Blog 7_ Arts Block

According to my Housing proposals up to 50,000 people could be living on "Clontarf Island" in five years time. A questioner asks: what will they do for entertainment?

First off, they will all live within a short Dart/Bus/Drive/Taxi/Bike ride (or even walk)from the City center and all its attractions. Secondly, the ground floor of many of the residential blocks will need to contain lots of retail establishments eg shops, cafes, creches, pharmacies , restaurants, Hair salons, wine bars etc.,etc.

However the questioner might be referring to a bigger issue. Dublin City has plenty of large and medium sized venues to accommodate the established acts but fewer and fewer smaller spaces for artists to perform.

The proposed density of the reclaimed site is far less than elsewhere in the city so there would be plenty of scope to construct an Arts Block: think 100m of low rise (2-3 stories) reconfigurable space, rentable at very low cost and suitable for a wide range of artistic activities: Poetry readings, Book clubs, Painting or Photographic exhibitions, String quartets, Amateur dramatics, Bands starting out, Stand-up comedians, etc.,etc. With 50,000 potential customers living nearby and an Events website selling tickets , it should be possible to attract 50-100 attendees to almost any event. Good for the residents and good for the artists.

Blog 6_ Carbon Taxes

During the recent General Election campaign, some parties argued for a continuation of carbon taxes, some to freeze them and some to abolish them.

The case for taxes argued that, due to the existential threat from Climate Change, we needed to reduce our emissions particularily from transport and that we could ring fence that money to assist with energy upgrades. The case against counter argued that taxes to date had in fact not reduced emissions at all and that they were little more than an unavoidable cost of living imposition on those who had no public transport alternative and needed to drive for work, school, healthcare, shopping etc.

There is an argument that, at least on a world wide basis, while we will need carbon taxes in the future, applying them now, paradoxically, could impede the net zero transition we all want to see.

The argument starts from a comparison between a fossil machine and a net zero machine, for example, a fossil car and an electric car. The fossil car relies for its energy on liquid or gas from a well proven 100 year old supply chain and can be made with relatively few metals and minerals. The electric car, by comparison, uses a much greater range of metals and minerals and relies on solids for its energy. The key thing here is that all of these solids have to be mined and vast amounts of new mining will be needed for the transition to net zero.

Almost all of mining today takes place largely in the 2nd/3rd world and with fossil machinery, all transport from the mines is by fossil powered trucks, trains, and ships and all refining and downstream forming, working, shaping etc., uses fossil fuels. So the supply chain today from mine to factory relies heavily on fossil fuels. If carbon taxes are leavied now then the extra costs will have to be passed on which will impede the net zero transition.

Blog 5_ Immigration

One voter commenting on my Immigration proposal asked where I expect the International Protection applicants to go during the 18 month moratorium I have suggested.

First let's quantify the problem. In 2023 there were 13,000 applicants and in 2024 this increased to 21,000, a more than 50% increase. No one expects the 2025 figure to be lower.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau believe that the vast majority of applicants are economic migrants, many of whom are brought here by organised crime groups involved in people smuggling for profit.

Despite the extra resources recently applied to the problem and an accellerated procedure introduced for certain countries of origin, with so many arrivals and few deportations, the backlog grows. It can take up to a year for a first interview in many cases and a further year if there is an appeal, during which more and more applicant accommodation is required. We need a pause of some kind or the situation will become unmanageable with more Coolocks, and more Newtownmountkennedys etc.

Nobody comes here directly from an unsafe country. Since the introduction of Garda checks at the steps of arriving airplanes and the clamp downs at airports abroad, together with changing some visa arrangements, many applicants now arrive here via the UK/NI border in contravention of the Common Travel Area regulations.

So the answer is that, during a moratorium here, I expect that the applicants will simply stay in the UK for longer (Indeed some coming here now already return to the UK when they are only offered tented accommodation). Of course, they will resume coming thereafter but, by then, we should have caught up and be able to process their applications in a fair and timely manner.

Blog 4_ Renters

I've been asked if I can supply any good ideas which would benefit Renters to compliment my Housing proposals. We have all heard the stories of Teachers, Gardai, Nurses, etc., who cannot take up city based jobs because they are unable to find anywhere to rent. Similarly students giving up places in College or travelling long distances every day for the same reason. As with Housing, the answer lies in more supply. One solution often mentioned is "living over the shop". There are large swathes of our cities and towns with business premises on the ground floor where the upper floors are unused and unoccupied. The standard objection is to say (correctly) that such accommodations do not meet the current fire regulations. However, other cities around the world have already solved this problem. In London, for example, sprinkler systems (normally associated with commercial or industrial premises) have been installed on upper floors thus enabling them to satisfy the fire regulations. The bringing- into-use costs for owners would rise but the State could introduce a grant system to compensate for this. Doing so could add thousands of extra city/town based rental homes to the market and in the process create a transformed landscape for renters.

Blog 3_ Wind Turbines

A prominent economist writing in the media recently suggested that wind turbines, once installed, generate electricity at almost zero cost. Unfortunately, however, they require repair and maintenance: of blades, gearboxes, generators, bearings, brakes, and so on, all involving big costs. And if the wind turbines are located offshore, the repair and maintenance price jumps dramatically, needing even more specialised equipment, ships, crews and maritime expertise. Electricity from offshore wind is necessary but will not be cheap.

Blog 2_ Identity

The list of candidates has gone live on the NUI website. There are twelve in all including the three incumbents. Someone on Reddit has copied the list and made a stab at identifying each candidate. I have been misidentified as my more famous namesake and am described as a “television talent judge, newspaper writer and the publisher of the VIP magazine group in Ireland”.  Shortly afterwards Wikipedia repeated the error. Not sure whether this will help or hinder my candidacy?

Each candidate gets a 500 word profile piece on the NUI website. Once these went live on Tuesday 17th, Wikipedia corrected their mistake.

Blog 1_ Nomination Day

Handing in my nomination papers today at NUI offices 49 Merrion Square East; all very efficient and civilised. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided while waiting for documents to be checked and processed. There is no fee but signatures of two nominees and eight assenters are required, all of whom must be on the NUI electoral register (even if the nominated person doesn’t have to be). One of the other candidates arrived after me but was short a signature and asked me to be one of their assenters. I duly obliged but cheekily asked for their No 2s!