Authored by independent Senator Lynn Ruane, it suggests a community-based team of violence interrupters, outreach workers and trauma-informed specialists who are embedded in the neighbourhood. Their role would be to identify tensions early, mediate conflicts, and step in before violence escalates – a shift away from reactive models of policing. Rather than relying solely on Garda intervention, the plan emphasises addressing the underlying causes of violence – including poverty, trauma, addiction and lack of safe spaces. Interrupters would maintain a highly visible presence in public spaces where conflict is most likely to emerge, offering de-escalation, relationship-building and ongoing engagement. Crucially, these workers would be local or deeply connected to the area, making them trusted, “credible messengers” capable of influencing behaviour and reducing retaliatory violence. The strategy has just been granted €142,500 in funding from the[ Community Safety Fund](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/press-releases/minister-jim-ocallaghan-announces-allocation-of-over-4-million-from-proceeds-of-crime-to-42-community-projects-across-the-country/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Riley said after the launch of the report last week that she’ll be keeping a close eye on how that strategy progresses. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Become an avant-garde performer, contemplate a pilot, consider getting a tattoo URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-become-an-avant-garde-performer-contemplate-a-pilot-consider-getting-a-tattoo/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T00:58:03.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Love Frequency presents Palestine Fundraiser** This evening, dance music collective Love Frequency is taking over Hen’s Teeth in Blackpitts for a multi-genre fundraiser in aid of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Recently formed, this will be the collective’s first event. It boasts an eclectic line-up, including rapper and creator of the wrestling live music event *Clash at the Quays,* [Ahmed, With Love](https://www.dublininquirer.com/from-chaotic-dance-to-ethereal-soundscapes-a-producer-turns-out-eps-albums-and-mixtapes/), as well as electronic artist Pippa Molony, Shutter Select DJs, Suckerfish, and the incomparable, idiosyncratic Wobblin' Jude. Also on the night, tattoo artist Hannah Molloy, aka Scarface Ink, will be in the venue to provide flash tattoos, which, I recently learned, means pre-designed tattoos and not temporary. The event starts at 6pm. Tickets are €10 and will be on sale at the door. For more information, visit the Hen’s Teeth event page [here](https://www.hensteethdublin.com/all-events/love-frequency-presents-palestine-fundraiser-hens-teeth?ref=dublininquirer.com). **The Depot Sessions** This Friday, The Complex warehouse is bringing back its ongoing live music series The Depot Sessions. Typically, the sessions' line-up comprises artists both emerging and established, with a headline act and a handful of openers, all brought together under a striking audio-visual set-up. But, for this latest installation, they are changing up the format a bit. For the first time, The Depot Sessions is being handed over to Kirkos, the experimental music ensemble. Kirkos, one of The Complex’s newest studio members, will take complete creative control for the evening. Billed as a “Fluxus Open Mic”, a nod to the highly experimental 1960s artist collective Fluxus, Kirkos and its collaborators are planning to create an immersive, boundary-challenging event, in which “sound, performance, and visual installation will unfold around the audience in non-linear ways”. More than likely, that means you’ll be an active participant in whatever they have in mind. Doors open at 6.30pm, and the event will begin at 7pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.thecomplex.ie/event/kirkos?ref=dublininquirer.com). Break a leg. You’re going to be great out there. **AANI Frederic Douglas** On Saturday afternoon, the African Advocacy Network Ireland will be over at the Blanchardstown Library to delve into the deep historical ties between Ireland and different communities in Africa. *Frederick Douglass to present day: African connections to Ireland* is an event that will explore historic and contemporary connections between Ireland and Africa. Aiming to highlight how such links have shaped these cultures over centuries, it will look at such influential figures as the slave abolitionist [Frederick Douglass](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-dublin-church-reflects-on-how-it-benefited-from-slavery/), who, after escaping slavery, visited Ireland in the 1840s. The event will run from 12pm to 4pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/aani-hosts-frederic-douglas-to-present-day-african-connections-to-ireland-tickets-1962340977689?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Dawson Chorus** If you’re out and about on Saturday evening, it might be nice to drop down to the Central Plaza on Dame Street. At 7:30pm, the recently formed pop choir, The Dawson Chorus, will be bringing together 140 voices both from their own ranks as well as those in the London City Voices choir. While I don’t have a setlist, the choir has promised a slew of pop songs as well as a few Christmas classics. The event is free, and will run for an hour. For more information, follow The Dawson Chorus over on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRCkPByDsEh/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Salon Rógaire** [Salon Rógaire](https://www.dublininquirer.com/on-ormond-quay-a-literary-salon-meets-as-gaeilge/), the Irish-language literary salon, is returning this Saturday for its sixth edition. Hosted by writer and musician Róisín Nic Ghearailt, the salon brings together poets, writers, playwrights and musicians who will be reading or performing works that use or reflect on the Irish language. For this special event, titled *Dublin, My Diva*, the salon will be celebrating its first anniversary. To mark that occasion, Nic Ghearailt has curated a pretty spectacular line-up that includes artist [Osaro Azams](https://www.dublininquirer.com/duo-7of9-blend-gothic-and-industrial-music-with-swampy-ambient-soundscapes-feral-punk-and-prayers/), actor and writer Evanne Kilgannon, poets Mikey Cullen, Lily Breathnach, writer Shanaia Kapoor, and journalist Kelly Earley, whose Substack newsletter is worth checking out [here](https://kellysrubbish.substack.com/). The event will be on at the Teacher’s Club on Parnell Square West at 7pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/salon-rogaire-dublin-my-diva-tickets-1909339960219?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). All profits from the night will be going to Sex Works Alliance Ireland. **Pilot** Next Thursday, The Lab Gallery on Foley Street is hosting *Pilot*, an exhibition of new works by TU Dublin’s fourth year fine art students. From its origins in the Greek word “pedon”, meaning “steering oar”, to its later use in aviation and television, the exhibition will be reflecting on the notion of the pilot as both a metaphor and method. “Pilot is the artistic act of setting out without a fixed map, motivated by instinct and curiosity and navigating by the tools of art practice,” writes artist and TU Dublin lecturer Barbara Knežević. The artists who will feature in the exhibition are: Niamh Cahill, Clive Casey, Kate Clancy, Seán Connolly, Daniela Jevdokimova, Sara-Jane Mooney, Rachel Cameron Byrne, Marta Ortiz González, Rebekah Reilly, Jane Singleton, Kenneth Kelly, Evan Lynam, Jools Reilly, Tansy Clarke, Sinéad Maher and Niamh McKitterick. *Pilot* will launch on Thursday, 27 November, at 6pm, and will run until Saturday, 29 November. For more information, visit The Lab Gallery’s website [here](https://www.dublincityartsoffice.ie/programmes-projects/lab-gallery/pilot?ref=dublininquirer.com). --- Advert [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Modern-Minimalist-Design-Studio-Creative-Brief-Presentation-2.webp)](https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats-on/winter-grand-slam-2025/?mc%5Fcid=5dce52fb9f&mc%5Feid=UNIQID&ref=dublininquirer.com) The Abbey Theatre - Sunday 7 December 2025, 6pm [Book tickets here ](https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats-on/winter-grand-slam-2025/?mc%5Fcid=5dce52fb9f&mc%5Feid=UNIQID&ref=dublininquirer.com) --- ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Hive Mind** The Pearse Centre, on 29 November, will be the venue for an interactive gaming experience where the audience plays a mix of games and puzzles. Guided by the host, the audience will use their phones to control what is happening on a big screen, working together to balance a see-saw, complete a quiz, solve a crossword and more. *Hive Mind* starts at 8pm. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/hive-mind-tickets-1822208086439?ref=dublininquirer.com). **Nuala Clarke, artist talk at dlr LexIcon** ArtNetdlr is organising its latest Artist Talk with abstract painter Nuala Clarke at dlr LexIcon theatre in Dun Laoghaire. The talk, which begins at 11am on Saturday, 22 November, will include a Q&A session. Tickets are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/nuala-clarke-artist-talk-tickets-1914402181459?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&ref=dublininquirer.com). **Oíche na hÓige / Youth Night 2025** On Friday, 21 November, to celebrate Oíche na hÓige/Youth Night, a new national celebration for young people, 66th Naomh Eoin Clontarf Scout Group is hosting *The Scout Zone*. The event will run from 7 to 10pm at their den on Brian Boru Street, showcasing all the activities they have on offer. St. Paul’s Youth Club in Artane will also be hosting Youth Night and is showcasing an art exhibition from 6 to 9pm. **The Smeds and the Smoos** In December, the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire will be staging a new theatrical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s children's book *The Smeds and the Smoos.* The production, which was nominated for an Olivier Award, will be running from 16 to 28 December. For more information and to book your tickets, visit the Pavilion website [here](https://www.paviliontheatre.ie/events/view/the-smeds-and-the-smoos?ref=dublininquirer.com). If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### Dublin City Council moves towards deploying AI tools to “increase staff productivity” URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-moves-towards-deploying-ai-tools-to-increase-staff-productivity/ Last updated: 2025-11-20T13:39:59.000Z Dublin City Council is looking for vendors that might help it deploy AI tools to “increase staff productivity and reduce manual administrative processes”. This could include a chatbot to help staff find what they are looking for amid the council’s “vast array of documents and data”, according to pre-tender [documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26286220-5-pin-pms-dcc-ai-pre-market-consultation/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Or a tool that could ensure consistency in answers staff give to councillors in response to their questions, so answers don’t contradict each other. Or an application to help staff members understand what they could be doing better, and how they could improve or upskill to advance their career. Or a tool to help staff work through the public procurement process, including market research, vendor research, and analysis of tender specification documents. Or potentially, agentic AI solutions to automate repetitive tasks, and assisting with improving the accessibility of Dublin City Council systems and documents. The documents also mention “customer services centre solutions”. Right now, the council is seeking to identify potential partners with expertise in generative AI that it can work with, [according to a pre-tender notice](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26286219-1-pin-notice-ai-for-lg-and-csc-solutions-171125/?ref=dublininquirer.com) issued Monday. This is a request for information that’s designed to help inform the council’s longer term plans, says Nicola Graham, the council’s Smart City Programme Manager. The request caught a number of councillors by surprise when they were contacted on Tuesday. “This was the first I heard of it,” says Social Democrats Councillor Cian Farrell. But there are potential benefits that this could have across particular services provided by the council, Farrell says. “Every year councillors get hundreds of emails about picking up leaves in their area.” AI could be used to map trees in the city and their species, he says. “Overlay historical weather events, and have like predictive models of where and when leaves fall, and send out cleaning crews there.” A complementary AI service to that which the council currently offers would be welcome, says Fianna Fáil Councillor Rory Hogan. “I think AI would be incredibly useful for improving the efficiency in the services provided by the city.” It would be helpful too in assisting staff to deal with queries, he said. “However, it must not replace current customer services absolutely.” ## Being proactive [In February,](https://smartdublin.ie/irelands-first-gen-ai-lab-for-local-government-established/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the council announced that it was launching a generative AI lab focused on local government services and it was collaborating with Trinity Business School and the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre. The council is taking a cautious but proactive approach to exploring how generative AI technologies – artificial intelligence which creates content like text, images or code by learning patterns from datasets – could support its staff in their day-to-day roles in the future, Graham says. As part of this, staff were [issued guidelines](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285419-dcc-generative-ai-staff-guidelines-v5-digital/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for its usage in March, which warn against the use of free, publicly available generative AI tools for council-related tasks, in the interest of meeting data security and privacy standards. According to the guidelines, the council has a licence to use Copilot, a generative AI chatbot tool developed by Microsoft. The council also established a Generative AI Governance Group consisting of representatives from departments and sections across the organisation, a council spokesperson [said in April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-artists-ire-a-council-poster-shows-the-hands-of-ai/). That group will be reviewing and approving the staff guidelines, they said. ## Early exploration The notice issued by the council on Monday is a [preliminary market consultation](https://www.gov.ie/en/office-of-government-procurement/publications/preliminary-market-consultations/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (PMC), or a pre-tender process which it is doing to communicate with relevant AI experts prior to the publication of any tender. Any future digital solution that is procured by the public sector may have AI features, says Graham. “We recognise that we need to be prepared and our staff upskilled to understand how these solutions work, ensuring the responsible and ethical deployment of AI and Gen AI technologies.” The council’s PMC is built upon its work through the GenAI Lab and its proof-of-concept projects, the notice says. These included “trialling the use of general AI models to improve staff productivity across communications, knowledge management, and drafting functions”, the pre-tender documents say. Those proof-of-concept projects aren’t available to view right now, Graham says. “They are in the very early stage of exploration through the Gen AI Lab and are contained within DCC's secure internal environment.” Alongside the use of chatbots, the notice also says that the council’s key focus areas include working with large volumes of unstructured data, the querying of organisation documents, and supporting the upskilling of staff to use these applications. To date the council and ADAPT have co-developed a generative AI awareness-building module for staff, which has been delivered to over 300 employees, Graham says. “We intend to extend this training to approximately 3,000 staff members in 2026.” The council is also exploring different options to continue the training and upskilling of staff, she says. ## Growing appreciation for the human touch As the council takes these steps, and considers using programmes like chatbots in its customer services, it should also make sure to retain human customer services, says Fianna Fáil Councillor Hogan. “There is a growing appreciation for the human touch in consumer-facing jobs, and this must be recognised,” he said. If this was going to have any material impact on workers, or jobs, the council’s management will be held to account, says Richy Carrothers, the head of the Local Government and Local Services Division in Fórsa, the trade union. “But if management wants to engage with us regarding improved technology, we will listen to what they have to say,” Carrothers says. Councillors have asked that the council does not extend its use to marketing materials or posters, says Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll. “We believe paying local artists is more important than maybe the efficiencies that AI would use in the generation of artwork,” she says. [Back in April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/to-artists-ire-a-council-poster-shows-the-hands-of-ai/), Fingal County Council advertised a new summer market in Swords using AI-generated imagery, which was provided to it by “an approved supplier” who had been engaged to create its promotional materials. Using the availability of AI free tools as an opportunity not to pay creative workers shouldn’t be accepted, O’Driscoll says. “We need to not replace creatives. We need them.” ### Was the Department of Justice using experimental chatbots to give immigration advice? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/was-the-department-of-justice-using-experimental-chatbots-to-give-immigration-advice/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T10:17:38.000Z Department of Justice chatbots to answer questions about asylum and citizenship were developed via a “pre-commercial initiative” that was “aimed at supporting the early stages of developing new technologies and products”. That’s according to Enterprise Ireland, in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act by Kris Shrishak, a technology fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). Chatbot [Erin](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-urgent-questions-the-department-of-justice-directs-asylum-seekers-to-a-chatbot-is-it-trustworthy/) took questions about the asylum process. Chatbot Tara answered citizenship and non-asylum immigration questions. Up until this summer, the International Protection Office’s (IPO’s) automated email response [encouraged people](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-urgent-questions-the-department-of-justice-directs-asylum-seekers-to-a-chatbot-is-it-trustworthy/) seeking asylum to turn to Erin for “urgent” questions. The chatbot’s answers were [sometimes wrong](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-urgent-questions-the-department-of-justice-directs-asylum-seekers-to-a-chatbot-is-it-trustworthy/) or misleading. On 4 November, the Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan, [told the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/1254/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that the department has now retired Erin. It’s unclear whether Erin or Tara were the prototypes developed via the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) scheme, or final products rolled out later. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly address the query. Butduring an Oireachtas committee debate recently, independent Senator Lynn Ruane raised concerns about deploying these chatbots, if they were “probably not fully tested”. Sinéad Gibney, a Social Democrats TD, [who had also asked](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/1254/?ref=dublininquirer.com) about the chatbots at the Dáil, said in an email last week that half-baked products shouldn’t be tested on vulnerable people. “The public should not be used as guinea pigs, particularly vulnerable groups in a legal process which could be impacted by a chatbot giving an incorrect answer,” she said. Neither Erin nor the old version of Tara was AI-powered, O’Callaghan told the Dáil on 4 November. They relied on scripted answers, he said. But Tara has been upgraded. The Department of Justice has used [Microsoft Copilot’s AI](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284088-doc-1d-doj-dcc-copilot-approach-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to embed a new smart chatbot in its “Digital Contact Centre for its immigration customers”, said a spokesperson. A review of answers from the new AI-powered Tara, by immigration solicitor Wendy Lyon, found that it can also offer incorrect or misleading advice. Though most of them had been marked as correct by officials during a test run, documents suggest. ## Is this a test run? Shrishak became interested in the Department of Justice’s use of chatbots and generative AI after [reading the story](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-urgent-questions-the-department-of-justice-directs-asylum-seekers-to-a-chatbot-is-it-trustworthy/) about the IPO chatbot Erin, and set out to find more. On 26 May, the Department of Justice sent Shrishak a [decision letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26281008-decision-letter-2025-0406/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in response to a Freedom of Information request. In refusing access to some documents, it explained the funding scheme for its Tara chatbot. Shrishak had asked to see the tendering and contract documents. The decision letter said Enterprise Ireland and the Office of Government Chief Information Officer had funded the development of the chatbot as part of the SBIR initiative. So it doesn’t have any records of its contracts and tendering process. It hired a vendor for its maintenance, though, and information about the firm and the cost is commercially sensitive, so it won’t release it, the letter said. Although, earlier this month at the Dáil, O’Callaghan, the Minister for Justice, [named](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/1254/?ref=dublininquirer.com) Ludex Ltd, a small Dublin company, as having been paid €229,454 to support and maintain the chatbots Erin and Tara. When Shrishak, the ICCL technology fellow, turned to Enterprise Ireland, a staffer [said it didn’t](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26223086-20250625-decision-foi-2025-19/?ref=dublininquirer.com) hold any tender or contract documents for “Tara or Erin” chatbots. Its SBIR scheme was a “pre-commercial” endeavour “aimed at supporting the early stages of developing new technologies and products”, said the Enterprise Ireland letter. A full tendering process would’ve been needed to “procure any solutions that arose from the prototypes that may have been created during the program”, the letter says. Both Erin and Tara were designed to make the information on the IPO and Irish Immigration websites more accessible, said the Department of Justice spokesperson. They weren’t offering “detailed personal or legal advice”, they said. A representative for Ludex has not yet addressed queries sent on Saturday including one asking if it wasmaintaining the chatbots or rolled out final products for national use. ## In search of transparency What Shrishak learned about the chatbots [cropped up](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint%5Fcommittee%5Fon%5Fartificial%5Fintelligence/2025-10-14/2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) during an Oíreachtas committee debate on artificial intelligence use last month when Ruane, the independent senator, flagged worries about pre-commercial nature of the SBIR project, which didn’t trigger a full tendering process. In response, Barry Lowry – the government’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) – said the idea is that these companies cut their teeth during the pilot and emerge as strong contenders for the procurement bidding. “We want Irish companies to be competitive and successful,” Lowry said. He said once the SBIR scheme ran its course, the government had to pivot to procurement to offer a product for national use. Still, he doesn’t know much about the Department of Justice’s chatbots, said Lowry. A spokesperson for Enterprise Ireland reiterated the point of the SBIR project, as outlined to Shrishak of ICCL, and said it had shortlisted two companies to participate, Ludex Ltd and Derelinx Ltd. It stressed again that a full tendering process would have been needed to procure solutions that emerged from the scheme’s prototypes. Ludex Ltd arose both as the company [selected for the chatbot Tara under the SBIR programme](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26281115-7-ludex-sbir-interim-report-9-december-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) and as [the firm that stayed on](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/1254/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to maintain the Department of Justice’s asylum and immigration chatbots. A December 2020 [interim report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26281115-7-ludex-sbir-interim-report-9-december-2020/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the SBIR scheme suggests that Ludex was proposing use cases for the chatbot Tara, and researching different aspects of the citizenship process on the government website. Lightening the workload for staff who often had to answer questions that had been asked before was part of its pitch. In an email last week, Ruane, the independent senator, said people being asked to use these chatbots are among the most vulnerable and in profound need of information about their rights. She is concerned, she said, that people turn to these tools out of desperation, and that no one will be held accountable if they end up with the wrong advice, referencing the IPO chatbot that came with a disclaimer which shrugged off responsibility. Shrishak, of ICCL, said he’d also asked for a cost-benefit analysis and environmental assessment reports for the chatbot project, but the Department of Justice[ didn’t have them. ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26282912-20250506-doj-aie-decision-letter/?ref=dublininquirer.com) A [briefing document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285961-doc-1c-use-of-ai-in-the-digital-contact-centre-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on deploying the AI chatbot says under the heading “environmental and societal well-being” that since it’s designed to “surface” relevant information to users, it is “in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of building an inclusive society for all”. ## If AI ruled the world The spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that at the moment, people seeking asylum can email their questions to [info@ipo.gov.ie](mailto:info@ipo.gov.ie). It’s also in the process of revamping its website, and does its best to update information on the current website, too, they said. The Department of Justice’s new Tara chatbot relies on Microsoft Copilot’s AI. During a trial run, the Department of Justice had internally assessed almost all of its responses to immigration queries as correct, documents released to Shrishak show. But when Shrishak asked Lyon, the immigration solicitor, to review the AI chatbot’s responses, there were suggestions it could be unreliable. Large language models (LLMs) often don’t give the same answer twice because they operate under a notion of probability, which can make their responses unpredictable as they choose each word in their reply from an array of possible suitable next words. A [briefing document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285961-doc-1c-use-of-ai-in-the-digital-contact-centre-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) says “an assigned team will be responsible for the chatbot's content accuracy and updates”. Users can also give feedback to improve the model, it says. Nevertheless, in Tara's responses during a test run, for citizenship eligibility, it said any “adult who has legally lived in Ireland” for five years can apply. That’s not true, though. Some immigrants can live on student stamps [for nearly a decade,](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-some-a-decade-in-ireland-doesn-t-count-towards-citizenship/) without any of those years counting towards citizenship. The law excludes that immigration stamp, but that doesn’t mean the holder hasn’t “legally” lived here. In response to a question about rights to stay here as a recent EU citizen who used to hold a long-term residency stamp 4, the answer is just wrong, even though it’s marked as correct by officials. It says, “You can apply for EU Treaty Rights as the family member of an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen.” “If the person now has EU citizenship, they probably don't need to apply for anything at all,” says Lyon’s review response. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not say whether a lawyer had reviewed those responses. They said that in its roll-out, it has “leveraged AI in a low-risk way to offer enhanced digital services”. That also includes aid with appointment booking and status inquiries to both immigrants and staff. It has trained staff on how to use it, too, the spokesperson said. In listing challenges of using the AI-powered chatbot, officials [had noted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284088-doc-1d-doj-dcc-copilot-approach-2/?ref=dublininquirer.com) difficulty “to scale personalized service” and the toll of resolving multiple queries at the same time on the “agent”. Shrishak, of ICCL, who had obtained documents on the old chatbots and the new AI-fueled Tara under the FOI Act, says he’s concerned about their use when they can be wrong or throw up unhelpful responses. People might ask life-altering questions, full of nuances and in need of a skilled staffer’s response, he said. “The chatbot is not the answer,” Shrishak said. ### A new game seeks to get Dubliners to think about who is tracking them online URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-new-game-seeks-to-get-dubliners-to-think-about-who-is-tracking-them-online/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T09:12:39.000Z One profile that Iva-Nicole Mavrlja and colleagues came across while researching the world of data-brokers was “young in tech”. “It was actually collected data from young people who might be working in IT in Dublin,” says Mavrlja, a PhD researcher at the Adapt Centre at Maynooth University. Exactly what data fed in to create the “young in tech” profile is a mystery, she says. “That's the kind of, I think, interesting part about data brokers,” says Mavrlja. “We often don't know what data points they do collect to make those decisions.” It could include people with a Docklands workplace saved on Google Maps, or it could draw on what they have browsed and bought online, she says. That’s just an educated guess – based on how these profiles are created generally by data brokers, who hoover up the crumbs of data that people leave behind as they engage online and even from public records, combine it all and use it to infer habits and behaviours – and sell it on. Those who buy those profiles to help target an audience or group may include businesses looking to hawk products, governments, law enforcement and private security companies, she says. Parcels of data used to create profiles have usually been anonymised – although not always that well, as RTÉ [showed recently](https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2025/0918/1534034-data-for-sale/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – before they are sold on, she says. “So a lot of people think, you know, it’s not necessarily worrying.” But even anonymised, they can have an impact, she says. Indeed, these profiles are never going to be exactly accurate for each and every one of us, says Karl Toomey, a designer with the agency Wove, and a lecturer at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). “We're complicated human beings.” “But increasingly, they're going to mediate and dictate the digital world that you're going to have access to,” he says. Getting people to pause and think about this was the motivation for a new online game created recently by Toomey, Mavrlja and a wider team including NCAD students. The simple game, [Who Do They Think You Are?](https://hidden-selves.wove.co/?ref=dublininquirer.com), leads a player through five questions to reveal the inferences a data-broker may be making as they gather and resell the data that everybody leaves scattered through the day – and how that might be used to manipulate you. The game is one of a bunch of initiatives put together by the Adapt Centre and Wove, with funding from Research Ireland Science Week, says Toomey. There are also free exhibitions on at the Digital Hub, on Thomas Street, from Friday to Sunday, hosted as part of this year’s Beta Festival, he said – one interactive, and the other showing how NCAD students foresee the possible future of data profiling. ## What is the game? Toomey got involved in the project after last year’s Beta Festival, a series of events around art and technology in the Liberties. He went along to a think-in on facial recognition technology in policing. Afterwards, inspired, he reached out to one of the organisers, Emma Clarke, from the Adapt Centre, he says. They applied for funding to create ways to make data-tracking and surveillance more understandable, he says. The game [Who Do They Think You Are?](https://hidden-selves.wove.co/?ref=dublininquirer.com) starts with panels introducing the idea of data brokers who buy up personal data and sell it on to advertisers, political parties and scammers. It invites the player to follow one person’s fictional day and discover what data brokers can learn from just a few simple decisions – how we act once our alarm has gone off each morning, or what we do if we start to feel unwell. It ends with the “reveal” of what profile the player has been allocated to, by a fictitious data broker. Among those profiles is the “anxious researcher”. Their anxiety is a monetisable asset, it warns. They are ripe for strategies of fear-based marketing for warranties, it says. They can be served with inflated prices when they return to webpages they have already visited – because the fact that they have come back shows that they are ready to buy, it also notes. Another profile is “the autopilot”. Data brokers see them as an “ideal target for slow, gradual value erosion and profitable automatic renewals”. Subscription services will slowly raise prices counting on their lack of attention, and loyalty programmes will quietly devalue points and rewards. These dummy profiles in the game are simple, says Toomey. They’re built, after all, on data from five questions, rather than the thousands of points collected about someone over time online, he says. “I would say the profiles that are real are far creepier.” A resource pack at the end of the game links to popular sources from around the world to learn more about data-brokering – including a John Oliver segment about profiles used for targeting in the United States. Data brokers have created groups such as “desperate and broke” or “rural and barely making it”, says Toomey. One link directs the reader towards debate around the American airline Delta’s recent announcement that it would use AI to determine more of its pricing. That’s a policy that has led to elevated concerns about personalised pricing or “surveillance pricing”, whereby people are charged different amounts for the same flight based on what data tells the airline about their past behaviour. The game also closes out with privacy tips. Mavrlja said she hopes that the game spreads awareness of how digital data from mundane online activities – scrolling social media and shopping and searching – is sold for profit to data brokers and third parties. Toomey says the game is a way to start to get people to think as they travel around the online world, and okay cookies. “It might seem innocuous,” he says. “But I think this is about having an awareness that that stuff is getting measured.” For Toomey, global politics is also a wake-up call, he says. Tech giants have shown themselves willing to [bend whichever way](https://www.404media.co/google-has-chosen-a-side-in-trumps-mass-deportation-effort/?ref=dublininquirer.com) the political wind is blowing, says Toomey. “Then, you’re kind of like, oh God,” he says, “they have psychological profiles of society on mass. You know, that just doesn't sit easy with me.” ### In Swords, expected impact of MetroLink spotlights a shortage of pitches URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-swords-expected-impact-of-metrolink-spotlights-a-shortage-of-pitches/ Last updated: 2025-11-20T13:40:10.000Z Just north of Swords, the R132 regional road is flanked by pitches. To the east, in Lissenhall, there is an astroturf pitch and Lawless Memorial Park, the homeground of Fingallians GAA club. To the west, there are four more pitches – two for football, two for GAA – that occupy the length of Balheary Park, with another GAA pitch nearby, separated by the Ward River, and used by Fingallians’ local rivals, St Colmcille’s. The pitches in Balheary Park are provided to Fingallians by Fingal County Council, said Brendan McGrath, a member of the club’s board, on Tuesday. “And there are satellite pitches we’ve access to.” Those include one out in Millers Glen, he says, as well as Kettles Park and Holywell Park, according to the [club’s website](https://fingallians.ie/pitchfinder/?ref=dublininquirer.com). But as the town grows, even those may not be enough because the club has over 2,000 members with 1,500 players, he says. “We’re a big huge club. Over 80 teams.” The big challenge coming around the corner is MetroLink, the metro line, developed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which An Coimisiún Pleanála approved on [2 October](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/latest-news/abp-314724-22-%28metrolink-estuary-to-charlemont-via?ref=dublininquirer.com). The route is from Charlemont, in the south inner-city, to a new Seatown Station, south of the club’s grounds, and then the terminus, Estuary Station, north of the grounds. Between these two stations, [the route](https://mlk.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=b31e8299849a447d8576433c296e03fc&ref=dublininquirer.com) will be built on the edge of Balheary Park, which would impact the playability of these pitches during the construction phase. The club will lose access to the smaller of its two pitches in the park during this period, according to TII. McGrath, of Fingallians, says it’s important that the club has an alternative pitch during the construction phase. “If pitches go away for 18 months, you could have a huge drop off in members.” A spokesperson for TII said they are continuing to work closely with the club and council, who own Balheary Park, to find a suitable alternative for the second pitch, and that they met with the club in October to discuss possible options. McGrath says he has been engaging with councillors to make sure that arrangement is secured soon. Works aren’t expected to start until 2027, he says. “But we’re getting to the point where, if we had to sow a pitch, they’d need to be sowing that grass now to make sure it’s mature enough.” All of this shines a light on the urgency to increase the number of playing pitchesin the Swords area, says Fine Gael Councillor Luke Corkery. “A sports hub would really satisfy that need.” A recent [audit of sporting facilities](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-residents-need-better-access-to-pools-and-pitches-new-sports-facilities-audit-says/) in Fingal, prepared for the council by KPMG Future Analytics, identified a need for nine additional pitches in the Swords area by 2029. ## Get everyone in a room Local councillors were keen to discuss how MetroLink works would impact Fingallians at a meeting of the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on Thursday. It is wonderful that the metro is coming to Swords, said independent Councillor Cathal Boland. “But we need to make sure the social infrastructure within the community is maintained and protected.” Boland and Sinn Féin Councillor John Smyth both introduced [similar motions](https://fingal.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=206&MId=6182&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com), asking that Fingal County Council’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, organise a meeting between elected representatives and Fingallians. This discussion would help to develop short- and long-term plans for the club, and to provide adequate playing pitches in the event of the likely changes to the facilities currently available to them in Balheary, Smyth’s motion said. It would also act as an opportunity to hear from the club on their suggestions to minimise the impact of works on the pitches, Boland’s said. The club is going to be seriously impacted by the MetroLink construction works, Boland told the meeting. “It is important that we do what we can to facilitate the continuance of the club with ensuring that there is adequate provision made for alternative playing pitches.” It isn’t some small sectoral interest, he said. “It is a fundamental part of sporting life in Fingal. But particularly in Swords.” Any GAA club that has been in existence since 1884, the year Fingallians was established, needs to be respected as this MetroLink comes down the line, said Smyth. “We need to ensure all clubs don’t lose out from the development.” Swords is going to be dramatically changed by the MetroLink, said Sinn Féin Councillor Malachy Quinn. “So let’s be supportive of the local clubs as well.” The council appreciates the concerns of the club and their desires to meet with officials, said Gene Griffin, a senior executive officer in the council’s Community Department. The council wants to engage with the club, with a deputation meeting being one possible avenue, although there isn’t an available slot for this particular kind of sit-down until next February, Griffin said. The council would be able to provide clearer information on the duration of any disruptions at that meeting, said Gemma Carr, senior executive parks and landscape officer. “But there isn’t a definite timeline on when these works are going to happen at this moment.” ## Addressing demand Swords is growing, and the MetroLink is only going to bring more people into the town, so it is vitally important that the needs of clubs like Fingallians are factored into this change, says McGrath, the club board member. “How do we future proof Fingallians with the growth of Swords?” he asks. At the area committee meeting, Corkery, the Fine Gael councillor, pointed to the recent sports facilities audit, as evidence of the need for more pitches in the Swords area – and in Fingal more broadly. The audit found multiple instances of clubs and facilities across the county that are at capacity, which is “hampering the growth potential of clubs”. The council could increase the number of playable hours and days on existing pitches by putting in lighting, and upgrading grass pitches to all-weather facilities, it said. This is the plan for the northern GAA pitch in Balheary Park, which [TII says](https://www.pleanala.ie/publicaccess/Case%20Documentation/314724/Applicant%20Documents/Responses%20to%20Submissions/EXCEL%20FILES%20-%201st%20November%202023/095%5FFingallian's%20GAA%20Club%5FResponse%20Register.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) will be reduced in size a bit as part of the MetroLink construction, but will get an all-weather surface and flood lighting. A spokesperson for TII said on Tuesday said the all-weather pitch will also include ball-stop netting. “The adjacent pitch will be converted into a training pitch which is suitable as a multi-use games area.” But, in the long-run, the best outcome for Swords would be a new sports hub, says Corkery. [In April](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-push-for-public-swimming-pool-and-sports-hub-for-swords/), Corkery tabled a motion proposing that the council develop one in anticipation of Fingallians’ temporary loss of Balheary Park, as well as the fact that the Swords Rugby Club lacks a permanent home. “They are playing on a pitch that is used by many other tenants,” said Corkery on Tuesday. Kevin Halpenny, the council’s senior parks and landscape officer, said the council is in the process of drafting a development plan for the Ward River Regional Park, and that would include an expanded sports hub at Swords Manor. ### “A kind of homely place, like a community”: Dublin 8’s Cathedral Café URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-kind-of-homely-place-like-a-community-dublin-8s-cathedral-cafe/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T14:08:06.000Z It has been raining on and off all morning. Inside the doors of the Cathedral Café on Dean Street in Dublin 8, it is unusually quiet. Teresa Varela bustles about in the back room, reorganising stock. “We need more milk, Natalie!” she calls out. Natalie McDonnell is sitting at a table, enjoying a brief moment of peace. A tall man comes in with a whippet. Varela rushes out front to pet the dog. A woman comes in with her young daughter. Varela greets them warmly. She hugs the daughter, chats with the mother. A few minutes later, a grey-haired man bursts in. Varela excitedly talks with him in Spanish. Within 20 minutes, the small café is full of convivial life. The Cathedral Café opened on 8 February 2011, in this space not far from St Patrick’s Cathedral. Varela is the face of the café these days. But it was Trevor Lee who first opened it, says Teresa. He was living across the road on Dean Street at the time, he says. Lee – who has worked as a part-time model, fashion choreographer, catwalk trainer and charity event manager – had no experience running a business, he says. He didn’t even drink coffee. But when he saw a “To Let” sign go up at the hairdresser’s over the road from his flat,the thought struck him that there weren’t any cafés around, he says. He took his opportunity and bought the place. He knew the vibe that he wanted from the start, he says. “A kind of homely place, like a community.” ## “Like being in somebody’s house” When it first opened, the Cathedral Café was wallpapered with 19th-century-style Parisian patterns. It had wooden chairs and tables and ornaments all around. “It was like being in somebody’s house” says Lee. Varela and Lee had been friends for years before the café opened. Varela was involved from the start,says Lee. And about 18 months after it opened, she took over fully. “Naturally, like a baby, she just took over the business and started to cradle it,” says Lee. Varela is hands on, he says. “I’m the ideas person.” Varela agrees. "Trevor has great ideas.” ![Trevor Lee. Photo by Jack Healy.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Trevor-Lee-outside-Cathedral-Cafe.jpg) Trevor Lee. Photo by Jack Healy. ## Religious icons Before opening the cafe, Lee had begun to collect statues of the Virgin Mary and other religious icons, says Varela. He then filled the café with them. She had to get rid of them, she says, as dust just clung to them. Not all of Lee’s ideas line up with her way of doing things, she says. But one statue of the Virgin Mary stayed. It stands by the front door. Religion is important to Lee, he says. He recalls an incident from his teenage years which had a big impact on him. “I woke up to this speck of light at the end of my bed … this light just got bigger and bigger and something came hovering out and said something to me,” he says. He doesn’t know what was said, he says. But he has been certain since that moment that something exists beyond the natural world, says Lee. He used to be more openly religious, he says. He mused on joining a monastery. These days, he wears his spirituality a little more lightly. He goes to mass. But as the bright neon “Karma” sign in the café shows, his beliefs go beyond a single religion. Lee draws a line between the shrinking of faith-based meeting spaces and the ethos of the café as a community hub. The percentage of those living in the area identifying as Catholic shrank from 52 percent to 38 percent, between the 2016 and 2022 censuses. Those identifying with other religions rose slightly from 14 percent to 14.5 percent, while those with no religion rose from 22 percent to 28 percent – and the remainder didn’t say. Still, people need these kinds of meeting places, Lee says, especially “nowadays with a lot of churches closing down and people losing faith”. ## Plans for the future Varela is honest, to the point, in her chat with customers – and always willing to talk. Talking to people all the time can be exhausting though, she says. “I never get a minute’s peace.” She loves running the place, she says. But she wouldn’t mind early retirement too, she says. Some customers these days can be ruder than in the past, she says. More difficult to serve, as they are often more focused on their phones than what’s in front of them, she says. They just order and go, says Lee. “They don’t interact.” It’s not what Cathedral Café is about, he says. The café has changed over the years. The aesthetic is more minimalist. They pulled out a partition wall to reveal brickwork and wooden beams. Regulars remain, though. Varela’s breakfast keeps Pat McCauley coming back, he says. “It's the best food in the Liberties,” says McCauley. He waves around his bacon sandwich, for the room to admire. ![Pat McCauley and his bacon sandwich. Photo by Jack Healy.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Pat-eats-his-bacon-sandwich.jpg) Pat McCauley and his bacon sandwich. Photo by Jack Healy. McCauley, says Lee, has been there from the start. “I suppose he’s a bit like the father of the café.” The café serves classic fry-ups, sandwiches, rolls, soups, cakes and pastries. It also sometimes hosts tapas nights on Fridays. “The tapas night is a bit of a party,” says Varela, and an opportunity for locals to connect with one another and have fun. Lee has more plans, he says. To install a hatch door and open a creperie in the evenings, he says. Maybe, he’ll get that going in the new year, says Lee. ### A blind member of a Dublin City Council committee encounters a string of obstacles URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-blind-member-of-a-dublin-city-council-committee-encounters-a-string-of-obstacles/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T10:17:48.000Z One of the first items at last Wednesday’s meeting of Dublin City Council’s transport committee meeting was an apology to Robbie Sinnott. Sinnott, who is not a councillor, but is a member of the council committee, is blind. He’s the founder of Voice of Vision Impairment (VVI), and is on the committee via the Public Participation Network. The last meeting of that committee had been – as is common these days – a hybrid one, with some members in the council chamber, and some joining via video link. At that meeting on 3 September, Sinnott had tried to join via video link but hadn’t been able to get in due to an accessibility issue, said the committee’s chair, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner. Sinnott is not new to the council. He was a member of its planning committee during the last five-year council term, and then was selected, after the June 2024 general election, to join the transport committee. In those roles, he’s worked on the issues at hand, but also pushed to defend his rights. His organisation, VVI, “exists to campaign for the needs and rights of people with disabilities, with a particular expertise in the perspective of those who are blind and partially sighted”, according to its website. ## Blocked from attending Last Wednesday, Horner introduced Brian Curtis, executive manager of the council’s Information Systems (IS) department, to explain what had happened that had blocked Sinnott from attending the previous meeting. “First of all I’d like to start by apologising to Dr Sinnott for the issues that arose, in terms of joining the last meeting,” Curtis said. During a regular security review “of our Office 365 environment”, amongst the recommendations was a setting not to allow anonymous people to connect to council meetings, he said. To stop bots or whoever joining and disrupting them, he said. They decided that was too strict, though, “so we actually allowed people, anonymous people, connect through a thing called captcha which is a way of showing that you’re a human person rather than a bot”. But the captcha they used “caused difficulties in terms of the sound volume in particular on the call to an iPhone, it was very hard to hear”, Curtis said. Sinnott, though a member of the committee – technically called the Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee – wasn’t able to get through it to attend the meeting. The IS department has now removed the captcha, Curtis said, and doesn’t plan to bring it back, so the problem should be solved. Sinnott thanked Curtis, but said that “Captchas are notoriously inaccessible for visually impaired people and if there was even a modicum of disability-proofing done on this, that would have come to the fore.” The incident highlights the need for the council to consult with disabled persons’ organisations (DPOs) like VVI, Sinnott said. Otherwise “inadvertent discrimination will happen and people will be shut out”. ## Accessing committee documents Is there anything Sinnott would have wanted to say at the previous meeting, if he’d been able to get in? asked Horner, the committee chair. Yes, Sinnott said. “At the last meeting, I would have drawn attention to the fact that the Active Travel Document on the C2CC that was sent to everybody a day in advance, there was no accessible – there was no screen-reader accessible version of that sent,” he said. He was referring to a [report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s49659/Report%20on%20Clontarf%20to%20City%20Centre%20Scheme.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the council’s Active Travel Programme Office on usage of the Clontarf to City Centre cycling and walking route. A screen reader is a computer programme that reads text out loud. “The principle is we’re all equal, committee members, and it should not be happening in this day and age that documents are fit for some people and not fit for others on the committee,” he said. Later, as Horner moved through the agenda of last Wednesday’s meeting of the transport committee, she introduced a presentation from Caoimhe Clarke, on a [report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/s50459/ATThe%20Magic%20Pill%20DrCaoimhe%20ClarkeSPC.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) titled “Active Travel: The Magic Pill”, from the Climate and Health Alliance. The Climate and Health Alliance includes more than 30 organisations, such as Trinity College Dublin, the Asthma Society, the Irish Cycling Campaign, the Royal College of Surgeons, and Irish Doctors for the Environment. Clarke, who is a doctor, and a member of the council’s transport committee, is on the “working group” for the alliance, she said. After Horner introduced the presentation, Sinnott signaled that he had a “point of order” to raise before it went ahead. “I would suggest that this be deferred until an accessible version of the document is made available,” he said. He’d received “something Monday night, but it’s got no pages, it’s got no section numbers, so it’s not referencable, it’s like a jumble if one’s listening to it on a screen reader”, he said. Horner, the chair, though, said she wanted to move ahead with the presentation anyway. “I will just say in this case the Climate and Health Alliance is predominantly a voluntary alliance and while I would expect that standard from our public bodies here, I don’t want to, I guess, cause an issue or detract from the work and the value of the work that has been proposed and the presentation that is in front of us today,” she said. “So I know that Dr Clarke has promised to deliver an accessible version of it, or an improved version of it, as soon as possible to you but I would like to proceed and make sure we can hear the presentation today in its full form,” she said. Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn chimed in at this point. “With all due respect chairperson, this is Dublin City Council and I think we need to set an example, I don’t think there’s a big issue in deferring it to the next meeting if the presenter would agree.” Horner said that, whatever about the full report, the presentation on the agenda for discussion at the meeting *was* accessible. “I am aware the presentation has been provided in accessible form, which is all we are discussing today. It is the full report which is not in accessible form,” she said. “I am going to ask Dr Clarke to proceed.” When Clarke had the floor, she began with an apology to Sinnott. “I do apologise that we are slow, we are a volunteer organisation,” she said. The chair of the Climate and Health Alliance, Sean Owens “has, now, an acquired brain injury because he was hit by a car in January”, Clarke said. “I know that’s not an excuse, but I suppose just to put it in context there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes when we all have full time jobs and with our chair in hospital for many months,” she said. “We will get that report to you in an appropriate accessible format. The paper argues that active travel is a public health intervention, and “movement is medicine”, Clarke said. She proceeded with her presentation, and a discussion followed, with several councillors offering supportive comments. ## Processes Sinnott said on Tuesday by email that when he was on the planning committee during the last council term, “there were difficulties with DCC's own documentation in the beginning, but I worked something out with the Secretary, who made sure everything was accessible by letting DCC Departments know etc”. The secretary of the transport committee, which he is on now, “is absolutely fantastic, and she is even more on her game than my last experience, e.g., letting Departments know when documents are not screenreader-accessible”. But still some documents come to the committee that are not accessible, Sinnott says. The council has not responded to queries sent Monday on who is responsible for making sure all the reports for each meeting are accessible to all. Or whether the council has guidelines it issues to individuals presenting at meetings, on how to prepare reports and presentations for the occasion so that they will be. ### Councillors agree masterplan for the Old School House in Clonsilla URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-agree-masterplan-for-the-old-school-house-in-clonsilla/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T12:01:04.000Z Fingal county councillors approved the much-discussed masterplan for the heritage Old School House in Clonsilla, and the strip of land around it, last week at their monthly meeting. Much of the final debate around the plans had already taken place. At an area committee meeting on 6 November, councillors had pushed for greater emphasis in the masterplan on the future use of the building as a community centre. Seven co-signed motions on that passed. “The ask that has come to us from residents is relatively modest,” said Labour Councillor John Walsh at the meeting. It is for community uses on the site alongside the proposed homes, and that the old schoolhouse be used for community use, Walsh says – and the motions sought to make it clear to any future developer that this was the wish. At the meeting, council officials raised concerns that the changed wording would make it appear as if the only possible use for the schoolhouse was as a community space. That, they said, wasn’t the case given its residential zoning. Walsh pointed out that masterplans are non-statutory. Meaning they’re more of a recommendation. He knows it’ll ultimately be up to planners to decide any applications that come in, he said, but councillors still wanted to relay the desires of the community. “We’ve a real shortage of community use and community infrastructure in Dublin 15,” he said. ## In the document The future of the Old School House, and the lands around it, have been on the council agenda for years. Over the summer, the council ran a public consultation on [a proposed draft of the masterplan](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-clonsilla-a-plan-comes-together-for-the-old-school-house-and-surrounding-lands/), which lays out objectives for the site including, among other things, design, transport, services, facilities, and recreation infrastructure. There were more than 270 submissions to the public consultation run by the council over the summer, said [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26285809-draft-old-school-house-masterplan-clonsilla/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to councillors. The masterplan lands are constrained, running as a strip along the north side of the Royal Canal, said Dónall Ó Ceallaigh, a senior planner, at the meeting on 6 November. The school house itself is a disused protected structure, he said. It’s toward the eastern end of the strip. In drawing up the masterplan, the council, with consultants, had developed a “preferred option” for the site’s development. It shows a ribbon of homes, with roughly 100 duplexes and houses. It also leaves a landscaped area around the school house. Plans also show a community use on the site, he says, and social infrastructure. The council wants whatever is built there to be high-quality and respect what is there, he says. They’re talking mostly two- and three-storey buildings, he said. “Scope may exist for this to increase,” he said. But it would have to be really high quality, he said. Ó Ceallaigh ran through the main takeaways from the public consultation, and the small changes made to the masterplan in response. Many of the submissions focused on concerns around the condition of the school house, he said. His thinking is that the site should be developed as a whole for it to work, he said. “For the Old School House to live again, it won’t live again on its own, it needs development around it.” He doesn’t think anybody could develop the houses without the Old School House, or the Old School House without the houses, he says. For those asking for mention of community, tourism and heritage uses, he says, officials had added in more references throughout to community use in addition to the homes. The chief executive’s response clarified that Fingal County Council very much welcomes community and cultural uses for the Old School House building, he said. Other responses focused on the need to protect the biodiversity of the lands, he said. Any developments will have to take that into account, he said. The Department of Housing submission had, in particular, questioned the findings of the screening reports and ecological assessments. Officials went back and looked at those, he said, and addressed any points. ## The main debate At the 6 November area committee meeting, much of the debate turned on the motions co-signed by cross-party councillors, which sought to put the emphasis further on the preference to use the Old School House as a community space, rather than for homes. Kieran Dennison, the Fine Gael councillor, said he supported the Old School House being developed for community use. But he was concerned about the possibility that the building would just be left to rot further, he said. “I’m concerned that if we’re too prescriptive, it will be left and left and something else will happen to it,” he said. He was conscious too, he said, that the masterplan was just a plan. “It doesn’t follow that there’ll be a planning application anytime soon.” In June 2021, Osh Ventures Limited had applied for planning permission for 198 build-to-rent apartments on the site. An Coimisiún Pleanála refused the scheme permission. At the 6 November meeting, Róisín Burke, a senior planner, said she feared the motions removing any reference to a possible residential use of the Old School House made it sound as if that wouldn’t be permitted under any circumstances. But the underlying zoning is for residential, she said. “Omitting reference to residential doesn’t preclude an application or residential on this site.” She feared there would be a perception among the community that by changing the language of the masterplan, residential won’t be there in the Old School House building going forward, she said. “That’s not how the statutory zoning works.” Her concern is also that if the community use isn’t feasible, the building will fall further into disrepair, she said. Councillors pressed ahead with their motions, though, to emphasise the desire for a community use for the building. And then the new masterplan was waved through at the monthly meeting last week. Later, Walsh said he wants the council to take an even more active role in protecting both the building and the surrounding biodiversity. The next step as he sees it would be for the council to purchase the Old School House, he said. In 2023, a spokesperson for Fingal County Council [said](https://www.dublininquirer.com/vacancy-watch-the-old-schoolhouse-in-clonsilla-on-the-banks-of-the-royal-canal/) it was trying to buy the school and the site it sits on. But that hasn’t happened. But, in July of this year, a council spokesperson said there weren’t any current plans for it to buy the 5.73-acre site – which [was listed](https://www.stokesproperty.ie/property/residential-development-site-c-2-32-ha-5-73-acres-porterstown-road-clonsilla-dublin-15-test-123/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for sale for €3.75 million. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### At the Irish Football Programme Club fair, people hunt for the rare and the strange URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-the-irish-football-programme-club-fair-people-hunt-for-the-rare-and-the-strange/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T00:39:23.000Z “You get to know people quite well. It’s a small scene,” says Clara McGann as her hands rifle through a box of old football match programmes. “St Patricks Athletic versus Drumcondra – Dalymount Park – St Stephen’s Day 1953,” reads one. “Shamrock Rovers Association F.C. versus Manchester United – European Cup 1957,” reads another. McGann has just begun her rounds of the hall at St Andrew's Resource Centre on Pearse Street. It’s Sunday 9 November and The Irish Football Programme Club is having its annual FAI Cup Final Day Fair. McGann is on a mission. Near her, at the hall door, an open biscuit tin sits on a table, containing dozens of €1 and €2 coins – the entrance fee. “A euro, only if you have it,” the man tells anyone who wanders in. McGann has a lot of boxes and stacks to rifle through over the next few hours. She is hunting for something particular, very particular. McGann is writing a club history about the Limerick soccer team Breska Rovers AFC, previously known as All Blacks AFC. She is searching for material relating to a friendly Junior/Amateur International, which involved the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – played at Century Homes Park in Monaghan on 21 August 2004 – as one of the local Breska Rovers members played in it. A team sheet or programme would be a huge find, she says. McGann looks up and around the hall at all the tables she has yet to comb. “I’d better keep going.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Programme-fair-programme-2-1-1.jpg) The programme for the Irish Football Programme Club's Programme Fair, paying tribute to club secretary John Holmes, who died in August. ## **The disease** “It’s not a hobby, it’s a disease,” says Anthony Kilfeather, surrounded on all sides by rows and rows of programmes that he’s hoping to offload to fellow enthusiasts. What he’s selling are just his spares, he says. His personal collection is around 20,000 programmes, and a lot of jerseys, medals and other memorabilia on top of that. One smiling individual passes Kilfeather on his way to the door, and offers him a hearty “thanks so much again for that”, raising up a bag in his hand. “This one is like hen’s teeth,” Kilfeather says, holding a discoloured white programme with simple blue and red text, wrapped in plastic. It’s from a European Cup Winner’s Cup meeting of Donegal’s Finn Harps and Bursaspor, a team from Turkey, in Ballybofey, on 2 October 1974. The programmes were late arriving in the stadium from the printers that day, he says. And when they did arrive, people weren’t interested and so a lot were dumped. There’s maybe only five or six in existence now, he says. Although, he says he has only ever seen one come up at auction, around 15 years ago. While the programme was priced at 10p in 1974, today a collector might expect to pay as much as €1,400, depending, he says. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Hens-teeth.-Anthony-Kilfeather-holds-a-rare-match-programme-from-1974.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) Anthony Kilfeather holds up a rare match programme from 1974\. Photo by Eoin Glackin. A massive Sligo Rovers fan, Kilfeather will soon be donating much of his collection to a new museum the club is opening to celebrate its centenary year in 2028. Another Sligo Rovers-related rarity that he’s proud to have in his collection is an unusual medal. After they beat Drogheda 3-2 in the FAI Cup Final in 2013 and the medals were given out, people realised that Sligo had been misspelled as SILGO. They had to be returned, and new ones given out. But one club official slipped Kilfeather a misspelled medal before they were sent back. “It has never happened before and probably never will again,” he says. Just then another pair of happy punters pass by and say their farewells to Kilfeather. One bought something from him, on tick. “You know us. There’ll be no messing,” he says. “No bother, see you again,” Kilfeather says. “Cork supporters,” Kilfeather adds, chuckling. Opposite Kilfeather’s display, Gareth Jones is contemplating his life choices. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he says, standing over his own extensive collection, sprawled out over several tables. He started collecting 15 years ago, and amassed between 30,000 and 40,000 pieces. But has since sold about half of that, and is on a mission to offload it all. He says that he has stopped buying and is only selling now. “I keep the blinkers on. I don’t even look at other stock,” he says. Moments later, he points to a stack of Norwich City FC programmes from the 1980s and 1990s and admits he’s only just bought them. He can’t quite explain it. “Norwich City. Why?” he wonders to himself with a shrug. Although, Jones says, you never know what strange requests customers will make. McGann is now much deeper into the hall, still hunting for anything relating to that Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland friendly in 2004. No sign yet, she says. But she happily shows off another find. A battered programme from 1951 for the clash of the FAI Amateur XI and Gold Coast at Dalymount Park. ## **Jerseys r’us** At the far end of the hall, the programmes give way to colourful chorus lines of retro football jerseys. There are racks labelled “UK”, “World”, “Irish”, and “Kids”. Each one packed to capacity, as punters leaf through them like pages of an encyclopedia. A Manchester United home jersey from the 1998–99 season will cost you €200\. More recent tops are priced at €60. Every jersey has a great story, says Barry Rojack, of the Irish Sports Museum, who are running the jersey portion of the fair. He pulls out a Team GB kit from the 2012 Olympics. It’s unusual because the UK countries ordinarily compete as individual nations at the Olympics, but made an exception when it was held in London. Then a sleeveless Cameroon jersey that the team wore in the African Cup of Nations, but weren’t allowed to wear in the World Cup. Rojack points to another favourite of his, a Shelbourne FC jersey, red with blue sides and a large Maximuscle logo in its middle. It wasn’t the sponsor for the main season, but was used in a smaller tournament, he says. The club’s former chairman Ollie Byrne, who died in 2007, would organise a different sponsor for non-league matches, to bring in more cash for the club, Rojack fondly remembers. “Just great memories.” Rojack started the Irish Sports Museum in 2020 with fellow collector Graham Keogh. The pair also have another company, Irish Sports Collectibles Ltd, through which they sell items. But never online, only in person, Keogh says. “That’s the USP of it.” What is on display is only the tip of the iceberg, says Keogh. While for this event they just focused on football jerseys, they will often have special displays focused on a particular thing. Like a collection they had on display of Jordan Grand Prix gear, between the years 1991 and 2003, he says. Or a display focusing on 150 years of medical doctors playing international rugby for Ireland, he says. There’s also a sustainability element to what they’re doing, Keogh says. What they are selling are garments that people still like to wear and would otherwise end up in a landfill, he says. “We rescue what we can.” What serious collectors are really looking for are the actual players’ jerseys, says Rojack. He holds up an iconic green Irish football jersey from Italia ’90. He points at the crest. Embroidered, he says, and not printed like the versions sold to fans. This particular jersey is numbered 11, which would have been Kevin Sheedy’s, says Rojack. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Barry-Rojack-of-the-Irish-Sports-Museum-highlights-the-difference-between-a-players-jersey-and-a-replica.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin--1.jpg) Spotting an original. Photo by Eoin Glackin. But it was never worn because it has long sleeves and the weather was too hot for the players to wear them. How much is it going for now? “Oh, that one’s not for sale,” he says. People are often surprised at how much he’s willing to pay for old jerseys, he says. “But I look at people shopping in Brown Thomas and think ‘What the hell are you paying that for?’” ## **Culture clash** There is a funny difference in taste when it comes to match programme collecting, Rojack says. For people who collect jerseys, they love to see programmes with the player numbers hand written beside their names, he says. Back in the day, the players’ numbers might not have been printed in the programme, but as they were called out by the stadium announcer, fans would scribble them in themselves. While this is bad news for programme collectors, for jersey collectors it might be the only way of identifying who wore what, on which day. While programmes are the main attraction of the fair, some other items are gaining popularity in collector circles, says Gerry Cunningham, at his own stall. Because bulky programmes can lead to obvious storage issues, match tickets are all the rage now too, he says. One ticket in his collection is priced at €125\. It was for the Republic of Ireland versus the Soviet Union in 1974. “When Don Givens scored three goals,” he says. The ticket is for the old East Stand at Lansdowne Road, so only 5,000 were printed. Now, there’s maybe 200 in circulation, he says. How do you work out what something costs? Well, he says, when two people want the same thing at the same time, the price becomes apparent fairly quickly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Gerry-Cunningham-holds-a-rare-match-ticket-from-1974.-Photo-by-Eoin-Glackin-1.jpg) Gerry Cunningham holds a rare match ticket. Photo by Eoin Glackin. Cunningham collected as a child, and there has always been a community element to it for him. From the age of 7, he had pen pals around the world that he would exchange memorabilia with. While the hobby faded as he got older – “you get married” – he couldn’t stay away from it forever, and is now back as passionate as ever. “It’s all about the chase.” Just then, a man stops and asks for a selfie with him, which he gladly obliges. “He’s over from Scotland.” At the final table, Clara McGann is nearing the end of her search. While she hasn’t snagged her prize today, she found a few curiosities to make the day worthwhile. “Sure, there’s another fair in June. That one’s even bigger.” *For more information on the Irish Football Programme Club, visit their*[ *Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/irishfootballprogrammes/)*. The*[ *Irish Sports Museum*](https://irishsportsmuseum.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) *are holding a pop-up shop in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre between 8 and 14 December.* *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Council puts out new plans for revamp of Mountjoy Square URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-puts-out-new-plans-for-revamp-of-mountjoy-square/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T00:39:35.000Z On a dark Wednesday evening at the closed gates to Mountjoy Square Park, two old-style lanterns on the railings emit a cool white light, and people hurry past as cold rain falls on orange leaves. At the moment, the footpaths around the square are average, and there are only a few crossings from the island-like park to the streets and terraces that surround it. But Dublin City Council has new plans to change that – and to restore the park to its Georgian layout, and improve the sports facilities. Pedestrians will be prioritised over cars around Mountjoy Square after the restoration, said Gareth Toolan, a council landscape architect. The council is to increase the width of footpaths around the park and install pedestrian crossings, said Toolan at a [meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=310&MId=5667&ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council’s Central Area Committee on Tuesday. The proposed project seeks to reimagine the park within the context of its original 1802 design, according to a [council report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222371-with-reference-to-notification-of-initiation-under-part-8-planning-and-development-regulations-2001/?ref=dublininquirer.com), restoring its railings and adding to the two lanterns on them, with 84 “oil” lamps around the park’s edges. Plans also show public toilets, a “lawn area” to serve as a football pitch, a basketball court, accessible seating and an outdoor gym. The council has budgeted [€3.25 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276494-dublin-city-council-capital-programme-2025-2027/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Donough Cahill, executive director of the Irish Georgian Society, said the restoration of the oil lamps has not been done at any of the city's other Georgian squares. “It’s fantastic that Dublin City Council has taken this project on, finally, after many many years, realising the potential to reinstate the original landscape design for Mountjoy Square,” he says. “And hopefully it will be a catalyst for the regeneration of the area,” he said. The Dublin Civic Trust and a local group, the Mountjoy Square Society, really pushed the project forward, Cahill says. The council has worked up plans for Mountjoy Square before, and in 2018 applied for planning permission. In 2019, though, it pulled those, amid [tensions](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-mountjoy-square-disparate-visions-for-a-park-s-future/) between conservationists, who wanted to see the park restored in line with its Georgian heritage, and others who wanted to retain sports facilities in the park. The new plan should facilitate both, said Toolan. “There has been a huge amount of consultation on this in the last 10 years.” ## **Plans for restoration** Mountjoy Square was originally designed as “a pleasure garden for passive recreation”, says the report to councillors. Half of the park has the same layout today, albeit it altered and deteriorated, the report says. “The other half is in a poor state due to disjointed interventions that clash with the square’s aesthetics and functionality.” The infrastructure is inadequate, it says, and incompatible with the Georgian design of the park. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-13-232352-1.png) Aerial view of Mountjoy Park as it is now, from council presentation. The council’s plan is to remove an old tennis court and a building which is currently in use for a youth centre, said Toolan, at the meeting. The youth centre is to move to the [Rutland Street School](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-promised-community-hub-on-rutland-street-looks-close-but-there-are-fears-about-funding/), when that development is ready, he said. After, the council plans to green and replant the park, restore railings and footpaths, install outdoor seating and gym equipment, build play trails and heritage trails, basketball facilities, green space and install in-ground power for events. “Respecting the history while moving into the future,” says Toolan. The written plan refers to a “large level flexible use lawn area”. That new lawn will facilitate football, said Toolan. “It will be a lot more attractive” with “a high quality finish to it, a FIFA grade”. Green Party Councillor Janet Horner welcomed the plans to restore the park in line with its Georgian heritage. “This is really exciting,” she said. “Mountjoy Park should be one of the finest parks in the city.” Crossing the road over to Mountjoy Square can be hazardous because there is a dearth of signalised pedestrian crossings. The council plans to address that issue, said Toolan at the meeting, by installingmore. Another of the council’s priorities is to widen footpaths around the park, he said. “So it’s a more welcoming space and a gathering space and a buffer zone and make it more pedestrian friendly and move away from that car dominated square.” Cahill, the director of the Irish Georgian Society, said that the plans should transform how the park looks. “You will have people wanting to go to Mountjoy Square to experience part of the north Georgian core,” he said, by phone on Thursday. At the meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan commended the project, but said she was concerned about anti-social behaviour in parks in the north inner-city. “It’s an awful thing to say and it’s something that I don’t like to highlight,” she said. The council is working with the Gardaí on a plan to deter anti-social behaviour there, said Toolan. ## **Meshing sports and heritage** The Lord Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, said that sports uses need to be included in the plans. “The park does get a huge amount of use and I don’t want to lose its usability in any enhancement plans,” he said. Toolan said any sports that are currently played in Mountjoy Square can still be played there after this restoration. “We’re not losing any facilities that are there already.” The old tennis court isn’t suitable for use at the moment because of holes and cracks in the surfacing, he said. Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis said he thought the revamp was “going to be brilliant” for the park. “This is a recreational hub at the heart of the city.” At the meeting, Ennis asked if there would be changing rooms included in the plans. Toolan said that there are plans for toilets, but not changing rooms. By phone on Thursday, Ennis said the park is already a hub for recreational activities for the people living in the immediate area. It needs to be shaped by the needs of the community as well as the history, he says, and the community desperately needs usable green space. “We’re looking at a huge number of children and families living in emergency accommodation that have no access to green space or play space apart from Mountjoy Square,” he says. “That has to be factored into the plans.” Ennis says he played football at Mountjoy Square casually when he was younger and hopes to see organised matches, including schools teams playing there in the future. “We’ve never seen a competitive football fixture before on Mountjoy Square,” he says. A new pitch could bring together people from all parts of the community, he says. ## **Looking ahead** Local councillors agreed to the plan in principle, but also asked for more details. Toolan agreed to provide them with an additional briefing. The planning permission application should come before the full council at its next meeting, in December, said Toolan. That’s another step in the council’s internal planning permission process, known as Part 8\. After that the plans should go out to public consultation, and the council will run additional consultation too, said Toolan. Toolan said he hopes construction could start in late 2026 or early 2027. ### Councillors call for integration of social tenants living in apartment complexes – rather than segregation into one block URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-call-for-integration-of-social-tenants-living-in-apartment-complexes-rather-than-segregation-into-one-block/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T00:39:46.000Z Dublin city councillors agreed a policy years ago, they say. It was that social homes should be fully integrated with other housing in mixed developments, indistinguishable from them, and muddled in – an arrangement which is sometimes called “pepper-potting”. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, while mixed-tenure developments – those with both social, affordable, and fully private-market homes – are common, the social homes are usually delivered in one apartment block, separated out from the rest of the scheme. At a [meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=153&MId=5556&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) of the council’s housing committee on Thursday, most councillors from across the political spectrum spoke in favour of full integration of social homes, sprinkled throughout developments. Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan said she suffered exclusion as a child because she grew up in social housing. “Integration is key and social cohesion is what we are calling for.” But Mick Mulhern, the council’s housing manager, said during a [presentation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276478-the-challenges-and-opportunities-for-pepper-potting-of-social-homes-in-mixed-use-developments/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that it just isn’t always possible to deliver full integration. It is better value for the council to buy the homes in a block and manage them itself rather than paying management fees, he said. It is easier for approved housing bodies (AHBs) or the Land Development Agency to build integrated communities because they get more funding, said Mulhern, and so have more money to manage properties. Councillors pushed back. They still want council policy to favour fully integrated, socially mixed communities, regardless of the challenges, they said. Ruth Dowling, a council executive manager, said that the most important ingredient for integration is that residents share the play and recreational facilities. But, she also said, the council can’t fund management fees in some developments, where social tenants are excluded from recreational spaces – a point of tension [in some city complexes](https://www.dublininquirer.com/time-for-government-to-direct-councils-to-make-sure-council-tenants-have-access-to-amenities-in-private-complexes-tds-say/). ## **Why not?** Most council homes are in “mixed tenure” estates and apartment complexes these days, said Dowling. So there may be a variety of social homes, cost-rental homes, private and affordable-purchase homes. But often the social housing is “clustered” together in one or two blocks. “There are considerations when deciding to cluster or disperse and certainly the funding is a massive issue,” said Dowling, at the meeting. The council is not funded for apartment block management fees, she said. The council would have to pay those, if it owned apartments in a block that was shared with owner-occupiers and private landlords. In some small private developments, the social housing that the state acquires – through the provision known as “Part V”, where it can buy up a percentage – is dispersed throughout the development, said Dowling. Often though, the council buys a block for social housing in the larger schemes, she said. “Sometimes it works out better value for money, and that is a key driver.” What is more important than whether the homes are clustered is whether the community has shared amenities like playgrounds, said Dowling. Mulhern said that even when the council develops social and affordable-purchase homes, it won’t be providing full integration because the council isn’t set up to get involved with private owner-management companies. At Montpelier, formerly O’Devaney Gardens, the housing is mostly separated out by tenure type, said Mulhern. “It's a completely mixed-tenure development but it's not pepper-potted.” Mulhern said the council needs to have flexibility because there are different funding structures for different tenure types. The housing charity Tuath Housing has developed a large, fully integrated housing development at De Verdon Place on the Malahide Road, she says. Mulhern said Tuath was able to do that because they own the whole development – a mix of social and cost-rental. The council will see what it can learn from that experience, he said. This is possible when the housing charity is the developer; in many other instances, the housing charities also manage social homes which it has bought or leased – and are also segregated. At the meeting, Mike Allen, director of advocacy with housing and homeless charity Focus Ireland, said it is easier for housing charities to deliver fully integrated developments because they get more funding than the council. He said there are broadly three options, full integration, clustering (together in a block), and silo-ing where the developments are totally separated according to tenure type. “What size and scale of clustering work?” says Allen. “That depends on the environment and what you are trying to do.” ## **What is integration?** Most councillors still said they want full integration of housing schemes. “When we say a mix we don’t mean one block is social and one block is private,” said Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Heney, who chairs the housing committee. “We want a real mix.” “The research is absolutely clear,” said independent Councillor Cieran Perry. “Integration is good.” Cost-rental works to create an income mix and the homes should be fully integrated with social housing, he said. Perry said that old council-housing areas, like Crumlin and Cabra, had an income mix in the past because the social housing net was wider back then. “You had people in all kinds of work and no work at all.” Indeed, said Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne. Back in the day, many large council estates, including Crumlin and Marino, were mixed-income because at that time, people who worked in semi-state companies could get a council house, he said. “A whole range of workers were able to be allocated those homes,” said Dunne. These days, social housing is only for people on the very lowest incomes, which is problematic, said Dunne, and that is why the council needs to create that mix. Within mixed developments, there are divisions emerging among people who are segregated according to blocks, said Dunne. “In terms of community development and having cohesion, we should look at real pepper potting.” But Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan and Labour Party Councillor Alison Field said they had encountered challenges with supporting council tenants living in mixed apartment blocks, when there were maintenance issues in nearby homes that were not council-owned. Field said she supported, for seven months, a family with sewerage coming into their home from the home above – which was a private rental. “The landlord was blaming the management company,” she said. “It just didn’t gel together.” The family couldn’t cook, she says, and it took seven months to get them a transfer. ## **Sharing spaces** Whether the social homes are dispersed through the development, or clustered together in a block, it is essential for integration that all residents can access the same facilities, said Dowling at the meeting. Several councillors brought up access to recreational spaces in some private developments, where social tenants have been excluded. In [June 2023](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-apartment-complexes-across-the-city-social-tenants-are-segregated-into-separate-blocks-with-barriers-to-access-to-amenities/), Dee Roche, who lives in Hamilton Gardens in Cabra, said she regretted taking a transfer from a council house because of segregation within the development. She wasn’t allowed to access the communal gardens, she said. Worse, the segregation was causing divides among the children living in the development, she said. Also in June 2023, residents at [The Davitt in Drimnagh](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-drimnagh-social-tenants-say-their-kids-are-blocked-from-the-playground-in-their-build-to-rent-complex/) said their children had been locked out of the playground – a restriction that was later changed. “It is a bit tricky in relation to some Part Vs where there are concierge services, gyms and cinemas,” says Dowling. “From a public value for money and funding perspective, it is very difficult for the local authority to justify those costs.” In some places, residents can pay for that access themselves. The council just can’t afford the management fees, she says. “It’s just not doable unfortunately.” That said, that ban shouldn’t apply to playgrounds, she said. “It's absolutely not acceptable that people would be excluded from play areas.” Some of the high-end apartment complexes have indoor play facilities as well, such as cinemas and party rooms, from which the children of the social tenants would be excluded. Perry said the central government should fund equal access to all facilities for its tenants. “We 100 percent do need a proper policy on this,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan. “I do see the difficulties, but we need to work around these difficulties.” If that means calling the government out to fund councils better then that is what councillors need to do, she said. “AHBs are delivering integration in social and cost rental because they are better funded than us.” For some children to be excluded from the playground in their development is absolutely unacceptable, said Boylan. “It teaches children at a young age, scenarios like ‘them and us.” “I grew up in the flats and there was certain events and organisations that we weren’t welcome to go to because of our address,” she said. “It's 2025 and we need to be promoting inclusion all day, every day.” ### At a recent conference, advocates highlighted another route to justice for victims seeking solace URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/at-a-recent-conference-advocates-highlighted-another-route-to-justice-for-victims-seeking-solace/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T00:39:57.000Z While her son’s killer was behind bars, an overpowering feeling began to take hold of Janet O’Brien, she says. She wanted to meet the man face to face. People in her life tried to talk her out of it, she says, but she knew it was something she had to do. At that point, she had never heard of restorative justice but that is exactly what she was chasing. Restorative justice is a voluntary process which may involve a victim and an offender communicating, either in person, or by letters, helped along by an independent facilitator, like a probation officer, or community worker. Other approaches can also be taken if the victim does not wish to be directly involved. For victims, it can be a chance to be heard, or to try to get answers. For offenders, it can be a chance to take responsibility, and make amends. Only “a fraction of 1% of the criminal justice caseload” is referred to restorative justice programmes, [according](https://restorativejustice.ie/2025/09/07/restorative-justice-referrals-increase-provision-expands-in-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the advocacy organisation Restorative Justice Ireland. But those numbers are growing, according to a September [report](https://restorativejustice.ie/2025/09/07/restorative-justice-referrals-increase-provision-expands-in-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the organisation. In 2024, “we identified an overall total of 1,140 restorative justice referrals in 2024, an increase of 50% from an overall total of 759 referrals in 2023”, the report says. “Continued growth in service provision and referrals are both important steps towards a system in which every person may decide whether restorative justice is right for them,” it says. The 2025 programme for government pledges to “Continue to roll out nationally the voluntary restorative justice programme”. O’Brien says she wants more people to know that the route is there. ## **Remembering a son** When he was just eight years old, Luke O’Reilly became the man of the house, says O’Brien, his mother. The relationship between his parents had collapsed, she says. After that, Luke was always looking out for his younger brother and sister, and his mammy, she says. “He was very, very family orientated.” Although a good kid, he could be a “bit of a divil” in school, she says. He was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia and Asperger syndrome. He also battled on and off with depression, which started around first or second year in school, she says. “We were together an awful lot because of all those things.” “If you met him, nobody would ever know. He was always trying to cheer people up. I think he was very aware of feeling how he felt, that he wanted everybody else to be smiling,” O’Brien says. After falling into a cycle of drug and alcohol misuse, Luke entered a 12-week rehab programme in late 2016. The programme was a huge success, O’Brien says. It seemed to be an important turning point. Although he had been working in various retail jobs after his Leaving Cert, he had a new sense of ambition and began a third-level accountancy course in September 2017. His proud mother was over the moon, she says. On Halloween night 2017, Luke was out socialising with his mother and younger sister, Alison. “I always think that gives a good indication as to the kind of kid he was,” O’Brien says. However, when they got home, his friends were texting him to join them on their night out. So, he went. That would be the last time O’Brien would speak to her son. On his way home that night along Old Blessington Road in Tallaght, Luke was the victim of a one punch attack by a young man he knew. “He came up behind him, hit him from the side. Luke didn't actually see him coming. Luke went straight down and obviously hit his head the wrong way,” O’Brien says. Her son suffered a catastrophic brain injury and would never regain consciousness. Luke died two weeks later in Beaumont Hospital. He was 20 years old. “That was everything gone, everything taken away from him and from us,” says O’Brien. His assailant, who was on bail for another violent offence at the time of the attack, would be sentenced to five years – eventually serving 3 years 8 months in prison, O’Brien says. ## **Restorative justice** Restorative justice gives people who have caused harm an opportunity to understand the impact of their actions, says Rachel Lillis, national lead for the Restorative Justice and Victims Services Unit (RJVSU) at the Probation Service. Through the process, they may take responsibility and address the harm done to victims, families, and communities, she says. The justice system can be perpetrator-focused, with victims often left feeling voiceless in the whole ordeal, Lillis said by phone on 22 October. Restorative justice is more victim-centred, she says, giving them a better chance to express themselves, discuss their experiences, seek answers, and convey how their ordeal has impacted them. It can look different for every case, she says. The process will often start with restorative inquiry, which, Lillis says, are the foundational questions of restorative justice. Questions, she says, like: What happened? What were you thinking at the time? What have you been thinking since? Who was harmed? How could you repair that harm? The answer to that last question on how to repair harm can be different for everybody, she says. O’Brien says she knew exactly what she wanted from the man who killed her son, when they met. She wanted to show him a photo of Luke when he was in hospital, fighting for his life, she says. She wanted to express just how deeply his actions had impacted her life, her family and community. Most of all though, she wanted to know that when he was released, there would be no more violence, she says. She knew Luke’s friends were angry, as was his younger brother. And she knew the young man had a violent history, before the night that he hit Luke. “Even back at Luke's funeral, in my eulogy, I was always trying to say to everybody – no retaliation, no fighting back,” says O’Brien. And as time went by, the fear that she would hear of him acting the same way after he was released became too great, she says. When she got in touch with the prison to ask if she could see him, it was explained to her that she couldn’t just arrive and visit him. But they put her in touch with the Probation Service, she says. “That led me to what is restorative justice, but I wasn't aware of it.” Initially, O’Brien says she thought she would dedicate herself to fighting for higher sentences for one-punch attacks. Others in her life thought the sentence for Luke’s killer was disgraceful, she says. Ultimately, she says, she realised that nothing was going to bring her son home to her. “Even to lock him away forever, what was that doing? That would be two lives lost,” she says. After their meeting, she was satisfied that the man who killed her son was really going to try and better himself. He had worked on anger management in prison, she says. “He finished his carpentry apprenticeship. He actually is one of the ones that did try and use it to turn his life around.” Her grief will never heal, she says. But restorative justice gave her a comfort knowing that a potential circle of violence had been prevented. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it. To hope that you did make a difference,” she says. ## **From the other side** Growing up in London with two Irish parents, Killian Hardy says he was raised to consider himself Irish. So, at the age of 18 he applied to join the Irish Army, and finally moved to Co. Cork at 19, in late 2020. He was happy to find that he loved life in Cork and the army, he says. His career in the Defence Forces was moving well, he said by phone on Tuesday. In January 2023, his younger brother came to visit him from England. At the end of a night out, three young men were giving his brother some hassle in the chipper over his English accent, Hardy says. Things were turning aggressive, he says. Thinking in the moment that he was acting in defence of his brother, Hardy struck each of the three men with one punch, he says. The three men were knocked unconscious. Two came back around quite quickly, while one was out for 18 minutes. Killian says he put him in the recovery position, and waited for the authorities. As he was being arrested, he saw the third man eventually come back around and get up, he says. The sense of relief at that sight was extraordinary, Hardy says. His immediate feeling in the aftermath of the altercation however was, he says, “Why is this happening to me?” That feeling went on for a while, he says. He couldn’t really come to terms with his own responsibility for having hit the three men, he says Over the following two years, Hardy would make 20 court appearances, he says. He says the judge saw the CCTV footage of the incident, and acknowledged his behaviour directly after the assaults – that Hardy didn’t hit them again once they were down, and had put one in the recovery position. After getting to know him, the Probation Service told the court in its report that he was low risk to reoffend, he says. At that point, the judge suggested restorative justice. He hadn’t heard of it and some legal professionals he spoke to at the time weren’t exactly sure what it meant either, he says. ## **The process** There are different models of approach to restorative justice, says Lillis, at the Probation Service. It can involve victim empathy programmes, letters of apology, or voluntary work in the community, she says. It could also involve bespoke reparations, shuttle mediation – when a victim may wish to communicate through a third party – and victim and offender meetings, she says. The ideal scenario, she says, is when there can be that meeting between a victim and the offender. This requires the informed consent of both parties, she says. That’s an important detail – a judge cannot make either side partake in restorative justice, she says, it must be voluntary. Consent can be withdrawn at any moment, she says. In the case of O’Brien and her son’s attacker, both parties wanted to be involved. Someone from the Probation Service, Áine Morris, would call to her roughly once a month for about six months, she says. They would have long conversations building up to the meeting, she says, preparing exactly what she wanted to say and happen. “It was a lot of work.” The same was happening for the other party, in prison. She remembers people telling her that if they were in her shoes they wouldn’t trust themselves to be in the room with their son’s killer. “As if they love their child more than I love mine.” A lot of her family even couldn’t understand why she was doing it, she says. Eventually her restorative justice meeting lasted about an hour, she says. She had written a letter that she read to him. He then said his part, she says, followed by a conversation. In the criminal justice process, O’Brien says she had no voice. There in that meeting, finally, she did. During his process, Hardy would meet with Simon Keating, the restorative justice coordinator with Le Chéile, a Community Based Organisation in Limerick tasked with overseeing restorative justice. Restorative justice is not a soft sanction, says Lillis, at the Probation Service. Hardy says he learned this to be true himself, as he went through the process of cultivating his own sense of empathy, truly reckoning with the harm he had done. It is not simply putting your hands up and saying “mea culpa”, he says. “It’s a lot of psychological stuff.” There are steps and questionnaires, he says, asking “weird questions”. Hardy remembers being given a scenario with a list of people, including a 40-year-old pastor and a six-year-old asylum seeker, among others. There are 15 people looking for a place on a lifeboat, but you have to choose nine to save. Every answer has to be explained. It’s a gradual process, he says. Keating wouldn’t feed him answers, but as things moved along over several months and he got the sense Hardy was understanding more and more, Keating would open up more also. Eventually, Hardy was back before the judge, who he describes as a just, fair and very intelligent woman. Hardy had to have a discussion with her about his progress. “She kind of tested me on it. She was like, ‘Let's see what you did get from this’. I felt kind of on the spot,” he says. In Hardy’s case, none of the three victims decided to take part in a formal meeting. Which he was disappointed to learn just a week out from the date. So, they used a “proxy victim” to meet with him. This can be quite common, Lillis says, and doesn’t mean that the restorative justice process has to stop for the offender if the other party doesn’t want to be involved. It can be someone who was the victim of the same type of crime, in a different situation, but who can express to the offender the impact such a crime had on them, their families and friends. Or, in the case of a public order offence, it might be someone working in the emergency services, or a representative from a victim support group. ## **Empathy and the mirror** A strong tenet of restorative justice is developing empathy in offenders. While everyone is different, empathy can be learned and nurtured in people, says Pat Dolan, a professor at the University of Galway. Last Friday, Dolan was a guest speaker at Limerick’s Thomond Park, where Le Chéile held its conference “Empathy in Action: Restorative Justice and the Human Side of Harm”. “Sometimes empathy is talked about as a kind of a lefty, soft thing. It's not. It's bloody hard,” Dolan says. Empathy is not pity and it’s not sympathy, they're totally different things, he says. Pity relates to how you feel about the other person, which is not actually empathy, he says. “Empathy is capacity to go in the other person's shoes.” He also points to a definition from Mary Kate Berardi of Penn State University that empathy is the opposite of “othering” others. It’s important to remember that empathy is natural, innate and can be cultivated, he says. “The great news is you can learn to be empathic. It's never too late,” Dolan says. Empathy education is in every school in Ireland now, he says, on the transition year programme and the second-year junior cycle programme. “It's compulsory education in Ireland, which is great.” Empathy is even observable in the human brain, says Pete Wallis, a senior practitioner of restorative justice at Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service. In Limerick on Friday, he spoke about “mirror neurons”. There is a spontaneous, automatic response of the brain when we see someone else who is suffering, Wallis says. “What the neuroscientists have discovered is that the same parts of the brain light up for the person who's experiencing empathy in that moment as light up for the person who's suffering,” he says. For Hardy, while maybe these neurons were firing, they were masked by his own ego and even embarrassment. Through his work in restorative justice, he was able to truly unlock his own empathy, he says. Although he will always regret his actions that night, he says, he learned an incredibly important lesson on how easily things can turn really badly. “God gave you two legs, use them and just walk away,” he says. ## **Building momentum** In Limerick on Friday, Niall Collins, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, said it has been positive to see the increase in referrals to restorative justice services. In 2024, [there was an](https://restorativejustice.ie/2025/09/07/restorative-justice-referrals-increase-provision-expands-in-2024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 88% increase in these referrals from 2023, which had been higher than the year before, said Collins, a Fianna Fáil TD. “These increases demonstrate that we are going in the right direction,” he said. “But although awareness and implementation of restorative justice is growing in Ireland, it has yet to reach its full potential.” The Probation Services Action Plan 2025–2027[ sets](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276534-restorative-justice-action-plan-2025-2027-april-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p2) a target of growing both the number of court referrals and the use of restorative justice interventions at all stages of engagement with the Probation Service by 10 percent each year. It also calls for the provision of restorative justice training to Probation Service staff to build capacity and confidence, with 20 percent of operational staff trained on an annual basis. O’Brien wants more people to know that this is an option, she says. And that it can help people in a similar way that it helped her, she says. While the participation numbers are still nowhere near as high as she would like, Lillis, of the Probation Service**,** says there is an extremely high satisfaction rate for those who take part. International evidence is that there is an 80 percent satisfaction rate in good restorative justice, she says. Although that doesn’t delve into what models were used, she says. Whereas, the Irish Probation Service is operating at almost 100 percent in terms of victim satisfaction in restorative justice, she says. “No victim has turned around to us and said, ‘That is not what I thought it was going to be.’” Lillis says she puts this down to the care that goes into designing and preparing each experience. “We would always look at, what's the rationale? What does somebody want to achieve in this? Why? Why is this important to you? What do you want to get out of it?” she says. “And then we do our best to work with parties to ensure that that happens.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### After government abandons plan to make city speed limit 30km/h by default, council returns to slog of doing it bit by bit URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/after-government-abandons-plan-to-make-city-speed-limit-30km-h-by-default-council-returns-to-slog-of-doing-it-bit-by-bit/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T00:40:07.000Z Now that this government has abandoned the last government’s plan to introduce a default speed limit of 30km/h in built-up urban areas, Dublin City Council is returning to its previous approach of slowly lowering speeds on city streets bit by bit. “Our hope had been that there would be a default speed limit of 30kph in built-up urban areas,” said the council’s head of traffic, Brendan O’Brien, at a meeting on 12 November of the council’s transport committee. However, the Department of Transport, under Minister Darragh O’Brien, a Fianna Fáil TD, [indicated](https://www.dublininquirer.com/default-speed-limits-in-urban-areas-were-set-to-be-reduced-to-30km-h-nationally-but-thats-now-changed/) to councils in June that it would not be bringing in 30kph as a default speed limit in built-up urban areas. So, at the meeting yesterday, council managers laid out their plan to go back to their previous strategy of pursuing that goal little by little. And they explained [what the process would be](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26253124-30kph-new-guidance-and-next-steps-jennifer-mcgrath-senior-executive-engineer-road-safety-mobil/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It is lengthy. The aim is to bring the changes to councillors for approval in maybe October 2026, and then have everything completed by the end of March 2027, said Jennifer McGrath, senior executive engineer at the council, at the meeting. Meanwhile, the default speed limit in the city will remain 50kph. Reducing speed limits makes roads safer for the people using them. If a driver hits a pedestrian with a car at 50 km/h there’s about a 30 percent chance the pedestrian will die. At 30km/h, the risk of a fatality is reduced six-fold: dropping to 5 percent, [according to](https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r4.1-research-reports/safe-speeds/vehicle-speed-and-pedestrian-fatalities-2023.pdf?sfvrsn=fe133b1c%5F3&ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=our%20results%20suggest%20an%20impact%20speed%20of,poor%20visibility%20and%20thus%20slower%20reaction%20times.) a 2023 report for the Road Safety Authority (RSA). While the number of road deaths annually has dropped dramatically in Ireland over the past two decades, it’s been rising again recently, O’Brien, the Transport Minister, [said in the Dáil](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2025-02-13/36/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in February. “Three of the last four years have seen an annual increase in road-related fatalities and serious injuries,” he said. In a [16 October press release](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/minister-for-transport-directs-review-of-urban-speed-limits-to-enhance-road-safety/?ref=dublininquirer.com) announcing it would not reduce the default speed limit in urban areas to 30km/h, but would instead leave it to councils to make changes bit by bit, the Department of Transport quoted the Minister on the importance of lowering speed limits. “Having lower speed limits in built-up and urban areas will greatly improve road safety, especially for those who walk, scoot or cycle,” it quotes O’Brien as saying. ## Government turnabout The 2020 [programme for government](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25507129-programme-for-government-2020/?q=speed+limits&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p15) pledged to “Review and reduce speed limits”. A working group was set up, co-chaired by the Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority, to perform the review. In September 2023, the Department of Transport [announced](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/government-publishes-speed-limit-review-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that, based on the review, it planned to bring in lower speed limits, by default – including 30km/h in urban areas. The necessary legislative changes were included in the [Road Traffic Act 2024](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2024/act/10/enacted/en/pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), which the president signed into law [in April](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2024/4/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of that year. That was all under the previous government, of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, with the Greens’ Eamon Ryan as Minister for Transport. Then, in the November 2024 general election, the Greens were nearly wiped out of the Dáil. When the next government was formed, they weren’t part of it. The first phase of rolling out the new default speed limits still came into effect on [7 February](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/ministers-obrien-and-canney-launch-slower-speeds-safer-roads-campaign-supporting-road-safety/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 2025: lowering the default speed limit on many rural local roads from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. Then, under a [roadmap](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/ministers-obrien-and-canney-launch-slower-speeds-safer-roads-campaign-supporting-road-safety/?ref=dublininquirer.com) outlined by the Department of Transport, a second phase was to follow: reducing the default speed limit in urban core areas from to 30 km/h by 30 June of this year. However, at a 26 June local area committee meeting in Fingal, [it became clear](https://www.dublininquirer.com/default-speed-limits-in-urban-areas-were-set-to-be-reduced-to-30km-h-nationally-but-thats-now-changed/) that that was not going to happen. Labour Councillor John Walsh said he and other councillors on the area committee had been “gobsmacked that the process has been changed at this late stage.” Although it had been the plan to introduce the urban 30km/h default speed limit nationally, “it was subsequently recognised that this would be difficult to achieve, as there is presently no definition of an urban area in legislation for the purpose of setting speed limits”, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said at the time. “To introduce a default speed limit of 30km/h in all urban areas would necessitate updated legislation, which would take time,” the spokesperson said. So, instead, they came up with a different plan, which they detailed in a 16 October [circular](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26253125-rw-21-of-2025-speed-limit-review-implementation-urbans-final-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), and announced in the [press release](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-transport/press-releases/minister-for-transport-directs-review-of-urban-speed-limits-to-enhance-road-safety/?ref=dublininquirer.com) of the same day. “Speed limit changes will be implemented by local authorities, through the adoption of ‘special speed limit bye-laws’, rather than by changing default limits,” the press release says. “This approach recognises the positive and important role local authorities, and the elected members, fulfil in setting speed limits in urban areas,” it says. “It will allow local authority engineers, who are familiar with the roads and traffic conditions in their administrative areas, to review the existing speed limits and recommend changes where appropriate,” it says. ## Back to the old way This all means a return to the previous method of lowering speed limits, which Dublin City Council had been [pursuing for many years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-city-council-is-considering-putting-30km-h-limits-on-more-streets/). The Road Traffic Act 2024 enables the government to bring in the new default, Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose said at the transport committee meeting on Wednesday. “They are not enacting it, but that is their choice that they have made,” he said. McGrath, the council engineer, said similar: “Importantly, while the 2024 Road Traffic Act includes a provision for a default 30 kilometre per hour speed limit, this section has not been enacted by the Minister.” So after a pause on efforts to lower speed limits, waiting on government promises to bring in the default, the council will go back and do it itself, Jose said, but “we have lost about three or four years”. The [work plan](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26253124-30kph-new-guidance-and-next-steps-jennifer-mcgrath-senior-executive-engineer-road-safety-mobil/?ref=dublininquirer.com) that McGrath, the engineer, presented at Wednesday’s committee meeting involves assessing all roads in the Dublin City Council area with speed limits of 50km/h and above. The council will be looking at the “characteristics of the street, including primary land use and surrounding environment, determining if there are schools, businesses, residential”, the work plan says. Through this process, the council will identify roads suitable for lower speed limits – either 30km/h, or, for pedestrianised streets that allow motor vehicle access for deliveries during certain hours, 20km/h. Then council staff will draft new bye-laws including these new speed limits, and bring them to the city’s five local area committees. Once those area committees approve them, the draft bye-laws will go to the full council. If/when the full council approves them, they’ll go out for non-statutory public consultation “to gather feedback and ensure community support”. They’ll be revised based on feedback, and then go back to the area committees. Then the plans will be put out for statutory public consultation, and then a final vote by the full council. If the new bye-laws make it through that whole process, it’ll be time to put up new signs with the new speed limits. However, this won’t cover all the roads in the city. Some roads will need to be physically altered to encourage cars to drive more slowly on them, before it would make sense to lower the speed limit, and that’ll have to be done before the speed limits are lowered through this process, the work plan says. The government’s guidelines on lowering speed limits, “really call on us to only change speed limits to 30 where the speed at the moment is more or less 30, or else take some action to actually bring the speed down”, said O’Brien, the council’s traffic chief. As part of this whole process, could the council please look at lowering speed limits even on arterial roads where the speed limit will remain 50km/h, when they pass through urban villages? asked Jose, the Green Party councillor. In places like Doyle’s Corner, or Glasnevin village, “or any of those kind of urban villages”, could the speed limit drop to 30km/h for about 100m, and then go back up to 50km/h? he asked. McGrath, the council engineer, seemed to favour the proposal. “We will be looking at those absolutely,” she said. ## Why all the public consultation? At Wednesday’s meeting, Jason Cullen, a representative of the Dublin Commuter Coalition who sits on the council transport committee, questioned the need to “ensure community support” for changes, as set out in the proposed work plan. “We’re talking about road safety here, not whether we should have a bench or a bin in a park, people are dying on the roads,” Cullen said. “Ensuring community support for whether we reduce speed limits to 30, I don’t think that language really is appropriate within this work plan proposal and I ask that it’d be taken out,” he said. Social Democrats Councillor Paddy Monahan also questioned the rounds of public consultation proposed in the work plan. “When you’re talking about safety, I just don’t really see where that fits in,” Monahan said. “Either it’s appropriate or not to introduce this as a public safety measure.” Those rounds of public consultation, and effort to ensure community support, are in there, basically, to avoid what happened in 2020, said council traffic chief Brendan O’Brien. By that point, the council had been lowering speed limits bit by bit for years, going through four rounds of speed limit reviews, O’Brien said. In September of that year, council managers took a plan to lower speed limits to 30km/h on most roads in the city to councillors [at their monthly meeting](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-former-lord-mayor-resigns-and-lowering-city-speeds-defeated-for-now/). The new bye-laws were set to reduce the default speed limit down to 30kmph with the exception of some named roads. But Fine Gael’s Naoise Ó Muirí – then a councillor, now a TD – proposed an amendment to the report. In some parts of Dublin, outside of the canals, a 40kmph speed limit might be more appropriate, he said. “We run a real risk of frustrating some drivers and criminalising them by bringing in a blanket 30kmph across the board,” said Ó Muirí. Ó Muirí suggested that the local area committees should employ local knowledge to decide if certain roads in the area should be 40kmph. Most councillors said they agreed on the principle of reducing speed – but several councillors said they find it practically difficult to drive at under 30kmph. Then-Fianna Fáil Councillor Deirdre Conroy said that sometimes her car cuts out in second gear when driving less than 30kmph. The law agent, an internal legal advisor within the council, said that the report in question couldn’t be amended. If the councillors decided to make changes then a whole new plan will have to be created and that would require another public consultation, she said. Still, 32 councillors voted in favour of the amendment, and 18 against. So the bye-laws as a whole fell, and the speed-limit reductions were not made. At Wednesday’s meeting of the transport committee, O’Brien, the council’s head of traffic, pointed to this as a reason to take time, ensure public support, do rounds of public consultation, and only bring something to the council that has broad support. Legally, “at the end of the process if the city councillors decide that they don’t like some part of it, and vote to change any element of it, the bye-laws fall”, he said. “Which is what happened the last time, and we have to go back through the entire process,” O’Brien said. “So when people ask us, why is this a long process, don’t look at us, okay?” ### A sessions series continues to lure new audiences to modern harping URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-sessions-series-continues-to-lure-new-audiences-to-modern-harping/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T00:08:43.000Z Sugar Club is kind of a special venue, says harpist and composer Catriona McKay, speaking on a WhatsApp call from Salvador in Brazil. Come Saturday, the Scottish musician will be here in Dublin, performing alongside fiddle-player Chris Stout, in the latest installment of the Sugar Club Harp Sessions. The venue, just off Stephen’s Green, has a different vibe to some other harping spots. “Because it is putting the harp into a different environment. And I think it's good for the harp. It's good for the musician. It challenges things,” McKay says. Aibhlín McCrann, the chair of Harp Ireland, says the Harp Sessions at the Sugar Club – an ongoing series which will soon be entering its third year – came about as exactly that: a way to drop the harp into a new space. “I wanted to take the harp out of the drawing room, even out of the pub,” McCrann says. Even though a harp in a pub was a novelty not that long ago, she says. She can remember herself walking in with one, says McCrann. “There was horror all around.” But the Sugar Club though is one step even further, she says. “A different space, and a space where people weren't expecting either to see or hear harps.” ## **It’s an emblem** The harp is Ireland’s national emblem – printed on passports, government crests, and pints of Guinness – yet for much of the last century it was rarely heard in everyday life, says Sandra Joyce, executive dean at the University of Limerick, and a harpist. “It was an instrument that was associated with the aristocracy,” she says. “So it had that status – very important, complex, separate from traditional music more generally, and from classical music too.” Under British rule, the image of the harp was usually topped with a crown, Joyce says. After independence, the crown was taken off most harp symbolage, she says. The harp became a symbol of autonomy, she says, but the itself wasn’t common in daily Irish culture, it was of the aristocratic class. One reason the old Irish harping tradition died out was that the aristocratic class lost land and influence, she says. “And could no longer afford to sustain the poet, the harper, in the way that they would have in the past.” Joyce said that decline is in reversal now – and fast. “It’s a strong marker of Irish identity. It’s on official documents, yes – but it’s also much more accessible now. You hear it in different contexts.” McCrann says Harp Ireland has worked hard since it was set up in 2016 to encourage harp making, younger musicians, commissioning new work, and performances. The revival is tangible, says Helen Lawlor, a lecturer at TU Dublin and harp scholar. “We have really healthy numbers of young harp players. It’s supported by a strong infrastructure – ensembles, commissions, opportunities to perform.” Meanwhile, styles have splintered and cross-pollinated: some harpists are digging into early Irish music, others into jazz, electronics, or global folk influences. McCrann lists the many artists who have featured at the Sugar Club Harp Sessions. Among them, Lisa Canny, the genre-crossing harpist from Mayo, [Méabh McKenna](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-supergroup-of-experimental-musicians-look-to-fuse-synthesisers-with-the-world-within-the-irish-harp/) with her complex soundscapes, and Aisling Lyons, [with her delicate takes](https://aislinglyons.bandcamp.com/album/aistear?ref=dublininquirer.com) on traditional tunes. All of the harpers are breaking new ground, says McCrann. “Breaking boundaries in terms of their own practice.” A younger generation are looking to other influences that maybe haven’t been looked at before, she says. Lyons, for example, has played with Tolü Makay, an artist known for her alternative pop, RnB, and soul. McKay and Stout, meanwhile, are known for their collaboration. They’ve played their music together for a long time, says McKay, and their performances often include a bit of improvisation too. Affraic Brophy, who works for Harp Ireland as a programme coordinator, says she sees a young demographic at events. “You see teenagers and children coming to harp festivals.” Brophy, who is in her early 20s, says many of her friends are into the harp and traditional music. Although, maybe that’s her influence, she says, or maybe not. “There’s a real appetite.” As McCrann sees it, the changes in how the harp is explored have just brought its symbolic importance to the country to the fore, she says. When Harp Ireland was vying for Irish harping to be included on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage – which [it was, in 2019](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/irish-harping-01461?ref=dublininquirer.com) – they went out to communities, she says, to ask them how the harp made them feel. “They all came back saying the harp is what we are, the harp belongs to all of us,” she says. It resonates with a younger generation too, she says. The exploration in music and genres also introduces the harp to new communities, she says. They have a harp ensemble coming up too later in November, playing newly commissioned music – including a piece by the composer and ethnomusicologist Mel Mercier which really challenges the harp, she says. “It’s one of those instruments that never stopped meaning something,” says McCrann. “Now it’s part of a living culture again – not just a symbol, but a sound people are actually hearing.” *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### Things To Do: Discover a lost dream maker, welcome a bit of brain fog, find out the mystery of life, appreciate a bat URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/things-to-do-discover-a-lost-dream-maker-welcome-a-bit-of-brain-fog-find-out-the-mystery-of-life-appreciate-a-bat/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T09:24:37.000Z ## Our Picks *Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.* **Flora Kerrigan: Dream Maker** Over on the Irish Film Institute's Archive Player, an intriguing retrospective on the experimental short films of Flora Kerrigan has dropped this week. Born in Cork in 1940, Kerrigan studied in Crawford Art College, before becoming a member of the Cork Cine Club in the late 1950s and 1960s. During that period, she created a series of animation and live-action short films on 8mm film, featuring her friends and family, which uses absurdist humour and dream-like scenarios to explore female sexuality and desire. Though earning accolades during the eight years this retrospective showcases, her filmmaking life seems to have ended when she moved to London in the late 1960s, [according to the IFI](https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/flora-kerrigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com). After that, she shifted over to photography, became involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement, and wrote poetry under the name Eamer O’Keefe. The works contained in this collection, titled Flora Kerrigan: Dream Maker, were only recently discovered by Sarah Arnold of Maynooth University and Kasandra O’Connelly of the IFI during their collaboration on the Women in Focus research project last year, which celebrated independent amateur female filmmakers Margaret Currivan, Agnes Heron, Beres Laidlaw, Sister Maureen MacMahon, and Kerrigan. Kerrigan’s work, which is now preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive, brings to mind the surrealism of Luis Buñuel or the very early shorts of David Lynch, particularly *The Grandmother*, as well as the playful animated opening titles of 1960s comedies like Blake Edwards’ *The Pink Panther*. And as part of this presentation, her shorts feature a new musical accompaniment by avant-garde free-improvisational pianist Paul G. Smyth and double-bass player John Edwards. Kerrigan’s work is now streaming on the IFI Archive Player [here](https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/flora-kerrigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Or, if you want to see her for the first time on the big screen, it will also be showing in the [IFI next week](https://ifi.ie/film/cine-concert-a-focus-on-flora-kerrigan/?ref=dublininquirer.com), 21 November, at 3.30pm. **Aer Milam** Last week, Pallas Projects launched Aer Milam by artist Caroline Mac Cathmhaoil, the final exhibition of its 2025 Artist-Initiated Projects programme. Organised in partnership with [BETA Festival](https://betafestival.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com), as part of the art and technology festival's third edition, which is currently underway, Aer Milam presents a series of sculptural and video works that link death practices, commercial flying and queer feminist electronics in “an act of technocratic resistance”. As part of the exhibition, which will run until 22 November, Pallas will also be hosting a lucid dreaming workshop on 20 November, which promises to “reveal the mystery of life”. Tickets for the workshop are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/caroline-mac-cathmhaoillucid-dreaming-workshop-tickets-1838243147739?ref=dublininquirer.com). Admission is free, but the potential wisdom is priceless. **A Splendid Gateway, Rathfarnham Castle** In his 1838 book *The History of the County of Dublin*, historian John D’Alton’s notes on Rathfarnham Castle were almost mournful as he reported on its pitiful state. Once, this late 16th-century manor had been “a splendid gateway” by the Dodder. But, in the present, that beauty had faded. Its hills, he wrote, were covered with “rank herbage”, its rivulet was “stagnant and sedgy”, and the fish pond was “clogged with weeds”. The castle was mouldering, “and the crumbling, unsightly offices in its immediate vicinity, even more loudly proclaim those evils of absenteeism”, he wrote. The passage presented a terse re-telling of the Castle's story, from its beginnings as a defensive stronghold, to a grand Georgian residence, before falling into neglect and later being restored. And on Sunday, his observations - which you can purchase in De Burca Rare Books for a modest €1,650 or read online [here](https://archive.org/details/historycountydu01dalgoog/page/779/mode/2up) for slightly less – serve as the inspiration for a new group exhibition in the castle itself. Curated by Casey Walshe and Banbha McCann with support from the Office of Public Works, A Splendid Gateway brings together 15 artists, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, and installation, to create a dialogue between artists, artworks, and the historic setting of the castle. Drawing on D’Alton’s writing, the exhibition uses the phrase "a splendid gateway" as both a historical reference and a metaphor for artistic possibility. Among the artists who will be presenting works are Leda Scully, Kathy Tynan, [Richard Proffitt](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-city-centre-gallery-hosts-the-subconscious-of-richard-proffitt/), Eleanor McCaughey, and Lesley-Ann O’Connell. A Splendid Gateway opens on 16 November, and will continue until 4 January. Admission is free. **I forgot anteaters exist: Mice Hell on Bats, A4 Sounds** Next Wednesday, A4 Sounds Artist Studios and Gallery is launching a new "info-dump" series, titled "I forgot anteaters exist", which is devoted to the special interests of others. Each session will invite someone new to come into the studios are share their knowledge on a topic of their choosing, be it related to their unusual area of expertise or a rabbit hole they’ve recently crawled down. To kick things off, illustrator [Mice Hell](https://www.micehell.com/?ref=dublininquirer.com) will be discussing bats, which she says “are just mice who are into leather”. Having previously created several bat-themed shows for Dublin Digital Radio, for this seminar, which starts at 6.30pm, she will bring attendees up to speed by showing photographs of the endearing critters and presenting some of her own field recordings. The main info-dump will run for about 30 to 45 minutes, before the floor is opened up for anyone else to participate in dumping a bit more information into the room, before everyone is invited to chat a bit more out in the garden at the very end of the night. For more information and to book a ticket, visit the event page [here](https://a4sounds.org/anteaters/?ref=dublininquirer.com). **When the world shifts** Since May, a group of multidisciplinary artists and individuals affected by brain injuries have been getting together in Smithfield and improvising through movement, music and storytelling. A collaboration between theatre artist Joan Somers Donnelly and Headway Ireland, a support service for people with brain injuries, these sessions have asked “what it means to be present and to play when the world is on fire, the traffic sounds outside the window never stop, and your concentration just isn’t what it used to be”. Beginning next week, the group will be performing some of their experiments at the Kirkos arts venue on Little Green Street, which promises to “welcome brain fog, mild confusion, repeating yourself, forgetting and misremembering, asking the audience, phoning a friend, losing your balance, moving in and out of sync, taking breaks, and repeating yourself”. The first of these live performances will be at 7pm on Thursday, 20 November, with the second the following Thursday, 27 November, also at 7pm. Tickets for both nights are available [here](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/when-the-world-shifts-tickets-1777657735139?ref=dublininquirer.com). --- Advert [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Advertise-in-our-newsletter-ad.png)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/) [Learn More ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/advertise-with-us/) --- ## Noticeboard *Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via* [*this form*](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wl8SBMTRIT1rNHcy57%5FYWEsDtoBf1kdOF8xkCJXMqX8/edit?ts=680f92a4&ref=dublininquirer.com)*.* **Fingal’s Historic Structures Structures Fund 2026** Fingal County Council is now inviting applications under the Historic Structures Fund for large-scale repairs or conservation projects to protected structures and buildings that enhance Architectural Conservation Areas within the Fingal area. Applications for privately owned buildings or from community groups should be submitted to the Conservation Office of Fingal County Council by email: conservation@fingal.ie by the closing date of 16 January 2026. **Criativa Night Market** On 29 November, Zembrero Mexican Restaurant in The Station Building on Hatch Street will be hosting the Criativa Night Market, a unique night celebrating Brazilian creativity, handmade art and sustainable fashion. The market, which begins at 6pm, will showcase the works of Brazilian female artists and creators, and will feature a fashion show devoted to upcycled denim. Visit the event’s page here to book a [ticket](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/criativa-night-market-tickets-1874002214069?utm%5Fexperiment=test%5Fshare%5Flisting&aff=ebdsshios&sg=2d8214d0bff983d2442e8cec4c1cd4a159224efead43f07c211604e63bddd7b1591acf805274bb394a86391974282f2a3247618f141112c9e413587d291b2b6028a2e7fed2f30630f6253040f5&ref=dublininquirer.com). **National Climate Demonstration** On Saturday 15 November, over 50 groups and civil society organisations from across the country will join together for the National Climate Demonstration, demanding the government deliver faster, fairer climate action. Organised by Stop Climate Chaos, the march will begin at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm. For more information, visit demonstration’s event page [here](https://www.facebook.com/events/garden-of-remembrance/national-climate-demo/1522145962554976/). **Fortlawn Park public consultation** Fingal County Council has commenced the public consultation on its [proposal](https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-says-itll-avoid-evictions-with-new-fortlawn-redevelopment-plan/) to construct 21 new homes at Fortlawn in Blanchardstown. The scheme will deliver additional homes within the community, including age-friendly housing designed for older persons who can no longer remain in their current homes but wish to stay connected to their local area. It also incorporates measures to address concerns about ongoing anti-social behaviour, fostering a safer and more inclusive environment for all. Residents and other stakeholders are invited to submit their opinions on the proposal through the Fingal County Council Consultation Portal [here](https://consult.fingal.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com). This deadline for submissions and observations is 5 January 2026. The plans and particulars of the proposed development are available on the portal and can also be viewed at Civic Offices, Blanchardstown or County Hall, Swords until 10 December. If you enjoyed this newsletter ... [Leave us a € Tip? ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/tip-jar/) ### As government support for sheltering Ukrainian refugees dwindles, finding somewhere to live means taking more risks URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-government-support-for-sheltering-ukrainian-refugees-dwindles-finding-somewhere-to-live-means-taking-more-risks/ Last updated: 2025-11-13T16:52:57.000Z Oleksandr Kisil pulls up a WhatsApp conversation with a recent ex-landlord on his phone. He’s a refugee from Ukraine, 21, and studies film in Ballyfermot College. He has a moustache and a mushroom haircut, like Jack in *Titanic*. And he’s warm, chatty and bubbly, small-talks with strangers. His favourite drink at Café Nero on O’Connell Street is strawberry matcha with ice. He arrived here in July, he said at the café, recently. At first, he lived in a temporary shelter for Ukrainians, offered by the government. He liked it there, says Kisil, being around so many other Ukrainians was reassuring. “You know it’s valuable when you move to a new country to feel some supporting of your people and supporting from the government,” he said. At the time, Ukrainians could use government accommodation for three months. That window is set to be [narrowed](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1103/1541909-ipas-cabinet-sub-committee/?ref=dublininquirer.com#:~:text=State%20accommodation%20for%20new%20arrivals%20from%20Ukraine%20capped%20at%2030%20days&text=New%20arrivals%20from%20Ukraine%20will,this%20accommodation%20for%2090%20days.) to a month. “When August started, I started to feel the pressure of time,” said Kisil. As he cast around for somewhere new to live, he realised most people don’t accept the [Accommodation Recognition Payment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26039005-accommodation-recognition-payment/?ref=dublininquirer.com) (ARP) offered tax-free to those hosting Ukrainian refugees, he said. “Ninety percent, unfortunately, doesn’t want it for now.” The government has [lowered its](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26040576-intention-to-extend-the-accommodation-recognition-payment-scheme/?ref=dublininquirer.com) rate from €800 to €600 per month “to mitigate any unintended impact on the private rental sector”, says a press release. The largest opposition party, Sinn Féin, [opposes the scheme](https://www.dublininquirer.com/for-ukrainians-asking-if-time-on-temporary-protection-counts-towards-citizenship-no-clear-answer-from-the-government/) for that reason and because “it's unfair in that it offers to one cohort of people a non-means-tested housing assistance that is not offered to others”, said its spokesperson on migration, Matt Carthy, recently. Unlike refugees with permanent status granted under domestic asylum law, those living here under the EU’s temporary protection directive – activated in March 2022 – aren’t eligible for the rental subsidy HAP. The tax-free payment for hosts is meant to shield them from homelessness as they face the affordable housing crisis that touches most lives here. What came after for Kisil was a landlord near his college who rented out rooms in his house to students. The man said he only accepted rent and deposit in cash and refused to give Kisil a contract, framing that as a favour, his WhatsApp messages show. “For the rent of 550e, definitely not … I’m helping students by dropping the price from 880e. To 500\. You want contract then pay full 800e,” he said in a WhatsApp message in response to Kisil’s request for a contract. He evicted him just a few days after he moved in, said Kisil. A WhatsApp conversation on 21 September shows Kisil, who slept in Dublin Airport one night and then in hostels, asking why he had kept the bulk of his deposit and rent. There’s no response. He didn’t pick up when he called him either, said Kisil, who’s turned to his college and the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) for help. Kisil’s ex-landlord has not yet responded to queries sent on Friday asking about the eviction, his reasons for refusing bank transfers, and not offering a contract. As the government slowly pulls away accommodation support for Ukrainian refugees, people like Kisil have to take on greater risks and potential dangers to find somewhere to live. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said it keeps accommodation policy for Ukrainian refugees under review, “to ensure a continued sustainable, proportionate and equitable approach to accommodation and the integration and independence of people”. ## Waiting for a change to follow Internal Department of Children [documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221097-doj-docs-merged/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from earlier this yearsuggest that officials had voiced worries about lack of a clear accommodation strategy for Ukrainian refugees, this late into Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of their country **–** which began in February 2022. “We had hoped by now to have a clearer picture of future accommodation policy for BOTPs,” wrote a department staffer [in an email](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221096-record-19-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com) in March, using an acronym referring to Ukrainians’ status as Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection. The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians fleeing the war unlocked the European Union for its refugees. That means they can enter an EU country of their choice without facing visa barriers. That is in sharp contrast with the bloc’s response to wars and atrocities in the Middle East and Africa, whose refugees struggle to meet rigid visa conditions. And, if they survive dangerous journeys, they are demonised for crossing without visas and arriving without immigration papers. But for those refugees, getting status under domestic asylum law comes with permanency and rights to mainstream housing supports. Ukrainians living here under the Temporary Protection Directive don’t have that. The new-ish government formed after the November 2024 election transferred the task of providing accommodation to Ukrainians in Ireland from the Department of Children and Equality to the Department of Justice in May 2025. The transfer of power might spur change, the staffer from the Department of Children wrote in March. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that since assuming responsibility, it has “implemented and maintained a sustainable and equitable accommodation policy for new arrivals”. “Ireland has welcomed 122,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine since 2022 and provided accommodation for over 90,000 people in that time,” they said. As of June 2025, a little over 80,000 Ukrainians lived in Ireland under the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, excluding thousands who left or changed their status to something else, [according to the CSO](https://web.archive.org/web/20251108134407/https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/fp/p-aui/arrivalsfromukraineinirelandseries16/). ## Risking it Kisil, the student in Ballyfermot College, is now staying temporarily in a sublet, which he needs to move out of soon, he said. He’s posting on Facebook groups searching for a host, where waves of xenophobic comments in response swamp his request. He says losing his money has been a hard lesson to hold on to. His family in Ukraine had covered the payment as he looks for a job while he studies. They were disappointed, he said, gazing down. Ivan Chycha arrived here last month, a few weeks after the Ukrainian government [offered some reprieve](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/world/europe/young-ukrainians-18-22-leave.html?ref=dublininquirer.com) from war to men younger than 23, letting them leave the country if they wanted to. Though young men aren’t eligible for the draft until the age of 25, anyway. Chycha’s 22, used to be a warehouse operator, and knows how to drive a forklift, he said, recently, hugging a takeaway cup of coffee in a city centre café. Like Kisil, he stayed in a centre offered by the government for a bit after he arrived, he said. Then he posted on Facebook looking for a host. “A lot of nasty comments,” he says. But people are nice to his face, said Chycha. He was worried that he would end up in a rural town, away from job opportunities, if he tried to find a host through an official channel, which can be safer because it involves vetting of hosts and the like. That is through the Irish Red Cross (IRC), which runs a programme matching people with those who have pledged to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes and claim ARP for their hospitality. As of September 2025, it has placed nearly 13,780 Ukrainians in pledged accommodations, [says its website](https://web.archive.org/web/20251108130541/https://registerofpledges.redcross.ie/). Chycha, who has found a host in Tallaght via Facebook, says he wanted to be near Dublin because he’s bracing for when the government discontinues the ARP scheme, when he needs to make money to cover rent. “To get a minimum wage job,” he said. He hopes to get his forklift driving licence here, said Chycha. As of June 2025, 39,734 Ukrainian refugees were living in host homes, with around 17,100 hosts receiving ARP [according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221119-host-numbers/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Chycha said he also worried that if he went through the IRC and they found him something in a faraway town and he turned it down, they wouldn’t help him again if he needed it. “Red Cross was like the last choice,” he said. Kisil, the young guy in Ballyfermot College, said he’d reached out to the IRC. “But unfortunately there is no places in Dublin or nearby and I need this area because of study.” A spokesperson for the IRC said it is working hard “to match guests with accommodation that suits their needs, close to public transport links, schools, local services where possible”. ## Against the ticking clock Letizaveta Karamushka, chairperson of [Ukrainian Action in Ireland](https://www.ukrainianaction.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) – a charity in Rathmines which helps organise and send aid to the trenches in Ukraine – says the bigger picture is that most Ukrainians put themselves in risky situations to find hosts because the IRC is overwhelmed. “With the amount of requests for living arrangements from people under temporary protection,” she said. When the government lowered the ARP rate, the Red Cross began getting fewer offers from potential hosts, Karamushka said. A spokesperson for the IRC said it doesn’t want to comment on the government’s recent accommodation policy revisions for Ukrainian refugees. But “accommodation is still very much needed”, they said. It encourages anyone who can afford to help to visit [its website](https://registerofpledges.redcross.ie/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to pledge their property or call its hotline at 1800 753 343, the spokesperson said. Karamushka of Ukrainian Action in Ireland says going through fringe routes to find hosts is faster than passing through the IRC. “Irish Red Cross also need time to do proper check-ups and interviews,” Karamushka said. Many Ukrainians just can’t afford to wait anymore, she said, as the government pushes them to find somewhere against a faster-ticking clock. “Anyone who have lived even a single month in Ireland knows the reality of this country and how unrealistic is the expectation to find any stable living arrangement in 30 days,” she said. ## Go your own way The IRC had been working in conjunction with Helping Irish Hosts (HIH) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) via the Pledge Programme on matching refugees with would-be hosts. Its website [still mentions](https://web.archive.org/web/20251108130541/https://registerofpledges.redcross.ie/) HIH alongside IOM. But [internal documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221097-doj-docs-merged/?ref=dublininquirer.com) show that the IRC and HIH clashed over different visions for the policy of helping Ukrainians find shelter, with the latter advocating for what it called a “more structured and sustainable approach”. And HIH, a volunteer-run group, [officially announced](https://web.archive.org/web/20251108140825/https://www.helpingirishhosts.com/post/important-update-hih) ithad concluded its relationship with IRC in April. During its time aiding efforts to find hosts for Ukrainian refugees, it had helped match nearly 3,065 refugees with Irish hosts, says its [impact report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221118-0b190b-8018ffc851a54f8bbd52e74d3ad798b2/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It delivered 31 percent of the all Pledge Programme’s matches, attracted 21 percent of all monthly pledges nationwide, and “provided 20,000 hours of direct support to hosts and guests through regular check-in calls, casework, and mediation”, it says. The group took root when Angie Gough, a woman in Ranelagh, decided to open her own home to a Ukrainian family, stirred into action by the full-scale Russian state invasion in February 2022. Soon after, Gough was meeting with government officials, seeking to partner with the IRC to be part of organised efforts to find hosts for Ukrainian refugees. In January 2025, the *Irish Times* [reported](https://web.archive.org/web/20250410204457/https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2025/01/09/misuse-and-abuse-of-state-payment-by-some-hosts-of-Ukrainian-refugees-charity-warns/) that HIH had flagged worries about some hosts’ abuse of the ARP scheme, airing out the group’s concerns to the public. Did the article contribute to the souring of the relationship between IRC and HIH? Gough said “Yes” in a text message. The article said HIH had hoped the accommodation pledge model would expand to include all those who hold refugee status and struggle to move out of asylum centres **–** not just Ukrainians. Though HAP is available to the former, discrimination from landlords, including based on their asylum-seeking past, can [stymie their efforts](https://www.dublininquirer.com/a-dcu-student-fights-eviction-from-a-direct-provision-centre-hoping-to-keep-the-life-shes-built/) to move out and start a new chapter. On 28 February, HIH wrote to the Department of Children and Equality – then in charge of accommodation policy for Ukrainian refugees – to say it was branching off. “It is clear that HIH cannot operate within the consortium in line with our strategic shift away from direct matching towards a more structured and sustainable approach”, [says one of its emails](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221116-hih-letter/?ref=dublininquirer.com), released under the Freedom of Information Act. ## We are in the future When HIH offered some of its services to the government independently, instead of through the IRC,officials were unwilling to accept it, [documents suggest](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26221117-hih-offering-its/?ref=dublininquirer.com). An email from a Department of Children official dated 20 March 2025 says that HIH seems to be “ignoring” the reality of moving on from its link-up with the IRC, and offering to meet and touch base with the government. They view themselves as best suited to offer advice about top-ups, the email says. “They see potential for a direct arrangement with the Dept on communicating with hosts. The Dept doesn’t see any such potential,” the email says. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not directly respond to a question asking why. But said that it’s grateful to HIH for its “contribution to Ireland’s response to this humanitarian crisis”, and that it has adjusted its arrangement with IRC to account for HIH’s departure. It’s unclear how much HIH’s exit has impacted efforts to help Ukrainian refugees and hosts, and mediations between them if trouble brews. A spokesperson for the IRC said, "earlier this year, Helping Irish Hosts shared their desire for a strategic shift in the programme, which is their right”. But that didn’t align with the agreed vision of the programme, they said.They didn’t elaborate on HIH's proposed vision, nor did Gough of HIH. She wasn’t available for an in-depth interview before the deadline. The IRC is grateful for all the work HIH has done, said the IRC spokesperson. Since its departure, “a majority of the guests they supported agreed to transfer over to the Irish Red Cross and we continue to support them, and their hosts”, they said. In a text message, Gough of HIH, said the “real story” is the uncertainty hanging over the lives of Ukrainian refugees still living in host homes like guests “and no onward pathway”. She said the state is still operating in “crisis mode” three years into the war. Karamushka of Ukrainian Action in Ireland said life is dark for Ukrainians right now. As the Kremlin continues its offensive, some soldiers on the frontlines have to worry about their families in Ireland, too, who end up with holes in their safety nets, she said. “Need to worry that your family, wife, kids, parents, will be left on the streets of Ireland while you fight in Ukraine is really demoralising.” In a recent conference, at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, Ilona Havronska, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Unity of Ukraine for European Integration, said she hopes EU governments see “every Ukrainian abroad as a contributor, not burden”. But also, “day and night we do our work, our homework, to be a Member State”, she said. Meanwhile, Kisil, the young guy in Ballyfermot College, is still looking for a place to live in for longer. As he navigates the city’s accommodation crisis, with all its twists and dead-ends, he said, one lesson he will carry with him is that community empowers people to see and be seen. “I understand now how valuable it is to help each other. How important it is to have a roof over your head, to have community,” he said. ### Councillors complain, again, of hotel-spreading in Portobello URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-complain-again-of-hotel-spreading-in-portobello/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T09:25:09.000Z Along the side of the newly opened NYX hotel at Portobello Harbour, a new fence appeared in mid-October. With 16 timber poles, each connected by chains that are fixed to the hotel’s red brick walls, the fencing ran for approximately 20 metres. It was cordoning off a stretch of grass and gravel that ran alongside the pathway parallel to the Grand Canal, and local councillors at a meeting that month said they were confused by it. Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne raised the issue of the fence at the meeting of the South East Area committee on 13 October. This tow path would appear to be on lands owned by the hotel, and it looks like they cemented the poles in without consulting either locals, or Waterways Ireland, the state body that manages the canals, Byrne said. “They seem to have done whatever they want, and it’s not in any way complimentary to the area,” she said. It also isn’t complimentary to the long-awaited plans to deliver a public park on the plaza outside the hotel, she said. Speaking in the reception after the meeting, Byrne, trying to imagine what the rationale for the fencing might be, said this particular stretch of grass tends to get wrecked by people using it during the summer. Maybe the hotel intended it to protect the grass, she said. “I’m sure there is a genuine reason, like to replant it.” Promoting biodiversity would be good, she said. “But, like, aesthetically, for something permanent, it’s not in keeping with the area.” Some local residents have also expressed issues with cyclists in the area, she said. “It may help to slow that down a little bit.” Councillors were no more clear on why the fence had been installed as they reconvened on Monday for the November meeting of the South East Area Committee. The unapproved fencing was still in place, wrote Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly in a question to the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare. “What can we do to ensure that public amenities are not taken up by private interests?” The issue had been referred to Waterways Ireland, Shakespeare wrote in his response. “The fencing was erected by the NYX Hotel and Waterways Ireland have engaged with the hotel on the issue.” A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland on Tuesday said it had not given approval for the fencing, and that it has requested this be removed on Wednesday (12 November). A spokesperson for NYX said it is scheduled to come down on Wednesday. It was protecting an area of land under the remit of Waterways, they said. “The land had been seeded.” The fencing would allow the grass to get established, they said. ## History In mid-December 2021, wooden hoardings were [put up](https://www.dublininquirer.com/looking-at-new-designs-for-portobello-plaza-skateboarders-wonder-whether-they-will-have-a-place/) fencing off most of the public square at Portobello Plaza, once a treasured spot for skateboarders. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council [said it had given](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-might-help-fund-revamp-of-portobello-square-in-exchange-for-using-it-for-storage/) the developer permission to use “a portion of the square” to store materials for the duration of the construction project, which should take 18 months to two years. Once the new NYX hotel opened, a [new issue arose](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-free-parking-at-portobello-plaza-opening-up-playing-pitches-in-terenure-to-more-clubs-and-more/): vehicles parking outside the hotel on the public plaza. So the council put in some planters to put a stop to that. Soon, though, the planters had been pushed back and [a loading bay painted](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-portobello-plaza-the-rathmines-post-office-and-flood-defences-on-the-dodder/) onto the ground at the hotel. “How is this allowed to happen, and what action is going to be taken against the hotel who just took it upon themselves to create a loading bay?” Byrne asked council managers at the time. According to a [sitemap](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222711-16-plaza-work-phases-plan-dcc-landscaping-zone-redacted/?ref=dublininquirer.com) outlining the council’s landscaping works, the loading bay is intended to be temporary while the Parks Department carries out its works to revamp the plaza. ## A nodding confirmation Besides raising the fencing along the canal, at November’s meeting of the South East Area Committee Byrne asked, once again, for an [update](https://www.dublininquirer.com/looking-at-new-designs-for-portobello-plaza-skateboarders-wonder-whether-they-will-have-a-place/) [on](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-portobello-plaza-the-rathmines-post-office-and-flood-defences-on-the-dodder/) [the](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-a-new-park-for-portobello-harbour-pedestrianising-south-william-street-and-arsons-at-sean-moore-park/) [long-awaited](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-free-parking-at-portobello-plaza-opening-up-playing-pitches-in-terenure-to-more-clubs-and-more/) [redesign](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-briefs-revamping-portobello-harbour-park-building-affordable-housing-in-ballymun-and-protecting-moore-street/) [of](https://www.dublininquirer.com/developer-might-help-fund-revamp-of-portobello-square-in-exchange-for-using-it-for-storage/) [Portobello](https://www.dublininquirer.com/councillors-agree-motion-to-get-rid-of-bench-next-to-grand-canal-in-portobello/) [Plaza](https://www.dublininquirer.com/photo-book-records-skateboarders-eulogy-to-portobello-square-now-in-a-box/). “Can we just get confirmation whether a contractor has been confirmed for the development of Portobello Harbour Park,” she said. Councillors were told at the previous meeting that the council was looking at an early December timeline for a turning of the sod, she said. “Are we on track to meet that?” John MacEvilly, the council’s South East Area manager, nodded. “Yeah?” Byrne asked. “Great. So we have a contactor confirmed, do we?” He nodded again. A more concrete response was written by Shakespeare, the chief executive, in response to a query on this matter by Connelly, the Labour councillor. Contractors are to be appointed this week with the commencement of works beginning after, Shakespeare wrote. “It is hopeful that works can be complete in Q3 2026.” ### Just 4% of private homes granted planning permission in Dublin city last year were three-beds – is that enough? URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/just-4-of-private-homes-granted-planning-permission-in-dublin-city-last-year-were-three-beds-is-that-enough/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T00:11:26.000Z At the November monthly Dublin City Council meeting, Independents 4 Change Councillor Pat Dunne flagged the number 83 [in a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222654-report-no-2362025-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-a-flynn-with-reference-to-the-core-strateg/?ref=dublininquirer.com). It jumped out, he said. That was how many three-bed private apartments and houses Dublin City Council granted planning permission for in 2024, the report said. Well, among the 1,926 homes permitted in developments of more than 10 homes, at least. Projects granted permission last year joined the pile of existing unbuilt planning applications that added up, at the end of 2024, to almost 18,000 homes in the city. Still though, at the meeting, Dunne said the figure shows how the state needs to lean in further to provide larger homes in its own social and affordable housing developments. The national government and Dublin City Council have pushed and pulled for years over the mix of homes that should be built in the city. Council policies have tried to require a greater share of multi-bedroom apartments and homes – [especially](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-seeks-to-limit-what-share-of-new-homes-in-some-city-neighbourhoods-can-be-studios-and-one-beds/) in certain neighbourhoods. The Department of Housing has pushed for more studios and one-beds. Larger apartments might make room for more, larger families to live and stay in the city as they grow. Or, goes the counter argument, smaller ones are missing and really needed – and more viable, or profitable, for builders, so more likely to be built. In July, Minister for Housing James Browne [scrapped any](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222356-planning-design-standards-for-apartments-080725-final/?ref=dublininquirer.com) restrictions in council development plans around mix in apartment blocks, paving the way for entire blocks of one-bed homes and studios – save for a few circumstances. Despite the Minister's intervention, Dublin City Council [argues](https://www.dublininquirer.com/some-areas-of-dublin-will-keep-some-of-the-higher-apartment-standards-says-council-planner/) that its development plan guides the mix of apartment sizes that can be built in two areas of the city, the Liberties and the north inner-city. ## Dropping minimums Criticisms of councils requiring particular mixes of apartment sizes have [been made for years by](https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-seeks-to-limit-what-share-of-new-homes-in-some-city-neighbourhoods-can-be-studios-and-one-beds/) developers. The Land Development Agency (LDA) has also lobbied against larger apartments. In April, it [complained](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26175850-record-1-apartment-guidelines-and-standards-lda-presentation-25042025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the Department of Housing that councils were asking for a “significant quantum” of three-beds. But three-bedroom apartments aren’t financially “viable”, the agency said, and they are “very difficult” to let “and not in demand”. The new guidelines for apartment design standards issued by the Department of Housing in July talk about the need to ensure that apartment building is viable. “Unit mix requirements can impact on the viability of apartment schemes and may not support the best outcomes in terms of the number of units delivered, or the particular need within an area,” they say. “Three-bed units have a high delivery cost relative to other unit types and can impact on the viability of a scheme as a whole,” it says. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said on 12 November that, notwithstanding the Minister's new guidelines, the council's development plans complexes with 15 or more homes in the Liberties and north inner-city can't include more than 30 percent one-beds/studios, and must include at least 15 percent three-beds or larger. Orla Hegarty, assistant professor at UCD’s School of Architecture, says that as she sees it, the main pressure for smaller homes comes from developers and investors rather than what people need. Because, “the rental income per square meter on smaller homes is much higher than on larger homes”, she says. But on the other side of the equation are more important considerations, she says. “Our objective for housing more people in the country, our climate commitments and people's actual human need for their household wellbeing,” says Hegarty, “and activities, space to grow, build communities and family formation, which is a different thing entirely.” The narrative is always that the only way to make a development viable is to cut sizes and quality, which is the most naive approach, she says. There isn’t questioning of the business models, or what could expand the market, and drive competition, innovation and efficiency, she says. “Which are the strategies which would really improve affordability.” ## Demand for three-beds A spokesperson for the LDA – which builds cost-rental homes, as well as social homes – wouldn’t say which three-beds it had found difficult to let, and where they are, and possible reasons why. Elsewhere, there are signs of pent-up demand for cost-rental three-beds. Housing charity Respond [recently](https://www.respond.ie/knowledge-hub/respond-opens-applications-for-new-cost-rental-homes-at-lisieux-park/?ref=dublininquirer.com) opened applications for its new cost-rental development at Lisieux Park in Sandyford. It got 904 applications for the five three-bedroom apartments in the estate, said a spokesperson last Wednesday. Those aspiring to three-bed homes also say they have seen lengthy queues and desperate bidding wars. “We started looking in the summer,” said Miriam Burke, on the phone last week. “We have seen, like we have viewed, over 50 houses.” She and her husband rent a two-bedroom house in Dublin 8 with their two small kids, which works okay for now while their youngest is still really small. “But like, we need more space.” There’s an argument that kids can share a room, she says. But “the houses are just too small anyway for family life. You know, you're on top of each other the whole time.” They’re looking to buy in the city – somewhere in Dublin 8 or Dublin 12, say – because they’ve built their life in the city, she says. “Life keeps on happening, and you end up with kids, and they end up going to the creches in the city, going to schools in the city, and you don't want to move,” says Burke. They like to walk and cycle most places, she says. Some viewings of three-beds have had huge queues, others not at first, she says. “Then you go back for another viewing, and there's way more. The demand is crazy.” They’re looking at homes with a guide price of €400,000, she says. “Because we knew that they would go up and up and up.” They’ve been in five frenzied bidding wars, she says, which push prices up way past budgets – and, for those in worse condition, eat up any cushion set aside to do them up to habitable. They decided to look again at two-beds because of how suspicious that third bedroom can look anyways – a box room, old bathroom, or half a partitioned second bedroom, she says. “There are so many houses that have these.” ## Difficulties of predicting demand Under the last National Planning Framework, councils have had to carry out housing need and demand assessments (HNDAs), putting in statistics for their areas to a tool that spits out future predicted housing needs under different scenarios. It’s given councils more of an evidence base for future housing needs than they had before, says Carla Kayanan, an assistant professor at Maynooth University [who has assessed how](https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19481/1/DS%5FWP7%5FHNDAPolicyReport.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) the HNDAs are going. But one criticism of the tool has been that it doesn’t really specify what size homes are needed to meet demand, she says. It mostly outputs tenure type, she says. So, predictions of need for social homes, private market rentals, and the like. Another hindrance that those working with the tool have mentioned is the lack of neighbourhood data and analysis in the centralised database, she says. Councils can plug that in, but they have to have time, resources and skills. Hegarty, the assistant professor at UCD, says it’s important for planners to be able to look at local demand and mix. Looking at the whole country and saying that there are loads of family homes isn’t that instructive, she says. “If there are family bungalows in Roscommon, that's not really any use to anybody in Dublin 1.” In Dublin 1, there is a deficit of larger homes, she says, which would allow people to stay in their community. Arguably, one reason why Dublin 1 isn’t really thriving, she says, is because existing housing stock is a barrier to growth. Getting the mix of new housing right is very spatially specific, she says. Dublin City Council did ask consultants who carried out its HNDA to hone in on smaller parts of the city – on the Liberties and the north inner-city. The HNDA data does come with caveats, though. One big challenge is that so much quickly changed after the guidance on how to prepare the HNDAs was first issued. The figures quickly became dated, says Kayanan, of Maynooth University. The Covid-19 pandemic changed the dynamic of cities, and more than 100,000 people fled to Ireland from Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion, she said. It shows how challenging it can be to predict really long-term population growth, said Kayanan. While the HNDA for Dublin did look at predicted trends in household sizes – it didn’t explicitly translate that into what size homes are needed. What size home should you expect a couple to buy or rent? Hegarty, the assistant professor at UCD, said there’s an incorrect and simplistic assumption underlying the push for prioritising inflexible one-beds and studios. “Which is that people change their home every time their family size changes and that everyone could afford it.” The assumption is that a couple moving into an apartment won't be planning children, or even having friends around, or that an elderly person won’t need a carer or family members to stay overnight, she says. Some people with disabilities need extra space to accommodate that, she says. Many people increasingly work from home too, says Hegarty. “They need an extra space for that.” People have guests to visit, or hobbies, gym equipment, musical instruments, art supplies. “Lots of things that need space that don't fit in minimum standards,” she says. Another narrative is that everybody will downsize in retirement to their correctly-sized homes and it would free up family homes, she says. But “if you look at the average sales price for family homes in Dublin, and you look at the price of new apartments, most downsizers in Dublin couldn't afford a new apartment”, she says. “And in any case, there's hardly any new apartments for sale.” There’s this idea that somebody who has a house perhaps worth €400,000 to €500,000 in a suburb of Dublin would liquidate that asset and pay all of it out at €2,500 a month for an apartment for 10 or 15 years, she says. “It’s sort of an economic nonsense.” ## Looking to the state At the monthly council meeting, Dunne, the Independents 4 Change councillor, said that he often stresses during committees the need for the council to step up with three-bedroom and larger homes. Because, he said, “it is very very clear from those figures that the private sector aren’t doing that”. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty says that he zigs and zags a little on the question of what size homes the council should be building. Because he is also conscious of the great need for one-bed homes for those on the social-housing list, he says. There are developments in his area that are examples of egregious overconcentration of one-beds, says Moriarty. He points to the Old Steelworks site, along James’s Street, near where Steeven’s Lane branches down the hill towards Heuston Station and the Liffey. Construction is underway behind hoardings. The 167 homes are to be 136 one-beds, 27 two-beds, and 4 three-beds. But, says Moriarty, they are also to be [taken over and managed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26219890-report-no-2502025-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) as social homes by Clúid Housing – and again, those social homes are really needed. As of July 2024, of the 15,000 people on the main social housing list, about 9,900 (66 percent) were waiting for a one-bed home, the [figures show](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=46176&ref=dublininquirer.com). Moriarty says he is wary about some of the arguments used to oppose one-bed homes. He doesn’t like arguments that suggest families build communities while couples or single people don’t, he says. “I don’t like the binaries.” Still, while he has been a strong advocate for more one-bedroom homes, he says, the balance does seem to be wrong at the moment with too many developments with a high proportion of studios and one beds. “There is no doubt that there is a huge huge need to increase housing across the spectrum of need,” he said. He is also conscious of the need for flexible homes, he said. This came up during discussions about the mix of homes for the Dublin City Council’s flagship development of cost-rental and social homes at Emmet Road in Inchicore. It shook out with 578 homes – with 110 studios, 172 one-beds, 252 two-beds, and 46 three-beds planned for that development, where site preparation has been underway. But they had talked about having some one-and-a-half beds, says Moriarty. Homes with that bit of extra space – or even spare rooms shared by households in a block – for a visitor, carer, or child to come and stay. Cost killed that though, he says. He and other councillors are also acutely aware of the need for a batch of larger social homes, he says, as larger families are stuck in homeless accommodation the longest. At a meeting in September, Ruth Dowling, a council executive manager, [said there were](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-dublin-city-council-restarts-buying-second-hand-homes-to-tackle-homelessness-who-will-be-prioritised/) 781 families in homeless accommodation who were also on the council’s social housing list, she said. Of them, 223 had been in emergency accommodation for more than two years. And, more than 80 percent of those long-term homeless families are big families, [she says](https://www.dublininquirer.com/as-dublin-city-council-restarts-buying-second-hand-homes-to-tackle-homelessness-who-will-be-prioritised/), while the council has few four-bedroom homes. Dowling had been speaking in the context of a discussion on how to spend Dublin City Council’s budget for buying second-hand homes. The council was conscious of the need for properties for big families stuck long-term in homeless accommodation. “So that is where we would like to target any additional monies we get,” she said to the chamber. Moriarty says this is something councillors have been pushing for. But he is also aware, he says, that buying these from the private market means that the council is competing with others for existing three-bed and four-bed homes. Dublin City Council does have a higher percentage of three-bed homes and larger in its own pipeline than the private sector. As of November 2025, Dublin City Council [had about](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26219890-report-no-2502025-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive/?ref=dublininquirer.com) 17,000 homes in its pipeline across all tenure types – social, affordable-purchase, cost-rental – for the next seven years. Of those, 10 percent are set to be three-beds, 0.001 percent are set to be four-beds or more, a [breakdown shows](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26219890-report-no-2502025-of-the-assistant-chief-executive-m-mulhern-social-housing-supply-and-delive/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Meanwhile, [of the roughly](https://dublin.moderngov.co.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=46176&ref=dublininquirer.com) 15,000 people waiting on the council’s main social housing list 9 percent are waiting for a three-bed, 1 percent are waiting for a four-bed, and 0.1 percent are waiting for a five-bed. If you add in the transfer list though – which includes people wanting to switch homes because of overcrowding – the need for each of those sizes is even greater. Of the 16,100 people on the transfer list, 21 percent are waiting for three-beds, 2 percent are waiting for four-beds, and 0.2 percent are waiting for five-beds. Kayanan, the assistant professor at Maynooth University, says the HNDA tool used by councils to forward plan, and predict future housing needs, is currently under review. The revised National Planning Framework, published in April, [says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222361-national-planning-framework-first-revision-april-2025-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p97) the tool is being updated to now take into account new projections and scenarios laid out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). That research [lays out 12 possible scenarios](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222362-esri-research-on-population-demand/?ref=dublininquirer.com). Which shows just how difficult it is in the current times to predict future need, says Kayanan. *UPDATE: This article was updated at 15.45 on 12 November to include comments from a Dublin City Council spokesperson.* ### Residents moved out of new north Dublin housing estate to allow defects to be fixed URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/residents-moved-out-of-new-north-dublin-housing-estate-to-allow-defects-to-be-fixed/ Last updated: 2025-11-13T16:53:23.000Z Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly says residents at a new housing development near Hollystown, Wilkinsons Brook, started to contact him within months of moving in. It was “in relation to issues of water coming into the properties through their kitchens and through the windows”, he said. The leaks could cause serious mould problems if not dealt with properly, Donnelly said. Fifty-seven of the 69 homes in the estate, built by Glenveagh Homes, were sold via the state’s affordable-purchase scheme – through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and Fingal County Council. The prices started at “€320,000 for the 2-beds, €352,000 for the 3-beds and €399,500 for the 4-beds”, [according to](https://lda.ie/news/lda-launches-over-50-affordable-for-sale-homes-in-hollystown?ref=dublininquirer.com) the LDA. Several residents of the new homes have now moved out temporarily so repairs can be made, said both Donnelly, and Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell, though neither was sure exactly how many. Meanwhile, the 12 social homes in the development remain empty, says the council press office. “We are currently in the process of fully addressing any necessary work in homes in Wilkinson’s Brook, at no cost to residents,” a spokesperson for Glenveagh said on Monday by email. The company has conducted a quality review, is providing temporary accommodation to people who had to move out, and has begun carrying out “a process of fixing water ingress issues”, the spokesperson said. Donnelly, the Sinn Féin TD, says though that he still has questions about why these issues hadn’t been flagged earlier. “The last thing that people would expect is that a brand new house … has had to have such dramatic work done, and people have had to move out in such a short period of time,” he said. He said he has asked Fingal County Council multiple times for any documentation they might have about quality control, but he hasn’t gotten any reply. "There has to be, you know, architects, drawings. There's quantity surveyors, there's quality control. How was this missed?" he said. ## Repairs The 69 homes at Wilkinson’s Brook were developed by Glenveagh. In May 2024, the council and the LDA opened applications for the tranche of affordable purchase homes. The market value ranged from €420,000 to €499,500, say [documents](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222406-minimum-prices-how-to-make-an-application/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from the time. A marketing [brochure](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222695-7404-gv-wilkinsons-brook-brochure-lda-v1024/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for them, bearing the logos of Glenveagh, the LDA, and Fingal County Council extols their virtues. “Built to a standard you can trust,” it says. At Fingal County Council’s monthly meeting on 10 November, chief executive AnnMarie Farrelly said all 69 new homes are set to undergo repairs. The programme includes an inspection process to ensure that the immediate remediation works eliminate any issues or potential issues, and verification by an architectural firm, she said. Work had already started at least six weeks ago, said Farrelly. Households have been offered an option to relocate temporarily nearby, she said. Glenveagh didn’t say exactly what had led to the issues. But, at the meeting, Farrelly said the homes had been built to a new kind of design, which they haven’t seen yet in North Dublin. “It is about delivering own-door units in a new way, in terms of achieving appropriate densities.” These problems are not something that the council likes to see happen, Farrelly said. “But at least now that it has been identified, it is being remediated.” Later, by email, a council spokesperson said the 12 social homes are not yet allocated. But “Fingal County Council and the LDA are actively engaging on the required timelines for the works to be completed at these properties”. ## Check ups Donnelly, the Sinn Féin TD, said he was concerned that this had only come up now. “If you’re spending, you know, close to €400, €420,000 on a three-bedroom house,” he said, “you would have expected that Glenveagh’s quality control would catch this before they sold all the houses.” At the council meeting, Burtchaell, the Solidarity councillor, said this is far from the first time there’s been an issue with quality control in new housing built by private developers. “The private sector has let us down so many times,” he said. “Because it's not trying to do what we need it to do. It's trying to make money.” “It's not trying to provide quality affordable homes for people,” he said. “So they charge too much, and the build quality is poor, and nobody is really holding to the task, you know, on a consistent basis.” In January this year, [work paused](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222412-minutes-of-the-meeting-held-on-20th-january-2025/?ref=dublininquirer.com) on a big housing development of more than 850 homes at Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock – in Dublin City Council’s area – which is being built by Glenveagh Living Limited. Dublin City Council has a technical due diligence team, which monitors works for compliance with building regulation standards and quality, an official told councillors that month. They were inspecting the project as it went along, flagging possible non-compliance, his report said, citing as an example of issues flagged the quality of some non-load bearing brickwork, and damage to plasterboard. By late February, works were ready to start again on parts of the site, another report from the same official [said later.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222415-replies-from-the-director-of-services-for-the-north-central-area/?ref=dublininquirer.com) At the Fingal County Council meeting on 10 November, Sinn Féin Councillor Breda Hanaphy said the situation at Wilkinsons Brook presented serious issues and questions. She rattled off a list. Among them: how were Fingal County Council and the LDA not aware of the problems before the homes were sold? Was there not an architectural inspection, a snag list before they were sold? Have the council manager and the residents received a report from Glenveagh on the issues affecting the houses? Hanaphy asked. Has the council initiated any deeper examinations into the structures of the entire houses? Are they relying on Glenveagh's assessment of the works? she asked. Donnelly said residents are worried about whether there has been an independent assessment of any issues. “People need to have clarity about what exactly … what it is that the council know about these properties,” he said. *Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.* ### In Donnybrook, developer lodges new plans for housing on site of former Magdalene Laundry URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donnybrook-developer-lodges-new-plans-for-housing-on-site-of-former-magdalene-laundry/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T00:11:43.000Z Save for the odd bit of traffic that whipped along the Donnybrook Road, the leafy suburban village was sleepy on Sunday afternoon. On the grounds of St Margarets, a local nursing home run by the Sisters of Charity, a couple of elderly women were visiting the grave of Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, whose funeral mass had occurred on Friday. Nearby, a couple of grey squirrels and a magpie ran around an automated lawnmower as it levelled the home’s lawn. Scrutinising the scene from on high were half a dozen or so pigeons, all perched atop a towering, grey chimney that hangs over the grounds, and belongs to the now overgrown and crumbling former Magdalene laundry. Part of the laundry, a two-storey building with bars over its windows and weeds growing from the roof, sits at the very edge of St Margarets. Although access to the institution is closed off, with the gates at the entrance – which is nearby, down a curving lane known as The Crescent – sealed by lock and chain. Attached to the walls and near the gate were a few paper notices, soggy from the rain, announcing that developer Pembroke Partnership Limited is [seeking](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/172241?ref=dublininquirer.com) Dublin City Council’s permission to build 38 homes on the site. As part of these works, the developer would be retaining its protected structures, with the application proposing the two-storey laundry be refurbished for four apartments, the application says. But, said independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, speaking on Friday, it isn’t clear if the planned preservation works are appropriate or sensitive to its history as an institution for single mothers. “The laundry was synonymous with slave labour, incarceration and abuse,” Flynn says. These buildings are sites of trauma, says Flynn, a survivor of the industrial school system. “We need to be sensitive of this particular legacy.” Earlier this year, the Office of Public Works was granted permission to turn the former laundry on Sean McDermott Street into a remembrance centre. But local councillors [raised their concerns](https://www.dublininquirer.com/survivors-excluded-from-planning-of-memorial-centre-on-former-magdalene-laundry-site-councillors-warn/) that survivors of abuse in church-run institutions were being excluded from its key planning and governance structures. These institutions need to be handled in a very mindful way, says Flynn, the independent councillor. “The council’s naming and commemorations committee is trying to develop a policy around how we acknowledge these sites.” Housing is welcomed here, he says. “But it needs to be appropriate development.” A spokesperson for the developer did not respond when asked on Tuesday to clarify how or whether they would acknowledge the legacy of the Magdalene laundry on the site. ## “An exciting and rare opportunity” In December 2015, the former Magdalene laundry [was put up for sale](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222581-318e28da-35b1-4d62-9ed3-80aa01fb5a31/?ref=dublininquirer.com), with real estate agency Colliers listing it as “an exciting and rare opportunity to develop in the heart of Donnybrook”. The listing omitted its history, only saying that the chimney was a listed structure by Dublin City Council. Four months later, in March 2016, Flynn launched [an online petition](https://www.change.org/p/citizens-of-ireland-protect-dublin-s-donnybrook-magdalene-laundry?ref=dublininquirer.com), which said the state should intervene in the sale, and preserve the building and its contents, which included woven baskets, religious iconography, wash basins, ledgers and machinery. That April, investment firm MontLake [sought the council’s permission](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222587-archaeological-report/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to demolish the whole laundry, with the exception of the chimney, and build 25 apartments. But the firm later withdrew the application. On 29 January 2020, An Bord Pleanála [gave permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/131715?ref=dublininquirer.com) to Pembroke Partnership Limited to demolish everything on site except for the chimney and two-storey laundry building, and construct 44 apartments. But, due to the historic and social significance of the laundry, the board listed among its conditions that a conservation expert would need to be employed during construction, materials from the 19th-century building be reused, and the developer should facilitate the preservation, recording and protection of archaeological materials within the site. Pembroke Partnership Limited is a company located in Gibraltar, according to its planning application, which was prepared by the planning consultants Tom Philips and Associates. And the company lodged a [new application](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/172241?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 17 October for the construction of 38 homes – a mix of duplexes, houses, and apartments, including four in the existing laundry building, which would be refurbished. According to the application, the developer has also proposed private, communal and public open space and EV charging. The application also included [a letter confirming](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222676-part-v-validation-letter/?ref=dublininquirer.com) an agreement in principle to comply with the council’s “Part V” requirements, meaning the council can buy 10 percent of the development to use as social housing. According to a [conservation report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222637-viewdocument-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com), prepared by MESH Architects, despite its vacancy and lack of maintenance, its earlier buildings are in relatively good condition, with the chimney stack structurally sound. The report says the laundry was built on the site of Donnybrook Castle in the 1830s, with the listed two-storey building dating to the 1870s. Its role as a Magdalene laundry was acknowledged in the MESH report, which also said that the firm is of the opinion that the proposed development “strikes an appropriate balance between the retention and re-use of significant architectural heritage”. A spokesperson for the consulting firm did not comment when asked on Tuesday to outline how or whether the new development would acknowledge the site’s history. To date, the only observation was submitted by locals Brendan Tangney and Trish Murphy, saying they welcomed the redevelopment of the site, but that, in recent years, the council has permitted too many developments to proceed on “an ad-hoc, development by development, basis without having an overall coherent plan for the area”. A spate of new developments in the area has radically changed the area already, says local Kevin Birrane. “Donnybrook hasn’t retained its village atmosphere. It’s now basically a run off the N11 into the city centre. The whole village centre is gone.” ## Remembering the past On Monday evening, Flynn, the independent councillor, tabled a motion at a meeting of the council’s South East Area Committee, asking the council’s planning and heritage departments to ensure that as much as possible of laundry’s heritage infrastructure is retained and worked into the new development. Reiterating his 2016 petition, Flynn’s motion said that all contents associated with its history should be retained and preserved, noting that [Aras an Uachtaráin](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donnybrook-future-of-crumbling-magdalene-laundry-is-uncertain/) was among those who utilised the laundry’s services. Michelle Robinson, the council’s executive manager for the South East Area, gave a written reply to Flynn’s motion, acknowledging that the former Magdalene laundry is on the council’s list of protected structures. But, as there is a current planning application on the site, the council’s conservation section could not give any further comment. Speaking at the committee meeting on Monday, Flynn said there are protected structures on the site, which are listed because of their age, make-up and historic significance. But, “the overall site has to be remembered for what it was”. Flynn knows many women who suffered greatly in the laundry, he said. “But, however, the nuns have separated themselves from that particular history, and indeed, many people have separated themselves from that particular history.” So while the laundry, to some extent, is being retained, its history needs to be retained too, he said. He welcomed the housing development, he said. “But not at the cost of actually erasing what is a very important history of the area, and indeed a very important history of our own subjugation.” Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey said he understands a lot of heritage items have already been removed from the site. It is also important to remember the women who were kept there, Lacey said, noting that he grew up next-door to the laundry. “I’m always deeply ashamed of the fact that as kids, we were slagging off the women. It wasn’t right.” When it had originally gone up for sale back in 2015, Lacey wrote to the National Women’s Council of Ireland[ to suggest that they buy the site](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-donnybrook-future-of-crumbling-magdalene-laundry-is-uncertain/) and use it as a national training centre, he said. “It had all the facilities to do so.” Lacey never got a reply, he said. A spokesperson for the NCWI did not respond when asked on Tuesday about this proposal. Flynn’s motion was agreed by the area committee. ### Fingal says it’ll avoid evictions with new Fortlawn redevelopment plan URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/fingal-says-itll-avoid-evictions-with-new-fortlawn-redevelopment-plan/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T00:12:21.000Z Fingal County Council [has re-launched its](https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/part-8-%C2%A0planning-and-development-regulations-2001%C2%A0-amended-proposed-demolition-4-no-dwellings-and?ref=dublininquirer.com) public consultation for the development of 21 new homes at Fortlawn in Blanchardstown. The proposal, which would also see the demolition of four existing homes, had previously gone on display on 8 July. But the council quickly received backlash, when a resident in one of the four homes intended for demolition [launched a petition](https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-demolition-of-homes-in-fortlawn-park?ref=dublininquirer.com) on 10 July saying that they hadn’t received any prior warning or consultation of this plan. The petition gained more than 500 signatures. The council confirmed on 23 July [via social media](https://www.facebook.com/fingalcoco/posts/fingal-county-council-has-deferred-the-public-consultation-on-the-proposed-devel/1146849257472507/) that the consultation was being deferred. The consultation in question is a step in the process by which the council applies for planning permission for its own developments, known as Part 8. After submissions have been made on the plans, the council draws up a report – and councillors vote on whether to make changes, or press ahead, or not. Sinn Féin Councillor Angela Donnelly, at the council’s November monthly meeting on Monday, attempted to table an emergency motion about the residents in Fortlawn Park. But the Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Tom O’Leary, chairing the meeting, ruled her motion out of order. Still, he allowed her a chance to speak. The issue was that residents were being asked to accept this plan to demolish four homes, Donnelly said. But, communication with them has been appalling, she said. “The residents have been given an undertaking that they will not be evicted forcefully from their home,” Donnelly said. Local councillors at the Blanchardstown area committee meeting on 4 September [agreed](https://meetings.fingal.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=139&MId=6152&Ver=4&ref=dublininquirer.com) to a pair of motions saying affected tenants should not be relocated to alternative social housing against their wishes. Local councillors also agreed that a new plan was needed, Donnelly said, “that didn’t necessitate the demolition of four family homes”. It was a huge mistake for the council to proceed over the heads of the community’s wishes, and the motions of councillors, said Solidarity Councillor Helen Redwood. “I think it’s highly undemocratic, and I think it’s also a serious breach of trust with the local community.” Residents were only told of the original consultation the night before, said Labour Councillor John Walsh. “That was fundamentally wrong” But when the original consultation was withdrawn, residents assumed it was being cancelled, said Walsh. “Of course, it was not the case.” It’s been poorly handled by the executive, he said. The council had put their hands up and admitted it wasn’t well handled, said Paul Carroll, Fingal’s director of Housing and Community Development. “We committed to reassessing the design and to engaging in a more full and open manner with the whole community, in particular the four affected residents.” That’s happened over a few months, he said. The solution that the council has come up with is a phased approach of implementing the overall Part 8 planning, he said. “So contrary to what might appear to be the case, no tenant will be asked to leave.” The long-term phased approach will lead to the four demolished homes being replaced and 17 more added in the area, including those that are age friendly and universal design homes for people with disabilities, he said. It will accommodate 47 more people, he said, “and will significantly address the ongoing, serious anti-social behaviour that is taking place in the area.” The council’s chief executive, AnnMarie Farrelly, said the consultation process would require a democratic decision. In other words, a vote by councillors. “Ultimately, if this decision is not approved, that planning permission will not be granted and that will be the end of the 21 proposed homes,” she said. Donnelly said that councillors hadn't asked officials to go out to public consultation again on the same plan, and restart the Part 8 planning process. “If you listened to the residents and to the councillors, we could come up with a plan that wouldn’t destroy community relations and would pass,” she said. The consultation for the Part 8 planning process at Fortlawn will be open until 5 January. ### Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #116 URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-for-dublin-inquirer-print-edition-116/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T00:11:59.000Z Since moving to Dublin a year ago, my bag has filled with little pieces that reflect the rhythm of daily life here. Each item tells a small story about settling into this city and finding comfort in everyday moments. City life isn’t all about glamour, fancy meals, or big events, it’s about noticing the little things and finding joy and beauty in them. I’m a bit of a collector as well, always picking up little things along the way. Especially now, the leaves are so beautiful I can’t help but take a few with me. I’m an illustrator from the Netherlands, based in Dublin. I create playful, textured illustrations that capture the quirky charm of everyday life with warmth and relatability. My work blends traditional sketches and paintings with digital finishing touches. You can find me on Instagram at[ @annemarieklopdraws](https://www.instagram.com/annemarieklopdraws?ref=dublininquirer.com). Feel free to email me at hello@annemarieklop.com. ### Dublin clampers towed away a car with a child in back – again URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/dublin-clampers-towed-away-car-with-child-in-back-again/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T15:11:33.000Z A crew working for Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS), the council’s parking enforcement contractor, towed a car away with a small child in the back seat earlier this month. This time it happened on Parnell Street at about 2pm on 2 November. But this isn’t the first time a DSPS crew has towed away a car with a kid in the back. The council is aware of the 2 November incident, a Dublin City Council spokesperson said on Monday. “A full investigation is currently underway.” Gardaí “attended an incident on Parnell Street” on 2 November shortly after 2pm, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said Monday. “The child in the car was safely reunited with his parents,” he said. In two separate incidents in 2023, DSPS crews towed away cars with toddlers in them, *Dublin Live* [reported](https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/toddlers-back-seat-accidentally-towed-27070358?ref=dublininquirer.com) at the time. ## What happened On 2 November a DSPS crew found a white BMW obstructing Parnell Street, and decided to tow it around the corner, out of the way, according to a DSPS incident report. The writer of the report stayed in the truck while their partner hopped out and looked in the front and back windows, the report says. “As back window was covered with tinted film \[the other crew member\] used his hands to cover light when looking in back window,” the report says. The crew towed the car to a spot nearby but not obstructing traffic, and clamped it, the report says. “I returned to truck, \[the other crew member\] continue with photos, Few minutes later he come to me telling me you don’t believe and showing me photo with kid in car,” the report says. One crew member stayed with the car with the child in it, the other went back to where it was towed from to try to find the parent. By then the guards had heard what had happened, and approached another DSPS crew to find out where the car had been towed to. The guards soon connected with the DSPS crew that knew where the car and child were, and the child and vehicle owner were reunited. “Owner opened car and took child out – she was age around 3 year old; calm not crying,” the report says. “Garda took my details and told that driver admitted that he parked illegally and left child unaccompanied,” it says. The crew removed the clamp from the car, it says. “We went back to pound under instruction.” ## “Additional control measures” After the incidents in April 2023, there was a meeting “between DSPS and An Garda Siochana to review the procedures in place for when a vehicle is being removed”, that *Dublin Live* article quoted a council spokesperson as saying. “Following this review additional safeguards are now in place to help prevent any reoccurrence of this issue,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying. A 22 June 2023 memo to all DSPS staff says “we met our client, DCC, in relation to the unfortunate events leading to recent media coverage. We agreed it is in everyone’s interest, particularly our colleagues, to take additional photographs when relocating vehicles.” In addition to photos showing a vehicle is illegally parked, and any damage on it, “We now also must ensure after we complete the visual checks of vehicles prior to relocation, we take a photograph of the interior, particularly the back, of each vehicle prior to lifting,” the memo says. So how did those additional safeguards fail this time? A spokesperson for DSPS declined to comment, referring questions to the council. The council spokesperson did not reply directly to this question. ### Planning go-ahead for soccer pitches and much more at Alfie Byrne Road URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/planning-go-ahead-for-soccer-pitches-and-much-more-at-the-alfie-byrne-road-in-east-wall/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T00:13:57.000Z Two north inner-city football clubs have been granted planning permission [to redevelop and expand](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26218517-alfie-byrne-road-sports-facilities/?ref=dublininquirer.com) their community sports facilities, to include – among other things – a new floodlit astroturf, BMX course, gym, and clubhouse. Dublin City Council published a final [grant of permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/171118?ref=dublininquirer.com) for East Wall Bessborough FC and Belvedere FC on 5 November. Plans for the indoor facilities on Alfie Bryne Road near Fairview Park show rooms that can be rented by other community organisations for workshops, events, support sessions, and similar. The site to be developed is an old motocross site, next to the long-time home of East Wall Bessborough FC. At their [monthly meeting](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=5540&ref=dublininquirer.com) on 3 November, Dublin city councillors also agreed to [lease the land](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26218455-report-no-2142025-of-the-executive-manager-d-oconnor-with-reference-to-the-granting-of-a-99/?ref=dublininquirer.com) to the clubs for 99 years. Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis – who is vice-chairperson of East Wall Bessborough FC and so stepped out of the meeting for the decision – has pushed the vision to redevelop the park for [around three years](https://www.dublininquirer.com/east-wall-bessborough-fc-hopes-to-secure-its-home-turf-to-continue-its-expansion/). Ennis said the club often couldn’t use its home ground which is near Fairview Park. “The pitch is often unplayable,” he said in [May 2023\. ](https://www.dublininquirer.com/two-north-inner-city-football-clubs-team-up-to-push-a-vision-for-a-new-sports-complex/) The pitch would be closed off to block scramblers. Dog fouling was a problem too, and it was unplayable in the wintertime, said Ennis. The new facility will be transformational for the area, says John Hayden, the chairman of Belvedere Football Club, by phone on Thursday. “We’re absolutely delighted for the children and the community and the people in the area,” Hayden said. “It's something that the area has been crying out for for so long.” The BMX track will be a national standard track, he says, so that races can take place there. The plan is for [Brian Harte from Dublin City Motocross](https://www.dublininquirer.com/in-east-wall-a-renewed-push-for-a-creative-way-to-deal-with-dangerous-scramblers/) to run the BMX track and provide education to young people on the safe use of scramblers, he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2025/11/Image-from-planning-application-3-1.png) Image from planning application. Also in the works are football classes for neurodiverse children and sensory play areas, said Hayden. Local Olympian boxer Emmet Brennan plans to run boxing classes, including for children who are struggling with the development of their motor-skills, Hayden said. Learning boxing skills is very beneficial for children with motor-skills issues, says Hayden, so he expects children to travel from all over Dublin to attend those classes. Local schools will be able to use the facilities too, he said. “It started out as a football project and it’s turned into a game changer for the area and surrounding areas.” The clubs are on the verge of securing funding for the development with the support of large businesses in the area, he says. He expects that once built, the facilities will serve as inspiration for communities elsewhere, he said. “It’ll be an educational space and a community hub, as well as sports facilities.” At the council meeting on Monday, Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan welcomed leasing the land to the two clubs, which she said she and local TD and party leader, Mary Lou McDonald had supported from the start. The lease – which is for €250 per year as long as the land is only used for sports – was agreed upon without further discussion. The plans for the new facilities had already been presented to the council’s North Central Area Committee on 20 October. At that meeting, most councillors welcomed the proposals, but asked why they hadn’t heard the details before. Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron, who chairs the North Central Area Committee, said that committee should have had a presentation on the plans. “The councillors’ responsibility is to approve stuff with the knowledge that they have in the best interests of the community,” said Barron. The site is in the North Central Area. But the clubs are from the Central Area. Bernard Brady, acting head of parks, agreed to organise a detailed briefing for local councillors before the lease came to the full council for agreement. Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said she welcomed the biodiversity elements of the plan. The planning permission says the clubs will employ a qualified landscape architect who will draw up a landscape scheme including biodiverse green roof planting to the clubhouse and weather covers to visitor bicycle stands. The landscape scheme should be implemented in the first planting season after the development is completed, says the planning permission. Independent Councillor John Lyons said he would be interested to find out how the redevelopment was achieved, to try to get similar facilities built elsewhere in the area. “This is a great story, this is fantastic.” _Includes the latest 500 public posts. Use `/sitemap.xml` for the complete archive of public content._