Primary Care Center

Clarington Properties Ltd have lodged a planning application with Dublin City Council for a purpose built Primary Health Care Center on the site of St Josephs Catholic Institute for Deaf People on the Navan Road, Dublin 7. The application is for a two to four storey Primary Care Center containing a health food shop, café, audiology shop, medicine dispensary, HSE accommodation, day care hospital and GP clinic. You can view the full planning application by clicking here. The deadline for submissions is September 3rd 2012. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you with this or any other planning matter. Mary

CABRA TRADERS EVENT

Cabra Business Association is holding its 2nd Cabra Traders Event in St Finbars GAA in Cabra on Saturday August 18th 2012.  There was a great turn-out at the first traders event last year and it is expected to be even better this year with something for every age group and interest.  Mary

GLASNEVIN LOCAL EXPO

Phoenix Park Concerts

MCD, the event promoters for the Swedish House Mafia concert held in the Phoenix Park in July made contact with me today and we discussed my proposal to review the Phoenix Park concerts at the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee.

The role of the Joint Policing Committee is to review crime in the area, examine the causes of such crime and identify ways to address and ideally eliminate such crime. I chair the committee which is made-up of DCC, Gardai, members of the Oireachteas, community representatives and local drugs task force representatives.

We had a constructive conversation. I explained that it is my intention that the Dublin Central JPC will bring together the Gardai, DCC, MCD and the OPW to identifying what went wrong at the concerts and make recommendations to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated. This is not a “finger pointing” exercise, this is a constructive and co-operative process whereby all the stakeholders work together to ensure a reduction in crime for our community.

MCD has agreed to consider the invitation to attend the JPC. I will continue to talk to MCD and the other parties with a view to engaging them fully in the JPC process over the coming days and weeks.

Mary

Grangegorman Community Representation

When the previous government set-up the Grangegorman Development Authority it provided for local community membership of the Authority.  There are dedicated positions for members of the local community on the Board of the Grangegorman Development Authority and on the Consultative Group.  These positions are filled through a local election process.  The positions are up for renewal this autumn and I encourage interested members from the local community to get involved and consider contesting the elections.  All the information is available here.  I am very happy to answer any queries about the project and/or the community representative role so please do not hesitate to contact me.  Mary

Luas for Cabra and Grangegorman

Today An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission for Luas BXD to Grangegorman. It will connect the existing two Luas lines and extend the service to Cabra, via Grangegorman. This is great news for Dublin, Grangegorman and Cabra and removes one of the final obstacles to the project. Now it is up to the Government to provide the funding for what will be a labour intensive project that will deliver quality transport and local employment. If the Government approve funding initial works can commence next year and passenger services could start in 2017.

The 6km BXD line will extend the Green Line from St Stephen's Green through the city centre where it will link up with the Red Line at the junction of O'Connell St and Abbey St. It will then go to Broombridge near Cabra where it will link up with the Maynooth commuter rail line. A stop is also planned for the new DIT campus at Grangegorman which will be home to more than 10,000 DIT students when up and running.

Last year the project had suffered a terrible blow when the Government had cut capital funding but recognising their earlier mistake they recently reversed their decision and included more than €100m for Grangegorman in their recent stimulus package. The campus design was always based on public transport and ABPs decision to grant permission for Luas BXD is extremely important for the success of the project. Mary

Phoenix Park Concert

Click HERE to hear Mary speak on RTE's Morning Ireland regarding the recent violence at the Phoenix Park concert.

I welcome the report from the Garda Commissioner into the events which took place at the Swedish House Mafia concert on July 7th in the Phoenix Park. The report underlines the seriousness of the events, identifies significant issues and failures and makes recommendations with regards the holding of future such events.

The report states that the Phoenix Park is not suitable for electronic dance music events, there was an absence of appropriate security measures and identifies a number of other basic operational deficiencies with the venue and the management of the event.

I am calling on the Minister Brian Hayes to ensure that MCD is not permitted to hold any similar events until they respond in detail to the points raised in this report.  MCD have been afforded an opportunity to respond to these criticisms at the local policing committee but they have yet to confirm their attendance.  I would like to know how much Minister Hayes' Department was paid for the use of the park, what was the true cost of the event including clean-up, when will the ugly hoarding be removed and the park returned to the public.

I again call on MCD to respond in detail to the criticisms made in this report. I hope they accept my invitation to the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee and use it as an opportunity to start to repair the situation. 

Click HERE to download the report in full.

Mary

Development should be supported

The Governments decision in November of 2011 to cut the capital budget by €750m in 2012 was a devastating blow to our economic recovery. One of the projects that was directly affected by the Governments decision was Metro North. At the time the Government indicated that the Metro North underground service to Dublin Airport would be indefinitely deferred. In 2007 Dublin City Councillors voted to introduce a development levy scheme which would apply to any new developments along the proposed Metro North route, this scheme is still in operation and DCC has collected over €3m in levies under this scheme.

I have raised this issue a number of times at City Council because I believe it is an unfair penalty and is suppressing development along the route. The creation of a levy scheme such as this is a reserved function of the City Councillors i.e. Councillors approve the scheme and councillors can amend/cancel the scheme. At the July ’12 meeting of the Central Area Committee I formally put a put a motion calling for the scheme to be suspended, the €3m refunded and only to be reactivated if or when Metro North gets the go ahead from the Government. Unfortunately neither Labour nor Fine Geal Councillors would support my motion so it was defeated. I believe it is wrong for the local authority to be collecting significant sums of money under false pretences, to hold on to the money when the reason for collecting it no longer exists and the Labour and Fine Geal councillors in the Central area did the area a great dis-service by refusing to rectify this situation. I will continue to work to have this unfair levy abolished. Mary

DIT Sports Center Bannow Road

I support the planning application from DIT for a new sports and recreation facility in the old Hannay site on Bannow Road at Broombridge. The facility will be operated by DIT and include a gym, café, sports shop, all weather pitch, car and coach parking. It will be open to other groups and members of the local community to use. Planning permission is pending from DCC and if you wish to review details of the application please click here.  Please do not hesitate to contact me about this or any other matter.  Mary

Grangegorman Gets Green Light

It is not often I get to congratulate Labour and Fine Geal but as a member of the board of Grangegorman I welcome the Government’s action to correct their damaging decision of last year to cut capital funding for the Grangegorman development.

When, in November 2011, the Government announced a cut of more than €700million to the capital budget for 2012 it not only undermined important employment generating projects like Grangegorman but also greatly undermined confidence of potential private investors in the Irish market.

Now they have recognised their mistake and resolved to correct it by funding the DIT element of the Grangegorman project as part of their recently announced, and long overdue, stimulus plan.  This is welcome news for the students and staff of DIT as well as the local area.

The previous Government provided funding for the establishment of the Grangegorman Development Authority, of which I am a board member, creation of a Master Plan and design and construction of the new HSE Mental Health facility which is due to be complete by the end of the year. Once the new mental health facility is ready conservation work can begin on some of the listed buildings to adapt them for use by the Dublin Institute of Technology. The first students are due on site in September 2014.

This work will be labour intensive and I have worked to ensure local employment opportunities are maximised. A skills register has been set up for construction workers who would like to be part of these projects. The Local Employment Service is administering this register. If you wish to be added to the skills register please send your CV to the Local Employment Service, 42 Manor Street, Dublin 7. Or you can e-mail them at gmoore@nwicles.ie. Please note that this register is only for construction related skills at this time. While other jobs will be coming on stream as the Grangegorman project progresses, a register for other sectors has not yet been established.  Please do not hesitate to contact me about this or any other issue.  Mary

Phoenix Park Concerts

The Dublin City Manager, John Tierney, welcomed my idea to bring the issues raised relating to the concerts in the Phoenix Park to the JPC in September. In reponse to my request for all special event licences to be withheld until after the JPC he advised me that “Dublin City Council currently has a number of event licence applications including Bruce Springsteen Concerts in the RDS 17th and 18th July, The Street Performance World Championships on 19th to 22nd July Merrion Square, Tall Ships Docklands Event 23-26 August, and Leonard Cohen in Royal Hospital Kilmainham 8th, 9th and `11th September. The issuing of a Public Event Licence is a statutory process. A decision on applications for the upcoming events will be based on the information submitted and compliance with the Regulatory requirements. It would not therefore be possible to impose a ban on all upcoming public events requiring a licence."”   I have asked the City Manager to advise me of the security, public transport, cleansing, health and safety arrangements to be put in place for each of the proposed events.

The OPW, MCD and Dublin City Council Special Events Licence representatives have all been invited to attend the next meeting of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committtee which will take place on September 6th in City Hall.  Mary

Save 16 Moore Street

It is a real disgrace that an appropriate and meaningful memorial has yet to be created at the site of the National Monument on Moore Street. I commend the relatives, friends and supporters of the Save 16 Moore Street Campaign and have always been happy do anything I can to support the objective of creating a battlefield museum in the streets, lanes and buildings between the GPO, Moore Street and Parnell Street. When I met recently with members of the campaign and Micheal Martin TD, leader of Fianna Fail, we discussed the pending decision from the Minister Jimmy Deenihan for Ministerial Consent to undertake works at the site. The campaign group expressed deep concern that permission would be granted that might undermine the integrity of the site and real  disappointment that the Taoiseach, since becoming Taoiseach, has been so far unavailable to meet with them. To support their request for a meeting with the Taoiseach I proposed a motion at the July '12 Central Area Committee requesting the Taoiseach meets with the Campaign group prior to the granting of Ministerial consent. The motion was passed and a written request has been sent to the Taoiseach from the Central Area Committee calling "on Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T.D., to meet with the members of the Save 16 Moore Street group prior to the Minister making a decision on the application for “Ministerial Consent” to undertake work on the National Monument on Moore Street".

Lets hope Enda Kenny finds some time to meet with the relatives of the 1916 heros without whose personal sacrifice in the streets of Dublin there might not be an office of An Taoiseach for him to occupy today. Mary

Liberty House re-development

Dublin City Council received approval from the Department of the Enviroment on the 27th July 2012 for the redevelopment of Liberty House. The funding will provide for the demolition of the existing blocks E+F and the construction of 56 new residential units, a basement car park and a small community building. Residential accommodation will include a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments and houses. Construction is expected to start by the end of October 2012. The contract duration is for 104 weeks. This is great news for the north inner city and will go some way to providing much needed social housing. Mary

Derelict Sites

In July 2012 I was informed by the Derelict sites section that all work has been carried out on both houses on Connaught Street so the District Court proceedings were struck out with costs awarded to the Council. The properties will now be removed from the Derelict Sites Register while the matter of outstanding levies will be pursued. Levies owning on the properties are approximately €70,000.  It seems to be a weakness of the legislation that properties can be removed from the derelict sites register without the levies being paid.  This is wholly inconsistent with the approach taken to applying development levies which have to be paid in advance of development commencing. In an effort to correct this anomaly and to encourage more responsible management of derelict properties I put the following motion to the July 2012 Central Area Committee “That this Committee call on Dublin City Council to seek amendment to the Derelict Sites Act to ensure that properties placed on the Derelict Sites register are not removed from the register until the properties are repaired and all fines, penalties and costs associated with said properties paid in full”. The motion was passed and has been referred to the Minister for consideration. Mary

Corpus Christi Girls N.S.

The board of management of Corpus Christi Girls National School on Homefarm Road has applied to Dublin City Council for planning permission to replace a prefab classroom with a permanent single story classroom and linking corridor to the main school. For full details of the planning application please click here.  Mary

Royal Canal Cycle Path

Since I was first elected in 2004 I have consistently campaigned for an upgrade of the Royal Canal Path from Ashtown to the IFSC. Over recent years pedestrians and cyclists have been able to enjoy the upgraded path from Cross Guns Bridge to Binns Bridge and Spencer Dock. At the July ‘12 Central Area Committee I received a progress report that indicates that “Dublin City Council has appointed Consultants to identify feasible options for the provision of cycle tracks along the Royal Canal, from Sheriff Street to Phibsborough Road. It is anticipated that the option selection process will be completed in October 2012. A Feasibility Report has already been completed for the section from Phibsborough Road to Ashtown. Funding for the projects has been provided by the National Transport Authority. It is anticipated that the design process for these three sections will commence in 2013”. Although progress is slower than I would like, it is at least going in the right direction. Mary

Gealscoil Bharra

Following years of campaigning the realisation of a purpose built school for Gealscoil Bharra in Cabra has moved one giant step further this summer with the submission of an application for planning permission for an 8 classroom, three storey school on the Fassaugh Avenue site.

As a City Councillor I have consistently supported the campaign for a purpose built school and was happy to support the provision of the site, free of charge, from Dublin City Council to the Department of Education for the benefit of the School. As well as a modern school building, St Finbars GAA will also get a new all weather pitch, flood lighting, overhead and side netting and a hurling wall. Residents on Quarry Road will benefit from a new boundary wall. You can review the full application here. Mary

The Rotunda Hospital

We can be very proud in Dublin Central to have the worlds’ oldest Maternity Hospital, The Rotunda Hospital, and for me there is no place more special because it is where my three children were so expertly delivered into this world.

The Rotunda Hospital has a pending planning application to demolish the existing single story outpatients department and replace it with a new five storey hospital building. For full details of the application please click here. I am happy to support any development of the Rotunda that enables the staff there to provide the women of Dublin with the very best of care. Mary

The Grand Bingo Hall

Capital Entertainment & Leisure Ltd have applied for planning permission to erect new external and internal signage on the Cabra Grand Bingo Hall on Quarry Road. For full details of the application please click here. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance with this or any other planning matter. Mary

New Central Bank HQ in North Wall

The Central Bank of Ireland has submitted an application to Dublin City Council to develop the office building on the corner of North Wall Quay and New Wapping Street.  The application seeks amendments to the previously granted permission and if approved will provide a new office building with parking and other ancillary services in an eight storey building measuring close to 40mtrs.  You can review the full application by clicking here.  Please contact me if I can be of any assistance to you with this or any other planning matter.  Regards, Mary