Limerick improvement projects

You are downplaying the likes of the Strand and Savoy to suit your argument.

And you are overplaying how "budget" Staycity are to suit it too. Plenty of families stay in them not just stags.

Also "higher order businesses" and very wealthy guests are not as good for the local economy as you think they are. A whole family or a stag actually have a higher spending spread and far more likely to patronize the stores/hospitality actual city people use than some rich lad going to "higher order businesses"

Perhaps you're exaggerating the quality of the Savoy and Strand to beef up your own argument. The reality is that The Savoy is a massively underwhelming hotel and not at all what you'd expect from a supposed 5 star establishment. Hotels of that calibre don't have cheap, tacky furniture and plastic planter boxes in their lobby or communal areas. They also don't have mediocre dining facilities such as a supposedly French style brasserie which is essentially housed within glass panels and a canopy facing onto the traffic sewer that is Henry Street. I've no idea what happened to their lounge restaurant on the first floor. They seem to have discontinued it. The Strand is a decent hotel but there are many others like it all around the country. It's hardly exceptional.

Families are generally attracted to stay in hotels with a range of facilities onsite. Leisure centre, kids clubs, that kind of stuff. Staycity type accommodation is very much aimed at specific cohorts but families with kids would not be one of them.

You might also be overestimating the impact of the average stag on the local economy. A few pubs will benefit but aside from a few hot chicken rolls or trip to the local chipper, it won't extend far beyond that.

I've no idea where you got your notion of 'very wealthy guests' either. I made no reference whatsoever to such a demographic. The unfortunate reality here is that higher order businesses in Limerick would equate to mid-range European retailers like H&M opening in the city centre given the appallingly low ebb we're at, with the retail landscape consisting predominantly of charity shops, vape shops and discount stores.

Again you seem to have extreme difficulty in interpreting text. Maybe read it more slowly next time before you go mashing the keyboard in a blind illogical rage. Who the hell said that families don't visit cities?! You're either a bit dim or else disingenuously misinterpreting the point to try and claim it as a win! I said they're far more likely to stay in hotels with all the standard facilities inhouse rather than what is essentially a basic apartment complex. Guess what? They have those type of hotels in cities too!

If you can't acknowledge the blindingly obvious issue with Limerick city then you're shockingly delusional. Take out Brown Thomas and the retail landscape in the centre of the third largest city in Ireland is no better than provincial towns. The offering here is absolutely embarrassing. We're a complete basket case and yet Limerick Council has never even undertaken an analysis to try and identify why national and international retailers have fled from the city centre over the past 15 years!

Your statement about retail being finished in small cities is so laughably bullshit also. You need to extract your head from the sand and stop trying to excuse the pathetic situation here with embarrassing falsehoods about cities elsewhere. The vast majority of small European cities have maintained retail cores. Yes there has been diversification but bricks and mortar retail is still strong on the continent and commercial contractions like we've seen here are incredibly rare.

Closer to home, a small city 90kms down the road has witnessed a significant retail upswing since covid. Mango, North Face, Flannels, Dune etc have opened new stores in Cork city centre. H&M also recommitted to extend the lease of their existing premises. But yeah retail is dead though!🙈

Ah yes basket case Brexit Britain. I'm totally convinced!

Our woes are not at all self-inflicted and have nothing whatsoever to do with decades of Council mismanagement, the prioritisation of traffic and cars over people. Or the inability to even acknowledge the ugliness of our street, its impact on trade and footfall, and the incompetence in consistently failing to implement a high quality, attractive public realm. The failure to deliver public transport and active travel infrastructure to make the city more accessible. Not to mention the policy of favouring suburban residential development over the rejuvenation of city centre brownfield and other opportunity sites. A policy that has hollowed out the core and almost left it bereft of residents! Then there's the dismal failure of the Council to live up to their obligations and safeguard Protected Structures and other buildings of architectural significance. That's before we even get on to the scourge of landstanding vacant and derelict sites etc etc etc.

Individual elements of the issues I listed previously are present in towns and cities all over the country but nowhere has the collective impact been as profound as it has on Limerick city centre.

Incidentally I note Retail Ireland expressed concern again recently on the condition of Limerick city centre and have called on the Council to get cracking with improvements. The group seem to be holding a seminar in the city this month with existing and hopefully prospective retailers.

Any new pics/updates on the new Bus station building?

They have a cut-out at the roundabout at the top,cycle lane side, forcing people to go to the  pedestrian crossing to get to the other side or else try go across two car lanes to continue journey,should be fun in the dark.This road is used by cycle clubs sometimes two abreast,where are they all going to go.They have also installed plastic bollards to divide the road.This will now be full of rubbish that the road swepper cannot clean.

If the cycle clubs and other people choose to stay on the main road it will make it very dangerous for cars,trucks etc to pass them by safely as the road is now much norrower.They are green divides on both sides,maybe part of them could have been used.Are people legally obliged to use the cycle lanes?

Both lanes on the same side is the right way to go. Countries who have been doing it a lot longer and better than us learned that long ago.

Problem is when it's only a tiny stretch with no integration with traffic lights and junctions it gets a little annoying exiting (still better than not having them though).

They are keeping it because the plan is to line up the Condell Rd. lane and change the lights at the junction.

You can still cycle on Bishops/Harveys/Howleys Quays.

I assume you mean close it to cars. It's a pity really that cycling infrastructure wasn't being thought of in Limerick back when they built the walkway. Plenty of room there for all modes.

There are pros and cons to a single bidirectional cycle path on one side of the road over 2 single direction cycle paths at either side where there is not enough space for cycle paths at either side of the road to cater for 2 abreast cycling. Probably the biggest potential issue with bi-directional cycle paths is safety, particularly for cycle traffic heading in the contraflow direction, as they pass side roads/private entrances - but that can be mitigated for with thoughtful design. Cycle paths that do not allow people to cycle safely and comfortably 2 abreast are garbage and generally a waste of time and money which is why single bi-directional paths should be considered where space is limited. The active travel team are slowly learning on the job but still appear to be a quite unimaginative when it comes to the design of cycle routes.

Edit: My brain is playing tricks on me - I could have sworn you asked why not put a bidirectional cycle path on one side of the road... 😜

That's the exact safety features cyclists need, emergency vehicles flying down their segregated lanes

Yes and surprisingly (and thankfully) there's been nobody killed on our bus/cycle lanes so far - that I'm aware of... Doesn't make it a good idea to combine the two though