So what are YOUR ideas to revive Limerick?

zulutango

Kess73 wrote: »

Yep would agree with you as the tidal nature of the river, along with it's depth in certain spots, makes it very difficult to be able to hold a race along the stretches where crowds could gather to watch.

The race friendly stretches of water are simply not suitable (or safe) for watching crowds to gather.

Downriver of Shannon bridge is a more suitable stretch of water than the stretch between Sarsfield bridge and Shannon bridge, but is pretty useless as a location for a spectator event.

Between Thomond and Sarsfield bridges simply would not be a good spot for a race or races from a flow pov or from a safety pov for the racers.

Where many of the boat clubs train and where they currently race (when in the Limerick vicinity that is) is a very clear indicator as to the suitability of the river stretches.

I do think the river is criminally underused though, and the lack of suitable areas built alongside the river is a hell of a waste of a fantastic natural resource.

As somebody who is well used to using the river, the challenges are difficult but ultimately surmountable. Perhaps some level of State subsidy would be justified if it brought people into the city in greater numbers.

CONSI

zulutango wrote: »

As somebody who is well used to using the river, the challenges are difficult but ultimately surmountable. Perhaps some level of State subsidy would be justified if it brought people into the city in greater numbers.

Surely for something like this the finish line could be up by St. Michaels boat house.

It's been there for 110 years, surely they row from there so the finish line could be near there assuming it's safe enough of course and that would even bring in Arthurs Quay to be usable vantage point.

This is all assuming tides etc allow but imagne these are regular enough to allow for planning and surely sprint races between the two bridges could be do-able in kayaks/canoes.

Anyway was just a thought, wouldn't even know where to go to try to get this off the ground...

liammur

zulutango wrote: »

As somebody who is well used to using the river, the challenges are difficult but ultimately surmountable. Perhaps some level of State subsidy would be justified if it brought people into the city in greater numbers.

I know some cruiser boats have got into trouble, but the river is an amenity that should be looked at, if they could make it easier for people to the use the leisure boats. At the moment the whole thing seems a bit haphazard ?

mikemac1

Clusters of business, it works, definitely works

Dublin - IFSC and financial services
Cork - pharma
Galway - medical devices

Why not make Limerick the home of IT services?

Push it hard

Galway have BMW status and they push extremely hard.

Cork have thousands of financial services jobs too.
Had a plan for IFSC South, it didn't work out but hey, they are trying

There was a new pharma start up supposed to start in Limerick last year and Alan Kelly, Labour TD pushed hard and got them to start up in his area of Tipp.
Jan O'Sullivan just said she was disappointed and that was that

O'Dea did nothing over Shannon

Did Limerick leaders even care?

It's just a short step downwards to Waterford and no confidence

liammur

mikemac1 wrote: »

Clusters of business, it works, definitely works

Dublin - IFSC and financial services
Cork - pharma
Galway - medical devices

Why not make Limerick the home of IT services?

Push it hard

Galway have BMW status and they push extremely hard.

Cork have thousands of financial services jobs too.
Had a plan for IFSC South, it didn't work out but hey, they are trying

There was a new pharma start up supposed to start in Limerick last year and Alan Kelly, Labour TD pushed hard and got them to start up in his area of Tipp.
Jan O'Sullivan just said she was disappointed and that was that

O'Dea did nothing over Shannon

Did Limerick leaders even care?

It's just a short step downwards to Waterford and no confidence

Great post, well done. If I could just edit it a tiny bit!

pigtown

Went for a quick walk around town today and noticed a few issues that wouldn't be too difficult to fix.

• Remove the railing between Custom House Park and the Hunt Museum garden, open the gate between the Museum and Sarsfield House, remove the gate from the Sylvester O'Halloran Bridge, remove the wire mesh from the connection between Custom House Park and Arthurs Quay Park. Hey presto, Limerick now has an intimate riverside park in the shadow of some of the oldest and most impressive buildings in the city that is always open to the public.
  
• Open the barrier that blocks access from the Merchant Seamen's monument to the Bishops Quay. Why is this even there?
  
• Install more riverfacing benches.

More difficult but worth it:

• CPO the rowing club near Poor Mans Kilkee. Install a bridge from PMK to said building. Secure a 'name' to anchor ths space. As it's off the beaten track a little, it needs to be a destination in its own right. Something like a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, Jazz club etc.
  
• Install a major water feature at the junction of O'Connell St./Bedfrod Row. I saw the improved O'Connell monument today. It's quite impressive for an Irish water feature, but I would love to see a version of the numerous fountains that exist in cities all over Europe.

Also I didn't see it today but the last time I passed the Wild Geese monument at City Hall the water wasn't working. Fix this.

zulutango

pigtown wrote: »

Went for a quick walk around town today and noticed a few issues that wouldn't be too difficult to fix.

• Remove the railing between Custom House Park and the Hunt Museum garden, open the gate between the Museum and Sarsfield House, remove the gate from the Sylvester O'Halloran Bridge, remove the wire mesh from the connection between Custom House Park and Arthurs Quay Park. Hey presto, Limerick now has an intimate riverside park in the shadow of some of the oldest and most impressive buildings in the city that is always open to the public.

This has been looked for for years. There seems to be complete intransigence on the part of the Revenue Commissioners (who own Sarsfield House) on it though. Same goes for the Market Trustees, who control the Potato Market. Also, Shannon Development are responsible for the gate further up near the castle which gets locked early every evening, and I think the Courts Service control the two gates either side of the courthouse that give access to the river. Plenty of agencies have their fingers in this issue, and it probably sounds too much like hard work to the Directors of Services in the city council.

pigtown wrote: »

More difficult but worth it:

• CPO the rowing club near Poor Mans Kilkee. Install a bridge from PMK to said building. Secure a 'name' to anchor ths space. As it's off the beaten track a little, it needs to be a destination in its own right. Something like a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, Jazz club etc.

I like the suggestion, but as far as I know, the State are the only one's who can CPO buildings (in this case Limerick Boat Club, who are working on rejuvenating their club as far as I know). Not sure if they are able to do it in the case of developing something like what you've suggested.



I'd also change the adjacent road to single lane and more pedestrian friendly. There's no need for two lanes there and it's dangerous too.

pigtown wrote: »

• Install a major water feature at the junction of O'Connell St./Bedfrod Row. I saw the improved O'Connell monument today. It's quite impressive for an Irish water feature, but I would love to see a version of the numerous fountains that exist in cities all over Europe.

That would be good alright.

Poxyshamrock

Council let's everything break. Even the new fountain at The Crescent isn't working like it was at the start.

Blue Footpath Lights at junction of Bedford Row/O'Connell St arent working.
Lights under bollard/seat things on Bedford Row broken.
Taxi Rank at Bedford Row is a disgrace.
Dead tree on Bedford Row.
(you'd never guess where I spend a lot of my time :P)

Taits clock plaza has lights broken.
Wild Geese statue doesn't work properly.
Most statues around town are filthy.

zulutango

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Council let's everything break. Even the new fountain at The Crescent isn't working like it was at the start.

Blue Footpath Lights at junction of Bedford Row/O'Connell St arent working.
Lights under bollard/seat things on Bedford Row broken.
Taxi Rank at Bedford Row is a disgrace.
Dead tree on Bedford Row.
(you'd never guess where I spend a lot of my time :P)

Taits clock plaza has lights broken.
Wild Geese statue doesn't work properly.
Most statues around town are filthy.

We don't do maintenance in Ireland. I think it's a cultural thing. We install (or purchase) shiny new things all the time and pay no heed to their ongoing maintenance. It's a hangover from our peasant past I think!