New City !

6541

Okay folks along the vein of the Chinese lads going to build something in Athlone, here is an article about a new City in the West.

I have to ask, do people really believe this (sh one T).
It a bit like believing that you must buy that house before it goes up any more.
i am beginning to think Irish people are just Stupid.

http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/property/a-new-city-for-the-west-of-ireland-26055653.html

longshanks

Shit

the_monkey

Article is from 2002, I remember hearing about this years ago, I have relatives in Athlone, I think it fell through ??

Duggy747

Welcome to Dumpsville

Population: You

PseudoFamous

oddly I had this idea also, but I would have built it around Rosslare (due to it being both Europe facing and on course between EU-US) and made it an EPZ

Pity I don't have billions of capital.

comongethappy

Like 99% of grand plans.

Nothing happens.

fleet_admiral

Sligo should be a city

Akrasia

I'm still waiting for the international Disney level theme park they were supposed to be building at Bunratty

comongethappy

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Sligo should be a city

Ditto for Kilkenny.

Sorry Kilkenny, but 20,000 residents does not a city make.

Donkey Oaty

City of the Sacred Heart

:eek:

wp_rathead

"City of the Sacred Heart"
Just got sick into my own face

fleet_admiral

comongethappy wrote: »

Ditto for Kilkenny.

Sorry Kilkenny, but 20,000 residents does not a city make.

didnt KK lose its city status?

Donkey Oaty

wprathead wrote: »

"City of the Sacred Heart"
Just got sick into my own face

Sickness cure below:

Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked for many favours. This time I ask for a very special one. (Here mention your request.) Take it, dear Jesus, and place it within your own broken heart, where your Father sees it. Then, in his merciful eyes it will become your favour and not mine. Amen.
Say for three days and promise to publish.

Aglomerado

wprathead wrote: »

"City of the Sacred Heart"
Just got sick into my own face

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Sickness cure below:

Never known to fail. :cool:

Donkey Oaty

Aglomerado wrote: »

Never known to fail. :cool:

This is true. If wprathead does not recover from being sick, we can still assume that he has actually been healed by the Sacred Heart in some metaphysical sense, but we are too sinful to see it.

DEFTLEFTHAND

North Tipperary never got it's Vegas styled Casino complex complete with White House replica either.

6541

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

North Tipperary never got it's Vegas styled Casino complex complete with White House replica either.

Ya so far we have,

No new City in the West,
No Chinese hub in Athlone,
No Vegas in Tipperary,
No Bertie Bowl,

So where is the Mono-Rail I ask ?

Adamantium

CHINAAAA!!!!!!

Mr. CooL ICE

Just got Sim City 4 in the Steam sales and wanted inspiration for the type of city to build. No way am I calling it City Of The Sacred Heart.

I think I'll just rebuild Longford and get aliens to attack it every year.

Robbo

LordChessington wrote: »

I think I'll just rebuild Longford and get aliens to attack it every year.

Isn't that how the cathedral burnt down there a few years ago?

6541

6541 wrote: »

Okay folks along the vein of the Chinese lads going to build something in Athlone, here is an article about a new City in the West.

I have to ask, do people really believe this (sh one T).
It a bit like believing that you must buy that house before it goes up any more.
i am beginning to think Irish people are just Stupid.

http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/property/a-new-city-for-the-west-of-ireland-26055653.html

it almost reads like a waterford whispers report. I had to double check ..:)

mad muffin

What DAFUQ did I just walk into?

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/leaving-now-grandpa-simpsons.gif

longshanks

6541 wrote: »

Ya so far we have,

No new City in the West,
No Chinese hub in Athlone,
No Vegas in Tipperary,
No Bertie Bowl,

So where is the Mono-Rail I ask ?

Ogdenville? North Haverbrook?..........

hardCopy

longshanks wrote: »

Ogdenville? North Haverbrook?..........

It's more of a Shelbyville idea

entropi

6541 wrote: »

So where is the Mono-Rail I ask ?

Well, I've built monorails in Brockway, Ogdenville and North-Haverbrook and by gum, it put them on the map!

glynf

City of the Sacred Heart? Really? I can see it now, churches on every corner, and a fcuking crucifix that can be seen from space. Slow news day for the Independent.

The Diabolical Monocle

Hows that giant goldmine from 2 years back comin along.

The Diabolical Monocle

A Galway-based businessman plans to create a new city, and he's got some powerful friends behind him.

HERE's an idea for anyone fed up with cramped, polluted urban environs: build your own dream city.

Sound crazy? Galway-based businessman William A Thomas doesn't think so. And nor do the 1,500 companies around the world who support him. Even as I type, the Rockwell Shipping MD already has architects and engineers drawing up plans for the West of Ireland's brand new City of the Sacred Heart.

His arguments for the new city are not mere pipe dreams; they are based on undeniable and very visible facts. First, Ireland's population has shifted from being 37% rural-based to 7% rural-based. This, says Thomas, is due to the fact that the West of Ireland has no sustainable employment. Second, Ireland's economic rejuvenation has meant that those who emigrated to find work are now returning to the country and people from other countries are being drawn here. In fact, the population of Ireland is expected to grow to around 6 million by 2020, with 2.5 million living in the Greater Dublin area alone.

However, the infrastructures of the five existing medieval cities in Ireland are unable to cope with such expansion. These cities are not expandable in the centres; the roads are narrow and gridlocked with traffic. The solution to this has been to build housing estates in the suburbs, which, Thomas argues, had no pre-planned infrastructure or provision of amenities or facilities for the inhabitants, leading to a variety of social problems, including unprovoked violence. He argues that ghettos have been created and are continuing to be created, particularly for Ireland's immigrant population.

Prices, too, have played a major role in forcing people into housing that doesn't meet their needs - on any level - with many forced to commute very long distances to Dublin's city centre simply to be able to live in less expensive accommodation.

The Government, now painfully aware of these problems, has launched its National Spatial Strategy to help tackle them. But the emphasis, says Thomas, has been firmly placed on the Greater Dublin area, and what he calls the 'U-bend' of Cork, Limerick and back up to Belfast, to the detriment of the West of Ireland, which is losing out substantially on job opportunities, education, healthcare and political representation.

"Politicians" says Thomas, "tend to forget that we live in the Republic of Ireland, not the Republic of Dublin."

His City of the Sacred Heart, Thomas hopes, will redress the balance, allowing the 20,000 young people who leave the West in search of employment and education opportunities to stay at home and flourish.

"The new city will be properly positioned and properly proportioned, with Knock International Airport as its gateway to the world," says Thomas. "The idea is for us to put together a package for the Government and say: this can be done."

Two countries that have already embraced this attitude are Sweden, where a brand new, well proportioned, functional and policeable city - 85% EU funded - is being built outside Stockholm, and Holland, where two new towns are being constructed.

There is some fairly weighty support for Ireland's new city. Some Euro115 million has been pledged in investment funds from companies abroad, with one firm offering to put ?17 million into the project. Boeing has also expressed interest by sending its executive vice-president Earl Godby for discussions. Bishop Thomas Flynn is also an advocate.

Thomas is planning on rallying public support by fielding between six and 10 Dail candidates in the General Election.

The city's architect, John Cully, was a fan of the idea before he came on board. He saw a piece on the proposal and asked to become involved because it fitted in with his own philosophies.

"Architecture," Cully says, "is not a surface thing. Good architecture is based on a core philosophy. Get this right and everything else will follow.

Cully says their vision for the City of the Sacred Heart "flies in the face of all orthodox wisdom on city design". That, he says, is a good thing, particularly when you consider that modern city design is based on a motorised population. This does not make for good city design, he says, with people living on top of intersections and ugly, varicose veins of roads sprawling hither and thither. Good public transport is the key so that people can use their cars on discretionary basis, rather than of necessity.

"Our vision," says William Thomas, "is to build a city that will be to Ireland what Ancient Athens was to the Greeks, and to the world."

Cully, who made a splash in May last year with his imaginatively remodelled Edwardian house in Carrickmines, is just the man for such a task. A passionate disbeliever in Le Corbusier's approach to housing, he says the notion of workers being happy living way up in the sky leads to Ballymun-type situations.

At the same time, Cully is keen to point out that separate, individual houses are way down on the list of priorities. Instead, spacious duplex and apartments, ranging up to 500sq.m. will be the norm, with the initial house-building target set at around 44,000. A huge premium will be placed on public art and street furniture and Cully expects a number of prominent architects will produce signature buildings for the city.

The plans also provide for a circular 'Phoenix Park; around the city, containing only recreational facilities, such as sports clubs and horseriding, and no commercial or private buildings.

In addition, all field monuments, such as dolmen, will have park formed around them so they are left undisturbed.

Cully is a firm believer that such monuments are where they are for a very good reason.

This is a view that Thomas shares, believing that even the airport at Knock wasn't built in the middle of nowhere simply for the sake of it, but that it was built in preparation for a new city - such as the City of the Sacred Heart.

As George Bernard Shaw said, "You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?"'.

bb1234567

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

A Galway-based businessman plans to create a new city, and he's got some powerful friends behind him.

HERE's an idea for anyone fed up with cramped, polluted urban environs: build your own dream city.

Sound crazy? Galway-based businessman William A Thomas doesn't think so. And nor do the 1,500 companies around the world who support him. Even as I type, the Rockwell Shipping MD already has architects and engineers drawing up plans for the West of Ireland's brand new City of the Sacred Heart.

His arguments for the new city are not mere pipe dreams; they are based on undeniable and very visible facts. First, Ireland's population has shifted from being 37% rural-based to 7% rural-based. This, says Thomas, is due to the fact that the West of Ireland has no sustainable employment. Second, Ireland's economic rejuvenation has meant that those who emigrated to find work are now returning to the country and people from other countries are being drawn here. In fact, the population of Ireland is expected to grow to around 6 million by 2020, with 2.5 million living in the Greater Dublin area alone.

However, the infrastructures of the five existing medieval cities in Ireland are unable to cope with such expansion. These cities are not expandable in the centres; the roads are narrow and gridlocked with traffic. The solution to this has been to build housing estates in the suburbs, which, Thomas argues, had no pre-planned infrastructure or provision of amenities or facilities for the inhabitants, leading to a variety of social problems, including unprovoked violence. He argues that ghettos have been created and are continuing to be created, particularly for Ireland's immigrant population.

Prices, too, have played a major role in forcing people into housing that doesn't meet their needs - on any level - with many forced to commute very long distances to Dublin's city centre simply to be able to live in less expensive accommodation.

The Government, now painfully aware of these problems, has launched its National Spatial Strategy to help tackle them. But the emphasis, says Thomas, has been firmly placed on the Greater Dublin area, and what he calls the 'U-bend' of Cork, Limerick and back up to Belfast, to the detriment of the West of Ireland, which is losing out substantially on job opportunities, education, healthcare and political representation.

"Politicians" says Thomas, "tend to forget that we live in the Republic of Ireland, not the Republic of Dublin."

His City of the Sacred Heart, Thomas hopes, will redress the balance, allowing the 20,000 young people who leave the West in search of employment and education opportunities to stay at home and flourish.

"The new city will be properly positioned and properly proportioned, with Knock International Airport as its gateway to the world," says Thomas. "The idea is for us to put together a package for the Government and say: this can be done."

Two countries that have already embraced this attitude are Sweden, where a brand new, well proportioned, functional and policeable city - 85% EU funded - is being built outside Stockholm, and Holland, where two new towns are being constructed.

There is some fairly weighty support for Ireland's new city. Some Euro115 million has been pledged in investment funds from companies abroad, with one firm offering to put ?17 million into the project. Boeing has also expressed interest by sending its executive vice-president Earl Godby for discussions. Bishop Thomas Flynn is also an advocate.

Thomas is planning on rallying public support by fielding between six and 10 Dail candidates in the General Election.

The city's architect, John Cully, was a fan of the idea before he came on board. He saw a piece on the proposal and asked to become involved because it fitted in with his own philosophies.

"Architecture," Cully says, "is not a surface thing. Good architecture is based on a core philosophy. Get this right and everything else will follow.

Cully says their vision for the City of the Sacred Heart "flies in the face of all orthodox wisdom on city design". That, he says, is a good thing, particularly when you consider that modern city design is based on a motorised population. This does not make for good city design, he says, with people living on top of intersections and ugly, varicose veins of roads sprawling hither and thither. Good public transport is the key so that people can use their cars on discretionary basis, rather than of necessity.

"Our vision," says William Thomas, "is to build a city that will be to Ireland what Ancient Athens was to the Greeks, and to the world."

Cully, who made a splash in May last year with his imaginatively remodelled Edwardian house in Carrickmines, is just the man for such a task. A passionate disbeliever in Le Corbusier's approach to housing, he says the notion of workers being happy living way up in the sky leads to Ballymun-type situations.

At the same time, Cully is keen to point out that separate, individual houses are way down on the list of priorities. Instead, spacious duplex and apartments, ranging up to 500sq.m. will be the norm, with the initial house-building target set at around 44,000. A huge premium will be placed on public art and street furniture and Cully expects a number of prominent architects will produce signature buildings for the city.

The plans also provide for a circular 'Phoenix Park; around the city, containing only recreational facilities, such as sports clubs and horseriding, and no commercial or private buildings.

In addition, all field monuments, such as dolmen, will have park formed around them so they are left undisturbed.

Cully is a firm believer that such monuments are where they are for a very good reason.

This is a view that Thomas shares, believing that even the airport at Knock wasn't built in the middle of nowhere simply for the sake of it, but that it was built in preparation for a new city - such as the City of the Sacred Heart.

As George Bernard Shaw said, "You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?"'.

Sounds cool actually.
But building a whole city costs a whole lot of money we dont have.
Also we dont need a whole entire new city like

131spanner

Is only 7% of the population rural-based now? Fúcking hell.

Tedddy

131spanner wrote: »

Is only 7% of the population rural-based now? Fúcking hell.

40% actually.

131spanner

Tedddy wrote: »

40% actually.

First, Ireland's population has shifted from being 37% rural-based to 7% rural-based.

Article says 7%, which sounds far too low... I'm so confused

bb1234567

131spanner wrote: »

Article says 7%, which sounds far too low... I'm so confused

Its nowhere near that low. Where did 7% figure even come from like...
Theres only about 5 cities in ireland with more than 20K people where do you think everyone else is living???
Rural population was just under 38% in 2011.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/rural-population-percent-of-total-population-wb-data.html

131spanner

bb1234567 wrote: »

Theres only about 5 cities in ireland with more than 20K people where do you think everyone else is living???
Rural population was just under 38% in 2011.

The countryside, evidently? Thanks for clearing that up