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People in the snow in Damascus on Friday. AP Photo

Syria rebel commander freezes to death in bitter cold - report

Syria has been struck by a severe snowstorm that has seen a number of people die from the cold.

A REBEL COMMANDER has frozen to death in the bitter cold brought by a snowstorm that has swept Syria this week, a monitoring group has said.

“The body of a rebel commander who was on his way from (the northwestern province of) Idlib to Homs (in central Syria) has been found. He died during the snowstorm,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP there were no signs of gunshots or other wounds and that the body was “frozen.”

Abdel Rahman said the unnamed commander, in his 40s, was a member of the Islamist Suqur al-Sham brigades.

The Britain-based Observatory also reported that the frozen bodies of two men in their 30s were found in Homs province on a road to neighbouring Hama province.

It could not say whether they were rebels or civilians.

Syria has been struck by a severe snowstorm that has brought icy temperatures to several countries in the Levant.

Starting last Wednesday, the snowstorm brought sudden, low temperatures, below zero in some areas, not only to Syria, but other countries in the region.

image

People play in the snow in Damascus (AP Photo)

By Saturday temperatures were starting to improve but several areas were completely covered in snow including Damascus, battle-torn Qalamoun, Aleppo province and Homs.

People living in rebel-held areas, where there are fuel, electricity and food shortages, have been especially affected by the storm, as have refugees living in tents in neighbouring countries.

The main opposition National Coalition reported on Thursday that a baby and a child died of cold in Aleppo, northern Syria, and Rastan, in Homs.

Fighting continues

But the icy weather did not stop the fighting on a key front at Adra, east of Damascus. Battles have been raging there for four days, ever since Islamist rebels launched an offensive aimed at capturing one of the main entrances to the capital.

The army hit back with a broad counter-offensive, and on Saturday, a security source in Damascus told AFP “the army’s operations are continuing. Starting yesterday, we identified the areas where the terrorists are positioned and we are attacking them.”

President Bashar al-Assad’s regime brands rebels and dissidents as “terrorists.”

The source also said a “savage massacre” had been committed in Adra on Wednesday, without specifying a toll.

The Observatory had reported 15 civilians were killed Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday, it said another 12 bodies had been found near Adra, and that “activists have accused the regime of killing them.”

Syria’s war has killed more than 126,000 people in nearly three years, and forced millions more to flee their homes.

- © AFP, 2013

Read: European leaders ‘should hang their heads’ over Syrian refugee crisis >

Read: ‘Clear and convincing evidence’ that chemical weapons used in Syria >

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    Mute Ricky Spanish
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    May 30th 2016, 1:47 PM

    The building standards should the main issue not the height. Dublin is already too spread out. Time to build up like every other proper city does.

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    May 30th 2016, 1:57 PM

    Ricky
    We kept it low for a thousand years and now just because there a (blip) let’s stack them????

    Do NOT ruin the street scape of our beautiful Viking city with more Ballymun towers.

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    Mute rory conway
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    May 30th 2016, 2:02 PM

    Buildings up , prices down.

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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 2:09 PM

    What are you smoking? You realize the Georgian buildings replaced the viking buildings? And by we…you mean, we the vikings, british and irish?

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    Mute Marc Power
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    May 30th 2016, 2:16 PM

    Don’t be ridiculous Gareth wheeling it that dumb excuse of ballymun every time the subject of building up shows up. Ballymun failed due to the abandonment of the community there because they were poor. Dublin is a small city and not any more special than many places across the world with beautiful modern useful skylines. Be part of the solution not the problem

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    Mute ben
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    May 30th 2016, 2:18 PM

    So stupid of course you should build up.. They don’t want Dublin noticed as a capital city around the world… High rise = power

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:20 PM

    The baffling thing is if you took a poll, probably 95% of people would have no problem with high rise at least in appropriate locations. Yet it seems that 95% of the Dublin city Councillors are virulently opposed to high rise. What is that about and why are we not seeing investigations into this?

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    Mute Tom Collins
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    May 30th 2016, 2:24 PM

    I’d have serious reservations about tall structures for housing. Talk structures for business yes but not accommodation.

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    May 30th 2016, 2:28 PM

    Tom pray tell us what’s wrong with high rise apartment buildings?

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    Mute Ruadhán MacEoin
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    May 30th 2016, 2:30 PM

    Here’s what happens if planning consent may be granted for 9 storey buildings beside 3 storey houses:

    1: Planning permission granted for the tall development.

    2: Owners of adjacent buildings see the land value of their premises being worth more then the rent coming in – so it makes sense derelict their properties so that they too can get consent to develop their properties upwards.

    3: Owner of the first property with tall building consent continues to sit on their property in the hope that the speculative asset value will grow before they ‘flip’ (sell) it.

    4: Cyclical economic crash occurs, and no further building occurs. Meanwhile the derelict buildings cannot be let out, as it would force a write-down of the asset value forcing the banks to act and sell.

    Result: A stretch of city centre dereliction where usable buildings could have been occupied – and meanwhile the people who could have occupied the same are instead adding pressure onto the housing list.

    This is what happened before to Dublin in the 1960s, with the result that streets such as Parnell Street were derelict for years. (Specifically the former Williams and Woods site on Parnell Street.

    Naturally none of this will be discussed amid the propaganda hegemony of the dominant interests that control Irish media, who would rather keep people stupid – while they can prosper both by speculation.

    For people who say upward development is the solution, I suggest they might gaze upwards when walking along Henry and Grafton Streets – where they will notice approximately 60 – 70% vacancy. This also applies to most other shopping streets in the city centre.

    In other words, there already is plenty of upwards city centre space – and indeed also elsewhere – but it is simply not being used.

    But sure why let facts get in the way of anything – particularly when speculators control both the discourse and resources by way of the hegemony? Meanwhile, Dublin rots at an ever greater speed.

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    May 30th 2016, 2:44 PM

    Philistines create problems. They do not solve them. High rise residential in Dublin is for solving a housing problem not for the elite to purchase. With that comes inner city social problems.
    Stacking sherif st flats on top of Ballymun flats in the city centre solved no problems I can assure you.

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    Mute Danny Nash
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    May 30th 2016, 2:50 PM

    Urban sprawl will continue as developers like the cheaper land.

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    Mute Tom Collins
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    May 30th 2016, 3:20 PM

    They age. They become ugly and undesirable. History will tell us that high rise apartments come in as a need to solve the lack of inner city housing but then become an eyesore and not desirable to live in.

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    Mute D'unredactable
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    May 30th 2016, 3:21 PM

    Too many notions, not enough potions in low-lying leafy snobburbia!

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    May 30th 2016, 3:38 PM

    Tom all buildings age and all buildings can become ugly if not looked after some are even built ugly!

    I think there is nothing wrong with high rise but they need to be functional, they need proper services, the apartments must be generously and appropriately sized for the number of occupants. Preferably they will be good to look at and built from materials that will last for the expected lifetime of the building say 50 to 100 years.

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    Mute John R
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    May 30th 2016, 4:07 PM

    The key issue here is not height. It is good design and good planning. Dublin needs greater density. But density need not mean a bad experience for the citizen if properly designed and planned. The problem is that our design is frequently poor and our planning appalling. High buildings in the right location and with good design and planning can work wonders. We need to think big and not small. Local politicians are the last people I would ask to make a fundamental decision on this issue. They have a history of bad decisions behind them.

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    Mute Sean Baylon
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    May 30th 2016, 4:55 PM

    You can’t say that about the philistine’s.. they are a wonderful and proud people.. that’s it though.. #haters

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 5:02 PM

    The politically incorrect truth of course is that whatever type of accommodation the state provides to “those” people, whether its apartments or houses or whatever, will almost certainly be trashed by the residents and drug taking and anti-social behavior will occur there. Even if they were provided with luxury. Now the question is do we or do we not want dense, tall and affordable housing for the rest of the population or do we want to force them to live with their parents and commute for three hours each day.

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    Mute Eoghan
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    May 30th 2016, 5:07 PM

    What are your reservations Tom?

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    Mute Diogenes
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    May 30th 2016, 8:15 PM

    Sure you could do them all near the Docklands, that’s a bit away from the old streets.

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    Mute Stephen murphy
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    May 30th 2016, 9:14 PM

    If it’s getting a little crowded up there, why not re-locate business to other counties and share.

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    May 30th 2016, 1:47 PM

    You would have to wonder about the intelligence of councillors, they seem to think anything higher than a molehill will cause the earth to stop turning. High quality, high rise buildings with decent square footage and proper services are a no brainer, they can do it all over the world but we elect idiots who can’t see that!

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    Mute Cal McLaughlin
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    May 30th 2016, 3:37 PM

    They did it before.
    It was called Ballymun Towers.

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    Mute John R
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    May 30th 2016, 4:10 PM

    So Cal because Ballymun high rise didn’t work, all high rise is bad? We have bad housing estates all over Ireland. Should we conclude that all two story houses in housing estates are a bad idea? Ballymun failed for many reasons but high rise wasn’t the cause. Social deprivation and bad planning was the cause.

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    Mute Peter Rice
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    May 30th 2016, 6:34 PM

    They dumped much of the city’s problems in the Ballymun Towers,that’s why it didn’t work.

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    Mute The Guru
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    May 30th 2016, 1:49 PM

    Give it 20 years and we might have moved into the 20th century. Love how their excuse is that they don’t want to cast a shadow. Not sure if they’re aware that you require sun for that to happen.

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    Mute Thomas Farrell
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    May 30th 2016, 2:09 PM

    Maybe Danny Healy-Rea let them know he’s been saying extra prayers for good weather this year and more sun shine is now expected

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    May 30th 2016, 3:33 PM

    If the truth be told you’ll find that stacking families on top of each other breeds more problems than they’re worth. Outside Manhattan and Canary Wharf which are part time occupied by the elite.

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    Mute JayK
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    May 30th 2016, 4:20 PM

    Why don’t you have a look at the skylines in Munich, Berlin, Paris, Rome or Madrid and count the high-rise accommodation.

    And you even mention the Dutch. I’ll let you try to figure out why there aren’t any skyscrapers in Amsterdam.

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    Mute James Xenophon
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    May 30th 2016, 6:08 PM

    There is tons of high rise in Amsterdam, just not near the historic core. Nobody is suggesting putting high rise near the Georgian core.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    May 30th 2016, 1:50 PM

    Surely the ever expanding sprawl is more of an issue than the issue of over shading from high buildings. Why does nearly every other city of Dublins size allow tall buildings? Are they all making a terrible mistake? Tall buildings can be located and orientated so that the effect from overshadow on sensitive properties is reduced.
    But I’m sure that these politicians know better than the city planners of every major city in the world, well just keep on sprawling until we hit Cork

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:17 PM

    Indeed. It’s this peculiar Irish thing, probably has its roots from the time we lived in little cottages and the landlord looked down on us from the “big house”. Can’t have that fella gettin ahead of himself by living up there in the clouds now can we? It’s weird, pathetic and there is absolutely no upside to our obsession with low density. Our city centres are becoming like low rise out of town business parks.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 5:09 PM

    Plus for 350 days of the year they’re overshadowed by cloud anyway!

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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 2:13 PM

    Councillors are utter gobsh*tes, elected too easily with no checks on their power…some of these guys couldn’t even write a formal letter. It’s why you get idiots like North Dublin Councillor Nial Ring saying criminals are “decent fellows.”
    “However, 11 motions from councillors, including two party motions from People Before Profit and the Green Party, propose reducing these heights. Several of the motions refer to low-rise heights being retained as the “traditional height of the city”, the “historic height of the city” or the height of “Georgian terraces”, which are approximately 14m tall.”

    Utter fecking madness, we wonder why there is a rental crisis…sure why not build anything, make Dublin City a museum? Not surprised to see PBP involved. Yet they are happy to allow a huge ugly incinerator visible all along the Dublin coast.Sure lets just call it a day, put a huge heritage order on the entire city. Lets have people pay more than half their rent on a shoebox. Lets have people who work hard having to leave home at 5am and get back at 8pm, barely having time to have a family life. This is what happens when, unlike every other city in the world (literally)a city refuses to build upwards in height. For example – Latvia- https://en.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Lat…

    Only in Dublin would you find rows of 2 storey semi-detached houses bang in the city centre, or huge blocks of social housing in key sites near the business core. Years of terrible planning being compounded by more idiotic decisions. It will block the sun, it will block the Dublin Mountains, It will block the view of Georgian Dublin from Rush , i don’t want it in my area – even though i don’t pay for this housing, it leads to another Ballymun,Dublin is unique, low rise is better than high rise, Paris or amsterdam doesn’t have tall buildings etc etc. All bull.
    Urban sprawl and living miles from where you work is more acceptable than height to these clowns…currently i’m in eastpoint, North Dublin…and in fairness the area could do with some high rise to block out some of the ruined decaying buildings and dogcrap lined streets. Not everywhere in Dublin is a Georgian idyllic.

    Green Party: we favour urban sprawl which is environmentally the worst outcome for our environment. i.e. we are not a ‘green’ party at all.
    PBP: we want more homelessness and more expensive homes for all.
    This should be their election manifestos. It’s actually outrageous that these amateurs can have this impact on our city.

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    Mute Marc Power
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    May 30th 2016, 2:20 PM

    Very very well put Niall….it’s very frustrating living in a place with so much potential that’s held back by selfish clowns who think they live in a private museum. I was in limerick 2 weeks ago and that city has a better skyline than Dublin

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    May 30th 2016, 2:31 PM
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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 3:25 PM

    Thanks, darn broken link! Just goes to show a smaller country like Latvia has no aversion to building higher, while maintaining its beautiful historic centre.

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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 3:28 PM

    Yeah Limerick has some lovely designed buildings and also huge potential. It’s a real shame Dublin can’t follow suit.

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    Mute Eoin Bathe
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    May 30th 2016, 3:38 PM

    Excellent points Niall. Couldn’t agree more. People need to take off the rose tinted glasses, Dublin is not a beautiful city for the most part. It’s hideous and nothing matches.

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    Mute JayK
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    May 30th 2016, 4:43 PM
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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 4:48 PM

    Great points Niall. The solution is to allow someone like Simon Coveney to overturn DCC and ABP density plans. Dublin city centre is of national importance, hence the density should be set at cabinet level. Enough of these muppet PBP, AAA, Green councillors.

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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 5:11 PM

    Jay, where did i say it was?

    The fact is it has 17 buildings taller than anything in Dublin. Its an example to counter the old argument that these buildings would lie empty because Dublin is so small, that was part of the argument from before when the docklands were built. Riga’s population is smaller than Dublin.

    Also the tall buildings work really well with the low buildings, puts the nonsense of some Councillors fears to bed.

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    Mute Niall Brew
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    May 30th 2016, 5:12 PM

    Yep definitely a cabinet decision. Just goes to show we should have a directly elected mayor too, to overturn these simpletons.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 7:10 PM

    Latvia is also a bit further North than us so the argument that tall buildings don’t work at higher latitudes due to the lower angle of the sun doesn’t hold.

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    Mute Owen Slattery
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    May 30th 2016, 2:14 PM

    People Before Profit are against measures which would make accommodation more affordable for regular people in Dublin?

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    Mute Derek Goulding
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    May 30th 2016, 5:09 PM

    Yes because a housing crisis is in their best interest

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    Mute Marc Power
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    May 30th 2016, 2:13 PM

    Dublin is not a museum. It’s a rapidly growing city that’s too big in area. Get rid of the buffoonery in office here and reorganise the planning agencies to be fit for a modem city. Certainly, protect historic areas but start building up too for the sake of future commuters

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    Mute Henri Poincaré
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    May 30th 2016, 1:48 PM

    There should be some sort of control in place to prevent tall buildings being an absolute eyesore

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    Mute Ricky Spanish
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    May 30th 2016, 2:29 PM

    That should be in place for all buildings regardless of the height.

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    Mute Henri Poincaré
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    May 30th 2016, 3:26 PM

    I don’t think so. Only for those over a certain height makes sense for two reasons. Limit the paperwork for one – there’s already too much and there’s only ever going to be a certain amount of high buildings. Only the high buildings really determine the character of the landscape. For example that ugliness in the article down by the Point is all you’ll be able to see from a good distance.
    Second reason is you could have your neighbours lodge a complaint because they doesn’t like the colour you painted your house ;)

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 7:16 PM

    Sydney has a law that every building in the CBD requires an architect. But that is only a good law if you have good architects and a strong market where the developers want to stand out to attract the best tenants. In my experience eyesores are built because they’re cheaper. If you gave an architect a blank cheque they would let their creativity run amok.

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:14 PM

    Absolute muppets. Why are People before profit and the greens, with a whopping 5% of the national vote, dictating anything related to the economic heart of this country? If we want to solve this housing crisis, we need tall buildings. Ensure they’re of good quality by all means, but our lack of skyline is an embarrassment. We are just shooting ourselves in the foot and making housing unaffordable for all but the welfare class.

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    Mute Vincent Wallace
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    May 30th 2016, 3:18 PM

    I didn’t no people on welfare can afford houses. Sombody should tell the 100s in BnBs.

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 3:28 PM

    They can’t. But myself and other taxpayers are generous enough to simply hand them a home for nothing. Aren’t we nice?

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    Mute D'unredactable
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    May 30th 2016, 3:34 PM

    They’re mostly working poor and simply can’t afford the unsustainable, over-indulgent rip-off rents of the untouchable urban landed gentry……with an unfair proportion of them lording it up from their lair on Kildare Street!

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    Mute Vincent Wallace
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    May 30th 2016, 3:56 PM

    Your very generous of course providing those houses. Now maybe you should get a education. You would see then that your taxes wouldn’t pay for a mobile home. I garentee if you are not in the public sector you have or you will become unemployed before you die. Will you be greatfull for other people s generous tax paying or will you say that’s what you payed PRSI which is an insurance for?

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    Mute Not_Rod_Ten©
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    May 30th 2016, 1:47 PM

    Stack em high and sell em cheap

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    Mute f m
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    May 30th 2016, 2:38 PM

    Only working people should be forced to live in small one bed apartments.
    The long term unemployed are entitled to a three bedroom home.
    Or at least that’s how it seems at times …

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    Mute Alien8
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    May 30th 2016, 1:57 PM

    while the rest of the world grows up, we are happy to be left behind. properly planned high rise buildings would as to the city, but instead we are down to the whim of characters like keegan (unelected city managers) to allow unplanned developments that, frankly, could only be organised under a table or in a hotel car park. if these people were in New York at the turn of the last century (also an architecturally beautiful low rise city in the 1800s), they would ensure it would never be able to grow into the place it is.

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    Mute Bairéid Rísteard
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    May 30th 2016, 4:22 PM

    I rented a new built apartment in east wall back in 2008, it was poorly built and became shoddy very quickly. Having lived in germany in an apartment, it can’t be compared to standard wise. The mentality in Dublin (back then at least) was build for as cheap as possible with the cheapest materials to maximise developer profits. Is it any wonder that apartments in dublin have such a poor resale value.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 2:19 PM

    Absolute luddites. If an office building can be a certain height then what argument is there to make an apartment building on the same site smaller? It would overshadow the same if they were the same height and make them more economically viable.

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:23 PM

    There is utterly no argument. But this is what happens when you get the likes of People before Profit, Greens and Sinn Fein in a room deciding such matters. They call it Dublin City Council.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 2:45 PM

    High rise buildings create a social issues. It breeds anti-social behaviour, leads to an increase in crime and creates a gang like mentality between apartment flats. Yes yuppies will buy up those apartments but they’ll quickly flee once the working class move in or things will change once those yuppies have kids of their own. These buildings are generally poorly maintained because they’re low cost and placed in poorer areas. Kids from each building become prone to gang-like behaviour. Usually a rivalry between buildings. The reason for not building up is simply to not ghettorise poorer people. It’s why we build council estates near “good” areas. It’s mixed up it prevents areas from being ignored. Big cities like Johannesburg and New York recognise the mistake in building up. They’re actually trying to build outwards.

    We need to fix public transport and build outwards. This fetish of stuffing Dublin City with everything important is ridiculous e.g. the Childrens Hospital should be built at Connolly not James’

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:55 PM

    @ Hussy – That’s the classic Ballymun argument. But let me assure you it was the residents that cause the gangs, ghettos etc. The building structure made of steel and concrete was entirely innocent.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 3:06 PM

    The thing is I wasn’t even using Ballymun as the basis of my argument. I was using South Africa and the USA many countries with high rise buildings as an example where they have changed course and are trying to copy us. Ballymun isn’t an isolated incident, it’s just the natural course of having low cost high rise buildings that creates an environment that nurtures that behaviour.

    Humans are impacted by the nature and nurture that includes the environment we place them in. Unfortunately the building structure, made of steel and concrete does create that environment just like a prison would create a different type of group think. Or how an open spaced green field hospital makes patients feel more relaxed.

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    Mute Ciarán
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    May 30th 2016, 3:10 PM

    The building structure allowed for the whole building to be at the mercy of the worst people in the area. One person relieves themselves in a lift or starts pulling out buttons and the whole building suffers. We need to go up but don’t necessarily need to go high rise, Barcelona would be a great example of a city that built up with really going towering.

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 3:15 PM

    If you were correct then the 15 storey Millenium tower in Grand Canal dock would be a cesspit of gangs, crime, drug taking etc. Last i checked a two bed apartment there is going for €450k, so isn’t that unfortunate for your argument.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 3:24 PM

    You would have an argument if the Millenium tower in the Grand Canal Dock over looking the dock and next to the Grand Canal theatre was meant to be affordable housing.

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 3:27 PM

    Good so you do agree it’s the people in the building that make the difference.

    We’re talking about allowing tall buildings generally, not just for social housing.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 3:31 PM

    If you’re pricing people out then sure and leaving the apartment to single professionals then sure. But then lets not use this and have a knee jerk reaction to solve the housing crisis then. Additionally, lets see how the social dynamics change if you were to erect a few more high rise buildings in that area. Including low cost housing. People would flee from the millenial building.

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    Mute D'unredactable
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    May 30th 2016, 3:58 PM

    It’s ghettoisation of the willfully deprived and neglected that contributes disproportionately towards the troubling of such areas with dopeheads of varying habits and backgrounds sustaining what have been allowed to become most viably aspirational of local ‘enterprises’ and all that goes with cyclically with it!

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    Mute John R
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    May 30th 2016, 4:23 PM

    Hussey, “We need to fix public transport and build outwards. Build outwards? We already have a low density city with all the problems associated with low density and “building outwards” which include poor public transport and long commute times. Density is what allows affordable public mass transport not “building outwards” You point to SA as a model. We have little to learn from SA. Their problems are entirely different and include massive poverty, crime and social deprivation on a scale imagined in Ireland. As for NY, it is already a high density city with a housing affordability problem so their solution would be different to ours. Dublin needs a mix of high and low density solutions and better planning.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 4:33 PM

    Now you’re moving the goal posts. So you agree high rise buildings won’t solve the housing crisis.

    I’m sorry but even with Dublin being a low density city. Getting into the city is a nightmare. Patients getting to any of the hospitals based in the city centre is a nightmare and I say this as a health professional. Simply put Dublin city is far too congested. Everything does not have to be located in the city centre. And if jobs are moved outside of the city centre people are moved outside the city centre. And you don’t get the social problems that come with high density cities. Also Dublin City already has plenty of unaffordable vacant apartments.

    The developing world has copped on faster than us. They have the advantage of learning from our mistakes that’s why they’re a lot more adaptable in that sense. We have a lot to learn from other countries that’s a pure ignorant statement. In regards to high rise buildings they have copped on fast. They’ve started selling those buildings to hotels turning the beach front to a resort and using open spaced housing planning.

    NY has the same problem about high rise buildings breeding ghettos and crime.

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    May 30th 2016, 6:50 PM

    Amen

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 7:24 PM

    That’s utterly ridiculous hussy. There are plenty of council estates around the country that are as bad as Ballymun was. It’s the people you put in them. If you fill any sort of development with poor people you’re going to create a ghetto. I lived in a well managed high rise in Aus with a gym, pool and decent security system in a city and we never had any anti-social issues.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 30th 2016, 7:45 PM

    It’s ridiculous except when it’s not. And we can we stop using Ballymun as the only example of this bigger cities have taken an initiative to dismantle high rise buildings because of crime and anti-social behaviour. And this initiative is not something new it’s been around for about at least two decades now. And yeah I’m sorry but being poor doesn’t automatically make you a derelict. Of course you did, as it had a gym pool and security system and was it fairly pricey?

    And yes if you fill an area with poor people it will automatically get neglected by the government which is why planners try and put a “bad” estate next to a “good” estate. So that it doesn’t. It’s similar to the schooling system in Finland there are no bad schools because the rich and poor go to the same schools and the rich must make sure to look after the public schools because their children go there.

    Additionally look at Rathfarnham, look at Dundrum, Cherrywood, Sandyford there’s simply no reason for jobs to be located only in the city centre. Those are examples of decentralising the city successfully.

    The same people complaining about poor people will be complaining about a rise in crime and immigrants ten years to come.

    Finally the context of this article is in regards to the housing crisis. So if we can’t put poor people in these high rise buildings because by your logic they are innately prone to ghettorisation then it won’t solve the crisis. Also Dublin City has plenty of unaffordable vacant apartments for yuppies. This isn’t about the yuppies.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    May 30th 2016, 11:24 PM

    Total strawman Hussy. I said if you only put poor people. If you’re not familiar with the law there’s a requirement that a certain percent of every development be social housing for the reasons you cite. There is nothing wrong with poor people but it’s obviously human nature that people who are without are more likely to take what they need, especially if they feel neglected by society. If they live in nice neighbourhoods and social progression is possible the vast majority will take the opportunity. Ownership is also key to good communities as people feel invested in them. How is making more housing available in the city centre depriving the rest of Dublin? Just because the apartments are in the city centre doesn’t mean they’ll be unaffordable. The reason prices are ridiculous now is because the supply is not meeting demand. How many unaffordable vacant apartments do you think there are in Dublin? You’re talking utter nonsense. There are more than just yuppies and poor people in the world. You’re just making blanket statements without any evidence. Can you give me one example of a highrise apartment building that included an allocation for social units that failed purely on the basis that the units were stacked on top of each other instead of spread out over a wide area? Where I lived was expensive but not by Australian standards. Have you ever lived in a high rise building?

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 31st 2016, 1:01 AM

    Wrong it’s not human nature particularly when there are so countries where people live in even greater poverty and do not take what they need. It is when people are put in vulnerable positions when they become susceptible to these forces that includes environment and high rise buildings particularly with kids who have no place to go out and play does foster gang behaviour. I have friends (they’re professionals) who live in the Millenial Tower are you saying some of those 450 K apartments have been allocated to social housing? And how many apartments are given?

    Secondly the type of housing you are talking about is not catered towards the poor. So those type of apartments would be unaffordable. Unless you’re talking about low cost high rise buildings the ones without security, pools etc… those would price people out as they’re aimed at high paid professionals. Secondly, there are some lovely apartments off Harcourt street in Iveagh Court again aimed at professionals and are priced to keep people out.

    A hell of a lot of apartments off Grafton and Henry street are vacant. Crap loads of vacant apartments which are unaffordable.

    I’ve lived in several countries big cities where they all reversed course on high rise buildings policy because of anti-social behaviour and crime. Hence the policy I was describing was from experience in NY and South Africa.

    Finally you’re talking nonsense. The vast majority of homeless people are poor. So your plan is to build these very expensive high rise buildings with pools, security etc.. to house professionals and give a fraction to social housing. It just wouldn’t work the vast majority of homeless out number the amount of professionals by a huge number. Additionally, if you were to allocate 50% of the apartments to social housing professionals wouldn’t live there that’s just human nature. If you allocated 5-10% to social housing it wouldn’t be enough. If you gave 25% professionals may think of moving elsewhere. It’s not a very sound plan. And this leads to ghettorisation and eventually neglect.

    My main point though is jobs do not have to be located in the city centre. There is no reason for three maternity hospitals to be slap dab in the city centre. The Mater and James are two of those most difficult hospitals to commute too. Soon Temple Street will be moved to James. It’s utterly ridiculous planning. It causes congestion, there’s no parking at the NMH, you’re lucky if you get parking at the Coombe, Temple street is a hassle. For a city that is “low density” it’s already chaos to commute to town particularly when you’re sick. There is absolutely no reason for the city centre to house everything important. Vincent’s works well where it is. Tallaght works well where it is. Put the childrens hospital in Connolly younger people who work there will look for housing down there which is more affordable and vacant. Put the childrens hospital near James people will look at the City Centre which is expensive. We’re talking cleaners, doctors, nurses etc… That’s just one sector healthcare.

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    Mute Hussy
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    May 31st 2016, 1:28 AM

    Also high rise does not equate to high density.

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    Mute TheJeff
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    May 30th 2016, 2:20 PM

    Would love to have a 3 bed on 32nd floor at in Fairview, the glass bottle site or Dun Laoghaire what a view

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    Mute Vincent Wallace
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    May 30th 2016, 3:15 PM

    Sure why are we surprised. Every other city was putting down rail and trams and we took them up. Backwards Ireland again!

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    Mute Fjordie
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    May 30th 2016, 3:09 PM

    Trying to keep us in the dark ages with their height restrictions. They should remove all restrictions outside residential areas. We need a downtown area like other ‘proper ‘ cities

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    Mute Barry Davidson
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    May 30th 2016, 2:28 PM

    The selfishness of those who say I don’t care where people live as long as I can enjoy my view of the sea and the mountains.

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    Mute Tadhg Delaney
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    May 30th 2016, 2:07 PM

    So homeless familes will be given penthouse the city is already littered with empty apartments but this being ireland some peoples crisis is a connected persons chance to make more money meanwhile homeless stay homeless an in the next decade the tax payer will be trying to deal with damage done to children from being warehoused like items not children but the landlords keep getting their cheques this country is a disgrace

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    Mute _doesnotcompute
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    May 30th 2016, 4:52 PM

    Maybe the taxpayers could buy you a few punctuation marks?

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    Mute Ruaidhrí Gravey
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    May 30th 2016, 3:16 PM

    Saw a figure a while back that a city as spread out as Dublin should be accommodating 4 times as many people. Led by the builders party we’ve been spreading out for far too long which has had the effect of departments having to spread services across a ridiculously large area for a city of 1.5 million people.
    I’m a city centre resident, have been my whole life and I can see only good from building up. It mentions opposition in the Liberties and I can get some people wanting to preserve some of the older streets but there’s some streets were new high rise developments would be only a good thing for the area (Marrowbone lane, the coombe, Pimlico, around the Oliver Bond etc) If we do it like some other cities do it, it doesn’t have to mean that high-rise will equate to being unsightly or ghettos

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    May 30th 2016, 4:10 PM

    The real problem that needs to be solved is transportation, why wasn’t that mentioned?? If you increases a cities density you must have adequate public transport to support it, vastly extend the luas and then build taller..

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    Mute Fred Johnson
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    May 30th 2016, 4:42 PM

    Very good point. If projects like Metro North were being built then residential accommodation all along the line would likely get planning permission.

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    Mute Willers
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    May 30th 2016, 8:59 PM

    As someone who lives in an apartment in the city and enjoys it, I find these discussions absurd. They’re obviously written by people who sit in dreadful suburbia in rows off awful pebble dashed terraces and congratulate themselves for having escaped the big scary city they regard Dublin to be. Guess what it’s 2016 and 24m tall buildings are not high rises anywhere in the world but here. People live in apartments by choice and like the experience. Where not all criminals and gangsters and in fact my neighbors are all pleasant professionals. It’s a great cosmopolitan community and I get numbed whenever I enter boring suburbia.

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    Mute P-O-B
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    May 30th 2016, 4:30 PM

    Councillors don’t think

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    Mute Neuville-Kepler62F
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    May 30th 2016, 5:51 PM

    Narrow thinking … proper longterm solution is a Referendum for “Right2Home” like German Constitution … else your kids and grand kids will continue to be repeat abused by financial predators long into the future.

    https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-call-for-referendum-on-right2home-in-ireland

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    Mute Jengis O'Can
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    May 30th 2016, 10:14 PM

    Lookit… I’m very angry about this discussion on high rise buildings in Dublin. I’m a true blue Dubliner and I hate a bunch of culchies, who’ve moved into my city, thinking they know what’s good for sorting the housing need in my city and its suburbs.
    Most of the comments I’ve read show favoritism for high rise and seem to be written by people who are speculators, architects or engineers, all wanting a new piece of building action to swell their bank accounts. They have not an iota of concern for the people who would ultimately occupy such buildings.
    There’s no recognition of the problems of high-rise housing buildings bring for families. Lifts break down. Moving furniture in or out. Drainage blockages from toilets, kitchen sinks and baths. Getting your waste bins down to street level. I could go on and on.
    Believe me, yez have no clue what you’re asking for with high rise family housing in Irish cities. It’s been a disaster in all the major cities in Europe. Glasgow is a prime example. Paris another. In Dublin, Ballymun was a well-intended solution to the housing problems in the city but transpired to have been a disaster both in forward-planning and in use by the tenants. Dublin’s Liberty Hall is one of the biggest eye-sores and now they want to knock it down and build another one???!!!
    Not that many years ago, Minister Charlie McCreevy had it right when he proposed a dispersion of Govt Depts to cities and towns outside of Dublin to entice people to forget about moving to Dublin and live in their own localities. His idea was also intended to discourage people moving into Dublin where there was already a shortage of housing accommodation.
    THAT’S what Dublin planners and other Local Authority people should be looking at. Leave my city alone, no high rise housing buildings at all.
    Culchies and Speculators, go home and build high-rise housing in your own neck of the woods… see the results and live with them, or, preferably, in them.

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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    May 30th 2016, 3:26 PM

    One of the biggest developers was the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oiseen Quinn. Long leases to government departments is his thing. He Gants higher and higher buildings like most other developers, not for the good of the people. We have a beautiful city as the tourists rates keep growing — lets keep it. I have not seen one person taking a picture of the IFSC.

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    Mute Rosa Parks
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    May 31st 2016, 5:33 AM

    One of the reasons tourists like New York is the beautiful skyscrapers

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    Mute Juan Venegas
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    May 30th 2016, 4:12 PM

    One rule of thumb for planning is that in most scenarios, high rise building contributes to inner gangs and neighbourhood troubles than low rise buildings. This is why, in cities where there are no restrictions, the wealthier people would live in low rise buildings while the poorer in high rise.

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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    May 30th 2016, 6:45 PM

    How about sending some jobs outside Dublin, problem solved.

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    Mute Adam Hynes
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    May 30th 2016, 11:36 PM

    High rise would directly address the need for city centre accommodation. However that would out an end to urban sprawl and the many backhanders that go with it.

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    Mute Missyb211
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    May 31st 2016, 9:05 AM

    Housing shortage, homelessness, unaffordable rents, long commutes etc etc. and they’re concerned that “Tall buildings overshadow and overlook the buildings that are around them” ? LOL

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    Mute _doesnotcompute
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    May 30th 2016, 4:50 PM

    Kind of says it all when the highest most imposing buildings are those of unions and banks. Just goes to show you who rules the roost in our fair city

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    Mute gerry meagher
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    May 30th 2016, 4:39 PM

    Ah it will all be sorted sf councillors are meeting before debate …council has no vision

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    May 30th 2016, 9:30 PM

    Where would Dr Azazi live! ?!

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    Mute Rowe
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    May 31st 2016, 11:10 PM

    ….

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    Mute Gerard
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    May 31st 2016, 2:56 PM

    Title is wildly inaccurate. It gives reasons that they’re opposed (not exactly sound ones at that) but at no point does it explain why (or even if) they think it WON’T help solve the housing crisis

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    Mute Rosa Parks
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    May 31st 2016, 5:30 AM

    The developers oppose high rise because it means less demand for property to build more houses. If we build up we don’t build out as much.

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