The Dublin Community Blog

According to Breaking News.ie, since the Luas was launched in June 2004 some 50 million journeys have been made with 80,000 people travelling on it everyweek. The website has a handy list of attractions which are located close to the Luas, handy for tourists.

Taken from the Red line Luas in May 2005.

The former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Dermot Lacey, can often be seen riding around the capital on his e-bike, but sadly no more.

Leaving the City Hall on Tuesday October 17, Cllr Lacey was distraught to discover his beloved bike was no longer chained to the bike stand outside.

“The irony of all this is that I was at a meeting talking about the need for a proper transport sytem for Dublin and the failure of the Government to establish a democratic Dublin Transportation Authority and the need for a proper energy policy. Only to come out and find my own transport gone and my energy on this occasion sapped.

“Because of it’s internal operating methods without the individual key which I still have, the bike is actually of no use at all to anyone else. It is a heavy enough bike and would be of limited use to anyone without that key.

“There are few of these bikes in Ireland and they are very distinctive, so if anyone has any information can they contact me at 087 26 46 960.”
The  e-bike is an efficent electronic environmentally friendly bike that gets you to your destination with less effort than normal push bikes, Cllr Lacey explained.

This is the councillor’s second bike, the first had the honour of leading the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin in 2003 and was also a familiar sight around the city. However the first one was also stolen from the same spot three years ago.

Breaking News.ie is reporting that a group of Shell to Sea protestors have occupied the headquarters of Shell Ireland which are located on Leeson Street. Some are inside the building and some are on a one-storey roof.
Gardai have been called to the scene.

Pic from Breaking News

UPDATE: 4.12pm

As Daragh says in the comments, the protest is now over, according to the breaking news section of the Ireland.com (sub required)

Pic by Luke Cassidy and shown on Ireland.com

There’s breaking news reports coming through this morning that a womans body has been found in a burn out car on Hendrick Street in the City Centre. More on this as we get it…

See Map of Hendrick Street

UPDATE 09:58 According to ireland.com the find was made after the fire brigade was called to Hendrick Street at 04.27.

In case you haven’t come across it already, there is a Blogging the Election conference taking place this Saturday in the Digital Hub in Dublin. I just noticed a breaking news item on it.
Organised by Damien, Cian, Suzy and Mick, the day will comprise of various sessions including the art of blogging by politicians and a talk given by Guido Hawkes.
The organisers are still looking for sponsorship so if you can help go to Irish Election and sign up as well as register for the event.

All those who register are being offered free blog hosting by Digiweb. More information on Irish Election.

I’ve just read with disgust that protestors from Monaghan, aggrieved (admittedly genuinely) with the downgrading of the emergency status of the hospital recently, are planning on taking their protest from their locality in Monaghan, to cause traffic and transport chaos along the M50 in Dublin.

They are operating under the belief that the seat of power for the country is in Dublin, and until they start to hurt the people of Dublin, that their local issues will not be listened to or addressed.

Now, I for one have serious issues with this. Whilst I have no issues with people expressing their grievances with various powers of authority on any occasion, such are the joys and benefits of democracy, I have a serious issue with people purposely setting out to cause misery and suffering to innocent bystanders who, in this case, already have a miserable time trying to negotiate their way through Dublin traffic to start with!!

What makes this all the more galling, is the fact that The Monaghan Community Hospital Alliance (MCHA) chairman, Peadar Mc Mahon, recognises the fact that he will cause innocent bystanders to suffer “People have died as a result of the downgrading of Monaghan Hospital. We are prepared to go to any lengths to remove that anxiety,”

If you wish to voice your anger, support or otherwise with this cause, please feel free to comment here, participate in our poll (see right) or, contact the Monaghan Hospital Alliance direct, contact details are:

County Monaghan Alliance
C/O Peadar McMahon
Mullan Road,
Emyvale,
Co. Monaghan.
Tel: 086-8156816
email: peadar@emyvale.net

There are reports coming through of a major bank raid in Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock. Reports are very sketchy at the moment, but some reports say that there was a kidnap plot involved in this. More on the story as it happens.

UPDATE 13:40RTE are reporting that the bank manager of the TSB Bank in Northside was held hostage, along with her husband and two children in their home in Clogherhead, Co. Louth at around 20:00 last night, and held overnight. The manger was then brought to the bank this morning, where the gang have made off with up to EUR 1 million.

The managers family were found “somewhere in North Country Dublin” at around 10:30 this morning.

The M50 southbound at the Firhouse junction is currently closed, apparently due to a person threathning to jump from the bridge. This will further add to the traffic woes around Dublin during this evenings commute, with the area around Dawson St also being closed due to a security incident. More on this as it happens also.

UPDATE: 16:35

According to this update the M50 has now re-opened also.

There are reports coming through of a suspect device having been found in St Ann’s Church on Dawson St in Dublin. No more details as of yet. According to AA Roadwatch Dawson St is closed until further notice. The Army Bomb Squad are en-route to investigate this. More details on these as we find them.

UPDATE 16:34

According to an AA Roadwatch update Dawson St has now re-opened but traffic around the area is very heavy.

Arnotts, a department store in Dublin, is proposing a €700m redevelopment of Henry Street, Liffey Street, O’ Connell Street and Middle Abbey Street into a shopping and residential zone which is being called the ‘Northern Quarter’
Artists impressions of the redevelopment which includes constructing a plaza between Henry Street and Middle Abbey Street, are shown below. The plaza is proposed to contain 47 new shop buildings, 17 cafes, restaurants, bars, apartments and a hotel.

The Evening Herald is reporting that Arnotts has been snapping up properties between Henry Street, the GPO arcade, Middle Abbey Street and Liffey Street in the event their plans are given the go-ahead spending an astonishing €100m. They estimate the works will take place up until 2010.

I have a couple of thoughts on this, while it looks good and sounds exciting, how can a department store decide to redevelop an area this size? Also can we face more works in this area? How many of you remember the ongoing works on Henry Street a few years back where a significant proportion of the street was inaccessible for a pretty long time. Christmas shopping was a nightmare. Or am I just being a kill-joy?
Let us know what you think?
News link: Irish Independent (free subscription required)
      

Arnotts photograph taken by Diarmuid on Flickr