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Niall Carson

Dunnes stripped the insides of a new Blackrock store before clearing the planning system

The supermarket chain says it doesn’t need council approval for the works.

IRISH RETAIL GIANT Dunnes Stores is up against local government once again after deciding to go ahead with works in a Blackrock store before clearing the planning system, a cause of concern for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council officials.

The secretive supermarket last year applied for permission to operate a store in the former Playwright pub at Newtownpark Avenue and began trading at the site in November.

Dunnes Stores had in October applied for additional planning permission to make various amendments to the new supermarket and its car parking facilities.

It requested permission to amalgamate the supermarket and an adjacent ex-flower shop in order to increase the total retail space by some 400 sq m to 1,100 sq m.

It also asked to change a first-floor restaurant space and upstairs offices into additional supermarket space and a staff area and sought permission to extend the car park from 50 to 66 spaces.

However, a planning inspection completed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council suggested that internal works to amalgamate the supermarket and ex-flower shop “have already been undertaken”.

This prompted officials to seek further information from the company and issue a warning that Dunnes Stores may need to submit a new planning application for the works.

Recently filed documents show that Dunnes Stores responded to the council’s concerns at the end of last month, claiming that it doesn’t need planning approval for the works because they “do not impact the external appearance” of the store.

The response prepared by Wicklow-based firm Project Design Architects said that the bulk of the renovation has yet to be completed, although “works have been undertaken to get the units ready for amalgamation”.

This included “stripping the shop floor, the stripping of walls and ceiling tiles and the replacement of stairs”, it said. 

“As the works undertaken are internal and do not impact on the external appearance of the structure, it is considered the works listed are exempt (from planning permission).”

playwright The former vacant site Google Maps Google Maps

Electric car parking

The company was also ordered by the county council to provide a detailed drawing of its proposed car park showing that the supermarket would provide at least seven spaces with charging points for electric vehicles. 

In its response, Dunnes Stores said that it believes one charging point is sufficient to reflect the fact that it has already been given approval for 50 spaces and is seeking permission for 16 new ones.

“While the proposed development will provide 66 car parking spaces, recognition must be given to the fact that 50 car parking spaces have already been granted and constructed,” it stated.

“It is our position that the requirement to provide electric charge points should not be applied retrospectively and therefore should only apply to the 16 new parking spaces being created.”

It also noted that “the popularity of electric cars in Ireland does not seem to be growing as fast as originally projected”, although it told the council it would add the underlying infrastructure for future charging points “as required”.

Last December, the retail giant came up against South Dublin County Council over a Café Sol in its Liffey Valley store which the local authority stated had gone up without planning permission.

South Dublin County Council said Dunnes never received the required planning permission to open the outlet and that it was only allowed to operate a retail store at the site.

An appeal against the enforcement notice was lodged by Dunnes after the two parties agreed for the case to be reviewed by An Bord Pleanála.

As previously explained by Fora, the retailer has been at the centre of several planning disputes involving some of the country’s largest retail establishments and its own landlords.

Dunnes Stores did not reply to a request for comment at the time of publication.

 Get our NEW Daily Briefing with the morning’s most important headlines for innovative Irish businesses.

Written by Zuzia Whelan and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute Pat Casey
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    Dec 1st 2021, 4:51 PM

    Because opening a window is cheaper than fitting a ventilation system.

    744
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    Mute Alan Wright
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:30 PM

    @Pat Casey: Yeah, and I’m sure Donnelly can set an example and sit in his office all day with the windows open. He’d be quick installing air-filters if that were the case.

    326
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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:31 PM

    @Pat Casey: Perhaps nobody in the government have any friends/relations/interests in any of the companies that manufacture HEPA filters hence their backs haven’t been scratched yet in order for their use to be of benefit to said government members.

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    Mute John Hayes
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:40 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: this Frank lad …. you can bet if the cronies were to benefit they’d be in schools everywhere.

    169
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    Mute potnoodle
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:44 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: precisely

    124
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    Mute This time its personable!
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:20 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: yet Frank yet. I’d give them a week and HEPAFiltersNOW ltd will have been set up and secured it’s first multi millon euro order.

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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Dec 1st 2021, 10:17 PM

    @This time its personable!: Back in Lowry’s day you could buy a “shelf” company (already set up and incorporated) to carry out your shady deals. Came in handy for DOB quite a few times, fact.

    37
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    Mute James
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    Dec 1st 2021, 4:53 PM

    They all contradicting each other running around like head less chickens not having a clue what to do

    373
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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:10 PM

    @James: Best option is tell all primary school children to go home until after Christmas and review second week in January when we know more about Omicron. Donnelly is out of his depth.

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    Mute Declan
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:56 PM

    @Joe Johnson: Not for most, hence why schools are open..

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    Mute Markonline
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:56 PM

    @Joe Johnson: not sure if you are allowed to leave primary aged children alone at home by themselves all day…tusla might have a say on it.

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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:21 PM

    @Markonline: Ah so school is a baby sitting service then.

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Dec 1st 2021, 8:20 PM

    @James: Doctors differ and patients die.

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    Mute Macca1986
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    Dec 1st 2021, 8:50 PM

    @Joe Johnson: exactly. kids should be given extended holidays

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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Dec 1st 2021, 9:13 PM

    @Joe Johnson: unfortunately it is now as families now need two incomes to service an even modest mortgage or rent.

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    Mute Declan Doherty
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:09 PM

    Same with Norma schools are safe Foley, the government always seem to have advice that suits their narrative. We can drop billions on a hospital in the wrong location but we can’t spend a few quid on antigen test and filters.

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    Mute Harry Trafford
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    Dec 1st 2021, 10:37 PM

    @Declan Doherty: you realise that it’s not a matter of putting a filter in a room. The filters are expensive and need to be replaced regularly. Also you need a ventilation system to move the air through the filters. But I get your point on the rest.

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    Mute Ernie Gallagher
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:11 PM

    Nolan’s a bigger chancer than Donnelly, and that’s some achievement.

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    Mute Yvonne Lavelle
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:18 PM

    In the meantime teachers and kids sitting in freezing cold classrooms, if Co2 monitors goes red we have to leg it outdide in freezing cold and dont get me started on the masks today, they were on they were off, on their heads over their eyes…….could spend the day saying put your mask back on, sooner Christmas comes the better.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:31 PM

    Between this and his snake oil comment I’m starting to think Nolan isn’t quite the disease expert we were led to believe.

    Looking at his career history it seems to have mostly been spent in academia than actually working in the field. Another spoofer in high positions of critical importance in this country.

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:37 PM

    @Rochelle: He’s like that fella at the bar telling everyone: “I don’t care what no one says. There’s no car doing 60 miles to the gallon.”

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    Mute This time its personable!
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:24 PM

    @Vonvonic: jeepers I only said it the one time like, were you there or did you hear it from Seaneen, that boy has a big mouth. It was two years ago, let it go will you, for the love of god!

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:25 PM

    @This time its personable!: The nose knows.

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    Mute
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    Dec 1st 2021, 4:57 PM

    Everyday is a case of. He said she said we said they said they all said.

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:09 PM

    Irish politics 101

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:29 PM

    @Roy Dowling: All politics.

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    Mute Thady Coughlan
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    Dec 1st 2021, 4:57 PM

    Too many “expert groups”all leading to total confusion.Opinions r like a———-s everyone has one

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:17 PM

    @Thady Coughlan: only one way to be sure if you are right Thady. We’ll need to put together an expert group to access the situation and see if to many expert groups cause confusion.

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    Mute J
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:16 PM

    @Thady Coughlan: unfortunately opinions unlike their anatomical counter parts are not limited to one per mammal

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    Mute bob hope
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:27 PM

    If open windows and CO2 monitors are enough, then why the need for masks? NPHET contradicting themselves again and the government following along like a nodding donkey. Rather than spend money on upgrading the schools (let’s face it, who’s surprised when they wouldn’t even upgrade the healthcare system in, as they call it, a pandemic) they’d prefer to force mask wearing on children. All this when they’ve previously stated on numerous occasions that school settings are safe and children aren’t at risk!

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    Mute Fergal McDonagh
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:11 PM

    Nolan doesn’t know if he’s going for a dump or a haircut.
    A constant stream of ràiméis is all he has contributed.

    121
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    Mute a
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:06 PM

    Snake Oil Nolan making an ar@@ of himself again.

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    Mute Burt Macklin
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:48 PM

    Why weren’t they purchased with the original millions that went to schools?
    Oh sorry that went on dodgy sanitizer, signs and warning stickers. Millions of euro wasted!

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    Mute Ian O Hara
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:38 PM

    Why are all the group’s called !! Expert Group’s!! None of them seem to be able to give a definitive answer to anything.

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    Mute This time its personable!
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:28 PM

    @Ian O Hara: I think it’s because they decide they are in an expert group it’s then they think they’re an expert on everything and not just specifically what the group was tasked with. They should stay the fluich in their own lane and not worry about other things, or is it that they don’t haven’t a clue about their own gig either so deflect somewhere else. If someone commented here with some rubbish these come out with they’d be torn to shreds yet all these think they’ve a platform to discuss it all, disappointed they haven’t got in on some ‘green’ initiatives to do with covid, hemp masks and the like!

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:02 PM

    At this point we could go back to hedge schools and donkey carts. And only teaching Latin and Greek to boys. The whole island could be a historical theme park.

    Joking aside, I hope schoolchildren are not prevented from wearing layers of clothing to stay warm.

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:33 PM

    My kid’s school, with the windows open, in northerly or north easterly in Feb? It would be very good ventilation; something similar to out in the middle of the Atlantic.

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    Mute Pat Redmond
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    Dec 4th 2021, 1:08 PM

    @Vonvonic: a small bit of all windows open is good, at home or in school

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    Mute Willie Bill Bryan
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:47 PM

    Remember Nolan and co are educators , not good for our future graduates when Nolan can’t follow the science ?

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    Mute Kp Gumbo
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:22 PM

    WoW, comments closed on the article on masks for kids. The journal are a disgrace lately !

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    Mute Mike Dé Vere
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:22 PM

    Hepa filters are effectively used in some very large aeroplanes. Classrooms are much smaller.

    49
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    Mute William Tallon
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    Dec 1st 2021, 4:59 PM

    The AMRIC team seems equally staffed with experts in their field so do we need an impartial third party to decide who’s right? Crazy stuff…

    45
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    Mute Sean McCarthy
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:47 PM

    Can we take a step back from the edge here a minute before we spend tens/hundreds of million on equipment we most likely won’t need in 6 months or in fact won’t even be used at all. Remember all the money floundered on unusable PPE and ventilators. Can we even source these HEPA filters and can we even roll them out to every school room in time?? Sounds like a lot of people hurling from the ditches on a topic they don’t have a clue about.

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    Mute bob hope
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:54 PM

    @Sean McCarthy: This was only meant to be a thing for a few weeks initially and he we are almost 2 years later still flapping about, so yes there’s time to do it. Also, if we’re to believe what we’re told, hard to say as it changes on an almost day to day basis, covid is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it, so this would be one of the things that would be needed in those types of settings for the long term.

    40
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    Mute Stephen Walsh
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:53 PM

    Heard one today where the teacher in a classroom had turned up the CO2 alarm to 2,000ppm, twice the safe limit. Why??? Because at 1,000ppm it was going off every few minutes!!!

    30
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    Mute Max Power
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:48 PM

    Some friend of someone in government got the C02 monitors contact …35,000 supplied but 10,000 were faulty ones that had to be dumped .The schools only getting a fraction of what they needed and many schools still not got their quota … I’m sure he got paid for the faulty ones

    27
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    Mute Ronan Lawler
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:34 PM

    Stephen Donnelly, utterly useless, chocolate fireguard.

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:36 PM

    It’s a bit unseemly for these professionals to be calling each other out in public. They need to work together and present a united front.

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    Mute Alex Marquis
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:28 PM

    Wenger in!

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    Mute Rostyballs78
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:03 PM

    Yeh canny change the laws of physics Jim, yeh just don’t have the power. Great!!!! Now Star Trekking is stuck in my head.

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    Mute Declan Fitzsimons
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    Dec 1st 2021, 5:33 PM

    HEPA filters can trap the particulate that contains the pathogen (eg. Covid-19) but, in order to inactivate it, UV-C light is required, as recommended by international expert groups such as CIBSE, ASHRAE, CDC, WHO etc
    HEPA filters on their own are an incomplete solution.

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    Mute John Mc Auley
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    Dec 1st 2021, 9:10 PM

    This is the same crowd who insisted on opening the schools .
    But now the children are unsafe and superspreaders ……

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    Mute Stephen Donaghy
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:00 PM

    The government should just ignore the expert’s advice and go with the advice given in the journals comments section.

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    Mute Mary O Dwyer
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:31 PM

    We know we have one of the highest full vaccination levels in europe yet we also have very high infection rates and we do know that proper clean air ventilation systems that extract inside air and pull in outside clean air is just not part of our indooor spaces where we socialise , work or study . This has to be a driver .Warm countries would have ventilation systems as standard in most hospitality and indoor settings . Any bar, cafe ive been in even if asking for certs had windows/ doors closed in the majority .ventilation systems I only see in hotels . March is 9 months back for that focus on ventilation importance not to be prioritised and if needed to be subsidised for hospitality . Open windows tough on kids in winter but if no ventilation system what do they do . Clean air priority

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    Mute Anne C.
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:18 PM

    Sounds to me like somebody’s nose is out of joint. I can’t see why the Hse or Government are expected to take every piece of advice they get from experts! Daily on Radio/Tv/ Print media we have Eminent Highly Qualified Medical Personel who disagree on aspects of advice from NEPHD!! Sometimes it’s like “Too Many Chiefs & Not enough Indians ” !

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    Mute John Vectravi
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    Dec 1st 2021, 6:25 PM

    UV is your only man.

    8
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    Mute John Mc Auley
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    Dec 1st 2021, 9:12 PM

    If hepa filters were available in ALDI
    or LIDL ????????

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    Mute ⚡ Seánie ⚡
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:00 PM

    What school has a ventilation system suitable to filter down to HEPA filter size?!?

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    Mute Anarch Eco
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    Dec 2nd 2021, 1:14 AM

    @⚡ Seánie ⚡: Note to self-dont lick the filters
    A school for ants?

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    Mute Giles Wolohan
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    Dec 1st 2021, 7:31 PM

    S donnelly is lacking in brain power why he has the job is beyond me

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    Mute David Kearney
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    Dec 2nd 2021, 12:43 AM

    So the people who sell filters and air flow systems are recommending the gov buys filters and air flow systems .. classic

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    Mute ChadChaderson
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    Dec 1st 2021, 8:43 PM

    If these idi_ts were in charge of the trenches they’d send everyone over on day one.

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    Mute Dermot Moran
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    Dec 1st 2021, 10:03 PM

    Nolan and Donnelly. Two of the most useless people in positions of power. What did we do to deserve this pair?

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    Mute Declan Gilsenan
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    Dec 5th 2021, 9:28 AM

    @Dermot Moran: Leo the leak was in power at the beginning of the pandemic and appointed Holohan to command the response. Holohan set up NPHET and appointed his fellow desk docs to most of the positions with few scientific docs, he dismissed the most effective response ie universal mask wearing on the spurious ground that it would frighten autistics.
    Things have improved somewhat with the appointment of more competent sub commitees.
    The disease is spread by inhaling or getting the exhalations of an infected person in the eyes.
    Hand washing or surface cleaning is therefore a waste of time and money.
    HEPA filters wouldn’t work in large spaces like classrooms.

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    Mute Charles Barker
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    Dec 2nd 2021, 4:56 PM

    Prof Nolan should now do the honourable thing after his two gaffes and resign from NPHET’s modelling advisory group.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Dec 1st 2021, 10:58 PM

    Listen to the experts? …… Not so easy in Ireland these days apprently

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    Mute Anarch Eco
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    Dec 2nd 2021, 1:12 AM

    Note to self-dont lick the filters

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