Limerick improvement projects

Vanquished

They really drag the arse out of these projects. At least there's hope for a safer, tidier junction arrangement.

LeoD

Mc Love wrote: »

Asked our mayor for an update:

“we will be shortly be going on site with the car park”

Good to see the priorities are in order anyway.

chicorytip

Silentcorner wrote:

A directly elected mayor can only work if that mayor has actual power to affect change, that mayor would be elected on a manifesto that he/she will be judged on every 4 or 5 years, if that position has the power to influence how we police our city, how we administer justice, how we clean our city, how we plan our city then you find a completely different calibre of politician.

Ideally, this directly elected mayor should be free of any party political association.

Cookiemunster

chicorytip wrote: »

Ideally, this directly elected mayor should be free of any party political association.

That doesn't happen anywhere in the world that elects a mayor. An independent might get elected, but all parties will put candidates forward.

panda100

chicorytip wrote: »

The real issue here is the poor calibre of candidates that actually get elected. Most appear to me to be lacking both initiative and original thinking.

Why is there such a poor calibre of local elected reps in Limerick?

Cookiemunster

panda100 wrote: »

Why is there such a poor calibre of local elected reps in Limerick?

That's not unique to Limerick. Local politics is the same nationwide.

phog

panda100 wrote: »

Why is there such a poor calibre of local elected reps in Limerick?

compared to where? Imho, local politicians are generally poor quality regardless of the local authority they're elected to represent.

toushea

Given the renumeration involved and the nature of the work why would anyone of a high calibre consider the position ?

toushea

Given the remuneration involved and the nature of the work why would anyone of a high calibre consider the position ?

panda100

toushea wrote: »

Given the renumeration involved and the nature of the work why would anyone of a high calibre consider the position ?

Good point. Is it just financial though? There are lots of high calibre people that volunteer their time for free in making better communities in our city and county, yet something stops them from getting involved in politics. I wonder is it the case that elected officials actually have very little influence at a local level and that's why any types of improvements in our city are so slow or non-existent as ultimately it's down to local authority staff who aren't answerable to really anyone.

toushea

panda100 wrote: »

Good point. Is it just financial though? There are lots of high calibre people that volunteer their time for free in making better communities in our city and county, yet something stops them from getting involved in politics. I wonder is it the case that elected officials actually have very little influence at a local level and that's why any types of improvements in our city are so slow or non-existent as ultimately it's down to local authority staff who aren't answerable to really anyone.

It is certainly true that many very high calibre people do volunteer but I've always felt politics was a much larger commitment. I often wondered how easy it is to make what could be bold and controversial decisions which may be negative in the short run in the name of a long term benefit when your job is on the line every 5 years. Whilst I've never liked the play it safe attitude in Limerick I do understand why it might come about. I too would like to see more of the accountability of what happens to the city come down to the staff who are in the long term positions and ultimately should be the ones who are shaping the long term progress of the city as they can take the long term view. I always felt that the focus of the councillors should be communicating between the local authority and the public they represent as oppose to being the ones running the show but that's just my somewhat idealistic view.

kilburn

Look at the calibre of posters in this forum and you get an idea.....

Seriously though the local parties pick their cronies and nepotism is rife.

Any half decent independents dont stand a chance.

Mc Love

What is the remuneration for being a local councillor? and do you progress from there to a TD?

mdmix

panda100 wrote: »

Why is there such a poor calibre of local elected reps in Limerick?

in terms of the city, IMO this is due to the demographics of the city and the specific needs of these demographics. im going to generalize to keeps things simple so bear with me on this. the city is made up of mostly people on low/ no incomes on one side and few well to do's on the other side. people from limerick city are generally have a lower level of education (CSO), therefore earn less and have different needs so we end up with td's like Maurice Quinlevin and Willie O'Dea who are basically pothole and playground politicians who have no other aspirations than pandering to peoples most basic needs, most limerick councillors are like this. these guys make their bread and butter on helping people find the right form, basically overpaid citizens advise workers.

On the other side you have the well to do's who will vote for anyone they are told to as a lot of these people are party affiliated. they are voting for someone who can get them lower taxes, Michael Noonan.

Then there is a huge public sector in limerick so that explains Jan oSullivan.

outside of that the rest dont vote so their needs are not met. Students (mostly from co limerick, clare or tipp) dont vote and dont stay around after graduation, and few foreigners in town who i assume (maybe im wrong) dont vote.

mdmix

and this

jbkenn

Mc Love wrote: »

What is the remuneration for being a local councillor? and do you progress from there to a TD?

Given that Councillors are part time positions, despite some Councillors claiming otherwise, there is no salary for being a Councillor, there is, however, a Representational Allowance, which from January 2018 is €16,891 p.a., plus expenses, details of expenses claimed by Limerick City and County Councillors are published here https://www.limerick.ie/council/services/your-council/your-councillors/register-councillors-expenses makes for interesting reading.
As to progressing to a T.D., there would appear to be many of our current crop of Councillors who would hold ambitions in that regard.

MilfordBud

I don't know if this is the right thread but couldn't find one that it would fit in to.

How many new housing developments are there going on in Limerick at the moment?

Evanwood in Castletroy is finishing up construction of final phase.
Bloomfield in Newtown/Annacotty
Castlebrook Manor off the old Dublin road in Castletroy/Annacotty due to start soon.
New developments on Condell Rd and Clonmacken or are these the same one?
New one in Mungret? I'm not sure about these, nothing concrete on them as far as I can see.

Cookiemunster

MilfordBud wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right thread but couldn't find one that it would fit in to.

How many new housing developments are there going on in Limerick at the moment?

Evanwood in Castletroy is finishing up construction of final phase.
Bloomfield in Newtown/Annacotty
Castlebrook Manor off the old Dublin road in Castletroy/Annacotty due to start soon.
New developments on Condell Rd and Clonmacken or are these the same one?
New one in Mungret? I'm not sure about these, nothing concrete on them as far as I can see.

There's a private 110 unit development on the Condell Rd near the Clonmacken roundabout, so I'd say that's what you're thinking of.

Mungret is part of the Limerick 2030 development. Up to 800 homes, but 200 initially. It will probably be 2020 before that gets on site.

There are a number of social developments that the council are doing too. 48 units in Rathbane, 43 units on the Condell Rd, 11 units on Careys Road, 27 units in Keyes Park, 13 units on Roxboro Road and a load of 3, 4 or 5 unit infill developments around the city.

Cookiemunster

The Department of Education has now acquired a site in Castletroy for a permanent building for Limerick Educate Together Secondary School (Limerick ETSS).
The new school will be built on a 12.4 acre site located opposite Northern Trust, near the Bloodmill Road.
https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/338636/12-acre-site-secured-for-limerick-s-newest-secondary-school.html#.W63v-g9A4Xk.twitter

Loads more traffic for the area. Yippee!

zulutango

The 850 by Limerick 2030 in Mungret are also social, I think.

Poxyshamrock

Cookiemunster wrote: »

The Department of Education has now acquired a site in Castletroy for a permanent building for Limerick Educate Together Secondary School (Limerick ETSS).
The new school will be built on a 12.4 acre site located opposite Northern Trust, near the Bloodmill Road.
https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/338636/12-acre-site-secured-for-limerick-s-newest-secondary-school.html#.W63v-g9A4Xk.twitter

Loads more traffic for the area. Yippee!

Such a busy road in what is essentially an industrial area of the city. Bad bus service to boot. Is it not pretty much guaranteed that everyone will be taking a car to this school?

panda100

mdmix wrote: »

in terms of the city, IMO this is due to the demographics of the city and the specific needs of these demographics. im going to generalize to keeps things simple so bear with me on this. the city is made up of mostly people on low/ no incomes on one side and few well to do's on the other side. people from limerick city are generally have a lower level of education (CSO), therefore earn less and have different needs so we end up with td's like Maurice Quinlevin and Willie O'Dea who are basically pothole and playground politicians who have no other aspirations than pandering to peoples most basic needs, most limerick councillors are like this. these guys make their bread and butter on helping people find the right form, basically overpaid citizens advise workers.

On the other side you have the well to do's who will vote for anyone they are told to as a lot of these people are party affiliated. they are voting for someone who can get them lower taxes, Michael Noonan.

Then there is a huge public sector in limerick so that explains Jan oSullivan.

outside of that the rest dont vote so their needs are not met. Students (mostly from co limerick, clare or tipp) dont vote and dont stay around after graduation, and few foreigners in town who i assume (maybe im wrong) dont vote.

That makes a lot of sense. I'm hoping that the Marriage Equality and Repeal referendums may have politicised the younger voters somewhat, especially in the city. Would be great to see the likes of Sarah-Jane Hennelly getting in at a local level.

I saw on the Limerick Leader yesterday that Limerick councillors will not have anymore say on the proposed plans for O'Connell Street and the final plans rest with An Bord Pleanala. Daniel Butler cited 'serial objectors' as the reason for this. This seems very unfair to me. How can this be the case that we don't have a say on the final plans for our city and who are these serial objectors??

Glenomra

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Such a busy road in what is essentially an industrial area of the city. Bad bus service to boot. Is it not pretty much guaranteed that everyone will be taking a car to this school?

I am not hugely familiar with the area, but where is there a prospective site i the area without traffic implications. Imo another significant infrastructural development for the city. similar to most, funded by the State or Council. We could do with more private lead developments.

damowill

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Such a busy road in what is essentially an industrial area of the city. Bad bus service to boot. Is it not pretty much guaranteed that everyone will be taking a car to this school?

They were looking to secure this site for a long time so no surprise that its finally been granted. However now that the Parkway Valley site also now has a developer in place for accommodation, hotel, retail, etc then this is going to put huge traffic demands on the surrounding area's.

The Groody Road will need to be upgraded to facilitate extra traffic, as will the Ballysimon and Dublin road and possibly the bloodmill road.

pigtown

The intention is to realign Bloodmill Rd so that it joins the Groody Rd at the roundabout just before Northern Trust, taking it away from the Ballysimon Rd. Long term they also plan to extend the Old Schoolhouse Rd to meet the same roundabout. This would allow for the huge housing areas around Monaleen easy access to the new school, and it's likely that cycling facilities will be provided, hopefully alleviating traffic to both the school and to Northern Trust.

nim1bdeh38l2cw

MilfordBud wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right thread but couldn't find one that it would fit in to.

How many new housing developments are there going on in Limerick at the moment?

Evanwood in Castletroy is finishing up construction of final phase.
Bloomfield in Newtown/Annacotty
Castlebrook Manor off the old Dublin road in Castletroy/Annacotty due to start soon.
New developments on Condell Rd and Clonmacken or are these the same one?
New one in Mungret? I'm not sure about these, nothing concrete on them as far as I can see.

Grange in Raheen
Castlebrook Manor in Castletroy is launching in a few weeks - some are nearly finished.
Sli na Manach in Mungret has a new phase launching in a few weeks too.

mdmix

panda100 wrote: »

That makes a lot of sense. I'm hoping that the Marriage Equality and Repeal referendums may have politicised the younger voters somewhat, especially in the city. Would be great to see the likes of Sarah-Jane Hennelly getting in at a local level.

I saw on the Limerick Leader yesterday that Limerick councillors will not have anymore say on the proposed plans for O'Connell Street and the final plans rest with An Bord Pleanala. Daniel Butler cited 'serial objectors' as the reason for this. This seems very unfair to me. How can this be the case that we don't have a say on the final plans for our city and who are these serial objectors??

Hopefully it does, it would be great to have people more politically engaged or even just more engaged with their city/ environment.

I have met both Sarah and Dan on different nights out and from chatting to them they are both sound and want what’s best for limerick, but Sarah is def more we’ll informed and has better ideas. She basically looks at cities similar in size/ demographics to limerick and sees what works well or not.

On the street upgrades, I think maybe an bord pleana might be better at dealing with this. Council haven’t listened to feedback from the “public consultation”. At least on bord pleanala won’t remove the limited bus/cycle lanes at the last minute as the council have done before.

mdmix

Bexley Petite Scum wrote: »

Grange in Raheen
Castlebrook Manor in Castletroy is launching in a few weeks - some are nearly finished.
Sli na Manach in Mungret has a new phase launching in a few weeks too.

Are any of these going to deliver any decent number of houses in the next 2 to 3 years? Evan wood was being built in batches of 3 to 4 houses at a time, newtown looks the same. I keep hearing developers promise 2 hundred or so houses in different estates but how long does this all take?

source

https://amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/dunnes-stores-loses-significant-battle-over-vacant-sites-register-873669.html#click=https://t.co/4xJdLxpvNU

Let's hope this leads to movement on Sarsfield St.

Cookiemunster

source wrote: »

https://amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/dunnes-stores-loses-significant-battle-over-vacant-sites-register-873669.html#click=https://t.co/4xJdLxpvNU

Let's hope this leads to movement on Sarsfield St.

Ah, I thought they'd made a decision on Sarfield St. Still if they lost this appeal in Dublin the odds are in favour that they'll lose the one here too. Fingers crossed.