Limerick ghost town

Mc Love

I remember there used to be busloads of tourists parked along O'Connell st, now you are lucky to even see one!

Jagle

Cherrycoke wrote: »

There's actually a lot of people living in this area, myself included :rolleyes:

Crosses Funeral home is one of the most used funeral homes in the city, Fords chipper is probably the best known chipper, and one of those "old churches" is a stunning cathedral, in my opinion, the most beautiful in Limerick.

It's not fair to dismiss the area just because it isn't of any interest/use to you

a funeral home is hardly a good thing.
i never said there chips were bd, and yes, but all that is has is two old churchs, there is never any people walking around browsing, like you might have found on thomas street/william street, i dont understand how it gets a million euro spent on that part of town

and i pass through the area alot, all i ever see is drunks, young scumeens and people in black, hardly a good view for the city

bernardo mac

Of course Limerick has its share of drunks and "undesirables" as many urban areas do these times;however , I have come across genuine, often young unfortunates possibly homeless,maybe drug/alcohol dependent, looking wrecked,malnourished,yes begging but who are not a threat to passersby and in urgent need of official help and direction

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I disagree tbh, loads of the best specialist shops in Galway have closed down too. Shop Street in Galway, for example, used to have way more independent shops but slowly but surely they are being replaced with phone shops and tourist shops and this process will continue everywhere in Ireland.

Even Grafton street is getting more homogenised year on year.

Also, I would say the Crescent did have an effect on the city centre from the 1970's on, it just became more pronounced when the new wing opened.

Funny how it has managed to avoid having a similar % of dead units as Limerick city centre though. Guess the fact that their city authorities made significant cuts to the rates made no difference eh?


But the example I gave was of Cork city centre and my point is valid for there, and it is probably a better example as Cork has a number of shopping centres and retail parks in it's outskirts like Mahon Point, Blackpool SC, Wilton SC, etc. Plus They managed to open a similar city centre project to the Limerick Opera centre during the downturn and got retailers to fill it.


Now I will agree that my next point is not the only factor that came/comes into play with regards to Limerick city centre, but those that were/are the decision makers for Limerick city centre over the last 20 to 25 years have made some awful decisions in business terms and we still have a situation where many of those who get to decide business matters for the city centre have no business or retail experience whatsoever and trot out their populist parish pump lines over and over to give the impression they have a clue as to what they are on about.

constantg

hightower1 wrote: »

Donkey fords is one of the scummiest chippers in existence and certainly not worth the trip to that street unless ur mad after its unique taste, don't mind the accents round that area for ten mins and have a car you can run in and out of to minimize the time spent down there.

/end rant, bottom line..its a hole.

Donkey's is gogeous.

But John's Sq is a kip and a dangerous one. When I was an undergrad (26 now, sniff sniff ) I used to walk home from the city to castletroy after the club for 2 reasons. 1 it saved me a few quid and 2 I liked a stroll as it helped clear the head and restore the hearing

After a few times going very quickly through John Sq I started avoiding it. Then I started avoiding it during the daytime. It's very dodgy.

It's also pretty dark like. I mean do you know the bit of Mungret Street before you come onto Broad Street/John Street? PITCH BLACK @ night. Seriously dangerous stuff lads.

vkid

Kess73 wrote: »

Guess the fact that their city authorities made significant cuts to the rates made no difference eh?
.

When are we talking about. Pretty sure i read last year or the year before, Limerick city was the only city to offer reductions in rates?

Cherrycoke

Jagle wrote: »

a funeral home is hardly a good thing.

It's a business that employs people isn't it? That's a great thing in this day and age.

bullets

I cant remember what the inside of woolworths was like but
remember the doors were very hard to open as a kid compared to other shop doors and thinking the store was great.

Another Great store to go was Nesteor's Sports something I'd love to see
back again. Fishing Rods, Bow and Arrows, Guns! all the cool stuff and
the place had a basement.

Boyds and Newsoms made William street. Even as a kid growing up that
street was known for the abundance of Pound Shop like shops that crept up
Catherine street. These two stores stuck out as great places. Boyd's around Christmas time would get in extra Toys in the basement and there would be bargains to be had.

Back then Burgerland with its yellow/green swivel chairrs bolted to the floor
was where kids went to be treated for their birthdays, And the only place other
than Hi-Hamburger in the Crescent that sold Mint Milkshakes.

Modesty Clothing. The place to go to but alternative clothing for Cheap.
Leather Jackers were 100 Pound's Vs the 500 Pounds you would spend at
Eve's?? Leather store. Levi's Jeans could be bought 2nd hand.
Over time the store got too mainstreem, stopped selling cheap or 2nd hand stuff and became way too expensive for the Customers that loved the place.

Roche's stores had a great Toy section too until it slowly dwindled away and the baby section with Prams and buggy's took over and it eventually closed.
Again with this store for some reason I always remember the front of the store being open most of the year, but on the run up to Christmas they opened up the back of the store with more toys (I may be mistaken due to faulty memories though) Nowadays ya got the Argos Catalog!

Tescos or Quinnsworth at the time in the Crescent had a great Toy section in the hardware dept too and thats almost gone today.

Genells? if that was the place the same street as the Savoy Cinema
used to be one of the few places you could get Iron Bru and certain types
of sweets and it had also unusual Magazines that sometimes Easons would not even stock.

Todd's had a fantastic Audio/Video dept with staff that actually knew
what they were talking about, not like nowadays.

Crescent shopping center had a DIY/Hardware store which was great
and even had a gift/gadget type place called "Final Touch"

~B

Sgt Hartman

Can't say I miss the Savoy too much. That place used to attract thugs, scrotes and scumbags like flies to ****.

I do miss the Old Vic club though. I remember they had a section upstairs where you could play SNES and Megadrive games for £2 an hour. They also had Neo Geos which I think where about £3 an hour to use.

hightower1

bullets wrote: »

Roche's stores had a great Toy section too until it slowly dwindled away and the baby section with Prams and buggy's took over and it eventually closed.
Again with this store for some reason I always remember the front of the store being open most of the year, but on the run up to Christmas they opened up the back of the store with more toys (I may be mistaken due to faulty memories though) Nowadays ya got the Argos Catalog!~B

Ah roches toys stores was the mutz nuts! I can still recall drolling over the new transformers figures, gawking at the giant wall of lego and picking up NES games in there!

Thread is full of nostalga, Id give good money to walk aroud 1990's Limerick for one more day

krudler

hightower1 wrote: »

Ah roches toys stores was the mutz nuts! I can still recall drolling over the new transformers figures, gawking at the giant wall of lego and picking up NES games in there!

Thread is full of nostalga, Id give good money to walk aroud 1990's Limerick for one more day

I remember going in there on my communion day and getting a sh1tload of He-Man and MASK figures, aw yeah those were the days. remember gawking at Ghostbusters toys and had my first play of Super Mario 3 in there *sniff*

seachto7

Jaysus, and the early 90s was supposed to be pre Celtic Tiger!!
I recall cycling into town, leaving the bike in the garage where Claws is now ( I think). 20p for the day, and they'd watch it for you. Ah, when it was safe to cycle in the dock road.
Remember Mullanys newsagents? Or the shop that opened on little Catherine street and sold American football jerseys. They were £50 at the time, which was not long ago, but was to me "a fortune".
What about Spaights? I was too young to actually shop in there, but many's the day I spent in there with the folks, and all I could remember was the amount of lights for sale hanging from the ceilings. That and the carpark on the roof. A treat would be a kinder egg...........
Got my first decent hi-fi in Todds/BTs in 1994.......

Jagle

Cherrycoke wrote: »

It's a business that employs people isn't it? That's a great thing in this day and age.

i hate this point, yes it may be a business, i was coming more from the point that they are wasting a million quid on doing up an area, that is of no benefit to tourism, i cant wait to book my next holiday abroad to go visit some nice funeral homes :rolleyes:

Insect Overlord

Is the Daghdha Theatre still in use there? If there were still concerts, galleries and drama going on in that part of town it would be well worth the investment. John's Cathedral is also a magnificent building, whether you're religious or not. The Market's Field isn't too far away either, so it's an area with a bit of potential.

liammur

ErnieBert wrote: »

I was in Limerick city last weekend for the first time in 4 or 5 years. I couldn't believe how quiet the city centre was and the amount of shops that are closed down. I accept that we are in a recession, but I was shocked nonetheless.

On our second day, my wife wanted to go to the Crescent Shopping Centre. This was a wonderful surprise. It is as good, if not better, than the likes of Liffey Valley or Dundrum etc. As a retail experience, it was excellent. But the O'Connell Street/Cruises Street/ William Street area just seemed run down and desolate.

But has this taken the life and soul out of the centre of Limerick? It saddened me because my memories of going to Limerick when I was a child were always ones of vibrancy and energy.

Practically no IDA jobs in 15 years has done the damage. Then the closure of Dell really added to the problems.

Remouad

liammur wrote: »

Practically no IDA jobs in 15 years has done the damage. Then the closure of Dell really added to the problems.

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

Jagle

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Is the Daghdha Theatre still in use there? If there were still concerts, galleries and drama going on in that part of town it would be well worth the investment. John's Cathedral is also a magnificent building, whether you're religious or not. The Market's Field isn't too far away either, so it's an area with a bit of potential.

i dunno if it is, i hope so, havent heard anything going on there in a while

to be honest, its the people that often occupy the area is the problem, not the area itself, a new fancy square and fountain wont do much if drunks continue to occupy it

liammur

Remouad wrote: »

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

liammur

Remouad wrote: »

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre ( & waterford) in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

bazz26

liammur wrote: »

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

The reason the Opera centre flopped is because the project stalled when the recession hit and the developers ran into financial diffculties.

liammur

bazz26 wrote: »

The reason the Opera centre flopped is because the project stalled when the recession hit and the developers ran into financial diffculties.

Not really. If that was in Cork/Galway/Dublin it would be snapped up in an instant. Unfortunately, everyone in business knows the IDA and Govts have left Limerick down so so badly.

audidiesel

i dont really shop in the city center at all. ive lived in limerick the last 4-5 years now and do most of my shopping in the crescent.

there are a few very simple reasons for this

1. parking - why would i pay a few euro to park my car in town, when i can park it for free in a shopping center.

2. traffic - ok slightly related to the point above. but the simple fact is that limerick city council has done everything in its power to make the city unpleasant to drive through. all of those traffic lights drive me crazy. im convinced that they are only im place to force some people to use the tunnel.

3. the shops - the simple fact is that there are only a very small handful of shops in the city center that are any way unique. theres nothing there really that would make me want to wander around window shopping or spontanously blow money.

these are just a few of the reasons i dont go into town. im not from limerick myself and have no clue what it was like 10 years ago. but the simple fact is that limerick city center has now died on its arse.

the city council appear to be clowns with no clue. honestly id be in favour of expanding the crescent further and building the site by the parkway. they will both create new jobs in their hundreds. those arent jobs that are going to be created in the city center.

Limerick city center needs to refocus in my opinion. make it more themed towards cafe's, bars and resteraunts. much more touristy. its the only way that they will get a good footflow. incentivise these types of businesses and slash the rates by 15% for 3 years. there would need to be a serious clean up of the city to do this but wouldnt that be a better use of the million quid than doing up a square that hasnt huge business potential?

annabellaxx

Im from Limerick, went to school here, left for college and work for 15 years, and am now back over 2 years. I have to agree with most of the posts I've read, but one thing which doesn't seem to have been mentioned is the university presence, or absence of it, in the city.

Looking at Cork and Galway, they both have their universities very close to/ in the cities and this is a key factor in generating continued life and activity in their city centres. I think this is a big factor in the demise of Limerick.

Resi12

To be honest, Limerick city was just designed in a horrible way and still is.

All the scummy areas were/are situated way too close to the city centre (I live in one before people go all PC) and now instead of putting shops into the city centre people are going for the suburb shopping centres.

There is no draw into the city, only for clubbing and possibly grocery being the highest reasons.

liammur

2 things are very important imo

1. Dept of Ed see no need for new primary schools in Limerick. THis is v worrying, means no growth. Loads of new schools in the East, some in Galway/Cork etc

2. Back in 1997, Limerick centre was booming, even before the Celtic Tiger. Plenty of IT companies were out in Plassey and Dell had up to 5,000 employees.

What could have caused the place to be the worst affected region in the country?

No jobs or the crescent?

munstergirl

Rates in city centre are 32% higher in 2011, than they were in 2000.
From todays limerick leader online, limerick chamber calling for reduction in rates.

liammur

munstergirl wrote: »

Rates in city centre are 32% higher in 2011, than they were in 2000.
From todays limerick leader online, limerick chamber calling for reduction in rates.

That's a good point. They should also think of challenging Barry O Leary (IDA chief Executive) who must think they are the thickest plonkers in the country.

DarkJager

Pedestrian streets are a nice idea in theory....once your city has enough retail units and attractions to bring people in, combined with a traffic system that benefits the flow of traffic. Limerick has none of those so the pedestrianised streets are simply walkways to view a ghost town in progress.

I honestly cannot think of a single reason to go anywhere near the city centre. Free parking, indoor shopping and motorway access all in the Crescent shopping centres favour. I don't think anything can be done for the city now, bad planning and very little shops that can't be found elsewhere mean it has a slim to non existent chance of taking any footfall back.

liammur

DarkJager wrote: »

Pedestrian streets are a nice idea in theory....once your city has enough retail units and attractions to bring people in, combined with a traffic system that benefits the flow of traffic. Limerick has none of those so the pedestrianised streets are simply walkways to view a ghost town in progress.

I honestly cannot think of a single reason to go anywhere near the city centre. Free parking, indoor shopping and motorway access all in the Crescent shopping centres favour. I don't think anything can be done for the city now, bad planning and very little shops that can't be found elsewhere mean it has a slim to non existent chance of taking any footfall back.

I don't see any reason to go to the Crescent, I can shop online.

We need to look at how the city can be revitalised. It's a no brainer. Just look at what the IFSC did for that part of Dublin.
Bring in business, and I'm not talking about bringing in a €1 shop.

phog

liammur wrote: »

I don't see any reason to go to the Crescent, I can shop online.
We need to look at how the city can be revitalised. It's a no brainer. Just look at what the IFSC did for that part of Dublin.
Bring in business, and I'm not talking about bringing in a €1 shop.

Isn't that part of the problem, most shopping can now be done online, why bother with heading to town for a days shopping.