24 September 1998 Edition
Ringsend rejects developers
``I am prepared to go to Mountjoy Jail to stop this devastation going ahead,'' claimed a local resident. This was the strength of feeling at a public meeting in Dublin's Ringsend on Monday night. The issue that is stirring up such sentiment is a proposed development for a sixteen-floor private apartment complex, car park and an hotel.
Despite opposition from the local community and unanimous opposition from local political representatives Dublin Corporation have given planning permission for the development. The Planning Department made only minor changes to the original proposal.
The meeting decided to lodge a planning appeal with An Bord Pleanala - the Ringsend residents are prepared to pay the necessary £6,000.
Speaking at the meeting, local Sinn Fein representative Daithí Doolan congratulated the community for taking such a brave stand and ensured they would continue to have his active support. He asked, ``who runs this city? Is it the people of Dublin? Is it the councillors we elect? Well it appears to me to be the multi million pound developers who decide what happens in this city. I believe this community needs a dual approach. We should go down the road of An Bord Pleanala but we also need our voices heard on the streets to make it impossible for this development to go ahead''.
Despite opposition from the local community and unanimous opposition from local political representatives Dublin Corporation have given planning permission for the development. The Planning Department made only minor changes to the original proposal.
The meeting decided to lodge a planning appeal with An Bord Pleanala - the Ringsend residents are prepared to pay the necessary £6,000.
Speaking at the meeting, local Sinn Fein representative Daithí Doolan congratulated the community for taking such a brave stand and ensured they would continue to have his active support. He asked, ``who runs this city? Is it the people of Dublin? Is it the councillors we elect? Well it appears to me to be the multi million pound developers who decide what happens in this city. I believe this community needs a dual approach. We should go down the road of An Bord Pleanala but we also need our voices heard on the streets to make it impossible for this development to go ahead''.