Public baths' protesters deemed 'insane' by 'hapless' ex-minister
An "insane" protest is how the cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council labelled a march by 1,200 of her constituents last weekend. These loonies were protesting at a proposal by the council to fill in a huge part of the sea along the sea front at Dun Laoghaire and fund a public park on the site by building a ten story high carbuncle which would be out of place almost any where in the world except Las Vegas.
The cathaoirleach and former minister, Niamh Bhreathnach, then added helpfully: "I'm not a former Minister for Education for nothing."
Unfortunately for the hapless Bhreathnach, it is not her constituents who are insane; it is the plan to impose a concrete and glass tower on one of the most important pieces of coastline in the country, which is totally mad.
What is being proposed, without any public consultation, is that the site of the old sea water baths along the seafront – built 100 years ago – be redeveloped by filling in five and a half acres of the sea. On top of this would go a ten-story high apartment block, a modern glass and concrete tower, something on a scale that would dwarf everything for miles around. The apartments would be used to fund the project, and as they would instantly be worth €1 million each, there will be massive profits available for any developer who can get the contract for the job.
The problem with this scheme is that it is not what is either needed or wanted in the area and no one believes the public amenities will ever actually materialise. This wouldn't matter so much if this part of the coast were not among the most historic and frequented by ordinary people in the country. Every weekend tens of thousands of people now walk along the sea walls and the nearby pier is the most visited place in the country. More people walk along there every year than visit Dublin Zoo and the Phoenix Park put together. But would anyone put a ten-story block in the middle of the Phoenix Park to pay for some other amenities? Of course they wouldn't. But who else could come up with a plan to deface the piece of coastline immortalised by James Joyce but only the very people who have been given the responsibility for caring for it.
Dún Laoghaire Council seem determined to sell off its most valuable asset, the sea front, to let some one else provide what they are unwilling to provide themselves. In doing so they will destroy the little that is left of what was once Kingstown. They have done a pretty good job over the years of obliterating the character of the place, with ugly shopping centres and apartment blocks and what is surely the ugliest ship ever built in the form of the HSS ferry which disgorges hundreds of trucks a day onto the towns narrow streets.
This is not even the first attempt to fill in the sea and sell it off. A similar plan at nearby Seapoint was seen off in the recent past, and only five years ago the council's own more modest plans to redevelop the area was abandoned because it was deemed out of place amid massive opposition. In the meantime plans are underway to build a massive glass structure in the very centre of Dún Laoghaire harbour and there are other proposals for another tower block nearby.
But now Niamh Bhreathnach has taken up office and she obviously believes she knows what the people want. If you don't agree with her you are obviously insane, she is a former government minister after all. She is also someone who was appointed a minister on practically her very first day in the Dáil when Dick Spring was casting about in desperation for people to fill the Cabinet places he had managed to squeeze out of the coalition.
She knew what the people of Dún Laoghaire wanted so well that she was ignominiously turfed out of Leinster House at the very next election. Despite the best efforts of her long suffering party she hasn't come within an asses roar of regaining the seat Barry Desmond bequeathed to her since.
But despite having such a truncated national political career she is still entitled to a ministerial pension, along with the generous salary, perks and allowances that go with the job in Dún Laoghaire Council. She is not, as she says, a former Minister for Education for nothing. She gets well paid for it so maybe its time she actually started listening to the people who voted for her.
Fergal Keane is a reporter for RTÉ Radio's Five Seven Live
What they say about Dún Laoghaire baths
Niamh Bhreathnach (Labour), Cathaoirleach, Dún Laoghaire County Council
"This plan has the potential to revitalise Dún Laoghaire and it meets everyone's wish to replace the current derelict site with top quality recreational facilities that will be open to all."
"The scheme is, without doubt, the most ambitious leisure and recreational amenity ever undertaken by a local authority in Ireland. Developed by a team of in-house architects, planners and parks personnel, it presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to give Dún Laoghaire what it deserves; leisure and recreational amenities that would make the area a destination for locals and visitors alike."
"To imagine anyone could open this solely as baths is unrealistic... the apartment element will pay for this, that is the reality."
Frank McDonald, environment editor for The Irish Times
"There can be no doubt that the scheme would fundamentally alter this stretch of the seafront as well as existing vistas in the area...
"But what exactly are the protectionists seeking to protect? The existing baths are derelict. The seafront area alongside them is not particularly accessible, nor is it attractive. The relatively narrow strip of promenade between the East Pier and the baths faces north-east and gets hardly any sunshine.
"Although the pier and the promenade at Newtownsmith are intensively used, the grim, graffiti-scarred intermediate zone attracts few walkers. It is frequented by hobos and, according to senior council planner Richard Cremins, is a venue for open-air drinking.
"One of the principal benefits of the council's plan would be to create a public park here, similar in size to People's Park. By extending outwards into the sea, it would also capture some sun while the rock-armoured breakwater would protect the area against 'accelerating coastal erosion', as Cremins put it."
Richard Boyd-Barret, Socialist Workers Party
"This enormous private apartment block (bigger than the B&Q warehouse on the M50!) will be built on what is currently 100 per cent publicly-owned property. Only those able to purchase the exclusive apartments, which will certainly cost between half a million and a million euro each, will have access to a large section of that space. That's privatisation by any definition.
"A major part of the beautiful view of Scotsman's Bay from the Coast Road, currently accessible to every single member of the public who wants to enjoy it, will also be obscured by this enormous high-rise development. That is privatisation and heritage vandalism to boot."
"I think Frank McDonald and the council officials (when the latter get back from Bilbao) should knock on a few random doors in Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove and Glasthule and ask people what they think of the plans. That might make them think again. Unless, of course, they think they know better than locals what is best for the Dún Laoghaire seafront."
Kevin Myers in An Irishman's Diary in The Irish Times
"Dún Laoghaire is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland. It is beautiful to see from the sea and beautiful to see from the shore, and at times it can rival the Bay of Naples or Capri in its enchantment. So it is quite simply past all belief that Dún Laoghaire Council plans to dump a 5.5 acre apartment complex on land which for the most part – some four acres – is to be claimed from the sea in Scotsman's Bay. And in contrast to the modest, two and three storey roofline which characterises most of the waterfront, the complex will, with a glass tower, reach 10 storeys high.
Moreover, it will not be set back from the sea, but will be an intrusion into it: where there are now waters, there will be an apartment block rising like Croke Park, adjoining the spit of land, where the derelict baths now are. On the other hand, there could of course be some modest, low-cost development of the baths: they could be turned into a maritime park, which would be appropriate to the scale and the nature of the town."
Ursula Maguire, Chairperson, Sandycove and Glasthule Residents Association
"It is very disquieting also to hear that councillors, including Labour's Niamh Bhreathnach, claim that the baths site proposals are 'warmly welcomed' (statement on her website) when 1,200 people took part in a public demonstration against this proposal on Sunday. As one of the speakers noted, this is the largest body of people to march along the seafront in Dún Laoghaire since the British army departed here in 1922...
"There are very great fears among the community at the prospect of unrestricted development in Scotsman's Bay, on the site of Carlisle Pier and on the lands abutting the West Pier. We have also noted that someone in the county council has coined the phrase 'Golden Mile' to describe the coastline. Are they thinking of creating a Las Vegas or Hong Kong here?"
(In a letter to The Irish Times)