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Updated 13.53
THIS MORNING IT was announced that planning permission has been granted for the new children’s hospital on the site of St James’s hospital in Dublin.
The news comes at the end of a years-long dispute over where the hospital should be built, and as you might expect not all the reaction to the announcement has been positive.
Founder of the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation Jonathan Irwin described himself as being “sad and disappointed” at the news.
“I really thought that common sense would prevail having attended and made our case against this location at the oral hearings,” he said.
We’ve expressed our concerns and we have urged all those concerned to switch the location to Connolly, but to no avail.
Irwin said that he has no vested interest in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown other than that “it would be better for children”.
He made two further points regarding the announcement: that it is “disingenuous” of the project team to speak about “the Coombe Hospital as if it is part of the plan as it’s not”, and that he does not accept the figures being mentioned today as being the “true cost of the hospital”.
Meanwhile, lobby group Connolly for Kids Hospital says this morning’s announcement is “wrong”.
“The organisation believes that the government was wrong to have presented the St James’s site for consideration and that it remains the responsibility of the new government to the children of Ireland of this and future generations to change the site,” the group said in a statement.
Connolly for Kids Hospital continues to call urgently on the government to change its decision, to respect the will of the people of Ireland and to change the site to the Connolly campus.
Planning granted
An Bórd Pleanála this morning officially approved the €650 million development, with construction on the St James’s site expected to begin this summer.
The finished complex is expected to be completed by 2019, and to become fully operational by the following year.
For many years the fog of controversy hung over the prospective hospital with regards to what site it should be based upon.
Previously it was proposed to build the hospital on the Mater Hospital site in the north of the city, however this plan collapsed, while as mentioned above Connolly Hospital was also mooted as an option.
The new building will stand four-storeys high when completed – rising to seven storeys at its highest point above ground – and will have 384 in-patient beds, an oval pavilion set in a therapeutic rooftop garden for children, as well as accommodation for parents.
There are to be over 1,000 car park spaces, with over 600 reserved for visitors and patients.
“Watershed day”
Much of the reaction to this morning’s announcement has been positive however.
Health minister Leo Varadkar has described the granting of permission as “fantastic news for all the children of Ireland”.
It will produce a state of the art hospital of which everyone can be proud.
Outgoing children’s minister James Reilly meanwhile described the announcement as “a great day for all the children of Ireland.
“It means that we can look forward to world class treatment for our children in a world class environment,” he said.
“We welcome today’s announcement and look forward to continuing to work with the Children’s Hospital Group and with the NPHDB to ensure that the design and location of the hospital best meets the needs of children and adolescents,” Lorcan Birthistle, CEO of St. James’s, said.
We are excited at the opportunity this decision presents to further develop world class services on our campus and we look forward to the development of The Coombe Hospital maternity and women’s health services on campus in the future.
Eilish Hardiman, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Group, meanwhile said this morning that the news represents “truly a watershed day for children, young people and their families.”
Today’s decision will positively transform how paediatric services are delivered for children and young people here in Ireland. These buildings are a significant catalyst for how the new national model of care will be delivered. We are now firmly on our way to making this long awaited children’s hospital a reality.
Anyone who deals with paediatric services in Ireland – as a patient, a parent or as a member of staff – fully understands how badly this new facility is needed.
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Go to bettystown – laytown beach after a nice day – plastic – cans – wipes – chipper bags – you will find rubbish every 2-3 meters walking along the beach – then high tide comes and washes most out – this is just one beach so no wonder the ocean is a mess . And its adults doing so and youngsters learning from them – the older I get the more I hate the majority of the human race
Society going to the dogs. The selfishness of most of us is disgusting.
‘I care about me, what I want, the way I want, whenever I want. Who cares about anybody else or future generations?’
@Pajo Mata: allowing dogs to take a dump on a beach and walking away is just as bad.
Kids step and swim with it .
Increase fines and enforcement
Hitting pockets hurt most
Common sense isn’t so common after all..
@mark hollywood: Common decency is the problem with these vermin.
A warden should be employed to to charge € 100 Euro to all campers some of it refundable when site is checked and found to be in tact or some such arrangement ,not the easiest thing to do I suppose but it would to clear up the problem or the money would help to clear up mess
A growing problem all round Ireland ,weak legislation on waste management ,lets get professional and employ proper litter warden s with powers for on the spot fines .this should not be left up to those great people that volunteer to keep our country side an beaches clean .people have to be continously reminded littering is not acceptable .
This is what happens when private companies take over rubbish collection. You can’t keep squeezing people and expect them to pay bills they can’t afford. When it’s a decision between food, rent, school uniforms etc… and bins the environment is always going to suffer.
@Mark Jones: hope you’re being sarcastic there
@Mark Jones: you’re blaming private rubbish collection, for people leaving their sh#te in greenland areas and beaches that the’ve visited? Tents , pottys? If they were able to haul all that crap to the area, then they can haul it to the dump, and that’s cheaper than paying for bin collection. You’ll find that ppl who act like this, are the same selfish ppl to cut in a line, or park in a handicap spot etc etc. In other words they just don’t give a f#k
@Mark Jones: it’s more a case of this is what happens why people are selfish pr1cks and don’t care about the environment or society in general. It’s not hard to bring rubbish home with you and doesn’t take any intelligence to consider what it’d be like to turn up at somewhere, imagine the disappointment at finding it spoilt by someone else’s rubbish and not think to bring their own rubbish home so they are ruining it on someone else.
@Mark Jones: really?
@Mark Jones: If they have enough money to go camping and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, eat food, have a few tins and get home again then they have enough money to dispose of their rubbish. You’re some tube.
@Mark Jones:
Bullproduct!
These folk would still leave their litter if they had a gilded council truck doing a daily free pickup.
@Mark Jones:
@Mark Jones: it has nothing to do with that all mark it’s the persons choice to go camping they can manage to carry all the goods there full no issues so could bring them home too there is enough free bins at service stations and most towns they could put rubbish in without bringing it home
Some clown left a carrier bag of rubbish on the ground at a service station that I used to deliver to. Myself and the owner went through it and found identifying items and he was also on CCTV. Litter warden came around, called to yer man, issued a fine of €125, job done. The crazy thing about it was that the bag was left on the ground only about 10 metres from an empty bin! I make that €12.50 a metre it cost the litterer.
@Ennui Kenny: if they paid it
@Seamus Mac: Well there was a case that came to court of a guy that didn’t pay a fine of €300 for 2 bags of rubbish and one carrier bag. He didn’t bother to turn up for the case (big mistake!) and the Judge increased the fine to €4,000! Even the litter warden looked surprised. Since then which is about 2 years ago I have never seen another litter case come before the court.
@Ennui Kenny: a costly mistake
Not just the beauty spots!! There’s litter everywhere now, people don’t seem to give a crap anymore!!!
@John Murray: people don’t like paying private rubbish collectors lots of money. Bring back council collections and the problem will diminish.
@John Murray: we’ve always been a filthy nation
Guys all over facebook offering cheap rubbish removal. They should have to provide a certified refuse collector number on advertisments
@Tony Murphy: There are people of a certain ethnic background doing that in Cork. They pick up your rubbish and then either illegally dump it ( you get the fine if it’s found by the litter warden) or burn it in skips provided by the council at their place of residence. What people don’t realise is that if your rubbish is dumped up the forestry it is you who is responsible and the fine is for each bag dumped. At €150 a bag that can add up very quickly.
Unfortunately a can pay but won’t pay for anything attitude has crept into our society and here is yet another example of it. It’s disgusting behaviour.
Just a question really and I don’t mean offense, but I really notice that Ireland is particularly bad at littering. It’s absolutely baffling. Do a lot of parents not teach their kids not to throw stuff on the ground? More often than not if I see kids in the park with crisps or lucozade, I know they will throw it on the ground. I get so upset by this and often would go over ask them to not do it just in case they have never been made aware. Where do they think it goes? Would their parents do it in their back gardens? If not then why in public? There must be a reason?
I just hope that the tents, sleeping bags etc which are in good condition are not dumped in a skip but put to use with some organisation.
If everyone just cleaned up after themselves like socially responsible people, we’d have no litter!
Time to arm litter wardens & give them the power to kneecap offenders.
Not new. Has been and will continue to be a problem for long time.
Just Wicklow? Check out West Dublin. Neillstown,ronanstown, all through Liffey valley area, looks like an explosion in a bin factory. My estate in Earlsfort nearby is the same. Feral kids of feral parents dropping bottles cans and all sorts of crisp bags where they stand. And since the property tax, nobody cleans up.
Dubs……
@redhandtyrone: So how do you account for litter in the Midlands, Cork, Galway etc?
The Blessington lakes are starting to look like a halting site with the amount of rubbish being left behind
Why aren’t there forestry rangers and beach patrols working these areas like in the States and Australia? This is why their beaches and camp areas are so spotless ; well that, and the fact that Aussies and Americans actually give a damn. Here, not so much. We are a nation of brats.
So supply more bins in the area. Not rocket science
@pearse: why though they didn buy the stuff from any shop there as there is none in the area . They can bring it back to shop they. BOught it in as most have bins around them
All the litter on all the beaches, I wonder how many litter fines were issued?, if it is very very little then our litter laws are ridiculously stupid, weak, pathetic.
Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this country who don’t take pride in the amenities and landmarks at their doorstep. For example, I was up in The Glen Of The Downs with my better half and was appalled out how much the Octagon near the top was vandalized. Minus the graffiti, it is a truly amazing place. The start of the walkway adjacent to the N11 also had some discarded litter scattered throughout.
This will likely affect the perception of tourists who might view us as a filthy nation due to our lack of care for invaluable resources. While litter, graffiti and other vandalism is also endemic in other nations, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that there is absolutely no excuse for it. The recent brush fires which we have had in light of the uncharacteristically warm weather are another by-product of such carelessness.
In time, we may need to invest in sophisticated CCTV systems in our public parks and other amenities to deter careless patrons who feel they can treat it like a land fill or who are generally negligent towards the consequences of their actions. Bottom line, we need to start setting a positive and clean example to current and future generations to minimize the possibilities of “a minority spoiling it for everyone”.
just bring a black bag with you and toss all of your trash in there. then throw the bag into the car’s boot.
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