Tag Archives: Dublin news

Conservation plan launched for Merrion Square Park

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The Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn launched a Conservation and Management Plan for Merrion Square Park at the Irish Architectural Archive, Merrion Square, yesterday.

The Plan is a comprehensive study of the historical development of the ‘garden’ of Merrion Square from its beginning as a private garden to being one of the most important public parks and spaces in our City today.

“The focus of the Merrion Square Park Conservation Study is on the conservation, preservation, protection and management of this wonderful Square at the heart of the South Georgian Quarter. Many challenges lie ahead including maintaining a high level of service to the many visitors to the park but there are also many exciting new possibilities” said the Lord Mayor.

The Plan recommends how the historical integrity of the Park can best be conserved for the future and considers what future changes would be appropriate to interpret the heritage of this wonderful Square and also to accommodate first class visitor facilities.

The Conservation and Management Plan for Merrion Square Park can be viewed here.

 

 

 

Art work returned to The Hugh Lane

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2 - Barbara Dawson Director Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane

Barbara Dawson Director of the Hugh Lane beside the artwork.

Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane together with Criminal Assets Bureau is delighted to announce the return of In the Omnibus by the French artist Honoré Daumier (1808 – 1879). This beautiful drawing in watercolour and gouache was stolen from the Gallery in 1992 and recovered by CAB late last year. In the Omnibus is part of the original collection presented by Hugh Lane to Dublin for the Gallery of Modern Art which first opened to the public in 1908.

 

“We are delighted to have In the Omnibus returned” says Barbara Dawson director of the Gallery. “It was such a shock when it was stolen and we had messages of sympathy from galleries and museums in Ireland and around the world.  We are very pleased to have it on exhibition again for all our audiences to enjoy. Daumier is a very significant artist whose powerful realism and social consciousness continues to have relevance today. Our congratulations and thanks to the members of CAB for their outstanding detective work in finding In the Omnibus”.

 

“The Criminal Assets Bureau wishes to thank the Hugh Lane Gallery for their kind words of appreciation.  The Bureau is particularly pleased that as part of its investigative work in 2013, this significant piece of artwork has been recovered and restored to the gallery, having been stolen in 1992. I wish to express my congratulations to the Bureau Officers involved in the investigation and in particular to Detective Garda Philip Galvin whose investigative work led directly to the recovery of this piece of artwork” said Detective Chief Superintendent Eugene Corcoran, Chief Bureau Officer, Criminal Assets Bureau.

 

Art in Parks

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Art in Parks, a new guide to sculpture in Dublin City Council Parks is now available to view here.

The guide explains the story behind over thirty pieces of sculpture and has descriptions on the work, the artists and the parks where they are situated. It is hoped that with this information the experience of visiting city parks will be enhanced as well as promoting the creative arts in the city.

The guide includes the popular Oscar Wilde sculpture that is made of coloured stone from different countries as well as the more hidden abstract Adult and Child Seat located in St Catherine’s Park.

“Visiting the city’s parks offers an opportunity to experience some of Dublin’s most historic and contemporary public spaces while engaging with some of the city’s rich and exciting collection of public art. I hope this guide makes these sculptures more accessible and enjoyable to all who visit these parks” said Kieran O’ Neill, Senior Executive Landscape Architect in Dublin City Council.

UN Human Rights Day honour for Václav Havel

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Tomorrow 20 December 2013 at 12 noon, Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn will dedicate a living memorial bench at St. Patrick’s Park to the playwright, dissident and Czech president Václav Havel. The Lord Mayor will be joined at the ceremony by His Excellency Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Professor Borek Sipek, friend of Havel and renowned architect and designer of the memorial, and Karel Schwarzenberg, politician and close adviser to Havel.

The memorial called “Václav Havel’s Place” was designed by Borek Sipek and comprises two seats intertwined around a lime tree, the national tree of the Czech Republic. The idea behind the memorial bench is to create a meeting space for democratic discussion and to encourage freedom of speech. The first “Václav Havel’s Place” was unveiled in Washington in October 2013 and Dublin is the second city to honour Havel in this way. Dublin’s sister city Barcelona proposes a similar memorial for 2014.

The Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn said: “I am delighted and honoured to dedicate this living memorial bench to the great and inspirational Václav Havel. St. Patrick’s Park is a fitting and contemplative setting for “Václav Havel’s Place” as it complements the “Literary Parade” which honours many world renowned Dublin writers such as Jonathan Swift and Samuel Beckett. Indeed Beckett dedicated a work called “Catastrophe” to Havel. I hope this memorial will stimulate not only Dublin citizens but the many visitors to this park, to chat, dream and develop ideas. I would like to thank Dublin City Council, H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, and the Czech Embassy, Bill Shipsey and the friends of Havel for their generous gift to this city.”.

H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic said:” For any Czech citizen, let alone a representative of our country; it is a great honour to be associated with the legacy and example of our late President Václav Havel. I am very grateful to Bill Shipsey of Art for Amnesty, Dublin´s Lord Mayor Oisin Quinn as well as several Irish friends of Vaclav Havel, including the support of Skoda Ireland, that, thanks to their generosity, we can unveil “Václav Havel´s Place”, for Czechs better known as “Václav Havel´s bench”, on Human Rights Day in Dublin. This bench symbolizes Václav Havel´s fondness for dialogue and communication as one of the crucial foundations for a kinder and more tolerant society. I wish to dedicate to this new monument in Dublin a slogan as unpretentious as President Havel himself: “Let´s hope the world may change/ on Václav Havel´s bench”

Bill Shipsey, Art For Amnesty said: “It is a proud day for Amnesty International and the cause of universal human rights for which Vaclav Havel dedicated his life, that Dublin is dedicating the first ‘Havel’s Place’ in Europe and the first in a public space anywhere in the world in his honour. Vaclav Havel came to Dublin 10 years ago to receive the inaugural Amnesty International ‘Ambassador of Conscience’ Award from the hand of Seamus Heaney whose poem inspired the Award. We remember both Seamus and Vaclav on this proud day.”

“Václav Havel’s Place” memorial was funded by Dublin City Council, H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic and the Czech Embassy, Skoda Ireland, Bill Shipsey and the Friends of Václev Havel. The lime tree was provided by SAP Nurseries.

New set up in St Stephen’s Green

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New right turn from St. Stephen’s Green East to Merrion Row

Two right turning lanes from St. Stephen’s Green East to Merrion Row will become operational from tomorrow, Tuesday 26 November 2013. The right turns will be operational for tomorrow’s evening rush hour.

The right turning lanes provide access to the Northside of the city via Merrion St Upper and access to the N11 via Baggot St. The works are part of the St. Stephen’s Green Area Traffic Management Scheme. This scheme will facilitate the Luas Cross City works.

When construction of Luas Cross City commences on St Stephen’s Green West, St Stephen’s Green North and Dawson St, there will be a reduction in the capacity for vehicular traffic on Dawson St. Due to this it is necessary to provide alternative arrangements for traffic in the area.

A new right turn from St. Stephen’s Green South to St. Stephen’s Green West opened on Thursday 21 October. This provides an alternative route to York St and access to the St. Stephen’s Green / Grafton St car parks.

Francis Bacon exhibition of photos of Freud opens tomorrow

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Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane is delighted to announce a display of material relating to Lucian Freud drawn from Francis Bacon’s archive and studio which is located in the Gallery.  The significance of this exhibition is that items on display relate  to the recently auctioned painting at Christie’s, New York of ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud 1969’ by Francis Bacon.  The painting sold last night at a record price of $142.4m, – €104m.

 

The material, relating to the triptych, (three paintings in one), includes a heavily manipulated photograph of Lucian Freud seated on a bed.  This photograph taken by John Deakin in the 1960’s, is manipulated by Bacon in advance of painting. The photograph is deliberately torn with the corner folded, so that Freud’s left leg is obscured. The fold is fixed with paper clips as was a practice of Bacon’s and the paint marks on the photograph indicate that Bacon consulted the photograph during the painting process.

 

“Lucian Freud was a significant figure in Francis Bacon’s life during the 1950s and 60s and he is the subject of some of Bacon’s most memorable paintings. We are very fortunate to have the archive of Francis Bacon in the Hugh Lane as it is a unique resource which relates directly to his artworks and adds an immense amount of information on Francis Bacon and his art” says Barbara Dawson, director.

 

Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud were friends in the 1950s and 60s and over 60 images of Lucian Freud were discovered in Francis Bacon’s Studio which is now located in Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. A display of images of Lucian Freud including photographs by John Deakin commissioned by Francis Bacon will go on exhibition in the Gallery on 14 November 2013.

 

 

Olive tree to be dedicated to twin city

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On Monday 11 November 2013 at noon, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn will formally dedicate a 300 year old olive tree situated in Cow’s Lane to the City of Barcelona.   Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Jaume Ciurana and Bill Shipsey, who donated the tree to the City of Dublin, will also be in attendance.

Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn said:- “It is a great honour for me to dedicate this olive tree to the City of Barcelona.  The Cities of Barcelona and Dublin are twin Cities since 1998, and we in Dublin are happy to mark the 300th anniversary of the Siege of Barcelona, a very important time in the history of our sister city.  It is also dedicated to the cause of human rights which is a cause strongly promoted by Bill Shipsey through his global artist engagement programme, Art for Amnesty.”

Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Jaume Ciurana said:- “I am extremely grateful for the dedication of this three hundred year old olive tree to my city, Barcelona, and to human rights.  With this simple event we are two cities committed from today to extending the cause of freedom and Human Rights.”

The 300 year old olive tree was donated by Bill Shipsey to the City of Dublin in 2006 and it has been situated in Cow’s Lane since then.  He donated an olive tree as a symbol of human rights and as a living testament to man’s desire for freedom.

 [googleMap name=”Cow’s Lane Dublin” description=”Cow’s Lane” width=”300″ height=”300″]Cow’s Lane Dublin[/googleMap]

Motor Tax offices closed next week

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Dublin City Council has advised that the Motor Tax Offices in Smithfield, Ballymun and Clondalkin will close to the public from Monday, 11th November to Friday 15th November 2013, inclusive.

This closure is to accommodate the significant backlog of non use declarations, motor tax applications and driving licence applications as a result of legislative changes introduced from 30th September, 2013.

From Tuesday, 29th October, 2013, applications for learner permits, driving licences and driver licence renewals can no longer be made through the Motor Tax Offices. For more information on the new application procedure please contact the National Driver Licence Service on 0761 087880 or visit www.ndls.ie

Dublin City Council apologises for any inconvenience these temporary closures may cause. In the meantime customers can continue to pay online at www.motortax.ie or by post to Motor Taxation Office, Block B, Blackhall Walk, Queen Street, Dublin 7, Clondalkin Motor Tax Office, Ninth Lock Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 or Ballymun Motor Tax Office, Civic Centre, Ballymun, Dublin 11.

Water restrictions to remain in place this week

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Dublin Water Restrictions will remain in place until at least Thursday 7th November  

Dublin City Council, on behalf of the four Dublin Local Authorities, is advising consumers in the entire Dublin region that the current water restrictions will remain in place each evening, from tonight until at least Thursday 7th November, from 8.00pm each evening, to 7.00am the following morning.

The council is reviewing the water supply situation on a daily basis and a decision will be taken when appropriate, to change the current level of restrictions. Consumers all over the Dublin region are urged to conserve water, in an effort to assist us in restoring levels in the treated water reservoirs to normal. It should be stressed that there is no problem with the quality of treated drinking water or with storage levels of untreated/raw water.

An analysis of the current situation carried out at Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant, has shown a stabilisation in production at the Plant. However, despite this stabilisation, production at the Plant is still at a level well below that required to meet demand. Coupled with this, storage levels at our treated water reservoirs remain at an unsustainably low level.

A series of tests currently being conducted at Ballymore Eustace involves adjusting the various inputs to the treatment process, with the objective of identifying what caused the slowdown in production and how to resolve the issue. Dublin City Council Engineers and our Central Laboratory Technicians continue to work 24 hours a day, to identify the cause of the problem and to mitigate the effects. As previously stated, it may take some time to completely resolve the issue.

The council is also asking people to visit www.taptips.ie for easy water saving tips. While  every effort possible is being made to maintain pressures during peak demand periods, pressures will be reduced during the times indicated above. This will result in lower pressures and loss of supply across the entire Dublin region.

The four Dublin Local Authorities have apologised for the inconvenience caused by these restrictions and will do everything possible to minimise their scale and duration. They are asking consumers bear with them while they work to restore the water supply to normal. The Dublin Local Authorities greatly appreciate the efforts people and businesses are making to conserve water.

Water is precious. Let’s conserve it.