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Limerick improvement projects
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Indeed. New roads are often built (or sold to the public) to alleviate traffic congestion, when they can have the opposite effect in the long term. New roads aren't the answer, they're often a knee jerk, simplistic and ultimately counter-effective response to the problem. If we stop building low density housing estates far out of town then there's some hope we'll have a better and more prosperous city in the future. If we don't then we're dooming ourselves to the problems that cities like Dublin and Galway have.0
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Personally, I have no real issue with Mungret being developed if the infrastructure is put in place to match. The area on the left of the dock road is also worth developing imo.
I have no real issue with the lack of housing in the Opera development, when Limerick city centre is littered with large amounts of property that could be redeveloped, renovated or just used. How many empty buildings are around or unused sites?
The old Instore building or the un-built monstrosity beside it.
The surface car park across the road....what a waste of space.
How many Georgian buildings are in disrepair or just unused ?
How about some of the old Mill buildings like where the Printmakers are / used to be?
(Another waste of a lovely building)
Similarly the Electrical Shop on Roches Street - could be fantastic for apartments.
The old Voodoo Rooms on Catherine Street
The Old Globe night club.
Every drive around Limerick city centre makes me wonder why there is much dereliction around the city centre and no will to use its potential...and certainly no will to force the owners to take the appropriate actions. There is no shortage of ground for housing or apartments.
Putting it to use seems to be the challenge imo0 -
Where in the city centre can the council build the type of homes proposed for Mungret. Not everyone wants to live in apartments blocks. Mungret is only the length of the Dock Road from the city centre.
Not everybody wants to live in apartments, that is certainly true. But most people will happily live in them if they are well designed and spacious, and are in close proximity to where they work, where there are schools nearby, where there are shops and multiple other amenities, i.e. in the city centre.
If somebody is living way out in Mungret or Annacotty, their interaction with the city centre is going to be very limited. They'll be almost totally dependent on using a car to get in or out, and there's a whole load of negatives (costs) associated with that both for themselves and also the State.0 -
Personally, I have no real issue with Mungret being developed if the infrastructure is put in place to match. The area on the left of the dock road is also worth developing imo.
I have no real issue with the lack of housing in the Opera development, when Limerick city centre is littered with large amounts of property that could be redeveloped, renovated or just used. How many empty buildings are around or unused sites?
The old Instore building or the un-built monstrosity beside it.
The surface car park across the road....what a waste of space.
How many Georgian buildings are in disrepair or just unused ?
How about some of the old Mill buildings like where the Printmakers are / used to be?
(Another waste of a lovely building)
Similarly the Electrical Shop on Roches Street - could be fantastic for apartments.
The old Voodoo Rooms on Catherine Street
The Old Globe night club.
Every drive around Limerick city centre makes me wonder why there is much dereliction around the city centre and no will to use its potential...and certainly no will to force the owners to take the appropriate actions. There is no shortage of ground for housing or apartments.
Putting it to use seems to be the challenge imo
The reason we have a decaying city centre with a plethora of vacant sites and buildings that people aren't interested in maintaining or occupying is because we have allowed and enabled a large amount of suburban development over the last 50 years. There is no mystery to it. Developments like what we've seen in Annacotty in the last 15 years and what's proposed for Mungret are not good for the city as a whole, and especially the centre. Suburban development on green field sites (whether it's residential, commercial, industrial, educational, or whatever) is easy but can have very damaging long term consequences. It can be done in such a way such that it isn't too damaging but the low density sprawl model which Irish cities follow is the worst way to go about it.0 -
The reason we have a decaying city centre with a plethora of vacant sites and buildings that people aren't interested in maintaining or occupying is because we have allowed and enabled a large amount of suburban development over the last 50 years. There is no mystery to it. Developments like what we've seen in Annacotty in the last 15 years and what's proposed for Mungret are not good for the city as a whole, and especially the centre. Suburban development on green field sites (whether it's residential, commercial, industrial, educational, or whatever) is easy but can have very damaging long term consequences. It can be done in such a way such that it isn't too damaging but the low density sprawl model which Irish cities follow is the worst way to go about it.
Some people don't like living in a city centre - they want a garden, less pollution (noise & air) etc.
There's also the fact that most employment is on the outer edges and not located within the city centre. So even if they do live in the city, they'll still need a car to get to work.0 -
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Some people don't like living in a city centre - they want a garden, less pollution (noise & air) etc.
If city centre residences were well designed with amenities, community spaces, etc, then many people would happily live in them and not look to own their own garden. A garden isn't the be all and end all, and in any case, the gardens provided in most new estates are fairly crap. It's not like people spend a whole lot of time in them.There's also the fact that most employment is on the outer edges and not located within the city centre. So even if they do live in the city, they'll still need a car to get to work.
Yes, that's urban sprawl. It's a real problem and it's leading to people being ever more dependent on their cars. Try working in Northern Trust and not owning a car. Pretty difficult.0 -
If city centre residences were well designed with amenities, community spaces, etc, then many people would happily live in them and not look to own their own garden. A garden isn't the be all and end all, and in any case, the gardens provided in most new estates are fairly crap. It's not like people spend a whole lot of time in them.
We're looking to buy a house now and a garden is on the must-have list. When you've kids, if they go to the park they need to be accompanied whilst that's not the case if they're playing in the garden. No garden = no BBQs or inviting friends over on nice days. There's a load of other reasons too.
I agree more or less with what you're saying but building a nice city to live in doesn't mean that everyone will want to live there. Some people will always want to live in the suburbs regardless - and that's why we need road infrastructure etc.
I agree though that in Limerick the system is broken. The city is horrible in a lot of places, and there's no life or "buzz" even on weekends.0 -
This thread is getting very tedious. If you want to live in the city, do! If you want to live in the country, do! We can all live in harmony together.0
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I sometimes wonder what is urban sprawl in the context of Limerick City
I see checking distance from surburbs to Limerick city centre Mungret is 5.8 km
Caherdavin is 3.5 km Annacotty is 6.6 km Westbury is 4.4 km . Is this really urban sprawl .0 -
We're looking to buy a house now and a garden is on the must-have list. When you've kids, if they go to the park they need to be accompanied whilst that's not the case if they're playing in the garden. No garden = no BBQs or inviting friends over on nice days. There's a load of other reasons too.
I agree more or less with what you're saying but building a nice city to live in doesn't mean that everyone will want to live there. Some people will always want to live in the suburbs regardless - and that's why we need road infrastructure etc.
I agree though that in Limerick the system is broken. The city is horrible in a lot of places, and there's no life or "buzz" even on weekends.
Yeah, I think we're near enough to being on the same wavelength to be honest. I agree that not everyone will want to live in the city, and that's absolutely fine. I don't think we're in too much disagreement. But if we want a successful and prosperous Limerick City where everybody has a good standard of living, then we do have to get serious about planning the place.0 -
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Yeah, I think we're near enough to being on the same wavelength to be honest. I agree that not everyone will want to live in the city, and that's absolutely fine. I don't think we're in too much disagreement. But if we want a successful and prosperous Limerick City where everybody has a good standard of living, then we do have to get serious about planning the place.
Absolutely. The council are obviously terrible at planning.
I'm also convinced that they've deliberately designed the traffic light sequencing in the city centre to disrupt the flow as much as possible. It makes no sense whatsoever and it's so prevalent across the city that it has to be deliberate.0 -
Absolutely. The council are obviously terrible at planning.
I'm also convinced that they've deliberately designed the traffic light sequencing in the city centre to disrupt the flow as much as possible. It makes no sense whatsoever and it's so prevalent across the city that it has to be deliberate.
I don't know if they do or not. I would have thought they are overly facilitating of cars (in the centre anyway) at the expense of pedestrians, but it's hard to say when we don't have the full picture.
There's also the question of what the council's strategy should be. In the old days (everywhere, not just in Limerick) it was seen as a good thing to facilitate traffic as much as possible because this would enable people to move about efficiently and quickly in their cars from A to B. And that intuitively still makes sense to most people. But in transport planning and urban design that approach is gone out the window because it's been recognised that cars are inherently inefficient modes of transport in terms of the space they take up and there's also many knock-on effects of facilitating them, such as as low density urban sprawl, noise, pollution. safety, and many others. The approach nowadays is to restrict car movements while at the same time facilitating public transport, cycling, walking, etc, and being more sensible about where we put houses, industries, retail centres, educational and health institutions, etc.0 -
Reputable Rog wrote: »However I think there is still a need for this type of development and I think with changing household sizes LCC should looking to develop more smaller units in the City Centre and more family sized units at this location.
This. We are in desperate need for one and two bed apartments in the city centre. There are a lot of single people or couples who don't want to or can't share with others but are forced to as the only available housing stock is 2 and 3 bedroom plus.
Also, if we do go down the route of apartments in the city centre then excellent soundproofing is needed. There is nothing worse than hearing your neighbout in a semidetached but multiply that by all four sides.0 -
Lads the number 1 thing Limerick needs is houses, city centre development is completely different to suburban so they shouldnt be mexed up. Mungret is a booming area and the best thing for the area and for that part of the city is to build more homes for people to see limerick as a prosperous place that they can find a home.
Its all well and good to get a job in limerick but you have no idea how critical it is to have houses being built, you dont want to have whats happening to Dublin in limerick. In my opinion all the cities in Ireland cannot build houses fast enough, however i would also stress that certail conditions should be met in order for certain amount of homes to be built, ie road upgrades to cater for population, how about utilising the rail thats there as a shuttle to the city? It would open up west limerick if they did0 -
We can all agree that there is an urgent need for large scale developments.
But those have to be going to market at sustainable prices, I worry that the price is being forced up through a choke in supply to young families who want to own there own home....it is still and has been now for over 20 years a dysfunctional property market...it seems the goal of those who control the flow of credit and central government is to reach and surpass the price of a home in 2007!!! When the whole thing collapsed....this is crippling young house hunters and renters of homes....
What we need is high quality apartments that allow young families the option of starting off in something more affordable....not everyone is married to the suburban way of life...the problem has been it is the only option available to people since the mind nineties.....
The standard of apartment accommodation in this city has been disgraceful here to fore...build high and build quality and no more will people feel the need to move out of the city centre once they hit their mid twenties!!0 -
one of the main challenges LCC keep pointing out in planning docs is that of the 5-6k students who graduate each year in Limerick, 60% will leave after graduation - the majority going to dublin. Having so many students in Limerick masks the fact that there are no young people living here (24-30 year olds). Students and young families with mortgages don't have a lot of disposable income. Single people or young couples do. if we had more people in this age bracket, they would be spending their money in cafes, pubs, concerts and clothes shops. I picked up an event guide for october/november in limerick and of the 16 advertised events, 13 were for kids. there is an attitude among limerick people i talk to who left, that limerick is a place to escape from. rent might be more expensive in other cities but if you factor in the cost of running a car (which you cannot live without in limerick) and the lower wages for graduates there is no real incentive to stay, especially when every other city in ireland seems to have moved on from the recession. limerick is not a desirable place for young people and limerick 2030 are making it less desirable with their approach to creating a "liveable city" which no-one seems to live in.
also, as has been highlighted already by others here, where the hell are the 3-4k workers in the opera site going to park? the original plans for limerick 2030 were to knock arthurs quay and build more offices with "public spaces". knocking arthurs quay will result in -570 car parking spaces!!!0 -
one of the main challenges LCC keep pointing out in planning docs is that of the 5-6k students who graduate each year in Limerick, 60% will leave after graduation - the majority going to dublin. Having so many students in Limerick masks the fact that there are no young people living here (24-30 year olds). Students and young families with mortgages don't have a lot of disposable income. Single people or young couples do. if we had more people in this age bracket, they would be spending their money in cafes, pubs, concerts and clothes shops. I picked up an event guide for october/november in limerick and of the 16 advertised events, 13 were for kids. there is an attitude among limerick people i talk to who left, that limerick is a place to escape from. rent might be more expensive in other cities but if you factor in the cost of running a car (which you cannot live without in limerick) and the lower wages for graduates there is no real incentive to stay, especially when every other city in ireland seems to have moved on from the recession. limerick is not a desirable place for young people and limerick 2030 are making it less desirable with their approach to creating a "liveable city" which no-one seems to live in.
also, as has been highlighted already by others here, where the hell are the 3-4k workers in the opera site going to park? the original plans for limerick 2030 were to knock arthurs quay and build more offices with "public spaces". knocking arthurs quay will result in -570 car parking spaces!!!
I agree with your first point, the city was gutted of its 20-30 year olds back in 2010/2011...the recession had an awful impact on this city in particular....but a lot of people believe that there was never a boom in Limerick, and still believe it now....
Describing the city as somewhere you want to escape from exposes your issues and not this cities....we could all list anecdotal evidence to contrary but what is the point...
The creative scene (music/art/theatre etc) is in a great place in my opinion...its just not obvious...
Currently the city is no where near where it was in 2010....from an economical point of view....
I feel sorry for people who are incapable of enjoying the quality of life the city has to offer....mind you it wasn't until I lived elsewhere did I return with a renewed appreciation of the place....
There isn't a single thing you can do in any other Irish city that you can't do here....it just isn't a "cool/trendy" city, in fact it is probably Irelands most disliked city....a lot of Limerick people have no appreciation for its history and culture...that is a shame...0 -
Silentcorner wrote: »Describing the city as somewhere you want to escape from exposes your issues and not this cities....we could all list anecdotal evidence to contrary but what is the point...
The creative scene (music/art/theatre etc) is in a great place in my opinion...its just not obvious...
Currently the city is no where near where it was in 2010....from an economical point of view....
I'm happy and settled here but i do travel a lot and i do run into other limerick people, often in random places. someone once said to me if new york is the city that never sleeps then limerick as "the city that never wakes up".
on the arts scene, yes i agree there is a huge improvement with the likes of comedy, poetry, quirky stuff in che le fab, IFI at the belltable and the good things happening at the limetree and UL concert hall (the divine comedy playing soon!). i go to a lot of these, but more often than not they are at least half empty. there was an artist in limerick 3 weeks ago who appeared on jimmy fallon last friday, i thought this was a massive coup for limerick - but when i went it was half empty. the promoter certainly lost money on this which is not good in terms of future events. we are still a good deal behind other cities in terms of vibrancy and i think this is due to the lack of young people in the city.
i agree that a lot has changed and improved in maybe the last 2 years, but we are a long way behind cork and galway. on paper our "recovery" looks good as we are close to full employment, but we have the largest number of employment blackspots in the country (per capita). in my view this is at least partly due to the lack of "unskilled employment" opportunities in retail or hospitality that are available in well functioning cities.
limerick does still have a lot going for it, and if discussing another topic i would probably focus more on the positives. i do feel that in the context of limerick 2030 and the current direction of the city focusing on the positives only glosses over the problems. there will be potentially up to 3k houses being built in mungret for families, i wonder how many children of mungret will still be in limerick in 20-30 years..0 -
there is an attitude among limerick people i talk to who left, that limerick is a place to escape from.
I admit to being one of these people back when I was a teenager in the early 00's. I couldn't wait to get out of the place. It was mainly because I was a socialist, indie rock chick that loved culture, history and the arts. When Empire Music, Termights and Cafe Java's closed there really was no other place to go cept Dublin :pac:
Limerick for me was a dull place full of rugby jocks and ignorant religious folk (the kind that The Limerick Leader still love giving airtime too :rolleyes:) . With the arrogance that only a Limerick person exiled in Dublin can have, I would have been one of those people you speak off talking about how Limerick is a place that I escaped from.
The Limerick I returned home to 5 years ago was nothing like the one I left. It's a great place to live and I really think i'ts people who have never properly lived here that talk it down, and I was certainly one of those for a while. There's always heaps of stuff to do and vibrant art, culture, sports, heritage, alternative scenes. I do miss the buzz of Dublin nightlife but I just hop on the train on a Saturday evening and I'm up there in two hours for a night out if I want.
Do people still really see Limerick as a place to escape from anymore? I really hope not!0 -
I admit to being one of these people back when I was a teenager in the early 00's. I couldn't wait to get out of the place. It was mainly because I was a socialist, indie rock chick that loved culture, history and the arts. When Empire Music, Termights and Cafe Java's closed there really was no other place to go cept Dublin :pac:
Limerick for me was a dull place full of rugby jocks and ignorant religious folk (the kind that The Limerick Leader still love giving airtime too :rolleyes:) . With the arrogance that only a Limerick person exiled in Dublin can have, I would have been one of those people you speak off talking about how Limerick is a place that I escaped from.
The Limerick I returned home to 5 years ago was nothing like the one I left. It's a great place to live and I really think i'ts people who have never properly lived here that talk it down, and I was certainly one of those for a while. There's always heaps of stuff to do and vibrant art, culture, sports, heritage, alternative scenes. I do miss the buzz of Dublin nightlife but I just hop on the train on a Saturday evening and I'm up there in two hours for a night out if I want.
Do people still really see Limerick as a place to escape from anymore? I really hope not!
i agree with you on this to an extent, but i still think the city is missing its vibrancy. footfall on limerick streets on a sunny saturday afternoon would be less than a rainy sunday in dublin, cork or galway. the night scene has similar problems. moving jobs into the city is a positive but its mostly wasted without suitable housing for different lifestyles imo.0 -
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I'm happy and settled here but i do travel a lot and i do run into other limerick people, often in random places. someone once said to me if new york is the city that never sleeps then limerick as "the city that never wakes up".
on the arts scene, yes i agree there is a huge improvement with the likes of comedy, poetry, quirky stuff in che le fab, IFI at the belltable and the good things happening at the limetree and UL concert hall (the divine comedy playing soon!). i go to a lot of these, but more often than not they are at least half empty. there was an artist in limerick 3 weeks ago who appeared on jimmy fallon last friday, i thought this was a massive coup for limerick - but when i went it was half empty. the promoter certainly lost money on this which is not good in terms of future events. we are still a good deal behind other cities in terms of vibrancy and i think this is due to the lack of young people in the city.
i agree that a lot has changed and improved in maybe the last 2 years, but we are a long way behind cork and galway. on paper our "recovery" looks good as we are close to full employment, but we have the largest number of employment blackspots in the country (per capita). in my view this is at least partly due to the lack of "unskilled employment" opportunities in retail or hospitality that are available in well functioning cities.
limerick does still have a lot going for it, and if discussing another topic i would probably focus more on the positives. i do feel that in the context of limerick 2030 and the current direction of the city focusing on the positives only glosses over the problems. there will be potentially up to 3k houses being built in mungret for families, i wonder how many children of mungret will still be in limerick in 20-30 years..
I do agree with you on many of your points...its a hard city to get people into events...its impossible to predict...I can only imagine how difficult it is for the promoters...
This city is gaining huge attention from FDI companies because of its dynamic educational infrastructure which is not available in any other Irish city...so the likelyhood of those families still living in Limerick in 10 years time has never been higher...
We are not, and never have been a long way behind any Irish city...we have a perception issue....that is all it is...if you think Cork and Galway are well functioning cities way ahead of Limerick, I suspect you are buying into that flawed perception...
The problem sometimes is that we seem to think that if tourists don't come here there is something wrong with us....and by extension, if they flock elsewhere it must mean it is a better place....the reality is completely different...tourists follow a trail and rarely get off it....
Limerick has many issues facing it...your kidding yourself if you think we are the only Irish city with issues...
Our problem, as I see it, is that Limerick is a very deceptive city...I can understand why people don't immediately take to it...I can understand why people buy into that flawed perception...we do after all consume the same media Irish people do....on first sight, on a rainy day...walking around a very quiet city centre in the evening...I get why people feel a little depressed about the place....but this city is 1,000 years old, it has seen worse days, and it will see better days...just like it has for centuries....embrace the unique (sometimes odd) character of the city...enjoy the museums and art galleries, the humour etc....part of that character is our ability to be very hard on ourselves...don't let it get to you..0 -
As a Clareman I think Limerick City is rapidly improving. The city experienced very significant set backs but is recovering. I understand why many people are frustrated with the current situation but the graph is going upwards. I notice it in recent conversation. People are moving from saying limerick is finished to reluctantly admitting that the city is picking up. When people get a perception in their mind it's very difficult to change it. A particular problem that I notice is the negative attitude of the Irish 'intelligentsia" towards the city. The Irish Times and RTE absolutely refuse to cover positive news -cultural academic etc etc- about Limerick. They don't want to see anything good about the city as they fantasise about Galway. Look at the s**** they write about Galway market while the limerick one, a fantastic asset is continually ignored. Incidentally I like Galway but it shouldn't be developed at the expense of limerick. Develop both. The Independent does give limerick positive publicity. People might think that I am over emphasising the importance of publicity but I am convinced that every opportunity must be taken to talk up the city. People are easily influenced. Developments like the Mungret one and Opera centre are consequently needed. Grow Limerick, city and suburbs, and further development will come. Finally, a few colleagues of mine were aghast at recent mention's of Limerick as the third biggest city in the Republic when the proposed motorway was discussed. But that can't be.... Galway is the third biggest I was repeatedly told. Remind people Limerick is the third biggest city and should be treated accordingly.0
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also, as has been highlighted already by others here, where the hell are the 3-4k workers in the opera site going to park? the original plans for limerick 2030 were to knock arthurs quay and build more offices with "public spaces". knocking arthurs quay will result in -570 car parking spaces!!!
Providing parking is a really bad idea if you want people to live in the city centre. You're basically giving people an incentive to live outside the city and drive into it for work, education, shopping, etc, and that is very damaging for the city on the whole, and it is detrimental to the centre. If we reduce the incentive to live outside the city and increase the incentive to live in it, then we'll positively transform Limerick. Sadly, neither the Council nor, it seems, Limerick 2030 seem to get this.rent might be more expensive in other cities but if you factor in the cost of running a car (which you cannot live without in limerick) and the lower wages for graduates there is no real incentive to stay, especially when every other city in ireland seems to have moved on from the recession. limerick is not a desirable place for young people and limerick 2030 are making it less desirable with their approach to creating a "liveable city" which no-one seems to live in.
Why would you need a car if you live in the city centre?0 -
I think people just like to complain about their own things. If you look at the Waterford thread, people are saying it is ignored from development while Dublin, Cork and Limerick are booming. Many people in Cork are very pessimistic about the city, and I am sure it is the same in Galway in Dublin.
Also, I agree with what someone said about Galway VS Limerick. I am sure Galway is a great place and tourists love it, but Limerick is the country's third city. Limerick's population is quite bigger than Galway depending on which area you look at (Wikpedia says 70K for Galway city and suburbs, 94K for Limerick city but 160K for the metro area). I know in the end these things don't matter (people can say all they want that Limerick/Galway are the second city but it will always be Cork, there is no comparison), but it is unfair to 'forget' Limerick exists. Sometimes I feel in this country there is a constant competition in cities top prove themselves. If you think about the US, you think of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and so on. Not just one, and they don't develop at the expense of one another.0 -
Providing parking is a really bad idea if you want people to live in the city centre. You're basically giving people an incentive to live outside the city and drive into it for work, education, shopping, etc, and that is very damaging for the city on the whole, and it is detrimental to the centre. If we reduce the incentive to live outside the city and increase the incentive to live in it, then we'll positively transform Limerick. Sadly, neither the Council nor, it seems, Limerick 2030 seem to get this.
Why would you need a car if you live in the city centre?
agree with you on this, i was just pointing out the hypocrisy of the plan. i don't necessarily think all housing is bad, just our current model is too one-sided towards suburban/rural expansion. i think an effective city/suburbs should cater for all walks. if young people are given the option of living in the city centre then this may encourage them to stay when they have families, i think this attitude will develop naturally over a generation. i don't think anyone should be forced into living where they don't want to live. i think if decent quality apartments were available in the city centre today, a lot of young people would move in, freeing up a lot of 3 bed semi's for families who wish to rent.0 -
im not being negative for no reason. i have some real concerns for the future of the city.
Dublin, Cork and Galway have all recovered from the recession, Limerick has made come a long way since the start of 2015 but can anyone seriously say we have recovered?
Dublin, Cork and Galway all have different projects for their city centres, some council led and some private, but each of these cities has mixed use projects which incorporate office, residential, retail and hotels. Limerick 2030 are proposing office only with a token amount of retail space. Why are Limerick 2030 limiting their development to mostly office when this is not the norm for large scale developments?
UL have queried who the architect working with Limerick 2030 is, they have only listed an engineering company for the opera centre. Do we have businessmen and engineers designing the city centre? if so that explains the complete lack of joined up thinking.
Limerick was hit particularly bad during the recession due to our reliance on Dell. Our employment base is now more diversified, but we have no regional speciality. cork has pharma and galway has medical devices. we have some overlap in these in limerick but no cluster to speak of. a lot of employment in limerick is back office support. even IT companies who setup here are for mainly admin rather than creative work. if there were a recession tomorrow a lot of these companies would cut back or even leave. yes the last few years have been positive and yes we may continue to see companies relocate here. but unless limerick is a desirable place to live and work from a graduates perspective as well as an outsider we will not be able to attract the right type of employers. we will also be unable to sustain any type of native industry and will not see any start ups. Limerick 2030 provides the best opportunity to change limerick into a dynamic and well functioning city on so many levels. so far its been a huge let down.0 -
im not being negative for no reason. i have some real concerns for the future of the city.
Dublin, Cork and Galway have all recovered from the recession, Limerick has made come a long way since the start of 2015 but can anyone seriously say we have recovered?
Dublin, Cork and Galway all have different projects for their city centres, some council led and some private, but each of these cities has mixed use projects which incorporate office, residential, retail and hotels. Limerick 2030 are proposing office only with a token amount of retail space. Why are Limerick 2030 limiting their development to mostly office when this is not the norm for large scale developments?
UL have queried who the architect working with Limerick 2030 is, they have only listed an engineering company for the opera centre. Do we have businessmen and engineers designing the city centre? if so that explains the complete lack of joined up thinking.
Limerick was hit particularly bad during the recession due to our reliance on Dell. Our employment base is now more diversified, but we have no regional speciality. cork has pharma and galway has medical devices. we have some overlap in these in limerick but no cluster to speak of. a lot of employment in limerick is back office support. even IT companies who setup here are for mainly admin rather than creative work. if there were a recession tomorrow a lot of these companies would cut back or even leave. yes the last few years have been positive and yes we may continue to see companies relocate here. but unless limerick is a desirable place to live and work from a graduates perspective as well as an outsider we will not be able to attract the right type of employers. we will also be unable to sustain any type of native industry and will not see any start ups. Limerick 2030 provides the best opportunity to change limerick into a dynamic and well functioning city on so many levels. so far its been a huge let down.
Agree with everything you say.Unfortunately Limerick hasn't been able to market itself credibly as a tourist city.I'm unsure where the blame lies there but the city is still a let down aesthetically despite recent improvements.
I mentioned previously that Galway was so busy in comparison to Limerick.We need to have a cleaner city,clear out derelict sites,tacky shopfronts/shops and there really needs to be a residential element on 2030.0 -
Before we become too critical of our tourist figures, look at the figures below for 2016, ahead of Clare, mayo etc, all significant tourist counties. big surprise for me is the figure for Kilkenny. Because of the dispersed nature of Limerick city groups of visitors are often less apparent than elsewhere. Overseas tourist revenue earned by county:
Overseas tourist revenue earned by county 2016:
Dublin: €1,726m
Cork: €558m
Galway: €475m
Kerry: €234m
Limerick: €212m
Clare: €127m
Kildare: €89m
Donegal: €83m
Wicklow: €82m
Mayo: €80m
Waterford: €75m
Tipperary: €66m
Wexford: €65m
Sligo: €51m
Cavan: €50m
Kilkenny: €45m
Meath: €44m
Louth & Westmeath: €36m each
Carlow: €32m
Monaghan: €25m
Roscommon: €20m
Laois: €18m
Leitrim: €15m
Offaly: €14m
Longford: €8m0 -
Glenomra wrote:Before we become too critical of our tourist figures, look at the figures below for 2016, ahead of Clare, mayo etc, all significant tourist counties. big surprise for me is the figure for Kilkenny. Because of the dispersed nature of Limerick city groups of visitors are often less apparent than elsewhere. Overseas tourist revenue earned by county: Overseas tourist revenue earned by county 2016: Dublin: €1,726m Cork: €558m Galway: €475m Kerry: €234m Limerick: €212m Clare: €127m Kildare: €89m Donegal: €83m Wicklow: €82m Mayo: €80m Waterford: €75m Tipperary: €66m Wexford: €65m Sligo: €51m Cavan: €50m Kilkenny: €45m Meath: €44m Louth & Westmeath: €36m each Carlow: €32m Monaghan: €25m Roscommon: €20m Laois: €18m Leitrim: €15m Offaly: €14m Longford: €8m
Where are these figures from?0 -
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I think we do have some cluster industries here we have a large amount of semi conductor businesses in Limerick and a growing aircraft leasing sector.
Hopefully we can get a few more Northern trust type jobs from brexit everything helps.
I would rather a diverse job range to avoid another Dell scenario0
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