Why precious market space shouldn’t be made into a Centra

Below is a planning observation against an application to convert space intended for a market to a Centra. The space is on Newmarket and Mill Street in the Liberties – previously where the Green Door Market was. The site was redeveloped several years ago on condition that they had a market space – they are …

Inchicore and Bridgefoot Street bottlebanks – help needed!

UPDATE: When this post was published in 2021, we managed to get the council to reinstall the bottlebanks at St. Michael’s Church in Inchicore. In March 2025, however, they were removed permanently to make way for construction of the new homes, library and supermarket on the site. The nearest bottlebanks to those are now on …

Dublin needs a supervised injection facility: my submission to An Bord Pleanála

Planning observation: Dublin City Council rejected a planning application by a charity to open up a supervised injection facility (SIF) on Merchant’s Quay – the heart of Dublin city centre’s drug problem. I think the Council got it wrong: a SIF could reduce overdoses, deaths, needle littering, and public injecting. It’s a humane, decent response …

Newmarket development changes: why is only community benefit space cut?

Planning observation: Developers sought permission to amend their planning permission. This is fairly standard and totally fine. In this case, it was largely to accommodate and ESB substation. But what’s not right is that their plan was to cut space from the market space and the artist’s studio. Here’s my planning observation: