21st century dublin

Sceala Clann Counsellor Location: NZ

all these changes planned for dublin.
very exciting and worrying at the same time.
please do not build sky scrapers in ireland.
plans to build ireland's first ever skyscraper on the site of two of its most famous hotels in dublin have been unveiled by irish property mogul sean dunne.
a 37-storey 132 meter high tower is planned as the centerpiece of dunne's mountbrook homes development on the seven-acre site of the berkeley court and jury's hotel which he bought for €379m ($515m) in 2005.
dunne will need to keep cool too however as his ambitious plans will have to get the approval of dublin city council whose elected councilors have already thrown out a local area plan drawn up by the council's planners, central to which was high-rise development of the kind envisaged by dunne.
dunne's plans include the 132 meter tower which will house apartments and penthouses, along with cultural facilities at the base.
the planned building would dwarf dublin's tallest - liberty hall - which is only 59.4 meters tall, and ireland's highest, windsor house in belfast, which is 80 meters high.
the scheme also envisages new buildings of 11 floors along lansdowne road and 15 on pembroke road, which will variously encompass a multi-storey embassy complex, office buildings, a new 242-room luxury hotel and an underground shopping mall.
the cultural dimension planned for dublin will include a cinema, jazz club, art galleries, artists' studios, music rooms, rehearsal studios and what is described as a european center for culture.
in keeping with the apparent cultural leanings of much of ireland's new moneyed classes, "culture" would appear to exclude irish culture however, with a promotional video showing ballet and jazz, set in a modern urban backdrop which could be just as easily be bangkok or brisbane.
dunne himself referred to the development as creating a knightsbridge for dublin, a reference to the fashionable district in london.
the design by danish architect henning larsen architects who won an international competition for the commission is viewed by ireland's leading architectural and conservation critic, frank mcdonald of the irish times, as having "undoubted architectural quality."
a key feature opens the block to pedestrians, a transformation in a precinct dense with shut railings and gates guarding some of ireland's most prestigious properties.
getting planning for the huge skyscraper through dublin city council will require dunne to use all the political and financial muscle he has.
his friends include taoiseach bertie ahern, who delivered personal greetings aboard the boat hosting dunne's second wedding reception.
a key pitch being touted already by dunne is that the high-rise is the only way to combat dublin's urban sprawl, with dublin's urban density near the lowest of any city in europe.
however, dunne's development is likely to be only available to ireland's super-rich, many of whom are likely to own houses elsewhere, and the impact of his development alone will be minute.
but it is the debate in the city council that could be of more significance in terms of its long-term impact on dublin's skyline.
councilors can expect to come under severe political pressure from dunne's friends in high places, but equally from some of ireland's richest residents opposed to a development which would change - or they would say destroy - the character of their largely victorian-built environment for good.
a transformation to a high-rise dublin could well come to a halt if the current property slump turns into a full-blown recession. but once building upward is allowed, only the sky would appear to be the long-term limit.

new port for north dublin
a new port is to be developed at bremore near balbriggan in north county dublin, as a joint venture between drogheda port and a private company.
legislation will have to be prepared and passed before the new port can go ahead.
drogheda port company said today's government decision was a positive move, and that they intend to move forward now with an environmental impact statement, and hope to be in the planning process within a year.
work on the plan began five years ago, and aims to develop new facilities at bremore at an estimated cost of €210million.

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21st century dublin