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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Dublin City Council plans 38 new apartments for Drimnagh
The new apartment block, designed by Proctor & Matthews Architects, was discussed at yesterday's DCC South Central Area meeting and will be built on a site previously occupied by a funeral home. It will contain 10 one-bedroom, 22 two-bedroom and 6 three-bedroom units, and will include a playground and a shared garden for residents within a central courtyard. Planting within the courtyard space will also be native and support biodiversity, the council promises. The proposal is set to be built alongside a new library for the area. All homes in the scheme will have a minimum of an A2 BER rating, and will be heated using heat pumps, with solar panels to support the building's energy requirements. Construction on site is expected to start in May 2027, subject to planning approval and appointment of a contractor, with residents able to move in from November 2028. Speaking at the council meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said the development was 'great news' for Drimnagh and surrounding areas. "This will be setting the standard for housing across the city and beyond,' he said. 'It will be the jewel in the crown of D12. "This shows what can be delivered when the city council are given the funds to build housing. It is important that the government realise this and give adequate funding to allow city council acquire more land to build council and affordable housing to meet the needs of the city.' Other councillors also praised the scheme, with Ray Cunningham saying that it looked 'amazing'. "It's great to see it being built on a site that's been derelict for so long,' the Green Party member said. "I also want to thank the team in Dublin council for coming out with a lot of information recently, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, a lot of posts explaining what was happening with the site and putting the correct information out into the public domain to stop bad actors from spreading lies.' Dublin City Council has substantially missed its Department of Housing-imposed homebuilding targets for the years 2022 to 2024. For those years, 2,341 homes were delivered in the local authority area, equating to 49pc of the target of 4,800, although it has committed to exceeding its targets for this year and next. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Tipperary council slammed for ‘discriminatory' graveyard policies
Councillor Willie Kennedy hit out at the local authority at the June full meeting of Tipperary County Council, saying that the council's policy of identifying land for some graveyard extensions and not others is affecting local communities across the county. Speaking to the Irish Independent, Cllr Kennedy said that in urban areas, extra land for graveyards was being provided by the council, but that out in the countryside, it was a different story. "The one I'm mostly interested is Templeree, which caters for the parish of Castleiney and Templetuohy and to some extent, Clonmore, now Killea had to provide their own, with some assistance from the council, Two-Mile Borris had to do the same, again with some assistance from the council, but they had to do it themselves,' Cllr Kennedy explained. "But in the urban areas, the council will do it all, and we all pay our property tax, any business in the area would pay their rates, so we should all be entitled to the same service,' he added. "It's not easy for volunteers to go and try and organise and provide their own cemetery because there's a whole lot of things involved, there's land purchase, there's a lot of hoops to go through in planning, and none of that is easy, and then there's money, we could be taking about €100,000 at least, if not more' the Fine Gael councillor said. This system is having a significant impact on local graveyard committees, Cllr Kennedy said, most of which are run by a few core people, with others who help out also. 'Why do we have different policies for different areas? That is the question I've been asking,' Cllr Kennedy said. "The attitude for the Templeree cemetery, which is actually in the parish of Castleiney, is that there's plenty of space in Loughmore, but Castleiney people don't want to be buried in Loughmore and nor do Templetuohy people, and they would say to people that our graveyard in Templetouhy is probably full too. 'There has been a graveyard in Templeree for about 150 years, we're not looking for a new graveyard or a second one in the parish,' Cllr Fitzgerald explained. Efforts are underway to find and identify land that would be suitable for an extension of Templeree Cemetery. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more "We're looking at a site at the moment and there's one identified, and we're hoping that the council will very fast do testing on it to see is it suitable, because on the grave there's a few things you need to watch out for,' Cllr Kennedy said. "We did look at one site to one side of it [Templeree Cemetery] and it wasn't suitable because there was rock and you couldn't dig down only for one coffin and that's not suitable.' 'It's discriminatory that some areas have to go and provide their own and put in the effort and the work and frustration,' the Thurles councillor added. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Cork figures show 136 home septic tanks inspected every year
Ted O'Leary of the Environmental Directorate of Cork County Council told a meeting of the Council's Southern Division that the figure is dictated to the local authority by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is limited to areas where water quality is potentially threatened by residential septic tanks. "The number of septic tank inspections that the Council undertakes is very limited. It's 136. That's what we do a year and that number is dictated to us by the EPA. That's what we're required to do, as part of a national response to an EU court case a number of years ago that found that Ireland was not meeting its statutory obligations in relation to the regulation and monitoring of private residential wastewater treatment systems,' he added. "Arising out of that, a national inspection program was put in place that allocated a specific number of inspections to every local authority. Cork County Council's annual number is presently 136," Mr O'Leary told the meeting. He said these inspections are all targeted at areas where it has been scientifically proven that local water is under pressure from residential septic tanks. This is usually dictated by the geology of an area. 'So you will find that our inspections are targeted at particular areas of the county that are susceptible because of the geology, because of the landscape, because of the particular configuration of catchments in the area. And that's where we're required by the EPA to target our inspections," he added. Mr O'Leary said Cork County Council randomly picks 136 residential homes with septic tanks to inspect annually in the areas of sensitivity in the county that have been defined by the EPA. He explained the most common reason that septic tanks fail an inspection is because they haven't been "desludged" or emptied, a procedure which should be carried out every year or two. Half a million homes in Ireland use septic tanks to process their sewage and wastewater. More than half of home septic tanks inspected last year were not working properly, raising fears that dirty toilet and sink water is escaping untreated into gardens and rivers. Figures released by the EPA found that 56pc of the 1,390 septic tanks inspected in 2024 were badly maintained, leaking, clogged or otherwise substandard. A Department of Housing grant of up to €12,000 is available to householders with faulty septic tanks but the scheme has been criticised as being too restrictive and convoluted. To be eligible to even apply, a home must be in an area where the surface or ground waters have been determined by the EPA to be at risk from residential septic tanks. Establishing eligibility can mean consulting multiple state agencies, documents, interactive maps and officials, critics say. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
South Dublin County Council spent €150k on rebrand project
In a response to Councillor Ronan McMahon, SDCC said that €151,475 excluding VAT was spent on a contract with Image Now Consultants, following a tender process. The authority said it was important to place the figure in the context of a review into its brand identity and reputation which it held last year. In the review, during which more than 1,000 people were consulted, the council found that SDCC residents 'do not know what local authority area they live in and they find the name confusing'. It also found that the old branding had become 'fractured and diluted', to the point where it was 'problematic' in an increasingly digital world. The colours of orange and grey were also found to hold 'no connection with either the county or the organisation'. To solve this, SDCC engaged the services of Dublin-based design consultancy Image Now to develop a new identity and brand for the local authority. The refreshed look was launched on May 20 and includes an updated online presence, new colour palette and a custom-designed accessible typeface called SDCC Sans. 'SDCC now has a robust brand strategy, system and architecture that reflects the identity of the organisation and county that is grounded in that research and reflects the needs and ambitions of the people who live and work here,' the response to Cllr McMahon reads. "The brand architecture means every project will be aligned with the master brand, thereby removing the disparate individual project brands that have grown over time. "This will mean a reduced spend on graphic design and website creation, and serves the public by being clearer and more accountable because everyone will know it is a project delivered or supported by SDCC,' it added. ADVERTISEMENT SDCC said it has an annual budget of €390m and a capital investment programme of €1.7bn, and this spend represents a 'tiny fraction' of that. It added that the refreshed brand was 'essential' to ensuring the public is aware of everything they do. Colm Ward, SDCC chief executive, said at the launch of the new branding that it had been 'a long time coming'. "South Dublin is evolving — and now is the right time to invest in how we reflect that to the public. This isn't about surface change. It's about delivering better service, better connection, and building greater trust'. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Tánaiste not responding to Wicklow County Council over N11 junction closure opposition
Bray People Today at 06:33 The chief executive of Wicklow County Council Emer O' Gorman has been asked to review a decision that will see the closure of the Herbert Road Junction in Bray. There has been widespread opposition to the proposals, which form part of the N11/M11 Bus Priority Interim Scheme. Residents protesting the move recently assembled at the sod turning on the new Fassaroe Park and Ride Facility to hand deliver a letter to the chief executive asking her to keep a promise that she would raise their concerns with the Tánaiste Simon Harris and Transport Minister Darragh O' Brien. Following a question from Cllr Joe Behan at the June meeting of Wicklow County Council, Ms O'Gorman indicated she had written to both the Tánaiste and Mr O'Brien with no response. 'All I have gotten is an acknowledgment from the Department of Transport, from the minister's office, nothing further by way of correspondence.' Cllr Melanie Corrigan highlighted the 'huge' public concern that exists around the proposed closure and called on council officials to explore other options to facilitate a bus corridor along the route. Responding to Cllr Corrigan, Ms O' Gorman said they are currently preparing tender documents for phase three of the scheme. 'As part of that process, as part of the brief, we want the consultants to further assess and examine alternatives to the Herbert Road that's currently set out as part of the preferred option. So that will be written in to the new tender document that will be going out shortly.' Speaking after the meeting, a spokesperson for Mr Harris stressed that the Tánaiste 'has made his position on keeping Herbert Road open very clear'. They added: 'He met in person with the residents' group last Tuesday at Kilbride Church, where he reaffirmed his commitment to opposing the closure. 'He also agreed to arrange a meeting between Herbert Road residents and Minister O'Brien. 'Chief executive Emer O'Gorman recently confirmed, in the Wicklow Council chamber, that she has been contacted weekly by the Tánaiste's office regarding the issue.' In addition, the Tánaiste has sent more than 3,000 letters to local residents about the Herbert Road. He has also previously written to the Transport Minister about his opposition to this closure. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
