Is Limerick Dying?

hightower1

phog wrote: »

No, any on street machine that takes coins is far more expensive to run and maintain.

There's nothing wrong with the concept of the parking discs.

Its more expensive to loose custom to a shopping center seeing as the main reason touted time and time again for this is the parking convenience. Discs are cheap for the issuer but not as convenient for the user, that lack of convenience drives peoples decisions away from the city.

Parking up, walking to a shop to buy a disc, back to the car to fill it out then finally you can go shopping as opposed to parking up, paying beside your car, go shopping is far far more convenient.

firesidechat

Ennis 50c an hour .?

Try one euro and 30 cents per hour .
Ennis too is dieing a slow death.:(

VanV

Limerick is dying, and at an alarming rate.

1. No jobs = high unemployment and no money or volume in the local economy.

2. You can waffle on all you like about vacant units but until point 1 above is addressed, it's a pointless debate. Not much point opening a store in Limerick with 20,000+ people unemployed. The stores already in Limerick are struggling to stay alive, more stores is not the solution. Jobs is.

3. Too many scumbags in this city. There is a sub human race living in this city, absolute scum of the earth, pond life rats. They rear their ugly head at every half decent event that the city tries to run. With their tracksuits stuffed inside their socks and their inbred heads bedecked with cheap Argos jewellery, they are an absolute stain on society and our city. They also now have a constant presence in town, and at weekends in the Crescent. You think tourists are going to flock to spend time among these mutants? The most painful death you could imagine wouldn't be enough for these c**ts. I've no idea how it could be done, but this needs to be addressed if the city and county is to have a future.

4. The Crescent SC is not the mecca and goldmine that everyone here seems to think it is. Every business out there is struggling big time. It's a ghost centre from Monday to Wednesday. It has it's own scumbag problems at weekends. The Crescent WAS a goldmine when it's neighbour Dell existed. Those days are long gone lads, so feel free to start including the Crescent when you speak of Limerick dying.

5. Our city council is clueless. Jobs for the boys. What credentials does Jim Long have to be mayor? None. What business did he have going to China and what expertise did he and his cronies bring to the table? None and nothing. There's part of your problem right there. I could go on. Why hasn't the river Shannon in Limerick City centre been utilised better? i.e. a yachting dock/harbour created to add a bit of pizazz and attract tourists? Why hasn't the bridge been updated to make it a landmark feature of the city a la Waterford? Why hasn't Steamboat Quay been flattened and in it's stead a cultural area of riverside bars, cafes and restaurants been built? The statue of Richard Harris in the city centre is a disgrace, it should be much bigger and have much more of a presence for tourists etc. You wouldn't see a statue of that size in Dublin. The city council are clueless oafs, every one of them to a man. And of course, where are the jobs???

6. It has to be said as well that it appears the people of Limerick actually don't give a s**t. We seem happy to moan and complain but not actually take any action. No significant job announcements for Limerick in years yet not a peep from the people of Limerick, the local media or the various local mouthpieces. No marches or demonstrations for the things that actually matter. We should be shaming the government in to action on Limerick but instead we are doing nothing. It's time to wake up because all the jobs are going to Dublin, Galway and Cork. Even Athlone has managed to attract huge investment from the Chinese. Limerick on the other hand is a joke.

Beaver1

hightower1 wrote: »

Its more expensive to loose custom to a shopping center seeing as the main reason touted time and time again for this is the parking convenience. Discs are cheap for the issuer but not as convenient for the user, that lack of convenience drives peoples decisions away from the city.

Parking up, walking to a shop to buy a disc, back to the car to fill it out then finally you can go shopping as opposed to parking up, paying beside your car, go shopping is far far more convenient.

use parkmagic, you sit in your car and phone a number, pick how many minutes you want to park and your done.

pigtown

VanV wrote: »

Limerick is dying, and at an alarming rate.

1. No jobs = high unemployment and no money or volume in the local economy.

2. You can waffle on all you like about vacant units but until point 1 above is addressed, it's a pointless debate. Not much point opening a store in Limerick with 20,000+ people unemployed. The stores already in Limerick are struggling to stay alive, more stores is not the solution. Jobs is.

3. Too many scumbags in this city. There is a sub human race living in this city, absolute scum of the earth, pond life rats. They rear their ugly head at every half decent event that the city tries to run. With their tracksuits stuffed inside their socks and their inbred heads bedecked with cheap Argos jewellery, they are an absolute stain on society and our city. They also now have a constant presence in town, and at weekends in the Crescent. You think tourists are going to flock to spend time among these mutants? The most painful death you could imagine wouldn't be enough for these c**ts. I've no idea how it could be done, but this needs to be addressed if the city and county is to have a future.

4. The Crescent SC is not the mecca and goldmine that everyone here seems to think it is. Every business out there is struggling big time. It's a ghost centre from Monday to Wednesday. It has it's own scumbag problems at weekends. The Crescent WAS a goldmine when it's neighbour Dell existed. Those days are long gone lads, so feel free to start including the Crescent when you speak of Limerick dying.

5. Our city council is clueless. Jobs for the boys. What credentials does Jim Long have to be mayor? None. What business did he have going to China and what expertise did he and his cronies bring to the table? None and nothing. There's part of your problem right there. I could go on. Why hasn't the river Shannon in Limerick City centre been utilised better? i.e. a yachting dock/harbour created to add a bit of pizazz and attract tourists? Why hasn't the bridge been updated to make it a landmark feature of the city a la Waterford? Why hasn't Steamboat Quay been flattened and in it's stead a cultural area of riverside bars, cafes and restaurants been built? The statue of Richard Harris in the city centre is a disgrace, it should be much bigger and have much more of a presence for tourists etc. You wouldn't see a statue of that size in Dublin. The city council are clueless oafs, every one of them to a man. And of course, where are the jobs???

6. It has to be said as well that it appears the people of Limerick actually don't give a s**t. We seem happy to moan and complain but not actually take any action. No significant job announcements for Limerick in years yet not a peep from the people of Limerick, the local media or the various local mouthpieces. No marches or demonstrations for the things that actually matter. We should be shaming the government in to action on Limerick but instead we are doing nothing. It's time to wake up because all the jobs are going to Dublin, Galway and Cork. Even Athlone has managed to attract huge investment from the Chinese. Limerick on the other hand is a joke.

Can't really argue with points 1-4 but not sure if your last two are all that fair.
5. As far as I know the problem with access to the Shannon is that it's quite difficult to sail to it. The marina at the Custom House suffers from silting which is the responsibility of Waterways Ireland and the council have tried and failed to get them to fix it a number of times. I assume you're talking about Shannon Bridge. I don't know what Waterford have done to their bridge but anything that would improve the look of Shannon Bridge would be welcome. In fairness though the council are working on restoring Sarsfield Bridge at the moment. And after upgrading the two strands on the west bank I'm pretty sure work has started on the new boardwalks on Harvey's Quay. Just because you think the council should flatten a city block to build some cafes doesn't mean they should. They are clearly working on establishing a cafe quarter from the Market area, through Chapel Street, Little Catherine Street and Thomas Street. As you said yourself there's only room for so many shops with 20'000 unempoyed in the city. WRT the statue, it looks terrible but I don't think there's anything wrong with the size. How big did you want it?

6. I think the people of Limerick do care. Just look at the Local Limerick Heroes and the thriving arts scene. How many galleries are in the city now? Also the Leader has been quite vocal about the lack of jobs and investment in Limerick. I'm not sure exactly how you think we can shame the government into taking action but if you organise a march I'll be there to support you. I do remember the fairly highprofile march organised by the Collins family which was extremely well supported so I do think the people care, but at the end of the day what can they do.

TheGimp

Another point might be certain well known faces that pretend to be all about whats good for the city but in fact are purely in it for their own self promotion. And its not just that one person that photobombs every event that I'm talking about.

ZombieBride

I'm not sure when the last time I read any of the local papers, the free papers don't get delivered to my house (and I'm only as far away as Corbally), I can't stomach to listen to 95fm, the events page on http://limerick.ie/living/whatson/ is ok, but how many people know about that?
Do we have an email newsletter of events on in the city? As there are an amount of events on all the time that I have no clue about until the pictures appear on facebook. What if we had a one stop drop for people to put their events, like on limerick.ie and advertise the hell out of it.

The city centre is dying, but only we can make it better, we are the someone. If we don't shop, then shops close, then jobs are lost, then there is no money to shop, it's a vicious circle.

I have actually noticed an increase in gardas on the street, it is such a welcome, but if I have to walk past another "homeless" person shaking a cup I'll scream. That and chuggers are what make me avoid the city centre, I hate being accosted while walking.

seachto7

I did notice an increased Garda presence in town during the day last week. At the same time there were still loads of scumbags knocking around.
Maybe the fact that X amount of "normal" people have emigrated, it seems all that is left most of the time are scumbags!

Loads of coffee shops in Limerick these days for some reason. If they could get people in to fill them, it would be another story....

Clothes shopping in general for men in Limerick is beyond a joke. Absolutely disaster. There's an opening there for someone with a few quid who could stock stuff that aren't check shirts or gstar (nothing wrong with gstar by the way). (like the eager beaver in Dublin). Modesty used to cover this angle before, but I am thinking a step up from modesty (no disrespect to modesty, I bought many's the thing there)

I think an alternative/indie/quirky well stocked clothes shop would do very well in Limerick.

meoklmrk91

I drove up William Street for the first time in a long while at about 11:30 two weeks ago after being at the new cinema in the jetlands, was very surprised to be stopped by the traffic corps, checked the window and my tyres before waving me on, nice to see.

I think that it is plain to see that Limerick is dying and it is very sad, I look at other cities, Cork city centre, Galway, all very clean, bright lights lots of shops etc. Parts of Limerick is like a ghetto for god sake. The council seem to be a bit clueless. I think it would be great if a group of locals could get together and try organize something in the centre every three months etc, some sort of a fair or something and create a buzz around it to try and get more people into the city centre. For instance the outbreak festival, which includes the zombie walk, get the whole town involved, businesses etc.

source

Just to let ye know, the extra Garda presence is due to a new shift system brought in at the end of April.

Gardai now work 10 hour shifts with units overlapping at busy times. Apparently the layout of the roster isn't great for the members working it, but the effects from the publics point of view are obvious, given the last few posts in this thread.

seachto7

Yeah, it was plain to see the increased number of Gardai around. At least it kept the scum on their toes......

pigtown

ZombieBride wrote: »

I'm not sure when the last time I read any of the local papers, the free papers don't get delivered to my house (and I'm only as far away as Corbally), I can't stomach to listen to 95fm, the events page on http://limerick.ie/living/whatson/ is ok, but how many people know about that?
Do we have an email newsletter of events on in the city? As there are an amount of events on all the time that I have no clue about until the pictures appear on facebook. What if we had a one stop drop for people to put their events, like on limerick.ie and advertise the hell out of it.

The city centre is dying, but only we can make it better, we are the someone. If we don't shop, then shops close, then jobs are lost, then there is no money to shop, it's a vicious circle.

I have actually noticed an increase in gardas on the street, it is such a welcome, but if I have to walk past another "homeless" person shaking a cup I'll scream. That and chuggers are what make me avoid the city centre, I hate being accosted while walking.

I do agree that advertising events in the city has to change. I too can't stand Live95fm but the Post and Leader do give a good round up of events. This isn't enough obviously and I can never figure out why events in Limerick don't get promoted nationally. On Riverfest weekend the magazine in the Independent had a list of 10 things to do in the country that weekend and Riverfest, supposedly our biggest festival, wasn't mentioned. Even the small things, like the event listings in the Irish Times Friday magazine, often have twice as many events listed for random places like Leitrim or Carlow than for Limerick. I'm sure all it would take is for the Comunications Office to issue press releases to publications such as these.

europa11

pigtown wrote: »

I do agree that advertising events in the city has to change. I too can't stand Live95fm but the Post and Leader do give a good round up of events. This isn't enough obviously and I can never figure out why events in Limerick don't get promoted nationally. On Riverfest weekend the magazine in the Independent had a list of 10 things to do in the country that weekend and Riverfest, supposedly our biggest festival, wasn't mentioned. Even the small things, like the event listings in the Irish Times Friday magazine, often have twice as many events listed for random places like Leitrim or Carlow than for Limerick. I'm sure all it would take is for the Comunications Office to issue press releases to publications such as these.

Don't ever expect anything positive about Limerick getting a mention in The Irish Independent.
Don't know what their problem/agenda is, but as far as that organisation is concerned, we're bad news central.

Maybe the Bean Baron, Sir Ant'ny had a scrum collapse on him one time down here.

VanV

pigtown wrote: »

Can't really argue with points 1-4 but not sure if your last two are all that fair.
5. As far as I know the problem with access to the Shannon is that it's quite difficult to sail to it. The marina at the Custom House suffers from silting which is the responsibility of Waterways Ireland and the council have tried and failed to get them to fix it a number of times. I assume you're talking about Shannon Bridge. I don't know what Waterford have done to their bridge but anything that would improve the look of Shannon Bridge would be welcome. In fairness though the council are working on restoring Sarsfield Bridge at the moment. And after upgrading the two strands on the west bank I'm pretty sure work has started on the new boardwalks on Harvey's Quay. Just because you think the council should flatten a city block to build some cafes doesn't mean they should. They are clearly working on establishing a cafe quarter from the Market area, through Chapel Street, Little Catherine Street and Thomas Street. As you said yourself there's only room for so many shops with 20'000 unempoyed in the city. WRT the statue, it looks terrible but I don't think there's anything wrong with the size. How big did you want it?

6. I think the people of Limerick do care. Just look at the Local Limerick Heroes and the thriving arts scene. How many galleries are in the city now? Also the Leader has been quite vocal about the lack of jobs and investment in Limerick. I'm not sure exactly how you think we can shame the government into taking action but if you organise a march I'll be there to support you. I do remember the fairly highprofile march organised by the Collins family which was extremely well supported so I do think the people care, but at the end of the day what can they do.

Sarsfield Bridge is a restoration/preservation job. Completely different to what I was talking about. The bridge in Waterford and the various bridges in Dublin are top class. Unique designs, and superbly lit at night both of which makes them great landmarks, which of course gives the city a profile, a presence and boosts tourism. They need to do something similar with Shannon bridge.

Regards Steamboat Quay, can you give me any reasons why it SHOULDN'T be flattened? The building is an eyesore, a lot of the apts are badly designed and the Euro car park underneath is probably the worst in the country. On top of that you have the anti-social problem down there, most of it linked to drugs. I've heard it has slightly improved on that end as a lot of foreign families are apparently moving in there now, but it still has it's issues. You can buy an apt there for peanuts, despite the fact these are apts next door to the landmark Clarion and over looking the river. That doesn't add up I'm afraid.

The suggestion of flattening Steamboat Quay was to make use of it's riverside location. Knock it and rebuild a better piece of architecture, with the emphasis on building around the Clarion with restaurants, bars and cafés. The Market area is fine, but it's not riverside, is it? I think everyone appreciates the Locke bar area on a sunny day and the crowds it attracts. We need to be replicating that around the city where possible, and Steamboat Quay is one of those few areas.

The Richard Harris statue should be twice the size it is. I've never seen a statue so small and small time. It's hardly a landmark is it? I'd be embarrassed to even include it on a tourism guide.

Regards marches/demonstrations/rallys - as another poster has pointed out, there are plenty of local mouthpieces with their mugs in the papers every week. Plenty of councillors with plenty to say. We have a co-ordination office that throws it's clothes off any time something negative about Limerick is said on a national level. Yet, what are they actually doing to galvanise the people of Limerick to do something pro-active? Nothing. Not one of them is worth a s**t, they spoof their way through their jobs and get paid handsomely for it.

What Limerick needs is a democratically elected Mayor who has to earn his crust. A situation where say, the local chamber of commerce or other business groups could put forward candidates who might actually know what they're doing as opposed to the cosy clique of morons who are there at the moment.

phog

With tourisim in mind and trying to make the city a bit more attactive, with very little money being spent Shannon Heritage and the local authorities could add a boardwalk from Thomond Bridge to the green area near City Hall, that would connect a river walk around the three bridges.

Add lights to the city side of the castle, even one to illuminate the tower closest to City Hall would make a huge difference.

Compare this



to something like this





Restore/repair the lights to the city side of court house.



Each St. Patrick's weekend Limerick hosts and Band festivel, why not build on that during the summer and encourage bands to play in the city parks during the day, different types on different weekends.

Imagine the impact of having bands positioned along the river playing at the same time, one on O'Callaghan's strand, one opposite in "Poor Man's Kilkee", one closer to Shannon Bridge on the memroial to the dead seamen, one behind Shannon rowing club, one on Arthur's quay, one on each of the parks near Strand barracks and one on the lawn near City Hall, all playing the same tunes, on a day like today that would be super.

kilburn

There are lights around the castle that were used to light it up like you show in the picture, where you can see the inside of the castle lit up.

Problem was the little knacks kept breaking the lights, so they put mesh over them, then the little scumbags started banging sticks through the mesh to break them.

For the life of me I cant understand why people would want to wreck their own city and make it look like a kip.

phog

kilburn wrote: »

There are lights around the castle that were used to light it up like you show in the picture, where you can see the inside of the castle lit up.

Problem was the little knacks kept breaking the lights, so they put mesh over them, then the little scumbags started banging sticks through the mesh to break them.

For the life of me I cant understand why people would want to wreck their own city and make it look like a kip.

A light could be put on a floating buoy on the river that would illuminate the tower, the lights at the courthouse are working at one side but not the other side. Seems to me it would be worth the few bob to repair the broken ones.

vkid

europa11 wrote: »

Don't ever expect anything positive about Limerick getting a mention in The Irish Independent.
Don't know what their problem/agenda is, but as far as that organisation is concerned, we're bad news central.

Maybe the Bean Baron, Sir Ant'ny had a scrum collapse on him one time down here.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/summer-loving-for-the-gourmet-at-heart-3119756.html

krudler

kilburn wrote: »

There are lights around the castle that were used to light it up like you show in the picture, where you can see the inside of the castle lit up.

Problem was the little knacks kept breaking the lights, so they put mesh over them, then the little scumbags started banging sticks through the mesh to break them.

For the life of me I cant understand why people would want to wreck their own city and make it look like a kip.

because Limerick scumbags are a different breed altogether, you see scobey tracksuit wearing mongs in every town in Ireland, in Limerick they're something else.

pigtown

VanV wrote: »

Sarsfield Bridge is a restoration/preservation job. Completely different to what I was talking about. The bridge in Waterford and the various bridges in Dublin are top class. Unique designs, and superbly lit at night both of which makes them great landmarks, which of course gives the city a profile, a presence and boosts tourism. They need to do something similar with Shannon bridge.

Regards Steamboat Quay, can you give me any reasons why it SHOULDN'T be flattened? The building is an eyesore, a lot of the apts are badly designed and the Euro car park underneath is probably the worst in the country. On top of that you have the anti-social problem down there, most of it linked to drugs. I've heard it has slightly improved on that end as a lot of foreign families are apparently moving in there now, but it still has it's issues. You can buy an apt there for peanuts, despite the fact these are apts next door to the landmark Clarion and over looking the river. That doesn't add up I'm afraid.

The suggestion of flattening Steamboat Quay was to make use of it's riverside location. Knock it and rebuild a better piece of architecture, with the emphasis on building around the Clarion with restaurants, bars and cafés. The Market area is fine, but it's not riverside, is it? I think everyone appreciates the Locke bar area on a sunny day and the crowds it attracts. We need to be replicating that around the city where possible, and Steamboat Quay is one of those few areas.

The Richard Harris statue should be twice the size it is. I've never seen a statue so small and small time. It's hardly a landmark is it? I'd be embarrassed to even include it on a tourism guide.

Regards marches/demonstrations/rallys - as another poster has pointed out, there are plenty of local mouthpieces with their mugs in the papers every week. Plenty of councillors with plenty to say. We have a co-ordination office that throws it's clothes off any time something negative about Limerick is said on a national level. Yet, what are they actually doing to galvanise the people of Limerick to do something pro-active? Nothing. Not one of them is worth a s**t, they spoof their way through their jobs and get paid handsomely for it.

What Limerick needs is a democratically elected Mayor who has to earn his crust. A situation where say, the local chamber of commerce or other business groups could put forward candidates who might actually know what they're doing as opposed to the cosy clique of morons who are there at the moment.

Ok I totally agree Shannon Bridge is ugly and could do with a major upgrade.

I disagree on flattening Steamboat Quay for a few reasons. First of all if we're thinking of the same building then I think it looks nice and it would be much cheaper to renovate the building instead of knock it. Enlarge the apartments and install cafes/bars/restaurants in the ground floor. And if you were dead set on knocking a city block to make use of its riverside location then I'd go for the old Dunnes building/Arthurs Quay area. Much closer to the city centre so more chance of customers.

As far as I'm aware the Richard Harris statue is lifesize. It's not a landmark but then who said it needed to be? Not everything can be a standout landmark feature that competes for your attention like in Vegas.

Again I agree with you re. city council and commumications office but that's all the more reason for people to get involved with the Local Heroes campaign.

A democratically elected mayor would be great but they would have to have proper powers over local matters such as transport services and local taxes or else it would be pointless. This was supposed to happen with the amalgamation of the two councils but the government have yet again rowed back on anything progressive and genuinely meaningful.

What I'd love to see for the riverside a new quay below the two strands, running from the Shannon Bridge to the two parks near the Curraghgower bar, like the quays in Paris that leave the traffic at street level and have the pedestriased quays much closer to the water. That or an extension of the pier in the middle of the river to form a linear park.

sleepyman

pigtown wrote: »

Ok I totally agree Shannon Bridge is ugly and could do with a major upgrade.

I disagree on flattening Steamboat Quay for a few reasons. First of all if we're thinking of the same building then I think it looks nice and it would be much cheaper to renovate the building instead of knock it. Enlarge the apartments and install cafes/bars/restaurants in the ground floor. And if you were dead set on knocking a city block to make use of its riverside location then I'd go for the old Dunnes building/Arthurs Quay area. Much closer to the city centre so more chance of customers.

As far as I'm aware the Richard Harris statue is lifesize. It's not a landmark but then who said it needed to be? Not everything can be a standout landmark feature that competes for your attention like in Vegas.

Again I agree with you re. city council and commumications office but that's all the more reason for people to get involved with the Local Heroes campaign.

A democratically elected mayor would be great but they would have to have proper powers over local matters such as transport services and local taxes or else it would be pointless. This was supposed to happen with the amalgamation of the two councils but the government have yet again rowed back on anything progressive and genuinely meaningful.

What I'd love to see for the riverside a new quay below the two strands, running from the Shannon Bridge to the two parks near the Curraghgower bar, like the quays in Paris that leave the traffic at street level and have the pedestriased quays much closer to the water. That or an extension of the pier in the middle of the river to form a linear park.

Of all the buildings that Dunnes Stores needs to go-I know there's not alot of money knocking about but they should really get the finger out.

thesimpsons

love to see the bridges cleaned up of weeds and general debris all along them. then the streets cleaned of weeds and debris - not just at ground level but also high up. there are some beautiful buildings up william street ( the really old red bricked ones) which could look lovely.

crossing over shannon bridge early this morning and the city loved fabulous with the sun glinting on the river. those photos really do it justice.

gaf1983

pigtown wrote: »

What I'd love to see for the riverside a new quay below the two strands, running from the Shannon Bridge to the two parks near the Curraghgower bar, like the quays in Paris that leave the traffic at street level and have the pedestriased quays much closer to the water. That or an extension of the pier in the middle of the river to form a linear park.

Nice idea but could the low level quays run into problems given the tidal nature of the Shannon?

pigtown

Ya that could be an issue alright. Maybe have a flood barrier that works for the typical high tide but design the quays so that should they get flooded then the water drains easily and all that needs to be done is some powerhosing . Closing them for a few days a year, mostly during winter, shouldn't cause too much hassle.

grenache

zuroph wrote: »

Recession. town is still manic on tuesday nights, and generally packed on sat nights too. the others have always ebbed and flowed, with nights out being popular and dying off over time. If anything, I'm finding nightlife more interesting now, as the venues are really competing for business, and offering much better value.


daytime on the other hand, the council have fcked up with their rates, and made it too hard to attract investment from businesses.

With all due respect, that's nonsense. It's easy to blame the recession, but the truth is that Limerick was going downhill long before the recession hit. My parents came down to Cork the Saturday before last, and could not get over the vast difference between the city centre there and that of Limerick. It's like chalk and cheese. Cork is thronged every weekend with buskers, lots of people and street entertainers. No recession down there i'll tell you. Up in Limerick you can hear the tumbleweed drift through the streets, not a nice thing to say, but unfortunately true. The dimwits in the council have played their part - the business community had to literally beg them for free parking on Saturday afternoons coming up to Christmas just to get a few more customers into the city. Those idiots are happy to cut their noses off to spite their face. But when they elect guys like Jim Long as Mayor, then its easy to see why the city is dying.

Then of course there's the physical difference between the cities. Cork has had a total makeover since 2005 when it was the European City of Culture, Patrick St is a pleasure to walk down now and there are some really nice boutique type pedrestian streets and lanes running off it. Limerick city centre is uncomprisingly unattractive. There's no pleasure in strolling down O'Connell St, William St, etc. Yes there has been significant developements on Henry St and Bedford Row, and now starting on William St too, but there's a long way to go before its shiny clean like Cork or Galway. It could have so much going for it if it would actually embrace the river and look towards it, instead of turning its back on it like it has been doing.

Also Colbert "Station" needs demolishing. An embarrassment to the city in a total kip of an area. I don't think the first thing the visitors to the city need to see is the boarded up houses by Careys Road or Annie Fitz urinating by the station side wall. I'll no doubt get the city's natives backs up here, some of whom prefer to bury their heads in the sand, but everything I've said is true.

ZombieBride

I spent the last few days in Castlebar, it made me realise even more how dead Limerick actually is, there were plenty of small and larger shops all bustling. The shops there was a noticeable lack of were Cash for Golds, Cash for Clothes and a multitude of € stores (I only saw the one, as well as a Guinenes).
There was a big sign outside their theatre showing the up and coming attractions, they had the onstreet parking ticket machines. They had bins everywhere, even ones for separating recycling from regular waste.
Their town centre seemed bigger than our city centre. It is sad.

johnROSS

couldn't disagree more with the OP. Limerick is on the way up if anything. The recent hugely succesful riverfest is enough proof of this. It is a city with huge potential that has a bad name it really doesn't deserve. Long Live King LImerick! :P

RonnieLimerick

As a limerick man may i say that the first thing i would get rid of is that god Awful statue of Richard Harris , i find the whole notion of a statue of an english king ( arthur ) with a sword in his hand standing in a limerick street to be beyond a joke . after that i would hand out guns to the law abiding citizens and declare open day on the scobes and wahs .


Limerick is dying , No cinema in the city center , no police after 6 , half the shops on William street are of the 2 euro variety , No large jobs announcements since dell went to poland , the poles that came have stayed , mostly on welfare many of the strung out on heroin , The place is quickly being Detroited , unrecognizable as the city i knew as a boy .

kilburn

johnROSS wrote: »

couldn't disagree more with the OP. Limerick is on the way up if anything. The recent hugely succesful riverfest is enough proof of this. It is a city with huge potential that has a bad name it really doesn't deserve. Long Live King LImerick! :P

Is that Georgie Burgess behind the statue ?

seachto7

RonnieLimerick wrote: »

As a limerick man may i say that the first thing i would get rid of is that god Awful statue of Richard Harris , i find the whole notion of a statue of an english king ( arthur ) with a sword in his hand standing in a limerick street to be beyond a joke . after that i would hand out guns to the law abiding citizens and declare open day on the scobes and wahs .


Limerick is dying , No cinema in the city center , no police after 6 , half the shops on William street are of the 2 euro variety , No large jobs announcements since dell went to poland , the poles that came have stayed , mostly on welfare many of the strung out on heroin , The place is quickly being Detroited , unrecognizable as the city i knew as a boy .

Bang on. Limerick city centre is kind of like an open air shopping centre (the shops that still remain). Can you imagine a tourist going through the crescent shopping centre to take pics? Well, Limk city centre is like that. There is NOTHING to really photograph or do for a tourist in the city centre. I was in there today, and it was like Night of the Living Dead. You had the usual scum and oddballs draped out on the benches around Thomas Street, shops boarded up. Went into HMV, it's on lifesupport. When that goes, they may as well knock the town and start again. I am afraid to say it is turning into a god awful kip of a town......... It's like a big version of Tipp town or Charleville...well, maybe not that bad yet.........

johnROSS

as a young person who spends a lot of time in the city, it's not half as bad as you think. the scummers you see hanging around are a tiny part of a huge picture. the great work Limerick Youth Service does gets no recognition whatsover. Some of ye may be familiar with Lava Java's youth café. Just say, for the sake of numbers, 300 young people spend half an hour in there every week. That's 300 young people who didn't spend that half an hour stabbing someone, or doing drugs, or getting langered. just my two cents on the situation

grenache

RonnieLimerick wrote: »

As a limerick man may i say that the first thing i would get rid of is that god Awful statue of Richard Harris , i find the whole notion of a statue of an english king ( arthur ) with a sword in his hand standing in a limerick street to be beyond a joke . after that i would hand out guns to the law abiding citizens and declare open day on the scobes and wahs .


Limerick is dying , No cinema in the city center , no police after 6 , half the shops on William street are of the 2 euro variety , No large jobs announcements since dell went to poland , the poles that came have stayed , mostly on welfare many of the strung out on heroin , The place is quickly being Detroited , unrecognizable as the city i knew as a boy .

pretty sure King Arthur was Roman.

bazz26

Could easily be Burger King too.

JupiterKid

Limerick is the Detroit of Ireland - the city is in decline, is mired in poverty and deprivation and is dying, plain and simple. The core of the city is already on life support that will be turned off soon.

My suggestion? Immediately disband the City and County Councils and forcibly merge the two together into one unitary authority. The lack of co-operation between the two LAs has been a total disaster for Limerick.

SarahBeep!

johnROSS wrote: »

as a young person who spends a lot of time in the city, it's not half as bad as you think. the scummers you see hanging around are a tiny part of a huge picture. the great work Limerick Youth Service does gets no recognition whatsover. Some of ye may be familiar with Lava Java's youth café. Just say, for the sake of numbers, 300 young people spend half an hour in there every week. That's 300 young people who didn't spend that half an hour stabbing someone, or doing drugs, or getting langered. just my two cents on the situation

But are these young people helping get businesses outta the recession? Not really. They buy lunch in Londis Spar (Sorry, I'm old school) and maybe a few bits in Penneys.

seachto7 wrote: »

Went into HMV, it's on lifesupport. When that goes, they may as well knock the town and start again. I am afraid to say it is turning into a god awful kip of a town......... It's like a big version of Tipp town or Charleville...well, maybe not that bad yet.........

I don't see HMV closing tbh. All the shops like that are owned by record labels and are just used as promotional tools so they only need to break even. I think things would have to get far worse for HMV to close.
I've said it a billion times how desolate cruises st is though. I work in a shop there and have often stood around for 2 hours with no one coming in and it's not through lack of trying on our part.

Limerick IS like Charleville....dead.

seachto7

yup, Cruises st gone very quite. A pity......

johnROSS

SarahBeep! wrote: »

But are these young people helping get businesses outta the recession? Not really. They buy lunch in Londis Spar (Sorry, I'm old school) and maybe a few bits in Penneys.

no, young people aren't helping the businesses out of the recession, because, the are mainly jobless due to said recession and because they are teenagers, they have no money. teenagers, recession or no recession, are generally broke 24/7. and if they are buying something, it's online. so it's really up to limerick businesses to get with the times and invest whatever few bob they have in online selling. Savin's, of o'connel street, recently did a huge revamp on their website and i'm sure they are feeling the benefits now.

christmas2012

I notice limerick is suprisingly quiet coming up to thursday friday,even saturday theres not half the people there should be,walking around debenhams is like walking into an empty church,or walking down cruises street,ellen street is all but boarded up bar a few shops,its a disgrace..and ive never seen so many 2 euro shops on one street in william street,the only places that are staying open are the charity shops..its such a pity,its until there is more job creation,it might pick up if there is..but people with no jobs = no money = no busy shopping hours = city goes to ****,were being taxed up to the gills and there is no employment apart from the slave bridge job blocker schemes,theres too many things wrong with this country..remember the millions wasted on all that regeneration,and it hasnt even took off?

SarahBeep!

johnROSS wrote: »

no, young people aren't helping the businesses out of the recession, because, the are mainly jobless due to said recession and because they are teenagers, they have no money. teenagers, recession or no recession, are generally broke 24/7. and if they are buying something, it's online. so it's really up to limerick businesses to get with the times and invest whatever few bob they have in online selling. Savin's, of o'connel street, recently did a huge revamp on their website and i'm sure they are feeling the benefits now.

I work for a shop that sells online but that won't keep me and the 8 people I work with in a job!

bigpink

Cruises was all Uk chains stores at one time,maybe some independent stores on the street would help
I go to Ennis and KIlkenny and the vibe of small town shops tourists seem to love

JupiterKid

What's also pretty sad is that Limerick saw a lot of urban renewal in the 90s and 2000s - kicked off by the opening of the Arthurs Quay Centre - but it doesn't seem to have done the city much good.:(

ZombieBride

bigpink wrote: »

Cruises was all Uk chains stores at one time,maybe some independent stores on the street would help
I go to Ennis and KIlkenny and the vibe of small town shops tourists seem to love

And we get back to the beginning of the circle. The rates are too high and parking is less convenient than outside the city.

kilburn

To be fair i think Cruises street was a terrible idea, the shops are too small and what is the point in another shopping street when the other ones cant get occupancy. They should never have knocked Cruises hotel, but they did and thats that.

Maybe if someone bought 2 or 3 of the shops and knocked them into bigger units, it would help to get bigger stores in.

seachto7

what was behind cruises hotel before it was knocked. Did it go up as far as the end of cruises street?

ZombieBride

seachto7 wrote: »

what was behind cruises hotel before it was knocked. Did it go up as far as the end of cruises street?

It went back half way up what is cruises street now. 1907 Map of Cruises Street area

ablelocks

To me, everything rotates around the fact that there has been no large-scale industrial investment in Limerick / Mid-West region since Dell expanded in the late 1990's / early 2000's.

80 per cent of jobs created by new foreign firms in the last decade ... located in Dublin, Cork and Galway

...these cities [Waterford & Limerick] represented 8.8 per cent of all foreign employment in 2001, but attracted only 2.8 per cent of employment in new foreign firms while losing 40.5 per cent of their existing foreign employment.

Without that investment, there has been no circulation of jobs - people who have jobs stay put, making it harder for others to gain entry. They don't get a chance to be promoted or get new jobs. So people leave to other areas of the country or more likely now, abroad. Those that remain cannot sustain a "city" and it's businesses - there is less money being spent locally, whatever "authority" is in charge collects less revenue to spend on maintaining the city and it's a vicious circle.

Of course cork and galway are doing better, look at all the job announcements there, even (or perhaps especially) over the last year or 2.

Limerick, and the mid-west, despite having a number of ministers and junior ministers, has been underfunded and ignored by what, 3 successive governments. Government, local authorities, IDA, enterprise ireland, shannon development need to get at least 3-5 large scale enterprises into the mid-west and get people moving again. Sooner rather than later.

zulutango

I think Limerick is a great little city. If you care to look, there's actually quite a lot going on. Of course, there could be more, but it's not half as bad as it's made out to be. I live in the city centre so I might be a bit more aware of what's going on than most.

So, Cruise's Street with it's chain stores is pretty much closing down. So what? It never did much for the city anyway. Catherine Street and Thomas Street which have mostly local shops are showing positive signs.

I genuinely believe that Limerick City is on the up. If we want this to continue, the key thing is that the city centre becomes a place where people live. This should be the focus far more than retail. Once people are living in the city centre again in large numbers (and it's starting to happen), then it'll start to look and feel like a more vibrant city.

Check out this website which hosts a forum about the revival of the area around Patrick Street and Ellen Street - http://www.patrickstreet.com

Kess73

zulutango wrote: »

I think Limerick is a great little city. If you care to look, there's actually quite a lot going on. Of course, there could be more, but it's not half as bad as it's made out to be. I live in the city centre so I might be a bit more aware of what's going on than most.

So, Cruise's Street with it's chain stores is pretty much closing down. So what? It never did much for the city anyway. Catherine Street and Thomas Street which have mostly local shops are showing positive signs.

I genuinely believe that Limerick City is on the up. If we want this to continue, the key thing is that the city centre becomes a place where people live. This should be the focus far more than retail. Once people are living in the city centre again in large numbers (and it's starting to happen), then it'll start to look and feel like a more vibrant city.

Check out this website which hosts a forum about the revival of the area around Patrick Street and Ellen Street - http://www.patrickstreet.com

Not quite sure how it is on the up. Has the highest % of all the Irish cities in terms of unemployment although Waterford comes close. Has the highest % of unused % retail/commercial units of any of the Irish cities. Came last of the Irish cities and Towns with a population over 20,000 in terms of footfall on main streets.

The city centre has been on a downward spiral for quite some time now and the pity is that the rate of decline is a steady one.

Limerick city does have a hell of a lot of potential though, and one would hope to see it realised at some point. What is scary though is for anyone over 35 to think back to what the city centre was like in the 90's and 80's (despite there being a recession inh the 80's) in terms of shops (both in terms of the volume of stores and the amount of name brands in the city), commercial services, entertainment options like cinemas (plural), bowling alley, arcades, live music venues (more than now) etc etc. Hell I can even remember the Central cinema (On Bedford row for those too young to remember) showing the Ireland games during the world cup at the start of the 1990's.

I sometimes feel sorry for the folks who are too young to have experienced what Limerick was like back then because it really had a lot of options back then that it simply does not have anymore. It was far from perfect back then, but it was a lot less empty than now in 2012.

seachto7

@Kess73.

Yup, I remember it well, there were far more options in town, and times were supposed to be bad???
YOu had 2 cinemas in the centre, saying that , you had none in the burbs, where they are now located.....

zulutango

Kess73 wrote: »

Not quite sure how it is on the up. Has the highest % of all the Irish cities in terms of unemployment although Waterford comes close. Has the highest % of unused % retail/commercial units of any of the Irish cities. Came last of the Irish cities and Towns with a population over 20,000 in terms of footfall on main streets.

A lot of the stats relating to Limerick City are anomalies caused by the fact that the city boundary effectively excludes about 45% of the population, and much of this is a middle class demographic who would balance up a lot of those stats if they were included in them.

Kess73 wrote: »

The city centre has been on a downward spiral for quite some time now and the pity is that the rate of decline is a steady one.

Limerick city does have a hell of a lot of potential though, and one would hope to see it realised at some point. What is scary though is for anyone over 35 to think back to what the city centre was like in the 90's and 80's (despite there being a recession inh the 80's) in terms of shops (both in terms of the volume of stores and the amount of name brands in the city), commercial services, entertainment options like cinemas (plural), bowling alley, arcades, live music venues (more than now) etc etc. Hell I can even remember the Central cinema (On Bedford row for those too young to remember) showing the Ireland games during the world cup at the start of the 1990's.

I sometimes feel sorry for the folks who are too young to have experienced what Limerick was like back then because it really had a lot of options back then that it simply does not have anymore. It was far from perfect back then, but it was a lot less empty than now in 2012.

I take your points above. There has generally been a 'white flight' from the city in the past 20 years and the population now lives, for the most part, in the surrounding hinterland and suburbs. Retail in the city is going to continue to struggle until this demographic reality is changed.