ENNIS 2040 DAC have described the comments of the Environment Minister in a row with Dublin Port as “interesting”.
This week, The Irish Independent reported on the dispute between Dublin Port and Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan (GP).
Dublin Port is refusing to give up its new car compound for housing, the ten-acre site can hold 2,500 newly imported cars at any one time while they await distribution to salesrooms around the country.
Developed in 2014 at a cost of €3.4m, the area is separated from the main port area by the M50 near the Port Tunnel entrance. It has a private flyover across the motorway so cars can be driven from the quayside without using public roads. The site is one of three around the port that were identified by the Land Development Agency as having potential for residential development, with space for at least 1,200 homes.
Current Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe (FG) officially opened the facility when he was Minister for Transport.
Minister Ryan said the compound should be housing people and not cars. “Do we want these large areas as car parks, within walking distance of O’Connell Street, within walking distance of the Luas?” he said. “That should be housing. I don’t think we should be using Dublin City centre as the car park for new cars. We can put them in another location. The State-owned Dublin Port Company dismissed the idea, saying the compound was a critical facility and it had nowhere else to hold the 110,000 cars arriving over the year.
He felt the compound should have been rezoned when the Dublin City Development Plan was reviewed earlier this year. “Dublin City Council made the wrong decision. They didn’t rezone it last summer. That should be rezoned. It could be developed relatively quickly,” he said. The Minister met with port officials last week to discuss this and other issues.
Following the publication of a report on the matter by The Irish Independent, Ennis 2040 DAC via their social media channels stated, “Interesting article in today’s Indo: Minister says we should be housing people, not cars”.
This post came days after Save Ennis Town held a silent march to demonstrate their opposition to construct a mixed-use development on Abbey Street car park.
Via their social media channels, Ennis 2040 DAC have highlighted positive articles regarding public transport including an expected increase in frequency of buses in Clare and kayaking on the River Fergus.
Ennis 2040 DAC’s social media is managed in-house while it employs a PR consultant to handle its media queries. “As with any organisation, Ennis 2040 DAC shares content on its social media channels which may be of interest to its target audience. Over the last few months this has seen everything from National Umbrella Day to articles in the Clare Echo to news items in National media. Social media is managed in-house,” a spokesperson for Ennis 2040 DAC told The Clare Echo.
