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BOD to get Freedom of the City

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Brian O’Driscoll and Fr. Peter McVerry are to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin. The Lord Mayor’s nomination of the two men was warmly welcomed by all Councillors and subsequently ratified at this evening’s Dublin City Council meeting. The award of Freedom of the City of Dublin acknowledges the contribution of recipients to the life of Ireland’s capital city. It also bestows honour on important visitors to Dublin. The Freedom of the City will be awarded to both men in early 2014.

 

Brian O’Driscoll and Fr. Peter McVerry will join an illustrious list of Freemen and Freewomen including former US presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, U2, Kevin Heffernan and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Louis Le Broquy and Thomas Kinsella were the last people to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2007.

 

Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn said:- “It is a great honour to be able to propose two of Dublin’s most inspirational citizens for our highest award, the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin. Brian and Fr. Peter are from different generations but they share much in common.  They are both inspirational leaders.  They set a remarkable example to us all by the way they apply themselves to their challenges.  They are people who lead by the example they set.  In their own way and in their own fields, they are both individuals who walk the walk.

 

I am delighted they have agreed to accept this great honour and I know that all Dubliners will be both proud of, and find inspiration into the future from, these two remarkable men. They are and will continue to be great ambassadors for Dublin.”

 

Fr. Peter McVerry SJ has campaigned tirelessly for the rights of Dublin’s young homeless people for more than 40 years.  The Peter McVerry Trust provides a wide range of services to young homeless people and Fr. McVerry has always used his voice to speak on their behalf.  He approaches each individual he encounters with immense respect and works tirelessly to help them overcome the often immense personal challenges they face.

 

Brian O’Driscoll is one of Ireland’s best ever rugby union players and has frequently been named as the top player in the world during his playing career.  His achievements as player and captain for Leinster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions include Under 19 World Cup, League Cups, Heineken Cups, Triple Crowns and the historic Grand Slam in 2009.  He is one of the most respected rugby players in the game today. Dublin City Council is proud to honour him as a player in the blue of Leinster and the green of Ireland.

 

Amongst the ancient privileges afforded to a Freeman or Freewoman is the right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates, without paying customs duties; the right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries; and the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

 

 

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.                             

 

Lord Mayor to open new library tomorrow

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The Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn will open Ballyfermot’s newly refurbished, state of the art library on Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10 tomorrow at noon.

This new community library features a colourful new layout with bright and spacious facilities for the people of Ballyfermot. Its offers an art room for children’s workshops, a classroom for pc and wifi access and a dedicated lecture room with audio visual facilities for cultural talks etc. There are plenty of quiet spaces for studying and reading available also. The library also continues to offer a range of programmes for various groups including book and film clubs, author visits, workshops and exhibitions.

The new library contains Ballyfermot College of Education’s resources for students and a collection of books of Irish interest donated by the family of Sé Geraghty.

“I am delighted to reopen Dublin City Council’s highly anticipated and upgraded library in Ballyfermot. It’s great that we can now offer the people of Ballyfermot a much broader range of facilities which reflect the needs of a community, new and old”, said the Lord Mayor.

The Ballyfermot Library refurbishments were funded by Dublin City Council and The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government at a cost of €1.7m.

Opera in Merrion Square Park in June

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As part of its on-going success in outdoor opera, Dublin City Council is introducing a new series of operatic performances for the month of June in Merrion Square Park.  ‘Opera in the Park’ will showcase 4 fantastic concerts, with performances taking  place  at 1:00 pm each Friday in June starting on the 7 June 2013 with La Bohéme. On Friday 21 June the performance will take place at 8:00 pm to celebrate Midsummer.

‘Opera in the Park’ is an initiative of Dublin City Council as part of its remit to animate the city with the best of art and culture.  These performances are also supported by Failte Ireland to promote the cultural interests in this part of Georgian Dublin to visitors.

 

Speaking on the performances, Ray Yeates, Arts Officer with Dublin City Council said “Dublin City Council’s Opera in the Open performances over the last few years have become a fixture in the Dublin’s cultural calendar   This year, throughout the month of June we are proud to announce a new series of ‘Opera in the Park’ performances in Merrion Square featuring three lunch time concerts and one evening concert focusing on Midsummer.  Our usual annual ‘Opera in the Open’ will of course return for the month of August.   All Welcome!.”

 

Admission is free and booking is not necessary.

 

For full program details see: http://bit.ly/11rmGKJ

 

Details correct at time of print, programme subject to change.

Japan comes to Farmleigh

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Dublin’s fourth Experience Japan Festival takes place from 4-21 April 2013. Experience Japan Festival day, a free family event, takes place at Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park on Sunday 7 April from 12 noon to 4pm. Other mainly free family friendly events will take place at a variety of locations around the city until 21 April. For full details see experiencejapan.ie.

The festival is supported by Dublin City Council, University College Dublin, Dublin City University and the Office of Public Works. Experience Japan aims to promote cultural and business links between Ireland and Japan.

Dublin’s Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí who will open the festival on Sunday said:-“Experience Japan’s Family Day at Farmleigh will bring a traditional Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival to our capital. It’s a great chance for locals to share this beautiful tradition with members of our Japanese community”.

Also attending this year’s Farmleigh event is His Excellency Chihiro Atsumi Ambassador of Japan in Ireland.

The Festival continues to build on Dublin’s growing links with Japan and Asia. Dublin participated on a major Council of Europe Intercultural Cities conference in Japan on October 2012 attended by the Lord Mayor.

More water preservation needed

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Nightly Water Restrictions in Dublin Region from Tonight

Dublin City Council are still concerned about the levels of water available to the city. They have issued a notice that there will be more restrictions on water usage.

Following the last three night’s water restrictions in effect in Dublin City, the City Council has conducted an analysis of the water levels at Stillorgan Reservoir over the past three days. Despite the current restrictions and with some additional capacity gained as a result, water levels still remain below a normal and sustainable level. Consequently, nightly hours of restriction will be extended to 12 hours – from 7.00pm to 7.00am each day, and will remain in place from tonight – Sunday 31st March to Tuesday morning 2nd April, across the Dublin Region. This should assist us in endeavouring to replenish treated drinking water levels to a normal level. A further review of water levels will be conducted again on Tuesday next, to determine if Stillorgan Reservoir is back to a sustainable level such that the current restrictions can be lifted.

It should be stressed that there is no problem with the quality of treated drinking water or with storage levels of untreated/raw water.

We strongly urge consumers all over the Dublin Region to help conserve water by restricting their use of water during the day as much as possible, especially over the coming days. Small adjustments to some of our daily activities can help to significantly reduce the volume of water we use without impacting on our lifestyle.

Easy Water Saving Tips include:
Keeping a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the tap – running a tap for one minute to produce one cold glass of water wastes 6 litres of water;
Not delaying in the shower – 10 minutes in a power-shower uses 250 litres of water – two-and-a-half times more than a bath does (100 litres);
Turning the tap off for two minutes while brushing your teeth will save 12 litres of water;
Turn the dishwasher and washing machine on only when they have a full load;
Minimising use of the flush on toilets and if using a dual flush system, use buttons 1 (small flush) and 2 (large flush) correctly.
We are asking people to visit www.taptips.ie for easy water saving tips. We will make every effort possible to maintain water pressures during peak demand periods, but pressures will be reduced during the times indicated above. This will result in consumers across the entire city experiencing lower pressures or in some cases a possible loss of supply.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will do everything possible to minimise the scale and duration of the restrictions. We wish to thank consumers for their cooperation so far and are asking consumers to continue with their water conservation efforts and to bear with us while we work to restore the water supply to normal.

Water is precious. Let’s conserve it.

Save Water in Dublin this weekend

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Nightly Water Restrictions to apply to all areas of Dublin City this Weekend

Dublin City Council is urging consumers all over the City to conserve water this weekend, to restore levels in the treated water reservoirs to normal. Nightly restrictions will be put in place from 10.00pm to 7am or 9.00am each night, from Thursday 28 March to Tuesday 2 April 2013. This will assist the council in replenishing treated drinking water levels to a normal level. A review of levels will be conducted again on Tuesday next, to determine if the reservoirs are full enough to allow the restrictions to be lifted.

The reason for the restrictions is twofold. Water demand is currently running at a higher than average due to the unseasonably cold weather which has caused an increase in leakage. The council’s crews are repairing any breaks to the public mains as they arise. To help them in this regard they are asking people to report any location where they see water rising or running over the ground.

They can do so by using the Emergency Telephone Number 01-6796186 outside office hours. Coupled with the cold weather, a minor production issue at the Roundwood Water Treatment Plant has also caused a reduction in supply, further reducing water levels. It should be stressed that there is no problem with the quality of treated drinking water or with storage levels of untreated/raw water.

In an effort to maintain storage at a sustainable level, the council is asking consumers to help us in restoring adequate water supplies by restricting their use of water as much as possible. They are asking people to visit www.taptips.ie for easy water saving tips. They will be reducing pressures throughout the system over the weekend in order to conserve supplies.

The council say:-“While we will make every effort possible to maintain pressures during peak demand periods, but pressures will be reduced during the times indicated above. This will result in lower pressuresand in some cases possible loss of supply. People may notice reductions in pressure or loss of supply throughout the entire city.

Dublin City Council apologises for any inconvenience caused by these restrictions and will do everything possible to minimise their scale and duration. We are asking consumers bear with us while we work to restore the water supply to normal.

Water is precious. Let’s conserve it.”

Architectural awards for the city council

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McKee Court_1 courtyard looking towards entrance-1

Dublin City Council Claims International Accolades in Architecture and Design

Dublin City Council has received two major accolades at the highly prestigious 2013 Annual Awards of the U.K. Civic Trust, at a recent award ceremony in Cardiff.

McKee Court, Blackhorse Avenue, a Senior Citizens complex of 38 apartments and a community room received an award in the International Projects category. The award jury said, “the scheme is a positive development in this part of Dublin and ensures that there is a mix of age groups within the area, whilst giving the residents the security of their own community”. The scheme, designed by the Council’s City Architects Division was among two others awarded in this category; the Arts Campus at Umea University, Sweden and the urban space at Superkilen, Copenhagen.

Sean Treacy House-Elevation to Buckingham Street 0004-1

Sean Treacy House, Buckingham Street, a Regeneration Project designed by Paul Keogh Architects, received a commendation in that category also. The scheme consists of 53 apartments, duplexes and a community room. The award jury particularly noted the success of the scheme’s street façade, and its use of materials and colour to create a sense of unity with the adjoining Georgian terrace. Only one other scheme received a commendation in this category, a student residence in Paris.

Dublin City Architect Ali Grehan said, “We are delighted to be honoured in such distinguished company. It is wonderful that an international jury recognises the importance of designing high quality social housing for families and the elderly”.

McKee Court and Sean Treacy House were both funded by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

Other projects along with the Dublin City Councils schemes to receive awards were the Peace Bridge Northern Ireland (National Panel special award), and the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome.

Photo Credits:

McKee Park- Donal Murphy Photography

Sean Treacy House-Peter Cook Photography