So what are YOUR ideas to revive Limerick?

Acapella

So,

I have been away the last few months so apologies if a thread like this have been done before!! I couldn't help but notice the amount of threads discussing/debating the decline in Limerick City. At the moment there are three threads on the go discussing more or less the same topic; Missing Limerick, Limerick City of Culture and The Look of the City Centre.

So I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread where there are positive and constructive ideas put forward on what WE the citizens of Limerick would like to see happening in the city. This includes visually, retail, arts, culture, economy etc!

There are obviously constraints in what can be done due to the lack of finance so what in your opinion is an achievable initiative that could be undertaken??!

In my opinion I think there are just simple things that could be done to improve the situation and I know such simple things are not going to solve the crisis but they would be the first little steps in the marathon.

The one thing that has always annoyed me is how much King Johns Castle is under estimated in the pulling power of people to the city. Something as simple as lighting the castle up at night or putting decent size flags up the flag pole - there are always TINY flags on it! How about a big ass flag like the style and size of the flags on the UL flag poles?!! It would make the castle look well like a proper medieval castle!!!!

Or the Market Quarter for that matter. If you google the words Market Quarter and Limerick pops up instantly which is really brilliant! That means if people who are unfamiliar with the city hear about this nightlife Market Quarter they instantly see its Limerick....BRILLIANT! But alas then you click the page:

http://www.themarketquarter.ie/

and its a half ars*d job which has not been updated since the Mardi Gras last Summer!!!!!!! :mad: WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!! i think such an example DEFINES Limerick and is why cities such as Galway and Cork are head and shoulders above Limerick at the minute! They have ideas, they get the ideas up and running and then keep it going! In Limerick, we have a fabulous idea then boom after one night its over instead of building on it! The potential is endless for the Market Quarter! Even the fairy lights between Smyths and Angel Lane? Why did they take them down after Christmas? They gave the place a bit of atmosphere, it was lovely!!:o Even food carts at night for revellers? Why not? The likes of burgers&hotdogs, noodles even fecking crepes give the place a different feel!! Something along the line of this but obviously smaller:

http://www.eat.st/

There could be a few decent licensed vendors in a designated zone instead of your man with his personal BBQ in the doorway of River Island!:eek:

Just my thoughts, hoping people look at this positively rather than with the attitude we have no money we are f*cked!! Look forward to ideas!

Acapella

liammur

Acapella wrote: »

So,

I have been away the last few months so apologies if a thread like this have been done before!! I couldn't help but notice the amount of threads discussing/debating the decline in Limerick City. At the moment there are three threads on the go discussing more or less the same topic; Missing Limerick, Limerick City of Culture and The Look of the City Centre.

So I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread where there are positive and constructive ideas put forward on what WE the citizens of Limerick would like to see happening in the city. This includes visually, retail, arts, culture, economy etc!

There are obviously constraints in what can be done due to the lack of finance so what in your opinion is an achievable initiative that could be undertaken??!

In my opinion I think there are just simple things that could be done to improve the situation and I know such simple things are not going to solve the crisis but they would be the first little steps in the marathon.

The one thing that has always annoyed me is how much King Johns Castle is under estimated in the pulling power of people to the city. Something as simple as lighting the castle up at night or putting decent size flags up the flag pole - there are always TINY flags on it! How about a big ass flag like the style and size of the flags on the UL flag poles?!! It would make the castle look well like a proper medieval castle!!!!

Or the Market Quarter for that matter. If you google the words Market Quarter and Limerick pops up instantly which is really brilliant! That means if people who are unfamiliar with the city hear about this nightlife Market Quarter they instantly see its Limerick....BRILLIANT! But alas then you click the page:

http://www.themarketquarter.ie/

and its a half ars*d job which has not been updated since the Mardi Gras last Summer!!!!!!! :mad: WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!! i think such an example DEFINES Limerick and is why cities such as Galway and Cork are head and shoulders above Limerick at the minute! They have ideas, they get the ideas up and running and then keep it going! In Limerick, we have a fabulous idea then boom after one night its over instead of building on it! The potential is endless for the Market Quarter! Even the fairy lights between Smyths and Angel Lane? Why did they take them down after Christmas? They gave the place a bit of atmosphere, it was lovely!!:o Even food carts at night for revellers? Why not? The likes of burgers&hotdogs, noodles even fecking crepes give the place a different feel!! Something along the line of this but obviously smaller:

http://www.eat.st/

There could be a few decent licensed vendors in a designated zone instead of your man with his personal BBQ in the doorway of River Island!:eek:

Just my thoughts, hoping people look at this positively rather than with the attitude we have no money we are f*cked!! Look forward to ideas!

Acapella

We need to get IDA jobs in. It's that simple. Dublin, Cork and Galway have got the vast majority of them, and they are places that are doing well.

It's time for Noonan &co. to wake up.

ZombieBride

In all of those threads you've mentioned there have been many ideas about how to revive the city, but IMO the biggest issue is getting Limerick people to get involved in helping themselves and everyone in the community. It is very easy for all of us to go back to our little boxes and complain, but unless each individual takes the time out of their week to put a little time into the community then the cycle just continues.

If everyone decided that they would go to one free cultural event (there are many, Limerick Art Gallery, Limerick Museum, The Hunt Museum on a Sunday, Istabraq Hall, Ormonston House, Limerick Print Makers, the plethora of concerts and lectures held in the likes of St. Mary's Cathedral, Limerick City Library, Hunt Museum and these are just the ones off the top of my head) then we would start to have a thriving cultural city, and if each one of those people on these trips out decided to buy one item (even if it's a €2 coffee), then bamb! we would have a knock on affect of a boost in the economy, as well as the need for more staff to be hired at these free events due to the increase in numbers.
But this is just my pipe-dream, as many are just waiting for someone else to come in here and fix all our problems, make it all shiny and new again! (/rant)

padma

The 1st thing to do is those who constantly moan about Limerick having problems, Limerick hasnt got this, hasn't got that, isn't as good as other cities blah blah blah needs to stop posting negative publicity on Boards.ie. Also every incident that happens in Limerick theres a thread about it. Guards flew past me earlier what was it about? Heard about scumbags this, that and the other.

Your your own worst enemies when it comes to promoting Limerick. How many thousands of people on this website alone look at the issues in Limerick (which majority of them are blown way out of proportion) and think to themselves eh Maybe I go to killarney instead.

Fact is Limerick is a very quiet city, Nightlife is there on weekends just like Cork. Limerick is quite a friendly enough place Lots of lovely walks great architecture, fantastic castle and battlements, Lovely river flowing through it. If we had more jobs from the powers to be who control the jobs the city would boom again. As it is it needs us to continue our happy lives in the city stop worrying about what others think and get on to our local gombeens to start back handers to big business.

A major problem I see is media ignoring Limerick, ffs if there is a piece about Limerick on rte it appears here like the milk market last year we go wow look Rte have a short on nationwide about us. Lunacy it is we are the third largest city in the Republic yet get about as much attention if not less than athlone.

Dublin runs things and as far as Im concerned D4 and RTE keep their own interests. Limerick needs a big sponsor to create a positive for the city. Not for people outside to come in and spend their hard earned money in our Hotel branded chains and restaurants but something to be put on for Limerick people, A Limerick initiative, ie Movies in the milk market every thursday friday saturday, Fun in the park. A show of Love from the city council, not letters about household charges or fines but an actual gesture from the city council showing respect to it's citizens.

zulutango

Fix the local governance issue and everything else will follow. It's as simple as that.

As long as there are three local authorities, with three sets of management and three different development plans, we're going to struggle. The vast majority of the problems that Limerick has stem from the dysfunctional local government set up here. Unemployment, decaying city centre, under-investment in tourism, crime (and perception of crime), donut effect and substandard development are just a few issues of many that are directly related to the governance issue.

daveob007

NUKE IT AND START AGAIN.

pigtown

Right, got lots of ideas, not all very practical. I'll try to be coherent.

Easy, short-term
Mentioned in another thread but the greenery in the city could do with some attention. Prune the trees, weed the castle area, maintain the grassy areas properly (Poor Mans Kilkee is looking a bit worse for wear).
Also clean and paint the furniture and fences around the river. The redeveloped Strands look great but the (white) benches and railings could do with a powerhose. And the boardwalk is quite dirty.

Do-able, medium term
CPO the old Finucanes Electrical site on Thomas Street and install a nice leafy garden that's integrated with the street. CPO the carpark across from Instore on Ellen St and build a city square (fenced so that you can keep out the drunk people after dark).
Set up a committee charged with attracting retailers to the city. They will be tasked with comprising a list of all available retail outlets in the city centre and all of the shopping centres/retail parks. Then they actively approach retailers and sell the city. If no suitable outlet is available then they provide a list of development sites within the city centre (no more out of town outlets allowed).

Difficult, long term
I've got a transport system in mind that's difficult to put into words but essentially it involves a DART style service that runs to Raheen, Moyross and Annacotty on a 15-20 minute frequency, and an hourly service to Ennis and Nenagh with the possibility of commmuter services to Thurles and Tipperary. A new station would be built on the block where the Eircom offices are. This would bring commuters right into the city centre. It would also house a new bus station, taxi rank, and base of a LimerickBikes system. The area around the existing station, St Josephs hospital, Sexton Street schools, Jackman Park, are already in state ownership and could be totally flattenend to create a new business district with modern office accommodation and high quality apartments suitable for family living.

mikemac1

It's the city of sport

When doesn't Limerick host the rugby 7's

Edinburgh did this a few years back, got lots of international visitors and good publicity



And what's happening with the flying boats?
There was posts about this over two years ago and I've not seen progress.
I believe one rowing club objected but the rest had no problem with it.

I and I'm sure many tourists would like a spin on a flying boat, skirt the Cliffs of Moher, across Black Head and head to Galway docks.
I love the idea but seems nothing has come of it. Could be something for Limerick and Galway, the rest of the country never tried for it

jbkenn

daveob007 wrote: »

NUKE IT AND START AGAIN.

Attaboy dave, thanks for your tuppence worth, we will send you a cheque to cover your costs, unfortunately it will be drawn on the Ulster bank, so it might take some time to clear.

zulutango

mikemac1 wrote: »

And what's happening with the flying boats?
There was posts about this over two years ago and I've not seen progress.
I believe one rowing club objected but the rest had no problem with it.

I and I'm sure many tourists would like a spin on a flying boat, skirt the Cliffs of Moher, across Black Head and head to Galway docks.
I love the idea but seems nothing has come of it. Could be something for Limerick and Galway, the rest of the country never tried for it

This is a private proposal that has yet to see fruition. As far as I know it's still in the planning stages.

As a pilot, I think they're mad to even try it. The river, being tidal, is very difficult to deal with. Personally, I can't see it happening.

jbkenn

For those of you with an interest in the betterment of Limerick as a place to live, work and do business, contact Limerick Local Heroes, a citizen led initiative to do just that.
http://limericklocalheroes.com/
You can call in to the hub in Arthurs Quay Shopping Centre, or contact Nigel on 061260404

drunkmonkey

There's no hope for the city it's just going to get worse and worse after walking Crusies St a few months ago looking at all the closed shops around the city center it looked like and abandoned city, somewhere I wouldn't bother going back to.
Out of city shopping centers destroyed limerick city overnight, unless you blow then up there will never be any hope for the city again, in 20 years Cruises St will resemble a scene from Mad Max, sad to city a city council destroy a city with bad planning decisions.

daveob007

jbkenn wrote: »

Attaboy dave, thanks for your tuppence worth, we will send you a cheque to cover your costs, unfortunately it will be drawn on the Ulster bank, so it might take some time to clear.

a big help would be to scrap the regeneration program or put a lot of them on to an island somewhere instead of destroying all the nice parts of the city.
Ulster bank and o2 might pay my costs ha ha.
in fairness,I think that not much is made of the citys historical areas,the old city walls need cleaning and around the castle,i was horrified when the new town hall was built alongside the castle,ancient structures and ugly modern steel and glass look awful together,also the many legends and folklore could be revived ie. I would place a plaque on thomond bridge telling the story of drunken thady and the bishops lady,the colleen bawn story etc etc.
plenty of old stories and history in this city but maybe we need a limerick museum with loads of pics and details of the past.

also too many abandoned sites and boarded up buidings make the place look shabby,thats the economy for ya but with so many people unemployed surely there could be community schemes for people to clean up the place and retore some pride and self worth for them.

Amazotheamazing

Firstly, the councils have to merged correctly. Under no circumstances should voters and politicians from west Limerick end up having more sway over how the city is run than people from the city. This is the current situation and it's been a disaster.

Secondly, the city centre needs to be seen as the driver for the entire midwest.

Thirdly, serious investment needs to be made into the appearance of the city centre. Big investment should occur in the streetscape of the Market Quarter and O'Connell street. Both places look dingy and depressed.

Fourthly, a lot of tourist stuff should be moved towards the Market Quarter, Art Gallery, City Museum, etc. Hold design competitions to be curated by the Architecture school in UL for new buildings. On no account should the gombeen culture that gave a lot of development to FF favoured architects continue. Half the ugly buildings in our city centre are down to sweet contracts for unable architects, imo.

Fifthly, Improve Sexton Street North in Thomondgate. The HEC games are a big tourist driver for the city, the street should be improved to give a better impression of the city.

Sixth, Limerick is generally a dull place, find a few festivals and invest in them. The fourth of July is a good time for one but we should find a different theme. Personally, I'd trawl the local myths and find a Celtic God or Goddess we could pretend we're honouring, surely the natives had some midsummer one we could re-invent?

pigtown

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Thirdly, serious investment needs to be made into the appearance of the city centre. Big investment should occur in the streetscape of the Market Quarter and O'Connell street. Both places look dingy and depressed.

Fourthly, a lot of tourist stuff should be moved towards the Market Quarter, Art Gallery, City Museum, etc. Hold design competitions to be curated by the Architecture school in UL for new buildings. On no account should the gombeen culture that gave a lot of development to FF favoured architects continue. Half the ugly buildings in our city centre are down to sweet contracts for unable architects, imo.

A scheme such as this one http://issuu.com/dctrust/docs/thomas_street_study_master
that was published by Dublin Civic Trust could make a huge difference to O'Connell St. It is a wide street that still has the majority of it's Georgian building stock intact. Some tasteful restoration work could make it truely impressive.

I like the idea of a cultural quarter around the market but with the City Gallery just after reopening after an impressive upgrade I don't see it moving anytime soon. Same goes for the Belltable. A new City Museum, on the scale of the Ulster Museum in Belfast would be a major attraction for the area but some in the council are determined to keep it in the Nicholas Street area. Maybe the old Instore shop could be used as a new library. Does any one know if it's big enough? Actually come to think of it this building could be a perfect temporary home for the museum. It's quite big and well laid out.

Kwack

I have a great idea!!! Why not bull doze loads of the ****hole estates and move a load of the scumbags to all the surrounding towns and villages destroying them but making Limerick a better place. Seriously whoever came up with the "Limerick Decentalisation" plan should be flogged. Numerous Towns and villages surrounding Limerick have been wrecked so Limerick can be improved. You take a minor criminal out of Limerick and move him to a country village and he becomes a major criminal there. A friend of mine bought a house for 350k(him and his wife saved for 10 years) and a family of these Limerick scumbags were given a free house next door. After several months of the family openly drugdealing and causing trouble he rang the gardai to report them for dealing. The gardai must've let slip who reported them and my buddy had four other Limerick "hoods" come knocking on his door saying he is a dead man. Him, his wife and three kids are now living with his parents as they cant sell the house, cant rent the house(nobody wants to live beside these"people") and can afford another property.

But ah sure this decentralisation is great for Limerick.......

Mairzydoats

Capitalise on what I consider Limerick to be best for - music and sport. The Theatre Royal should be renovated and turned in to a proper music/theatre venue. No reason why it couldn't be Limerick's Olympia. Gap in the market for a proper festifal. How about at Limerick racecourse?
As for sport - good to see Limerick FC and Man City playing at Thomond Park in August. A rugby 7's tournament has been touted by others. Good idea in my opinion. No reason why it couldn't grow to become Europe's equivalent of the Hong Kong version. Seeing as there are no shops on Cruises street, I'd turn that in to a food/bar quarter that stretches down to the Old Quarter. Well policed. Something like the Altstadt area in Dusseldorf. A centre for revellers.
My tuppence...

seachto7

Tis all well and good turning Cruises st into a food and bar quarter, but the bodies need to be going into them to keep them going..
I like the other suggestions. A rugby 7s tournament would be good, even though I think Limk should not just be flogged as a sporting city, as most tourists don't care about rugby.
Agree on the theatre royal...

LimerickSports

if all of limerick was like the north circular road there would be no problems

hattoncracker

Cheaper parking for one.. No one comes into town really coz parking is a nightmare..

Why would u pay to come in to town to get things that you can get in Childers Road, Parkway, The Crescent, etc.

Also, we need stores in town that the retail parks don't have, M&S is a big one that we are missing out on, and maybe a big toystore to get people in with their kids.. And Nandos are popping up everywhere.. One of them would be awesome!!
Those businesses need to be incentivised to come here...


Patrick St looks like something out of The Narrows in Gotham, but The architecture is beautiful and has so much potential..

Even just a few of those shops would do the world of good, shops that you dont see outside the city centre.

zulutango

hattoncracker wrote: »

Cheaper parking for one.. No one comes into town really coz parking is a nightmare..

Why would u pay to come in to town to get things that you can get in Childers Road, Parkway, The Crescent, etc.

Also, we need stores in town that the retail parks don't have, M&S is a big one that we are missing out on, and maybe a big toystore to get people in with their kids.. And Nandos are popping up everywhere.. One of them would be awesome!!
Those businesses need to be incentivised to come here...


Patrick St looks like something out of The Narrows in Gotham, but The architecture is beautiful and has so much potential..

Even just a few of those shops would do the world of good, shops that you dont see outside the city centre.

Disagree with this approach. Most of the population live in the suburbs and surrounding countryside, so they're going to shop in the suburbs for the most part regardless of what fancy shops you entice in, or how easy you make it for people to park. Limerick will only start to thrive again if people start living in the city centre again. If we put our focus and eneergy into attracting people in to live in the city centre (or near it), then they will in turn create a vibrant economy in the city. I accept that there's an element of 'chicken and egg' to this, because people won't come to live in the city if there are limited shopping opportunities, etc, but it's something that we can do a lot of work on.

Pumpkinseeds

I think having more shops would be a better alternative to rugby events. Limerick used to be great for shopping, years ago. There were lots of clothes shops to browse in. I'd spend hours with friends browsing the shops, have a nice lunch and then go back and buy whatever had appealed the most.

There is a lot of emphasis placed on the more unsavoury aspects of Limerick city and it is an important consideration to be taken into account. I'm not from Limerick but I do occassionally shop there and it looks bleak. I think a lot of people go to Galway to shop due to the sheer lack of choice in Limerick. If you have sporting events to draw in touristss you also need something for people to do after the game.

A city break, anywhere in the world boils down to wandering around tourist attractions, eating out and shopping. Realistically Limerick is lacking in all of these things. A hollistic approach is needed. I miss the good old Limerick.

liammur

Have to start looking out for middle class Limerick. At the moment the politicians don't give a curse about small businesses in the region (apart from getting rates and taxes off them), middle class families (again,government sponge them for as much as they can). Regeneration meanwhile is on the pig's back. I'm considering leaving Limerick in favour of a more equitable region.

ninty9er

We need to adopt a Galway type approach, whereby any investment in the surrounding region (i.e Gort/Claregalway/Clarinbridge) is considered an investment in the singular unified Galway entity.

It doesn't matter whether jobs are in Shannon, Newport, Adare or Dooradoyle, let people set up where they like, Limerick is their closest city and so long as the (it appears unwarranted) wailing about abandonment of the city by government and the IDA is fruitless as I discovered through a positive engagement this week. Those agencies do not respond well if at all to being chastised.

Summary: Work together and forget the "city", we live in a region of which the city is the administrative centre, if we get that method of thinking commonplace the rest will come.

angeldaisy

I would like to see more advertising of what is on and available in Limerick. I live 10 mins out of the city, but as I'm not originally from Limerick I find it difficult to find out what there is to do.
Can it be so difficult to get a good website up and running illustrating all the positives of Limerick, what's on - any events, music playing etc.. Not all of us read the Post or Leader and I often find out after the event!
I would love to find out what I could do that would be free to do in Limerick - we've done the Hunt Museum, so what else?
Surely I can't be the only one who doesn't know what's available to do in Limerick. We need to promote things other than shopping - unfortunately.

goat2

i was in limerick city about three months ago, walked around, was really impressed with your city,
i did a bit of a shop and found it a wonderful place for shopping, beautiful cafes, plenty to admire really,
i think it is a beautiful city, and of course the surrounding countryside of limerick is as good as any other county in this country,

martyc5674

I think a few more cash 4 gold shops would do wonders for the city.
And there's simply not enough 2 euro shops...like most people have a €2 in their pocket, don't they?

It's far from cappuccinos and lattes we were brought up with so a few of the coffee shops should go making way for a few chippers. Maybe donkey fords could relocate into the city centre.

A few more shops like guineys would stimulate the economy.

Marty.

goat2

my guess is, that the gold that was lying around for most has already been sold, there were envelopes being sent to houses, i got a few, that asked people to put gold in and they would send cash back,
but i find 2 euro stores good, but i live deals where everything is 1.49 and great choice to be had, i get my toothpaste, soaps, shampoos, and lots more things there like, buscuits, sweets, bin bags, it has great variety,
limerick city and county is a fine place, nothing wrong wit the place, good as the best,

trellheim

The inside of Limerick is being hollowed out. People shop where they want. As someone said, you walk down certain streets and it's one boarded up shop after another.

The problem here is that the rates being paid by these businesses are lost , and thus the amount of cash to pay for "nice stuff" is very little, and car parking charges rises, and the vicious circle continues

How many large food multiples are left in the city centre these days ?

In Dublin (food alone ) there's Stephens Green, Jervis, ILAC

seachto7

Tried to look for some mens jeans last week. Absolute disaster. It used to be way better..........what happened to Tony Connollys!!!???

Poxyshamrock

angeldaisy wrote: »

I would like to see more advertising of what is on and available in Limerick. I live 10 mins out of the city, but as I'm not originally from Limerick I find it difficult to find out what there is to do.
Can it be so difficult to get a good website up and running illustrating all the positives of Limerick, what's on - any events, music playing etc.. Not all of us read the Post or Leader and I often find out after the event!
I would love to find out what I could do that would be free to do in Limerick - we've done the Hunt Museum, so what else?
Surely I can't be the only one who doesn't know what's available to do in Limerick. We need to promote things other than shopping - unfortunately.

www.limerick.ie is a website that seems to contain a lot of information.

As for my two cents, it would be great if Limerick could attract companies like google or eBay to the city centre. A couple of hundred young people working in an office block who would live, have lunch, socialise, shop in the city centre.

There should also be more of an emphasis on shop fronts.
I know in the past, the Crescent has demanded shops to keep up to standard or get lost.
Some shops around town are very drab and do nothing for the city centre.

There should also be a ban on having too many of the one type of shop in a street/area.


The city council should also be attracting big named shops to the city centre instead of letting them into The Crescent.
At present, there's no Topshop/Topman in Limerick while there is definitely the market for one.