Ireland round-up: State’s largest-ever housing regeneration scheme shapes up in the capital; Apple blames planning problems as it pulls plug on data centre

State’s largest-ever housing regeneration scheme shapes up in the capital

Dublin City Council has published a discussion paper on what is likely to be the state’s largest ever housing regeneration scheme involving thousands of properties.

The Planner

Apple blames planning problems as it pulls plug on €850m data centre for Galway

Technology giant Apple has blamed planning and legal issues as it formally cancelled proposals to build an €850 million data centre in Athenry, County Galway.

The Planner

Donegal planning dossier delayed

A report into planning irregularities in County Donegal remains unpublished while the planning minister waits for advice from the Attorney General before deciding what action to take, it has been confirmed to The Planner.

Irish Times

Kildare-Meath wind farm blown away again

An Bord Pleanála has refused, for the second time, a 47-turbine wind farm straddling the Kildare-Meath border, which was the subject of a successful legal challenge but which the planning agency has just argued was unacceptable because of the widely dispersed cluster-based layout adopted by the developer.

An Bord Pleanála

Uproar over South Dublin block of flats

Residents in south Dublin have objected to plans for a six-storey Georgian-style apartment block at the foot of the Dublin mountains in Kilternan on the grounds it would be ‘totally unsuitable’ for what is a rural area.

Irish Times

Infrastructure companies lobby for tighter planning regime

A number of major semi-state companies are understood to have begun lobbying the government on how to tighten planning laws in order to speed up construction of key infrastructure projects.

Irish Independent

Capital business park mulls doubling its size

Grange Castle Business Park on the southern flank of the capital, home to some of the world's largest companies including Google, Microsoft and Pfizer, could double in size as Ireland intensifies its hunt for so-called Foreign Direct Investment.

Irish Independent

Developer Cotter tries again over south Dublin homes

Developer Michael Cotter’s Viscount Securities has submitted a new application for permission to build more than 900 homes in south Dublin after original proposals were given short shrift because of flooding issues.

Irish Times

Flood insurance fears

One of the biggest issues facing home and business-owners in flood-risk areas continues to be insurance companies refusing to provide cover even when flood defences have been built, according to Eugene Murphy, Fianna Fáil spokesman on flooding issues.

Irish Times

Coveney Cork island clean-up pledge falters

A pledge made by minister Simon Coveney during his time as minister for agriculture and the marine environment that decades of toxic waste dumped on Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour would be cleaned up by this summer will now be met, it has emerged.

Irish Times

State’s development programme dependent on return of construction workers

The state will not be able to deliver on ambitious housing and infrastructure targets unless more is done to encourage workers who left Ireland during the recession to return home, the Construction Industry Federation has warned.

Irish Times

Housing plans for Dublin cigarette factory stutter

Proposals by Nama to enter into a joint venture agreement with developers for the construction of hundreds of new homes on the site of the former Player Wills cigarette factory on Dublin's South Circular Road is treading water with no sign yet of a planning application.

Irish Independent

Dublin 9 homes move

Cairn Homes is planning to build 320 homes on its Griffith Avenue site in Dublin 9 and is expected to make use of the fast-track planning regime for major residential projects.

Irish Times

Another Ikea for the capital?

Ikea is understood to be in advanced talks to buy land from developer Jim Kennedy’s Jackson Way site in Carrickmines for a new store in south Dublin.

Irish Times

Outcry over Dublin hotel impact

Residents in Dublin’s south inner-city claim they have been “blocked in behind a prison wall” by the construction of a hotel just metres from their homes.

Irish Times

Fianna Fáil punts €10 billion affordable homes strategy

Fianna Fáil is proposing a €10 billion affordable housing scheme for people who are paying more than a third of their income on rent or mortgage repayments.

Irish Times

Funding to optimise Dublin goods deliveries

For the first time, Belfast and Dublin City Councils are partnering with Enterprise Ireland to launch a joint Small Business Innovation Research challenge based competition that’s offering €230,000 to businesses to develop low cost, innovative and commercially viable solutions that can help optimise goods deliveries in both cities.

Belfast City Council